Sci-Fi Books - Shaped my perceptions » Forum Post by ElWhopO

The Man-Kzin war books were based on Larry Niven's Ringworld series. I have read both that book and its not quite so awesome sequel, Ringworld Engineers, but didn't bother continuing after that. The Man-Kzin series were mostly short stories written by other authors, I believe.

As for good science fiction that I have read, it would be easier to list the ones I have not read

I'm just about to finish reading the entire list of Hugo winners -- just three more to go. I've read about 3/4 of the Nebulas as well.

I've also written two science fiction novels, neither of which have been published. They're quite awful, frankly, but might be a good read for someone for whom camomile tea no longer works as a soporific.

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I've read Ringworld ,
But, I'm always happy for some good recommendations.

Thank You both.

Please list more, I'm well keen to find good scifi authors.

Marcus

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Read anything by Arthur C Clarke - particularly Rendezvous with Rama - Also anything by Asimov.

Greg Bear - Eon and it's follow ups.

Alastair Reynolds - read everything he's ever done, make sure it's in chronological order though.

Peter F Hamilton - The Nights Dawn trilogy is a must, Pandoras Star (I use the 'villain' of the book as a race in GCII) and its sequal is good too, plus fallen Dragon and the Greg Mandell series.

Then there's Steven Baxter & Robert Silverberg.

For easy reading, take anything from the Games Workshop Black Library.

The original Dune is worth a read for all the political infighting.

A series of books well worth a read is the Helliconia trilogy, but I can't remember who wrote it; great stuff though.

Most of the above books will give you some great ideas for additional races in GCII (with Morninglightmountain from Pandoras Star a particular favourite). The Dune series is particularly good for an all human based game as each house translates very well into the game.

And, if you can find a copy of Rogue Moon, it's a cracking read despite being an old book.

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I really like Frank Herbert's work in Dune. Many of the themes match the world political situation at the time of their writting. He makes comparisons between spice and petroleum, and the Fremen and modern middle eastern cultures.
I also like Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers. A lot of people have a misconception about what the theme of the book is, which is civic responsibility and sacrifice, due to the film of the same title. The theme of the film is more of what 16 year olds would do if they were unsupervised with weapons in a coed camp. They should not have made that horrible movie, although I enjoyed the film for the high sexual content, it has few similarities to the book.

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Starship Troopers
[...]
I enjoyed the film for the high sexual content

Pardon, are we talking about the same film? The self-ironic one with the big, ugly bugs and overpainted fascist-military Terrans?

Ok, I remember there may have been one bare pair of breasts in it, but "high sexual content"? Is there an uncensored version?

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Yes we are definetly talking about the same film. Compared to a pornographic film, or comparing it to what is proper beach attire in some countries, then there is cursory sexual content. Compared to the book which has very little sexual content, it has high sexual content. I do not think that there is an uncensored version. And there had to have been at least seven naked breasts.

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What are your thoughts about Iain Banks?

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Ok, here's a relevant (to GalCivII) sci-fi book - It is "The Shiva Option" by David Weber and Steve White. Please allow me to share a quote from the web site that listed it.

“They’d had such hopes. Even LeBlanc, whose job it was to remind them all of how little they truly knew—even now—about the Arachnids, had been unable to believe that any race could sacrifice so many ships, entire fleets of superdreadnoughts, even planets inhabited by its own kind, just to set a massive trap. Yet that was precisely what the Bugs had done, and Operation Pesthouse had turned into the most overwhelming disaster in the history of the Terran Federation Navy. The Arachnids had lured Antonov’s Second Fleet on and on with sacrifice gambits beyond the bounds of sanity. . .then they’d closed in through undiscovered warp points in the systems through which he’d passed.”

I kinda liked it. There is also lots of good background info for a creditable storyline, how the different races in the Universe met and interacted prior to the appearance of the baby-eating Arachnids, etc.

Thanks for all your input, folks. I'm trying to track down the ones that interested me most, and I'll keep all your suggestions in mind.

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What are your thoughts about Iain Banks?

Started off by reading the Bridge way back when. Good stuff if a little bit strange. Read most of his contemporary work, which was equally odd and compelling. The sci-fi had strong characters doing believable things. Check them out for sure. Oh yeah, Starship Troopers Kicked butt. The movie nothing like the book, but both entertaining satire in their own right.

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Read anything by Arthur C Clarke

The City and the Stars is one of my favorites.

I really like Frank Herbert's work in Dune. Many of the themes match the world political situation at the time of their writting.

i'm about to finish the end of Chapterhouse. about 4 months ago, i realized i couldn't remember anything about Dune except from the movies. i read Dune and some of Messiah when i was a kid, so that's not surprising. but seriously, Herbert was a damn fine story-teller. Dune doesn't just parallel the political situation, it's got fertile ground for those of us given to philosophical musings too.

Octavia Butler is another good one, as is Neil Stephenson.

oh, and here's me bragging. in the last 2 months, i've got to meet and pick the brains of both Kim Stanley Robinson and Geof Ryman. i love my job!

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David Brin - Sundiver, Startide Rising, The Uplift War. (The Uplift Saga, 1st Trilogy)

David Brin - Brightness Reef, Infinity's Shore, Heaven's Reach (The Uplift Sage, 2nd Trilogy.

Startide Rising, and The Uplift War, both won Hugos for best novel.

Also recommended. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. Possibly my favorite scifi novel. It also won a Hugo.

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I really like Frank Herbert's work in Dune. Many of the themes match the world political situation at the time of their writting. He makes comparisons between spice and petroleum, and the Fremen and modern middle eastern cultures.

Absolutely. He doesn't make comparisons, though, as much as open the door for the readers to make comparisons, if they are well enough educated to have a clue. Also the Dune movie on DVD was well done IMHO (William Hurt, Artisan (www.artisanent.com)). Heh, that Italian actor that plays the Emperor is precious, and the costumes, wow.

I also like Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers. A lot of people have a misconception about what the theme of the book is, which is civic responsibility and sacrifice, due to the film of the same title. The theme of the film is more of what 16 year olds would do if they were unsupervised with weapons in a coed camp. They should not have made that horrible movie, although I enjoyed the film for the high sexual content, it has few similarities to the book.

I read Starship Troopers when I was just a little tadpole, it's one of the all-time classics. My recent interactions with adolescents in the U.S. shows that not many of them have read it, but should have. The reason people have a wrong conception about the book is probably because they haven't bothered to read it, just assumed they already knew. The film was not faithful to the book, but graphic, and it had some neat little innuendoes I really enjoyed. Subtle and satirically laughable, if you ah, pay attention and have enough background to make the connections.

Another one that deals with unsupervised adolescents is "Lord Of The Flies" which i also read at a young age ... that one has been coming to mind lately, for some reason. Hey, maybe someone will do a sequel to that, and call it "Mistress of The Maggots" ...

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I also like Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers. A lot of people have a misconception about what the theme of the book is, which is civic responsibility and sacrifice, due to the film of the same title. The theme of the film is more of what 16 year olds would do if they were unsupervised with weapons in a coed camp. They should not have made that horrible movie, although I enjoyed the film for the high sexual content, it has few similarities to the book.

Yeah, the film is supposed to be a satire-comedy than anything else

Paul Verhoeven manages to interject his liberal political views in half the films he directs. Ever seen Robocop (and its sequels)?

As for me, I especially enjoyed Frank Herbert's Dune (lots of political intrigue) and Asimov's Foundation series (even more political intrigue)

But sadly I wasted several years of my life reading those Star Wars novels that take place after the original series. I remember reading the trilogy by Timothy Zahn about Admiral Thrawn, The Truce at Bakura, Kevin J. Anderson's trilogy on Adm. Daala and the Sun Crusher, and several of the older New Jedi Order novels. Not particularly good literature

Speaking of Dune, have you ever noticed how Osama Bin Laden is actually like Paul Muad'dib. I can find many parallel, plus the fact that Dune was printed before OBL became a radical jihadist (inspiration?

)

1. Obviously the setting: the arid, sandy Middle East vs. an arid, sandy planet
2. Jihad vs. a superpower: the United States or Soviet Union as compared to House Corrino; Dune specifically refers to Paul's war as a "jihad" on numerous occasions
3. A valuable commodity: the spice, versus the oil
4. Falling from power: OBL as a part of a powerful Saudi family, Paul as the son of the leader of House Atreides
5. Guerilla warfare/terrorism: One could say that Muad'dib's actions against the spice mining industry could apply as terrorism. Guerilla warfare is used extensively by both the fremen and mujahedeen
6. "Liberation" against the outsiders: The fremen/Al Qaeda feel that Arrakis/the Middle East have been taken over by outsiders and that it is rightfully theirs

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Speaking of Dune, have you ever noticed how Osama Bin Laden is actually like Paul Muad'dib. I can find many parallel, plus the fact that Dune was printed before OBL became a radical jihadist (inspiration? )

When reading Frank Herbert's Dune, did you ever wonder just what the future will be like as a result of stupid mistakes made in our lifetimes, and whether or not God will eventually (who knows how many thousands of years from today) do away with all the scumbags that exploit other peoples, in one way or another?

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Speaking of Dune, have you ever noticed how Osama Bin Laden is actually like Paul Muad'dib. I can find many parallel, plus the fact that Dune was printed before OBL became a radical jihadist (inspiration?)

i think it's more coincidence...

1. Obviously the setting: the arid, sandy Middle East vs. an arid, sandy planet

i'm pretty sure most cities in the middle east are built on rivers on the coast, and have a more tropical feel. at any rate, the people weren't living in caves like the Fremen.

2. Jihad vs. a superpower: the United States or Soviet Union as compared to House Corrino; Dune specifically refers to Paul's war as a "jihad" on numerous occasions

yeah, but Paul made himself emperor when he was done. i'm not so sure OBL has the idea of sitting in the white house when this is all over.

3. A valuable commodity: the spice, versus the oil

yes, but spice was the only means to travel (until the Ixian machines of Heretics). we have alternatives to oil, and oil's not a psychedelic either.

4. Falling from power: OBL as a part of a powerful Saudi family, Paul as the son of the leader of House Atreides

except that the bin Ladens are U.S. supporters and OBL is going against his family by being a terrorist; Paul was avenging his.

6. "Liberation" against the outsiders: The fremen/Al Qaeda feel that Arrakis/the Middle East have been taken over by outsiders and that it is rightfully theirs

...I don't know about that. the Fremen wanted to turn Arrakis into a paradise; it wasn't until Paul showed up that they wanted a war of liberation (and later, full-scaled revolution).

still, an interesting comparison. i think Herbert has a good sense for the underlying causes of conflict, and he wrote a story that can parallel many situations because it's archetypal.

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Am i confused
I was on a thread about sci authors?

Why has this turned into some sort of world politics?

Thank you all for the book recommendations.

Marcus

PS. politics of fiction , hardly mean anything

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Am i confused
I was on a thread about sci authors?

It is, I spose one answer would be that many sci-fi books have so much politics in them. Actually, If the authors didn't use politics and economics and sociology and psychology to carry the thread of the plot, the goofy sounding aliens and weird stuff might only be about as believable as a cartoon. When used together by a good author the overall effect can be very compelling.

Here's one for y'all - "Bio of a Space Tyrant" [Piers Anthony] - (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bio_of_a_Space_Tyrant)

Instead of arabic or semitic political sub-plots, as in Dune, it has a latino sub-plot.

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I read Bio of a Space Tyrant back in early high school and remember it favourably. Was it as good as I remember? Most Piers Anthony does not hold up now, I find. Maybe I'll try that series again...

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Im a pompous git,
But this git likes to get some advice, still.
Ill still go with my faves, foundation, Clark , robots Asimov and hitch hikers radio series
But what the hell. i'm a newbie to sci books.

Marcus

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would love to pick up mass effect the somewhat prequel to the game.

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would love to pick up mass effect the somewhat prequel to the game.

Looks like the mass effect will be another series of novels more-or-less related to the upcoming game, kind of like Star Wars. I didn't see any mention of it being in print, though. {http://www.bioware.com/bioware_info/press_releases/2007_02_23_MassEffect_Novel/)

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would love to pick up mass effect the somewhat prequel to the game.

Looks like the mass effect will be another series of novels more-or-less related to the upcoming game, kind of like Star Wars. I didn't see any mention of it being in print, though. {http://www.bioware.com/bioware_info/press_releases/2007_02_23_MassEffect_Novel/)

I read the first chapter in the last xbox mag and I believe its on the Mass effect website.

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I can't believe no body mentioned David Drake's "Hammer's Slammers" series.

If you like Man-Kzin stuff, read Jerry Pournelle's "Mote in God's Eye".

With everyone posting about "Starship Troopers" I'm suprised no one added "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress". I read "Troopers" when I was eleven and it turned me on to science fiction. I've read almost everything Heinlein has written. His Lazarus Long stories are really good, too. Check out "Methusalah's Children".

"Armor" by John Steakley is great. It's kind of dark and hard to find, but a great read.

IMHO (and I'm sure some will disagree) the Honor Harrington series is a poor retread of CF Forester's Horatio Hornblower saga, which is great. It is Royal Navy action in the Napoleanic War, much like the Jack Aubrey / "Master and Commander" stories, which are also great.

Check out "Snow Crash" or "Cryptonomicon" by Neal Stephanson.

Also, "Empire from the Ashes" by David Weber.

And two thumbs up for Arthur C Clarke and David Brin!

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IMHO (and I'm sure some will disagree) the Honor Harrington series is a poor retread of CF Forester's Horatio Hornblower saga, which is great. It is Royal Navy action in the Napoleanic War, much like the Jack Aubrey / "Master and Commander" stories, which are also great.

Actually, by frank admission of Mr Weber, the original inspiration and the rough life model (at least in the early books) of the Honor Harrington character was Horatio NELSON, not Horatio Hornblower.

The parallel with the period of the Napleonic Wars is present, especially in the first 3-4 books, but it is not very tight (Example: the series has analogs of Great Britain, France, Prussia, and the German States, but not Russia or Austria or Spain; Grayson sort of a strange Portugese/USA amalgam; the Solar League and Manpower don't have 19th century parallels.)

(For those who may not know, Horatio Hornblower was/is the greatest single ship naval captain ever, albeit completely FICTIONAL [Jack Aubrey is a close second].
Horatio NELSON was the greatest REAL naval commander of all time, the only naval personality really qualified to be called one of the Great Captains of history.)

And just to stay alittle bit On Topic:
-I recommend everything ever written by H. Beam Piper. SPACE VIKING probably has the closest congruity with the traditional space opera represented by Gal Civ 2.
-Also, I can't believe that in a community as full of admitted geezers as GalCivLand, no one has mentioned E. E. "Doc" Smith. Hey, you want to conquer a galaxy...or 2? You want evil alien conquerors? You want advanced precursor intelligences? Check out the works of the Master. Not in the Harvard Great Books series, but heluv fun. (BTW, Doc Smith is the only person I've ever read who conjoured up a spacecraft larger than Weber's EMPIRE FROM THE ASHES planetoids)

drrider

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David Weber is the author that comes most to mind when discussing space strategy oriented games. Interestingly, he apparently was one of the designers of an old paper game called Starfire, which was a prime inspiration for the development of the Space Empires series of games (a competing product of Galciv).

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