From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Date: Wed, 3 Dec 2008 23:17:30 +0000 From: Eris Discordia To: Fans of the OS Plan 9 from Bell Labs <9fans@9fans.net> Message-ID: <78E6BFA2DB6BD896459E9FC1@[192.168.1.2]> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Disposition: inline Subject: Re: [9fans] Very Off-Topic: Anybody here reads Sci-Fi? :) Topicbox-Message-UUID: 580bed36-ead4-11e9-9d60-3106f5b1d025 > tip, though: DON'T read any sequels. 2001 is great, 2010 so-so, 2100 > blah, and 3001 well-nigh unreadable. A little correction: it's 2061. I disagree about 2010 and 2061 as I loved=20 reading them. 2061 explores the interesting character of Heywood Floyd in=20 more depth. But I agree about 3001. It was unwise of Clarke to write it the = way he did--and the parts about computer viruses pretty much sound like my=20 ideas about Plan 9 and computers in general; uninformed at best, that is = :-D While doing short stories you may want to try Clarke's The Sentinel as=20 well. 2001 grew out of that one. 2001, the film, is probably the greatest=20 science-fiction film of all time. Any serious 2001 fan should also read The = Lost Worlds of 2001. Clarke's chronicle of how 2001 the book was written=20 and 2001 the film was made. It contains in addition parts of the book that=20 never appeared in the final revision. Some of them are astounding, some=20 clumsily-written, but all worth a read. Two very interesting short stories of Asimov legacy are The Last Question=20 and The Last Answer. Each thought-provoking in a different way. --On Wednesday, December 03, 2008 5:56 PM -0500 "Joel C. Salomon"=20 wrote: > On Wed, Dec 3, 2008 at 5:32 AM, Eris Discordia > wrote: >> There are the Great Three, of course. Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, = and >> Robert A. Heinlein. Anything they wrote is worth a read. Sometimes a >> number of reads. Clarke particularly interests me. Try the short story >> The Nine Billion Names of God. The series of Odyssey novels are very >> readable--2001 is a magnum opus of Clarke, and of science fiction. > > Clarke's short stories are great, as are many of his novels. Quick > tip, though: DON'T read any sequels. 2001 is great, 2010 so-so, 2100 > blah, and 3001 well-nigh unreadable. Same with the Rama books: read > the first, ignore the rest. Also, if there's a short story, and then > an expanded novel, stick with the short story. Especially Guardian > Angel/Childhood's End. > > If you want short stories, look for the "Best of =E2=80=A6" set by del = Rey > books. Great introduction to many authors, especially Golden Age ones. > > =E2=80=94Joel