Based on the original criteria the OP asked for...
I'm almost done The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham. Very cool book, through it shows its age from time to time (It was written 1951) mostly evidenced by how outré the Russians seem to what we now know. There are other anachronisms that keep popping up here and there, too. Overall it holds its age fairly well. If you liked 28 Days Later, you should like this. I wouldn't be surprised at all if the filmmakers drew some inspiration from that book.
Orion Shall Rise by Poul Anderson is cool if you can find it. The first third is rather slow to get going has he has a world to build and a couple hundred years of history to tell. The next third will leave you wondering what exactly it is they're doing with the items they're collecting, and the final third will have you on the edge of your seat wondering if they can actually pull it off. Wonderful book dealing with conflicts of rabid faith, zealous environmentalism, and fanatic science.
A World Out of Time by Larry Niven is good. Interesting fun with time travel, uber-advanced technologies, and an Earth that has degenerated to such a degree as to be almost unrecognizable as itself.
Though to keep in the spirit that this thread has degenerated into, I would suggest picking up Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters by Matt Ridley. In fact I'd suggest everyone on Anandtech off-topic read this! My roommate just finished it and is raving about how bloody cool it is, so I intend to look it over shortly and post something with more detail. Topics it touches on: Life, Species, Fate, Intelligence, Instinct, Conflict Between the X & Y Cromosones, Disease, Personality, Immortality, Sex, Death, Cures, Politics and ends with VERY cool chapters on Eugenics (ever wonder where the name Eugene came from?) and Free Will. The copy I have is trade paperback in size and 313 pages of material, so it's a fair sized read. It's an actual scientific book so gets a little weighty at times, but it's well worth going though.
-- Jack
A book is a mirror: If an ass peers into it, you can't expect an apostle to look out.
-- G. C. Lichtenberg
I'm almost done The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham. Very cool book, through it shows its age from time to time (It was written 1951) mostly evidenced by how outré the Russians seem to what we now know. There are other anachronisms that keep popping up here and there, too. Overall it holds its age fairly well. If you liked 28 Days Later, you should like this. I wouldn't be surprised at all if the filmmakers drew some inspiration from that book.
Orion Shall Rise by Poul Anderson is cool if you can find it. The first third is rather slow to get going has he has a world to build and a couple hundred years of history to tell. The next third will leave you wondering what exactly it is they're doing with the items they're collecting, and the final third will have you on the edge of your seat wondering if they can actually pull it off. Wonderful book dealing with conflicts of rabid faith, zealous environmentalism, and fanatic science.
A World Out of Time by Larry Niven is good. Interesting fun with time travel, uber-advanced technologies, and an Earth that has degenerated to such a degree as to be almost unrecognizable as itself.
Though to keep in the spirit that this thread has degenerated into, I would suggest picking up Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters by Matt Ridley. In fact I'd suggest everyone on Anandtech off-topic read this! My roommate just finished it and is raving about how bloody cool it is, so I intend to look it over shortly and post something with more detail. Topics it touches on: Life, Species, Fate, Intelligence, Instinct, Conflict Between the X & Y Cromosones, Disease, Personality, Immortality, Sex, Death, Cures, Politics and ends with VERY cool chapters on Eugenics (ever wonder where the name Eugene came from?) and Free Will. The copy I have is trade paperback in size and 313 pages of material, so it's a fair sized read. It's an actual scientific book so gets a little weighty at times, but it's well worth going though.
-- Jack
A book is a mirror: If an ass peers into it, you can't expect an apostle to look out.
-- G. C. Lichtenberg
