What are you reading now?

[grawk]

Having read both, I can say Heinlein benefitted from an editor

[en480c4]

Amazon.com: The Last Dickens: A Novel: Matthew Pearl: Books

I really enjoyed The Dante Club & The Poe Shadow, so I gave this a shot, despite mediocre reviews. It's been very entertaining. And I'm looking forward to reading Dan Simmons' Drood next... Like movies, it's interesting two novels revolving around Dickens' last novel come out at the same time.

[n_maher]

[Voltron]

[faust3d]

Amazon.com: Dhalgren: Samuel R. Delany: Books

Samuel Delany is one strange dude. I read a few books by him and the worlds he creates are usually so strange yet so realistic and believable. I especily like his older books, like The Einstein Intersection. Good stuff.

[Dusty Chalk]

Grand, Java Language Reference

[postjack]

Just started Pandora's Star, good so far. Having said that, I need Stephenson-like recommendations. Think large, dense books that are intelligent and large in scope, but also fun to read, and preferably of the speculative fiction genre (historical fiction, SFF, or fantasy, or horror).

Thanks.

[grawk]

Jack, check out tim powers. Not quite so dense, but VERY interesting. He takes real history, and comes up with the most improbable answer that fits the facts

[Hopstretch]

Jack, check out tim powers. Not quite so dense, but VERY interesting. He takes real history, and comes up with the most improbable answer that fits the facts

+ lots! I love Tim Powers. "The Drawing of the Dark" and "Last Call" are my own favorites.

[MoonShine]

Pandora's Star started great but lost me towards the end. I might give it another shot now that the sequel is out.

Have you tried Saga of the Seven Suns by Kevin Anderson? Pretty hefty. I am enjoying it.

[postjack]

Jack, check out tim powers. Not quite so dense, but VERY interesting. He takes real history, and comes up with the most improbable answer that fits the facts

right on, this is a name I've heard a lot but never looked into. I'll check him out.

Pandora's Star started great but lost me towards the end. I might give it another shot now that the sequel is out.

Have you tried Saga of the Seven Suns by Kevin Anderson? Pretty hefty. I am enjoying it.

Nope, haven't heard of Anderson, I'll look into it, thanks.

[Dusty Chalk]

What I usually do is look up a book on Amazon, and see what they have listed for "customers also bought".

Stephenson...Stephenson...Stephenson...moar Stephenson...Gibson -- meh, nowhere near as much fun to read, Pattern Recognition is his best, though (although I'm sure you're already familiar with)...Gaiman -- now Gaiman is as much fun to read, but he's much more fantasy than sci-fi, much less hard sci-fi. Check out Neverwhere if you've never read anything by him....yeah, good old stand-by's like Ender saga by Orson Scott Card, Dune by Frank Herbert...but again, the classic Stephenson sense of humor is missing. (Do you mind silly? Discworld is fun.) But they definitely satisfy the "good" and "hefty" criteria.

Christopher Moore is fun, but again -- more fantasy than sci-fi complete fantasy, no science fiction. And definitely errs on the side of sillier than Stephenson.

You know what I enjoyed? Slant, by Greg Bear. I'm sure there are other books by Greg Bear that are better, but Slant was my first.

...bunch of names I'm not recognizing...my friend is trying to get me into Richard K. Morgan, but he caught me at a bad time (I don't do a lot of reading these days)...my friend is into hard sci-fi...

Edited April 21, 2009 by Dusty Chalk

[postjack]

What I usually do is look up a book on Amazon, and see what they have listed for "customers also bought".

Stephenson...Stephenson...Stephenson...moar Stephenson...Gibson -- meh, nowhere near as much fun to read, Pattern Recognition is his best, though (although I'm sure you're already familiar with)...Gaiman -- now Gaiman is as much fun to read, but he's much more fantasy than sci-fi, much less hard sci-fi. Check out Neverwhere if you've never read anything by him....yeah, good old stand-by's like Ender saga by Orson Scott Card, Dune by Frank Herbert...but again, the classic Stephenson sense of humor is missing. (Do you mind silly? Discworld is fun.) But they definitely satisfy the "good" and "hefty" criteria.

Christopher Moore is fun, but again -- more fantasy than sci-fi complete fantasy, no science fiction. And definitely errs on the side of sillier than Stephenson.

You know what I enjoyed? Slant, by Greg Bear. I'm sure there are other books by Greg Bear that are better, but Slant was my first.

...bunch of names I'm not recognizing...my friend is trying to get me into Richard K. Morgan, but he caught me at a bad time (I don't do a lot of reading these days)...my friend is into hard sci-fi...

Ha, yeah I spent a long time at work doing just what you described with Stephenson on Amazon. Lots of Gibson, who never did anything for me, and Gaiman, who I absolutely love but have read all his stuff. I have been wanting to reread American Gods though. Damn good book. Something both Gaiman and Stephenson do is instill a sense of wonder in me while I'm reading, which comes from a deep appreciation for the author's creativity and the immensity of their accomplishment. The Baroque Cycle, in this sense, is the most enjoyable series I've ever read, though I'll always have a special place in my heart for Vandermeer's Ambergris novels (time for a sequel to Shriek Jeff).

I've read and enjoyed the first Discworld novel, as well as the book about the apocalypse Pratchett and Gaiman cowrote. Christopher Moore is a new name to me, looks fun.

Any comments on the Culture novels by Iain M. Banks?

EDIT: Dan, just read synopsis for two Tim Powers novels: "Declare" and "The Drawing of the Dark". That is what I'm talking about! Can't wait to get my hands on one of these.

Edited April 22, 2009 by postjack

[MoonShine]

You guys like the same stuff I do.

I guess I should retry Stephenson (Gave Snow Crash a try a few years back but it didn't grab me). Hmm.. where to start... Cryptonomicon maybe?

[Dusty Chalk]

Diamond Age.

[postjack]

You guys like the same stuff I do.

I guess I should retry Stephenson (Gave Snow Crash a try a few years back but it didn't grab me). Hmm.. where to start... Cryptonomicon maybe?

As much as I love Stephenson, I have never been able to finish Snow Crash. I have an aversion to cyberpunk. I hope to one day get over this aversion and get through the book. I even own the fancy schmancy LE slipcased edition.

Diamond Age.

This is where I started, then onto Cryptonomicon. I think you'd be good starting with either one. After those two, The Baroque Cycle, which seems to divide a lot of Stephenson fans. To me it is obviously his greatest achievement. I need to read Anathem though.

[Dusty Chalk]

As much as I love Stephenson, I have never been able to finish Snow Crash. I have an aversion to cyberpunk.

Okay, just disregard everything I wrote you, then, we obviously completely differ on this.

I just assume anyone who loves Stephenson loves that novel. My mistake.

I agree about the Baroque Cycle, though: crowning achievement, indeed. Have you seen the paperbacks? They rearranged the chapters so that the interweaving storylines are in separate books. I'm tempted to try and read it that way (I just found my copy of Quicksilver, which I had been missing -- it is now with the other two), but that won't be any time soon.

[Hopstretch]

Any comments on the Culture novels by Iain M. Banks?

Mixed bag. The first one, "Consider Phlebas" is very strong though, and a good place to see if they're going to grab you.

EDIT: Dan, just read synopsis for two Tim Powers novels: "Declare" and "The Drawing of the Dark". That is what I'm talking about! Can't wait to get my hands on one of these.

"Last Call" too! That one's really fabulous!

[ingwe]

Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and The Children of Hurin are finally available in (licensed!) ebook form! I got mine from eReader.com.

My currently reading status must -always- include these.

Still on fourth book of Dark Tower series--haven't touched it for a few weeks though.

[postjack]

Peter, I do hope to read Snow Crash and enjoy it someday. I just need to get over my cyberpunk/VR prejudice.

I purchased Tim Powers "The Stress of Her Regard". It arrives Friday. In the meantime I've put down Pandora's Star and picked back up Gene Wolfe's "Urth of the New Sun", which I am about halfway through.

[Dusty Chalk]

Well, I was also saying that I love cyberpunk, so we just differ. In fact, I was this far from recommending a compilation of short stories called Mirrorshades which introduced me to a lot of my favorite authors in the genre.

But the recommendation might still be apt -- have you thought about getting any of those "greatest sci-fi stories of 1999" or whatever? Or find a collection that has some of your favorite authors?

[grawk]

rudy rucker - white light, a math/infinity/psychedelcs story

charles platt - garbage world

carlos ruiz zafon - the shadow of the wind (and SubPress has signed/limited for $35 )

[MoonShine]

Speaking of short stories... these are excellent...

I prefer this one over the Gardner Dozois collections.

[postjack]

subpress also has a few tim powers books. amazon has them for ~$55 apiece. I'm sure you already own them and/or know this.

[Chekhonte]

I am reading ancient art and ritual by jane harrison. It's amazing if you are interested in the origins of western aesthetics in art and drama.