Read any good books?

Started by Future Canadian, Feb 11 06 11:21

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P.C.

#30
Feb 13 06 03:38
Not Sci-fi.....but a couple good reads I remember from way back, were David Nivens.....Bring on the Empty Horses, and Go Slowly, Come Back Quickly.
Sir Isaac Newton invented the swinging door....for the convenience of his cat.

kitten

#31
Feb 13 06 03:53
I seem to remember reading "Bring on the Empty Horses" .  As you say, way back.  I also recall reading Peter Ustinov's autobigraphy.  I think it was titled "Dear Me".  He was an interesting man and I really enjoyed his book.
Thousands of years ago cats were worshipped.  They have not forgotten.

tenkani

#32
Feb 13 06 04:49
Ah!

Some of my favorite sci-fi is probably Frederik Pohl's Gateway series and the Mote in God's Eye series by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. Yeah, Heinlein and Asimov are the old masters, although both of their stuffs can get a little dry at times.
For thou art with me; thy cream and thy sugar they comfort me
Thou preparest a carafe before me in the presence of Juan Valdez
Thou anointest my day with pep; my mug runneth over
Surely richness and taste shall follow me all the days of my life
And I will dwell in the house of coffee forever.

kitten

#33
Feb 13 06 05:04
You probably already know this, but Larry Niven is married to Mercedes Lackey;  also a fine writer.  They have done a lot of work in rescuing endangered raptors and bringing them back to health before releasing them.
Thousands of years ago cats were worshipped.  They have not forgotten.

Admin

#34
Feb 13 06 05:59
Anyone here like (or ever heard of) Stanislaw Lem? He's written a lot of very funny, extremely satirical Sci-Fi, but also some serious stuff like [a href="vny!://www.solaristhemovie.com/"]Solaris[/a]. (The original Russian version was better IMHO, but it's also really long.)

Funny stuff:

Pirx The Pilot (good)
The Futurological Congress (REALLY good)
The Cyberiad: Fables for the Cybernetic Age (also REALLY good)
I don't live on the edge, but sometimes I go there to visit.

Sportsdude

#35
Feb 13 06 06:08
I like serious stuff.[/DIV]Philip K. Dick is good.  
"We can't stop here. This is bat country."

kitten

#36
Feb 13 06 06:15
I remember Pirx the Pilot, but I haven't read anything of his in a long while.  I got side-tracked by so many other authors that I forgot about Lem.  I'll have to look those titles up.

Does anyone remember John Creasey?  He was an interesting author.  I also remember John Buchan"s "The Thirty-nine Steps".  But that one goes back a looong way!
Thousands of years ago cats were worshipped.  They have not forgotten.

Sportsdude

#37
Feb 13 06 06:26
If I read anything scfi its european I read Americans have lost there way with scifi. Scifi is the most powerful form of literature and Americans turned it into Star Trek.
"We can't stop here. This is bat country."

greycat

#38
Feb 13 06 06:33
Has anyone read any Iain Banks, the Wasp Factory? I also liked The Age of Reason by Sartre, Life After God by Douglas Copeland, Slaves of New York by Tama Janowitz, Cats Eye by Margaret Atwood. LOVE books, i am always reading, but lots of non fiction these days, books on creativity and whatnot.
It is what it is.

kitten

#39
Feb 13 06 06:36
Actually, that's generalizing.  There are a lot of  good authors, as well as some real stinkers.  This is true, not only about the U.S., but all over the world.  In fiction, it boils down to two things.....the writer's imagination, and the ability to tell a story in an interesting fashion.  Some are very good at it, others not.  Even in non-fiction, the ability to explain things in a lucd fashion is very important.  Isaac Asimov and Robert Forward were geniuses at this.
Thousands of years ago cats were worshipped.  They have not forgotten.

kitten

#40
Feb 13 06 07:42
 [A href="vny!://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb001_ZNxdm824DFCA" target=_blank][img alt=Dragon src="vny!://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/15/15_3_27.gif[/img][/A] For any science fiction readers, there is a great free library at vny!://www.baen.    I've read a lot of good books there.





[A href="vny!://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb063_ZNxdm824DFCA" target=_blank][img]vny!://discoverseattle.net/source/spacer.gif?pc=ZSzeb063&pp=ZNxdm824DFCA" border=0][/A]
Thousands of years ago cats were worshipped.  They have not forgotten.

Future Canadian

#41
Feb 14 06 12:25
kitten blessings be upon you for moving this thread along today. What a great range of stuff to read in this thread. I agree with your Asimov and Heinlein recommends. Stranger in a Strange Land was so much more book than I expected, and it gives me that dippy "wow, we're all so wonderful" feeling.[/DIV]My pick to add today is Word Freak by Stephen Fastis. He goes in deep with the top eschelon of competetive Scrabble player. Warning if you like playing Scrabble you will go on a bender after reading this (it even made us go and get a chess clock).
...religion has made some contributions to civilization. It helped in the early days to fix the calendar, and it caused Egyptian priests to chronicle ecplipses with such care that in time they were able to predict them. These two services I am prepared to acknowledge, but I do not know of any others

Future Canadian

#42
Feb 14 06 08:17
Here's a link to a great poem, The Song of the Queen Bee by E.B. White.[/DIV][A href="vny!://littlemissattila.mu.nu/archives/030417.php"]vny!://littlemissattila.mu.nu/archives/030417.php[/A]
...religion has made some contributions to civilization. It helped in the early days to fix the calendar, and it caused Egyptian priests to chronicle ecplipses with such care that in time they were able to predict them. These two services I am prepared to acknowledge, but I do not know of any others

kitten

#43
Feb 14 06 09:27
What a wonderful poem!  Thanks for the link.  [img onmouseover="this.style.backgroundColor='#C6D3EF';this.style.border='1px solid #3169C6'; " style="BORDER-RIGHT: #3169c6 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #3169c6 1px solid; BORDER-LEFT: #3169c6 1px solid; CURSOR: pointer; BORDER-BOTTOM: #3169c6 1px solid; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #c6d3ef" onclick="InsertImage('/forums/richedit/smileys/Happy/3.gif');" onmouseout="this.style.backgroundColor=''; this.style.border=''" src="vny!://discoverseattle.net/forums/richedit/smileys/Happy/3.gif" align=absMiddle]
Thousands of years ago cats were worshipped.  They have not forgotten.

Legion

#44
Feb 14 06 09:37
If any of you ever have a hankering for occult/fantasy then you might try these novels by [a href="vny!://www.jwmt.org/v1n0/dfortune.html"]Dion Fortune[/a].

The Goat-foot God

The Sea Priestess

The Secrets of Dr. Taverner

Winged Bull

Moon Magic
curses!
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