Re: What Should I Read in 2008? (Long List, With Voting)

LawrencePerson@xxxxxxxxx writes:
author). That's where you come in. Tell me which of the books below I
should or shouldn't read, and why. If a book's not on the list, it's

Alistair Reynolds: Chasm City

If you've read "Revelation Space", by all means read this - Reynolds really
gets rolling in the story. if you haven't, go read RS first - while CS is
chronologically first, if you read it first you'll miss out on a lot of the
fun of RS. Reynolds writes medium-hard SF in the classic style.

Iain Banks: Against a Dark Background

This is just a fantastic adventure yarn that's fun to the last page. A good
introduction to Banks.

Philip Jose Farmer: Maker of Universes or Down in the Black Gang

Wow. I read "Down in the Black Gang" so long ago that I don't remember a
bit of it. PJF is one of those writers that clicks with you or completely
fails.

Stephen King: Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass or The Colorado Kid

Bleck. The Dark Tower is an endless fantasy series. King has done a lot
better in his day.

Fritz Leiber: Rime Isle

Any Leiber is a treat.

Stanislaw Lem: Solaris

Ditto on Lem!

Richard Matheson: Duel or What Dreams May Come

Big thumbs up on "What Dreams may Come".

John Myers Myers: Silverlock

If you're a fan of older literature, you will have endless fun playing
"spot the character". Every once in a while I trip over another one of the
sources of his characters years after reading it. I have tried to read the
sequel (The moon's fire eating daughter) 3 times and it's bounced.

Tim Powers: Three Days to Never or Pilot Light

I haven't read either of these. The first is actually the next book on my
plate, but I don't know "Pilot Light". Powers is another author that you
love, or give strange looks to people that say they love his books.

Neal Stephenson: Zodiac or The Big U

Zodiac is a hell of a lot of fun. The Big U annoyed the living crap out of
me. I finished it, but only barely.

A. E. van Vogt: The Voyage of the Space Beagle or The War Against the
Rull

The first one is a classic. Don't know the second.

Connie Willis: To Say Nothing of the Dog

You really need to have read her earlier time travel books to appreciate
all that's going on in this one. Loved it to death.

Walter Jon Williams: Conventions of War

WJW is another "hard to find a bad one" author.

Roger Zelazny: Wilderness or DonnerJack

There is *almost* no such thing as bad Zelazny. Even the much-maligned (and
justifably so) second Amber books have some great bits in them. *
--
* PV something like badgers--something like lizards--and something
like corkscrews.
.

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