Author Topic: Science Fiction / Fantasy (Read 385140 times)

Frybabe · « **Reply #1960 on:** September 08, 2013, 10:04:56 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.

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Discussion Leader: PatH

If you like military/science mission scifi, try Evan Currie. I've been reading his Odyssey series which starts out as a scientific mission that runs into some aliens who are bend on destroying colonies they find. They end up rescuing a colony from destruction even though they are not primarily suited to combat nor have they may be violating their directive. They have no diplomatic or trade ties with these newly discovered colonies. The primary setting for the first book is aboard ship with some ground action.

The Warrior's Wings series involves an agricultural/scientific colony that is under attack. The action divides its time between shipboard and on planet action. One of the interesting things about the WW series is that both aliens and humans are advanced in some areas and somewhat behind in others regarding communications and weaponry. Currie does not go into any great technical detail so you don't get bogged down. He keeps the action moving, but gives his characters a little breathing space between actions. This is a self-published author, so you might only find his work on Amazon.

Steph · « **Reply #1961 on:** September 09, 2013, 09:45:15 AM »

not fond of space opera, so with the exception of Miles.. I leave it alone.

PatH · « **Reply #1962 on:** September 09, 2013, 01:32:34 PM »

Sounds like something I might like; I'll look into it.

Frybabe · « **Reply #1963 on:** September 11, 2013, 08:43:38 PM »

I just finished Eternity Road by Jack McDevitt. What an interesting story. It is listed as Science Fiction, but there is minimal science in this fiction. Long after of a mega plague resulting collapse of our civilization a small group of explorers go looking for information about "The Roadbuilders", a legendary treasure located at an equally legendary place called Haven, and to find out what happened to the first expedition. They travel mostly on horseback to the east coast following the trail of the original expedition. As they travel, they pass by interesting ruins, defend themselves against forest people called the Tuks and other marauders, and discover that there is another, larger and slightly more technically advanced group of communities in the east.

The community from which they set out is along the Mississippi near what used to be Memphis, Their transportation is limited to horses (and wagons) and barges on the river. The League communities there have no printing press, their primary deity is a female, the healing arts appear to be mostly natural and religious in nature, they value learning, their buildings have glass windows, but they don't have electricity. The communities they find in the east have added steam engine powered boats and indoor hot water courtesy of an old "inventor" who was able to take apart some of the old artifacts and figure out how they were put together. He also had made himself a hot air balloon which took the remaining members of the expedition on their final leg of the journey.

Travel eastward with them and see what they make of the ruined buildings and technologies they come across on their journey. I think you will enjoy it. The treasure, BTW, is a great repository of knowledge - a library.

PatH · « **Reply #1964 on:** September 11, 2013, 11:32:00 PM »

Thanks for the review, Frybabe. McDevitt is one of the authors I mean to try and haven't yet, but this sounds like something I'd like, so maybe I'll actually do it.

I spotted Scalzi's The Human Division in my library New Books section, and have now read it. You're right, Frybabe, it's not as funny as we're used to, but he still has his wisecracking style. At the end, we still don't know who the saboteurs are, which implies another series to come.

Steph · « **Reply #1965 on:** September 12, 2013, 08:48:55 AM »

I put McDevitt on my find list. The book sounds fascinating.

Steph · « **Reply #1966 on:** September 16, 2013, 08:48:52 AM »

Just finished Cassandra Clare.... The Mortal Instuments... City of Bones.. Excellent fantasy. Has a interesting premise and the characters are basically centered around some teens. Hence the Young Adult.. Still I really enjoyed it and will look for the second one, along with a prequel series..

Frybabe · « **Reply #1967 on:** October 07, 2013, 07:58:41 AM »

My next read is a thick book of short stories by Jack McDevitt called Cryptic.

While reading the latest Dana Stabenow, Liam Campbell series book, I was delighted to see Little Fuzzy mentioned. Aside from the murder victim being a book club member, Liam, Wy, and Tim are also readers, so books (and sometimes their titles) get mentioned throughtout the series.

Frybabe · « **Reply #1968 on:** October 07, 2013, 03:21:03 PM »

I just finished the title short story, Cryptic, by Jack McDevitt. Wow! Well, not the story so much but that it references The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon and a book supposedly about Malcolm Muggeridge called Malcolm Muggeridge: Faith and Despair. I cannot find that book or the author so it is probably fictional. It did, however, remind me about loving to watch M.M. on Jack Parr and William Buckley. Now I am going to have to track down some of his books. A link to his autobiography is below:

http://www.amazon.com/Chronicles-Wasted-Time-Malcolm-Muggeridge/dp/0895267624/ref=sr_1_17?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1381173537&sr=1-17&keywords=muggeridge+malcolm

Steph · « **Reply #1969 on:** October 09, 2013, 01:30:31 PM »

I like Liam...

PatH · « **Reply #1970 on:** October 20, 2013, 06:21:32 PM »

Several of you have recommended Lois McMaster Bujold, but somehow I never got around to reading her until recently. I started with The Warriors Apprentice, which I think is the first of the Miles Vorkosigan books. What a hoot! This kid, who has just flunked the entrance exam for the military academy, gets in a jam, which he gets out of by some elaborate scheme which gets him in a worse jam, so he adds another layer to his schemes, on and on, until he's commanding a huge mercenary army, which he might or might not be able to pay. Everything should collapse around him, but somehow it never quite does. Does he always carry on like this?

I've got a treat ahead, since there are quite a lot of books, but I think it's best to space them out a bit. It's hard to find the early books, and my library doesn't have anything by her, but I got this one very cheaply online. It's stamped "free read do not sell".

Frybabe · « **Reply #1971 on:** October 20, 2013, 09:01:20 PM »

PatH, she is credited with one episode of Tales from the Dark Side. I am in the process of looking up her works. I am not familiar with her at all.

Frybabe · « **Reply #1972 on:** October 20, 2013, 09:23:30 PM »

Lois McMaster Bujold must have been popular. I checked ABE only to find that most of her books (there are a lot listed) are only Acceptable, Fair or Poor. Amazon has the first two and several others on Kindle, but not all of them. My library doesn't have any of them either. Let me know how you like it. I may just have to spring for a few with my birthday money when I order a new hard drive for one of my computers.

Frybabe · « **Reply #1973 on:** October 21, 2013, 05:02:29 PM »

I'm reading a rather strange ebook called Turing Evolved, an ebook by David Kitson. It is supposedly billed as military Scifi, but so far as I've gotten, the main character was discharged and is working for some strange company that specializes in helping people to transition back to real life after having been been hooked up to a virtually reality system (complete with life support so they never have to move from their "cradle") for a lengthy time. Most of them seem to be because the money to support their virtual life has run out and they are getting kicked off the servers. Like I said - strange. But interesting.

Kind of reminds me of the stories I heard about gamers who can't stand to miss or stop, so they stay at their computers for days, peeing in bottles and such so as not to have to get up.

Frybabe · « **Reply #1974 on:** October 24, 2013, 08:05:12 AM »

I've finished Turing Evolved. It is all about virtual reality and the evolution of AI programs. I began to suspect where the story was all leading about half way through, so I wasn't terribly surprised at the end. Interesting story, not overly technical. Minimal gaming vocabulary, so you can read it and not get lost. Interesting mix of R&D, military, humanitarian, and philosophical/ethical/moral. Although not a religious text the author give characters (Angels - humanitarian, Demons - military battle armour, Archangel - next gen battle armour) and one of the VR environments (HEAVEN - virtual home base for the Angels) names that bespeak of religious overtones and hierarchy. Like I said a strange, but interesting book. I believe it is only available as an e-book. It is listed as a stand alone, but from the author's notes at the end, it looks like he may be working on a sequel.

This morning, I was surprised to find this article on the morning BBC News app. It speaks to at least one of the issues brought up in Turing Evolved . I had no idea that this might "evolve" into a major issue. Of course, it may be that the issue is being overstated by the news media.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24614830

PatH · « **Reply #1975 on:** October 24, 2013, 12:05:54 PM »

Interesting article. I wonder if it is overstated. Somehow, dating that blue-haired drawing with the big eyes doesn't seem very satisfying to me. I can see the wish to tune out the realities of life in modern Japan, though.

A lot of good stories have been written about escaping into virtual realities.

Frybabe · « **Reply #1976 on:** October 24, 2013, 02:45:53 PM »

I must say that playing with an interactive character on your iphone can't hold a candle to those who can afford a real virtual reality set up. In the book the VR is total immersion. Think The Matrix type connections here. I can see why such a system would become addictive. What happens when the VR is sooo good, that you cannot tell reality from the VR world? I can see where incredibly advanced systems could bring up philosophical, moral and ethical questions such as were touched on in the book.

When I went looking for a bio of the author, David Kitson, I didn't come up with much. He is apparently Australian, is only a part-time writer, amateur scientist, night vision developer, and takes photos of the night sky using image tubes (what ever they are). His day job is with Fujitsu as a Senior Network Consultant. As best as I can determine, the sequel to Turing Evolved is going to be called Titanium Skin, no publication date yet.

If any of you read Turing Evolved, let me know what you think of it. Originally, I wasn't going to finish it after a few pages, but I decided to give it another try. I am glad I did.

marcie · « **Reply #1977 on:** October 24, 2013, 05:33:59 PM »

Frybabe, That article is fascinating. Pat, I too wonder if it's exaggerated.

The article reminds me of Idoru by William Gibson, where the lead singer for a rock band is rumored to be actually engaged to an "idoru" or "idol singer"--an artificial celebrity creation of information software agents.

Steph · « **Reply #1978 on:** October 25, 2013, 09:02:04 AM »

I love Miles and have hunted up most of the older books.She is still writing about him however. He gets into the darndest messes in the world and comes out triumphant.. Great fun.

PatH · « **Reply #1979 on:** October 25, 2013, 06:12:25 PM »

Steph, I'm obviously going to want to read more of Miles. Is it important to read them in order?

Steph · « **Reply #1980 on:** October 26, 2013, 08:58:22 AM »

Roughly in order.. He does fall in love and marry, etc, so it is more fun to watch this happen in several of the books.. He also of course gets into the most difficult situations on earth. But he is such fun.

PatH · « **Reply #1981 on:** October 26, 2013, 12:35:11 PM »

I hope the woman he marries is a tough cookie. She'll need to be to take all the ups and downs.

Steph · « **Reply #1982 on:** October 27, 2013, 11:38:15 AM »

She will be a delightful surprise and that is all I am saying.

Frybabe · « **Reply #1983 on:** October 27, 2013, 02:56:16 PM »

I don't have William Gibson's Idoru, but I do have several others to read. After three chapters, I gave up on Virtual Light. The characters don't interest me in the least. Still, I feel like I might be missing something. One of the characters steals a pair of sunglasses just because she didn't like the owner of them. Apparently, the glasses allow you to see things you wouldn't ordinarily see. I guess Google glasses are just the beginning. $:-\$

PatH · « **Reply #1984 on:** October 27, 2013, 04:00:24 PM »

Gibson tends to be ahead of the times. It's too bad, because I don't care for where I think he's going.

marcie · « **Reply #1985 on:** October 27, 2013, 04:58:08 PM »

I admire Gibson's writing style and his imagination, although his vision of the future can be worrisome.

I just came across Isaac Asimov's 1964 predictions for 2014. He was amazing.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/charliewarzel/isaac-asimovs-1964-prediction-of-2014-is-frighteningly-accur

I was reminded of some of the things we didn't have growing up, such as prepared frozen dinners.

PatH · « **Reply #1986 on:** October 27, 2013, 06:26:01 PM »

Not only is Gibson's future worrisome, but he himself is comfortable with it. Or at least that's what he said at a book signing I went to a couple of years ago.

That is an amazing set of predictions, very cleverly presented. I wonder what was left out.

Steph · « **Reply #1987 on:** October 28, 2013, 08:59:10 AM »

not a favorite of mine at all. He has a world, I would hate.

Frybabe · « **Reply #1988 on:** October 29, 2013, 07:53:11 AM »

Yesterday I finished a very interesting SciFi about a Terran Secret Service agent, a blood feud with his former best friend, a strange religious cult that strikes fear into the native inhabitants, and tensions between the native's and the Earth's sovereign trade centers on the planet Wolf. The book (novella?) is called The Door Through Space by Marion Zimmer Bradley. I don't think it was serialized. Too bad, I'd love to read more of Race Cargill. It appears, however, that she put Scifi aside and concentrated on Fantasy. Her writings include Mists of Avalon.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marion_Zimmer_Bradley

Oh, my. She was a cofounder of the Society for Creative Anachronism. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_for_Creative_Anachronism I didn't know that. I have had two neighbors who were (are still?) members of that organization. I even, briefly, thought of joining.

Steph · « **Reply #1989 on:** October 29, 2013, 08:58:00 AM »

I loved her world.. She wrote a whole series of books centered around a lost world..The premises is fascinating.. You should try them..

PatH · « **Reply #1990 on:** November 13, 2013, 04:51:48 PM »

Somehow I never got around to reading anything by Jack McDevitt until recently, when I read Polaris. It's not bad; it's a sort of mystery/suspense--what happened to the crew and passengers of the space yacht Polaris, who mysteriously disappeared without a trace, leaving an empty ship, and who is trying to kill the protagonists and why? There is a large cast of characters who are hard to keep straight, and I found a few logic holes in the mystery, but it's a pleasant enough read.

Now I'm reading Wool,by Hugh Howey, which is the next selection for my f2f book club. Someone here recommended it, so I'm glad to try it. It's very well written, and you care about the characters, and the plot is suspenseful, but I have to take it in small doses, because it's about a bunch of people living for generations in a huge underground silo to escape earth's now toxic atmosphere, and after about half an hour I start getting claustrophobia and feeling trapped.

Frybabe · « **Reply #1991 on:** November 14, 2013, 09:00:41 AM »

Oh my, PatH, what an emotional response to Wool. The first, it pretty much sets up the structure of the silo community and the practice of sending dissidents and convicts out to clean the one window to the outside world - essentially a death sentence. There are some interesting surprises in the following books, and as begun in the first book, a growing suspicion that the powers are keeping secrets. Beyond that, I don't want to introduce anything that might be a spoiler. It is not my usual SciFi type reading, but the story grew on me quickly. I've heard some noise about Wool being made into a movie, but I haven't checked on its status lately.

A Talent for War is the first Alex Benedict book; Polaris is the second. Seeker, the third, won the 2006 Nebula Award for Best Novel. The Devil's Eye, Echo, and Firebird are next in that order. The newest of the series is now due out sometime in 2014. I could have sworn it was originally due out this fall - didn't happen. It is listed as being titled Coming Home. That title has a final of the series ring to it. I hope not, but at 81, Jack may want to wrap up his series. I have not yet read any of the Priscilla (Hutch) Hutchins series yet and only one of his stand alones (Eternity Road) so far.

I am happy to say that the new generation of SciFi writers have some stars among them. Aside from Hugh Howey I would could Evan Currie. I have finished with his Warriors Wings series (more to come) and am in the middle of the Odyssey series. Aside from the obvious penitent of the ebook writers to not have their work properly proofed for misspellings, etc. his books are good. The Warriors Wing series features many women in positions of command giving rise to one fleet to be called the Valkyries. The primary role in ground based operations is also a woman. Currie has a new series started called Seal Team 13 which I may or may not follow. He also wrote a stand alone (so far as I know) called Steam Legion which goes back to the early Roman Empire. All of Currie's books are, so far, only available in ebook form and only available on Amazon because he uses their digital services to publish his books. That is a bummer for those that don't use Kindle that might like to read his work.

Frybabe · « **Reply #1992 on:** November 14, 2013, 03:14:26 PM »

After waiting for so long (was seven in line when I put the book on hold) Speaker for the Dead finally came down to me being #1. I thought I would be able to pick it up from the library this week. WELL! It turns out that the individual libraries all give their patrons first pick regardless of how long anyone from another library has been waiting. Since I put my request in, 11 more requested the book, some of which were patrons of that particular library. So, I have to wait even longer. Oh well, it's not as if I've run out of reading material.

Steph · « **Reply #1993 on:** November 15, 2013, 08:25:02 AM »

McDevitt... Hmm, may try the Thriftbooks site for the older ones of his I want to read. I read some of him years ago, but have missed a lot.

PatH · « **Reply #1994 on:** November 15, 2013, 01:33:30 PM »

I'm definitely going to read some more McDevitt.

Frybabe, have you read Speaker for the Dead before? I read it many years ago. My reaction to Card's books is mixed. I enjoy reading them, usually read straight through, but I'm always objecting, thinking "yes, but...." That library reserve system is a bummer.

I didn't quite finish Wool before last night's meeting, but peeked ahead at intervals in the last 100 pages to get a notion of what happened. The book we had is the first five books. It turns out there is now a prequel, even fatter than the 500 page main book, plus a sequel. Fantastic Fiction says to read Wool first, then Shift (the prequel) and finally Dust. I'm not sure I have that much stamina, but I'm glad I read Wool.

Frybabe · « **Reply #1995 on:** November 16, 2013, 08:03:05 AM »

No, PatH, I haven't yet read Speaker for the Dead. I liked Ender's Game and didn't want to "spoil" it by reading the next. It's kind of like reading Dune and not following through with the rest which go on to a less than upbeat ending. Now I think I am ready, at least for Speaker.

I didn't realize that Shift is a prequel to Wool. No matter, at some point I want to read it. My library system doesn't have Shift listed so I either have to try an inter-library loan or grab it on the used market. Same with Dust. I did ask the library to acquire the book, but our library manager declined, saying that our branch (and here I thought the main library had the yea or nay say on that) doesn't get much call for SciFi and we don't have much space. I thought that odd, but after seeing the results of our last little poll, I may be the odd one out for liking SciFi so much. Anyhow, my branch has only three small bookshelves of SciFi in the adult section. About half of those are SciFi/Fantasy. I suspect that a lot of the fantasy titles are cataloged as something else.

Frybabe · « **Reply #1996 on:** November 17, 2013, 08:54:50 AM »

Wow. I got a surprise this morning. I came across a short story by H. Beam Piper called He Walked Around the Horses. Strange title, I thought, for him. Read the review which claims that it was inspired by an alternate history event that Piper claimed actually happened to him right up until he committed suicide. I looked him up on Wikipedia. Not a lot there, but it did say that after a nasty divorce he committed suicide in Williamsport, PA, which is about two and a half hours up river from here. Now, I have to know more about Piper. I always like to hear/read about local connections to famous writers.

Frybabe · « **Reply #1997 on:** November 17, 2013, 11:57:29 AM »

I am reading (about half way) another interesting SciFi called Titans by Edward W. Robertson. It is another one of those ebook only things from Amazon, and guess what, it is pretty well edited. Only thirty, Robertson has been writing since the age of seven.

The narrator of the story is a guy who, for some unknown reason, has lived for at least 3,000 years. He'd love to know why he has survived where no one else has but he is afraid of becoming a corporate lab rat for those who want to market what they find to make people live longer. He makes a deal with a person who turns out to be an AI. He is to help the AI's help humans on Titan who are about to embark on a colony ship to somewhere. The AI's are themselves escaped "slaves" of the corporate powers that run just about everything and who can call all the shots. Our narrator is to help negotiate terms for the budding colonists so that they are as free as possible from corporate control. His qualifications over the last 3K years include his experiences as a hoplite defending Athens and democracy from Persia and his experiences navigating himself through all those years of history. Periodically he thinks back over what he remembers of previous "lives" as current happenings trigger long ago memThis appears to be the first of a serial (surprise, surprise).

The book is written in a rather "flip" style. The style reminds me of some of those old PI/cop movies/books where the narrator does some semi-smart alacky, slangy narrative and used some interesting descriptors. There are some slangish bits referring to male parts of the anatomy and what can be done with them, but no swearing (or so little to as to make no impression).

PatH · « **Reply #1998 on:** November 17, 2013, 07:23:34 PM »

Frybabe, do let us know what more you discover about Piper. I knew he committed suicide, but no details. I read only one thing of his not connected with the fuzzies--a book called Space Vikings. It's about what you would expect from a title like that, but it shows a very elitist political viewpoint that I can't agree with at all.

Frybabe · « **Reply #1999 on:** November 18, 2013, 07:55:07 AM »

SteamPunk must be getting popular around here. I just found another local event highlighted in the local news.

http://www.pennlive.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2013/11/steampunk_fashion_tips.html

News:

Author Topic: Science Fiction / Fantasy (Read 385140 times)