I’m currently reading the Wool omnibus by Hugh Howey. It’s pretty decent I’ve been making very rapid progress as it’s been too hot to sleep here recently now the summer has arrived.
I haven’t seen the Apple show, but maybe I’ll watch it in the future when I’ve finished all the books (I had Shift and Dust as well).
I’m rereading Asimov’s complete saga in “internal story chronological order”:
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I, Robot / The Complete Robot (except ‘Mirror Image’!) [ROBOTS]
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The Caves of Steel [ROBOTS]
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The Naked Sun [ROBOTS]
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Mirror Image (short story) [ROBOTS]
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The Robots of Dawn [ROBOTS]
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Robots and Empire [ROBOTS]
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The Stars, Like Dust-- [EMPIRE]
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The Currents of Space [EMPIRE]
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Pebble in the Sky [EMPIRE]
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Prelude to Foundation [FOUNDATION]
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Forward the Foundation [FOUNDATION]
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Foundation [FOUNDATION]
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Foundation and Empire [FOUNDATION]
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Second Foundation [FOUNDATION]
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Foundation’s Edge [FOUNDATION]
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Foundation and Earth [FOUNDATION]
I’m currently on “Forward the foundation”
The Foundation series is absolutely amazing, and I am jealous of you if this is your first reading. One of my formative series growing up. You’re inspiring me to do the whole Asimov read through like your doing, because I don’t believe I ever read the Empire books and never read Robot beyond I, Robot.
I’m surprised The Caves of Steel is so early as it seemed really futuristic compared to most of The Complete Robot, but I read it a long time ago so maybe I’m not remembering correctly.
Well all short stories in The complete robot are with “normal humans” and their interactions with the first “robots” on earth when there was no faster than lights spaceships.
The Caves of Steel instead is the first of the robot saga where humanity is divided between human from earth that lives inside the big underground cities and the “spacers” which lived on several different planets and are almost a new spieces because they have been separated from earth for several centuries.
Honestly, has to be my favourite series. There’s just so much to it.
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Seveneves by Neal Stephenson. Was a recommendation on the R site.
Complex, eon spanning, hard sci-fi. I’m loving it!
I finished Seveneves a few weeks ago. If I wasn’t reading it with a friend I wouldn’t have finished. I am glad I did, I loved the last 1/4 of the book.
Amazing book! Loved it +1
If you could, what other sci-fi works would you compare it to? I am wrapping up the Children of Time series and could use something else.
I sold Seveneves to a friend by saying it is like Neal Stephenson wrote The Martian. Well, at least the first 2/3 of it. It talks a lot about the science how how an event like the one described in the book might happen but with the kind if granularity and verbosity you would expect from NS.
Working my way through some Hugo winners past— reading A Canticle for Liebowitz by Walter M Miller.
I really liked Canticle, but I really felt like it suffered from being a fix-up novel. It’s three acts are not equal and don’t totally fit together in my opinion. It really starts off strong though! Hope you like it!
I’m enjoying it! I love a solid premise and the references to modern science appearing as obscure archeological nuggets are perfect. There are some bits I’m guessing that I’m missing some symbolism or something (I’m not an expert in Catholicism).
For what it’s worth, several Catholics I know have also had to read the book with notes open on the side. Monastic culture and tradition isn’t exactly common knowledge anymore, though I’m not sure if they would have been in the 50s, or if Miller just trusts that his reader is smart enough to catch on.
If you like Canticle, consider looking into the works of Gene Wolfe. He also writes very re-readable sci-fi that expects much of the reader, and delivers much in turn.
Thanks! That does make me feel a bit better! Will look into Wolfe.
Reading Noor right now. Very enjoyable and it will be quick read.
Roadside Picnic by brothers Strugatsky.
It’s really fun, with a cool premise. It’s a classic though. Basically: Aliens come to Earth for a fraction of second and dump their garbage there. The places of impact are basically turned into paranormal zones and people are actively trying to scavenge the wonders of the civilisation so alien to us we couldn’t even catch a glimpse of what they are.
For all its alien backdrop, it was the human element of Roadside Picnic that I found more terrifying. I needed a more cheerful and upbeat story as a palate cleanser from its dismal outlook.
Currently reading Foundation and Earth by Asimov, I absolutely loved the original trilogy so I’ve been reading through the sequels and plan on going back to the prequels after. In my opinion the sequels have a big shift in pacing and sort of the way that the plot develops… not sure how I feel about that. On one hand it is easier to keep up with with less characters, but on the other it feels like the scale of things is much smaller. Trying to not spoil anything. The series is a fantastic read nevertheless!
I’ve only read the original Foundation trilogy, would you recommend the others?
I am a fan of Isaac Asimov. I definitely suggest the books The End of Eternity and Nightfall.
Difficult to say. If you keep in mind, that he wrote the sequels 30 years or so later and acknowledge that one’s views change over such a period, then go ahead. If you, however, expect the same flavor as the trilogy, then I wouldn’t recommend reading foundation’s edge and foundation and earth. And although these are meant as an introduction to the men behind time, that one makes no reference to the foundation trilogy. So it’s fine to just read the end of eternity on its own.
I can only comment on the sequels so far since I haven’t gotten to the prequels, but I’d say if you are open to a bit of a change in pace then it’s definitely worth it. But it’s definitely a bit different, it was written like 30 years later as someone else mentioned. So definitely worth taking that into consideration.
Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson. Book 3 in the Words of Radiance series.
I’ve read the first and second one. I need to go back to them but they are so big…
Has anyone told about our lord and savior, the audiobook? listening while driving, doing housework, ect can free up crazy time. And if you dont want your first read to be audio, use it for rereads!
I read faster than I listen/talk so have trouble with spoken books. The eyes are faster than the ears. Hate video explanations of things for the same reason, usually end up reading transcripts.
Spoken conversations with real people move at the right pace for me, entertainment TV shows too, and some radio theatre stuff is good but books, have not been able to enjoy them like that, it feels plodding. To be fair I have no driving commute though. One of my coworkers listens to audiobooks only while driving and says that’s the way to do it.
Yeah, I “read” the first book of ASOIAF like that. It can be hard to concentrate sometimes though.
honestly the recording of asoiaf left a Lot to be desired. unless they have released a newer version with a different speaker.
I had the one with Roy Dotrice? I liked it.
I also liked Roy, but my wife hated him.
I’m waiting to start the 4th book and reading the Mistborn series first - I want to learn more about the Cosmere! I love the storm light archive but a friend convinced me I would get more out of it if I read Warbreaker and then the Mistborn series first. Warbreaker lets you learn some about characters that appear on Roshar.
I mean I absolutely adore mistborn but I don’t see why you would need to read it before stormlight… certainly won’t hurt because it’s a pretty good series but the connections are very few and exceptionally far between. I didn’t even recognize any connections at all until I read some post pointing out like a single sentence here and there that mentions a character or a vague reference to a place or event that might be from mistborn
I think it is more to understand the laws of the Cosmere more. Like investiture and how gods work and etc.
I agree actual story wise there isn’t a lot to gain, but I just want to understand the Cosmere before continuing Stormlight and potentially missing things because I don’t know better yet
I have a couple things on deck:
- Light from Uncommon Stars - Ryka Aoki - I’ve seen this one recommended several times, and finally decided to give it a spin.
- 36 Streets - T.R. Napper - A more niche title, but something to hopefully give me a bit of a noir fix.
Light From Uncommon Stars is the most memorable book I’ve read in years. It’s a beautifully-written, extremely ambitious novel about demons, found family, donuts, Asian cuisine, interstellar war, gender identity, the violin, loyalty, good and evil, beauty, fear and love. Plus, it takes place in the San Gabriel Valley, which is my old stomping ground. It may not be to everyone’s taste, but I absolutely loved it.
There you go, another strong recommendation! I just have to wrap up Mexican Gothica and then I’m all in.
A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine.
I really loved the first book in the series, A Memory Called Empire, but I find the second one harder to get through. The writing really gets into the protagonist’s head, and with all the stress she’s in, it gets… claustrophobic, I guess, for me. I wish there was a bit more focus on the plot about the cool mysterious aliens.
I’ve been working through The Expanse books, and have just started Leviathan Falls.
How do you like the expanse? I’ve heard they are awesome!
I’m about halfway through Persepolis Rising. That prologue was one hell of a jolt!
Wool was great. And the show was good too. You can basically watch the first season after finishing Wool, if you’d like.
I’m reading He Who Fights With Monsters but I’m going to dig through this thread and find a good scifi novel to read next!
I just started HWFWM and it’s my first LitRPG. Very different from what I’m used to reading but I really like so far. Going to try and finish it before I start Brandon Sanderson secret novel #3
It was my first LitRPG too. I wasn’t sure I’d like it but I do. I’m on the 3rd book, actually.
I haven’t read anything by Sanderson yet but I follow him on social media and I really like him.
I’m working my way through both the Murderbot Diaries (just started Network Effect) and the Rivers of London series (just finished Broken Homes, though this series is more urban fantasy). Both and very enjoyable!
The murderbot stories get so much praise but I was never able to get into them. I binge read (well, actually binge listened) to the Rivers of London books a few months ago and thought they were first-rate.
I just finished the new Ann Leckie book, Translation State, which I liked very much. If you couldn’t get enough of the the Imperial Radch universe it’s a must read.
Oooh thanks for the rec, I’ll put it on the list! I do tend to lean towards more fantasy/horror and less sci-fi, but I very much liked Murderbot’s voice as a narrator (and the universe is fascinating).
My wife and I just ran through the whole murderbot series. They are such a fun read. I’m convinced that the author plays/has played a ton of Shadowrun.
I love murderbot, this is probably one of my most favorite series of all time! Honestly, I can’t get enough. The seventh is due out this year too, I believe!
Broken Earth Trilogy. I finished reading the entire Wool series many years back and gave it a 3.5/5. Really strong start but unfortunately the pacing for the rest of it wasn’t quite to my liking.
I am currently reading “Wool - Silo, book 1” by Hugh Howey. It’s an incredible post-apocalyptic story about a fully functioning society that resides inside a massive silo. Nobody can venture outside due to the toxic environment outside that make survival impossible, even with protective clothing.
I am reading the same book haha… I think maybe I will finish it this evening.
Just finished The Dispossessed, by Ursula Le Guin and going to look for a library where I can buy the next book in the Hain cycle !
