What are you reading?

[Geoffrey Firmin]

More new wave SF from the last five days. First two from the US:


Roger Zelazny: Lord Of Light, 1967.

"His followers called him Mahasamatman and said he was a god. He preferred to drop the Maha- and the -atman, however, and called himself Sam. He never claimed to be a god, but then he never claimed not to be a god."

Best to read this without any information going in, as how the world works is only slowly revealed. (An unfilmed script based on this book was used in the 'Canadian Caper' by the CIA in 1979 as seen in Argo.)


Samuel R. Delany: Nova, 1968.

Delany was apparently influenced by Zelazny, though maybe not in this book specifically - this one feels more inspired by Alfred Bester's Stars My Destination (while Zelazny's above felt inspired by Vance's Dying Earth. Incidentally, while paging through the first few pages of Zelazny's Creatures of Light and Darkness using Amazon's 'look inside' feature, I saw that he had dedicated that book to Delany, so I guess the inspiration went both ways). Proto-cyberpunk, it even has a character named Mouse who jacks in to steer a spaceship.


And back to the UK:

Michael Moorcock: The Final Programme, 1968.

"It was a world ruled by the gun, the guitar and the needle, sexier than sex"

A proper psychedelic trip, this one doesn't feel like anything else I've read so far (though it does bring to mind the great 1967 tv series The Prisoner, the dvd set of which I've been rewatching over the last few months). This one was dedicated to Alfred Bester.


Of these three I preferred the first two, even though I read the last in one sitting.

Read any Jeff Noon British think he was part of The New Weird movement. Very off beat post cyberpunk sci fi

 

[ValidusLA]

On the subject of Zelazny.... Chronicles of Ambsr are so damn good (the Corwin cycle anyway).

 

[Kaplan]

On the subject of Zelazny.... Chronicles of Ambsr are so damn good (the Corwin cycle anyway).

I had a good enough time with Zelazny that I could see getting more from him. I'm not very interested in longer series though (apart from Jack Vance - I'm looking much forward to reading the rest of his Tales of The Dying Earth) - but I would definitely want to read at least the first Amber book; unfortunately it looks like Nine Princes in Amber is out of print, and the only way to get it is in an unwieldy omnibus with an ugly cover (even abebooks don't seem to have any vintage copies of NPiA available inside the EU). I'll probably get Creatures of Light and Darkness and Doorways in the Sand instead. And maybe Jack of Shadows too.

Read any Jeff Noon British think he was part of The New Weird movement. Very off beat post cyberpunk sci fi

Interesting. Are you recommending any specific books of his? I don't have a lot lined up written post 1990...

(Newer stuff waiting on the shelf so far: From the 90s: A Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness In the Sky, both by Vernor Vinge. From this millennium: Peter Watts: Blindsight, Alastair Reynolds: House Of Suns, Haruki Murakami: 1Q84, and lastly Adrian Tchaikovsky: Cage of Souls.)

 

[Geoffrey Firmin]

I had a good enough time with Zelazny that I could see getting more from him. I'm not very interested in longer series though (apart from Jack Vance - I'm looking much forward to reading the rest of his Tales of The Dying Earth) - but I would definitely want to read at least the first Amber book; unfortunately it looks like Nine Princes in Amber is out of print, and the only way to get it is in an unwieldy omnibus with an ugly cover (even abebooks don't seem to have any vintage copies of NPiA available inside the EU). I'll probably get Creatures of Light and Darkness and Doorways in the Sand instead. And maybe Jack of Shadows too.




Interesting. Are you recommending any specific books of his? I don't have a lot lined up written post 1990...

(Newer stuff waiting on the shelf so far: From the 90s: A Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness In the Sky, both by Vernor Vinge. From this millennium: Peter Watts: Blindsight, Alastair Reynolds: House Of Suns, Haruki Murakami: 1Q84, and lastly Adrian Tchaikovsky: Cage of Souls.)

Re Noon I still have the first two books 3Vurt and 4 Pollen on my shelves..1 Automated Alice and 2 Nymphomation. According to Wikipedia you’re supposed to read them in that order I read Vurt. Pollen. Automated Alice. Nymphomation.


Re Murakami 1Q84 loved it he has a new book which is being translated and should be out by September.

 

[wojt]

Also think Starship Troopers is misunderstood, especially by Verhoeven (who to be fair represents the European sensibilities). The book is much more WWII in nature, with Rico's mother killed in a bug attack, and more realistic depictions of the psychology of a war time army. The film essentially takes the position that all wars are unjustified. The book argues that some things can only be resolved violently and with heavy sacrifice. The film could only be made and enjoyed by a generation that was at least one or two separated from the WWII and especially WWI generation, enjoying Pax Americana and thinking about the End of History, and remembering Vietnam. Anecdotally, I've observed a slow shift in mindset amongst continental Europeans as the Russians initially made inroads. I wouldn't be surprised to find the book resonates with modern Ukrainians.

Interesting comment.

I am not sure it's misunderstood, I think it might be used to ironically tell another story(similar to Robocop maybe? In Robocop the bad guy was corporatism). I see it as a story how easily fascism is normalized but eventually hurts people(I take it's easily normalized because at group level case can be made it's more intuitive to human psyche than western individualism). Due to that dichotomy you could say the movie failed, because it can be taken as unsuccessful criticism of fascism/militarism. Unsuccessful since I don't see the ending undoing the whole film, same case with "It's a wonderful life"(for opposite reason though, family/communal life encroaching on individualism). Ironically makes them better movies at least in my opinion, since you discretely discard the pathos.

To the point about The End of History while the sentiment is noble, i think unfortunately it approach has several problems. My biggest beef is with the observation that "democratic western nations do not wage war on each other", that is true but not necessarily relevant as most are a part of American world order with little reason to fight each other. Democratic nations do not have a problem with overturning democratically elected leaders though, if it suits their politics(see multiple coups supported by US). So I am quite sure this would not hold in multi-polar world with democracies pitted against each other in economic/military blocks. Also both in US and EU we do observe slow but sure erosion of individual rights, which is troubling to say the least. But i digress.

I am sure the book resonates with Ukrainians, and Poles as well. This is very interesting notion actually at least for me as a Pole, that:

some things can only be resolved violently and with heavy sacrifice

Was keeping our own country worth millions of life that it took from 1795 to 1918 and then from 1939 to 1989? Not easily answered. I think some less nationalistic Ukrainians may have similar conundrum now. How many thousands of lives is Crimea worth(provided it can be retaken)? Less nationalistic- because I am sure large enough subset of both Russians and Ukrainians is willing to die for Crimea, so that it becomes a question who will run out of ammo or equipment first.

 

[edinatlanta]

Gave up on Born to be Hanged.
Started 1312 Among the Ultras

It is so good I watned to take off work to read it.

 

[Oswald Cornelius]

A Little Life, Hanya Yanigihara.​

I feel like I've been reading for a month--I'm only 300 pages in and have nearly 500 to go. Nothing has happened yet, it doesn't seem as though anything compelling COULD happen at this point. My daughter said "There's no shame in quitting." Why do I feel so dirty?

 

[Kaplan]

Cordwainer Smith: Norstrilia, 1975 (written and released as novellas in 64/68).

"He wanted to go the long way around, so that neither human eyes nor human minds would stumble on the secret he had found fifty-six years before, the first time he was eight years old."

Interesting worldbuilding here, and a style at times reminiscent of Bester's Stars my Destination and Vonnegut's Sirens of Titan.

Cordwainer/Linebarger led an interesting life, summarized in the first 3 minutes below:

 

[Kaplan]

According to a 'BookTuber' of a certain knowledge (book dealer of 40 years, author of 100 Must-Read Science Fiction Novels) Priest is the best living British SF author (and still publishing, his latest book is two days old). I wanted to start with one of his earliest, so:

Christopher Priest: The Inverted World, 1974.

"I had reached the age of six hundred and fifty miles."

Starts off a bit slow, but once the tracks are laid down the strange world pulls you in. Might not have the big surprising reveal the cover promises, but still a captivating read. Will be adding more Priest. Probably not The Prestige as I rewatched the movie recently, but The Glamour sounds promising.

 

[Kaplan]

Frederik Pohl & C.M. Kornbluth: The Space Merchants, 1953.

"It was an appeal to reason, and they're always dangerous. You can't trust reason. We threw it out of the ad profession long ago and have never missed it."

A breezy satire with Mad Men, consumerism, colonization of Venus, and shifting allegiances. Felt a bit like PKD's Ubik at times, though less mind-melting. The accolades bestowed on this according to its wiki page are rather impressive.

Interestingly, Frederik Pohl first wrote a non-SF novel set in the advertising world, on the typewriter he carried all the way through his deployment to Italy in WW2. On reading it some years later he realized it wasn't very good, as he didn't actually know anything about that world - he had just found it intriguing. So he applied for and got a job on Madison Avenue and with his newfound knowledge wrote (with some help from Kornbluth), the book above. That's some dedication to a story idea.

 

[NakedYoga]

Finished Blood Meridian yesterday. What a wild ride.

I think Philip Roth's American Pastoral may be next. Never read any Roth.

 

[Kaplan]

Henry Kuttner: Fury, 1947.

"The straight thrust of the knife was not only illegal but in poor taste. Intrigue was the thing. In the continually shifting balance of power, the man who could outwit an opponent, wind him in webs of his own spinning, and force him to ruin himself - that was the game."

From the tail end of the Golden Age, with Man surviving nuclear holocaust on Earth by living in domed cities under the seas of Venus - but maybe stagnating there. Another brisk read with a not too likeable anti hero, this one seems to have influenced Alfred Bester (whom I prefer). Written with assistance from Kuttner's wife and fellow writer C.L. Moore, who's own work will probably be next.

 

[edinatlanta]

Gave up on Born to be Hanged.
Started 1312 Among the Ultras

It is so good I watned to take off work to read it.

Is it a little repetitive when you are on a global tour of criminals more-or-less tied to soccer clubs? Sure. I'm kind of excited to start the new world chapters. Wish there was something on sub-Saharan clubs or more in Asia/South Pacific (I know the latter is probably not possible). The chapter on Ukraine is very interesting and uh, sadly out of date.

 

[venividivicibj]

On a whim, was reading the Sookie Stackhouse books (the books True Blood was based on).

I'm always confused why TV/movie writers make wholesale changes when bringing books to the screen. There are huge differences, and sometimes it seems for no reason?

 

[Veremund]

On a whim, was reading the Sookie Stackhouse books (the books True Blood was based on).

I'm always confused why TV/movie writers make wholesale changes when bringing books to the screen. There are huge differences, and sometimes it seems for no reason?

Creative license.