what are you reading?

zip accident · Post by **zip accident** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 11:51 am 0

benedictw wrote:

Another other recommendations for "sense of wonder" SF?

IF you've not already read it, Olaf Stapledon's "Star Maker", written in the 1930s or maybe earlier, is in the long run a meander toward Christianity in a CS Lewis stylee, but does seem to take in the hugeness of the Universe.

Tmuk · Post by **Tmuk** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 12:45 pm 0

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

You're not thinking of 'Ox' by Piers Anthony are you? Good book that, completely insane.

offyoutoddle · Post by **offyoutoddle** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 1:10 pm 0

Mona Lisa Overdrive by William Gibson is next up - followed by Ring by Koji Suzuki (yes the horror film)

benedictw · Post by **benedictw** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 2:47 pm 0

Tmuk wrote:
benedictw wrote: 2) Another book, where the 'bad thing' is a sentient black hole. Unfortunately I cant remember the author or title.
You're not thinking of 'Ox' by Piers Anthony are you? Good book that, completely insane.

Eater, Greg Benford.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/tg/ ... 5?v=glance

F-ZeroOne · Post by **F-ZeroOne** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 5:38 pm 0

On a whim, picked up a copy of "Crickets Strangest Matches". Now, I know cricket is game that tends to attract its fair share of quirkiness, but this is beginning to make me think I've picked up a Harry Potter spin-off or something...

Darwin · Post by **Darwin** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 10:51 pm 0

Just finished reading "Altered Carbon" by Richard Morgan. Cracking read with some interesting technologies contained within, and tons of violence.

Tetra Elemental · Post by **Tetra Elemental** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 11:31 pm 0

Darwin wrote:Just finished reading "Altered Carbon" by Richard Morgan. Cracking read with some interesting technologies contained within, and tons of violence.

Just finished reading his "Market Forces", a sort of yuppified Mad Max. Not his best. Going to start David Keys' "Catastrophe" tomorrow sometime. "An investigation into the origins of the modern world" says the blurb. We'll see.

Firefox · Post by **Firefox** » Thu Nov 10, 2005 12:01 am 0

Tetra Elemental wrote:Just finished reading his "Market Forces", a sort of yuppified Mad Max. Not his best.

Aargh! I had to give up on that one, it just seemed too realistic!

(Not that the suits I have to interact with bump each other off, it's just that many of them see themselves as warriors engaged in a warfare, when to an outside observer they're clearly clueless used car sales(wo)men engaged in pointless bullshit.)

Altered Carbon was good though.

Zzap64! · Post by **Zzap64!** » Thu Nov 10, 2005 12:14 am 0

lovely bones

Mark · Post by **Mark** » Thu Nov 10, 2005 2:39 am 0

zip accident wrote:
benedictw wrote:

Another other recommendations for "sense of wonder" SF?
IF you've not already read it, Olaf Stapledon's "Star Maker", written in the 1930s or maybe earlier, is in the long run a meander toward Christianity in a CS Lewis stylee, but does seem to take in the hugeness of the Universe.

I read Star Maker not so long ago. I found it really hard going, but afterwards tremendously worthwhile. It's one of those rare books that I hesitate to recommend to people because I think they won't like it, but I know they really should read it. Definitely worth sticking with.

Actually another - I thought Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan was very good. Sci-fi with a nice rough edge. Liked it a lot.

ravuya · Post by **ravuya** » Thu Nov 10, 2005 7:15 am 0

I am actually reading Thomas Harlan's "Wasteland of Flint". It's pretty unique, I think (Aztecs dominate the rest of Earth, go to space) and has some neat bits here and there. I'll have more of a concrete opinion once I'm through.

romanista · Post by **romanista** » Thu Nov 10, 2005 9:23 am 0

Yann martell's beautiful "life of pi"

grue · Post by **grue** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 8:24 pm 0

I just started Jonathan Stroud's "The Amulet of Samarkand" and I must say this: Harry Potter eat your heart out!

Firefox · Post by **Firefox** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 8:58 pm 0

I'm currently re-reading Peter Hamilton's Pandora's Star because after reading the first hundred pages of the sequel Judas Unchained I realised I'd forgotton who a lot of the characters were, what a lot of the details of the situation were, and didn't really understand what was going on.

I have to say that I'm thoroughly enjoying it the second time around, though.

(edit)

Four months ago Firefox wrote:I'm reading "Judas Unchained", the sequel to "Pandora's Star" by Peter Hamilton.

I have to say that I'm finding it rather dull so far, whereas the first installment was a real page turner. I'm only up to about page 100 though, so maybe it'll hot up later...

GeeZa · Post by **GeeZa** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 9:04 pm 0

Finally got round to reading the Journal Two of Strange Attractor. It's highly amusing.

YakYak post