5/20 I just finished reading 3001 and I must say that it was a huge
disappointment for me. I disliked the explanation of the nature
of the monoliths (basically dumb robots, not even as intelligent
as HAL) and their vulnerability to 20th/21st century computer
viruses (deja vu ID4?). Did any of you read the book and like it?
If so, what aspects did you like?
\_ clarke is a hack. get a clue. -tom
\_ 2001 and 2010 were pretty good. If clarke is such a hack
what sci-fi authors do you recommend reading?
\_ Gene Wolfe, Stanislaw Lem, Kage Baker. --pld
\_ Dan Simmons, "Hyperion"
Vernor Vinge, "A Fire Upon The Deep"
Connie Willis.
Iain M. Banks.
To some extent, Greg Bear and Kim Stanley Robinson.
Most decent sci-fi writers also write stuff other than
sci-fi. -tom
\_ if you don't want to read hacks, don't read sci-fi. -!tom
\_ Clarke wasn't a hack in his earlier days (_2001_, _Childhood's
End_, etc.), but he's since taken to the senile dementia/"I
need the money" path trailblazed by other classic SF authors
(Azimov, Heinlein, et. al.) of cranking out low-to-no-quality
books, knowing that a certain group of people will buy them
just because they have his holy name on the cover. As for
authors I'd recommend in the SF/F arena: Iain M. Banks, John
Brunner, Lois McMaster Bujold, Philip K. Dick, Barry Hughart,
Cyril Kornbluth, Johnathan Lethem, Tim Powers, Kim Stanley
Robinson, Clifford Simak, Neal Stephenson, Connie Willis,
and Vernor Vinge, for starters (these aren't entirely blanket
author recommendations, though; there are definitely some
works by the above-listed that you'd be better off
avoiding). -- kahogan
\_ Heinlein doesn't need the money anymore....
\_ Libertarians keep score from beyond the grave. |