Crothian
First Post
I've read a few of his books including that one and the blurb for me has been better then the book.
[November] What are you reading?
I've read a few of his books including that one and the blurb for me has been better then the book.
Nellisir
Hero
I've read that and (as Crothian said) a few others. I think The Windup Girl is interesting, thought-provoking, and well worth reading...but it didn't quite wow me as a story.
That said, it's worth reading, and it has stayed in my memory, which is much more than I can say for many other books. It's a solid, well-thought out, and well-executed vision of the future, which is rare.
I would suggest River of Gods, by Ian McDonald, after The Windup Girl.
Nellisir
Hero
OK, what did you think of Old Man's War? I keep reading about how impressed people are with it, but it struck me as a poor cousin to Haldeman's The Forever War.
Dunno what you're in the mood for (or have read), but here are some suggestions from my Pretty Darn Awesome pile.
pretty much anything by Alistair Reynolds is good hard SF, and very approachable as well.
Mythago Wood & Lavondyss - Robert Holdstock
Heavy Time, Hellburner, & Downbelow Station - CJ Cherryh; very psychological hard sf
Farewell My Lovely, The Little Sister, or The Long Goodbye - Raymond Chandler
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - David Hadon
The Yiddish Policemen's Union - Michael Chabon
Crothian
First Post
Forever War is a science fiction classic. Old Man's War was not a lot like it other then there is war in space. If you read the sequels to both they really go different places.
Kramodlog
Naked and living in a barrel
Pretty much. The world created is interesting, but the plot is meh. I would have wanted to know more about that world. How is life in other countries, those run by calorie companies.
Nellisir
Hero
The sequels might go different places (and I've read the sequels to both), but comparing the books themselves is still valid.
From Wikipedia "Old Man's War is similar in overall structure to Robert A. Heinlein's Starship Troopers and Joe Haldeman's The Forever War... ". Both are first person perspectives following the career of a soldier in an interplanetary space force (the Colonial Defense Forces in OMW and the United Nations Exploratory Force in TFW). Both are "super" soldiers; powered armor in TFW, genetics & nano in OMW. Both careers interweave with a woman lover/companion (Jane/Marygay). I don't think the similarities are coincidental; I think OMW intentionally invites comparison with TFW, but can't pull it off. It happens.
Nellisir
Hero
Get Pump Six and Other Stories. It's got The Yellow Card Man and The Calorie Man, both of which are set in the same world. (Yellow is set in Thailand; I think Calorie is set in the US.) It's also got Pump Six and The People of Sand and Slag, and The Fluted Girl, which is creepy amazing.
His short stories are amazing, and he's got great vision, but the novels haven't quite matched up, which is like saying Wonder Woman isn't quite as strong as Superman. :/
Vernor Vinge, Paolo Bacigalupi, Ian McDonald, William Gibson, and George Alec Effinger (at least in When Gravity Fails) all play together pretty well and make pretty good reading.
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Kramodlog
Naked and living in a barrel
Writting a novels and short stories aren't the same thing. You can "cut corners" in short stories that you couldn't in novels. Gibson short stories like Johny Mnemonic or Burning Chrome were better than his sprawl trilogy. I saw Bacigalupi's short story collection, I guess I'll have to read it now. Damn you! /shakes fist
Bacigalupi's novel really sounded like he admired Gibson's work a lot and just exchanged the "cyber" for "bio" and kept the punk. Heck, even one of his characters is named Gibson.
Bacigalupi's novel really sounded like he admired Gibson's work a lot and just exchanged the "cyber" for "bio" and kept the punk. Heck, even one of his characters is named Gibson.
Nellisir
Hero
I think I've read most of Bacigalupi's short stories at least twice: once in the collection, and once in The Years Best SF Vol. (whatever). I read The Fluted Girl again a week or two ago because of that. Bearing in mind that most of my recollections are a bit old, Yellow Card & Calorie Man were good but didn't stand out; Pump Six deserves to headline the collection for it's outright pessimistic view of the future and human nature; and The People of Sand and Slag...hurt. There are more stories, but I'd have to go downstairs and get the book to remember all the titles, and family unit is returning home soon so I'm not going to do that.
I differentiate between books that are good (and often win awards), books that I enjoy/love (which usually don't), and books that are both. And I'll have to finish this thought later.
Zombie_Babies
First Post
Done with A Song of Stone - it was ok. Moving back to Bukowski with Ham on Rye. I'm glad to be back to something a little lighter.
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