Science Fiction
Welcome to /c/ScienceFiction
December book club canceled. Short stories instead!
We are a community for discussing all things Science Fiction. We want this to be a place for members to discuss and share everything they love about Science Fiction, whether that be books, movies, TV shows and more. Please feel free to take part and help our community grow.
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I’m reading The Best Of World SF Vol 2 compilation, edited by Lavie Tidhar. There are some phenomenal short stories in this and the first one, and I really enjoy hearing voices from outside the English-speaking bubble that I usually read
House of Leaves. Although I'm struggling because I haven't read a physical book in years and I can't bring it everywhere like I can my Leaf 2.
Man, I read that and all the crazy notes in all different directions. Quite a trip. I personally think it could have been a bit shorter and deliver the same effect, but it really is pretty neat and original. I hope they make it into a film or show someday - it deserves the treatment and the author deserves the $$.
I bought the two Asimov sets of the Robot books and Foundation books, but still need to finish The Stranger Times (Urban fantasy) before delving into that. Read The Eyes of the Void by Adrian Tchaikovsky before that.
I am rereading Malazan Book of the Fallen. Just started the fourth book, House of Chains.
The start of this book is the hardest for me to get through. The first couple of chapters are really boring to me and it's only after
spoiler
Karsa is captured and Torvald Nom is introduced
Edit: damn, is there no other spoiler option that just greys out the words? Edit2: Geez, I only just now realize this is not c/books but c/sciencefiction. Sorry if this post doesn't belong here then, haha.
I'm curious what you think about the series so far. I love fantasy, and after everyone told me Malazan was the PhD test for fantasy readers I read the whole thing and was... Underwhelmed. I can't find anyone else who just wasn't impressed with it, people either hate it and never finished or treat it like it's the greatest work of fiction a fantasy author has ever produced. I have so many thoughts on it, but always get yelled down by either camp.
You are not alone. I've had the same experience and I'm wondering what the big deal is. The books are really good, obviously, and a master class in world-building, but I find a lot of the deus ex plot elements disappointing.
I'm only on Memories of Ice, though, so what do I know?
Which deus ex plot elements are you talking about, specifically? I know some of the events in the books can be confusing, but most of it falls into place eventually.
Pushing Ice by Alastair Reynolds. I’m about 3/4 of the way through, and it’s been very interesting thus far! Definitely has not gone where I thought it was gonna go, which is cool.
If you haven’t read it I won’t give any spoilers, but I was fascinated by the similarities to The Expanse in the beginning. They definitely go different places, but I can feel Reynolds influence on James Corey. Surprised I haven’t seen anybody mention this before.
Anyways, I read House of Suns before this and probably like that more, but Pushing Ice is quite good. Should I start the Revelation Space series next?
very minor spoilers for anyone who hasn't read
i read pushing ice with my book club recently. was also not expecting things to go where they went but i really enjoyed the direction. it makes for a very fleshed out 'sailors marooned on a deserted island' kind of story that doesn't waste the possibilities it's genre and setting allow it. janus as a setting just has a lot of great mysteries and the way the crew interact and survive on the planet is explored very thoroughly. the isolation of how hopelessly far they are from home and only getting further struck me when i was reading. you can understand the different factions and how things might have been different if only a few things changed in the beginning.
and as far as sci-fi goes, it's version of it is a favorite of mine. the blue-collar worker in space is something i've always liked, and it gets depicted very well in this book. would love to hear what you think once you've finished it.
I really enjoy the books by Peter F Hamilton, my favourites being Pandora's Star and it's sequel Judas Unchained.
The worlds he creates are just so detailed and interesting to read about, and of course the story is very compelling
I'm re-reading Broken Angels (the sequel to Altered Carbon) by Richard Morgan. Of the three books in the trilogy, this is the one I liked the most.
I've got River Of Pain by Christopher Golden on pause. It's an Aliens-prequel about the colony set up on the planet where the Nostromo crew picked up the alien. I haven't read it before, but I'm pretty sure I know how it ends.