Books 2nd Edition, Foreword by m0r1arty Options

[mcraigclark]

Christopher Moore

Yes.

Lamb, The Stupidest Angel, or A Dirty Job are great places to start. Actually, The Stupidest Angel should be read after Lamb for maximum enjoyment, but it'll stand on it own (as every Christmas zombie book should).

[Julie]

a list provided by Julie including some Christopher Moore that I am sure will make it into my purchasing.

I can't claim credit for that one, but you will enjoy it muchly.

You might also really enjoy this.

[ella]

Ta Craig - Julie did say that you were the Christopher Moore pimp around here.

I can't claim credit for that one, but you will enjoy it muchly.

You might also really enjoy this.

Yes, yes I think I will.

I'm going to need a bigger backpack....

[maian]

Yay for the Moore love. I'd second Craig's recommendations but would particularly recommend Lamb since that was the first of his books that I read. He's bloody brilliant.

[GundamGuy_UK]

My copy of The Dechronization of Sam Magruder should be arriving soon.



10 points to anyone who's heard of it.

[sweetbutinsane]

That's a rather unfortunate name.

[GundamGuy_UK]

It's quite interesting, actually. He was a palaeontologist, and when he died his daughter was going through his things and she found this manuscript for a sci-fi short story, that he'd written years ago and never told anyone about. She paid to have it get a brief run of production about 12 years ago, and it's an obscure classic.

It's about a man who's experimenting with this machine one night, and it sends him back in time to the Cretaceous Period. He has no way of getting back, and has no tools or anything. The story is of his life there, until he dies.

Now, the interesting thing about it is that it's all set in the future. Some archaeologists find these stone tablets with engravings on, and it's his diary of his life with the dinosaurs. So the narrative is all done as diary entries, which are infrequent and strange because it's so hard for him to carve them. The reader assumes he dies, because the entries just stop. The only speech and characters are the editors at a publishing house talking to other experts to decide how this discovery should be told to the public and published.

It's incredible. I'd really urge sci-fi fans to track it down, it's such a unique way of doing a time travel story.

[Everlong]

I want this.

Might ask for it for Christmas though, low on £££

[maian]

I've dipped in and out of it over the last six months or so, but I finally finished The Stand by Stephen King.

All in all, I enjoyed it, but I did have problems with it. I read the Uncut version, which goes on for 1300 pages and that, frankly, is too long and it feels a bit indulgent. I never got bored and from what I can tell the stuff that was reintroduced featured some sequences that I loved, but it still felt like a grind sometimes. I didn't like the ending, which is probably one of the most literal deus ex machinas I've ever read and didn't really seem to do justice to the terrific build up.

Still, the story is good, particularly the sections dealing with the outbreak and spread of the superflu, the characters are well rounded and each brings something to the story, with the obvious exception of The Walkin' Dude, but then again it wouldn't be so much fun if we knew about him.

Not as good as The Shining, in my opinion, but a grand and ambitious fantasy that just runs away with itself a little too often.

[Rebus]

It's quite interesting, actually. He was a palaeontologist, and when he died his daughter was going through his things and she found this manuscript for a sci-fi short story, that he'd written years ago and never told anyone about. She paid to have it get a brief run of production about 12 years ago, and it's an obscure classic.

It's about a man who's experimenting with this machine one night, and it sends him back in time to the Cretaceous Period. He has no way of getting back, and has no tools or anything. The story is of his life there, until he dies.

Now, the interesting thing about it is that it's all set in the future. Some archaeologists find these stone tablets with engravings on, and it's his diary of his life with the dinosaurs. So the narrative is all done as diary entries, which are infrequent and strange because it's so hard for him to carve them. The reader assumes he dies, because the entries just stop. The only speech and characters are the editors at a publishing house talking to other experts to decide how this discovery should be told to the public and published.

It's incredible. I'd really urge sci-fi fans to track it down, it's such a unique way of doing a time travel story.

My interest is truly piqued, sounds fascinating. That's going down on my list.

[Bloomeeney]

Read The Stand years ago (two or three times in fact), used to be a huge Stephn King fan. I remember really enjoying the book and still wonder what the world would be like if something like this really did happen. The only problem I had with the book was the whole Good vs Evil thing going on, but then it wouldn't be a King book without it!!

Thoroughly reccommend to anyone.

I've just bought Jonathon Ross' book which looks quite fun - just need the time to read it! Need to get the new Pratchett too - even though it's not a Discworld novel.

[Jubei]

I finished Temopral Void a while back, and really quite enjoyed it. I liked the Edeard parts more this time, which is good because, especially towards the end, there were so many of them. I still prefer the stuff out of the void, but it wasn't such a drag getting another dream now. You could take the Void parts in isolation, and you'd have the fairly fleshed out bones of a decent fantasy/sci-fi in it's own right.

I've also read The First Lensman by E E 'Doc' Smith. I can't recommend it. In it's time, it was a popular series i think, but it's so dated it's almost unreadable. The good guys are one hundred percent GOOD! In fact, a requirement of becoming a lensman is that they be incorruptible. There also seems to be a little bit of domestic violence in there* as well as some very badly veiled anti-communist propaganda and some really dated dialog and terminology. When a criminals headquarters is described as 'doubly spy-ray proof' I just stop taking things seriously. And the prevalance of asbestos in our future is frightening. And also, in the future, you can tell someone's a bad guy, because they have no first name.

*by the good guys, I quote:

"It wasn't always easy to tell what Impish Mrs Costigan meant by what she said. Conway thought about it and decided she was taking him for a ride. He smacked her a couple of times where it would do the most good, kissed her thoroughly, and left."

All this because she said she was 'deleriously delighted' to have her husband back from across the galaxy.

[ella]

Finished Microserfs on the way up to Churchill. Made me want to be more of a nerd than I am. In 1996.

On the way back I read Lamb by Christopher Moore - bloody excellent. Thank you Craig and Jules - you are both wise and good.

And half of Girlfriend in a Coma by Doug Coupland. Which is also brilliance and reminded me that I had read Generation X and it was a favourite of mine for a while and I had totally forgotten about it. So no wonder I am having a bit of the Coupland love at the moment.

[Jon 79]

I bought a bulk load of Robert Rankin on ebay the other week (this was when I could afford such things)
I figure this lot will last me til next summer.

[Jessopjessopjess...]

The Temporal Void

So I finished at the weekend. Pretty good overall, but with the usual Hamilton handicaps. Although for the first time I've enjoyed being submerged in his worlds for extended periods rather than resenting his endless unnecessary description, I wonder why he feels the need to describe what everyone eats at mealtimes; it's just a little bit twee.

But things are set up nicely for the 'The Evolutionary Void'. I imagine the two universes will begin to merge somewhat. Any ideas about what the Deterrent Fleet is? Who were Rah and The Lady? What role will Ozzie play?