Sci-fi appreciation thread

[hurlingdervish]

someone reminded me of this


fantastic planet

i have it in my possession now, and im waiting for the right moment to watch cause it looks life changing.

[spooKs]

Yeah I never got into it even though my brother is a fiend for it. My attempts to start moving on my dissertation, on 20th century fiction about Dystopian futures has jolted me into it though - I just read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (filmed as Blade Runner) and now likewise, I'm reading William Gibson's Neuromancer, and I agree with you:

Not too sure what's going on entirely, but I still quite like it.

Can also recommend Iain M. Banks - have only read The Player of Games, but it's incredible, and so is his fiction he writes as Iain Banks.

Bandshell just noticed you cited these

Gonna read Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and then leave off the possible texts cause I could just read all year and not write anything or refine my question - my current shortlist is George Orwell's 1984, Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, Margaret Atwood's A Handmaid's Tale, Farenheit 451, A Clockwork Orange, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, and Neuromancer. Need to choose a maximum of 4 to study them in depth I think

As for films, no one's mentioned Brazil!

[bandshell]

Yeah I never got into it even though my brother is a fiend for it. My attempts to start moving on my dissertation, on 20th century fiction about Dystopian futures has jolted me into it though - I just read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (filmed as Blade Runner) and now likewise, I'm reading William Gibson's Neuromancer, and I agree with you:

Not too sure what's going on entirely, but I still quite like it.

Can also recommend Iain M. Banks - have only read The Player of Games, but it's incredible, and so is his fiction he writes as Iain Banks.

Bandshell just noticed you cited these

Gonna read Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and then leave off the possible texts cause I could just read all year and not write anything or refine my question - my current shortlist is George Orwell's 1984, Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, Margaret Atwood's A Handmaid's Tale, Farenheit 451, A Clockwork Orange, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, and Neuromancer. Need to choose a maximum of 4 to study them in depth I think

As for films, no one's mentioned Brazil!

I have The Player of Games on my shelf but haven't got round to it yet. Brazil is an amazing film.

My dad has a ridiculous amount of sci fi novels.

[wormcode]

Hmm..
2001: A Space Odyssey
Logan's Run
Not so serious but fun sci fi movies: Demolition Man & RoboCop



Logans Run is a childhood fave of mine, book and film.. I was kinda irked to see they are going to attempt a remake.. we'll see though: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0402344/

August 21, 2007 Commercial director Joseph Kosinski will make his directorial debut on the sci-fi thriller, which is being written by Tim Sexton. "Logan's Run" is best remembered as the 1976 film starring Michael York, Jenny Agutter and Farrah Fawcett, though it was based on a 1967 novel by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson. While details of the new take are being kept mum, it is known that it will be low-tech science fiction in a futuristic setting and hew closer to the book than the 1976 movie.

Neuromancer as well: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1037220/

[cr1tt3r]

1984 and Clockwork Orange are dope books, my copy of CO didn't have the mini-dictionary so I had to figure out what all the droog slang was, made it much more fun to read. Finally got around to reading demolished man and brave new world this summer, really enjoyed the latter although demolished man got a bit boring towards the end imo... if you haven't read 1984, go for it, you'll wish you'd done so sooner

[cr1tt3r]

and as for movies, no brainer here, THX1138

[magma]

Nothing comes close.

I like sci-fi, but I have trouble with it taking itself a bit too seriously... especially things like Star Trek and, well, most of the other US sci-fi I've seen. I've always loved the fact that Hitch Hiker's Guide and Dr Who are perfectly aware that they're a little bit ridiculous.

I got a bit into HG Wells recently... The Time Machine and War of the Worlds are great.

[defekt]

"All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in the rain. Time to die."

Star Wars - original trilogy
Bladerunner
Dune

I can't think of a sci-fi I don't like actually.

[cogidubnus]

Can also recommend Iain M. Banks - have only read The Player of Games, but it's incredible, and so is his fiction he writes as Iain Banks.

Iain M Banks's books are amazing - I'm half-way through "Matter" at the moment, and he's still got it. It's about 10 years since I read Player of Games, but remember it being awesome.

Check out the SF Masterworks series as well, some of the best books ever published.

[kins83]

the breakup

[bandshell]

Brian Aldiss - Hot House

Hothouse (1962) Set in a far future Earth, where the earth has stopped rotating, the Sun has increased output, and plants are engaged in a constant frenzy of growth and decay, like a tropical forest enhanced a thousandfold; a few small groups of humans still live, on the edge of extinction, beneath the giant banyan tree that covers the day side of the earth.

Great book. Read it if you haven't.

[ehcsztein]

I am pretty much a sci-fi junkie but, tend to stay away from the "classics" within the genre.

Random Books
"The Carpet Makers" - Andreas Eschbach
"Grey" - Jon Armstrong
"Counting Heads" / "Mind Over Ship" - David Marusek
"Rainbows End" - Vernor Vinge
"Post Singular" - Rudy Rucker
"Incandescence" - Greg Egan

Recent Films
Sunshine
Moon

[magma]

Moon

I really want to see this..

[kay]

Moon

I really want to see this..

You still haven't???

I'm pretty much a sci-fi geek, practically read nothing but sci-fi or fantasy novels. Some of my favourites are:
- David Brin's Uplift Saga - has some fairly hilarious moments
- Iain Banks - Culture novels, especially Excession. Not been too impressed by his last two novels
- Most of Stephen Baxter's stuff, especially deep future stuff
- Alastair Reynold's stuff
- Most things by Sherri S Tepper
I've been picking up some older stuff recently. I find that the not-quite-so-old stuff hasn't really aged well. The really old classics though seem to have fared much better.

TV and movies-wise, I've rather liked:
- Firefly
- Battlestar Galactica - really wondering what the new show is gonna be like
- Babylon 5
- I actually quite liked the Dune movie
- Star Trek: First Contact
- Moon

[cr1tt3r]

I've been picking up some older stuff recently. I find that the not-quite-so-old stuff hasn't really aged well. The really old classics though seem to have fared much better.

That's interesting, what do you mean by not-quite-so-old, 5-10 years old or 20-30? I like sci-fi lit but I pretty much ONLY read older stuff, as in stuff from before 1980, although I'll go for almost anything written since the late 1800s... not really drawn to newer material for some reason.

[kay]

I've been picking up some older stuff recently. I find that the not-quite-so-old stuff hasn't really aged well. The really old classics though seem to have fared much better.

That's interesting, what do you mean by not-quite-so-old, 5-10 years old or 20-30? I like sci-fi lit but I pretty much ONLY read older stuff, as in stuff from before 1980, although I'll go for almost anything written since the late 1800s... not really drawn to newer material for some reason.

LOL not-quite-so-old to me is stuff from about 70s-80s, maybe a bit of 60s. Really old stuff is anything 60s and older. Some early sci-fi really is quite impressive and it's quite obvious how later writers have built on their concepts and structures.

[cr1tt3r]

That's interesting, what do you mean by not-quite-so-old, 5-10 years old or 20-30? I like sci-fi lit but I pretty much ONLY read older stuff, as in stuff from before 1980, although I'll go for almost anything written since the late 1800s... not really drawn to newer material for some reason.

LOL not-quite-so-old to me is stuff from about 70s-80s, maybe a bit of 60s. Really old stuff is anything 60s and older. Some early sci-fi really is quite impressive and it's quite obvious how later writers have built on their concepts and structures.

Gotcha, totally agree about the early sci-fi comment, some amazingly forward thinking and creative writers from the days of old, makes we wonder what contemporary stuff will set the stage for future trends of the genre... any suggestions for a post 1990 "classic" that rivals the old masters? I'd love to get over my prejudice regarding new sci-fi

[kay]

Hmm...I would suggest some of Stephen Baxter's earlier works, like Raft, Timelike Infinity or Ring. They generally involve interesting scientific thought concepts like what it'd be like to live in a universe where gravity was 10 times as strong (Raft, which to my mind kicked off a new generation of hard sci-fi authors, a personal favourite), time travel loops that make sense and deep future extrapolations. So in a sense a bit along the lines of the old masters, albeit supplemented by new science and maths (he's a mathematician). Of his newer stuff, Evolution was pretty amazing in its scope - it literally covers evolution from the earliest mammals up till the death of life on Earth. The Destiny's Children series also has some pretty interesting concepts on potential evolutionary pathways for humans. He's also written a sequel (and I believe it's fully authorised) to H G Wells' Time Machine. I like his style, but it may not be everyone's cup of tea.

Another author who's really good is China Mieville, although I'm not sure whether his books would be classified as sci-fi or fantasy as he blurs the line a bit and it never gets explained, just gets taken for granted. His prose is very atmospheric and feels very different from most styles of writing out there. I'd recommend Perdido Street Station as a starting point.

If you like stories with twists, check out Sherri S Tepper. Although technically she's been writing for a long time now (well before the 90s). Grass is considered a classic, and there are a few other books set in the same universe as well.

The sci-fi masterworks collection seems pretty good. I'm slowly making my way through it. But they tend to feature older books. Grass is on the list though.

[cr1tt3r]

Nice, very thorough... I should prob have simply said "more recent", "post-1990" seems needlessly rigid on 2nd read

OK, I'm going to add these to my used book shop list. Will keep an eye out for Raft & Grass, I'm digging the succinct titles! Thanks K

He's also written a sequel (and I believe it's fully authorised) to H G Wells' Time Machine.

Has Wells been authorizing shit from the grave again!? Can't hold a good man down!

[kay]

He's also written a sequel (and I believe it's fully authorised) to H G Wells' Time Machine.

Has Wells been authorizing shit from the grave again!? Can't hold a good man down!

Yeah those damned time travellers!