Oracle Book Club

1. Isaac Asimov: I started with Asimov's "Currents of Space". A small novel and one of Asimov's earlier works. It reflects his sence of right and wrong. Remember that Asimov moved to the United States in his childhood from the erstwhile USSR. He brings some of his own baggage to his books, particularly the earlier ones. Currents of Space has Asimov written all over it. The twists in the tale, intermingled with his distinct brand of science fiction is very refreshing, even if the book is a bit immature and does not hold a candle to his later works. Particularly the Foundation series and his Robot related works. After this book, I also read his "The Stars Like Dust". Another science fiction tale of inter-stellar politics set in the distant future of our galaxy. A future which sees man colonizing large tracts of the galaxy. Surprisingly (or maybe not so surprisingly) political systems seem to have regressed to a feudal model and this forms the basis of the novel. Asimov's infatuation with his adopted country and his deep belief that the US brand of democracy is the ultimate invention of socio-politics is the basis of this novel. A good read for all fans of SF.
2. Alistair Maclean: The father of all thrillers is a good read even after all these years. I remember reading my first Maclean in class 4 or so. Anyway, I was feeling a bit nostalgic and picked up a few of his books. I re-read "The Golden Gate", "The Guns of Navarone" and "Where Eagles Dare". As usual, I loved them all.
3. Arthur C. Clarke: I started with Clarke's "Fountains of Paradise". One of my favorites from an author who was the doyen of science fiction in the previous century. Fountains of Paradise is set in Clarke's adopted country, Sri Lanka. It is pure Clarke. A rich intermingling of science, politics, society, religion, history and culture. While on the topic of Clarke, I must mention another of my favorites; "The Deep Range". Set in the oceans of Earth in an age where man has conquered the Solar System and has flourishing colonies on the Moon, Mars and Mercury, The Deep Range is a fascinating work. I don't want to give away too much here but this too is pure Clarke. Sci-Fi lovers will love it. I will start on "Childhood's End" next week. I read this novel in school and look forward to reading it again. I will report back after I have finished it.
4. Ashok Banker: Reread the first two books of his 7 part retelling of the Ramayana. "Prince of Ayodhya" & "Seige of Mithila". Check out Ashok's web site at http://www.epicindia.com/. As I mentioned in an earlier post I have recently bought the 3rd book, "Demons of Chitrakoot" but I am saving that for the train when I go to my home town later this month.

After Banker, I have lost some of my feeling for Tolkien but his LOTR remains one of my favorites. My grandmother borrowed (stole!!!) my copy of the first book of LOTR and hasn't returned it yet! This time when I meet her in May I am going to make her cough it up. But most probably I will end up having to bribe her with a new book that she hasn't read . Maybe she will be happy with Demons of Chitrakoot. Lets see. I want to reread LOTR in May.

For Asimov fans - Does anybody have copies of his Black Widower series?

posted by Gautam Satpathy @ 1:35 PM