More Old Sci-Fi
So, I've been working my way through some older sci-fi. Here are a couple reviews:
I'm pretty sure I grabbed this because I saw it on some list of mind-blowing sci-fi. The idea is that a ship heads to a star to potentially set up a colony. Although it'll take 'em a while to get there, time dilation as they build speed will shorten it for them.
The story starts out fairly tame. It bounces between character-focused sections and (rather dry) hard sci-fi sections. The book is a pioneer of sorts in the hard sci-fi genre.
About a third of the way through, things go a bit haywire. The structure of the book remains the same, alternating character studies with dry technical descriptions. But the context in which all this occurs gets more and more extreme.
The conclusion is based on knowledge current at the time the book was written, so just go with it.
It's an odd book in that the ideas are pretty far out there while still being hard sci-fi. The biggest problem is that the technical stuff is dry. The character sections are livelier. Overall, it's pretty damn good, although not great. Give it a read.
D-99 - H. B. Fyfe
I grabbed this one off of Gutenberg, but I can no longer find it there. Anyway, you won't be missing much.
It's about a special department, Department 99, which is tasked with rescuing humans who have gotten themselves into trouble on other planets.
Half the book takes place in the D-99 offices as a city-wide blackout traps them there for hours! Oh noes! Trapped after work! With a generator for power and ample food! They do throw in a complication meant to add some suspense to being stuck at the office after hours. Still, who cares?
The other half takes place at various locations where humans need help escaping.
Oddly, the book initiates a situation on a planet but never resolves it. But it does resolve several situations already in place at the start. It's almost as if it's part of a serial, although it isn't.
The writing is sturdy. The characters are okay if you can ignore the rampant sexism. Sure, it's written in 1962. Still, Tau Zero is really only seven years later and has a much more enlightened view of sexual relationships and roles.
Should you read it? Nah.
TeresaR blathered on about something on Tuesday October 09 2012 @ 10:42am
Okay, I'll pass on both then. I'm so behind on my reading as it is.
Tommy blathered on about something on Tuesday October 09 2012 @ 10:52am
Plus, NaNo is almost here. Fuck!
TeresaR blathered on about something on Friday October 12 2012 @ 11:54am
I'm pretty sure I'm not doing NaNo this year. My brain feels like it's gonna explode...luckily, it's tiny enough that it won't be too messy, but I would still like for it not to explode.
Tommy blathered on about something on Friday October 12 2012 @ 11:56am
I'm planning on skipping it as well.
Still haven't decided, though.
If I do it, I'll start with no plot or characters and just wing it.
teresaR blathered on about something on Thursday October 25 2012 @ 12:42pm
There's always Camp NaNo in June and/or August. You can do one or both of those.
Tommy blathered on about something on Thursday October 25 2012 @ 12:46pm
Or neither!
