The Evolution of Science Fiction discussion

it just occurred to me that the old 'currently reading' topic should have stopped at 2020. I'm closing it & starting this new topic. If we're still around in a decade or so, it might be a good way to start a new 20 year period.

Ready Player Two wasn't as good as the first, but I didn't expect it would be. As an audiobook, it was pretty good. I gave it a 3 star review here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Jim wrote: "it just occurred to me that the old 'currently reading' topic should have stopped at 2020. I'm closing it & starting this new topic. If we're still around in a decade or so, it might be a good way ..."

Do you think you should re-open that topic? Or are we closing the door on those two decades forever?

RJ - Slayer of Trolls wrote: "Do you think you should re-open that topic? Or are we closing the door on those two decades forever?"

As I mentioned in another topic, I closed it temporarily to get everyone's attention. I was planning to leave it a couple of days, but I'll reopen it now.

My review of Firebreak, published in 2021 https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I am just about to start Light byM. John Harrison

I don't know too much about it, or about the author, but I have heard good things.

I may have mentioned it elsewhere, but I enjoyed the web magazine Translunar Travelers Lounge: Issue Four: February 2021. An interesting mix of stories with a few that I found really good.

My favourite science fiction discovery of the year until now is Die Störung by Brandon Q. Morris. It is a hard science fiction thriller that I couldn't put down until I was done. I believe there is no English translation available so far, but other books by him have been translated and Die Störung has only been published in January 2021. (So there might be a translation of this in the future.) Morris also has a wibsite with interesting blog posts: https://hard-sf.com/

Jim wrote: "RJ - Slayer of Trolls wrote: "Do you think you should re-open that topic? Or are we closing the door on those two decades forever?"

As I mentioned in another topic, I closed it temporarily to get ..."

To be honest - based on my own reading experiences - I would have been fine with the alternative.

The Penultimate Truth by Philip K Dick, Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson, Wizard by John Varley (Gaea trilogy #2)

on deck to read: Old Man's War by John Scalzi, Anathem by Neal Stephenson, Children of Dune by Frank Herbert, Dark Matter by Blake Crouch, The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress by Robert A Heinlein, Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut, Island by Aldous Huxley, Mort by Terry Pratchett... I have probably a couple hundred books on

resonant.interval wrote: "The Penultimate Truth by Philip K Dick, Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson, Wizard by John Varley (Gaea trilogy #2)."

A great collection of strong books, but this topic is about books first published in 2021 and your are from earlier years (they are still great) and ought to be discussed in other threads

Automatic Reload by Ferrett Steinmetz was interesting. It wasn't quite worth 4 stars, but closer than I would have expected from the blurb. I reviewed it here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I finished Dead Space by Kali Wallace and disliked it. Here is my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I have just finished Glasshouse by Charles Stross which was spectacular.
Review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

And I have started Look to Windward by Iain M. Banks
I am a bit dubious, almost 100 pages in and I am enjoying it a great deal, but I often find myself unable to warm to Iain M. Banks as much as the entire rest of the sci-fi reading public seem to.

Finished two more 2021 books, a novella A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers, which I liked, my review - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and a novel Immunity Index by Sue Burke, which wasn't to my taste, my review - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I just finished Andy Weir's new novel, "Project Hail Mary". Ramshackle plot and the Macguffin is hard to swallow -- but it's compulsively readable. 3.5 stars, rounded up. My take: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Peter wrote: "I just finished Andy Weir's new novel, "Project Hail Mary". ..."

I looked for the audiobook version this morning in several of my library sites & none of them have it in English even to put on hold or to request. There is a Spanish copy available, though. Very odd.

I've read "Project Hail Mary" and liked it - yes, a lot of wavehandium, from a new life form to ease of communication, but I liked it a lot

If you're looking for a good book, you might find it in this NPR list, We Asked, You Answered: Your 50 Favorite Sci-Fi And Fantasy Books Of The Past Decade
August 18, 20215:00 AM ET
Petra Mayer at NPR headquarters in Washington, D.C., May 21, 2019.
https://www.npr.org/2021/08/18/102715...

Jim wrote: "If you're looking for a good book, you might find it in this NPR list, We Asked, You Answered: Your 50 Favorite Sci-Fi And Fantasy Books Of The Past Decade
August 18, 20215:00 AM ET
.

Gosh, comprehensive list! Many I liked, some I didn't. Not a bad list for someone trying to do catchup, or just see what recent books NPR editors & friends have liked.

I've see that list elsewhere and I agree with Peter - a nice selection even if not everything to my personal taste.

I've finished Rabbits, and it is definitely a promising debut, I reviewed it here https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I finished Notes from the Burning Age by Claire North, my review

Oleksandr wrote: "I finished Notes from the Burning Age by Claire North, my review"

I just picked up The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August and am looking forward to getting to it. Probably next month.

I've started Twenty Trillion Leagues Under The Sea. The Verne version didn't go deep enough for my tastes.

Well, that was weird! Closer to Weird Fiction or Horror than Sci-Fi, but definitely with a connection to the original story. The title is a bit off as it is later revealed that they traveled no more than 20 trillion kilometers, which is still a pretty good distance.

I've finished Far from the Light of Heaven by Tade Thompson, in 2021. My review is here

I've finished Analog Science Fiction and Fact, March/April 2021, my review is here https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Made a review of Asimov's Science Fiction May/June 2021 issue, which can be read here https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Analog Science Fiction and Fact, July/August 2021 my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Finished another magazine, this time Asimov's Science Fiction July/August 2021, my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I just finished one of the latest of L.E. Modesitt Jr.'s most recent books, Quantum Shadows. It was an interesting SF story steeped in mythology & religion that was a little too much like the US political situation to be anything but depressing. Good story, though. I like that sort of blend. Still, I only gave it a 3 star review here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I enjoyed Cyber Mage by Saad Hossain. The hero is a teen hacker and the story largely takes place in cyberspace. The real-world part is in Bangladesh and there are real Djinns involved as well. It is a real genre smash-up, and quite fun. (Though I enjoyed more the novella The Gurkha and the Lord of Tuesday which is set in the same world.)

I also enjoyed Lexicon by Max Barry. It has an interesting concept: that you can control people through words. This could be a fantasy/magic story, but it is presented as a real science. While I liked it, it did have too much action/thriller feeling with lots of fight scenes.

Finished another magazine, Analog Science Fiction And Fact 2021, May/June 2021, my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Finished another magazine, Analog Science Fiction & Fact, September/October 2021, my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

One of the new authors with some promise is Marie Vibbert

I try to finish all 2021 Analog and Asimov's before nominations for their awards are over, which s on January 31st. So I finished another magazine, Asimov's Science Fiction September/October 2021, my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I've finished 2021 SF novel Domesticating Dragons by Dan Koboldt and here is my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Working on Leviathan Falls, the final book of The Expanse. It’s been a good ride.

Allan wrote: "Working on Leviathan Falls, the final book of The Expanse. It’s been a good ride."

Me too. I plan to finish it today.

My take on Leviathan Falls:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Good stuff. Also recently read the collected Expanse shorts, "Memory's Legion", https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Many of these were re-reads, and worth that too. The series was quite a ride!

I just read On the Origin of Species and Other Stories by Bo-Young Kim. It is my second book of stories to read from her, and it confirms that she is a major talent. I hope more of her work gets translated.

(Some of the stories do not strike me as SF, but who cares. The author herself says she wasn't necessarily trying to write SF, but other people say that is what her stories are.)

My favorite story is the last one, "On the Origin of Species -- And What Might Have Happened Thereafter". It concerns a far future when only robots live on Earth. The skies are so dark with pollution from the factories that the temperature has dropped so low that liquid water can no longer be found. Some of the robots are considered crazy because they think that in their distant past there may have been living biological organisms that could grow. Even more crazy, they lived in water and used oxygen, both known to be poisonous to robots, causing rust.

Although they no longer remember humans ever existed, they still follow the three old rules, which you may recognize: 1) Do no harm to God. 2) Serve God and submit to God's will. 3) Love yourself.

While I had trouble suspending my disbelief, it did pay off. What happens when they finally succeed in creating bipedal organic life makes for a really cool story. It is a neat role-reversal of R.U.R.

I've finished Analog Science Fiction and Fact, March/April 2022 my review is here

Recently finished another nominee for Polish Hugo equivalent award for this year - Płomień my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I am about halfway into Eversion by Alastair Reynolds. Fun so far.

Thomas wrote: "I am about halfway into Eversion by Alastair Reynolds. Fun so far."

I plan to read it this year

I've finished A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers (2022). My review is here https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I've read The Coin by Lights amidst Shadows. Perhaps from the author name you can tell that there are multiple authors, and that they like optimistic stories. In fact this was written by a group of a dozen or so teens and young adults in Bulgaria.

I found it lots of fun, and I would not have guessed that there were multiple authors.

It has the basic plot of a typical Fantasy novel: a group goes on a quest, with side-quests along the way. There are elves and dwarfs and magic, but also lasers and jet-packs and turbo zeppelins. One of the main characters is a young child, and he does behave like a child.

If that sounds appealing, give it a try. The book page has links for requesting an e-book version.

The Misfit Soldier by Michael Mammay was a fun read of a future war with powered armor & a con man as an unlikely hero. It's fun, funny, & fast moving. I gave it a 4 star review here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I've finished 2022 release Eversion by Alastair Reynolds. My review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Mur Lafferty’s Station Eternity just dropped. Looking forward to it.