Strugatsky Brothers' Roadside Picnic.

🙈🙉🙊☮️🍄

This guy is in prison for child pornography

I was aware that Neuromancer has a bit of a reputation for leaving the reader baffled, the problem I have is I'm never sure if my confusion is because that's the author's intention, or if I've just skimmed over some important detail without realising it. I have a feeling this will be a book I only really appreciate the second time I read it.

Good review! I read it decades ago and only just re-read it after introducing the series to my son, who also enjoyed it. I agree: it's a more fulfilling read second time around when you are more distant from Ender's Game. I love the nuanced take on the Lusitanian leaders. First I've heard of Card's homophobic views. I wonder what a speaker for the dead might lead us to think about him (yes, i know he's not dead yet)

Ironic that it was considered ultra-liberal in thought back then, and now it's considered conservative garbage.

thanks

Have read Ancillary Justice and Children of Time. Loved the latter and still not sure of the former. You obviously got more out Ancillary Justice than I did and I just thought it was marginally good. Children of Time I absolutely loved. One of my all time favorite SF reads.

Great list. Thanks for making this

Ok if you.like hard sci fi then you probably don't like hand waived tech or events in your stories. That said the event this story revolves around just happens, no reason just one day moon goes boom. Andnim sorry but that was a wtf I couldn't get past

I have this as an audio book and its one of my favourites. I legitimately cried at the end. I also love the way it leaves you questioning the time lines. Are the two stories concurrent? Are the two splinters even the same? What are the aloofs relation to these creatures? 100 million years is quite a head start in the bulge. I personally headcannon that the splinter we experience eventually become the aloof.

This book has haunted me for decades. It is also the "Finnegans Wake" of science fiction. Readers of James Joyce will know what I mean; "Finnegans Wake" and "Dhalgren" both begin and end in the middle of the same sentence for starters. And both books play with language and unconventional structure. I don't know if I will ever understand the whole book, probably not, but it is one of the most important books of my life. I didn't finish it the first time I read it - I was 19 - but the early episode with Tak Loufer was pivotal in my self-discovery that I was gay, and I got to tell Delany that when I saw him speak once - and he said he was pleased to have helped me on my journey. He signed my copy of "Dhalgren" too.

I find it incredible that The Company series by Kate Baker is unknown. The world she creates seems so real and the main characters continue their adventures in 7 books toward an ominous ending that no one can predict. Great romance through time

Contact is one of the novels I enjoyed almost equally as a book or film Great selection.

C.J. Cherryh's Pride of Chanur. First contact with humans, from the aliens' perspective.

I've read the Foundation Trilogy, all the follow on books, plus all the books in the Robot series that end up tying both together.

What a great video! Thanks a lot ❤

WAR is Hell!

A new definition of a wktch, An old person who has learned from their ancesters, trial and error, the herbal science that eased pain, suffering, and cures ailments. What they are guilty of is they give neither money or credit to the local temple!

I am reading this. It's fantastic and I'm still at the title page

Born in 57. These were my favorite authors for a long time. They were all prolific writers.

Great video. My 25 best series would have included Galactic Center by Gregory Benford and the Childe Cycle by Gordon R. Dickson.

Red Planet Blues by Robert J. Sawyer is a fun read.

One you missed big time is Joanna Russ' "The Female Man." I won't put any spoilers here, just read it for yourself.

The Culture!!! So glad you included it in your top 5. BookTube way undervalues Banks.

I read The Midwich Cuckoos last week. My first JW novel. It was enjoyable, although I found one of the main characters to be highly annoying so that was a bit of a struggle. Nevertheless, I went from that to this and am enjoying Triffids a lot more. I like the setting and the period. The main characters are sympathetic and likeable. And Wyndham does a sterling job of throwing us into a world turned on its head. When Bill takes off his bandages at the start of the book, it is also ourselves who are removing the bandages around our own eyes and joining him in this new, and unsettling world. How would any of us react if something like this happened for real ? Having to watch your fellow citizens die slow deaths must be horrific, and this on top of everything else that we would have to readjust to. Rather like Midwich, there wasn’t any particular scary moments in the book. The whole situation is the scary stuff. However, I was slightly creeped out imagining the triffids walking around with their strange gait, and zapping innocent people with their poisoned tendrils. So, yeah, I enjoyed it immensely. Not sure Ill read any further JW books. Maybe the Kraken one at a later date ? So many books, so little time 🤷‍♂️ BTW I don’t think its set in the 70s is it ? I thought it was 1950-something

They are vampire what are you talking about ans the book sucked

Great video! ❤

The problem with that examination of language is that it's just not true. Language doesn't restrict us like that at all. If people don't have a word for something they make it up. You're not speaking ancient Norse for a reason. This almost feels like examining why the moon is made out of cheese. It's not.

The only good thing I found in Ender's Game was the battle school, and they all but cut it out of the movie...what a waste.

Timestamps please

PKD actually wrote to the FBI, and was intensely paranoid about himself, just like Scannner Darkly, the only reason the FBI said they had a file on him, was because he wouldn't stop writing to them in his paranoia and co department communal living he experienced

Here's my Greg Bear story. He has long been one of my fav authors. I am also a hobbyist musician. His novel "Anvil of Stars" inspired me to create an album of music that I self-released. I sent a physical CD to him as a gift and he sent back to me a signed hardcover copy of Anvil of Stars that he had bound personally thanking me for the music. One of my most treasured items.

I found Lilith's brood really boring, the only book (or series) I have abandoned midways. Brin almost so, too. Robinson's Mars books are great. Hamilton is a terrible bore. Heechee saga I get, there is mystery. Liu is one of the biggest minds of scifi, but his characters are cartoon puppets. Reynolds is cool, but not mind boggling. Hainish cycle is unparalled, as you say. But Wolfe, he is a giant, a cunning master of twisting the readers mind, delightful. Red Rising is a tour de force of a pastiche, a really good ride of a story. Hyperion is one good book, three terrible follow-ups. Dune is Dune. The sequels are murder for the reader. Banks I love. The first book is the worst, Consider Phlebas. The greats are The Player of Games, The Excession and The Use of Weapons, really extraordinary literaty stuff. Asimov is a chapter of his own, but only maybe because he was one of the pioneers. Foundation is a pile of shit upon shit, while Caves of Steel and its sequel are adamant exploration of human mind. Have you read the Sun Eater, a series that has eaten the sum of space operas?

I'd add the Hammer's Slammers books and Gaunt's Ghosts series

Love the “Green Dayish”. Song! Thanks!

Retief, galactic diplomacy corp series. By Kieth Laumer.

I love the quantum chip trope. Are the vertices in the honeycomb like multi-verses from where each new big bang originates?

I just finished this trilogy and I’ve just been obsessed with everything about the universe. I wish I was more artistically inclined, I’d love to be able to draw all these characters and species

More of the same......SF is terminal....

Wake Me Up - When the Ubik ends

I love the opening song.

Great review. This is going on my TBR, looks like this book was way ahead of its time.

Thank you very much for this review, I've just read this book and I wanted to know what other people thought of it! I mostly agree with your review, this book has a lot of great ideas and the main characters are interesting, but I also feel like it could have been a bit more fleshed out in terms of both worldbuilding and character development. I will say that I was a bit disappointed in the politics/gender aspects of it. Almost all the female characters are either love interests or relatives of the male characters (or both in the case of Ruby! haha), and I guess I expected the political commentary to be a bit more "incisive", it felt pretty hit or miss. For example, the sockets that are used by people to control machines "directly" with their bodies, are described as something that gave to people a meaning to the work that they were doing, which to me doesn't really makes sense ; I personally feel like it would be a step further in the dehumanization of workers who literally become "tools" or machines... But the "mandatory" nature of this technology, that excludes the people who do not want to adopt it from work/social life felt quite relevant, you could definitely draw parallels with some of our current technologies. I still felt like it was quite lacking in those areas, which I was surprised by given the author's reputation. However one major thing I really liked about the book was the "body horror" aspect of it that sometimes comes up. To me some of the most striking scenes were the fights and/or the description of the injuries of the characters. Since both medicine and technology are so much more advanced in their world, I found it fascinating to read about the type of "wounds" that the characters could still have and inflict on each other. The "fight" scenes were also described in very cinematographic ways, they could be visually incredible as an anime!

Have you read NOIR by K.W.Jeter ? It is Steamy, Electronic, Grotesquely Cyber Augmented😵‍💫🤕🤖 PUNK

Enjoying the AI videos in the background. Good list.

I would also recommend Hyperion just for Martins story hahaha

I also read Childhood's End with stratospheric expecations based on its coming so highly recommended. I liked it pretty well, but it never reached the specialness of my hopes

Another good one is "Sur" by the cherished Usrula LeGuin. I defy anyone to say they didn't come away from this story with a changed perspective of the story's major themes.

Banned books?? only in dysfunctional US!