Book Recommendations
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i'll second the recommendations for both the Dune books and the Ender's Game books - at least the first one or two in each series. Cleek | Image Toolkits | Thumbnail maker
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If you haven't done so yet, you should read the Rama trilogy by Arthur C Clarke. Regards, Nish
Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
The Ultimate Grid - The #1 MFC grid out there! -
I’m in the mood for some Sci-fi books and I have no idea what’s good. I’m looking for something along the lines of Asimov’s Foundation series. Anybody got any suggestions?
"Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra and then suddenly it flips over, pinning you underneath. At night, the ice weasels come." I refuse to spend my life worrying about what I eat. There is no pleasure worth foregoing just for an extra three years in a geriatric ward.
I have read Dragon's Egg, Starquake, Rocheworld, and Return to Rocheworld. Dragon's Egg would be the first one to read. Rocheworld is a great reality-check - hard-SF on Interstellar flight rubs-it-in, that such an expedition will require more than a two-minute attention-span . I wonder who is the best candidate to fill the shoes of the late Dr. Forward ? pg--az
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I’m in the mood for some Sci-fi books and I have no idea what’s good. I’m looking for something along the lines of Asimov’s Foundation series. Anybody got any suggestions?
"Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra and then suddenly it flips over, pinning you underneath. At night, the ice weasels come." I refuse to spend my life worrying about what I eat. There is no pleasure worth foregoing just for an extra three years in a geriatric ward.
Hi Depends a lot on what you like of course. Foundation is in the "space opera" category, and the recommendations made so far ar pretty good. I would add Dan Simmons; the Hyperion series and the fantastic Ilium and Olympus. At the other end of the intellectual scale is the Lensman series from e.e. "Doc" Smith - very light weight and probably out of print by now, but I enjoyed them in my youth. Moving slightly further afield, any self-respecting geek needs to read the early William Gibson stuff: the "Neuromancer" series. His later stuff tails off badly, but the Neuromancer trilogy is very good. The other one for all geeks is Vernor Vinge; try "Across Realtime" for the best visualisation of what the coming Singularity means, or "A Deepness in the Sky" for great space opera. If you like hard science, Greg Egan is the man - he will mess with your head mercilessly. Try Permutation City or Diaspora to see what can be done with current theories on quantum physics or computation. Slightly more adult is Richard Morgan with his Kovacs series, starting with "Altered Carbon". Lots of violence, some sex, lots of good SF with real plots and people. Last but not least, we should not forget the old master, Robert Heinlen. A lot of his later stuff is drivelling nonsense, but "Stranger in a Strange Land", "Moon is a Harsh Mistress" or "Starship Tropers" still bear up. Got plenty of other recommendations, but that lot should keep you busy for a weekend... :-) HTH Regards David Evans InaPlex - Enterprise Data Integration http://www.inaplex.com
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Robert Wilson's Spin[^] is starting off well, for me. Only about 50 pages in. edit: if you like more fantastic (a.k.a. surreal and alternate-reality stuff - nmot necessarily dragons and witches), i heartily recommend Jeff VanDerMeer's "City of Saints and Madmen", and China Mieville's "Perdido Street Station". both are great, for different reasons Cleek | Image Toolkits | Thumbnail maker -- modified at 21:57 Wednesday 12th April, 2006
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Just to give you mixed messages, I'd read Hamilton before Banks. Banks is not bad, but I like Hamiltons "space-opera" better. Some of Banks work is (for me) hard to get into, while Hamilton writes thick books that you can read for a long time. I agree with Paul that the ending of Night's Dawn was somewhat thin, but the books are well worth the read. And to give you some more choices, I recommend David Brin's Uplift novels or if you prefer a darker future, Alastair Reynolds. ;) --- "Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest". -- Denis Diderot -- modified at 8:32 Wednesday 12th April, 2006 [Corrected the name of Brin's trilogy]
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You can't go wrong with Heinlein. BW
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
-- Steven Wright -
I have read Dragon's Egg, Starquake, Rocheworld, and Return to Rocheworld. Dragon's Egg would be the first one to read. Rocheworld is a great reality-check - hard-SF on Interstellar flight rubs-it-in, that such an expedition will require more than a two-minute attention-span . I wonder who is the best candidate to fill the shoes of the late Dr. Forward ? pg--az
His daughter, I believe. She finished his last Rocheworld novel after he died.
Software Zen:
delete this; -
I’m in the mood for some Sci-fi books and I have no idea what’s good. I’m looking for something along the lines of Asimov’s Foundation series. Anybody got any suggestions?
"Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra and then suddenly it flips over, pinning you underneath. At night, the ice weasels come." I refuse to spend my life worrying about what I eat. There is no pleasure worth foregoing just for an extra three years in a geriatric ward.
I loved the foundation books. Some of my other favorites: Greg Bear: - Eon - Eternity (Sequel to Eon) - Legacy (Prequel to Eon) - The Forge of God - Anvil of Stars (sequel to The Forge of God) Greg Bear is also one of the writers of the second foundation trilogy along with Gregory Benford and David Brin. So far there is only 2 writen I think: - Foundation and Chaos (Greg Bear) - Foundation's Triumph (David Brin) I'm sure you would have read the DUNE books by Frank Herbert and the first series (Prelude to Dune) by his son Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson is pretty good too. The Second series i didn't like very much (the machine wars) andthey are currently working on the seventh book to the original series which Frank had strted working on before he died. Cheers.
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:-D I have to admit, I had to look that up. I haven't read "The Moon is Harsh Mistress" yet. Sounds like I need to add that on the To Read list. BW
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
-- Steven Wright -
I’m in the mood for some Sci-fi books and I have no idea what’s good. I’m looking for something along the lines of Asimov’s Foundation series. Anybody got any suggestions?
"Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra and then suddenly it flips over, pinning you underneath. At night, the ice weasels come." I refuse to spend my life worrying about what I eat. There is no pleasure worth foregoing just for an extra three years in a geriatric ward.
Try Steven Gould (Jumper or Wildside) or Jerry Oltion (The Getaway Special or Anywhere But Here). Another good one is Red Thunder by John Varley.
Software Zen:
delete this; -
:-D I have to admit, I had to look that up. I haven't read "The Moon is Harsh Mistress" yet. Sounds like I need to add that on the To Read list. BW
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
-- Steven Wright -
Fortunately I have zero first-hand-experience, but my favorite self-defense book is Sanford Strong's "Strong on Defense". Favorite quote: "I didn't waste the one second I had trying to fast-draw." -- page 33 Heinlein's recurring theme for "Tunnel" is that no amout of gun will save you if you're surprised, which can especially happen if the gun makes you feel secure - a worthy theme ! pg--az
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:-D I have to admit, I had to look that up. I haven't read "The Moon is Harsh Mistress" yet. Sounds like I need to add that on the To Read list. BW
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
-- Steven Wrightthat was one of the first sci-fi books i ever read - maybe the very first (twas a long time ago). a must-read Cleek | Image Toolkits | Thumbnail maker
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I’m in the mood for some Sci-fi books and I have no idea what’s good. I’m looking for something along the lines of Asimov’s Foundation series. Anybody got any suggestions?
"Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra and then suddenly it flips over, pinning you underneath. At night, the ice weasels come." I refuse to spend my life worrying about what I eat. There is no pleasure worth foregoing just for an extra three years in a geriatric ward.
I do not know if exist english translation but "Brodolom kod Thule" from Predrag Raos is excellent. It talks about a humanity settled in wellness, where the solar system is the home and prison altogether, and about a few persons trying to find a way to explore stars. The first book is something as social analyze of that kind of humanity while the second is pure action (the starship after the first successfull jump got almost .....) I would also recommand Dan Simmons Hyperion series (i preffered the first two books). Bye Nenad
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I loved the foundation books. Some of my other favorites: Greg Bear: - Eon - Eternity (Sequel to Eon) - Legacy (Prequel to Eon) - The Forge of God - Anvil of Stars (sequel to The Forge of God) Greg Bear is also one of the writers of the second foundation trilogy along with Gregory Benford and David Brin. So far there is only 2 writen I think: - Foundation and Chaos (Greg Bear) - Foundation's Triumph (David Brin) I'm sure you would have read the DUNE books by Frank Herbert and the first series (Prelude to Dune) by his son Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson is pretty good too. The Second series i didn't like very much (the machine wars) andthey are currently working on the seventh book to the original series which Frank had strted working on before he died. Cheers.
Gavin wrote:
the DUNE books by Frank Herbert
Another good story by Frank Herbert is The Green Brain[^] The reviews posted on Amazon are kinda mixed, but I still remember this as a decent read. I think I still have it; I should give it a re-read to see if it's still as good as I recall... 'til next we type... HAVE FUN!! -- Jesse
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I’m in the mood for some Sci-fi books and I have no idea what’s good. I’m looking for something along the lines of Asimov’s Foundation series. Anybody got any suggestions?
"Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra and then suddenly it flips over, pinning you underneath. At night, the ice weasels come." I refuse to spend my life worrying about what I eat. There is no pleasure worth foregoing just for an extra three years in a geriatric ward.
Here's my recommendation for highly realistic, gritty, juicy science fiction: The Merchanter universe by C.J. Cherryh. Titles such as "Cyteen", "Downbelow Station" or "Heavy Time" keep popping back out of the bookshelf, needing to be read... Cherryh's Fantasy novels, by the way, are also quite something.
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I’m in the mood for some Sci-fi books and I have no idea what’s good. I’m looking for something along the lines of Asimov’s Foundation series. Anybody got any suggestions?
"Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra and then suddenly it flips over, pinning you underneath. At night, the ice weasels come." I refuse to spend my life worrying about what I eat. There is no pleasure worth foregoing just for an extra three years in a geriatric ward.