Steve & Eric G. – “The Martian” is one of those that stays with you. Some things are bubblegum, fun but forgettable. Some stick deep in the inner recesses of your brain, and you think about them often. The Martian is one of those that I will refer to (at least internally) for the rest of my life. Gripping, ingenious, and realistic in a way that seems surprising considering how scientific it is.
Read it if you can find it. Now. I can not give it higher praise.
Ok, just downloaded this. Looks pretty good.
I have heard that there are talks going on to make "The Martian" a movie. I really enjoyed the way science, humor, and adventure was all interwoven in it. Obviously though it is a stand alone book. It doesn't introduce you to a whole new universe like Ryk does. For anyone waiting for Ryk's next episode I can't say enough good about it. Probably gonna read it again just because.
Steve
huh. Not sure what to think here. I just read that John Scalzi's Redshirts is being adapted into a miniseries.
http://www.deadline.com/2014/02/redshirts-novel-tv-series-fx/
Great read, lots of fun, and still managed to have some twists along the way, but I'm not sure about the medium.
I just finished Ark Royal by Christopher Nuttall, a classic space opera. The Ark Royal is a British space Carrier of the old armoured variety that can take a beating far better than the "modern" American carrier of this universe. She has her issues because of her age, and her crew does too. I loved the book and hope the that the author continues this series.
Thanks to Hamsterman I started reading the Skylark books, mainly because of the stealing stars to use as a weapon comment. I'm enjoying them but I have to admit that the 'Smack Talk' in them has me a bit baffled. I know it's smack talk but the actual meanings are beyond me. Every time there is some smack talk I get this image of Jackie Gleason saying "BANG, ZOOM! Straight to the moon!".
It's funny, we seem to be in a bit of a *quality* sci-fi drought at the moment (I look at Frontiers' as an oasis :). That said, the gaps between Frontiers have been well filled by Evan Currie's "Into the Black (Odyssey)" series, Eric Flint's Boundary/Threshold/Portal. Frozen Sky was decent and James S.A Corey's Expanse series (found by searching for one of Ryk's books 🙂 did me rather well. Jack McDevitt was fun for a spell. "Hard Drop" was not terrible. I knocked back Haldeman's *bound series like a thirsty man gulping water, but I don't remember much about them.
If Ryk's hard-knocks style of sci-fi works for you, I recommend a dabble in C.J.Cherryh's universe. Downbelow Station (basis for The Company War board game) is a good place to start, but so is the Chanur Saga if you're willing to forgive the book being chopped into 3 by the publisher. I've been avidly following the "Foreigner" series thru 14 books, and "Fourty Thousand in Gehenna" is still one of my favorite sci-fi books.
The bad ...
I also ran thru a fair chunk of the "Human Chronicles" series, but I think mostly because I was out of other material - I just found it a bit too jingoistic and, frankly, mental. I tried a couple of the "Deep" series, and wanted to punch my kindle. I gave the "Battle Earth" series a try; the battles are pretty darn good, but I found myself skipping multiple pages at a time to avoid the non-battle sections, and even skipping pointless battles that were there simply because battles are what he writes well and more pages were required.
I didn't see anyone mention IronStar by Grant Hallman (Dec 11, 2013) It is right up there with The Matian, and Evan Currie's works. The difference is Grants science is "right". He even has a novella, Upfall" that explains how we discovered faster than light travel. Here's his bio...Oh, Grant has a PH.D. in quantum mechanics? Yeah, his tech is right.
An interesting storyteller usually has a lot of interests. Grant Hallman combines a lifelong love of scifi with a Ph.D. in quantum mechanics, a career developing custom software, and several decades practicing and teaching dreamwork and energetic healing. He enjoys sailing, flying, shooting, photography, woodwork, architecture and a dozen other hobbies. He may not be the first author you've read who's created his own planet, but might be the first one who actually painted that planet's features on an old globe. He currently lives in 100 acres of hardwood forest in Ontario, Canada.
As well as enjoying a tale well told, Grant has a passion for scifi getting its science right - or at least "non-wrong". It is, after all, science "fiction". But just because we're speculating about future advances in science and technology, does not excuse a story breaking the rules that science already knows are true. In other words, scifi should be entertaining, but should not contribute to a popular dumbing-down of actual science. So we may have a universe with FTL travel but no FTL communications, or a sidearm that will blow the head off a monster at 100 paces, but a strictly limited number of shots before demanding a recharge. We may have aliens, oh my yes, but they don't look or act like humans in latex costumes. And if you want to talk to them, your computer will help, but you're still going to have to work to learn their language... and do pay attention to that pesky "cultural context"
I like books where there is a ship, or a fleet from earth, who has to go on a journey home and gets involved in entanglements with the locals on the way. There is always a strong captain that beats the long odds and the author does a good job of writing starship battles. Any suggestions? Evan Currie and Jack Campbell have great series btw.
I've enjoyed the "In Her Name" series by Michael R Hicks.
Due to Hamsterman's comments on Amazon's forums, I just read "Visit to a Weird Planet" and "Visit to a Weird Planet, revised". Easily google-searchable. cute little fan fiction. Check them out.
Today's Amazon rankings for Ryk:
Amazon Author Rank
#25 in Kindle eBooks > Science Fiction
#26 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Action & Adventure
#29 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction
#76 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy
That's not bad. I hope that is enough to keep Ryk working on these for at least another 1 1/2 years. 🙂
A bit off-topic, but I found this little gem in my Amazon recommendations. Not a genre I usually read, but the title caught my eye and the blurb amused me enough to try a sample and it turned out fairly well and I felt like sharing.
Please Don't Tell My Parents I'm a Supervillain
http://www.amazon.com/Please-Dont-Tell-Parents-Supervillain-ebook/dp/B00IH0KG1S/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1396922613&sr=1-1&keywords=don%27t+tell+my+parents+i%27m+a+supervillain
Remind me of a series I enjoy.
Bob Moore: No Hero by Tom Andry
First book is free for kindle. Funny and good superheroish mystery.
A bit off-topic, but I found this little gem in my Amazon recommendations. Not a genre I usually read, but the title caught my eye and the blurb amused me enough to try a sample and it turned out fairly well and I felt like sharing.
Please Don’t Tell My Parents I’m a Supervillain
Looks good. Will try. My best fav book in this type is
Confessions of a D-List Supervillain
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11334430-confessions-of-a-d-list-supervillain
Hey Nuc, bought it for my daughter. Now I'm on chapter three. Cute. Thanks.
