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Old 04-16-2016, 11:27 AM   #23866
issybird
o saeclum infacetum
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Quote:
Originally Posted by meeera View Post
Yeesh, I don't blame you. Stay away from the SF 'classics'. Ignore those who recommend Heinlein, Clarke, and Asimov allatonce in their first breath. Read some SF written in the past 30-40 years. For alternative starting points, having read your other post, I recommend Bujold's Vorkosigan books, starting with Shards of Honour/Barrayar. Try The Sparrow, by Mary Doria Russell; Station Eleven; Ann Leckie's series; The Dervish House; any Paolo Bacigalupi book; Clade; James S A Corey; John Scalzi (in fact, I'll go out on a limb and say try Fuzzy Nation); Tidhar's Osama; All The Birds in the Sky. If you want to try a classic, maybe try Kindred, or posssibly Bradbury's "The Illustrated Man".
Quote:
Originally Posted by meeera View Post
I am talking to this particular person and using their explanation of what they like and don't like. My kid likes Asimov a bit, and that's fine, though it's not a favourite for him. But in general, I will admit that this is a big pet peeve of mine - science fiction lovers continuing to recommend their gateway drug (the fifties writers that they read age 12 in the seventies) as though they're a good current-day gateway drug for adult litfic readers. I grew up on Asimov and McCaffrey, but I don't recommend them first-up these days to non-SF people looking for SF recs. Context matters.

I am similarly eye-rolly at people who recommend the YA books they read forty years ago as though they're a great way to engage reluctant adolescent readers of 2016. It just doesn't work.
Thank you for the suggestions. I do appreciate your perspective and agree with it.
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