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!
Amazing book! Loved it +1
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.
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 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.
And they are magnificent.
So is the TV series ; -)
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.
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!
I’ve been working through The Expanse books, and have just started Leviathan Falls.
How do you like the expanse? I’ve heard they are awesome!
I’m about halfway through Persepolis Rising. That prologue was one hell of a jolt!
Wool was great. And the show was good too. You can basically watch the first season after finishing Wool, if you’d like.
I’m reading He Who Fights With Monsters but I’m going to dig through this thread and find a good scifi novel to read next!
I just started HWFWM and it’s my first LitRPG. Very different from what I’m used to reading but I really like so far. Going to try and finish it before I start Brandon Sanderson secret novel #3
It was my first LitRPG too. I wasn’t sure I’d like it but I do. I’m on the 3rd book, actually.
I haven’t read anything by Sanderson yet but I follow him on social media and I really like him.
A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine.
I really loved the first book in the series, A Memory Called Empire, but I find the second one harder to get through. The writing really gets into the protagonist’s head, and with all the stress she’s in, it gets… claustrophobic, I guess, for me. I wish there was a bit more focus on the plot about the cool mysterious aliens.
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.
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I just finished up a first time read of Wheel of Time series. Solid 8 months of reading but 100% worth it. Mat Cauthon is my second favorite character ever written I think.
Who is your first favourite character ever written?
Teft from the Stormlight Archive.
I could never keep the “chosen” straight. Some die, then get reincarnated, but as someone else that you kinda new. Maybe If O had crushed the series im 8 months instead of book by book as they were released if would have been easier to follow.
And yes, Mat is GREAT, which made Perrin super unlikable for me, just due to the unintentional comparison.
Honestly, same with Perrin for me. By the end of the series I wanted to skip Perrin chapters. He’s just so…Perrin.
As for the Chosen I couldn’t keep them straight at all. I had to look them up on the WoT wiki and try to keep from spoilering myself.
Reading Noor right now. Very enjoyable and it will be quick read.
Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson. Book 3 in the Words of Radiance series.
I’ve read the first and second one. I need to go back to them but they are so big…
Has anyone told about our lord and savior, the audiobook? listening while driving, doing housework, ect can free up crazy time. And if you dont want your first read to be audio, use it for rereads!
I read faster than I listen/talk so have trouble with spoken books. The eyes are faster than the ears. Hate video explanations of things for the same reason, usually end up reading transcripts.
Spoken conversations with real people move at the right pace for me, entertainment TV shows too, and some radio theatre stuff is good but books, have not been able to enjoy them like that, it feels plodding. To be fair I have no driving commute though. One of my coworkers listens to audiobooks only while driving and says that’s the way to do it.
Yeah, I “read” the first book of ASOIAF like that. It can be hard to concentrate sometimes though.
honestly the recording of asoiaf left a Lot to be desired. unless they have released a newer version with a different speaker.
I had the one with Roy Dotrice? I liked it.
I also liked Roy, but my wife hated him.
Currently on The Hydrogen Sonata of a The Culture marathon.
I am reading currently Snow Crash. A great example how pioneers of a genre seem to lose their originality over time, but the book hasn’t changed, everyone else has just copied it to death.
Previously I read some if the Culture series and got surprised by the genuine atrocities popping up in them. The books were interesting and the horrible things had a reason to be there, but I just became overwhelmed.
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).
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!
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’m currently nostalgia-reading Robert Rankin’s Dance Of The Voodoo Handbag but that’s more far fetched fiction than sci-fi. Silly, entertaining and lots of tall tales. I’m also reading The Quantum Magician by Derek Künsken. I was hoping for it to be the start of a good series of books to read over the summer but it’s not very good. I will probably not bother with the rest of the series.
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.
