A Sad Asimov fan

Ross Presser wrote:

> Author names to look at, no particular order: Larry Niven, Robert Heinlein,
> David Brin, Stephen Baxter, Greg Bear, Jerry Pournelle.

I heartily agree with the first three (just reading the second Uplift trilogy
by Brin, and "Earth" is also quite special).
I have seen lots of Baxter books in the shop, but haven't tried him yet. Is
there any particular book by him that you'd recommend as a good start?
Not sure about Bear, I've only read Blood Music by him and am still trying to
figure out what happens in the end (if anyone wants to reply to this, please
set spoiler space for the others!).
The only one I'd be a little less enthusiastic about is Jerry Pournelle. I may
remember incorrectly, but it seems to me that the only good stuff by him is in
cooperation with Niven. I'd be glad to be given some counter-examples, though.

There are quite a few other SF witers I enjoy, but none of them with this
"hard SF Asimov-like" approach.
Vernor Vinge might actually fit your bill, too.
Cheers,
Michael
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I'm currently reading the Second Foundation Trilogy (currently reading the
first volume,
"Foundation's Fear), which will get me my first exposure to Greg Bear, David
Brin, and
Gregory Benford. I was wondering what other newgroup participants thought
of these
and if they were a good introduction to these authors.

Meanwhile, I agree that Heinlein is a good choice and recommend "The Moon Is
a Harsh
Mistress" or "The Door Into Summer" to start with. I'd also recommend
Spider and Jeanne
Robinson's "The Stardancers". My other favorite sci-fi writers also veer
away from Asimov,
but would be Phillip K. Dick (), Samuel R. Delaney, and Ursula K. LeGuinn.

-Ed

"Michael Abramowski" <michael.abramowsky.TakeThisOut@nokia.com> wrote in message
news:4374441A.B40AD90A@nokia.com...
> Ross Presser wrote:
>
>> Author names to look at, no particular order: Larry Niven, Robert
>> Heinlein,
>> David Brin, Stephen Baxter, Greg Bear, Jerry Pournelle.
>
> I heartily agree with the first three (just reading the second Uplift
> trilogy
> by Brin, and "Earth" is also quite special).
> I have seen lots of Baxter books in the shop, but haven't tried him yet.
> Is
> there any particular book by him that you'd recommend as a good start?
> Not sure about Bear, I've only read Blood Music by him and am still trying
> to
> figure out what happens in the end (if anyone wants to reply to this,
> please
> set spoiler space for the others!).
> The only one I'd be a little less enthusiastic about is Jerry Pournelle. I
> may
> remember incorrectly, but it seems to me that the only good stuff by him
> is in
> cooperation with Niven. I'd be glad to be given some counter-examples,
> though.
>
> There are quite a few other SF witers I enjoy, but none of them with this
> "hard SF Asimov-like" approach.
> Vernor Vinge might actually fit your bill, too.
> Cheers,
> Michael
>
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ED WILKINSON wrote:
> I'm currently reading the Second Foundation Trilogy (currently reading the
> first volume,
> "Foundation's Fear), which will get me my first exposure to Greg Bear, David
> Brin, and
> Gregory Benford. I was wondering what other newgroup participants thought
> of these
> and if they were a good introduction to these authors.
>
> Meanwhile, I agree that Heinlein is a good choice and recommend "The Moon Is
> a Harsh
> Mistress" or "The Door Into Summer" to start with. I'd also recommend
> Spider and Jeanne
> Robinson's "The Stardancers". My other favorite sci-fi writers also veer
> away from Asimov,
> but would be Phillip K. Dick (), Samuel R. Delaney, and Ursula K. LeGuinn.

I've recently started reading Ian M Banks. While not really Asimov
style (well, I suppose Bank's Culture idea is similar to Asimov's
Empire) so far they are a great read!

--
Paul
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On Fri, 11 Nov 2005 07:15:59 GMT, Michael Abramowski wrote:

> I have seen lots of Baxter books in the shop, but haven't tried him yet. Is
> there any particular book by him that you'd recommend as a good start?

I particularly liked the Manifold series: Manifold:Time, Manifold:Space,
Manifold:Origin. The last one was a little weak.

> Not sure about Bear, I've only read Blood Music by him and am still trying to
> figure out what happens in the end (if anyone wants to reply to this, please
> set spoiler space for the others!).

You'll enjoy The Forge of God and its sequel (can't remember title) much
better.
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In article <1131628775.925572.261720.RemoveThis@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com>,
"Eternal" <pmuknayak.RemoveThis@gmail.com> writes:

> Everytime i go to my local library and towards the sci-fi section, i
> somehow gravitate towards the section of asimov books. Now I have read
> all those asimov books that are present in our local library. And so I
> am forced to take other authors' books and invariably i start comparing
> each and every aspect of the book with that of asimov's. Whether it is
> clarity in writing, ability to keep the reader at the edge of the seat
> or his zest of science and his vision. Now that leaves me sad at heart,
> sad, because, asimov is no more and we cant await eagerly for new books
> from him.
>
> Looks like I have been picking up the wrong non-asimov sci-fi books,
> because i hear there are great authors out there (sadly not as great as
> asimov) who also write great books. So I implore all you ppl to follow
> this thread with a small list (say 1- 10) of books, their authors who
> you think come close to Asimov.

Clarke of course. I don't like the 2001 series, and his stuff which
takes place within the next, say, 1000 years is not as good as that
which takes place much later, such as THE CITY AND THE STARS. THE
FOUNTAINS OF PARADISE is hard s.f. Stay away from collaborations.

James P. Hogan, especially CODE OF THE LIFEMAKER and VOYAGE FROM
YESTERYEAR.

I've read two novels by Heinlein: THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS and
STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND. The former was OK. With the latter (I read
the original, but later published, extended version), I kept expecting
something interesting to happen, until the end of the book! A critic
criticised the last James Bond film (DIE ANOTHER DAY) as one which had
all the ingredients, but somehow the result was less than the sum of the
parts. That's what I thought about STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND. The
writing is good and it is not tedious to read, but a disappointment.
Also, often Heinlein's characters tend to be thinly disguised
mouthpieces for his own political views.

20 years ago, I read James Blish's CITIES IN FLIGHT. Well written space
opera, if you like that sort of stuff. (He also novelised the original
STAR TREK TV series.)

I picked up M. John Harrison's LIGHT in a bookshop on the strength of
the cover blurbs. (I had not heard of him before.) This has to be one
of the worst books I have ever read! Does anyone understand what the
point is supposed to be?

Names which come to mind but which I haven't had time to check out:
Harry Harrison, Clifford Simak, Hal Clement (I did read his MISSION OF
GRAVITY: good old-style hard s.f.).

I note that Asimov fans generally prefer hard s.f., but actually
Asimov's work is mainly soft s.f. Not a conflict: few do soft s.f.
well.

About 25 years ago I read a book by Ursula K. Leguin: VERY FAR AWAY FROM
ANYPLACE ELSE. Not science fiction (though she writes mostly s.f. and
fantasy). It is about a teenage American boy---and written by an older
English woman. Recommended.
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On Fri, 11 Nov 2005, Ross Presser wrote:

> On Fri, 11 Nov 2005 07:15:59 GMT, Michael Abramowski wrote:
>
> > I have seen lots of Baxter books in the shop, but haven't tried him yet. Is
> > there any particular book by him that you'd recommend as a good start?
>
> I particularly liked the Manifold series: Manifold:Time, Manifold:Space,
> Manifold:Origin. The last one was a little weak.

I have only read Manifold:Time of these. Very good. Very wild!
Recommended.

> > Not sure about Bear, I've only read Blood Music by him and am still trying to
> > figure out what happens in the end (if anyone wants to reply to this, please
> > set spoiler space for the others!).
>
> You'll enjoy The Forge of God and its sequel (can't remember title) much
> better.

I have read about a dozen or so of Bear's books, and liked The Forge of
God least of all. Many of them are extremely good, though: try Moving
Mars.

-s
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I'm surprised that no one has mentioned Robert Forward yet...
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This message is not archived
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L Ron Hubbard!
Haha just kidding

"Eternal" <pmuknayak DeleteThis @gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1131628775.925572.261720@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
> Everytime i go to my local library and towards the sci-fi section, i
> somehow gravitate towards the section of asimov books. Now I have read
> all those asimov books that are present in our local library. And so I
> am forced to take other authors' books and invariably i start comparing
> each and every aspect of the book with that of asimov's. Whether it is
> clarity in writing, ability to keep the reader at the edge of the seat
> or his zest of science and his vision. Now that leaves me sad at heart,
> sad, because, asimov is no more and we cant await eagerly for new books
> from him.
>
> Looks like I have been picking up the wrong non-asimov sci-fi books,
> because i hear there are great authors out there (sadly not as great as
> asimov) who also write great books. So I implore all you ppl to follow
> this thread with a small list (say 1- 10) of books, their authors who
> you think come close to Asimov.
>
> Waiting eagerly for all your response.
>
 >> Stay informed about: A Sad Asimov fan 

William Hughes wrote:

> I'm surprised that no one has mentioned Robert Forward yet...

And (my omission) Arthur C. Clarke. His "Fountains of Paradise" is
classical 70's SF, like Niven or Asimov. I would also recommend "A fall
of moondust" for its (now unfortunately outdated) scientifically
believable plot. Also most of his other stuff is comparable to the
scientific style employed by Asimov, so he might be a good read for an
Asimov fan, although the "2001" and "Rama" cycles seem a bit too
open-ended for me. There is a good collection of "all" of his short
stories around, starting from 1938 and finishing in the late 90's (ca.
1200 pages altogether).
Enjoy!
Michael
 >> Stay informed about: A Sad Asimov fan 

Two suggestions:

First, for more Asimov, go farther afield. He wrote c. 500 books, of
which three-fourths are non-fiction, so you probably have much more
Asimov to read.

Second, another author, a hard science SF writer not yet mentioned in
this thread: Robert Sawyer.

Alvin P. Bluthman
apbluthman DeleteThis @aol.com
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Asimov wrote in a singular and deceptively simple style that cnveyed a
great deal of information without seeming to. "Conversational" would
not be an erroneous description. He also tended to avoid many of the
social anachronisms that have dated many of his contemporaries rather
badly--in this sense, he is comparable to writers like Heinlein,
Sturgeon, and Van Vogt, although he is very different from them in his
themes and plot strategies.

It depends what aspect of Asimov you're looking for as to who would be
comparable. If you're talking style--Clarke, early Poul Anderson,
Gordon R. Dickson, Leigh Brackett, Edmond Hamilton (I would not, for
instance, compare him to Delany, LeGuin, Bradbury, or Sturgeon in terms
of style).

In terms of content and concerns, the field widens enormously, and I
would suggest all of Poul Anderson, Gordon R. Dickson, Jack McDevitt,
some Heinlein, some C. J. Cherryh, some Brian Aldiss, some James
Blish.

>From the mid-60s on, the field fragmented so much that you can find
bits and pieces of writers like Asimov and Heinlein and Sturgeon in
almost everything.

One notable feature of Asimov that makes it sometimes difficult to find
"similar" work is the singular lack of aliens. He dealt with some in
his early short fiction--and The Gods Themselves have one of the most
remarkable alien species in SF--but for the most part he did not deal
with them. Partly, I think, this was due to a disagreement with John
W. Campbell over the relative worth of humans and aliens, and after
writing around Campbell;s prejudices for long enough it became a
feature for him.

Mark
author of:
THE SECANTIS SEQUENCE
THE ASIMOV ROBOT MYSTERIES
REMAINS
www.marktiedemann.com
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