Sep
14th
2014
Good old science fiction... · 4:14pm Sep 14th, 2014
Just read me Into The Alternate Universe by A. Bertram Chandler. Sixties pulp scifi at its best. I really should catch up on these old guys again... some aspects of what they write dates so fast that the ink barely has time to dry, but other parts - the big, fantastic ideas, the adventure (though somewhat muted in this one) and the wonder of amazing new worlds - never age. It's exactly the sort of story Twilight Sparkle would love.
That's it really.
Refreshed and invigorated by new fiction, I'm ready to write again.
I can't say that I haven't heard of him, but I haven't read a book from him that I can recall. I've mostly got hooked on their understudies from the late 70s on up. One of my favorites was Jack L. Chalker and his Well Of Souls saga, of which I have recently started to read again and discovered audiobooks of the first three.
Ah, a trip down nostalgia lane where I'd spend afternoons ignoring instructors and would read instead.
Some of the old SF stories still fill me with a sense of wonder, as dated as they are. Most modern stuff doesn't, even when the story is a lot of fun.
I hadn't heard of iDoc! Thanks for that!
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Most modern stuff panders too much because the art of enjoying books is being overcome by modern technology and most individuals seeking out a 'quick fix' for their entertainment than well-aged books can provide. I've visited bookstores more frequently than libraries and can say that even still, I've spent more money in libraries due to most of the new stuff coming out seems lackluster. I've tried reading, but then you find out they give everything away in the synopsis and cover art.
Also, newer books smell sterile. I do recall aromas wafting off of old paperbacks sweet.
2455178 Yep, I'm with you there! I love my kindle, but haven't given up dead-tree books at all. It's a shame that used book stores are getting so scarce.
Wow, I feel SO old now. I grew up reading those pulp fiction paperbacks like Amazing and Fantastic Stories and such. My dad collected them as a teen and saved them so when I came along, I was reading at 4th grade level while still in kindergarten-- and a healthy imagination fueled by dozens and dozens of those little Reader's Digest-sized things. It's a pity I was far too young to keep them, letting them get ruined or just rot away, er, not like they were meant to survive +50 years after purchase in the 60's.
Oddly enough, I never did do very well in English classes. Or sure, I could read like a madman, devouring books faster than a black hole's accretion disk, but organizing thoughts into written form? Ugh. Oh, I've tried writing. As Rarity would say, "Let us never speak of it again dear."