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Last post Author Topic: Science Fiction and Fantasy Reading List  (Read 26003 times)

wraith808

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Re: Science Fiction and Fantasy Reading List
« Reply #25 on: May 01, 2011, 09:16 PM »
I love Lewis (one of my absolute favorites, if not #1). He's brilliant. His apologetics are amazing. His essays are remarkable. A wonderful author for anyone to read, and if he recommends it, hey, it's got to have merit~!

+1

Agreed totally :)

JennyB

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Re: Science Fiction and Fantasy Reading List
« Reply #26 on: May 02, 2011, 06:09 AM »
Not on the list, but the book I always recommend to SF fans is Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.  In case you didn't know, it is considered the first SF novel by many.  It's one of my all-time favs.

C

Indeed. Not at all what you might expect from the movies, and it's fascinating to see how its themes are revisited in more recent SF/fantasy.

For a more modern (very) short story with a deep impact, I would recommend Ursula le Guin's The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas, the Hugo award winner of 1974.
If you don't see how it can fail -
you haven't understood it properly.

joiwind

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Re: Science Fiction and Fantasy Reading List
« Reply #27 on: May 02, 2011, 10:50 AM »
Yes, Lewis is one of my heros too (along with JRRT gws ( = goes without saying)), he said somewhere that his trilogy was strongly influenced by Lindsay's book.

There are also the novels of Charles Williams - in particular The Place of the Lion - these novels are even more 'religious' than those of Lewis but that depends how you read them, that doesn't bother me, some might say that they are quite old-fashioned but for me that just adds more charm.

And of course, as most people know, Lewis, Tolkien and Williams were friends and colleagues and members of a club called the Inklings.

- This may be a bit beside the point but in view of very recent events, it could be useful for some to read or re-read A Voyage to Arcturus to help reflect on what is the nature of evil and what we should do, or not do, about it.

rjbull

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Re: Science Fiction and Fantasy Reading List
« Reply #28 on: May 04, 2011, 04:29 PM »
Yes, Lewis is one of my heros too (along with JRRT
[...]
There are also the novels of Charles Williams - in particular The Place of the Lion - these novels are even more 'religious' than those of Lewis

In his BOOKS REMEMBERED list, author Garth Nix says this:
Red Moon, Black Mountain by Joy Chant is what I would call ‘Harder-edged Narnia’. This is a novel in which children are transported to a fantasy world and take part in a great struggle against evil. Grittier and tougher than Narnia, , it was unjustly neglected, probably because it was way ahead of its time.

But I digress... no longer on SF.

JohnFredC

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Re: Science Fiction and Fantasy Reading List
« Reply #29 on: May 05, 2011, 04:42 PM »
Of all the works on that list, IMO The Diamond Age is the most “prescient” for modern times...  what do others think?

Lists like this one both frustrate and excite me because so many worthies are listed, but so many ignored, too.

I’ve been avidly reading SF since 1961 (3rd grade, starting with Andre Norton).  Here are a quick three not on the awards list:

Edgar Pangborn: A Mirror for Observers
M.A. Foster: Morphodite
Cordwainer Smith: The Rediscovery of Man (anthology)

You’ll have to hunt for the first two.  See Wikipedia for more about these authors.

iphigenie

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Re: Science Fiction and Fantasy Reading List
« Reply #30 on: May 07, 2011, 12:50 PM »
How much time have you got? avid fiction reader here - I cant even keep my librarything up to date... http://www.libraryth...om/catalog/iphigenie

As for the Hugo/Nebula list, It is rather scary, I have read most of them  :o
« Last Edit: May 07, 2011, 01:14 PM by iphigenie »

sazzen

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Re: Science Fiction and Fantasy Reading List
« Reply #31 on: May 13, 2011, 08:30 AM »
When a fantasy writer meets the web:
http://www.newyorker...ller?currentPage=all

George R. R. Martin has now sold more than fifteen million books worldwide, and his readership will likely multiply exponentially after the launch, this month, of “Game of Thrones,” a lavish HBO series based on “A Song of Ice and Fire.” He is committed to nurturing his audience, no matter how vast it gets. “It behooves a writer to be good to his fans,” he says. Still, a close relationship with one’s audience has its drawbacks. As Martin puts it, “The more readers you have, the harder it is to keep up, and then you can’t get any writing done.”
Still -- I wish he'd finish that book. And, I hope it's the last of the series because I doubt I'll live long enough for him to finish another.  It's hardly "nursing" his audience when he leave us hanging for years, and years. If he's too busy because of his fans, he can move in with me and I'll protect him from them until he gets that  $#?&  book done!

phitsc

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Re: Science Fiction and Fantasy Reading List
« Reply #32 on: May 13, 2011, 08:55 AM »
When a fantasy writer meets the web:
http://www.newyorker...ller?currentPage=all

George R. R. Martin has now sold more than fifteen million books worldwide, and his readership will likely multiply exponentially after the launch, this month, of “Game of Thrones,” a lavish HBO series based on “A Song of Ice and Fire.” He is committed to nurturing his audience, no matter how vast it gets. “It behooves a writer to be good to his fans,” he says. Still, a close relationship with one’s audience has its drawbacks. As Martin puts it, “The more readers you have, the harder it is to keep up, and then you can’t get any writing done.”
Still -- I wish he'd finish that book. And, I hope it's the last of the series because I doubt I'll live long enough for him to finish another.  It's hardly "nursing" his audience when he leave us hanging for years, and years. If he's too busy because of his fans, he can move in with me and I'll protect him from them until he gets that  $#?&  book done!

Is your real name Annie Wilkes by any chance ;)

40hz

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Re: Science Fiction and Fantasy Reading List
« Reply #33 on: May 13, 2011, 03:49 PM »
For a more modern (very) short story with a deep impact, I would recommend Ursula le Guin's The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas, the Hugo award winner of 1974.

Truly awesome short story  :Thmbsup: with disturbing similarities to our own global economic system. One where the populations of western 'democracies' do their best to remain entirely unaware of how much their own prosperity and happiness gets "paid for" by having people in other places be forced to live in abject squalor and misery.

Something to think about next time you buy that bargain priced toy or bit of sporting equipment with a "Made in XXX" tag on it.

« Last Edit: May 13, 2011, 03:52 PM by 40hz »

tjbray

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Re: Science Fiction and Fantasy Reading List
« Reply #34 on: June 13, 2011, 07:04 PM »
For anyone looking to purchase any of these or other books, I've found the best prices on Bookfinder.com .  I don't have any affiliation with the site, just tossing it out there for those who are interested...

Deozaan

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Re: Science Fiction and Fantasy Reading List
« Reply #35 on: June 19, 2011, 03:54 AM »
I'd like to recommend a pretty decent SciFi trilogy written by Nick Sagan, son of the famous Carl Sagan.

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