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Bibliophile dramanauts, I was thinking about having a few recommendation threads according to genre, this one is Sci-fi but then we could go into horror, fantasy, realism, math textbooks, etc.
Here’s mine, or at least the few one’s I read.
HG Wells
“War of the Worlds”
Isaac Asimov
I robot
Foundation Trilogy
Frank Herbert
Dune
Dune messiah
Andy Weir
The Martian
Edit: I forgot about Robert Henlein, in his case “Starship Troopers”
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HG Well’s “War of the Worlds”: the og alien invasion book. Narrated in first person, kind of dated (aliens are martians, and said martians travel on canon balls ala Jules Verne), still a classic and a short one, around 200 pages.
Isaac Asimov Foundation Trilogy: Asimov is very imaginative and is all about great ideas, his writing is kind of amateurish (especially compared to Wells) and very pulpy, his characters are very one-dimensional with few exceptions. He’s still a good storyteller and the Mule is a good villain, but if you are more into character driven book’s than it ain’t you cup of tea.
Frank Herbert’s Dune and Dune Messiah:
Actual long novel’s with decent characters and lot’s of internal dialogue. The first book villain villain is fun although still one dimensional (baron Harkonnen is just an irredimible evil murdeorus fat lazy p-dophile).
Andy Weir “The Martian”: he’s a modern hack writer, but it’s a funny book and he has such a great technical insight, recommended for all stemcels and spaceneurodivergents like me. Tried Artemis and put it down because it was so cringey.
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Foundation and Earth was the only Foundation book I could really get into. I got vaguely into the others and gave up on them. Asimov long books tend to be very boring IMHO, short(er) stories are where he really shines.
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I was 17 when I read Asimov so I don’t recall in good details but I think you’re right about his short stories (I robot for instance)
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I Robot was enjoyable. I don't know what Asimov was like as a person but from his books I've got a vision of him as this grumpy old uncle type. Niven, on the other hand, I imagine as being a lot more of a mischievous and fun character. Clarke is somewhere between the two of them.
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If anyone finds themselves struggling a bit through Messiah and Children of Dune, don't be surprised but don't be off put either. It's worth it to at least get to the 4th book, God Emperor of Dune, which is easily the 2nd best book in the series and worth the read.
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It’s funny you mentioned “Children of Dune”. I read Dune and Dune Messiah almost a decade ago, then I saw on the news that a new movie was being produced by Villeneuve (that’s around 2019) and I decided to try CoD and gave up after 150 pages. I wanted to like it but the story didn’t seem interesting anymore. Still loved the movie, can’t wait for part 2.
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I like Messiah and CoD, but have never really gone back for a reread of either, not like I have with both the original and 4th book. I like what Herbert was going for in Paul, this guy high-jacking a religion may result in actual, disastrous consequences (you know it's gone bad when the protagonist compares himself to Hitler and it isn't an empty comparison). It's just that the story doesn't flow well at all and I find myself having to force myself through the text. God Emperor doesn't have that problem and the story transitions back to focusing on the big picture of human civilization and its problems. If you can make it through CoD, it's worth it.
I also can't wait for the second half of Villeneuve's Dune. Him and Peter Jackson are the only directors/writers left who know how to adapt and honor the original material at the same time. You could tell he wanted to add so much more in the first Dune film (poor Thufir and Mentats got shafted) but just didn't have the room even with a 3 hour running time.
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That part of Dune Messiah cracked me up, and I still remember it quite well, Stilgar is all like “how many people did this Hitler fellow kill?” Then Paul answers “6 million” and Stilgars like “not bad”
Yeah, another thing with the mentats is that you would need lot’s of exposition so the audience can understand what they are, and that’s something that never translates well into screen.
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I'm hoping they address Mentats more in the sequel since that's a big part of what makes Paul's gift so fantastic but grounded in something more real than something like 'the force'. That and more Thufir playing the Harkonnens to get revenge on the Emperor but in reality being played by the Harkonnens to do exactly that.
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Yeah... the movie's better. His humor was hit-or-miss because it seemed forced, and the story is really drawn out (which is perfect for a movie).
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Agreed, I read the book a few months before the movie came out, it has capeshit tier humor. But I liked that it was a more less realistic take on a future mars mission (minus the bullshit sandstorm toppling the MAV thing), and that was enough for me at the time. Also it’s funny how the book came with the China pandering that was used to promote the movie there as well.
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