ThReads Must Roll: the new, improved rolling fantasy, science fiction, speculative fiction &c. thread

I had a search around and came up light, apologies if this ground has been covered elsewhere.

Can anyone recommend a decent hard SF read, maybe along similar lines to Anderson's 'Tau Zero" perhaps?

Just finished Greg Bear's 'The Forge of God' and it was much too touchy feely and I feel a bit icky.

I haven't read this, but heard and read much praise--review from booklist gives the gist:

The Martian---Andy Weir
Remember Man Plus, Frederik Pohl’s award-winning 1976 novel about a cyborg astronaut who’s sent, alone, to Mars? Imagine, instead, that the astronaut was just a regular guy, part of a team sent to the red planet, and that, through a series of tragic events, he’s left behind, stranded and facing certain death. That’s the premise of this gripping and (given its subject matter) startlingly plausible novel. The story is told mostly through the log entries of astronaut Mark Watney, chronicling his efforts to survive: making the prefab habitat livable and finding a way to grow food, make water, and get himself off the planet. Interspersed among the log entries are sections told from the point of view of the NASA specialists, back on Earth, who discover that Watney is not dead (as everyone assumed) and scramble together a rescue plan. There are some inevitable similarities between the book and the 1964 movie Robinson Crusoe on Mars, but where the movie was a broad sci-fi adventure, the novel is a tightly constructed and completely believable story of a man’s ingenuity and strength in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. Riveting. --David Pitt

The author breaks down the basics of Watney's situation:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Martian-Novel-Andy-Weir/dp/product-description/0804139024/ref=dp_proddesc_0/180-1509918-2958424?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books

I'd like to check Pohl's novel too, never heard of that.

It (Pohl's) is a candidate for the most hilarious ending in SF history.

hilarious good or bad?

that andy weir book was in my local supermarket this morning.

amazon's been pitching it at me for what seems like months but crossing over into hammersmith tescos is quite a jump.

xp good, but unintentionally so.

This guy pops in anthologies and looks intriguing but haven't read word one so far: http://www.sfwa.org/2014/01/geoffrey-landis-receive-2014-robert-heinlein-award/

Man Plus does have a ridiculous ending. It's okay, not his best novel (which, not counting Kornbluth collabs, would be JEM imo)

finished the Forever War. was not expecting the happy ending tbh. Very good, deserving of its plaudits, a few lol 70s bits but on the whole a great mix of hard sci-fi, some socio-political commentary, and a romantic subplot that I found unexpectedly moving.

xp good, but unintentionally so.

― ledge, Thursday, 8 January 2015 15:55 (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

This is probably misleading. It's a good book, definitely worth reading if you like yr hard sf. But the ending is pretty ridiculous and (unintentionally) lulz-worthy.

Can anyone recommend a decent hard SF read, maybe along similar lines to Anderson's 'Tau Zero" perhaps?

Rendezvous with Rama?
Alastair Reynold's Pushing Ice? A lot of what I complained about upthread re:Reynolds work is there, but in tolerably smaller doses, and it captures a lot of the excitement and peril of TZ.
Lem's His Master's Voice. Not really similar, not much excitement, pretty philosophical and political. Very intelligent though, and definitely not touchy-feely.

Internet says If you like Tau Zero, try Timescape by Gregory Benford and The Haertel Scholium by James Blish, I haven't tried them.

oddly i'd've said Rama too but would probably have chosen Revelation Space over Pushing Ice (PI probably closer to Tau Zero in theme, i just prefer RS as a book)

Greg Egan's Diaspora too, although it's nothing like those two.

i read Forever War immediately after / before Tau Zero and the similarities were startling.

Diaspora if you like books by, for, and about mathematicians.

On a whim went back to the all-time speculative fiction poll to decide a reading list for this year, came up with the following (pending further investigation):

091 Thomas Disch - Camp Concentration
087 Octavia Butler - Lilith's Brood
085 Gene Wolfe - Book of the Long Sun
084 Flann O'Brien - At Swim-Two-Birds
083 Joe Haldeman - The Forever War
082 Russell Hobon - Riddley Walker
074 John Crowley - Engine Summer
071 Ursula K. Le Guin - The Lathe of Heaven
064 James Tiptree - Her Smoke Rose Up Forever
062 Ted Chiang - Stories of Your Life and Others
047 Philip K. Dick - Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said

Have read all but 11 of the top 50, mostly missing some fantasy and a bit of dick.

085 Gene Wolfe - Book of the Long Sun aargh how did this get in here I am not good with computer

+ 045 Madeleine L'Engle - A Wrinkle in Time. Damnit.

Had mixed feelings about that on old Rolling F thread, can paste them if you're curious. But gist of it: could see how this influenced the early 60s configuration of what's now called YA fiction, for transitional, middle school/high school, mercurial readers, but, as with some traditional complaints about CS Lewis's allegories, I (sometimes) felt like the religious bits were in my face, like yet another helping of sweets. Overall, the author came off like an intelligent, observant, imaginative, occasionally carried-away granny.
Still, glad I checked it out, and was told (on old thread, I think) that subsequent books in series were stronger (also apparently books in later series, judging by article about her in Science Fiction Encyclopedia online).This is the L'Engle to start with, pretty sure.

subsequent books in series were stronger

ah the old harry potter defence, always great to hear especially when each installment in the series can stop a heavier door than the last.

yeah this one's more of a maybe as i'm not crazy about YA type stuff, for the most part, mentioning CS Lewis doesn't strengthen the case. still, i won't rule it out in case i find myself in the mood or stumble across a copy.

It's very short and fast, but with no sense of skimpiness or hastiness---impulsiveness, maybe, re idealism. Which reminds me just a bit of Tiptree, now that I think of it, and don't sleep on xpostHer Smoke Rose Up For Ever, or any of her other stuff, though it does get even more reckless toward the end.

mentioning CS Lewis doesn't strengthen the case

I'm not a huge Lewis dude (never could make it through any of the Narnia books, even as a YA) but I will stan for the sci-fi trilogy, which, while def heavy handed with the Xtian allegories, is still pretty strange and batshit. The first one is like an HG Wells homage, the second one is the dumbest, and the third is the best fwiw

Her Smoke Rose Up Forever is incredible. true master shit there.

and Riddley Walker! omg what a book. had to stop myself from buying it the other day when I saw it in a shop, even though I've already read it. the terrible sleeve design prevented me.

Outic what do you think of the third inkling, Charles Williams?

haven't read. is he worth it?

the ending of 'the forever war' is really great. the other novel that had an ending of similarly 'unexpected emotion', for me at least, was 'house of suns' by alastair reynolds.

Xpost I haven't read him yet either, he has an interesting rep though, sounds like insane xtian based SF-fantasy. His stuff is on one of the non-US Gutenberg services

yeah sounds like an odd duck

one of the things I like about the Lewis sf trilogy is that what little science he attempts to inject into the narrative is hilariously wrong (for ex. traveling between planets is unbearably hot! uhm ok). To be fair I don't think he fares much better with the theology (the Xtian protagonist in the second book must overcome his adversary by... murdering him? Yes, that's what Jesus would have done, sure). The whole thing is ridiculous from start to finish, in a very odd and charming way.

Can anyone recommend a decent hard SF read, maybe along similar lines to Anderson's 'Tau Zero" perhaps?

Rendezvous with Rama?
Alastair Reynold's Pushing Ice? A lot of what I complained about upthread re:Reynolds work is there, but in tolerably smaller doses, and it captures a lot of the excitement and peril of TZ.
Lem's His Master's Voice. Not really similar, not much excitement, pretty philosophical and political. Very intelligent though, and definitely not touchy-feely.

Internet says If you like Tau Zero, try Timescape by Gregory Benford and The Haertel Scholium by James Blish, I haven't tried them.

Thanks folks, I love Rama, have never tried Reynold(s) or Lem

Yesterday I found an old paperback (with an oddly thick, laminated cover) of Silverberg's 'Son of Man' which looks like it might be a bit of a mindblow, so when I am done with that I shall investigate.

Somebody here heavily recommended Son Of Man and I bought it on the strength of that. A lot of people don't like it but some others call it a classic stoner book. Looking forward to it someday.

I just got the newish Ian Miller art book and its totally stunning. You guys have probably seen lots of his art on book covers. It's totally packed with detail and cool landscapes. I kinda wish they had put in more covers though, like his great Swamp Thing covers.

Cool, I know him mostly from his quite traditional fantasy art style fighting fantasy book covers, and some really distinctive etched pieces in a Tolkien bestiary I have - all angles, close hatching, and almost mechanistic forms.

Here's his Swamp Thing covers
http://www.comicvine.com/swamp-thing/4050-3465/object-appearances/4040-28255/

I think a lot of his best work is around Lovecraft and his Peake inspired castles.

Oops it was ian macaig's ff covers I was thinking of. Not so keen on miller's, tolkien stuff still great though.

http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/b4/7a/a0/b47aa008e609b601656ec0ae70c6846f.jpg
This is one of my favourite Miller ones.

Son Of Man, I don't know if I would call it great but it is probably the most psychedelic sf book I've ever read, in that it really reads like one long phantasmagoric trip

I can't think of anything quite like it honestly. Starmaker maybe. Even Barefoot in the Head is more grounded in a contemporary reality than Son of Man.

Thanks. Me, I still have to read Dying Inside and those short story collections first.

Interesting that Silverbob basically considered himself to be a kind of hack until Pohl told him: I'll make you a deal. Write something you really mean and I'll buy it for Galaxy, no strings attached. In the end, after he returned to sf following his crisis, he ended up turning himself into a hack again, albeit a slicker and smoother one.

Meanwhile, speaking of Pohl, rereading Gateway today for the first time since it came out. Enjoying it, but just got to the exact middle at which point he finally goes out and his first mission, and felt it started to drag a little with all the sf trappings of which star system they were in. But I know it's headed towards a boffo ending, even if I can't remember what it is.

Guy right here hates it, apparently:http://io9.com/5659500/gateway-by-frederik-pohl-the-most-dreadful-of-hugo-winners

My wife re-read those recently and felt they were not as great as she remembered. I remember them being okay, but not my favorite.

That io9 review is pretty positive...?

not at all

Dammit, this is a good book.

Haven't actually read that review yet because spoilers, maybe? The title made me think it was negative, maybe it is just some sort of rhetorical move?

Okay, I see. Dictionary definition trick.

It's funny how almost all the words we use to say something sucks go back to a quite different meaning
Dreadful
Awful
Terrible
Horrible

Ha, yes, exactly.

Okay. Finished. Time to read that blog post to the end. Book holds up well, although ebook is riddled with horrible typos which grow worse towards the end, to the extend that the denouement actually appears inside one of the sidebars! Although one could attribute this to gravity shear, I guess. Have very little desire to read the rest of the Heechee Saga, as it were. Dimly remember not liking or not finishing Beyond the Blue Event Horizon, although eventually I did dig the song that title is based on.

Does anyone have any recommendations for great sci-fi that is either very feminist or phenomenologically-aware?

Also, here is Roberto Bolaño's (very) short and amazing contribution to speculative fiction: http://eyeshot.net/bolanobeach.html

Massively worth reading if you've a spare ten minutes this afternoon.

Joanna Russ (the Female Man in particular), LeGuin, Tiptree