SF/F Books: Chapter Two - What Are You Reading?

[Kegg]

So, A Maze of Death. What can I say? It's classically a PKD novel and I found it very enjoyable for precisely that. The sequence with the many characters approaching the Building and each reading something different is great; the vaguely alluded to 'correct' theology is interesting (mentufacturers, intercessors, the four essences of God - well, at least it's still got gnostic traces) and somewhere along the way the world falls apart.

In the middle we have characters with delightful, wonderful names like Thugg and Babble or gratuituously German names like Dunkelwelt. If there is one thing I think I have in common with Dick, it's a love of bizarre, pulpy names. I can never resist something interesting sounding or better yet, German.

Anyway enjoyed it tremendously. Also finally got around to finishing Space Merchants, which is brilliant and very funny. Think Mad Men meets Avatar and I've probably blown open your skull with the mental image of Don Draper; Na'vi provocateur... but my point is it's a future where Madison Avenue controls the world and terrorist conservationists (consies, gee, clever) are the enemy. A tad bludgeoning with its message, but at least it works through rapid, sharp satire. Yeah, yeah, it's a classic, why have I never read it? I'm lazy. Also I heard the radio play like aeons ago. The play is incidentally very good, it was an episode of X Minus One, my favourite of those I've heard.

Also, it's a classic, and what's your excuse?

Started Our Friends From Frolix 8 (when I finally run out of Dick books I will be very depressed and I'll also start rereading them no doubt) and More Than Human, a novel by Theodore Sturgeon. Friends is... well, I got what I wanted so far; More Than Human is captivatingly weird and eerie. Fifty pages in and I'm really not sure what the hell is going on but it's fascinating in a grim, detached sort of way. I'll plod anon.

I like alternate history that either amuses me with its cleverness or its protagonist's coolness [e.g. Lest Darkness Fall or the Belisarius books] or with its little details [e.g. the Nantucket books] but that's not really what TMITHC is about. In fact, it's not really alternate history per se, but kind of a hallucogenic meditation on whether there's such a thing as history at all.

Exactly. So often Dick defies the concerns of the labels he's been given. An alternate history novel about a world where the Nazis won WW2 and where there is an alternate history novel about how they didn't, is, in itself, a genius conceit. All you need now is characters relying on the I Ching and off we go.

 

[Skywalker]

I'm also finally reading Turtledove's The Great War series. I expected to get the next one in the series for Christmas, but my wife managed to buy the wrong book - she skipped one. I actually read about 40 pages before saying to myself, "I think I missed some of the story here." There are so many in the various interlocking series, though, it's an understandable mistake.

How far in are you? I finally finished the series a couple months ago with In At The Death. Turtledove's biggest problem is his tendency towards being repetitive, something that is compounded in a series that ultimately spans 11 books. Nonetheless, I'm glad I stuck with it. A strong ending.

I used to be big into Turtledove during the early part of the decade. The Guns of the South, How Few Remain, The Great War...I loved 'em all. However, after TGW, I found American Empire a little dull, and was pretty disappointed in the first book of his Settling Accounts tetralogy. I guess I just got tired of the repetitiveness. I might go back and finish the series one day, but probably not for a while.

On the other hand, Turtledove's Ruled Britannia is probably one of my favorite books ever. Most definitely my favorite one of his.

 

[Ruaidhri]

I'm also finally reading Turtledove's The Great War series. I expected to get the next one in the series for Christmas, but my wife managed to buy the wrong book - she skipped one. I actually read about 40 pages before saying to myself, "I think I missed some of the story here." There are so many in the various interlocking series, though, it's an understandable mistake.

How far in are you? I finally finished the series a couple months ago with In At The Death. Turtledove's biggest problem is his tendency towards being repetitive, something that is compounded in a series that ultimately spans 11 books. Nonetheless, I'm glad I stuck with it. A strong ending.

I used to be big into Turtledove during the early part of the decade. The Guns of the South, How Few Remain, The Great War...I loved 'em all. However, after TGW, I found American Empire a little dull, and was pretty disappointed in the first book of his Settling Accounts tetralogy. I guess I just got tired of the repetitiveness. I might go back and finish the series one day, but probably not for a while.

On the other hand, Turtledove's Ruled Britannia is probably one of my favorite books ever. Most definitely my favorite one of his.

Agreed on Ruled Brittania. A standalone, so it forces him to move the plot faster. I find short stories to be his strongest format. The collection Counting Up, Counting Down is really great.

 

[FluffyUnbound]

I had not known there was so much Ruled Brittania love out there. The era in question is not a favorite of mine and what appetite I did have for it was blown out by the 1632 books, which were pretty much beaten to death. [OK that's not exactly the same era but it's close enough for me.] Maybe I will have to check it out.

I agree about Turtledove and short stories. My favorite work of his is the "Agent of Byzantium" stories, which are silly straightforward alternate history with easy to guess POD's and not a lot of characterization, but they're just clever and fun so I like them. They're like Byzantine versions of Lest Darkness Fall in that regard, so I guess that's why I like them so much.

 

[Brian]

Currently reading Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

I'm reading that, too, albiet on low priority. I have it on my phone and read a chapter whenever I find myself enqueued somewhere.

I somehow managed to get to age 42 without ever having read it.

 

[Admiral_Young]

I'm a third of the way through Star Trek Enterprise The Romulan War: Beneath the Raptor's Wing. Before that I just finished Jack Campbell's The Lost Fleet Series Book Five. After The Romulan War I will be reading Halo Revolutions.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

Currently reading Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

I'm reading that, too, albiet on low priority. I have it on my phone and read a chapter whenever I find myself enqueued somewhere.

I somehow managed to get to age 42 without ever having read it.

Same here, well age 27... I've read about 5 or 6 chapters now, I'm not sure if my mam read me a picture book version when I was little or I'm just getting the Disney version in my head when I read certain parts.

 

[Rii]

Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon

 

[Lt. Trull]

I'm a third of the way through Star Trek Enterprise The Romulan War: Beneath the Raptor's Wing. Before that I just finished Jack Campbell's The Lost Fleet Series Book Five. After The Romulan War I will be reading Halo Revolutions.

the SIXTH book of the lost fleet series will be out in april 2010 this year...
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/c/jack-campbell/victorious.htm

 

[Mistral]

Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon

Oh, my, its been 30 years easy....

If you enjoy that, take a crack at the Grey Lensman series. Similar era, similar attitudes if I recall correctly. And Cordwainer Smith's Instrumentality stories are great, too.

 

[MyCylon]

I didn't particularly care for The Man in the High Castle either, although I read it over 15 years ago when I was in high school and need to read it again to re-evaluate it.

I think I’ll probably give it another try at some later time as well. Maybe I simply had the wrong expectations when I started reading it, I don’t know.

I read The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldrich about three to four years ago and enjoyed it in the same way I enjoyed David Lynch's Lost Highway: both works are weird and sometimes inscrutable, but they are so effective in conveying an atmosphere that one gets what they're on about almost by osmosis, even if it's hard to put into words.

I think I’ll need to check out “Lost Highway” at some stage. I’ve heard a lot about it but somehow never got around to actually seeing it myself.
But, yes, the atmosphere in ‘The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch” is certainly what makes it (like many other PKD books) so effective. It’s one of the things I admire about PKD’s writing along with some of the amazing and sometimes crazy ideas. It often felt to me as though he was, on some level, very free in the way he would write. He wasn’t afraid of people thinking he was crazy because he wrote something that might seem crazy. He simply put it on paper and ran with it. Note: I have no idea if that’s the way he felt about it himself when he was actually writing his books. But that’s how it feels to me when I read them.

My two favorite PKD novels so far are A Scanner Darkly and Ubik.

I absolutely need to pick up “A Scanner Darkly”. I adore the movie (which I’m told is quite true to the book unlike most other PKD adaptations, it would seem), and I think it’s a tragically beautiful story. Definitely on my list of must-reads.
I think my favorite PKD ones so far were probably “Ubik” and “VALIS”.

I am glad it's not just me when it comes to The Man In the High Castle. I've never seen why its so highly rated-as a story it was plagued by weak characterization and as an alt-hist tale there are far better out there. Currently reading Finities, having fun with it.

I was curious to see what people here would think about “The Man in the High Castle” since it seems to be highly praised in general. And I’m also glad to see I’m not alone in having some issues with it.
For a time I was wondering if it had to do with the fact that I’m from Germany and might have a different view on the ‘Reich’ and how things might have played out had Germany won the war. But reading some of the other comments got me thinking that might not be it at all.

With regard to The Man in the High Castle, I don't really judge it by the standards I usually apply to alternate history. I like alternate history that either amuses me with its cleverness or its protagonist's coolness [e.g. Lest Darkness Fall or the Belisarius books] or with its little details [e.g. the Nantucket books] but that's not really what TMITHC is about. In fact, it's not really alternate history per se, but kind of a hallucogenic meditation on whether there's such a thing as history at all. In kind of the same way that Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep isn't really about robots, The Man in the High Castle is not really about alternate history.

I find this description very interesting. And it certainly has me motivated to give the book another try. As I said up above it’s quite possible I went in with the wrong expectations.

So, A Maze of Death. What can I say? It's classically a PKD novel and I found it very enjoyable for precisely that. The sequence with the many characters approaching the Building and each reading something different is great; the vaguely alluded to 'correct' theology is interesting (mentufacturers, intercessors, the four essences of God - well, at least it's still got gnostic traces) and somewhere along the way the world falls apart.
In the middle we have characters with delightful, wonderful names like Thugg and Babble or gratuituously German names like Dunkelwelt. If there is one thing I think I have in common with Dick, it's a love of bizarre, pulpy names. I can never resist something interesting sounding or better yet, German.

Sehr gut .
“A Maze of Death” certainly sounds interesting. I must keep an eye out at the local library when I’m there again.

Anyway enjoyed it tremendously. Also finally got around to finishing Space Merchants, which is brilliant and very funny. Think Mad Men meets Avatar and I've probably blown open your skull with the mental image of Don Draper; Na'vi provocateur... but my point is it's a future where Madison Avenue controls the world and terrorist conservationists (consies, gee, clever) are the enemy. A tad bludgeoning with its message, but at least it works through rapid, sharp satire. Yeah, yeah, it's a classic, why have I never read it? I'm lazy. Also I heard the radio play like aeons ago. The play is incidentally very good, it was an episode of X Minus One, my favourite of those I've heard.

Also, it's a classic, and what's your excuse?

Laziness also?

I like alternate history that either amuses me with its cleverness or its protagonist's coolness [e.g. Lest Darkness Fall or the Belisarius books] or with its little details [e.g. the Nantucket books] but that's not really what TMITHC is about. In fact, it's not really alternate history per se, but kind of a hallucogenic meditation on whether there's such a thing as history at all.

Exactly. So often Dick defies the concerns of the labels he's been given. An alternate history novel about a world where the Nazis won WW2 and where there is an alternate history novel about how they didn't, is, in itself, a genius conceit. All you need now is characters relying on the I Ching and off we go.

I loved that particular angle, the alternate history novel within the alternate history. Plus it’s fascinating that it doesn’t simply describe our ‘real’ history but yet another alternate history. It almost makes you wonder if somewhere within “The Man in the High Castle” our history shines through somewhere.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

In the edition of The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldrich that I read the foreword related the tale of how PKD wrote the book. He found it impossible to write at home because his family were too much of a distraction, so every working day he walked down the road to a little bungalow where he'd set up an office. At the time he was heavily into drugs and every day on the walk down that road he had hallucinatory visions of a wrathful God with a metallic face glaring down at him from the sky. He wrote the novel in a state of terror, and once it was in galley form he never read it again because of how much fear it produced in him.

 

[Ensign_Redshirt]

Saturn's Children by Charles Stross

 

[FluffyUnbound]

I loved that particular angle, the alternate history novel within the alternate history. Plus it’s fascinating that it doesn’t simply describe our ‘real’ history but yet another alternate history. It almost makes you wonder if somewhere within “The Man in the High Castle” our history shines through somewhere.

Like the character of Julia, I find it highly significant that

Spoiler: spoiler

the I Ching actually wrote the book-inside-the-book, and not Hawthorne.

If the Oracle told the truth about which history is "real", I think that implies that

Spoiler: spoiler - maybe, based on my reading of the text

the characters are living in a false and delusional reality, and we as the reader are, too.

I think that this is supported by the sidebar about the cigarette lighter [there is no difference between the two lighters, ultimately; the difference is all in our minds, which implies that it may be just a delusion] and by the rest of Dick's work, which always seems to play with the issue of whether we can trust that what we see is true given how flawed our means of cognition is. [As in We Can Remember It For You Wholesale and other works.]

 

[Kegg]

I loved that particular angle, the alternate history novel within the alternate history. Plus it’s fascinating that it doesn’t simply describe our ‘real’ history but yet another alternate history. It almost makes you wonder if somewhere within “The Man in the High Castle” our history shines through somewhere.

Which in itself is partly a take on the irreality of the novel. How history would really progress had the Nazis won, and how a Philip K. Dick novel would depict that victory, are two different things.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

I'm reading The Good, The Bad and The Uncanny, the latest Nightside novel. Should finish it tonight.

 

[Dionysis]

Just finished the second book continuing the storyline after The 4400 season 4 finale.
David Mack did a good job with his sequel to Greg Cox' 'Welcome to Promise City'

 

[Ruaidhri]

After having some difficulty getting into Glasshouse, I ended up really enjoying it. Once I got into the experiment portion of the book, it just flew. Really good book. I have Stross' Accelerando on my shelf, too, but will get to it later.

Now reading Farthing by Jo Walton. A blurb on the back cover compares it to Fatherland, and I'm finding that spot on.

 

[FluffyUnbound]

I've read the novellas upon which Farthing is based in anthology form. Very good, but a little disturbing.

 

[Brandonv]

I just finished reading The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, and thought it was an enjoyable book. I can definitely see why it is frequently on peoples list of best science fiction novels. Can anyone tell me if the sequel, The Gripping Hand, is worth reading? It seems that the reviews for it are much more mixed.

I have now started reading The Dreaming Void by Peter F. Hamilton. I read Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained last year, and look forward to reading another story set in his Commonwealth universe.