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.
It’s not my first, I think it’s my third read-through, but the first in the original language instead of my mother language (Italian).
Yes, I really recommend reading the whole series, it’s just amazing!
Honestly, has to be my favourite series. There’s just so much to it.
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.
I did this last year. It’s quite amazing to read through.
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I’m currently reading Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey, which is the first book of the Expanse series. I haven’t watched the TV series, since I wanted to dive into the books without previous knowledge.
I’ve read all of them. The TV series is incredible as well and had the full involvement of the authors. Some stuff is done better in the books (like the stuff that doesn’t translate so well to screen such as the lanky belters and zero-gravity) and some stuff is done better in the TV show (they had an incredibly good cast of actors, all of whom really added to the roles - Krisjen, Ashford and Drummer in particular were amazing).
It was a really really good adaptation and it’s quite rare you see that.
And they are magnificent.
So is the TV series ; -)
I really hope the last books can get a continuation in the show, even in movie format
Amazing series of books that are up in my top three, still trying to find time to read Leviathan Falls (the final book). The story gets crazy.
Right? It starts off all very hard sci-fi, the only “magic” is a rocket motor that makes travel around the solar system doable on story-friendly timelines.
That expectation gets broken pretty quickly, and it really is amazing how far the story goes after such a simple beginning as the incident with the Canterbury!
I’m on Tiamats Wake in the Expanse series, love it
Tiamet’s Wrath*
Best book in the series. It’s so damn good.
God-damned amazing series! I need to read it again
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.
I love that book. Very ambitious and enjoyable.
Amazing book! Loved it +1
How far in are you?
Just moved on to Kath Two. After all the fun with Izzy and The Cannibals ;-)
Izzy and the what?! 👀😵
Can’t reply too much - spoilers!
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.
Not sure. Tried a couple of Adrian Tchaikovsky and couldn’t really get on. Could be because they were audiobooks.
Have been ‘off’ of reading for a while, but have realised a new found love for my Kindle.
Andy Wier’s Hail Mary might fit your bill.
Or Iain Banks’ Culture series.
I just finished up a first time read of Wheel of Time series. Solid 8 months of reading but 100% worth it. Mat Cauthon is my second favorite character ever written I think.
I could never keep the “chosen” straight. Some die, then get reincarnated, but as someone else that you kinda new. Maybe If O had crushed the series im 8 months instead of book by book as they were released if would have been easier to follow.
And yes, Mat is GREAT, which made Perrin super unlikable for me, just due to the unintentional comparison.
Honestly, same with Perrin for me. By the end of the series I wanted to skip Perrin chapters. He’s just so…Perrin.
As for the Chosen I couldn’t keep them straight at all. I had to look them up on the WoT wiki and try to keep from spoilering myself.
Who is your first favourite character ever written?
Teft from the Stormlight Archive.
I’m Listening currently because it’s convenient at work but, Finishing the Bobiverse for my 3rd go around
Ray Porter does a great job! I kept thinking about the Bobiverse when listening to Project Hail Mary, which he also narrates
Love the Bobbiverse! And the audio version is very well done
I’m ready for the next book, tired of waiting!
I listened to the 2nd and 3rd books of the Murderbot series on a car ride recently. I had read them before, but it was the first time that he did. I really enjoyed laughing with him.
I’m on the fifth book in the series - they’re wonderful!
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).
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!
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’ve been working through The Expanse books, and have just started Leviathan Falls.
I hope we get an adaptation of the last three books someday. Some really awesome stuff happens.
I’m about halfway through Persepolis Rising. That prologue was one hell of a jolt!
How do you like the expanse? I’ve heard they are awesome!
Not the person you replied to, but I have read the series and watched the show. It’s fantastic. I highly recommend both.
Contrarian view here.
The Expanse the show is great. My spouse and I couldn’t believe that it was an adaptation of books that we just couldn’t get through.
We’re avid readers of science fiction and always looking for new authors and series. This is to say we read picked up Levitation Falls when it first appeared on bookstore shelves in 2011. There was no television show to scaffold us and we found the books just weren’t enough on their own.
We simply found the books just not that original or well enough written to draw us in. Both my spouse and I slogged through Leviathan Falls and DNFd the second book when they came out.
We both found them derivative of a good deal of of other work against which they didn’t add - specifically CJ Cherryh’s Company Wars written in the 80s and 90s would be at the top of that subgenre. The big central mystery seems to follow the plot arc of the Star Trek Vanguard novel series published 2005-2012.
It may be that the Expanse handled the central mystery better than Vanguard over the long run of the book series, and I suspect it did based on television version of The Expanse. I just can’t see the books as the peak of space opera that they are held up to be.
I finished up rereading that series a few weeks ago. Just an excellent story (and pretty faithful tv series).
Children of Memory by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Wild book. 3rd in the series. Not finished yet but the first two were incredible.
Nice, I’m about halfway through the second and loving it!
Excellent choice. I finished Children of Memory a few weeks ago. It’s incredible in a different way. Tchaikovsky is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors.
Just finished it a few days ago, one of my all time favorite series after randomly discovering it last year. I hope you enjoy Children of Memory as much as I did, wild ride indeed.
I’m currently reading Chibola Burn, the forth book in The Expanse series. Really enjoying it, specially since the third one was my least favorite of the first three. So it feels good to be loving a book in the series again.
I would recommend the series to fans of somewhat believable sci-fi.
The Expanse is the best piece of sci-fi I have read in a long time!
One of the greatest of all time. It deserves every accolade it receives.
Cibola Burn was my favorite as well! Seems like it’s one people either really love or hate. My favorite was probably the last book in the series, Leviathan Falls, but Cibola was a close second.
Terry Pratchett’s books on Discworld 📖
I’m reading Pyramids right now. Where are you at in the series?
Equal Rites 😅
Ah, I liked that one. Granny is a great character, I think.
Did you start the series from the beginning, chronologically?Yes, I went with chronological/ year of publication order. I Don’t know if it’s the best tho 😅
I started with Guards! Guards! and then continued from the beginning after that (more or less… I accidentally read Wyrd Sisters instead of Equal Rites, so a little bit out of order)
No matter the order… this is Discworld! 💿🗺️
It’s the best in my opinion since events in one book have consequences in other books even if they’re not of the same sub series (Witches/Night Watch/Wizards/etc).
I’m yet to explore that 😅
The most wonderful and re-readable of books. Enjoy!
Definitely enjoying it already 🥰
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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.
Just ended with ‘Children of Time’ by Adrian Tchaikovsky and will now start ‘Children of Ruin’ (the second in the series). I liked it a lot,… the gist of it:
- Humans terraform planets
- Humans want ‘crispr’ intelligent apes
- Humans kill each other
- Crispr can’t find apes,… uses spiders instead
- Other Humans come eons later and find intelligent spiders
The story is told through the eyes of the spiders and the surviving humans and how they try to communicate, think in different terms, fight for the last habitable planet,…
Currently reading The Frugal Wizard’s Guidebook to Surviving Medieval England by Brandon Sanderson. Interesting mix of Sci-Fi and Fantasy
I’ve never heard of this, it’s going right at the top of the list to read, thanks!
