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Authors and Books


ajzepp

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Sports - Bob Chandler's bio: Violent Sundays is pretty incredible

 

C.S. Lewis is a favorite of mine. Out of the Silent Planet is brilliant.

 

Robert A. Heinein - Stranger in a Strange Land

 

Jonathan Swift - Gulliver's Travels, particularly Part IV.

Most people think Gulliver went to one place filled with little people. If that were true, it would be Gulliver's Travel. :thumbsup:

 

Isaac Asimov - I challenge you to read the entire "robot, foundation and empire" series, written over a few decades, NOT intended as a somewhat linked future history when written.

 

FORGET the movie "I, Robot" !!!

It was an OK movie that almost nothing to do with Asimov's robots. In fact the premise directly contradicted his robot philosophy. Note that in the following list, three books were three written by other authors, with permission.

 

In the Author's Note at the beginning of Prelude to Foundation, Asimov says:

"In any case, the situation has become sufficiently complicated for me to feel that the readers might welcome a kind of guide to the series, since they were not written in the order in which (perhaps) they should be read.
"The fourteen books, all published by Doubleday, offer a kind of history of the future, which is, perhaps, not completely consistent, since I did not plan consistency to begin with. The chronological order of the books, in terms of future history (and
not
of publication date), is as follows:

 

"1. The Complete Robot (1982). This is a collection of thirty-one robot short stories published between 1940 and 1976 and includes every story in my earlier collection, I, Robot (1950). Only one robot short story has been written since that collection appeared. That is Robot Dreams, which has not yet appeared in any Doubleday collection. [Robot Dreams (1986) does contain it; see also Robot Visions (1990)]

 

"2. The Caves of Steel (1954). This is the first of my robot novels.

 

"3. The Naked Sun (1957). The second robot novel.

 

"4. The Robots of Dawn (1983). The third robot novel.

 

"5. Robots and Empire (1985). The fourth robot novel.

 

"6. The Currents of Space (1952). This is the first of my Empire novels.

 

"7. The Stars, Like Dust-- (1951). The second Empire novel.

 

"8. Pebble in the Sky (1950). The third Empire novel.

 

"9. Prelude to Foundation (1988). This is the first Foundation novel (although it is the latest written, so far).

 

[9a. Forward the Foundation (1993).]

 

[9b. Foundation's Fear (1997).] The first novel in the Second Foundation Trilogy, it was written by
Gregory Benford
. Takes place after the first chapter of Forward the Foundation.

 

[9c. Foundation and Chaos (1998).] The second novel in the Second Foundation Trilogy,
written by Greg Bear.
Takes place at the approximate time of Hari Seldon's trial.

 

[9d. Foundation's Triumph (previously titled Third Foundation and Secret Foundation) (1999).] The third novel in the Second Foundation Trilogy,
written by David Brin.

 

"10. Foundation (1951). The second Foundation novel. Actually, it is a collection of four stories, originally published between 1942 and 1944, plus an introductory section written for the book in 1949.

 

"11. Foundation and Empire (1952). The third Foundation novel, made up of two stories, originally published in 1945.

 

"12. Second Foundation (1953). The fourth Foundation novel, made up of two stories, originally published in 1948 and 1949.

 

"13. Foundation's Edge (1982). The fifth Foundation novel.

 

"14. Foundation and Earth (1983). The sixth Foundation novel."

 

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Jonathan Swift - Gulliver's Travels, particularly Part IV.

Most people think Gulliver went to one place filled with little people. If that were true, it would be Gulliver's Travel. :thumbsup:

 

Gulliver's Travels, IMO, is the most ingenious book ever written. It's three books in one. Some people think of it as a children's book, some an adventure, and it's simultaneously a complex, scathing satire of the government and religion. How Swift does all three things at once is simply astounding.

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Currently I am getting into the stories written by Jorge Luis Borges. Great stuff, he was recommended to me by a couple of writer friends and I went out and bought three of his collections and am loving the stories so far.

 

Gulliver's Travels, IMO, is the most ingenious book ever written. It's three books in one. Some people think of it as a children's book, some an adventure, and it's simultaneously a complex, scathing satire of the government and religion. How Swift does all three things at once is simply astounding.

My brother wanted a book by Swift for Christmas one year. I purchased: 'The Benefit of Farting'. Seemed appropriate...

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