New Mars Forums

Palomar

Member

From: USA

Registered: 2002-05-30

Posts: 9,734

Re: Good books you've just read

Hellsing Vol. 1 (I like vampire stories)...Am starting off with Hellsing; so far so good.  Very good.

*Bought volumes 2 and 3 last evening.  This serial graphic novel (Manga) has some interesting twists.  There is only 1 way vampires can be created; the vampire hero of the story carries a cross with him (he's also sexy -- tall and lean); he works for a human agency which is fiercely loyal to Protestant Christianity; a Vatican secret "hit squad" is in the mix (including an agent who is a "Regenerator").

Apparently Nazi agents who aren't quite what they initially appear to be are coming into play soon. 

Very entertaining.

--Cindy

---

We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...

--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)

mr mirana

Banned

From: Glasgow

Registered: 2004-09-28

Posts: 15

Website

Re: Good books you've just read

Ends and Means by Aldous Huxley
Science, Liberty and Peace, also by Huxley.

Horribly prescient, far more so than Brave New World.

3001 put me off ACC too, which I regret. I loved his short stories when I was a kid.

Mad Grad Student - Charlie Chan Fan?

---

[url=http://www.bfi.org]http://www.bfi.org[/url]

Palomar

Member

From: USA

Registered: 2002-05-30

Posts: 9,734

Re: Good books you've just read

Hellsing Vol. 1 (I like vampire stories)...Am starting off with Hellsing; so far so good.  Very good.

*Bought volumes 2 and 3 last evening.  This serial graphic novel (Manga) has some interesting twists.

*Well the first book in the series was good (clever twists, new ideas, suspense, an "ageless" book in many ways). 

I wasn't planning on commenting again, but the 2nd book in the series gives me little choice:  It's a far cry from the 1st, and this one IS geared for kids.  There's little creativity, much less clever plots or subplots.  The characters are dumbed down.  In fact, I shouldn't even say it's geared for kids:  There are many adolescents and even pre-pubescent kids far too intelligent for the junk the author's peddling in his 2nd book.

No matter what supernatural powers the lead characters have, ANY altercation MUST be settled with guns -- always.  No wizardry, tricks or clever "outs".  Just guns (except for a priest who prefers blades).

The author had a really good thing going with the 1st book; it was worthy of the old anime "Vampire Hunter D."

Another thing:  The 1st book had no swearing/foul language in it.  I don't have a morality issue with swearing, by the way.  However, the 2nd book is littered with lots of profanity and crudeness:  My take on this is the author couldn't come up with enough intelligent, even halfway meaningful or interesting conversation between characters (as in the 1st book), so he filled it up with profanity, cliches and little quips.

IMO the author simply sold out and cheapened his product.  He couldn't come up with a storyline to trump the 1st, so he takes the easy way out by coarsening/degrading the characters and substituting images of gratuitous overblown violence for an actual storyline. 

Sorry I wasted my money.    I'm even more sorry the author degraded his own work (IMO).

--Cindy

---

We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...

--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)

tahanson43206

Moderator

Registered: 2018-04-27

Posts: 19,421

Re: Good books you've just read

The Trailbreaker script appears to have hit a major pothole.

Instead of stopping and skipping the problem as intended, it appears to have created some new posts.

I'll investigate and resolve the problem before proceeding with updates.

(th)

tahanson43206

Moderator

Registered: 2018-04-27

Posts: 19,421

Re: Good books you've just read

For SpaceNut ... testing new script command to skip large posts.

The new command worked in offline testing, but failed again in live Internet.

46507 has been restored.  I'll look at the log tomorrow.

(th)

Mars_B4_Moon

Member

Registered: 2006-03-23

Posts: 9,776

Re: Good books you've just read

a thread worth a  bump maybe

I've read some ok books, been a while since I read a great book.

Not sure about these picks as 'The Best' but some good scifi books in the list

'The Best Science Fiction Books of All Time'
https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/ … -all-time/

If I were to criticize modern writing maybe its gone a bit too dark, political or fantasy dystopia which might be why some return to the upbeat feel from scifi classics.

but maybe 'Art' is downstream from culture and that is real life influence on Art influencing life influencing art?

People review stuff so you can see what is good and trending or maybe so you don't waste time and money on the latest thing, some scifi has potential not bad but not the greatest either.

Scifi Horror becoming a thing again, Titanic meets The Shining in space.

Dead Silence

There are whispers in the dark, warnings written in blood, and flickers of movement that cannot be explained. To survive and return home victorious, Claire must fight to hold on to her sanity and find out what really happened on the Aurora, otherwise she and her crew may meet the same ghastly fate.

Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes
https://astersbookhour.com/dead-silence-book-review/

Gabino Iglesias Reviews Dark Matter Presents Monstrous Futures: A Sci-Fi Horror Anthology by Alex Woodroe, ed
https://locusmag.com/2023/09/gabino-igl … oodroe-ed/

‘Snow Crash’ Is a Cyberpunk Classic
https://www.wired.com/2021/10/geeks-guide-snow-crash/

Rise of the Red Hand
https://anika-91967.medium.com/rise-of- … b1a5c9636f

Book Review: Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee
https://www.thebooksmugglers.com/2016/0 … a-lee.html

People review audio books to tell you what to listen to and what to avoid and not waste your time
https://bibliosanctum.com/2022/11/25/42704/

SEA OF TRANQUILITY
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-revi … ty-mandel/
by Emily St. John Mandel

Book Review: Exhalation by Ted Chiang
https://mastersreview.com/book-review-e … ed-chiang/

Finches of Mars by Brian Aldiss
http://strangehorizons.com/non-fiction/ … an-aldiss/
Maria Velazquez

‘Kaiju Preservation Society’ by John Scalzi: It’s a damn good time
https://subjectifymedia.com/kaiju-prese … hn-scalzi/

The Book of Mars Edited by Stewart Clark
https://www.sffworld.com/2022/11/the-bo … art-clark/

Scalzi Old Man's War, Perhaps not as classic and ground breaking as Robert A. Heinlein or lacking the commentary of "The Forever War" by Joe Haldeman it covers any muddy tracks by injecting humor

Old Man's War
https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780765348272/oldmanswar

Detonation Boulevard
https://www.tor.com/2023/07/12/detonati … -reynolds/
Alastair Reynolds

There are Hugo and Nebula Awards book reviews of other books, the best of sci-fi and fantasy writing--featuring works by Greg Bear, Mike Resnick,, Ben Bova, Joe Haldeman, Ursula K. Le Guin, short story tasters from other books, an oscar type award ceremony and spirited essay on the latest in science fiction, their Choices of Best Science Fiction And Fantasy Of The Year.

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/1056081

Last edited by Mars_B4_Moon (2023-09-07 06:25:18)

Mars_B4_Moon

Member

Registered: 2006-03-23

Posts: 9,776

Re: Good books you've just read

Mars helicopter Ingenuity's final resting place named after 'Undying Lands' in 'Lord of the Rings'

https://www.space.com/ingenuity-mars-he … gs-tolkein

Mars_B4_Moon

Member

Registered: 2006-03-23

Posts: 9,776

Re: Good books you've just read

a book recommendation by Oldfart

Take a look at the science fiction novel by Tom Kratman entitled "A Desert Called Peace." This is a very well thought out and written book about another planet that was settled by Earth after finding a wormhole that made mass colonization to the world named "Terra Nova"possible.  All of Earth's religious fanatics and socially undesirable peoples were exported there, and the UN supervised the settlement by the major governments of Earth into a volatile powder keg of warring factions originating on Old Earth. It morphed into a 8 volume set of books that warrant reading by idealistic colonizers. It became a war world filled with hatred and much death.
The author is a retired US Army Colonel of Infantry and a jungle warfare expert who subsequently went to law school and is now a retired lawyer writing military science fiction.

Here's a link to his writings: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/k/tom-kratman/

SFWA Announces the Finalists for the 59th Nebula Awards
https://www.sfwa.org/2024/03/14/sfwa-an … la-awards/

New anthology collects Chinese sci-fi writers' homesickness
http://www.china.org.cn/arts/2024-05/18 … 197067.htm

Hugo Award, Lodestar Award, and Astounding Finalists
https://www.thehugoawards.org/2024/03/2 … announced/