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| Contact by Carl Sagan
Yours? |
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Location: Dallas, Texas | I'm trying to think of First Contact stories I've read. First one that comes to mind is The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell. An excellent book by any measure and one that stays with you afterwards. Having said that, I can't say for sure it's my favorite but it's probably the best written. It's a haunting tale that is beautifully written but I like my SF a little harder and faster. Oh, that sounded wrong! You know what I mean and get your mind out of the gutter. Dave |
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Uber User
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Location: Dallas, TX | "Travels in the Land of Kubilai Khan," by Marco Polo. |
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Posts: 288
Location: Irving, TX | Damnit, you took mine. Contact reads a bit dated, now (the USSR is the big threat), but it still is the best guess at how a real first-contact might go, IMO. |
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Veteran
Posts: 207
| Learning the World by Ken MacLeod
Edited by htaccess 2009-12-23 7:32 PM
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Posts: 3991
Location: Dallas, Texas | Learning the World is an excellent book. I'd like to suggest Calculating God by Robert J. Sawyer. The initial first contact scene is classic and really hooked me. We have the first chapter excerpt if you want to see what I'm talking about. Also by Sawyer is Rollback . The first contact is via long distance with years passing between messages. Seems a more realistic way for it to happen than interstellar travelers dropping by while they're in the neighborhood.
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New User
Posts: 1
| Remnant Population by Elizabeth Moon is my favorite
Edited by cybermagese 2010-01-10 9:08 PM
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Admin
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Location: Dallas, Texas | I like the excerpt for this on. I've not read Elizabeth Moon before, is this a good book to start with? I noticed on your profile that you've read all the Old Man's War series. Those are some great books especially the first one. I've got Zoe's Tale still to read. I suppose those are somewhat "first contact." They contact a lot of different races.... and try to kill them.
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Uber User
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Location: Sacramento, California | Dave,
I also have yet to read Zoe's Tale, though I'm less excited to do so then I was about the other books.
I'll have plenty of time to read in a few months, when I deploy.
Fun fun. |
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Admin
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Location: Dallas, Texas | Deven, Yeah, the young adult aspect of ZT has me shying away for now. I'll still read it eventually and will hopeflly be surprised. I hope you're deploying somewhere cool. When I was in it was a mixed bag. One year it's Key West the next it's Yuma. So, what are you going to be reading? Have you checked out the reading challenge? |
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Uber User
Posts: 201
Location: Sacramento, California | Afghanistan, baby!
Don't let the first sentence fool you. I am not excited.
I am getting married a few weeks before I leave, and I am excited about that. |
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Admin
Posts: 3991
Location: Dallas, Texas | Dude! Be safe and congrats on the wedding! I read you blog post about having to lose the sideburns before the wedding. Too bad that but at lease you got your Zoot Suit ready. |
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New User
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| Of what i've read, I think Calculating God by Robert J. Sawyer, and The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov are the best. Calculating God because of the illuminating interaction between the protagonist and the alien, and The Gods Themselves because it is a fascinating account of what aliens could be. I loved Old Man's War (I still have to read the rest of the series) but don't really think of it as first contact. I think of first contact as exactly that, humanity's first interaction with alien beings. In Old Man's War the aliens have, for the most part, already had contact with humanity, it is only the main character that is having his first contact with alien life.
Also, Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke is a fantastic first contact novel, and I would rank it right there with the above mentioned. The Sparrow is on my reading list. Can't wait. |
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Member
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| I'm unsure if this falls in the category of First Contact as the comments on this thread seem to imply "nice" aliens. But if you like a great story with the Bad Guys, I would suggest Robert Silverberg's "The Alien Years". It is well written and easy to read but difficult to put down. I found it to be slightly an allegory for a WWII revision with the Nazis of course portrayed by the aliens and the story written from the point of view of the resistance. I gave it a well deserved high rating. It would also make a good movie, though the story spans several decades...well perhaps a good miniseries instead.
Thanks for the suggestions. I have added Calculating God to my reading list and will look up Remnant Population. |
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Veteran
Posts: 207
| I'm currently reading Childhoods End by Arthur C Clark, its a pretty good first contact novel. |
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Location: Dallas, Texas | somethingclever: Yeah, that was a bit tongue-in-cheek about Old Man's War. I'd love to read a Scalzi first contact book. Perhaps a prequel to OMW? How it all got started would make an interesting read.
Pierre: They certainly don't have to be nice aliens at all. Another example of not so nice aliens in a first contact book would be Pushing Ice from Alistair Reynolds. It's got abduction, imprisonment and some nasty aliens indeed. Great book by the way. htaccess: I've not read Childhood's End. Perhaps we can get a review when you're done?
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Veteran
Posts: 207
| Yea, I'm not so good on the old review writing could probably manage a paragraph or two
Pushing Ice is my favourite Alistair Reynolds book, it reminds me a bit of Eon and Rendezvous with Rama. It really is a good book, recommended! |
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| Thanks Dave for the suggestion of Pushing Ice. I've added it to my reading list as I am looking for these types of stories, not too far in the future, current is best, and not too metaphysical. |
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Uber User
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Location: Sacramento, California | I have Pushing Ice, but put it down for something else to read. It just wasn't holding my interest. Perhaps I'll try it again in the future. |
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Member
Posts: 38
| Noted and thanks. This is also the story of my past few months. It seems I have difficulty finding one which holds my interest enough to finish the read or/and go thru the series. |
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