So, off to the bookstore I went, and here's what I've most recently read.
I Am Legend - I always like apocalyptic fiction, like The Stand, Earth Abides, and Lucifer's Hammer. Since Will "Ship all banged up" Smith has got that movie coming out soon, I figured I could get the original story on the cheap. And guess what? I did, but ohoho, there was so much more.
See, whoever packaged this book together had the bright idea: "I Am Legend isn't really that long, so what say we pack a bunch of other short stories by Matheson in here?" And that's what they did. His stories are almost invariably dark sci-fi without happy endings; I can totally see that he's influenced Stephen King. If you like classic horror sci-fi, absolutely pick up the mass market paperback of I Am Legend.
Next on the chopping block: Flatland and Sphereland. Alright, so it's light sci-fi. I chanced upon this book one day and snatched it up, lest it be lost to me forever. Let me 'splain.
Flatland was written in 1880 by this mathematician dude about a species of sentient geometric shapes that live in a two dimensional universe. It's basically a primer to familiarize people with some of the kookier concepts of geometry, including what strange ways a three dimensional creature could interact with a two dimensional world. It's a bit heavy for fruity liberal arts types, but it's incredibly imaginative and it actually does a very good job of explaining itself. I read it years ago but never had my own copy, so I was happy to have this. But, that wasn't all.
Sphereland is the sequel to Flatland. Written by another mathematician by the name of Burger 85 years later, it further expands upon the two-dimensional world. Well, what happened that would require us to revisit Flatland? As Isaac Asimov puts it in the novel's foreword, Einstein happened. This book explores Einstein's notions of a curved expanding universe, and the consequences of such a universe possessing only two physical dimensions. As brilliant as the first one is, this is brillianter. It fucks with your head even worse than Flatland does, especially when they start talking about hypercubes. It raises tantalizing questions that the first story never touched on. It is just as imaginative as Flatland and it reflects a more accurate understanding of our universe.
These stories aren't for everyone, though. While they do make mathematical concepts accessible, there is a certain amount of prerequisite ability involved to fully understand the consequences of some of the passages. If you can stomach a bit of math, though, then I would absolutely recommend these books. They are incredibly satisfying reads that will give you plenty to think about after the fact.
Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it's just the opposite. - John Kenneth Galbraith
Okay, maybe we are. Maybe just a bit. But dammit, it's more fun than physics. Vorbis fucked around with this message on 11-21-2007 at 11:51 PM.
Other stuff which I have read this year and can recommend highly:
Dan Simmons' Hyperion Cantos
and
Tad Williams' Otherland
If you like sci-fi that isn't pulp fiction you cannot go wrong with any of these books.
quote:
Tarquinn was listening to Cher while typing:
I'm currently reading David Brin's Uplift saga. I'm currently on the last book. If you like reading about chimpanzees and dolphins kicking alien butts (huge simplification), I recommend it.
Dan Simmons' Hyperion Cantos
David Brin's - "Earth" is perhaps his most powerful work especially considering it was written in the 80s.
If you like Dan Simmons' check out his "Illium" and "Olympos". It is less random and much more cohesive than his Hyperion Cantos.
Must sleep.
Finishing the last book in the Harry Turtledove "American Front" series. I can't really reccomend it and I'm only finishing the series because I want to know how it ends up for 2 or 3 of the (17!) character viewpoints I still care about.
It has an interesting premise of following how World War 1 and 2 play out in a timeline where the Confederacy won the civil war and established themselves as a seperate country. The World War 1 trilogy was pretty good, but by the end of this War War two series, it is pretty obvious what is going to happen, as the Confederacy is a barely veiled Nazi Germany,and what is going to happen is very evident. Zair fucked around with this message on 11-25-2007 at 09:49 PM.
