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BaldJean View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Topic: Need New Book to read
    Posted: June 01 2005 at 05:40

Originally posted by TBWART TBWART wrote:

blade runner from Phillip K Dick, he's one of the best sci-fi writers of all times...

I don't like the title "Blade Runner" and think it should not be used; it's just for commercial reasons that the book was given that name, because the movie based on it was named that way. The original title was "Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?", which is a much better and more fitting one.



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Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 01 2005 at 05:36

Originally posted by radiognome3 radiognome3 wrote:

Gravity's Rainbow - Thomas Pynchon

An excellent call, but very difficult to read. And I'm not quite sure it fits under SF. But it's nice to know others read Pynchon too.



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Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 01 2005 at 05:34

Matt Ruff, "Sewer, Gas and Electric". Also the "Illuminatus" trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea or the "Schrödinger's Cat" trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson alone (although the 2nd book in the trilogy has been censored, there was a very freaky scene in the original -thankfully I have the original at home - which is missing in today's editon. It was a pretty raunchy scene, and it would be bad language to expound on it here. (Anyone who is really curious about what happens there and wants a good laugh can send me a private message).



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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 31 2005 at 23:39

Originally posted by Litl Litl wrote:

Originally posted by Trotsky Trotsky wrote:

Ursula K. Le Guin's Hainish series does the trick for me ... most of the early ones are good (Rocannon's World, Planet Of Exile, City Of Illusions etc), but the 4th and 5th books The Left Hand Of Darkness and The Dispossessed are the best to get started on (they both won Hugo and Nebula awards I believe) ... The Word For World Is Forest is also another good one ...
 

Agreed.  Ursula is the best.  She's a thinking person's sci-fi and fantasy writer.

For hard sci-fi try Greg Bear and David Brin.  They have wild, unhindered, and boundless imaginations.

Yes Ursula K. LeGuin is amazing, I recommend her novel "Lathe of Heaven" 
mindblowing!

Left Hand of Darkness as mentioned above is also fantastic.

But my favorite science fiction novel (and I am a huge sci-fi buff) is "Deepness in the Sky" by Vernor Vinge.  Great Book, hard to describe, it deals with evil in humanity basically, great book.

AND STAR WARS IS CRAPPY SCIENCE FICTION.  FLUFF I TELL YOU.

(nice choice in Dune by the way, I read that in 3rd grade, been hooked on Science Fiction ever since --- "He who can destroy a thing controls it") love it!!!



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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 31 2005 at 22:58
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 25 2005 at 09:38

Walden/Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau

Genius.

"...misty halos made visible by the spectral illumination of moonshine."
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 25 2005 at 09:35

Originally posted by Pathetique Pathetique wrote:

I saw someone had suggested 1984, that book by far is one of my all time favorets and is one of the big reasons I love to read. War Is Peace!

SLAVERY IS FREEDOM!

IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH!

 

And I am not frightened of dying, any time will do, I
don't mind. Why should I be frightened of dying?
There's no reason for it, you've gotta go sometime.
I never said I was frightened of dying.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 25 2005 at 02:59
[QUOTE=Syntharachnid]

Hurrah for Hitchhiker!!!  I've read all five books, seen the T.V. mini-series, beat the computer game, and seen the movie; for I am a NERD!!!   

If you liked the hitchhiker books, I recommend that you read the original radio scripts.  [QUOTE=Syntharachnid]

Yeah I did the radio scripts for a project back in school. Thanks for all the great sugestions! I saw someone had suggested 1984, that book by far is one of my all time favorets and is one of the big reasons I love to read. War Is Peace!

The Steve
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 21 2005 at 21:29

Try The Martian Chronicles or The Illustrated Man (A collection of short stories) by Ray Bradbury. He is THE science-fiction writer.

Your life or your lupins!!!
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 21 2005 at 14:09
Lord of Light or Amber series by Roger Zelazny, or the Eternal Champion series (only 40 books or so)  by Michael Moorcock
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 21 2005 at 04:52
blade runner from Phillip K Dick, he's one of the best sci-fi writers of all times...
''progression is trying to eliminate boundries''
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 20 2005 at 19:57

Hurrah for Hitchhiker!!!  I've read all five books, seen the T.V. mini-series, beat the computer game, and seen the movie; for I am a NERD!!!   

If you liked the hitchhiker books, I recommend that you read the original radio scripts.  I am currently reading them, and they have some notable differences, though I believe I am only just getting to the part where it completely strays away from a recognizable plot.  It's very interesting to see the genius of Douglas Noel Adams in the original format.  Also, some of his other works are worth checking out, especially the Dirk Gently novels, "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency" and "The Long, Dark Tea-Time of the Soul".

On a completely different note, I also reccomend "The Day of the Triffids" by John Wyndham.  It is in all respects a sci-fi classic.  The story takes place in England.  Telling a tale of biochemical warfare, it predicts that materialism and rivalry between nations will be the downfall of society.  Many groups of people with many different views in the face of crisis are represented, ie: "We must rebuild society, even if it means sacrificing all we have left", "We now have the opporitunity to rebuild society into something better", and "We don't have to worry, the Americans will be coming to our rescue soon."  Highly political, highly reccomended.  (Good for Pink Floyd fans!)

All of Wyndham's work is supposed to be great, but I have only read this one, and it is one of my all time favorites.   



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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 19 2005 at 04:37
I love books by Jack Vance. I'd suggest the Alastor - trilogy.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 16 2005 at 14:05
Originally posted by Scrambled_Eggs Scrambled_Eggs wrote:

Though it's not really space sci-fi, I suggest you check out 1984 by George Orwell.  His nightmarish vision of the future is very intriguing.  It's a doubleplusgood read.

If you like this one, try Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. As my teacher described it, it's like 1984, but with more sex. Also, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is worth reading.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 16 2005 at 13:25
Originally posted by Trotsky Trotsky wrote:

Ursula K. Le Guin's Hainish series does the trick for me ... most of the early ones are good (Rocannon's World, Planet Of Exile, City Of Illusions etc), but the 4th and 5th books The Left Hand Of Darkness and The Dispossessed are the best to get started on (they both won Hugo and Nebula awards I believe) ... The Word For World Is Forest is also another good one ...
 

Agreed.  Ursula is the best.  She's a thinking person's sci-fi and fantasy writer.

For hard sci-fi try Greg Bear and David Brin.  They have wild, unhindered, and boundless imaginations.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 16 2005 at 02:06
Ursula K. Le Guin's Hainish series does the trick for me ... most of the early ones are good (Rocannon's World, Planet Of Exile, City Of Illusions etc), but the 4th and 5th books The Left Hand Of Darkness and The Dispossessed are the best to get started on (they both won Hugo and Nebula awards I believe) ... The Word For World Is Forest is also another good one ...
"Death to Utopia! Death to faith! Death to love! Death to hope?" thunders the 20th century. "Surrender, you pathetic dreamer.”

"No" replies the unhumbled optimist "You are only the present."
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 15 2005 at 11:25
Gravity's Rainbow - Thomas Pynchon
Vive Gong!
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 14 2005 at 21:15

Though it's not really space sci-fi, I suggest you check out 1984 by George Orwell.  His nightmarish vision of the future is very intriguing.  It's a doubleplusgood read.

And I am not frightened of dying, any time will do, I
don't mind. Why should I be frightened of dying?
There's no reason for it, you've gotta go sometime.
I never said I was frightened of dying.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 14 2005 at 19:33

Do yourself a favor and look into Samuel R. Delany he has to be THE most interesting "science fiction" writer around.  I'd recommend Dhalgren, Aye and Gomorrah (a collection of his short stories), Babel-17 and The Fall of The Towers (I think that's the title).  I really don't know why this guy doesn't get the attention that he deserves...as a writer myself, how he melds prose and poetry together without you know focusing on them as seperate genres...is something that's always inspiring and aspiring. 

I also recommend Arthur C. Clarke - Childhood's End and 2001...there's something about him, his disregard for humanity that leaves me always with this alienated and tenebrous feeling...I love it heh! 

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 13 2005 at 23:11
Stranger in a Strangeland, one of Leon Russell's
very best songs! If you missed it well its kinda like
missing Funeral for a Friend by Elton John.

By the way, Elton Johns career is NOT outclassed by
Leon Russell, after all without Leon, Willie Nelson
would have been a nobody. Check Willie's Stardust
album for clues, that was his breakout album.

A little southern insight, though were of lesser
breeding! The American Indian Mystery!

Edited by DallasBryan
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