I'm a huge fan of science fiction. I'm particularly partial to the older stuff (Heinlein, Asimov, etc.), but there are a some great contemporary authors putting out novels and short stories. Lately, I've been enjoying reading and listening to short-stories. It's the route most sf authors take to become known and to try out new ideas. It's also allowing me to sample types of sf that I wouldn't usually choose.
So here is where I find these stories.
I really like Orson Scott Card's web magazine InterGalactic Medicine Show. (This one does cost a little, but for the month of Feb, one story from each of the first four issues is available for free. Just click on each issue to find it.) Besides featuring some newer authors, Card writes a new story in the Enderverse for each issue.
For listening, I highly recommend Escape Pod. A free podcast, they have a new story every week. And really good intro/exit music.
(If you clicked on that last link, I should probably admit to you that this classically trained alto listens to alternative rock and heavy metal most of the time. You should hear me sing along to guitar solos! And my older son yells if I try to change the radio station away from this type of "mewskit". He likes even harder stuff than I do! So, Daikaiju is pretty mellow for us, but it's fun and kind of energizing.)
Friday, February 01, 2008
Sci-Fi
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4 comments:
I just can't agree with you on Card. I loved Ender's Game but since then every book of his has been a regurgitation of the one previous. For my money I'll take a good Neil Gaiman or Kurt Vonnegut book any day. As for Asimov I read the Foundation Trilogy but had a hard time reading a series where the protagonist was the scientific method. I've never tried Heinlein, he always seemed too preachy from everything I heard about him.
Gaiman and Vonnegut are great as well, but obviously I'm partial to the more science based work.
That's one of the things I love about sci-fi. I think of it as a 'genus' with many different 'species'. I like the scientific, the historical throwback, the very-near-future-with-one-change, etc. (Obviously the more realistic.) I don't really like anything set in a metaverse, or superheros, or ... most of the more fantastic ideas.
I happen to like Card because he writes great characters. Even his outright bad stories (hello, Alvin Maker?) have good characterization.
And with sci-fi, you really do have to be picky. There is amazing stuff out there, but there is also a lot that isn't worth anyone's time. That's why I'm liking the short stories. I get to sample little bits of different writers and find the good ones!
Smrt people like scientific Sci-fi.
Congrats on the birth of your new baby!
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