Took a couple of sitting to read the entire post, anyhow about some of them, I haven't gotten around to looking for the book Neuromancer by William Gibson (I do not remember how I came across it on the internet). These 'duel to the death. Last man standing' books/movies I avoid, and as for  J.R.R. Tolkien The Hobbit is the only great book by him screw the LOTR books watch the movies, except for The Scouring of the Shire chapter it was the only good part of the book.

As for my favourite  authors

Sci-Fi: William Shatner (the Tek series and the Quest for Tomorrow series.) I am in the process of rereading the Tek series since after reading some not to good books back to back I needed something better and the Tek series popped into mind and this is saying something about him, I have never read a book twice. As for the Quest for Tomorrow series damn hard getting the last two books. The series itself I have to say I enjoyed it even though at one point I needed to read the same chapter again to understand what just happened.

Fantasy author: J.K. Rowling, and READ THE BOOKS! The movies started off okay but to me they later felt like they were being made just because they can.  Also read the books for more of the Weasley and Dursley families, I find them more interesting than Harry Potter. One other thing the last book I do not like and regret buying it.

And looking at the twenty six books of my favourite books (besides my favourite Manga) eight are J.K.Rowling, sixteen are William Shatner and one is J.R.R. Tolkien.

Sorry, I am the Queen of the text wall. =(

I wouldn't read Neuromancer anyway, if you aren't already a Gibson fan.  I reread it recently, and it came off as kindof dated imo. The new series still carries the same trademark of beat sensibility mixed with techno fetishist subject matter. 

If I made Battle Royale sound like that type of book, then I did it a grave misservice. =(

Just Wow. I've actually been mostly boycotting the movies since their release. =D  I saw the first 1/2 hour of The Fellowship of the Ring and got kindof teed off that they took away one of Frodo's great moments/displays of courage/strength at the Ford of Rivendell and gave it to freaking Arwen. Arwen? FFS all she EVAH did was sit on her ass in Rivendell waiting for Aragorn to reclaim the throne of Gondor before she would marry him. Nice.

Holy Shiznet,  I had no idea The Shat wrote books!

I've always meant to read the Harry Potter series. Haven't gotten gotten around to it yet, but X-mas IS coming up. Never saw the movies either. Maybe I'll put them on my wish list for Santa. I have been harboring vague plans to read them aloud to my kids for years. Might be time to finally do it.

I've been reading Michael Moorcock for many years. If you're unfamiliar, he is the author of the Elric saga, and the Eternal Champion series (which Elric is a part of). He also wrote a Doctor Who novel, The Coming of the Terraphiles, last year. One thing about Moorcock is that he's been writing for a looooooonnng time, and a lot of his stuff has been reprinted over the years, which is a good thing. If you've never read Elric, all the books, as well as other stories, have been reprinted and re-released lately. However, I think a more recent favorite of mine is the Hawkmoon series, which was also recently reprinted. Definitely worth checking out! I also loved his homage to Burroughs's Martian Tales, Kane of Old Mars.

For science fiction, I really like the late Michael Crichton. Auy...Such a shame that he's gone, and I'm sure he could have given us a lot more great tales. I loved Sphere, and I probably recommend that the most of his work. Jurassic Park is also a classic, of course, and if you like science fiction, and haven't read it...what's wrong with you?? D: Barnes and Noble has a special hardback edition of Jurassic Park and The Lost World (just like an omnibus collection that was released many years ago called Jurassic World;) give it to someone you love for Christmas! Or to yourself! :D Crichton's last book, Pirate Latitudes, isn't science fiction, of course, and well, I overall found it to be okay. It would be nice if his final book could have been better than just 'okay,' but well...There is a brand new book, Micro, which he was working on prior to his death. It was finished, in some way or another, by Richard Preston, who I don't read. I haven't read this one yet, and I've heard...mixed reviews of it....Hmmm...

I did love the Harry Potter series as well, but I'm not sure I'd call Rowling one of my favorite authors, exactly. Her writing is....mixed, to me. I do appreciate how she plays up to her audience in her writing, but well....I honestly found a lot of material in the HP books to just be....boring and unnecessary. I guess you could say she didn't always use the most original ideas either, but overall, taking the books for what they are, I like them.

I have read 'Rings and The Hobbit, too, and I've tried to read other Tolkien, but I didn't quite make it. I don't know, his...prose is just....so in-depth with his own world that I can see why some would call it a work of literary genius, and others not so much. It's classic work for sure, but not for everyone.

Ugh, my experience with Octavia Butler has not been so good. I read Kindred, which....I guess I thought was okay. What really turned me off from her was Fledgling, which I...could not finish reading. First, it didn't interest me enough, but I was also very bothered about how it essentially contains  child sexual abuse in it. The girl in the story is a vampire, who appears to be a very young teenager, or late pre-teen. Yes, she's older than that, but her body does not appear as such. She has sex with an adult, and was....just too disturbingly seductive about it for me. I thought, no, I....cannot finish reading this. This is disturbing me. Maybe it's not an example of Butler's best work, but it sure left a taste in my brain bitter enough that I'm still in no hurry to read any more of her work.

I've got a list of things as long as your arm of stuff I still need to read, too!

The wall of text is only an issue when the screen is white, the whiteness starts to blur the text.

I should probably add that if I didn't watch the Lord of the Rings movies first and had references from it I would of stopped reading the book within the first few hundred pages.

William Shatner I like him as an author/"singer"  but not as an actor.

@Shirow:  If disturbing isn't really your thing then Octavia Butler really might not be for you although Fledgling is definately not her best book.  From what I've read she was on alot of medication at the time which gave her trouble with writing and she really seems to struggle through the first half.  The second half she seems to find herself and I thoroughly enjoyed the book overall, although again not her best.

She is my favorite author btw.  I have trouble thinking of a book of hers that would not disturb you in some way though.  Gritty, real.  I would consider Fledgling as actually one of her tamer, more mainstream works.  Clay's Ark or her Parable series explore the darker side of humanity in ways that would give Lovecraft nightmares.  Where she shines is in her characters and character development so when horrible things happen to them you really feel it.  Celes trying to commit suicide or Ares getting stabbed by Sephiroth upset you a little?  You aren't ready for Octavia Butler and the kind of emotions she will tear out of you kicking and screaming. 

All of that is just windowdressing though for extremely well told and imaginative stories that dig deep into exploring the human condition as well as raising very interesting questions about humanity's future.  I couldn't recommend the author enough, although yes.  Be prepared.  Octavia Butler takes no prisoners.  Mickey Mouse won't suddenly appear on the page and teleport you to Happy Rainbow Pony Land should she decide to show reality as it is.  Wild Seed is probably my favorite btw.  Kindof like Xmen if Professor X was a completely insane serial killer.

Michael Crichton I liked.  Adromeda Strain in particular.  I love the way he portrays science and scientists.  Ever hear how science dealt with the gypsy moth?

@White Mage:  The Hobbit was my favorite in the series, but jeez.  You kids these days.  No attention span.  I actually liked the movies although were kindof ruined for me a bit by them making Gimli a subject for a stupid joke.  Obvious and I liked that about the books.  Made the dwarf a badmother instead of a punchline.

Battle Royale I loved.  Gripping action, yes, but also some pretty deep underlying themes.

I may be able to handle some 'gritty' stuff okay, depending, but I just really had a problem with Fledgling's depiction of what was essentially child sexual abuse. Not only that, she really tried to make it....erotic. I found that to be disturbing, and....far from erotic. Yeah, I'll bet she was on medication when she wrote that.... -___-; But also like I said, her books I have read or tried to read honestly just don't interest me that much to begin with, so...

...I'm not sure Aeris and Celes's situations are fair comparisons though. For the record, nope, I...did not cry or anything at Aeris's death. I didn't expect it, no, and it definitely was a 'WTF?!' moment for me though! Otherwise, nope! :P

A lot of people aren't happy about Jackson turning Gimli into a comedian in the 'Rings movies, true; you're not the only one there!

It's been a while, but as far as I remember the main character in Fledgling was a vampire/alien and pretty much raped every human she came into contact with, but I don't remember children at all in the story.  You felt like she was being molested?  There were squid kindof aliens in another series.  Appearence is just that.  Common theme to her books.  I think it'd be a shame for you to dismiss what I think to be the greatest author of our time simply because the alien in one book looked like a youngish human, but if you're that closeminded to be hung up by something like that you're liable to be upset by other themes dealt with in other books anyway.  Hey.  We all don't have to like the same things.  She gets pretty dark and disturbing alot.

Blood pressure meds I believe, fell/had a stroke and died pretty soon after writing Fledgling.  I don't think her health had anything to do with main plot points though.  I meant in the actual prose.  Read alot of her stuff and you'd see what I mean.  Same with the Aeris (did I get her name right?) thing.  I didn't personally think too highly of FF7 and her death came across as a very shallow, gilded lily type of affair to me personally, but alot seemed to be affected by it, so figured it would kindof give everyone an idea of the type of thing Octavia Butler surpasses.

...alien vampires. Well, I knew there was a reason I didn't want to finish reading it.

The thing is, the vampire girl, although actually older than she seemed, had the body of a young girl; like, early teenager or late pre-teen. And she has sex with a guy earlier in the book. That's....basically child sexual abuse, as it's usually defined; an adult having sex with a minor. And Butler....tried to make it seem....erotic by having this...child/not child just be more seductive about it with the man she was with. I...just found it pretty gross.

I'm sorry, I cannot get past that; it was basically child sexual abuse, and I don't want to read it. I don't care if that makes me 'closed-minded;' I don't want to read a story about a child that has sex with adults. Especially...one that's..being seductive about it. Besides, everyone is 'closed-minded' about some things, by definition of terms. People don't like absolutely everything.

But as I also said, other than that, the story wasn't really hooking me anyway. I'd probably have abandoned it sooner or later.

...Octavia Butler is dead?? I honestly don't think I knew that before now. I looked her up though and indeed, you're right. Huh. I...did not know. Or if I did, I...somehow forgot.

I've mentioned this in other threads, but I also don't think as highly of FF7 anymore. When it was new, I loved it, sure. I didn't cry at Aeris's* death, but I was surprised, and otherwise, I liked it. As the years went on though, I started feeling differently about it. What really ruined it for me, I think, were the rabid/obssessive/insane fans. You know the kind; who think the game is humanity's greatest creation, and yet, they somehow continue to demand the game be remade. If you love the game so much, why do you want it redone? What do you want different about this 'perfect' game? I haven't heard many answers, and I'm not sure if some of these fans even know what they want, their mental demands and expectations are so high. I actually started a thread, asking if the game should be redone, so you can find some other thoughts in there, if you like. :P

*Yeah, you typoed it as 'Ares' the first time. >D

Damnit Moggy, I purposefully left you Parable of the Sowers/Talents and you did WildSeed. =(

A lot of the problems you may have noticed with Tolkien's other works set in Middle Earth are due to the fact that he never completed them. He did not consider them suitable for publication in the state that they were in. Christopher Tolkien found them subsequent to his father's death and published them posthumously.

I'm not a huuuuge fan of Michael Crichton. But I've only read Jurassic Park and Congo. (Congo was pretty awful.) But I've heard Andromeda Strain was really good before, so maybe I'll give him another try and check it out sometime. As long as there are no specially trained crack teams of monkey killer kommandoes in it. (lol)

I think I may have read a Michael Moorcock short story in a SciFi journal once, but I really don't remember anything about it.

As for the Octavia Butler thing? Kindred and Fledgling are my two least favorite of her books. I would hate to see anyone base their opinion of her entire body of work on either novel; they are soooo atypical of her as an author in their different ways. I was not personally offended by the main character in Fledgling engaging in sexual intercourse with her human servant. She is not human. She is an alien. Her physical/psychosexual development does not correspond with that of a human. That she is NOT considered to be a child by her own race is amply demonstrated by the fact that a marriage for her is being spoken about at the close of the novel.

For more Crichton, as I mentioned, I really recommend Sphere; I dare you to try putting it down for long, the first time you read it. That was my experience, anyway! So long ago.....I'm old. Prey was also very good; check that out, too. The Andromeda Strain is considered to be one of his best overall, and actually, you can get a special edition compilation of that with The Terminal Man, too. Get it for someone you love this Christmas; or for yourself!I also...sort of suggest State of Fear. I put it that way because...I admit the story is....actually kind of boring. However, I think it's important to read anyway, for reasons you'd see if you just read it.

Moorcock has written a ton of short stories in his career, and yeah, some more memorable than others. You can find a lot of these stories in current reprints, such as The Best of Michael Moorcock, or in one of his themed collections featuring the same characters, such as The Metatemporal Detective, and the new reprints of the Elric saga also include some other related short stories and articles.

After my not-so-good experiences with Butler so far, I'm just not in a hurry to read any more of her work. I....won't say never, but not forseeably. I won't try re-reading Fledgling again, for sure.

ShirowWolf

The thing is, the vampire girl, although actually older than she seemed, had the body of a young girl; like, early teenager or late pre-teen. And she has sex with a guy earlier in the book. That's....basically child sexual abuse, as it's usually defined; an adult having sex with a minor. And Butler....tried to make it seem....erotic by having this...child/not child just be more seductive about it with the man she was with. I...just found it pretty gross.

I'm sorry, I cannot get past that; it was basically child sexual abuse, and I don't want to read it. I don't care if that makes me 'closed-minded;' I don't want to read a story about a child that has sex with adults. Especially...one that's..being seductive about it. Besides, everyone is 'closed-minded' about some things, by definition of terms. People don't like absolutely everything.

She's not a minor.  No child was being abused.  We're not talking about Lolita or Sleepers here.  She's an adult for her race.  Octavia Butler writes about as far from "erotica" as you could get anyway and you're getting awfully upset about nothing, but what the hell.  Doesn't seem you'll be happy until we've dissected this in depth.   Should the law force Gary Coleman to remain celibate his entire life or put in jail anyone who has sex with him because he has the body of a child?  Was he being abused sexually by his wife or in his porn? 

In this case we aren't even talking about a human who has a genetic disorder and has the body of a small child.  We're talking about an alien that you're picturing as a human child.  There are squid aliens in another of her books characters have romantic relationships with.  This isn't even that.  These are people the character enslaves.  She seems to consider them sort of like her pets.  She takes away their free will.  They are completely dependant on her.  She doesn't consider them her equals.  How could they possibly be abusing her?  She's abusing them.  Oh, and she's not a child.  I'm not even sure she is a she.  Octavia Butler has had characters that are like a third gender before and I don't remember her going that far into relations with the characters actual kind.

Of course as I've already said.  Not everyone will like the same things.  You're that upset by something so silly and you're liable to be really upset by other themes she explores anyway (Christians stealing the children of, raping, murdering and enslaving a commune in one for example.) and should stay away.   Little dark for you probably.  Goes to some places you're probebly not comfortable with.  Thought provoking.  We've had this long a discussion about one little nuance in one book I didn't even think was possible to be an issue for how long now.  In other words,  Octavia Butler writes literary masterpieces.  Maybe not for you, but we all aren't you.

She may not have been an actual child, and I acknowledged that her age wouldn't be considered a 'child' in normal human terms, but the fact she still looked like one and was having sex with an adult still bothered me enough to turn me off (pun..not intended, but yet, still true) severely. I propose considering  the reversal, if a child in an adult body and having sex if that would make a difference. To me, no, and I would still not like reading such a thing. That's neither here nor there though, and that'd be a totally different topic!

Also, like I said, it would be considered general child abuse because an adult having sex with a minor is considered, under the law, child abuse. You'd get arrested for it. Maybe it wasn't literally so in the story, but again, I just couldn't ignore the thought.

Don't assume what's 'too dark' for me or not; you don't really know. Just because I didn't want to finish reading Fledgling probably isn't much of a basis. :P

Uh, yeah, I realize 'not everyone is me.' In fact, I'm....pretty sure no one else is me. I'll send this to the lab and see what they say about the matter. I was expressing my differing opinion on an author I don't care for, and...I don't care what people think about me as a result. I don't care for Butler, and Fledgling not only disinterested me, it also bothered me. Aw well. :/

I think you might be arrested for having consentual sex with a mentally handicapped person.  You can't for having consentual sex with Gary Coleman.  Does that answer your question?

I honestly never even thought about it reading the book.  I would never have imagined someone would be upset by this.  So yes.  I've gotten the impression you are a bit of an overly sensitive type.  I dunno what to tell yah.  ^^  Don't ever read Sleepers.

*insert flame Maze would get mad if I posted here.  =(  *

...I don't think that's exactly the same thing here, but I guess.

It isn't so much it 'upset' me, but it did bother me a lot. Again, I just couldn't get around it; the image of an adult having sex with a child, and the 'child' being seductive about it...yeah, that....was kind of disturbing to me, and was not an incentive for me to read much more of the book. Everyone has their own lines that they draw themselves. I don't remember how much of it I read, but not much more before I stopped. Like I said, the story wasn't interesting me that much anyway, so I would likely have stopped before the end anyway. Eh.

What isn't the same about what?

Yes.  So you've said I don't know how many times now.   Well.  Sorry any pedos this idiot may be trying to entice into reading this book.  You're going to be gravely disappointed.  Octavia E. Butler doesn't write erotica.  Nothing even borderline.  That was if the character even was a child which she's not.  Not that any of that would matter as it doesn't get even remotely graphic.  He's just a creep that reads way to much into things.

Bad, Bad, Bad, Bad, Bad. =/

No fighting! =(

Hey, dun hate on the alien vampires; Vampire Hunter D is a classic. =P

I wasn't implying anything about Moorcock's storytelling by my comment; it's just been a reaaaally long time since I read it.

Actually I have also read a series where the opposite exists. Technical children born into adult bodies created from the genetic material of the dead and used as cannon fodder in humanities wars of planetary acquisition. It was really good too! One of them even made my list. John Scalzi's The Last Colony.

And now for something completely different....

Okay, not really.

Kurt Vonnegutt's Slapstick - My favorite Vonnegutt novel. The first book I ever read by him was Breakfast of Champions, and tbh I thought it was kindof disjointed and a little boring. A few years later I gave him another chance with Slaughterhouse Five which I really enjoyed. But something about Slapstick really resonated with me. I love the whole idea of the designations created to give people a family and sense of belonging. I ALWAYS wonder if he was inspired by how Cleisthenes reorganized the population of Athens to promulgate a sense of patriotism and belonging across tribal and class lines. I want my own number and a color and to be a daisy. That is all.

....are you directing that at me, Mog? Am I "a creep that reads way to much into things'? If so, uh, no, it's called an opinion that I've already explained thoroughly. First you said it was okay that 'we don't all like the same things,' but now you seem more offended by someone who has a different opinion than you. I don't like Octavia Butler and don't want to read her books anymore. Yes, one of them bothered me with its suggested imagery. Why...does that matter to you so much? What's the problem here?

And if that wasn't addressed at me....who are you talking to or about? Your last post is a little confusing, please clarify. I can honestly hardly understand what you're even trying to say.

I also didn't say she wrote erotica. You won't find that anywhere in my comments. What I did say was, the alien-vampire-not-a-girl who was having sex with an adult was being rather seductive about it, as I recall, and that is probably meant to be erotic. An erotic scene does not mean the whole book is erotic.

What "offends" me is not your opinion.  (It's very understandable.  Octavia Butler is not mainstream in any sense of the word.)  I find you stating your opinion over and over and over ad nausium both boring and yes, I guess slightly "offensive" if that's the word you'd like.  Repeat the exact same thing more than twice and I'm liable to get rather tactless in my critiques.  *shrug*  I think you got the gist of what I posted and in the interests of this not being a thread about you can we move on?

Breakfast of Champions was one of my favorite Vonnegut books.  Getting inside the mind of a person completely losing it I found really interesting.  Slapstick is better though.  I still wonder if the world couldn't be radically improved by "extended families".  Little dated maybe.  The internet has opened up a whole new world for the lonely.

We keep retreading the same ground because you keep making the same points in defense of Butler, and I honestly don't have anything else to say. You see though, evidently I have to keep beating my points in because you also didn't seem to understand some of the points I was making, such as claiming that I implied Butler 'writes erotica,' which I never once stated. That did indeed seem to bother you. It also really seemed to bother you that I have no desire to read any more Butler, and you just couldn't accept a different point of view; as if I'm crazy or something for not wanting to read her any more. Oh 'closed-minded' is the word you used. Well, we don't all like reading all authors, do we? And yet, it seems to really bother you to even consider that there are indeed people who don't want to read Butler. Well, accept it or not, it's the way it is, just so you're aware. Yes, there are people who do have different views than you do. Maybe next time you should just accept a differing of opinions, because it will happen again and again in life.

Also, if my comments do indeed bore you, then feel free to stop reading them. But you kept reading, and you kept replying. That isn't my fault. It's also not my job to entertain you, so your boredom isn't my problem.

I also noticed you didn't explain your last post, and what exactly you were even talking about or...to who, and you didn't answer my questions. I find your nonsense posts to also be 'boring'.

Oh.  I understood you.  You confuse my not caring with my not understanding.  I can read.  Maybe this is a skill you should work on.  I think you understood my post perfectly well, but here.  I'll spell it out for your fascist, repressed, military worshipping, troglodytic brain with an analogy of what you did.

Say for example we were talking about Star Wars.  I stated that I hated everything Star Wars and hell throw Indiana Jones into the mix because I found making out with a person's sister to be really gross.  Say no matter what you said in response to this I just kept repeating the fact that Luke making out with Leia offended me over and over and over and over and over and over.  You wouldn't start to think I maybe had issues I needed to deal with in regards to incestuous relationships?  Maybe dismissing a person's entire body of work based seemingly purely on something so small and pointless was downright idiotic?  Maybe I was posting just to see myself post?  Or trolling?  There.  You wanted my "opinion" about you as a person and a poster.  (oh and I've based it on the most illogical and pointless emotion I could muster)  Seems talking about you is the only thing you find interesting so there you have it.  I give the public what they want.

I miss my banhammer. =(

Well, since ignoring your argument and attempting to continue posting on topic is getting pretty pointless, I shall make a (likely doomed) attempt to mediate.

@Shirow: I think Mog was offended by your repetition of the term "child sex abuse"  when the character in question is in fact not a child, thought you were trying to flame and/or troll him and started to respond in kind. I personally don't think that was your intention, but I can see someone drawing that interpretation.

@Mog: I don't think Shirow was posting with the intent to flame and/or troll you. I don't think you were initially trying to flame and/or troll Shirow.

Now? I'm just waiting with baited breath for one of you to come out with "U MAD, BRAH?" and then my life will be complete. (/sarcasm)

I think people can become very defensive about their favorite authors and take a highly personal offense to what they feel is uninformed or poorly based criticism of them. More so than movies, games, etc.. Many readers feel that an author who has touched them in some way, or made them think differently about something is someone that they share a mental affinity with beyond the superficial and an affront to that author is by extension a personal affront. And somebody tried to say "print is dead." HA! IN YUOR FAEC RANDOM SOCIAL CRITIC WHO'S NAME I DON'T REMEMBER!"

Actually, Maze, we have got to the point where it's pretty clear Mog is now trying to start a flame war here, which is really sad and pathetic.

Did you notice how he began more personal attacks on me for absolutely no reason at all? He also claims to know some things about me personally, which he doesn't, at all. I'm a total stranger. But that's what trolls do. I guess he doesn't have anything better to do. That became pretty clear to me as soon as he saw that I actually disagree with him. That's right; I disagree. Oh no. What a terrible thing. I guess this is how he judges someone and their character; by whether they like the same books he does, or agree with him? Well, maybe he'll learn the hard way some day that the world doesn't work that way.

And you know what the really sad and pathetic thing is? He started this because I didn't like the same book that he did. Wow. You know, there are things worth arguing about, and there are things that are not. And this is what trolls do; they feed on trivial matters to empower them, probably because little else in life does.

And see, this is why I'm not letting him  troll me over. I won't give him the satisfaction. It's like they say, don't feed the troll.

Since you sound like someone that's actually  pleasant to talk to, I'll respond to you, Maze. Let's have a troll-free conversation!  As I explained repeatedly to Mog, and he clearly just doesn't get it, I continued to use the phrase 'child sexual abuse' because when I read Fledgling, that's the image that got into my head in one scene in the story. I found it bothersome because this character looked like a child, and was seducing and having sex with an adult; I just don't care for something like that. Yes, I realize 'she wasn't really a child,' but the thought is still there because of what she looked like; it's imagery.  I evidently had to keep hammering that point in because Mog just clearly didn't get it. Or if he did get it, he was pretending not to; whichever. I admit I can only say it so many times before...I can't explain it any other way, or make anyone understand. Perhaps I did hammer it in too much.

As I also said though, I just didn't care for Fledgling much as a story, anyway. I just didn't.  I would have abandoned it sooner or later, anyway, I'm sure. It just didn't do much for me. That's normal. Mog just couldn't accept that, for some reason, and I certainly didn't think it would be a big deal. But well, if that's how you judge someone....

I also do understand people being defensive about things they like, or love. But, again, there are things worth actually arguing about, and things not worth arguing about. I thought it would be enough to say that I tried two Butler books, and didn't really care for them, and I'm not in a hurry to read any more of her (I have enough to read as it is...I've got a pile..). Most people would probably take that for what it is, and accept it because honestly, who cares? So I don't care for Butler; does it matter to anyone else? Yes, I provided a view that Mog admitted he didn't actually consider before in the story, as part of the reason why I didn't care for it. We disagree there, and it should have been left at that. He couldn't let go of it, though; it just completely baffled him that a human being doesn't like Octavia Butler. Maybe he isn't used to people disagreeing with him. If that's the case, he's got a hard life ahead.

So, I don't know what else to say here. I think I originally did make my points clear enough; some people just decided I gave foul responses. Aw well. Do I care? :P

Thanks for being a  good sport about this, Maze. I...hope your thread hasn't been too soiled here. I'll try to just keep it rolling with actual conversation, on-topic! ^3^

You've gone on this same rant how many times now?  A dyslexic rhinocerous would have gotten the idea.

You mad, brah?  ^^

Maze- Now, see here what else the troll did is it continued to reply to me even though I wasn't even talking to it. I was talking to you but it still tries to get attention and interject anyway. And notice how it's still being insulting instead of trying to be civil. This is because anger and bitterness have built up, and it just refuses to let go of it. Nope, bygones can't be bygones here; that's not the troll way. But that's okay; I won't address it and won't feed it, and eventually, it will probably stop when it realizes it's not getting the attention it wants, and that it's petty insults aren't working. Probably.

Oh by the way, you mentioned Vonnegut, too. I read Cat's Cradle many years ago, and...boy, what a strange, and strangely-written story. I guess it wasn't 'bad,' just different. The idea of Ice-9 is....kind of a scary one! I haven't been too big on Vonnegut though. Perhaps I'll read more of his work eventually.

You're still posting about me, Einstein.  Didn't even have to use a girl character for my avi to be called an "it" in a mere couple of days this time.  Yes I'm just that awesome.  ^^  In all fairness, you kindof figured it out at the end there, and actually posted about something besides me.  *gives a cookie*

Word of warning.  Slapstick does have a part where the two little kids lay with their heads in each others crotches to think better.  Might be a little too "erotic" for Mr. Sensitive.  They get split up because of some repressed little moron misinterpreting the action, which was sad and made a nice statement, but cerebral probably isn't your thing.

Hmm. No one has posted in here in a while! I just got Crichton and Preston's Micro, so I'll start reading that soon. It does contain an unfinished introduction, What Kind of World Do We Live in? by Crichton, and the last thing ever written that's all-Crichton, as far as I know. It's unfortunate that it is indeed unfinished, as there was clearly more he had to say. We'll never know what that is now. Sigh...

Anyway, here's hoping this is a decent read. I hope Preston treated it well.

Not a Sci Fi novel, but one of the most recent books I read (well reread) DOES deal with a lot of the fiction that was once a major part of the sciences of anthropology and archaeology, were central to the foundation and founding principles of both disciplines, and still effect them today in a multitude of ways: The Skull Wars, David Hurst Thomas. I can't recommend it highly enough.

This is awesome.

Also, read The Passage by Justin Cronin. Best book I've ever read. It's too complex and nuanced to try to describe what it's about, and the part that I can describe just instantly turns people off.

A book I would KILL (ok, maybe not literally) to read again but is out of print, and I can't find anywhere: Days of Grass, Tanith Lee. Lee is primarily known as a fantasy writer, but this was one of her rare harder SF style books. Humans have retreated to underground shelters after an alien invasion. Then novel opens after more than a generation has passed since Earth was conquered. Surviving (?) humans hide in small groups with strict hierarchical and generally militarized leaderships from alien patrols. No one really knows ANYTHING about the aliens that have taken over the planet. No one knows what happens to humans or groups of humans captured by the aliens.

Sounds very interesting.  I'll look for a digital version of it.  Books like this are hard to find here.

If you do, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. (close to 20 yrs. ago!) < 3

It can be hard to find really good SciFi/Fantasy where I live in the US too. Esp. in the last few years when the Fantasy genre has been kindof taken over (along w/ Horror) by Romance novels with a few Fantasy trappings (a la Stephenie Meyer and Laurell K. Hamilton). Straight SciFi has almost disappeared from the shelves of the SciFi section in my local bookstore. -Yes, I still go to the bookstore. I'm old, and I like going to the bookstore. It's an outing to me. DON'T JUDGE MEH!1!1! =( - It's really annoying. I wish all the people who are reading these kinds of novels would go back to reading Harlequins, or Silhouettes, or whatevah. Or at least that my local Barnes and Noble and Borders would put these books in the Romance section where they belong and start stocking more actual Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror novels in the SciFi section.

Mine would be Philip K. Dick. The author of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?