Sci-fi authors you (and I) should NEVER read

[EatingPie]

Originally Posted by radius

I tried very hard to make some kind of joke about women in Heinlein novels and Boris Vallejo covers, but I couldn't find a way to make it funny and inoffensive at the same time. Damn.

Oh c'mon mister! Bring it on! I ruffled feathers enough with the rape issue to be flamed! I'm willing to share the flamer's love!

BTW, I read your comments on ST, and while I do have a response, to make a thorough argument, I would have to read it again myself. Ack! Resisting... Temptation...

-Pie

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by radius

I tried very hard to make some kind of joke about women in Heinlein novels and Boris Vallejo covers, but I couldn't find a way to make it funny and inoffensive at the same time. Damn.

The medical exam in that book didn't disturb you? Or how about the short story All You Zombies?

Heinlein just doesn't write strong convincing women in his books.

[StorytellerTDW]

Currently I am reading Victory of Eagles - Temeraire Novel By Naomi Novik
It is an incredible series of books where dragons are used like the air force in England and France during Napoleonic Times. Very enjoyable reading.

[Self-Promotional material deleted - MODERATOR] - Off now to continue exploring this wonderful sight for what I might find to read next.

[caheaton]

I read "The Black Cloud" back in high school (not for school...for my own enjoyment...my father had (has) a paperback copy). I rather enjoyed it.
Craig

Originally Posted by nomesque

Fred Hoyle.

Our school thought that a good introduction to the sci-fi genre would be 'The Black Cloud'. Oh lordy. It was the worst book I've ever had to drag my way through.

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by StorytellerTDW

Currently I am reading Victory of Eagles - Temeraire Novel By Naomi Novik
It is an incredible series of books where dragons are used like the air force in England and France during Napoleonic Times. Very enjoyable reading.

Did you somehow not read the title of this thread?

Originally Posted by StorytellerTDW

Recently I self published my first book and in honor of Read an E-book week I am sharing it for free. If you goto Smashwords dot com. /books/view/38922 you can see my first novel.

Since you're spamming this thread and not the appropriate thread for author self-promotions am I to assume you are a Sci-fi author I should NEVER read?

Originally Posted by StorytellerTDW

Use code XX79H at check out and you can down load it for free to what ever reading format you desire. Off now to continue exploring this wonderful sight for what I might find to read next.

Why would I download, even for free, a book by an author recommended in a thread dedicated to Authors I should never read?

You might want to read the sticky post from the Author Self-Promotions forum.

[wyndslash]

Originally Posted by EatingPie

Oh c'mon mister! Bring it on! I ruffled feathers enough with the rape issue to be flamed! I'm willing to share the flamer's love!

BTW, I read your comments on ST, and while I do have a response, to make a thorough argument, I would have to read it again myself. Ack! Resisting... Temptation...

-Pie

haha! don't worry, i agree with you wholeheartedly and now am scared of men xD;

anywhoo, scanned this thread. never read SF myself, but I guess now I know whose works I SHOULDN'T read if ever I am tempted to go into the genre.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by wyndslash

haha! don't worry, i agree with you wholeheartedly and now am scared of men xD;

anywhoo, scanned this thread. never read SF myself, but I guess now I know whose works I SHOULDN'T read if ever I am tempted to go into the genre.

Take the comments with a liberal amount of salt. I've been reading the genre for decades, and an assortment of the comments here make me wonder if the poster and I read the same book.
______
Dennis

[wyndslash]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

Take the comments with a liberal amount of salt. I've been reading the genre for decades, and an assortment of the comments here make me wonder if the poster and I read the same book.
______
Dennis

thanks! i must admit, that i am the type of person who easily enjoys a certain book, even if most other people might say that it is not good. i guess i'm not very discerning

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by wyndslash

thanks! i must admit, that i am the type of person who easily enjoys a certain book, even if most other people might say that it is not good. i guess i'm not very discerning

Any book is a dialogue between the author and the reader, and the reader's reaction is determined as much by what the reader brings to the book as by what the author puts into it.

Enjoy what you like. Other people's comments are useful insofar as you understand their taste and know why they feel as they do. Some reviewers are useful precisely because their taste is the opposite of yours - "Oh, he hated it! That means I'll love it!"
_______
Dennis

[PhishStyx]

Originally Posted by StorytellerTDW

Currently I am reading Victory of Eagles - Temeraire Novel By Naomi Novik
It is an incredible series of books where dragons are used like the air force in England and France during Napoleonic Times. Very enjoyable reading.

Recently I self published my first book and in honor of Read an E-book week I am sharing it for free. If you goto Smashwords dot com. /books/view/38922 you can see my first novel. Use code XX79H at check out and you can down load it for free to what ever reading format you desire. Off now to continue exploring this wonderful sight for what I might find to read next.

Right. Don't EVER read that. Got it. Thanks for the advice.

[sourcejedi]

Originally Posted by radius

For me it depends.

I enjoyed reading _A Planet for Texans_.

On the other hand, there was a book I read a year or two ago with a similar premise (someone from earth ends up on a libertarian planet [where they eat spicy food] and learns private enterprise etc) which I could have sworn was from Baen and/or L. Neil Smith, that was a real stinker, but I can't find the title.

If you've got the publisher right, it could be Freehold (Baen Free Library link).

This is so funny to me that Heinlein has provoked such a vociferous debate. I actually liked Citizen of the Galaxy when I read it back when, must have been about junior high. In fact maybe I will go back and read it again. I recall that I did not care for a lot of his other books I read: Starman Jones, Starship Troopers, Have Space Suit—Will Travel, Stranger in a Strange Land, not because of any thing about his views. I just thought these were silly.

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by Hamlet53

I recall that I did not care for a lot of his other books I read: Starman Jones, Starship Troopers, Have Space Suit—Will Travel, Stranger in a Strange Land, not because of any thing about his views. I just thought these were silly.

Interesting how everyone is different.

Three of the above are on the Top 100 Sci-Fi books list and two of them were Hugo award winners. Two are listed as targeted to teenage boys and are part of what are referred to as Heinlein Juveniles. Starship Troopers was meant to be the 13th of the Heinlein Juveniles series but was turned down by Scribner, it ended up published by Putnam and won the Hugo for best novel.

Personally I have only read Stranger in a Strange Land in my early 20s and Starship Troopers just prior to the movie coming out. I recall enjoying both of these books quite a lot.

With 4 Hugo awards, I think it is safe to say that Robert Heinlein is not a Science Fiction author you should never read.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by dwanthny

With 4 Hugo awards, I think it is safe to say that Robert Heinlein is not a Science Fiction author you should never read.

If you're serious about SF, Heinlein is an author you pretty much have to read. He was one of the defining influences of the "Golden Age" of SF, in the late '40s and early '50s when John W. Campbell at Astounding SF Magazine was in the process of redefining the field.

He gets brickbats from some folks for political views that anticipate Libertarian, though his politics are arguably not so simply defined.

He was raised in a Midwest fundamentalist "Bible Belt" environment, and a lot of his work can be viewed in part as him systematically examining the beliefs he was raised in, asking "Does this make sense?", and concluding that it didn't.

"Middle period" Heinlein is generally considered his best, but even at the end of his life he was still searching and growing, looking for things beyond those he had talked about and new directions for his stories.

I met him, years back. He was in reality a rather shy man, but felt it his duty to be available to his fans when he did appear at a public event, and was uniformly polite and gracious when he did.
______
Dennis

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

If you're serious about SF, Heinlein is an author you pretty much have to read.

I agree.