Posted on 10/21/2009 10:21:53 AM PDT by Nachum
Ender’s Game is great. Just finished the Bean quartet. About to read “Ender in Exhile”. Very excited.
Earth Sea appealed more for the world she created than her writing. It may be one of those series that grew better in my mind in the many years since I read it. :D
The prose is carefully crafted, and in places exquisite. Stephenson remains an excellent and deep writer, a sort of Hermann Hesse with a space helmet on, and lovers of well-written prose will find Anathem a good, solid read. And, while the book contains hidden treasures for readers with some knowledge of philosophy and geometry, it's perfectly enjoyable for those who just want a good story as well.
I recommend Anathem as a worthy diversion for thinking science fiction fans.
I am looking for the name and author of a book I read a long time ago. It was about a world where the technology was made through adaptations of nature. The “guns” were some animal or plant that fired poison darts, etc.
I love that series.
Pohl, Fred Saberhagen, Larry Niven, Spyder Robinson, Harry Turtledove, Armor by Steakley, etc.
One of my favorites is “Division of Mass”. I can’t find the book nor remember the author’s name but that book scared the sh!!!t out of me.
Mike
Loved whatever of Gemmel's I've read, although they'd had their drawbacks (usually with the endings being a little rushed).
I read "King Beyond the Gate" first, told my brother, and he went out and bought the other 3 books (at that time) in the series. I've seen read the four of those in order, and "Knights of Dark Renown". Good stuff.
Glen Cooks “The Black Company” series ...
Read this one recently. Very good.
Ender's Game and "First Meetings in the Enderverse". Interestingly, the First Meetings book includes the original short story. The First Meetings book will leave you scratching your head a little if you are familiar with the Ender mythos.
Ender's Shadow, a BIG book about little Bean. Too big, really, and I couldn't wait for it to just get started already. It seemed to contradict some of the stuff from Ender. OTOH, the book changed some of aspects of the story. Dramatically, in some cases.
The first two Bard's Tale books. Sorry, forgot the name. They were both co-written by Mercedes Lackey, who was Guest of Honor at Lunacon last year. They have nothing to do with the computer game, other than the title. The first one was better than the second. (Sorry, forgot the titles.)
Ummmmm.... I can't think of others of the top of my head, oddly enough. I gotta check my list.
Ok, looking for the name of a pulp fantasy book I read close to 20 years ago.
Standard plotline, young man from this world ends up in the fantasy world, but it turns out that he is very important. The magic in the fantasy world runs off of poetry, and because it is very dangerous to just make up new magic “spells”, his making up poems on the fly to get things to happen is considered dangerous and unstable.
Funny, clever book, but I just can’t remember who wrote it or what is was called.
Let me suggest some lesser-known authors that are really quite good;
1. Mark L. van Name — His Jon and Lobo series (One Jump Ahead, Slanted Jack, and Overthrowing Heaven) are lots of fun. Hard, hard, SF
2. David Freer — mix of SF and fantasy. Often collaborates with Eric Flint. Slow Train To Arcturus is great hard SF. A Mankind Witch, and his new Dragon’s Ring are excellent fantasy.
3. John Lambshead — only one book (Lucy’s Blade), a time-travel piece that is loads of fun.
4. Michael Z. Williamson — His Freehold series has hit four or so books, and is great hard SF
For SF, Heinlein and Asimov were far, far above their peers - no one since William Gibson has done much that doesn't seem to be a warmed-over remake of what has gone before. And too many very good SF writers (like Kim Stanley Robinson) have been bitten by the "Green" bug and have taken to cranking out Al Gore speeches disguised as fiction. Vernor Vinge is one writer I still like.
Fantasy has been dead for a while - killed by too many feminist witch parables, LoTR clones, and Robert Jordan clones of Dungeons and Dragons clones of LoTR clones. :)
He also wrote two other very interesting series:
The Xanth Series
The Incarnations of Immortality Series
Thanks! I’ve read the Xanth series as well, and it was pretty good.
Really? Hard to believe. If the book is written well, it is interesting to me. Even some of my kids' books are fun reads. Angie Sage and herSeptimus Heap series just came out with her 5th installment for young readers. (but) I am also looking forward to the next Dresden Files too.
There is a lot of repetition in both genre's. That's why it is good to get opinions. (IMHO)
Hmmm, I just looked up the Adept series and I don’t think that is it. In this book, the main character just would make up poems and magic would happen.
If you want a really off-the-wall novel by Piers Anthony, try reading “Macroscope”.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.