These Sci-Fi Worlds Seem Grimly Familiar [5 Books Reviewed]

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00:00 Salt by Adam Roberts
04:35 The Abominable Snowmen by Eric Norman
06:30 Red As Blood by Tanith Lee
08:29 The Space Merchants by Pohl & Kornbluth
13:05 The Stone Gods by Jeanette Winterson

[@rickkearn7100]

I really like the premise of this episode of Bookpilled, Matt. It touches on an experience I think the majority of SF/SF Fantasy readers have experienced, to wit: "Why does this seem so familiar?". I think it points out the difficult task of authors new to the scene beginning in the late 80's early 90's to create a unique and engaging story that isn't reminiscent of the previous gen of SF. In fact, I think it's impossible to do without some similarities. Nice takes on all. I chuckled at your comment on Salt; "It was Le Guin amped up to a high level of violence and intensity. I liked it.". That was quintessential Bookpilled. Thanks for another great episode. Cheers.

[@Bookpilled]

Cheers, Rick.

[@Narcisa-800]

You are getting better and better at reviewing and interpreting the material.

[@Bookpilled]

Thank you

[@Paul_Bond.]

Adam Roberts is great. I would recommend Yellow Blue Tibia and The Thing Itself as two more great novels by him. Jack Glass is pretty good too, and although it doesn't matter some of the cover art for his work is truly beutifull.

[@SciFiScavenger]

I've been busy collecting his books and as you say, the cover art is unusually good. 👍

[@ajaxplunkett5115]

Side Note: After Angela Carter ( The Bloody Chamber ) and Tanith Lee ( Red As Blood ) feminist retellings of Fairy Tales proliferated through the 1980's and 90's and never stopped. Yes , this became a cliched sub-genre yet I consider Carter and Lee somewhat Ahead of the Glut/Wave of Fem/Fairytales.

[@isoundinfo]

Happy to see an Adam Roberts book reviewed here. He deserves more notoriety and to my mind is one of the greatest living SF writers. Some books are better then others but all his works I've read are of high quality.

[@SciFiScavenger]

He'll be a guest on my channel in a few weeks. Just sayin'...😀

[@HuplesCat]

Thanks. Appreciate this recommendation

[@joshramirez7]

This may sound crazy. But I highly recommend the Choose Your Own Adventure: The Abominable Snowman. There are some really dark outcomes and some are very surreal. I loved it, found it at a bookstore a few years ago.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Nice to see you reading Adam Roberts- he's done some excellent work and is the only living British SF author I revere whom I have not met. He's exceptionally fruitful and his devotion to the singleton marks him as the real thing- if only more contemporary writers had his ability to remake the world each time, like the old school did. I will try the Winterson, recalled what you said to me about her essays. I can't imagine reading a rebooted 'Space Merchants' - I like Pohl & Kornbluth together, but have sometimes felt that Pohl kept Kornbluth's wilder excesses under control- but then Pohl himself was massively uneven, which you could put down to him being the busiest writer-editor-agent in Genre SF history.

[@douglasdea637]

I love Pohl by himself. Gateway and Beyond the Blue... are two of my favorite sci-fi works. His short stories are pretty good too and I would recommend some of his other novels as well, such as Jem. But yes, he can be uneven. (His autobiography is good too, he was apparently very influential as an editor.)

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

@@douglasdea637 I've read lots of Pohl (been doing so since 1985), his book 'Man Plus' was included in my amazon uk bestselling book '100 Must Read Science Fiction Novels', published 2008.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

@@douglasdea637 I've been reading Pohl since the 1980s. His book 'Man Plus' is in my book '100 Must Read Science Fiction Novels' (2006), a UK amazon bestseller. I'm pretty familiar with his work, as you might have guessed from this post.

[@douglasdea637]

@@outlawbookselleroriginal Yeah, I figured. I read Man Plus last year and while interesting is unfortunately dated now. The modern expansion of computers and the Internet and cell phone tech has damaged much older sci-fi. I remember reading a book, I think it was Slan, and the characters are still using land lines.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

@@douglasdea637 I never use the expression 'dated', I always think things are of their time. The way to look at SF historically is to think about how far ahead writers were of tech, not how current works reflect where tech is. Without the work of pioneers, there would be no SF today- 'Slan' was written 80 plus years ago, when there were only landlines, but the first mobile phone in SF appears in the early 1950s in a Heinlein novel. In ten years time, will you be calling the SF you read this year dated? I'd suggest an historical context view is more balanced in the long term for reading pleasure.

[@rabbitscooter]

Good observations on Space Merchants. I've been a Pohl (and Kornbluth) fan for 40 years and there's no escaping that much of his stuff is now dated. But by his own admission, he was never trying to forecast (or forbode) preferring to comment on trends and possibilities, in this case, by applying satire to the genre. And, of course, his pulp scifi roots were never far from the surface, even in later, more complex works. He's worth knowing and reading but in that context, I think. He arguably had more influence as an editor.

[@chrisw6164]

The Space Merchants! Loved the first third, it ran out of gas for me by the end. Still a recommend. I had no idea they tried to modernize it, avoid that and stick to the 1953 original.

[@jmhthe3rd]

I hate it when authors update their old books, at least when they do so as an effort to make the works more contemporary. The result tends to be jarring because while it may update certain details, it remains retro within the narrative's context. For example, in 2003 David Gerrold updated his 1973 time travel novel, *The Man Who Folded Himself* with throwaway references to 9/11 and CDs and computers and such, implying the character is from that year. It was distracting, however, because the prose and story were still "coded" in a hippie 1970s. Dialog, partly, but also in its plot. A ~2000-era teenager given a time machine is immediately going to think, "win the lottery!" not "go to the horse races!" Even if I'd never read the original version, I would felt something was off.

[@disconnected22]

Recently did a book hunting trip to a big college town (Ann Arbor, MI). Wanted you to know, Matt: because of your great videos and erudition about authors, I picked up Blish, Bob Shaw, John Brunner, Alfred Bester.... So, thanks for what you do, man.

[@Bookpilled]

You love to hear it

[@fanuluiciorannr1xd212]

Try Inherit the Stars by James P. Hogan. Is quite good in my opinion (as far as SF goes). It is also very funny that the guy who wrote it watched A space odyssey did not get the themes and decided to do something better. I wouldn't say is better but is surprisingly good.

[@douglasdea637]

I read that last year. It's okay but it doesn't hold up. The aliens are too human in my opinion, particularly the twist in the third book. The science doesn't work with what we know about the Moon. I did like the analysis of how a species develops is determined by it's environment.

[@fanuluiciorannr1xd212]

​@@douglasdea637 I get your point. I chose to see it as more of a alternate timeline with the moon and the history presented in the book. Some aspects felt rushed because he probably didn't want to make the aliens too advanced. Yhea they felt human. But the first book felt better since we didn't see live ones who acted like us. Never read the third since it does not seem to get any better. But for the theme and what inspired its origin I felt it was on the better side of SF. I'll have to ask. Any books you think are great? Any ones with more intrestimg aliens?

[@douglasdea637]

@@fanuluiciorannr1xd212 Niven and Pournelle write great aliens. I love Mote in God's Eye and Footfall. Startide Rising by Brin is one of my favorites and it has several alien races. Surprisingly Norman's Priest Kings of Gor has an interesting alien race which is decidedly not what one finds in Trek. (By the way, I did read the 3rd book in the Giants series. Humans have been living with the aliens for the past 50,000 years and still bitterly hate Earth humans. They've been manipulating events on Earth for a long time causing wars and economic collapses..)

[@zumzoom6368]

I read The Space Merchants as a teen, it was in omnibus with Andre Norton's Star Gate. I remember really liking it, could be worth revisiting with adult eyes.

[@salty-walt]

Thanks for the great coverage (as usual) * Especially * the focused and balanced coverage of Winterspoon. LeGuin so often talked about new writers "embarrassing themselves re-inventing the wheel" because they were unfamiliar with genre conventions and as "literary writers" thought they didn't need to. This sounds like a great example, yet you were *also* able to tell us about how good her work was in other respects. So well done, and useful! Also thanks for letting "us" know about the changes to "Space Merchants!" I didn't know - Now I'll stay focused on the original.

[@Bookpilled]

Pretty funny and astute invocation of LeGuin. She reviewed Stone Gods and accused Winterson of being a fly by night genre fiction opportunist.

[@salty-walt]

@@Bookpilled Thank You. She's repeatedly decried this situation in a number of her essays, but I may not be as brilliant as we thought; I may've listened to her speak on "Stone Gods" and not remembered it. Directly contravening the tenets of both Zen Houskeeping and modern psychology, I tend to listen to essays doing drudge work & may've absorbed such a review whist cleaning the shower & just not remembered the title. But she has warned about this many times. As she got older I think she started feeling freer to "Name Names." Like a Boss.

[@TSM-908]

Just found your channel. I’m 68 and I’ve read a LOT of SF & Fantasy. I always thought I hated fantasy, but was won over. Some books you may or may not have heard of are: Earth Abides by George R. Stewart my 1st post apocalyptic novel read at 14 years old; Piers Anthony Incarnations of Immortality - 1st book is On A Pale Horse and 2nd is Bearing an Hourglass which deal with the immortalities Death and Time.; Clive Barker’s Weaveworld & Arafat; Adjustment Bureau by Philip K Dick (100% nothing like the film) - finally The Man Who Folded Himself by David Gerrold. Obviously there are so many more but this is already a long comment!!

[@OXyShow]

Another great one, thanks Matt!

[@WordsinTime]

I recently read my first book from Tanith Lee, which was Electric Forest. I liked it, although I enjoyed the first half more than the second. What do you recommend by her?

[@BonnieLiz-hy9vs]

Just watched his vid where he talks highly about her; the book he read was The Night Master, I think

[@WordsinTime]

@@BonnieLiz-hy9vs Thanks!

[@bigman3274]

really enjoyed your thoughts here. thanks.

[@OmnivorousReader]

I keep hearing about this Adam Roberts, must find some.

[@davidmicalizio824]

Thank you Love SF!

[@mateosimon4237]

Thank You for the recommendations man👍🍺

[@baptistejanin9615]

I read Gradisil by Adam Roberts quite a long time ago, the first part of the book really stayed with me, I still think about it on a regular basis Now that I think about it, a few things about Robert's style reminds me of Kim Stanley Robinson

[@mindok1572]

I wouldn't call The Space Merchants a fix-up novel, it was serialized at first and the two authors contributed differently two its parts (Pohl first part, Kornbluth middle section, both on the final part and revision by Pohl).

[@smokedbeefandcheese4144]

glad your open minded about big foot I think we have an obligation to them to leave them alone we would only harm big foot with our interference in their affairs

[@Da5idc]

I haven't read any Jeanette Winterson Listening to your assessment that she regurgitates Sci-fi tropes, would it be a good introduction someone who is a newbie to the genre?

[@Bookpilled]

Might be a rough landing. I think any book from one of my top 15 vids would probably be a better starting place.

[@DamnableReverend]

I read The Space merchants in the eartly 2000s and really liked it. had no idea aout the version with allte corp names and everything. As far as I know th 50s one jutmade them up, which is inordinately better. I wldnt' say Pohl is alwys so light-hearted. He was an angry loutat one time himself. There's lso what I assume must be a late story (it reads like something out of Ellison's Dageros Visions anthology but it wasn't) clled "We Purchased People", that is certinly one of the darkest SF stories by a golden age era writer I've ever come across. I found it in FOundations of Fear, a horror antholoy, which happens to include some good scienc fictio stories of a particularly grim persuasion. In ctrast, and because Tanith lee was mentioned, I'll say that I read Biting the Sun a few month ago, and it was much *lighter* than i was expecting, but in a way tht was really fun. I'm definitely more used to her being "gothy" as you said, so this felt a bit straneto me at first.

[@SciFiScavenger]

Salt, pretty good debut novel for a very prolific 🇬🇧 sf author, unusual these days in that he writes standalone books. No series for this guy. 👍

[@danjameson1572]

great weird random pick...."You Sane Men" by Laurence M. Janifer

[@JohnSmith-jd4qm]

Not sure how familiar you are with Roberts (recent subscriber here), but I'd be glad to see you review more of his work - even the less successful books are dense and heavily intertextual (I mean with other people's work, not his own) in a way that means there's always loads to chew on.

[@danjameson1572]

"You Sane Men" is like sleazy sci fi sadism porn lite. completely without any redeeming features, but great.

[@zrokeach1]

anyone know if he mentioned a book called "Space Engineers" in this or a recent vid, and if so, who the author is? I wrote down that book name but now can't find it online and don't remember the author name

[@quitefranklyjosh]

I love your concise, direct, and honest style of review. It’s a very refreshing thing to see! However, I disagree with much of what you have to say about subjectively “misogynistic” narratives. No doubt that it does regrettably occur, but every time you dump on someone like Heinlein, I seem to find another author I like. Not for their politics necessarily, but because I’ve grown very tired of the seemingly deliberate feminist, anti-masculine narratives that are so prolific today (no, I don’t mean female protagonists). Two wrongs don’t make a right, and I believe one can honor their own gender and views on social issues while respecting the others right to exist as they are.

[@bookfantastic]

Matt, I am considering becoming a world traveler like yourself. As such, I would probably have to have a fire sale to remove the burden of so many books in order to lighten my load. What is your experience regarding finding good books in our genres written in English as you travel? Have you been to Asia? If so, what is it like there with regard to books?

[@Bookpilled]

It really depends on the city. The more tourism, the more likely you’ll find books. Chiang Mai is the best place I’ve traveled to for books. Mexico City also good.

[@matthewjonas8952]

You look so much like the character Alan Wake, it's uncanny.

[@Seven-Planets-Sci-Fi-Tuber]

Thanks, Matt. Salt sounds very interesting. Concerning Kornbluth, this "pissed off individual," as you put it, shared his opinion of the human race in the short story, The Marching Morons which is widely recognized as the inspirational premise of the movie Idiocracy. Cheers! 7

[@danjameson1572]

"You Sane Men" reprinted as "Bloodworld"

[@megaluria9654]

Why does everyone keep overlooking a classic work that served as a huge inspiration for authors like A. Reynolds. It's Schismatrix Plus by Bruce Sterling which has its place right next to Neuromancer defining the cyberpunk genre. Have you read it? Cheers!

[@thescrewfly]

I read some Jeanette Winterson a decade or two ago and I can't really imagine her writing anything SF at all... pethaps something of a dilettante , as you say.

[@eeltalk]

Can you recommend a better Bigfoot book? Thank you.

[@Bookpilled]

Bigfoot: Legend Meets Science by Meldrum

[@davea136]

The Patreon is a really great deal for $5. Maybe it is time to add tiers. Maybe "Have dinner" or "Spend a day fly fishing".

[@Bookpilled]

Thanks much. Might do tiers eventually.

[@ernestschultz5065]

Matt is by far the best science fiction reviewer. So insightful and always seems to really understand what these books are about beyond just the basic plots.

[@Bookpilled]

Thanks much

[@j.stajanov700]

I was wondering if you have read Pohl’s ‘Gateway’. One of my favorites ever.

[@jmhthe3rd]

*Gateway* was excellent, but then Pohl proceeded to tarnish it with bad, ret-conny sequels.

[@xjj99]

Your left audio channel is significantly louder than the right. Your previous video also had this issue, but I figured then that it was a one-off. I guess hardly anyone else watches yt wearing earphones.

[@millerbyte5579]

5:10 Hell yeah, didn't know you had thoughts on "high strangeness" topics like Bigfoot. What are your thoughts on the recent UFO / UAP happenings? David Grusch, Karl Nell's recent statements, etc. Yes, I'll go back and watch that Bigfoot video :D.

[@Bookpilled]

Sorry to no-sell you but I’ve never had much interest in UFOs. You’d think I would.

[@millerbyte5579]

@@Bookpilled I won't try and sell you on it -- I just find it interesting that more "credible" people (credible in my eyes) are coming public with complete certainty that we are being visited by non-human intelligences. Trying to find the signal through the noise can be exhausting, though.

[@GentleReader01]

Have you read Hunting Monsters by paleontologist Darren Naish? He’s always wanted to discover or confirm a cryptic, and studies them along with his day job work. He remains interested in cryptozoology but finds himself deciding that the underlying sciences are psychology and sociology rather than biology and ecology. Fascinating stuff by a guy who seems not to have a mean bone in his body. On Pohl, I think you’ve nailed his standard failure mode, but then there’s work like Gateway and “Day Million” that are pretty darned good and not failing that way.

[@Bookpilled]

I actually have an hour long review of the Naish book on the channel, if you search for it.

[@GentleReader01]

@@Bookpilled I’ll do that thing!

[@Cmdtheartist]

Great reviews. I will probably try Space Merchants. On a side note, I don't think it would actually kill you to start these with a Hello, because sometimes it feels like I missed the first few seconds of the video.

[@jonathancraig9005]

I would argue the straight to business approach, and occasional disorientation that results, is a bug not a feature. Everyone else has some cute greeting or a theme song. That said if you want a theme song I have a Minimoog emulator and would happily oblige.

[@secondhandlives1054]

I just read The Space Merchants last week. You are being incredibly generous Matt. Despite some interesting but dated world-building here and there and a couple of O.K scenes from Kornbluth this book was terrible. The prose was so poor it was actually painful to read. Yet another incredibly over-rated ‘masterpiece’ in the science fiction canon.

[@HuplesCat]

Thanks for this

[@angusmckeogh659]

Hmm, Salt sounds like Project 2025 and Trump.

[@tectorgorch8698]

thankyoumaskman

[@zardoz_the_great]

It sounds like you're getting over the covid, I hope the recovery wasn't too gruelling

[@frodo4627]

First (Great vids btw)

[@wizardofoz6811]

I really hate T. Lee's books, they are of a flat culture, so clumsily allegorical that it does not amount to parody, of a facticity so childish and superficial that they are no more than an insult to intelligence. Thanks for the video

[@MacSmithVideo]

Ah yes, cartoonish socialism vs capitalism, race science and feminism... First three sound like sheer tedium.