MobileRead January 2010 Book Club Nominations

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

Under the Dome, by Stephen King.

From the Wiki:

"The town of Chesters Mill (pop. approximately 2000) is suddenly cut off from the rest of the world by an invisible barrier, preventing anything other than a small amount of air from passing through. What follows is mostly told from the perspective of Dale "Barbie" Barbara, a former Army lieutenant. After "Dome Day" as it comes to be called, the town quickly collapses into anarchy, as a small war breaks out between the power-hungry second selectman James "Big Jim" Rennie, and a portion of the townsfolk. Resources quickly begin to dwindle, and many begin to resort to monstrous acts of violence to survive."

The book was released last month. The Kindle edition will be available in about 3 days.


Don

Is this really science fiction? It sounds like the plot (sorta) of The Simpson's Movie and that was not science fiction.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Is this really science fiction? It sounds like the plot (sorta) of The Simpson's Movie and that was not science fiction.

Well, if you're thinking Space Brains and Bug-Eyed Monsters (BEMs), then probably not.

Think "Flowers For Algernon," with a popular twist of Coors or Bud for the 'good 'ole boys' that populate many of King's novels.


Don

[mrsquash]

Originally Posted by Latinandgreek

I've had [...] and Hyperion (Dan Simmons) on my reading list for a while, so I'd like to nominate those.

"Hyperion" is a great book, but it's a cliff-hanger, big time.

[Sparrow]

Aren't we overdue some E. M. Forster??
Can I nominate his novella 'The Machine Stops'? (Maybe it's too short. )

Humanity has moved under ground and become dependant on an omnipotent Machine for survival. One man, Kuno, rebels against this passive existence, warning that this unnatural relationship could mean the doom of mankind.

Wiki page is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Machine_Stops

HTML text available at http://www.plexus.org/forster/index.html

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by Sparrow

Aren't we overdue some E. M. Forster??
Can I nominate his novella 'The Machine Stops'? (Maybe it's too short. )

You can nominate it... doesn't mean it will be seconded or such or voted on.

Oh.... and if this is as gripping and exciting as A Passage to India... I'll pass.

BOb

[Sparrow]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

You can nominate it... doesn't mean it will be seconded or such or voted on.

Oh.... and if this is as gripping and exciting as A Passage to India... I'll pass.

BOb

Dunno if my original post counts as a nomination, since it was a query about whether it could be nominated - so I'll submit this message as a nomination for Forster's SF classic masterpiece - 'The Machine Stops'.

[yekim54]

Originally Posted by Sparrow

Dunno if my original post counts as a nomination, since it was a query about whether it could be nominated - so I'll submit this message as a nomination for Forster's SF classic masterpiece - 'The Machine Stops'.

I'll second "The Machine Stops"

[alfatreze]

Ok, here's my three pick I've been wanting to read for quite a long time, I've actually already started a bit on the first chapter of both "Time Enough for Love" and "Neuromancer" at some time, but happened to stop and never restarted.
I absolutely love everything from I've read so far from heinlein, most especially "Stranger in a Strange Land", and Radix I've recently discovered about and I've had quite an eager eye for it, a rare to find one though. Neuromancer is, well neuromancer, how many books can claim to have shaped a genre.

Having recently read only long series, namely, the entire Ender Saga by Orson Scott Card, followed by Larry Niven's The State Trilogy (also known by Integral Trees) and then topped by the utmost classic space opera E.E. Doc Smith's wonderful Lensman series (also I believe I re-read Dune before all this :P), I'm in need of a break with a couple os disparate titles, so I guess I'll go with the winners here, either mine or others, and my pick too, naturally, or all at once , mmm, books.

And the three contestants are...

Time Enough for Love, by Robert A. Heinlein

Radix, A.A. Attanasio

Neuromancer, by William Gibson


Time Enough for Love

Time Enough for Love is a science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein, first published in 1973. The work was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1973 [1] and both the Hugo and Locus Awards in 1974.
The book focuses on the adventures and musings of Lazarus Long (birth name Woodrow Wilson Smith), the oldest living human, who has grown weary and has decided that life is no longer worth living. It takes the form of several novellas tied together in the form of Lazarus's retrospective narrative. There is a reverse Arabian Nights theme to the novel, in that Lazarus will consent not to end his life as long as his companions will listen to his stories.

Radix

Radix is a science fiction novel by A. A. Attanasio, published in 1981. It was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1981. It is the first of four books in Attanasio's Radix Tetrad, followed by In Other Worlds in 1984.
Radix is the story of a young man's odyssey of self-discovery, from dangerous adolescent to warrior, from outcast to near-godhood, in a far-future Earth dramatically changed from the one we know.

Neuromancer

Neuromancer is a 1984 novel by William Gibson, notable for being the most famous early cyberpunk novel and winner of the science-fiction "triple crown" — the Nebula Award, the Philip K. Dick Award, and the Hugo Award.[1] It was Gibson's first novel and the beginning of the Sprawl trilogy. The novel tells the story of a washed-up computer hacker hired by a mysterious employer to work on the ultimate hack. Gibson explores artificial intelligence, virtual reality, genetic engineering, and megacorporations long before these ideas entered popular culture.

Descriptions courtesy of wikipedia

[Pieter040]

There are many great SF reads out there.

Here is my list of three (and all are free)
1) Blindsight by Peter Watts - (feedbooks.com)
2) Inherit the Stars - by J.P. Hogan (baen.com)
3) Deathworld - Harry Harrison (feedbooks.com)

Why Blindsight? Good story, good character description of the main persona via flashbacks, it deals with the question of what it means to be human and the alien in the story is truely alien. (and I don't mean green with 5 eyes).

Why Inherit the stars? Good story, a mystery is being unraveld. I like his writings style.

Why Deathworld? SciFi pulp of a long lost golden era. And makes for a good uncomplicatied reading.

[Sparrow]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow.

Seconded - I've heard a lot about Cory Doctorow, but not got round to reading anything by him.

[curtw]

May I submit "anti"-seconds? I was decidedly unimpressed by Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom. Lots of great ideas, but put together in an extremely episodic plot, with no real theme or meaning. Style over substance. I really enjoyed Replay, but I don't believe it's available in an ebook edition. Under the Dome sounds interesting, but I doubt if I could finish it in January, let alone have time to discuss. Maybe put in dibs (or should that be dribs?) for February?

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by curtw

May I submit "anti"-seconds? I was decidedly unimpressed by Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom. .....

That's my impression of Cory Doctorow overall - lots of sizzle but not much meat. I've read a number of his non-fiction articles and have a couple of his stories/novels on my to be read list, including this one. And will give it a go if it is chosen here.

[Tattncat]

I'll second Neuromancer, that sounds interesting. Why not some more Jeffery Carver, I really like his books.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by curtw

May I submit "anti"-seconds? I was decidedly unimpressed by Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom. Lots of great ideas, but put together in an extremely episodic plot, with no real theme or meaning.

I have to agree with you there. That's why I didn't rate this book very high... iirc yep, 2.5 starts on my library thing.

Originally Posted by kennyc

That's my impression of Cory Doctorow overall - lots of sizzle but not much meat.

I read Little Brother and enjoyed it quite alot. It was a real good read... almost to the point of a page turner. This is why I read another (magic kingdom) and it just left me mostly disappointed. I also read Craphound a short story which was ok but still no where as good at Little Brother.

BOb

[pilotbob]

Ok, Here's my first nomination... I looked in the Baen free library and found this Military Science Fiction that sounds like it might be good.

Cross the Stars
by David Drake

Hammer's Slammer Don Slade is coming home to the planet Tethys, to his son and the woman he loves. But the space between is dark and cold. And the stars he must pass shine their light on planets which beckon to the weary traveler, planets which hold hidden dangers.
And if Don Slade should ever reach Tethys ... that is when the real fighting starts.


BOb