5 ms·

Interesting. You seem quite well-read in science fiction. Could I ask you (or anyone) for some recommendations, as someone who rates the Dune and Foundation ser

by bllguo 9y ago

Interesting. You seem quite well-read in science fiction. Could I ask you (or anyone) for some recommendations, as someone who rates the Dune and Foundation series highly?

cde-v 9y ago
Not who you were asking, but coming from someone how has read the Foundation series and Dune multiple times (only books I have ever reread): The Expanse series by James S. A. Corey The Culture series by Iain M. Banks
eesmith 9y ago
My SF knowledge is quite dated. I've read little in the last 20 years, and SF has changed yet again during that time. Moreover, I've changed, and realized that too much of the SF I read was white male nerd escapism. (As a Heinlein fan, I really enjoyed Varley's "Red Thunder", written as an homage to Heinlein's juvenile series. There's a scene where the disgraced former astronaut is talking with the family of one of the teens, to convince them that it's okay for him to be on the experimental rocket. The teen's mother is a single parent, and the grandmother is was a Cuban refugee who crossed the Florida Straight in a makeshift boat. It's the grandmother who used her history to convince the mother that it was okay. This scene mirrors one from Heinlein's "Rocketship Galileo", where the esteemed nuclear physicist visits the mother and father of one of the teens, and the mother draws on the family history where her great-grandparents as teenagers crossed the country on a Conestoga wagon. The Heinlein one draws on standard American patriotism. I read the Varley version as a commentary that that courage isn't limited to the (primarily white European) people who colonized the American west.) Okay, that long parenthetical note aside, perhaps you would like David Brin's Uplift Saga series. I didn't like Sundiver that much, but "Startide Rising" and "The Uplift War" have elements which feel like Dune and the Foundation series. For more modern SF, you may be interested in Ian M. Banks' Culture series. That isn't much like Dune or Foundation, but it is well-written, complex, thoughtful, and full of interesting ideas. (Edit: I see cde-v mentioned Banks an hour ago.)

by bllguo 9y ago

Interesting. You seem quite well-read in science fiction. Could I ask you (or anyone) for some recommendations, as someone who rates the Dune and Foundation series highly?

cde-v 9y ago

Not who you were asking, but coming from someone how has read the Foundation series and Dune multiple times (only books I have ever reread): The Expanse series by James S. A. Corey The Culture series by Iain M. Banks

eesmith 9y ago

My SF knowledge is quite dated. I've read little in the last 20 years, and SF has changed yet again during that time. Moreover, I've changed, and realized that too much of the SF I read was white male nerd escapism. (As a Heinlein fan, I really enjoyed Varley's "Red Thunder", written as an homage to Heinlein's juvenile series. There's a scene where the disgraced former astronaut is talking with the family of one of the teens, to convince them that it's okay for him to be on the experimental rocket. The teen's mother is a single parent, and the grandmother is was a Cuban refugee who crossed the Florida Straight in a makeshift boat. It's the grandmother who used her history to convince the mother that it was okay. This scene mirrors one from Heinlein's "Rocketship Galileo", where the esteemed nuclear physicist visits the mother and father of one of the teens, and the mother draws on the family history where her great-grandparents as teenagers crossed the country on a Conestoga wagon. The Heinlein one draws on standard American patriotism. I read the Varley version as a commentary that that courage isn't limited to the (primarily white European) people who colonized the American west.) Okay, that long parenthetical note aside, perhaps you would like David Brin's Uplift Saga series. I didn't like Sundiver that much, but "Startide Rising" and "The Uplift War" have elements which feel like Dune and the Foundation series. For more modern SF, you may be interested in Ian M. Banks' Culture series. That isn't much like Dune or Foundation, but it is well-written, complex, thoughtful, and full of interesting ideas. (Edit: I see cde-v mentioned Banks an hour ago.)