I think a lot of Niven's stuff is like that. He is still primarily a hard scifi
guy, and sometimes characterizations aren't as strong as you may like. at
least, that's my memory of him. I haven't read one of his books in at least a
decade.
Now if you want good characters and prose that flows like poetry, full of
sardonic wit and cleverness, try Roger Zelazny's stuff. His Amber chronicles--a
kind of scifi/fantasy mix--are great. His book "Lord of Light" is one of the
best reads of my life. It deals with a planet settled by humans in which an
elite class has given themselves super powers, and rules the populace posing as
the Hindi gods. This thing has demons, zombies, existential questions, and
action. It is really, really good.
----- Original Message -----
From: "angelababycat" <asrobin...@mindspring.com>
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, August 11, 2010 3:21:21 PM
Subject: [scifinoir2] Re: From Ringword to A Pebble in the Sky
Not too scifi heavy, but just didn't flow. I also didn't connect with the main
characters so I didn't care who decided to get on the space ship or not. By the
time they were in the ship and approached by those 5 lights or whatever (around
page 60), I was a little confused and disinterested. In contrast, I'm already
half way through Pebbles.
Did I give up too soon on Ringworld?
Angela
--- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com , Keith Johnson <keithbjohn...@...> wrote:
>
> Was Ringworld too scifi heavy for you? What didn't you like about it?
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "angelababycat" <asrobin...@...>
> To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Sunday, August 8, 2010 10:17:28 PM
> Subject: [scifinoir2] From Ringword to A Pebble in the Sky
>
>
>
>
>
>
> So Niven's Ringworld really wasn't doing it for me. Moved on to a basic
> classic: Asimov's first book, "A Pebble in the Sky." I read like the first 60
> pages just yesterday. How do folks think it will compare to his late works
> like Foundation, etc.?
>
> Angela
>
> --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com , "angelababycat" <asrobinson@> wrote:
> >
> > Just finished reading Le Guin's "The Left Hand of Darkness" -- the first
> > sci-fi novel I've made time to sit down and enjoy in a long time. Felt
> > good. I forgot how much I liked Le Guin's writing too. A great place to
> > start.
> >
> > Next in the pile is "Ringworld" by Larry Niven. I have the list of
> > suggested reading from the group, but I was at the book store and just
> > pulled a few titles from what was in stock. And a librarian handed me
> > Octavia Butler's "Parable of the Sower" last weekend, but I still haven't
> > recovered from seeing "The Road" on PPV so I don't know about that one...
> >
> > Anyone read any of these?
> >
> > Angela
> >
> > P.S. -- Here's Wikipedia's summary of Left Hand if anyone's curious:
> >
> > The basic principle of The Left Hand of Darkness is one that started in
> > Ursula K. Le Guin's first novel in 1966 and runs through several of her
> > early works: that of the interplanetary expansion started by the first race
> > of humanity on the planet Hain and expanded across the universe, forming
> > the League of All Worlds, eventually expanding to the eighty-three world
> > collective called the Ekumen. This novel takes place in the year 4870 and
> > concerns an envoy, Genly Ai, who is on a planet called Winter ("Gethen" in
> > the language of its own people) to convince the citizens to join the
> > Ekumen. Winter is, as its name indicates, a planet that is always cold, and
> > its citizens are neither female nor male: they only have gender identities
> > or sexual urges once a month. These conditions have affected the ways that
> > civilizations on Winter have developed, with the most notable effect being
> > that there has never been a war on the planet. There are, however, arcane
> > rules of politics and diplomacy that the envoy must learn in order to
> > survive. His fortune changes quickly, according to what political faction
> > is in power at the time in the country he is residing in: in one country,
> > for instance, the Prime Minister arranges an audience with the king for
> > him, but the next day the Prime Minister is exiled for treason; in another
> > he has trouble determining which factions among the thirty-three Heads of
> > Districts support him and which want to use him to gain political power.
> > The struggle of Genly Ai as he tries to understand the ways of these people
> > and survive on this hostile planet gives Le Guin the chance to explore what
> > life would be like without the dualities, such as summer and winter or male
> > and female, that form our way of thinking: the book's title comes from a
> > Gethen poem, which begins, "Light is The Left Hand of Darkness … "
> >
>
