Way, way back in 2006 I wrote in this blog about some sci-fi books I had just read, one of which was "Ringworld's Children" by Larry Niven. Well, since it's Christmas today I'm taking a break from my website work and am reading Larry Niven's latest book, "Destroyer of Worlds". It's a great read.
Both of these books are part of Larry Niven's famous "Known Space" future history series, which is my all-time favourite book series - I like it more than the Star Wars Expanded Universe series, more than the Star Trek Expanded Universe series, and even (shock, horror!) more than the Harry Potter series!
If, like me, you're a sci-fi/fantasy book lover, I highly recommend you to get hold of as many books in the series as you can - I'm sure you'll enjoy each and every one of them!
Here is a list of all current books in the series in recommended reading order, including links to Amazon.com pages for those that are still in print in case you wish to order them. There is also a free online short story which is highlighted in italicised text:
Three Books of Known Space (3 books in 1 volume: 2 novels - World of Ptaavs and A Gift From Earth, plus 1 short story collection - Tales of Known Space)
Flatlander (Short story collection)
Protector (Novel)
The Man-Kzin Wars (Shared Universe short story collection series, various authors, currently 11 books including Man-Kzin Wars IX, Man-Kzin Wars X: The Wunder War and Man-Kzin Wars XI)
Neutron Star (Short story collection, currently out-of-print)
Crashlander (Short story collection, includes 4 stories duplicated from the out-of-print Neutron Star)
Fleet of Worlds (Novel)
Juggler of Worlds (Novel)
Destroyer of Worlds (Novel)
The Color of Sunfire (Online short story)
Ringworld (Novel)
The Ringworld Engineers (Novel)
The Ringworld Throne (Novel)
Ringworld's Children (Novel)
Showing posts with label Sci-Fi Reading. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sci-Fi Reading. Show all posts
Friday, December 25, 2009
Monday, July 03, 2006
H.G. Wells and Jules Verne
I recently obtained from a second-hand bookshop a small collection of novels by H.G. Wells and Jules Verne, two authors who are often referred together to as the "Founding Fathers of Modern Science Fiction".
Included in this wonderful collection are "The Invisible Man", "The Time Machine", "The First Men in the Moon" and "The War of the Worlds" by Wells, and "Journey to the Centre of the Earth", "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea", "From the Earth to the Moon" and "Around the World in 80 Days" by Verne.
These stories are all around 100 years old, and yet they still take some beating in my humble opinion. They are skillfully written, are immensely enjoyable and have hardly dated given their age and the advances in science since their original publications. I urge you to track down and read any of the works by either of these wonderful authors - I am certain you will thoroughly enjoy them.
Included in this wonderful collection are "The Invisible Man", "The Time Machine", "The First Men in the Moon" and "The War of the Worlds" by Wells, and "Journey to the Centre of the Earth", "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea", "From the Earth to the Moon" and "Around the World in 80 Days" by Verne.
These stories are all around 100 years old, and yet they still take some beating in my humble opinion. They are skillfully written, are immensely enjoyable and have hardly dated given their age and the advances in science since their original publications. I urge you to track down and read any of the works by either of these wonderful authors - I am certain you will thoroughly enjoy them.
Saturday, May 27, 2006
Hard-core sci-fi reading...
Almost a week since my last post here, and it seems like only a few days. Why is it that the older you get the quicker time seems to pass? It's important to me to know the answer to this, as I want to slow it down as soon as possible... :-)
I spent the past week reading sci-fi novels, when I wasn't working on website stuff. Books read were:
"Future History", Jerry Pournelle
"King David's Spaceship", Jerry Pournelle
"Ringworld's Children", Larry Niven
All three were very good reads. If you've read and enjoyed the awesome "The Mote in God's Eye" and it's sequel "The Mote Around Murcheson's Eye" by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, then I recommend both "Future History" and "King David's Spaceship" as they take place in the same story universe as the two joint-effort books. In the case of the latter, it immediately precedes "The Mote in God's Eye".
If you're a fan of the classic "Ringworld" by Larry Niven, then it is well worthwhile reading the sequels "The Ringworld Engineers", "The Ringworld Throne" and "Ringworld's Children". A very impressive story arc, expanded upon even further in various other Niven books set in the Ringworld story universe. See "Neutron Star", "Protector", "A Gift From Earth", "World of Ptaavs" and "Tales of Known Space" for starters. Fantastic stuff!
I mention all of this because this is the kind of sci-fi I really like. It's often referred to as "Hard" sci-fi, as it deals with realism and not fantasy. Futures depicted in all the above-mentioned books are highly plausible because they are futures based upon the prediction of possible technological and social developments from our own time. It makes for interesting as well as entertaining reading anyway.
I spent the past week reading sci-fi novels, when I wasn't working on website stuff. Books read were:
"Future History", Jerry Pournelle
"King David's Spaceship", Jerry Pournelle
"Ringworld's Children", Larry Niven
All three were very good reads. If you've read and enjoyed the awesome "The Mote in God's Eye" and it's sequel "The Mote Around Murcheson's Eye" by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, then I recommend both "Future History" and "King David's Spaceship" as they take place in the same story universe as the two joint-effort books. In the case of the latter, it immediately precedes "The Mote in God's Eye".
If you're a fan of the classic "Ringworld" by Larry Niven, then it is well worthwhile reading the sequels "The Ringworld Engineers", "The Ringworld Throne" and "Ringworld's Children". A very impressive story arc, expanded upon even further in various other Niven books set in the Ringworld story universe. See "Neutron Star", "Protector", "A Gift From Earth", "World of Ptaavs" and "Tales of Known Space" for starters. Fantastic stuff!
I mention all of this because this is the kind of sci-fi I really like. It's often referred to as "Hard" sci-fi, as it deals with realism and not fantasy. Futures depicted in all the above-mentioned books are highly plausible because they are futures based upon the prediction of possible technological and social developments from our own time. It makes for interesting as well as entertaining reading anyway.
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