I like him - he's kind of like Simmons in that his books are all different and some you like and some you don't. I would recommend early stuff like Snow Crash or Zodiac. He gets more dense and really detailed with Cryptonomicon. I really enjoyed the Baroque Cycle - it's a lot of history of science. His other work is I guess science fiction, but I really was kinda on the fence about his last one Seveneves.
William Peter Blatty
28 in 23 (?)!!!!
63 in '23!!!!!!!!!!
My Collection: https://www.thedarktower.org/palaver...ion-Merlin1958
The Houston Astros cheated Major League Baseball from 2017-18!!!! Is that how we teach our kids to play the game now?????
For those looking for quirky fun I suggest:
Mark Leyner - My Cousin, My Gastroenterologist and Et tu Babe
Nicholson Baker - Vox and The Fermata (both are a bit of erotica)
I also wanted to mention Jeff Strand. He's usually billed as horror/humor, although he writes YA too. He's a friend of a friend, which is how I found him. The first book I read of his was Pressure and I couldn't put it down. He is also part of the the new Cemetery Dance Select series. As I was able to review those books already, I can definitely recommend that one. There is a story in there called “Mr. Sensitive” that will make you laugh, want to throw up, and cause you immense vicarious pain all at the same time.
Jeff Vandermeer is a really cool author.
Also, I currently started Senlin Ascends and it's wonderful so far!
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/...senlin-ascends
Wanted: Human skin edition of The Book of the Dead. Will accept PC copy.
Michael Crichton is up there with Stephen King for me. He makes difficult subjects easy to understand.
Mary Kubica is an awesome author, definitely worth a read.
Also The Kellermans. Jonathan Kellerman, Faye Kellerman and Jesse Kellerman.
I'm a Robert McCammon fan. I have been pleased with all I've read of his. I feel that he is underrated.
"Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes they win." - SK
WTB:
- S/L 'Storm Front' Jim Butcher (Subterranean Press)
- S/L 'Fool Moon' Jim Butcher (Subterranean Press)
To everyone in here who mentioned Robert McCammon's name: Thank you! I am a little over halfway through Boy's Life and loving every single bit of it. I don't want this book to end.
I don't know if he's been mentioned in here already, and I'm too lazy to search the entire thread ( ), but...
Does anyone recommend Arthur C. Clarke? I picked up Childhood's End at the bookstore yesterday out of intrigue, but put it back because I didn't know if I wanted to give it the time. I know 2001: A Space Odyssey is one of those classic sci-fi pieces that people recommend, but does anyone know if it's really good or just an overrated piece of fiction?
If anyone's up for historical fiction, Gore Vidal.
The Clarke books I liked the best are 2001, 2061 ODYSSEY THREE, THE FOUNTAINS OF PARADISE, 3001 THE FINAL ODYSSEY, and RENDEZVOUS WITH RAMA. I've read CHILDHOOD'S END and his early novels and recall that I liked them, but it's been so long that's about all I can remember. For some reason I disliked 2010 ODYSSEY TWO though.
I'm sure if there is intelligent life somewhere out there in the universe, they are wise enough to stay away from us.
And the people bowed and prayed, to the cell phone god they made...
If I read The Sentinel first will it do anything to spoil or take away from 2001 if I decide to read it later?
Well....The Sentinel was used as a starting point for 2001: A Space Odyssey (didn't see the movie yet???) but it was not a straight adaptation.
Clarke:"I am continually annoyed by careless references to 'The Sentinel' as 'the story on which 2001 is based'; it bears about as much relation to the movie as an acorn to the resultant full-grown oak.
So no, I don't think reading the short story first will spoil reading the novel. But what do you mean......if I decide to read it later? It's a fantastic novel, and a great, great movie.
Read the novel. see the movie!
sk
I read Childhood's End a year or two ago because they were doing a mini-series adaptation. It wasn't necessarily bad, but it seemed very dense to me. For such a short book I had a lot of times where I could only take 20 pages at a time before I had to set it aside until the next time. Lots of good and interesting ideas about people, creation, and our place in the world, but the character work wasn't the best.
If you're into more dense sci-fi, I'd say give it a shot. I'd be curious to see how you like it.
A NEW GAME BEGINS