long list of similar sci-fi to read. Neuromancer. Snow Crash. Deamon. Ender's Game.
How is Ender's Game similar to these other titles?
It has plot elements that I'm pouring through as references. The list actually goes on for quite a while. Starship Troopers and the Halo novels would also be on the list but I've read those a couple times. All that said, the ones with the most use to me might just be textbooks on macroeconomics. And maybe some Mythos horror.
Edit: Well the other bit here is that I havn't read any of them. It's all on recommendations from a few people far more read than I. I'm taking the approach that "any knowledge is useful knowledge for someone creating a game". Some of it might be hard to apply, but anything can provide insight and opportunity.
long list of similar sci-fi to read. Neuromancer. Snow Crash. Deamon. Ender's Game.
How is Ender's Game similar to these other titles?
All slightly fascistic power fantasies whose stoic, ruggedly independent, hyper competent heroes embody their readers' Tyler Durden-esque wishful self image and whose hands go unstained by the blood they spill?
Starship Troopers and the Halo novels would also be on the list but I've read those a couple times.
I'm taking 2 (!!) science fiction courses this semester. One with application to Social Ethics and Western Politics, and the other as just a literature course. Just read Ender's Game again as well as Speaker for the Dead. I also finished Margaret Atwood's "Oryx and Crake." Not a bad read, if you ask me. She does a good job at establishing the society and its problems. A good deal of the plot seems to be squashed to the last couple of chapters but it's a good book, nonetheless. Next on the list is "The Star Thrower" by Loren Eiseley. I'm looking forward to it.
I can't help but notice that Plato's works so far have been straight-up philosophical fanfic about Socrates. Awesome.
You should read the Republic, it portrays Socrates as THE intellectual badass. Also he proposes a eugenics-practicing communist state that brainwashes its members through a national myth combined with heavy censorship.
And I'm only halfway through! (And need to finish by tomorrow).
You should read the Republic, it portrays Socrates as THE intellectual badass. Also he proposes a eugenics-practicing communist state that brainwashes its members through a national myth combined with heavy censorship.
It's interesting to note that when dialogue of The Republic would have occured Athens was under the rule of the Spartans (see the Thirty Tyrants), who just so happened to view themselves in a manner very similar to the Golden Guardians described by Socrates. The time of the Thirty Tyrants was something of a reign of terror and it is mentioned in The Apology that Socrates had been ordered to deliver a friend for execution and had refused, going on to say that it was only the fall of the tyrants that saved his life.
Man, it would be pretty cool if The Republic was actually a denouncing of the Spartans and the Thirty Tyrants disguised as glowing praise since his outcome is so starkly horrifying if you think about it and so resembling a system that he himself opposed. Maybe that would only occur to someone with modern sensibilities (it's also been like 6 years since I read The Republic).
You should read the Republic, it portrays Socrates as THE intellectual badass. Also he proposes a eugenics-practicing communist state that brainwashes its members through a national myth combined with heavy censorship.
It's interesting to note that when dialogue of The Republic would have occured Athens was under the rule of the Spartans (see the Thirty Tyrants), who just so happened to view themselves in a manner very similar to the Golden Guardians described by Socrates. The time of the Thirty Tyrants was something of a reign of terror and it is mentioned in The Apology that Socrates had been ordered to deliver a friend for execution and had refused, going on to say that it was only the fall of the tyrants that saved his life.
Man, it would be pretty cool if The Republic was actually a denouncing of the Spartans and the Thirty Tyrants disguised as glowing praise since his outcome is so starkly horrifying if you think about it and so resembling a system that he himself opposed. Maybe that would only occur to someone with modern sensibilities (it's also been like 6 years since I read The Republic).
But the Republic was written over two decades after the end of their reign, so it would be awfully delayed for political satire. This consideration and a number of proposals that would have probably been opposed by the wealthy, elite Thirty make satire seem unlikely. The proposals I mentioned were specifically the communal sharing of goods within the ruling class (and the abolishment of the wage system, in fact), along with the concept of philosopher kings. I'd still conclude that the Republic is a relatively serious work of political philosophy.
Socrates never wrote anything down, it was Plato who did all the writing and it is speculated that much of it is apocryphal and that Plato's Socrates is probably as much a cypher for his own beliefs as he is a reflection of the real guy. I am by no means a classical scholar and I don't doubt that I am mistaken on many details, but I do remember being totally taken in by how correct The Republic seemed and it was a long time before I started getting a feeling that there was something funny about it.
I think The Republic would make a much more interesting Book Club book than Ready Player One.
Socrates never wrote anything down, it was Plato who did all the writing and it is speculated that much of it is apocryphal and that Plato's Socrates is probably as much a cypher for his own beliefs as he is a reflection of the real guy. I am by no means a classical scholar and I don't doubt that I am mistaken on many details, but I do remember being totally taken in by how correct The Republic seemed and it was a long time before I started getting a feeling that there was something funny about it.
I think The Republic would make a much more interesting Book Club book than Ready Player One.
I agree on the Book Club point. Also, given that Plato's portrayal of Socrates effectively drops his primary method of discourse (asking for someone else to define a thing, then asking about special cases to make a better definition) after Book I, I think it's safe to say that Socrates is entirely just Plato's mouthpiece during the Republic, and the conversation it claims to represent is most likely entirely fabricated.
The two colleges I went to had me read Freshmen books (one when I wasn't a Freshman either) and despite my initial reluctance to read them they turned out to be much more enjoyable than I had expected. One I can't remember what the book was called but it was about doctors and the mistakes they make and why some are just bad luck and others are selfishness. The other one was Stones into Schools by Greg Mortenson which basically chronicles his quest to make schools in the mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
But right now I'm reading the original Dune, the Bone collection, and Where Things Come From. The latter being a book for school.
Finished reading the Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. I should have read this book like 10 years ago when it first came out. What is wrong with me? I loved it. Absolutely phenominal book. I loved the look at pre-WW2 NYC, the dawn of comic books, and the portrayal of Sammy and Joe. My one regret is that the book ended when it did. I could have easily (and happily) read another 200 pages about the rebirth of Empire Comics in the 1950's.
Just started Code 2.0 by Larry Lessig. I really like it so far, and what's even better is that I'm reading it for an independent study for school.
Only took me four months to read it, but I finally finished White-Luck Warrior. I just can't get into the newer books like I did the first trilogy, so I rarely felt like reading it.
Just finished the first Dresden Files book. Not bad. Will probably start on the second one soon. I'm sort of sad I spoiled a few things by reading the Dresden Files RPG books, although they're what actually made me interested in the series in the first place.
I'm reading Treasure Island right now. A book I've been wanting to read for a long time. I've "read" it before as an audio book which was public domain, but it wasn't very good because they had like 10 different people taking turns reading the book chapter by chapter.
Just finished Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, highly enjoyed the parts that I read, there were other parts of the book that I had to skip because I just found it extremely boring. About 3 or 4 chapters worth, out of 69.
My friend introduced me to the Culture series by Iain M. Banks, so I'm starting Consider Phlebas next.
Oh, and I have to say, thank you Scrym for doing an episode on The Lies of Locke Lamora, I loved it, and now I'm eagerly awaiting the third book.
Finished "The Hand Behind The Mouse." What Leslie Iwerks lacks in writing, her grandfather, Ub, makes up for in being a god of animation and engineering. I think the documentary was better because it could illustrate his animation style better (being visual and all) but the book went into so much more detail and explained some things the documentary was unclear about. Right now I'm reading "Chuck Amuck," which I will be reading at the same time as Huck Finn (for English) and "Cosmos" (for Physics). High School's a bitch.
Finished To say nothing of the dog, and now reading Tricks of the Mind, by Darren Brown. I'm halfway through the book, and not even sure I like it- Tricks of the mind indeed.
Vincent Baker is a great game maker. I got personal experience only on the Dogs of Vineyard, but have heard lots of good things about the rest of his games too.
Comments
Edit: Well the other bit here is that I havn't read any of them. It's all on recommendations from a few people far more read than I. I'm taking the approach that "any knowledge is useful knowledge for someone creating a game". Some of it might be hard to apply, but anything can provide insight and opportunity.
EDIT: Sarcasm font
I can't help but notice that Plato's works so far have been straight-up philosophical fanfic about Socrates. Awesome.
I also finished Margaret Atwood's "Oryx and Crake." Not a bad read, if you ask me. She does a good job at establishing the society and its problems. A good deal of the plot seems to be squashed to the last couple of chapters but it's a good book, nonetheless. Next on the list is "The Star Thrower" by Loren Eiseley. I'm looking forward to it.
And I'm only halfway through! (And need to finish by tomorrow).
Man, it would be pretty cool if The Republic was actually a denouncing of the Spartans and the Thirty Tyrants disguised as glowing praise since his outcome is so starkly horrifying if you think about it and so resembling a system that he himself opposed. Maybe that would only occur to someone with modern sensibilities (it's also been like 6 years since I read The Republic).
I think The Republic would make a much more interesting Book Club book than Ready Player One.
But right now I'm reading the original Dune, the Bone collection, and Where Things Come From. The latter being a book for school.
Just started Code 2.0 by Larry Lessig. I really like it so far, and what's even better is that I'm reading it for an independent study for school.
I have no idea what it is about but I've read and enjoyed all of his other books so this is pretty much an insta-buy.
My friend introduced me to the Culture series by Iain M. Banks, so I'm starting Consider Phlebas next.
Oh, and I have to say, thank you Scrym for doing an episode on The Lies of Locke Lamora, I loved it, and now I'm eagerly awaiting the third book.
Right now I'm reading "Chuck Amuck," which I will be reading at the same time as Huck Finn (for English) and "Cosmos" (for Physics). High School's a bitch.