Anyone else like to read science fiction?

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pi_woman
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28 Jun 2006, 7:05 pm

I've loved SciFi since adolescence. My favorite authors are Isaac Asimov, Michael Crichton, J.R.R.Tolkien, Kage Baker, Jack Finney and Robert J. Sawyer. I'm especially devoted to time travel stories.



theHappyHiker
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12 Jul 2006, 2:56 am

Another sci-fi lover here, but I haven't read a wide scope of authors--a plurality of my sci-fi books have been by Stephen Baxter and/or Clarke. While delving into the fantasy/sci-fi realm, I have also found Tad Williams's Otherland series quite enjoyable. I also read Sleator's books when I was younger.

I'll have to check out some of the authors mentioned here, especially Asimov and Heinlein.

Have any other readers of Baxter noticed the numerous Asperger's references he threads through his novels? I have a feeling either he or one of his relatives may have it, but have been unable to find any further information.


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Veresae
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12 Jul 2006, 11:32 am

I really like some sci-fi, hate others, depending on how well done it is and how much the topic interests me. I intend to eventually read some Philip K. Dick based on what I've heard of his works.

My preference is dark fantasy--Neil Gaiman, HP Lovecraft, etc. I'm not so into "traditional European-style fantasy" a la LotR though.



Emettman
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12 Jul 2006, 12:44 pm

Veresae wrote:
My preference is dark fantasy--Neil Gaiman, HP Lovecraft, etc.


Tim Powers: "The Anubis Gates"?

He can be seriously gothic: the above, and also "The Stress of Her Regard", a different take on a classic theme. He doesn't always get it right though. I hated "Dinner at Deviant's Palace, for example



Veresae
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12 Jul 2006, 2:20 pm

Emettman wrote:
Veresae wrote:
My preference is dark fantasy--Neil Gaiman, HP Lovecraft, etc.


Tim Powers: "The Anubis Gates"?

He can be seriously gothic: the above, and also "The Stress of Her Regard", a different take on a classic theme. He doesn't always get it right though. I hated "Dinner at Deviant's Palace, for example


I haven't heard of him until now--I'll look him up. I am about to start reading Holly Black's "Tithe: A Modern Fairy Tale," though, which is supposed to be some pretty good dark fantasy.



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12 Jul 2006, 3:37 pm

wobbegong wrote:
But I particularily like the way these books create a new world (or worlds) to explore. I'm not so fond of the ones that present an entirely shoot first and ask questions later attitude or the ones that expect the women to stay at home out of danger (most of Isaac Asimov's stuff).


Asimov is how I got into Science Fiction. I was reading his science fact books and looked up his name in the library card catalog to see what else this guy wrote. And found an entire wall of SF in the junior high library. I read it from one corner to the other, then did the same in my High school library.

I love Heinlein and Neal Stephenson. I got bored with fantasy after a while because so much of it seemed derivative.

Anyways - glad to see I'm not the only Aspie who likes SF and doesn't fit the "only reads non-fiction" criterion.



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12 Jul 2006, 3:55 pm

Veresae wrote:
I am about to start reading Holly Black's "Tithe: A Modern Fairy Tale,"


If a modern setting is acceptable, Tim Powers' "Last Call" is one I recommend. It's about the powers of cards, and of other mythic figures.
A man loses his soul, and body, in a card game. And the debt is about to come due.



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12 Jul 2006, 8:22 pm

theHappyHiker wrote:

Have any other readers of Baxter noticed the numerous Asperger's references he threads through his novels? I have a feeling either he or one of his relatives may have it, but have been unable to find any further information.


I know it came up in Manifold: Time. Which other books mention it?



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12 Jul 2006, 9:21 pm

My God,I love,love,LOVE science fiction!


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shivanataraja
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02 Aug 2006, 3:46 pm

lae wrote:
I loved the Hitchhiker's Guide. One of my alltime favorite books is called The Dispossessed, and I can't seem to remember the author's name although she is well known.

Ursula K. Le Guin. One of my favourite books, also :) (she's another one who has written both sci-fi and fantasy, and stuff that sort of crosses over between both - unlike many sci-fi authors whose academic backgrounds are more "science-y", she's an anthropologist, and so her books tend to be much more people/culture/politics focused rather than technology focused. As well as a lot of sci-fi books set in the same universe as "The Dispossessed", she also wrote the Earthsea Quartet, which is regarded as one of the classic works of literary fantasy...)

Other (loosely) sci-fi authors i like (many of these could also have contentions about whether they could more accurately be considered "sci-fi", "fantasy" or in some cases "horror", "satire" or other genres): John Wyndham ("The Day Of The Triffids", "The Kraken Wakes", "The Chrysalids", etc), China Mieville ("Perdido Street Station" and its sequels in the New Crobuzon universe), Will Baker ("Star Beast"), Paul Park ("Coelestis"), Lovecraft's dream-fantasy stuff as well as the more sci-fi-ish of his horror stuff, H.G. Wells ("The Time Machine", "The Island Of Dr Moreau", etc)... it's also possible to consider some more "mainstream"/"literary" stuff, like Orwell or Huxley, as "sci-fi" according to strict definitions, so i'm not sure if strict genre-classification is actually helpful...

Currently reading Roger Zelazny's "Lord Of Light", which is kind of a hybrid of sci-fi with Hindu/Buddhist theology/mythology stuff, altho in writing style it's (to me) a little reminiscent of Lovecraft's dream-fantasy stuff, and also slightly of Le Guin's Earthsea stuff...



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02 Aug 2006, 4:02 pm

For anyone who hasn't read his works, I recomend Isaac Asimov. He is truely one of the Grandmasters of Science fiction.



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07 Aug 2006, 12:08 pm

I've read many science fiction novels a whole lot of them. I fell in love with Anne McCaffery's novels. For anyone who hasn't read any science fiction try one of her works.


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07 Aug 2006, 11:47 pm

I'm a big science fiction fan.

Favorite authors include Robert Heinlein, Pohl Anderson, Ian M. Banks, Eric Frank Russell, H. Beam Piper and James White. I like a lot of the older stuff.

In fantasy I like Robert E. Howard, Charles de Lint and Dennis L. McKiernan, among others. I really enjoyed "Good Omens" by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett and "A Night in the Lonesome October" by Roger Zelazny.

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21 Aug 2006, 9:56 pm

I like to read LOTR and Eragon, even though I haven't finished reading it yet. I also like War of the Worlds.



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24 Aug 2006, 12:06 am

Ursela K. LeGuin: The Lathe Of Heaven
Steven R. Donaldson: The Gap Serires (5 Volumes, it will keep you occupied for a while)
Anything by Frank Herbert (but especially the Dune series, and I'll even stand up for the follow-up books his son's co-written)
Arthur C. Clarke: Childhood's End, The City And The Stars and Rendezvous With Rama
Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle: The Mote In God's Eye
Anything by Fredric Brown
Walter Tevis: The Man Who Fell To Earth

Just off the top of my head...



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25 Aug 2006, 2:12 pm

I've been hooked on SciFi ever since a friend leant me a copy of Carl Sagan's "Contact" (in '89 I think)

Some of my favourites include works by Robert Sheckley; Philip Jose Farmer; Alan Dean Foster; Robert Silverberg; Philip K. Dick; Larry Niven; Jerry Pournelle; Michael Flynn;Iain Banks....loads more.
Having said that, one of the last books I read and loved was “The Time Travellers Wife”, by Audrey Niffenegger, and this was more of a novel with a bit of fantasy.