What SF are you reading now, 2000-2014?

[Oleksandr]

Just started The Massacre of Mankind by Stephen Baxter, which is a sequel to The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells. It is set in alt-history 1920 and is filled with allusions and Easter eggs, for example heroes travel on Lusitania (in real world it was drowned by u-boat and it was a formal reason to join WWI for the US. Or the group of great thinkers, which includes "the chap—what’s his name?—who once wrote a facetious but provocative essay on the future of humanity, and almost by accident came up with a sort of vision of the Martian form. ‘The Year Million Man’—it was called something of that sort." - this is HG Wells himself :)

[Ed]

I curious about that Baxter book. Let us know how you like it.

[Oleksandr]

Ed wrote: "I curious about that Baxter book. Let us know how you like it."

I've read around 30% so far and I like it. The ultimate test for me will be the ending - there are almost no pessimistic endings of human wars against technologically superior aliens in SF, and HG Wells great insight is that a battle wasn't won by mankind, that we not more likely to win than ants against us.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

I just finished Old Man's War by John Scalzi and I liked it a lot and gave it 4 stars. It's easily the best of Scalzi's books that I have read and I plan to continue the series.

[Oleksandr]

Ed wrote: "I curious about that Baxter book. Let us know how you like it."

You asked for it :)
Here is my review w/o spoilers:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

Now reading The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi

[Oleksandr]

Randy wrote: "Now reading The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi"

I liked this volume even more than the first one - usually series starts with the bang and goes downhill, but not in this case

[Rachel Adiyah]

I just started reading The Pledge. It's very interesting YA Dystopia science fiction.

[Rachel Adiyah]

I've just discovered The Flight of the Silvers and I'm also reading Quota: When Life is Just a Number..Who Counts?. The Flight of the Silvers is absolutely MIND BLOWING! Quota is also a very frightening and interesting view of population control.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

I finished:


The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Oleksandr wrote: "I liked this volume even more than the first one..."

I liked them both about the same - good solid space opera/military SF with more depth than I expected.

[Bruce]

I’m currently reading Cress by Marissa Meyer. It’s the third novel of the YA science fiction series, The Lunar Chronicles. It’s a futuristic take on the Brothers Grimm stories. The first, Cinder was (obviously) based on Cinderella. The second, Scarlet was based on Little Red Riding Hood. Cress is based on Rapunzel. I’m much more drawn to Meyers characters and writing than have been with some recent YA novels and series, apart from the Hunger Games.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

Just started The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

Also current reading The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

I just kicked


The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi
Rating: 1 star
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Rachel Adiyah]

I am starting Extraction and Prototype.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

Now starting:


Lost Stars by Claudia Gray

[Rachel Adiyah]

Just started Those That Wake, Bluescreen, and Dreamfall.

[Oleksandr]

Recently finished Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie and plan to finish this trilogy this month

[Buck]

Provenance by Ann Leckie. Her Ancillary trilogy put her on my SF map.

I'm listening to an audiobook, about a third of the way in. I think the word 'his' is not even used. Instead, the possessive third person singular pronoun is 'her', pronounced 'air'. Him is pronounced 'em'. The reader has an African-English accent and without being able to see the spelling, I might be missing a bit.

[Rachel Adiyah]

Finished Dreamfall - awesome YA! Not much for brains but greatly entertaining. Still working on Bluescreen. Gave up on Those That Wake - it's a dark and depressing novel with overused paranoid-sci fi tropes.

Now, aside from working on Bluescreen, I'm reading the so far very interesting Zero World, as well as the third in the Last Survivors series (beginning with Life As We Knew It) This World We Live In. Also began Partials, Disruption and Linked. For some reason lately I find YA science-fiction to be much more interesting than what is published as "adult" sci-fi. (Zero World is adult sci-fi, but it seems to be the exception rather than the rule.)

[Rachel Adiyah]

James wrote: "I'm listening to The Sirens of Titan published in 1999 written by Vonnegut. "

Hey James, not trying to be obnoxious, but I think you're on the wrong board. This board is for science-fiction published from 2000-2020. Wasn't the Sirens of Titan originally published in the late 1960's? You should probably take this over to the New Wave board.

[James]

my mistake

[Danielle]

I'm reading two sf books at the same time:
The Absolved by Matthew Binder

I hated it at the beginning because the MC seemed contemptible to me and I prefer when I can identify with the protagonist. But the action began and I am more interested.

The Razor by Jack Barton Mitchell

The beginning seems promising.

You can get them on Netgalley.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

I'm starting:


Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft

[Rachel Adiyah]

I've just started reading Ultraviolet by R.J. Anderson. The protagonist seems to be an anti-heroine, which is fine with me. I've now officially gone insane: I am reading ten books at the same time, each book just ten to twenty pages per day. PLUS about five graphic novels. I'm right on the edge.

[Ed]

Rachel Adiyah wrote: "I am reading ten books at the same time.... PLUS about five graphic novels..."

That's the only way to do it!

(Although GR currently shows me not reading anything, it isn't true. I'm reading a few books which for various reasons I've decided not to log yet.)

[Buck]

I've just started Saturn Run by John Sandford and Ctein. Sandford is a popular author who writes lots of mystery thrillers with a couple of different protagonists. I never heard of Ctein. I know a couple of folks who read Sandford, although I never have. I wasn't expecting anything great, but so far it's pretty good. Set in 2066, it's hi-tech hard science.

[Jim]

Buck wrote: "I've just started Saturn Run by John Sandford and Ctein. ..."

I was very pleasantly surprised & really enjoyed it. I'd read 1 or 2 of his Prey series many years ago, probably early 90s, but never managed to get them in order so didn't read more. After reading this, I found some standalone mysteries at the library & read them. Again, I was very impressed, so now I've started on the Prey series.

[Rachel Adiyah]

Marc-André wrote: "I'm starting Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer. It was nominated for a Hugo this year and won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer and got lots of good..."

The English word "Too" is used for emphasis, such as in the expression, "He is TOO much like his father," indicating that not only is this man someone like his father but that he is so much like him that it is bothersome.

"Too Like the Lightning" indicates that SOMETHING is very similar to The Lightning, so much so that it has ceased being of good taste.

[Rachel Adiyah]

I am now reading the anthology Old Mars, as well as the novel Amatka by Karin Tidbeck. Karin Tidbeck, a Swedish author of speculative fiction, first hooked me with a story about a timeless abode in the fabulous time travel anthology The Time Traveler's Almanac. It is difficult to pin down everything she does as science fiction, however, although Amatka is definitely sci-fi; her concepts are genius and simply mind-blowing, often defying easy categorization. Her groundbreaking anthology of speculative fiction, Jagannath, will force you into thinking about new and radically imaginative ideas. Quite simply, there's no one else in the world like her.

[Danielle]

I'm reading two books at the same time (I alternate).

Breaking and Entering: The Extraordinary Story of a Hacker Called "Alien"
by Jeremy Smith
This taut, true thriller takes a deep dive into a dark world that touches us all, as seen through the brilliant, breakneck career of an extraordinary hacker – a woman known only as Alien.

and

Erectus by Xavier Müller
Et soudain l’humanité se mit à régresser…. Parc Kruger, Afrique du Sud. Des animaux, des plantes, qui retrouvent leur forme préhistorique.

[Rachel Adiyah]

I just borrowed Future Threat from the library. This is the sequel to time travel novel Future Shock. Time travel is the second best form of science fiction, the first being alternate universe/dimension/reality stories.

[Ed]

Rachel Adiyah wrote: "Too Like the Lightning" indicates that SOMETHING is very similar to The Lightning...."

We addressed this title before. It is a quote from Romeo and Juliet. In that context, Juliet was worried that Romeo's love might not last any longer than a flash of lightning. I have no idea what it means in that book title.

"I have no joy of this contract tonight.
It is too rash, too unadvised, too sudden,
Too like the lightning, which doth cease to be
Ere one can say 'It lightens.' "

The current SF I'm reading is Digger, which won a Hugo for "graphic" fiction. So far it is fantasy, not SF, and quite charming. Can be read free online.

[Rachel Adiyah]

Ed wrote: "Rachel Adiyah wrote: "Too Like the Lightning" indicates that SOMETHING is very similar to The Lightning...."

We addressed this title before. It is a quote from Romeo and Juliet. In th..."

Pardon me, but I didn't realize that the original post was from last year until after I already answered it. I didn't mean to beat on a dead horse.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

I finished:


Lost Stars by Claudia Gray
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Oleksandr]

Rachel Adiyah wrote: "Pardon me, but I didn't realize that the original post was from last year until after I already answered it. I didn't mean to beat on a dead horse. "

Your clarification was important or me, I've read the book just last month. It is hard for non-native speaker to catch all the meanings

[Marc-André]

I finished Singularity Sky by Charles Stross. This is in some ways a very complexe novel, so it is complicated to review, but I certainly why A Fire Upon the Deep was an inspiration. The big difference is there is more humor in Stross' novel and more hard science as there are no "zone of thoughts".

I've read a few Stross novels, it shows that this is among his first published work. He doesn't master his writing style quite yet, but this is full of neat, big ideas. Like what a post-singularity universe is about, what space battle actually look like if you use known physics (slow, technical, not flashy, almost boring), the implication that faster than light travel means access to time travel, nanobots, etc.

Sometimes the characters, the plot and the humor are juvenile and that's ok. It is Stross early work.

I think it is must a must read for all sci-fi fans who want to learn about what space battles are about with real physics, what FTL travel implicates, what nanotech can mean (althought Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer that too), what the singularity could bring in terms of alien mentalities and agendas, etc.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

I finished:


The Only Harmless Great Thing by Brooke Bolander
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

I finished:


The Player of Games by Iain M. Banks
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Danielle]

Me again. I'm reading now :
by Christina Dalcher

Set in an America where half the population has been silenced, VOX is the harrowing, unforgettable story of what one woman will do to protect herself and her daughter.

On the day the government decrees that women are no longer allowed more than 100 words daily, Dr. Jean McClellan is in denial—this can't happen here. Not in America. Not to her.

This is just the beginning.

Soon women can no longer hold jobs. Girls are no longer taught to read or write. Females no longer have a voice. Before, the average person spoke sixteen thousand words a day, but now women only have one hundred to make themselves heard.

But this is not the end.

For herself, her daughter, and every woman silenced, Jean will reclaim her voice.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

Yesterday I finished:


The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy, 2016 edited by Rich Horton
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Buck]

I just read Artificial Condition by Martha Wells, the second in the Murderbot Diary series. I read the first one, All Systems Red not long ago. It was free from Tor.com. Both of them are kind of science fiction fluff, but they are short and fun, and I really enjoyed them. I expect to read the next one when it's published.

[Ed]

Buck wrote: "I just read Artificial Condition by Martha Wells, the second in the Murderbot Diary series....."
I liked that, too. And will continue with the third book, though I don't often read series.

I also just finished the third and final book in the series that starts with Sleeping Giants. A solid 4 stars for the series, though I docked one star from book 1 because of a really silly plot device halfway through.

These books are interesting in part because the entire story is told through dialog, including e-mails and transcripts of conversations. This works well because the characters are distinct and interesting.

There is never an omniscient narrator. It is mostly just a fun story, though it has some interesting points and moral dilemmas.

[Oleksandr]

Recently finished We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis E. Taylor. An easy read. Here is my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Oleksandr]

I recently finished by John Scalzi. This is a second book of the expected trilogy with the main idea that there is a human civilization, called the Interdependency, connected by the Flow - a way for FTL travel. Now currents of the Flow shift and this puts this civilization in a deadly danger.

A nice easy read, without much philosophizing. Maybe a bit less intrigue and a bit more adventure would be a plus.

An interesting side note - almost all characters are female, a kind of Foundation in reverse.

My review is here

[Ed]

I recently did Mem. I guess it is "science fantasy". The basic idea is that people can have a procedure done to extract an unwanted memory into something like a clone of themselves, and that memory will walk around and look like a person, but gradually fade away. Except one named "Dolores" is not fading away and wants to be considered a real person.

The oddest choice was that this novel was set in the 1920's.

I liked it, but it didn't knock my socks off.

[Leo]

started Sleeping Giants. If I like it, I will read the trilogy.

[Jim]

Future Imperfect: A Collection of Science Fiction Stories by John Moralee made my lunch times quite enjoyable for the past couple of weeks. I gave it a 4 star review here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Danielle]

I've just begun The Chaos Function by Jack Skillingstead

For readers of the best‑selling novels Sleeping Giants and Dark Matter, an intense, high‑stakes thriller with a science‑fiction twist that asks: If technology enabled you to save the life of someone you love, would you do so even if it might doom millions?

Olivia Nikitas, a hardened journalist whose specialty is war zones, has been reporting from the front lines of the civil war in Aleppo, Syria. When Brian, an aid worker she reluctantly fell in love with, dies while following her into danger, she’ll do anything to bring him back. In a makeshift death chamber beneath an ancient, sacred site, a strange technology is revealed to Olivia: the power to remake the future by changing the past.

Following her heart and not her head, Olivia brings Brian back, accidentally shifting the world to the brink of nuclear and biological disaster. Now she must stay steps ahead of the guardians of this technology, who will kill her to reclaim it, in order to save not just herself and her love, but the whole world.

[Jim]

I've read a couple of good books lately. At the Helm, Volume 1 is an SF anthology filled with great stories by new & emerging authors. It was unexpectedly good. I gave it a 4 star review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Behind the Throne by K.B. Wagers only got 3 stars, but it was interesting. An Indian civilization in the future full of political intrigue & cool tech.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...