(urth) Other SF writers? (Was: How list works and questions to mailers)

[Pedro Pereira]

I didn't like James Blish's A Case of Conscience. I felt the novel was lacking in all fronts and very overrated. Still, its a matter of personal taste.
 
Tim Powers I would recomend The Anubis Gates over On Stranger Tides. I felt the later wasn't especially good, just an average jolly ride.
 
As for The Sparrow, I haven't read that one but I read a lot of reviews and my interest is mixed. For example, it seems that the author got the space-travel relativistic time all wrong. Also, the aliens are at a technological level similar to, say, the stone age or such. The author never explained how that alien race sent a radio message with recorded singing into space... The idea I have is that the author tried to chew more than she could and although the premise of the novel seems very interesting the end result is far from living up to the level of hype it gathered. But my impression is based on reviews, so take this with a grain of salt. 
 
My personal recomendations would go to:
 
-Solaris, Stanislaw Lem
-His Master's Voice, Stanislaw Lem
-Roadside Picnic, Strugatsky Brothers
-In October will be too Late, Fred Hoyle
-The Black Cloud, Fred Hoyle
-Star Maker, Olaf Stapledon
-Hyperion & Fall of Hyperion, Dan Symmons (IGNORE THE ENDYMION BOOKS!!!)
-Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarck
 
And others I don't remember right now.
 
 
 
> Date: Mon, 12 May 2008 13:11:17 -0700> From: danldo at gmail.com> To: urth at lists.urth.net> Subject: Re: (urth) Other SF writers? (Was: How list works and questions to mailers)> > On Mon, May 12, 2008 at 12:35 PM, Matthew Keeley> <matthew.keeley.1 at gmail.com> wrote:> > > Perhaps we Wolfe fans should put together a list of other worthwhile science> > fiction / fantasy writers? I know a few of the people on the thread have a> > list already.> > Equally good, but about as far from Wolfe as you can get artistically> or philosophically,> is Samuel R. Delany. Some of his work, incidentally, is <i>not</i> for> the easily> offended! Good starting places include _Babel 17_, _Empire Star_, and his short> story collection _Aye and Gomorrah_> > Anyone who likes Wolfe should give TIm Powers a try: his work is nowhere near> as *dense* as Wolfe's, and certainly less mysterious, but has a> certain similarity> in what he uses SF/F to do. A good stand-alone starting point is the> pirate novel> (h'mmm...) _On Stranger Tides_; his finest work to date is in the> trilogy consisting> of _Last Call_, _Expiration Date_ and _Earthquake Weather_.> > Any list like this must include Ursula K. Le Guin, who is another far-from-Wolfe> but awfully good. Start anywhere but her first three books.> > I would recommend, with slight hesitation, James Blish, and especially his> four-volume trilogy (and that's not a paradox) "After Such Knowledge." The> first book (_Doctor Mirabilis_) is a historical novel retelling the> life of friar> Roger Bacon; the second, in two volumes (_Black Easter_ and _The Day> After Judgment_) a contemporary fantasy/horror novel, and the third (_A> Case of Conscience_) a SF novel. Together they are an inquiry into the> question whether the quest for secular knowledge for its own sake is a> valid goal, or indeed permissible at all, from a Christian (sc. Catholic) point> of view.> > As an alternate take on some of the themes in _Case of Conscience_, one> should also read _The Sparrow_ by Mary Doria Russell, an astonishing> book in its own right and one that may appeal to Wolfe fans specifically> for a number of reasons.> > Okay, I'll shut up now and let someone else go.> > -- > Dan'l Danehy-Oakes, writer, trainer, bon vivant> -----> http://www.livejournal.com/users/sturgeonslawyer> http://www.danehyoakes.com> > I once absend-mindedly ordered Three Mile Island dressing in a> restaurant and, with great presence of mind, they brought Thousand> Island Dressing and a bottle of chili sauce. -- T. Pratchett> _______________________________________________> Urth Mailing List> To post, write urth at urth.net> Subscription/information: http://www.urth.net
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