Welcome to the stack! Even though LA is a brutal bitch of a city (at least it is now) I’m glad you both tried it out because I got to make two new friends which is just about one of the hardest things to do in this city
I was thinking of Peter Watts when Brandon mentioned future vampires in one of his last Patreon posts! That's awesome you guys are checking him out: ) Feel the same about LA, but it's cool you guys got to experience it. I'd recommend San Diego as the best "big town/small city" to check out, but it has gotten super expensive and hard to find month to month places to rent because of the whole Air B&B thing: P
Heck yeah, that's rad you dig Watts too! I love finding innovative takes on sci-fi and he definitely checks that box. Any others that you'd recommend? Ted Chiang and Charles Stross are two of the others we've been enjoying. San Diego is rad for sure, but like you said about the cost, makes it a tough one for us. Since it's within the orbit of Las Vegas though, I bet we'll spend some time there together eventually.
Woo, I've been an SF head since childhood and could throw recs at you for weeks, but I'll try to pare it down since this is a comment thread. Ha ha. Anyhoo, you being a Heinlein/Herbert fan, I'd say maybe check out John Varley and Kim Stanley Robinson? Varley's Steel Beach is a wild one. W/Kacy's fondness for the beats, she might dig Chester Anderson and Michael Kurland. In terms or more Nabokovian stuff, Barry N. Malzberg is at the absolute top of the pack, both his fiction and non-fiction (huge Nabo head, and possibly the best-read/most musically-eared author the field ever had). For other literary quality SF stuff that was innovative, Tiptree Jr./Sheldon, Sturgeon, Silverberg (when he was trying his best), Delany, Bester, Cordwainer Smith, Lafferty, Lem, the Strugatsky bros, Disch (early), Spinrad, Aldiss, Avram Davidson, Walter M. Miller jr., Iain Banks (this list could go on for pages and get into some real obscurities). My tastes tend to run proto-SF through 60s-70s new wave, and thins out after that, but Stross and Chiang are both great. Egan, Karen Joy Fowler (early story collections), M. John Harrison, Christopher Priest (UK, not the US comics writer), Tom Reamy, maybe Michael Bishop, Lucius Shepard and James Patrick Kelly all might reach similar spots for you? Allreet. Cutting myself off! Do hit me up if you want any deep dives/are hitting the PB-exchange shelves. Still gold in them thar hills: ) That said, SD is spendy, but still worth it. Way cheaper in East County, but it also gets hotter once you get away from the ocean. Nowhere near as hot as LV, though! Viva Mars Vegas: D
Welcome to the stack! Even though LA is a brutal bitch of a city (at least it is now) I’m glad you both tried it out because I got to make two new friends which is just about one of the hardest things to do in this city
Aww thanks Daniel! We're stoked about you as well ^_^
I was thinking of Peter Watts when Brandon mentioned future vampires in one of his last Patreon posts! That's awesome you guys are checking him out: ) Feel the same about LA, but it's cool you guys got to experience it. I'd recommend San Diego as the best "big town/small city" to check out, but it has gotten super expensive and hard to find month to month places to rent because of the whole Air B&B thing: P
Heck yeah, that's rad you dig Watts too! I love finding innovative takes on sci-fi and he definitely checks that box. Any others that you'd recommend? Ted Chiang and Charles Stross are two of the others we've been enjoying. San Diego is rad for sure, but like you said about the cost, makes it a tough one for us. Since it's within the orbit of Las Vegas though, I bet we'll spend some time there together eventually.
Woo, I've been an SF head since childhood and could throw recs at you for weeks, but I'll try to pare it down since this is a comment thread. Ha ha. Anyhoo, you being a Heinlein/Herbert fan, I'd say maybe check out John Varley and Kim Stanley Robinson? Varley's Steel Beach is a wild one. W/Kacy's fondness for the beats, she might dig Chester Anderson and Michael Kurland. In terms or more Nabokovian stuff, Barry N. Malzberg is at the absolute top of the pack, both his fiction and non-fiction (huge Nabo head, and possibly the best-read/most musically-eared author the field ever had). For other literary quality SF stuff that was innovative, Tiptree Jr./Sheldon, Sturgeon, Silverberg (when he was trying his best), Delany, Bester, Cordwainer Smith, Lafferty, Lem, the Strugatsky bros, Disch (early), Spinrad, Aldiss, Avram Davidson, Walter M. Miller jr., Iain Banks (this list could go on for pages and get into some real obscurities). My tastes tend to run proto-SF through 60s-70s new wave, and thins out after that, but Stross and Chiang are both great. Egan, Karen Joy Fowler (early story collections), M. John Harrison, Christopher Priest (UK, not the US comics writer), Tom Reamy, maybe Michael Bishop, Lucius Shepard and James Patrick Kelly all might reach similar spots for you? Allreet. Cutting myself off! Do hit me up if you want any deep dives/are hitting the PB-exchange shelves. Still gold in them thar hills: ) That said, SD is spendy, but still worth it. Way cheaper in East County, but it also gets hotter once you get away from the ocean. Nowhere near as hot as LV, though! Viva Mars Vegas: D