[PenultimateManStanding]

Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini was published in 1922 and you can read it online thanks to Project Gutengerg: http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext99/cpbld11.txt Outstanding narrative by a master storyteller. Sabatini was born in Italy of an Italian father and English mother in 1875. Both his parents were opera singers. He mastered 5 languages but chose to write in English. Captain Blood is what used to be known as a Romance (that term has been corrupted). It is set in the late 17th century and opens with the Civil War between the Duke of Monmouth and King James. The description of the infamous judge Lord Jeffreys is chilling. Compare this sort of writing with David Brin's The Postman to see how far the art of fiction has fallen. Brin may be a good physicist, but as a storyteller he is inept and clueless, writing in an amateurish, incoherent "style" a tale which stumbles from bad to pointless. I put that book down with not too much to go. I couldn't stand such wretched writing for another page. My guess is that Brin hasn't read much beyond Theodore Sturgeon, and the other Sci-Fi authors. Must be why he can't write. Sabatini! now there's a writer!

[PenultimateManStanding]

This guy is off the doomerosity charts, 10+

http://www.survivalacres.com/wordpress/?p=104

No point in doing anything, because nothing will work. He has words of scorn for peakoil.com posters who are 'preparing'. I tend to agree with him, which is why my plan is to read all the best fiction I can, while I can. No time for drivel like David Brin's. I got the hard copy of Captain Blood at the library after reading about half of it online. Then it's Jack London and a biography of Winston Churchill. Maybe a couple of Anthony Trollope novels, some Dostoyevsky, Anna Kerenina, Pride and Prejudice, the list goes on and on. Watch the classic movies. Tonight I'll watch some Sergio Leone, 'Once Upon a Time In The West'. Smell the roses and then watch it all go down in smoke.

[ashurbanipal]

You know, there are some good contemporary authors. Have you tried:

Guy Gavriel Kay (Tigana, Lions of Al-Rassan, Sailing to Sarantium, Lord of Emperors)
Jacqueline Carrey (Kushiel's Dart)
China Mieville (The Scar, The Iron Council, King Rat)
Cory Doctorow (titles escape me at the moment)
Gene Wolfe (The Long Sun Series)
Richard Adams (Maia, Watership Down)
Barbara Kingsolver (Poisonwood Bible)
Margaret Atwood (you've probably heard of the Handmaid's tale, but it's a favorite)

And then there's always Borges. The Dreamer is one of the best short stories ever written, I think. The Babylon Lottery is also quite good, especially because it manages to tell a story without any main characters.

[PenultimateManStanding]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('ashurbanipal', '
')China Mieville (King Rat)

[PenultimateManStanding]

I went to the library database to see if they had King Rat, and they do. But there I also saw that it's sci-fi. I won't be reading anymore sci-fi, ever. Sci-fi is delusional, part of the modern mirage and I've got no use for it.

[ashurbanipal]

If they're calling it SF, it's wrongly labelled. China Mieville writes stories that are difficult to classify. It's not science fiction in the Robert Heinlein/ Jerry Pournelle/ Frank Herbert meaning of that term. If I had to describe his stories, I'd say he writes fantastical stories that expose something about human nature through his manipulation of strange environments.

[Battle_Scarred_Galactico]

Well that guy is correct that the current system can not continue, but he's practically become suicidal.

Preparing yourself on personal level, and take your chances is the best you can do.

[erl]

PMS:

I used to be a big sci-fi fan. But, over time, I read less and less of it. The main problem is that there are so few really good sci-fi writers. But, there are some that are excellent, just hard to find among the shelves and shelves of crap.

Still, Captain Blood is hard to beat. Try Scaramouche. It is also by Rafael Sabatini and takes place during the French Revolution.

Also, it contains, in my opinion, one of the best opening lines ever written.

erl

[PenultimateManStanding]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Battle_Scarred_Galactico', 'W')ell that guy is correct that the current system can not continue, but he's practically become suicidal.

Preparing yourself on personal level, and take your chances is the best you can do.

[PenultimateManStanding]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('erl', 'P')MS:

I used to be a big sci-fi fan. But, over time, I read less and less of it. The main problem is that there are so few really good sci-fi writers. But, there are some that are excellent, just hard to find among the shelves and shelves of crap.

Still, Captain Blood is hard to beat. Try Scaramouche. It is also by Rafael Sabatini and takes place during the French Revolution.

Also, it contains, in my opinion, one of the best opening lines ever written.

erl