Science Fiction

[The Bookshelf]

What are some of your favorite SciFy books?

 

Mine in no particular order:

- Where were you last Pluterday? by Paul van Herck

- Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

- Emphyrio by Jack Vance

- Greybeard by Brian Aldiss

- Witches of Karres by James Schmitz

- Thud! by Terry Pratchett

[Pim Scheelings]

i loved reading these when i was 17 :)

[IDON MINE]

High on the ranks is some P.K.Dick, but it's a draw between his more realworld novels and his way out sci-fi stuff of course.

 

As for Comics, one of my all time faves in future shocks is GIVE ME LIBERTY by Dave Gibbons and Frank Miller as well as HARD BOILED by GEOFF DARROW and Miller. And Otomo's AKIRA, that is too crazy. Early classics, but hard to beat.

 

I'll post some pictures later.

 

[Mardy Pune]

I really like J.G. Ballard's stuff, The Drought is one of the best books I've ever read. I also really love John Wyndham.

[Pim Scheelings]

i still got a pocket ofthe triffids somewhere here

[sleazy]

ANY ASIMOV NOVELS :):)

 

 

[Matthew Walkden]

Couple of recent charity shop finds. One obvious, one not so obvious.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Chris Foss cover on the Ursula K LeGuin was has sod all to do with the story exactly as I expected :)

[sleazy]

RAY BRADBURY TICKLES MY FANCY :):):)

[sleazy]

You never heard of the novel Farenheit 451????!!!!.....you should run to get it!!!!:):)

Fahrenheit 451 is a 1953 dystopian novel by Ray Bradbury. The novel presents a future American society where reading is outlawed and firemen start fires to burn books. Written in the early years of the Cold War, the novel is a critique of what Bradbury saw as issues in American society of the era.^[1]

The novel first began as an expansion of Bradbury's 1947 short story "Bright Phoenix" that was first published in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1963.^[2] The short story was later reworked into The Fireman, a novella published in the February 1951 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction. The novel was serialized in the March, April, and May 1954 issues of Playboy magazine. Bradbury wrote the entire novel on a pay typewriter in the basement of UCLA's Powell Library.

Over the years, the novel has been subject to various interpretations, primarily focusing on the historical role of book burning in suppressing dissenting ideas. Bradbury has stated that the novel is not about censorship, but a story about how television destroys interest in reading literature, which leads to a perception of knowledge as being composed of factoids, partial information devoid of context.^[3]

François Truffaut wrote and directed a film adaptation of the novel in 1966. At least two BBC Radio 4 dramatizations have also been aired, both of which follow the book very closely.

Mina said:

Never heard of him...

[Bibliodiscoteque]

Snow Crash is one of, if not THE, best take on current American life. Stephenson nailed so many of our issues and the future. I reread it every year and am amazed by how owell it stands the test of time. 

BoweryDoll said:

It's so hard to pick!  But if I were stranded in a subway or a remote cave I would take Octavia E. Butler's Wildseed, Parable of the Sower, Lilith's Brood, Fledgling and Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash.  [BTW -- it's so nice to hear someone reading Lester Bangs.  Man, do we seriously need his perspective in these insane times.  I think the spectacle of American Idol, X factor and other shows of that ilk plus the state of music today (the industry as well as itunes' "Apple-opoly") would've made his head explode like the guys in Scanners]

[dave]

SF has been my fave genre, until recently. Our real world is so much more interesting now w/ the Web, Twitter, etc. than any book. Also, there just aren't that many good authors out there. Bruce Sterling is probably my top author for yuks, and cool ideas (Distraction should be read by everyone), but even his last book was meh. Same for Neal Stephenson, Kim Stanley Robinson...

But here are my most reread books:

Distraction by Bruce Sterling

The Years of Rice and Salt, by Kim Stanley Robinson

China Mountain Zhang, by Maureen F. McHugh

American Gods, by Neal Gaiman

The Shockwave Rider, by John Brunner

Blood Music, by Greg Bear (novelette)

"We, In Some Strange Powers' Employ, Move On A Rigorous Line", by Samuel Delaney

Also, I've been rereading William Gibson lately, seems apt nowadays

Thanks for starting this column!

Dave

[sleazy]

[dave]

'Lo, Mina. Forgot a couple o' titles. Hey, you like Pratchett, have you read his Nation? It's another book I should read every year. Non-Discworld, but perfect for both young adults and adults, really sweet. Also, Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age, fantastic comment on the fractal splitting of society into micro-tribes. As far as Vance goes, in high-school I read his Dragon Masters and The Last Castle, both novelettes and quite good.