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R4 good read and SF

Posted: March 28th, 2018, 11:15 pm
by Urbandreamer
Ok, I admit that I mostly read SF and fantasy, but I regualarly listen to the R4 program "a good read".

I was SO pleased that this week someone responded to Harriett Gilbert's comment that she didn't usually like SF by pointing out that she obviously didn't read enough good SF!

She did admit actually recommending a SF story* in the past, which I felt just emphasised the point that the original opinion was ill considered or expressed.

I mention it because every time a SF book turns up on the program from a guest it seems to be treated with dread. Why?

It's not all E.E "Doc" Smith and hasn't been since the days that he wrote "Space hounds of the IPC" in the late 20's. There is pleanty of lightweight stuff mixed in with more hard core stuff and of course a fair share of dross, but surely there is in any genre. The example given by the guest was deciding that it wasn't worth trying D H Laurance (re previous thread) because you didn't like Mills and Boon.

Anyway, regardless of my comments, the program is well worth listening to.

*Actually I suspect that the guest may have known that she recommended "Flowers for Algernon" when he mentioned it as an example of good SF.

PS, for those who may not know, the original idea for SF is to take a scientific idea and produce an entertaining/interesting story about how people are effected by this fact, as in the books "Flowers for Algernon" or "Frankenstein...", often accepted as the first SF book and now studdied for GCSE's.

Re: R4 good read and SF

Posted: March 29th, 2018, 11:42 am
by Slarti
Urbandreamer wrote:I mention it because every time a SF book turns up on the program from a guest it seems to be treated with dread. Why?


Too many new concepts to be taken in?

Scientifically illiterate reviewers?

Lack of imagination?


Slarti

Re: R4 good read and SF

Posted: June 15th, 2018, 4:03 pm
by JMN2
Robert Holdstock Mythago Wood
Read that in the 80's, haven't really read much SF ever, except Marsian Chronicles, I am Legend, etc, perhaps I should revisit the genre. I am in a rut when it comes to reading novels.

Re: R4 good read and SF

Posted: June 15th, 2018, 5:07 pm
by Slarti
JMN2 wrote:Robert Holdstock Mythago Wood
Read that in the 80's, haven't really read much SF ever, except Marsian Chronicles, I am Legend, etc, perhaps I should revisit the genre. I am in a rut when it comes to reading novels.



Try Consider Phlebas by Ian M Banks for something a bit space opera or The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett for something a lot lighter.

Slarti

Re: R4 good read and SF

Posted: June 15th, 2018, 5:46 pm
by JMN2
Slarti wrote:
JMN2 wrote:Robert Holdstock Mythago Wood
Read that in the 80's, haven't really read much SF ever, except Marsian Chronicles, I am Legend, etc, perhaps I should revisit the genre. I am in a rut when it comes to reading novels.



Try Consider Phlebas by Ian M Banks for something a bit space opera or The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett for something a lot lighter.

Slarti


I seem to remember some kind of a mammoth book from Banks which I read. I need a good story, that's why I like Stephen King, the time travel book to go back to kill Oswald was good.

Re: R4 good read and SF

Posted: June 15th, 2018, 10:19 pm
by Urbandreamer
JMN2 wrote:Robert Holdstock Mythago Wood
Read that in the 80's, haven't really read much SF ever, except Marsian Chronicles, I am Legend, etc, perhaps I should revisit the genre. I am in a rut when it comes to reading novels.


Try the St' Marys Chronicles if you want something a bit different.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Damned-Thing-A ... B00EUIEKA4
It's not a heavy book and apparently free.

If you fancy something more award winning then Bable-17 is a classic.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Babel-17-S-F-M ... s=babel+17

Finally, it's worth a visit to Baen to glance at their free library.
https://www.baen.com/catalog/category/v ... ublisher=0

Re: R4 good read and SF

Posted: June 16th, 2018, 3:27 pm
by Slarti
JMN2 wrote:I seem to remember some kind of a mammoth book from Banks which I read. I need a good story, that's why I like Stephen King, the time travel book to go back to kill Oswald was good.


Ian Banks, or Ian M Banks?

Same bloke, but the first is when he is doing novels, like The Crow Road or The Wasp Factory, the second is for his scifi.

Slarti

Re: R4 good read and SF

Posted: June 27th, 2018, 6:55 am
by Urbandreamer
My goodness.

Either Harriett Gilbert frequents TLF, or other social media has been a buzz with reactions to that episode.
This week she commented on the the fact and said that she had made a special effort to read more SF, before commenting on Gibson's Neuromancer.

It wasn't universally loved by the guests, but I would have been surprised if it was. The chief complaint was that it wasn't a book that you could read in the bath (ie relax and turn the brain off), which is fair. It would also be fair to say that many want just that sort of book (including me) an lot of the time.

Hat's off to Harriett though for responding and putting the effort in to investigate SF.

Should she actually be reading this thread, as a lightweight, well written, purportedly SF book, can I secommend "A Civil Campaign" by Bujold..

I say purportedly, because while it has a SF backdrop, is part of a set of SF books about the same character in the same universe and does contain some traditional SF. It's actually a romance or "comedy of manners". That fact is why it gets conflicting reviews and characters in books by other authors have it recommended to them.

The "hard" SF is well hidden, but consider the social implications of property rights, in-vetro fertilisation, medical facilities provided to vasllas by their lord in a feudal society and uterine replicators. There are just a few line which many would miss with a humerous solution. However contained in those few lines is an entire SF concept .

If you choose to read it, make sure that you are not drinking tea or wine when you get to Mile's dinner party.

Re: R4 good read and SF

Posted: June 28th, 2018, 9:38 am
by 77ss
JMN2 wrote:Robert Holdstock Mythago Wood
Read that in the 80's, haven't really read much SF ever, except Marsian Chronicles, I am Legend, etc, perhaps I should revisit the genre. I am in a rut when it comes to reading novels.


The Hugo Award Winners (and nominees) list is aways a good starting point for some new ideas. Wiki gives a comprensive list:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Award_for_Best_Novel

A couple of recent novels from this list that I have particularly enjoyed were the Ann Leckie 2014 winner, Ancillary Justice and the 2015 nomination, The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison.

Quite different books - one hard sci-fi, the other a political/personal story set in a different world.

Happy reading!