Yearly Targets (2016) - Totals and Specifics

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Redeagl

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« Reply #150 on: January 02, 2017, 02:32:00 am »
Dude, its scifi, not fantasy. Wayyy different. ;)

I would argue it's a little mix of both. Dune is pretty much the poster child for a Space Opera or Space Fantasy which I think has become a fairly well developed sub genre.

I would agree that Dune is mostly SF though - it deals a lot with climatology etc. but that pseudo religious mythical feel gives it a real fantasy feeling IMO.

So glad you guys got me to read Dune!

Dune is the first Sci-fi I've ever read, I believe, unless TSA turns out to be part Sci-fi (as I've come to understand the definition. In the future, advance technology, and stuff scientists totally get off on, amirite?). Its really good, I'm well over half way through. I find I can't put it down at night. But, it reads no different than any Fantasy I've ever read. So, the distinction is small in Dune at least. Maybe, there is other sci-fi out there that totally gets off on the Terra-forming a planet. Goes into every little subtle detail, I dunno. But, Sci-fi/Fantasy is connected for a reason, it's all still fiction of the highest order.
I have been wanting to get into more Sci Fi lately, I have read a few Sci fi books but it is mostly unexplored territory for me.So how is Dune for you ? Since you are in the same boat as I
“The thoughts of all men arise from the darkness. If you are the movement of your soul, and the cause of that movement precedes you, then how could you ever call your thoughts your own? How could you be anything other than a slave to the darkness that comes before?”

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MSJ

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« Reply #151 on: January 02, 2017, 03:24:54 pm »
Same boat, Redeagl. Except, I officially finished Dune last night and jumped right into Dune Messiah. Its really good.
“No. I am your end. Before your eyes I will put your seed to the knife. I will quarter your carcass and feed it to the dogs. Your bones I will grind to dust and cast to the winds. I will strike down those who speak your name or the name of your fathers, until ‘Yursalka’ becomes as meaningless as infant babble. I will blot you out, hunt down your every trace! The track of your life has come to me,

Wilshire

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« Reply #152 on: January 02, 2017, 03:56:00 pm »
All time favorite scifi has gotta be Dan Simmons' Hyperion Cantos. Its 4 books, the first two are a must read. Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion.

Dune is probably a close #2 for me. Frank Herbert is a master craftsman.

Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card.

There's a lot of great stuff out there. Plenty of 'classics' that are likely worth reading.

This list: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_joint_winners_of_the_Hugo_and_Nebula_awards
is a list of scifi books that have won both the hugo and nebula awards - which is pretty prestigious. If you're looking for scifi suggestions, take a look at that list. People will be referring you to books on that list, or at least the authors that wrote them.

There's plenty of great stuff that isn't on that list, mind you, but its at least a jumping off point.
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Alia

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« Reply #153 on: January 02, 2017, 07:54:43 pm »
Off the cuff and in no particular order, authors in sci-fi (broadly taken) that I would recommend:
- classics: Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Ray Bradbury, Ursula LeGuin;
- cyberpunk and relatives: William Gibson, Walter Jon Williams, Richard Morgan;
- other/undefined - Iain M. Banks (one of my favourite writers ever), Ian McDonald, Michael Swanwick.
The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom - William Blake

Somnambulist

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« Reply #154 on: January 02, 2017, 07:58:54 pm »
Off the cuff and in no particular order, authors in sci-fi (broadly taken) that I would recommend:
- classics: Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Ray Bradbury, Ursula LeGuin;
- cyberpunk and relatives: William Gibson, Walter Jon Williams, Richard Morgan;
- other/undefined - Iain M. Banks (one of my favourite writers ever), Ian McDonald, Michael Swanwick.

Alia, you reminded me of one of my favorite fucked up books, The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks.  Fans of Bakker should read this book.
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Alia

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« Reply #155 on: January 03, 2017, 06:38:14 am »
Alia, you reminded me of one of my favorite fucked up books, The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks.  Fans of Bakker should read this book.

The one book that literally made me feel sick for a few days. But, for the sake of this discussion, it has virtually no fantastic elements whatsoever. (Banks wrote sci-fi as Iain M. and mainstream/crime/thriller/whatever as Iain).
The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom - William Blake