Read all his books as a young teen in the 70's. Very fond memories.
@MaxvlaАй бұрын
The ending was awful, completely killed the book for me. Humans apparently are too stupid and conflict oriented, so the solution is the spiders mind control us, effectively causing us to be slaves and lose our humanity. I was enjoying the book until about 3/4 of the way through it.
@JordonBeal2 ай бұрын
Into book 5 now, it’s a bummer that there’s basically nothing about this series.
@Majorhavoktv4 ай бұрын
I really enjoyed the audio book
@theonefreeman33759 ай бұрын
Love your review. Just re reading this book now for the third time, though its been probably 7 or 8 years since the last time. It was the first book I read in a single sitting back when I was in high school. I thought your review did the book justice, especially in as far as you considered the originality of it. I can always appreciate books, movies, or etc that are simply unique in their concepts and explorations of ideas. I also appreciate your take on it being a romance, as that isn't the way I ever thought to describe it, but nevertheless very accurate and a constant theme that is developed throughout the events of the story.
@derrickwitness471910 ай бұрын
What happened to Greg? I've been waiting for new content for years.
@Twiska10 ай бұрын
Spoilers. RIP Homer 😢
@BudduredToast11 ай бұрын
Thanks for the review! I sat down with this book expecting a cool story to read in my spare time, but I ended up inhaling the thing in two days. I was actually quite fascinated by the spiders and it was wonderful learning their history and watching their society/culture change with time. And I suppose if you're not into that, you're not going to have a good time 😅 I didn't quite care too much for the humans, except for maybe Lain. So I was very surprised to be rooting for the spidies in the end, thinking 'well, humanity had a good run!'. Super keen to read the sequel.
@teegee9330 Жыл бұрын
Love this series. Treat yourself to the audio version. The fourth book wasn't quite as good as the original trilogy, but still fun and progresses the universe nicely.
@khomo12 Жыл бұрын
Good review!👍👍👍🤖📚🚀
@tylerpope1722 Жыл бұрын
Jesus fuck pronounce it Zaroas. Try listening to both audio book and reading it bfor doing a review. You do a shit job of giving the series service. Do you're research dude.
@myoldchannel0690 Жыл бұрын
I've read the Elephant in the Brain, I know the true reason you made this review!
@Poobell1 Жыл бұрын
I have just started reading and when you said ‘your brain will take you to a different story’ in relation to the illustration in the pulp magazine that struck a chord with me. Never been a reader but always interested and this really gave me a new outlook on the process always feared I wasn’t imagining the right thing but it’s totally up to the reader. Respect.
@ianrogerson40592 жыл бұрын
collapsar's are what we call now neutron star's i believe
@khomo122 жыл бұрын
Good review!
@unwokeneuropean35902 жыл бұрын
Greg, did you had the Mass Effect vibe while reading this ? The characters, good or bad always had their counterpart in the Mass Effect game, with some magic dust of the original Star Wars here and there.
@vryusvin39052 жыл бұрын
*Spoilers, kinda* Good review, thanks!!! I'd argue that the tech is 5/5. It's not groundbreaking, but I loved that the busters were the first, simplest and fastest things Bob could come up with, but WOW- they end up serving so many purposes! A fusion reactor with a hard shell? YES! PLUS, how Bob thinks through things like rail guns until the end when Bill does his thing- (the Star Wars thing). It might not be all accurate, but it is so consistent with the Bobiverse that I love it. Just a thought from someone who has yet to get his copies of the next two books in the mail. Thanks again! [Guppy, check the mail]
@MDBowron2 жыл бұрын
H-A-L-D-E-M-A-N = M-A-N-D-E-L-A-H. Mary-Gay is also the name of Joe Haldeman's wife.
@havocmaverick2 жыл бұрын
I love this book. Try to put yourself in the shoes of a spider.
@GregReviewsSciFi2 жыл бұрын
The spiders wore shoes??? 🤯 Well, that changes everything. 😜
@jakohara67892 жыл бұрын
Wait what in the fuck? Your reviewing the thing before you've even finished watching the show 😲 I know this review is old but shit, to quote another famous Sci-fi boy "Amazing. Every word of what you just said was wrong" 🤦♂️
@GregReviewsSciFi2 жыл бұрын
Lol, unfortunately I have to get videos out while people are searching for it. I nailed this one though. Thanks for the comment.
@chocolatemonk2 жыл бұрын
while searching for a new book I found this vid. I almost skipped it because I thought if you are wearing a Picard shirt then you must be a fan of it. I then realized that your vid was released prior to the show and watched. Then the picture of the worst character in star trek in the background. Quit after #8 . .. so far this list would be better as "underatted, fun and vanilla sci fi" with a few exceptions
@Ethan-422 жыл бұрын
Love your reviews!
@justinmclauchlin42582 жыл бұрын
You shouldn't do a review if you skip chapters!
@GregReviewsSciFi2 жыл бұрын
I read every word. I skip ahead just to see how long i’ll have to endure it. Seeing the finish line helps power through it. I could have skipped it though. There was no hidden gold for me in these tedious never ending parts. As I said in the review, I think some people will love it. Just not for me.
@afptoronto12 жыл бұрын
I loved this series too.
@JimGodx2 жыл бұрын
Man, I was hoping to love this review, but oof. I'm a huge sci-fi nerd and this was the first time I'd dipped my toes into modern authors and goddamn was I blown away. Yeah it starts slow, but it 100% pays off. You're totally wrong when it comes to pacing, the 'slow' bits were the contrast to the Gilgamesh plotline and built up the tension. It's the best hard sci-fi treatment of space travel I've ever encountered (sorry Niven), and it hurts to see it done so dirty.
@GregReviewsSciFi2 жыл бұрын
I definitely don’t think I did this book dirty. I was clear about what I liked and what I didn’t. This book has an either love it or hate it following. I liked it but I prefer space opera in space. This was a weird mix of colony ship space opera and biology/sociology hard sci-fi. It came together in the end but I didn’t love it. I totally get why people love this book though. I put this book in the same category as Three Body Problem. Interesting yea, but not for me.
@MaxvlaАй бұрын
The 'modern authors' part is one of the problems of this book. Essentially the plot can be reduced to: humans are stupid and fight too much, look what happened to them. Spiders did it better and are enlightened beings. Humans are trying to land on spider planet, spiders mind control humans and enslave them. Terrible ending to a pretty great first half.
@afptoronto12 жыл бұрын
I loved this book. But it leans on the reader having an interest in anthropology, social psychology, and its intersections with biology. I strongly disagree that this wasn't "hard sci-fi" unless you narrow your view of hard science fiction to the traditional technological sciences. Of course not everyone has to like it, that's totally cool. But to readers of the comments, I'd say ask yourself if you have an interest in the hows and whys of social organization, and how material realities affect thought and being. If yes, you may also love this book.
@GregReviewsSciFi2 жыл бұрын
Yea, you are correct about the hard sci-fi part for sure. After I thought about it a bit more My definition might have been too narrow. Like Three Body Problem its a hard sociology Sci-Fi. I totally understand how people love this book. I’m reading another Tchaikovsky book right now. He has a very 80’s style, both in this book and in Shards of Earth. I think it just boils down to preference. Shards of Earth is much more to my preferences although the pacing is still a bit slow for me. Have you read that?
@afptoronto12 жыл бұрын
@@GregReviewsSciFi I've just started Shards. It starts slow, but picked up. I'm about 4 chapters in now and it's starting to hook me.
@afptoronto12 жыл бұрын
What do you mean by '80s style'?
@GregReviewsSciFi2 жыл бұрын
Now you are starting to think like me! Ha!
@GregReviewsSciFi2 жыл бұрын
This is a generalization for sure but 80’s sci-fi are longer and more detailed 80k words or so. Modern books seem to be closer to 50k words and fairly fast paced. I think the internet allows authors to collab and communicate what works for mass market publishing. Plus the advent of kindle unlimited invites shorts more frequently published books. There are examples of the former but of the books i’ve been choosing lately they are fast fun reads.
@apachedisco2 жыл бұрын
Dennis E. Taylor made a great scifi series. Beyond the mind fuck of being a clone of millions His humor is a thread through it all.
@GregReviewsSciFi2 жыл бұрын
Agree! The way he essentially writes the same character over and over but somehow makes them just a little different is genius. Hard to wrap my head around.
@lildarker40442 жыл бұрын
as i remember the version i bought was the 'corrected' version; apparently the were errors in the first; but i do recall in the foreword/dedication mr dyson was listed as a contributor. EDIT, my bad, the dedication was in the sequel. engineers
@malstainkey2 жыл бұрын
Dude, you were in a bookshop. Holding the book. And you brought it on Kindle ?!? WTF - never subscribed and not going to - support your local bookstore 😞
@GregReviewsSciFi2 жыл бұрын
I say in the video that i bought stuff. But I’m not gonna buy a book that I won’t read. If they would offer a way to buy the ebook I would have. I don’t shed many tears for big box barnes and nobles though. I approve of the sentiment though! Thanks for the comment! ❤️
@karthain57422 жыл бұрын
Every time I hear someone complain about a story, or part of a story, dragging on, and then I read the book myself, I find that the person complaining likely has a short attention span. Most of the time I do not have the issues that they do. In fact, I like details because you can learn things that the author is trying to convey and those details. But the people complaining often miss what the author is saying in the slow parts.
@GregReviewsSciFi2 жыл бұрын
Thanks for the comment! You will find this through all my reviews. It’s not so much action but progress that I crave. I love sci-fi archeology books, space opera, among others that usually are filled with chapters of detail. If its interesting and not filler dialog then I’m all in. It’s like filler episodes in your favorite tv show, you scream “just progress the story” Thats what I mean. Pacing without progress
@schofield32282 жыл бұрын
Thanks for doing this.
@jimdigriz29232 жыл бұрын
Niven did go into what held up the Buildings, it was via a maglev system which is why most of the buildings crashed to the surface when the superconductor virus was unleashed. Edit - Also the follow ups RIngworld Throne /Children /Engineers are great at expanding on the (ring)worlds inhabitants, cultures and customs - Rishathra was one of the more original ideas for diplomacy or sealing trade deals I've come across in sci fi.
@GregReviewsSciFi2 жыл бұрын
Those are on my list. So many books to read! 😅😅😅😅
@prototype81373 жыл бұрын
Is it really good or is it one of those books that people like just because of journals and media? I started it but finding it convoluted and hard to get into whereas something like Dune grabbed me from page 1. Wondering if I should give it more of a chance.
@GregReviewsSciFi3 жыл бұрын
For me it got super interesting when they got to the ring. Before that it was a little slow.
@s00n643 жыл бұрын
Great video, it’s very cool ! Made me wanna read the books, and so I did… and oh my god it’s so cool ! Loved the first one, the second one was pretty good and I loved the third one too. Thanks ! I loved the fact that you follow the First Foundation through many years, like there’s a 50 years gap between every stories. It kinda give the reader a « satisfaction » of knowing what’s happening to this foundation very quickly (well for me at least). And the character of Seldon is so classy ! (Not even talking about Salvor Hardin, The Mule, Han Pritsher or Mallow) ! My favorite (series of) books so far..
@Chaschperli3 жыл бұрын
the books play 10000 years in the future, because the minds where transferred bi the needlecast, and that sometimes needs thousends of years to transfer by lightspeed throught the universe. I've read only the german version, but i cant imagine, that it's very different in english
@Chaschperli3 жыл бұрын
I've read the book shortly after it came out, year before the series and i think it's one of my favourite books of all time. It's brutal, but the ideas with the "hendrix" was fun. I loved the description of the fight scenes, in which Kovacs was always a brutal guy, struggeling with himself. The second book was completly different to the first, but the third was better again, but it never had the quality of the first one. There is also a sililar book of Morgan (Scorpion) but with different caracters. The newer books with the medieval/mythic theme are also fun, but i still like the sci-fy thing much more.
@createyourpattern27733 жыл бұрын
Algorithm
@FIT2BREAD3 жыл бұрын
Great video. Othe than Old Man's War, I was unfamiliar with most of the titles.
@paxwallacejazz3 жыл бұрын
Dyson spheres , Ring World etc Are gravitationally unstable and could never be constructed but if it were it would break up of it's own accord.
@Welther473 жыл бұрын
You should focus on reviewing the book instead of talking about how and where you read.
@TalkingTimepieces3 жыл бұрын
I discovered this book in serialized form, before the book was created. It, and his other work like "All my sins remembered" influenced my own work significantly.
@manw3bttcks3 жыл бұрын
originality: The initial premise is somewhat close to Larry Niven's old "A World Out of Time" (AWOOT) novel where this guy named "Corbell" is dead then is thawed out by "The State" after a hundred years and forced into being a interstellar ramjet pilot. Of course back then, Corbell was a physical guy, so Taylor's twist is that Bob is just the mind image and memories and no body. Obviously at some point, ideas have to repeat somewhat in Sci-Fi. AWOOT in the later parts is totally different from the Bobiverse (Corbell disobeys, goes off using relativistic time dilation to outlive the "State" and comes back to a solar system radically altered by planetary engineering)
@dallasnateweyes32883 жыл бұрын
Like video
@Drivenby3 жыл бұрын
This book is trash. The ending is such a fucked up mess. I recommend you read A deepness in the sky. Literally has the same themes of the book and executes them a million times better.
@MaxvlaАй бұрын
Agreed. The spiders basically mind controlled the humans and changed them irrevocably by force. Humans basically became slaves that don't know they are slaves. I was enjoying the evolution of the spiders but the humans being considered too stupid and beyond hope and the spiders eventually mind controlling them was too much. Started off a 7-8/10 ended 0/10. Awful.
@Kiki-lm2nd3 жыл бұрын
The expeditionary force audiobooks are amazing. Can you do a rec Video of more books/audiobooks like expeditionary force?
@unpronouncable24423 жыл бұрын
Greg are you interrested in reviewing HFY? I love "Deathworlders" (Jenkinsverse) it is an amazing ongoing story (every month a new chapter 74 chapters so far) and I would love to hear what you have to say about it.
@lostthedog3 жыл бұрын
I got into the Ember universe pretty recently (like maybe 2 months ago). I've really enjoyed listening to Luke Daniels narrate the stories. I've become obsessed.. there are only a few left that I haven't read/listened too. Can't get enough! Great work by Richard Fox.
@vavra222 Жыл бұрын
Same, recently picked up the Ember War saga, im halfway through the Xaros Reckoning and i love it. Kinda confused on what spin-off to pick up next, but i cant wait. I moved over from Galaxy´s Edge series (by Jason Anspach and Nick Cole), so i kinda had to get used to the different writing style, but its a great military scifi series, maybe some characters (Standish) are a bit too much sometimes, but i still love it.
@stickydude89213 жыл бұрын
Is it a midlife crisis that makes you throw books around?
@cliffcox76433 жыл бұрын
The book started great and ended ok. Why do I say this? Because as Bob's multiply and take on the various antagonist, be it the Brazilian guy or the aliens, in the book, Bob says, Oh, I didn't know we can do that now as they seem to overcome obstacle after obstacle, seemingly w/o effort. They just surmount issue after issue and can do things, that even more advanced enemies cannot do. It just seems too easy.
@lightwishatnight3 жыл бұрын
I like your thoughts and your pacing. Your score system could use some work. I recommend a simpler "recomend/do not recommend" approach and brief comment of why you chose that way. It is more organic and understandable. Cheers.