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
How far in are you?
Just moved on to Kath Two. After all the fun with Izzy and The Cannibals ;-)
Izzy and the what?! 👀😵
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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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!
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.
I’m on the fifth book in the series - they’re wonderful!
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.
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.
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.
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.
Terry Pratchett’s books on Discworld 📖
I’m reading Pyramids right now. Where are you at in the series?
Equal Rites 😅
Ah, I liked that one. Granny is a great character, I think.
Did you start the series from the beginning, chronologically?Yes, I went with chronological/ year of publication order. I Don’t know if it’s the best tho 😅
I started with Guards! Guards! and then continued from the beginning after that (more or less… I accidentally read Wyrd Sisters instead of Equal Rites, so a little bit out of order)
No matter the order… this is Discworld! 💿🗺️
It’s the best in my opinion since events in one book have consequences in other books even if they’re not of the same sub series (Witches/Night Watch/Wizards/etc).
I’m yet to explore that 😅
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.
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 am currently reading “Wool - Silo, book 1” by Hugh Howey. It’s an incredible post-apocalyptic story about a fully functioning society that resides inside a massive silo. Nobody can venture outside due to the toxic environment outside that make survival impossible, even with protective clothing.
I am reading the same book haha… I think maybe I will finish it this evening.
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.
For We Are Many Bobiverse book 2
Man the bobiverse is amazing! I’m anxious for the next one to come out
I’m really enjoying the second one and I’ve already bought the third and fourth. I’m listening to them on Audible and only have 3 hours left on this one.
I’m loving all of the different stories going on and the different names the Bobs keep choosing, and how each one is different.
When is it coming out!? I feel like I’ve been waiting forever
I’m anxious for the next one to come out
Me too, I otter read the last one again while I wait!
Working on The Name of the Wind and then next up is Death’s End.
I’m so so sorry. Name of the Wind is brilliant. The sequel is decent. But I’ve given up hope for the series to ever be completed.
Whatcha sorry about? Does the book end on a cliffhanger or something? Or can I get away with just reading the first one?
Well, I adored Name of the Wind. It’s a great read. But like I said, I’ve given up hope for that series. I don’t believe that the author will ever finish it. I really hate unfinished stories, especially one like this that feels only half-written (yes, half, with 2 out of 3 books written!). So I’m sorry for your sake, that you’ve gotten sucked into an unfinished tale.
Ah, that’s a bummer. I’m definitely enjoying it this far but I’m invested in enough other series/stories that I’ll probably feel ok putting this one on the shelf. Similar to GoT, I enjoyed what I read (all that’s been released in the main series) and have since moved on. If another book does come out, awesome! If not, oh well.
