Anyone read Stanislaw Lem or Ursula K. LeGuin? Along with PK Dick, those are my three favorite writers.

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Dick -- too many to list.

I've read almost everything PK has done. I just love the paranoia and inversion that he threads into all of his work. Is this real? Is _anything_ real? It's gooood.

Of course, we can't talk about Dick without mentioning the movies.

http://us.imdb.com/Name?Dick,+Philip+K.

Holy cow! I didn't know they were doing "Minority Report". Cool.

Anyway, there's something about Dick's writing that resonates with hollywood. First, the classic "Do Androids.. electric sheep" which Blade Runner is based on. Then there's "Total Recall" which is based on "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale".

My favorite, though, is the movie "Screamers". Based on a short story of his "Second Variety", and well worth screening. Or maybe I just like Ed Harris. In fact my wedding outfit was based on Ed's very outfit at the academy awards. He's just so damn pimp.

As for the books, I have to pick "Man in the High Tower" as my favorite. Is he really talking about himself? Is the book the story itself?

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Lem

Lem books are kinda hard to find. The few I've read have left quite an impression on me.

My favorite is "Invincible". This is exactly what a clusterfuck it would end up being if we did encounter alien life. E.T. my ass! A complete and utterly believable slam-dunk of the noble, yet completely unrealistic 50's scifi ideals. Definitely recommended.

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LeGuin -- Left Hand of Darkness, Lathe of Heaven, Vaster than Empires and More Slow, The Word for World is Forest, The Dispossessed, Nine Lives, Earthsea Triology, etc

I think she's an absolutely brilliant writer. Anyone remember that cheesy 80's TV movie based on "The Lathe of Heaven?"

http://us.imdb.com/Title?0081036

After I saw that as a kid, I went out and read all her stuff I could find. I wasn't disappointed..

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To me, SF, as a true genre, is more about "hard" science-- stuff like Ringworld or Blood Music. Lem's books fall in that category, but does PKD or LeGuin? I'm not so sure.

wumpus http://www.gamebasement.com

Lem's The Star Diaries is one of my favorites. It's wonderful satire, laugh out loud stuff.

Hey kids.
"The Cyberiad" by Stanislaw Lem is one of my favorite books, in any genre. It's a sci-fi fable of competing robot scientists. Great, hilarious stuff.

Greg Bear is God. OK, OK, maybe not God--but I really enjoy Bear's work.

Spider Robinson is great for a nice, light-hearted romp. He's got some solid science in there amongst all the puns. The Callahan series is up there in my favourite SF... just finished Callahan's Key and I want to move to Key West NOW! (that, and any book that has Nikola Tesla as one of the central characters is very nifty.)

Robert J. Sawyer is also pretty decent. Illegal Alien is one of the most original quasi-first contact books I've read (a murder mystery w/ alien as suspect)

I've gotta keep pumping Canadian Sci-Fi :)

"Greg Bear is God. OK, OK, maybe not God--but I really enjoy Bear's work. "

Blood Music is great, and I've read a number of other books of his that I like. Definitely puts the "science" in "science fiction".

wumpus http://www.gamebasement.com

H. Beam Piper -loved the old Paratime stories. Too bad he killed himself.

David Drake -Hammer's Slammers. 'nuff said. I'm sad the computer game got axed.

Turtledove's Videssos books. Can't stand his later stuff though. The Colonaztion books seem to be about lizards having sex.

Pournelle's old Falkenburg Legion books.plus Mote in God's Eye in great too.

-Monkeybutt

I read few sci fi but my favorite in terms of number of novels read and enjoying is PK Dick. I guess you can call me a DICKhead. uhm. . . hehe

etc

"H. Beam Piper -loved the old Paratime stories. Too bad he killed himself. "

Yeah, the Fuzzy stuff was fun too.

"David Drake -Hammer's Slammers. 'nuff said. I'm sad the computer game got axed. "

Actually, the game got axed multiple times. The first time that I know of, it was supposed to be a Three Sixty Pacific game. I was slated to be the strat guide author for that, but the project bombed when Three Sixty disintegrated.

Then there was talk of a different company picking up a Slammers project, but it didn't pan out either.

I liked reading Drake's Slammers stuff, but none of it was good enough to be classic SF. And there were some passages that were confusing. But Drake was a military guy himself, and one of the few places you can go to get that type of fiction.

For me, one of the best books I ever read was Arthur Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama. Great old fashioned hard SF stuff, and maybe the best book in the series. I only read the first of the sequels, but it got way too Catholic for me.

>>"The Cyberiad" by Stanislaw Lem is one of my favorite books, in any genre. It's a sci-fi fable of competing robot scientists. Great, hilarious stuff.<<

Stanislaw Lem is simply the best. Unfortunately, not all of his work has been translated into English. "Summa Technologiae" is one that I haven't been able to find in English which absolutely deserves a wider audience.

"Cyberiada" is definitely one of Lem's finest. The great thing about Lem for English readers is that he translates very well. I would recommend "The Star Diaries" (I think Mark mentioned this) as an introduction to Lem. A friend of mine once accused him of "writing in Polish for English readers" but I think that he simply has beautifully crafted stories that transcend language. He's the antithesis of Gombrowicz, who doesn't translate well at all.

One thing English readers may not realize is that Lem's "Memoirs Found In A Bathtub" and "The Investigation" are parables of Communist Poland which work beautifully as a science fiction novels as well. The history of Lem and the Polish Communist censors is a funny one. I think he wrote "The Invincible" simply to prove that he had no ulterior motives other than to write apolitical science fiction. And it turned out to be a fantastic story.

The summit of Lem's achievement has to be "Solaris," however. If you're not categorically opposed to subtitles, rent the film (by the same name, directed by the great Russian director Andrei Tarkovskii) on VHS. It's very long, and very slow. But if you have read the novel, it's unforgettable.

"For me, one of the best books I ever read was Arthur Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama. Great old fashioned hard SF stuff, and maybe the best book in the series."

Rama epitomizes SF in some ways. It's essentially just Clarke extrapolating from current scientific theory about what a giant alien ship might be like. There's really very little in the way of story there, just an ongoing discovery with some dramatic tension about time running short in which to investigate, etc. Yet it's still fun to read.

"A friend of mine once accused him of "writing in Polish for English readers" but I think that he simply has beautifully crafted stories that transcend language. He's the antithesis of Gombrowicz, who doesn't translate well at all."

Gombrowicz and I have something in common -- I can't translate well either, unless it's pig-latin.

Hey, you Polish-speaking and reading person who writes great in English and is studying to be a brain surgeon too, will you ease up a little? You're making me feel very inadequate. Watch more TV and get exposed to the dumb rays emanating from Star Trek Voyager like the rest of us. Your IQ is obviously way too high!

I heard Rendezvous w Rama was being made into a movie by the guy who made "fight club", forgot directors name. . . starring Morgan Freeman.

Also Tarkovsky is a great director! well hes more on the contemplative artsy fartsy (generalization) side, i really liked his andrei rublev. its one of those movies that doesn't grab you until like the third or fourth time you see it, about artists. . . also, solaris was touted as a russian 2001.

Clarke is a great SF author.

For some good Swords 'n Sorcery with a contemporary attitude I recommend Steven Brust's Taltos series. His _The Sun, the Moon and the Stars_ is also an interesting story (well two stories really).

I find it hard to pick a specific author. My interests are varied and my favourite books are usually short-story collections: Tesseracts for Canadian authors, anything edited by Gardner Dozios(sp?).

I find the short story can give you a quick read, but leave lots of mystery so you can then build on the story with your own speculation. Hours of fun...or maybe thats just me 8^)

For those of you who like Philip K. Dick, what about Jonathan Letham? I read and enjoyed Gun, With Occasional Music, but have yet to read any of his others.

"andrei rublev. its one of those movies that doesn't grab you until like the third or fourth time you see it,"

While I agree that Tarkovsky is a great director, I don't know if I would agree with this statement. If a hypnotically-paced, 205-minute film about a 15th century Russian fresco painter doesn't appeal to you the first time, I don't know how you'd sit through it again, let alone two to three more times.

I've seen all of his films except The Sacrifice, and find that they are almost unwatchable on video/DVD. But when I've been lucky enough to see them in a theater, they rank among the most amazing filmgoing experiences I've ever had.

Sorry to get off topic. To get back on track, I will say that of Tarkovsky's two sci-fi films, Stalker is great, while Solaris was a bit of a letdown.

I've had the book Solaris recommended to me. Can anyone second that?

"I've had the book Solaris recommended to me. Can anyone second that?"

That's what I get for jumping in at the end. Bruce's comments above answer my question quite adequately. I'll investigate further.

Thanks.

"While I agree that Tarkovsky is a great director, I don't know if I would agree with this statement. If a hypnotically-paced, 205-minute film about a 15th century Russian fresco painter doesn't appeal to you the first time, I don't know how you'd sit through it again, let alone two to three more times. "

First time i saw it i found it boring. . . didn't really pick up on it, . . . second time i saw it was when i was alone, in existential mode. i dont know what you mean. . . are you saying that if you dont like a movie (or anything) in first viewing its not any good? anyway, i thought ALOT of movies were BORING and uninteresting from first viewing, but i knew well enough some were good enough to deserve a second viewing based on others opinions or just picking up on certain things. i thought citizen kane (or almost all orson welles movies) were boring first viewing. Tarkovsy is imo NOT a "lightwieight" easily digestable in one-viewing director. or maybe im just stupid. theres a lot of literary influences in it that didn't catch on to me when i first viewed it.

I agree though on your opinions on Solaris, kind of an over-weened sci fi psychological existential dream movie, bored me. . . didn't see enough to want a second viewing.

whatever

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"Tarkovsy is imo NOT a "lightwieight" easily digestable in one-viewing director... are you saying that if you dont like a movie (or anything) in first viewing its not any good?"

No, I'm not saying that at all. I was putting forth the idea that, because the film is such a commitment, if someone found it hard to watch upon a first viewing it might be difficult to go back to. Obviously I'm wrong, as you did just that. I apologize if I was overly flippant.

I certainly don't think Tarkovsky is a "lightweight" director. I've seen Nostalghia twice and I don't think I've begun to understand it, even on a surface level.

"I agree though on your opinions on Solaris"

I've wanted to give it another shot. I think I'll wait until I'm lucky enough to see it in a theater, though. Perhaps I'll read the book in the meantime.

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I've seen Nostalghia twice and I don't think I've begun to understand it, even on a surface level.

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I've seen all of his films except The Sacrifice, and find that they are almost unwatchable on video/DVD.

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"Stanislaw Lem is simply the best. Unfortunately, not all of his work has been translated into English. "Summa Technologiae" is one that I haven't been able to find in English which absolutely deserves a wider audience."

I was really struck by the few books of his I've read.

"If you've missed The Sacrifice, you've missed his best film, as well as his most universal. I strongly recommend you see it, even if on DVD and not in the theater. "

Not just a great movie, but indeed, game of the year 2000.

wumpus http://www.gamebasement.com