Casual Readers discussion

Please help keep this discussion active so it doesn't get deleted! Talk anything and everything sci-fi here from favorite authors, books, published articles, etc.

How about Ender's Game? That's a good one, with plenty to discuss, IMO.

I haven't read it, but I'm sure some of the other members have. I've heard a lot of mention about this book. Might have to put it on my to-read list.

It's getting a lot of attention because of the film adaptation, coming this November.

I always like to read the book before I watch a film or series. I may just need to read it before November.

I haven't read Ender's Game either, and from what I understand there's a prequel now. Is that right? I have heard nothing but good reviews of this, and I really want to get to it!

I'm an huge fan of The Adventures of the Stainless Steel Rat series by Harry Harrison, but I don't know any other people who have read any of the books.

Crossover sci-fi / fantasy try The Many Coloured Land The Golden Torc you can start at the beginning Intervention or the middle Jack the Bodiless by Julian May.

One that is a love/hate is Eon although the subsequent books are less appealing.

Not enough space to go into the Dune Universe !

Rick wrote: "I haven't read Ender's Game either, and from what I understand there's a prequel now. Is that right? I have heard nothing but good reviews of this, and I really want to get to it!"

Hmm.. I'm not sure if there's a prequel or not, but I think I might be interested. Please do let us know if you heard something more about it, will you Rick?

Cindy wrote: "I always like to read the book before I watch a film or series. I may just need to read it before November."

I'm the same way, Cindy. I probably won't see it in the theater, though..

There are two prequels 'The first Formic War' series the second book just having been released, an 'after series' - 3 more books and a 'Shadow series' - 4 or 5 books:
http://www.hatrack.com/osc/index.shtml

Ice wrote: "There are two prequels 'The first Formic War' series the second book just having been released, an 'after series' - 3 more books and a 'Shadow series' - 4 or 5 books:
http://www.hatrack.com/osc/in..."

Thank you!

Eon by Greg Bear

Just under 30 years ago I could not put this book down in the evenings as I was travelling in NW US.

The sequels did not however live up to the initial billing.

Much in the way Ender has expanded there is also another classic Dune by Frank Herbert and its offshoots.

Ice wrote: "Much in the way Ender has expanded there is also another classic Dune by Frank Herbert and its offshoots."

Good point, Ice!

New question for the Science Fiction readers. Do you prefer hard science or soft science fiction?

Tim wrote: "New question for the Science Fiction readers. Do you prefer hard science or soft science fiction?"

Although I have read some sci-fi, I admit that I don't know the difference between them Tim. Sorry I can't really help you.

I like both. My understanding is that hard science fiction deals with strange societies, spaceships, galactic battles, etc, while soft may contain these elements but focuses more psychological and other social sciences rather than hard sciences like chemistry. Of course I may be completely wrong.

I have to admit, I don't think I've ever read any hard science fiction. One of my favorite series is The Stainless Steel Rat, but I don't think that's hard sci-fi.

Jason wrote: "I like both. My understanding is that hard science fiction deals with strange societies, spaceships, galactic battles, etc, while soft may contain these elements but focuses more psychological and ..."

Thank you Jason for the explanation. Love GR's! Always learning new stuff.

The explanation I was given was that "Hard" SF focuses on the science, and it all has to be plausible, while "Soft" SF focuses on the story/characters, with some room for fudging scientific facts--i.e., the ability to travel faster than light is a scientific impossibility (at least by today's science), and so off-limits to "Hard" SF writers.

Given this understanding, I'm a fan of Soft SF all the way. The story and characters are king.....

Cindy wrote: "Please help keep this discussion active so it doesn't get deleted! Talk anything and everything sci-fi here from favorite authors, books, published articles, etc."

Cindy it does not actually get deleted unless you delete it yourself. It just does not show up in the folder. Where you see
Showing 5 of 5 topics — 780 comments total then you can click on that and see all topics in a specific folder. Sometimes it will be like Showing 5 of 11 topics It just depends on how many topics you have in a particular folder. Those that don't get viewed or posted in will just not show up until someone makes a post there.

I do like Honor Herrington series. For those you don't know the first book is David Weber's Honor Harrington series. The first book is On Basilisk Station.

Jordan wrote: "The explanation I was given was that "Hard" SF focuses on the science, and it all has to be plausible, while "Soft" SF focuses on the story/characters, with some room for fudging scientific facts--..."

This sounds pretty accurate.:) Thank you, Jordan!

Janie wrote: "Cindy wrote: "Please help keep this discussion active so it doesn't get deleted! Talk anything and everything sci-fi here from favorite authors, books, published articles, etc."

Cindy it does not ..."

Cindy had a policy to delete a topic that went inactive for 7 days.

ubik and a scanner darkly by dick are great. a handmaid's tale is beautifully written for a controversial subject matter. 1984 was a let down though.

I'm not a huge fan of sci/fi - I have read some fantasy though, I like that....

The first real SciFi book I read was Pandora's Star and that got me hooked on it. I found it a good book to start from, great characters, who couldn't like Ozzy!

Well, lately I've been addicted to Ryk Brown's Frontiers Saga Series, I highly recommend it to any sci-fi buff out there.

It all starts with this book:
Aurora: CV-01


P.S.: If you are (like me) one of those that opts for the audiobook version, you would love to know that the narrator is absolutely amazing. You can find more info here at Goodreads and at frontierssaga.com

It does sound good so I've decided to give it a go. I haven't got much SciFi in my collection so it'll be good to try something new:)

Angie wrote: "It does sound good so I've decided to give it a go. I haven't got much SciFi in my collection so it'll be good to try something new:)"

Thanks :-)
I forgot to say that It's kinda of a mix between Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica (but without the Cylons).

Let me know if you liked it. Cheers.