I’m currently reading the Wool omnibus by Hugh Howey. It’s pretty decent I’ve been making very rapid progress as it’s been too hot to sleep here recently now the summer has arrived.
I haven’t seen the Apple show, but maybe I’ll watch it in the future when I’ve finished all the books (I had Shift and Dust as well).
Seveneves by Neal Stephenson. Was a recommendation on the R site.
Complex, eon spanning, hard sci-fi. I’m loving it!
I finished Seveneves a few weeks ago. If I wasn’t reading it with a friend I wouldn’t have finished. I am glad I did, I loved the last 1/4 of the book.
Amazing book! Loved it +1
I love that book. Very ambitious and enjoyable.
How far in are you?
Just moved on to Kath Two. After all the fun with Izzy and The Cannibals ;-)
Izzy and the what?! 👀😵
Can’t reply too much - spoilers!
If you could, what other sci-fi works would you compare it to? I am wrapping up the Children of Time series and could use something else.
I sold Seveneves to a friend by saying it is like Neal Stephenson wrote The Martian. Well, at least the first 2/3 of it. It talks a lot about the science how how an event like the one described in the book might happen but with the kind if granularity and verbosity you would expect from NS.
Not sure. Tried a couple of Adrian Tchaikovsky and couldn’t really get on. Could be because they were audiobooks.
Have been ‘off’ of reading for a while, but have realised a new found love for my Kindle.
Andy Wier’s Hail Mary might fit your bill.
Or Iain Banks’ Culture series.
I’ve been working through The Expanse books, and have just started Leviathan Falls.
I’m about halfway through Persepolis Rising. That prologue was one hell of a jolt!
How do you like the expanse? I’ve heard they are awesome!
Not the person you replied to, but I have read the series and watched the show. It’s fantastic. I highly recommend both.
Working my way through some Hugo winners past— reading A Canticle for Liebowitz by Walter M Miller.
I really liked Canticle, but I really felt like it suffered from being a fix-up novel. It’s three acts are not equal and don’t totally fit together in my opinion. It really starts off strong though! Hope you like it!
I’m enjoying it! I love a solid premise and the references to modern science appearing as obscure archeological nuggets are perfect. There are some bits I’m guessing that I’m missing some symbolism or something (I’m not an expert in Catholicism).
For what it’s worth, several Catholics I know have also had to read the book with notes open on the side. Monastic culture and tradition isn’t exactly common knowledge anymore, though I’m not sure if they would have been in the 50s, or if Miller just trusts that his reader is smart enough to catch on.
If you like Canticle, consider looking into the works of Gene Wolfe. He also writes very re-readable sci-fi that expects much of the reader, and delivers much in turn.
Thanks! That does make me feel a bit better! Will look into Wolfe.
Ooo, good choice - I really loved this one.
Roadside Picnic by brothers Strugatsky.
It’s really fun, with a cool premise. It’s a classic though. Basically: Aliens come to Earth for a fraction of second and dump their garbage there. The places of impact are basically turned into paranormal zones and people are actively trying to scavenge the wonders of the civilisation so alien to us we couldn’t even catch a glimpse of what they are.
For all its alien backdrop, it was the human element of Roadside Picnic that I found more terrifying. I needed a more cheerful and upbeat story as a palate cleanser from its dismal outlook.
I listened to the 2nd and 3rd books of the Murderbot series on a car ride recently. I had read them before, but it was the first time that he did. I really enjoyed laughing with him.
Just finished The Dispossessed, by Ursula Le Guin and going to look for a library where I can buy the next book in the Hain cycle !
Wool was great! The rest of the series too. I’ve been watching the show and I think they did a pretty good adaptation with it.
Currently reading “This is How you Lose the Time-war”. Just started it but it’s an interesting concept and different from my usual sci-fi reads
“The complete robot” by Isaac Asimov.
Those are some of my favourite stories. Although if I remember correctly, it contains the short story version of The Bicentennial Man and you may wish to read the novella version instead which he wrote later, having developed the story some more.
I’m planning to read it when I get opportunity to buy it.
I’m on Tiamats Wake in the Expanse series, love it
Tiamet’s Wrath*
Best book in the series. It’s so damn good.
I’m currently reading Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey, which is the first book of the Expanse series. I haven’t watched the TV series, since I wanted to dive into the books without previous knowledge.
I’ve read all of them. The TV series is incredible as well and had the full involvement of the authors. Some stuff is done better in the books (like the stuff that doesn’t translate so well to screen such as the lanky belters and zero-gravity) and some stuff is done better in the TV show (they had an incredibly good cast of actors, all of whom really added to the roles - Krisjen, Ashford and Drummer in particular were amazing).
It was a really really good adaptation and it’s quite rare you see that.
And they are magnificent.
So is the TV series ; -)
I really hope the last books can get a continuation in the show, even in movie format
Amazing series of books that are up in my top three, still trying to find time to read Leviathan Falls (the final book). The story gets crazy.
Right? It starts off all very hard sci-fi, the only “magic” is a rocket motor that makes travel around the solar system doable on story-friendly timelines.
That expectation gets broken pretty quickly, and it really is amazing how far the story goes after such a simple beginning as the incident with the Canterbury!
Not science fiction, but I’m loving Carl Sagans “The Demon-Haunted World”. He really was a brilliant dude.
Yeah, I really liked that book. Pale Blue Dot is really good as well and he reads part of the audiobook himself, although unfortunately not all of it as he was already quite ill by that point. He was taken far too young.
I’m working my way through both the Murderbot Diaries (just started Network Effect) and the Rivers of London series (just finished Broken Homes, though this series is more urban fantasy). Both and very enjoyable!
The murderbot stories get so much praise but I was never able to get into them. I binge read (well, actually binge listened) to the Rivers of London books a few months ago and thought they were first-rate.
I just finished the new Ann Leckie book, Translation State, which I liked very much. If you couldn’t get enough of the the Imperial Radch universe it’s a must read.
Oooh thanks for the rec, I’ll put it on the list! I do tend to lean towards more fantasy/horror and less sci-fi, but I very much liked Murderbot’s voice as a narrator (and the universe is fascinating).
My wife and I just ran through the whole murderbot series. They are such a fun read. I’m convinced that the author plays/has played a ton of Shadowrun.
I love murderbot, this is probably one of my most favorite series of all time! Honestly, I can’t get enough. The seventh is due out this year too, I believe!
I’m rereading Asimov’s complete saga in “internal story chronological order”:
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I, Robot / The Complete Robot (except ‘Mirror Image’!) [ROBOTS]
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The Caves of Steel [ROBOTS]
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The Naked Sun [ROBOTS]
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Mirror Image (short story) [ROBOTS]
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The Robots of Dawn [ROBOTS]
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Robots and Empire [ROBOTS]
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The Stars, Like Dust-- [EMPIRE]
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The Currents of Space [EMPIRE]
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Pebble in the Sky [EMPIRE]
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Prelude to Foundation [FOUNDATION]
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Forward the Foundation [FOUNDATION]
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Foundation [FOUNDATION]
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Foundation and Empire [FOUNDATION]
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Second Foundation [FOUNDATION]
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Foundation’s Edge [FOUNDATION]
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Foundation and Earth [FOUNDATION]
I’m currently on “Forward the foundation”
The Foundation series is absolutely amazing, and I am jealous of you if this is your first reading. One of my formative series growing up. You’re inspiring me to do the whole Asimov read through like your doing, because I don’t believe I ever read the Empire books and never read Robot beyond I, Robot.
I’m surprised The Caves of Steel is so early as it seemed really futuristic compared to most of The Complete Robot, but I read it a long time ago so maybe I’m not remembering correctly.
Well all short stories in The complete robot are with “normal humans” and their interactions with the first “robots” on earth when there was no faster than lights spaceships.
The Caves of Steel instead is the first of the robot saga where humanity is divided between human from earth that lives inside the big underground cities and the “spacers” which lived on several different planets and are almost a new spieces because they have been separated from earth for several centuries.
Honestly, has to be my favourite series. There’s just so much to it.
I did this last year. It’s quite amazing to read through.
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I’m really trying to read Three Body Problem, but I’m having a hard time following
There is a YouTube series that has adapted the book really well amazing https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMX26aiIvX5rFSYPXtcqda3tWd6pGVD5Q
Stick with it. I loved the series, but the first book is unfortunately the most confusing and, in my opinion, the worst of the three.
Really? I loved the first book, but felt the translator for the second had a different enough style that it was hard for me to stay engaged. Maybe I’ll have to give it a second try
I hated it.
The writing style felt like it was written by a high school student and the characters were really two-dimensional with no believable motivations for their actions. Also the whole premise was stupid and unrealistic. There were few interesting concepts but they were ruined by the crappy presentation.
I don’t understand why it got the Hugo award.
I’m currently reading Chibola Burn, the forth book in The Expanse series. Really enjoying it, specially since the third one was my least favorite of the first three. So it feels good to be loving a book in the series again.
I would recommend the series to fans of somewhat believable sci-fi.
Cibola Burn was my favorite as well! Seems like it’s one people either really love or hate. My favorite was probably the last book in the series, Leviathan Falls, but Cibola was a close second.
The Expanse is the best piece of sci-fi I have read in a long time!
One of the greatest of all time. It deserves every accolade it receives.
