Really, really glad to see that Down and out in the Magic Kingdom made the list!
If you liked Down and Out , you should try John Varley's short stories, especially The Phantom of Kansas .
thanks!
32 Sci-Fi novels that you should add to your reading list
31–40 of 45 posts
Re: 32 Sci-Fi novels that you should add to your reading list
#32Snow Crash is awesome. I finished it and "The Diamond Age" last week and I can vouch for them as a worthy read.
I really don't like Snow Crash much. Firstly, it's dated quite badly, since it was written in the recent past about roughly-now. He gets the technology pretty much right, but the speculation about how that technology will change society pretty much all wrong. Secondly, Mr Protagonist, as a protagonist, annoys me in that he seems more like the kind of character that a fourteen-year-old boy would think was awesome (gre…
i've enjoyed pretty much everything that he has done, with the exception of the Baroque Cycle, Confusion, System of the World series ( great reads, just an awful lot to digest and keep straight).
Cryptonomicon is a geeks must read.
Re: 32 Sci-Fi novels that you should add to your reading list
#33Here is a real list, shorter and MUCH higher quality:
1. The Cyberiad
2. Babel-17
3. The Stars My Destination
4. The Sheep Look Up
5. More Than Human
6. Lord of Light
7. To Your Scattered Bodies Go
8. Earth Abides
9. Dying Inside
10. City
11. Last and First Men
12. Slan
13. The World of Null-A
Re: 32 Sci-Fi novels that you should add to your reading list
#34Interesting list. Timeline by Michael Crichton is only worth reading because of how it portrays history. As sci-fi or entertainment it’s horrible and it basicly assumes everyone is an stupid but it does show history far more accurately than most books.
The entire Timeline plot is a bit pathetic, your company builds a time machine and what does it do with it? Go back to the 1960s and buy Berkshire Hathaway stock? Of course not where is the money in that... They go and study the 14th century using the time machine so they can build an accurate historical theme park. Fail
There's a 2004 movie called Primer where the main characters made a time machine and the first thing they think of is making money off the stock market(though at lower levels, since their machine can only go back to the point it's turned on)
After that, though, it gets weird.
Re: 32 Sci-Fi novels that you should add to your reading list
#35Snow Crash is awesome. I finished it and "The Diamond Age" last week and I can vouch for them as a worthy read.
I really don't like Snow Crash much. Firstly, it's dated quite badly, since it was written in the recent past about roughly-now. He gets the technology pretty much right, but the speculation about how that technology will change society pretty much all wrong. Secondly, Mr Protagonist, as a protagonist, annoys me in that he seems more like the kind of character that a fourteen-year-old boy would think was awesome (gre…
About that "greatest swordfighter in the world" part - there is a real good explanation for that one. He was the guy who wrote the software for the swordfighting simulation.
To my knowledge I might still be the best racer in the world in some racing game I wrote last year, so I can absolutely relate to that ;-)
Re: 32 Sci-Fi novels that you should add to your reading list
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
I really don't like Snow Crash much. Firstly, it's dated quite badly, since it was written in the recent past about roughly-now. He gets the technology pretty much right, but the speculation about how that technology will change society pretty much all wrong. Secondly, Mr Protagonist, as a protagonist, annoys me in that he seems more like the kind of character that a fourteen-year-old boy would think was awesome (gre…
About that "greatest swordfighter in the world" part - there is a real good explanation for that one. He was the guy who wrote the software for the swordfighting simulation. To my knowledge I might still be the best racer in the world in some racing game I wrote last year, so I can absolutely relate to that ;-)
As I recall, in the end he also turns out to be a great swordfighter in real life though.
Something about single-handedly assaulting an aircraft carrier using only his katana? That was pretty much where the book lost me.
Re: 32 Sci-Fi novels that you should add to your reading list
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
About that "greatest swordfighter in the world" part - there is a real good explanation for that one. He was the guy who wrote the software for the swordfighting simulation. To my knowledge I might still be the best racer in the world in some racing game I wrote last year, so I can absolutely relate to that ;-)
As I recall, in the end he also turns out to be a great swordfighter in real life though. Something about single-handedly assaulting an aircraft carrier using only his katana? That was pretty much where the book lost me.
He also had the help of a railgun called Reason.
Re: 32 Sci-Fi novels that you should add to your reading list
#38no greg-egan or ian-m-banks or arthur-c-clarke...what gives ?
After The Algebraist and Matter I never want to read another word of Iaiaain M Banks. Consider Phlebas was genius, but he's lost it.
try "use of weapons" and "excession". imho they are much much nicer than "consider phlebas".
Re: 32 Sci-Fi novels that you should add to your reading list
#39Here is a real list, shorter and MUCH higher quality: 1. The Cyberiad 2. Babel-17 3. The Stars My Destination 4. The Sheep Look Up 5. More Than Human 6. Lord of Light 7. To Your Scattered Bodies Go 8. Earth Abides 9. Dying Inside 10. City 11. Last and First Men 12. Slan 13. The World of Null-A
The only one I've read from your list is The Cyberiad - but that's enough to make me take the rest of your list seriously :)
Re: 32 Sci-Fi novels that you should add to your reading list
#40Neuromancer is even better than I remember. I saw it at a book sale for $1 and picked it up and started re-reading it. Its awesome. Very believable - gritty and messy like real life. Great characters and just flat out virtuoso writing by Gibson.