It seems you like Sience Fiction, too. Do you know "The Way to Amalthea" by Arkadi and Boris Strugazki (or some other novels by the brothers Strukazki)?

Hokuriku: Hmmm, no, I haven't heard of those. What are they about & what year were they published?

Magenta Spiral: I´m going to check whether you can get them in English; I know them in German and in Russian...

Magenta Spiral: I´m sorry but I did not find this one in English. It was published in Moskow (MIR 1979/1982) and Berlin.
The name of the authors is spelled differently in English: Strugatski or Strugatzki, Arkadi (or Arkady) and Boris.
I found one of their very famous books in English:
"Hard to be a God" (Daw Books, Inc. 1974)
Arkadi and Boris Strugatsky have been very popular und were frequently met with in Soviet scientific journals. They write stories and novels about robots or strangers from outer space, most of them with a fine sense of humour and at the time, when the Soviet Union ruled Eastern Europe, with more or less hidden criticism of the Soviet system.
Boris, born 1933, is an astronomer who was working at the computer laboratory of Pulkovo Observatory. Arkady, born 1925, is a linguist specializing in the Japanese, and also a translator and reviewer.

Thanks Hokuriku, I'll check into the English possiblities. Ya never know what you can find on the net if you look hard enough!

Have you ever seen the Fahrenheit 451 movie? I have it on DVD, it's really awesome despite what the critics say!
There's supposed to be a new 451 film in the making and Bradbury's completely involved with it! So, maybe we'll see a 21st Century version.

Getting back to books -- I'm currently right smack-dab in the middle of reading Rod Serling's second Twilight Zone stories book (RARE), and I started Aldous Huxley's The Doors of Perception. I've got my reading cut out for me! I love Sci-Fi the most though, I'm currently an aspiring writer and the story focuses on you guessed it - Science Fiction :·)

I heard there are many excellent German and Russian sci-fi writers. These days, I would be surprised to read anything good that is popular or new. But there's a first time for everything, no?

Magenta Spiral: I do like Fahrenheidt 451, but not the movie, just the book. For my opinion the possibilities in a movie are too limited to show what you expected in your fantasy.
Thank you for the message. The "Twilight Zone" is very interesting, but I haven´t red yet Huxley´s "The Doors of Perception" (I just know "Brave New World").
At the time being I´m not "at home", so I cannot check the authors I would like you to get to know, for instance Nesvadba, a Czech Science Fiction writer. Do you know him?
To make things clear, I AM a fan of Science Fiction, but I read a lot of other books (seldom bestsellers).
Have a nice day.

Hokuriku -- I can understand why you would prefer the book over the film. I noticed some pretty important things missing from the movie that were in the book (i.e. The Mechanical Hound).
Still, in defense of the 1966 version, I haveta point out their artistic value, very imaginative and also interesting to see the actress playing Montag's wife and Clarisse -- just different hair!
Her ability to switch around had me fooled until I saw the documentary.
I mentioned this movie being revisited, in case you don't believe me, here's the listing at IMDb:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0360556/
Might be interesting to see if/when it arrives in the public! Could be really good if the movie people cooperate and don't fuss with Bradbury too much.

I haven't heard of Nesvadba, but I'll be sure and look his name up! Any books in particular by him I should check out?

That's really cool! I'm a fan of Sci-Fi, but will read other stuff as well.
I currently have Twilight Zone: Season One on DVD. I'm gonna get number two for Christmas!
I've just completed my Outer Limits DVD collection. They had some really GOOD writers for that show! That's why it's sooo rotten and sad that the show was cancelled right in the MIDDLE of the second Season! The network didn't even let them finish! So, to show for it, on the last disc of the second DVD boxset, there's this awful emptiness, only one episode -- where there should be FOUR like the first boxset! But I appreciate having the Outer Limits available at all. Though, it should have ran longer back then IMO!

Anywayz, I definitely recommend you pick up Huxley's The Doors of Perception, it's an awesome read, very profound, and unlike anything else!

German versions available as Suhrkamp-Edition ... ~*~