|
Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2014 11:16:57 GMT -5
A hack.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2014 11:18:27 GMT -5
Note to self: Have mars shot.
|
|
|
Post by Roquefort Raider on Nov 12, 2014 11:44:58 GMT -5
Just finished Prey by Michael Crichton.
I'm surprised that one hasn't been made into a movie yet. It has all the qualities of a fast-paced summer action movie (and most of its faults, too, although I did enjoy it).
|
|
|
Post by gothos on Nov 12, 2014 16:34:47 GMT -5
The World Jones Made (1956) Philip K. Dick Cover Illustrator UnknownDick's 2nd published novel. Shortly after a WW111 Fedgov is in control of Earth. A man named Jones can foresee events one year into the future. He's actually has already lived it, as he says, his mind is one year in advance and his body is one year behind. The police state fears this man once they discover his abilities, he cannot be taken by surprise and the masses are beginning to rally around him as it seems he knows all and is infallible Jones is also warning all about the threat of the drifters-podlike substances that are dropping onto earth from outer space. The drifters die off quite quickly and easily but Jones warns its the first step of an invasion And while all this is happening, a group of 8 mutants are being prepped to be able to survive life on Venus A decent read but the various threads don't exactly come together satisfactorily. In fact, the mutants on Venus piece is pretty much unnecessary. This book was written very early in Dick's career and is interesting to see how he would later progress. The pages spent on the mutants should have been used to expand upon how Jones used his forecasting ability to take over the government. A technically flawed book but still of interest. If Dick revised the novel later on in life, it could have been so much better In 2009,Terry Gilliam confirmed he was working on a film adaptation of the novel but I haven't heard of any progress. I feel like a lot of PKD books from all periods are like that. He rarely picks just one storyline and follows it straight thru to the end; there are usually two or three protagonists who don't know each other and whose storylines intersect, sometimes in very interesting ways. I reread MARTIAN TIME-SLIP-- from 1962, I think-- last year and it held up pretty well.
|
|
|
Post by Ish Kabbible on Nov 14, 2014 20:56:10 GMT -5
Dark Universe 1961 Daniel Galouye 1st Printing Cover Art: V.A.Hoot (And its real nice)
The Survivors are a tribe of people living deep in the bowels of the earth. They are blind but don't know it since they have no concept of light or dark. They see by way of radar sense, using soundwaves to discern objects. Jared is being groomed as their future leader. He questions the veracity of the legends which speak of an Original World, The God called Light and the Devil called Radiation . The Survivors are in constant war with the Zivvers who use infra-red vision to see. Both groups are beset by huge soubats who flap around with razor-sharp talons
Then a new menace appears,threatening both groups with constant raids and kidnappings.These monsters might also be responsible for the evaporation of numerous hot water springs throughout the caverns, these springs being one of the primal sources for food,heat and power.Jared departs on a quest to satisfy his yearnings of enlightment,to learn about the monster menace and to seek out a wife
It won't take long for the reader to discover that this is basically a post-apocalypse tale about the surviving humans living underground many generations after nuclear war. Fantasy fans might enjoy this.I found it decent enough even if it was stretched out a bit to get to 150 pages and long enough to be considered a novel.After all,Jared was caught and escaped at least 5 times which helped to elongate the tale. But the author was sucessful in building a civilization of the conditions described and that was his main effort
Daniel Galouye (1920-1976) was a newspaper writer/editor who wrote for the SF digests mostly in the 50s and early 60s. He wrote 5 novels in which Dark Universe was his first. Dark Universe was a Hugo nominee for best novel in 1962
|
|
|
Post by wildfire2099 on Nov 22, 2014 10:10:49 GMT -5
Shellbreak by JW Groves 1968 My copy appears to be the 2nd edition from 1970. Plot: in the year 2505, 'The City' exists in F-shell, which is completely impeneratrable, and has stood for over 400 years. Society has decayed pretty badly.. and two different political groups are trying to convince the despotic goverment to take down the shell. The government, meanwhile, goes to the past to pluck the inventor of the shell to make it so it can never come down. Lenoir arrives confused, and is made more so by the conflicting groups and strange motivations of each group in turn, as he ends up in their 'possession'. We slowly figure out what's going on as Lenoir does, until the big reveal at the end (which I won't spoil) Analysis: This could be a great book, but the author clearly had no idea what to do with the story. While it was fun to see the main character change sides again and again and be generally unsure about what he was doing, the pay off was terrible... perhaps it could have been saved with a sequel, but I'm not sure that would even do it. This is one of those good concept/poor execution type novels that there seem to be quite a few of in this era of expanding short stories into novels.
|
|
|
Post by wildfire2099 on Nov 22, 2014 10:14:43 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by wildfire2099 on Nov 27, 2014 9:12:59 GMT -5
Mutiny in Space Avram Davidson c. 1964 (my copy is a 3rd printing... from 1974) Plot: The starship Persephone has been taken over by Mutineers, and the loyal crew was stuck on the life boat and left. The Captain, instead of going to the nearly planet with the lifeboat and calling for help, goes far afield to a pre-tech culture to try to get back to Guild space and catch the mutineers before the sell the ship for a good 'ole fashion binge. One of the mutineers figures it out and follows them.. the planet they find is you basic 'Amazon women in charge' type, with the men all being very short and essentially breeding stock. The loyal crew tries to save them while the bad guys try to take over...in the end, it turns out to be pretty much a male fantasy fufillment... the loyal crew end up in charge of a planet full of women, who are demanding they take multiple wives to 'refresh the species'. Yeah. Analysis: This could easily have been made into a cheesy 60s movie that would get the MS3K treatment... a fun read, but nothing redeeming or complex about it. At least the women were reasonably intelligent and strong, rather than being confused damsels in distress (though they came close to that in the end).... it's a SLIGHTLY less misogynistic that the average.
|
|
|
Post by badwolf on Nov 27, 2014 15:28:32 GMT -5
I think I've read this, or possibly an original short story version of the novel Pretty sure the latter appeared in Again, Dangerous Visions. That's the one I've recently read. One of the better entries, but a bit long as it was.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 27, 2014 19:52:10 GMT -5
Revival by Stephen King
This book was promoted as a solidly Lovecraftian novel; Mike Davis over at the Lovecraft ezine called it one of the scariest things he's read. So maybe my expectations were too high, eh?
Most of the book is the story of the main character from childhood through a troubled music career and drug addiction to today, when he's in his 50s and working at a recording company. He keeps bumping into this minister who loses his faith but keeps up his experiments with a weird sort of electricity. This is well done; King has a gift for bringing his characters to life and keeping you turning the pages. But then there's the horror element, which shows up in the last 20-30 pages. And that element is the disappointment. It's meant to be this big, soul-destroying revelation, but A) it doesn't feel connected enough to the rest of the book, B) it doesn't have the personal impact on the characters it could have had, and C) it's not a new concept. It ain't scary, okay? Disturbing in an abstract way, but not scary. (And yes, it's Lovecraftian in theme, and the forbidden books of the Mythos get a mention. I do appreciate that King didn't go for Lovecraft pastiche, dragging in Cthulhu and the gang.)
The book reminded me of King's Duma Key, which had the same basic structure, a mainstream human story w/something supernatural at the end. But there, the supernatural element was developed sooner, it had more impact on the characters, and there was a plot resolution. In Revival, we're told the big dark truth, and everybody goes off to live their lives. That's it. And that's a letdown.
|
|
|
Post by Ish Kabbible on Dec 1, 2014 18:24:21 GMT -5
The Iron Dream (1972) Norman Spinrad Cover Illustration:Bob HabberfieldWhat If Adolf Hitler came to America after the first World War and became a pulp SF writer. Here then is his acclaimed final novel: Lord Of The Swastika (1953) Adolf HitlerWinner of the 1954 Hugo Award, this is a post-apocalypse science -fantasy epic. The Great War from centuries past has left the world populated by hideous mutants and loathsome creatures. To the East lies the Evil Empire of Zind, a land ruled by the Dominators who mentally control millions of thoughtless 7 foot slaves ready to sacrifice themselves for their masters .whims The only people left carrying the true human gene reside in the nation of Heldon.Blonde,blue-eyed fair skin people with a weak government who are slowly caving in to the demands of Zind. Feric Jaggar is determined to lead his people to their rightful heritage and spread the untainted human genome throughout the habitable world. He is the only man able to wield the Truncheon Of Held-a mighty weapon that symbolizes the power of Heldon. Feric Jagger at first gathers a band of faithful followers and establishes the Sons Of The Swastika and propels himself into elective office. After consolidating all power within Heldon, he opens up Classification Camps to root out all mutants or Dominators that might reside within the nation Then it is time to fight the final war between the Heldon and the mutant nations of the West and the evil Empire of Zind to the east Fans of sword & sorcery/alt-history or post-apocalyptic epics should get a kick out of this romp. Praised by Michael Moorcock and Harlan Ellison. And don't forget to check out Hitler's other novels such as The Thousand Year Rule, The Master Race and The Triumph Of The Will
|
|
|
Post by wildfire2099 on Dec 1, 2014 22:05:18 GMT -5
So, a novel within a novel? INteresting....
|
|
|
Post by wildfire2099 on Dec 4, 2014 21:45:02 GMT -5
A Case of Conscience James Blish C. 1959 (orginally a novella from 1953) Wow, this book was really amazing. One of the most thought-provoking novels I've read. I don't think a mere summary would do it any sort of justice, but I'll give it a shot. The Lithians seem to be a perfect society... there's no crime, no sadness, everyone just goes about their lives in harmony. There's also no art, no leisure, no religion... it's a strange place. Four humans are there to decide how Earth with interact with them... if at all. One (the 'ugly American' trope) wants to harvest the world's metals... the sociologist of the group wants to figure out how such a society could be created. The 3rd, a geologist, doesn't seem to have an opinion. Then there's Father Ruiz-Sanchez, a Jesuit priest and the resident biologist. He thinks that the Lithians are a trap laid by Satan... a trick to turn people away from God. Of course, thinking so is heresy, as it ascribes too much creativity to Satan, but he feels so strongly he commits the opinion to tape to attempt to keep the planet closed. The 4 men are split, so the verdict is undecided. The Lithians happily give a parting gift... a baby Lithian, for the humans to raise to help foster understanding. They do so, and he(Egtverchi by name) turns out to be a rabble rouser of the first order, touching off the powder keg that Earth had become... he escapes on a ship back to Lithia, where the UN had decided to allow the planet to be used for energy collection experiments.. the Lithians don't like it, but are too passive and nice to object. As Father Ruiz (from Earth) watches the ship land... he performs an exorcism, as the Pope demanded... at the moment he finishes, the experiment goes wrong, destroying the planet. Divine intervention? Co-incidence? Or did letting Egtverchi return home insert the Serpent into Eden.. or were we the Snake? I'd love to hear what any of you guys thought of this one... it really just SCREAMS for discussion.
|
|
|
Post by Ish Kabbible on Dec 4, 2014 22:16:47 GMT -5
I read the novella version decades ago in one of the volumes of the essential Science Fiction Hall Of Fame anthologies. Its been so long and I have forgotten the details of the story. I just know every story in those anthologies were important to the developement of the SF genre and nary a one failed to entertain me
James Blish was an accomplished author who produced some other outstanding work such as Cities In Flight,Black Easter,The Day After Judgement and The Seedling Stars collection. He was also the first author who wrote Star Trek novels-both adaptations of TV episodes and original adult stories.
|
|
|
Post by Slam_Bradley on Dec 5, 2014 18:04:46 GMT -5
Note to self: Have mars shot. Ehhh...To be fair...if you use the original meaning of the word "hack" PKD qualified. But so did every other SF writer up through at least the mid 70s. Every pulp writer ever. Every comic book writer. Every...well damn near every writer worth reading.
|
|