;)
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Another fairly obscure one that I would very strongly recommend is Earth Abides by Stewart. It's better than any of the ones I read in that college course. It's probably tied with Ender's Game and possibly Dune for my favorite book of all time. I'll have to check out the Time Traveller's Wife. |
Just to throw it out there: anyone who hasn't yet read Vernon Godlittle, probably oughtta.
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Just playing devil's ad. I AM going to try to read one of the suggestions, and I certainly know how intelligent you folks are! :) Maybe I'll find a whole new world that I like. Oh, and I AM weird. ;) |
Shawnee, if you really do want to play with SF or fantasy and you want something interesting, engaging and also intellectually stimulating, read pretty much any Sheri S Tepper: Either the True Game series (particulaly the adventures of Mavin Manyshaped, though True Game stuff was very early Tepper) or Grass, Sideshow, or Raising the Stones. there are some very good ones. She writes intelligent, challenging stories, which usually have compelling themes (feminism, love and betrayal, human sacrifice and selfishness, imperialism and the dangers of religious zeal etc).
As an adolescent I went to Marion Zimmer Bradley for my feminist fiction, as a grownup I go for Tepper. |
Thanks DanaC. I have to work Saturday morning, cutting into my Day of Sloth, so I think I'll hit the library on the way home. There's another book I have to read soon, so I'll also look for Tepper while I'm there.
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Some books are very difficult to categorise. Vurt and Pollen (by Jeff Noon) are a case in point. I'm not sure whether they're sci-fi, fantasy, magical realism or just contemporary fiction. I know they are lyrical and beautiful with an edge liike a samurai blade. That's all I need to know.
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If you haven't read E.M. Cioran "temptation to exist"......Better have a look. It's a french philosopher/poet that rips everything to shreds. The best part? His word usage. I really only care for what he says some days. Mostly, I like the words. He's more prose than philosophy.
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I think you should read C.J. Cherryh's "Foreigner" series. The premise is that human refugees from a mutinied lost starship fall on a foreign planet. The aliens, who are tall humanoids, have a feudal system (similar to ancient Japan) and, while having human appearance, are 'wired' differently towards association groups requiring 'man-chi', which goes beyond 'love' or 'loyalty'.
After the humans anthropomorphise themselves into a war with the natives, a treaty is reached where the humans resettle to a big island/continent and only one human paidhi (ambassador) is allowed on the mainland in the emperors court. Bren is only the latest in a series of paidhi, but he is the one who will make history. While there are similarities to James Clavell's 'Shogun', Cherryh really works in the concept of aliens whose mentality is not just shaped by societal differences, like those between fuedal Japan and England, but actually hard-wired. Personally, I think anyone going into the diplomatic service should read these books. |
I'd forgotten about Cherryh. Brilliant writer.
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I'm making a list...
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blecch. Can't stand anything that Cherryh wrote.
For my pic of grand, witty, and fun SF, try any of the Vorkosigan books by Lois McMaster Bujold. |
Anyone ever read The Gap series by Stephen Donaldson?
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