What are some of your favorite science-fiction novels?

[DaveC426913]

Hi Dave:
I have a feeling we are not talking about the same "flaw".

Spoiler: This flaw

For starters, I grant the premise that the universe could be closed, and could contract again. That's not my beef.

The flaw I'm talking about is the idea of being able to stay "outside" the Big Crunch to the new Big Bang..

In the same way "our" Big Bang was not an expansion in space, but an expansion of space - so it is that the Big Crunch will not be a contraction in space, it will be a contraction of space.

As they tried to keep themselves distant from the Big Crunch, they would find it impossible to do - because the universe would actually be shrinking toward a point. There would be nowhere to go. The whole universe would shrink down past 1 light year, past 1 AU, past 1 km and on down. Even if he ship could survive the radiation and gravity, eventually the universe would shrink till it's smaller than the ship! There is no "outside" a Big Bang.

 

[crueldeceiver]

Ender's Game and Ringworld.

 

[Buzz Bloom]

Hi Dave:

Thanks for your clarification. We are then talking about the same flaw. We were only focusing on two different aspects.

Regards,
Buzz

 

[DaveC426913]

Thanks for your clarification. We are then talking about the same flaw. We were only focusing on two different aspects.

And reason this one bothers me so much is because it's a mistake only a complete noob makes. This misconception is so cosmologically basic it's a cliche.

 

[Noisy Rhysling]

Meh, they had this thing...

 

[chasrob]

Nobody's mentioned Greg Bear's Forge of God or its sequel Anvil of Stars. Forge was a great story but a bit depressing though. Anvil was a different style, fast paced and chilling too.

I liked both books too, but rated them the reverse. Forge was also a thriller, and an excellent example of that genre. Along with his Quantico and Mariposa. Bear is one of the very best SF authors. Hell, he rates well with anybody in any genre IMO.

 

[tholepin]

My favorite novel is "A Canticle for Leibowitz," written by Walter M. Miller, Jr. Isaac Edward Leibowitz was a scientist who managed to survive the Flame Deluge that destroyed civilization. He dedicated his life to the recovery and preservation of pre-deluge knowledge - until his martyrdom by the hands of a book-burning mob. The story illuminates the ending of the Dark Age and the renaissance. The archived knowledge ignited the seeds for an uncertain future.

Just finished G. Bear's "Eon" which plays out in an O'Neill's column. Lovely.

 

[sandy stone]

I'm too lazy to read through the whole thread, but if they haven't been mentioned yet I would list 'The Lathe of Heaven' by Ursula K. LeGuin and the incredible 'The Stars My Destination' by Alfred Bester. 'Out of the Silent Planet' by C. S. Lewis is interesting if a bit philosophical.