Science Fantasy Recommendations?
robo
there any other far future science fantasy classics I may have missed?
Thanks,
Robo
Michael Grosberg
Classics? The obvious one would be Vance's _Dying Earth_ books. But I
haven't read them so I cant' recommend. I did read M. John Harrison's
_The Pastel City_ which is considered a minor classic in this genre.
But it gets more sciency and less fantastic towards the end.
I think Delany's _The Fall of the Towers_ has a sort of science-
fantasy vibe, sort of. For example, you've got your giants and
dwarves, but they're mutated human sub-species.
Then there's RASFW regular Mathew Hughes' Archonate series.
Jon Schild
There are Arthur C Clarke's _Against the Fall of Night_ and _The City
and the Stars_. The latter was a rewrite of the former, but I found
both quite enjoyable.
--
Wanted dead and/or alive: Shroedinger's cat.
robo
"Jon Schild" <j...@xmission.com> wrote in message
news:h2o3in$oem$1...@news.xmission.com...
Great reads, I forgot to mention that I'd already read them. I even read
Benford's homage 'Beyond Infinity' which liked even more than the originals.
Matt Hughes
wrote:
>
> Then there's RASFW regular Mathew Hughes' Archonate series.
There are samples and a full bibliography on my page at http://www.archonate.com
Matt Hughes
P. Taine
Sheckley's "Journey Beyond Tommorow" aka "The Journey of Joenes".
Silverberg's Majipoor books, and "Son of Man".
Simmons' Hyperion books
Cordwainer Smith - everything
Friedman's "This Alien Shore"
Matt Hughes
> Silverberg's Majipoor books, and "Son of Man".
I reviewed Son of Man for the SF Site a few months ago:
http://www.sfsite.com/01a/sm287.htm
Matt Hughes
http://www.archonate.com
Otzchiim
Um. If by "classic" you use the usual lit'ry definition of "books by
authors who have been dead a long time," not many. If you use Mark
Twain's definition of "books that everybody praises but almost nobody
reads," well, you have already gone through Gene Wolfe's Urth books.
(He does have other similar things.)
If you want really similar things, a lot of the good things that Gene
Wolfe had are from Clark ashton Smith, though his poetic science
fiction is a bit hard to come by, only hardcovers from Nightshade, and
I am not certain they are in print. (The big Arkham cross-collection
had some, though.)
You could always take yourself in both hands and try William Hope
Hodgson's The Night Land, which is sort of the mother-lode.
I will repaeat the recommendation of Vance's The Dying Earth, which I
HAVE read, and reread, but will warn you to take the sequels with
caution.
Mark Owings
robo
Um. If by "classic" you use the usual lit'ry definition of "books by
authors who have been dead a long time," not many. If you use Mark
Twain's definition of "books that everybody praises but almost nobody
reads," well, you have already gone through Gene Wolfe's Urth books.
(He does have other similar things.)
R: What else? I've read the Urth and the Long Sun books?
If you want really similar things, a lot of the good things that Gene
Wolfe had are from Clark ashton Smith, though his poetic science
fiction is a bit hard to come by, only hardcovers from Nightshade, and
I am not certain they are in print. (The big Arkham cross-collection
had some, though.)
R: I haven't tried him, any recommendations? I bounced off his short
stories. While Wolfe does require effort, your efforts are rewarded. Smith
always struck me a writer of purple prose in the pulp vain... Am I wrong?
You could always take yourself in both hands and try William Hope
Hodgson's The Night Land, which is sort of the mother-lode.
R: Yes, wonderful stuff. I've even read the two anthologies that have
modern writers setting stories in Hodgson's Nightland Universe-- as well as
Bear's 'City at the End of Time.'
I will repaeat the recommendation of Vance's The Dying Earth, which I
HAVE read, and reread, but will warn you to take the sequels with
caution.
R: I lost my copy, but I will pick up a new one. Did you know there is a
new anthology coming out which again features contemporary writers doing
Vance's Dying Earth.
Thanks for the Help,
Robo
Matt Hughes
> R: I lost my copy, but I will pick up a new one. Did you know there is a
> new anthology coming out which again features contemporary writers doing
> Vance's Dying Earth.
It's called SONGS OF THE DYING EARTH, edited by George R. R. Martin
and Gardner Dozois. Limited editions out from Subterranean Press this
summer, hardcovers and trade paperbacks from Tor and HarperCollins
Voyageur next year, and mass market paperbacks in 2011.
I am insufferably proud to have a story in it.
Matt Hughes
http://www.archonate.com
icarp...@aol.com
> R: Yes, wonderful stuff. I've even read the two anthologies that have
> modern writers setting stories in Hodgson's Nightland Universe-- as well as
> Bear's 'City at the End of Time.'
Would you please tell me the names of these anthologies?
Thanks,
Matt
Kurt Busiek
WILLIAM HOPE HODGSON'S NIGHT LANDS Volume 1: Eternal Love
WILLIAM HOPE HODGSON'S NIGHT LANDS Volume 2: Nightmares of the Fall
kdb
--
Visit http://www.busiek.com -- for all your Busiek needs!
Default User
Not perhaps exactly what you are asking for, but I enjoyed Metropolitan
by Walter Jon Williams. There's a sequel as well, but likely never a
third.
Brian
--
Day 154 of the "no grouchy usenet posts" project
icarp...@aol.com
> On 2009-07-06 08:51:44 -0700, "icarpen...@aol.com" <icarpen...@aol.com> said:
>
>
>
> >> R: Yes, wonderful stuff. I've even read the two anthologies that h
> > ave
> >> modern writers setting stories in Hodgson's Nightland Universe-- as well
> > as
> >> Bear's 'City at the End of Time.'
>
> > Would you please tell me the names of these anthologies?
>
> WILLIAM HOPE HODGSON'S NIGHT LANDS Volume 1: Eternal Love
>
> WILLIAM HOPE HODGSON'S NIGHT LANDS Volume 2: Nightmares of the Fall
>
> kdb
>
> --
Thank you. I believe there are some Hodgson based chapbooks from
Rainfall Books which have more recent stories.
RAIN 010 - John B. Ford & Steve Lines - Beyond the Borderland
RAIN 021 - Steve Lines & John B. Ford - Beyond the Borderland #2
Sold out on the website but can probably be acquired with a little
digging
http://www.rainfallsite.com/Home.html
Matt
Robert Carnegie
> I've read Gene Wolfe's Urth books and Paul McCauley's Confluence books. Are
> there any other far future science fantasy classics I may have missed?
Depends what you mean by "far future", "fantasy", and "classic".
"Technology indistinguishable from magic" for instance?
_Foundation_ is, by our standards, an awfully long way in the future.
I forget whether the original text or some of the re-tread material
identifies the Empire of Trantor as decadent since it has no
technological innovation any more. It promptly collapses. No magic
users either, except for The Mule.
Larry Niven's _A World Out of Time_ is latterly set on an old, ruined,
depopulated Earth. Technology is moderately magical, but firmly
identified as technological.
Michael Moorcock wrote several stories about "The Dancers at the End
of Time", the few extravagant last citizens of Earth as the universe
runs down and stops, apparently. Some of the books or stories appear
rather hasty.
Also, in his _The Shores of Death_ also called _The Twilight Man_,
Earth is one face towards the sun, but possibly that's enemy action.
I don't remember much more about it, but it's covered in
<http://www.novymir.com.au/terminalcafe/misc70s.html>
P. Taine
That reminds me, "The Long Afternoon of Earth" aka "Hot House", by Brian Aldis.
Spider webs connecting the Earth and the Moon. Intelligent funguses. And more!
Matt Hughes
> That reminds me, "The Long Afternoon of Earth" aka "Hot House", by Brian Aldis.
>
> Spider webs connecting the Earth and the Moon. Intelligent funguses. And more!
I recently reread that after forty-odd years. It was better when I
was fourteen.
Matt Hughes
http://www.archonate.com
William December Starr
Kurt Busiek <ku...@busiek.com> said:
> "icarp...@aol.com" <icarp...@aol.com> said:
>
>> Would you please tell me the names of these anthologies?
>
> WILLIAM HOPE HODGSON'S NIGHT LANDS Volume 1: Eternal Love
> WILLIAM HOPE HODGSON'S NIGHT LANDS Volume 2: Nightmares of the Fall
More data: both are edited by Andy W. Robertson and their
Amazon URLs are
<http://www.amazon.com//gp/product/1592246788>
<http://www.amazon.com//gp/product/0955478308>.
(They were on a recent "We should probably get these books" list
I compiled for MITSFS.)
-- wds
Robert Carnegie
> On Jul 7, 9:22 pm, P. Taine <u...@domaine.invalid> wrote:
>
> > That reminds me, "The Long Afternoon of Earth" aka "Hot House", by Brian Aldis.
> >
> > Spider webs connecting the Earth and the Moon. Intelligent funguses. And more!
>
> I recently reread that after forty-odd years. It was better when I
> was fourteen.
That also goes for Moorcock emphatically, and maybe Niven. /Some/
Niven.
I was never really sold on Aldiss. Am I at fault for not recognising
his genius, or did the other kids just go wild for him because he
wrote dirty stuff? I mean with sex in? Having said that - an Earth
system so old it has cobwebs. Cool!
Peter Knutsen
> There are Arthur C Clarke's _Against the Fall of Night_ and _The City
> and the Stars_. The latter was a rewrite of the former, but I found
> both quite enjoyable.
Are those science fantasy?
--
Peter Knutsen
sagatafl.org
Michael Stemper
>_Foundation_ is, by our standards, an awfully long way in the future.
>I forget whether the original text or some of the re-tread material
>identifies the Empire of Trantor as decadent since it has no
>technological innovation any more. It promptly collapses.
I don't think that's quite right. I seem to recall that one of the
axioms of psycho-history was "No significant technological changes".
(Others were: "Population approximating a gas model" and "no significant
changes in how people think/act".)
This being considered a useful axiom -- even by Seldon -- was a sign of
the Empire's decadence. But, the Empire hadn't (in my reading) had any
technological innovations for a long time, and its fall wasn't "prompt",
but a long, lingering slide into general apathy and decay.
--
Michael F. Stemper
#include <Standard_Disclaimer>
Visualize whirled peas!
Joseph Nebus
It was assumed there wouldn't be a really substantial, life-
changing technological change over the course of The Plan, although just
how important was important was never quite specified. Over in the 1980s
books Mayor Branno was of the belief that new devices like the gravity-
powered starship so changed the way people would live that The Plan was
meaningless and Seldon couldn't imagine stuff like it coming to be.
Second Foundationer That Jogger Guy seemed faintly charmed by her belief
that *that* was a game-changer.
I *think* that the question of 'how big a population is big
enough' was treated as one of the early things one proved rather than
an axiom, although I suppose it does underly everything that there is
a population big enough to be psychohistorically studied.
(I was startled to discover that J Willard Gibbs was of the
opinion that maybe human interactions could be modelled by something
like the thermodynamics he'd done so much to define. Whether Young
Asimov had any idea of this I don't know, but it is an extrapolation
hard to resist, particularly given how useful a gimmick it can be.)
--
Joseph Nebus
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
William Hyde
> (I was startled to discover that J Willard Gibbs was of the
> opinion that maybe human interactions could be modelled by something
> like the thermodynamics he'd done so much to define. Whether Young
> Asimov had any idea of this I don't know, but it is an extrapolation
> hard to resist, particularly given how useful a gimmick it can be.)
I can't recall that Asimov ever mentioned it, but from now on I will
see Gibbs whenever I visualize Seldon.
Some time ago we were having the "most underrated dead physicist"
discussion, and Gibbs generally was high on people's lists. A
seriously brilliant guy.
William Hyde
Wayne Throop
: I can't recall that Asimov ever mentioned it, but from now on I will
: see Gibbs whenever I visualize Seldon.
Not sure I see Seldon as that ... obsessive.
"I want his NAME, I want it TODAY,
and don't tell me it's Moby Dick."
--- Gibbs
"Lois, what is this?"
"A picture of Mark Harmon."
"A picture of Mark Harmon, the greatest actor alive."
--- Peter and Lois Griffin
Wayne Throop thr...@sheol.org http://sheol.org/throopw
Robert Carnegie
> mstem...@walkabout.empros.com (Michael Stemper) writes:
> >In article <c196db1d-3320-41d9-9ab2-19fd39e46...@y7g2000yqa.googlegroups.com>, Robert Carnegie <rja.carne...@excite.com> writes:
> >>_Foundation_ is, by our standards, an awfully long way in the future.
> >>I forget whether the original text or some of the re-tread material
> >>identifies the Empire of Trantor as decadent since it has no
> >>technological innovation any more. It promptly collapses.
> >I don't think that's quite right. I seem to recall that one of the
> >axioms of psycho-history was "No significant technological changes".
> >(Others were: "Population approximating a gas model" and "no significant
> >changes in how people think/act".)
> >This being considered a useful axiom -- even by Seldon -- was a sign of
> >the Empire's decadence. But, the Empire hadn't (in my reading) had any
> >technological innovations for a long time, and its fall wasn't "prompt",
> >but a long, lingering slide into general apathy and decay.
Well, I was being flippant with "prompt". IIRC (still wrong?) the
story is that the Empire was already falling when Seldon came to
Trantor, insurgencies were winning, but no one on the Empire side had
noticed. Generals expected to restore order when reinforcements came,
but they weren't going to come. That sort of thing.
That, and the Foundation hadn't finished unpacking their books -
metaphorically - or at least hadn't started publishing the
encyclopaedia they were working on(??), when the Empire didn't seem to
be there at all any more.
Thought: how different would the story be with Wikipedia?
> It was assumed there wouldn't be a really substantial, life-
> changing technological change over the course of The Plan, although just
> how important was important was never quite specified. Over in the 1980s
> books Mayor Branno was of the belief that new devices like the gravity-
> powered starship so changed the way people would live that The Plan was
> meaningless and Seldon couldn't imagine stuff like it coming to be.
> Second Foundationer That Jogger Guy seemed faintly charmed by her belief
> that *that* was a game-changer.
Of course, there /being/ a Second Foundation meant it didn't matter so
much what Seldon did or didn't know. Having said that, if you change,
say, the rules for pieces in chess during a game, /any/ player's
position can be converted from winning to losing. "Bishops can
teleport now? Uh oh."
William Hyde
> : WilliamHyde<wthyde1...@gmail.com>
> : I can't recall that Asimov ever mentioned it, but from now on I will
> : see Gibbs whenever I visualize Seldon.
>
> Not sure I see Seldon as that ... obsessive.
>
> "I want his NAME, I want it TODAY,
> and don't tell me it's Moby Dick."
Thanks to google, I got the reference and could pretend to know what
you are talking about.
Though a Willard reference would not have been out of place.
I've read the prequels, but they didn't stick. I see Seldon as the
character who grills Dornick within ten minutes of meeting him. I'm
sure that JW Gibbs was more polite to his 19th century students, but
maybe he was having a bad day.
William Hyde