Let's Talk About Science Fiction
- Thread starter illram
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A Gift From Earth, by Niven, is a good story, and very timely - considering it's about organ replacement and politics.
I found Ringworld to be a fun romp. It created a lot of ideas. So did Mote.
There's a reason why his works are considered classic.
I read Ringworld and its sequels, loved 'em. Ringworld should be near the top of any Sci Fi reading list.
I read Ringworld. I read a later one, but put it down when I got tired of how much sex there was. I recently picked up the very last book in the series and thought it was grand fun.
I remember as scene where they come to a snow-clad mountain. When they get to the top there's a crater (caldera?). When they look down into it, they see stars. The "mountain" was an inverse asteroid strike. Lots of cool "science" in those novels.
Not sci-fi, but about the cosmos/universe(s) and a very cool 10-pages short story: The path to Al-Mutashim, by J.L. Borges 
His first main prose work, and in his view one which contains most of the core elements of his famous later short stories.
His first main prose work, and in his view one which contains most of the core elements of his famous later short stories.
Tarquelne
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In case you're not joking: He didn't. They notice it's a ring-shaped artificial construct when they travel to it. And they were also told about it before that. Plus the title and - often - cover illustration are pretty big clues.
Here's a spoiler!
Spoiler :
My favorite bit was the bit about the Lottery's purpose.
Tarquelne
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Sorry, I read it back in the last century. I didn't think...
No, you're utterly confused. The Zones are their own phenomenon, not the product of the "density of matter in a given portion of space." Faster-than-light travel is accomplished in the outer Zones through incremental spacetime jumps. Light itself doesn't travel any faster or slower in any of the Zones.
I was thinking of contributing to this thread, but I've never seen a more dispassionate bunch of people discussing sci-fi. The thread may as well have been about the latest summer movies.
Moderator Action: Infracted for trolling.
Please read the forum rules: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=422889
And finally, Tarquelne, this is the appropriate reaction to reading Greg Egan. Your understatements make me want to scream.
Okay, Mouthwash, what kind of SF do you like to read, and who are your favorite authors?
Hard sci-fi. I don't view regular sci-fi as being much more than fantasy with robots. Not that that doesn't have any merit, but if you're not going to involve actual science in the story, I think the term is devalued.
Greg Egan is almost certainly the hardest sci-fi writer alive today. Reading him is the closest possible experience to doing original research in quantum physics. For instance, I recall in Dark Integers that mathematical physicists discover a "border" between normal mathematics and an alternate mathematics in which another universe exists (that we detect as dark matter). They make contact with aliens from the other universe. Earth isn't close to any planets in their universe, and from what the physicists gather they've been following Earth's location in a spaceship, so geographically they might as well be in orbit. The protagonist has to try and negotiate a peace based on mutually assured destruction, because launching propositions into the other universe results in local mathematical laws becoming our own, like tiles in Conway's Game of Life.
Each science Egan deals with produces material that would make a specialist in that science's head spin. He takes every area of human inquiry which is mature enough to speculate in, and makes of them scenarios which are always theoretically plausible, without blackboxing. It's enough to shake your bearings on reality.
Greg Egan is the highest-concept writer of speculative fiction humanity has ever produced. I enjoy others, but I'm too tired to go into them right now.
I've never read Egan. Looking at my PF Hamilton collection, I think I have a strong tendency towards 'transhumanist pulp'. What're some of Egan's better works.
I downloaded 3 sample chapters from 3 separate books. It remains to be seen if the writing style appeals to me, but from the get-go I have to say your claim seems a wee bit exaggerated. Arthur C. Clarke wasn't known as one of the "Big Three" for nothing.
Tarquelne
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I'd go with -
Novels:
Permutation City.
Diaspora.
Quarantine.
Hmm... pretty much in that order. The first two are fantastic, IMO.
For short stories, I'd go with "Axiomatic."
EDIT: Heh, 3 of the 4 recommended a couple of pages ago. You've read them by now, right?
Permutation City, Diaspora, and Quarantine (which I've never read, but there seems to be a consensus around it).
He isn't going to spoil the main twists in a sample chapter; at best you'll get some talk about biology or tech. Read his short stories; a lot of them are available online. The best are Axiomatic, The Walk, Dark Integers, Steve Fever, and Unstable Orbits in the Space of Lies.
Could you also recommend an Arthur C. Clarke story? Sad to say, but I've neglected the oldie literature.
When I download samples, it's not plot I'm looking for. I want some idea of the style and if I'd enjoy reading more. Even Ben Bova's latest Mars novel went through this kind of "audition" and I went ahead and ordered it as my birthday present to myself.
The first Arthur C. Clarke novel I read was 2001: A Space Odyssey. I read it before seeing the movie. I've also read Childhood's End, A Fall of Moondust, Rendezvous With Rama, and lots of other novels and short stories of his. Some are more fantasy than SF (ie. "The Star" and The Nine Billion Names of God"), but Clarke had some big ideas that modern authors haven't even come near, let alone reached.
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