Mothering › Forums › Natural Family Living › Books, Music and Other Media › Science Fiction fans?
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Science Fiction fans?  

post #1 of 37
6/26/02 at 5:49pm
Thread Starter 
Anybody for the written science fiction word?

I don't get to read much anymore anyway , but when I did it was easily 80 percent sf. Had a tradition of rereading Dune (and sometimes the rest of the series) every Labor Day weekend. That has gone by the wayside, along with daily showers, since the kids ... And our house, so full of books. DH is a chemist by education (now a teacher) and the book division is science fact, his; science fiction, mine.

Some of my favorites ... of course, "Dune," and the fourth one, "God Emperor of Dune," are the best in the series for me.

A classic that's hard to find, but dig-outable is "A Canticle for Leibowitz."

Most anything by Ursula LeGuin ...

And absolutely anything by Harlan Ellison.

And I have a secret thing for "Star Trek" books, though as literature they are generally lousy, with one exception, "Spock's World" was pretty good sf.

Anybody?

- Amy
post #2 of 37
6/26/02 at 6:09pm
Me! I love sf! My tastes go more toward the cyberpunk side of things with William Gibson, Pat Cadigan and Melissa Scott being my favorites. Right now I'm reading Fool's War by Sarah Zettel but it is going very slowly. I tend to read only one fiction book at a time but while I'm reading it I get distracted by lots of nonfiction parenting books. I was trying to read Lord of the Rings but that's fallen off the radar. We've got a beach vacation coming up next month so hopefully I can get some reading done.

We also have a house full of books. My husband and I have an over sized coffee table in our bedroom and we've put all the books we intend to read on it. The table is covered and the stack is about 5 books deep. We are way behind yet I keep buying books! Argh!!!

Edited to add: As for ST books what about Imzadi??? Romantic cheezy- loved it! I've also read a couple of DS9s that weren't bad. I've got one B5 book I've been trying to get through forever but I can't seem to do it.
post #3 of 37
6/26/02 at 6:40pm
Amyrpk, can't say that I am a science fiction fanatic, but here's a few that rocked my world--

anything Michael Crichton-- "Jurassic Park" and "Rising Sun"...

also, " The Sparrow " by ? I can't remember right now. Have you read it? Completely different than I had imagined. This was one of my book club books and turned out to be one of my favorites.

I am still really wanting to hear your opinion on " The Red Tent "...

post #4 of 37
6/26/02 at 7:52pm
The Sparrow was written by Mary Doria Russell. There is a sequel as well, Children of God . Both books were great.

I read very little SF these days, but I was a huge Heinlein fan in college. A few years back I read Replay byKen Grimwood and I really enjoyed it. I have so little time for reading, and the time I do have it split 20/80 between fiction and non-fiction. I'm lucky to get through one novel a month.

I just remind myself that they won't always be this little...

Kimberly
post #5 of 37
6/27/02 at 3:14am
I loved, loved, loved "Battlefield Earth" by L. Ron Hubbard. The movie was terrible but the book was excellent and was what got me into sci-fi! The movie was only like 1/4 of the book.

I also read a book a few years ago that I really liked at the time called "Sabriel" by Garth Nix. I actually think that it's a children's book, but I'm not sure about that. I really liked it, but I need to read it again because I don't really remember a whole lot about it except for different dimensions, a cat that changed into a monster, and a few other bits and pieces.
post #6 of 37
6/27/02 at 4:41am
Ray Bradbury! Is that considered sf? I love his writing style, even though not all of it is sf. I think I have read everything he wrote.
post #7 of 37
6/27/02 at 10:23am
I am more fantasy that sci-fi, but it is pretty much all I read. I like dragons and magic! My favorites are Piers Anthony, Alan Dean Foster, and Anne McCaffery.

I really like the Runelords Series by David Farland. He has such an interesting idea about good and evil. Each person has things wich are his from his body to his property to free will and time. A person is evil if he takes these things from you and good if he enlarges yours.
post #8 of 37
7/1/02 at 12:23am
I read a ton of SF and fantasy. I'm reading "The Curse of Chalion" by Lois McMaster Bujold right now and just finished "Fire Logic" by Laurie Marks. Some of my all-time favorites: "The Dispossessed" by Ursula LeGuin; "Doomsday Book" by Connie Willis; "The Sparrow" and "Children of God" by Mary Doria Russell; and "The Hero and the Crown" and "The Blue Sword" by Robin McKinley.

Psst: I'm also a fantasy writer. My first novel, "Fires of the Faithful," is coming out in October from Bantam and I have a short story, "In the Witch's Garden," that will appear in Realms of Fantasy in the October issue (which comes out in August).
post #9 of 37
7/1/02 at 3:13am

Fantasy

I'm more into fantasy. I love, love, love Neil Gaiman and Jonathan Carroll. I love compilations like Year's best Fantasy and Horror(or something like that) I enjoy Charles de lint and I've recently read a book by Laurell Hamilton that I liked. I also collect adult fairy tales. I've been reading those way before I should have.
post #10 of 37
7/1/02 at 3:48am

AMY!

What a GREAT thread! I love the Dune books too. I also read a lot of fantasy, right now I am reading a collection of short stories called Warrior Enchantress. Has anyone read any Larry Niven? The best sci-fi writer! I also love Heinlen and Asimov, Roger Zelazny to name a few. So many fantasy writers that I love too! I don't think anyone should go through life without reading Tolkein! Dh is also a big sci-fi reader, he has read just about everything! Our house is so full of books, we could open our own book store, LOL!
post #11 of 37
7/1/02 at 5:35am
frank Herbert and Tolkein are my favorites but I also like Zelazney, (try explaining the world to physics students it is funny!!) blah I will read anything fantasy but Sci FI I am more picky..

and of course Douglas Adams!!
post #12 of 37
7/1/02 at 9:11am
My dh and I recently discoverd Ken MacLeod. I can't recommend his stuff highly enough. We read it all, from Heinlein to Gibson, LeGuin to McCaffrey. And we love it. David Brin is probably our all time favorite, but MacLeod is inching up there in our regard.

You know one of us is feeling burnt out or sick when the SF litters the coffee table. It feeds us when we're down. Nothing like imagining the ramifications of our world to make you feel better about the present.
post #13 of 37
7/1/02 at 11:39am
Thread Starter 
Heinlein is someone I'm conflicted about.

I mean, "Stranger in a Strange Land" is one of my (&DH's) favorite books, we use the language, too (our 4yo understands the difference between understanding and 'grokking with fullness.') But I don't get the babes-with-boobs thing on all his book covers and between the covers ...

- Amy
post #14 of 37
7/1/02 at 2:10pm
I have mixed feelings about Heinlein, too. On one hand, he tells some darn good stories. On the other hand, the extent to which his red-haired heroines lust after their fathers and their sons makes me just a tad queasy (and I've never read "Friday," one of the books I've heard the most complaints about). I find that I dislike the portrayals of most of the women in most of his books that I've read. They're not people; they're kind of idealized concubines, happy to serve men (both sexually and practically).

I'm currently read "Curse of Chalion" by Lois McMaster Bujold, and I LOVE it. I can't believe I haven't read her stuff before. This book ROCKS.
post #15 of 37
7/1/02 at 2:17pm
Mallory,
I love Piers Athony too. I love the Hope Hubris, Xanth and Immortal Series. Other than that I have read some Isaac Asimov. Keep trying to read the Lord of the rings trilogy. Loved the movie.
post #16 of 37
7/1/02 at 2:56pm
abimommy......How could I forget Douglas Adams!!!
SLARTIBARTFAST!!!

I agree with you all about Heinlen, I really liked reading him years ago, was always disturbed about the crossing the lines in family affairs though, and now since I have had children I am not interested in reading him any more. I have read most of his books anyway. Thinking I might still give Moon is a Harsh Mistress a try though, no babes on the cover of that one!

Just came across Andre Norton for fantasy, she is fantastic!
post #17 of 37
7/2/02 at 4:23pm
I love, love, love Heinlein! Stranger is my fave but I really loved Friday and To Sail beyond the Sunset. The sexuality of the women in his books is wonderful. They hold their own with the male counterparts. They have desire and conquests, just like the men (something sci-fi sometimes is too full of)
post #18 of 37
7/10/02 at 8:45pm
I like SF with a fantasy twist. Anne McCrafney, Mercedes Lackey, Lisanne Norton, Melanie Rawn are all good authors I can usually pick up a book and get into it right away.

I also like Laurel Hamilton - more of a horror writer.

I have a good friend who reads alot and we share books when we can. I try to read a couple of evenings a week once dd goes to bed. Its better than the tv that dh watches!
post #19 of 37
7/11/02 at 5:37pm
Quote:
Originally posted by Yammer
"Neuromancer" and "Count Zero" by William Gibson.
Did you read Mona Lisa Overdrive? I liked it even more than CZ, not as good as Neuromancer.
post #20 of 37
7/12/02 at 12:16am
Thread Starter 
re: Gibson ...

I tried both "Neuromancer" and "Mona Lisa Overdrive" and just couldn't get into them. Don't know why. They were pretty densely written, perhaps that's what did it, I don't know. And they were so highly recommended, too, that I found it frustrating not to be able to get into them.

- Amy
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Books, Music and Other Media
This thread is locked  
Mothering › Forums › Natural Family Living › Books, Music and Other Media › Science Fiction fans?