Revelation Space changed the way I look at SF
- Thread starter Planetary
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Technically, one half of the second volume, Foundation and Empire, is based on Gibbon, namely the story of Belisarius and Justinian II (Bel Riose and Cleon in Asimov.) If you want to see an example of history rewritten as scifi, try A.E. Van Vogt's Empire of the Atom, which rips off Robert Graves wholesale.
The first volume is very plausibly extrapolated, so unless you rule out social science for "hard" science fiction on principle, the first volume qualifies. You may, as many people do. "Psychohistory" was imagined when sensitive dependence on initial conditions, strange attractors and all such advances in nonlinear mathematics were unknown. It's just more scientific error in old SF.
On the other hand, the Mule and the Second Foundation are very close to being "magic," except that there is a vague handwaving claim they're all somehow natural.
On the general subject of memorable characterization, there is some confusion. One of the most memorable characters ever created was Sherlock Holmes. Or Spock. Neither is regarded as rich, detailed characterization. Also, the insistence that characters be consistently motivated seems exactly opposite to the insistence that they be complex, at least, judging by the example of characters widely regarded as "complex" in fine literature.
I don't, but I take hard science fiction to be a field where the science part of the fiction - social or otherwise - is designed to seem as related to pluasibility of its chosen field as possible. Whatever the scientific and conceptual errors one wants to attribute to the "I, Robot" stories, they're probably more in line with the concept then the far-flung distant future of galactic politics of the Foundation series.
It's not a principle thing - I've never been one of those people who aver it's somehow better than the alternative - just a category distinction.
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No, but it's always been known for more demanding science, speculation, and vastly more sophisticated storytelling than you'll find in movies or TV. Congratulations on discovering sf prose fiction.
Man, some of you guys are snarky. I suppose that's something I should expect, but damn, you'd think I came in here saying all written SF is shit, instead of making a thread praising my favorite SF series for its imagination, world-building and mood.
This notion that I've just discovered written SF, or that I've been preoccupied with television and movies all my life before finding the good stuff, is presumptuous, ridiculous and wrong. I don't even own a TV.
I posted this thread to share my enthusiasm for a great series. If you've read Revelation Space, then by all means tell me you think the characterization is great. If you haven't, then you should probably read the books first. Otherwise, let's please keep this thread on topic before it gets derailed further. I'll gladly spend time talking about the books, but I won't get into a pissing contest about who knows more about SF. Thank you.
Don't mind him, I too thought he sounded needlessly condescending. Dennis isn't known as happy fun boy.
Jayzus, it sure is. Written sci fi has had as well-written characters as the ones in any other genre I've ever read.
You need to watch DS9.
Ah, you'll get used to it.
It's absolutely true that a massive amount of science fiction has shit characters. That pretty much goes for any genre, though.
I've only read one Alistair Reynolds books and it dealt with exactly that.
***SPOILERS FOR PUSHING ICE FOLLOWS***
I loved how it spelled out quite rightly that the universe is billions of years old, that many species will seldom last to the age of 1 million, and that if two sentient species do meet each other it's quite rare.
Pushing Ice basically had a central hub (which in reality acted like a prison) for species gathered from all over the galaxy, and forced them to build a colony in one place. While they were trapped, they were also protected within specific tubes within the hub in order to allow them to grow. In effect, species that would normally have died out now thrive in a petri dish together.
Have never met Revelation Space, been too busy getting through Peter F. Hamilton novels!
If you are looking for singularity related SF, the best author to read is probably Vernor Vinge... His works (all I have read anyway) all seem to deal with singularity events (or what delays such an event).
These three books all deal with the subject in various ways:
- "Marooned in Realtime" - Brilliant, deals with the repercussions of a group of humanity that 'missed' the singularity, a MUST read. This book spans 50 million years, and really was an eye-opener. You won't look at time again the same way after reading it.
- "A Fire Upon the Deep" and "A Deepness in the Sky" are both loosely set in the same universe but can be read in any order, sets up a universe which has specific properties that delay/prevent singularities, both are well worth your time.
As a "well-read" scifi nut I have to agree. You might also try Ken MacLeod. I can only recall one title- The Stone Canal, but his series is great post-Human stuff. Also, try Allen Steele's The King of Infinite Space. And I guess Greg Bear's EON.
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