Great how he gives space that enormous feeling. Love how he givs that human feel to droids. Like the races and the technologie. As a "trekkie" its nice to race around in a warp drive instead of a FTL our something like that.
Dont yet really know what to think of these Changers for alignment. So far i would think chaotic neutral our something. This Culture seems very awesome. Need to read more! love it!
Never been massively into Sci-Fi before, I've always generally stuck to the fantasy section in bookstores.
Just finished Hyperion though, and I adored it. The story was so well done, the way the individual tales fed into the over-riding tale was sublime. A solid 10/10 from me .. already bought Fall of Hyperion; thoroughly looking forward to the conclusion of the books - I hope the second half stays as strong as the first half!!
My husband has been telling me I should read the Sprawl trilogy for a while now, so last night I finally started reading Neuromancer. I'm liking it so far. He owns all the books, so once I'm done with the first one, I'm planning on starting Count Zero.
My husband has been telling me I should read the Sprawl trilogy for a while now, so last night I finally started reading Neuromancer. I'm liking it so far. He owns all the books, so once I'm done with the first one, I'm planning on starting Count Zero.
We read Neuromancer two years ago with the book club. Feel free to use those threads for your thoughts. :)
-> http://fantasy-faction.com/forum/%28junejuly-2012%29-neuromancer/
I'm about halfway through The Man in the High Castle after just finishing A Scanner Darkly. I'm on a bit of a Philip K Dick run.
Starting in: The player of games. Iain Banks!
Shame is not needed young friend. Science fiction and Fantasy are not nearly the same. Both fantastic, yes. But not nearly the same. I mostly read Science fiction. But it is my occasional wanderlust into the Fantasy genre that brought me to this place: fantasy Faction. Which deserves much kudos for there Science fiction support.
Have fun reading H.G. He wrote a damn good book. Enjoy!
Finished Fortune's Pawn by Rachel Bach. This book was just plain fun, and that's how I like my science fiction. Fast-paced. Lots of action and mystery. Kickass main character.
Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey, my first SF book in ages.
Just finished reading The Martian by Andy Weir.
I adored this book, every word of it. One of the best books I've ever read. Would recommend it to anyone and everyone. It's gripping, laugh out loud funny, well-paced, brilliantly written and emotional.
Currently 30% into "Vicious" from V.E. Schwab.
Is there anyone here that's read "Vicious" and if so what were your thoughts? It got a lot of great reviews.
The Abyss Beyond Dreams: Chronical Of The Fallers #1 by Peter F Hamilton, I could be sometime.Never read Hamilton, but the sheer size of them puts me off a little. Do we expect to see you sometime before Christmas?
Finished Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie. It was good, but I didn't enjoy it much as I hoped I would. For me, it felt like the ambition of the story exceeded the execution. Not that it was bad. I just found myself confused at many points, and it took me a while to connect with the story.
Finished Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie. It was good, but I didn't enjoy it much as I hoped I would. For me, it felt like the ambition of the story exceeded the execution. Not that it was bad. I just found myself confused at many points, and it took me a while to connect with the story.
I liked it in general but for me it slowed down to much towards the end.
Ready Player One is really cool. They've been talking about a movie version of it almost since it first came out, but it never seems to progress much past talk. It would make a good film, though.
Speaking of filmed SF concepts. SyFy's version of James S.A Corey's Expanse novels should be out this year, that should be really good.Ready Player One is really cool. They've been talking about a movie version of it almost since it first came out, but it never seems to progress much past talk. It would make a good film, though.
But they would really need Rush to play themselves. :D
Speaking of filmed SF concepts. SyFy's version of James S.A Corey's Expanse novels should be out this year, that should be really good.Ready Player One is really cool. They've been talking about a movie version of it almost since it first came out, but it never seems to progress much past talk. It would make a good film, though.
But they would really need Rush to play themselves. :D
I think there's a trailer floating around on the internet somewhere, it looks pretty good.Speaking of filmed SF concepts. SyFy's version of James S.A Corey's Expanse novels should be out this year, that should be really good.Ready Player One is really cool. They've been talking about a movie version of it almost since it first came out, but it never seems to progress much past talk. It would make a good film, though.
But they would really need Rush to play themselves. :D
Ow! Sounds great! Could be brutal.
I think there's a trailer floating around on the internet somewhere, it looks pretty good.Speaking of filmed SF concepts. SyFy's version of James S.A Corey's Expanse novels should be out this year, that should be really good.Ready Player One is really cool. They've been talking about a movie version of it almost since it first came out, but it never seems to progress much past talk. It would make a good film, though.
But they would really need Rush to play themselves. :D
Ow! Sounds great! Could be brutal.
Speaking of filmed SF concepts. SyFy's version of James S.A Corey's Expanse novels should be out this year, that should be really good.Ready Player One is really cool. They've been talking about a movie version of it almost since it first came out, but it never seems to progress much past talk. It would make a good film, though.
But they would really need Rush to play themselves. :D
Speaking of filmed SF concepts. SyFy's version of James S.A Corey's Expanse novels should be out this year, that should be really good.Ready Player One is really cool. They've been talking about a movie version of it almost since it first came out, but it never seems to progress much past talk. It would make a good film, though.
But they would really need Rush to play themselves. :D
Except it is on CheapFy ...
Recently finished Ancillary Justice and found it quite refreshing. I did struggle a bit wrapping my head around the non-gender aspect at first. It got me realy confused. But after a while I got used to it and almost didn't even jotice it any more.
Also just finished Shades of Grey: The Road to High Saffron. This I realy loved! The world building was just so interesting and new.
I see many of you enjoyed The Martian. I downloaded the preview a while ago. And now you motivated me to move it up my tbr list. Thanx.
Recently finished Ancillary Justice and found it quite refreshing. I did struggle a bit wrapping my head around the non-gender aspect at first. It got me realy confused. But after a while I got used to it and almost didn't even jotice it any more.
Also just finished Shades of Grey: The Road to High Saffron. This I realy loved! The world building was just so interesting and new.
I see many of you enjoyed The Martian. I downloaded the preview a while ago. And now you motivated me to move it up my tbr list. Thanx.
I really liked Ancillary Justice. Agree on gender language, but did find that in a few cases it felt like a good idea taken too far.
Shades of Grey? For a minute there I thought I was on a bondage romance site ;)
I actually loved Gravity, but no worries ;)Don't confuse what SyFY are doing with The Expanse as being at all similar to what they do with their dreadful movies like Sharknado. SyFY also made shows like Eureka and Warehouse 13, both of which were highly entertaining, well acted and for the most part fairly well written. Also Battlestar Galactica and . Haven is kind of losing it's way, but Battlestar, it's final season and ending aside, was one of the most highly regarded SF shows in recent times. I've seen a trailer for The Expanse and on the strength of that they seem to have captured the noir feeling of the books. They also cast Thomas Jane in the key role, which having seen him before he seems tailor made for.
In terms of SyFy, I avoid it almost entirely. The scripts In the few shows I ve seen were awful and the production values second rate. The idea that they are doing the Expanse gives me hives.
Re: your litany of bad science fiction films recently, as I said, I'm not as down on them. There was a lot of only OK science fiction interspersed with the really good ones you mention. But I was not as taken with Interstellar. It felt very predictable in its basic premise and the end had many plot holes. What I loved was Matt Damon as a cad, coward and conniver.
Back to SyFy for a minute. I attended a media conference some years ago just as iPads were making a big impact on how network types thought about their productions. The head of SyFy spoke and made no bones about the re-branding to "SyFy". It's all about te money and a broader audience. Think MTV: starts as a particular concept. Gets into every cable company carriage list. Not enough viewers. Change the concept of the network to broaden the appeal.
He also said at the time that SyFy would launch no new series that couldn't be leveraged into many versions: TV, online video, games, feature films... I found the whole speech quite cynical, where he thought he was being smart and savvy. Maybe both points of view were true!
As for Stranger in a Strange Land... well, I'm trying. There are parts of it that are utterly brilliant, but at the same time it can be painfully sexist, and I have to admit that I'm rather eager to be done with it.I belong to a secret tribe of liars who will talk about SIASL, grokking and all that with authority, but actually never finished the book 8)
I'm currently reading The Deaths of Tao (the sequel to the equally excellent The Lives of Tao) by Wesley Chu. I really like these, they have elements of Quantum Leap, Chuck and Burn Notice with some James Bond chucked in for good measure. He manages to keep all these balls in the air without ever taking it too far. Highly recommended.
May have done myself a bit of a favour by waiting for a while to read them then. I don't have to wait too long for the 3rd one this way.I'm currently reading The Deaths of Tao (the sequel to the equally excellent The Lives of Tao) by Wesley Chu. I really like these, they have elements of Quantum Leap, Chuck and Burn Notice with some James Bond chucked in for good measure. He manages to keep all these balls in the air without ever taking it too far. Highly recommended.
Loved these books, The Rebirths of Tao is coming out April 7th!
For sci-fi, I recently read Touch by Claire North, which may be a bit nebulous in regards to genre, but I would guess science fiction. Really enjoyed it.
I've started reading Nemesis Games this morning, Expanse #5.
Only made a small inroad into it, but it's good to be back with a lot of the familiar faces already.
I've started reading Nemesis Games this morning, Expanse #5.
Only made a small inroad into it, but it's good to be back with a lot of the familiar faces already.
Didn't realize that was out already.
I read them all earlier this year, so don't have that problem. My memory is the same though - anything more than a year old, I'd need to re-read to stand a chance of knowing what the hell was going on in a sequel.I've started reading Nemesis Games this morning, Expanse #5.
Only made a small inroad into it, but it's good to be back with a lot of the familiar faces already.
Didn't realize that was out already.
I decided to go back to the beginning and reread Levithans Wake and Caliban's War first as have a memory like a sieve, and read all 5 back to back. Have only read the first two.
I've only read the first one, and only gave it 3 stars... how do the sequels compare? :-\
I've only read the first one, and only gave it 3 stars... how do the sequels compare? :-\
The first book is pretty representive of it as a series. If you didn't love the first book you probably won't love the rest of the series either.
What James S A Corey has done well is write an accessible space opera. Space operas can be quite heavy with big themes and ideas, heavy on the science and suprisingly literary actually. For anyone who just wants to read fun, exciting space opera the Expanse series is just the ticket to adventures in the galaxy.
I really liked them a lot. I have such a clear image of the detective in book 1 asI've only read the first one, and only gave it 3 stars... how do the sequels compare? :-\
The first book is pretty representive of it as a series. If you didn't love the first book you probably won't love the rest of the series either.
What James S A Corey has done well is write an accessible space opera. Space operas can be quite heavy with big themes and ideas, heavy on the science and suprisingly literary actually. For anyone who just wants to read fun, exciting space opera the Expanse series is just the ticket to adventures in the galaxy.
I bought the first two today - they look like fun reads for the Summer and I only ever hear good things said about them. Quite excited to give them a go actually!
Thanks, shame really since I love Long Price and I haven't read much sci-fi for a while now. Our bookshelves are overwhelmingly fantasy these days. :oI've only read the first one, and only gave it 3 stars... how do the sequels compare? :-\
The first book is pretty representive of it as a series. If you didn't love the first book you probably won't love the rest of the series either.
What James S A Corey has done well is write an accessible space opera. Space operas can be quite heavy with big themes and ideas, heavy on the science and suprisingly literary actually. For anyone who just wants to read fun, exciting space opera the Expanse series is just the ticket to adventures in the galaxy.
I finished The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi. Really enjoyed it! Quite a dark dystopian. The level of grittiness, grimness, etc could rival any grim dark book.Just started the Mechanical, myself, on a recommendation from Elfy. One chapter in and a lot to like.
Starting The Mechanical by Iain Tregillis.
Tregillis is brilliant. If you like The Mechanical, read his Milkweed triptych.I finished The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi. Really enjoyed it! Quite a dark dystopian. The level of grittiness, grimness, etc could rival any grim dark book.Just started the Mechanical, myself, on a recommendation from Elfy. One chapter in and a lot to like.
Starting The Mechanical by Iain Tregillis.
Currently reading Crashing Heaven by Al Robertson.
Absolutely fantastic!
Just finished Emely St John Mandels "Station Eleven". A very different almost poetic narrative of the world after a highly deadly flu has ravaged the planet. Will finish a monograph on Sherlock Holmes and then start with Malazan Book of the Fallen series. Never tried one of those "never ending" things.
Currently reading Crashing Heaven by Al Robertson.
Absolutely fantastic!
I'm over 50% in The Quiet War by Paul McAuley, and have put it down for a week to focus on my writing as I hit a sort of lull in the story.
I remain very impressed by the fabric of characters he's laid out. It's also an Omniscient PoV so rather unusual for me.
I'm a bit flustered by some details. He mentions quite a few things that I was using in my own in-work-novel. I imagine there is only so-much realistic science one can apply to maintain society in a post apocalyptic world, but now I almost feel like I'd be ripping him off even though I thought it all out myself before hand.. :-[
The Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu
Fairly decent so far ...
The first one had one of the best openings I can remember reading from a recent book. Grabbed the attention right from the get go.The Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu
Fairly decent so far ...
I really enjoyed that one, and felt the books got better as the series progressed.
The first one had one of the best openings I can remember reading from a recent book. Grabbed the attention right from the get go.The Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu
Fairly decent so far ...
I really enjoyed that one, and felt the books got better as the series progressed.
I'm really enjoying The Lost Fleet series by Jack Campbell at the moment. I'm on book #2, and whilst it's not deep, it's fun and fast-paced. Has anyone else read these?
Great ^-^ pleased to hear it gets better!I'm really enjoying The Lost Fleet series by Jack Campbell at the moment. I'm on book #2, and whilst it's not deep, it's fun and fast-paced. Has anyone else read these?
Just got to the end of Book #6 - I enjoyed them all and the personal relationships, politics gets better and better as the books continue.
What do you guys think of Steampunk?@Lanko (http://fantasy-faction.com/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=40739), Perdido Street Station isn't really steampunk, or urban fantasy, or SciFi but a strange mixture of all and more. China Mieville defines his writing as 'New Weird" and that sums it up pretty well.
Before the book club in the forum returned, i joined one in Goodreads and that is the theme for December. Book chosen was Perdido Street Station, by China Miélville. Don't know the genre, so not sure if i pick up the book.
I have just started the Shipscat series By Mercedes Lackey - it turned out that I have read all of her fantasy series not all of her series though lol. So far it is as good as I would expect her novels to be.
I have just started the Shipscat series By Mercedes Lackey - it turned out that I have read all of her fantasy series not all of her series though lol. So far it is as good as I would expect her novels to be.
Hey, @NoteSpelling (http://fantasy-faction.com/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=33339)... You seem to be of a maybe comparable age, based on having read a bunch of older great stuff. Have you read C.J. Cherryh? What do you think? She was one of my favorites in the 70s and 80s.
I have just started the Shipscat series By Mercedes Lackey - it turned out that I have read all of her fantasy series not all of her series though lol. So far it is as good as I would expect her novels to be.
Hey, @NoteSpelling (http://fantasy-faction.com/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=33339)... You seem to be of a maybe comparable age, based on having read a bunch of older great stuff. Have you read C.J. Cherryh? What do you think? She was one of my favorites in the 70s and 80s.
@Jmack (http://fantasy-faction.com/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=37094) I don't know how to say this but I am 'only' 23...I do read a lot of the older novels though as they are better than the books being published these days :). I haven't heard of C.J. Cherryh though having now had a look at her novels I might give her Fortress series a read. They seem like my kind of book.
I have just started the Shipscat series By Mercedes Lackey - it turned out that I have read all of her fantasy series not all of her series though lol. So far it is as good as I would expect her novels to be.
Hey, @NoteSpelling (http://fantasy-faction.com/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=33339)... You seem to be of a maybe comparable age, based on having read a bunch of older great stuff. Have you read C.J. Cherryh? What do you think? She was one of my favorites in the 70s and 80s.
@Jmack (http://fantasy-faction.com/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=37094) I don't know how to say this but I am 'only' 23...I do read a lot of the older novels though as they are better than the books being published these days :). I haven't heard of C.J. Cherryh though having now had a look at her novels I might give her Fortress series a read. They seem like my kind of book.
Well, keep digging into the greats!
My favorite CJ Cherryh novel, and one of my favorites of all time, is "Downbelow Station", which won the Hugo that year. Along with "Startide Rising" and "The Uplift War" by David Brin, it has defined space opera excellence for me.
You should also check out Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan series.
Nothing right now, but I've a craving to read a Space Opera. Preferably one that does something narratively interesting, a bit like Hyperion. Any suggestions?
The Anne Leckie series is fantastic as well. (You have read those surely?)
The Anne Leckie series is fantastic as well. (You have read those surely?)
Nope! I really don't read much (enough) SF. Usually only when I'm really in the mood for it. Probably only once or twice a year. I should really try Ilium out, but I'd rather go for something I actually have on my kindle or bookshelf somewhere, so Player of Games or Ancillary Justice it is.
(Also @Nighteyes (http://fantasy-faction.com/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=272) I have to recommend a book to you I'm afraid - you need to get yourself a copy of Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson. It's utterly fantastic and deserves all the awards I'm sure are coming its way...)
The Anne Leckie series is fantastic as well. (You have read those surely?)
Nope! I really don't read much (enough) SF. Usually only when I'm really in the mood for it. Probably only once or twice a year. I should really try Ilium out, but I'd rather go for something I actually have on my kindle or bookshelf somewhere, so Player of Games or Ancillary Justice it is.
(Also @Nighteyes (http://fantasy-faction.com/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=272) I have to recommend a book to you I'm afraid - you need to get yourself a copy of Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson. It's utterly fantastic and deserves all the awards I'm sure are coming its way...)
You can't go wrong with either of those two. Added Aurora to my wishlist on Amazon. Will try and read some of my already owned books before buying any more!
The Anne Leckie series is fantastic as well. (You have read those surely?)
Nope! I really don't read much (enough) SF. Usually only when I'm really in the mood for it. Probably only once or twice a year. I should really try Ilium out, but I'd rather go for something I actually have on my kindle or bookshelf somewhere, so Player of Games or Ancillary Justice it is.
(Also @Nighteyes (http://fantasy-faction.com/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=272) I have to recommend a book to you I'm afraid - you need to get yourself a copy of Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson. It's utterly fantastic and deserves all the awards I'm sure are coming its way...)
You can't go wrong with either of those two. Added Aurora to my wishlist on Amazon. Will try and read some of my already owned books before buying any more!
I actually found my copy of Leviathan Wakes (it had fallen down the back of the chair I read on in our conservatory) so took it as a sign and will finish it at last. About 200 pages in now.
The Anne Leckie series is fantastic as well. (You have read those surely?)
Nope! I really don't read much (enough) SF. Usually only when I'm really in the mood for it. Probably only once or twice a year. I should really try Ilium out, but I'd rather go for something I actually have on my kindle or bookshelf somewhere, so Player of Games or Ancillary Justice it is.
(Also @Nighteyes (http://fantasy-faction.com/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=272) I have to recommend a book to you I'm afraid - you need to get yourself a copy of Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson. It's utterly fantastic and deserves all the awards I'm sure are coming its way...)
You can't go wrong with either of those two. Added Aurora to my wishlist on Amazon. Will try and read some of my already owned books before buying any more!
I actually found my copy of Leviathan Wakes (it had fallen down the back of the chair I read on in our conservatory) so took it as a sign and will finish it at last. About 200 pages in now.
The Expanse series is fun, and I am a signed up fan who has read them all now. I didn't recommend it though initially as you seemed to be seeking big idea sci fi with the mention of Hyperion.
Star Wars: Aftermath by Chuck WendigThe style is very Chuck Wendig. A lot of readers seemed to struggle with it, but I was familiar with his style, so don't have an issue. The sequel Life Debt is also quite good, and continues the story begun in Aftermath. I do like seeing what happened elsewhere in the galaxy just after the rebels brought the Empire down.
I don't think I've read a Star Wars book like it, written in a unique voice that I assume is Wendig's style, it is great to see an author not to conform to a house style. But I can see why that would put off some fans of the tie in fiction. It's written in present tense, and very short, terse sentences, which really helps keep the pace quick and me engaged with the action.
Seems to also be based around tertiary characters at the moment rather than the holy trinity of Luke, Han and Leia which is refreshing. After a few chapters I'm really enjoying it, and will be picking up some more of Wendig's own stuff.
About to start Old Man's War by John Scalzi. Heard a lot of varying opinions about this one. Hopefully it can improve on the past few books I've read.
I just finished reading The Cat Who Walks Through Walls. This was, I think, the seventh novel by Heinlein I read and it really puzzled me. It was perfect untill the plot line suddenly exploded with all the traveling: time, space and sexual. Now thinking, what's next?
Three body problem by Cixin :)
I'm just getting back into my reading now, and before I could think too much about what to read first I picked up.. Startide Rising by David Brin. So far so good. At times it feels a little dated (or "Golden Age", depending on your POV), but there's a lot going on, a growing sense of wonder, and the dolphins are really interesting. :)
Halfway through Children of Time