Today is the 800th anniversary of the signing sealing of the Magna Carta. Good article on things we mostly don’t know about it and why it still matters.
ADDED: Here’s Bovard’s take on it. (Never trust a king, even after you think you’ve beaten him.)
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I’m sort of getting used to having neither a functional vehicle nor functional legs. There are still moments I want to weep. Like on Friday when a mechanic told me the Xterra was all fixed, running perfectly, even got the service-engine light to go out — and I got in it, found the light back on, and had to limp back home after driving the mere half mile to town.
One more try with this mechanic today. After that, one more try with another housecall mechanic who’s been highly recommended.
If that doesn’t do it, I think I’m done troubling over vehicles for now. Within a week (if the gods aren’t listening in on me as I type this) I’ll try walking to town again.
In the meantime, bless neighbors and friends.
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Ptooey on you, Colt. Enjoy your well-deserved second bankruptcy in a row. (Link stolen from Joel)
Antis may hope this is a sign of that mythical loss of interest in firearms they keep fantasizing about. Anybody who’s actually interested in firearms knows it’s more like comeuppance.
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I first had my brain exploded by a found collection of Arthur C. Clarke stories when I was a little kid. After that (and long before I knew what it was or what it was called), I always loved reading science fiction.
Long about the late 80s, though, I lost interest. Well, not so much lost interest as started having too hard a time finding good SF books amid the metastasizing sword & sorcery market (and, though it was too early to recognize the trend, the ominous beginning of political correctness in SF).
These days, I don’t even know who most of the big SF novelists are. But the name John Scalzi kept coming up. I thought it was in connection with the recent Sad Puppies 3 campaign. Maybe not. In any case, the library had no shortage of Scalzi books so I grabbed a couple.
I’ve just finished Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas, Scalzi’s comic account of what happens when a bunch of those space-opera characters who always die before the first commercial figure out what’s happening to them.
And before that I read his Fuzzy Nation, a reboot (with permission of Piper’s literary estate) of the H. Beam Piper classic Little Fuzzy.
Both fun, page-turning, straightforward great reads. And fine antidotes to all the &^%$#@!ing complications I’ve been having lately!
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Redshirts contains this passage about writer’s block:
You know, I never understood writer’s block before this. You’re a writer and you suddenly can’t write because your girlfriend broke up with you? Sh*t, dude. That’s the perfect time to write. It’s not like you’re doing anything else with your nights. Having a hard time coming up with the next scene? Have something explode. You’re done. Filled with existential ennui about your place in the universe? Get over yourself. Yes, you’re an inconsequential worm in the grand scope of history. But you’re an inconsequential worm who makes sh*t up for a living, which means that you don’t have to lift heavy boxes or ask people if they want fries with that. Grow up and get back to work.
I’ve always been able to write just fine when I have a) a deadline and b) the promise that somebody is actually going to pay me. (Sorry to be crass, but I write for a living.) And I’ve always had burning contempt for so-called professional writers who get the vapors and dramatically leave their editors, illustrators, and clients high and dry.
OTOH, when it comes to writing for Art’s Sake (e.g. no deadlines and no prospect of a check in the mail any time soon), I’m terrible. Existential angst? It’s my boon companion. I can’t write because I’m depressed. I can’t write because I’m no good. I can’t write because it’s 10:00 a.m. and that’s too late to start. I can’t write because Ava’s staring at me.
I read that bit from Scalzi and had a good laugh at myself.
Scalzi is a very good writer, no doubt. His politics and arrogance are quite off-putting. I found the “Old Mans’ War” series quite engaging, and recommend it. His short story, “The God Engines” is also worth your time. Haven’t read anything else by him.
Sorry to hear about the car. Drat, etc., stronger words. Hope the ankle heals quickly.
I also recommend Orson Scott Card. Some are put off by his politics, but he’s excellent. The whole Ender series is a must, IMHO. The “Homecoming” series is also good, but a bit difficult to follow at times.
Look up Michael Resnick as well.
I grew up on Heinlein and Asimov, Clarke and Bradbury. I don’t know how hellish my childhood would have been without them. In the seventies came New Wave and everything was artsy dystopias: I could live with that and some was even kind of interesting. But like you, sometime in the eighties I developed the ‘dragon rule;’ If there’s a dragon on the cover, no thanks. SF gradually became SF/F, and I lost interest.
Lately I’ve been lured partway back by Larry Correia, even though he’s much more F than SF, just because I love his stories and characters so much. But otherwise, yeah, I don’t even know who these people are.
Where Sir Arthur stood, now stands Stephen Baxter. What an amazing talent.
Rustygunner — He’s got that super-science background AND he wrote with Terry Pratchett??? Oh, this I must see. I like the way his website tries to guide you toward books you might like.
http://www.stephen-baxter.com/
jed — Don’t know anything about Scalzi’s politics or personality. Um … maybe I shouldn’t want to know?
Orson Scott Card I just can’t read. I’ve always found him boring. Even the Ender series. I’ve tried and tried. Then about 10 years ago a Mormon friend was trying to convert me and he pointed me to a piece Card wrote in defense of the Book of Mormon. Well, fine. I’d expect a Mormon to defend the book. But that was one of the most shockingly intellectually dishonest things I’d ever read in my life. It was just plain deceptive. Ever since then, I’ve had no use for him at all.
Will look up Resnick. Oh, and the ankle’s doing well. I’ve just learned that any time I think it’s doing well and try to push it a bit, I get set back. So I’m being extra cautious. But it’s feeling pretty decent, thank you.
Joel — Oh yeah, even a lot of that New Wave stuff was quite readable. Not to mention that there were quite a few very decent writers producing SF in the 70s and 80s. The Niven/Pournelle team always cooked up reliable blockbusters. Phillip Jose Farmer and Frank Herbert were good — until John Campbell died and inspired, disciplined editing no longer guided them. God, I loved Roger Zelazny. Ursula LeGuin. Poul Andersen, wow. So many!
Then … yeah. For me it wasn’t dragons on the cover. But maidens in diaphanous gowns. Same stories between the covers, though. Ugh.
I don’t know how she should be rated because she writes both sifi and fantasy but Lois McMaster Bujold is one of my favorite authors with lots of philosophy under the story lines.
The only Card I’ve read is a non-SF novel called “The Lost Boys”, no relation to the movie of the same name. I still owe Card a poke in the snoot for the “death of Henry Blake” rug pull at the end of that one. You don’t do that to your readers.
Well, don’t bother looking up Scalzi’s politics. Don’t read his blog either. But the books are worth reading.
For a while, I read everything Card published. Too bad it didn’t click with you. Horses for courses.
C. J. Cherryh maybe?
Oh, Greg Bear, and Dan Simmons. The Hyperion Cantos is another on my must-read list. Truly stunning, right up to the last chapter of book 3, where I was sorely disappointed. But still, among the best things I’ve read.
For Resnick, I recall Paradise and Santiago being very enjoyable. Totally different types of books too.
You dragon-haters! Phhhht. I much enjoyed the Dragonriders of Pern. Don’t remember how many of those I read, but I didn’t find them to be squishy fantasy crap either.
Not SF, but look into the Mists of Avalon books. Uh, 3 or 4 of them? Or, if you’re completely bored by the notion of re-telling of the Arthurian legend, maybe not, but I found them to be excellent.
Finally, the Rifters books, by Peter Watts. Look him up in the news — couple years ago or so, he had a tiff with the border goons. Book one gets off to what might seem a slow start, but give it time. Highly recommended.
I like Bujold, but not as much as Watts, Simmons, Scalzi, or Bear.
David Brin is another lefty who writes SciFi that I enjoy. The Man-Kzin wars are classic. Sundiver was good too, and Kiln People. And the Uplift wars stuff. Possibly, I’m conflating some things here.
Claire, I wish I could drive over and drop a few boxes of SciFi in your lap. They’re going to the library, I guess. I just have too many books on my shelf – no way I’m going to get to them.
A friend of mine recommended Revelation Space – I don’t recall the author, but it’s sitting in my queue.
Okay, I’ve just put library holds on some novels by Bujold and Baxter. Now making notes for others. And hey, in this age, you don’t even have to plow through all those dragon-and-maiden things at the bookstore!
jed — Yeah, I kind of wish you could drop some books by, also. Great thought.
You also mention some books and authors I liked very much. Yes, the first umpteen Dragon Riders of Pern books were wonderful — and not at all sword-and-sorcerish. The first Mists of Avalon book? I must have read that five times! David Brin’s The Postman? It actually was a life-changer for me. Those are all from “back in the day,” though.
(In the early days of the ‘Net, though, Brin and I got into a one-on-one debate about his belief in “the transparent society.” He just could not or would not admit that the “transparency” he advocated would inevitably mean that everything we-the-peasants did would be “transparent” to the political powers while their doings would become more and more opaque to us. Oh, how time has put me in the “I told you so!” position. Oh well.)
Anyhow, not familiar with Watts. Will put him on my list, too. And thanks for specific recommendations on Resnick. That helps.
The Postman is on my shelf (well, in a box of keepers). Odd I have yet to read it. And I can imagine that debate. In fact, I think I remember something from it on your old blog. Should still be in Bill’s archive, then?
Claire you may also want to add William C. Dietz to your list.
I think my debate with Brin was in the 1990s, so before my other blog. Lordy, that might have even been written up on my old Wolfe’s Lodge site! But I think Bill has that archived, too. (The actually dialog between me and Brin most likely isn’t published anywhere. It was just on email.)
The Postman is a very good book. Well worth a read. Um … don’t bother with the ghastly movie Kevin Costner made from it.
William C. Dietz. Sounds more like an accountant than an author. 🙂 But he’s now on the list. Any particular titles?
Well, I could send you a few books in the mail. Cherryh, maybe some Simak? Jack Vance? I couldn’t name all the authors I have on hand. Possibly, I have some A. E. van Vogt still around.
Too bad I already gave away my Paul J. McCauley. That was good stuff too. You know, these author names are going to keep popping into my head.
Oh, Simak. I used to love him. He was so sweet. And van Vogt, of course: The Weapon Shops of Isher. What could be better? Everybody who cares about freedom should read that.
But mostly it sounds as if the books you love are of the era when I was reading a lot of SF. So thank you very, very much, but go ahead and donate to the library. Sounds as if you have wonderful books. But right now I’m on a quest to find contemporary or near-contemporary writers I haven’t discovered yet.
Any thoughts on L. Neil Smith.
As th Heinlein:
I can enumerate some 60 books he’s written over the years.
I have collected some 52 of them.
I have read/reread some 38 of those in ‘copyright’ or published order. (My thinking here is to walk through Heinlein’s intellectual evolution as a function of time.)
I am currently rereading “”Farnham’s Freehold, 1964″” – the first, as far as I can tell, of the ‘apocalyptic genera.
I recommend a read/reread WRT current times.
“Any thoughts on L. Neil Smith.”
My thought is that the first is still best. Probability Broach tops ’em all.
And Heinlein … R.L. you are incredibly dedicated (not to mention systematic)! A couple of Heinlein books (the usual suspects: The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and Stranger in a Strange Land) were really influential for me, but I was never the Heinlein fan a lot of you guys (and I mean guys) were.
Oh, I have lots of old SF, but newer stuff too. Paul J. McCauley is pretty recent – certainly later than your era of malaise.
Another resource you could look through would be ESR’s SciFi category – lots of book reviews there.
James P. Hogan got me through the 70s and 80s; allow me to recommend “Voyage From Yesteryear” if you haven’t already read it. Lately I’ve been enjoying Charles Stross, especially his Laundry Files novels, which are a hoot if you’re into either computers or Lovecraft. (In my case, the former.)
Oh, James P. Hogan. Yes! A great writer and a great freedomista. I’ll have to revisit Voyage. As to Stross, never heard of him, but I just put the first Laundry Files book in my library queue. Thanks, Brad.
You guys have said it all. I would add that I enjoyed some of Eric Flint’s 1632 series, but I have lost track and haven’t kept up with them all.
Hey Claire, here is his website. http://williamcdietz.com/ What got me hooked was two novels called DeathDay which was followed by Earth Rise. I am a big fan of his Legion of the Damned series. This author is one of the very few that I still buy in hard cover.
I just finished up Neal Stephenson’s new novel Seveneves. One of the best examples of world building I’ve read in a while.
You can’t go wrong with Correia’s Monster Hunter International and Grimnoir Chronicles. I like the intro Stephenson had available for free, but I can’t bring myself to pay that much for his books on Kindle.
Ben Bova hasn’t been resting on his laurels either. Mars is, I think the most recent book of his I’ve read. I’m afraid my memory isn’t good here. Too many Mars books around, ya know.
I’m sure I’ve mentioned Sarah Hoyt in the past. But if not, now I have. What do you call a trilogy, minus one? The Darkship story is two books. But book one of a sequel series is out, so I don’t what to call it.
Uh, Jack Chalker? The only one I’ve read is Midnight at the Well of Souls. Good book, but I won’t rave about like I would about Hyperion or Rifters.
Trying to recall what I’ve read by Keith Laumer. Seems most readers I know consider his Retief stories to be required reading for a SciFi fan. Contemporary? Well, spanning 1963 – 1993 – that’s just Retief. The Great Time Machine Hoax was a hoot, but not what I’d call SciFi. I should read the Bolo books, and the Berserker books by Fred Saberhagen too.
Kind of funny, what I haven’t read. None of the Ringworld books, for example.
Vernor Vinge: https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Vernor_Vinge
I was going to list what I thought was best, but as I started realized that I would have ended up listing just about everything he wrote. A strong libertarian and a great writer. The only book I would recommend you skip is Tatja Grimm’s World although I know some people who enjoyed it.
I second the nomination for Cherryh, I love the Chanur novels. Classic Space Opera, although I have a decided tendency to speak in Mahendo’sat pidgin for a day or two afterward.
Claire,
If it’s hard SF you want, especially technophilic/optimistic, you’ll want any of the collaborations of Niven and Pournelle, but most especially Lucifer’s Hammer. Also, Dean Ing – both SF and not. Niven’s own works (not in collaboration) are also outstanding, and he’s collaborated with many other writers.
For Bujold, you can skip the fantasy – I like most of it, but she’s had a couple of misses along the way. OTOH, her SF series about Miles Vorkosigan series is effin brilliant, and has made me cry more than once – and that’s a good thing.
If you’re willing to try some urban fantasy (and I know it’s a stretch for you, based on what you’re said so far), consider Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden series – a hardboiled detective wizard in modern Chicago. He’s a good guy who just can’t catch a break, but who never, ever, ever gives up.
And now for something completely different: Movies
Several movies by Akira Kurosawa: Seven Samurai, Kagemusha, Throne of Blood, Rashomon, Sanjuro, Yojimbo, High and Low, Ran, and then my personal favorite – Ikuru. I cry every time I see that movie, and it’s one of my favorites of all time.
Also, anything by Hayao Miyazaki.
Kurt
“Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.” – Denis Diderot
As long as it still draws breath, no agreement will restrain a politician. They are professional liars. Never trust anything they say.
Spider Robinson, I know, he’s not contempory but so what? Callahans Saloon was a place I wanted to live!
My introduction to SF was more or less an accident. I can’t remember who gave me the book, but it was a real turning point in my reading preferences, as well as a great illustration of how truly free and non-aggressive people might live. They have unusual psychic abilities, and no experience at all with those who view those abilities as evil.
Zena Henderson, “Pilgrimage: The Book of The People” was that first book. After that, I found a multitude of other stories about the same people who flee from a planet that is disintegrating, their crash landing on the Earth, and the reactions of those who encountered them. The usual witch hunts are interspersed with other situations where earth people eventually come to understand and treasure their relationships.
The over riding theme is that non-aggression, personal responsibility and integrity are the foundation of all life, and of all joy as well. The stories are filled with challenging ideas, and the most wonderful sense of joy you may ever encounter.
Most of the stories are now available in one volume, “Ingathering: The Complete People Stories of Zenna Henderson”.
I own everything she ever wrote, as far as I know, and my only regret is that she didn’t write more.
I can’t believe no one has yet mentioned Asimov’s brilliant Foundation trilogy. I first read those books as a teen and they were was eye-opening. I’ve re-read them more than once since. (But skip the two long-delayed sequels; the first is crap and the second is worse.)
Heinlein was my introduction to sf. A helpful librarian pointed me to them as a kid. Liked his “juvenile” series (Podkayne, Starman Jones, etc.) and of course Stranger and Moon (required reading for any libertarian!). Glory Road is fun, too. I think I’ve read almost everything he ever wrote, but frankly his, um, unusual views on sex (most notable in his later novels) leave me cold. And the posthumously-published For Us, The Living is only worth reading because of its historical place in his canon (it was written in 1938, so was probably his first effort). It’s not very good writing and his economics are execrable (he was attempting to justify “free” money, just printed by the government and handed out to whoever wanted it.) I think he would have been embarrassed to know it was ever published.
I second Butcher’s Harry Dresden books. I suppose they would be classified as fantasy (he’s a wizard, after all, although he does try to provide some semi-pseudo-scientific underpinnings for how magic works), and I much prefer “hard” sf, but it’s still a fun read.
I’ll second the suggestion of Vernor Vinge. If you haven’t read his story “The Ungoverned” you’re in for a treat. His more-recent work begins with A Fire Upon The Deep which I highly recommend.
Timothy Zahn is an outstanding sci-fi writer. He started writing while working on his PHD in physics. I recommend anything he’s written, but especially the Conqueror’s Trilogy. It’s thought-provoking without dictating which thoughts to provoke, if that makes sense.
He’s also a really nice guy. I met him at a sci-fi convention when I was 14. At the time, my big dream was to design working space colonies. It was the first time anyone had ever talked to me like an intelligent person instead of a naive and idiotic kid. He actually acted like he thought my ideas had merit!
If you don’t mind a little fantasy, but with a minimum of diaphanous gowns, try the Shannara series by Terry Brooks.