For the past, idk, one or two decades I have only read books very sparingly and if I did, it was fantasy. Right now I am devouring The Expanse books and having a great time. I watched the tv series first (awesome) but was somewhat bummed by the ending.
In retrospect would you say read the books first or no?
Love those books. Extremely easy to read and reread and set the standard for modern hard sci fi.
Yes! Got any recommendations for when I am finished with them?
Iain M Banks’ Culture novels. Eon by Greg Bear.
A few scifi books i enjoyed: Quantum magician series Pushing ice Project hail Mary Revelation space series
I quite enjoyed Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Children of Time series, which is also (relatively) hard-ish sci-fi and has a creative and interesting exploration of non-human intelligences. I enjoyed the first two books but was meh on the third. Certainly would still recommend them but they don’t scratch quite the same itch the Expanse does.
Another series I devoured and then re-read a year later was the Murderbot Diaries. It’s dystopian but also kind of hopeful, it’s a story about realizing one’s personhood and self determination and making a life for yourself, with a very dry sense of humor. It’s a great audio book read, (the Kevin Free version) and was recently turned into a series on Apple TV.
Thats the second time I have heard about Murderbot, so that is going on the list haha Thank you!
Blindsight by Peter Watts is also on that list. Don’t know anything about it, other than it being hard sci-fi tho.
Murderbot is great, I’ll second that rec. I also really enjoyed the Revelation Space series.
Revelation Space series (specifically the “future” part: Revelation Space, Chasm City, Redemption Ark, Absolution Gap) might not have the best writing, but the wild (and sometimes insane) ideas and scale of everything is great.
Gilgamesh the King, by Robert Silverberg
Silverberg is one of the greats.
How to read a book, by Mortimer Adler
“How to read a book.” Pg. 1
“Turn back to page 1” Pg. 2
Rereading Le Guin’s Earthsea saga.
Personally, I think she might be on par with Tolkien and actually surpasses him in a few ways. The 4th book (about a tired mom just trying to get by and care for people in a fantasy world) is the best one, but you need to work your way there.
I liked the first book a lot, and recall liking the series less as it went on.
My experience was that the first book was fine, say 6,5/10. Just enough to move on to the the second, which I absolutely loved 9,5/10. Started reading the third with high expectations but it just didn’t engage me at all. Didn’t get through more than perhaps 25% of it.
I read the first one as a teen and loved it but couldn’t get into the second one. I loved it as an adult and I’m currently 80% of the way through the complete series. It’s got ebbs and flows but overall it’s definitely a masterpiece. For me it’s her mysticism that gives it real depth.
I read them as an adult. What I loved about the second book was the very original setting and perspective that was still completely captivating and felt believable. I don’t think I have ever read anything that is quite comparable. Anyway, maybe I should give the third one another go, I’m on vacation now so maybe a little bit more relaxed and patient!
These are on my to do list. Currently been reading through Wheel of Time, which has been on my fantasy to do list for a while.
Im reading The Bridge on the Drina, and the first Ahriman omnibus from the warhammer universe right now. Id recommend the first to anyone, its an absolute classic. The second I would recommend to anyone who likes warhammer or weird sorcerer bull shit.
Nearing the end of When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi, which came out a few months ago. It’s a bit silly but I’d recommend it. The premise can be summed up as, “What would happen if the moon turned into cheese?”
I’ll have to check that one out when I finish the Old Man’s War series.
I guess…uh…that it’d be less dense, so that’d dick up tides on Earth.
https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/moonfact.html
Mean density (kg/m³): 3344
https://eurekamag.com/research/001/061/001061121.php
At 8 deg C, mean densities of blockformed and conventionally-hooped cheeses were, resp., 1.094 and 1.091 g/ml.
So that’s 1094 kg/m³.
Basically, Earth’s tides would be about a third as strong, which I imagine would affect a bunch of things, especially coastal ecology. Dunno how much tides affect weather.
Also, probably alters the reflectivity of the Moon, so would affect the brightness of the Moon. Might affect a lot of nocturnal critters and such. Hard to estimate, since that depends a lot on what cheese is involved.
In the book, it kept the same mass and got a lot bigger. And of course much brighter.
Ah, gotcha. What type of cheese did it turn into, out of curiosity?
I think that might be too much of a spoiler 😄
Re-reading Shirley Jackson’s “The Haunting of Hill House” because its the best haunted house novel ever written.
I just put this one into my reader, after several quotes from Stephen king reminded me i have it pending…
Got this one on my list.
Master of the Five Magics by Lyndon Hardy.
Because i wanted to know what Megadeth and Rothfuss based their stuff on.
Just finished The Cutting Room by Louise Welsh. It was 3/5 for me. Pretty dark, explicit. The pitch was interesting to me but I didn’t feel it delivered too well.
I’m currently reading The Thursday Murder Club and it’s a delight at far, 37% in. No final judgement yet based on that.
No Flinching by Stephen King. It’s a good book, but you really have to go back and start with the Mr. Mercedes series.
If you like fantasy and haven’t read any Brandon Sanderson then do yourself a favour and get on it!
My personally favourites are the Mistborn books but it isn’t exactly an easy choice because literally everything he writes is great in my experience.
I just finished Tress of the Emerald Sea which is a shorter standalone book but still great!
Almost done stormlight archives. Have you done that? I have the first mistborn book but haven’t started it yet. Looking forward to it though.
I’m also all in on the Cosmere books, I’m halfway through the Stormlight Archive and it’s amazing!
I’ve got “Alcatraz vs the Evil Librarians” to read next but I’m not sure if that is a cosmere based novel or not. Either way I’m sure it’ll be good though!
From what I know, it’s not Cosmere based. It’s also targeted to a younger audience, so the writing might feel different.
I completed the Wheel of Time last year and liked the Sanderson style of the latter books and am now on book 3 of Stormlight Archive and love it so far. It took me a good half the first book to “get it” or “get into it” rather, but now I see the vision and am enjoying it all. Planning on the other Cosmere series and books after.
Sanderson is definitely one of the better sci-fi/fantasy writers I’ve read.
Wheel of Time is on my to do list, I’ve heard a lot about it both being great and hard to get into to begin with and so I keep putting it off. I will get around to it at some point.
Enjoy your journey into Sanderson, I’m a little jealous I can’t go on those journeys again for the first time!
If it helps, read the first one and if you don’t like it, you don’t have to finish it or the series. It stands alone decently well. I know that’s obvious, but I often don’t do things because I feel like starting something mean I have to finish it. Books, games, movies, etc
Haha I appreciate the advice and I used to be the same feeling I had to finish things I started but as I have got older I do drop games and books etc if I am really not enjoying them and it has made things a lot more enjoyable.
It is more because I am currently into the Deathlands series of books. It is currently 155 books long and I’m at 89, whilst I do have a break from it here and there to listen to other books I don’t want to start another series of books just now :D
89 of 155, holy shit my dude.
Yeah, forget what I said, you are committed now. Sorry, but you gotta finish it. LMAO
Last book of the stormlight archives by Branden Sanderson.
Really good, but for some reason I’m having a hard time finishing the last one 😅.
Everything All at Once by Bill Nye. It’s a great guide on how to make a positive change in the world from a scientific perspective.
Though it was written in 2017, I’d say it is more relevant now than ever.
I’m busy working my way through Steven Erikson’s Malazan Book of the Fallen series.
It’s a very dense set of books with a ton of lore, but I’m enjoying it a lot (I’m at the sixth one so far).The only downside is that I read them on an e-reader and can’t quickly look at all the detailed maps and glossaries whenever I want.
Currently reading: James Acaster’s Classic Scrapes. A funny collection of stories from his childhood, an enjoyable read. I’d recommend it if you’re looking for something light and funny.
Before this, I gave up on the book All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai, after about a hundred pages. I just couldn’t get into it, the story kept halting in favor of flashbacks and setting the MC’s backstory. I hate stories not starting soon enough with the actual story. Unnecessary to say, but I would not recommend this :)
