Author Topic: Science Fiction Novel Poll - Group A  (Read 12287 times)

Ocicat

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Reply #25 on: October 10, 2009, 07:52:10 PM
And I, also, have never read any of the Ringworld books and feel completely ok with that.

The original Ringworld book is very nice fun SF.  Not great literature by any stretch, and I don't think it's required reading, but it is fun and the science is neat. 

The second book is also quite good, but works much better if you're well steeped in Niven's "Known Space" universe lore. 

Do not, under any circumstances, attempt to read the third novel.



stePH

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Reply #26 on: October 10, 2009, 09:29:00 PM
It's just really hard to not associate the two authors.  There is an awful lot to read out there and I read just about every genre except romance.  When I go to a bookstore or library, I base my choices on books that I've heard great things about or on authors I've liked.  I tend to pass on authors or books I associate with authors or books I didn't like.  It may not be the best way, but it's been working pretty well so far.  Since I've been active on GoodReads, I rarely pick up a clunker anymore.  I'm finding that I just don't have enough years in my life to read everything I want to read.  I know I'm going to miss out on some great books no matter what.

I'm just saying, judging Niven and Pournelle solely on the basis of The Gripping Hand is doing them an injustice (though to be fair, their writing that book was doing The Mote in God's Eye an injustice :P).  I love everything else they've written (together); I'm particularly fond of Oath of Fealty and Lucifer's Hammer.

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deflective

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Reply #27 on: October 10, 2009, 10:21:14 PM
aye, you can't really judge a book by reading a different book by the same author.  heck, even if it's in the same series.

i enjoyed the first ringworld, didn't even make it through the second.  enjoyed Ender's game but found other books in the series painful (your mileage may vary).



Ocicat

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Reply #28 on: October 12, 2009, 06:34:01 PM
So I voted for the Martian Chronicles (among others).  It seems a lot of us did.  And while I really don't think it's the best book in this group, it is really good, and really, really fun.  It's ideas of what Mars are like are dated to say the least, but that just adds to the fun.  Just another in a long line of pretty mars fantasies, from John Carter's Barsoom to Stranger in a Strange Land. 

And the book's form is quite interesting.  Really just a collection of short stories, each very personally focused, but they have a direction and tell a larger story that transcends individual characters and brings the scope up to societies and worlds, a future history.  This is the sort of thing that Science Fiction does best. 

And of course it's sobering to note that though the stories were written in the 40's, the future they depicted is mostly now in the past.  The first colonies on Mars were to have been founded in 1999, and most of the book covers the period between then and 2005.  The last three are set in the far future of 2026.



kibitzer

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Reply #29 on: October 13, 2009, 10:25:00 PM
Eagerly awaiting the next poll. This is great stuff!


Bdoomed

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Reply #30 on: October 14, 2009, 06:36:26 AM
i voted for Martian Chronicles because I wanted to see the results without constantly clicking "view results" and it's the only one I had previously heard of :P  and one I'm considering reading.

I'd like to hear my options, so I could weigh them, what do you say?
Five pounds?  Six pounds? Seven pounds?