SMBC Comics Forum

I think my favorite sci-fi books to date have been Robert A. Heinlein's book. Suprisingly, the ones I've enjoyed the most by far are his junior novels, such as Space Cadet, Red Planet, the Rolling Stones (book title, not magazine), and mosts of all, the one that got me started, my very first Heinlein book: Have Spacesuit, Will Travel. To date, remains one of my favorites, due in part to nostalgia.

I think that was my twelfth or thirteenth Heinlein that I had read. My first encounter with him was The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.

Anyway! Finished reading Glory Road (Heinlein) Glasshouse (Stross) and The Cat Who Walks Through Walls (Heinlein). In progress: The Electric Church (Jeff Somers) Starship Troopers (Heinlein) and Singularity Sky (Stross).

Edminster wrote:The Cat Who Walks Through Walls (Heinlein).

still one of my favourites...

Edminster wrote:I've been meaning to pick that one up. I've also been meaning to finally read the novel version of 'Flowers for Algernon'.

I found the novel version wasn't as good as the short story. The short version was brilliant, but the novel just seemed to take a lot longer to deliver the same story. The movie based on the book, "Charly" is worth seeing. Cliff Robertson picked up a best actor oscar in the title role.

A lot of Harlan Ellison's stuff is very good. As well as "I have no mouth", I liked "Repent Harlequin said the Tick Tock Man" and the Deathbird stories.

Osiris wrote:"Repent Harlequin said the Tick Tock Man"

Is that the one where everybody has a set amount of time in their life, and every time you do something against the regulations, you get some time docked from your lifespan? If so, that's an awesome story.

Osiris wrote:"I have no mouth and I must scream"

I read this one purely because of the title. It was pretty cool.

Edminster wrote: Is that the one where everybody has a set amount of time in their life, and every time you do something against the regulations, you get some time docked from your lifespan? If so, that's an awesome story.

That's the one. Another good short story writer is William Tenn, particularly his "Liberation of Earth".

So, I've finished CS Lewis' sci-fi series. I quite liked it. So much more interesting than Narnia. I also quite liked how each book, though intertwined, is considerably different in style. Some individual reviews:

Out of The Silent Planet - My favourite of the group. Set the stage very well, the characters were interesting, and I liked the progression of his life on Mars, as he changed his conceptions about it all.
Voyage to Venus - Some interesting diatribes, but there were long blocks where nothing happened but some internal speculations and struggles, and it made it a bit of a chore to read. Ultimately, when all was said an done, I liked it, but not as much as the other two.
That Hideous Strength - Really good. Kind of pre-distopian in scope. The premise was really interesting, and it wasn't at all what I expected for the final book, being far different in tone from the first two. This one had some really interesting characters to get behind, especially Merlin who was funny and intriguing. I can't really say whether I liked this one or the first one better.

If I ever see those books at my library, I'll be sure to nab 'em.

I really love Ray Bradbury's short story works, his descriptions are so beautiful!
One series I read recently was the Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons, which was amazing...

Apocalyptus wrote:I really love Ray Bradbury's short story works, his descriptions are so beautiful!
One series I read recently was the Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons, which was amazing...

I'm a big fan of Fahrenheit 451, especially the part about the guys who are like the last copies of "books" in that they have memorized entire works and are the only remaining record of said works.

I gotta say though, Something Wicked This Way Comes is sheer magnificence to read.

Also, just started reading an insanely good book that people who are fans of Gödel, Escher, Bach and The Minds I would enjoy. It's called The Raw Shark Texts, and is crazy awesome. Seriously, buy it. Like, now. Stop reading this and buy it, for reals.

Yeah, I liked Fahrenheit 451, but not as much as his other stuff. Something Wicked this Way Comes was also pretty good, but for some reason I prefer his shorter works, some of it is good enough to send chills down my spine. Argh I'm thinking of a particular story too, but it was a few years ago that I read it so I have no hope in hell of remembering it's title

I haven't read anything by Bradbury but Fahrenheit 451, but that book is one of my favorites. I read it a while ago, though, so I'm only left with a vague concept of it in my childbrain. I began reading Gödel, Escher, Bach, but I found hard to hang on to. You have to be really awake when you read it. I'd like to try it again, but it's something you have to pay attention to if you don't want to be hopelessly confused, and I have a crappy attention span for books.

In that case I would recommend reading The Mind's I first, as it is an anthology of various short stories instead of one incredibly long book.

ALSO!

Recently re-read a short story by Cordwainer Smith called 'Scanners Live In Vain'. I normally wouldn't remark on it except that I noticed that it used the word 'kith' independently of the phrase 'kith and kin' on two seperate occasions. Damn you LR, for bringing linguistically dead words to my attention!