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06-SciFi2.txt
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06-SciFi2.txt
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1996-01-17
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|1-Sci-Fi
Continues fom part 1...
Books.
~~~~~~
Books must surely be the largest branch of the Sci-fi Genre. Sci-fi
books rarely make No.1 but do feature on the best-seller lists. Science
Fiction is normally grouped with Fantasy as SF&F. There are not so many
famous Sci-fi authors as other publishing fields but Sci-fi has its
celebrities.
Most Sci-fi films are serialised as books (E.G. Collections of books
exist for Star Trek, Dr. Who, Star Wars etc.) and the opposite is also
true, many Sci-fi books are made into films.
Sci-fi can be further subdivided into other genres such as Cyberpunk,
'Hard' and 'Soft' Sci-fi, Space Opera etc. There also seems to be a lot
of comedy Sci-fi around, of which Douglas Adams and his Hitchhikers
Guide books rule.
Science Fiction has been around for many years. They were written a
long time ago by authors such as HG Wells and George Orwell and has gone
through many changes such as 'The Golden Age' and the 'New Wave'. These
introduced authors such as Isaac Asimov and Michael Moorcock
respectively.
Some good books include Frank Herbet's Dune, Ian Watson's Inquisitor
and Space Marine, The Stainless Steel Rat books by Harry Harrison, The
Hitchhikers Guide series by Douglas Adams, Robert A. Heinlein's
Methuselahs Children (among others), Alan Dean Fosters The man who used
the universe, Arthur C. Clarkes 2001, Greg Bear's Queen of angels,
Isaac Asimov's Foundation, Joe Haldeman's The Long Habit of Living.
Dune.
~~~~~
Frank Herbet's Dune books (Dune, Dune Messiah, Children of Dune, God
Emperor of Dune and Chapter House Dune) are widely regarded as classics
of the genre, although the film received mixed receptions.
Dune is set on the planet Arakkis (Dune) where the warring households
of the Atreides and the Harkonnens battle to mine the spice Melange for
the emperor.
Paul Atreides joins the fremen and becomes their leader after gaining
psychic powers from his mother. They take over the planet and thus
control it's wealth.
Dune is characterised by it's wealth of detail. You could almost
believe it was real. The Dune universe is expanded on in the rest of
the series but none are as impressive as the first.
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You can read the book, watch the series, listen to the radio series
and play the game. Douglas Adams Hitchikers Guide series are
hilariously funny. There are five books (in the trilogy!) called HGTTG,
Life the universe and everything, The restaurant at the end of the
universe, So long and thanks for all the fish and Mostly Harmless.
The basic plot goes something like this: Arthur Dent is rescued from
earth by his friend Ford Prefect, a reporter for the Hitchikers Guide,
before the Vogons demolish it to make way for the Intergalactic Bypass.
Arthur then travels through space generally having adventures, such
as meeting Zaphod Beeblebrox, president of the universe, and visiting
Krikkit. I won't say more to spoil the story on the off-chance you
haven't read it.
It is suffice to say that HGTTG is a true classic, and destined to
remain so.
Methuselah's Children.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Robert A. Heinlein was a master of science fiction and this is one
of his best. It is one of the first books starring Lazarus Long who
appears in many other Heinlein books.
Even though they are now old books (this is ©1958) they are quite
modern in content. It's about centuries of intermarriage between the
'Howard' families, who live longer and are persecuted for it. They flee
earth to find their own place and when they return they find medicine
has advanced so much that everyone is practically immortal. Lazarus
Long is now the oldest man on earth.
The characters and their relatives turn up in other Heinlein books,
including Time Enough for Love and The Number of the Beast. Heinlein's
books are immensely readable and although he is dead his books are not
and never will be.
Other Books.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Some books were listed at the top, but here's some more:
Frankenstein Unbound (Brian Aldiss), Peace keepers (Ben Bova),
At Winters End (Robert Silverberg), Code of the Lifemaker (James P.
Hogan), Beyond the fall of night (Gregory Benson), Count Zero
(William Gibson), Downtime (Peter Fox), The Barsoom Project
(Larry Niven with Stephen Barnes), The Dark side of the sun
(Terry Pratchett).
End