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  4. Possibly the worst sci-fi I've read

Possibly the worst sci-fi I've read

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  • S Stan Shannon

    I haven't read any good science fiction in 20 years. I agree with Clarke that the genre is just kind of locked into a kind of derivative repitition now and not nearly as much fun as it once was.

    Chaining ourselves to the moral high ground does not make us good guys. Aside from making us easy targets, it merely makes us idiotic prisoners of our own self loathing.

    B Offline
    B Offline
    Brady Kelly
    wrote on last edited by
    #18

    Greg Bear's Eon was momentous for me.

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    • R Rama Krishna Vavilala

      "The Saga of Eight Suns"

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      Chris Maunder
      wrote on last edited by
      #19

      I knew I shouldn't have removed the voting buttons ;)

      cheers, Chris Maunder The Code Project Co-founder Microsoft C++ MVP

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      • S Stan Shannon

        IlĂ­on wrote:

        Well, sure. But what were you smoking at the time?

        Nothing! Honest, I was a 15 year old kid in a small town in Western Oklahoma. As a lifelong science fiction fan, 2001 was a monumental movie. It is easy to poke fun at it now, but at the time, it was really quite an amazing experience.

        Chaining ourselves to the moral high ground does not make us good guys. Aside from making us easy targets, it merely makes us idiotic prisoners of our own self loathing.

        K Offline
        K Offline
        kmg365
        wrote on last edited by
        #20

        Sorry, I thought Fantasia was better than 2001. 2 cents.

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        • B Brady Kelly

          Greg Bear's Eon was momentous for me.

          S Offline
          S Offline
          Stan Shannon
          wrote on last edited by
          #21

          Brady Kelly wrote:

          Greg Bear's Eon was momentous for me.

          I had to go check on that one because it sounded familiar. When I pick up a science fiction book, if the protagonist isn't a white guy with an anglo-saxon sounding name, I put it right back down.

          Chaining ourselves to the moral high ground does not make us good guys. Aside from making us easy targets, it merely makes us idiotic prisoners of our own self loathing.

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          • C Chris Maunder

            I knew I shouldn't have removed the voting buttons ;)

            cheers, Chris Maunder The Code Project Co-founder Microsoft C++ MVP

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            O Offline
            Oakman
            wrote on last edited by
            #22

            Chris Maunder wrote:

            I knew I shouldn't have removed the voting buttons

            :laugh: In truth it was a very wise decision. Made this forum all about conversation and debate instead of voting averages.

            Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface Both democrats and republicans are playing for the same team and it's not us. - Chris Austin

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            • O Oakman

              Chris Maunder wrote:

              I knew I shouldn't have removed the voting buttons

              :laugh: In truth it was a very wise decision. Made this forum all about conversation and debate instead of voting averages.

              Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface Both democrats and republicans are playing for the same team and it's not us. - Chris Austin

              C Offline
              C Offline
              Chris Maunder
              wrote on last edited by
              #23

              Yes it has. It's been a good experiment. One day I'm going to write my PhD on your lot. <taps finger tips together>

              cheers, Chris Maunder The Code Project Co-founder Microsoft C++ MVP

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              • S Stan Shannon

                Brady Kelly wrote:

                Greg Bear's Eon was momentous for me.

                I had to go check on that one because it sounded familiar. When I pick up a science fiction book, if the protagonist isn't a white guy with an anglo-saxon sounding name, I put it right back down.

                Chaining ourselves to the moral high ground does not make us good guys. Aside from making us easy targets, it merely makes us idiotic prisoners of our own self loathing.

                O Offline
                O Offline
                Oakman
                wrote on last edited by
                #24

                Stan Shannon wrote:

                When I pick up a science fiction book, if the protagonist isn't a white guy with an anglo-saxon sounding name, I put it right back down.

                One of the things I really liked about Starship Troopers, the book, is that Heinlein very carefully never let you know what the protagonist looked like or what his ethnic background was. Until the end of the book - when you find out he wasn't a handsome blue-eyed blonde, or even a tall dark and handsome Brazilian. Instead he was a Tagalog from the Philipines. I bet you would have shit a brick when you realised you had been rooting for someone with dark skin.

                Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface Both democrats and republicans are playing for the same team and it's not us. - Chris Austin

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                • C Chris Maunder

                  Yes it has. It's been a good experiment. One day I'm going to write my PhD on your lot. <taps finger tips together>

                  cheers, Chris Maunder The Code Project Co-founder Microsoft C++ MVP

                  O Offline
                  O Offline
                  Oakman
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #25

                  Chris Maunder wrote:

                  One day I'm going to write my PhD on your lot.

                  I double dare you.

                  Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface Both democrats and republicans are playing for the same team and it's not us. - Chris Austin

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                  • O Oakman

                    Chris Maunder wrote:

                    One day I'm going to write my PhD on your lot.

                    I double dare you.

                    Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface Both democrats and republicans are playing for the same team and it's not us. - Chris Austin

                    C Offline
                    C Offline
                    Chris Maunder
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #26

                    It'll be under a pseudonym. I know you guys are good at hunting people down so I'll take no chances.

                    cheers, Chris Maunder The Code Project Co-founder Microsoft C++ MVP

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                    • O Oakman

                      Stan Shannon wrote:

                      When I pick up a science fiction book, if the protagonist isn't a white guy with an anglo-saxon sounding name, I put it right back down.

                      One of the things I really liked about Starship Troopers, the book, is that Heinlein very carefully never let you know what the protagonist looked like or what his ethnic background was. Until the end of the book - when you find out he wasn't a handsome blue-eyed blonde, or even a tall dark and handsome Brazilian. Instead he was a Tagalog from the Philipines. I bet you would have shit a brick when you realised you had been rooting for someone with dark skin.

                      Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface Both democrats and republicans are playing for the same team and it's not us. - Chris Austin

                      S Offline
                      S Offline
                      Stan Shannon
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #27

                      Oakman wrote:

                      Instead he was a Tagalog from the Philipines.

                      Tagalog is a language not an ethnic group. Besides, as I said, back in the days when I read that I was a raging liberal. But that might well have been what shaped my current attitude. When an author goes out of his way to create an ethnic character he is trying to make a point that has nothing to do with the story line. If I wanted to consider someone's religious principles, I'd just read the bible.

                      Chaining ourselves to the moral high ground does not make us good guys. Aside from making us easy targets, it merely makes us idiotic prisoners of our own self loathing.

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                      • S Stan Shannon

                        Oakman wrote:

                        Instead he was a Tagalog from the Philipines.

                        Tagalog is a language not an ethnic group. Besides, as I said, back in the days when I read that I was a raging liberal. But that might well have been what shaped my current attitude. When an author goes out of his way to create an ethnic character he is trying to make a point that has nothing to do with the story line. If I wanted to consider someone's religious principles, I'd just read the bible.

                        Chaining ourselves to the moral high ground does not make us good guys. Aside from making us easy targets, it merely makes us idiotic prisoners of our own self loathing.

                        O Offline
                        O Offline
                        Oakman
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #28

                        Stan Shannon wrote:

                        Tagalog is a language not an ethnic group

                        The Tagalog people is the second largest Filipino ethnolinguistic group. . . The Tagalog people number about 15.9 million making them the second largest Filipino ethnic group [^]

                        Stan Shannon wrote:

                        When an author goes out of his way to create an ethnic character he is trying to make a point that has nothing to do with the story line

                        You probably should stick to comic books - not DC or Marvel, but Archie won't throw you for a loop.

                        Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface Both democrats and republicans are playing for the same team and it's not us. - Chris Austin

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                        • O Oakman

                          Stan Shannon wrote:

                          Tagalog is a language not an ethnic group

                          The Tagalog people is the second largest Filipino ethnolinguistic group. . . The Tagalog people number about 15.9 million making them the second largest Filipino ethnic group [^]

                          Stan Shannon wrote:

                          When an author goes out of his way to create an ethnic character he is trying to make a point that has nothing to do with the story line

                          You probably should stick to comic books - not DC or Marvel, but Archie won't throw you for a loop.

                          Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface Both democrats and republicans are playing for the same team and it's not us. - Chris Austin

                          S Offline
                          S Offline
                          Stan Shannon
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #29

                          Oakman wrote:

                          The Tagalog people is the second largest Filipino ethnolinguistic group. . . The Tagalog people number about 15.9 million making them the second largest Filipino ethnic group [^]

                          Well, all I can say is that in the entire time I was in the Phillipines I never heard anyone refer to themselves as a 'Tagalog'. That was the name of the language they spoke.

                          Oakman wrote:

                          but Archie won't throw you for a loop.

                          Now there's a guy who could command a star ship. In fact, now that I think about it, Jughead looks a little like Spock.

                          Chaining ourselves to the moral high ground does not make us good guys. Aside from making us easy targets, it merely makes us idiotic prisoners of our own self loathing.

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                          • B Brady Kelly

                            Greg Bear's Eon was momentous for me.

                            C Offline
                            C Offline
                            Chris Austin
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #30

                            I felt the same way about David Brin's Uplift Books.

                            Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without. Interest charges not only eat up a household budget; awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity. --Lazarus Long Avoid the crowd. Do your own thinking independently. Be the chess player, not the chess piece. --Ralph Charell

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                            • C Captain See Sharp

                              I thought only mega-nerds actually read sci-fi books.

                              ENDGAME[^]

                              C Offline
                              C Offline
                              Chris Austin
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #31

                              Intel 4004 wrote:

                              I thought only mega-nerds actually read sci-fi books.

                              I read a lot of things unlike you.

                              Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without. Interest charges not only eat up a household budget; awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity. --Lazarus Long Avoid the crowd. Do your own thinking independently. Be the chess player, not the chess piece. --Ralph Charell

                              C 1 Reply Last reply
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                              • C Chris Austin

                                Intel 4004 wrote:

                                I thought only mega-nerds actually read sci-fi books.

                                I read a lot of things unlike you.

                                Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without. Interest charges not only eat up a household budget; awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity. --Lazarus Long Avoid the crowd. Do your own thinking independently. Be the chess player, not the chess piece. --Ralph Charell

                                C Offline
                                C Offline
                                Captain See Sharp
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #32

                                Chris Austin wrote:

                                I read a lot of things unlike you.

                                Alot of things? Like the marvelous works in the public bathrooms or the highway signs.

                                ENDGAME[^]

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                                • O Oakman

                                  Stan Shannon wrote:

                                  When I pick up a science fiction book, if the protagonist isn't a white guy with an anglo-saxon sounding name, I put it right back down.

                                  One of the things I really liked about Starship Troopers, the book, is that Heinlein very carefully never let you know what the protagonist looked like or what his ethnic background was. Until the end of the book - when you find out he wasn't a handsome blue-eyed blonde, or even a tall dark and handsome Brazilian. Instead he was a Tagalog from the Philipines. I bet you would have shit a brick when you realised you had been rooting for someone with dark skin.

                                  Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface Both democrats and republicans are playing for the same team and it's not us. - Chris Austin

                                  C Offline
                                  C Offline
                                  Chris Austin
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #33

                                  Oakman wrote:

                                  Instead he was a Tagalog from the Philipines. I bet you would have sh*t a brick when you realised you had been rooting for someone with dark skin.

                                  Nah, Stan would have shouted PINOY AKO!

                                  Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without. Interest charges not only eat up a household budget; awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity. --Lazarus Long Avoid the crowd. Do your own thinking independently. Be the chess player, not the chess piece. --Ralph Charell

                                  1 Reply Last reply
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                                  • S Stan Shannon

                                    Oakman wrote:

                                    The Tagalog people is the second largest Filipino ethnolinguistic group. . . The Tagalog people number about 15.9 million making them the second largest Filipino ethnic group [^]

                                    Well, all I can say is that in the entire time I was in the Phillipines I never heard anyone refer to themselves as a 'Tagalog'. That was the name of the language they spoke.

                                    Oakman wrote:

                                    but Archie won't throw you for a loop.

                                    Now there's a guy who could command a star ship. In fact, now that I think about it, Jughead looks a little like Spock.

                                    Chaining ourselves to the moral high ground does not make us good guys. Aside from making us easy targets, it merely makes us idiotic prisoners of our own self loathing.

                                    T Offline
                                    T Offline
                                    Tim Craig
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #34

                                    Stan Shannon wrote:

                                    Well, all I can say is that in the entire time I was in the Phillipines I never heard anyone refer to themselves as a 'Tagalog'.

                                    After your experience in San Francisco on the way to the Phillipines, you were probably afraid to leave the ship. :laugh:

                                    "Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work and then they get elected and prove it." -- P.J. O'Rourke

                                    I'm a proud denizen of the Real Soapbox[^]
                                    ACCEPT NO SUBSTITUTES!!!

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                                    • T Tim Craig

                                      Stan Shannon wrote:

                                      Well, all I can say is that in the entire time I was in the Phillipines I never heard anyone refer to themselves as a 'Tagalog'.

                                      After your experience in San Francisco on the way to the Phillipines, you were probably afraid to leave the ship. :laugh:

                                      "Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work and then they get elected and prove it." -- P.J. O'Rourke

                                      I'm a proud denizen of the Real Soapbox[^]
                                      ACCEPT NO SUBSTITUTES!!!

                                      S Offline
                                      S Offline
                                      Stan Shannon
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #35

                                      Tim Craig wrote:

                                      After your experience in San Francisco on the way to the Phillipines, you were probably afraid to leave the ship.

                                      San Diego. And considering that I caught the clap three times in the P.I. I had no trouble finding the beach.

                                      Chaining ourselves to the moral high ground does not make us good guys. Aside from making us easy targets, it merely makes us idiotic prisoners of our own self loathing.

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                                      • S Stan Shannon

                                        Tim Craig wrote:

                                        After your experience in San Francisco on the way to the Phillipines, you were probably afraid to leave the ship.

                                        San Diego. And considering that I caught the clap three times in the P.I. I had no trouble finding the beach.

                                        Chaining ourselves to the moral high ground does not make us good guys. Aside from making us easy targets, it merely makes us idiotic prisoners of our own self loathing.

                                        T Offline
                                        T Offline
                                        Tim Craig
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #36

                                        Stan Shannon wrote:

                                        And considering that I caught the clap three times in the P.I.

                                        Gee, Stan, where were those high moral values you say everyone needs to be civilized? Where were those two millenia of christianity? I think you just got old and cranky and now you're just a humorless prude.

                                        "Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work and then they get elected and prove it." -- P.J. O'Rourke

                                        I'm a proud denizen of the Real Soapbox[^]
                                        ACCEPT NO SUBSTITUTES!!!

                                        S 1 Reply Last reply
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                                        • C Chris Austin

                                          Has to be "The Saga of Seven Suns" by Kevin Anderson. What's the worst you've read?

                                          Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without. Interest charges not only eat up a household budget; awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity. --Lazarus Long Avoid the crowd. Do your own thinking independently. Be the chess player, not the chess piece. --Ralph Charell

                                          M Offline
                                          M Offline
                                          Mycroft Holmes
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #37

                                          Don't tell me you read the whole book, I tried this one before I started using a reader, I took great pleasure in hurling it across the room. One of the things I miss about paper books, the really bad ones can be physically abused for being such crap.

                                          Never underestimate the power of human stupidity RAH

                                          C 1 Reply Last reply
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