STAR HERO Reading List

[Scott Baker]

I have to throw one more in the mix. I don't know how I could have forgotten Eric Frank Russell's Men, Martians And Machines.

[Ian Mackinder]

Good one. Read it so long ago I'd almost forgotten, but it's all coming back now. Jay Score, and the Martian crewmembers totally obsessed with chess.

[Steve Long]

I don't know how I could have forgotten Eric Frank Russell's Men, Martians And Machines

EFR's Wasp is one of my favorite SF novels ever (and will undoubtedly be quoted at least once, if not several times, in SH); I also have a large collection of his short stories. I may have to see about tracking this one down.

[BobGreenwade]

My wife just found a TV series that I've been trying to recall for years -- Exosquad (all 52 episodes are on Fancast if you'd rather watch it online than rent it). It was one of the first "animated series" (as opposed to cartoons) in that it had ongoing serial storylines, sophisticated characterization, and other things that we now take for granted in such productions. (The ideas were imported from Japanese anime; this was the first American animated series to fully adopt those ideas.) The program also had some interesting ideas regarding society of the future (early 22nd century), mecha, artificial life-forms, and other bits and pieces pursuant to a "Solar Hero" setting.

[KawangaKid]

My wife just found a TV series that I've been trying to recall for years -- Exosquad (all 52 episodes are on Fancast if you'd rather watch it online than rent it). It was one of the first "animated series" (as opposed to cartoons) in that it had ongoing serial storylines, sophisticated characterization, and other things that we now take for granted in such productions. (The ideas were imported from Japanese anime; this was the first American animated series to fully adopt those ideas.) The program also had some interesting ideas regarding society of the future (early 22nd century), mecha, artificial life-forms, and other bits and pieces pursuant to a "Solar Hero" setting.

Watched Exosquad every morning during my last years in the U.S. Awesome series. There were sympathetic and antagonistic characters on either side of the "human" fence, and the last episode was an incredibly fun and jaw-dropping one -- the surprising way that the conclusion was reached made me sit up want to rewind the damn episode over! Now I can!

[KawangaKid]

I've backread a bit quickly, but I'd like to suggest:

Richard K. Morgan -- Altered Carbon, an interesting novel that's essentially a hard-boiled detective novel set in a transhumanist setting. The main character is an envoy who is sleeved (mind is transmitted into the body) into a dead police officer and is asked by a very rich and very old man to find out why he attempted to commit suicide knowing that there are backups of him with all his memories intact (the dude owns the company too, if I recall).

Dan Simmons -- Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion for an interesting take on how different genres of SF can co-exist in the same universe. Interesting takes on religion in SF as well. On top of that, the first novel is inspired by the narrative convention of Canterbury Tales (allowing each character to tell a story focusing on a certain genre of SF). Endymion and Rise of Endymion are optional.

Also, since no specific "Culture" novel by Iain Banks was mentioned, I'll recommend that you try Player of Games or Consider Phlebas. A non-Culture SF novel of his -- Against a Dark Background -- is also pretty good but the title doesn't lie; it's pretty dark.

For the "Honor Harrington" novel(s), I recommend the first two for some good ship combat and naval / star nation politics.

Good reading!

[Roy_The_Ruthles]

After reading the thread (great souce of stuff for me to read too), I only have one suggestion that hasn't been made already:

Vacuum Diagrams by Steven Baxter. It is a collection of short stories set in the Xelee Sequence, which goes from late 2000s to the year 4million AD. It is a very good work, showing humanity in several different ages of technological advancement plus lots of aliens. If you like that, then I can suggest more to you but I suspect you will be quite busy.

[Susano]

Also, since no specific "Culture" novel by Iain Banks was mentioned, I'll recommend that you try Player of Games or Consider Phlebas. A non-Culture SF novel of his -- Against a Dark Background -- is also pretty good but the title doesn't lie; it's pretty dark.

I prefer Look to Windward myself, and also have to recommend the space opera novel The Algebrast.

[Steve Long]

Dan Simmons -- Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion for an interesting take on how different genres of SF can co-exist in the same universe. Interesting takes on religion in SF as well. On top of that, the first novel is inspired by the narrative convention of Canterbury Tales (allowing each character to tell a story focusing on a certain genre of SF). Endymion and Rise of Endymion are optional.

I've read all of these, and enjoyed them, but I don't intend to read them again at this point; I suspect they'll have relatively little to offer in the way of usable quotes compared to other works I could read in the same amount of time.

[BobGreenwade]

On a side note, I've been reading ERB's "A Princess of Mars," and I came across this quote worthy of inclusion in the book (about a page into Chapter Nine):

"In one respect at least the Martians are a happy people; they have no lawyers."

[BlueCloud2k2]

Has anyone mentioned Jack McDevitt

I can't believe I forgot Jack McDevitt... shame on me!

My wife just found a TV series that I've been trying to recall for years -- Exosquad (all 52 episodes are on Fancast if you'd rather watch it online than rent it). It was one of the first "animated series" (as opposed to cartoons) in that it had ongoing serial storylines, sophisticated characterization, and other things that we now take for granted in such productions. (The ideas were imported from Japanese anime; this was the first American animated series to fully adopt those ideas.) The program also had some interesting ideas regarding society of the future (early 22nd century), mecha, artificial life-forms, and other bits and pieces pursuant to a "Solar Hero" setting.

Ah yes, Exo Squad... I beleive it is related to Macross/Robotech (can't remember for sure)

[BobGreenwade]

Ah yes, Exo Squad... I beleive it is related to Macross/Robotech (can't remember for sure)

At most, inspired by and affected by that, but not any direct relation.

[BobGreenwade]

I've mentioned this series many times before, but Cleopatra 2525 was a fun sci-fi romp from 2000-2001 that I think had several ideas worth mentioning, or at least addressing indirectly, in the Star Hero book. Though the emphasis is on a post-apocalyptic society, much of the technology would be welcome in a space opera setting, particularly the wrist-worn weapons used by the main heroes.

Yes, much of the action, plotting, and dialogue are incredibly cheesy, in a satirical sort of way. (The only episode where this truly falls flat, Noir or Never, is among the unavailable episodes.) Keep in mind that this is as much a parody of sci-fi conventions as it is a serious sci-fi show in its own right -- literally, it's about 50% of each -- and you should be able to at least tolerate it.

The link above leads to the show's Fancast page, which has all but the last five or six episodes. Start watching from the pilot episode at the bottom.

[RexMundi]

For the more Hard Sci Fi folks.....Stephen Baxters "Titan" and "Moonseed" offer much potential.

~Rex

[Major Tom 2009]

At most, inspired by and affected by that, but not any direct relation.

Affected by it was right, just not in any that was beneficial to the continued run of the
series. Apparently, the company that had the license to produce the ExoSquad toy line
thought that it would be a great idea to combine the Robotech background with that of
ExoSquad, and actually released some of the Destroid figures under the combined label.

Unfortunately, in doing so, they made the exact same mistake that FASA and the then
Ral Partha miniatures company made when they put out the minis for the BattleTech
game: they didn't ask for permission to use the mecha and vehicle designs from Crusher
Joe, Dougram and Robotech from their creators over in Japan before using them for
BattleTech (morons...). In ExoSquad's case, this error had the result of killing the
series before what would have been its third season could even begin, leaving the
fans hanging with (to use the term from The 4400) the treebender ending of Season
Two's final episode.


Major Tom 2009