And what’s on your to read shelf?
Since Reddit went, I actually have returned to books for my reading material, which had been replaced basically by massive ask reddit threads. As a result I’m trying to read some things I shouldve a long time ago.
Just finished the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and I’m on to the second book in the series. It was as good as its legacy lead me to believe!
One more hoopy frood who knows where their towel is!
Its amazing how fast the five book trilogy goes by once you’re in it. Its almost time for me to re-read the series again. Glad you’re started on your strange, comedic journey through the galaxy!
A classic, been meaning to get back to it myself!
Also, promotion for [email protected] and https://literature.cafe/ !
❤️
The Three Body Problem saga, I just finished the first book. I’m enjoying this as much as I enjoyed DUNE
Good stuff! Im reading the third book now. The saga is outstanding sci-fi and I very much recommend it. It is close to being as good as Foundation - however it is still far from being as great as Dune imo.
You have to like metaphors and allegories, as the book is filled with them. I’m halfway in, but so far, I like it.
The author is just brilliant at pacing a novel.
I finished Three Body not too long ago. A lot of people didn’t like the fan-written 4th one as much. But if you like Dune, I think you might enjoy it. Cause shit gets weird.
I don’t consider myself a bookworm, but I recently read:
- Japan Sinks by Sakyo Komatsu
- All You Need Is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka (the novel, not the manga)
- Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke
- The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein
And now I’m reading The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin.
Yes, I like Science Fiction XDDD
Edit: realizing that I had nothing lined up to read after “The Three-Body…”, I just got:
- War With the Newts by Karel Čapek (thanks to a suggestion in the comments)
- The Stars, My Destination, by Alfred Bester
- The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula K. Le Guin
- Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson
- Gateway, by Frederik Pohl
- Slaughterhouse Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
- Childhood’s End, by Arthur C. Clarke (want to reread it in English, as I read it many years ago in Spanish)
- Stranger in a Strange Land, by Robert A. Heinlein
I think I’m now covered for the rest of the summer, lol!
I recently read Rama for the first time and it honestly just seemed…dumb. a nice piece of imagination but the relationships and motivations just didn’t seem real. Lime why smuggle a skybike on board when it’s expensive and fragile and there was no expectation of being able to ride it? It was a little Deus ex machina for my tastes.
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Yes, not the best Clarke novel. The general idea is nice, and the author’s prose is good, but you’re left with the impression that something is missing. The plot falls on the bland side, in my opinion. I avoided the sequels, as the comments on them were pretty negative.
I liked ‘Rama’ and ‘The Moon.’ It’s a little funny rereading ‘Moon…’ because so much of the tech is dated. Also, it was apprently written in a time before prison gangs became as powerful as they are now.
Thoughts?
Some of Heinlein’s ideas are interesting, but most are simply outdated. I don’t identify at all with his anarcho-capitalist ideas (to me, it reads as “I don’t want to pay taxes”, and extremely individualistic views of society), but I like how he explores the situation of the lack of women, what AI could be, and the gravitational advantage the moon has. His prose is good, so it invites to keep reading. An interesting author, indeed.
My favorite Heinlein government is from ‘Double Star.’ Instead of voting based on where you live, you can choose how you identify. You can be a ‘Green,’ or a ‘Gamer’ or a ‘Gun Owner’ or ‘College Educated Single Female,’ or whatever. He doesn’t give a lot of exact details but it’s a fun idea to play around with.
Also, if you like fantasy, try ‘Glory Road.’ He takes all the usual tropes and kicks them to the curb.
Wheel of time! Currently on book seven now
I loved Wheel of Time! Plus it introduced me to my now favorite author, Brandon Sanderson.
Same for me on this and the original comment!
God I wish I could read that for the first time again.
I’m about halfway through the first book. First time through the series. Better late than never, I suppose.
I only do about one or two books a month, but right now I’m hooked on Seveneves by Neal Stephenson
Huge Stephenson fan.
I want ‘Reamde’ as a Netflix series.
Just finished Reamde recently. Anyone know if the sequel, Fall, is worth reading?
It’s not a sequel; it’s a stand alone using one character. It reads like two novels jammed together. One is about a massive ‘fake news’ story that lives on decades after it’s debunked, and the other is about a computer simulation/afterlife. Not his best, imho.
Seveneves is good, Anathem is my favourite by him.
Seveneves
Sounds exciting! Thx.
A catastrophic event renders the earth a ticking time bomb. In a feverish race against the inevitable, nations around the globe band together to devise an ambitious plan to ensure the survival of humanity far beyond our atmosphere, in outer space.
I didn’t give a description of the plot because I couldn’t come up with something that really conveyed what the book was like. The one you gave is decent, but it doesn’t convey just how much of it is about the people. It’s hard scifi, no nonsense, but the heart and soul of it is its characters.
I only like sci-fi that isn’t toooo sci-fi-y so this sounds right up my street
Currently on chapter 85 of Pierce Brown’s Light Bringer, the latest installment of the Red Rising series! Granted, I’m listening to the audiobook, but audiobooks are still books. And man, like the rest of the series, I can’t put this shit down!
After this? Not sure yet. Still waiting on Sanderson’s next book in his Stormlight Archive series. Maybe I’ll re-listen to The Wheel of Time again while the final books of these two series wrap up.
Had to look this up because I thought the Lightbringer was Brent Weeks. Totally different series. I’ll check it out.
I just finished a listen of The Wheel of Time myself. I listened to it while falling asleep. Took about 2 years to get through it that way. I already know the story, and parts of it were fairly easy to fall asleep to makes it a perfect way to deal with insomnia.
Also waiting for the next Sanderson book. Just finished The Lost Metal! So many cosmere tie-ins!
I’m listening to Fool’s Errand by Robin Hobb to fall asleep to now as I’ve read the series before, and reading Ghost Brigade which is book 2 of Old Man’s War.
@Albbi @IronRain found out about Wheel of Time from Tumblr of all places. Started the audiobook series as something to accompany me on long drives or workouts but they keep being checked out at my library app lol. Was interesting to me that you could tell it was written a few decades ago - some of the writing seems a bit dated even though altogether it’s a very well-structured series.
Also absolutely loved Red Rising, didn’t realize there was a new addition!
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I finished The Expanse awhile back and that was also fantastic!
A bit of personal advice for TWOT - the first time reading can be considered slow by some, but the opening acts are some of my favorites of all fantasy novels that I’ve read. There’s a certain charm that’s reminiscent of Tolkien, and has a certain depiction that’s speaks to me. But maybe it requires a second reading to really appreciate it.
Either way, happy reading!
Nothing wrong with audiobooks! It’s my preferred way to consume my books. Also if I didn’t listen to audiobooks, then I would never have experienced TGR’s glorious performance in the Red Rising series. I don’t think audiobooks are better for every book, but in the case of Red Rising, I would argue it’s mandatory.
I just finished Lightbringer myself and I absolutely loved it. I’m equally devastated knowing how long it’ll be before we get the next one!
Absolutely agreed about TGR’s amazing talent! He colored - no pun intended - the Red Rising books in such an immersive way, that I can’t imagine the characters and atmosphere as anything other than what his vocal descriptions provided.
And I’m not 100% certain, but I think he mentioned on one of the Red Rising podcasts that the last book should come within a few months of this one, because they were meant to be one final book, but the length didn’t allow his original plans. I certainly hope that’s true!
Just finished a book from the 1930s by a Czech author Karel Čapek called War with the Newts.
It’s sci-fi based on earth in 1930s but what I found the most interesting is
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seeing an author from 1930s write and think on paper (casual racism and sexism, for example),
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the echoes of the looming WWII
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the retro futurism - I love seeing what people from the past imagined would happen with technology. They are often right, often cutely wrong.
Oh! Never read anything from Čapek. Thanks for bringing him to my attention!
TIL: His brother invented the word “robot”, which Karel Čapek used in the book R.U.R.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karel_%C4%8Capek#Etymology_of_robot
John Brunner’s ‘Stand On Zanzibar’ won the Hugo in 969 for its depiction of the early 21st Century. Amazing how much he got right.
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House of Leaves is a fuckin trip
I’m reading it right now and yeah, it does some shit with format I’ve never seen before.
I would have liked it to do less shit with format, to be honest. I don’t want to turn a book in circles so I can follow the text.
That’s the fun part!
Hey pretty, don’t you wanna take a ride with me 🎶
In my caAr 🎶
I checked that out from a library once on a recommendation and ended up returning it in less than a week. Shit was waaaaaaaaaay too confusing for me lmao
Going through the Red Rising series, which some of my friends praise immensely. Lightbringer just came out, though I’m only just finished Morning Star, book 3/6 in the series. Going to be starting Iron Gold soon. But until them, I’m reading 1984, which I just acquired a nice hardcover copy of.
Children of Time - Adrian Tchaikovsky
one of the greatest new books I’ve read. fantastic.
Keep meaning to read this but wasn’t a fan of his symphonies
I freaking loved this book. The epic time scales were just sooo good. The sequel is solid too!
Pretty basic but I just started reading Dune. It’s been a daunting series for me with how long it is but better late than never.
Enjoy the ride! I still reread the first 5 every few years. They just get richer with time, especially the last couple. They seemed bizarre the first time I binged them but they make sooooo much more sense on rereads.
They are SO bizarre so far. I noticed the appendix seems to give a bunch of extra information on the various factions/organizations in the universe. My question, do you think it’s worth doing more research on the universe beforehand or go blind for my first read?
Just go blind and enjoy the characters. The politics can wait for later reads. I treat the Witcher novels the same way.
Fair enough. I have been so far so I will continue to do just that. Thanks!
Currently reading Red Rising. Awesome book, when I start reading it’s very hard to stop.
This maybe my next read 🙂
Other than the infrequent bits where he discusses home life and social events (which I tend to skim), it’s a pretty engaging read. It’s also kind of shocking how little he could get anyone from the alphabet agencies to care. I’m approaching the end and it’s getting exciting in that nerdy way that a good hacker story does. Hope you enjoy it.
I picked up American Prometheus after watching Oppenheimer. It’s very interesting and gives a really good idea of who he was throughout his life, and how he changed over time. One of the things that isn’t depicted much in the movie was how much of his political views changed over the years. While he never officially joined the communist party, he was certainly communist-adjacent before the war, but during the war and after, his priorities seemed to shift to being pro-American first and foremost, and often took the establishment position on things. Of course it’s more complicated than that, but I’ve found it very interesting how someone’s life experiences can change them.
On my to read are some historical accounts of WWII, i’ve suddenly become interested in learing everything I can about this period of history that I only know the basics of.
