6 Sci-Fi Books That Won't Waste Your Time

[@bartsbookspace]

Thank You for an invite Jonathan. This was sooooo much fun! Charlie + Panga ❤

[@WordsinTime]

Haha Charlie needs a partner in crime! 🐶 🤖

[@HevonCZR]

The Stars my Destination is also a great one to recommend!

[@WordsinTime]

Yes, very influential book!

[@Johanna_reads]

This video was so timely because I finished Solaris yesterday and started Ubik today. Now I know of other great recommendations by Lem and PKD! Thanks for this wonderful collab!

[@WordsinTime]

That’s great! I hope you liked Solaris and enjoy Ubik! 🤞

[@bartsbookspace]

It’s exciting to see that You are reading so much SF Johanna! 🙌

[@Johanna_reads]

@@bartsbookspace SF has been winning me over this year! 🙌

[@DisquietandDragons-lh3zm]

A Psalm for the Wild Built is one of my favourite books, seeing it discussed makes me want to read it again. It also has my favourite book quote, it's a brilliant read.

[@WordsinTime]

I’m glad you connected with it!

[@TheRedPolyhedral]

It certainly is. I recommended it to Jonathan in a livestream a while back, so now it's official!

[@bartsbookspace]

There are so many great quotes in this book. 😀 Which one is your favorite?

[@DisquietandDragons-lh3zm]

@@bartsbookspace you keep asking why your work is not enough, and I don't know how to answer that, because it is enough to exist in the world and marvel at it. You don't need to justify that, or earn it. You are allowed to just live. It's a beautiful passage and truly resonated with me.

[@bartsbookspace]

@@DisquietandDragons-lh3zmI also remember that passage. Beautiful, the book is full of quiet, truths. 🙌

[@Joe-lb8qn]

No Peter Hamilton books then ? 🤣 I read the Maze of Death recently. A good story. And Way Station just before that. LIked your summary. Also, unlike most Simak books, it doesnt have a disaffected or confused android in it. For a light, short (and humorous) read, let me recommend Doorways in the Sand by Zelazny.

[@WordsinTime]

You could read the first chapter of a Hamilton book! I’ve only read Lord of Light so far, so I’ll have to check out more from Zelazny.

[@Joe-lb8qn]

@@WordsinTimeIt is TOTALLY different. I doubt you'd even guess it was the same author if you didnt know.

[@bookspin]

Nice collab from two of my favourite BookTubers! Great recommendations. A Maze of Death is not a PKD book I've heard much about, but I definitely want to read it now.

[@WordsinTime]

Thanks! And yes, I’m looking forward to A Maze of Death now too!

[@bartsbookspace]

Thank you Robin, chatting with Jonathan here was the highlight of my booktube “career”. 😀 I hope you both enjoy Maze of Death, I had a blast reading it.

[@user-zo7mr3op8i]

Most, but not all, versions have a glossary in the back explaining all the slang terms used. It really helps to know this rather than struggle through the book and then discover it. I have a copy that has both the glossary and the extra final chapter. So there at least 3 versions.

[@WordsinTime]

That’s good to know!

[@PoeticArson]

I believe early editions intentionally did not include the glossary as struggling through the vocabulary, and eventually learning it through context, was very much the desired reading experience Burgess was going for. Immersing yourself in the Nadsat argot and allowing it to kind of wash over you as you begin to understand it slowly.

[@user-zo7mr3op8i]

@@PoeticArson Yeah. Get that.

[@mondostrat]

Clockwork Orange is so under appreciated. It's not that there is so much violence, rather the violence is so vivid & personal. Then there's the music, the political angle, the social commentary & Nadsat is a brilliant invention. Oh, and it's definitely & defiantly dystopian!

[@WordsinTime]

Yes, there’s a lot to unpack!

[@nataliaolszewska04]

love your guys’ energy! really great video :)

[@WordsinTime]

Thanks Natalia! Glad you enjoyed!

[@bartsbookspace]

Thank You! 😀

[@franckcellier9021]

Thanks for introducing me to Bart's channel, I will watch more of his videos as his passion is infectious!

[@WordsinTime]

Haha he also loves sci-fi!

[@BooksWithBenghisKahn]

This was amazing! I read a lot of big books, so I'm often looking for shorter ones as breathers along the way. A Psalm for the Wild-Built and Way Station in particular seem like they could be right up my alley!

[@WordsinTime]

Haha you need a break from all those epic chonkers!

[@aniaolszewska748]

It’s lovely to see how knowledgeable and passionate you guys are about books!

[@WordsinTime]

Haha thanks! We certainly love our sci-fi!

[@BenjaminsBookclub]

Great video as always! I adore every PKD book so far and have never read Maze of Death, right to the top of my TBR!

[@WordsinTime]

Thanks Benjamin! I’m looking forward to that one as well!

[@reynoldsmathey]

I'm on Christopher Priest's 'The Inverted World' - 241 pages.

[@WordsinTime]

I just added it to my TBR!

[@bartsbookspace]

@@WordsinTimeI’ll be buddy reading The Inverted World with Robin from Bookspin mid April; in case you’d like to join us Johnathan.

[@Kim_Miller]

While you are thinking about Lem coming up with the idea of a tablet or e-reader, consider this. Frank Baum who wrote The Wizard of Oz wrote lots of short stories. He was also a newspaper owner and editor. One of his stories blends futuristic scifi with newspapers in that he had a tablet gadget that people carried that would give them access to news from around the world almost as it happened. Baum died in 1919 so I think he might have suggested the tablet (not the e-reader) a bit earlier than Lem.

[@WordsinTime]

That’s impressive!

[@Kim_Miller]

@@WordsinTimeI chased up the Baum book. It's called The Master Key from 1901. A teenage boy is experimenting with electrifying things and suddenly the 'demon of electricity' appears and grants him a series of wishes for electrical gadgets. Here's two of them from the Wiki page of the book. -- A "record of events," which provides remote views of important events taking place in any part of the world at any time within the last twenty-four hours -- An "Illimitable Communicator. It is a simple electric device which will enable you, wherever you may be, to converse with people in any part of the world".

[@WordsinTime]

@@Kim_Miller Haha that’s wild!

[@bartsbookspace]

Interesting! I misspoke, I meant E-reader packed with hundreds of books. For the fear of spoiling Futorological Congress I won’t mention Lem’s idea for how reading and knowledge acquisition in general takes place this book, but it is fascinating.

[@SleepyBookReader-666]

Fantastic discussion and list.

[@WordsinTime]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@meesalikeu]

awesome to have bart he is great -- great takes and recs by you both -- psalm was totally new to me so i will for that for certain -- thx

[@WordsinTime]

Yeah, it was great to be able to chat. And I’m looking forward to reading his recommendations!

[@ilanahalupovich]

The last one reminded me of the Tales of the Galactic Midway by Resnick. Short and fun and aliens. Also for short and amazing books - Octavia Butler

[@WordsinTime]

I have read Wild Seed and recently got Dawn by Octavia Butler.

[@the_eerie_faerie_tales]

aww Charlie is adorable! 😻

[@WordsinTime]

Haha she’s a good dog! 🐶

[@davlang3783]

I do want to read Way Station. A while back i bought a few PKD books i hadn't heard of before, and it was a great haul. I enjoyed A Maze of Death, found The World Jones Made found slightly better, and loved Dr Bloodmoney.

[@WordsinTime]

Awesome! I’m particularly looking forward to A Maze of Death and Dr Bloodmoney!

[@floeten-olm8396]

The ending of the futurological congress is so sick! Great that bart seems to be a Lem enthusiast as well!

[@WordsinTime]

Yes! And Bart has read Lem in the original Polish which is pretty cool too.

[@floeten-olm8396]

@@WordsinTime that's awesome!

[@bigaldoesbooktube1097]

Great list a few of which are already on my TBR 👌

[@WordsinTime]

Hope you enjoy them!

[@alimin8r201]

I have a copy of Way Station and I like it very much.

[@WordsinTime]

That’s great! Glad you like it too!

[@Kim_Miller]

It's good to get another good recommendation for a PKD book. I've read a lot but not Maze of Death. And ... here's a twist. I watched Blade Runner and Blade Runner 2049 before i read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Many people will know that Ridley Scott didn't want to use that title and one of his production team said, 'I've just read this book called The Bladerunner. That's a catchy title for the movie". So Blade Runner came out with a 'stolen' name. I chased up the original book The Bladerunner by Alan Nourse and am currently reading it. It's from 1972 but Amazon has a kindle edition. And a further twist reading it so soon after covid, it's about a deadly air-borne respiratory disease pandemic and a large proportion of the population refuse medical care. I wonder where I've heard that before.

[@WordsinTime]

Interesting! I haven’t heard of that Alan Nourse book before, I’ll have to look it up!

[@mikesnyder1788]

@@WordsinTime Nourse was also a practicing physician and I remember in college his memoir " Intern" was a bit of a hit in the mid=1960's. I have not read his work but I bet he works in his medical knowledge from time to time.

[@mikesnyder1788]

Very enjoyable program, Jonathan!!!

[@hanniffydinn6019]

Love hitch hikers guide to the galaxy? Looking for something that is just as crazy, surreal, off the wall & SF comedy? I highly recommend the german TV show: “ Ijon Tichy: Raumpilot” which is based on Star dairies and other books by Stanislaw Lem! I Can’t express how brilliant it is, it’s more hitch hikers than hitch hikers itself ! Stanislaw Lem is a genius with these crazy SF comedy tall stories, I’d argue Ijon Tichy is better, And should be more known in the west. 😎👍

[@WordsinTime]

That sounds wild haha. I enjoyed reading about Ijon Tichy so I’m looking forward to more!

[@Joe-lb8qn]

Try MIndswap by Sheckley, Which also, not really a spoiler but dont jump ahead to it because it wont make sense anyway, has one of the best closing sentences of a SF book I've read.

[@bartsbookspace]

I saw one episode of that show years ago! Something about him getting in trouble for dumping garbage on a planet he visited. 🧐

[@mikesnyder1788]

"Star Diaries" is one of my favorite works of fiction. Full stop. So many clever stories and Ijon Tichy is THE best intergalactic hero of all times! He boldly goes where no sane astronaut would even consider going!

[@bartsbookspace]

@@mikesnyder1788 You’re making me want to re-read it. It’s been too long!

[@ReinReads]

To Be Taught, if Fortunate is another wonderful shorter book by Becky Chambers. It’s tied for 1st with A Psalm for the Wild Built as my favorite books of hers. A bit more hard SciFi but not unapproachable. Shining examples of short books that are impactful and memorable.

[@WordsinTime]

I’ll have to check it out!

[@bartsbookspace]

That's great to hear as I'll be reading it soon! 😀

[@sgtwanderer]

Just read Way Station last week, I totally loved it!

[@WordsinTime]

I’m glad you loved it too!

[@TheRealPaulMarshall]

Suggestions: "City" and "Destiny Doll", both by Simak.

[@WordsinTime]

I have read City, I’ll have to check out Destiny Doll!

[@alimin8r201]

Please add Cities In Flight by James Blish to your list for 2024 or 2025. It's very thick, comprised of four sections dealing with the discovery of a space drive that carries humans to the stars coupled with longevity drugs that extend a persons lifespan. The spacedrive is nicknamed the Spindizzy because it imparts a spin to the ship or massive chunk of planet that can house a city's worth of people. This book reminded me of R. A. Heinlein's works.

[@WordsinTime]

Thanks for the recommendation! Cities in Flight is on my TBR. I probably won’t read it this year but maybe next year!

[@alanforrester]

"I am legend" by Richard Matheson

[@WordsinTime]

I haven’t read Matheson yet, but I own The Shrinking Man.

[@wesleymarsh263]

If I'm remembering right, The Clockwork Orange had an additional chapter added for the American release. The original ending was optimistic but the publishers didn't think that would fly in the US. I can't remember how the movie ends, if it is based on the original or the US edition. I believe it was re-released without the extra chapter (was chapter 21?) Correct me if I'm wrong.

[@WordsinTime]

The original version had a last chapter that was slightly more optimistic but the US publisher removed it from the US edition. The film was made on the version without the last chapter. I believe most editions nowadays include the original final chapter.

[@sergiohirales9813]

Thanks for the recommendations. I already have read and enjoy "Clockwork Orange" and "Slaughterhouse Five". Just recently read a very short novel by Adrian Tchaikovsky, "Elder Race", have you read it? I found is like the perfect combination of a sci-fi novel and a fantasy novel... it depends on the character you choose.

[@WordsinTime]

I’ve read 3 Tchaikovsky books but not Elder Race. I might face to check it out!

[@daveac]

@Way Station' a particular favourite of mine - I would love to see this story turned into a movie :-)

[@WordsinTime]

It’s a great story!

[@dash648]

Ah yes, A Psalm for the Wild Built. My favorite Octavia E. Butler book 😂

[@WordsinTime]

Haha something weird happened in the edit, I swear I changed that twice and it reverted back! 🤦‍♂️ 😂

[@dash648]

@@WordsinTimeIronic for technology to mess with the scifi booktuber. Great video tho! A lot of fun recommendations

[@ReinReads]

ICE by Anna Kavan is a masterpiece. Took me a couple read throughs to wrap my mind around the structure & flow.

[@WordsinTime]

It sounds unique, so I’m looking forward to it!

[@bartsbookspace]

Yes, I know I will be rereading it in the future.

[@ilanahalupovich]

I read Lem in Russian translation. Give a try to Cyberiad. 😂 Also in case you haven't noticed, the book that you have mentioned is the first in the series (why it marked 2? I am not going to give a spoiler)

[@WordsinTime]

Time travel perhaps? I’ll have to read and find out!

[@jonahthejedai4973]

Eversion by Alistair Reynolds and The Forever War by Joe Haldeman

[@WordsinTime]

Both great choices!

[@joodwaleed7570]

super thanks ❤

[@WordsinTime]

Thank you❣️

[@colin1818]

Sci Fi is the best Fi

[@WordsinTime]

🫡

[@ilanahalupovich]

For time travel short Robert Young books.

[@WordsinTime]

I’ll look them up!

[@stevenstewart782]

I tried Clockwork Orange but was unreadable for me

[@WordsinTime]

That’s okay, it’s definitely not for everyone.

[@epiphoney]

Anybody can read Old Man’s War. Slightly over 300 pages.

[@WordsinTime]

I’ve read it and it’s a fun, fast read!

[@epiphoney]

@@WordsinTime 🎉