SFBRP Listeners discussion
Books I would like to see reviewed
Luke, will you be reading the Hugo nominees for best novel that you haven't read already?The list is:
A Desolation Called Peace (episode 474)
The Galaxy, and the Ground Within
Light from Uncommon Stars
Project Hail Mary (episode 456)
She Who Became the Sun
I enjoyed the the Galaxy, and the Ground Within, but it wasn't very science fictional even though there are no human characters. It was more a novel to discuss living through a lockdown and getting to know the people you're in lockdown with.
My favourite of this list is probably Light from Uncommon Stars. Although it's not really SF, it touches on a very interesting science fictional idea about advanced civilisations. I say it's not really SF because while it does have aliens visiting Earth and an advanced AI, it also has soul-selling to demons and magical talents.
I have heard good things about She Who Became the Sun, but it's clearly fantasy based on Asian history (a bit like the The Poppy War).
And if you intend to try any of the novellas I strongly recommend Elder Race which works very cleverly with the old Clarke line about "sufficiently advanced technology".
Mod
Probably not. The Hugo and Nebula lists are just one signal of interest among many others, so don't alone determine if I read a book.
I've not heard of She Who Became the Sun, and nothing in the blurb appeals to me. From the descriptions and discussion I've seen about Light from Uncommon Stars, I've got a feeling it's not for me.
I'd give The Galaxy and Ground Within a shot though. Mostly because Juliane will probably read it, so I could join her in discussing it in a SFBRP episode.
If novellas like Elder Race are an option, I'd be interested in A Psalm for the Wild-Built, also by Becky Chambers, but a new setting.
If you’re looking for high rated books, the silver ships by S.H Jucha with 18 books and counting to the series, with all of them above 4 rating. I know permutation city by Greg Egan was reviewed, I’ve listened to all 3 Greg Egan eps😃
If Luke and Juliane have a 2 hour drive together in the future I'd recommend listening to Sylvain Neuvel's The Test. It's a story with plenty to talk about despite its short length.
Ori wrote: "If novellas like Elder Race are an option, I'd be interested in A Psalm for the Wild-Built, also by Becky Chambers, but a new setting."I’ve just finished A Psalm for the Wild-Built. Really enjoyed it and I am looking forward to the upcoming stories in the series.
Will see if Luke is going to read it as well, it’s a short and very pleasant read and worth a podcast, I think.
Maybe we can combine a few Novellas together in one podcast? Or stick with the „#shorts“ idea which could fit well with these kinds of books.
Juliane wrote: "Maybe we can combine a few Novellas together in one podcast? Or stick with the „#shorts“ idea which could fit well with these kinds of books."I'd listen to either one. I'm happy to hear more discussion of short story and novella collections, since there are so many worthwhile examples in SF. (Usually, when I review short story collections on GR, I don't cover every entry, just the ones I found most interesting.)
Also happy to listen to a ten minute (or whatever) "short". "Psalm" is on my to-read list, so I'm interested in what you think of it.
Ryan wrote: "If Luke and Juliane have a 2 hour drive together in the future I'd recommend listening to Sylvain Neuvel's The Test. It's a story with plenty to talk about despite its short length."Yes, I thought that one was pretty good! Apparently, it's being made into a movie.
One of Haruki Murakami’s magical realist pieces, say Kafka in the Shore might be something that you might enjoy.
Ryan wrote: ""Psalm" is on my to-read list, so I'm interested in what you think of it.."Tor.com is temporarily offering a free ebook of Psalm in exchange for an email address:
https://ebookclub.tor.com/
Ori wrote: "Tor.com is temporarily offering a free ebook of Psalm in exchange for an email address:https://ebookclub.to..."
Thanks!
Luke Burrage Ori wrote: "A bunch of requests:Authors whose novels I haven't read yet, and don't have an SFBRP episode. Maybe someone else can recommend specific works by them:
* Paul McAuley "
Hey Luke, Juliane and SFBRP fans
Re: Paul McAuley novels
Sorry for the late reply.
I've read a few of his but the best one was 'Something coming through'
A sort of detective novel with benevolent aliens (very mysterious) and great world building.
5 stars
I have on my 'to read' list the other two novels in the trilogy.
But like my last unread Iain M Banks novel (Matter) I'll keep them until I think I deserve a treat!
Just finished James Islington’s Licanius trilogy — «The Shadow of What Was Lost»; «The Echo of Things to Come»; «The Light of All That Falls»Just thought that you, Luke would be interested in this. It has an interesting element of time travel going through the entire trilogy, but instead of using usual Science Fiction tropes, it approaches it from a more Fantasy angle. The whole time travel aspect aside, it has a wholly interesting world building and magic system that is reminiscent of Brandon Sanderson Cosemere feeling to it in some ways, but without actually copy-acting anything.
Would love to hear your thoughts on these books.
I'm sure Luke won't need much persuading, but I see that Children of Memory is coming out later this year.I read the first book after Luke's 5 star review and did not regret it!
Hi Luke, have you heard of The Gone World by Tom Sweterlitsch?It is a multiverse murder mystery recommended by Kemeron Hurley and sometimes echoing Peter Watts's Blindesigh duology.
Juliane may enjoy the investigation part, but I'm afraid she'll find the world too brutal.
I think you'll enjoy analyzing the multiverse time travel aspect.
Oh, and its a gripping read.
I'd like to recommend The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez. It is not what I expected from the author of The Vanished Birds. It is more of a dark fantasy where all romantic notions about gods, magic, emperors and war were set aside. Yet it is an action adventure full of fleshed out characters struggling to persevere during the end game of a n upheaval of epic proportions.
An interesting trick Jimenez does is giving the Red Shirts a voice. Once sentence that personalizes them as they expire.
The World of Null-Aby A. E. van Vogt.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wor...
... sometimes written The World of Ā, is a 1948 science fiction novel by Canadian-American writer A. E. van Vogt. It was originally published as a three-part serial in 1945 in Astounding Stories. It incorporates concepts from the General Semantics of Alfred Korzybski. The name Ā refers to non-Aristotelian logic.
Hollowman wrote: "The World of Null-Aby A. E. van Vogt.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wor...
... sometimes written The World of Ā, is a 1948 science fiction novel by Canadian-American writer A. E. van..."
I've read this book and I can't second this recommendation. While it was a major SF book in it's time, it hasn't dated well. The philosophical speculations are very heavy handed. Even among SF fans I don't know how many of them would know what General Semantics is. I read it, but primarily out of historic interest. I think it would be more likely to inspire a rant than a review from Luke. And I am not a member of the "make Luke rant" club.
Mod
by A. E. van Vogt.
"
I read this book before, but I don't have any memory of if I liked it or not. I have only vague memories. Maybe I'll try it. Probably not though.
Luke:You should. If you believe in synchronicity.
Just listened to episode #301 discussing Jack Vance's The Dying Earth and that reminded me (fondly) of The Blue World by the same author. It's a while ago that I've read it but I remember enjoying it a lot and as one of the books I would really like to see made into a movie. The world is so visually powerful and the drama of the conflict between the main character and the society he's living in could be exploited really well in film, I imagine. It's lo-tech scifi set on an ocean planet (hence the title) where people live on the giant leaves of water plants, communicate long-distance via large flag towers and have to deal with sea monsters. The resulting society worships the monsters and the story is basically that of a rebellion of the young against this establishment.
Anyone else here read this? I'd be very interested in hearing Luke's and Juliane's take on this one and if you consider reading it don't be put off by the cheesy cover art of most editions (the worst being the German from Moewig)...
Surprised Luke hasn't covered Piers Anthony. Maybe give Macroscope (1969) a try?
After Sea of Tranquility, I happened to try my first Adam-Tory Castro book, Emissaries from the Dead.I was expecting a murder investigation in space and got allot more sci-fi than I expected. A great pallet cleanser after Sea of Tranquility.
It's not perfect, and Luke will probably want to skip the final (aftermath) chapter, but I think both Luke and Juliane will enjoy discussing this novel.
It is a novel about the interaction between humanity and a god like AI taking place on a cylindrical space station / artificial world.
In places it reminded me of John Varley's, TitanTitan.
I'd like to recommend Gone World by Tom Sweterlitsch. First SF novel I've read/attempted in a few months that I actually liked. It feels more like a true crime novel with SF elements, mainly time travel, but they're significant. Confident writing, a story that kept my attention, and some trust placed in the reader to make connections. I listened to the Audible version, which I thought was pretty good. Feels like it could be turned into a movie.
On your recent episode (#518 - Shards of Earth) you talked about Adrian Tchaikovsky being of a similar background to you which means you're familiar with a lot of his influences. I couldn't agree more, being a Gen-Xer as well.He also seems to be a doing a tour of a lot of the classic SF book tropes, including parallel worlds (The Doors of Eden) and space opera (Shards of Earth and the rest of the trilogy). The Children of Time books are his take on hard science fiction.
One that might be of interest to you is his take on the "end of time" novel: Cage of Souls.
It's similar to what Michael Moorcock did with The Dancers at the End of Time, or Jack Vance did with The Dying Earth. I think Viriconium plays in this space as well, and Gene Wolfe seems influenced by this aesthetic as well.
Hi Luke, in episode 520 you asked for a recommendation for your ne4xt 5 star book.That is a tall order. I do not remember the books I've read thoroughly enough to cover all the 25 issues you've raised (I probably remember only about 5 of them right now). I often find that a book I really enjoyed had some flaws that I noticed but were minor for my overall enjoyment of the book, but you had serious issue with.
I want to recommend a book that may not be a 5 star book for you, but I think you'll enjoy analyzing its multiverse / time travel structure. It is definitely not feel good squeecore. If anything I think you may decry the level of brutality.
(I've tried to recommend it before but that was quite a while ago).
The Gone World
Kameron Hurley's review:
"Unreservedly five stars. I would have gone a different direction with the coda/epilogue, but hey, that's why I write my own books. This is a masterful book with quantum futures that made my head ache in the best way. What an astonishing writer. What a triumph".
Mod
That is a tall order. I do not remember the books I've read thoroughly enough to cover all the 25 issues you've r..."
I think you recommended this to me after I’d just read Replay or Recursion or some other time travel/time looping book, so I didn’t get to it then as it might have felt like treading on too recently trodden ground. It’s been long enough now to feel fresh, so I’ll give it a go.
I saw that you've only reviewed one book by Greg Bear. He's an amazing author. I highly recommend Blood Music and Anvil of Stars.
Chris wrote: "I saw that you've only reviewed one book by Greg Bear. He's an amazing author. I highly recommend Blood Music and Anvil of Stars."Moving Mars is also brilliant.
EDIT: I just saw that goodreads has it as the third in a supposed series starting with Queen of Angels. I've read both those books and I'm very surprised to hear that they're in any way related. You can definitely read it as a standalone.
Lindsay wrote: "Chris wrote: "I saw that you've only reviewed one book by Greg Bear. He's an amazing author. I highly recommend Blood Music and Anvil of Stars."Moving Mars is also brilliant.
EDIT:..."
Moving Mars is the one he's read!
Blood Music I gave three stars. It has some really interesting ideas but some of it felt really dated. In retrospect, some of what I may have considered "portrayals stuck in the mid-80s" may have been intentional characterization. I would be interested in what Luke thinks and I think it would be worth his time.
I listened to Darwin's Radio in 2021 but it didn't make much of an impression (then again, 2021). I remember it being kind of thriller-ish. I haven't read Eon but plan to. Suspect it is more my thing than Blood Music or Darwin's Radio.
I'd tentatively recommend The Thing Itself, a literary sci-fi horror novel by Adam Roberts. It plays around with ideas of the philosopher Kant and does some David Mitchell-like things. *I* liked it, but hard for me to guess whether it would fit the tastes of SFBRP. Seemed worth a mention. I'll note that the official blurb on GR is badly written, so don't put too much stock in that.
Ryan wrote: "I'd tentatively recommend The Thing Itself, a literary sci-fi horror novel by Adam Roberts. It plays around with ideas of the philosopher Kant and does some David Mitchell-like thin..."He has a thematic sequel, The This, which is based on Hegel's philosophy. I've yet to read either, but I liked the first chapter of The This.
Ori wrote: "He has a thematic sequel, The This, which is based on Hegel's philosophy. I've yet to read either, but I liked the first chapter of The This.."Funny, The This had already been on my "books to read" list before I'd even heard of The Thing Itself, but I hadn't remembered the author's name.
Now that I'm familiar with Adam Roberts, I'll give it a go.
Kant + Cosmic Horror, buying it right now!!!I was not aware of this book, thanks for the recommendation!
Ryan wrote: "I'd tentatively recommend The Thing Itself, a literary sci-fi horror novel by Adam Roberts."It's on the verge of being too literary and dense for me, but I'm persevering.
Ori wrote: "Ryan wrote: "I'd tentatively recommend The Thing Itself, a literary sci-fi horror novel by Adam Roberts."It's on the verge of being too literary and dense for me, but I'm persevering."
Yes, it is on the literary and dense side!
I'm actually partway through The This right now, which I'm enjoying even more than The Thing Itself. It's more straightahead SF, with clever writing. Have to finish it before I can say whether or not it's a recommend.
Now that I'm done with it, I think The This is a worthy read for SFBRP. It’s clever, cheeky, and philosophical (inspired by Hegel, but doesn’t mention him directly until afterward). First work of fiction I’ve read that really takes a hard look at the loneliness epidemic of recent years. Definitely SF. The author says it’s a follow up to The Thing Itself, but it’s more of an iteration on themes, with no actual plot connection, so it’s not necessary to read the earlier book.
Mod
I started it yesterday.
Here's a suggestion with a caveat:Central Station by Lavie Tidhar.
This is an author I'm a big fan of, partly because he frequently deals with Jewish and Israeli themes (which I am) in a very critical, nuanced, and subversive manner, and he's well versed in the history of the genre, and peppers it into his stories, which encourages me to learn more about it, both older works and the actual people involved.
The caveat:
This is a fix-up of interconnected short stories, that some deride as having "no plot".
This might put you off. Still, I find them wonderful. You don't need any familiarity with the region, politics, or history to enjoy them. They're also part of a larger "future history" setting that he's still exploring.
Mod
Today I was reminded of a wonderful book by Charles Stross. Don't be scared by the sexy cover, it may be a book about a sex robot, but all humans have died long ago and this sexy robot is just trying to survive in the post human robot society that has spread throughout the solar system.
I understand taht it's a spoof of Heinlein's Friday, but I haven't read that one so I missed the reference n my review.
Saturn's Children
I really enjoyed I Who Have Never Known Men, which was billed to me as an influential work of feminist speculative fiction from the 1990s. The audiobook is only six hours long and held my attention all the way through. I'd say that the term "speculative fiction" might be a better fit than "science fiction", but you've previously reviewed books that I would say the same thing about (such as Flowers for Algernon or The City & the City), so I figured I'd suggest it.
I think Amatka by Karin Tidbeck and Vita Nostra by Maryna and Serhiy Dyachenko would both result in good podcast episodes. Admittedly I only gave Amatka 3 stars, but please don't let that put you off. Also, Vita Nostra isn't sci-fi but I'm really struggling to find good sci-fi these days so good pieces of 'speculative fiction' will have to suffice.
Ryan wrote: "I think Amatka by Karin Tidbeck and Vita Nostra by Maryna and Serhiy Dyachenko would both result in good podcast episodes. Admittedly I only gave Amatka 3 stars, but please don't let that put you o..."I second that.
Amatka is 1984esc and Luke has interesting ideas about it and recently reviewed Julia.
I gave Vita Nostra 5 stars, but I vaguely remember Luke saying that he tried it and didn't connect with it.
The beginning is creepy and does seem like it's going to turn into pedophilia, It continues to be creepy, but doesn't become pedophilia.
Luke, have you noticed that there's a sequal to The Space Between Worlds? https://www.goodreads.com/series/3538...
Mod
https://www.goodreads.com/series/3538..."
I didn't notice that. Thanks!
I've just finished rereading Space Opera by Catherine M. Valente. I was surprised to see that Luke hasn's reviewed it.
It's a clever satire and Valente knows her sci-fi.
It's about music and performance arts as the measure of sapience.
It's about inclusion, without forgetting that the universe is an unforgiving place.
It has a particular writing style, a Rhythm that comes out wonderfully in the audiobook.
I also recommend Space Opera. Fair warning though, it takes a stab at Douglas Adams-like humor and that sort of absurdist satire isn't for everyone. She also doesn't have quite the comedic gift that Adams had either, but who has?
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They get dragged into an investigation where they find out the fanatics are building an atomic bomb and they are the only ones who can stop it. I like the characters and the science is real or at least believable. It's scary that technology might exist where they could build an atomic bomb with unenriched or depleted uranium.
It's available on Amazon.