Arthur C Clarke

[chrispenycate]

The first "real science" science fiction book I read was an Arthur C. Clarke - I would have been about nine, trapped in my bedroom with chicken pox or measles or something, and, sick of going to the childrens section of the library trying to find something I hadn't already read, my parents gave me "Earthlight" to shut me up. The start of the rot. He was also the first "scientific" sci-fi where I found a technical error (which I pointed out to my general science teacher, who egreed with me, and hadn't read the book, so borrowed it from me) I may not have liked everything he wrote, and frequently his superb short stories worked better than his novels, but I'll go on reading everything he writes as long as he can keep writing.

[manephelien]

Originally Posted by dragonqueen

I've read quite a few of his books, the fiction are good, but in the non fiction, I find he has quite a big head, saying how great he is. It's annoying, he may be good, but that's for others to find out, not for him to go telling everyone

Clarke is rather modest compared to Asimov, who was blowing his own trumpet ceaselessly. So much so, in fact, that it rather turned into a joke.

I like Rendezvous with Rama and the Odyssey series, but when I first read A Fall of Moondust, I was blown away. Clarke has been criticized for writing flat characters, but that book at least had characters who were anything but flat. I really like The Deep Range as well.

[Fahim]

Originally Posted by SPA_KING

Props to all of you who could make it through one of his books. I attempted and I think I fell asleep or I just couldn't get into it. Not light reading.

You'll probably do better with his short stories - some of them are absolutely brilliant and leave you with that sense of wonder which is central to (at least my) enjoyment of good science fiction Some of his earlier novels, like "The Deep Range", aren't such tough going either ...

[JDP]

Yeah, the rama series is good, I liked all the 2001 stuff too (can't remember that much about it to be honest - maybe time for a reread). I see what some of you are saying about his characters - In many ways, I prefer his collaborations to his solo work (Maybe why I like the Rama series so much).