Login |  Register |  FAQ
   
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 33 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3

Book Discussion

 Post subject: Re: Book Discussion
PostPosted: Fri Nov 22, 2013 4:31 pm 
Purestrain
Purestrain
User avatar

Joined: Thu Nov 17, 2005 8:16 pm
Posts: 4682
Location: Wheaton, IL
Really L4? I never would have guessed...

I still haven't read as much of that as I'd like, just a short story or two.

_________________
SG

Ghost's Paint Blog, where everything goes that isn't something else.


Top
 Profile Send private message  
 
 Post subject: Re: Book Discussion
PostPosted: Fri Nov 22, 2013 4:50 pm 
Brood Brother
Brood Brother
User avatar

Joined: Wed Nov 16, 2005 7:20 pm
Posts: 5483
Location: London, UK
Try some of the Ben McIntyre books
Agent Zig-Zag, Operation mincemeat and Double Cross - all well researched reading into WWII espionage
Josiah the great - the real story behind Kipling's "the man who would be king"

These all contain historical events where those facts (that are public) are stranger than fiction.


Top
 Profile Send private message  
 
 Post subject: Re: Book Discussion
PostPosted: Sat Nov 23, 2013 8:41 am 
Brood Brother
Brood Brother
User avatar

Joined: Wed May 28, 2008 3:15 pm
Posts: 1316
Location: Stockholm, Sweden
Just thought I'd throw in a couple of not-mentioned-already titles (in the sci-fi department).

Alfred Bester: The Demolished Man, well-written and thought-provoking, hold up more than well considering it was published in '52. Not as good as The Stars My Destination, but almost.

Gene Wolfe: The Book of the New Sun (4 titles), sci-fi meets fantasy (horses/space ships/laser weapons, swords) in a fantastically portrayed world (The Urth). One by one, key resources have been used up(oil/metals etc), making the possibility of widely available technology slowly deteriorating. Not for everyone, Mr. Wolfe claims that he does not want to "underestimate his readers" and excel in "unreliiable narrators", so some people will love it, others reject it. Try it out, and while you are at it, find "The Fifth Head of Cerberus", an extremely well-written and thought-out novel about two colonized sister-worlds where one was the home to a native aboriginal species with an unbeliavable power of mimicry who now is believed to be extinct. However, a recent theory claims they have mimicked the colonizers and still exist.

John Steakley: Armor. This a must for any military sci-fi fan, and I can imagine there are quite a few of them in here. Scout in power armour fight alien bugs - indefinitely. Saved from being "bolter porn" (shamelessly stolen from this thread) by its highly belieavable description of war's impact on a soldier.

Arthur C Clark: Rendez-vous with Rama. I consider this one of his absolute best. Alien artifact enters solar system. Joint Russian-American team is sent to intervene. Written during the Cold War, some of the political stuff feels outdated, and Mr. Clark’s character portraits generally make me squirm, but the enigma of the strange visitor is masterfully narrated. Fantastic first-contact novel.

All of these I consider sci-fi gems, as I find myself having less and less patience with much of today's sci-fi and fantasy (fiction as well, but that is another story). The more I read, the less I like, but what I like, I like more.


Top
 Profile Send private message  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 33 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 4 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  


Powered by phpBB ® Forum Software © phpBB Group
CoDFaction Style by Daniel St. Jules of Gamexe.net