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Decent Book Clubs for Sci-Fi Fans?
willyhill writes "I'm a Sci-Fi and Fantasy book nut, but in the last few years I've found it more and more difficult to find the time to read. Contrary to what most people would think, I actually have a hard time finding books, rather than cuddling up with them. In reality, I don't have time to mess around at my local Barnes & Noble and browse books, and I find it dicey and expensive to do the same at Amazon or other online retailers. I was looking at a magazine the other day and I found an advert for the Science Fiction Book Club. While my experience with CD clubs and the like in the past has not been entirely positive, I was prepared to give it a shot given the fact that it would be less expensive than Amazon in the long run. The problem was that their selection is not exactly grand. Having read the Simmons Hyperion Cantos, for example, I was ready to give Ilium a go, but I could only find its sequel. How do other readers get their hands on Sci-Fi books? I tried Googling for book clubs and the like, but there's too much static out there, mostly caused by Oprah. Any suggestions would be appreciated!"
Join a bloody library!
Most (free!) librarys have a decent SF section and will cary SF periodicals if you ask nicely.
Lots of fellow geeks will be hovering around the Fantesy/SF section also, so you can meet a few people.
It isn't rocket science dude.
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This might seem obvious, but the yearly Hugo awards usually give a good selection of new books. Even the runners up are usually worthwhile.
I'd recommend going to a good used book store and looking for some older titles. Should be cheaper, and you'll probably find better quality too.
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"I don't have time to mess around at my local Barnes & Noble and browse books..."
I suggest you re-prioritize your life if your life doesnt allow an hour or so spent in a bookstore, then worry about finding books.
I have seen some forums where fantasy readers will trade/share their used copies of books (eg, The Dragonlance forums, among others). This could help you track down copies, plus would be another good resource for asking that specific group of fans where to find more of them.
I have had some luck increasing my fantasy library through used bookstores such as Half Price Books.
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I think it is obvious. Just make bi-monthly "What new SF/F book do you recommend"
I am sure a LOT of people would find that useful. (hint: not a sarcasm)
Tapping large geek pool of shashdot should be enough to get good recommendations.
Other than that, geeky literature majoring friends are great source of recommendations, i suggest making one!
-- Technology for the sake of technology is as pathetic as eschewing technology because it's technology.
Imagine a pile of 100 best sci-fi books ever, and a new one is out once every 3 years or so. When you are just getting into sci-fi as a teenager, you can be assured to have a big pile of great sci-fi to read ahead of you.
As you finish it all, it becomes harder and harder to find new good ones, which gives the impression that "today sci-fi is not as good as the years past". Its only the impression, because you wen't thru 50 years best sci-fi in maybe 5-6 years.
Now you have to wait 2-3 years to discover another gem, while before you could have just went to any "best 100 list" and picked any one up.
My recent great finds: The bright of the sky: Entire and the Rose (can't even begin to describe it), Alastair Reynolds Revelation Space universe, Commonwealth Saga + Dreaming Void by Peter Hamilton.
My recent disappointments: Neal Asher. Tried to read Gridlinked, could not even finish.
Here in the UK at least, the local library is free, and you can get (almost) any book delivered there for free (used to be 30p I think!).
:-)
Although my library is very small (probably 1000 books), the staff are more than helpful and will be able to get the book you want from some other library.
I haven't bought a book for years. What's the point when a good quality, hardbacked version can be borrowed for free.
Have I said free enough
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The problem with your answer is that the bookstore only has "popular" titles ... ...Amazon had many more, but so many you are swamped ...at a book club he would get lots of "if you liked that then try this ..." recommendations from people who actually read the books ...
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The "real" problem is that people like you are so quick to condemn other people or put labels on them like 'lazy'. Whether or not you can believe it, there are people in this world who are too busy to kill an hour wasting time in a book store. That person would rather spend the free hour actually reading a good book. Just answer the question or ignore it. I'm sick of little twirps like you insulting the premise of the questioner because his question is about a problem that you personally don't have.
Your comment shouldn't be marked insightful, it should be marked ignorant.
Laziness is an inherent human attribute that has caused all kinds of great innovation. Have you ever used a microwave? Well gawlly! You're lazy! Everyone knows that anything worth eating is worth spending at least an hour to cook!
The real problem is finding quality authors and stories. Back in the early 70's, I was growing tired of cookie cutter Edgar Rice Burroughs stories; "modern man put in a savage environment, finds pretty girl, and becomes king of all he surveys" was just too templated for me whether it was Tarzan or John Carter. I was introduced to Heinlein through "Door into Summer" and followed that with "Stranger in a Strange Land", heavy reading for a 12 year old but Heinlein forever changed my political, social, and religious views. (No, I was more into the "Jubal Harshaw" school of thought.) That was followed by discovering Tolkien in 1974 through a friend, and then joining the SF book club (back then we consided the term "Sci Fi" to be a perjorative) and quickly found Stephen Donaldson. From there, I found and fell in love with Zelazny. In between was a host of others, Asimov and Clark. By the time "Blade Runner" came out, I was ready to try PKD. Moving onto Niven I discovered more.
I took a break from SF and tried Higgens, Clancy, Griffen, Pope, and others. Lately, I've tried to pick up more recent SF only to be sadly disappointed in the quality. None of the current authors seem to rise to even half the level of authors I've mentioned.
When you go to BN or Borders, the SF aisle seems to be burdened with Star Trek, Star Wars, and other TV series related books. The shelves are stocked with Tolkien knock offs, and I was never able to get past Bowser not being in the Sword of Shanana series. Some of the "what if" titles sound good but after awhile, even that gets tiring when they really stretch to provide alternate pasts and futures.
Where are and who are the great visionaries?
Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong fix.
At Bookmooch, you can trade books with many, many others. The only cost is postage for mailing out books. With Media Mail, that's under $3 for several books.
Unless you do what I do and buy books at library sales. At $0.50 a title, you can afford to take a risk on an unfamiliar author/novel and don't feel bad if you don't like it and stop reading after a chapter or two.
Go to a book store and count the number of SF/FF books they carry, now figure myself, I go through 60 to 80 books a year right now, and the bookstore has what, 500? 1000? 5000 SF/FF books? I don't have the time to read through all of them, the descriptions on the back aren't very good at telling you how good the book is or if it matches with what you are interested in... This is a problem even for serious readers, not for the lazy.
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