Spider Robinson: I just read Callahan's Crosstime Saloon and thought it was absolutely amazing. I wish I'd listened to everyone who said how good it was before now. My problem is, I don't know what to read next. Is there another book that logically follows?
Science Fiction: I really want to read some good science fiction, and I've run out of authors. What I'm craving is some new Nancy Kress, as there isn't any of that, I'm looking for an author mostly like Nancy Kress but with a little OSC mixed in. Any suggestions?
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Hm. I haven't read Robinson's Callahan books, although I've read a lot of his other stuff. They're always on my list of things I should take a look at one of these days, but somehow something else always looks more appealing when I'm searching for a new book. There are loads of the Callahan books though, and I expect that reading them in the order they were written would be the thing to do.
As for Nancy Kress, she is good, isn't she? If you haven't already read her short fiction she has a couple of collections that are quite good. Also, she has a couple of books on fiction writing if you're interested in that kind of thing. What is it about her work that really appeals to you? I ask so I can know who would be a good author to recommend.
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I love Nancy Kress. I've read I think everything she's written, though I might be missing some of the har to find stuff. I think what I like the most is the combination of hard and soft sci fi. There's enough hard sci fi that you still feel like you're reading science fiction, but not so much that you have no idea what's going on.
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Like Nancy Kress but with a little OSC mixed in . . . weird, I already thought Nancy Kress had a little OSC mixed in.
You might try her husband, Charles Sheffield. But be careful what you pick, because not all of his books are equally good, and if you start with the wrong one, you'll wonder what the heck possessed me to say he fit the bill. Try Between the Strokes of Night or Cold as Ice.Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002
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Hm. Have you read any of Brin's stuff? A lot of his work isn't so good, but occasionally he gets it exactly right. His latest, Kiln People might appeal to you.
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I've read some of Brin. Kiln People, Two of the Uplift Wars books. Then I tried to read the second uplift trilogy 3 or 4 times and I could never get through it, it was very frustrating because I love the Uplift world.
I'll try Charles Sheffield, thanks!
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I found the Uplift books to be pretty spotty, which was frustrating to me because I loved the concept so much.
I found the first 100 pages of Earth to be so painful that I never finished it. Does it get better?
Blacwolve, I suspect that you'd enjoy all of Maureen McHugh's work, with the possible exception of Half the Day is Night.
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Callahan's Crosstime Saloon - 1st collection of stories. Time Travelers Strictly Cash - 2nd collection of stories. Callahan's Secret - 3rd collection of stories. Callahan's Lady - Collection of stories about Lady Sally's House (A House of Healthy Repute), the NY bordello run by Mike Callahan's wife, told from the POV of the newest employee. Lady Slings the Booze- More stories of Lady Sally's, more like loosely joined novellas this time. The Callahan Touch - Stories about "Mary's Place," the bar Jake Stonebender opens after Callahan leaves. Off the Wall at Callahan's - A collection of anecdotes, jokes, wise sayings, and truly awful puns from Callahan stories and other friends. Callahan's Legacy - Book-length story about alien invasion and the birth of Jake and Zoey's daughter. Callahan's Key - Jake and friends must save the world again, and this time they move the whole place down to Key West to do it. Callahan's Con - 10 years after "Callahan's Key" Jake and friends must save the world again, if they remember how.
As one of Spider Robinson's most devoted fans and one who buys the new Callahan books in hardcover as they come out, let me say you might want to stagger the books instead of reading them one after another. Spaced out with different books between they offer wild and delightful, fun-filled science fiction. Read in a row they tend to get self-indulgent and repetitive.
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If you like Robinson and Kress, try Robert J. Sawyer. Excellent at coming up with new ideas and following them to their logical conclusions, while keeping the human touch present at all times.
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Sawyer is a bit heavy handed at times though. It was a struggle not to roll my eyes at the bits in the first Neanderthal World/H. sapiens World books where Ponter is trying to grok Catholicism.
Edit--not to say that he isn't worth reading. I've enjoyed all of his books that I've read.
blacwolve, have you read Kathleen Anne Goonan? It occurs to me that you would probably absolutely *love* Queen City Jazz.
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I have not read any of those. I'm making a list. I also love Lois McMaster Bujold. I can't believe I haven't said that already.
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I was thinking Simmons, not Brin. Not sure how I got my wires crossed. So anyway, yeah, you might try Dan Simmons as well.
As for Brin, reading his books was neat for me, because I felt like I saw the evolution of a writer happening before my eyes. The first three fourths or so of Sundiver bored me to tears. Then it occurred to me near the end that actually a lot of interesting/exciting stuff had happened, and it was really quite stunning how Brin had succeeded in making so much action seem so boring. The rest of Sundiver was a better read. The second book was tedious for about the first half before it took off. The third book, boring for maybe eighty pages. The second trilogy was never boring, but I guess it was sometimes silly.
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I was the opposite. I never read Sundiver, so I can't say for that one. But the second and third books had me completely enthralled. Then I started to read the second trilogy and I could not get through the first book. I tried at least 4 times, I had it checked out of the library for ages and I just couldn't read it. It was too fragmented and I couldn't keep track of who was who and where in the book's timeline their story was supposed to be occuring.
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Wrong author!!!
