Breakfast Of Champions Vonnegut's 50 year old birthday present to us and himself. Any correlation between Dec and Kilgore Trout?  In Now It Can Be Told, everyone is a computer made to amuse the computer god watching your reaction to them all as you are the only human...more-or-less. Hmmm  Trout inhabits a basement apartment in Cohoes, New York near Hempstead, NY. maybe? Getting unstuck in time right now.

I read a synopsis of that book, and it seems to kick ass. I must remember to check it out sometime.

The best sci-fi I've ever read thus far are Vernor Vinge's "A Deepness in the Sky" and "A Fire Upon the Deep". They take place in a hypotethical version of our galaxy which is divided into "Zones of Thought". Basically, what Vinge has done is change the Singularity from being a temporal thing into being a spacial one. The further towards the Galactic Core one travels in Vinge's cosmology, the dumber one gets and the worse technology begins to function. Earth is deep in "The Slow Zone", which is why AI and hyperdrives (or as Vinge calls them, "Ultradrives") do not function here. "A Deepness in the Sky" details how incredibly difficult it would be to try and maintain a interstellar trading culture without access to Hyperspace. A very interesting prospect, and very interesting reading as well. A must if you love good sci-fi.

I think the aliens were called "the Tines", as in tines on a fork. Quite a good name, as they worked together in much the same way. I also thought the part about how they instantly picked up on new technology (aka. computers) was unconvincing, even though they did in fact learn all the new stuff from a computer meant for teaching young human kids. I think it would have been even more unconvincing otherwise, really. The part about them learning about computer interfaces and the "Samnorsk" language from the future version of "Sesame Street" was a nice touch. If, as you say, a bit unconvincing.

I loved how Vinge had them communicating via high-frequency sound and losing their ability to think if two packs became mixed up, though. As a result, all their architecture was giant in size so they could all stay far away from each other. That part was nicely done.

I dislike stories with kids in them, as well. Usually makes books seem too much like Disney movies and sadly "A Fire" was no exception from that rule. Actually, I liked "A Deepness in the Sky" much better than "A Fire Upon the Deep". That book is one of the most convincing ones I've ever read in my whole life, especially in how planetary civilizations destroy themselves after a while. I also love the parts about how very high velocities and advanced cryogenics makes your standard Queng Ho captain see the rise and fall of entire planetary civilizations over whole millenia all while, for him, only a few decades pass. Nice use of Einstein's relativism, there.

Say, ever read "I Am Legend"? It's not exactly sci-fi. Well, it is to a degree but, well, not exactly. It's like the proto-version of all modern zombie flicks. It was written by Richard Matheson.

Ever read The Last Question? It's my favorite short sci-fi story of all time. Asimov's too.

Have you ever read anything by Jonathan Lethem? I'm a very big fan of his earliest works, such as "Gun, With Occasional Music" or "Amnesia Moon". Especially the aforementioned "Gun" is very very cool in my opinion. It takes place in a retro-futuristic film noir version of Oakland. The setting is 50% Orwellian dictatorship and 50% Phil Marlowe. Everyone has a really weird film noir-ish name, such as Walter Surface, Danny Phoneblum or Celeste Stanhunt.

The main character's name is Conrad Metcalf and he's a PI. He lives in a really weird Orwellian dictatorship run by the "Inquisition". Asking questions have been outlawed, unless you have a license for it, which Metcalf does. Everyone is "on the make", meaning on mood-altering drugs which you take by snorting from a mirror. "Acceptol" and "Avoidol" are both pretty big, but the next big thing seems to be "Forgettol", especially the time-released kind. Animals have been Uplifted and evolved to human intelligence and Metcalf's main antagonist is an evolved Kangaroo in a trenchcoat named "Joey Castle". Everyone carries around a card with Karma Points, which can be removed by the inquisition if you do something bad, like slam a door or ask a question. When there's no more points on the card you get cryogenically frozen as a punishment. Thee are no more children, as they also have been subjected to the same "Evolution Therapy" as have all the wild animals. The results are "Babyheads", humans with the bodies of infants but the minds of adults. They spend most of their time getting wasted in order to counteract the extermely unpleasant side-effects of the Evolution Therapy.

When Metcalf is retained by a man framed for the murder of a famous urologist, he finds himself caught in a crossfire between the boys from the Inquisitors Office and gangsters who operate out of the backroom of the Fickle Muse. This book is utterly surreal, much like Philip Marlowe on acid. Highly recommended if you liked both "The Big Sleep" and Huxleys "Brave New World". Awesome.

I can't get enough of them.  I am always at the bookstore (usually Borders) looking at and purchasing new books.  I also hunt down some particular ones I am looking for on-line via used book outlets.  As a bibliophile I just love books and love to read.  There is nothing quite like sitting down (or standing up) to a good book, that you can't quite put down because you just HAVE TO find out what happens next!  The last book I finished reading was "Harbingers" by F. Paul Wilson.  The book is part of his adversary cycle, and it features his recurring character Repairman Jack.  FPW is an excellent writer, gripping and easy to read.  I highly recommend ANYTHING by him.  Check out the Repairman Jack website http://www.repairmanjack.com