Currently reading This Book is Full of Spiders, part of the John Dies in the End series. I love the madness of the world. It’s definitely brain candy, but there aren’t many like this.
On the advice of a friend, I just got “Red Mars” by Kim Stanley Robinson.
Have you started it? I’ve read it before and really enjoyed it, but it’s dry as all hell. One of the best hard sci fi novels ever written though, in my opinion.
Most of the science holds up too, except one that I’m aware of – due to new information that wasn’t available at the time he wrote it. Unsolicited nerdiness follows:
Martian soil has since been discovered to contain something called perchlorate salt. Perchlorates are strong oxidizers and are generally considered to be toxic to life on Earth, if digested. There are ways around it though. There’s an enzyme called perchlorate reductase which if digested alongside perchlorates will reduce it to a chlorite; likewise, there’s an enzyme called chlorite dismutase which would reduce the chlorite to something safe. You’d need to take these as supplements (like lactose intolerant people take lactase), or do something like engineer gut bacteria to produce these enzymes. Knowing KSR, if he had know about this prior, he would have spent several chapters on this issue. ;)
Hope you enjoy it. Wish I could read it again for the first time :)
I’m excited.
I’ve been a sci-fi fan since I was a kid and I’m only now getting back into it.
I just finished season 3 of “The Expanse.” Discussing it with my friend is where the recommendation for the Mars Trilogy came up.
In these troubling times, I find turning to futuristic sci-fi comforting for some reason.
Edit: I realize that I never answered your question. I haven’t started it yet - it should be arriving today. Delivery a bit slow since I avoided Amazon to support a smaller book seller. Worth it though.
Started in on The Wind-Up Girl by Bacigalupi, but got distracted by a manhwa so I haven’t gotten far in.
The Wind-Up Girl
It’s been on my backburner for years now - how are you liking it?
I’m still super early, but it’s got a nice vibe to it.
Listening to the second book of a series called “The Book of New Sun” by Gene Wolfe called “The Claw of the Conciliator”
The series is set in an unknown time and centers around an apprentice in the Torturers Guild who commits one of the gravest sins he could – showing mercy to an inmate.
It’s pretty dense and heady and does not hold your hand whatsoever, but it really isn’t so bad to get through, especially with audio. Wolfe is a master. This series stands alongside LoTR for me as greatest scifi/fantasy ever.
One of my favourites and infintely rereadable.
I concur. Fantastic series.
Rereading Spin which is so cool. Love the crazy science shit in it.
Listening to “Minds Eye” by Douglas Richards because audible is being shitty and won’t let me return it. It’s alright I guess but it’s not worth the credit.
Just finished listening to the 7th Dungeon Crawler Carl book. Good shit there. Prolly about to restart that instead of this minds eye nonsense.
Dungeon Crawler Carl
Haven’t delved into it, but as a huge D&D nerd, it seems up my alley and I’ll probably get around to it soon. I did read something that might scratch the same itch though: “Fred, the Vampire Accountant” which I’d highly recommend if you’re looking for dry, snarky, dude just wants to collect a paycheck and not fight evil all day…
Oh that sounds great I’ll check that out! Dungeon Crawler Carl is fantastic but the audio version is the way to go. The narrator Jeff Hayes is unbelievably good at what he does and really brings it to life. I usually prefer non audio but I can’t even read this series without hearing his voices.
Starter Villain sounds similar to what you recommended me check it out if you haven’t. It’s short but fun.
Currently in Tchaikovsky’s “The Final Architecture” – book three of three. Really enjoyed the first one, the second one felt like moving a lot of set pieces around (still fun) to set up for the third. Third one has a lot of “chosen one” melodrama, but has interesting developments so far.
I kind of like this pulpier short series once in a while. You get a new universe to disentangle without it being necessarily too much of a barrier of entry.
