44 replies to this topic

[crp]

Ray Bradbury , R.I.P.

[LilBambi]

Sad! My all time favorite sci-fi/fantasy writer is no longer with us!

I have posted it on two of my blogs:

Rest in Peace: Ray Bradbury - MyPassionIsBooks.Wordpress.com

and reprinted it on 5BuckReview.com.

[Temmu]

91, that's a good old age.
ray bradbury, "...I wonder why I can be so happy. ... The image in my mirror is not optimistic, but the result of optimal behavior."
i read much of his work as a teen and young man.
he will be missed.

[V.T. Eric Layton]

He wasn't my all time fav, but I did like him and his stories. While he may be gone, his work will live on for a long, long time, I think.

[sunrat]

RIP Ray. I hope you find those golden apples of the sun.

[LilBambi]

I never would have thought he was my favorite of all time either Eric, but when i realized how many short stories were made into various thriller shows I love, as well as the books themselves that are fabulous imho, I had to admit, that he made such a huge impact on my growing up years that he is in fact my all time favorite author.

[V.T. Eric Layton]

Indeed, he was a very prolific writer. His output will give him immortality.

[V.T. Eric Layton]

I know that crp was referring to Asimov, Bradbury, and Clarke when he posted the title to this thread, but I'd have to add an H in there, too... for Heinlein. Maybe even an D for Dick (Philip K.). There are/were so many classic sci-fi authors...

http://classics.jame...om/ByAuthor.php

[LilBambi]

You are so right! There are so many! And really if it weren't for the impact on my growing up years that Bradbury had, I would be hard pressed to even choose one!

[sunrat]

V.T. Eric Layton, on 08 June 2012 - 06:52 PM, said:

I know that crp was referring to Asimov, Bradbury, and Clarke when he posted the title to this thread, but I'd have to add an H in there, too... for Heinlein. Maybe even an D for Dick (Philip K.). There are/were so many classic sci-fi authors...

And an S for Sturgeon, Theodore. More Than Human is an all-time favourite.

[V.T. Eric Layton]

sunrat, on 08 June 2012 - 08:07 PM, said:

And an S for Sturgeon, Theodore. More Than Human is an all-time favourite.

Never read any Sturgeon, but the one you mention is now on my list to read.

[V.T. Eric Layton]

Roger, I started Sturgeon's More Than Human the other night. I believe it's going to be one of those that has a lasting effect on me. Thanks for the recommendation. I'll let you know what I think of it when I'm finished in a couple days or so.

Anymore good recommendations?

[abarbarian]

V.T. Eric Layton, on 01 July 2012 - 12:59 AM, said:

Anymore good recommendations?

Seeing as you asked

http://en.wikipedia....tered_Bodies_Go

Quote

To Your Scattered Bodies Go (1971) is a science fiction novel and the first book in the Riverworld series of books by Philip José Farmer. It won a Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1972 at the 30th Worldcon.^[1] The title is derived from the 7th of the "Holy Sonnets" by English poet John Donne:

http://www.mervynpea...arice_cora.html

Quote

Lady Clarice & Lady Cora Groan - Sisters of Sepulchrave --
So limp of brain that for them to conceive an idea is to risk a haemorrhage. So limp of body that their purple dresses appear no more indicative of housing nerves and sinews than when they hang suspended from their hooks.

http://en.wikipedia....the_End_of_Time

Quote

The inhabitants of this era are immortal decadents, who create flights of fancy using power rings which draw on energy devised and stored by their ancestors millions of years prior. Time travel is possible, and throughout the series various points in time are visited and revisited. Space travelers are also common, but most residents of the End of Time find leaving the planet distasteful and clichéd.

http://en.wikipedia....c_of_Melniboné

Quote

Elric is described by his creator, in the first book, Elric of Melniboné, as follows:

It is the colour of a bleached skull, his flesh; and the long hair which flows below his shoulders is milk-white. From the tapering, beautiful head stare two slanting eyes, crimson and moody, and from the loose sleeves of his yellow gown emerge two slender hands, also the colour of bone.^[2]

http://en.wikipedia....Jerry_Cornelius

Quote

Jerry Cornelius, secret agent, superhero, adventurer, all things to all men (and women). A figure of almost complete anarchy. Typically destroys repressive authority. Later exposed as a false Harlequin, a tragic Pierrot at heart, or simply an adolescent fantasy.

Hope you enjoy them as much as I did.  

[sunrat]

V.T. Eric Layton, on 01 July 2012 - 12:59 AM, said:

Roger, I started Sturgeon's More Than Human the other night. I believe it's going to be one of those that has a lasting effect on me. Thanks for the recommendation. I'll let you know what I think of it when I'm finished in a couple days or so.

Anymore good recommendations?

I've been on a Terry Pratchett binge lately. The first 3 Discworld stories, only 36 to go

• 1 The Colour of Magic (1983)
  
• 2 The Light Fantastic (1986)
  
• 3 Equal Rites (1987)

[V.T. Eric Layton]

@ abarbarian... Read Farmer years and years ago. I'll check out the second on your list. Not familiar with that one. As for Moorcock, I read everything he's ever put on paper except the Jerry Cornelius series. I'll have to look for it in the library. I was a licensed firearms dealer/gunsmith (mostly to support my own hobby) many years ago. My biz name was "Stormbringer's Arms and Ammunition".

@ Roger... Pratchett writes good stuff. I read the original Discworld eons ago. He's written tons of non-Discworld stuff. Thanks for reminding me of him. I'll have to snoop around at the library for some of his stuff.

[abarbarian]

V.T. Eric Layton, on 01 July 2012 - 01:53 PM, said:

@ abarbarian... Read Farmer years and years ago. I'll check out the second on your list. Not familiar with that one. As for Moorcock, I read everything he's ever put on paper except the Jerry Cornelius series. I'll have to look for it in the library. I was a licensed firearms dealer/gunsmith (mostly to support my own hobby) many years ago. My biz name was "Stormbringer's Arms and Ammunition".

@ Roger... Pratchett writes good stuff. I read the original Discworld eons ago. He's written tons of non-Discworld stuff. Thanks for reminding me of him. I'll have to snoop around at the library for some of his stuff.

Thought you might have read Farmer and Moorcock, Surprised you missed the Jerry Cornelius ones.Shocked that you have never heard of Titus Groan and Gormenghast shocked I say.
Have the full 4 part BBC TV adaptation of Gormenghast, the original radio series from 1984 and the new Radio 4 Extra production. I remember reading the books in the late 70's and I think they have coloured my outlook on life ever since.



Sunrat the BBC Radio 4 Extra have been dramatising some of TP's works lately and they are very well done. I have three of them if I remember rightly.

[V.T. Eric Layton]

It looks interesting...

https://en.wikipedia...s_Groan_(novel)

Kinda' like a twisted horror/fantasy version of Downton Abbey, eh?

Speaking of Elric... If I remember correctly, I gave all my Elric Saga hard cover books to Josh a year or so ago. I wonder if her read any of them. Great stuff. Elric is the classic anti-hero.

[sunrat]

abarbarian, on 01 July 2012 - 02:59 PM, said:

Sunrat the BBC Radio 4 Extra have been dramatising some of TP's works lately and they are very well done. I have three of them if I remember rightly.

I saw the two part Going Postal on TV recently. Very Good. Hopefully we get more Pratchett on TV soon.

[Cluttermagnet]

V.T. Eric Layton, on 08 June 2012 - 06:52 PM, said:

I know that crp was referring to Asimov, Bradbury, and Clarke when he posted the title to this thread, but I'd have to add an H in there, too... for Heinlein. Maybe even an D for Dick (Philip K.). There are/were so many classic sci-fi authors...

http://classics.jame...om/ByAuthor.php

Hear, hear, Eric- couldn't agree more.
May also be several others who deserve mention. SF has been a very prolific field.

[Temmu]

sci-fi's being so prolific comes from it covering all genres. (love, war, nature, god, man, et al)
what distinguishes it is that it uses science or technology to resolve the crisis.

[ross549]

I am not sure I would agree that science or tech would have to be used to solve the problem in order to classify the work as sci-fi.

I think great sci fi leads us back to humanity and our common condition. It draws on our strengths as a community to help solve the problem, and tech will be a part of it. I just don't think it *has* to be a tech solution.

Adam

[Temmu]

sans tech (science...) makes it simply another good read, but no longer sci-fi.

[ross549]

But you said tech would be needed to solve the crisis. I don't think tech needs to be part of the solution to make it scifi. The resolution can be, and in some cases is very low tech. Example: the Firefly series.

Adam

[LilBambi]

Firefly was definitely scifi. And the solution included tech, but wasn't tech only for sure. As it is with many scifi.

[Temmu]

true. some resolutions to star trek (original show) were no-tech - example: the corbomite maneuver where kirk's resolution was a bluff.