Welcome to my selections. Here you will find some stuff that I have read, seen, done... You can even buy them from amazon. But please understand that I am not selling these things, I just want to share the nice things that I like.

Here are the last few science fiction and fantasy books I have read. I liked Einstein's Bridge a lot, because during the course of action, you see the settings that physicists (including my-humble-self) live in, and how they work. It is a very good book of hard sci-fi. Piers Anthony's A Spell for Chameleon is another great book that has a very different flavor than most other fantasy books. As for Michael Crichton's Timeline, I should say that his understanding of quantum physics is just amusing, but still the book is an easy read. His descriptions of the medieval times is quite good indeed.

Ok, here is a new addition: The Light of Other Days by Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter. I read this book after Timeline and I can clearly say that Clarke's and Baxter's understanding of the quantum gravity concepts is much better than that of Crichton's. (There are some small flaws of quantum logic in Clarke-Baxter's work as well, but these are not very important.) Crichton's book is a good read for seeing the medieval times, but lacks the real important impacts of a possible time travel / time viewing on the human life.

Two books that I have read on recommendation, and now I strongly recommend myself. Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game and Ursula K. Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness both got both the Nebula and Hugo awards. Some may find the latter book a little slow paced to read at first, but once you are in to them, both take you to their worlds and keep you reading for hours without any breaks. (The other books in the Ender Series are even better than the first: The Speaker for the Dead (1987 Hugo, Nebula & Locus), Xenocide and Children of the Mind.)

Timothy Zhan : The real heir to the Star Wars universe. The first SW novels I read was his trilogy: Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising and The Last Command. They were really great, the plot was very nice, Grand Admiral Thrawn is the genius, loved them. And now his latest books come as the Hand of Thrawn Duology: Specter of the Past & Vision of the Future. Again Zhan's caliber... What I like about Zhan is that no matter how powerful the characters are they still show weaknesses both morally and physically. (And he doesn't use weird illnesses or injuries for that.)

R.A.Salvatore is one of my best fantasy writers. Here is a series about his famous character Drizzt Dourden... A MUST! (My favorite: Siege of Darkness)

Sea Dragon Heir is an interesting book by Storm Constantine. It is about the awakening of an old power, the power to call and command the ancient sea dragons. It is an interesting fantasy, with quite good character definitions and a fairly interesting plot. The nicest thing is that there are no heroes or heroines in this book; no distinct good or evil - the characters are all human: with their strenghts & weaknesses, their ambitions, fears, loves... I found the first chapter a little boring, but the second and third chapters are very nice. The book ends as if there will be a continuation to it; it may turn out to be a trilogy perhaps.

The Demon-Haunted World : Science As a Candle in the Dark is a must for everyone. Carl Sagan covers a full range of subjects: UFOs, aliens, witchcraft, antiscience, pseudoscience, scientific thinking, religion, skepticism... Definitely the guidebook for the 21st century people. Throughout the book, you sometimes feel that he is repeating or overreacting but a little patience shows that every single sentence is a step along a long path. Turkish translation is available from TUBITAK. (Note: I would recommend buying the hardcover version; it's definitely worth it.)

Penrose's book is a great read. It covers classical and modern physics, computers, AI, Turing machines, fractals etc. The Emperor's New Mind : Concerning Computers, Minds, and the Laws of Physics (For hardcover edition click here.)

Here is a wonderful book on Turkish quisine. It covers a wide variety of interesting dishes, along with nice historical information about their origins. Even if you are not into cooking, you can read the really nice introduction which tells much about how the Turkish kitchen evolved. The only negative aspect is a lack of photos; the book would be perfect if it had photos of some of the mouth-watering dishes. :) Classical Turkish Cooking: Traditional Turkish Food for the American Kitchen

Another great book on Turkish quisine. This book would definitely complement the one I wrote about above, with wonderful photos and a nice coverage of the different materials (like species and fruits etc) used in the Turkish kitchen. Classic Turkish Cooking (Yep, the name is almost the same. :))

Shall We Dance? is a beautiful Japanese movie about a salary-man who is trying to learn ballroom dancing. It shows almost all levels that a dancer will encounter. On the other hand, Strictly Ballroom is another dance movie, that shows almost all kinds of people that you may encounter in the ballroom dancing world... Both are really fun. (And I love Scott and Fran's Paso Doble, the music, the dance - perfect. Click here for the soundtrack by David Hirschfelder.)

I enjoy Bond movies a lot. Their soundtracks are pretty good as well, may be much better than the movies themselves. Here is a small collection on CD. The Best Of Bond... James Bond 007

Here is a great soundtrack. Especially the first two tracks are very good. Moreover it fits very well when you are playing FRP. By Basil Poledouris: Conan the Barbarian (Or for audio cassette format, click here.)

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By Zwi, last updated on 10/03/2002... Go back to my homepage here.