Science Fiction
I haven’t thought about it too much until now, but I’ve been re-reading some science fiction books recently: George Herbert’s Dune and John Christopher’s trilogy titled “The White Mountains,” “The City of Gold and Lead” and “The Pool of Fire.” Dune is a great story, though I’ve never seen an author lift so much of his terminology directly from other languages (mostly Arabic, at least one word - cielago - from Spanish). I also loved these John Christopher books.
I don’t know if I’m a huge fan of science fiction in the same way as some others, but there are certainly some amazing science fiction stories out there. Any suggestions?
About The Author
I like reading science fiction, but I don’t really consider myself an exclusive fan. For some really excellent sf, try Gene Wolfe’s Book of the New Sun, a four book series, the first one is called Shadow of the Torturer. Wolfe is an amazing writer.
Dallas, thank you so much for the suggestion. I’ll definitely be giving that book (and series) a serious look. I’m always happy to get a good suggestion.
I love those white mountains books! I always recommend them to young adults or kids who read at a more mature level. I enjoyed them very much myself.
I enjoyed the White Mountain Trilogy many years ago. I’ve been on a big SF kick for the past while and have gone through almost everything OSC has written. Highlights there:
Ender’s Game - an instant classic about a childhood subverted in order to protect the planet.
The Worthing Chronicles (or Saga) - probably Card’s best and most LDS work. While the afterword says it is influenced by the Book of Mormon, whoever wrote that (it wasn’t Card) got it wrong. It is about the nature of Godhood, population of worlds, the gift of agency and its consequences, and even the development of the temple ceremony.
Pastwatch - this (like Worthing) is a stand alone novel. Well, at least he hasn’t followed it up yet. Scientists from the future discover that they can change the past to avoid ecological disaster, but it will mean their own existence vanishes.
In other series of books Card blatantly uses the Joseph Smith story (set in a more magical America) as inspiration and the Book of Mormon in outer space. Most of his series start off well and then get progressively worse. I’d start with the books I’ve listed here and explore from there.
I recently finished Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land. This was very interesting to me from a Mormon perspective as there is a church in the book that bears some resemblance to the LDS Church and initially he seems to be mocking it. It gets more interesting as it goes on.
I also read the Ringworld books this summer as well as some other Larry Niven stuff. The first ringworld book is the best, the second is OK, the third is terrible, and the fourth is again OK. I found it interesting because the Ringworld is a big idea, in more ways than one.
Finally, I have to say that there are three Neal Stephenson books that I’ve found entertaining recently. Cryptonomicon, the Diamond Age, and Snow Crash. Note that he has an odd way of ending books that turns some people off.