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Pick and Mix 2015
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spectru
Posted 2015-07-02 8:48 PM (#10902 - in reply to #9182)
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Location: Fort Myers, Florida USA		Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon

This is not an easy read; unique and interesting, but not easy or fun. I read it because it is on one of our lists (Locus Best SF Novels of All-Time) which I am closing in on. I didn't really enjoy it all that much. It was a bit of a chore to read. Aloof and impersonal.

The library book that I have is a double novel, containing also Star Maker by Stapledon. It also is on the same list. I'm not eager to read more Stapledon just yet. Does anyone here have an opinion about it?
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Weesam
Posted 2015-07-03 12:37 AM (#10904 - in reply to #9182)
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Location: New Zealand		I haven't read Last and First Men but I have read Star Maker, and I love it. I thought it was something special.
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spectru
Posted 2015-07-16 10:47 AM (#10961 - in reply to #9182)
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Location: Fort Myers, Florida USA		I decided to go for the whole magilla - the 40 books. so I added some books I read and reviewed since the first of the year but hadn't mentioned in our forum, and a couple I had just overlooked and hadn't added to the list. So here they are, with my rating out of 5 stars:

City by Clifford D Simak - 3.5
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J K Rowling - 4.5
The Island of Dr. Moreau by H G Wells -3
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton - 4
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow - 4
Red mars by Kim Stanley Robinson - 2.5
Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban - 3
The Road by Cormac McCarthy - 4
Startide Rising by David Brin - 3
Timeline by Michael Crichton - 3.5
The Triumph of Time by James Blish - 3
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spectru
Posted 2015-07-17 7:29 PM (#10977 - in reply to #10904)
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Location: Fort Myers, Florida USA
Weesam - 2015-07-03 1:37 AM

I haven't read Last and First Men but I have read Star Maker, and I love it. I thought it was something special.


I found Star Maker to be very similar in style to Last and First Men. There are no characters or plot. It is a general description of the types of intelligent cultures on planets throughout the galaxy by an unnamed narrator who in a disembodied form travels through space and time. Finally, well past the halfway mark, I had to put the book down. I just would rather spend my reading time on something I enjoy more.
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spectru
Posted 2015-07-21 4:31 PM (#11000 - in reply to #9182)
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Location: Fort Myers, Florida USA		The Iron Heel by Jack London - 1907

Sometimes mentioned with Orwell's 1984, I think it could be compared and contrasted with Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. The first third of the book is unabashed socialist proselytizing. Political speculative fiction taking place from 1912 to 1932, Jack London's future.

Edited by spectru 2015-07-21 4:33 PM
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spectru
Posted 2015-07-23 7:25 PM (#11015 - in reply to #9182)
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Location: Fort Myers, Florida USA		Redshirts by John Scalzi

This ridiculous book is something of a Star Trek spoof. Its goofy premise becomes a quick and enjoyable read. A great change of pace from some of the more difficult to read books from the annals of science fiction that I've tackled lately.
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spectru
Posted 2015-07-24 5:22 PM (#11022 - in reply to #11015)
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Location: Fort Myers, Florida USA		City of Illusions by Ursula K. Le Guin

Just started this one. It is the fourth book I will have read in Le Guin's Hainish Cycle. It's one of the earlier ones and it is not on any lists here at WWEnd. Le Guin is a favorite author of mine. The Left Hand of Darkness, also one of the early books in the Hainish Cycle is one of my all-time favorite books. So far, about a third of the way into it, City of Illusions is a quest story set in what seems to be a far future primitive earth, though it may not be earth at all.
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spectru
Posted 2015-07-26 6:16 PM (#11033 - in reply to #11022)
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Location: Fort Myers, Florida USA		City of Illusions is wonderful. Immediately upon finishing it, I started reading Le Guin's Planet of Exile, the precursor to City of Illusions.
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pizzakarin
Posted 2015-07-28 7:45 AM (#11038 - in reply to #9182)
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Location: Austin, Tx		Well...I'm sortof joining the Pick 'n Mix. I've found that despite my best planning efforts, I am still reading a few books that don't fit into any of my (many) challenges. I tried adding them to my spreadsheet with no challenge columns filled in, but those lines just sat there throwing off my groove. Now they have a challenge to call home and my spreadsheet remains colorful and complete.

My orphans so far:

* Assassin's Quest by Robin Hobb - orphaned because it's the 3rd in a trilogy that I can't put down. I'm about 50% of the way through this one and had my second moment where I wanted to kick FitzChivalry in the ass for not immediately picking up a plot point.
* Pyramids by Terry Pratchett - My husband and I started reading out loud to our 3 month old daughter (to start a family habit early) and this is the book, but it doesn't fit with any of my other challenges. I get the feeling that any book we read like this is going to be an orphan, though perhaps I can convince him (since she doesn't understand what we're saying anyway) to go with something already on my list next.
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spectru
Posted 2015-07-29 9:17 AM (#11040 - in reply to #11038)
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Location: Fort Myers, Florida USA		Planet of Exile by Ursula K Le Guin

I read Planet of Exile immediately after reading City of Illusions. The protagonist in City of Illusions is a descendent of the protagonist in Planet of Exile. There is virtually no other connection between the two books. My notion that the reading order of the books in Ursula K Le Guin's so-called Hainish Cycle doesn't matter, remains intact.

I've met the Pick and Mix Challenge. This is the 41st book on my list of 40.
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spectru
Posted 2015-07-30 7:28 PM (#11047 - in reply to #11040)
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Location: Fort Myers, Florida USA		Watchmen by Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons

They call this a graphic novel. At 416 pages, it's certainly longer than the comic books I read as a kid. I appreciate that it's literary art, but still, it's a comic book.
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dustydigger
Posted 2015-08-01 4:56 AM (#11056 - in reply to #11047)
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Location: UK		Lol! Spectru,adults have to justify reading comics somehow,a fancy name is essential in that regard!. Somehow that ''graphic novel'' did little for me. I assume it had a huge impact back at the time of first publication,but decades later not so much. Anyway,I have fond nostalgic memories of the old superheroes from my youth,the modern trend of denigrating them,showing them as old etc,doesnt go down too well with me!
I did a challenge of reading some famousgraphic works last year and wasnt really enthused..I WAS blown away by Gaiman's Sandman series,but I doubt I will continue to read more graphics after I have completed Bill Willingham's Fables series this year.. Though I do still like a nostalgic reread of the Asterix books!

Edited by dustydigger 2015-08-01 4:59 AM
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spectru
Posted 2015-08-02 12:41 PM (#11074 - in reply to #11056)
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Location: Fort Myers, Florida USA
dustydigger - 2015-08-01 5:56 AM

Lol! Spectru,adults have to justify reading comics somehow,a fancy name is essential in that regard!. Somehow that ''graphic novel'' did little for me. I assume it had a huge impact back at the time of first publication,but decades later not so much. Anyway,I have fond nostalgic memories of the old superheroes from my youth,the modern trend of denigrating them,showing them as old etc,doesnt go down too well with me!
I did a challenge of reading some famousgraphic works last year and wasnt really enthused..I WAS blown away by Gaiman's Sandman series,but I doubt I will continue to read more graphics after I have completed Bill Willingham's Fables series this year.. Though I do still like a nostalgic reread of the Asterix books!


I read comic books when I was a kid. 10 cents for a regular one, 25 cents for a fat one. I liked Plasticman, The Flash, Aquaman, and Batman. I remember occasionally getting a classic comic. They were classic literature in comic book form, either the 10 or 25 cent size. Watchmen was my first and only graphic novel.
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spectru
Posted 2015-08-07 4:29 PM (#11089 - in reply to #9182)
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Location: Fort Myers, Florida USA		A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs

John Carter, a Virginia gentleman and former confederate officer inexplicably finds himself on Mars. He discovers two species of warlike people there, the green men and the red men. They live in city states and seem to be in a continuous state of war with one another and among themselves. Carter is captured by the green men, proves himself a fierce warrior and becomes a chieftain. They capture a beautiful woman, a princess of the red men, with whom carter falls in love. With many adventures and great battles, and just-in-the-nick-of-time swashbuckling, Carter saves the day helps red men and green men form an alliance, and defeat their enemies, He becomes a hero and marries the princess. The ending is a cliffhanger with Carter suddenly finding himself back on Earth.

The description of Carter learning the language and ways of his captors and gaining the confidence of the tribal chiefs is like something out of Gulliver's Travels. The writing is somewhat similar to what one would expect in the age of Verne and Wells, but the science fiction is much less sciency. The story seems comic-bookish and surely was aimed at a young audience. Burroughs' ability to write dialog is atrocious.
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spectru
Posted 2015-08-09 11:56 AM (#11100 - in reply to #9182)
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Location: Fort Myers, Florida USA		Beloved by Toni Morrison

In the fantasy genre because it has a ghost, Beloved is not like most novels. In its form it is akin James Joyce's Ulysses, but unlike Ulysses, it is lyrical. Much of it is stream of consciousness - just let yourself go with the flow.
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spectru
Posted 2015-08-14 1:52 PM (#11136 - in reply to #9182)
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Location: Fort Myers, Florida USA		naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs

Fantastic: without regard for reason or reality; absurd, bizarre, crazy, fanciful, foolish, insane, nonsensical, preposterous, unreal, wild; implausible, inconceivable, incredible, unbelievable, unimaginable, unthinkable; grotesque; bizarro, curious, eccentric, far-out, funny, kinky, kooky, odd, off the wall, outlandish, out-of-the-way, outr, peculiar, quaint, queer, quirky, screwy, strange, wacky, way-out, weird; farcical, laughable, ludicrous, ridiculous; Alice-in-Wonderland, Kafkaesque, nightmarish; dreamlike, surreal.
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spectru
Posted 2015-08-16 8:23 AM (#11148 - in reply to #9182)
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Location: Fort Myers, Florida USA		Time for the Stars by Robert A. Heinlein

Time for the Stars is good old-fashioned science fiction. It's a space opera that features the themes of relativity and telepathy. In this book, telepathic messages travel instantaneously, unlike radio communication which travels at the speed of light. This phenomenon, simultaneity, is a theme in Ursula K Le Guin's The Disposessed, and ultimately led to the development of the ansible, a device which allows instantaneous communication over great distances. The ansible device is also used in the novels in the Ender universe by Orson Scott Card, and by others. So, in that regard, Time for the Stars is a seminal novel in the annals of science fiction.

A minor theme of the book is how culture and technology change over time. Heinlein, however, did not foresee the changes in attitudes towards gender equality that took place in the time between when this novel was written and the future in which it takes place.
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Mervi2012
Posted 2015-08-21 12:26 PM (#11169 - in reply to #9182)
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I decided to join Pick and Mix at the One scoop level. I've got a lot of unread books in my shelves.

Spectru, I strongly suspect that E. R. Burroughs' books are best read when you're young and impressionable. At least, when I first read his Barsoom books when I was around 12-14, they left a strong impression. I reread the series last year and found them quick, fun reads. Of course they are pulp fiction to begin with. But then again I liked the movie (John Carter), too.

Edited by Mervi2012 2015-08-21 12:28 PM
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spectru
Posted 2015-08-22 7:33 AM (#11178 - in reply to #11169)
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Location: Fort Myers, Florida USA		Mockingbird by Walter Tevis

This story, told in the point of view of the three main characters, is set a few centuries in our future. The human race is dying out and has even forgotten how to read. Most everything is run by moron robots. Very good and very downbeat.

Tevis wrote The Man Who Fell to Earth, one of my favorite science fiction novels. He also wrote The Hustler and The Color of Money.
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spectru
Posted 2015-08-22 7:37 AM (#11179 - in reply to #11169)
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Location: Fort Myers, Florida USA
Mervi2012 - 2015-08-21 1:26 PM

Spectru, I strongly suspect that E. R. Burroughs' books are best read when you're young and impressionable. At least, when I first read his Barsoom books when I was around 12-14, they left a strong impression. I reread the series last year and found them quick, fun reads. Of course they are pulp fiction to begin with. But then again I liked the movie (John Carter), too.


I think you are right Mervi2012. I enjoyed A Princess of Mars well enough, but I doubt that I will continue the series. I haven't seen the John Carter movie, but I know it was not particularly successful, as movies go.
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pauljames
Posted 2015-08-22 8:40 AM (#11180 - in reply to #9182)
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Location: scotland		Started Gardens of The Moon by Steven Erikson then I will be on the last Chaos Walking book by Patrick Ness - Monsters of Men.
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Mervi2012
Posted 2015-08-22 12:37 PM (#11181 - in reply to #11179)
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spectru - 2015-08-22 7:37 AM
I haven't seen the John Carter movie, but I know it was not particularly successful, as movies go.


I know and I'm unhappy with that. I'm biased, of course, I think that even for people who haven't read the books, it was a fun adventure movie. I've certainly seen much worse movies. The plot was a bit strange, though. My biggest fear beforehand was the potrayal of Dejah but she was done quite well and her actress was good.
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Mervi2012
Posted 2015-09-10 12:54 PM (#11300 - in reply to #9182)
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My first book was Daniel Suarez's Influx. It's a scifi thriller where a brilliant scientist invents a way to manipulate gravity. He's kidnapped by a shadowy organization which controls all technology which could change society.

It was pretty good and my first Suarez book. Has anyone else read him?
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spectru
Posted 2015-09-11 6:10 AM (#11301 - in reply to #11300)
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Location: Fort Myers, Florida USA		I don't know of Suarez, but I did see that Influx won the 2015 Prometheus Award.
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Mervi2012
Posted 2015-09-12 3:28 PM (#11309 - in reply to #11301)
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spectru - 2015-09-11 6:10 AM

I don't know of Suarez, but I did see that Influx won the 2015 Prometheus Award.


So it did! I didn't even notice.

My second book in this challenge was Elizabeth Marshall Thomas' the Reindeer Moon. It's fantasy set in Stone Age and seems to be well-researched. It's a girl's coming of age story.
I don't generally like teenagers are protagonists but this had fascinating setting and great characters.
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