I'm Back with the Science Fiction! | SFF Reviews

[@SFF180]

The Dying Earth! There’s an old OLD classic. Among the most influential books in the field. I’m eager to catch up with Megan O’Keefe. It seems fewer and fewer mainstream publishers are interested in science fiction anymore. 😕

[@TheShadesofOrange]

Yeah it's been a couple of discouraging years trying to find enough new sci fi

[@dalejones4322]

Yay!!! Science Fiction. I love it. Thanks Rachel

[@TheShadesofOrange]

Thanks Dale

[@joannatrefethen1197]

Station Eleven was indeed SF-lite, but that allowed it to be her breakout book to the wider literary community. Now we have people who don't normally read genre reading her work, and discovering timey-wimey concepts like Sea of Tranquility. Just another part of our campaign to convert all of the reading public to our SF&F cause!

[@TheShadesofOrange]

Very true. I love any book that brings new readers to the genre

[@olivierrobichaud1678]

Thanks for the great Sci-Fi review!

[@maxturgeon89]

Saturation Point sounds really up my alley, reminiscent of both Annihilation and Roadside Picnic.

[@TheShadesofOrange]

I really need to read Picnic

[@thomascromwell6840]

Whenever I want sci-fi recs I look to your channel. I'm going to read at least one book among these. Thanks for posting. Hope you get good views and people notice your work.

[@TheShadesofOrange]

Thanks

[@newtcookie]

Megan O'Keefe mentioned! I've read her Protectorate trilogy and loved it a lot. I am interested in reading more of her works but would love recs on which series of hers to start next if you have a favorite or least favorite of hers.

[@forblue]

New books to the TBR list, thanks! 🎉

[@SaintAlphonzo]

Definitely going to check out The Blighted Stars. Thanks.

[@amytaylor555]

Here for the Sci-Fi! 😊

[@richardbrown8966]

As a major science fiction and fantasy reader, I would recommend reading The Three Musketeers, read it last year and I've now read all five musketeer novels, also Steven Brust an amazing fantasy writer is a big Alexandre Dumas fan.

[@TheShadesofOrange]

I will have to check out the classic then

[@Zivilin]

There is also Sarah A. Hoyt under the pseudonyms Sarah Marques & Sarah D'Almeida.

[@Maeve_Ever_Books]

I LOVE the Greatcoats series!! I hope you read the rest!

[@TheMike28212]

Hooray for the Sci-Fi! Glad you found some good books. I really enjoyed Saturation Point. I thought the ending was great. I look forward to reading The Dying Earth and hope to get to it before the end of the year. 📚

[@maxturgeon89]

@@TheMike28212 one more for the Dying Earth team! 🎉

[@khomo12]

Traitors blade is already on my tbr📚! Kitty g speaks highly of it, too! Yes, it's time to check out some jack vance👍👍👍🤖🚀🐲

[@lissavanhouten6628]

Sebastien de Castell's Greatcoats series: I loved it. I couldn't stop reading it, with all the swashbuckling and dueling, funny dialogue, and serious themes.

[@TheShadesofOrange]

Agreed

[@Octobig]

whoohoo! happy to see so much scifi you enjoyed🚀

[@TheShadesofOrange]

Me too!

[@masterchief8427]

Awesome! Thanks!!

[@leafsonata]

Thank you, thank you! Im here for the scfi. You have such good recs- I love the breakdown too. I'm fairly new to your channel and dont read much fantasy but was wondering if you've covered Monster Fiction?

[@TheShadesofOrange]

Not a specific video so just in my various wrap ups

[@chones_]

Yes! Greatcoats!

[@josephiyeke8946]

Love some Tchaikovsky! Elder Race and Alien Clay come out recently, and both were sooo good.

[@LaughingStockfarm1]

Definitely looking forward to reading Saturation Point. Loved Annihilation (the second book I DNF’d), and love Tchaikovsky.

[@maxturgeon89]

Also, I strongly encourage you to read at least the next Dying Earth novel (but really, you should read all four). Cugel is a great character, and the narrative throughline is much stronger than in the first novel.

[@TheShadesofOrange]

I'll see if I can track down the rest of the series

[@billfreeman5914]

I’ve read and enjoyed Station Eleven and am currently reading Saturation Point.👍

[@caitlinl2750]

Loved devoured worlds trilogy 🎉

[@joannatrefethen1197]

During your review of Saturation Point I was thinking it sounded like a more action-oriented version of Vandermeer's Area X series, and then you name-checked it. Good for you. I love Jeff's work, but I've been meaning to check out Adrian's work and this shorter book may be my gateway in.

[@O.M.G.Puppies]

"The Zone" in Saturation Point made me thing of _Roadside Picnic_ by the Stugatsky brothers, a real masterpiece. In that book The Zone is a region visited by aliens and littered with dangerous discarded tech and damaged space-time. Have you read any China Mieville? I'd suggest City and the City, a murder mystery set in a place where two cities occupy the same place and the citizens of a city are trained to not see anyone from the other city.

[@TheShadesofOrange]

I have read Miéville but not that one. Also I still need to read Roadside

[@adamgiannetto1071]

Thank you for your work. There are hardly any sci fi booktubers. It's always fantasy. I like fantasy but I love sci fi. I love horror as well. The balance you have on your channel is like my perfect ratio.

[@TheShadesofOrange]

The struggle is real as a viewer. I watch Words on Time, Secret Sauce of Storycraft, SFF180 etc but these feel few and far between

[@Darrkness]

The detailed duels and brotherhood of The Greatcoats made that series a favorite of mine. Station Eleven sounds interesting and one I'll be reading soon. Ive really enjoyed a lot of sci-fi titles this year. Thanks. 🛸🤺

[@TheShadesofOrange]

Agree about the Greatcoats

[@AntisocialAuntie]

A few of these are on my ever growing TBR.

[@authorjgamber]

I've heard a lot of good stuff about Jack Vance, but never actually checked out The Dying Earth.

[@chokog2446]

Have I recommended the Foreigner series by C. J. Cherryh and The Vorkosigan Saga by Louis McMaster Bujold to you before? They are much more about relationships set in Sci-fi settings, but are some of my favorites when I just want to appreciate an enjoyable read! 😊

[@TheShadesofOrange]

I need to get back to both those series

[@sambell2743]

I’m a big Adrian Tchaikovsky fan and pretty much read anything he releases. He’s so prolific though that it can be hard to keep up haha. Currently reading Exodus by Peter F. Hamilton, a 900-page hard sci-fi epic. Something you might like?

[@TheShadesofOrange]

I've read Hamilton but I'm not familiar with Exodus. I'll have to look it up

[@Nixx0912]

I think I want to check "You sexy thing", "Saturation point" and "Traitor's blade". I've read "Three Musketeers" as a kid, it's fun adventure novel but as times goes by, and "Club Dumas" happened on the way I tend to cheer for Milady more and more.

[@debashisbandyopadhyay13]

Your videos are best 👌

[@bookendsandbiscuits]

Sci-fi for the win - I had missed saturation point so ty

[@seanwinter4784]

If you liked Station 11 I'd really like to hear your opinion on The Gate to Women's Country by Sherri S. Tepper, which is also post apocalyptic, feminist SF, and while it has some really dark parts to it, is similar in that it is about hope for the future rather than Mad Max. Also, Three Musketeers is a tremendous read

[@trendtrader4010]

Amazing !!

[@Zivilin]

Jack Vance is already on my 2025 list. Primarily because of Dying Earth's hard magic system that influenced D&D. Also i would definitely recommend the d'Artagnan romances. Dumas witty dialogue and banter is amazing. And his books read fast.

[@TheShadesofOrange]

That's cool about the influence.

[@gregjohnson6021]

HI, I think I liked the Megan O'Keefe series a bit more than you did. I thought it was all about identity crisis, class identity in the first book, other people's distrust of newly established identities in the second book, and the main characters forced to question their own identities in the third. Probably not the greatest books of the year, but I agree that they're well worth reading. As for Adrian Tchaikovsky, his output and the high quality thereof are approaching ridiculous. I'm not sure I can think of anyone who could match it, maybe C.J. Cherryh in her prime. Haven't read Saturation Point yet, but I just finished Alien Clay, and that just might be his best yet.

[@TheShadesofOrange]

Glad you enjoyed them more. They just didn't leave me with much of an impression

[@epiphoney]

Traitor's Blade is historical? I'm an hour away from finishing The Exorcist. Father Merrin is finally on the case to take care of Pazuzu.

[@TheShadesofOrange]

It's a secondary world but pulls inspiration from history

[@amytaylor555]

I just finished Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

[@user-pn9qk3bn7o]

Have you read Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer? One of the best sci-fi books I’ve ever read, highly recommend!

[@TheShadesofOrange]

Only the first book on the series

[@jamescaserta6265]

Adrian Tchaikovsky is Steven King scary.

[@grey_wulf]

Been itching for a good Lovecraftian novel. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

[@TheShadesofOrange]

I did a cosmic video a while back. It's not a subgenre I read enough of

[@FrankOdonnell-ej3hd]

Gotta seriously check out this Adrian tchavosky guy. Apparently he’s not just another ordinary space opera author like the ones I’m pretty much used to by now. Be well.⚛️❤

[@TheShadesofOrange]

Do it!

[@Castabulan]

Much like The Dying Earth and Book of the New Sun, The Starbridge Chronicles by Paul Park has a future(?) that is in regression. The Borrible Trilogy by Michael Larabeiti is something I recommend people read just to have done so.

[@TheShadesofOrange]

I'll see if I can track those down

[@jakobwetzel7065]

Definitely check out Saturation Point. Sounds like a good start with Tchaikovsky. I agree that Annihilation, which I just read, was underwhelming. Good enough to continue the series but I thought the movie was more entertaining.

[@TheShadesofOrange]

I feel like we're the only two people who don't adore Annihilation

[@jakobwetzel7065]

@@TheShadesofOrange it definitely picks up at the end but it was a slog through the first half. I’m about to start the second book. Did you read the whole series? The ratings seem to get better with the next two books. I realized he just put out a fourth book this month!

[@lissavanhouten6628]

I thought Station Eleven was good, but not great. I wanted to see this theater group actually traveling from town to town and meeting the townspeople and really performing different Shakespearean plays in this post-apocalyptic world. There was not as much of that as I hoped.

[@TheShadesofOrange]

Yeah it wasn't the 5 star read for me that is has been for my friends

[@artificialtelemetry]

How is Fractured Dark when compared to Velocity Weapon? I read Velocity Weapon and really enjoyed it for what it is. I am getting the feeling Fractured Dark maybe not as good?

[@TheShadesofOrange]

Oh I should have be more clear in the video. My middle-ling feelings was consistent throughout. All three books got 3.5 Stars. I wasn't personally super engrossed by book 1 but still would recommend them for an easy sci fi read

[@artificialtelemetry]

@@TheShadesofOrange got it. I'm on the hunt for a really good NEW Space Opera.

[@fernbedek6302]

Now I want to write some serious sci-fi with a character who cooks a lot to break the 'if there's food it's lighter' cliche. XD

[@TheShadesofOrange]

Haha do it!

[@madlynx1818]

I’d like to recommend the dystopian two novel set by Octavia E Butler ‘Parable of the Sower’ and ‘Parable of the Talents’. The second one has a lesbian relationship with the main character and I just learned from another of your videos that that is an interest of yours. The second book also kind of starts its own religion that was very interesting too. ✌️

[@TheShadesofOrange]

I actually just did a series review a few weeks ago

[@madlynx1818]

@@TheShadesofOrange oh cool I’ll check it out for sure

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