Author Topic: Science Fiction / Fantasy (Read 364206 times)

PatH · « **Reply #1080 on:** March 30, 2011, 11:59:08 AM »

Science Fiction / Fantasy

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Welcome to the whole universe! This is where we gather to share our experiences in science fiction and fantasy. We like everything, from Gregory Benford to Stephanie Meyer—hard science to magic and fantasy.

Come in, sit down with us, and tell us what you are reading or have read, what you like or dislike.

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Discussion Leader: PatH

Steph · « **Reply #1081 on:** March 31, 2011, 06:09:25 AM »

Wyndam.. Hmm. I know I read some of the books, but actually cannot remember the plots.
On the other hand, I am still tracking Miles. In this book, he is courting.. Very fun..

Babi · « **Reply #1082 on:** April 07, 2011, 07:32:31 PM »

Just started, happily, Marilyn Zimmer Bradley's 'prequel', "The Forest House". Of course,
she has me snared right from page one!

Frybabe · « **Reply #1083 on:** April 08, 2011, 12:09:13 AM »

I am in the middle of yet another of the S.L. Viehl Stardoc series. I don't see as many of the problems I pointed out earlier regarding holes in the plot, logic gaps and proofing errors. Either her writing improved, or she finally got a got a good editor. I now have all the books in the series but one. Rebel Ice, like some of the other early ones, is very hard to find. Oddly, most of the books are on kindle, except for this one. It is also the one that previous readers don't much like. Apparently the author switched from first person narrative. The premise of the Rebel Ice story is that she lost her memory. In that context, I can see how the author may have wanted someone else narrate. It was an experiment that didn't go over with the fans very well. I'd love to get my hands on a copy just to make my own judgment. Most of the used copied offered on the net cost more than a new book after shipping is added to the price.

Steph · « **Reply #1084 on:** April 09, 2011, 10:39:18 AM »

I liked The Forest House better than the next one.. Found two older Pratchetts in a used book store in St. Augustine. Hooray.

Babi · « **Reply #1085 on:** April 10, 2011, 08:31:07 AM »

I thought "The Forest House" was the prequel to a series I've already read. Is there a 'sequel
to the prequel', STEPH? Other than the original series, I mean.

Steph · « **Reply #1086 on:** April 11, 2011, 06:23:18 AM »

No, Ijust meant that I liked the
Forest House better than the original story.

Babi · « **Reply #1087 on:** April 11, 2011, 08:38:05 AM »

Ah, okay. Actually, it's been so long I don't even remember the original series. No doubt if
I picked one up and scanned through it a bit, I'd remember some of it. But I've always
enjoyed every book of hers that I read.

Steph · « **Reply #1088 on:** April 12, 2011, 08:24:50 PM »

Iloved the Darkover series much more than this one.

marcie · « **Reply #1089 on:** April 14, 2011, 10:58:00 AM »

This Sunday HBO is airing the first episode of a new series, Game of Thrones. It's based on A Song of Ice and Fire, a series of epic fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin. You can see a preview of the series and learn more at http://www.hbo.com/game-of-thrones/index.html#/index.html (the page takes a while to load).

Frybabe · « **Reply #1090 on:** April 14, 2011, 04:18:41 PM »

Ok, that was a bit gory.

Steph · « **Reply #1091 on:** April 15, 2011, 06:16:50 AM »

Hah.. Found the latest Sookie in the store. I do love all of the Charlaine Harris series. Good writer in quite different styles.

Maryemm · « **Reply #1092 on:** April 29, 2011, 10:34:37 AM »

Game of Thrones: Starting on UK TV this Monday! Am off now to see if I can get the books on Kindle.

Steph · « **Reply #1093 on:** April 30, 2011, 06:22:00 AM »

Space
Doc which was recommended here is my bed book.. A space opera for sure with a true villain or actually at this point, several villains and a hero who is blue?? What fun.

Frybabe · « **Reply #1094 on:** April 30, 2011, 08:41:54 AM »

I'm glad you like it Steph. The author sure keeps the action going, and she seems to hit on all kinds of social issues along the way throughout the series. I have all the books in the series now except for Rebel Ice. I am going to have to resort to buying it used online. Neither of the libraries I have access to have it in their catalog, and none of the bookstores seem to have it in stock any more and are unable to get it. It is the one least liked by the series followers because the author switches from a first person narrative for that book alone. I think the author was trying something different because in Rebel Ice our heroine gets amnesia.

Babi · « **Reply #1095 on:** April 30, 2011, 08:55:42 AM »

The first book of the Stardoc series is available at my elder daughter's branch
library. She has promised to get it for me. I am consoling myself meanwhile
with another Reginald Hill and another Miss Potter story. Neither sci-fi, tho' one
could consider the Miss Potter stories as fantasy. Or at least definitely whimsy.
Reginald Hill keeps coming up with odd, multisyllabic words that I never heard
of and can't find in the dictionary. I think he's making them up.

salan · « **Reply #1096 on:** May 01, 2011, 05:25:34 AM »

I watched the first episode of Game of Thrones. I am not a prude; but there was too much nudity and explicit sex for me. I don't know why they had to do that. It did not add anything to the story line. I don't plan to watch another episode. Too bad, because I love Sean Bean--especially in the Sharpe's series.

Sally

Steph · « **Reply #1097 on:** May 01, 2011, 06:34:53 AM »

Too much violence. Dont like it in my Sci Fi books.. Love the fantasy...

Maryemm · « **Reply #1098 on:** May 01, 2011, 11:11:32 AM »

Oh Salan. I planned to watch this tomorrow night and I've downloaded the book to my Kindle!

Agree about the Sharpe series, and about Sean Bean!!

PatH · « **Reply #1099 on:** May 01, 2011, 09:48:24 PM »

Marcie's preview would have daunted me (even if I could get HBO). It wasn't beyond my tolerance level, but was at the level of "there has to be a really good reason for putting up with this".

Steph · « **Reply #1100 on:** May 02, 2011, 06:20:42 AM »

Almost finished the first Space Doc.. Boy turning her into a non sentient being makes no sense.. Her creator must be enormously powerful.

Babi · « **Reply #1101 on:** May 02, 2011, 09:41:40 AM »

"turning her into a non sentient being makes no sense.. "

Oh, dear, that doesn't sound very promising. I asked my elder daughter to bring me that first
book of the series. I hope I'm not going to be disappointed; I'd looked forward to finding a good
new series. I do like my protagonists not to be machines, tho'.

Frybabe · « **Reply #1102 on:** May 02, 2011, 02:30:50 PM »

CherieJo is not a machine, Babi, but she was bio-engineered from the womb. Her "Dad", with political connections, had her declared nonsentient in a move that would strip her of rights that a sentient would have. He had several motives for doing this. Not all is revealed in the first book. You will have to read into the next books to see how desperate and obsessed this guy is.

So, one of the first social issues this series touches on is cloning and/or prenatal engineering. Are we not doing the latter to some small extent now with prenatal operations to correct birth defects? Another issue that comes up early on is slavery; this will be a continuing theme.

Steph, what did you think of Duncan?

PatH · « **Reply #1103 on:** May 02, 2011, 10:33:46 PM »

I just got this month's f2f sci-fi book club selection from the library--Alfred Bester's "the Demolished Man", written in 1951. It seems to be a detective story in a world of telepaths; I'll probably like it--we read his other major book "The Stars My Destination", and that was good.

I didn't report on the last book--"Palimpsest", by Catherynne Valente. It was mostly a combination of wildly florid and imaginative descriptions of an imaginary place which, to me, didn't seem to add up or catch my imagination, and numerous descriptions of the most joyless sex I've ever run across. Not much to like. It was a small crowd, and I was the only person there over early thirties; I suspect most of the others got bogged down. What I like about this group is that they don't treat me as an older person, or watch their language because I look like someone's mother or grandmother; I'm just one more person who's read the book and whose opinion will be listened to and argued with.

Steph · « **Reply #1104 on:** May 03, 2011, 06:16:45 AM »

I liked the first Space Doc and have the second and third coming from my swap club. I was disturbed by the mind and sex scenes and dont trust Duncan.. Her first love sounded wonderful however.

Frybabe · « **Reply #1105 on:** May 03, 2011, 08:30:26 AM »

Yes, I found Duncan rather creepy too. I think Beyond Varallan is even better than the first, but this is definitely a series that should be read in order.

Babi · « **Reply #1106 on:** May 03, 2011, 09:23:56 AM »

Thanks for the explanation, FRYBABE. Already, I'm incensed with 'Dad'. His
motives had better be pretty d...ed good!

Steph · « **Reply #1107 on:** May 05, 2011, 06:12:43 AM »

Iam not being patient, but am waiting for the second in the series. I got the third, but wont open it until I have gotten and read the second.

Babi · « **Reply #1108 on:** May 05, 2011, 08:22:57 AM »

My daughter Valerie is the same way, STEPH. In fact, if it's been a long time between books,
she will go back and re-read the last one before picking up the new one, so she will have the
continuity straight in her mind.

Steph · « **Reply #1109 on:** May 06, 2011, 08:30:15 AM »

Yes, just now I am reading the 3rd Louise Penny, and have somehow already read the 4th.. Makes for confusing reading..

PatH · « **Reply #1110 on:** May 09, 2011, 06:56:02 PM »

Quote from: Babi on May 05, 2011, 08:22:57 AM

In fact, if it's been a long time between books,
she will go back and re-read the last one before picking up the new one, so she will have the
continuity straight in her mind.

I do that all the time, Babi, it's too easy to forget things and mess them up in your mind.

PatH · « **Reply #1111 on:** May 09, 2011, 07:27:33 PM »

I found another book by John Scalzi ("Old Men's War" and sequels). It's "Agent to the Stars". Scalzi wrote it for practice when he was starting out, with no intention of publishing, to see if he could actually write books. It led a subterranean life on the internet for a long time, got published in a limited edition, and now is out in mass market paperback.

It's a light-hearted, funny thing: benevolent aliens have come to our solar system, and, after spending a number of years studying us through television broadcasts, etc, want to make contact. The problem is, that they look like disgusting blobs of goo and communicate by means of smells that humans find nauseating. How not to scare humans off? They decide that Hollywood sets the stage for the whole world, so they hire a Hollywood agent to find a way to present them to humanity.

You can pick a lot of holes in the details, but it's not the sort of thing where this matters. It's a good story, well told, with lots of plot twists, and an amusing satire of the Hollywood scene.

Steph · « **Reply #1112 on:** May 09, 2011, 08:53:04 PM »

Started with Pyramid.. by Terry Pratchett. Just at the beginning, but is is starting with promise. I am fond of the assassin school.

Babi · « **Reply #1113 on:** May 10, 2011, 10:06:43 AM »

I know I read at least one Pratchett book about the Assassin School...or rather
about one of its gradates. I can't remember whether it was "Pyramid". It sounds familiary, but then there have been numberless books with 'pyramid' in
the title.

Steph · « **Reply #1114 on:** May 11, 2011, 06:19:27 AM »

Pratchett uses the Assasin school in several of the Disc world books..

PatH · « **Reply #1115 on:** May 16, 2011, 08:06:03 PM »

My f2f sci-fi discussion group met last Thursday. Our book was Alfred Bester's "The Demolished Man". Winner of the first ever Hugo award in 1953, it's a detective/chase story. In 2301, there hasn't been a murder in 87 years, because telepathic police stop crime before it occurs, and no one dares to kill because they would be found out.

Rich industrialist Ben Reich decides he has to kill his enemy, and works out a plan. He is pitted against telepathic cop Lincoln Powell (only a small fraction of people are telepathic; Powell is, Reich isn't). It's a good story on the chase/detection level. You are torn in your sympathies between Reich and Powell. It also has a lot of Freudian baggage which seems old-fashioned now.

My fellow discussers mostly picked up on the psychology and differences between then and now, but it was a really good discussion. I refrained from pointing out that it's quite possible that I read it when it first came out as a serial in Galaxy in 1952. I don't remember it, but I was reading Galaxy then. I'm the oldest one by decades, but thank goodness they don't pay any attention to that, but just treat me as one of them.

Steph · « **Reply #1116 on:** May 17, 2011, 06:15:04 AM »

Oh me, I read the Bester and tried to do a book report on it, but the teacher did not consider Science Fiction as proper for book reports. Darn.

PatH · « **Reply #1117 on:** May 17, 2011, 09:49:09 PM »

It's too bad, Steph, I'm sure it would have been a good report, and your teacher would have learned something. Not proper for book reports indeed.

Steph · « **Reply #1118 on:** May 18, 2011, 06:22:36 AM »

For a very very long time, Science Fiction was considered a childhood thing or a male thing. A good many females who wrote in the field used initials.

PatH · « **Reply #1119 on:** May 18, 2011, 06:52:55 AM »

Then there's James Tiptree, Jr. It was years before anyone learned she was a woman.

You're right, Steph, a lot of it was directed at teen-age boys.

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Author Topic: Science Fiction / Fantasy (Read 364206 times)