What are you reading?

Surprisingly I read quiet a few from that list but then again those are some well-known author and probably not what Mr art is looking for
 
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Arhu said:
I only found this list: Sci-Fi-Horror-Books
And I don't have recommendations because I haven't ready anything from that list. Anyone else?
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Thanks, but I've seen many lists - and all the books I've tried haven't really matched what I'm looking for.

I did read I am Legend - which is an absolutely fantastic book, even if it's very short. But it's not what I would consider horror.
 
DArtagnan said:
Thanks, but I've seen many lists - and all the books I've tried haven't really matched what I'm looking for.

I did read I am Legend - which is an absolutely fantastic book, even if it's very short. But it's not what I would consider horror.
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That is the problem I agree - I look at that list and have read many of the (quite good) books ... but not really anything I would have recommended as sci-fi horror.
 
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txa1265 said:
That is the problem I agree - I look at that list and have read many of the (quite good) books … but not really anything I would have recommended as sci-fi horror.
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Yeah, but it's kinda strange, isn't it?

I would have thought it a much more popular genre.
 
Thrasher said:
Dart, do you like Phillip K Dick? His stuff is dark and horror'ish. Too dark for my tastes, but that was years ago.
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I like his ideas - but I'm not a big fan of his writing style. Not that I've ever read anything in its entirety by him. A bit too "out there" IIRC.
 
Yeah his style is too jarring for me. BTW, he wrote the wonderful "City on the Edge of Forever" classic Star Trek episode co-starring none other than Joan Collins as Edith Keeler.
 
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txa1265 said:
Thanks, that is what I assumed … would 'Timelike Infinity' be a good starting point with him (unavailable on eBook, sadly) or do you have another recommendation?
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The fiction's chronological order to read it is:

Coalescent
Transcendent
Timelike Infinity
Ring
Starfall
Riding the Rock
Reality Dust
Mayflower II
Exultant
Raft
Flux
Gravity Dreams
Ring

But as Baxter has suggested from his wiki it may not be best to read strictly chronologically. I like his suggestion:
When asked directly for a suggested reading order, the author wrote: "I hope that all the books and indeed the stories can be read stand-alone. I’m not a great fan of books that end with cliff-hangers. So you could go in anywhere. One way would be to start with ‘Vacuum Diagrams’, a collection that sets out the overall story of the universe. Then ‘Timelike Infinity’ and ‘Ring’ which tell the story of Michael Poole, then ‘Raft’ and ‘Flux’ which are really incidents against the wider background, and finally ‘Destiny’s Children.’
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BTW, a nice summary of the alternate universe timeline and where the books fit in is here:

http://www.stephen-baxter.com/articles.html#xeelee
 
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Thrasher said:
Yeah his style is too jarring for me. BTW, he wrote the wonderful "City on the Edge of Forever" classic Star Trek episode co-starring none other than Joan Collins as Edith Keeler.
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He did? That's pretty much the best TOS episode out there :)
 
Just finished The Strain. I wanted to read it before watching the TV series. It's fun enough. It's rare I ever truly find fault with the author's plotline but...

They want to pretend like the vampire outbreak is biological in nature-- caused by parasites, but they waver too much between the biological theory & then traditional vampire folklore/modern day vampire novel themes. Fine about the biological explanation, but with that in mind, what could possibly prevent them from crossing water or being weak against silvered weapons? Yes, I understand a story about vampires requires the reader to suspend disbelief, but what about the parasitic infection could give rise to these "ancient ones" like in an Anne Rice novel?

These were some points that bothered me, though I think the follow up novel in the trilogy will be better. Anyway, YMMV.
 
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JDR13 said:
I saw this discussion earlier and was actually going to recommend that one.

Being a big fan of the Dead Space games, I really enjoyed it. Most video game tie-in novels are garbage, but Dead Space: Martyr is even good enough to stand on its own.
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Cool, I'll definitely check it out. I liked the Dead Space games as well, except for the third one.

Do you know any other books in this genre?
 
Thrasher said:
But as Baxter has suggested from his wiki it may not be best to read strictly chronologically. I like his suggestion:
(..) One way would be to start with ‘Vacuum Diagrams’, a collection that sets out the overall story of the universe. Then ‘Timelike Infinity’ and ‘Ring’ which tell the story of Michael Poole, then ‘Raft’ and ‘Flux’ which are really incidents against the wider background, and finally ‘Destiny’s Children.’
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I read Vacuum Diagrams and really liked it. Baxter has got quite the imagination! There's barely any tension in the stories, but intellectually speaking they were lots of fun. The whole theme reminded me of Asimov's Foundation in its presentation as a future history, although instead of psychohistory you get scientific principles ...

Looking forward to reading the full-length novels, but I think I'll throw in something else first.
 
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True, lot's of scientific imagination, bordering on fantastical, stretching the hard sci classification. The different forms of intelligent life are quite inventive.
 
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Around halfway through Dead Space: Martyr - and it fits the bill pretty well, though I would have preferred more space stuff.

But it was a great recommendation - so thanks!
 
I read John Crowley's Engine Summer.

It's a most gentle post-apocalyptic story that flows like a dream, like those Orisinal flash games in prose. Very strange and relatively slow, but never boring and always a little mesmerizing. And I know now what a snake's-hand is.
 
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