For a period of five-six years or so, I had pretty much stopped reading fiction entirely. I hadn’t really planned on it, I just found myself drifting into reading a lot of religious/mystical things in equal parts with layman’s science writing (to keep the scales balanced, you see).
It’s time I got back into fiction again. I’ve recently picked up Vernor Vinge’s “A Deepness in the Sky” (loved it), based on memories of enjoying his “Realtime” series years previous, and I’ve read some John Barnes (“Kaleidoscope Century”, “Candle”–likewise based on memories of enjoying the heck out of “Mother of Storms”–I like his work, but do wish he’d get over his apparent fascination with rape themes).
Previous to that, I enjoyed Dan Simmons’ “Hyperion” series, the first two books rather more than the following two “Endymion” works. Oh, and Neal Stephenson’s “Diamond Age”, which I enjoyed but thought sort of just staggered and fell apart in the final third.
So…recommendations? I like works with great world-building–Barnes did an especially good job of that, though the fascinating world he built up (the Meme Wars was just a neat concept) sort of ended up looming much larger than more flat characters. I enjoyed Simmons’ mixing of spiritual themes into “Hyperion”, and Vinge’s “Deepness” really kept me interested because of the strength of the characters. What I’d really like to see is those three strengths fused into something even better.
But I’ll settle for good quality entertainment, too. What do you think, sirs?