Posted on 02/09/2013 4:41:00 PM PST by narses
TechRepublic member lcallander asked me for some suggested reading material, with a rather intriguing sci-fi stipulation:
“I was rereading an old post, where guys were reminiscing about reading ‘Heinlein, Asimov, and Clark,’ my personal favorites. I got out of reading SF in the ’80s and am bewildered by the variety today. What do guys who liked H, A, and C read today?”
Well, that’s a really interesting question. I’m really only able to answer the Heinlein part of it, since I’ve read very, very little Clarke or Asimov (blasphemy, I know). John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War, The Ghost Brigades, and The Last Colony are openly admitted Heinlein pastiches, the first of which won the Campbell Award and was nominated for the Hugo.
Scalzi’s style is breezy and easy to pick up, so I’d start there. I’m also told (though haven’t read) that John Varley’s Red Thunder and Red Lightning ably pick up the Rocket Ship Galileo torch. That’s about the extent of my advice.
Thankfully, Amazon.com can actually help some here. (Shocking, I know.) See, Amazon has a nice bit of collaborative filtering that lets you view items that Amazon customers bought before and after buying a product that you’re interested in. That’s a fancy way of saying: These people bought X and also bought Y, so if you like X, odds are you’ll also like Y.
So, let’s take Stranger in a Strange Land (my favorite Heinlein novel) and check out its extended list of Customers Also Bought items, scrolling until we find some modern stuff not written by Uncle Bob himself. Filtering out the usual suspects of Hugo winners who get bought out of sheer notoriety, we find: Hyperion by Dan Simmons. Now, let’s do the same thing with Clarke’s Rendezvous with Rama, and we get: Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson. For Asimov’s Foundation we get: Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card.
Do this for a number of books by Asimov, Clarke, and Heinlein, and you’ll begin to get a picture of where adherents of the Old Masters go to sate their sci-fi thirst today. Do the same for Hyperion, Red Mars, and Ender’s Game, and you’ll link into a web of recommendations that open whole new doors of possibility.
Of course, for all of Amazon’s tech, there’s nothing like a good old-fashioned reader recommendation. So, how about it Geekenders — what modern writer (published since 1990) would most satisfy a fan of Asimov, Clarke, and/or Heinlein? Post your recommendations in the comments sections. With any luck, we can help a fellow member out (and maybe even attract some SFSignal attention).
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Orwell was trying to warn us about people like Obama.
Simmons is still taking heat from folks over that, to some he will always be a frothing racist. To a certain set of sci-fi fans, really good writers who express any type of conservative/libertarian leanings is called being ‘brain eaten.’ Like they have a disease that has to be overlooked.
I think he has some lefty type political leanings as well on the social side of things, but I think he is a great writer. In the age of internet and instant info, you are going to at times know too much about writers and artists.
Freegards
great thread
J.C. Hutchins has "The Seventh Son Trilogy" definitely worth checking out.
And Phil Rossi very, very dark.
I’m current on it. Its an ongoing series with, I think, six big novels done.
Weber’s fault is that he is involved in so many projects that it takes him forever to get back to a series. He’s not as bad as George RR Martin though. Latest word is that there’s a HH “OBS” movie in pre-production.
No one here has mentioned Pournelle and Niven’s “Mote” book...truly some of the most epic hard science fiction written.
Can’t mention Ringo without the Legacy of the Aldenata” series. Hell..I read the one with the She-Va Bun-Bun (Hells Faire I think) and had to go start reading Sluggy Freelance.
I liked most of them, the weaker ones were by Julie Cochrane...Cally's war and two others.
bump for later
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