Journal improfane's Journal: 4x Science fiction Mini Review I 1
In the last two weeks, I have read the following books:
- Anthem (Ayn Rand)
- Old Man's War (Joe Scalzi)
- The Forever War (Joe Haldeman)
- Gateway (Frederik Pohl)
I enjoyed all four books.
- Anthem is a very familiar story since it's concept is used in lots of other fiction. It was nice to have book that encapsulates the idea of collectivism in one short story. I can't think of any similar stories right now but I will soon.
- The Forever War is probably not as funny as Old Man's War but it's got some very cool battle scenes. The portrayal of Earth is believable. I love the time dilation effects. The ending reminds me of Gaia in Foundation. The English is less complex than OMW but some of the ideas are perhaps cooler. (Like the fields, trauma suppression system, Marygay). Very happy ending. Likable main character. The best way for me to summarise this book is essentially 'AVATAR done properly'.
- Old Man's War reminds me like Avatar but done properly. I like how there is a moral background to the whole thing. The universe is portrayed as a very dangerous place which I like. The part about the humans being surrounded reminds me of the Rendezvous with Rama book in the species simulator room, how many species expand and die out or there is conflict between them. Well written. Likable main character.
- Gateway is a tough one. I really enjoyed the science and all the concepts. Earth was believable here too. I liked some of the characters but I hated the main character. He was a big asshole. I did like the robot psychologist to a degree but the ending was ambiguous, the first time I read the last paragraph I thought the robot was becoming self-aware. I did not like the whole psychological tirade about his sexuality, his mother and Dane, it kind of came out of nowhere to me.
Four good books that I highly recommend you read. Perhaps in the following order: OMW, TFW, Gateway, Anthem. OMW and TFW are very similar, military science fiction.
AVATAR (Score:2)
That should say that Old Man's War is essentially avatar done right, not The Forever War.