What fantasy/science fiction book are you reading RIGHT NOW?

Post by **Orlion** » Wed Oct 15, 2014 3:47 pm

Isn't the Dark Half the worse Stephen King novel ever? It's certainly the most common in the Used Books Shops.

Post by **Avatar** » Thu Oct 16, 2014 4:52 am

Hahaha, it wasn't great, but there are plenty worse ones.

--A

Post by **Orlion** » Mon Oct 27, 2014 4:13 am

A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Z!

Post by **Avatar** » Mon Oct 27, 2014 4:44 am

Excession, Iain M Banks.

--A

Post by **Morning** » Mon Oct 27, 2014 5:17 am

Avatar wrote:Excession, Iain M Banks.

--A

the culture =+10000k

Post by **ussusimiel** » Mon Oct 27, 2014 5:20 pm

Morning wrote:
Avatar wrote:Excession, Iain M Banks.

--A
the culture =+10000k

On this we agree. Probably my favourite SF writer.

u.

Post by **Vraith** » Mon Oct 27, 2014 5:56 pm

Orlion wrote:A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Z!

OH! I gotta re-read that one. Fun.

[[and the culture books...them too]].

Post by **Avatar** » Tue Oct 28, 2014 4:52 am

Morning wrote:
Avatar wrote:Excession, Iain M Banks.

--A
the culture =+10000k

Yeah, I love them too. I always get so immersed in them.

--A

Post by **Morning** » Tue Oct 28, 2014 8:53 am

Stephen Baxter's "Ring", that ends the Xeelee Sequence, is probably the most thrilling hardline thing I ever read. And The Hyperion Cantos

Post by **Morning** » Tue Oct 28, 2014 8:54 am

Or Greg Bear's Blood Music.

Post by **Fist and Faith** » Tue Oct 28, 2014 10:36 am

Never heard of Stephen Baxter. Xeelee sounds interesting. Not easy to get, but we'll see.

Post by **Morning** » Tue Oct 28, 2014 12:55 pm

Fist and Faith wrote:Never heard of Stephen Baxter. Xeelee sounds interesting. Not easy to get, but we'll see.

Trust me, read each and every of his books. All the Xeelee sequence ending in the magister opus Ring; Flood; Ark; Evolution (this one provides a specially avid reading binge, I dispatched it in two long-haul flights) and so on so forth.

Ring is a masterpiece of speculative science.

Post by **wayfriend** » Tue Oct 28, 2014 1:47 pm

I've read his Titan and Raft. Very hard science indeed, but not as compelling as it could be. Wasn't there a book where the Earth was "stolen" as well? Or was that a different guy ...

Let me upvote the Hyperion serieses, and the Culture. A Fire In The Deep is also in my top 10. And I highly recommend Peter F. Hamilton for great hard sci-fi, but don't judge him by the The Night's Dawn "trilogy" -- he gets better.

Post by **Vraith** » Tue Oct 28, 2014 3:18 pm

wayfriend wrote: Wasn't there a book where the Earth was "stolen" as well? Or was that a different guy ...

I'm familiar with a work where the Earth is stolen.
Roger Allen McBride? Roger MacBride Allen? Something like that.
It was the first book of a series that I'm not sure was ever finished...
[apparently I'm too lazy to open a new window and google it...]

Sure I've said before...likely in this thread...that I think Simmons is good all around, not just Hyperion/SF. [though Hyperion is the best, I think].

At this point, agree on "Night's Dawn." It's ok, had a couple interesting aspects...but many think it's brilliant, and I don't get it.
[[heh...I think it's a fair example of peter's? or U.'s? thread about magic and plot issue.]]
His "commonwealth" books...I went back and forth a lot fairly recently, and finally concluded that the thing is I like everything about them except the sentences/style themselves. Something about it makes everything feel one step removed, filtered, never full involvement.

EDITED to add the thing I meant to say...that Baxter does look like has potential.

Post by **Morning** » Tue Oct 28, 2014 4:04 pm

wayfriend wrote:I've read his Titan and Raft. Very hard science indeed, but not as compelling as it could be. Wasn't there a book where the Earth was "stolen" as well? Or was that a different guy ...

Let me upvote the Hyperion serieses, and the Culture. A Fire In The Deep is also in my top 10. And I highly recommend Peter F. Hamilton for great hard sci-fi, but don't judge him by the The Night's Dawn "trilogy" -- he gets better.

Maybe Dan Simmons in Hyperion itself? The Core (spoiler alert) and Old Earth absconded?

Post by **Morning** » Tue Oct 28, 2014 4:07 pm

Richard K Morgan, Greg Egan, Alastair Reynolds...

Post by **Fist and Faith** » Tue Oct 28, 2014 10:09 pm

I'll give the Culture another shot, with Excession. But I was entirely underwhelmed with Consider P-whatever.

Post by **wayfriend** » Tue Oct 28, 2014 10:28 pm

Fist and Faith wrote:I'll give the Culture another shot, with Excession. But I was entirely underwhelmed with Consider P-whatever.

I think Excession was by far the best Culture book. The others are less so to varying degrees, but you might enjoy them once you decide to dig into the Culture. Consider Phlebas was the first one, and a little rickety for that. Use of Weapons was very good. So was Surface Detail.

Vraith wrote:I'm familiar with a work where the Earth is stolen.
Roger Allen McBride? Roger MacBride Allen? Something like that.

Bingo. The Hunted Earth series. So, add him to the list of hard sci-fi authors one could recommend.

Vraith wrote:His "commonwealth" books...I went back and forth a lot fairly recently,

I greatly enjoyed his Commonwealth series. Great future society, great aliens, great use of technology to drive plot.

Night's Dawn was really pretty good until you got to the end, and then you wanted to punch yourself for reading it.

Post by **Orlion** » Tue Oct 28, 2014 11:55 pm

Fist and Faith wrote:I'll give the Culture another shot, with Excession. But I was entirely underwhelmed with Consider P-whatever.

Heresy!

Post by **Fist and Faith** » Wed Oct 29, 2014 12:13 am

Yes, I've read several Horus Heresy books, from the Warhammer 40K universe.

Kevin's Watch

Kevin's Watch

What fantasy/science fiction book are you reading RIGHT NOW?