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5 comments:
Three of my favorite sci-fi/fantasy authors are:
Anne McCaffreyOrson Scott CardUrsula K. LeGuinI think all three create entrancing, consistent worlds with full and flawed characters.
McCaffrey and Card are my current favorites. Of the Anne McCaffrey series I have read I think the ones you might like best in order are:
1) Crystal Singer
2) The Dragonriders of Pern (*The White Dragon)
3) Brain & Brawn Ship (*The Ship Who Sang)
4) Petaybee
5) Tower & Hive Series
*My favorite title from the large series.
For Orson Scott Card I'd recommend starting with Ender's Game the first book in his most popular series. I enjoyed the whole series, though I seem to remember it getting a little thin on the last book.
I first read LeGuin's Earthsea trilogy (A Wizard of Earthsea; The Tombs of Atuan; The Farthest Shore) about 25 years ago, and like all of McCaffrey's books they are comfort reads for me.
Good call -- I've read all those. Since our tastes align... who's on your second-tier, other lesser-known, or lesser-fave but still enjoyable SF authors?
I like the old writers too, which tend to be lesser known now. I enjoyed reading EE Doc Smith, though his future vision is a lot more authoritarian than mine. His various biases, chauvinisms, and stilted writing get to be tedious like Edgar Rice Burroughs and Zane Grey, even understanding the time in which they were writing. I've read Smith is credited with encouraging a generation of writers who strived towards creating plausible and/or consistent technologies like Asimov, Heinlein, Pohl, L'Engle, and Herbert. I like all of them, though of Herbert's books I tend to like the lesser known ones the better. My favorite of his is The Godmakers. I like the older writers too like H.G. Wells, George Orwell, Tolkien (of course), and C. S. Lewis who wrote sci-fi/fantasy with the old literary slant. That is taking an aspect of society and exaggerating it. Which reminds me of the improve rule, heighten and explore.
I've found several other modern writers like Roger Zelazney, Louise Cooper, and Terry Brooks who are on my also read list. I like Poul Anderson who goes all the way back to Asimov and company, and Marion Zimmer Bradley, but their respective biases against members the opposite sex can be pretty grating.
I like a lot of other fiction genres too. I've gone from reading a book a day to one or two a month. Keeping busy in theatre and such has kept me from exploring new authors for quite a while. Right now I have a book named the Shark Dialogues on my shopping list which has been recommended to me by two different people.
Try out "A Fine Balance" by Rohinton Mistry.It's a remarkable book.
*Anonymous
**Hi, hi.
My new favorite book is called "Middlesex" (not sure if that should be in quotes or italics) it's by Jeffery Eugenides. It won the Pulitzer Prize
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=O9t1nQ5XFY&isbn=0312422156&itm=1
He is the same author who wrote the book "The Virgin Suicides" Which was brought fantastically eerily to life by Sophia Coppola in her directorial debut.
** Anyway, Middlesex is great! I tell everyone I meet about this book. It's the kind of story where the writing is so good you identify with all the charecters from the begining all the way through to the end even though sometimes you aren't sure you should. You really know these characters and can understand their struggles. You root for them, live with them.
** I always know a good book when I start dreaming about the characters. I stop living my life because I'm to pre-occupied with what so and so is doing... Afterwards I'm always so sad it's over because I want to know what happens next.
** Another really good read is a book called "Swimming" by Joanna Hershon... http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=O9t1nQ5XFY&isbn=0345442768&itm=2
This one took me a while to get into but once I was in I couldn't put it down. These characters are so tragic and so beautiful.
** The third is called "The Lovely Bones" by Alice Sebold. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=O9t1nQ5XFY&isbn=0316168815&itm=2
This one was a hard one for me to read. I actually had to stop reading it like 1/4 through because I was having nightmares (you'll know why if you read it) and on my therapists advice I stopped. I really wanted to get through it though so I gave the book to my friend and she read the whole thing for me to assure me that nothing more bad happens so that I could finish reading it. Anyway, it was absolutely worth it. It's so great! So so brutal and raw and so wonderful.
Okay, I was only going to put the first two but I can't stop...
**"White Oleander" by Janet Fitch http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=O9t1nQ5XFY&isbn=0316569321&itm=3
is Sooo great! One of those books where at the time you read it your not sure why you keep turning the pages but for whatever reason you do. It's so depressing... I was all bummed about it this one day and someone asked me why I kept reading and what it was all about; so I started describing the book to them. "Sounds like a pretty good book" was the comment... I reflected. "Actually, yeah, I think it is" I have to say though, if you read this book, do yourself a favor and never see the movie! I was so excited when I found out they were making it but it seriously fell short :( Michelle Pfifer was great in it I thought and the girl who plays the daughter (Allison Lohman) was fantastic too but the story was just all wrong and mixed up. I think the acting really is pretty great (so if you do see it, see it for only that) and it feels like they pay tribute to the story but whom ever butchered this beautiful book to make into a movie (the book is too long for one short movie) should be slapped! It put a bad taste in my mouth afterwards; Can't imagine being that writer and seeing your beautiful book torn to shreds for the sake of 2 hours... Think of all the people who saw the movie and now will never read the book who otherwise might have really enjoyed it. I don't know though, I can't see if this movie would have been good for folks who didn't read the book... who knows. *whew* anywho...
**The last one (I swear) is "As the Crow Flies" by Jeffrey Archer http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=O9t1nQ5XFY&isbn=0061099341&itm=3 is wonderful!! It is a really thick read and travels many many miles and through many many lifetimes and years... You get the wonderful treat of reading the story through many characters voices. Someone will tell a little bit, then the next person comes on and re-tells a bit of that last story in their own words and then continues on w/ it where the last guy left off. It's fantastic, creative, well written, engaging and just terrific. I read this book probably 10 years ago and still remember the whole story, the name etc. that hardly ever happens to me.!
** I highly recomend all of them!!.
*Anonymous
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