Your favourite Sci-Fi books

[spiney]

Good point, sorry, I won't outline any more plots ..... (2nd apology today, whoops!).

ref above posts, don't like Bradbury or Moorcock (but did enjoy the Oswald Bastable trilogy, Warlord Of The Air etc, good reads).

Yep, foundation trilogy great. Also robot short stories, Elijah Bailey novels. Not so sure about Asimov post 1975. More carefully constructed, maybe, but less exciting.

In line with 1960s "Brit" sci fi, I hugely liked Dan Morgan's telepathy novels, The New Minds, The Several Minds, The Mind Trap (he also wrote The Uninhibited, rather more bizarre, seems to have given Lobsang Rampa the idea for his ridiculous The Third Eye).

 

[T_G]

Good point, sorry, I won't outline any more plots ..... (2nd apology today, whoops!).

lol never mind! My Underpeople arrived today, 4.25 £ from e bay. First edition 1968 US Paperback....

Will start on it soon!!

 

[spiney]

Nice purchase!

I Googled Cordwainer, amazing! A dedicated website, and some stuff on many others. Seems he's taken very seriously, and becomming fashionable. One review claims Norstrilia is "copy" (ripoff?) of The Stars My Destination, can't see that myself. It's also claimed he's a "Christian" writer, can't see that either, never mind.

 

[T_G]

I've got Cordwainer's 4 main novels, plus some short stories. But, just can't "get into" his world of "underpeople", cat people, dog people, etc.

i understand he worked for the CIA, is there some hidden "political" message in there somewhere?

Well, I started "Underpeople" yesterday, and maybe you do have a point. In one instance Rod MacBan, who is dressed up as a cat man to avoid detection, needs to go to the toilet, but he can't use a "Human" toilet because that is strictly forbidden....now that does sound like the 60ies in Alabama....Maybe you are right and it has a message against racism and segregatism in it....I will finish it tonight!!

 

[spiney]

yeah, I just feel it's really about something else ....

For instance, P Dick's books are sci fi, and the better for it, but you can see what he's on about. Valis is comment on religous revelations (specifially, St Paul), The Simulcra is about The Kennedy Presidency, etc, all recognisable references. But, what's Norstrilia about?

We're discussing Cordwainer a lot, hmm, I wonder if sales of Norstrila are rising .... ?

 

[spiney]

Just to add, my copy of Norstrilia says Norstrilia = The Planet Buyer + The Underpeople, so maybe TG and me were reading somewhat different books? Unfortunately, i liked 1st bit best, and that's the Planet Buyer bit. Oh well. There's no accounting for taste, you like something, or you don't, giving "reasons" for it won't convince other people!

2 things did strike me about Norstrilia. Those darn poems (which make Vogon poetry look good!). And the Aristocracy, supposedly based on British class system 15,000 years earlier!

S'funny, s'interesting. Quite a few USA sci fi authors seem to like the Brit class system, apparently because it might be "stable" over 100s of years, so would tend to prevent wars etc (but wouldn't it cause them instead, don't kings always fight one another?!). The Mote In God's Eye has a similar setup. As does Lensman series.

Cordwainer's universe reminds me of Dune, quite similar stuff, hereditary aristocracy, "underpeople", economy of galaxy revolves around 1 particular resource, etc.

(There's also a huge similarity to Lord Of The Rings, which came out first!).

 

[T_G]

Just to add, my copy of Norstrilia says Norstrilia = The Planet Buyer + The Underpeople, so maybe TG and me were reading somewhat different books? Unfortunately, i liked 1st bit best, and that's the Planet Buyer bit. Oh well. There's no accounting for taste, you like something, or you don't, giving "reasons" for it won't convince other people!

2 things did strike me about Norstrilia. Those darn poems (which make Vogon poetry look good!). And the Aristocracy, supposedly based on British class system 15,000 years earlier!

S'funny, s'interesting. Quite a few USA sci fi authors seem to like the Brit class system, apparently because it might be "stable" over 100s of years, so would tend to prevent wars etc (but wouldn't it cause them instead, don't kings always fight one another?!). The Mote In God's Eye has a similar setup. As does Lensman series.

Cordwainer's universe reminds me of Dune, quite similar stuff, hereditary aristocracy, "underpeople", economy of galaxy revolves around 1 particular resource, etc.

(There's also a huge similarity to Lord Of The Rings, which came out first!).

OK, finally managed to read the "Underpeople". It was a good experience, because it had been a while since I read any Cordwainer. One thing that is clear that the overall message has to do with the "underpeople" being oppressed, looked at by people as soulless "things" rather than beings with feelings etc. It has a strong smell of anti-racism, and to me he shows to be influenced by Ghandi. As he has strong connections to the east (family) this would make sense. I am going to get the other ones now and keep reading.

Very nice though, I like the way that the richest person in the Universe is still a pawn in the hand of the "Instrumentiality", if there ever was a "them" or "they", the Instrumentiality must be the mother of them all..

 

[Channel Hopper]

I like the way that the richest person in the Universe is still a pawn in the hand of the "Instrumentiality", if there ever was a "them" or "they", the Instrumentiality must be the mother of them all..

Didnt they try that scenario in The Matrix ?

 

[T_G]

Didnt they try that scenario in The Matrix ?

Well, in a way yes. But Matrix was man against machine, here we are talking man against humified animals bred to work by giving them intelligence etc. I suppose the moment when someone tries to impregnate a chimp with a human is not too far. First it is to create spare livers, and then cheap labour...

And anyway, there is a theory which states that there are only 7 types of stories anyway....

 

[Channel Hopper]

I suppose the moment when someone tries to impregnate a chimp with a human is not too far. First it is to create spare livers, and then cheap labour...

and there was I thinking it was on one of the adult channels next week. I have no doubt somebody tried it.

 

[dig deep]

I read everything I can find (have a lot of crap! )

But every now and then I find something good

 

[T_G]

I have just re read the "Scanners live in Vain" out of "the best of Cordwainer Smith" which was written in 1950. What I liked is that he already mentioned the dreaded text message style that is so commonplace:

"He did not use his voice again. Instead he pulled his tablet up from where it hung against his chest. He wrote on it using the pointed fingernail of his right forefinger-the talking nail of a scanner - in quick cleancut script: Pls, drlng, whrs crnching wire"

In another text he writes "Yr" instead of "you are"...
The pointed fingernail reminds me of the plastic tipped pen strapped to the finger of bikers that is used for writing on touchscreen GPS systems, as does the tablet.

 

[spiney]

I still don't like Cordwainer, but did read "Scanners" some years ago, and liked that one (wasn't it the storyline for Cronenberg's film? Im a huge Cronenberg fan ...).

The scanners - despite their abilities - were yet another "underclass".

yes, there's certainly a message about tolerance of (unspecified) minorities, various people who might make the ruling classes feel uneasy.

Interestingly, in Baby Makes Three (more than human) there's actually a Down's Syndrome baby!

People seem to think "txt mssgng" is quite recent, but for many years people sent "cables", costed on length, so these could be very cryptic! (the famous one: "How old Cary Grant"? Reply: "Old Cary Grant fine, how you?"). Big organisations had their own "codes" - books full of single word abbreviations for commonly used phrases - I seem to remember these in one of Flemming's James Bond books!

(examples, see www.houwie.net/ntelegrafie/ntele03.html ).

(for in use, see http://homepage.usask.ca/~rhf330/tele.html ).

As an "intelligence operative", I'm sure Cordwainer was well familiar with such things!

 

[T_G]

I read The Foundation Trilogy by Asimov the other day, it was also mentioned earlier in this thread. I got it from Ebey, it was a hardcover from 1951 or so, very old with really thick dull paper. I must say that for stories written more than 50 years ago they are still very good. When reading it you don't get the same feeling as when watching movies of the same area. Even the technology they describe (mostly Atomic based) is still valid SciFi, as we have not made such a great technological leap since then (we are still burning oil and the Atomic energy we are using is not fundamentally that much different from the 50ies, maybe a bit cleaner and safer) .

Anyway, I recommend this book to any SciFi fan, you won't be disappointed.

 

[rolfw]

I ought to start reading again, I have loads of Scifi books (including the full Foundation series from memory) sitting in boxes in the garage.

The foundation series was brilliant.

 

[Channel Hopper]

I have found in my latest work, that I have about an hour or so spare per day between jobs, which means I now keep a sci-fi compilation book of shorts in the van.

Trouble is, the bloody phone keeps ringing.

 

[dig deep]

While we talk SF, I do remember a short story teller named Brown ?(I think it was, must investigate my shelf) He wrote some good very short stories with an unspected ending. Maybe a little bit to the horror side but still SF.

Anyway, I do like space stories as well, some are rather good, and easy ro read. U don´t have to read the whole book instantly, U could start in the middle after a week or 2 but they where fun.

I must have over 100 books and novels, re-read the best every now and then. Just restarted Waldo, Magic Inc. He was into the second world and more universe looooong time before the scientist talked about it.

And Ray Bradbury, strange guy LOved Mars, was more of a poet than a SF writer but combined the 2 into something good.

Asimov, if U just read it - He was way ahead with his Robot stories.

Heinlein was more of a boy scout-telling fancy stories but still, sometimes he wrote a gem

Like someone else said, Tons of them, many still unread by me, and some even not written yet but I keep my eyes open for any newcombers

BTW strange that this thread attraced so many sky pirates

The future is still ahed of us

 

[T_G]

Well, had to do a bit of christmas shopping, remembered that there were a few nice ideas in this old thread. Got a few books, some for myself and some for my brother in law, will decide on who gets what when they arrive (hopefully in time for 24th).

 

[dig deep]

Nice idea and a great gift I hope !

 

[Rick]

I can definatley recommend Turtledove as an arthour. He writes alternative history, but quite a few of his novels fall under the scifi catagory also. The "World War" series is genius definatley worth a read, and if you enjoy all 4 books, the "colonization" series follows on.