Originally posted by royalchickenThank God it wasn't just me...I enjoyed 'Cryptonomicon' a lot, but found 'Quicksilver' very dull and a little too clever by half...
IMHO, Crypto is by far Stephenson's best work -- his earlier stuff is a bit 'immature' and I didn't really like the Baroque Cycle (the first 500 pages of 'Quicksilver' were enough).
How are you finding it?
You might be interested to know that much of the plot of Crypto is built on anecdotes from Andrew Hodges' biography of Alan Turing, which is also quite good.
I'm reading 'Jonathan Strange and Mr Morrell, (Susanna Clarke) at the moment; promising, but the hardback isn't easily slipped into one's briefcase...
Clive barker is good.
Richard Matheson wrote I am Legend (the basis for just about every modern zombie movie worth it's salt) lots of gret short stories and several Twolight Zone epps.
Paulo Choelo (sp?) is a Brazilian author who wrote The Alchemist but some of his even better works include By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept, and Vironica Decides to Die. His stuff is mostly about the human condtion through a kind of mystey, mystical interpratation of the Catholic Church. Very sensual and interesting.
Nick Hornby is terrably clevar. He's a Brittish humorist who manages to be extreamily touching and sarcastic all at once, if you can believe that's possable. You might chec out About a Boy, How to Be good and Hich Fedelity. They're all much better than the movies based on his work.
Orson Scott Card is a great writer as well. He's written SO much more than his "Homecoming Saga. Here's a cut and paste from annother site : His contemporary novels Lost Boys, Treasure Box, and Homebody brought a powerful emphasis on character and moral dilemmas to the old-fashioned ghost story. And his newest contemporary novel, Enchantment (April 1999 from Del Rey), is a romantic fantasy that has Sleeping Beauty being awakened by an American graduate student in Ukraine in 1991. The characters pass back and forth between Sleeping Beauty's world of ninth-century Russia and today's America, with the famous anti-hero of Russian folklore, the witch Baba Yaga, following close behind. Card has broken new ground with each of his major works. "The Homecoming Saga" (the novels The Memory of Earth, The Call of Earth, The Ships of Earth, Earthfall, and Earthborn) was a retelling of ancient scripture as science fiction. Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus is the sine qua non of alternate history novels, in which time travellers return to keep Columbus from discovering America – or at least from returning to Europe after having discovered it. It will be followed by books that reinvision Noah's flood and the Garden of Eden – in historically, culturally, and scientifically plausible ways.
Don't forget about his Alvan Maker series. Most of his work is some truly great stuff. Treasurebox, Homebody, Enchantment, and Pastwatch are some of my fave books.
PJ O'rourk is a great writer even if you're a bleeding heart like me.
ummmm that's about all that comes to mind at the moment. Maybe I'll post more later
Originally posted by royalchickenImust admit that I am really enjoying Crypto at the moment. At first I thought the way Stephenson jumped between different time periods would be confusing, but it is all threading together nicely. I'm only about 250 pages in (out of about 900!!!) so I can't comment too much on the intricacies of the plot. But anyone who can make maths into an interesting novel must have a god-given talent!!!!!!!
IMHO, Crypto is by far Stephenson's best work -- his earlier stuff is a bit 'immature' and I didn't really like the Baroque Cycle (the first 500 pages of 'Quicksilver' were enough).
How are you finding it?
You might be interested to know that much of the plot of Crypto is built on anecdotes from Andrew Hodges' biography of Alan Turing, which is also quite good.
Would you recommend reading the Baroque Cylce after finishing Crypto then?
Mark
Possibly my favourite author is Michael Moorcock.
His work varies from fairly bog-standard (but well done) fiction - the Elric books, Corum - bog standard sci-fi - Michael Kane books - original sci-fi/fiction - the Hawkmoon books, Oswald Bastable - innovative and unusual sci-fi stuff - Dancers at the End of Time, the Second Ether books - to the downright bizarre - the Cornelius Chronicles.
My personal favourites are the Hawkmoon books, because they're the ones I first read, the Dancers at the End of Time which are highly original and Oswald Bastable which is swashbuckling zipping about through time.
A lot of these books have a time-travelling theme, and most have some continuity (Eternal Champion) including one incident where Elric, Corum, Hawkmoon and (I think) von Bek meet up and the same chapter is told in four different books from a different perspective.
Oh, and he's done about 100 other books besides these.
I just unpacked my collection last night after moving house and realised I have about 50 of his books, including some duplicates because I forgot which ones I owned...
Originally posted by mrmistJimmyb270 mentioned both a few threads back!
ooer, a book thread.
Noone's mentioned Iain (M) Banks or Pratchett yet. Both worth a look. Banks writes both Sci-Fi and general fiction, and both types are excellent. Try Against A Dark Background, Consider Phlebas and Whit.
I only read one Banks book - The Player of Games.
Is this considered a good example of his work? Because I wasn't that impressed by it.
Originally posted by VargPlayer Of Games is okay. Others are probably better, but obviously the style is similar so if you didn't like player of games you probably wouldn't like the others...
Jimmyb270 mentioned both a few threads back!
I only read one Banks book - The Player of Games.
Is this considered a good example of his work? Because I wasn't that impressed by it.
Originally posted by ivangriceI went into a bookshop the other day looking for this book. I left said bookshop bookless - you're right, it's a bit of a giant in its hardback form! Not sure I could convince myself that it was worth the £15 either. An additional positive comment beyond 'promising' may swing it though - how are you finding it, size aside?
I'm reading 'Jonathan Strange and Mr Morrell, (Susanna Clarke) at the moment; promising, but the hardback isn't easily slipped into one's briefcase...
