Warmark Jay wrote:Ditto. I think there are sci-fi purists, for whom the science is the thing, rather than the fiction. To me the "hard" sci-fi books are usually a chore, as the authors (especially those that have "day jobs" in the sciences) tend to focus on concepts rather than plot and character development.
That was exactly my impression of James Hogan when I read his GIANT'S STAR.
Warmark Jay wrote:There are some exceptions; David Brin is a bonafide rocket scientist (among otherthings, he's taught astrophysics at UCSD) who is a pretty good storyteller.
Ahem, "pretty good storyteller"? I'd call him fascinating. [SUNDIVER *sigh* still one of the best sci fi mysteries around]
"The universe is made of stories, not atoms." -- Roger Penrose
Ahem, "pretty good storyteller"? I'd call him fascinating. [SUNDIVER *sigh* still one of the best sci fi mysteries around]
Totally agree with you on "Sundiver". "Startide Rising" remains my all time favorite sci-fi novel; what a movie that would make! CGI dolphins in space! I was COMPLETELY disappointed with his follow-ups to that book ("The Uplift War" and the Brightness Reef books), though.
"That must be the King."
"How do you know?"
"He hasn't got sh*t all over him."
My stance on science in science fiction is that everything should be grounded in science. That's once of the reasons why I dislike Star Wars and Star Trek - it's just fantasy. Having a city on a star or ships that can blow planets up is pushing it.
Waddley wrote:your Highness Sir Dr. Loredoctor, PhD, Esq, the Magnificent, First of his name, Second Cousin of Dragons, White-Gold-Plate Wielder!
"Earth" was OK. I thought the ending was a cop-out, and I thought the story took too long to unfold. Fascinating premise though, so I'd recommend it.
Back to the Gap.....It took all of The Real Story, and 216 pages of Forbidden Knowlege, but I can finally say I'm starting to enjoy it.
"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." - PJ O'Rourke
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"Men and women range themselves into three classes or orders of intelligence; you can tell the lowest class by their habit of always talking about persons; the next by the fact that their habit is always to converse about things; the highest by their preference for the discussion of ideas." - Charles Stewart
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"I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." - James Madison
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Loremaster wrote:My stance on science in science fiction is that everything should be grounded in science. That's once of the reasons why I dislike Star Wars and Star Trek - it's just fantasy. Having a city on a star or ships that can blow planets up is pushing it.
That's one of the reasons that I haven't read anything by David Brin. Hearing about dolphins in space sounds too much like Pern for my taste. However, I have an open mind and so, may give the books a try.
Blowing up planets ? Look how much energy an atom has......maybe, someday, they'll be able to harness the energy from a small black hole or singlarity (sp) etc. J/K-
"Ah, no! You can't kill what was in that man!"- Last line of "The Northwest Passage" by Kenneth Roberts
That's one of the reasons that I haven't read anything by David Brin. Hearing about dolphins in space sounds too much like Pern for my taste. However, I have an open mind and so, may give the books a try.
Brin's take on where genetic science has led us and is leading us is a big part of the theme of his Uplift books; IMHO "Startide Rising" is the best of these, as the science in the book has it's basis in reality. Definitely worth reading.
"That must be the King."
"How do you know?"
"He hasn't got sh*t all over him."
Yeah, except I wasn't too thrilled with the ending and the plot twists leading to it. Spoiler
The whole "threat from a secret alien race" was contrived and silly.
I thought Brin's depiction of global warming, population increase (settling Patagonia was a cool concept), the war against Switzerland and the future of the Internet were fascinating.
"That must be the King."
"How do you know?"
"He hasn't got sh*t all over him."
duchess of malfi wrote:... the author of this particular book had a Cro-Magnan body and a Neanderthal body pulled out of a glacier in Alaska it blew my mind (in a very bad way) and it really did affect my enjoyment (well, in this case nonenjoyment ) of the book as a whole. It really can be very distracting to come up against something that is just dead wrong and have a whole book woven about it.
That, on the other hand, wouldn't have bothered me at all. As long as they weren't riding dinosaurs.
Science education is a good and bad thing for enjoying SF. On the one hand, it often ruins my suspension of disbelief. On the other hand, I get many enjoyable hours of criticizing blunders and double-checking their calculations.
Warmark Jay wrote:Ditto. I think there are sci-fi purists, for whom the science is the thing, rather than the fiction. To me the "hard" sci-fi books are usually a chore, as the authors (especially those that have "day jobs" in the sciences) tend to focus on concepts rather than plot and character development. There are some exceptions; David Brin is a bonafide rocket scientist (among otherthings, he's taught astrophysics at UCSD) who is a pretty good storyteller.
Add Alastair Reynolds to that list, who has only just quit his job as an astrophysicist with the European Space Agency after his fifth full-length novel. His Revelation Space saga made extensive use of hard SF prinicples, but he presented the mind-boggling intricacies of near-light speed travel in an accessable manner. His story telling is great too, with Chasm City in particular having wonderful overlapping plots.
Q. Why do Communists drink herbal tea?
A. Because proper tea is theft.
Warmark Jay wrote:Ditto. I think there are sci-fi purists, for whom the science is the thing, rather than the fiction. To me the "hard" sci-fi books are usually a chore, as the authors (especially those that have "day jobs" in the sciences) tend to focus on concepts rather than plot and character development. There are some exceptions; David Brin is a bonafide rocket scientist (among otherthings, he's taught astrophysics at UCSD) who is a pretty good storyteller.
Add Alastair Reynolds to that list, who has only just quit his job as an astrophysicist with the European Space Agency after his fifth full-length novel. His Revelation Space saga made extensive use of hard SF prinicples, but he presented the mind-boggling intricacies of near-light speed travel in an accessable manner. His story telling is great too, with Chasm City in particular having wonderful overlapping plots.
His latest one, Century Rain is a different kettle of fish entirely to the rest, being altogether more fanciful with hard SF far less apparent.
I'd recommend the RS saga, but you should start with Chasm City, then Revelation Space, Redemption Ark and Absolution Gap. Chasm City was written first but the publishers put out Revelation Space first, presumably because they felt it was more marketable.
Q. Why do Communists drink herbal tea?
A. Because proper tea is theft.
Add Alastair Reynolds to that list, who has only just quit his job as an astrophysicist with the European Space Agency after his fifth full-length novel. His Revelation Space saga made extensive use of hard SF prinicples, but he presented the mind-boggling intricacies of near-light speed travel in an accessable manner. His story telling is great too, with Chasm City in particular having wonderful overlapping plots.
Thanks for the recommendation! Another guy who I vaguely remember (read his first three novels years and years ago) being good is Michael Kube-McDowell.
"That must be the King."
"How do you know?"
"He hasn't got sh*t all over him."
I'd call him fascinating. [SUNDIVER *sigh* still one of the best sci fi mysteries around]
) of the book as a whole. It really can be very distracting to come up against something that is just dead wrong and have a whole book woven about it. 
