Okay so I started my new job the other day (Tuesday) and I have two 20 minute breaks, and an hour lunch. Thing is, it’s a graveyard shift, and I’m not allowed to use the 'net. And, only three other people work with me. So basically, I’ve got about an hour and a half a night with nothing to do. So I’ll read.
I’ve decided to pick up stuff like “Snow Crash”, Philip K. Dick, Hunter S. Thompson, etc… Probably grab some Hugo Award collections, too.
What I really like is Sci Fi, like Poul Anderson, Arthur C. Clarke, etc.
I guess I already know what I’m going to be reading for a while, but if you’d like to suggest more authors or specific books, go ahead.
Well, I just finished Tom Robbins latest, “Fierce Invalid Home From Hot Climates” and it’s great. Not examctly science fiction, but not your typical bestseller, either. As for science fiction, I haven’t been reading much of it lately, I have to assume you read everything by Ray Baradbury. I like Heinlein’s earlier stuff, his las couple of books were not as good. Connie Willis is an excellent author–“To Say Nothing of the Dog” and “Doomsday Book” are my particular favorites. And there’s a book called “Darwinia”, that was good, I think the author’s name starts with a “W” but I may be wrong.
You know, I really have to figure out how to do things in bold and stuff!
Try Jonathan Lethem. His debut Gun, With Occasional Music blew me away. Amnesia Moon and As She Climed Across the Table are interesting reads, as well. I’m currently reading his latest book, Motherless Brooklyn, although that isn’t strictly science fiction. Enjoying it tremendously, though. I only bring him up because others responding to this thread are likely to bring up many of the ones I’d recommend by reflex, and I just wanted to mention an author that probably isn’t widely known.
I’ll drop a non-fiction title here, since I just finished one. Galileo’s Daughter is a surprisingly engaging biography of Galileo and provides insight into the relationship between him and his eldest daughter. Fascinatinig stuff.
Elsewhere tonight I had reason to mention Jim Knipfel’s “Quitting the Narobi Trio”, about his sucide attempt and stay in a mental institution. It’s very funny. He also has one about going blind that’s a laugh riot. Well, it’s perfect for the graveyard shift. And if you like Thompson and Dick…well, trust me.
Find yourself Partners in Necessity by Steven Miller and Sharon Lee. After than, Plan B by the same authors. Finish that by February and you can get yourself Pilots Choice right when it comes out.
Thanks for the tip, Kat! For some reason I’d thought Pilot’s choice was just a one-volume reissue of Carpe diem and Partners in necessity. Scurried right over to korval.com and by-gum-by-golly you’re right!
Got in on order now. Thanks!
::rubs hands in gleeful anticipation::
Kallessa, nice call on Connie Willis. To Say Nothing Of The Dog was an excellent time travel adventure.
Shy Ghost, Amnesia Moon is a wonderful take on post-apocalyptic living. Lethem’s other books are great as well, and definitely unique in thier characterizations.
betenoir, Knipfel’s other book is called Slackjaw, and both of them are by turns hilarious and harrowing.
Homer, if you haven’t already, you might want to check out stuff by Orson Scott Card. I highly recommend the Ender series. You might also like Philip Jose Farmer’s Riverworld series, which begins with To Your Scattered Bodies Go. In the book, everyone who ever lived wakes up one morning on the bank of a river. Tribes form and exploration of the Riverworld commences. Interesting to see some of history’s famous and infamous adapt to the new world as they seek an explanation for what has happened.
Orson Scott Card has been mentioned. I recommend “The Lost Boys” by OSC. It has NO relationship to the movie of the same name, but is about a family and their move to a new town, and what happens there. There is an element of the supernatural at the end, but it is more about human nature.
You probably just got Partners in Necessity (which contains Conflict of Honors, Agent of Change and Carpe Diem) confused with Pilots Choice. Have you read Plan B yet? And I don’t think I can wait until February 2002 for I Dare. (I’m not sure I can even wait until this February for Pilots Choice!)
The description I read about Ancient Nights sounds very cool, Euty. It’s out of print, but there’s quite a few copies available at http://www.alibris.com for a wide range of prices. Thanks for the recommendation, I’ll check it out.
I’m with Kallessa and Purd Werfect - Connie Willis is great. I thought The Doomsday Book was fabulous.
In case you haven’t already heard, Joe Haldeman also completely rocks. Check out his short stories especially.
Not on the same level, but entertaining nevertheless, is the Vorkosigan series by Lois McMaster Bujold. These are not what you’d call great literature, but they are pure adventure. There’s lots of interesting characters and some really good adrenaline-rush moments, and I personally find them compulsively re-readable.
If you like Connie Willis, I can do no better than recommend “To Say Nothing of the Dog.” The single funniest novel involving time travel ever, it is loosely structured around Jerome K. Jerome’s classic “Three Men in a Boat.”
