Sci-Fi Group Book Club discussion
What sci-fi book have you just read?
I picked up Atwood's MadAddam trilogy on audio. Absolutely loved the chilling, and plausible future dystopia of Oryx and Crake. Looking forward to The Year of the Flood, which I've been told is even better. So glad I started this, I nearly passed it over.
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Oryx and Crake has been on my TBR shelf for a while - I keep hearing good things about it. Although I'm half-Canadian I have yet to read a book by Atwood so, whenever it happens, this will probably be my first Atwood read.
I recently finished Planet for Rent by Yoss. He is a popular Cuban author and this translation kicked off a series of Cuban sf titles by the relatively new publisher, Restless Books. PFR is an excellent piece of satirical sf.
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Looks like an interesting read by somebody relatively new to anglophone readers. I added it to my TBR shelf!
It does sound interesting. I'm always excited to find a new international author.
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I read Claire Vaye Watkins Gold Fame Citrus. She has a lot of literary cred from a previous story collection. This post apocalyptic novel is OK, but I was a bit disappointed.
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Looks interesting so I've added it to my TBR shelf although I note that you were disappointed by it. Is that because it's not strongly science fictional?
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I read Collective MindI'm impressed! It's my first sci-fi, may be because of that)
I like the author's idea that we will overcome carcinoma in the nearest future and how can we do that. That's why it can be the book of the month also.
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I'm impressed! It's my first sci-fi, may be because of that)
I like the author's idea that we will overcome carcinoma in the nearest future and how can we do ..."
Living in a post-cancer world would be wonderful!
I finished The Magicians which is really urban fantasy but with tinctures of horror and steampunk!
I hope we will soon live without this global problem )
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So do I! In time, I think we will.
Greg wrote: "Anna wrote: "I hope we will soon live without this global problem )"So do I! In time, I think we will."
I've heard that vaccines are already testing.
Though I have numerous SF books to read,I took time off just to read the delightful Mary Norton series about the Borrowers the 6 inch high little people who live in the walls and under the floors of old houses,scavenging for a living from the humans in the house. Classic kids stuff,but with enough subtexts to keep the attention of adults too. Good stuffI did recently complete two Samuel R Delany novellas,Empire Star and The Ballad of Beta 2
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Haven't tried reading anything by Delany yet, although I've heard good things about his writing.
As a blogger, I read more books than I ever write about. The Daedalus Incident (blog review here or here on the GR book page is one I'm glad I finally read. This is a steampunk space opera -- you read that right -- first of three set in two parallel time streams (I'm wingin' the vocabulary here). Author Martinez was pleased enough with my yodel of pleasure about his book to put down his conch fritter and beer to tweet me about it. I hate him.
There are not many writers with perfect pitch & spot-on timing while keeping readers interested in a complex political/scientific speed lap of a story. Night Shade Books took a chance on this debut novel. Paid off in spades for them, the author, but most of all the readers. I love living in this Golden Age of SFF publishing, TV making, and even the occasional good movie.
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Welcome, Cansu! I haven't read a lot of Asimov either, except for some of his short fiction and non-fiction (notably The Early Asimov, Vol 1 and The Sun Shines Bright). I need to rectify that! The Gods Themselves sounds like a good read though.
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This is a steampunk sp..."
Good review, Richard! The Daedalus Incident looks like a fun read so I've added it to my TBR shelf.
Greg wrote: "Good review, Richard! The Daedalus Incident looks like a fun read so I've added it to my TBR shelf."I can't wait to dive into #2 The Enceladus Crisis! Enjoy the books when they climb Mt. TBR.
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I can't wait to dive into #2 The Enceladus Crisis! Enjoy the books..."
LOL And it is quite a mountain!
Greg wrote: "LOL And it is quite a mountain!"Happy to be Tenzing to your Edmund.
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Happy to be Tenzing to your Edmund."
LOL Nice analogy!
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Just finished C J Cherryh's Tracker. Good to be up in the space station once more after no less than 10 books focused in internal politics,and conspiracies on the ground. Fans have been waiting since book #6 for a continuation of the meeting up with a new alien race.No less than 10 books with nary a word on the Kyo!Oh well,better late than never. Apparently,after 17 books with ''or'' or ''er'' titles(eg Visitor, Invader,Conspirator etc) Cherryh now intends some titles ending in ''ence'',e,g Convergence.
I was delighted to see that she has finally been made a Grand Master of science fiction.Well deserved.
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Based on the story I read, that collection might be good reading!
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Sounds strange for a science fiction series to introduce a new alien race and then to avoid any mention of it again for several novels!
I have just today completed Cherryh's Kesrith ,a bit darker and more complicated than some of her work. Only her third novel,so a Hugo and a Nebula nomination isnt to be sniffed at.It has all the trademarks we admire her for,such as fascinating aliens ,two species this time no less,complex but credible characterization,fine descriptions of the harsh world of Kesrith,and of course that immersive third person voice of the characters which drags us to the heart of each protagonist,so we feel we know them in depth.Dark,dense,downbeat but riveting entertainment.
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I've had a copy of Merchanter's Luck for a number of years but learning that it's the second book in The Company Wars series I held off reading it until I got the first book. However, somebody told me that it can be read as a stand alone novel so, Classic, would you recommend reading it as such?
And while it's not science fiction, I read some manga - Bleach, Vol. 3: Memories in the Rain - last weekend. I'm now humming and hawing over what to read next at the moment.
Greg wrote: "Classic SF Fan wrote: "I have just today completed Cherryh's Kesrith ,a bit darker and more complicated than some of her work. Only her third novel,so a Hugo and a Nebula nomination isnt to be snif..."Yes,each book can be read as a standalone.Cherryh has an immersive style,you are in the mind of a protagonist,and see only what he/she sees. It is only by reading all the books that you get a remarkable overview of a time period. Every book shows a different environment,a different side,a different culture. Cherryh drops you in,and part of the pleasure is in the challenge of making sense of the situation. Usually the protagonist is struggling to fit in with new people,new situations,so we learn along with them about the world around them. Not the easiest of writers is our Carolyn,but to her devoted fans there is great joy in sinking into her worlds. Good stuff.
Have finished Cherryh's Shon'jir the second in her Faded Sun trilogy. Not a lot happens actionwise,but we learn a great deal about the mysterious history of th Mri. Much of the book is seen through the eyes of the human Duncan,rather than having a big share of the book from the point of view of the two alien races,and the book suffers a little from middle book of a trilogy syndrome,but its was a good read,and the revelation about the milennias long history of the Mri was fascinating. I have gone straight on to the final book, Kutath where the last two remaining Mri return to the original world that they left so long ago,followed by humans and the other alien race,who fear the Mri and want to exterminate them if they seem a threat to their interests
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Sounds good then. I'll be making a point of reading Merchanter's Luck in the near future!
Completed C J Cherryh's Kutath and Joan D Vinge's Snow Queen.A bit disappointed in that one. Excellent world building and setting,but not too keen on the characters and found the premise of the book just barely credible. The style was a bit too detailed for me,I felt it often slowed the pace down too much. Too romancey at times,and I disliked the male protagonist ,so that wasnt enjoyable either.This won the Hugo and Locus awards,and was nominated for the Nebula,but I just didnt feel that it was deserving of them.Probably it was fresh at the time,and so many such works have come out since the originality has worn off. Common thing with award winning books,they are so much of their time,and when the zeitgeist changes ,people wonder what past readers saw in them! lol
hello... new member here.Just finished reading Unhappenings, by Edward Aubry. My brother texted me when he was only half through, to tell me how good it was... and now that I've read it, I can understand why. This is time travel... but not your usual time travel. It's very well done.
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UnHappenings is surprisingly very cool. I say surprisingly because it quite surpassed my expectations.I am reading (and reviewing) the second in a series by Simon Green, of the Nightside series. The series protagonist is known as Ishmael Jones; he works for a covert organization combating "weird menaces" (akin to Charles Stross' wonderful Laundry Service); and in science fiction terms, Ishmael is "not from around here." First in the series is The Dark Side of the Road, which I've read and reviewed, and now I'm readingDead Man Walking: A Country House Murder Mystery with a Supernatural Twist. I can't recommend them highly enough. Like the Laundry Files, they're perfect.
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Thanks, Greg! I grew up (many centuries ago) fascinated by both horror and science fiction, so an author who can so beautifully combine the two genres, like Simon Green and Charles Stross, are tremendously intriguing to me.
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I enjoyed reading Glasshouse so I need to read some more Stross. This novelette by him is available to read online so I might read it soon.
Oh, thank you!! So far i've read the first 3 novels in the Laundry Files, and will buy 4-7 when funds permit. [Sigh] Tor.com has his wonderful story Overtime as a free read, the story that propelled me in the direction of the Laundry Files.In my next incarnation, I want the intellect of either Charles Stross or Peter F. Hamilton.
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Didn't know about Overtime so I'll check that out too! thanks for the link!
Just finished Arthur C Clarke's The Sands of Mars,his first published novel in 1951,but written back in the 40s. Pleasant,enjoyable,his trademark meticulous attention to science detail already strong,but also his boundless enthusiasm for the wonders of the cosmos.No masterpiece,but a fair read. Oh and for once we had some terraforming!. Bit of a peculiar way of bringing heat and light to the planet,and a rather over optimistic span of 50 years to produce a breathable atmosphere,but good fun. I love the enthusiasm, optimism and passion of these early writers,it made for a fun reading experience,no downbeat doom and gloom in sight!
Hey everyone. If you like dark Sci-fi check out my book Reign: Among Its Beauty and History a Radical New Government Is Forming on Planet Saerilia. Two Best Friends Are Now Caught in the Midst of the Violence, Will They Find a Way Out?
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That looks like an interesting book, Aled, but I see that the description has been added as a subtitle by the Onix Ingram database. I can edit that for you if you like.
Finished G R R Martin and Lisa Tuttle's Windhaven,a pleasant enough little tale about the descendants of a crashed spaceship on a stormy almost completely sea covered planet. Sea travel is hazardous and slow,and the people on the small islands of the archipelagos have lost all technology over the centuries All there is left is the almost indestructable material of the ships solar wing. This was converted to single person glider rigs,and over the centuries these fliers have been the only way of contact between the islands. But things have deteriorated,the fliers lord it over the non fliers,and keep their privileges to themselves. Till Maris comes along and changes society by challenging the old regime,with greater consequences than she ever intended.Interesting world building,but rather uninspired characters. it also suffers from being patched together from 3 novellas.
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Sounds like an interesting world - I wonder would reading the novellas separately result in a better read?
When I read Clarke's The Sands of Mars earlier this month I commented on the enthusiam and boundless hope of Clarke's work on the exploration of space (see message #46 above)Well,Poul Anderson's Hugo nominated The Enemy Stars is a very different kettle of fish.Four very disparate men are the crew on a spaceship off to examine a dead star when there is a catastrophic accident and their means of getting home (very similar to the matter transporters in Star Trek) are almost completely destroyed. Months of striving for solutions to the technical problems see them dying one by one,as they struggle against starvation and desperate dangers. Its definitely a stark,bleak, downbeat read,with only a little lightening of the tale at the poignant ending.
It may be very short but as so often with these old SF books,it carries thoughtful questions about man's often tragic struggles with adversity and danger,and our thirst for new frontiers.
Anderson could always merge hard SF and humanity,placing his all too human characters in hard even tragic situations,and showing the diverse reactions of individuals to said circumstances. I am reminded of Clifford D Simak in many ways,though he was rather kinder to his characters!
A fascinating if rather sad read. Good stuff!
Sci-Fi Group Book Club
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As for me, I finished The Enemy earlier today. This is a YA horror set in a post-apocalyptic (but otherwise contemporary) London where kids under the age of 15 generally survived a 'disaster' in which anybody older had either perished or became zombie-like following an illness. The zombies are humans that are still alive and so are not 'undead' creatures from a supernatural horror. It's quite a gritty read - while kids gang together to survive many still succumb to attacks by 'grown-ups' and other perils.