For me in SciFi I’ve been trying to hit some classics so I’ve read ‘The Iron Dream’ by Norman Spinrad, ‘A Time of Changes’ by Robert Silverberg and also the (recent release) ‘Out of the Ruins’ anthology.
Of those three I enjoyed ‘The Iron Dream’ the most since I didn’t enjoy Silverberg’s potraryal of women (and it doesn’t seem to have literary intent like in ‘The Iron Dream’.) 'Out of the Ruins had some bangers but it was a fairly inconsistent collection for me that mostly hasn’t been memorable.
So, what are you currently reading or have recently read?
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I recently finally got around to reading Anathem and was blown away, so much detail, so much going on. And from someone who reads alot of philosophy, that aspect felt like it was handled naturally in the book and not infodumped.
It’s a really special book. I’m not sure I buy into the many worlds interpretation but I loved how the book delved into it in a very original eay and avoided common tropes.
I haven’t read any of the books you mentioned in your post so I am not sure if these are up your alley or not, but the last 3 sci-fi books I’ve read have all knocked it out of the park for me:
- Seveneves - Neal Stephenson
- Spin - Robert Charles Wilson
- Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir
You can tell I am a sucker for all books dealing with the impossible vastness of space 🤣
I’ve been reading The Blighted Stars, which I’m quite enjoying. Nothing too serious but a fun read.
Had recently finished Permutation City by Greg Egan, which was excellent. Picked up a book that I had in my to-read pile for a while, expecting it to be a silly adventure story for a lightweight break. It was pitched to me as “cavemen vs dinosaurs.” West of Eden by Harry Herrison is… Not that. But I’m definitely enjoying the unexpected dive into genetic engineering worldbuilding, cross species linguistics, and genuinely interesting politics!
Not currently reading any sci-fi but I read “Station Eleven” by Emily St. John Mandel recently and I thought it was amazing. It’s pretty light on sci-fi concepts really, but it’s an interesting take on the apocalypse.
Recently filled in one of the gaps in the Culture series by the late, great Iain M Banks (that I didn’t even realize I’d missed!). Surface Detail is another quality entry, dealing with virtual afterlives and presents a little more context of the Culture in a broader galactic context than we normally see it.
Recently finished Children of Memory by Adrian Tchaikovsky, which is the third in his series that started with Children of Time.
Children of Time immediately became my second favourite scifi book of all time, and possibly my favourite ever book ending, but I didn’t find the second installment really held up that well. Happy to report that Children of Memory, while not quite hitting those heady heights, was pretty good! A little repetitive in parts, but some very cool concepts.
I did start Children of Time but for some reason didn’t go past the first couple of chapters. Will have to give it another shot sometime.
Definitely worth a try! Hope you love it as much as I do.
Children of Memory has started a never-ending debate between me and a coworker about weather we’re sentient, or just really good at repeating noticed patters. Very interesting thing to think about
I’ve been reading The Expanse series. I was meaning to get too it for a while but stumbled across the first book in a bookshop, so I grabbed it. Yeah, really good had to read the entire series so I’m making my way through it. I’m currently on book 4, so I haven’t quite overtaken where I left the Amazon series.
I lovveeed The Expanse and read through the whole things last year. I also ended up dropping the TV show after catching up in the books. The show is good but the books are fantastic.
Currently on the 3rd book of The Three-Body Problem and holy shit, good stuff. Each book gets better and better.
For a good way gender (or lack thereof) and such is portrayed in a sci-fi/space soap, I’m a huge fan of Becky Chamber’s Wayfarers series. I need and want more!
I got through the first book in Three Body, but while I liked some of the philosophical and crazy-tech explorations, I really struggled with the writing/translation style. It was so stilted and awkward to read that it put me off trying to read the following volumes.
really? was it all the jumping around? anyway, 50% through the 3rd and I quite love it
