Has anybody ever read anything by {place author name here}

[Allan]

It’s the same universe, but this one is a stand-alone.

[Joe]

I think I read the Blade Itself a while back, but I remember nothing about it, and I keep having it turn up in conversations... definitely going to read it soon and see if I really did or not :)

[Allan]

Norman Spinrad. I came across his name looking for a short book to complete a WWE challenge for COVID-like plague books. Journals of the Plague Years is what I found, Spinrad's allegory to the AIDS epidemic. He has 3 books on the H/N list; apparently some of his works, particularly Bug Jack Barron and Osama the Gun, were controversial and he had difficulty finding publishers. His books seem pretty diverse, but dystopia seems to be a common thread. I know he also wrote "The Doomsday Machine" episode of the original Star Trek series.

[Kateblue, 2nd star to the right and straight on til morning]

I have never read anything by Norman Spinrad. I dimly remember that I might have tried some and failed years ago and that's why his name is familiar. I would be interested in what you think.

[Allan]

I read through Journals of the Plague Years, a Nebula-nominated novella from 1988. Spinrad's afterword explains its size and intent, helping it make sense. Like The Man Who Folded Himself, it was just the right length and would have gotten flabby & boring if it had been expanded. Well worth the read, but given the topic, it doesn't spare sexual references if you're sensitive to that. It's very clear why it was controversial in its day, and probably why it's not more famous.

[Allan]

Catherine Asaro. She seems to be known best by the Saga of the Skolian Empire, two books of which are H/N nominees. Has anyone here read her work? Any comments on the saga? It looks as long and extensive as Vorkosigan, but not as cohesive? Can you read the H/N books independently or are the previous books integral?

[Kateblue, 2nd star to the right and straight on til morning]

Allen, I have read much of her stuff. Somewhere around this group I posted a chronological listing of the Skolian books. I think it is in that thread where we figured out series. I can probably find a chronological listing again. I probably have it on this computer somewhere, if you are interested.

The Last Hawk I have not read in years. I thought it was great, but apparently Asaro doesn't like it, which is (according to some woman who is a publicist of some kind) why it has never been released in Kindle. Asaro plans to rewrite it, but whether she ever will is a big ??? The paperbacks are getting more expensive everyday. So buy now.

The other nominee, The Quantum Rose, was Nebula nominated because the plot is based on some principle in physics. She's a physicist. (She's also a ballet dancer, a mathematician, a teacher, and a musician.) But Quantum Rose is not one of my favorites, being an SF romance that I do not find very romantic because (view spoiler)[I think the main female character gets pushed around too much, though she does grow a backbone, somewhat, as the story progresses. (hide spoiler)]

I think you can read these two books without reading all the others

Asaro really is not writing very much anymore.

Primary Inversion, I read somewhere while I was looking up stuff, should be free at Baen books. It was her first book, not very good compared to her later books IMHO. It jumps around a lot and is better when read in chronological order with the other books and is therefore supported by them. The Baen free version is supposed to be a rewritten version, but I read a version a few years ago and it still had a plot that just ran around like crazy. Maybe I didn't get the rewrite.

[Allan]

Thanks. I read about her, and of course I want to read the two nominees, but is it necessary or worth it to read the whole series? Or at least the books leading up to those? Are there necessary prerequisites?

[Kateblue, 2nd star to the right and straight on til morning]

I really liked lots of the Skolian series. She has a good fantasy series, as well.
Her world building is superb.

But I think you can read the two nominees without reading the others.

Here is a background fact which you will figure out eventually, but which confused me mightily while I was reading way back whenever. I'm putting it in a spoiler in case you don't want to know. When I started reading these, though, most of the books weren't written yet. Maybe it will be clearer since you are reading now. (view spoiler)[ The galaxy is populated by descendants of humans who were stolen from earth millennia ago. (these books are nothing like Stargate except they are both SF) (hide spoiler)]

The chronology of the series is not even close to the publication dates, and she has a chart somewhere, but she has not updated it in 20 years, probably. So I had to make my own. I was going to read all the books over, and then I joined Goodreads and met all of you, and I never finished. Instead, all of you helped me find a bunch of yummy new stuff to read. So I am not sure if this is totally right because I think I quit in the middle of The Radiant Seas and never read a couple. Later books might not be in the exact chronological order because I didn't get that far.

I'm going to paste my list here and it'll look ugly. It's probably 4 years old, took me forever to compile, and because I have not read all of them, it may not be totally right. The years listed are the years when the books take place. The numbers are chronological order numbers added by me. Also, I have read NONE of the short pieces. They were not available except in the paperbacks listed and have not been re-released in Kindle. And I have not read 1.5, 1.9, nor do I remember reading Undercity or The Bronze Skies. They were written later and I don't know if I ever read them. They are in another series called Major Bhaajan, but I do know they are in the same universe. There is now another book in Major Bhaajan, and I don't know when it is. I have not read it either.

I have bolded the ones that I think are on the main sequence, not bolded the ones I have not read and that are shorts which you probably won't be able to find. If you do find them, I want them, too!

1 Skyfall 2203
1.5 Children of the Dust 2205
1.9 The City of Cries 2205 Down these Dark Spaceways by Mike Resnick has City of Cries in it, but it is also part of Undercity
2 Undercity 2205 Major Baahjan I HAVE NOT READ
3 The Bronze Skies 2206? Major Baahjan I HAVE NOT READ
3.9 Stained Glass Heart ~2226 Irresistible Forces [Anthology 6-in-1] by Catherine Asaro
4 Schism: Part One of Triad 2227
5 The Final Key: Part Two of Triad 2228
5.1 The Edges of Never-Haven ~2236 Flights: Extreme Visions of Fantasy by Al Sarrantonio
5.3 Aurora in Four Voices (novella) 2240
5.5 Light and Shadow 2243 Analog Science Fiction and Fact: Vol. CXIV, No. 5 (April 1994) by Stanley Schmidt
5.9 The Pyre of a New Day 2255 The Mammoth Book of SF Wars by Ian Watson
6 The Last Hawk 2258 NO EBOOK
7 Primary Inversion 2259
8 The Radiant Seas 2259
8.2 Soul of Light 2263 Sextopia by Cecilia Tan
8.4 The Shadowed Heart 2276 Best New Paranormal Romance by Paula Guran
9 Ascendant Sun 2277-8
10 The Quantum Rose 2277-8
11 The Moon's Shadow 2277-8
12 Spherical Harmonic 2277-8
13 The Ruby Dice ~2279
13.5 A Roll of the Dice 2287 Analog Science Fiction and Fact: Vol. CXX, No. 7 & 8 ( [2000]) by Stanley Schmidt
14 Diamond Star 2287
14.5 Walk in Silence [novella] 2298
15 Carnelians ??
15.7 Ave de Paso 2326 Ave de Paso
16 Catch the Lightning 2238 Was one of my favorites of the series but out of print now NO EBOOK
16 Lightning Strike REWRITE of Catch the Lightning (supposedly) in two volumes Both halves are out now. It took years for her to write the second. I have read neither. I read Catch the Lightning, a SF romance, basically, so I can see why it's not like the others. The others have some romance in them, but are not primarily romance. My 20+ year old memory is that this was primarily a romance, albeit a good one.

Here's the publishing date list from Fantastic Fiction

Skolian Empire
1. Primary Inversion (1995)
2. Catch the Lightning (1996)
3. The Radiant Seas (1999)
4. The Last Hawk (1997)
5. Ascendant Sun (2000)
6. The Quantum Rose (2000)
7. Spherical Harmonic (2001)
8. The Moon's Shadow (2003)
9. Skyfall (2003)
10. Schism (2004)
11. The Final Key (2005)
12. The Ruby Dice (2008)
13. Diamond Star (2009)
14. Carnelians (2011)
Aurora in Four Voices (2011)

Major Bhaajan
0.5. The City of Cries (2011)
1. Undercity (2014)
2. The Bronze Skies (2017)
3. The Vanished Seas (2020)

Skolian Empire: Ruby Dynasty
1. Lightning Strike (2014)

WHEW!!!

[Allan]

Holy mackerel! Thank you for all the work!

[Ed]

Kateblue wrote: "I have never read anything by Norman Spinrad. ..."

I've only read The People's Police. I found it fun even though it is full of cliches about Louisiana, incorrect information about Louisiana politics and even simple geography. (Shreveport is NOT near the coast!) One of the big ideas in it is a Libertarian style police force with the motto "No victim, no crime".

[Kateblue, 2nd star to the right and straight on til morning]

And now, looking back, I see that Catch the Lightning says it was 2238 in my list. I must have meant 2283, or == I know it started early and covered some years. It is last, I am pretty sure.

[Kateblue, 2nd star to the right and straight on til morning]

Ed wrote: "Kateblue wrote: "I have never read anything by Norman Spinrad. ..."

I've only read The People's Police. I found it fun even though it is full of cliches about Louisiana, incorrect information about Louisiana politics and even simple geography. (Shreveport is NOT near the coast!)"

Even I know Shreveport is not near the coast! I've read the Sookie Stackhouse books!

[Kateblue, 2nd star to the right and straight on til morning]

Has anybody ever read anything by this guy?

Robert Rankin tried to "create an entirely new literary genre, which he named Far-Fetched Fiction." But I see that he only has the following average rating: 3.81 · 52,687 ratings · 1,946 reviews for his whole body of work.

Although I do like a writer who names a bookThe Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse, I am not sure that he's as funny as he thinks, given his ratings

[Allan]

I totally missed the Norman Spinrad comments a few months ago. I read Journals of the Plague Years as part of an apocalypse challenge and really liked it. I know that he wrote a great (original) Star Trek episode called “The Doomsday Machine”. Seems that a few of his books were controversial and he had trouble finding publishers. Based on what I have read, I look forward to others.

[Allan]

I happened to notice that Mercedes Lackey was named the 38th Damon Knight Grand Master. While she is extremely prolific, she has no books on the H/N list and I've never read anything of hers. Does anyone else have knowledge here?

https://nebulas.sfwa.org/mercedes-lac...

[Kateblue, 2nd star to the right and straight on til morning]

Allan wrote: "I happened to notice that Mercedes Lackey was named the 38th Damon Knight Grand Master. While she is extremely prolific, she has no books on the H/N list and I've never read anything ..."

I read a few of her earlier ones and then never read any again. Can't remember much.

[Joe]

I read a few Mercedes Lackey books back when I was first discovering fantasy from her main created universe (Darkover, I think it's called?) .. pretty straight medeval fantasy, nothing I found particularly groundbreaking or interesting, but not perfectly serviceable if that's what you're in the mood for.

[Rebecca]

Oh I haven’t read anything by Lackey, I’ll check her out. I believe the Darkover books are by Marion Zimmer-Bradley. I read almost all of them in high school and adored the magic system and characters. Her reputation has fallen a fair bit because of familial issues but I still treasure her books as they were my gateway from Harry Potter/His Dark Materials into adult SF&F.

[Kateblue, 2nd star to the right and straight on til morning]

Rebecca wrote: "Oh I haven’t read anything by Lackey, I’ll check her out. I believe the Darkover books are by Marion Zimmer-Bradley. I read almost all of them in high school and adored the magic system and characters. Her reputation has fallen a fair bit because of familial issues but I still treasure her books"

Agree with all of this except I was older than high school, I think. 2 of the Darkover books are on our list. They can be read as standalones.

Mercedes Lackey's world might Valdemar? I'm not sure I'm recollecting right

[Rebecca]

This doesn't fit perfectly with the name of this thread so feel free to tell me off, but I'm trying to figure out where I should start with Adrian Tchaikovsky's works? We'll be reading Elder Race in another group in March but I wanted to read one of his novels in February. Any suggestions?

I have Shards of Earth on hold at the library and Children of Time on my kindle. But I'd be happy to buy any other works you all would recommend as a good starter/intro to his world.

[Allan]

Good question! I’m in the same boat. I read Elder Race on vacation and really liked it, but it’s a quick read novella, so I’m not sure it’s representative of his space opera or other works. I’ve also got an audio version of The Doors of Eden but is that the best place to start? Maybe Children of Time as a buddy read? I’d be up for that.

[Allan]

Has anyone read any books by Tim Powers? He has three books on the list, among them Declare, which I just finished. I thought it was really good, perhaps a bit too long, but a really good Le Carre-style spy novel even without the fantasy elements. Anyone else?

[Ed]

Allan wrote: "Good question! I’m in the same boat. ..."

I enjoyed "Children of Time". Others here have read more things by him.

[Ed]

Allan wrote: "Has anyone read any books by Tim Powers? ..."

Apparently in 2013 I gave 4 stars to the novella "Salvage and Demolition", but I don't remember reading it!

[Antti]

Rebecca wrote: "I'm trying to figure out where I should start with Adrian Tchaikovsky's works?"

Definitely Children of Time. It's his best work, and one of the best SF books written in the 21st century I've read.

[Kalin]

I read Children of Time last year outside of any group/buddy read (rare for me right now) because I was tired of hearing good things but knowing nothing about it. Verdict: phenomenal, loved it. I'd start there.

[Oleksandr, a.k.a. Acorn]

Antti wrote: "Definitely Children of Time. It's his best work, and one of the best SF books writte..."

Second that

[Gabi]

@Rebecca: I second, third and fourth the others. If you already own "Children of Time" that's a great point to start. It was my first Tchaikovsky and it is still one of the very best SF books.

@Allan: I would not start with "Cage of Souls". It is my favourite Tchaikovsky, but I know a lot of readers who don't like it and are rather irritated by its slow pace.

[Rebecca]

Awesome, thanks all! Definitely down for a buddy read Allan - should we aim for Feb?

[Allan]

@ Rebecca: Yes, that sounds good! I put a hold on it at my library, but it looks like I'm first in line, so I should hopefully have it within a few days.

@Gabi: Cage of Souls tempted me when it came out. The title, cover & blurb sounded really interesting. But it seemed to me from discussion here that it wasn't the best place to start, & my library doesn't have it anyway. I did use an Audible credit to get The Doors of Eden, but I haven't tackled it yet.

[Nooilforpacifists]

Kateblue:

Thank you for your incredible list of Asaro books/series in order. I’ll have to take you out to discuss the Harmonized Tariff System of the United States someday.

I was shocked to learn how few of her works are available on Amazon’s electronic form thingie. Having read—and enjoyed—one book in the middle of one series, I was SOL for the next. Where to go? What to do? (That’s from “Evita.”).

They will let me start with the Major Bjaajan series. Good enuf?

NOfP

[Ed]

How about Richard C. Meredith ? He looks interesting. Particularly We All Died at Breakaway Station from 1969.

[Allan]

Never heard of him before, but I agree, a few of his books look interesting. Maybe he's a good fit for the Cordwainer Smith Rediscovery Award. Have you found a source for his books?

[Ed]

Allan wrote: "... Maybe he's a good fit for the Cordwainer Smith Rediscovery Award. Have you found a source for his books?"

I was also thinking of the rediscovery award.
The one source I have is Amazon. The paperback I mentioned is only $50. Maybe I'll buy two.

[Ed]

This was the review that made me interested:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Oleksandr, a.k.a. Acorn]

Ed wrote: "This was the review that made me interested:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."

Sounds interesting.

[Allan]

I looked on Abe Books for used copies of his books. You can buy a combined edition of his Timeliner trilogy for $10 from the UK to the US, but if you buy it from a U.S. store, it’s $35. Weird. Breakaway Station’s lowest cost is $47 within the US. They don’t show any UK copies, which is unusual.

[Kateblue, 2nd star to the right and straight on til morning]

Nooilforpacifists wrote: "Kateblue:

Thank you for your incredible list of Asaro books/series in order. I’ll have to take you out to discuss the Harmonized Tariff System of the United States someday.

I was shocked to learn..."

I'm sorry I have not been around--I just saw your query. I think the only 2 that are not available in Kindle are "The Last Hawk" and something with lightning in the title. But this could have changed since I bought the e-books a few years ago.

I have not read the Battaan books, so I cannot say, but her writing is good enough that you can start anywhere

[Allan]

Thought I would resurrect this post after I saw a list of new SF&F books & saw a few intriguing military SF books by Neal Asher. I’ve heard his name but know nothing about him. Has anyone read him?

[Stephen]

I’ve read probably 6 or 7 books by Neal Asher. His books do tend to feature a lot of action, not always of the military variety. They are often pretty ingenious as well as energetic. Many of the books are set in a future universe called the Polity. I think my favourite of the books I’ve read is an early (2002) novel, The Skinner, which is set on a wild, violent planet called Spatterjay. I have a sequel, The Voyage of the Sable Keech,on hand and hope to read it this year.

[Oleksandr, a.k.a. Acorn]

Neal Asher - according to GR I've read some of his shorter fiction in Analog SF, but he hasn't stand out to be remembered

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

Allan wrote: "Thought I would resurrect this post after I saw a list of new SF&F books & saw a few intriguing military SF books by Neal Asher. I’ve heard his name but know nothing about him. Has anyone read him?"

I have Gridlinked on my shelf, unread, but I don't recall having read anything by him.

[Allan]

Stephen wrote: "I’ve read probably 6 or 7 books by Neal Asher. His books do tend to feature a lot of action, not always of the military variety. They are often pretty ingenious as well as energetic. Many of the bo..."

No love from the Hugo or Nebula crowds, though, it seems. I guess it's like action movies, they sell but they don't win awards.

[Allan]

I was picking up The Spare Man at the library & took a quick glance at the New Books shelf and came across Fractal Noise by Christopher Paolini. Looks like Acorn & Rebecca have both read To Sleep in a Sea of Stars. Any comments outside your reviews, or anyone else want to comment?

[Jim]

I read To Sleep in a Sea of Stars back in June. I liked it overall, but if I recall, I seemed to be slightly annoyed by the lack of scientific realism -- but of course, Paolini has written mostly fantasy, so not too bad of an attempt at something new. And I'm a big fan of hard sci-fi, so maybe that was it. Anyway, the book is long, but the plot moved along at a good pace, so I never felt that it was droning on. Overall, a pretty good and original sci-fi novel, I thought. Based on reviews, I will probably read Fractal Noise in the future.

[Oleksandr, a.k.a. Acorn]

My feelings about Paolini's book were similar - SF only as much as StarWars are SF

[Kateblue, 2nd star to the right and straight on til morning]

I think I will be trying these Paolini books because they sound like I might like them better than some of the others I;ve been trying lately.

[Oleksandr, a.k.a. Acorn]

I was reading an interview with Greg Bear from 2004, and an interesting and relevant piece:
Concatenation: Which of the newer generation of writers do you currently enjoy?

Greg Bear: There's a fine crop, everyone from Kay Kenyon and Louise Marley through Kathy Ann Goonan and Chris Moriarty and Paul McAuley and Stephen Baxter and Greg Egan (who ranks higher on Google as a "greg" than I do!) and then we move on to Ted Chiang and Syne Mitchell... all great. Too many to list here. The Golden Age continues.

out of the mentioned 9 authors, I know only three - Baxter, Egan and Chiang. Is it just me?

the interview http://www.concatenation.org/intervie...

[Stephen]

Oleksandr wrote: "I was reading an interview with Greg Bear from 2004, and an interesting and relevant piece:
Concatenation: Which of the newer generation of writers do you currently enjoy?

Greg Bear..."

I’ve read McAuley and I think that at his best he’s extremely good. His novels The Quiet War and Gardens of the Sun blew me away when I was getting back into science fiction 10-15 years ago. I also recognize Goonan’s name and I know I’ve read a story or two but I couldn’t characterize them off the top of my head.