Sci-fi classics are like any other classic books; you have to read them in the context of the author and his times. You can't read Conrad's Heart of Darkness ignoring the cultural and historical context either.
And honestly, sometimes a Heinlein juvenile makes for a nice change of pace between heavier works (either sci-fi/fantasy or any other genre).
And so should you. In fact, those old books can be downright dangerous and normalize regressive behaviors that will cause real harm. I mean, today we are rightfully worried about individual bigoted tweets and messages, but imagine someone reading an entire book of that stuff?
Are you serious? You don't think there is any insight into human nature in the works of anyone, ever, except the exact values of the culture you happen to live in at this particular point in time?
Edit: ugh, I had to go look at your other comments to tell if this was sarcasm. It seems it was, and satire and reality have converged too much for me to differentiate.
Anyways, in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Currents_of_Space there is this: https://www.9novelsread.com/read/the-currents-of-space/30353...
and more.
(just sayin')
While reading it I also noticed that there were no female characters in the book. Since I didn't like the book I haven't read any of the others in the series but I seem to recall someone saying that when the lack of women was pointed out to Asimov that he made women central to at least some of the prequels?
I liked the foundation books its just always been a pet peeve that Foundation, Enders Game, and Hitchhikers Guide are always listed as greatest of all time. They are super enjoyable books but not like... what I would choose to represent the genre.
Also a side question, I love reading but I'm very slow. I don't want to learn a lot of the 'fast' reading techniques because I have tried them and don't really retain much. Is there some low hanging fruit to reading just a little faster? (like, read in a good chair or use a kindle or something)
all that to say: I've been enjoying reading MORE since I've increased the amount I read - everything stays fresh, and I just devote a bit of time to reading each day and a bit less time to (the internet, mainly)
I retain audio much better for most things (unless it's data-heavy), so getting into habits of keeping my headphones on me and actually starting a book when I had the brain-space to listen helped increase the quantity. No idea on tips for physical reading (though getting the room lighting right and using one of the paperwhite-or-better Kindle screens makes a big difference for me, anecdotally).
Also, is that sort of what people do nowadays for reading? Meaning, when people say they read 100 books, they are also referring to have listened to audiobooks? Not judging, just curious if I'm not understanding the meaning of 'read'
But also, many of the classic sci-fi novels are actually very short, possible to get through in a couple days, even if you don't read particularly fast.
Alas, I don't have any tips to read faster...
Set in three parts, exploring a future where people can upload themselves to computers, create digital copies, recombine, run minds faster than real-time, re-enter the non-digital world, travel to alien destinations, etc.
Free from the author: https://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/fiction/acceler...
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17863.Accelerando
https://www.amazon.com/Accelerando-Singularity-Stross-Charle...
Usually the prices stop somewhere around the €75 mark though.
I feel like I actually learned something while reading it, but that is because I've read it on screen, while having Wikipedia and Google-maps open in the background while reading it, pausing to look up things there.
> Red Mars won the BSFA Award in 1992 and Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1993. Green Mars won the Hugo Award for Best Novel and Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel in 1994. Blue Mars also won the Hugo and Locus Awards in 1997.
Of course, Ian Banks (RIP) is also great fun.
Obviously it's down to personal preference which of these are the best, but I'm curious how other readers feel about a couple of these (potentially contrarian views):
1. Speaker For the Dead is my favorite of the Ender stuff.
2. I like Endymion duo better than Hyperion. (maybe my favorite ever, actually)
3. The Stand is also an all-time great to me, especially in light of current events.
4. I think the author should read more Niven - I guess he didn't really like Ringworld, which is another of my favorites.
Strong agree. The technical term for the advantage the Endymion books had is "a coherent plot". Also, using human reconstitution as a way to get around the acceleration constraints of space travel is awesome.
Simmons' Ilium and Olympos (SF interpretations of the Iliad and [sort of] the Odyssey) are also super well-conceived.
As for Ringworld, I didn't enjoy it, but would be willing to give Niven another try if given a strong and specific recommendation. Maybe something that has more of a plot. Wandering around a big empty construction in space where nothing happens didn't really do it for me.
The author of this list and I seem to have very similar tastes. Most of his favorites are mine as well. The only favorite of mine that comes to mind as being left off this list is Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. It's also striking that he hasn't listed any of the Culture series by Iain Banks.
Good call on Heinlein's Moon is a Harsh Mistress.
Ringworld didn't do much for me either, but I do indulge in the Man-Kzin Wars spin-offs as a sort of guilty pleasure.
also really enjoy anything by Vernor Vinge
I've read Cixin Liu's short stories and thoroughly enjoyed them. He comes up with some amazing ideas. I even really liked the movie based on Wandering Earth, despite how it converted the story to more action.
I barely made it through 3BP and I don't have much excitement for the sequels. The story just did not grip me at all.
[0] https://varley.net/excerpt/the-phantom-of-kansas-full-text/
What does that even mean? What's the cutoff for best and great and favorite?
Does anyone else find the language over the top? Like we've watered down our superlatives.
Maybe I'm being super picky, but why make a numbered list of the best things across a spectrum of their greatness and not use the numbers?
I've read thousands of books, but I never kept a log and have no way of remembering them all.
The standout in my mind, however, is "War of the Worlds" by Wells. It is the first scifi book I ever read, picking it out at the library because it had a cool illustration of the tripod on the cover.
I thoroughly enjoyed it, and like the purported first hit of heroin, the rest of my life I've looked for something that good again :-)
Furthermore at least https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chanur_novels from C.J.Cherryh.
For me they were a blast to read. I fevered/longed for the next book to be in print.
Similar thing for the "Company wars" and "Hinder Stars" listed in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._J._Cherryh_bibliography#The... / https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliance%E2%80%93Union_univers...
Go get this!
as a sidenote, I picked up on stuff on the rereading and am wondering how much of that is due to my increased maturity and how much is due to the format (paperback vs. audiobook).
As a result I'm rereading a lot of my favorites from the past . Not all have aged as well.
