The Evolution of Science Fiction discussion
2000-2014
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What SF are you reading now, 2000-2014?
Danielle wrote: "I'm reading 
by Scott Reardon.Have you read it ? How did you find it ?"
Not read, and not likely to, based on very mixed reviews here. None of my GR friends have tried it. Still, hope you like it!
I've finished Maps of the Edge collection of short stories and I enjoyed them very much. My review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I started The Anomaly, about a plane that arrives twice at an airport. Meaning that now all the passengers have a twin duplicate. I don't now how this is going to work out but I started the book being veeeery curious.
Mod
I read that a while back when it first came out. It was a HUGE bestseller in France. Not many people noticed it here. I felt it was only so-so.
I finished the excellent anthology of stories set in Jack Vance's Dying Earth: 
Songs of the Dying Earth: Stories in Honour of Jack Vance edited by George R.R. Martin and the late Gardner Dozois
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Not really Science-Fiction, of course, although it is set in the far future.
I am reading Edges (2019) by Linda Nagata. Transhuman mil SF.
I'm reading Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky. I've been hearing about it for a long time now, so I thought it was about time. So far it's very good, not super exciting but full of very good and new ideas. I haven't bought into his characters yet, but still only on 20%, I think he needs to make them more likeable, there is one nicely hateable, I like her!
I'm not sure if "cryptoid-horror" is Sci-Fi or not but I finished reading the latest by the author of World War Z
Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre by Max Brooks
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I am reading Into Everywhere (2016), the second Jackaroo novel by Paul J. McAuley.
I started reading a Sci-Fi locked room murder mystery (and I'm pretty sure the butler didn't do it)
Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty
I finished Ken Liu's debut short story collection
The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I finished the Science-Fiction locked, um, airlock murder mystery
Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
and I started reading
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
Picked up The Three-Body Problem and finished it pretty quickly. It's good to finally know what this title is about :-). After some hesitation - not that enthousiastic about the writing, but I love the story - I decided to read the whole trilogy. Now into #2, The Dark Forest. It is a pity though the books are getting bigger: #1 400p, #2 500p, #3 600p.... A lot of work to find out how this story ends.
Just finished N. k. Jemisin’s The World We Make.
I'm finishing up Jules Verne's The Mysterious Island today. I think it qualifies as SF, but it definitely doesn't have the SF/steam punk feel of 20,000 Leagues. I'm enjoying it.
I finished the very likeable "Cozy Sci-Fi" book
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I've finished Revelation Space (2000) and it is great! My review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Mod
This is really more social satire, not at all hard SF. I enjoy that sort of thing so 4 stars from me.
Ed wrote: "it, astronauts discover a domed city on Europa that looks just like a typical USA city."In The Martian Chronicles there was such a twist, but I guess the plots are different
Just finished The Last Children of Tokyo. One of 17 books my wife bought me for Christmas :DAmazon calls it "dreamlike" which is pretty accurate. What plot there is - both global and local - must be gleaned from accidental-seeming asides. Mostly it is character-driven; we experience life in an Orwellian post-apocalyptic Japan through the eyes of old-but-youthful Yoshiro. Like his grandson Mumei's gums, the sci fi itself is pretty soft, and a lot is left to the imagination. I engaged quite a bit with the wise-beyond-his-years persona of Mumei, but I found the ending quite abrupt and was ultimately left scratching my head.
I am reading the two Jupiter novels in Ben Bova’s Grand Tour series. Communication with dolphins is a feature.
Thomas wrote: "I am reading the two Jupiter novels in Ben Bova’s Grand Tour series. Communication with dolphins is a feature."I'm yet to try any of his novels, I know him more as an editor, not writer
Oleksabdr: Bova’s novels might remind you of Clarke, Benford, Niven, Baxter, and Pournelle.
Thomas: I have him on my TBR, but I cannot say that it is close to the top.
Oleksandr wrote: "Thomas: I have him on my TBR, but I cannot say that it is close to the top."IMO, Bova was a far better editor than writer! Your mileage may vary ....
I recently finished the Remembrance of Earth's Past Series,by Chinese author Liu Cixin.
After the The Three-Body Problem, The Dark Forest and especially Death's End are increasing volumes with a total page amount of more than 1500. They should be read all though because they are one story. And what a story it is. If you don't mind some complicated technology now and then, a very big recommendation.
Mod
bij Chinese author Liu Cixin.
After the The Three-Body Problem, The Dark Forest and esp..."
Good to know Leo. I plan to read them this year.
I finished reading the final volume of the complete collection of stories by Roger Zelazny
The Road to Amber by Roger Zelazny
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Some Science-Fiction stories, some Fantasy.
If you're a Zelazny fan, the entire 7 books are essential to have since they collect stuff not available elsewhere. The explanations by the editors of allusions & such in his work are really nice, too. It's the only place you'll find all the Amber short stories, including the Greenwood partial & all of his poems without a lot of errors which are in the horrible book of his poetry that is astronomically priced. I believe Here There Be Dragons / Way Up High are both included sans the Vaughn Bodé art work. To see that, you need to buy one of the 1000 limited editions signed by Zelazny. (Bode was dead by the time they were published.)
IOW, if you're a Zelazny fan, this collection is a big deal.
Thomas wrote: "Do you have a favorite, RJ?"I do have a few favorites, Thomas, thanks for asking.
RJ’s Top Ten Favorites
10. The soundtrack to The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly
9. Watching the sun set over the Pacific Ocean from the bluffs in La Jolla while sipping a mango margarita
8. The California Screamin’ ride at Disney’s California Adventure
7. Listening to classic jazz while drinking hot coffee and reading the paper on an overcast Sunday morning
6. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
5. The opening bars of Led Zeppelin’s “Good Times Bad Times”
4. Sleeping in on Saturdays
3. The smell of freshly cut grass
2. The first bite of a good medium rare steak fresh off the grill (with garlic mashed potatoes and creamed spinach on the side of course, and a full glass of a nice Cabernet)
1. My daughter
But if you mean do I have a favorite story in the Zelazny collection, the answer is probably Godson. I liked some of the Amber stories also.
Yeah. I was just looking for a title. 🙂
Jim wrote: "If you're a Zelazny fan, the entire 7 books are essential to have since they collect stuff not available elsewhere. The explanations by the editors of allusions & such in his work are really nice, ..."I would REALLY like to see some kind of "Best of Zelazny" collection, because I am not interested enough in his stuff to read every scrap he's every written which is what I think the 6/7 volume collection is meant to deliver. For example, I'd like to see something with this lineup:
A Rose for Ecclesiastes
The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth
He Who Shapes
The Furies
The Monster and the Maiden
The Dilvish stories
...And Call Me Conrad
Damnation Alley
Come to Me Not in Winter's White (with Harlan Ellison)
My Name Is Legion stories
The Last Defender of Camelot
Walpurgisnacht
Shadowjack
Unicorn Variation
Kalifriki of the Thread
24 Views of Mt. Fuji, by Hokusai
There's probably a couple others, but these seem to be the ones most people enjoy (and I haven't read ANY of them). If NESFA, or even better yet a large publishing house, could put something like this together, it would go a long way toward keeping Zelanzy in the minds of readers, old and young alike.
I agree, RJ. "...And Call Me Conrad" was expanded a little into This Immortal. Somehow in the expansion, he or his editors managed to drop 1 paragraph early on in the book that should really be included. Eventually, it is explained, but it sucked. I don't think the short story was ever reprinted except in the Complete Collection.
Jim wrote: "I agree, RJ. "...And Call Me Conrad" was expanded a little into This Immortal...."Good point, and I think I knew that, kind of. Damnation Alley was expanded also, right?
Also wanted to say thanks for being a good sport as always. I knew you loved that collection so I appreciate you not dumping on my opinion for being different from yours. It would be great if everyone were broad-minded like that.
I've only ever known "Damnation Alley" as a novel. It's a short one. The movie sucked.Zelazny isn't for everyone & tastes vary. His stories are often just 3 stars unless closely read with an eye out for classical references & his subtle humor. That's often masked on a first read by trying to figure out what the hell is going on. I don't know why I like his writing so much!
;)
Jim wrote: "Zelazny isn't for everyone & tastes vary. His stories are often just 3 stars unless closely read with an eye ..."
For me, his shorts (novellas & novelettes) have held up better to re-reading than most of the novels. And I didn't care for the Amber books even when those were new -- gve up after the first couple, if memory serves.
I really liked Roadmarks, a 1979 novella about a cross-time highway.
Thomas wrote: "I really liked Roadmarks, a 1979 novella about a cross-time highway."Agreed, but it took me 2 reads to really get it. I don't notice chapter titles & they're really important since they indicate time line 1 or 2. Apparently Zelazny wrote each & stapled the chapters together. He then threw one set in the air & randomly placed them between the others. It certainly makes time travel as confusing as it should be!
Jack of Shadows is one of my favorites. It's a world split into magic & tech. Jack is one of the few 'powers' that is mobile. His quest into both changes the world.
Another Ukrainian book review, of 2020 novel Вугледар – 2099 - a SF utopian satire. My review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I just finished Three Miles Down (Tor, 2022) by Harry Turtledove. I hope there is a sequel, because the novel leaves a lot of unanswered questions.
I finished another short novel, this one an update of - or response to - The Horror at Red Hook by H.P. Lovecraft:
The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Although The Horror at Red Hook is not one of Lovecraft's best stories, and it is brewing over with hateful xenophobia and racism, I would still recommend reading it first in order to fully appreciate La Valle's story.
NOTE - I don't consider this science-fiction (probably more horror or dark fantasy), but I know some people believe Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos to be proto-Sci-Fi, so I'm just going to leave this review right here for anyone who is interested.
I gave up on the Young-Adult borefest 
Red Rising by Pierce Brown
Rating: 1 star (did not finish)
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Evolution of Science Fiction
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[book:The Paper Menagerie and Other S..."
I haven't actually read the collection, but I didn't care much for the title story. Which is definitely a minority opinion.I'm pretty sure I've read many of the other stories as well, as I generally like his short fiction.