Aside from Project Hail Mary which I assume every /c/sciencefiction subscriber is going to read what have you been reading or plan to read?

Here is last months post. What are you Reading? (August 2023)

  • Nebulizer@lemmy.world
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    2 years ago

    I’m finally getting into both discworld and culture. I’ve read a number of other discworld books before, two of the night watch, mort, I think another I don’t recall right now. Now I’m reading The Colour or Magic. It’s enjoyable but I’m finding I’m going a little slower on it than the others.

    I also have the second culture book, Player of Games, ready to go when I finish the discworld book. I really liked how bonkers Consider Phlebas was (felt like a constant stream of chaos for the crew).

    • Protoknuckles@lemmy.world
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      2 years ago

      The first two Discworld books are VERY different from the rest of the series. There is definitely stuff to enjoy there, but Pratchett had not yet found his voice. I’m in my second read through of the series, and it is interesting to see the concepts mature over time. Granny Weatherwax in Equal Rites is almost a different character than Granny Weatherwax in Maskerade.

      • SinTacks@programming.dev
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        2 years ago

        I’m reading Lords and Ladies now. I couldn’t get into them years ago but after reading the Tiffany aching series I’m much more attached to the witches and really enjoying going through. Especially with the recently rerecorded audiobooks which are so very good.

        • Protoknuckles@lemmy.world
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          2 years ago

          One of my favorites! Yeah, I almost bounced off discworld the first time, but I’m glad I stuck with it. I’ll probably use the audiobooks for my next read through! Either that or physical books. My wife just gave birth, so physical books will let me read them to my son.

      • Nebulizer@lemmy.world
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        2 years ago

        I had heard that colour of magic was hard to start with, which is why I went with guards guards and mort. I just love the characterization of ankh morpork. I’ve been mixing other books in-between so I don’t burn out on Pratchett’s writing style, and it’s been good.

        • IonAddis@lemmy.world
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          2 years ago

          Colour of Magic was pretty bad. Just like writing-wise, he he hadn’t found his feet yet.

          He also hadn’t found the line to tread between satiring people and humanity in general, and taking cheap pot-shots at real people…I was a big fan of Anne McCaffrey when I first read Colour of Magic, so him making fun of Lessa and Dragonflight in the book landed poorly on me.

          Like, looking back, he was a nobody at the time when that book was published and McCaffrey was Someone, and it probably felt like he was punching upwards at Anne McCaffrey who was a pretty big name in science fiction–but as his own fame/status as a writer grew to equal/surpass hers, it just looks like he’s ripping on a fellow author for no good reason. Obviously he did that to Conan too, but the author that created Conan was long dead and not living.

          And I think he figured out satiring living authors in the same field as he was a pretty shitty thing to do, because he eventually stopped doing books that had a chance of ripping real living people down.

    • Curdie@lemmy.world
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      2 years ago

      My first was Jingo. Picked it up at Value Village to read the first few sentences and could not put it down. Now I’ve been through the series several times and will surely start over again soon.

    • Zombiepirate@lemmy.world
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      2 years ago

      I’ve never read any Pratchett, and I just picked up Small Gods on a friend’s recommendation. I’m really enjoying it!

  • Naja Kaouthia@lemmy.world
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    2 years ago

    I just finished re-reading the entire Expanse series and fell back on an old friend, Harry Dresden. Going to put that Weir book on my list though. I really enjoyed The Martian so I’d like to explore more of his work.

    • jballs@sh.itjust.works
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      2 years ago

      Highly recommend listening to the Project Hail Mary audiobook rather than reading it. It adds an extra dimension to the story that you miss out on otherwise.

  • _justforfun_@lemmynsfw.com
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    2 years ago

    Working my way through Return of the Crimson Guard by Ian Esselmont. Going to take a break from Malazan after this and dig into shorter stuff I’ve been meaning to get to.

  • Steeve@lemmy.ca
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    2 years ago

    I started Wool because I was digging the show Silo, but honestly found it pretty flat. The characters and story telling are super dry, and the show does a much better job of it imo, which is rare.

  • swan_pr@lemmy.ca
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    2 years ago

    I listened to And Then She Vanished by Nick Jones and found it entertaining enough to start the second book in the series right after. It’s not really scifi, I mean, time travel could easily be tagged fantasy as well. I don’t know if I’ll finish the series though. It’s missing something that I can’t quite put my finger on. Somewhat shallow and the secondary characters are paper thin. Fine reading to pass the time (or spend 12 hours on a train…) but nothing I’ll be thinking about once I’m done. I’ve been struggling to get through the first few chapters of Perdido Street Station for a while, I may give it another go this weekend.

        • Cobrachicken@lemmy.world
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          2 years ago

          Had the same feeling reading Snow Crash directly after Zodiac. Found that I need to read sth different between his books to be able to switch tracks in his world building.

          Admittedly, Diamond Age is less fast paced than Snow Crash, with more parallel development and longer threads, which makes it difficult to keep track. But I love it.

        • Pulptastic
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          2 years ago

          I have enjoyed all of his works. The Baroque Cycle took me a few tries to get into before I stuck it out; great read but man is it long and dry at times. Anathem was challenging because of the new lexicon he introduced.

          My favorites are snowcrash, seveneves, termination shock, and cryptonomicon in roughly that order.

    • Snowyday@startrek.website
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      2 years ago

      It’s amazing how many things he’s predicted (or noticed and predicted would become mainstream) over the years.

      Bitcoin, metaverse, the importance of cryptography in modern IT, monetized streaming video, …

      • Numberone@startrek.website
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        2 years ago

        Seriously though. They fucking called it, unironically, the metaverse. That’s a coined ass phrase. Distopian from the beginning. Weird choice on Meta’s part haha.

  • zabadoh@lemmy.ml
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    2 years ago

    Slogging through Norman Spinrad’s Bug Jack Barron

    Usually I love Spinrad, but this is just so dated: The idea that a TV talk show host with a massive audience is holding the rich and powerful accountable, as opposed to pandering to them…

  • exscape@kbin.social
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    2 years ago

    I did Project Hail Mary two books back, so I won’t revisit that for a while. I HIGHLY recommend the audiobook though; I honestly can’t see how it could hold up in text form, it feels like it was made to be an audiobook.

    I’m currently on the Bobiverse books (#1) by Dennis E Taylor.

    • swan_pr@lemmy.ca
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      2 years ago

      It’s so good. I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea but I love how the story is told based on observations rather than exposition through dialogues. I don’t always need to relate to characters and their lives, sometime I just want to know about the weird gravity or atmosphere and stuff. For the longest time people said it could not be made into a movie, but Denis Villeneuve stepped up to the plate and I cannot wait to see what he does with it.

  • soben@orcas.enjoying.yachts
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    2 years ago

    I’ve been blasting through Broken Earth series by N. K. Jemisin, already on The Stone Sky. So good and captivating. Also reading ‘The Yiddish Policeman’s Union’ by Michael Chabon

  • Protoknuckles@lemmy.world
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    2 years ago

    I’m reading Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin on recommendation by a colleague, Feet of Clay by Terry Pratchett in my second run through of the Discworld series, and Death Troopers by Joe Schreiber, since I never got around to that one when I was DEEP into Star Wars books.