These are those SF/F works that I read and enjoyed during 2016, and many of which I might read again, sometime down the road.
NOVELS
First Reads:
Kim Stanley Robinson: Aurora
--my favorite new SF novel read during 2016
--a grim, gritty, and discouraging tale of life aboard a generation ship.
--Robinson's theme seems to be that while travel in the solar system may be possible, travel to another star to set up a colony by humans is impossible with today's technology and what seems potentially possible in the future.
--perhaps his Red, Green, and Blue Mars trilogy presents the most we can hope for, but who knows what future research may bring--FTL anyone?
--for my longer commentary, see http://tinyurl.com/mtl32dl
Gene Wolfe: A Borrowed Man
--A very unique concept--writers are cloned after death and the clones are placed in libraries to be used as resource materials where they can be borrowed just like any other material in the library.
--see my longer post on this work at http://tinyurl.com/kmda365
Sylvain Neuvel: Sleeping Giants
--this is the first novel I've read by him.
--a young girl falls into a sinkhole and lands in the palm of a huge metallic hand, one obviously not made by humans.
--some decades later, she becomes involved in a research project devoted to answering questions about the giant robot: who, what, where, why. . . and where's the rest of it?
--the story is told through a series of interviews conducted by an unknown, unnamed, and mysterious questioner.
--the sequel Waking Gods is the second in the series, and I will definitely read it.
--two novels set in Banks' "Culture" Universe.
--diverse topics with little if any overlap between these two novels, and from what I've read this holds true for the other novels set in this universe. Culture is not really an organized government, as such, but a union of like-minded planets and cultures. It's purpose is to envelope all cultures but not through military means.
Rereads
today.
--so much time has passed that several alien species are no longer considered aliens
--two rival queens vie for control of Viriconium, the strangest city I've ever visited in print.
--this may not be the first post-holocaust novel I ever read, but it's the first one I remember.
--probably outdated today, but still it's a nostalgic favorite I go back to every once in a while.
--it begins as the story of a war between a galactic empire and the barbarians who left the empire and
have now returned to exact revenge. It is much more than that, as we read on.
--for more information, see my posts at http://tinyurl.com/lgb6vpy, http://tinyurl.com/n2h5ewz and http://tinyurl.com/m3xlatq
for a brief summary at http://tinyurl.com/l9pflso
SHORT WORKS
First Reads:
Kim Stanley Robinson: Aurora
--my favorite new SF novel read during 2016
--a grim, gritty, and discouraging tale of life aboard a generation ship.
--Robinson's theme seems to be that while travel in the solar system may be possible, travel to another star to set up a colony by humans is impossible with today's technology and what seems potentially possible in the future.
--perhaps his Red, Green, and Blue Mars trilogy presents the most we can hope for, but who knows what future research may bring--FTL anyone?
--for my longer commentary, see http://tinyurl.com/mtl32dl
Gene Wolfe: A Borrowed Man
--A very unique concept--writers are cloned after death and the clones are placed in libraries to be used as resource materials where they can be borrowed just like any other material in the library.
--see my longer post on this work at http://tinyurl.com/kmda365
Sylvain Neuvel: Sleeping Giants
--this is the first novel I've read by him.
--a young girl falls into a sinkhole and lands in the palm of a huge metallic hand, one obviously not made by humans.
--some decades later, she becomes involved in a research project devoted to answering questions about the giant robot: who, what, where, why. . . and where's the rest of it?
--the story is told through a series of interviews conducted by an unknown, unnamed, and mysterious questioner.
--the sequel Waking Gods is the second in the series, and I will definitely read it.
Kazuo
Ishiguro The Buried Giant
--a fantasy set in England shortly after the death of King Arthur
--an elderly couple set out to find their son who left after a quarrel with the father.
--on their journey, they and the reader encounters dragons, evil monks, Sir Gawain, and a mysterious disease that affects the memory.
--for a longer commentary, see my post at http://tinyurl.com/k2mzsqr
Iain M. Banks: Consider Phlebas and The Player of Games--a fantasy set in England shortly after the death of King Arthur
--an elderly couple set out to find their son who left after a quarrel with the father.
--on their journey, they and the reader encounters dragons, evil monks, Sir Gawain, and a mysterious disease that affects the memory.
--for a longer commentary, see my post at http://tinyurl.com/k2mzsqr
--two novels set in Banks' "Culture" Universe.
--diverse topics with little if any overlap between these two novels, and from what I've read this holds true for the other novels set in this universe. Culture is not really an organized government, as such, but a union of like-minded planets and cultures. It's purpose is to envelope all cultures but not through military means.
Thea
von Harbou: Metropolis
--the basis for the classic SF film by the same name.
--the problem is the gap between the head (capitalists owners) and the hand (the workers).
--the problem is the gap between the head (capitalists owners) and the hand (the workers).
Olaf
Stapledon: Odd John
--the life of a mutant superman, who is one of the most unpleasant "superman" I've ever read about.
Stanislaw
Lem: Solaris
--the basis for the two films of the same name
--the best novel I've ever read that portrays aliens as really alien and not humans
dressed up in funny suits.
--the basis for the two films of the same name
--the best novel I've ever read that portrays aliens as really alien and not humans
dressed up in funny suits.
M.
John Harrison: The Pastel City
--a novel set in the far future on Earth, but an Earth that no longer resembles anything we knowtoday.
--so much time has passed that several alien species are no longer considered aliens
--two rival queens vie for control of Viriconium, the strangest city I've ever visited in print.
Ursula
LeGuin: The Left Hand of Darkness
--this novel is a permanent fixture on that desert island list.
--it's one I always recommend when someone asks for a recommendation
--for more information, see my post at http://tinyurl.com/km6nd6l
Wilson Tucker: The Long Loud Silence
--it's one I always recommend when someone asks for a recommendation
--for more information, see my post at http://tinyurl.com/km6nd6l
Wilson Tucker: The Long Loud Silence
--this may not be the first post-holocaust novel I ever read, but it's the first one I remember.
--probably outdated today, but still it's a nostalgic favorite I go back to every once in a while.
Dan
Simmons: Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion
--two of his best works-complex plot and characters.--it begins as the story of a war between a galactic empire and the barbarians who left the empire and
have now returned to exact revenge. It is much more than that, as we read on.
--for more information, see my posts at http://tinyurl.com/lgb6vpy, http://tinyurl.com/n2h5ewz and http://tinyurl.com/m3xlatq
John
Brunner: Stand on Zanzibar
--rather than struggle with trying give you an idea of what this complex novel is like, go to my postfor a brief summary at http://tinyurl.com/l9pflso
Roger
Zelazny: The Doors of His Face, The Lamps of His Mouth
--a favorite short work by Zelazny. A man earns his living by being hired to act as bait.
--a favorite short work by Zelazny. A man earns his living by being hired to act as bait.
Kevin Anderson
and Gregory Benford: Mammoth Dawn
--a husband and wife encounter problems while trying to bring back extinct animals, especially themammoth.
--for more information, see my post at http://tinyurl.com/mooct8o
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