The Kiwifarms Unofficial Sci-Fi/Fantasy Book Club

Paul Revere Pantry Raider said:
Starship Troopers? Neuromancer? What's next? Paranoia by Joseph Finder?

This stuff is somewhat electic, but a lot from the bargain pile. I'm not talking shit, because I loved Gibson when I was in highschool, but damn.
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That's what I like about the literature board here, we got people with all kinds of different tastes.
 
One of these months we have to make everyone read Gor. It'll be hilarious.

I have been meaning to read the Conan novel/s for ages, this might be a good excuse.
 
TV's Adam West said:
Hey, John Goodman, didn't you read gravity's rainbow once?
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Twice actually. Three or four times if you count the times I failed to get all the way through it.

Other possible Heinlein, very pulpy Farnham's Freehold. People try to portray Starship Troopers as fascist, but this one actually does explore the concept. It also has black people enslaving white people, and that's funny. And there's nearly Gorean content.

For a more normal Heinlein, there's also Stranger in a Strange Land, which even attracted hippies, whom Heinlein despised.
 
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I would like to nominate some Harlan Ellison, too. “A boy and his dog” is what Fallout ripped off anyways, and his influence is immeasurable on the modern sci-fi landscape. IHNMAIMS is mid, though. Try his other short stories.
 
VeteranOfTheRetardWars said:
Anyways, I think a dozen choices is good and I will write down people's suggestions to add to the next poll.
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Is it worth keeping the losing options for the next poll or are we starting fresh each month?

I never have motivation to read these days so hopefully something like this perks that interest again. I've read the blurbs for a few of the leading votes and they sound great.
 
I'm gonna see if I have any of these from my dad's library. Maybe the Heinlein book I might have. If I do I'll join in.
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My favorite scifi short story comes from "Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow" anthology. It's called "The Subliminal Man". It goes into a doctor and his conspiracy theory friend. The doctor is the main character, the world around the doctor is shown to be planned obsolescence, subliminal messaging, and working to buy stuff you don't need. In the end, it turns out his "conspiracy theorist" friend was right all along and the programming is starting to get to the doctor because he doesn't realize what's going on the entire time.
 
Alright, now I got the system worked out.
I have a text file that I put all the suggestions into, every month we will have a dozen choices, and I think we should keep the top three runner-ups for the next poll and aim for variety with the rest of the choices or just use an rng.
I'll only remove the books we've already read from the list and the goofy Wildcards, so that way everyone has a fair chance for their suggestion.
 
Kofi Drinka said:
Starship troopers will win because it's the fascist book. Would be nice if book options were more obscure since we've all read the majority of these.

Princess from Mars is one I intended to finish and need to revisit so I voted for that.
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I made it three votes a person for better data, and I dunno Princess Of Mars and Neuromancer are pretty close to the lead so far.
My theory is that with more people floating in we'll get more obscure choices and generate good conversation. Book clubs are fun, but bro so many are just full of annoying people but the literature board here is chill so that shouldn't be an issue.
 
VeteranOfTheRetardWars said:
Book clubs are fun, but bro so many are just full of annoying people but the literature board here is chill so that shouldn't be an issue.
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This thread was a good idea. I could sperg for a good bit about fantasy and sci-fi authors. Like how Harlan Ellison was accidentally present for the birth of Scientology.
 
VeteranOfTheRetardWars said:
Alright, now I got the system worked out.
I have a text file that I put all the suggestions into, every month we will have a dozen choices, and I think we should keep the top three runner-ups for the next poll and aim for variety with the rest of the choices or just use an rng.
I'll only remove the books we've already read from the list and the goofy Wildcards, so that way everyone has a fair chance for their suggestion.
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I think there should be more obscure ones tossed in. The most obscure one on the poll right now is the Pangborn book and even that one will show up on some enthusiast's radar.

If we want to go one step further, I'd suggest authors who aren't like, on the general list of Hugo/Nebula winners/runner-ups or "Grandmasters". How about some stuff by dudes who have a good reputation, but works that weren't part of what they're primarily known for.

A few more suggestions:
  • Keith Laumer's Dinosaur Beach
  • Fritz Leiber's "Gather, Darkness!"
  • Mark Clifton/Frank Reily "They'd Rather be Right"
  • A. Bertram Chandler's "Frontier of the Dark"
  • Robert CHam Gilman's "The Rebel of Rhada"
  • Saunders & Waldrop's "The Texas-Israeli War:1999"
  • Ray Cummings' "The Girl in the Golden Atom"
  • A. Merritt's "The Ship of Ishtar"
Anakin Soywalker said:
Is there anything like this on the farms for other genres?
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What other genre? Crime?
 
Old King Koaleamos said:
I think there should be more obscure ones tossed in. The most obscure one on the poll right now is the Pangborn book and even that one will show up on some enthusiast's radar.

If we want to go one step further, I'd suggest authors who aren't like, on the general list of Hugo/Nebula winners/runner-ups or "Grandmasters". How about some stuff by dudes who have a good reputation, but works that weren't part of what they're primarily known for.

A few more suggestions:
  • Keith Laumer's Dinosaur Beach
  • Fritz Leiber's "Gather, Darkness!"
  • Mark Clifton/Frank Reily "They'd Rather be Right"
  • A. Bertram Chandler's "Frontier of the Dark"
  • Robert CHam Gilman's "The Rebel of Rhada"
  • Saunders & Waldrop's "The Texas-Israeli War:1999"
  • Ray Cummings' "The Girl in the Golden Atom"
  • A. Merritt's "The Ship of Ishtar"

What other genre? Crime?
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Gonna add The Chameleon Corps and other Shapeshifters



"We're hoping," said Azeler, "your notorious instability won't crop up on this assignment." Jolson's slump was making Azeler uneasy and he kept absently throwing his narrow shoulders back. "Once on Peregrine you refused to stop playing your role. It took six Police Corps men to make you come back home to Barnum here."
"I liked that part," said Jolson. "Being the ruler of that jungle kingdom. I like outdoor work."
"Later, on Murdstone, you spent two months being a baboon," continued the Junior Chief.
"That was a mistake now that I look back on it."
 
Kent Allard said:
Gonna add The Chameleon Corps and other Shapeshifters



"We're hoping," said Azeler, "your notorious instability won't crop up on this assignment." Jolson's slump was making Azeler uneasy and he kept absently throwing his narrow shoulders back. "Once on Peregrine you refused to stop playing your role. It took six Police Corps men to make you come back home to Barnum here."
"I liked that part," said Jolson. "Being the ruler of that jungle kingdom. I like outdoor work."
"Later, on Murdstone, you spent two months being a baboon," continued the Junior Chief.
"That was a mistake now that I look back on it."
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Ron Goulart is someone that I've been intrigued by but never enough to go buy. Maybe I'll get an ebook to try him out.
 
My first thought was Infinite Jest. I've been meaning to reread it, but it's pretty long and has a reputation for people dropping the book before the end. I don't know what the usual book length/difficulty is for book clubs as I've never actually joined a book club. If Neuromancer were to win, would it be good to put one of it's sequels on the list for a future read, or is it better to avoid reading through series for people who won't be reading every month?

TV's Adam West said:
Anyway, I'll throw my hat in the ring. Gravity's rainbow.

It’s this wild, messy World War II novel that’s part spy story, part dirty joke, and part fever dream. One minute it’s about rockets and secret missions, the next it’s pure absurd comedy or strange paranoia. It’s not an easy read, but it’s one of those books where you feel like anything can happen on the next page.
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Speaking of long books people don't finish, haha. Gravity's Rainbow is an interesting book, but it's pretty infamous for people not actually reading it. When I read it a couple of years ago, I borrowed a 2008 edition from the library that had a printing defect around the Casino Hermann Goering & riverboat sections - some pages were slightly glued and the book could not have been fully read without pulling the pages apart. I had to wait a couple of weeks on a wait-list to get the book, and it was printed over a decade before I got my hands on it, so I've assumed the reputation Gravity's Rainbow has for people not finishing is pretty well-founded.
 
Old King Koaleamos said:
I think there should be more obscure ones tossed in. The most obscure one on the poll right now is the Pangborn book and even that one will show up on some enthusiast's radar.

If we want to go one step further, I'd suggest authors who aren't like, on the general list of Hugo/Nebula winners/runner-ups or "Grandmasters". How about some stuff by dudes who have a good reputation, but works that weren't part of what they're primarily known for.

A few more suggestions:
  • Keith Laumer's Dinosaur Beach
  • Fritz Leiber's "Gather, Darkness!"
  • Mark Clifton/Frank Reily "They'd Rather be Right"
  • A. Bertram Chandler's "Frontier of the Dark"
  • Robert CHam Gilman's "The Rebel of Rhada"
  • Saunders & Waldrop's "The Texas-Israeli War:1999"
  • Ray Cummings' "The Girl in the Golden Atom"
  • A. Merritt's "The Ship of Ishtar"

What other genre? Crime?
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I’m so glad you’re here, you are the nigga on this site when it comes to sci-fi literature.
 
Could people suggesting books (and future poll resets) include the back cover blurb please? It would help to know what these books are about not just the titles.
 
Why is there no option for Gate Crashers by Patrick Tomlinson?
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