Comments on: Things That Don’t Go Away – Still the Same Old Story? (‘Race in SF’ – Part IV)

By: Jay Tomio

Jay Tomio — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 07:36:59 +0000

Ishiguru is one of my favorite writers on the planet (between him and Saramago)

By: Sarah Zettel

Sarah Zettel — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 02:44:08 +0000

I’m raving about Never Let You Go up there, BTW.

The Sparrow is a really good book, and Mary Doria Russel is a hoot. I got to hear her give a Guest of Honor speech at a convention once, and she started with “Hi, my name is Mary, and I’m a recovering academic…”

By: Sarah Zettel

Sarah Zettel — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 02:42:49 +0000

OMG! That book is astounding. Absolutely breathtaking. And the most breathtaking thing about it is all that emotion and character in such a slim volume. And the writing…utterly transparent. You read right through it into the story. Amazing.

Yeah, I like that one. You?

By: Jay Tomio

Jay Tomio — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 14:32:49 +0000

If speaking of prose, Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go is a must read for all readers – SF fans or not.

There is also Mary Doria Russell’s excellent The Sparrow.

By: Sarah Zettel

Sarah Zettel — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 14:21:17 +0000

Ted Chiang is one of the strongest prose writers SF has seen in a good while.

Kim Stanley Robinson likewise an excellent writer, although I haven’t gotten round to Years of Rice and Salt yet.

Rob, if you’re looking to find some good SF by women writers, you might (WARNING! BLATANT SELF PROMOTION!) come on over to Book View Cafe (www.bookviewcafe.com) and take a look under our Science Fiction heading. Much of what we have up is available free. If you like Kim Stanly Robinson, I can also highly recommend Octavia Butler, particularly The Parable of the Talents

By: Jay Tomio

Jay Tomio — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 11:29:41 +0000

Well, there is of course Ted Chiang who is awesome defined.

By: Rob

Rob — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 10:54:25 +0000

This is why everybody should read The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson. Who despite being male, white and American wrote a very convincing alternative history on a world without Europe (and therefore WASP America).

An author (who is white and male but not America) who has written about a future where the balance of power has shifted is Ian McDonald. I recently read his short story collection Cyberabad Days which is set in 2040s India.

As for female SF authors…I must admit that is mostly undiscovered territory for me. I recently read some short fiction by Nancy Kress (Nano Comes to Clifford Town and Other Stories) and I was very impressed by it.

By: Jay Tomio

Jay Tomio — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 15:37:23 +0000

Justina Robson is one of my favorite SF writers (my favorite is her Living Next Door to the God of Love – but to some degree I enjoy all her work). I also love Maureen McHugh’s China Mountain Zhang, The Secret City by Carol Emshwiller, and Margaret Atwood.

I’m not sure how ‘SF’ we are going but I enjoy Karen Joy Fowler and Molly Glass as well. In the same vein a Lydia Millet to.