SFBRP Listeners discussion
Books I would like to see reviewed
message 301:
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Pascal
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Jan 02, 2016 11:07AM
Thanks for continuing the Malazan books. I am looking forward to hear more. :)
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I've just started reading Octavia Butler. Parable of the Sower is excellent I'm looking forward to getting to the sequel. Dawn is also excellent a very different alien species which was very interesting, also the first in a series, and to be made into a TV series I heard. Kindred is also excellent although not very much science fiction apart from time travel. I read a few chapters of Fledgling, which is a vampire one, but couldn't get into it. Seemed a bit like Let the Right One In but not as good. But maybe I didn't do it justice and will revisit it. Just got a copy of the Terry Pratchett / Stephen Baxter series first two books but haven't tried them yet, would also be interested in your thoughts on those.
HiI would like to recommend the Post-Human by David Simpson.
They are 4 relatively short books that you can get in one big omnibus audible package here: http://www.audible.com/pd/Sci-Fi-Fant... (total 25Hours for 4 books)
They are relatively straight forward science fiction adventures having trans and post human civilization as a backdrop. The series goes through quite an evolution as it covers many years of human development. Much of it is also about future soldiers fighting and not robots thinking about being human and committing suicide, so they are quite a fun read.
There are more books in the series (at least one as far as I know).
I would like to hear a review on John Mireau's Subversion. It's not like anything else I have read. A little bit of little grey men, a little bit detective novel, a little bit action adventure space opera, a little bit corporate conspiracy all in the very near future.https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
Ramez Naam's Nexus trilogy is a brilliant near-term techno-thriller with interesting repercussions from a new smart-drug that actually creates a computing platform within the users brain allowing all kinds of interesting capabilities, with the unfortunate, but obvious, side-effects. Great reads and he won the 2015 John W. Campbell Award based on this work. Start with Nexus.
Gregg wrote: "Ramez Naam's Nexus trilogy is a brilliant near-term techno-thriller with interesting repercussions from a new smart-drug that actually creates a computing platform within the users brain allowing a..."I second this recommendation.
Tommy wrote: "Two Urban Fantasy series come to my mind:Has anyone recommended the Iron Druid? I really enjoyed it. As for why I think it's worth it, is simply I believe it's highly entertaining, and compared to..."
I don't think the iron druid will be something Luke likes. It has a young adult feel all over it.
Lars wrote: "Much of it is also about future soldiers fighting and not robots thinking about being human and committing suicide..."Could you provide a bibliography of Suicidal Robot books/stories, as this ranks among my favorite sub-sub-subgenres, and I have a completist's mania to read them all.
Hi LukeHas anyone mentioned Crashing Heaven to you? Al Robertson is a new writer who has worked in the film business and has a strong visual sense, some cracking principal characters, a very sharp debut novel.
Quantum Nights by Robert J. SawyerI just could not stop reading this book. It's one of the few books I ever read within 24 hours.
The story is very well put together structurally with cuts to different facades of the story. The story gets more and more interesting and the mystery is maintained even as reveals are continuously made. The writing is good, simple and clear, not getting in the way of the story.
After reading some good books, I usually add 3-4 more books on my reading queue as they are referenced within those books, but this one has probably the most books and white papers reference I have ever read, including science books. It even has a "further reading" list at the end with all the scientific papers and books used to build the story.
Just released in March 1st 2016, I will be amazed if this does not win some big book awards. I would be interested to hear other opinions on this book.
This was my first book ever from this author. I was looking for a while to pick up one of his books and decided to wait for his new one. Needless to say, I have some more reading to do now.
What about reviewing Lev Grossman's "The Magicians" trilogy. Someone on Goodreads characterized it as "Harry Potter goes to Narnia, for grownups"
Listening your podcast #297 and heard you complain about Brandon Sanderson and him having only one kind of joke. I guess I know where this comes from, but I have to disagree. He has several different series of novels and each of those has entirely different style to it. Including what is or isn't considered funny in the book. Something totally different by Brandon Sanderson is the "Steelheart". If you've read his fantasy books, this is going to be something completely different.
So I was intrigued by Egan with your review of Schild's Ladder, and last year made a first attempt and failed at reading it. Was just too crazy, the scifi to far.I ended up reading Permutation City, got through it and really enjoyed it. Having been "primed" to Egan in this way, I just recently finished Schild's Ladder.
Now, my recommendation here is for another Egan novel, Diaspora. Of the 3 Egan novels I've read so far, Diaspora is the most extreme, hard-as-nails scifi. Schild's Ladder is tame by comparison. (slight hyperbole, but I hope you take my meaning).
So yeah, in conclusion, I'd really like to hear your thoughts on Diaspora :D
Pavane by Keith Roberts is by far the best alternative history book I've read. You may well have read it, but even then it would make a great discussion episode between you and Juliane. The book is short and snappy, and it contains many of the themes you seem to enjoy (religion, technology).
I second the recommendation for Diaspora. one of my favourite books ever. It is as hard science fiction as any Greg has written but somehow an easier read.
Hi Luke, I recently started re-reading my teenage obsession comic books (Valerian and Veronique) which you may have heard in the context of Luc Besson's latest movie endeavour...
Any thoughts on that? Would LOVE to hear your opinion about it (the comic books as well as the movie - well, as much as is known right no)
Though I am aware that speculation and movie reviews are not your 'core business' :)
cheers marcel
Martin wrote: "There's a lot I like about Harry Harrison, besides his nifty name. I think The Stainless Steel Rat is great - at least a 3 star by Luke's method - although now rather dated and very much a young wr..."this is an interesting one. I loved HH when I was a teen. Rereading him now with 40, is a bit of a turn-off. His writing isn't rally that great. It feels a bit like expecting a bad Schwaerzenegger movie to be intellectual excitement :)
Anyone sharing this disappointment?
Sean wrote: "Is it true Shades of Grey started out as Twilight fan fiction? I think someone said something about that somewhere I just don't recall where. Could be complete nonsense."Hi, I think that's pretty much a given: http://uk.businessinsider.com/fifty-s...
Sorry if this has come up before, but I'd like to get peoples (Luke's :) ) opinion on John M Harrison's Light Triliogy as well as on Ballantyne's Recursion Trillogy which both I believe to be adding something quite new (in very different ways) to SF...Any opinions?
I would like to recommend the following series/books by fantasy authors Fritz Leiber and Robert E. Howard who published during the old pulp/Weird Tales era, some of which tend to get overlooked or have been forgotten, which is a shame, as they produced some really great work in the genre. 1.) Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser series is one my favorites. Leiber’s elegant and witty prose style works beautifully on the foggy streets of Lankhmar. A great fantasists and a wonderful prose stylist. Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser are great characters, as easily to get drunk and chase women as they are to get themselves in and out of trouble with laughter and swords.
I’l just quote the pair’s first meeting in Ill Met in Lankhmar:
Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser faced each other across the two thieves sprawled senseless. They were poised for attack, yet for the moment neither moved.
Each discerned something inexplicably familiar in the other.
Fafhrd said, "Our motives for being here seem identical."
"Seem? Surely must be!" the Mouser answered curtly, fiercely eyeing this potential new foe, who was taller by a head than the tall thief.
"You said?"
"I said, 'Seem? Surely, must be!'"
"How civilized of you!" Fafhrd commented in pleased tones.
"Civilized?" the Mouser demanded suspiciously, gripping his dirk tighter.
"Take care, in the eye of action, exactly what's said," Fafhrd explained. Without letting the Mouser out of his vision, he glanced down. His gaze traveled from the belt and pouch of the one fallen thief to those of the other. Then he looked up at the Mouser with a broad, ingenuous smile.
"Sixty-sixty?" he suggested.
The Mouser hesitated, sheathed his dirk, and rapped out, "A deal!”
And thus begins one of the greatest partnerships in fantasy history.
2.) Robert E. Howard’s original Conan the Barbarian series. This may seem like a weird recommendation, but if you have never read the originals (the awful versions by DeCamp and others don’t count), then you are missing out on some incredible writing. Howard’s prose was visceral and exciting, as well as sensual and perverse. The series consists mainly of short stories collected in order to create the mythos, and then one full length novel. Each story pretty much stands on its own, though. I think my favorite is Red Nails, which I’ll quote a little here, just to give you a taste of his language, but I don't think you can go wrong with any of his stories.
His descriptions of battle:
It was the death-fight of rabid wolves, blind, panting, merciless. Back and forth it surged, from door to dais, blades whickering and striking into flesh, blood spurting, feet stamping the crimson floor where redder pools were forming. Ivory tables crashed over, seats were splintered, velvet hangings torn down were stained red…..
or this strange, erotic passage:
Valeria awoke suddenly on her couch. In the dusky emerald glow of the fire-gems she saw a shadowy figure bending over her. For a bemused instant the apparition seemed part of the dream she had been dreaming. She had seemed to lie on the couch in the chamber as she was actually lying, while over her pulsed and throbbed a gigantic black blossom so enormous that it hid the ceiling. Its exotic perfume pervaded her being, inducing a delicious, sensuous languor that was something more and less than sleep. She was sinking into scented billows of insensible bliss, when something touched her face. So supersensitive were her drugged senses, that the light touch was like a dislocating impact, jolting her rudely into full wakefulness. Then it was that she saw, not a gargantuan blossom, but a dark-skinned woman standing above her…..
….."You sulky slut!" she said between her teeth. "I'm going to strip you stark naked and tie you across that couch and whip you until you tell me what you were doing here, and who sent you!"
Just started listening to the podcast and quite enjoying it. Have you considered reviewing The Road by Cormac Mccarthy?I would love to hear the Word and Void series by Terry Brooks (urban fantasy) reviewed as well.
Alexander wrote: "Lars wrote: "Much of it is also about future soldiers fighting and not robots thinking about being human and committing suicide..."Could you provide a bibliography of Suicidal Robot books/stories..."
Lol, this is amazing.
Two books I've read recently that I'd like you to read because I thought they were a lot of fun are:The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet - it's not out in print in the United States yet but I ordered mine from the UK. I thought the pacing was great and loved the characters. Amazingly this was longlisted for the Baileys Women's Prize for fiction although it did not make the short list.
Central Station by Lavie Tidhar or really anything by Tidhar - this is the first book I've read by him and want to know about the others. This was fun to read too. It comes out here May 10 so it might not be out where you are yet either, but soon.
Can I second Becky Chambers' "The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet" it's received a lot of attention and is out on Audible so easy for you to access, Luke. A lot of people are praising it, but like any other title there's a chance it will be subjected to the SFBRP 'hair dryer' treatment, whatever your opinion I think it would make for an entertaining epsode
I also loved The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, but I will take a guess that Luke is going to hate it. It's a long gentle and affectionate character study without much of a plot. Kind of like The Goblin Emperor.I would suggest:
Radiance by Catherynne M. Valente
This is an interesting novel told about a documentary film maker who disappeared on Venus. It's set in an alternate solar system similar to that postulated in the early part of the 20th century (inhabitable planets that are easily got to) and also set in the early and middle parts of the 20th century. It's also an epistolary novel, so it's got an interesting structure.
New Moon by Ian McDonald
First of a two parter with the second due out later in the year. It's been called "Game of Domes" but I also see elements of soapy drama shows like Dallas or Dynasty. And it's all about moon colonization and exploitation.
I'm also a big fan of Adrian Tchaikovsky's Children of Time. Far future, terraforming, bioforming, nanotech and generation/cold storage ships with uplifted spiders and ants. Criminally underappreciated.
Mod
I didn't hate The Goblin Emperor, that I remember, I just found it disappointing and mostly boring.
The audiobook for The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet isn't available in Germany yet, but I added it to me to-read list.
Oh but I didn't enjoy The Goblin Emperor one bit and enjoyed The Long Way.... And Radiance, I think you either love or hate. It's not a great audio read from what I understand. (Lindsay did you do print or audio?) I love Valente but have struggled to connect with her last few books, which makes me so sad.
Looking back on the thread I just wanted to give a boost to Nexus by Ramez Naam. That trilogy was quite brilliant with a technological path to telepathy and the implications behind that. Group minds/shared consciousness/AIs and how governments would react to these things.Also another note on one I recommended earlier: Children of Time ended up on the shortlist for the Clarke Award.
I haven't listened to Luke's review of The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet yet, but the other books on the Arthur C. CLake award shortlist sound really interesting too and I have just added them to my wish list, so I would like to recommend them for the podcast.Europe at Midnight – Dave Hutchinson (this is book 2 in the series so I will recommend Europe in Autumn instead)
The Book of Phoenix – Nnedi Okorafor
Arcadia – Iain Pears
Way Down Dark – J.P. Smythe
Children of Time – Adrian Tchaikovsky
Luke, I think you'd like The Glamour by Christopher Priest (you've already reviewed a couple of his books). It's a clever mind-bender that kept me guessing until the end about what was "real" in the story. The conclusion was fun to sit down and ponder for a while.Also, I'd second Arcadia by Iain Pears, which Isabel mentions above. It's also a fairly clever (but more light-hearted) book, with some interesting ideas about time travel.
And I agree with Lindsay on Ian McDonald's New Moon. Really liked the first book, awaiting the second. (Haven't read the others he mentions.)
Ryan wrote: "And I agree with Lindsay on Ian McDonald's New Moon. Really liked the first book, awaiting the second. (Haven't read the others he mentions.)"Unfortunately the second one has been delayed until next year.
I also recommend Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee. Incredibly imaginative with exotic physics, a really interesting cultural setup and two main characters that are brilliantly done. The first chapter drops you in it and is in no way forgiving and half the fun is working out how this world works.
Alastair Reynolds has a new book out. All I know is it's got space pirates -- the best kind of pirates.
Mod
It's not out as an audiobook yet :/
Mod
Why I think you should NOT read Revenger by Alastair Reynolds (no spoilers):It's feels like some editor advised Alastair Reynolds to write a young adult novel (because that's the cool thing to do these days) but because of some gory story details, in the end, it can't really be marketed like that.
At the core of this book there is a very weak and predictable story of growing up, typical from my experience of young adult novels.
The books is marketed as a space pirate book but other than some quirks in the language of the characters (which makes then sound ridiculous for someone flying space ships) they are far from seeming like real pirates.
The universe looks interesting but the author doesn't reveal any of it's core mysteries, instead focusing on the dull story.
There is no proper background science to the universe as one would come to expect of books written by Alastair Reynolds.
As a huge admirer of all his previous novels, this one has left me quite disappointed.
Luke's rant episodes are the best. They are almost non stop hilarious. I love it when he has a real hate on for a novel.
Just did my first ever return on audible for Revenger. Got 4 hours in and couldn't carry on.
Quick question about the kind of books reviewed: obviously the podcast is called the Science Fiction Book Review Podcast, and it's not too much of a stress to expand that to fantasy as well, but do you draw a fine line between that and, say, Gothic fiction, "weird fiction," magical realism, etc.? Would you ever review, say, Edgar Allen Poe or Karen Blixen or GK Chesterton? Also, you've reviewed Ted Chiang short stories in the past, would you ever consider reviewing another short story collection in the future?
Mod
More recently I reviewed Her Smoke Rose Up Forever by James Tiptree Jr, which is a single author collection.
I think single author collections are "books" so I'm happy to review them on the podcast, and I can put in a single name in the author part of the podcast title. Anthologies not so much.
I don’t know if you’ve read or reviewed this or not, but Jeff VanderMeer’s Annihilation (Book 1 in his Southern Reach series) is a really weird and compelling science fiction book. I honestly didn’t quite know what to make of it, or even if I liked it…but I could not (and cannot) stop thinking about it long after I finished it. It’s hard for me to explain this book…it’s almost inexplicable. And maybe that’s the exactly how it was intended. Basically, something “happened” in a coastal town and transformed it into a hodgepodge of eco-systems in one geographic location, dubbed “Area X”. Repeated expeditions over the years have been met with horrifying, baffling results (the first expedition maps it, the second all commit mass suicide, while other expeditions either kill each other or return “changed”, a shadow of their former selves…). And not only that, but Area X is slowly growing, like a fungus. The story begins with a new expedition with only four members, none of who are actually named, but rather designated by their role: The Psychologist, the Surveyor, the Anthropologist, and the Biologist, who is the narrator. Also, they are all women.
Suffice to say, strange, creepy things happen to this expedition. And things aren’t what they seem. Like the fact that the team calls the tunnel they are exploring “a tunnel”, but the Biologist (narrator) insists on calling it "The Tower". Fungus grows on the interior of “The Tower”, spelling out weird, incorrect sentences that seem to be trying to say something. A creature called The Crawler is stalking them, and apparently indescribable in nature. And the Psychologist, who is the leader of the expedition, may have a hidden agenda.
If this book resembles anything, it may be the classic Russian sci-fi novel, Roadside Picnic (made into the very weird, poetic movie Stalker). Again, not sure if you will like it, but I’m pretty certain it will get under your skin.
Anthony- Luke reviewed. Check out SFBRP #253. I really enjoyed the following two books also.
Yes, Luke did this one back in episode 253 and he gave it 4 stars.
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