important historical SF
POSTED BY: annik
UPDATED: Thursday, July 1, 2004 06:36
VIEWED: 10645
PAGE 1 of 5
Back on the 'Boycott Enterprise...' thread, which eventually moved into issues of critical thought, I mentioned the 1960 book, "A Canticle for Leibowitz" ... and ... someone hadn't heard of it.
So ... any other old farts here want to mention some of the late great masterpieces of those days before CDs and CGI, back when people listened to inscribed vinyl disks called 'records' and gasoline had lead in it?
Cheers,
Annik
... my sister's a ship. We had a complicated childhood.
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Starship Troopers. Enough said.
Okay it's me so I can't just stop with enough said, basically it's my firm belief that this should be required reading for anyone who even thinks about going to a military recruiting station.
But no one ever listens to me, so it ain't. 
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
"Oh hey, I got an idea. Instead of us hanging
around playing art critic till I get pinched by
the Man, how's about we move away from this
eerie-ass piece of work and get on with our
increasingly eerie-ass day, how's that?"
My eerie-ass website:
http://gunhandsfirefly.homestead.com/Index.html
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Quote:
Originally posted by Gunhand:
Starship Troopers.
The Book, A masterpiece
The Movie, total and complete crap..........
Has anyone here read the Sten series
http://www.acole.com/novels/sten/sten.html
A good read,
And while not sci-fi, I am extremely fond of Bernard Cornwells Sharpe novels
http://www.boothill.demon.co.uk/sharpe/richard_sharpe.htm
Something I am sure most here would like,
" Thats not fair !!!!
I didn't even have a soul when I did that!"
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I actually love the movie. Not becuase it's good but because it's so campy. It makes me think of some of the old movies about World War II that were made during the war. Especially those little propaganda bits about how to kill bugs and whatnot. But it bears about as much resemblence to the book as the old Thor comic bore to the Icelandic Sagas. Some of the same names, but...it fights crime! If that makes much sense at all.
Gino, I have to agree with you on the Sharpe books, they're fine and healthsome books and well researched for the most part. I also liked his Civil War books but unfortunately he seems to have up and quit writing them mid-stream. Which is all manner of disappointing to me.
Some other thought provoking "classic" sci-fi books are Bill the Galactic Hero and The Stainless Steel Rat books by Harry Harrison, with The Stainless Steel Rat Gets Drafted being my personal favorite because of the very dark but very funny and true military humor in it. I also enjoyed his Stars And Stripes Forever alt-history about the Civil War.
I know before long someone will come in and say Azimov but to my great chagrin I have to admit I've never finished a book he's written. Just something about his writing style jars with my brain and I can't manage to get through them for the trying.
Battlefield Earth was a good book as well, mine is old enough that it has an add for the "record of the book" that you could send in, so I suppose it counts as an old book. Disturbingly enough it also has an add for "soon to be a major motion picture" (and this was at least 10-15 years before it was) which they unfortunately did wind up following through on. Now that movie is bad, I can't even bear to watch it to even MST2K it, and I do that to movies I like too! So yeah it's that bad.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
"Oh hey, I got an idea. Instead of us hanging
around playing art critic till I get pinched by
the Man, how's about we move away from this
eerie-ass piece of work and get on with our
increasingly eerie-ass day, how's that?"
My eerie-ass website:
http://gunhandsfirefly.homestead.com/Index.html
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Unfortnately success with Sharpe interferred with the Starbuck Chronicals
http://www.bernardcornwell.net/index2.cfm?page=1&SeriesId=2
Thanks for the recommendation, I'll have to pick those up.
" Thats not fair !!!!
I didn't even have a soul when I did that!"
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Thanks for the update there. That's sorta disconcerting but I'm glad he's making money at doing what he likes. Hell some authors don't ever get one good series out, with him I can think of 3 I'm happy to own plus a few standalone novels.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
"Oh hey, I got an idea. Instead of us hanging
around playing art critic till I get pinched by
the Man, how's about we move away from this
eerie-ass piece of work and get on with our
increasingly eerie-ass day, how's that?"
My eerie-ass website:
http://gunhandsfirefly.homestead.com/Index.html
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by GinoBiffaroni:
Has anyone here read the Sten series
http://www.acole.com/novels/sten/sten.html
A good read,
And while not sci-fi, I am extremely fond of Bernard Cornwells Sharpe novels
http://www.boothill.demon.co.uk/sharpe/richard_sharpe.htm
The Sten books are very good. I like the way he gets involved in a different aspect of the Sten 'verse in each book.
And Sharpe, of course... bloody marvellous
Mal: "We're not gonna die. We can't die, Bendis. You know why? Because we are so... very... pretty. We are just too pretty for God to let us die."
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Toward the end of his life Isaac Asimov took 3 relatively distinct book series and short stories (Robot/Empire/Foundation) that he had written in previous decades and combined them seamlessly into one universe. Similar to the Firefly galaxy in that it is rather alien free and based on the politics of humans expansion to other worlds.
Reading any of the books on their own or within their distinctive series is rewarding. Reading the lot is all kinds of satisfying.
The Complete Robot / Caves Of Steel / The Naked Sun / The Robots Of Dawn
Robots And Empire / The Stars, Like Dust / The Currents of Space
Pebble In The Sky / Prelude To Foundation / Forward The Foundation
Foundation's Fear / Foundation And Chaos : The Second Foundation Trilogy
Foundation's Triumph (Second Foundation Trilogy)
Foundation / Foundation And Empire / Second Foundation
Foundation's Edge : The Foundation Novels /Foundation And Earth
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Oh I just thought of another one...well okay I tripped over it when I was rummaging through boxes and one of them fell over.
The Forever War by Joe Haldeman.
Good book that one.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
"Oh hey, I got an idea. Instead of us hanging
around playing art critic till I get pinched by
the Man, how's about we move away from this
eerie-ass piece of work and get on with our
increasingly eerie-ass day, how's that?"
My eerie-ass website:
http://gunhandsfirefly.homestead.com/Index.html
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by Gunhand:
Oh I just thought of another one...well okay I tripped over it when I was rummaging through boxes and one of them fell over.
The Forever War by Joe Haldeman.
DUDE!!! Just the other day as I was trying to put some of my little world back together...throwing away lots of stuff. . .getting new stuff. . .I picked up a box full of books(and of course immediately hurt my back) that Princess said were library donations. My copy of "The Forever War" was on the top. I said, "Are you kidding me? I'm NEVER giving away THIS book!"
One of my all-time faves.
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"Wash. . .we got some local color happening. A grand entrance would not go amiss."
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