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)
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).
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.
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.
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.
Congrats! Doing character voices when reading to my kids is still a cherished memory for me
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.
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.
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.
I’ve never read any Pratchett, and I just picked up Small Gods on a friend’s recommendation. I’m really enjoying it!
It’s one of my favourites and is the one I’ve reread the most.
I haven’t read that one yet. I’ll have to check it out soon!
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.
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.
If you like Dresden I would recommend the Alex Verus series by Benedict Jacka.
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.
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.
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.
Snowcrash: pleasantly surprised by the quality of the world building, which I love.
Diamond Age next!
Hugely disappointed by The Diamond Age after Snow Crash. It really lost the plot.
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.
Good idea! Thanks for the recommendation.
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.
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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, …
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.
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…
Brin’s Uplift War series.
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.
I almost wish I’d never read bobiverse so I could experience it again for the first time.
I was so curious about how that book could work NOT as an audiobook so I snagged a copy from my library to check it out. SPOILERS: >!Rocky’s speech is depicted as musical notes. Not nearly as impactful as the audiobook.!<
Is Rocky’s speech in the audiobook literally music?
Yes! The more complex the speech, the more complex the music. It’s really cool.
Maybe I’ll listen, then. I read the book two years ago, I think I’m ready to experience it again. Thank you!
Been reading Rendezvous With Rama, incredible so far!
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.
I’m pretty far behind the ball, but I’m finally reading revalation space and it rocks!
Currently reading The Last Colony by John Scalzi.
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
I just read neuromancer again. As you can tell from my handle, I love the book
Just bought this book, it’s next on my list.
It is a product of its time, so keep that in context.
The audio book is hysterical. The voices just crack me up.
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.