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Post by Jesse on Jun 27, 2017 11:16:09 GMT -5
And second, I don't have anything from the late 40s, as far as I recall, and that seems like a glaring omission. Surely there must have been at least one or two classic SF novels released in the last half of that decade - can anyone think of anything? George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four was published in the late 1949. E. E. Smith, godfather of the space opera, published the first novel in the Lensman series Triplanetary in 1948, however it was first serialized in Amazing Stories in 1934. The rest of the Lensman series were published as novels in the 1950s but those last four books were first published in the magazine "Astounding" in the 1940s.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jun 27, 2017 11:59:10 GMT -5
There's also the lack of action in the series or at least most "action" occurs off-panel or between time jumps. I think there's one action sequence in the first book where the prince is hunting some kind of giant birdlike creature but everything else is basically periphery. The series is essentially a political drama that takes place over hundreds of years. Almost an anthropological look at the decay of a great empire while securing the essentials to build another. In that respect you could start at the beginning with the Encyclopedia Galactica looking back to Hari Seldon as prologue. Has anyone read either of the two sequels or two prequels? The prequels I would stay clear of, unless you really like Asimov's writing style. He goes full retcon mode in them (something that's even worse in the three Foundation novels written by the Killer Bs -Brin, Benford and Bear). Hari Seldon is not simply a protagonist, he's clearly the hero; and all the carefully planned revelations of the future are spoiled. They read like a Star Wars prequel in which farmboy Luke Skywalker would be told by a passing stranger "oh, did you know you were the brother of Leia Organa of Aledraan? Yes, and Darth Vader is your father. You should also try to move stuff with your mind because one day you'll be a Jedi". The sequels were kind of nice (if a bit slow), because it was obvious that Asimov would tie his two great series together by the end. It's like John Snow being revealed as the son of Lyanna Stark; even if you know it in advance, you still want to reach the point where the author states it plainly. Foundation and Earth is both a sequel to Robots and Empire and to Foundation's edge; in that sense, it's like a comic-book "event" crossover.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jul 5, 2017 18:50:23 GMT -5
The Magic Wagon by Joe R. Lansdale Lansdale gives us a pretty straight up western, though there are vague notions that it could turn into a weird western (it didn't) and it definitely channeled the dime novels of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Young Buster Fogg is part of a traveling medicine show that is run by Billy Bob Daniels (who claims to be the son of Wild Bill Hickok), ex-slave Albert and Rot-toe, a chimpanzee who will wrestle all takers. The show also has the remains of Wild Bill. The stop in the small town of Mud Creek turns out to be momentous and give Lansdale a chance to look at the role of reputation and its role in men's downfall. A nice little novelette. Lansdale is comfortable in most any genre and excels in pretty much everything he writes.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jul 6, 2017 10:14:00 GMT -5
E.R. Burroughs being unwittingly funny, or making a social comment?
In At the Earth's core, Perry balks at David Innes's plan to murder a trio of Mahars, who he explains are after all the dominant species in Pellucidar. But when he sees that his young friend is adamant, he proposes that while they're at it they could do something more... Commit genocide!
Perry has learned that the Mahars are now a female-only species, and that for their eggs to hatch they have to be treated with a special formula that just happens to be kept within the surface men's reach. Once that formula is in their hands, Perry and Innes could do away with the Mahars and lead the land's primitive humans to supremacy!
“David," said the old man, "I believe that God sent us here for just that purpose—it shall be my life work to teach them His word—to lead them into the light of His mercy while we are training their hearts and hands in the ways of culture and civilization.”
Dear Lord! How typical of a XIX century colonial attitude! Exterminate the local rulers, impose one's religion on the uneducated masses and turn the land into a copy of one's own!
(All of a sudden I'm rooting for the Mahars!)
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jul 6, 2017 11:05:02 GMT -5
Read The Talisman for my sci fi book club... ugh. I suppose if you'd never read a Fantasy Book before it would be OK, but there are far better... lots of plot holes one can drive a truck through.
The Dragonback Series is good though... I just finished book 3 today. the 2nd and 3rd books were a bit too similar, but Timothy Zahn is a darn good sci-fi writer, so it'll all good.
Funny story... WAY back when Jesse posted about Babel-17 I tried to get it out of the library, and happily there was a single copy in the system (While our linked library system for Southeastern Massachusetts is generally great, there's a definite like of old sci fi)... sadly, when I got it, it wasn't in English! Made my wife's head explode when she took it out, so that was a nice consolation.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 6, 2017 15:02:11 GMT -5
I'm not sure if this has been brought up before (I have a 2-3 month hole in my presence here and haven't looked at anywhere near everything that was posted in that time)-has anyone read or sampled Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi.
It's a new sci-fi series recently started. It came highly recommended by a lot of people I get newsletters from (especially Warren Ellis in his Orbital Operations newsletter). I checked out the first book from the local library and am abot 1/3 to halfway through it in a couple days of reading. I know nothing of Scalzi except he wrote the book Redshirts that got a lot of attention as well as some other stuff, and this is the first book for his new (or extended) contract with Tor.
In some ways it sucks me in, and I like a lot fo the ideas and thinking behind them involved in his sci-fi worldbuilding, but his tone and language feel utterly contemporary, which at times is offputting and takes me out of the world he is trying to build.
Not sure when the second book is due, but is filled with interesting characters, lots of intrigue, and an engrossing plot/storyline, if only the contemporary voice in the prose didn't distract me so much as I read it.
Anyone else check it out or have any impressions of it (let's try to void spoilers though).
-M
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jul 6, 2017 15:14:06 GMT -5
I'm not sure if this has been brought up before (I have a 2-3 month hole in my presence here and haven't looked at anywhere near everything that was posted in that time)-has anyone read or sampled Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi. It's a new sci-fi series recently started. It came highly recommended by a lot of people I get newsletters from (especially Warren Ellis in his Orbital Operations newsletter). I checked out the first book from the local library and am abot 1/3 to halfway through it in a couple days of reading. I know nothing of Scalzi except he wrote the book Redshirts that got a lot of attention as well as some other stuff, and this is the first book for his new (or extended) contract with Tor. In some ways it sucks me in, and I like a lot fo the ideas and thinking behind them involved in his sci-fi worldbuilding, but his tone and language feel utterly contemporary, which at times is offputting and takes me out of the world he is trying to build. Not sure when the second book is due, but is filled with interesting characters, lots of intrigue, and an engrossing plot/storyline, if only the contemporary voice in the prose didn't distract me so much as I read it. Anyone else check it out or have any impressions of it (let's try to void spoilers though). -M I don't have anything substantive to add. It's on my list of books to be read...but there are roughly 5000 books on my list, including around 1700 SF/Fantasy novels. So that's not much help. The only Scalzi I've read is Redshirts. Which I thought was an absolute hoot and which I highly recommend, especially to those who like Star Trek, but aren't full on Trekkies. It was an incredibly fun meta-commentary on Star Trek and SF television/movies. I was kinda looking at moving Collapsing Empire up on my list, but I also kinda feel like I owe it to myself to read Old Man's War by Scalzi first. Just because of the stature of that book. But maybe I'll move it up anyway.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jul 6, 2017 15:18:18 GMT -5
E.R. Burroughs being unwittingly funny, or making a social comment? In At the Earth's core, Perry balks at David Innes's plan to murder a trio of Mahars, who he explains are after all the dominant species in Pellucidar. But when he sees that his young friend is adamant, he proposes that while they're at it they could do something more... Commit genocide! Perry has learned that the Mahars are now a female-only species, and that for their eggs to hatch they have to be treated with a special formula that just happens to be kept within the surface men's reach. Once that formula is in their hands, Perry and Innes could do away with the Mahars and lead the land's primitive humans to supremacy! “David," said the old man, "I believe that God sent us here for just that purpose—it shall be my life work to teach them His word—to lead them into the light of His mercy while we are training their hearts and hands in the ways of culture and civilization.” Dear Lord! How typical of a XIX century colonial attitude! Exterminate the local rulers, impose one's religion on the uneducated masses and turn the land into a copy of one's own! (All of a sudden I'm rooting for the Mahars!) This is absolutely Burroughs making social comment. He's not only an unabashed colonialist, he's also an unabashed royalist.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 6, 2017 15:21:54 GMT -5
I just want to clarify a bit why the contemporary languages bothers me a bit-it's certainly a nit pick. I'm not going to revel anything about the plot you can't get from the dust jacket here, but the setting is an intergalactic empire descended from Earth culture somewhere in the far flung future. Looking at how much language evolves, and how different say 21st century English is to say 17th century English, it just makes no sense to me that people in the far-flung future sound like they'd fit right in to 21st century America without a hitch, including slang, metaphors, profanity and the like. In some ways it might make it feel accessible for a 21st century reader, but in others it's almost a betrayl of the world building and the verisimilitude needed to sell something of that nature.
That's not to say I don't like the book, but it's just something that sticks out for me. It sometimes feels like a bunch of 21st century people stuck into a sci-fi setting rather than an authentic setting with people who developed there.
-M
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jul 6, 2017 15:48:30 GMT -5
E.R. Burroughs being unwittingly funny, or making a social comment? In At the Earth's core, Perry balks at David Innes's plan to murder a trio of Mahars, who he explains are after all the dominant species in Pellucidar. But when he sees that his young friend is adamant, he proposes that while they're at it they could do something more... Commit genocide! Perry has learned that the Mahars are now a female-only species, and that for their eggs to hatch they have to be treated with a special formula that just happens to be kept within the surface men's reach. Once that formula is in their hands, Perry and Innes could do away with the Mahars and lead the land's primitive humans to supremacy! “David," said the old man, "I believe that God sent us here for just that purpose—it shall be my life work to teach them His word—to lead them into the light of His mercy while we are training their hearts and hands in the ways of culture and civilization.” Dear Lord! How typical of a XIX century colonial attitude! Exterminate the local rulers, impose one's religion on the uneducated masses and turn the land into a copy of one's own! (All of a sudden I'm rooting for the Mahars!) This is absolutely Burroughs making social comment. He's not only an unabashed colonialist, he's also an unabashed royalist. That's why everyone who does good in his novels is revealed in extremis to be of noble birth, right? I think the mucker is the only exception.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jul 6, 2017 15:55:39 GMT -5
This is absolutely Burroughs making social comment. He's not only an unabashed colonialist, he's also an unabashed royalist. That's why everyone who does good in his novels is revealed in extremis to be of noble birth, right? I think the mucker is the only exception. One of the reasons The Mucker is my favorite Burroughs novel. Not only does he hit on almost every pulp genre in one book, but the protagonist doesn't turn out to be royalty or at least an upper-class WASP.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jul 6, 2017 16:11:46 GMT -5
Woman in the Dark by Dashiell Hammett This novella was originally serialized in Liberty Magazine 1933. It remained unreprinted for a number of years. I'd never read it before, but I decided too for a couple of reasons. It remained the only Hammett I hadn't read, save for a few short stories and it's short...and I seem to be doing better with shorter works right now. It was, I believe, the last thing he wrote before The Thin Man, which was his last work (unless you count his work editing and assisting Lillian Hellman's writing). Luise Fischer, a kept woman, is trying to escape from the keeper, who brought her from Europe and doesn't feel he's done with her. Through happenstance she finds assistance from Brazil, who has spent time inside prison and isn't anxious to go back. They end up on the run, though ultimately we get what appears to be a happy ending, though there are enough dangling threads and ambiguity to show that it may not be that happy. This is by no means important or even particularly interesting Hammett. He was tired of writing the works that made him famous. He was in the throes of severe alcoholism and he was more interested...and possibly capable...of advising and assisting Hellman than in writing his own work. This one is for completists only. I'm not unhappy I read it. But I won't ever read it again.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jul 6, 2017 22:35:55 GMT -5
The Lost Continent/Beyond Thirty by Edgar Rice Burroughs. (oh my lord I love that Frazetta cover) A Burroughs one-off that is part adventure novel and part SF. Following the "Great War" the Eastern and Western Hemispheres of Earth have been cut off from one another by law and taboo. The western hemisphere is the Pan-American Union...Beyond Thirty, is the unknown. Due to a mechanical malfunction in his ship, naval officer Jefferson Turck finds himself beyond thirty and in an England, and Europe that has reverted to savagery. He also happens to find himself in the middle of a war between the Abyssinian Empire that controls Africa and most of Europe and a Chinese empire that controls all of Asia. Of course he has adventures, gets the girl (royalty, natch) and ends up back in the U.S....er...Pan-American Union where he's a hero. This is a fun little one-off. It has the usual Burroughs tropes. But here they seem more endearing than old I had to turn my brain off a bit, because my youngest son loved a show called, Life After People, in which scientists looked at what would happen with animals, fauna, structures, etc. if people disappeared. Needless to say...Burroughs was pretty off base. But it's a fun book. Burroughs hasn't yet lost his verve and this one, though I haven't read it in probably 30 years, holds up well.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jul 6, 2017 22:43:59 GMT -5
I'm not sure if this has been brought up before (I have a 2-3 month hole in my presence here and haven't looked at anywhere near everything that was posted in that time)-has anyone read or sampled Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi. It's a new sci-fi series recently started. It came highly recommended by a lot of people I get newsletters from (especially Warren Ellis in his Orbital Operations newsletter). I checked out the first book from the local library and am abot 1/3 to halfway through it in a couple days of reading. I know nothing of Scalzi except he wrote the book Redshirts that got a lot of attention as well as some other stuff, and this is the first book for his new (or extended) contract with Tor. In some ways it sucks me in, and I like a lot fo the ideas and thinking behind them involved in his sci-fi worldbuilding, but his tone and language feel utterly contemporary, which at times is offputting and takes me out of the world he is trying to build. Not sure when the second book is due, but is filled with interesting characters, lots of intrigue, and an engrossing plot/storyline, if only the contemporary voice in the prose didn't distract me so much as I read it. Anyone else check it out or have any impressions of it (let's try to void spoilers though). -M I don't have anything substantive to add. It's on my list of books to be read...but there are roughly 5000 books on my list, including around 1700 SF/Fantasy novels. So that's not much help. The only Scalzi I've read is Redshirts. Which I thought was an absolute hoot and which I highly recommend, especially to those who like Star Trek, but aren't full on Trekkies. It was an incredibly fun meta-commentary on Star Trek and SF television/movies. I was kinda looking at moving Collapsing Empire up on my list, but I also kinda feel like I owe it to myself to read Old Man's War by Scalzi first. Just because of the stature of that book. But maybe I'll move it up anyway. Old Man's War is really good. Redshirts is awesomely hilarious.... I probably won't read the new series until it's finished though... I'm done with superstar authors and their ridiculous periods between parts of a series.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jul 6, 2017 22:48:12 GMT -5
I don't have anything substantive to add. It's on my list of books to be read...but there are roughly 5000 books on my list, including around 1700 SF/Fantasy novels. So that's not much help. The only Scalzi I've read is Redshirts. Which I thought was an absolute hoot and which I highly recommend, especially to those who like Star Trek, but aren't full on Trekkies. It was an incredibly fun meta-commentary on Star Trek and SF television/movies. I was kinda looking at moving Collapsing Empire up on my list, but I also kinda feel like I owe it to myself to read Old Man's War by Scalzi first. Just because of the stature of that book. But maybe I'll move it up anyway. Old Man's War is really good. Redshirts is awesomely hilarious.... I probably won't read the new series until it's finished though... I'm done with superstar authors and their ridiculous periods between parts of a series. I can understand that. But I don't see that being a problem here. Scalzi is pretty darn prolific and his books come out at a pretty good clip, it appears.
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