Three Sci-Fi Books Nobody Reads Anymore [100 Book Challenge #94-96]

[@jarred.shane10]

I just read Blish’s story “Surface Tension” and was impressed. Blish is like a breath of fresh air after I read other more florid sf from the 60s. He’s direct and concise. I’m excited to read the after such knowledge books.

[@meesalikeu]

ive only read the star trek blishes, but that one has had my interest thanks for the bump to give it a go 🎉

[@stripeytawney822]

Surface tension is excellent. So is cities in flight.

[@francoisjohannson139]

Talking about french SF, the original "Planet of the Apes" novel is french and it is actually quite good.

[@Jarlaxleify]

Love your stuff man. You've introduced me to what are now many of my favorite stories. Thanks so much!

[@GentleReader01]

Davidson wrote one of my favorite sf stories ever, “Selectra Six-Ten”. It’s letters from Davidson to editor Ed Ferman, showing off his new electric typewriter, offering excuses for selling stories he promised to Ferman to other magazines instead, and generally carrying on. Gradually we learn that his typewriter is an alien from the Moon. It doesn’t end well for him.

[@palmerlp]

Stephen Graham Jones got me into Blish when he said on a podcast that “There Shall Be No Darkness” was one of his favorite werewolf stories.

[@rickkearn7100]

Totally agree Blish never got the recognition he deserves and you're spot on about his prose. Top shelf. I read "...And All The Stars A Stage" in the early seventies and loved it. Really like your "nature moments" in between books, where you show the landscape for a few moments. Definitely unique to you. Cheers.

[@dougw2267]

I love this channel! Keep up the good work!

[@ShortStoryFocus]

Thank you for the mention, I really appreciate it. You got me reading Blish, and seeking him out in used bookstores. Now I’m hunting down more Malzberg too. The After Such Knowledge series is a must read, and really reveals the art of Blish. As for Avram, your review here really hits the nail. He was a great at one time, but we’ve grown beyond his approach. He mattered at one time, but even in his time, many were trying to do better. And they did.

[@tylerblankenship7087]

I really like the scenery shots you’ve added as you transition to the next book!

[@cliffordramsey2500]

In the film industry we call those pillow shots.

[@raresaturn]

Overlords of War sounds awesome!

[@mike-williams]

Have you read/reviewed Blish's "Cities in Flight" series? They were frequent re-reads for me back in the day. I think they'd make a great TV series along the lines of Battlestar Galactica (2004)

[@GrammaticusBooks]

Great video BP, now I have to find a copy of 'Overlords'!..clumsiness and all, you peeked my interest!

[@salty-walt]

As always, Thanks. Interesting to hear ANYTHING about these. I've had the same experience/ reluctance to buy Avram Davidson because all I know of him is that his stories I stumble across in anthologies are usually the duds in any given collection - and yet, he is chosen, again & again. I'm looking forward to hearing what of his *I SHOULD* read. Thank you, as always.

[@misanthropos6211]

Can't believe - just 4 books away from completing the 100 book challenge! Been following since you began it.

[@markc.7984]

In addition to all the other good things about your videos, I really appreciate the Kurosawa-style interstitials of peaceful nature shots.

[@JamoboBorg]

If you haven't heard of the Terra Ignota series by Ada Palmer, I'd give that a go. Strong look at a world where a taxi can take you around the earth in a couple of hours and how that effects ideas like nationality, politics, economics and everyday work. Then throw into the mix an attack on a political agency, the sociology of integrating computers into people and a literal god-child. Also, the narrator is one of the most fun I've had reading with in a while too.

[@henryjack6227]

Currently on Perhaps the Stars I love this series I much

[@MartiniBlankontherest]

Really interesting thoughts on Overlords of War because i agree. I think personal politics will dictate alot about the kind of Sci fi that grabs your eye.

[@douglasdea637]

Ha! I have read Vor, albeit about 25 years ago. I liked it as I found the mystery of what Vor is and its presence on Earth to be interesting. Yes, it's a bit of a twist ending.

[@suzynolanart]

The majority of my science fiction library is a nearly complete collection of Andre Norton, Julian May, and Anne McCaffrey. I also consider Pratchett & Baxter's long Earth series to be science fiction.

[@meesalikeu]

i saw john brunners name under klein’s on the overlords book cover you flashed, is it co-written with mr. stand on zanzibar??

[@yelisieimurai]

I think he just translated it.

[@gregjacob83]

Excellent choice in recommending VOR. Blish writes some amazing SF. If you haven't already, read 'Cities in Flight' which is a very interesting book that I believe is Blish's best.

[@noahmatuszewski8085]

Although I wouldn't call myself an Avram Davidson fan, I'd possibly recommend stories from The Adventures of Doctor Eszterhazy. Some are certainly better than others but they have a consistent weirdness & charm. Sort of like a G.K. Chesterton fever dream.

[@davidmicalizio824]

Thank you! 📙

[@father_flair]

Overlords of War sounds like it's set in a similar universe to This is How You Lose the Time War

[@portland-182]

'Travelling Towards Epsilon' edited by Maxim Jakubowski is a collection of French science fiction, that might be a fast way to get through a number of French authors quickly to see if there are some that deserve further investigation... Also edited by Maxim Jakubowski, 'Twenty Houses of the Zodiac' is a collection of non-English science fiction stories...

[@GentleReader01]

Brian Stableford has edited about a thousand volumes of vintage French sf in translation. Lot of great reading.

[@AndrewFoley-n2z]

What was the 60ish-year-old book that you got on well with? You didn't mention title and author, so I'm intrigued.

[@murunbuchstanzangur]

The space merchants is both very dated and weirdly prescient. Very good read.

[@katesherrod3498]

Mokie coke!

[@darklingeraeld-ridge7946]

Blish should be read. Also, The Vorrh by Brian Catling - check it for weirdness and prose….

[@gypseysurprise]

Are you up in Oregon now?

[@davidaldinger3666]

As with most Scifi written prior to 1980, it has been either ignored or forgotten. Maybe 5-10% is still read. To be fair some of that comes from the material being dated either on a social level or technological. I've read some stories from the 40"s & 50's that were considered pretty hard scifi at the time and now have more in common with John Carter of Mars. That's not a knock, it's just reality. In truth it's the human story that continues to resonate in Scifi over the long term.

[@onehandslinger1475]

Serge Brussolo was a small hero of mine in my youth. Almost impossible to find in English I think. I don't know if he was ever translated. I think The Wall Eaters, The Iron Carnival and Ira Melanox are really good. Later he got into horror and pretty much lost me.

[@frenchyleboeuf]

Who’s James Bush?! Oh, BLISH. 🤓

[@OXyShow]

Hi Matt 🖖

[@simonagree4070]

Well, my tastes in fiction are the opposite to yours -- I dine on short stories almost exclusively, very few novels -- and I don't mind a good twist ending at all, hence my admiration for Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Twilight Zone, and their literary equivalents. I remember a fad for non-English-language books in the early '70s, and there's your Klein and Stanislaw Lem and others. I read all those Blish Star Trek adaptations when I first started reading SF, but never took a shine to his other work, except for his book reviews and Doctor Mirabilis (an historical novel about Roger Bacon) which I keep around in hopes of rereading. As to Davidson, I'm sure I must have read something by him somewhere, probably in one of the Dangerous Visions anthologies or Fantasy & Science Fiction. Again, never moved to dig deeper. So you're right, these are books that are seldom read anymore; whether or not that is justified by their inherent quality, or by their availability, I couldn't say. PS: I still have almost all the novels of Philip K. Dick, and a great deal of Michael Moorcock and Fritz Leiber, on my shelves -- every once in a while I'll pull one out and reread, and enjoy. Generally, though, it's the short story writers that get me. Must be ADD.

[@dougperry691]

My favourite read of 2023 was Wormwood by Terry Dowling an Australian author that receives very little attention. The short story collection is brimming with aliens terraforming earth into an unrecognisable state reminiscent of Vance and Delaney. I would love to hear a review of these stories as I feel like they would be right in your wheelhouse.

[@meesalikeu]

sounds good i like short stories tied together - a la winesburg, ohio style 🎉

[@jolinarmalkshur18]

Amazon says it's out of print, unfortunately

[@dougperry691]

I got a copy pretty cheap on eBay which is your best bet I’d say.

[@jolinarmalkshur18]

@@dougperry691 I've requested it through interlibrary loan at the library. There are a few libraries in the USA that list it. I should have it in a couple of weeks.

[@michaelsamerdyke108]

"Vor" is the Russian word for "thief." Given the novel's Cold War setting, did that get mentioned?

[@luiznogueira1579]

Definitely getting some Walden vibes from your surroundings...

[@mostafabinali7109]

i don't know why i read the title of this vidoe "three body problem" !

[@meesalikeu]

😂

[@MrVvulf]

Full context on the thumbnail quote... People often understandably, yet mistakenly believe the quote comes from the 1985 novel entitled, "The Past is a Foreign Country". It does not. The original quote is from the first line of the 1963 novel "The Go-Between" by L.P. Hartley, and it reads: "The past is a foreign country, they do things differently there." I have frequently found it useful in discussions on the folly of judging historical figures using modern morality.

[@sams5963]

Where are you? Is that a cloud or a forest fire on the mountain behind you?

[@katherinegarcia3256]

Hey do you know why i have to resubscribe to your channel again today. This is the 4th time. That includes subscribing again last night. Seems weird. So whats the deal?

[@Bookpilled]

Never heard of this happening, not sure. Thanks for sticking with me through it.

[@katherinegarcia3256]

@@Bookpilled I enjoy the videos. I just started reading sci fi in 2023 and I have read several of your recs. Although they're hard to find. But finding old books is part of the funny. But there are a few other channels that I've had to resubscribe to. Maybe it's my Internet.

[@GentleReader01]

@@katherinegarcia3256 It’s not just you. I get random unsubscribes a few times a year.

[@katherinegarcia3256]

@@GentleReader01 Thank you! I was beginning to think it was just me. It takes me a while to notice that I don't see some of my favorite channels anymore. There's so much to go through. I watch KZbin for the book channels and the documentaries on history. I guess I'll have to keep checking on my favorites. Thanks for letting me know.

[@r.awilliams9815]

I'll give you a trilogy that no one reads any more...The Gormenghast Trilogy by Mervyn Peake.

[@mike-williams]

It's read a lot and new editions appear constantly.

[@awldune]

It had a big budget TV adaptation a while back. It is not in the same league of obscurity as these titles. That is not to say it's not underappreciated.

[@yelisieimurai]

I read it just few years ago

[@dawnmoriarty9347]

I tried it and put it on my "read later" pile. Can't remember why but it wasn't a definite no, just a "Not now"

[@HuplesCat]

I have it and read it but you bang on right that hardly anyone does anymore. Funny how people like to critique others and prove stranger’s opinions wrong. I guess it helps make up for their lack of character?

[@mousepolice55]

I wonder if the people who call bland writers creative and interesting have ever read a good book. These people might be continually reading really bad fiction and not even know it. 😅😂

[@Edo9River]

Nce