For me in SciFi I’ve been trying to hit some classics so I’ve read ‘The Iron Dream’ by Norman Spinrad, ‘A Time of Changes’ by Robert Silverberg and also the (recent release) ‘Out of the Ruins’ anthology.
Of those three I enjoyed ‘The Iron Dream’ the most since I didn’t enjoy Silverberg’s potraryal of women (and it doesn’t seem to have literary intent like in ‘The Iron Dream’.) 'Out of the Ruins had some bangers but it was a fairly inconsistent collection for me that mostly hasn’t been memorable.
So, what are you currently reading or have recently read?
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I’ve been reading The Blighted Stars, which I’m quite enjoying. Nothing too serious but a fun read.
Had recently finished Permutation City by Greg Egan, which was excellent. Picked up a book that I had in my to-read pile for a while, expecting it to be a silly adventure story for a lightweight break. It was pitched to me as “cavemen vs dinosaurs.” West of Eden by Harry Herrison is… Not that. But I’m definitely enjoying the unexpected dive into genetic engineering worldbuilding, cross species linguistics, and genuinely interesting politics!
I just started book 9 of Malazan – so have been taking a detour from proper sci fi for a while. Epic series.
I started reading Children of Time out loud to my GF. Because she hates spiders, and I told her she’d love Portia :)
Ooh I have the first Malazan ebook but I’ve been too intimidated since I’ve heard it requires concentration.
So curious to hear what that book is like from the pov of an arachnophobe!
I just started The Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons. I got the consolidated ebook, so I’m only 9% of the way in which is a little daunting (just finished the Poets tale in the first book.)
Liking it so far, not really like anything I have ever read (no, I never actually read Canterbury Tales) but in some ways it reminds me of the Kingkiller Chronicles with the story within a story.
Oh man that first book is honestly one of the most haunting things I’ve ever read. It just…stays with you. You’ll never be able to fully get it out of your mind. I can’t even really articulate why.
Current on Vortex (Book 2 in the Spin saga) and enjoying it. I don’t find these books “can’t put them down” reads, but every time I pick it up, I’m glad I did.
Not currently reading any sci-fi but I read “Station Eleven” by Emily St. John Mandel recently and I thought it was amazing. It’s pretty light on sci-fi concepts really, but it’s an interesting take on the apocalypse.
I recently finally got around to reading Anathem and was blown away, so much detail, so much going on. And from someone who reads alot of philosophy, that aspect felt like it was handled naturally in the book and not infodumped.
Recently finished Children of Memory by Adrian Tchaikovsky, which is the third in his series that started with Children of Time.
Children of Time immediately became my second favourite scifi book of all time, and possibly my favourite ever book ending, but I didn’t find the second installment really held up that well. Happy to report that Children of Memory, while not quite hitting those heady heights, was pretty good! A little repetitive in parts, but some very cool concepts.
Children of Memory has started a never-ending debate between me and a coworker about weather we’re sentient, or just really good at repeating noticed patters. Very interesting thing to think about
I’ve been reading The Expanse series. I was meaning to get too it for a while but stumbled across the first book in a bookshop, so I grabbed it. Yeah, really good had to read the entire series so I’m making my way through it. I’m currently on book 4, so I haven’t quite overtaken where I left the Amazon series.
I lovveeed The Expanse and read through the whole things last year. I also ended up dropping the TV show after catching up in the books. The show is good but the books are fantastic.
Currently on the 3rd book of The Three-Body Problem and holy shit, good stuff. Each book gets better and better.
For a good way gender (or lack thereof) and such is portrayed in a sci-fi/space soap, I’m a huge fan of Becky Chamber’s Wayfarers series. I need and want more!
I got through the first book in Three Body, but while I liked some of the philosophical and crazy-tech explorations, I really struggled with the writing/translation style. It was so stilted and awkward to read that it put me off trying to read the following volumes.
