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I see your 'The Left Hand Of Darkness', and raise you 'The<br>
Dispossessed', by Le Guin.<br>
<br>
Thank you, Ehud<br>
<br>
On 08/04/2011 02:50 AM, Rick Moen wrote:<br>
<span style="white-space: pre;">> After tonight's SVLUG
meeting, we had the regular after-meeting<br>
> dinner at Frankie, Johnny, and Luigi's Too. Yudhvir 'Mehma
Sarja'<br>
> Singh, who is SVLUG's Meeting Coordinator these days, heard
me<br>
> mention being a Hugo Award voter and attender of the annual
World<br>
> Science Fiction Conventions (such as the one in a few weeks
in<br>
> Reno, <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.renovationsf.org">www.renovationsf.org</a>), and asked if I could recommend
good<br>
> science fiction for him, as he hasn't yet read much.<br>
> <br>
> I'm passing along my initial thoughts, for anyone else who
might<br>
> want to try them. I'm pretty sure we have every one of
these in my<br>
> bookshelves.<br>
> <br>
> (And no, I really don't mind if others want to continue
this<br>
> off-topic chatter for a while.)<br>
> <br>
> <br>
> ----- Forwarded message from Rick Moen
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:rick@linuxmafia.com"><rick@linuxmafia.com></a> -----<br>
> <br>
> Date: Thu, 4 Aug 2011 02:42:48 -0700 From: Rick Moen<br>
> <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:rick@linuxmafia.com"><rick@linuxmafia.com></a> To: Mehma Sarja
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:mehmasarja@gmail.com"><mehmasarja@gmail.com></a> <br>
> Subject: Science Fiction, places to start<br>
> <br>
> Yudhvir, you asked for recommendations for good science
fiction <br>
> (including fantasy) for someone who's not read much. Let's
do<br>
> novels. You've already read _Dune_.<br>
> <br>
> Here, in no particular order, are a few dozen top
recommendations.<br>
> Of course, you'll naturally want to know what each is like,
and I<br>
> _might_ send you another version of this mail with a
paragraph<br>
> about each, but figured a list with no details is better
than no<br>
> list for a long time.<br>
> <br>
> Some of these suggestions are the first (or first and
second) of a <br>
> continuing series of novels. In some cases, the rest of the
series<br>
> is equally as good, and I'm listing novel #1 in the series
just so<br>
> you can decide if you want to continue. In others (notably,<br>
> Zelazny's _Amber_ series), I stop after #1 or #2 because of
a steep<br>
> falloff in quality thereafter.<br>
> <br>
> If you want to know in individual cases, please ask, and
I'll give<br>
> you my opinion.<br>
> <br>
> <br>
> <br>
> _A Fire upon the Deep_, by Vernor Vinge<br>
> <br>
> _Tigana_, by Guy Gavriel Kay<br>
> <br>
> _Nine Princes in Amber_ and _The Guns of Avalon_ by Roger
Zelanzy<br>
> <br>
> _Lord of Light_, by Roger Zelazny<br>
> <br>
> _The Warrior's Apprentice_ by Lois McMaster Bujold<br>
> <br>
> _Jhereg_ and _Agyar_ by Steven Brust<br>
> <br>
> _Good Omens_ by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett<br>
> <br>
> _Consider Phlebus_ by Iain M. Banks<br>
> <br>
> _Startide Rising_ and _The Uplift War_ by David Brin<br>
> <br>
> _Neuromancer_, _Count Zero_, and _Mona Lisa Overdrive_ by
William<br>
> Gibson<br>
> <br>
> _Code of the Lifemaker_ by James P. Hogan<br>
> <br>
> _The Mote in God's Eye_ by Jerry Niven and Larry Pournelle<br>
> <br>
> _To Say Nothing of the Dog_ by Connie Willis<br>
> <br>
> _Ringworld_ by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, and also
any<br>
> collection of short stories by Larry Niven<br>
> <br>
> _Ender's Game_ by Orson Scott Card<br>
> <br>
> _Cyberiad_ and _The Futurological Congress_ by Stanislaw
Lem<br>
> <br>
> _The Demolished Man_ and _The Stars My Destination_ by
Alfred<br>
> Bester<br>
> <br>
> _The Man in the High Castle_ by Philip K. Dick<br>
> <br>
> _City_ by Clifford D. Simak<br>
> <br>
> _Snow Crash_, _Cryptonomicon_ and _Quicksilver_ by Neal
Stephenson<br>
> <br>
> _The Left Hand of Darkness_ by Ursula Kroeber LeGuin<br>
> <br>
> _The Witches of Karres_ by James H. Schmitz<br>
> <br>
> _The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_ by Robert Heinlein<br>
> <br>
> _The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy_ by Douglas Adams<br>
> <br>
> _Cat's Cradle_ by Kurt Vonnegut<br>
> <br>
> _Altered Carbon_ by Richard K. Morgan<br>
> <br>
> _Jennifer Government_ by Max Barry<br>
> <br>
> _Shadow of the Torturer_ by Gene Wolfe<br>
> <br>
> _Gun, with Occasional Music_, by Jonathan Letham<br>
> <br>
> _The Anubis Gates_ by Tim Powers<br>
> <br>
> _Old Man's War_ by John Scalzi<br>
> <br>
> _Halting State_ by Charles Stross<br>
> <br>
> _War for the Oaks_ by Emma Bull<br>
> <br>
> _Spin State_ by Chris Moriarty<br>
> <br>
> _Mainspring_ by Jay Lake<br>
> <br>
> _WWW:Wake_ by Robert J. Sawyer<br>
> <br>
> _Tea with the Black Dragon_ by R.A. MacAvoy<br>
> <br>
> _Towing Jehovah_ by James Morrow<br>
> <br>
> _Perdido Street Station_ by China Mieville<br>
> <br>
> <br>
> <br>
> There. That's at least a half year's worth of absolutely<br>
> masterful writing for you, extremely varied, most (but not
all) of<br>
> them inarguable classics. You may hate some, but I doubt
you'll be<br>
> bored by any. Have fun!<br>
> <br>
> <br>
> ----- End forwarded message -----<br>
> <br>
> _______________________________________________ conspire
mailing<br>
> list <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:conspire@linuxmafia.com">conspire@linuxmafia.com</a> <br>
> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/conspire">http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/conspire</a></span><br>
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