Re: the type of authors - I'm fond of sf-tinged dystopias - y'know, Orwell, Huxley, that lot. I'm currently reading Yevgeny Zamyatin's We - the book that inspired Orwell to write 1984 - and loving it so far.
Good catch on dystopias - I completely forgot that category, and it's one of my faves. 'We' is amazing and doesn't get the credit it deserves. I hope you enjoy.
And Vonnegut falls into the experimental 60s for me (when he got his start) - his near future, Earth-based fic starring little people was fairly anti-Golden Age.
I only wish people did more with them these days. The last great one I can think of was the movie Brazil. (V was okay too, though I prefer the graphic novel.)
I also love the near-future messed-up Earth/society stories - Bladerunner, Children of Men, etc. Not dystopias because no one's pretending they're perfect, but still interesting.
I dunno... the Gunslinger series is more sf to me than horror... and despite the bloodly long wait between books, I turbo read them as soon as they came available.
Looking at his percentages, I think of him as horror writer who sometimes does other things. The Darktower series looks like he's mixed magical fantasy with western, and maybe some sf too. Thanks for the tip on them. Is he still rewriting them to make the early ones better - is that why there's a wait?
I'm also a Kurt Vonnegut and Ray Bradbury short story lover, I just am not too sure where they fit in! I'm not too familiar with the "official" categories, since I only actually recognize the authors from the classic section, and LeGuin. >.>
For me Vonnegut falls into the experimental 60s (when he got his start) - his near future, Earth-based fic starring little people was fairly anti-Golden Age.
You're right Bradbury is wonderful. He's a classic, and one of the few I still really enjoy because he did a lot of soft sf before it was popular.
The something else... let's see, there's Timothy Zahn, but I guess my focus is really on fantasy, what with Terry Pratchett and Tolkien. Quite a few of the 'children's books' I read also are quite strongly sf/fantasy, such as HP, Garth Nix, Philip Pullman to name a few.
One of these days I'll have to read some of those authors you've got listed there!
I don't read so much fantasy anymore, and what I do read doesn't stick with me. (Yes, including HP, I'll admit). But I do like Pullman. It's been ages since I read Pratchett - I should do so. Some humor right now wouldn't go amiss.
If you give me a general idea of the types of sf you might want to explore, I could maybe offer up some names.
'Ubik' is one of my PKD faves, but it's really wacky (fractured narrative, lots of wtf moments, etc). I think a good book to try him with at first is his early 'Time Out of Joint,' then 'The Man in the High Castle,' and then 'Ubik.'
For interesting New Space Opera, you've got Iain M. Banks in your own backyard! His Culture books are very good. They're all set in the same universe, yet aren't a series, per se. [Any books of his put out as Iain Banks are mainstream fiction - the M. means it's sf.]
Though I'm not reading much generally at the moment, I do like cyberpunk (have you tried Richard Morgan and Jeff Noon?), and the richness and wonderfulness of China Mieville (particularly Perdido Street Station and The Scar). There was also a duo of books, "Ilium" and "Olympos" by Dan Simmons, which blew me away for the richness of the story and characterisation.
For shorts, I pick up the occasional anthology, like the "Year's Best..."
While I love fantasy, I find less and les that is actually worth wasting my eyesight on. *sigh* Recommendations?
Yep, Morgan's great, which is why I included him in the cyberpunk category even though he's a bit newer. I really thought Altered Carbon was excellent.
I haven't read Noon - what's he like?
Mieville is really good too. Hard to place. That contemporary category I made acts as a great catch-all. (laughs)
Thanks for the tip - I need to look for more ways to read short stories than just waiting for a fave author to put out a collection.
For fantasy, almost everything disappoints me anymore (including, overall, HP). The only thing I can really recommend is George R. R. Martin's Song of Fire and Ice series. This ain't for kiddies, but if you like Morgan, then I doubt that you'll be put off because it's a little dark and violent. There's also a series by someone else that's about dragons in Napoleon's time that people say is good, but I haven't read it.
*headdesk* That's what comes of reading fast with hordes of children shouting at me.... Inattention to detail!
I've only read one Jeff Noon - "Pollen" - it was odd and compelling. All about people turing into plants, as far as I remember. I keep meaning to read more.
I love GRRM - waiting anxiously for the next.
Oh - do you know Tad Williams? He wrote a trilogy of four books (family joke), "Otherland" which brilliantly blends sci-fi and fantasy. I've just seen from Amazon that he's got something new out. *happy dancing*
Great that you're already reading Fire and Ice! I've given up until it's done because I'm going to go back to the beginning and read straight through. I won't be able to keep it all straight any other way, it's so complex.
I have the first 2 Otherlands, and I really liked them (and much more than his straight fantasy). I need to try to pick up those last 2 - thanks for reminding me.
Have you ever read Ian McDonald? I usually find his stuff brill, and he's still putting things out.
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Not sure where Vonnegut fits in there, either.
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And Vonnegut falls into the experimental 60s for me (when he got his start) - his near future, Earth-based fic starring little people was fairly anti-Golden Age.
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I just ticked a lot of boxes because I'm the type that while I like dystopias the best, I will read just about anything someone recs me.
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I also love the near-future messed-up Earth/society stories - Bladerunner, Children of Men, etc. Not dystopias because no one's pretending they're perfect, but still interesting.
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Connie Willis is amazing - I did a non-spoilery review of her oeuvre a while back.
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Good stuff though! :D
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You're right Bradbury is wonderful. He's a classic, and one of the few I still really enjoy because he did a lot of soft sf before it was popular.
Yay for sf love!
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One of these days I'll have to read some of those authors you've got listed there!
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If you give me a general idea of the types of sf you might want to explore, I could maybe offer up some names.
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Most of what I've read so far has been Star Wars expanded universe spin off novel things. Something different to that, maybe?
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For interesting New Space Opera, you've got Iain M. Banks in your own backyard! His Culture books are very good. They're all set in the same universe, yet aren't a series, per se. [Any books of his put out as Iain Banks are mainstream fiction - the M. means it's sf.]
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For shorts, I pick up the occasional anthology, like the "Year's Best..."
While I love fantasy, I find less and les that is actually worth wasting my eyesight on. *sigh* Recommendations?
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I haven't read Noon - what's he like?
Mieville is really good too. Hard to place. That contemporary category I made acts as a great catch-all. (laughs)
Thanks for the tip - I need to look for more ways to read short stories than just waiting for a fave author to put out a collection.
For fantasy, almost everything disappoints me anymore (including, overall, HP). The only thing I can really recommend is George R. R. Martin's Song of Fire and Ice series. This ain't for kiddies, but if you like Morgan, then I doubt that you'll be put off because it's a little dark and violent. There's also a series by someone else that's about dragons in Napoleon's time that people say is good, but I haven't read it.
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I've only read one Jeff Noon - "Pollen" - it was odd and compelling. All about people turing into plants, as far as I remember. I keep meaning to read more.
I love GRRM - waiting anxiously for the next.
Oh - do you know Tad Williams? He wrote a trilogy of four books (family joke), "Otherland" which brilliantly blends sci-fi and fantasy. I've just seen from Amazon that he's got something new out. *happy dancing*
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I'll look for the Noon book.
Great that you're already reading Fire and Ice! I've given up until it's done because I'm going to go back to the beginning and read straight through. I won't be able to keep it all straight any other way, it's so complex.
I have the first 2 Otherlands, and I really liked them (and much more than his straight fantasy). I need to try to pick up those last 2 - thanks for reminding me.
Have you ever read Ian McDonald? I usually find his stuff brill, and he's still putting things out.
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