BOOKS!
Over the next few weeks, Atomic Toasters will be delving into some of our favorite books. “What? This is supposed to be a technology site.” You in the quotation marks, shut up! Books are some of the most basic and fundamental technology on our planet. In the world before the internet, books reigned supreme as the way to pass around
More Books!
information.
I personally will be focusing on fiction sci-fi/fantasy books but I will have a very broad approach to time frame. I have sci-fi books from my family dating back to the 1950’s up to current “books” which are on my iPad.
As the weeks progress, the other AT members mights be jumping into to add their books to our library. Want more info about the books, email us or check out your local book seller (… Amazon… none of us have book stores anymore). Have a suggestion for a good book, email us an article and join in the discussion.
I am slowly working my way through The Dresden Files. On book 3 right now. I could probably do a decent book report… Wait, is this school?!
I'm liking the idea of The Dresden Files. You may have just given me my summer reading list. Thanks.
Alright Dr. Tube, I will write a book report and submit it to Captain Dearthair by Friday.
Wait…non-fiction sci-fi/fantasy? Can I sign up for that newsletter?
I could use some new recommendations on the sci-fi reading list…been out of touch with the genre for a while now.
Oh for the love of… I wrote these book articles after spending a weekend trapped in my basement re-plumbing a hot water tank that wasn't broken (it's a long story… or a short post). My editor was asleep at the laptop. That should be fiction obviously. However, I'm now going to try to find non-fiction sci-fi/fantasy. To The Googles!
Just look for old issues of Popular Science.
I actually took a science fiction lit. course in college. It started with Frankenstein and went all the way up to some of the more modern stuff from Arthur C. Clark and the like. We were supposed to read a book a week. It wasn't too bad the first couple of weeks when the books were only 2-3 hundred pages, the later ones were 500+ pages and there just wasn't time with other classes too. I really need to go back and read some of those.
What did you think of Frankenstein? It's got some slow, meandering parts, but it remains one of my favorites, and I think the many dumbed-down, hackneyed film adaptations have ruined its legacy. The original is both cerebral and scary.
It wasn't really my style. The book is a lot different from most of the film versions. It is a long way from most of the Herman Munster-esque versions you see. I'm surprised that there hasn't been a film version done more faithful to the book sort of like the 1990s Bram Stoker's Dracula. I could see somebody like Christopher Nolan doing it.
My current favorite sci-fi/fantasy type author is James Rollins. A sort of Clive Cussler with a slight sci-fi/fantasy twist. He is a veterinarian so you get a little bit of biological background on his stuff.
I'm in for this. I miss when I was doing my Masters degree at Imperial College in London (all of six months ago) and had regularly access to the science fiction library there (apparently the second-largest student-run library in the world, after the one at MIT!). I read like I hadn't done in years; three books a week at least, and it was delicious.
Since I've graduated and don't head back there so much it's not so easy, not just finding books but especially if there are some things I want to discuss about whatever I've been reading…