Let us salivate collectively

Through means I won’t tell for fear of being sued, but which will be stupidly obvious anyway, I now possess gazillions of scifi novels. My new collection includes Amazon dreams like Rendezvous with Rama and, OMG I JUST LEARNED NOW, The Illuminatus and Schrodinger’s Cat Trilogies! Then there’s also my forgotten love, the Christomanci series, other classics most notably Dick’s “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheeps?” and a whole heap of a lot lot lot lot lot moreness. I am still in awe.

I’ll post a list of noteworthy novels later. I swear I’ll really update this time. Tee-hee.

The partial wonderfulness:

RIP, Sir Arthur Charles Clarke

My favorite science fiction writer passed away today. It really surprised me; I had no idea. I was browsing through a website I visit almost everyday when I read a comment: “R I P Arthur C. Clarke. But don’t worry – your ghost will live on.” My head jerked at this, in shock, and began muttering “Oh my god. Oh my god” while typing in at wikipedia to confirm. And it was:

Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, CBE (16 December 1917 – 19 March 2008)

I didn’t cry or anything, but this is truly sad. He, more than anyone else, wanted to live as long as possible to see as much as the future he dedicated his life to imagine. In fact I’m quite sure there’s a quote somewhere that, in usual Clarke fashion of simple profoundness, placed these exact thoughts into words. I must find it.

In the meantime, let me repost my favorite quote of his ever:

“And because, of all the galaxy, they had found nothing more precious than Mind, they encouraged its dawning everywhere.” – 2010: The Second Odyssey

I LOVE Xenocide

Die you bloody scoffers. It’s great in its own right! Sure:

a. storytelling is terrible
b. characters are such pain in the ass
c. including Ender

But it still has a LOT of redeeming qualities. Forget the narration and the characters, the whole new world of science that opened left me amazed. Or maybe I’m just too gullible?

Warning: Ender’s series up to Xenocide spoilers ahead.

Sci-fi to read books

List is piling up -.-;

Speaker for the Dead (YEEESSS!) by OCC
Children of the Mind by OCC
Shadow of the Hegemon by OCC
Hyperion by Dan Simmons
Dune by Frank Herbert
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein
I am Legend by Richard Matheson
The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
Evolution by Stephen Baxter
Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan
Neuromancer by William Gibson

unfinished:
Songs of the Distant Earth
Hominids
Time’s Eye (introduction was superb, but that was it)
In His Image

Omg

Book Sale guy says they have Card’s Speaker for the Dead.

Quote 2

“And because, in all the galaxy, they had found nothing more precious than Mind…” – Arthur C. Clarke, 2010: Odyssey Two

Science fiction Survey

Yes! A science fiction survey this time. I know I seem to be crazy about surveys lately, but what the hell. I am bored and as the previous entry, this has been on my mind for quite a time now.

Note: Again, I am in no way a science fiction expert. I have completely read no more than 15 books yet so this entry would be the last you would consider comprehensive. But I want to post it anyway because as long as I admit the shortcomings, I can without guilt do so.

Another thing: mild spoilers abound.

Wtf

Hitch Hiker’s Guide (to be specific, Mostly Harmless) SPOILERS abound!

I finished reading Mostly Harmless last night, but I wasn’t really able to enjoy it. Even if I felt so sleepy I persisted on waddling through it, wanting to know some brilliant revelation at the end, but didn’t really find any.

Now, after some Google search, I’m regretting doing so, for I missed the biggest revelation of all. It wasn’t really stated explicitly in the book but I think I would’ve caught it if only I paid a bit more attention. Of course I learned about this later (just now actually), but it would’ve been more fun if I read it along the way.

As first book/movie-only readers know, the answer to life, the universe and everything is 42. However, nobody knows the actual question. Recently, I thought the 6×9 thing in the 2nd/3rd volume is the ultimate question (i.e., 6×9 base 13 = 42), but it seems that this is only some kind of joke. The ultimate question (with the answer) is actually:

Where is Stavro Mueller Beta?
42.

When I read this I laughed, shook my head, pulled my hair and bit my lip, all at the same time. Bloody brilliant is all I can say. It’s so unthinkable yet simple and makes perfect sense. )

I bought seven books today,

most of which are science fiction. I don’t know what occurred to me, all I remember was my ooh-ing and aah-ing and my arms gradually getting heavier. Seven may not be that remarkable, but considering that I only planned on buying two, which I must be sure I would like, this may be worth mentioning. I bought the following:

1. In His Image (james Beauseigneur)
-first book of the Christ Clone Trilogy. I have actually started reading it, and while I found the (semi?)philosophical sidebits amusing (e.g., “I think therefore I am. I think”, “atheist by inclination, agnostic in practice”, “…how can he who doubts his own existence believe in the existence of God?”), I found the science lacking. The author has a very flawed concept of cloning (memory remaining? Come on) and I think his claim that successful cloning will be proof that Jesus was not the Son of God quite a huge leap, among others.

2. The Lord of Light (Roger Zelazny)
-in one list in Amazon, the user claims this is the best scifi he has read. It’s about how several humans got hold of a certain technology and played gods.

3. The Forever War (Joe Haldeman)
-nice reviews in Amazon, about a soldier who kept on volunteering for intergalactic warfare. As a result, while a few years has passed for him, Earth has aged for decades.

4. Guide to Investing (Robert Kiyosaki)
-I’ve been looking for it, finally found one, and the smaller (and cheaper) version to boot.

5. I am Legend (Richard Matheson)
-Vampire Story, sort of. I just remembered the good reviews. Only one man is left in the world populated by humans turned vampires; during day he haunts them down and at night, he is being haunted. Why this is usually labeled science fiction escapes me.

6. Spin (Robert Wilson)
-interesting premise and allegedly well written. It’s about the earth suddenly being enveloped in this thing, resulting in some sort of suspended animation relative to space i.e., a minute on Earth means a century has passed outside. This means that the inhabitants could experience the remaining life cycle of the sun, among others. Very interesting indeed.

7. The last House in the Galaxy (Andy Secombe)
-reminds me of Hitch Hiker’s Guide, both in the book design and (potential) humor.

So seven books added to my reading list of at least 15 other books, with my phenomenal pace of 5 pages per good day.

Edit:Feb06 I bought two more books, and since it’s just within a week from writing this (original) entry, I decided to add them.

8. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Clarke)
9. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)

Contact by Carl Sagan

1. Gathering what little I know of literary judgment, I would say that this book is far from a masterpiece (because if it were, I would’ve bought it down in exasperated confusion). There is simply direct and understandable prose, nothing particularly artistic or emotion-evoking (but then again, it’s me we’re talking about here).

2. There are a LOT of things that the author could’ve excluded to save pages e.g., unnecessary details on background story of other characters, pages and pages of religious commentary.

3. Quite a bit of politics, if great political thinkers would even consider the situations believable political circumstances and not simply an astronomer tweaking in the field without an ounce of political insight. You know, like Dawkins of philosophy and theology (and to some extend, sociology). I would’ve said that several parts should not have been included, but I realized these details, however cumbersome to a political moron that I am, adds to the story’s realism.

4. Character development. I’m including this only because everyone seems to always mention it. But really, I do not care, for I have never been the master on human personality. In fact, I don’t think it is as necessary as people deem it to be. After all, I do not look for a superb execution in that aspect to feel that my literary experience is complete, and this view is completely legitimate since I am part of the market. They can’t only have literary experts bickering and judging literary value because us average folks would never catch-up, and claiming otherwise is stripping us of the legitimacy of our opinions. The assumption here is, of course, that I know what literary experience means, and political phenomena for that matter.

5. So what makes this book a memorable one? Its scientific accuracy and realistic plot.