The Apolyton Science Fiction Discussion Group: September Nominations

[molly bloom]

'Gypsies' by Robert Charles Wilson- what if you could dream a better reality- or better yet, dream of it and find it?

'As unfortunate as it may be, books by Robert Charles Wilson are hard to come by. However, keep your eyes peeled, they're more than worth the trouble. This is the story of a small number of people with the ability to move in directions other than the traditional up-down, left-right, foward-backword motif. They are able to slip right out of this world into another. Oddly enough, each of the characters has the gift to move into very different worlds. The question: why? Why to they have this power? Why is the world each one moves to so different? And, ultimately, why is their man in grey hunting them down?

This story goes far beyond it's plot to deal confront issues of far more importance than magic powers: family, love, creativity and, most of all, the power of the imagination.

A must read. '

Review courtesy of www.amazon.com

[St Leo]

I'd like to nominate The Science of Discworld. The genre it's closest to is popular science non-fiction, but it has elements of science fiction, alternate history, fantasy all rolled into one.

When a wizardly experiment goes adrift, the wizards of Unseen University find themselves with a pocket universe on their hands: Roundworld, where neither magic nor common sense seems to stand a chance against logic. The Universe, of course, is our own. And Roundworld is Earth. As the wizards watch their accidental creation grow, we follow the story of our universe from the primal singularity of the Big Bang to the Internet and beyond. Through this original Terry Pratchett story (with intervening chapters from Cohen and Stewart) we discover how puny and insignificant individual lives are against a cosmic backdrop of creation and disaster. Yet, paradoxically, we see how the richness of a universe based on rules, has led to a complex world and at least one species that tried to get a grip of what was going on...

I don't know what else to nominate. I have Stranger in a Strange Land, but I don't really want to read that again right now.

How about Neverwhere?

[chequita guevara]

Edgar Rice Buroughs, A Princess of Mars.

Amazon.com
Although Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875-1950) is justifiably famous as the creator of Tarzan of the Apes, that uprooted Englishman was not his only popular hero. Burroughs's first sale (in 1912) was A Princess of Mars, opening the floodgates to one of the must successful--and prolific--literary careers in history. This is a wonderful scientific romance that perhaps can be best described as early science fiction melded with an epic dose of romantic adventure. A Princess of Mars is the first adventure of John Carter, a Civil War veteran who unexpectedly find himself transplanted to the planet Mars. Yet this red planet is far more than a dusty, barren place; it's a fantasy world populated with giant green barbarians, beautiful maidens in distress, and weird flora and monstrous fauna the likes of which could only exist in the author's boundless imagination. Sheer escapism of the tallest order, the Martian novels are perfect entertainment for those who find Tarzan's fantastic adventures aren't, well, fantastic enough. Although this novel can stand alone, there are a total of 11 volumes in this classic series of otherworldly, swashbuckling adventure.

[Koyaanisqatsi]

Nancy Kress - Beggars in Spain (First of a three book series)

Many of us wish we could get by with less sleep. Beggars in Spain extrapolates that wish into a future where some people need no sleep at all. Nancy Kress, an award-winning author of novels, short stories, and columns on writing, has created another thoughtful but dramatic statement on social issues.
Leisha Camden was genetically modified at birth to require no sleep, and her normal twin Alice is the control. Problems and envy between the sisters mirror those in the larger world, as society struggles to adjust to a growing pool of people who not only have 30 percent more time to work and study than normal humans, but are also highly intelligent and in perfect health. The Sleepless gradually outgrow their welcome on Earth, and their children escape to an orbiting space station to set up their own society. But Leisha and a few others remain behind, preaching acceptance for all humans, Sleepless and Sleeper alike. With the conspiracy and revenge that unwinds, the world needs a little preaching on tolerance.

One of my favorite books and series of all time...gets into a lot of technological, social, and psychological issues...and I think it's a pretty fun read.

[Lonestar]

Shadow of the Hagemon
Orson Scott Card.

Orson Scott Card finally explores what happened on earth after the war with the Buggers in the sixth book of his Ender series, Shadow of the Hegemon. This novel is the continuation of the story of Bean, which began with Ender's Shadow, a parallel novel to Card's Hugo and Nebula Award-winning Ender's Game.
While Ender heads off to a faraway planet, Bean and the other brilliant children who helped Ender save the earth from alien invaders have become war heroes and have finally been sent home to live with their parents. While the children try to fit back in with the family and friends they haven't known for nearly a decade, someone's worried about their safety. Peter Wiggins, Ender's brother, has foreseen that the talented children are in danger of being killed or kidnapped. His fears are quickly realized, and only Bean manages to escape. Bean knows he must save the others and protect humanity from a new evil that has arisen, an evil from his past. But just as he played second to Ender during the Bugger war, Bean must again step into the shadow of another, the one who will be Hegemon.

In Shadow of the Hegemon, Card can't help but fall back into old patterns. But while the theme is the same as in previous books--brilliant, tragic children with the fate of the human race resting on their shoulders--Shadow of the Hegemon does a wonderful job of continuing Bean's tale against a backdrop of the politics and intrigue of a fragile earth. While the novel is accessible, new readers to the series would be wise to begin with Ender's Game or Ender's Shadow. --Kathie Huddleston --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

[Mordoch]

Originally posted by Lonestar
Shadow of the Hagemon
Orson Scott Card.
....While the novel is accessible, new readers to the series would be wise to begin with Ender's Game or Ender's Shadow.

I really have to question the suitability of this novel for a sci-fi book club. I'd say that you would really need to have Ender's Shadow to get a good idea of what's really going on in the book, although you probably could get by with having just read Ender's game. (I've personally read both Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow, so I know what I'm talking about here. Having to read two book for the monthly book club would really impose a significant burden on some people and is something generally avoided with book clubs. While its probably possible to read Shadow of the Hagemon by itself, the reader would be a real disadvantage in the book club discussion where invariably references would be made to the other two books.

[Rex Little]

Does the book have to be a novel? If not, I'd like to nominate Callahan's Crosstime Saloon, by Spider Robinson. It's a connected series of short stories, all based in Callahan's Place, a fictional bar somewhere on Long Island. Virtually every story deals with a customer with some sort of special ability: a super-powerful alien android, a vampire, a talking dog. . .

[Koyaanisqatsi]

Originally posted by Rex Little
Does the book have to be a novel? If not, I'd like to nominate Callahan's Crosstime Saloon, by Spider Robinson. It's a connected series of short stories, all based in Callahan's Place, a fictional bar somewhere on Long Island. Virtually every story deals with a customer with some sort of special ability: a super-powerful alien android, a vampire, a talking dog. . .

Excellent series. You can pick up The Callahan Cronicles (which has the first three anthologies in one book) fairly cheap. Not recommended if you hate puns, though.

[Jon Miller]

lord of light and amber are good (zelanzy), as is wave with shore (cherryh)

I will go with the cherryh one

wave without shore

Jon Miller

[ajbera]

Although I nominated Ted Sturgeon's More Than Human, I didn't provide any info.

From the back cover:

There's Lone, the simpleton who can hear other people's thoughts and make a man blow his brains out just by looking at him. There's Janie, who moves things without touching them, and there are the teleporting twins, who can travel ten feet or ten miles. There's Baby, who invented an antigravity engine while still in the cradle, and Gerry, who has everything it takes to run the world except for a conscience. Separately, they are talented freaks. Together they compose a single organism that may represent the next step in evolution, and the final chapter in the history of the human race.

[Jon Miller]

description of wave without shore

Description: Freedom is a planet rarely visited by commercial spacers. Outsiders claim the streets are crowded with aliens and mysterious characters in blue robes. Humans say it's not so--no blue robes; no aliens. Herrin the artist and Waden the autocrat face a crisis of planetary identity: the question of reality and the reality of the question.

Jon Miller

[Jon Miller]

reviews

An interesting depiction of personal philosophy realized, April 8, 1999
Reviewer: A reader from Los Angeles, CA
In an unusual plot for a science fiction genre, Cherryh portrays two friends who combat their philosophies through their creativity. One through political manipulation and the other through artistic endeavor. The depth of character development centers around the artist and his genius. In his effort to create an ever-more transcending sculpture, he discovers that interpersonal relationships (through the device of a minority class race) are in an arena he has totally missed, as has the rest of his society. I enjoyed this book, and have become more interested in stories like it since reading it. My only problem with the book is that its too short - not much of any aspect of the story is explored outside of the artist and his progression. Also, his realizations are only quickly described, leaving the reader with a lot to imagine on their own.

A worthy work exploring humanity on an alligorical level., October 27, 1998
Reviewer: A reader from Florida, USA
This short novel was my first experience with the writing of C.J. Cherryh. It explores modern philosophy in a realm that allows readers to look at and consider how we feel, what we think, who we allow to lead. It's not your regular science fiction story, but considering that I have a library of Cherryh's works after reading this (and an Amazon associate page devoted to this author) you can tell that I was impressed. It is well worth reading


Jon Miller

[Mordoch]

Originally posted by Jon Miller
description of wave without shore

Description: Freedom is a planet rarely visited by commercial spacers. Outsiders claim the streets are crowded with aliens and mysterious characters in blue robes. Humans say it's not so--no blue robes; no aliens. Herrin the artist and Waden the autocrat face a crisis of planetary identity: the question of reality and the reality of the question.

Jon Miller

I'd have to disagree with this selection as I've read the book and didn't like it, although I liked other books by her better.

[Jon Miller]

I think she rocks

and it is a bit different

Jon Miller

[JohnT]

Had no idea so many replies!

Current Nominations:

Dune by Frank Herbert, nominated by JohnT.
More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon, nominated by Ajbera.
Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami, nominated by Wraith*.
The Worthing Saga by Orson Scott Card, nominated by Loinburger.
The Green Mile** by Stephen King, nominated by Slowwhand.
Waldo and Magic Incorporated by Robert Heinlein, nominated by TCO***
The Many Colored Land by Julian May, nominated by Cruddy.
Rising Stars by James M. Straczynski, nominated by St Swithen.
The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester, nominated by Mordoch.
Gypsies by Robert Charles Wilson, nominated by molly bloom.
The Science of Discworld by Terry Pratchett, nominated by St Leo.
A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Buroughs, nominated by chegitz guevara.
Beggars in Spain by Nancy Kress, nominated by dv8ed.
Crosstime Saloon by Spider Robinson, nominated by Rex Little.
Wave with Shore, by Cherryh, nominated by jon miller.

Great list of books, gentlemen!


Lonestar, I can't allow a novel that requires people to read two other books to fully comprehend. Thanks for your understanding.

[moderator hat on]
When nominating books from or about series', make sure that the books are self-contained, that one can read the book cold and have a good grasp of what is going on and feel like the story came to a conclusion. For example, I haven't read any of the Discworld series - will I be able to understand "The Science of Discworld" w/o having read the original novels?
[moderators hat off]

*Wraith, is this a novel, graphic novel, what?
**... and no, it technically isn't science fiction... but what the hell - it's a worthy series of novellas.
*** TCO, do you have a description? I also took the first book listed.