Finished A Fire Upon the Deep. Definitely sci-fi for nerds. I do like the Zones of Thought, it is an interesting premise for space travel, albeit apparently an attempt to make superhuman intelligience more entertaining for the reader (the inevitable singularity, according to Vernor Vinge).
However, now I know there is a sequel. And a prequel. And a sequel that was written before A Fire Upon the Deep. Given the lengths, I will probably not read any of these novels, although I did enjoy A Fire Upon the Deep as pretty good sci-fi.
Well, excellent conversation inspired by Starship Troopers, even if we didn't all read the book. Thanks for participating everyone, and as I said, let's target January 10 for the next book: A Fire Upon the Deep.
Josh, I'll let you coordinate discussion and host, if you don't mind.
Starship Troopers, by Robert A. Heinlein
Alright, gentlemen... Someone made a big goddamn mistake. I mean, I will start the book discussion thread now. Post any discussion items, comments, criticisms, etc. as a reply to this post. Be kind and give notice of spoilers. Otherwise, this will be a free for all.
Enjoy!
My book choices.
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Vernor Vinge, A Fire Upon the Deep (www.amazon.com), (391 pages)
From Wikipedia: "A Fire Upon the Deep is a science fiction novel by American writer Vernor Vinge, a space opera involving superhuman intelligences, aliens, variable physics, space battles, love, betrayal, genocide, and a conversation medium resembling Usenet. A Fire Upon the Deep won the Hugo Award in 1993 (tied with Doomsday Book by Connie Willis).
[...]
A human civilization high in the Beyond (see below for an explanation of the Zones of Thought) dispatches an expedition to a planet in the low Transcend, having learned of a massive 5-billion year old archive of data there which had been off the Known Net for all that time. It offers the possibility of unthinkable riches for the ambitious young civilization of Straumli Realm, and an expedition of archaeologist programmers is dispatched to open the archive and discover its secrets."
This has been on my list a while. Probably the hardest of hard scifi. Delicious.
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Brandon Sanderson, Mistborn: The Final Empire (www.amazon.com), (646 pages)
From Publisher's Weekly: Sanderson's eerie second fantasy (after 2005's Elantris), set in a mist-haunted, ash-ridden world, pits Kelsier, "the Survivor of Hathsin," against the immortal Lord Ruler's 1,000-year domination of both the Great Houses and their serflike "skaa." Through Allomancy acquired in the Ruler's most hellish prison, Kelsier can "burn" 10 metals internally, fueling superhuman powers he uses to assemble rebels in a loose plan to destroy the nobility, the empire and the Lord Ruler himself. Kelsier uses Vin, a street urchin with the same Mistborn powers Kelsier possesses, to infiltrate the Great Houses' society, where she falls in love with philosopher prince Elend Venture. This mystico-metallurgical fantasy combines Vin's coming-of-age-in-magic and its well-worn theme of revolt against oppression with copious mutilations, a large-scale cast of thieves, cutthroats, conniving nobles and exotic mutants. The fast-paced action scenes temper Vin's interminable ballroom intrigues, while the characters, though not profoundly drawn, have a raw stereotypic appeal.
I have what seems like a third grade reading level, so 600+ over a holiday month might be ambitious. However, this was recommended to me by an intoxicated physicist bridesmaid at a wedding, and I decided I need to read it. Also, Brandon Sanderson: The Man Who Finished the Wheel of Time.
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Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, Forging the Darksword (www.amazon.com), (~400 pages)
From Wikipedia: The Darksword series of books, written by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, which tells the story of a young man, born without magic in a world where everyone is born with it, who has been prophesied to destroy the world in which he lives. The series consists of the initial three books (The Darksword Trilogy), a supplemental role-playing volume, and a single-volume sequel.
This last September, I waited an hour in a sweaty, downtown Seattle hotel, only to be packed in a room with other sweaty nerds, wanting to be taught how to write magic systems into fiction. The panel was... not what I expected, and mostly just referential to the panelists' writer friends, their Dungeons and Dragons-based novels, and this book (but what they had to say about this book made it sound awesome).
