Return of the Book Thread

[Ironwood]

Dune didn't click for me when I was young; never went back and I've never seen the movie.

I saw the movie (it was shit apart from the worms and Picard) and I tried the books again.  All of them.  Just couldn't like it.  Though any series that eventually involves KJA is lolz.

[shiznitz]

Yeah, I think 13 is a bit early for Dune.

But not too early for Piers Anthony!


I kid..If only I had someone to guide me at that age. I read so much of his shite.

[HaemishM]

I think I started with Tolkien at 11 - our library had a beautiful hardback with old ink/etching illustrations in it that was just fantastic. And then the next year I started Lord of the Rings but bogged down in the middle of Two Towers and didn't finish it until my mid-30's. I'd been reading sci-fi of all types around the same time, though I can't remember what my first was. Loving comics and Star Wars as a kid was a real springboard into reading good sci-fi. I know as a kid I read Heinlein (Methusela's Children and Startship Troopers is one I particularly remember), Clarke and Asimov (the robot stuff). One of my favorites as a kid was H. Beam Piper's Uller Uprising was one I remember pretty clearly, as it reminded me a lot of Starship Troopers.

[WayAbvPar]

Yeah, I think 13 is a bit early for Dune.

But not too early for Piers Anthony!


I kid..If only I had someone to guide me at that age. I read so much of his shite.

Heh- same. My friend's mother bought just about everything he wrote as it came out, so I borrowed the hell out of anything I could get my hands on. Also tore through my public library at a pretty massive pace. I started playing D&D when I was 8, so I was into fantasy stuff early, and branched into sci fi a bit later (still lots I haven't gotten around to).

Just about done with The Peripheral and I am starting to mourn it being over soon. Very interesting setting.

e- just finished it. I think it is my favorite Gibson book to date. 

[Khaldun]

Stars My Destination didn't catch me when I was 14--I think there is something about Gully that takes being a grownup for him to really light you up as a character? Same for The Demolished Man.

[lamaros]

Did anyone who read Dune when they were a young teen not see the David Lynch movie beforehand? I think having that background made it easier/more enjoyable for me at that time.

I read it when I was 11-12, still not seen the movie. Ready it 1 to 2 times a year for the next 7 years of my life too.

I think I managed to re-read it so much because I picked up on more each time I re-read.

Also read the rest of the series, but didn't re-read them as much

[Engels]

Lathe of Heaven by LeGuin is a game changer too at an early age. Depends a bit on the temperament of the kid, tho. Could be a flop.

[lamaros]

The books I loved most as a kid, in addition to loving just as much now, were the Swallows and Amazon's ones by Rather Ransome.

Golly they are good.

[Morat20]

Lathe of Heaven by LeGuin is a game changer too at an early age. Depends a bit on the temperament of the kid, tho. Could be a flop.

Childhood's End, too. If you can get past the changes in science.

I fondly recall White's Hospital Ship books (finally available on Kindle!) but I don't think they'll work too well for an eleven year old.

Pratchett's YA stuff is pretty fantastic all around.

[Khaldun]

Childhood's End is such an odd book. I liked it when I was young, but there is something so strange and cold about it all, partly Clarke trying to emulate the emotional mood of Karellen and the Overlords as they oversee the process.

[Morat20]

Childhood's End is such an odd book. I liked it when I was young, but there is something so strange and cold about it all, partly Clarke trying to emulate the emotional mood of Karellen and the Overlords as they oversee the process.

I think that very oddness is why I remember it so clearly. It had a melancholy air to it. It wasn't unknown in Golden Age sci-fi -- Asimov's The Last Question had a similar air to it, although ending on a bit more of a hopeful note.

I'd probably also recommend Garth Nix. I haven't read all of his stuff, but the Abhorsen series is fantastic. Might be a little old for 11 or 12 -- depends on how advanced they are, I suppose. Sadly most of my favorite YA stuff is, well, dated. Susan Cooper and Lloyd Alexander, for instance....

[Shannow]

Pern series is not a bad start.

[dd0029]

Sadly most of my favorite YA stuff is, well, dated. Susan Cooper and Lloyd Alexander, for instance....

How could I forget Lloyd Alexander. The Book of Three was the first real book I read by myself. I was thinking about re-reading this a bit ago and happened on a synopsis, that's some grim-dark stuff.

[Johny Cee]

Bout half way through Seveneves and Stephenson is losing me.  The "hillbilly engineering in space" isn't as well done as The Martian, and the   I also haven't found any character to be that memorable or engaging.

Reamde completely shit the bed for me, so I'd be depressed if this was the second Stephenson book in a row that I just stopped.

[Khaldun]

Lloyd Alexander still holds up beautifully. Cooper not so much.

[Ironwood]

I liked the first Southern Reach book a lot--felt like an updated Lovecraft. Second one not so much, can't decide whether to tackle the third.

At your recommendation, I read this.

It was like Margaret Atwood.  I despise Margaret Atwood.

I hate you.

[Signe]

I just read Wildalone.  What a load of well written kak.

Last month I read On the Move: A Life, by Oliver Sacks.  Read it.  It's wonderful.  Srsly.

[Viin]

Last month I read On the Move: A Life, by Oliver Sacks.  Read it.  It's wonderful.  Srsly.

That could be interesting. He has been on Radio Lab a few times and they just did a last interview with him: http://www.radiolab.org/story/radiolab-live-telltale-hearts-featuring-oliver-sacks/  (warning: the first part of that episode may make you squeamish!)

[Engels]

Sadly most of my favorite YA stuff is, well, dated. Susan Cooper and Lloyd Alexander, for instance....

Just curious, how is Susan Cooper dated? Its more fantasy than sci fi so I'm wondering what elements of it didn't stand the test of time.

[Khaldun]

I liked the first Southern Reach book a lot--felt like an updated Lovecraft. Second one not so much, can't decide whether to tackle the third.

At your recommendation, I read this.

It was like Margaret Atwood.  I despise Margaret Atwood.

I hate you.

Wow. I can see not liking it, but the resemblance to Atwood I do not see at all.

[Khaldun]

Sadly most of my favorite YA stuff is, well, dated. Susan Cooper and Lloyd Alexander, for instance....

Just curious, how is Susan Cooper dated? Its more fantasy than sci fi so I'm wondering what elements of it didn't stand the test of time.

I think the thing that doesn't hold up so well about Cooper based on a recent re-read with my daughter is that the characters don't feel very real--they feel like mechanisms in the very prophecy-driven plotting through most of the series. It works for one book or so but begins to get wearisome as time goes on--there is just not that much to get an emotional purchase on. Plus I think at the time some of the tropes she was using didn't feel as worn-out as they now do, which is not her fault but more the degree to which Rowling et al have run them into the ground since. (Wise, distant mentor who won't till the young Chosen One what's really going on until after it's all over, etc.)

[Ironwood]

I liked the first Southern Reach book a lot--felt like an updated Lovecraft. Second one not so much, can't decide whether to tackle the third.

At your recommendation, I read this.

It was like Margaret Atwood.  I despise Margaret Atwood.

I hate you.

Wow. I can see not liking it, but the resemblance to Atwood I do not see at all.

It felt to me a carbon copy of Surfacing.  Except with some Silent Hill.

And not the good Silent Hill.  The Shit Silent Hill.

[Khaldun]

Hurm. De Gustibus Non Disputandum, I guess. I vaguely see a resemblance but it really feels different.

[Ironwood]

Just finished Intrusion by Ken MacLeod.

Um.  Scary in a not good way.  Depressing as fuck.  Utterly Ridiculous in the wrong way.

I'd avoid unless the premise excites you.  


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intrusion_(novel)

[Khaldun]

MacLeod is someone I probably should like a lot more than I do. Kind of makes me feel like Alistair Reynolds--there's just nothing for me to really latch on to, I just feel kind of glum and bored when I read either of them.

[Ironwood]

That's actually an excellent summary of how I felt reading Intrusion.  Not a boredom of reading it, as such, but a boredom of idea.

[Mattemeo]

Jeff VanderMeer's Annihilation just won the Nebula award. I know the whole Southern Reach trilogy doesn't quite live up to the first part, but it really is a spectacular novel on its own. I was expecting Anne Leckie to win, and sort of hoping Katherine Addison might (The Goblin Emperor was a very charming read), but Annihilation is a great pick.

[Margalis]

When I was a kid I just read whatever my dad got out of the library (for himself) and what he had in his study. Which included a lot of monthly SFF magazines, PKD novels, Robert Howard stuff, cheesier things like Lensman and Doc Savage. Also LOTR (I have the original hardcover versions - they aren't first printings and are pretty beat up, so no, they aren't worth anything). Philip Jose Farmer (Riverworld and World of Tiers), Jack Vance...

I have a real love for short stories and especially periodicals and anthologies. (As opposed to collections by one author) You get exposed to a bunch of different things and if you don't like something it's over quickly enough. It's sort of the reading equivalent of life being like a box of chocolates. In reading periodicals you also get a feeling for cultural shifts in SFF writing, see the trajectories of different careers, etc - makes writing feel more like the product of a community rather than individuals.

I was never into Heinlein at all really. I thought "The Puppet Masters" was ok - that's pretty much it on that front. I also didn't have much of a young adult phase - I kind of skipped straight from Encyclopedia Brown to Conan and such. (Although series like the Lensman series are kind of YA in a way)

I don't think my dad had a great idea of what was age appropriate or just didn't care and I don't think that's a bad thing. I saw Miller's Crossing and La Femme Nikita (not the US remake) in the theater for example. These days people bring fucking 2-month-old babies to slasher films but in those days that was out of the ordinary.

I'm the last person who should be giving parenting advice but short stories don't sound bad to me - let your kid develop their own tastes. I was exposed to a lot of stuff as a kid and what did and didn't stick is pretty random.

[K9]

The books I loved most as a kid, in addition to loving just as much now, were the Swallows and Amazon's ones by Rather Ransome.

Golly they are good.

I remember my father reading these to me before I could read them for myself. They may have been some of the best books ever, agreed. Also it would be reate if Arthur Ransome was actually called Rather Ransome.

In other recent reads:

Read about 75% of Redshirts by Scalzi before ditching it. The style of the satire and the over-referential pop-culture stuff really killed it for me. It starts out really well, but then rapidly goes off the rails once it becomes about 'The Narrative'. I can sort of see why people might love it; the writing is pulpy and easy, so I figure this book just isn't for me.

Under the Skin by Faber was ok, in its own way. Still not totally sure how I feel about it.

I'm now finishing off the fourth book of Conn Iggulden's Rome series. I searched for this and I'm surprised that it didn't seem to come up. It's really well written and he seems to take great pains to be as historically accurate as possible. Would definitely plug this series if people want some easy summer reading.

On a non-fiction note, I'm reading 'Superintelligence' by Nick Bostrom. It is a genuinely fascinating book, and I suspect a lot of the people here would find either the topic or the material interesting (or both). Be warned though, it's not a straightforward pop-science book; if phrases like 'bayesian priors' throw you off then you're probably not going to get much out of this past chapter one. If you want a detailed but well-written book about the current state of AI and machine learning, and humanity's future directions, then I wholeheartedly recommend this.

[Chimpy]

Just finished Seveneves.  Guessing it will end up being my second favorite Stephenson book behind Anathem. Sure, there is stuff in there that I found to be kind of stupid, but some of the stupid stuff early makes no sense until the end when he (as usual) ties everything together in a flurry of quick resolutions. It is like he reaches a certain point where his word processor sends him an alarm that says "you have 40 pages until they can't print this in one book, time to get things done!"

[Viin]

I also just finished Seveneves. Very good book, the first 2/3rds just flew with lots of action. The last 3rd I spent a lot of time skimming as it's a ton of world building, which I felt was a bit heavy handed and long. But overall I thought it was pretty well done even if I'm still a bit skeptical of the final outcomes!

[Tmon]

I'm now finishing off the fourth book of Conn Iggulden's Rome series. I searched for this and I'm surprised that it didn't seem to come up. It's really well written and he seems to take great pains to be as historically accurate as possible. Would definitely plug this series if people want some easy summer reading.

Thanks for the tip, while I was on the wait list for the first book in the series I read the first book in his new series on the War of the Roses.  It's definitely a worth a look.

[Johny Cee]

I found Seveneves to be pretty meh.


Don't get me wrong, The Martian is kind of hokey, but it works for it's limited scope.  The engineering parts are really interesting, and feel very realistic.  The Mars Trilogy falls down towards the end, the last book especially being kind of forgettable, but it does the whole space colonization, faction forming, and crisis on Earth far better.

[Chimpy]

Might want to spoiler that for people that have not read it yet but want to 

[Morat20]

So, having time on my hands I finally picked up the Vorkosigan books by Bujold.

That was a mistake, as I really couldn't afford to buy everything she's ever written.

I tried her mostly because she collected Hugo and Nebula awards and nominations like they were candy. Turned out to be exactly what I was in the mood for.