what are you reading?

benedictw · Post by **benedictw** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 4:48 pm 0

Tmuk wrote:I'm waiting for my copy of Arthur C. Clarke's 'Rendezvous with Rama'. Very into my classic Sci-Fi at the moment

Just dont go near the sequels. Songs of Distant Earth is quite good.

Soonish I will reread George RR Martins "a song of ice and fire" - as the final books been finally published!

merman · Post by **merman** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 5:08 pm 0

Just read some classic SF in the form of Nightfall volumes 1 & 2, collections of Asimov's short stories.

Now I'm re-reading Michael Moore - Dude Where's My Country?

IronGiant · Post by **IronGiant** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 5:11 pm 0

I've just finished reading the excellent 'Thursbitch' by Alan Garner. Brilliant book.

I'm now reading The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray by Chris Wooding - a good, readable story but not as good as I'd hoped.

everklear · Post by **everklear** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 5:29 pm 0

Chuffmeister wrote:Darwins Children (Greg Bear)

I liked that one.
Near future SF is difficult to pull off well. Bear is good at it.

everklear · Post by **everklear** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 5:32 pm 0

Viscount Charles wrote:RE-reading Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" marathon. Currently up to book 8, having received book 11 from the states a couple of weeks ago.

I don't have it yet...I think I'll wait until it hits the discount shelvs in 6 months...but I had an odd dream last night. The dream had a brief segment that featured me picking this book up off an end table and realizing that the book was about 8 inches thick. I don't remember the context of that moment in the dream (if there even was a context). A comment on the "eternal" series, perhaps? I remember reading somewhere that Jordan felt he was about halfway through with book 10.

piku · Post by **piku** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 5:58 pm 0

Philip K Dick's "We can remember it for you wholesale".

There are some really cool short stories in it, often ending with the humans in the book being wrong and the technology being right.

littledrummerboy · Post by **littledrummerboy** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 7:40 pm 0

This thread...........durr

Tmuk · Post by **Tmuk** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 9:29 pm 0

benedictw wrote:
Tmuk wrote:I'm waiting for my copy of Arthur C. Clarke's 'Rendezvous with Rama'. Very into my classic Sci-Fi at the moment
Just dont go near the sequels. Songs of Distant Earth is quite good.

Soonish I will reread George RR Martins "a song of ice and fire" - as the final books been finally published!

I wont, thanks for the tip! Actually, now I've read into it a bit more, it sounds an awful lot like 'Titan' by John Varley (a superb book which I've already read). Anyone read both? Is one a complete rip-off of the other?

Firefox · Post by **Firefox** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 10:56 pm 0

benedictw wrote:
Tmuk wrote:I'm waiting for my copy of Arthur C. Clarke's 'Rendezvous with Rama'. Very into my classic Sci-Fi at the moment
Just dont go near the sequels.

What he said.

I wish I could go back in time and tell my former self not to touch the sequels with a bargepole. They spoilt the masterpiece that is the original for me.

benedictw wrote:Songs of Distant Earth is quite good.

Very good. Quite poignant, really.

piku · Post by **piku** » Tue Nov 08, 2005 11:47 pm 0

Firefox wrote:
benedictw wrote:
Tmuk wrote:I'm waiting for my copy of Arthur C. Clarke's 'Rendezvous with Rama'. Very into my classic Sci-Fi at the moment
Just dont go near the sequels.
What he said.

I wish I could go back in time and tell my former self not to touch the sequels with a bargepole. They spoilt the masterpiece that is the original for me.

Yes, they did go a bit ... weird didn't they?

Books by Tom Holt are good. He's got good attention to detail when describing things.

sty · Post by **sty** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 12:22 am 0

Istar wrote:Current: Intervention, Julian May.

A book I really enjoyed "back in the day" when it came out, as a teenager I got totally into the Saga of the Exiles series by her and was waiting for Intervention to come out for ages.

However if you want a real contrast, and haven't already read it, get a copy of State of The Art by Iain M. Banks and read the story of the same title in it. Banks addresses the same issue, and I think achieves much more in that short story that May does in Intervention. Worth a compare and contrast if nothing else

sty · Post by **sty** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 12:36 am 0

Since I've moved away from all my usual distractions (/me curses Dial up) I've been ploughing through a few books:

Interface - Neil Stephenson
not a bad read, the plot seems to jump forward in lurches but an interesting read none the less, not one of his best though.

Sometimes the magic works - Terry Brooks
I thought this was going to be a sort of autobiography when I picked it up, but it turned out to be a guide to how to write books with a fair amount of biography wrapped into it. Very enjoyable read and I even learnt something.

iCon
Another Steve Jobs biography book, I'd been wanting to read this for ages as it promised topick up from where the other Jobs biographies I had read left off (ie. just after his return and lauch of the iMacs). It was pretty good however it spent a little too long covering the ground from when he founded Apple to when he finally rejoined them for my interest. However there is some superb insight to the whole Pixar negotiations with Disney, I can't wait to see how this all plays out now, especially since Jobs recently seems to have hinted he may do a deal again with Disney, or even sell his stake in Pixar outright. There is also a great section on the rise of the iPod and iTMS, although I think we need to wait a few more years for the definitive book on this subject. If you haven't read a Jobs biog then worth reading this one, or Second Coming.

I'm about to launch into The Confusion by Neil Stephenson, that should slow down my reading a little

On the work front I am currently speed reading a book on IT project management so I know all the correct "Methodology" based PM terms so I strand a chance of getting a decent job over here in NZ, I just missed out (into the last 2) on a very lucrative contract because of that - and I would rather that didn't happen again.

I'm also reading the Mythical Man Month for work type stuff, but dated now, but it's a standard history book so I feel I ought to read it.

When my container arrives in a few days hopefully I will have access to some more books I packed for myself, a few Pratchetts if I remember correctly

Firefox · Post by **Firefox** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 4:07 am 0

piku wrote:
Firefox wrote:I wish I could go back in time and tell my former self not to touch the sequels with a bargepole. They spoilt the masterpiece that is the original for me.
Yes, they did go a bit ... weird didn't they?

There was some really good stuff in there, it wasn't badly written or anything. My problems with the sequels are:

* The original was good because it really conveyed the sense of wonder of this "ordinary" spacecraft crew exploring this vast alien artifact. The later ones practically had timetables for when the biots would swing by and detailed job descriptions for them. Bye-bye sense of wonder.

* The ending. As I got towards the end of the final installment the excitement was really building about discovering the purpose of the Ramas. When I finally found out I thought, "That's it? I came all this way for that?" I was immensely disappointed, it seemed like a huge cop-out.

Foozwah · Post by **Foozwah** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 11:18 am 0

Currently reading:

On actual paper: Something Rotten, Jasper Fforde

On my PDA: The Time Machine, HG Wells

Always got two books on the go that way - something bought or loaned wif proper pages (cos I love real dead tree!) for home, and something on the Pocket PC from the "out of copyright and converted to e-books" range," for budget-free commuter reading fun.

benedictw · Post by **benedictw** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 11:30 am 0

John Varley's Titan reminds me of two books:

1) Fred Hoyle's The Black Cloud

2) Another book, where the 'bad thing' is a sentient black hole. Unfortunately I cant remember the author or title.

Another other recommendations for "sense of wonder" SF?