Books2

More Sci-Fi

• Frank Herbert (1920 -1986)
  • Dune - Another one of the all-time greats. Most of you already know it from reading it or the movie. Movie was OK for what it was, but the book takes us to such alien places and cultures that it makes the mind reel. Everything is on such a grand scale. The worlds involved in the book are only a few of the hundreds that make up their federation. Besides the many peoples of the book the spice melange is very important as are the giant worms that are closely linked to the spice. The epic was continued to total six books. Everybody has their opinions about these. I thought the second, Dune Messiah, was the weakest, but it sort of provided a lot of information to the whole story. Children Of Dune and God Emporer Of Dune were good but nowhere near as good as Dune. Herbert really hit his stride again with Heretics Of Dune and Chapterhouse:Dune. I thought these were as good as the first and they really turned the series into one really intriguing saga. I don't normally like it when a series runs over 3 or 4 books but after Chapterhouse I was ravenous for more. Frank was reaching into different parts of his huge imaginary universe and there was still so much of it to explore.
  • Destination:Void - A story of evolution; the evolution of artificial consciousness and evolving humans. This became another epic large in scale and scope when Herbert wrote three sequels with Bill Ransom. These were The Jesus Incident, The Lazarus Effect, and The Ascension Factor. Disturbingly real and gripping images of the weaknesses and sometimes strengths of OUR species as a whole.
  • The White Plague - A molecular bioligist who watched his family be blown up in a terrorist bombing unleashes a plague on the world in revenge. A plague that kills off most of the women on the planet, because that is who it was aimed at to have the most destructive effect on mankind. A very real story of what it might be like to structure a society around almost no women.
  • I have also enjoyed The Dragon In The Sea and Man Of Two Worlds(written with his son Brian Herbert) with thankfully others left yet to read.
  • For more on Dune; the book, the movie or whatever go to
    The World Of Dune or Dune - A Place Beyond Your Dreams.

• Robert A. Heinlein (1907 - 1988)
  • Stranger In A Strange Land - A human brought up by Martians is returned to Earth as an adult. This very controversial book(especially being from the early '60s) touches on sex, race, religion, politics and just about anything else you can think of. One of my favourite books ever.
  • Farnham's Freehold - A bizarre future for the survivors of a nuclear holocaust.
  • Time Enough For Love - One of the many stories to include Lazarus Long. This is his story; one of a man who has lived over 2000 years and covers from World War I to the year 4272. Includes a lot of typically contreversial Heinlein views on cloning, gender roles, etc. Heinlein produced a bunch of books that at least guested Lazarus Long and tied together characters from other books. These included The Number Of The Beast, The Cat Who Walks Through Walls, and To Sail Beyond The Sunset.
  • The Past Through Tomorrow - The collection that brings together all 21 of Heinlein's "Future History" stories in one volume. These stories give a chronological history of man's first few centuries of space exploration. The earliest stories include the first rocket to the moon, others about business and franchising rights on the planets, and still others about very long distance relationships. There is even the Lazarus Long story Methuselah's Children. What all these stories are really about is humanity; the good, the bad, and the ugly. Highly recommended.
  • I Will Fear No Evil - Heinlein at his most bizarre. A wild story that centres around an old rich man who has his consciousness transferred to the young FEMALE body of his secretary. The trials and tribulations that arise from these TWO inhabiting the same body are very interesting, troubling and entertaining.
  • Job: A Comedy Of Justice - A new twist on the story of Job. As usual, Heinlein had no trouble taking on controversy. His version of Heaven as a bureaucratic nightmare on a scale only God could wreak is fantastic. And of course that makes Hell a pretty laid back, easy-going kind of place. Follow Job as he keeps having to put up with more and more until he says enough. But, is that the end? Of course not.
  • There are so many more enjoyable books; Friday, Have Spacesuit Will Travel, Podkayne Of Mars, The Door Into Summer, Red Planet, The Puppetmasters, Starship Troopers & more. One that I haven't read yet is the book of Robert's musings that he wanted released after his death, the one his wife finished compiling. It even has a great title - Grumbles From The Grave.
  • 7 Hugos.
  • Never won a Nebula for a story but received the very first Grandmaster Nebula For Lifetime Achievement in 1976.
  • For more on Heinlein go to the Robert A. Heinlein Home Page.

  
  

• Frederik Pohl (1919 - )
  • Narabedla Ltd. - The company of the title is a front for an intergalactic group that recruits performing artists to entertain on a myriad of alien worlds that the people of Earth know nothing about.
  • Mining the Oort - Another novel of intrigue and tensions between Mars and Earth. It's amazing how ALL these Mars novels put out recently are all very good. There might be some similarities on the surface, but each author has come up with unique stories in their own unique voice to dazzle us.
  • The Day the Martians Came - A novel of discovering Martians we previously knew nothing about. But more than this, a book about human nature in general as we see the story unfold in lots of little stories of various individuals and how this discovery affects them.
  • Homegoing - A group of aliens raise a human boy on their spaceship to be an intermediary between themselves and humans. They bring the boy back along with an amazing offer of knowledge that could really help us. Of course, humans mistrust the aliens' intent and the boy has to try and work out the differences of two very diverse cultures.
  • The Singers of Time (w/ Jack Williamson) - In this book aliens have already offered amazing technologies and peace to humans. These humans jumped at the chance. The price was giving up military installations and space bases. They also didn't like humans studying physics and cosmology as these things are blasphemy to the aliens. A small price to pay for being looked after like children. They need our help though when the only female of their species disappears. The only human that is able to fly their ships goes looking for her with a small group of humans and aliens. The search eventually leads to the aliens' home planet and once again BIG secrets with HUGE implications are uncovered.
  • short stories: The View from Mars Hill, Waiting for the Olympians, The Martians, Outnumbering the Dead, and Redemption in the Quantum Realm.
  • 2 Hugos & 2 Nebulas as well as the 1992 Grand Master Nebula. Inside one of Fred's books it says he is the only person to have won the Hugo as author and editor. I'm not sure what the editor award was for, I didn't see it at the Hugo site and the 2 I mentioned were for writing fiction. Does anybody know what the editor award(s) was for?

  
  

• William Gibson (1948 - )
  • Neuromancer - Whether or not you like "cyberpunk", Neuromancer is a great adventure which just happens to be set in a nasty future world. A sweeping tale that covers the globe and has characters from the lowest human to the artificial intelligence that has so much power. It is the only book to have won all three of the Hugo, Nebula, and Philip K. Dick awards. While sequels can never usually rival great books, Count Zero and Mona Lisa Overdrive are good books that create a loosely tied together group of stories in an interesting world.
  • I also have Virtual Light but have not read it. Gibson lives just across the water from me in Vancouver, BC. For more info on William Gibson see the William Gibson Information Page and the William Gibson book list.
  • I would also like to read The Difference Engine by Gibson and Bruce Sterling. An alternate world where a different kind of computer was invented during the Industrial Revolution. Can you imagine that world? An interesting looking site that would probably be a lot more interesting after reading the book is
    The Difference Dictionary, which has lots and lots of information to help understand the world of the book.

  
  

• Michael G. Coney (1932 - )
  • All of Michael's most recent novels take place in one reality or another that are just different possibilities or "happentracks" of the same universe. Probably the most well-known of his novels, The Celestial Steam Locomotive can chug its way down these happentracks. Before that came Cat Karina and after we found out that happentracks are just part of the Greataway in Gods Of The Greataway. Still later we went to a more fantastical happentrack with characters from King Arthur legend and fairies, etc. in Fang The Gnome and King Of The Sceptr'd Isle(which is the only one I haven't read yet. A very inventive mind and a wonderful storyteller.
  • I've also enjoyed The Hero Of Downways, Winter's Children, various short stories and a book written for the Ministry Of Forests in BC on the history of Vancouver Island and coastal Forest Rangers which is more a history of the boats that were used in this service as that was the only way to get to most of the coastal areas of BC. This book showed Coney's obvious love of boats.
  • People who have met Michael have noticed aspects of his personality showing up in his books. As stated above, Michael loves boats. I even had his boat pointed out to me when it used to be anchored right beside our main ferry terminal(yes, Michael lives on Vancouver Island). It is called Jabberwock. In Cat Karina, there are sailboats that run on huge greased wooden rails (a lot like a monorail). Now, would you have ever thought of that? Apparently, Coney enjoys his ale. In Fang The Gnome, the gnomes just love to consume beer. Some of his short stories have been set right here on our island, two enjoyable examples being Die, Lorelei and The Byrds.
  • Michael was on the preliminary ballot for the Nebula Award for his recent story Bulldog Drummond and the Grim Reaper. I haven't heard any thing more on that. Good Luck Michael.

  
  

• Greg Bear (1951 - )
  • - I could see Greg Bear being called a younger Arthur C. Clarke. He writes on a very grand scale and includes a lot of hard science. Eon does have a lot in common with a book like Rendezvous With Rama, but it is a fantastic book on its own. Humans explore a strange alien artifact that enters our space. The inside of this artifact turns out to be much, much larger inside than out and it is a strange and wonderful place indeed. The sequel Eternity is a very good book, but it just doesn't have the sense of wonder that Eon created.
  • The Forge Of God - Another incredible novel. This time the aliens come to wipe us and our planet out! Couldn't put it down. Bear's combination of hard science, suspense and interesting characters make for a very exciting story. Again, the sequel Anvil Of Stars was a very good book, but...
  • Moving Mars - One of many Mars novels to come out in the last five years, but it certainly isn't just cashing in on a fad. A story of small, poor Martian colonies being torn apart in the grip of competing powerful off-world groups. A very human tale of little fish struggling for independence and survival. There are also remnants of an ancient Martian civilization as well. Some of the solutions to these people's problems are ingenious and bizarre.
  • Blood Music - I have never read the novel version, but the novella was my first exposure to Greg Bear and I was hooked. This won the Hugo and Nebula while the novel didn't. Touches on genetic engineering and macro machines. Bear's science always makes you believe his fiction could really happen.
  • I have also enjoyed Hegira and many short stories.
  • 2 Hugos & 4 Nebulas
  • You can go see Greg Bear himself at Greg Bear - Official Home Page and more at the Greg Bear book list.

  
  

• Janet Kagan
  • Mirabile - I haven't read the novel, but I've read all the component stories in Asimov's. When humans went to another planet, they took along DNA for all species from Earth stored in a heavily redundant system. When this system is damaged, the information is still available, but it is a matter of tracking it down and also utilizing native genetic structure. Every once in a while a hidden redundancy shows up and creates dangerous and hilarious mutations("dragonsteeth"). Kagan's very human way of dealing with bizarre alien situations is unrivalled.
  • Hellspark - Another of Janet's stories about communication and (mis)understanding between humans and alien lifeforms. She makes it possible to laugh at ourselves while wishing we could improve on some of the human race's foibles.
  • short stories: The Loch Moose Monster, The Return of the Kangaroo Rex, The Flowering Inferno, Getting the Bugs Out, Raising Cane, Frankenswine, The Nutcracker Coup.

  
  

• Nancy Kress
  • Brain Rose - a future where surgery to allow people access to memories of all their previous lives. These memories have far-reaching consequences for the individuals and society alike. When it turns out the recipients of this operation are the only ones immune to a memory destroying virus that is spreading among mankind the stakes just keep getting higher.
  • Beggars In Spain - Again, I haven't read the novel yet. I read the novella in Asimov's and it shows Kress has one of the most imaginative minds out there. Again, the novella won a Hugo and Nebula but the novel didn't. Genetic breakthroughs create modified humans who don't require sleep. The Sleepless are intelligent and their 24 hour day makes other humans come to resent them and finally persecute them. The Sleepless finally retreat to an orbiting Sanctuary to nurse their wounds and grievances. The blurb on the sequel, Beggars and Choosers, tells us it is about this same future society trying to come to grips with its disparate problems whether they be the Sleepless, one of the gene modified "normal" humans, or the millions of poor and starving unaltered "normal" humans. I have just ordered Beggars Ride.
  • short stories: Cannibals, Glass, Craps, In Memoriam(yes, this is a story, not a memorial), The Price of Oranges, People Like Us, Renaissance, Touchdown, Beggars In Spain, And Wild for to Hold, The Mountain to Mohammed, Martin on a Wednesday, Dancing on Air, Grant Us This Day, Fault Lines, Evolution, The Flowers of Aulit Prison, Always True to Thee,in My Fashion.
  • 1 Hugo and 2 Nebulas.
  • see the Nancy Kress book list.

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