4 Introspective Sci-Fi Books You Need To Read

[@author.gggodchild]

I love philosophical sci-fi. Nothing like it!

[@Sci-FiOdyssey]

Agreed

[@sgkogan]

(found the correct video to put the comment) Always happy to see some Lem! "Ij" in "Ijon" is pronounced like Y in "Yale", making it more like Yon, and "Tichy" is pronounced with "Kh", Tee-kh-y, with [ɨ] sound, like putting ee deeper down the vocal cords until it's not ee anymore. The word itself reminds of "cichy"/"тихий" stem from Slavic languages, meaning " quiet, silent".

[@PoeLemic]

Really love your channel. I didn't know that you were an author too. That's so incredible that you not only a good narrator, but that you can also craft your own sci-fi works.

[@renee_3364]

This is my favourite subgenre of sci-fi. Thanks for the awesome recommendation. Also, I love the background artwork you pick for your videos. Some amazing artists featured

[@blindsamurai1]

Just read EmbassyTown - and really enjoyed all its concepts !

[@NickKlamerth]

I see the Iain M. Banks books behind you. :) State of the Art is fun!

[@Elricsedric]

I absolutely love the recommendations u give. It's interesting books I've never heard of, and it's exciting to listen to.

[@Sci-FiOdyssey]

I'm so glad!😌

[@stevieroach]

I would add my favorite philosophical series, Canopus in Argos: Archives. Written by Doris Lessing, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, it forever changed my outlook on life and the universe.

[@lisagulick4144]

OMG, YES!!!!! I remember coming across _Shikasta_ by chance while browsing the "regular fiction" section at the library, and once I was finished with it, I _had_ to read the other four books! Talk about trippy...I suppose because it was Doris Lessing, they thought putting that series in the SF section would downgrade it to "pulp" status.

[@michaelrichards669]

You always put up the Best Art on your videos. Then hit us with great books. I will now be on the Hunt to find some these for future reads. Thank You

[@Sci-FiOdyssey]

Glad you like them!

[@barryvercueil2346]

Four books i haven't read yet. Thank you. Excellent video. Cheers

[@acaryadasa]

Wow. Dying Inside? I read it as a teen about half a century ago. It deeply affected me.

[@akaidatenshi]

Great recs. I shall add all of rhem to my TBR list 😊

[@Sci-FiOdyssey]

Awesome. Hope you enjoy them!

[@thekeywitness]

Love Silverberg, Lem and Ballard. Need to check out Embassytown.

[@aliservan7188]

Gods damn, I love this channel

[@Sci-FiOdyssey]

Thank you!

[@WordsinTime]

I’ve only read a couple of books from Silverberg and Lem but they’ve already become two of my favorites. And I own High-Rise by Ballard but haven’t read it yet.

[@Sci-FiOdyssey]

Defo recommend High Rise👍

[@floeten-olm8396]

great vid!

[@Sci-FiOdyssey]

Thank you!

[@ashwinrajeev8055]

Great list. I love The Star Diaries. There’s no writer quite like Stanislaw Lem. His stories are so weird and thought-provoking at the same time. Ive been wanting to read both Dying Inside and The Drowned World for quite some time now. Your description of the latter was quite intriguing.

[@holydissolution85]

Y- ON ( there's no j or g sound ) Tyhi ( not ch like chimney but h like hell ) Star Diaries are the funniest thing ever ! There is another book with further adventures by Tichy & Cyberiad is in similar tone, also very funny. That is 190 IQ humor for you ! ( Lem's IQ was measured when he was in highschool ) Great video as always !!👍

[@gabrielpaiva8378]

I love this! I just bought all of them. I love your voice!!!!! May I suggest you do a similar list but with books by more... contemporary authors? IDK many that actually go through the introspective road - I can only think of Ted Chiang atm actually!

[@General_reader]

What Timezone do you live in? Vids go live at 6am here.

[@michaelrichards669]

the Twilight Zone... que the music!!!!

[@Sci-FiOdyssey]

The Zones of Thought 🤣 no seriously… UK time 🇬🇧

[@AidanWightman]

I have note that I consider Ursula le Guin's writing some of the most thought-provoking. Even some of the titles: The Word for World is Forest (in contrast to our use of soil).

[@CrypticMusic]

Very nice list! I have both of Lem’s Igon Tichy books on my to-read list, so I’m encouraged to get there sooner. I also love the philosophical turns in Frank Herbert’s writings and just enjoyed a deep exploration of the sources of consciousness in his Destination: Void.

[@peterschaffter826]

In the first half of the '60s, Ballard wrote three "environmental fiction" novels: The Drowned World (reviewed), The Wind from Nowhere, and The Drought. All three are excellent. We studied The Drought in high school.

[@pyramidsong]

More What About Bob clips in your videos, please!! Great video, great insights as usual

[@6stringstandard136]

Silverberg was one of my favorite Sci-fi authors in my late teens. Read many of his books. Dying Inside is very good along with The Book of Skulls and Up The Line. All have stayed with me.

[@LaurindaBellinger]

I don’t have time to read all your suggestions. Great list.

[@NotMyGumDropButtons.444]

+4 to the TBR of it all

[@joechip4822]

Silverberg is the great humanist of all the top rank classical science fiction authors. He has an unrivaled insight and empathy for the human condition. Take books like 'Downward to the Earth' or 'Nightwings' or 'A Time of Changes', where he creates delicate and believable relationships and emotional challenges that can still move me to tears on the tenth time of reading. Insider Tip: read 'Son of Man' - influenced by LSD trips, and in it's strangeness only comparable to 'A Voyage to Arcturus' from David Lindsay. And: read 'Sailing to Byzantium'...

[@mateosimon4237]

I havent read Dying Inside but i read The Man in the Maze by Silverberg. I remember buying the paperback because of its cover and looking at it with a bit of skepticism. But then i read it and it just blew my mind to bits

[@richardfox4803]

Good episode. I haven't read Dying Inside for ages. I think I would have gone with The Crystal World rather than The Drowned World; just a better, weirder world. However you could just say J.G. Ballard, even his mainstream novels teeter on the threshold of out there. I'm surprised you didn't suggest Ubik, or anything else by P.K. Dick !

[@Sci-FiOdyssey]

I love PKD but I’ve featured him loads and wanted to offer something new 😊

[@gorans.849]

Dying Inside is one of the most depressing books that I have read, excellent, but... The Drowned World - trippy and somewhat melancholic The Star Diaries sounds interesting.

[@willfagence3144]

Dying inside and Star diaries are now on my list. I read the drowned world years ago, I remember it was "trippy". Embassyworld, never read anything by China Mievelle before, I'm considering it. BTW, Flowers for Algernon, Daniel Keyes, definitely worth a read.

[@goldenghostinc]

I love Mieville and have read Embassytown a couple times. Not as "enjoyable" as some of his other works, but still very good. I had never heard of Stanislaw Lem. Looked him up and sounds very interesting. The Star Diaries most definately goes on my reading list, and some of his other works also sound interesting.

[@treefarm3288]

I have read only the Drowned World back in the day, as well as the Crystal World. The others sound like good books. Thanks for the recommendations.

[@CYI3ERPUNK]

nice what about bob reference =] such a great comedy XD

[@ilembcke]

Surprised that you only mentioned four books, even though I only read one - Lem in German translation (at that time West German translation, the East German one might differ). Missing for me are these two books which I both highly recommend: The Lathe of Heaven - Ursula K. Le Guin and Blood Music - Greg Bear Plan to read these again and am searching for the 2 movie versions of Lathe. Thanks for your channel! ✅🤓

[@joechip4822]

Yeah, Greg Bear... You don't read many reviews about his books any more. He is definitely underrated - and Blood Music being one of his Masterpieces. I also don't understand why Bruce Sterling, from the same era as Greg Bears best works, gets so little attention today. He has points of view and language like nobody else.

[@deepashtray5605]

I just read Sliverberg's "Downward to the Earth" as recommended on a SF book review video and was blown away by it, so he is my first choice. Ballard also piques my interest.

[@joechip4822]

"Downward to the Earth" has become my favorite SF book over a time span of more than 40 years as an avid reader. The only book I ever read to somebody dear, where at the end we both simply weeped... thought the ending is a good and positive one! It has even been made into a graphic novel which may or may not appeal to many readers of the book, since it takes unnecessary liberties on one hand, while not addressing some of the most interesting visuals Silverberg described that always stayed with me in my mind after reading.

[@deepashtray5605]

@@joechip4822 Cool, thanks for sharing.

[@Epoch11]

Eyon Tihee is how you would say the Lem character's name, and thanks for the suggestions.

[@marciosalerno9835]

I did read Drowned World twice. Would like to read the others, speciallt Silverberg and Lem.

[@civoreb]

To me, Silverberg is not capable of writing a bad book.

[@geneh460]

While I haven't read Dying Inside (yet), I have to agree. Silverberg never disappointed me.

[@yw1971]

Get to Robert Silverberg's "Across billion years". One of his best & maybe the most fun adventure I read in SF (with an emotional ending that will tantalize you)

[@bookswithabel]

Another TBR killer 😂

[@Scottlp2]

1. To be clear these are not like 2001 and Solaris (for those of us who want to run from that type of SF) right? 2. Sounds like Dying Inside is kinda like the classic “Rose for Ecclasties (sp)?”?

[@joechip4822]

How do you come to this comparison? I know and love both works, but apart from a deeply melancholic atmosphere and sad endings... ?

[@CMDR_Verm]

Great list, two of which I've even read lol. Apart from all of Bank's Culture series, and I'd suggest not putting Excession first on your list of reading, I'd say the most recent novel that blew my mind was VALIS by Philip K. Dick. Nobody can confirm the veracity of Dick's experiences, but if even 10% of his writing was based on real events, it opens a whole new can of worms.

[@comentedonakeyboard]

Stanislaw Lems Ijon Tychi was made into a TV Show in Germany, just for the non-reading crowd📺

[@DevonExplorer]

Embassytown sounds very interesting so I'll give that a definite go. I love Robert Silverberg's books & stories but haven't read this one so I might give that a whirl as well, although I really don't fancy anything depressing at the mo. I've been meaning to read The Drowned World for a while now so that's already on my list. As for Stanislaw Lem, I've read some of his short stories and had to give up as they were not only extremely odd but also really, really boring, lol. Some excellent recommendations though, Darrel. :)

[@just_kos99]

Robert Silverberg is one of my top five favorite sci-fi authors (and a very gracious man IRL!) but tbh, I wasn't a fan of "Dying Inside." I don't really remember why -- I just remembered that I didn't like it that much. "Lord Valentine's Castle" was my intro into Silverberg.

[@joechip4822]

Majipoor unfortunately is not what every serious fan of Silverberg would recommend for a start into his work. Same applies for the Amber books of Roger Zelazny. Both authors may have been capable of interesting world building for their series - but their strengths lie in the shorter form. To my opinion there is not a single book series from any science fiction author that can rival the best novellas or even stories from said author. But I am open for exceptions - if anyone has a suggestion... 😊

[@lisagulick4144]

Another "introspective" novel you should read is _The Fresco_ by Sheri S.Tepper. It's a first-contact novel that is just as much about how the race doing the contacting is changed, as it is about how humanity is changed by the contact. (There is some danger and action, but to me it is just window dressing for the big ideas!) Do yourself a "welcome reversal" and read it!

[@joechip4822]

Hint for everybody who has difficulties to get a hold of a certain older science fiction book that might be out of stock: Anna has an Archive 😉

[@dropshot1967]

Not my type of scifi but still cool to hear what the books are about and to know that I won't put them on my reading list. So still a thumbs up

[@daxbashir6232]

[@psikeyhackr6914]

What is your philosophy of coping with society? Wait, how does Society work? Now it has computers everywhere. *Daemon & Freedom* by Daniel Suarez

[@twt3716]

Am I the only person on this earth to have read a book called Gradisil ? No one seems to have ever heard of it.

[@kufujitsu]

Your take on Embassytown reminded me of something that happened to the writer : Robert Louis Stevenson. He was living in Samoa - where narrated his short story : "The Bottle Imp" to a few of the locals. Anyway, they visited his house one day, & one of them said "Yes, but where is the bottle?" Back then, the indigenous population couldn't grasp the concept of somebody telling stories, or bending the truth.....

[@unknowninfinium4353]

Nothing but love for Sci-Fi, no hidden agenda, no BS politics, No why W@hm3n should be represented in video games, no DEI, no guilt trip messaging, just pure love for sci-fi and art. Thanks man, you are the man.

[@lurchEbean]

I hated Dying Inside and I don't understand how this book seems to get universal praise from every channel that mentions it. It's incredibly racist and the rest is just the main character whining about losing his powers when all he seems to use them for is writing believable term papers for college kids, manipulating women into sleeping with him, and watching his sister have sex.

[@joechip4822]

You must be quite young if you don't remember that there was time when it was normal that art was about people and the state of the world as it IS (before criticizing it). But unfortunately it is no longer taught in schools anymore, that describing and disclosing something like racism is not the same as being a racist.

[@lurchEbean]

@@joechip4822 You must be quite white to just hand wave so much racism away because it's art and that's the way the world IS. What did the book's constant racism add to the story? How was the book criticizing racism? Just because the main character got his ass kicked for being a racist prick? Which he then blamed on antisemitism and "reverse racism" of course. I'll even agree that having racism in a book doesn't automatically make it racist, but you better be making a damn good point with it, and I don't think Dying Inside does.