Now, I know that Sci-Fi is a genre that can be seen as different things:
-unnecessary nerd-dom
-kablooey shizz
-endless rambling lectures about moral and ethical ramifications
-…
-blablabla
To me, Sci-Fi is simply a vehicle for good story telling, sporting some technological elements posing interesting questions. But above all, entertainment value is pretty important to me, whether I’m reading a book or watching a film.
So, I’d like to read about your favourites regarding Sci-Fi flicks / books that you like (it doesn’t have to be space-related, either and by no means does it have to be considered intelligent or thought-provoking):
So, in no particular order:
Moon (2009 film; damn, just the OST by Clint Mansell is worth it) => - YouTube
Pandorum (film)
2001 (film)
District 9 (film)
Primer (2004 film)
Enemy Mine (film)
The ‘Altered Carbon’ series (books) by Richard K. Morgan
‘Black Man’ (book) by Richard K. Morgan
Blade Runner (film/book)
‘Old Man’s War’ (book series by John Scalzi)
Two books (or book series) that I’m planning to read: the ‘Ender’ books, ‘Star Ship Troopers’ (Heinlein).
[quote]waylanderxx wrote:
WTF! There is a Starship Troopers book?! How the fuck did I not know this, that is my favorite movie of all time![/quote]
Well, because you’re a fucking meathead, way.
Nah. Just messing with you.
It’s because you don’t eat your fucking Quark.
I just finished Starship Troopers. It was entertaining, short, but didn’t have many battle scenes (if that’s what you’re into). It’s completely different than the movie, if you’ve already seen it.
Ender’s Game is a great book, I’d recommend reading that first.
[quote]johnconkle wrote:
I just finished Starship Troopers. It was entertaining, short, but didn’t have many battle scenes (if that’s what you’re into). It’s completely different than the movie, if you’ve already seen it.
Ender’s Game is a great book, I’d recommend reading that first.[/quote]
Yea its mostly about serving in the military, I think it was on the commandant of the marine corp’s reading list. Their battle suits were cool and reminded me of Starcraft.
To me, Sci-Fi is simply a vehicle for good story telling, sporting some technological elements posing interesting questions. But above all, entertainment value is pretty important to me, whether I’m reading a book or watching a film.
So, I’d like to read about your favourites regarding Sci-Fi flicks / books that you like (it doesn’t have to be space-related, either and by no means does it have to considered intelligent or thought-provoking):
"Ernest C. Large: Dawn in Andromeda (1956)
A new society without priest or politician is built from scratch on an uninhabited planet. The book is a rationalist delight, suffused with anarchist spirit, though never by name."
the serious ones are very classic sci-fi. If someone likes Asimov, you’re welcome.
Solaris is best known here, with two ok film adaptations.
the other works are more light in tone, but sometimes even more philosophical.
Definite recommendations are:
Star Diaries/Memoirs of a Space Traveller
Mortal Engines
The Cyberiad
Memoirs Found in a Bathtub
The Futurological Congress
why not use google or wiki or what not?
Ah , yes, then again T-Nation is a THINK-tank.
Short Stories are -of course- shorter duh, schwarzfahrer!
-sorry but it’s true, that’s the only characteristic of a short story that’s remotely consistent-
The main idea is/was to have material one can read through in one session.
But they are really shorter, or rather reduced in practically most all aspects a story contains.
Shorter list of characters
Shorter frame of time and place
Shorter amount of themes and ideas
etc
now since there are so many schools and periods for short stories, finding defining characteristis is tricky.
some more:
-it’s probably bad technique if a short story is complicated or uses a lot technical terminology. They should be very accessible and readable
-various short stories tend to have a spin or twist at the end (in German I would say “pointe”, english seems to lack a word with that meaning)
-a lot of short stories try to establish a certain “mood” or “feeling”, an atmosphere.
-most proffesional short stories won’t have a happy end so you can just put the book away. Ideally, the story communicates a complex idea that couldn’t be told in a different way.
Some say, that if a story is a tad longer, but follows the aforementioned points of a short story, it’s a novella, but that is a lie.
[quote]WolBarret wrote:
Dumb question: What’s the difference between a short story and a book? Is a short story only 2 pages long or something?[/quote]
Short stories tend to be more about an idea or concept with just enough added to make it story, rather than having detailed characters, backgrounds etc. (a bit like the difference between a gag and a routine in stand-up comedy).
One of the best known examples is listed (in full) below.
Fredric Brown’s “Answer”
Dwan Ev ceremoniously soldered the final connection with gold. The eyes of a dozen television cameras watched him and the subether bore throughout the universe a dozen pictures of what he was doing.
He straightened and nodded to Dwar Reyn, then moved to a position beside the switch that would complete the contact when he threw it. The switch that would connect, all at once, all of the monster computing machines of all the populated planets in the universe - ninety-six billion planets - into the supercircuit that would connect them all into one supercalculator, one cybernetics machine that would combine all the knowledge of all the galaxies.
Dwar Reyn spoke briefly to the watching and listening trillions. Then after a moment’s silence he said, ‘Now, Dwar Ev.’
Dwar Ev threw the switch. There was a mighty hum, the surge of power from ninety-six billion planets. Lights flashed and quieted along the miles-long panel.
Dwar Ev stepped back and drew a deep breath. ‘The honor of asking the first question is yours, Dwar Reyn.’
‘Thank you,’ said Dwar Reyn. ‘It shall be a question which no single cybernetics machine has been able to answer.’
He turned to face the machine. ‘Is there a God?’
The mighty voice answered without hesitation, without the clicking of a single relay.
‘Yes, now there is a God.’
Sudden fear flashed on the face of Dwar Ev. He leaped to grab the switch.
A bolt of lightning from the cloudless sky struck him down and fused the switch shut.
I have been trying to find this sci-fi story that a teacher read to us in highschool for about 15 years and I can’t find it via Google at all.
Basically, it is about this salesman who goes to a rural house and HAS to ring the doorbell at the owner’s request, the door is not answered if he knocks. He is invited back again and again and always HAS to ring the doorbell. In the end a guy (described as an invalid) in the basement dies because he has metal tacks in his stomach and the doorbell activates a giant magnet above the bed and has been slowly ripping his insides apart.
Any ideas what this story is called? I would love to read it again.
The Aldanta Series and The Prince Roger Series by David Weber and John Ringo. Great Military sci-fi.
go to http://baen.com/ to read free samples and some entire novels by some of the best known authors and up and comers.
a few names
Andre Norton, Keith Laumer, Elizabeth Moon, Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, Harry Turtledove, Catherine Asaro, Lois McMaster Bujold
some great free online books
Rats, Bats, and Vats
The Philosophical Strangler
Doc Sidhe
The Creatures of Man
March Upcountry: the first in the Prince Roger Series. This is one of the best series I have ever read in any genre.
J. G. Ballard, Phillip K. Dick, Arthur C. Clarke, and Isaac Asimov are all authors you could look into. I would also second the recommendation of Stanislaw Lem.
For films I would suggest you watch Solyaris and Stalker, because Andrei Tarkovsky is a great director and they’re both based on excellent books.
There is a newer film called Solaris with George Clooney, and I quite like it, even though it’s not as good as the older Russian version.
[quote]johnconkle wrote:
Ender’s Game is a great book, I’d recommend reading that first.[/quote]
X2. The entire series, Ender’s Game, Speaker for the Dead, and Xenocide, are all great books. I would say they are a must read for any Sci-Fi fan, or even any book lover in general.
[quote]FattyFat wrote:
Now, I know that Sci-Fi is a genre that can be seen as different things:
-unnecessary nerd-dom
-kablooey shizz
-endless rambling lectures about moral and ethical ramifications
-…
-blablabla
To me, Sci-Fi is simply a vehicle for good story telling, sporting some technological elements posing interesting questions. But above all, entertainment value is pretty important to me, whether I’m reading a book or watching a film.
So, I’d like to read about your favourites regarding Sci-Fi flicks / books that you like (it doesn’t have to be space-related, either and by no means does it have to be considered intelligent or thought-provoking):
So, in no particular order:
Moon (2009 film; damn, just the OST by Clint Mansell is worth it) => - YouTube
Pandorum (film)
2001 (film)
District 9 (film)
Primer (2004 film)
Enemy Mine (film)
The ‘Altered Carbon’ series (books) by Richard K. Morgan [/quote] Hell yeah!
Let’s add Dune to the list, not the main storyline but the books done by the author’s son and another guy… Basically a prelude trilogy (house atreides, house harkonnen and house corinno).
They’re even fairly decent in German, which is rare for sci-fi/fantasy books imo… [quote]
‘Black Man’ (book) by Richard K. Morgan [/quote] Haven’t read that one yet… I did read his “dark fantasy” novel (forgot the name) with the gay protagonist… Had some interesting concepts but I ultimately didn’t like it much… The Takeshi Kovacs books of his are much better, particularly altered carbon and the second one.
Oh, and “Market Forces”, again by Morgan, is a nice one-shot too, though not overly sci-fi. [quote]
Blade Runner (film/book)
‘Old Man’s War’ (book series by John Scalzi)
Two books (or book series) that I’m planning to read: the ‘Ender’ books, ‘Star Ship Troopers’ (Heinlein).
I second the Dune recommendation. Can’t believe it was only just mentioned; it’s one of the powerhouse sci fi books/series! Other than that, if you’re in the mood for a somewhat brainier entertainment experience, Neal Stephenson wrote quite a few books that are quite good, and I particularly liked Snow Crash. There’s a Russian writer, Sergey Lukyanenko, who wrote a series called the Watch series, and I’m a huge fan of that as well.