Books, if you love Firefly you will really love reading.... by Murkymerc

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

Books, if you love Firefly you will really love reading....

POSTED BY: MURKYMERC
UPDATED: Friday, April 7, 2006 08:36
SHORT URL:
VIEWED: 18931
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Tuesday, March 14, 2006 12:21 PM

WAIT A MINUTE!!! I didn't realize what "His Dark Materials" was. I read them a couple of years ago...they are SO NOT children’s books. There is no way I would want my kid reading them. Dark, scary, disturbing (not to mention the kids having sex). All that being said, I thought they were really good and that ending...wow, just kills me. I'm a parent now, so I think it would bother me even more if I read them today. Those poor children...

I can't see that being made into a movie. I think I'd skip it. I've heard many times over the years that Ender's Game was being made into a movie. They will never get it. It will just be all action/adventure and CG in the battle room. No thanks. I generally (with the exception of Firefly and the BDM) stick to books!

And Harry Potter is totally crack for the eyes!

Ivy

I've been sane a long while now, and change is good...

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Tuesday, March 14, 2006 12:43 PM

20THCENTFOXHATER

Not sure if anyone has mentioned any of these, but I will still mention them anyway.

The da Vinci Code- I mean, come on. You have to read this book. It may not be entirely factual, and you may not agree with it's theory of Jesus, but just read it for the sake of reading it. It's a very fast paced thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat at all times. If you have a spare day or two, read this because you will love it.

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy- A bit (OK, maybe A LOT) on the strange side of things, but it is a throughly enjoyable and light hearted read.

Fight Club- Need I say more? This is the book the movie is based on, except it may be better than the movie. A social satire in the fullest sense of the word.

Band of Brothers- If you like the whole war-buddy bond, and the perils they go through, this is your book. Based on actual accounts of the real people, and is MUCH better than the mini-series.

Anything by H.P. Lovecraft. If you're into the macabre and horror, this is good stuff.

"1984". "Brave New World", the "Halo" series (yes, they are actually good, considering they are based on a video game).

"The Warlord Chronicles" by Bernard Cornwell. Some of his lesser known works, these are actually incredibly well written and engaging real-life realization of the Arthur myths. Nothing like the movie, and the movie was not based on these great movies. There are 3 books in this series: "The Winter King", "The Enemy of God", and "Excalibur".

and "Starship Troopers" by Robert A. Heinlein.

Happy Reading!

"I aim to misbehave."
"Can't do something smart, do something right".

HOMER: "Oh Lisa, you and your stories; Bart is a vampire, beer kills brain cells. Now lets go back to that... building thingy... where our beds and T.V.... is".

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Tuesday, March 14, 2006 12:59 PM

DAVESHAYNE

Quote:
Originally posted by 20thCentFoxHater:
The da Vinci Code

I actually liked Angels and Demons better - at least up to the very end when it got very silly indeed. The puzzles were more puzzling and the history isn't nearly as dodgy. Still DVC is worth a read if only to annoy those that are annoyed by people reading it.

Quote:
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy- A bit (OK, maybe A LOT) on the strange side of things, but it is a throughly enjoyable and light hearted read.

I can't believe I left this out of my list. Be sure however to pick up The Restaurant at the End of the Universe while your at it. Otherwise you'll only be getting half of the core story. Alternately see if you can get ahold of the BBC radio series - that's the definitive version of H2G2.

Quote:
"Starship Troopers" by Robert A. Heinlein.

I find I have to disagree on this. It was the first Heinlein book I'd ever read and I found it to be thouroughly disagreeable. I very nearly never read anything else of his because of that horrid book. Which would have been a shame as he has written many other quite wonderfull tomes.

David

"A lot of people are asking me, you know, what exactly is Firefly? It's a tv show you morons!" - Joss Whedon

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Tuesday, March 14, 2006 1:05 PM

20THCENTFOXHATER

Just to follow up on Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, I was refering to the entire series, not just the first book.

And for Starship Troopers, it seems that it's either a "You Love It" or "You Hate It" type of book with most people.

There's also "Time Enough For Love", also by Heinlein. It is about a man so in love with life, that he refuses to die, and in turn becomes his own ancestor.

"I aim to misbehave."
"Can't do something smart, do something right".

HOMER: "Oh Lisa, you and your stories; Bart is a vampire, beer kills brain cells. Now lets go back to that... building thingy... where our beds and T.V.... is".

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Tuesday, March 14, 2006 1:17 PM

GRIZWALD

Guess I'm a lover... of Starship Troopers. I could hardly stand to have the movie in my house after reading the book. So much depth! The movie is practically a parody of itself!

And how many books are there in the Hitchhiker "trilogy"? Five, aren't there?
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
Mostly Harmless
So Long, and Thanks for All The Fish

Probably out of order there and I can't remember the 5th one. If there is a 5th one. It's been awhile!

____________________________________________________
They could not take the sky from them -
Our Big Damn Heroes made a film!
I'm gonna see Serenity then
go back the next morning and see it again.
Cuz no one at Fox knew this show had no equal
C'mon Universal, and greenlight the sequel!

Click on my profile for my Annoyingly Long List of Firefly Links.

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Tuesday, March 14, 2006 1:20 PM

GRIZWALD

Ooh!Ooh! I just thought of another goodie! Joe Haldeman's "The Forever War."

____________________________________________________
They could not take the sky from them -
Our Big Damn Heroes made a film!
I'm gonna see Serenity then
go back the next morning and see it again.
Cuz no one at Fox knew this show had no equal
C'mon Universal, and greenlight the sequel!

Click on my profile for my Annoyingly Long List of Firefly Links.

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Tuesday, March 14, 2006 1:21 PM

20THCENTFOXHATER

ya, there are five in the Hitchhiker's series. Hitchhiker's is #1, Restaurant is #2, Life, the Universe and Everything is #3, Fish is #4, and Mostly Harmless is #5.

I actually liked the movie Starship Troopers as well being that I saw it before I read the book. It was good in it's own right, and MOST movies that have gory graphic violence and nudity is fine with me.

"I aim to misbehave."
"Can't do something smart, do something right".

HOMER: "Oh Lisa, you and your stories; Bart is a vampire, beer kills brain cells. Now lets go back to that... building thingy... where our beds and T.V.... is".

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Tuesday, March 14, 2006 1:22 PM

20THCENTFOXHATER

sorry for the double post, I double clicked the post button.

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Tuesday, March 14, 2006 3:52 PM

DC4BS

Quote:
Originally posted by 20thCentFoxHater:
There's also "Time Enough For Love", also by Heinlein. It is about a man so in love with life, that he refuses to die, and in turn becomes his own ancestor.

Hehe...

You like twisted time travel tails?

Try "The Man Who Folded Himself" if you can track down a copy.

It's a monster brain bender. Guy inherits a time travel device from his "uncle" (his older self). Eventualy, ends up becoming his own father and raises his "son/himself" by telling him his parents died and that he is his uncle...

The main character falls in love with himself in this book as well...

The story of his life as he travels around the "time loop" back to the beginning/ending is wild.

He sets up a party one summer at a private mansion where every guest is himself at various ages. Even tries to cheat at poker by remembering what he had in his hand last year when he was sitting in the other chair at the table, etc...

Really wild and cool concepts in the book and interesting takes on paradoxes and time travel/alternate universe theory.

------------------------------------------
dc4bs

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Tuesday, March 14, 2006 4:29 PM

CAB1729

Trying to keep myself to great one-off books:

SF:
Doomsday Booke by Connie Willis:
Beautifully written time travel story about a grad assistant who gets sent back in time to the middle ages - but there's an error in the program and she goes back to the year the black plague hits the area and the people she's supposed to meet up with are... Well, can't give anything away. Won both Hugo and Nebula Awards.

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card:
Yes it starts a whole series but the first book can be stand-alone. Another double winner. Such a good book. To save money, you could pick it up in the YA section but it's not YA, it's a classic.

Expendable by James Alan Gardner:
In the far future they have perfected human genetic manipulation - and those who aren't perfect are expendable. Some end up as planetary explorers whose famous last words are "oh shit". Also starts a series but most of the books don't have the same main character. 'Trapped' is the 4th or 5th book but my favorite and almost completely stand-alone. (I wasn't even sure it was part of the series until almost the end.)

Fantasy:
As stated before, Robin McKinley. There's a large-format paperback out including Blue Sword, Hero and the Crown, and Spindle's End, only $11 on amazon. Also, Beauty is the best retelling of Beauty and the Beast I've ever read.

Earthsea books by Ursula K. LeGuin:
Pitdragon Trilogy by Jane Yolen:
Each book in both of these is pretty slim so conceivably you could read all 3 books in one month. The Earthsea books are up to ... 5? I think. The Yolen books are considered YA but the characters mature alot over the course of the trilogy.

This is probably waaay more info than you wanted but I get excited when I can get people started on great books. :) Enjoy!

Anger on one side, sadness on the other. Nobody knows about the third side.

Hobbes: How come we play war and not peace?
Calvin: Too few role models.

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Tuesday, March 14, 2006 4:40 PM

ECGORDON

There's no place I can be since I found Serenity.

Almost anything by David Gerrold is great. You should also try When Harlie Was One, The Martian Child, the Dingilliad series (Jumping Off the Planet, Bouncing Off the Moon, Leaping to the Stars), The War Against the Chtorr series (A Matter For Men, A Day For Damnation, A Rage For Revenge, A Season For Slaughter) and the Star Wolf series (Voyage of the Star Wolf, The Middle of Nowhere, Blood and Fire).

Another great series is by E. E. Knight, collectively called The Vampire Earth. Four books so far, although I have only read the first three (Way of the Wolf, Choice of the Cat, Tale of the Thunderbolt, Valentine's Rising). Set on a near-future Earth that has been invaded by a vampire-like alien species known as Kurians, it is a tale of the struggle by a small band of humans to overthrow them. The main character, David Valentine, is a remarkable achievment by a writer of such little experience as Knight.

As for UnregisteredCompanion's request for a short book that her club might like, I would suggest The Free Lunch by Spider Robinson. Not connected to any other of his story sequences, it is as much fantasy as science fiction, and boasts two very well-drawn characters.

wo men ren ran zai fei xing.

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Tuesday, March 14, 2006 5:18 PM

LEGOLAD

Quote:
Originally posted by Ivy:
WAIT A MINUTE!!! I didn't realize what "His Dark Materials" was. I read them a couple of years ago...they are SO NOT children’s books. There is no way I would want my kid reading them. Dark, scary, disturbing (not to mention the kids having sex). All that being said, I thought they were really good and that ending...wow, just kills me.

I know what you mean; they're tricky books to market. They start off as a fairly innocuous children's fantasy, with hints of something vaster and darker, but it's not till the end of the first book that the story really takes off. Some of the themes and subject matter definitely become a bit heady for younger audiences but I think if they can handle it, they'd enjoy it (and to be fair, the sex is left implicit; it's up to the reader to decide what happened). And yeah, it took me a while to recover from the ending too. You feel kind of exhausted after finishing it. But in a good way. Who here can say they didn't feel drained when they walked out of Serenity for the first time? That's what I thought.

"We need a hood ornament."

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Tuesday, March 14, 2006 5:48 PM

KAYNA

I love my captain

Have you tried anything by Mercedeys Lackey? Her Diana Tregard novels aren't too long, niether are Tarma and Kethry (Oathbound, Oathbreakers). I don't know, I'll have to check my bookshelf.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Op: You're fighting a war you've already lost.
Mal: Yeah, well I'm known for that.

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Tuesday, March 14, 2006 6:09 PM

KAYNA

I love my captain

You should try "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency" by Douglas Adams (the guy who wrote H2G2).
It's very funny but also kind thoughtfull and, added bonus, many references to Samuel Taylor Colridge (the man who wrote the Rime of the Ancient Mariner) and some mention of the albatross. This boo introduced me to Colredge's poetry and is the only reason I got the refernce in the BDM.
Also try "Good Omens" by Niel Gaiman and Terry Pratchet (I may have spelled that name wrong) It's similar to the stuff by Adams in style and oddness. It's about the biblical apocalypse...kind of.
Also by Gaiman, "Neverwhere" to quote the cover, "a dark, urban Alice in wonderland". A completely average guy ends up in a rather extraordinary place called London Below. It's where the people who fall through the cracks in the world go. There are a lot of interesting characters and I especially like the villans.
Mr. Gaiman also has a new movie in the stores (if you can't tell, I really love his writing right now). It's an indie called Mirror Mask. Imagine The Labirynth and The Neverending Story but with a goth flavor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Op: You're fighting a war you've already lost.
Mal: Yeah, well I'm known for that.

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Tuesday, March 14, 2006 6:19 PM

ROCKETJOCK

I'd highly recommend any of Robert A. Heinlein's Juvenile novels; from a Browncoat point of view I'd particularly emphasize "The Rolling Stones" (a family wandering across a mostly-frontier solar system); "Farmer in the Sky" (Terraformation and colonization of Jupiter's moon Ganymede); and "Citizen of the Galaxy" (A sprawling, Dickensian adventure that cuts across several wonderfully detailed future societies--storytelling on a broad canvas.) From his adult novels, "The Moon is A Harsh Mistress" details a revolutionary movement on a Lunar colony oppressed by an Alliance-esque government.

I'd also give a hearty thumbs-up to almost anything by H. Beam Piper, especially his "Fuzzy" trilogy ("Little Fuzzy", "Fuzzy Sapiens", and "Fuzzies and Other People"). Piper had a fine feel for the logic of life on a frontier. Also of note by Piper is his novel "Lone Star Planet" (AKA "A Planet for Texans"), which is not only a cowboys-in-space saga extraordinaire, but also a magnificently satirical look at politics.

" If you’re leaving scorch marks...you need a bigger gun." -- The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pirates

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Tuesday, March 14, 2006 7:12 PM

LEGOLAD

Quote:
Kayna wrote:
Also try "Good Omens" by Niel Gaiman and Terry Pratchet (I may have spelled that name wrong) It's similar to the stuff by Adams in style and oddness. It's about the biblical apocalypse...kind of.
Also by Gaiman, "Neverwhere" to quote the cover, "a dark, urban Alice in wonderland". A completely average guy ends up in a rather extraordinary place called London Below. It's where the people who fall through the cracks in the world go. There are a lot of interesting characters and I especially like the villans.
Mr. Gaiman also has a new movie in the stores (if you can't tell, I really love his writing right now). It's an indie called Mirror Mask. Imagine The Labirynth and The Neverending Story but with a goth flavor.

Neil Gaiman! How could I forget about Neil Gaiman? Good Omens is fantastic. I suppose we could mention Pratchet's Discworld series as well, but be warned that it NEVER ENDS, and the earlier books are far better than the more recent ones.

But back to Gaiman... Neverwhere was good, especially the climax, but in terms of sheer gritty beauty, I liked American Gods much better. The prose was better, the characters were better... I particularly liked Wednesday; best con man character since those guys in Hucklebury Finn -- to bring classics into the mix here.

And I actually did see Mirrormask, which was bewildering but amazingly unique visually. Worth seeing just for the surreal scene where the protagonist receives a makeover from a bunch of automated female frankensteins singing "Why do birds suddenly appear..." I'm not joking. Kayna, back me up here.

Gaiman has one of the most bizarre and fascinating imaginations out there. And, point of interest, he wrote the English version of Princess Mononoke, my personal favourite animated film of all time. I've also heard he writes excellent comics, but have yet to track them down. So he seems to like jumping between genres and media, like someone else we know... who could that be?

"We need a hood ornament."

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Tuesday, March 14, 2006 9:01 PM

BELOWZERO

*whaps self on head* HOW could I have forgotten Gaiman? Anything and everything including the graphic novel series Sandman. Hang in there if you read them in order, which is the best way; the first one is a bit gory for my taste.

Also Kate Elliott's series, and I did enjoy Robin Hobb's works as well. I think we have expanded your library considerably here.

And I am astounded at how many of you have read the same stuff I have!!!

"Do not go gentle into that good night....
Rage, rage against the dying of the light. . ."
--Dylan Thomas

Though my soul may set in darkness
It will rise in perfect light.
I have loved the stars too fondly
To be fearful of the night.

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Wednesday, March 15, 2006 3:04 AM

BROWNCOAT1

May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one.

Quote:
Originally posted by Ivy:
Wow Browncoat1, I could have written the same post. I read the Terry Goodkind books up to Faith of the Fallen also and I bailed on the Jorden Wheel of Time books after Winter's Heart (or whatever it was called). It just seemed like it would NEVER END!!! (And I really needed some of those annoying women to DIE DIE DIE.) OK, I'm calm again.

Now that is a might unsettlin'. I stopped reading the Wheel of Time series after Winter's Heart too.

There is a such thing as too much. Apparently no one ever informed Mr Jordan or Mr Goodkind.

__________________________________________

"May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one."

Richmond, VA & surrounding area Firefly Fans:

http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/richmondbrowncoats/

http://www.richmondbrowncoats.org

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Wednesday, March 15, 2006 3:26 AM

NUCLEARDAY

Quote:
Originally posted by BrownCoat1:
Now that is a might unsettlin'. I stopped reading the Wheel of Time series after Winter's Heart too.

There is a such thing as too much. Apparently no one ever informed Mr Jordan or Mr Goodkind.

Yeah, I'm stalled in the Wheel of Time series at Fires of Heaven, so I didn't even make it as far as you guys ;p Traded off in favor of David Drake's "Lord of the Isles" series: quite similar but with what I feel are slightly less annoying characters ;p (Even Rand was starting to annoy me, much less most of the female cast :) Plus I'll buy anything David Drake does. He mostly does hard military sci-fi, so a fantasy novel from him, with firm historical backing, is a nice change of pace.

For that matter: any of the Hammer's Slammers books by Drake is a good read. Plenty of good examples of 'anti-heroes.'

________________________________________________
You can take my hope when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers.

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Wednesday, March 15, 2006 4:30 AM

KAYNA

I love my captain

I've read all of the Wheel of Time so far. I will admit that he kind of stalled for a bit (most of the women annoy me as well and Rand has gotten out of hand) but with the latest book I think he got back on track.
He's finally started to tie up some loosew ends and fulfilled some of the prophecies we've been hearing about since the first couple of books.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Op: You're fighting a war you've already lost.
Mal: Yeah, well I'm known for that.

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Wednesday, March 15, 2006 4:51 AM

STILLTHEREWAITING

Quote:
Originally posted by aussay:
The Wednesday Next books by Jasper Fforde - funny and smart

I second this nomination, however, you might have more success looking for the Thursday Next books.

Also The Fionivar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay has amazing characters. Even though the characters are never really described, I knew exactly what they looked like. Kay is a wonderful writer. He worked with Christopher Tolkein in preparing The Silmarillion.

Also gotta second the first couple of Ender Books by Card and the Foundation Tilogy by Asimov.

I will also add the Honor Harrington books by David Weber. Some of the best Military SF out there.
For Military fantasy also check out The Deed of Paksennarian by Elizabeth Moon.

And no book list evangelizing by me would be complete without my adding:

The Sot Weed Factor by John Barth
Gravity's Rainbow By Thomas Pynchon
Ridley Walker By Russell Hoban
The Public Burning by Robert Coover

Every SciFi fan should read Ridley Walker. The best handling of Post-appocalypse ever written.

Laugh while you can, monkey-boy.

If I were you, I'd run!
If you were me, you'd be good-looking

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Wednesday, March 15, 2006 5:03 AM

GRIZWALD

Just had to say this is a great thread!

My PayPal account has been drained dry as a bone because I'm terrible at interlibrary loans, I gotta own a book if it's a good one. (You should see my house. We're always going to build bookshelves and not getting around to it, so I have giant blue Rubbermaid tubs of books all over the place.)

____________________________________________________
They could not take the sky from them -
Our Big Damn Heroes made a film!
I'm gonna see Serenity then
go back the next morning and see it again.
Cuz no one at Fox knew this show had no equal
C'mon Universal, and greenlight the sequel!

Click on my profile for my Annoyingly Long List of Firefly Links.

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Wednesday, March 15, 2006 5:13 AM

HERO

If you want that real 'Firefly' flavor I can think of two sources that I don't think have been mentioned:

First, John Ringo.

Second, the Classic Battletech novels...specially the older ones like the Grey Death Legion Trilogy and 'Wolves on the Border' and such. Also I highly recomend any of the Battletech novels written by Michael Stackpole. Battletech has the humor, politics, shiny bigger-then-life technology, and gritty frontier feel. You'll like them.

H

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Wednesday, March 15, 2006 5:14 AM

JCW

I loved reading The DArk Tower Series by Stephen King. The books aren't much like Firefly, but they're great reads.

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Wednesday, March 15, 2006 5:26 AM

STILLTHEREWAITING

Quote:
Originally posted by grizwald:
Just had to say this is a great thread! My PayPal account has been drained dry as a bone because I'm terrible at interlibrary loans, I gotta own a book if it's a good one. (You should see my house. We're always going to build bookshelves and not getting around to it, so I have giant blue Rubbermaid tubs of books all over the place.)

I understand totally. Fortunately I've already got most of the books listed here, but I understand the storage issue. We just bought what I think is our 13th bookcase. This one had to be nice because there is no more room in the "Library" (all melamine). So the latest is on the 2nd floor landing and is a 4'x6' cherry. Quite nice actually.
The problem is, that every year here in Memphis, there is a book sale in support of the Memphis Literacy Council. They sell new, current books at $1 for paperbacks, $2 for large format PB and $4 for hardcover. It's a great way to find new authors. Last sale I spent $160 and came away with about $1100 worth of books by cover price. We are currently working our way through those boxes.
Unfortunately, I doubt I'll catch up to my brother who, at last count, had more books than his local public library, but he's had 5 extra years on me.
Curse our literate parents!

Laugh while you can, monkey-boy.

If I were you, I'd run!
If you were me, you'd be good-looking

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Wednesday, March 15, 2006 10:41 AM

KAYNA

I love my captain

Quote:
Originally posted by StillThereWaiting:
Last sale I spent $160 and came away with about $1100 worth of books by cover price.

I know what you mean. I don't see many sales quite that good but there are two exchange book stores in my area. It's way too easy to spend money at those places! Last week I bout half a dozen books for $7 at one! The only reason I didn't spend more was thst I'd purposefully left my checkbook at home and $7 was all the cash I had on me.
This thread could very well lead me to bankruptcy. There are so many good sounding books on here. Some that I've noticed but haven't been able to get to yet. Arrrggg!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Op: You're fighting a war you've already lost.
Mal: Yeah, well I'm known for that.

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Wednesday, March 15, 2006 11:39 PM

AUSSAY

Quote:
Originally posted by StillThereWaiting:
Quote:
Originally posted by aussay:
The Wednesday Next books by Jasper Fforde - funny and smart

I second this nomination, however, you might have more success looking for the Thursday Next books.

Whoops!

My favoutite books and I confuse the main characters name!

"Shake your head boy, your eyes are stuck"

www.fireflyfans.net
http://www.browncoatsriseagain.com/

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Thursday, March 16, 2006 4:57 AM

WHISPER

I love the Thursday Next series, by Jasper Fforde. Very clever and funny books. I third(?) the recommendation for those.

The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher is another excellent series, especially if you like sarcastic main characters. Check out the authors website. You can read sample chapters of each of the books.
http://www.jim-butcher.com/books/dresden/

Want Firefly/ Serenity/ BtVS/ Angel desktop wallpapers? Take a look at the ones I've created at:
http://www.whispergraphics.net
Now hosting the Firefly Extended Gagreel
I have added a forum to my site and now I need some members!

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Thursday, March 16, 2006 5:56 PM

MILFORD

I recommend the following:

William Gibson- The Difference Engine
Neil Gaiman- American Gods

There's tons of other books I like but they're not related to FF/S in any way. Check these out and let me know if you like them.

Leaning into the wind that used to carry me-Stavesacre

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Thursday, March 16, 2006 8:23 PM

TENTHCREWMEMBER

Could you please just make it stranger? Stranger. Odder. Could be weirder. More bizarre. How about uncanny?

I just scrolled on down, so if I repeat something, just consider it another endorsement! ;P

*The Killer Angels (its the book that inspired Joss to write Firefly)

*If you can find anything by John DeChancie, read it. He's my very favorite author, and if you can track down the award winning Starrigger Trilogy (Starrigger, Red Limit Freeway, Paradox Alley) and read it BEFORE you read the Castle Perilous series, you're in for a nice treat around book 8 or 9. His wit is very fresh, like Joss.

*Anything Robert Aspirin. Like DeChancie, a very singular wit that ranks up there with Joss.

*Sword of Truth (I've only read the first one thus far, and it was awesome)

*Time's Eye by Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter. It's book 1 in the "A Time Odessey" series. I am currently reading book 2, Sunstorm. A fellow Browncoat (Dragon Mama a.k.a. Beans) turned me on to these.

and I could go on, but this'll get you started.

BWAH!
TCM

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Thursday, March 16, 2006 9:41 PM

DONTCALLMELAWRENCE

Quote:
Originally posted by TenthCrewMember:
*The Killer Angels (it’s the book that inspired Joss to write Firefly)

New to the whole internet community thing, but have been with firefly from the beginning.

I've been watching this thread and am glad someone finally mentioned The Killer Angels

Aside from being the spark that lit the fire that is ... Firefly... it is an amazing book, and you don't really need to love the American Civil War to enjoy it.

Also, if you all are looking for books with similar plot lines and character dynamics I'd recommend checking out some westerns.

Lawrence

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Thursday, March 16, 2006 11:21 PM

CAB1729

Quote:
Originally posted by UnregisteredCompanion:
Got a question....

I am in a book club. I have exposed my friends to sci-fi and fantasy...genres they normally do not read. Some they liked, some they hated, but I want to have them read more.

Problem is that I tend to love books so thick you can use them as a chair, preferably with 6 parts...all equally long. This is NOT a good book for a book club of busy women that meets once a month.

So, I need a short to medium length sci-fi or fantasy book that is self contained (no 9 parts) that non sci-fi types would like OR would love to discuss.

Any ideas?

Thought of another one. I think someone mentioned Tepper before but:

The Gate to Women's Country by Sheri S. Tepper.

Very much a feminist outlook in SF, but she's known for that. In the far future, women are secretly striving to breed out man's destructive aggressiveness - and are doing it right under the men's noses. Boggles the mind, doesn't it? One of my favorites of hers. Her books go in and out of print sporadically but this one happens to be in print right now.

___________________________________________
Hobbes: How come we play war and not peace?
Calvin: Too few role models.

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Friday, March 17, 2006 8:43 AM

PATSRULE

I didn't see anyone mention the conquerers trilogy from Timothy Zahn (more famous for some of his StarWars books). The conquerer's trilogy is a space adventure featuring a war between humans and aliens. The first book is from the perspective of one of the humans. The second book follows the first, but from the perspective of one of the aliens. The final book is a hybrid of perspectives. I really enjoyed them.

Also, I followed one of the recomendations from this board and got into the George R.R. Martin books. Fantastic...it was a great recomendation from my perspective.

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Saturday, March 18, 2006 6:38 AM

UKSOUTHBROWNCOAT

I second Glen Cook! His Garret books (Private Investigator in a fantasy world - and who wouldn't love Morley Dotes??) and his Black Company I think are quite unique and my copies are completely dogeared after years of re-reading.

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Saturday, March 18, 2006 7:29 AM

DIANASPR

im just posting so i can follow this

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Saturday, March 18, 2006 7:34 AM

IMNOTHERE

Try Iain M Banks - esp. "Consider Phlebas", "Excession" and "Against a Dark Background".

Space operas with outbreaks of really dark humour and bursts of excessive violence. Often at the same time.

Despite a healthy supply of strange new worlds, gadgets, big damn guns and and really big damn spaceships (with silly names), the plots normally turn out to hinge on the motivation and murky history of the characters (even if some of the characters are also big damn spaceships).

Sounds about right?

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Saturday, March 18, 2006 4:27 PM

MURKYMERC

I finally read the book treatment of Serenity. I have to say, I loved it, not only did it included many of the scenes that were cut from the movie, but it also jumped from perspective to perspective so you got a little more insight of each character.

I really love the 'verse.

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Saturday, March 18, 2006 8:01 PM

NAUGHTYMAN

I'll second most of Ivy's picks.Loved Guy Gavriel Kay's Summer Tree and the rest of that trilogy too.My favorite Orson Scott Card book would have to be Songmaster.
Also,I'm with JCW on the Dark Tower series.It's so unlike anything else Stephen King has written.Be sure to check out The Road to the Dark Tower-exploring Stephen King's magnum opus!
Now,one of my all-time favorites is definitely M.John Harrison's Pastel City.British sci-fi at its best!

"get busy livin' or get busy dyin'"

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Saturday, March 18, 2006 11:50 PM

KOVU65

I had the same problem a while ago, now Ive got a backlog of books. I keep buying them before I read them all. Anyway, a couple suggestions for what I think are really good series':
Jim Butcher - The Dresden Files
F Paul Wilson - Repairman Jack books (The Tomb, Legacies, Conspiracies, All the Rage, Hosts, The Haunted Air, Gateways - I think in that order)
Marc Scott Zicree - Magic Time (this guy wrote episodes of Star Trek TNG, DS9, Babylon 5 and Sliders)
S L Viehl - Stardoc series

I think that should hold you over for a while. It totals around 20+ books. I have more so if you like any/all these let me know. I love to share what I think are really good, fun books. Thanks for that. Happy Reading.

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Saturday, March 18, 2006 11:58 PM

KOVU65

Oh Yeah!! I forgot the Pullman series (His Dark Materials) The only problem I had was buying the second book - it was in the young adult section. The Borders drone was looking at me funny!
It was worth it when I read it all that same day.

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Sunday, March 19, 2006 1:16 AM

RABBIT2

Quote:
Second vote for CJ Cherryh except I would add "Downbelow Station". It's very much like FF- a space story of human migration and colonies, and the forces that drive them to part from the "old world" (although in this case, the Alliance is the colonies and they win)

Third vote from me for just about all of her `Merchanter` novels.

An honorable mention is deserved for "Rimrunners", "Merchanters Luck" and "Finitys End" since they concentrate on characters trying to survive in the "Post War" period after the end of the events described in "Downbelow Station". Very similar to Firefly.
There are oblique hints in the Chanur novels that they are set in the same universe at a later date.

--------------------------------------------------
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Flight Instructor: Son, know what the first rule of flying is?
Me: Don`t crash?

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Sunday, March 19, 2006 3:49 AM

OBSESSEDWITHFIREFLY

I'll just add some authors that haven't been mentioned. Anything by Michael McCollum is terrific. He has his own website:
www.scifi-az.com
You can get his novels downloaded, but I have preferred to order the trade paperbacks. For Firefly fans, I would specifically recommend the Antares trilogy, but once you start, you'll probably end up reading everything.
Another author is Jack McDevitt. Either start with A Talent For War and follow the Alex Benedict character or Follow Hutch starting with Engines Of God.
What about Charles Sheffield? If I remember the titles correctly, Cold As Ice, The Ganymede Club, and Dark As Day were my favorites that go together.
If you like "hard" sci-fi, The Giants novels by James P. Hogan, starting with Inherit The Stars and the Rama books by Arthur C. Clarke are as good as it gets.
Enjoy, and thanks for everyone else's advice.

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Sunday, March 19, 2006 4:52 AM

NUCLEARDAY

Quote:
Originally posted by obsessedwithfirefly:

If you like "hard" sci-fi, The Giants novels by James P. Hogan, starting with Inherit The Stars and the Rama books by Arthur C. Clarke are as good as it gets.

Oh, I forgot about James P. Hogan... that was a really good series.

And Rama... if ever there was a science fiction book that should have spawned a religion, that's gotta be it :P Clarke's theory for life, the universe, and everything is probably the most comforting one I've ever come across :)

________________________________________________
You can take my hope when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers.

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Thursday, April 6, 2006 1:52 AM

PALLAS

MirrorMask? I'm very jealous! I'm going to have to save my pennies to order the DVD.

On topic, I'd have to recommend the Caine books by Matthew Stover (Heroes Die and Blade of Tyshalle). Don't let the Heroes Die cover put you off. It's an a$$-kicking adventure. Caine is probably my favourite anti-hero heroes. I love his attitude to life. To paraphrase one of my favourite quotes, "keep your head down, inch towards daylight, and never surrender."

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Thursday, April 6, 2006 9:02 AM

DONCOAT

Here's one that isn't science fiction but should still appeal to FF/S fans. I just recently read it, and thought it was quite excellent:

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. The author's name is Gregory Maguire.

It's sort of a retelling of the Wizard of Oz (movie version) from the point of view of the Wicked Witch. It's beautifully written, and turns Oz into a far richer and more complex place than the movie does. There are many themes that resonate with the Browncoat in me: what is the nature of evil? How does one individual fight against tyranny? Are we anything beyond what others perceive us to be?

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I don't disagree on any particular point.

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Thursday, April 6, 2006 5:19 PM

BSCPANTHERFAN

Just linking to this to get new reading ideas. I just moved, so all my books are in a couple of hundred boxes(at least I got some exercise), so until I get some of them unpacked, I don't want to list yet.

So who is he?
He's my husband.
Well who in the damn galaxy ain't!

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Friday, April 7, 2006 7:57 AM

JEHANE

I haven't read all the postings in here so if I mention books that have already been brought up, please ignore

I'd also recommend Guy Gavriel Kay - especially The Lions of Al-Rassan and the Fionavar Tapestry, but basically you can't make a mistake picking up any of his books (just make sure you got enough tissues at hand). They're all great. And highly addictive

For those of you who love fantasy: You might want to give The Last Rune-series a shot. It's by Mark Anthony and consists of six books, one of them including a time-travel to the wild west. It's not that inventive as far as the genre is concerned but it's got some great characters and an exciting story.

Also a great read if you enjoy really wacky stuff is Tom Holt - Flying Dutch is a hilarious take on the legend of the Flying Dutchman, Faust among Equals deals with hell, the most sought man in history and the reason Troy really was destroyed. It also features a theme park in hell based on Hieronymus Bosch's paintings

Almost forgot one of my favourite series: The Warlord Chronicles by Bernard Cornwell, the most interesting take on the Arthurian legend I've ever come across. And I just love the way Lancelot is portrayed.

How's business?
None of yours.

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Friday, April 7, 2006 8:36 AM

MECTURTLE

Quote:
Originally posted by DonCoat:
Here's one that isn't science fiction but should still appeal to FF/S fans. I just recently read it, and thought it was quite excellent:

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. The author's name is Gregory Maguire.

If you liked "Wicked," you might want to check out some of Maguire's other books. He's about got a cottage industry going reworking fairy tales. There's "Mirror, Mirror," which retells Snow White as set in the early 16th century and features Lucrezia and Cesare Borgia as main characters (creepy folk). And there's "Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister," which was probably my favorite of the three. It's a Cinderella tale set in 17th century Holland. Lots of artists, tullips and a little arson as well.
He also has a sequel to "Wicked" out called "Son of a Witch." Enjoy!

-------------------------------
WASH: Psychic though? That sounds like something out of science fiction.
ZOE: You live on a spaceship dear.
WASH: So?

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