I think if you put the books you’re reviewing in the description, you should show up in UA-cam search results whenever anyone looks for that particular book or writer. I’m not 100% sure about that, but you need more eyeballs on your videos. You’re good at this.
A weird comment : thanks for displaying the covers as you were talking about the books. I know that may seem standard but I really appreciate you doing it because I have that same mass market format omnibus that you showed but keep seeing those slick trade paperbacks at the library bookstore and wonder: "are both of those really squeezed into this Mass market paperback I have at home, or do I need to spend money on their sexiness and shelf space?" now that you've carefully explained them both I know that I don't need to I've got that covered in a size efficient way. That and I was right to pick up the trade paper back collection of Vinge's short stories. Continue rocking to your list. You are strong.
I would disagree on Doc Smith. I won't defend the writing quality, it is bad. But the Series is Military Sci-fi. The Galactic Patroil is involved in a centuries long war against the Boskonians. Due process is not a war thing. Soldiers in battle don't stop and conduct hearings or trials. They fight. I think Galactic Patrol may have been the first Science Fiction book I read. I must have been ten or eleven years old. About 1976. I bought it at a garage sale. I spent the next ten years looking for the rest of the series. I haven't read them in years but I still have fond memories.I kind of miss the days when you heard about a book and spent months or years rummaging through the stacks in used bookstores and thrift shops for it. That is the same way I aquired my R.E. Howard and H.P. Lovecraft books. And I think the difficulty had much to do with my love of those books.
E.E. "Doc" Smith's writing in the 30's is why science fiction from the 40's is so well written. The writers of the 30's all read Smith and recognized he was very creative but his characters were very bland. John Campbell Jr., the editor of Astounding Stories, used Smith as an example of poor characterization.
he also published some of Smith's stuff though. I think he felt a bit of a kindred spirit in him, honestly. Still, you're definitely right that Campbell pushed his writers to do better, and oftentimes, they did.
@@sonic31century1 Yeah. It might be the Space Fascism thing. There's a really interesting history of Astounding Science Fiction Magazine that came out a few years ago that really goes into a lot about Campbell's "Golden Age". It focuses on Campbell, Heinlein, Asimov, and L. Ron Hubbard, but lots of other key figures are discussed.
@@DamnableReverend I just found that book for free the other day! I’ve been reading it and it’s quite interesting so far. I didn’t know John Campbell was so messed up 😅
One thing to keep in mind if you are reading Verne in English, is that you are reading a translation, and many Verne translations ARE VERY BAD! Verne did a lot of wordplay in his writing, and liked puns…which just don’t translate. Many English translations also cut huge chunks of the text out completely; often entire chapters are left out.
Sentient AI is *a* singularity, not *the* singularity. The Big Bang is another. An event where it's impossible to predict anything that happens after and also impossible to reconstruct the events that precipitated it after it happens. Pretty sure Vinge, as opposed to Kurzweil, understood that.
We don't hear enough about Jules Verne on these sci-fi channels, he has so many intriguing titles... By the way, you're really good at this, thank you again.
This channel is incredible. I've seen others that discuss books and make recommendations but you hold my attention with your opinions. I definitely want to try Fire Upon the Deep.
I'm new to your channel and was looking for some sort of kick-off video to explain where you got your book choices. Are they random choices from an app? I've read 3.5 of these. I've tried 3 times to read the Lensman series and failed to finish even one book. I'm glad it's not me. I'm done with it. Verne is always good, though 20,000 Leagues under the Sea made me wish I'd never see another fact about fish. The stories though are always those old-time adventures that pull you along for the ride into another time and place. When you talked about the Vinge I realized I'd read both of those. I gave them both slightly better than average ratings. I recall them feeling fresh because the concepts in them were original and new to me. But I also recall the mystery dragging a bit in the second book. You're very good at describing the general sense of the book and what does and doesn't make it work for you. It gives me a good idea if it would work for me. I appreciate that you're doing some older works I may not have read even though I've been reading sf for some 50 years now. I'm looking forward to more of your videos.
That's a great translation of the Verne, I re-read it a few years ago in that edition. Took me right back to early reads of Verne when I was a kid- this was always my fave. Yes, Smith is hard work. The best writers then in a literary sense were C L Moore and Henry Kuttner in my opinion. Van Vogt I like too, but more for his ideas. But y'know, the Golden Age was pulp magazines, so you gotta be realistic...great vid as ever, Matt.
Thoroughly concur with you on Verne. Fantastic travelogues can have such a unique style when done well. If you allow yourself to get lost, the world and the protagonists' response to indifferent majesty becomes itself a character.
I remember reading Marooned in Realtime as an Analog serial. I remember waiting impatiently for the next issue. I quite liked it, and like it better than Peace War. (Did you forget "The Ungoverned"?, sandwiched between the two.)
E.E. Smith basically invented a genre all by himself and in his spare time from being a research chemist. There would be no "Star Wars" without the Lensman series.
Just starting a trek through the entire 100 book challenge playlist. I've watched them all before but everytime i go through i always end up finding something special or worth trying out. So thanks for all the videos, nobody online has reccomended me as much cool shit as you have and I'm looking forward to seeing what i can find this time. To many more in the future, Cheers!
Doc Smith needs to be read at the right age. When I was about 12-13, I thought it was brilliant. It's nearly unreadable for me now. I would still recommend it for a kid of the right age and temperament, because it is exciting and its (incredibly heavy handed and simplistic) messages are reasonable for youths.
Personnally, I liked Weeping may tarry a lot. I was pleasantly surprised by it. I didn't think there exist novels like that in a field where atheism is predominant. I admit however that the ending is a bit hard to believe. I love science fiction and I love your videos. Keep up the good work.
I am surprised you found Galactic Patrol so unpleasant. There is a reason he can kill at will (not indiscriminately). He doesn't need due process because he can see into a soul and read a mind and also tell if it is redeemable. And he is incorruptible but not infallible. I agree that the human interaction corn is pretty bad. I like it because I know that time period pretty well. But I find the descriptions of space chases and battles to be top notch. If you read the rest of the books you will find that Smith is able to amplify the scale and scope every time as the tech gets better and better. And the Patrol does not police the civilized planets unless one needs special help. The enemy turns out to be much more than the pirates. I see this sensitivity to the material a lot in younger readers. Do you like Banks? He writes much more brutal material and really digs in like an obsessed psychopath. Vinge runs hot and cold. Mostly cold. There are some real duds and the ones you like so much seem to me like books written by different people for each thread. I'll write the section about the omnipotrent AI and you write about the dogs with bongos in their heads that somehow operate like groups mind with only the bandwidth of sound. I actually never finished the books about bubbling. Was Rainbow the one about shredding libraries? Really bad. I wondered at first if the title came from a desire to shred Gravity's Rainbow.
I really like that you spend a fair bit of time talking about writing style. That's really important to me and is usually what pulls me in to a story. Disappointing to hear that the Del Rey and Jones book wasn't better. I have Raymond F. Jones on a list somewhere of stuff to check out (although ti's possible I've already read some short stuff by him and forgotten), and I enjoyed Lester's "Helen oLoy and thought I'd soon read a bit of his other stuff. Not read any Vernor Vinge yet, nor Smith, though we have 'Skylark of Space" slotted into a future podcast episode. I definitely like Verne. I read a number of his books as a kid but, I think they were in poor translations. Verne has been notoriously victimised over the years by bad translations. it's only in recent times that the English-speaking world has been exposed to Verne more or less as he intended his work to be. Many of the old translations would cut out huge swaths of the books, and it was mostly teh cool character stuff/relationships! A reservation that I do have about Verne is that many of his books are strangely lacking in conflict. I mean, there could be conflict between "man and nature", i suppose, but of actual human drama, sometimes there is relatively little. Still, I think his best work overcomes this hurdle. Between 2020 and early this year I read a number of his famous works in new translations, including Journey to the Centre of the Earth, which I agree was great. I think 20,000 Leagues features his best character, but that book also kind of gets bogged down in lots and lots of detail about fish and other kinds of sea-life. However, as my podcast cohost pointed out at the time, nowadays if we want to know more about this sorto f subject, we just turn on a nature documentary or something -- there weren't any of those in Verne's time, and he really was trying to show us about the wonders of life, when he wrote about them. His enthusiasm is such taht I would like to cut him some slack, most of the time.
one little request - when you show off cool printings of books you have, like that copy of peace war, could you also show the spine for a second? love your videos
Great to have you back. I think I was too young when I read Verne. Perhaps it was the translation. All I can remember of that book was absolutely endless descriptions of suffering from thirst. - I remember that hallucination sequence and young me was like "what?"
I read the Lensman books 50 years ago and they gave me a life long love of SF. I think it unfair to criticize Galactic Patrol because it wasn't morally complex; Kinnison, if i recall the central character correctly, was a Bond like character, escapist fun complete with cool gadgets.
@@devinreese7704 I wanted to like Eon but just couldn't connect with it. Instead of a character discovering new things it's a character being told what was discovered. Then moving to a new location and being told again. And again... Then a war which wasn't all that interesting and was rather depressing. Then the weird alien culture. Meh.
I read a lot of the Lensmen series back in the 70s because someone lent them to me. Yes, they were pretty awful but back then I could not afford to buy many books so read what was available. Journey to the Centre of the Earth is still one of my favourite books and of course, Jules Verne was a very good writer and I have read most of his books.
To paraphrase Wally Wood in one of his comic art satires, "In this life you have Good Guys and Bad Guys, and it's the job of the Good Guys to kill the Bad Guys". And I like to add, "So how can you tell who the Good Guys are? After the sound of gunfire and screaming stops and the smoke clears, those who are left standing are obviously the Good Guys" I mean, it's kind of traditional. Also, the covers of the Lensman paperbacks I had back in the late 1960s - early 70's had Jack Gaughan covers which were kind of neat. Or maybe those were the "Skylark" books, I mean it's been over 50 years, I don't remember much about either series, but I've always liked most of those Jack Gaughan cover paintings. Too bad Stallone is so damn old now, he could've done a great Lensman/Judge Dredd in Outer Space. Total Camp.
E.E. "Doc" Smith is only one of the two writers credited with creating the space opera sub-genre independently of one another but basically simultaneously. The other is Edmond Hamilton (of Interstellar Patrol, Captain Future, and Starwolf fame). Both these men produced extremely fun fiction that hold up pretty well in sheer imagination, but Hamilton was the better writer of the two. He was nicknamed the "World Wrecker" by pulp fans for his habit of destroying entire worlds and was once the third most popular writer at Weird Tales Magazine behind only R. E. Howard and H. P. Lovecraft, but he faded from the public consciousness because he spent about three decades after the pulp era as a comic book writer, largely giving up prose for the steady paycheck of comics writing, though he did return to prose after he retired from his second career. In that second period around the late sixties, he did the Starwolf trilogy, which is out of print but worth hunting for. I put it at the top of the space opera sub-genre. Unlike Smith, Hamilton was an expert at simple, clear prose, which was odd for the pulp era of purple prose. He was the favorite writer of a youthful Isaac Asimov, which probably explains the origins of Asimov's self-described "style-less style" of prose because Hamilton was similar. When Asimov began to collect and preserve classic sci-fi in hardcover anthology collections, he began two different volumes with Ed Hamilton as the very first story in each.
I actually find Hamilton's writing exceedingly bland, where Smith's has a unique style. He doesn't appeal to everyone, but at least he stands out from the crowd. If you handed me any random piece of Hamilton's work that I hadn't already read without his name on it I'd never be able to identify it as his work. Just the epitome of generic scifi to me.
I read Journey to the Center of the Earth as a teen and it had a profound effect on me. There was so much wonder in it, and it was just so engaging, even tho it was nothing like a modern action adventure. I think it was the first time I heard of Sanskrit, and there were all these references to multiple languages, which really intrigued me. And so many other things that were new to me... TBR it, too, I guess.
Really enjoying your videos. Sorry about your having to read Smith! I could NEVER get through any of them. I loved Across Real-time. Bobbling is amazing, it’s such an interesting book.
According to Wiki, the Lensmen series of which GP is part, was a runner-up to Asimov's Foundation Series for the 1966 Hugo award for all-time best Sci Fi series. I imagine that there are now other candidates for this award in 2022. I read this series over 50 years ago and then about ten years ago and enjoyed the reads from both a kid and adult perspective. In my opinion, the series holds up well from the 1930's when authors were probably getting ten cents a book if that. I get some of your comments, but bad; not really, just fun.
I’m starting my 100 Books challenge thanks to you. I haven’t read Journey to the Center of the Earth - need to. I’d also like to own that Classics Illustrated comic. Thank you. I will absolutely take a lot longer. Interesting that you had such different reactions to Vinge’s work.
I was a Marine Security Guard in Moscow in 1982-3, I was reading SF back then and read a book I would live to read again but I don’t know the title or author. All I can remember… and I may be wrong on some of the details… is a few guys traveling around a planet trying to get colorful crystals to get the money for a spaceship. I know not much detail or help but if someone knows anything like this book please let me know.
Recently found your channel and devoured pretty much everything lmao. Just going off your interest in the hard-hard SF of Vernor Vinge, have you heard of Greg Egan? He’s this reclusive Australian author who’s still alive and publishing, his books Diaspora and Permutation City were some of the most mind-bending conceptual things I’ve ever read. (I’ve seen a copy of Schild’s Ladder in your pile lol, I’ve actually never read that one)
@@Bookpilled yeah I think he goes under the radar cuz he does no work whatsoever to make his books accessible and doesn’t do any publicity. Like there are no pictures of him on the internet. Thats from a deliberate effort on his part. But I kinda love him for all that
I also found Jules Verne really interesting to read. Perhaps because I'm not by nature a technology geek. Verne still has a reverence for the wonders that science can bring that just is different from contemporary writers. I made friends with two other sci fi fans when i was young and I was always the outsider as one of my friends was a Heinlein fan and the other liked Clarke. I found Heinlein too cynical and Clarke too dull. Neither of them read the sci fi I did however, as I like really classic things from Verne and Wells.
try the castaway series - or crucible's destiny by Alan Thorensen. I never thought I would read that many books in a series but they flow so easily .. it's ridiculous!! Not sure why it's not a tv series. If you like the 1st book you will like the 8th too!! to be fair I didn't read the series- I listened to it where the narrator elevated the story even more!!
I devoured Van Vogt as a kid. I read it as adventure fiction and, even today on the re-read, I still enjoy VV's stories but not without a twinge because of his connection to L. Ron Hubbard and a certain organization that he founded. A recurring theme through VV's work is the idea that our hero has untapped greatness within him...if only he can free it. Great stuff for a teenager but as an adult it's icky.
On "the peace war", Verner Vinge, the style you described I call 'academic' as the author cannot trust the reader to draw the right conclusions. My guess is that when Verner Vinge had more confidence in the reader he wrote less academically. Anyway, enjoying your opinions on many of my prior reads (reading SF since 1972.) Thank you.
I can see how Verne would be surprising if you come at it expecting a science fiction novel. It is really more of a scientific adventure novel, highlighting contemporary science in the form of an adventure story, rather than speculating on (often rather dubious) advanced scientific possibilities. You see much the same sort of thing in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, which has extensive descriptions of aquatic life along with Captain Nemo sinking warships and such. Great books, for sure.
You need to put some hashtags in your description so your videos show up on the algorithm more. I'm new here. Just subscribed after one of your vids popped up on The Algorithm That Be.
I still think about Marooned in Real Time, I found it randomly and haven’t read the Peace War. I agree that the world is better than detective part, there is a 2 page section where one of the characters describes leaving Earth for awhile. I must have reread that part 3 times wishing Vinge would have told that story more.
Like you, I read Marooned in Real Time first. It blew me away, I had to read The Peace War. I liked that even better. That was 30 years ago. Recently I reread them. I can understand his criticism. I am older and more widely read now, and other elements of stories mean more to me now than simply ideas. But on the exploration of ideas these two books are not beaten, and only equalled by Clarke and Brin. And, while I appreciate other elements to stories now, ideas still win. That is why Across Real Time holds its place in my top 5 books ever. So I recommend it to you, along with another novella True Names, which is really the start of cyber punk.
Try Jules Verne The Mysterious Island. I read it and reread when I was a young teen. The sense of mystery intrigued me, and there was a tie-in to a previous book he’d written (but you don’t need to read it first to understand the current novel).
@@katherinegarcia3256 bummer. Used book stores are amazing. Wonder how many times I did a happy dance after finding something I realllly wanted. Sadly HPB is about the last used bookstore.... used to be my favorite thing to go get a grocery bag full!!
Sounds a bit like "Jesus on Mars" by Philip Jose Farmer. But "Jesus on Mars" actually has a good ending, it's the middle that drags the reader through long descriptions of Judaism.
I can only imagine painful reading E E Doc Smith in this era must have been. I was recommended his books by my fellow school class mates. At 15 I was simply too old for it even in 1970. I remain perplexed why he was regarded with such reverence by anyone over 12.
It would be interesting if you posted the list of 100 books you are reading, or the list of books from which you are going to choose the 100 books. It looks like the fireplace has more than one hundred books on it.
He's entered all the books on the fireplace which as you correctly state has more than 100 books on it. I only know because in a previous video he was adding to the pile after scoring quite a few more
Question. Do you need to read The Peace War before reading Marooned in Real Time? Honestly, the latter book sounds more interesting to me. And I too am a huge fan of Fire Upon the Deep. Thanks!
I read them out of order. They both blew me away for their idea exploration. In spite of this criticism about the pace (and it's not wrong) the story holds up pretty well. In terms of Card's mice quotient, Peace War is a mIcE, while Marooned is MIce.
Have you read any of the Bobiverse books? I'm on the 4th Heavens River. Id like to hear your opinion on them. Everyone I know who have read them love them for different reasons. You might enjoy them. But they're not heavy on the Sci fi, they're more on human relationships of non human computers and how their copies evolve into completely different personalities.
I just found your channel and am loving it as have always been a sci-fi fan. Would you mind if I asked a question because I am hoping someone who reads this may be able to help. A long time ago, possibly 70s, I read a book which I would like to re-read but cannot remember the title or author! The gist of the story is a man in an airport invaded by aliens who look like dogs or wolves. He is abducted and when he awakes finds that his brain has been transplanted into some sort of tank or war machine along with lots of others. The aliens are going to use them as an army. Can anyone help, please?
@@carolanon8060 Thanks so much! Yes, I am sure this is the book and it’s subsidiary title is Dogs of War which I think is what is was called when I read it. I have been searching for this for a long time so thanks for taking the time to let me know!
I think Verne translates better than other french authors like Dumas. I alwasy wished I could read him in French. Not enogh to learn french :). Vinge has some great ideas. Bubbles, tiny computers powered by mycrowaves. Hive mind dogs:? The list is endless. You have to wade through his stories some times. But worth it. His wife is pretty good too...
~ 18:00 - Yeah, i _do_ read and enjoy mysteries (say, P.D.James or some of those new crop of Nordic authors), but _Marooned..._ left me almost bored. I see what you mean by "clunkiness" in both novels, but I enjoyed _Peace War_ much more. Even Vinge's sometimes laughably extreme libertarian worldview (see, for example, _The Ungoverned_ novella) didn't stand in the way too much.
I saw "Fascism" I immediately thought Heinlein. And Heinlein means Starship Troopers, the best space fascism movie ever, and, finally all discerning intellectuals agree that Dina Meyer rocked and Mrs. Charlie Sheen came in third (Brenda Strong being a "strong" second place).
I've read _Weeping May Tarry_ and thought the anviliciousness of the message was ridiculous. I did get more out of the Lensman series than you did, but perhaps that was a result of the age I was when I read them. E.g., I still don't know what a dexithropober does, but I remember the alien. :) Actually, I _DO_ find pro-religion books dangerous, evil and inherently stupid. I still would not ban them, however.
I like Greg Bear books don’t necessarily love all of them but enough of them to say I do like this author…I really liked Blood Music…Eon has an Arthur C Clarke kind of feel to it if you have read Rendez-vous with Rama you will definitely get that feel but this was done slightly better in my opinion…It’s a Cold War era story with maybe a bit to many POV which hurt the story for me but I gave it 7 out of 10 I think you will like it roughly about the same…I am a big fan of Vinge and agree AFUtD and ADitS are top of the line SciFi…he is definitely hard SciFi but not the hardest SciFi in my experience…Maybe the hardest SciFi book I have ever read is Schild’s Ladder by Greg Egan and I rate Egan as the most hard SciFi author I have read…If you haven’t read Schild’s Ladder I would like to recommend it to you…Love the channel keep up the good works 👍🏻
I'm new to the channel and I'm really enjoying it. The link to your Etsy shop is broken. Can that be fixed? Your reviews make me think you'll have some really interesting stuff to sell.
Thanks for asking, I've taken the Etsy shop down. I sell books on a live auction app called Whatnot now. I post about upcoming auctions in advance here on the channel and on my instagram too.
Yep. Rainbows End. Total garbage. Hugo winner. Why? Quite enjoyed the Bobble diptych though. Yet to read the Zone of Thought books. Here's looking at you kid!
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I think if you put the books you’re reviewing in the description, you should show up in UA-cam search results whenever anyone looks for that particular book or writer. I’m not 100% sure about that, but you need more eyeballs on your videos. You’re good at this.
yep - please list the books :) even better if you add links to times - there are some books I don't even want YOU to talk about!
Definitely. Don't know why he hasn't.
I've watched a few different Sci Fi review channels, and I think yours is consistently the best. Keep it up!
WHAT!
i agree
"I don't think that it's dangerous, or evil, or inherently stupid - but this book is!" is my new favorite review.
A weird comment : thanks for displaying the covers as you were talking about the books. I know that may seem standard but I really appreciate you doing it because I have that same mass market format omnibus that you showed but keep seeing those slick trade paperbacks at the library bookstore and wonder: "are both of those really squeezed into this Mass market paperback I have at home, or do I need to spend money on their sexiness and shelf space?"
now that you've carefully explained them both I know that I don't need to I've got that covered in a size efficient way. That and I was right to pick up the trade paper back collection of Vinge's short stories.
Continue rocking to your list.
You are strong.
I would disagree on Doc Smith. I won't defend the writing quality, it is bad. But the Series is Military Sci-fi. The Galactic Patroil is involved in a centuries long war against the Boskonians. Due process is not a war thing. Soldiers in battle don't stop and conduct hearings or trials. They fight. I think Galactic Patrol may have been the first Science Fiction book I read. I must have been ten or eleven years old. About 1976. I bought it at a garage sale. I spent the next ten years looking for the rest of the series. I haven't read them in years but I still have fond memories.I kind of miss the days when you heard about a book and spent months or years rummaging through the stacks in used bookstores and thrift shops for it. That is the same way I aquired my R.E. Howard and H.P. Lovecraft books. And I think the difficulty had much to do with my love of those books.
Awesome job! Always a pleasure to hear your reviews. You've inspired me to finally check out Jules Verne.
E.E. "Doc" Smith's writing in the 30's is why science fiction from the 40's is so well written. The writers of the 30's all read Smith and recognized he was very creative but his characters were very bland. John Campbell Jr., the editor of Astounding Stories, used Smith as an example of poor characterization.
he also published some of Smith's stuff though. I think he felt a bit of a kindred spirit in him, honestly. Still, you're definitely right that Campbell pushed his writers to do better, and oftentimes, they did.
@@DamnableReverend Some of the stories that Campbell wrote read like they are written by E.E. "Doc" Smith for example "The Mightiest Machine."
@@sonic31century1 Yeah. It might be the Space Fascism thing.
There's a really interesting history of Astounding Science Fiction Magazine that came out a few years ago that really goes into a lot about Campbell's "Golden Age". It focuses on Campbell, Heinlein, Asimov, and L. Ron Hubbard, but lots of other key figures are discussed.
@@DamnableReverend I just found that book for free the other day! I’ve been reading it and it’s quite interesting so far. I didn’t know John Campbell was so messed up 😅
One thing to keep in mind if you are reading Verne in English, is that you are reading a translation, and many Verne translations ARE VERY BAD! Verne did a lot of wordplay in his writing, and liked puns…which just don’t translate. Many English translations also cut huge chunks of the text out completely; often entire chapters are left out.
Sentient AI is *a* singularity, not *the* singularity. The Big Bang is another. An event where it's impossible to predict anything that happens after and also impossible to reconstruct the events that precipitated it after it happens. Pretty sure Vinge, as opposed to Kurzweil, understood that.
We don't hear enough about Jules Verne on these sci-fi channels, he has so many intriguing titles... By the way, you're really good at this, thank you again.
This channel is incredible. I've seen others that discuss books and make recommendations but you hold my attention with your opinions. I definitely want to try Fire Upon the Deep.
I'm new to your channel and was looking for some sort of kick-off video to explain where you got your book choices. Are they random choices from an app?
I've read 3.5 of these. I've tried 3 times to read the Lensman series and failed to finish even one book. I'm glad it's not me. I'm done with it. Verne is always good, though 20,000 Leagues under the Sea made me wish I'd never see another fact about fish. The stories though are always those old-time adventures that pull you along for the ride into another time and place.
When you talked about the Vinge I realized I'd read both of those. I gave them both slightly better than average ratings. I recall them feeling fresh because the concepts in them were original and new to me. But I also recall the mystery dragging a bit in the second book.
You're very good at describing the general sense of the book and what does and doesn't make it work for you. It gives me a good idea if it would work for me. I appreciate that you're doing some older works I may not have read even though I've been reading sf for some 50 years now. I'm looking forward to more of your videos.
"The Iron Dream" is a terrific book. Glad to encounter someone else who likes it.
Check out his review of it - ua-cam.com/video/xbPTQNsrZxw/v-deo.html
@@donaldb1 Thanks!
That's a great translation of the Verne, I re-read it a few years ago in that edition. Took me right back to early reads of Verne when I was a kid- this was always my fave. Yes, Smith is hard work. The best writers then in a literary sense were C L Moore and Henry Kuttner in my opinion. Van Vogt I like too, but more for his ideas. But y'know, the Golden Age was pulp magazines, so you gotta be realistic...great vid as ever, Matt.
Thoroughly concur with you on Verne. Fantastic travelogues can have such a unique style when done well. If you allow yourself to get lost, the world and the protagonists' response to indifferent majesty becomes itself a character.
I will forever love ❤the Lensman series.
I have not read any of them since the late 1960s. I guess I better read the first one again.
Good stuff as always. Keep it up!
I remember reading Marooned in Realtime as an Analog serial. I remember waiting impatiently for the next issue. I quite liked it, and like it better than Peace War. (Did you forget "The Ungoverned"?, sandwiched between the two.)
E.E. Smith basically invented a genre all by himself and in his spare time from being a research chemist. There would be no "Star Wars" without the Lensman series.
Just starting a trek through the entire 100 book challenge playlist. I've watched them all before but everytime i go through i always end up finding something special or worth trying out. So thanks for all the videos, nobody online has reccomended me as much cool shit as you have and I'm looking forward to seeing what i can find this time. To many more in the future, Cheers!
Doc Smith needs to be read at the right age. When I was about 12-13, I thought it was brilliant. It's nearly unreadable for me now. I would still recommend it for a kid of the right age and temperament, because it is exciting and its (incredibly heavy handed and simplistic) messages are reasonable for youths.
I am still surprised they haven't been turned into movies. They seem perfect for an action franchise.
Personnally, I liked Weeping may tarry a lot. I was pleasantly surprised by it. I didn't think there exist novels like that in a field where atheism is predominant. I admit however that the ending is a bit hard to believe. I love science fiction and I love your videos. Keep up the good work.
I am surprised you found Galactic Patrol so unpleasant. There is a reason he can kill at will (not indiscriminately). He doesn't need due process because he can see into a soul and read a mind and also tell if it is redeemable. And he is incorruptible but not infallible. I agree that the human interaction corn is pretty bad. I like it because I know that time period pretty well. But I find the descriptions of space chases and battles to be top notch. If you read the rest of the books you will find that Smith is able to amplify the scale and scope every time as the tech gets better and better. And the Patrol does not police the civilized planets unless one needs special help. The enemy turns out to be much more than the pirates. I see this sensitivity to the material a lot in younger readers. Do you like Banks? He writes much more brutal material and really digs in like an obsessed psychopath.
Vinge runs hot and cold. Mostly cold. There are some real duds and the ones you like so much seem to me like books written by different people for each thread. I'll write the section about the omnipotrent AI and you write about the dogs with bongos in their heads that somehow operate like groups mind with only the bandwidth of sound. I actually never finished the books about bubbling. Was Rainbow the one about shredding libraries? Really bad. I wondered at first if the title came from a desire to shred Gravity's Rainbow.
If you want the BEST priests in outer space book, you should read The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell.
I like that you're willing to jump into poor books but still give them their critical due. Reading bad books, on occasion, is good for perspective.
I really like that you spend a fair bit of time talking about writing style. That's really important to me and is usually what pulls me in to a story.
Disappointing to hear that the Del Rey and Jones book wasn't better. I have Raymond F. Jones on a list somewhere of stuff to check out (although ti's possible I've already read some short stuff by him and forgotten), and I enjoyed Lester's "Helen oLoy and thought I'd soon read a bit of his other stuff.
Not read any Vernor Vinge yet, nor Smith, though we have 'Skylark of Space" slotted into a future podcast episode.
I definitely like Verne. I read a number of his books as a kid but, I think they were in poor translations. Verne has been notoriously victimised over the years by bad translations. it's only in recent times that the English-speaking world has been exposed to Verne more or less as he intended his work to be. Many of the old translations would cut out huge swaths of the books, and it was mostly teh cool character stuff/relationships!
A reservation that I do have about Verne is that many of his books are strangely lacking in conflict. I mean, there could be conflict between "man and nature", i suppose, but of actual human drama, sometimes there is relatively little. Still, I think his best work overcomes this hurdle.
Between 2020 and early this year I read a number of his famous works in new translations, including Journey to the Centre of the Earth, which I agree was great. I think 20,000 Leagues features his best character, but that book also kind of gets bogged down in lots and lots of detail about fish and other kinds of sea-life. However, as my podcast cohost pointed out at the time, nowadays if we want to know more about this sorto f subject, we just turn on a nature documentary or something -- there weren't any of those in Verne's time, and he really was trying to show us about the wonders of life, when he wrote about them. His enthusiasm is such taht I would like to cut him some slack, most of the time.
Always a pleasure to hear your reviews. You've inspired me to finally take my copy of Journey to the Centre of the Earth off the shelf
one little request - when you show off cool printings of books you have, like that copy of peace war, could you also show the spine for a second?
love your videos
I love your reviews. You speak as an everyman. Very refreshing and to the point!
Great to have you back. I think I was too young when I read Verne. Perhaps it was the translation. All I can remember of that book was absolutely endless descriptions of suffering from thirst. - I remember that hallucination sequence and young me was like "what?"
I read the Lensman books 50 years ago and they gave me a life long love of SF. I think it unfair to criticize Galactic Patrol because it wasn't morally complex; Kinnison, if i recall the central character correctly, was a Bond like character, escapist fun complete with cool gadgets.
Lensman "like going to the dentist" Couldn't agree more!
Eon is great! Hard sci-fi with a huge cast of distinct characters and a compelling plot. I really should read Eternity soon...
@@devinreese7704 I enjoyed both but bogged down in the third book.
@@devinreese7704 I wanted to like Eon but just couldn't connect with it. Instead of a character discovering new things it's a character being told what was discovered. Then moving to a new location and being told again. And again... Then a war which wasn't all that interesting and was rather depressing. Then the weird alien culture. Meh.
I read a lot of the Lensmen series back in the 70s because someone lent them to me. Yes, they were pretty awful but back then I could not afford to buy many books so read what was available. Journey to the Centre of the Earth is still one of my favourite books and of course, Jules Verne was a very good writer and I have read most of his books.
The covers were so wonderful! I agree, great point!
To paraphrase Wally Wood in one of his comic art satires, "In this life you have Good Guys and Bad Guys, and it's the job of the Good Guys to kill the Bad Guys". And I like to add, "So how can you tell who the Good Guys are? After the sound of gunfire and screaming stops and the smoke clears, those who are left standing are obviously the Good Guys" I mean, it's kind of traditional. Also, the covers of the Lensman paperbacks I had back in the late 1960s - early 70's had Jack Gaughan covers which were kind of neat. Or maybe those were the "Skylark" books, I mean it's been over 50 years, I don't remember much about either series, but I've always liked most of those Jack Gaughan cover paintings. Too bad Stallone is so damn old now, he could've done a great Lensman/Judge Dredd in Outer Space. Total Camp.
E.E. "Doc" Smith is only one of the two writers credited with creating the space opera sub-genre independently of one another but basically simultaneously. The other is Edmond Hamilton (of Interstellar Patrol, Captain Future, and Starwolf fame). Both these men produced extremely fun fiction that hold up pretty well in sheer imagination, but Hamilton was the better writer of the two. He was nicknamed the "World Wrecker" by pulp fans for his habit of destroying entire worlds and was once the third most popular writer at Weird Tales Magazine behind only R. E. Howard and H. P. Lovecraft, but he faded from the public consciousness because he spent about three decades after the pulp era as a comic book writer, largely giving up prose for the steady paycheck of comics writing, though he did return to prose after he retired from his second career. In that second period around the late sixties, he did the Starwolf trilogy, which is out of print but worth hunting for. I put it at the top of the space opera sub-genre.
Unlike Smith, Hamilton was an expert at simple, clear prose, which was odd for the pulp era of purple prose. He was the favorite writer of a youthful Isaac Asimov, which probably explains the origins of Asimov's self-described "style-less style" of prose because Hamilton was similar. When Asimov began to collect and preserve classic sci-fi in hardcover anthology collections, he began two different volumes with Ed Hamilton as the very first story in each.
I now have to go digging in the basement for my copy of the Starwolf trilogy.
I actually find Hamilton's writing exceedingly bland, where Smith's has a unique style. He doesn't appeal to everyone, but at least he stands out from the crowd. If you handed me any random piece of Hamilton's work that I hadn't already read without his name on it I'd never be able to identify it as his work. Just the epitome of generic scifi to me.
This series is gonna kick ass!
I agree completely with your description of Wells Journey to the Center of the Earth
I read Journey to the Center of the Earth as a teen and it had a profound effect on me. There was so much wonder in it, and it was just so engaging, even tho it was nothing like a modern action adventure. I think it was the first time I heard of Sanskrit, and there were all these references to multiple languages, which really intrigued me. And so many other things that were new to me... TBR it, too, I guess.
Really enjoying your videos. Sorry about your having to read Smith! I could NEVER get through any of them. I loved Across Real-time. Bobbling is amazing, it’s such an interesting book.
According to Wiki, the Lensmen series of which GP is part, was a runner-up to Asimov's Foundation Series for the 1966 Hugo award for all-time best Sci Fi series. I imagine that there are now other candidates for this award in 2022. I read this series over 50 years ago and then about ten years ago and enjoyed the reads from both a kid and adult perspective. In my opinion, the series holds up well from the 1930's when authors were probably getting ten cents a book if that. I get some of your comments, but bad; not really, just fun.
I’m starting my 100 Books challenge thanks to you. I haven’t read Journey to the Center of the Earth - need to. I’d also like to own that Classics Illustrated comic. Thank you. I will absolutely take a lot longer. Interesting that you had such different reactions to Vinge’s work.
I was a Marine Security Guard in Moscow in 1982-3, I was reading SF back then and read a book I would live to read again but I don’t know the title or author. All I can remember… and I may be wrong on some of the details… is a few guys traveling around a planet trying to get colorful crystals to get the money for a spaceship. I know not much detail or help but if someone knows anything like this book please let me know.
Doesn't sound familiar to me, sorry. Maybe someone else knows.
I used to read a book a day, easy, now I read one a week if I'm lucky. Jealous of your speed reading superpowers!
I’m so jealous of your reading pace.
I agree that some books getting really in depth on the hard SF to the point where it's a slog to get through
great stuff as always
Recently found your channel and devoured pretty much everything lmao. Just going off your interest in the hard-hard SF of Vernor Vinge, have you heard of Greg Egan? He’s this reclusive Australian author who’s still alive and publishing, his books Diaspora and Permutation City were some of the most mind-bending conceptual things I’ve ever read. (I’ve seen a copy of Schild’s Ladder in your pile lol, I’ve actually never read that one)
Yes, Schild's Ladder is the only of his that I own. I rarely encounter him. I am curious.
@@Bookpilled yeah I think he goes under the radar cuz he does no work whatsoever to make his books accessible and doesn’t do any publicity. Like there are no pictures of him on the internet. Thats from a deliberate effort on his part. But I kinda love him for all that
I also found Jules Verne really interesting to read. Perhaps because I'm not by nature a technology geek. Verne still has a reverence for the wonders that science can bring that just is different from contemporary writers. I made friends with two other sci fi fans when i was young and I was always the outsider as one of my friends was a Heinlein fan and the other liked Clarke. I found Heinlein too cynical and Clarke too dull. Neither of them read the sci fi I did however, as I like really classic things from Verne and Wells.
Based on your review, I need to re read Journey To The Center Of The Earth, again. It has been more than 50 years.
try the castaway series - or crucible's destiny by Alan Thorensen. I never thought I would read that many books in a series but they flow so easily .. it's ridiculous!! Not sure why it's not a tv series. If you like the 1st book you will like the 8th too!! to be fair I didn't read the series- I listened to it where the narrator elevated the story even more!!
I devoured Van Vogt as a kid. I read it as adventure fiction and, even today on the re-read, I still enjoy VV's stories but not without a twinge because of his connection to L. Ron Hubbard and a certain organization that he founded. A recurring theme through VV's work is the idea that our hero has untapped greatness within him...if only he can free it. Great stuff for a teenager but as an adult it's icky.
On "the peace war", Verner Vinge, the style you described I call 'academic' as the author cannot trust the reader to draw the right conclusions. My guess is that when Verner Vinge had more confidence in the reader he wrote less academically.
Anyway, enjoying your opinions on many of my prior reads (reading SF since 1972.) Thank you.
I can see how Verne would be surprising if you come at it expecting a science fiction novel. It is really more of a scientific adventure novel, highlighting contemporary science in the form of an adventure story, rather than speculating on (often rather dubious) advanced scientific possibilities. You see much the same sort of thing in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, which has extensive descriptions of aquatic life along with Captain Nemo sinking warships and such. Great books, for sure.
Journey to the Centre of the Earth is also the first Verne book I read!
You need to put some hashtags in your description so your videos show up on the algorithm more. I'm new here. Just subscribed after one of your vids popped up on The Algorithm That Be.
I still think about Marooned in Real Time, I found it randomly and haven’t read the Peace War. I agree that the world is better than detective part, there is a 2 page section where one of the characters describes leaving Earth for awhile. I must have reread that part 3 times wishing Vinge would have told that story more.
Like you, I read Marooned in Real Time first. It blew me away, I had to read The Peace War. I liked that even better. That was 30 years ago.
Recently I reread them. I can understand his criticism. I am older and more widely read now, and other elements of stories mean more to me now than simply ideas. But on the exploration of ideas these two books are not beaten, and only equalled by Clarke and Brin. And, while I appreciate other elements to stories now, ideas still win. That is why Across Real Time holds its place in my top 5 books ever. So I recommend it to you, along with another novella True Names, which is really the start of cyber punk.
~ 2:40 - So like the present US - the guy was prescient. 😨
Try Jules Verne The Mysterious Island. I read it and reread when I was a young teen. The sense of mystery intrigued me, and there was a tie-in to a previous book he’d written (but you don’t need to read it first to understand the current novel).
Or 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
Mind you I was 15 when I read it, but I enjoyed it then.
I buy very few new books. I enjoy the hunt. I'm still looking for Blind Sight in my local thrift stores. I'll find it sooner or later.
Any half price bookstores near you?
@@stripeytawney822
Nope. The closest book store is 45 miles away. And that's a Books a Million store.
@@katherinegarcia3256 bummer.
Used book stores are amazing. Wonder how many times I did a happy dance after finding something I realllly wanted.
Sadly HPB is about the last used bookstore.... used to be my favorite thing to go get a grocery bag full!!
Sounds a bit like "Jesus on Mars" by Philip Jose Farmer. But "Jesus on Mars" actually has a good ending, it's the middle that drags the reader through long descriptions of Judaism.
Just found your channel... This is a gem
I can only imagine painful reading E E Doc Smith in this era must have been. I was recommended his books by my fellow school class mates. At 15 I was simply too old for it even in 1970. I remain perplexed why he was regarded with such reverence by anyone over 12.
Even when I was 9 or 10 I couldn't read EE doc Smith just awful. Journey ... was a joy to read.
The Peace War cover: looks like work from the artist who did the cover for Harvey Mandel's "Shangrenade."
I just gave up on Eon last week. It’s a hat on a hat on a hat book. Interested to hear what you think.
It would be interesting if you posted the list of 100 books you are reading, or the list of books from which you are going to choose the 100 books. It looks like the fireplace has more than one hundred books on it.
He can't give the list in advance as he uses an app to randomly choose them
@@dawnmoriarty9347 But the app has to choose the next one from some pre-defined list. How else would it work?
He's entered all the books on the fireplace which as you correctly state has more than 100 books on it. I only know because in a previous video he was adding to the pile after scoring quite a few more
Yep. Plenty of novels from the 30s (and further back) have good or even great prose. No excuses for E. E. Smith.
I am pretty sure that I read across real time a long time ago. I'm pretty sure I bought it from the book club.
Thank you. I love Jules Verne!
Brilliant and informative book reviews.
Why haven't I got a sci-fireplace?
Reads Video Title: *Oh, he means Heinlein!*
Question. Do you need to read The Peace War before reading Marooned in Real Time? Honestly, the latter book sounds more interesting to me. And I too am a huge fan of Fire Upon the Deep. Thanks!
I think you could get away with not reading Peace War first.
@@Bookpilled Much obliged. Thank you.
I read them out of order. They both blew me away for their idea exploration. In spite of this criticism about the pace (and it's not wrong) the story holds up pretty well. In terms of Card's mice quotient, Peace War is a mIcE, while Marooned is MIce.
Have you read any of the Bobiverse books? I'm on the 4th Heavens River. Id like to hear your opinion on them. Everyone I know who have read them love them for different reasons. You might enjoy them. But they're not heavy on the Sci fi, they're more on human relationships of non human computers and how their copies evolve into completely different personalities.
Have the first one, haven't read it
Have you ever read anything by jack mcdevitte ? I watch a lot of these channels and never hear anything about this author.
a quantum leap is actually a very short leap :D
I just found your channel and am loving it as have always been a sci-fi fan. Would you mind if I asked a question because I am hoping someone who reads this may be able to help. A long time ago, possibly 70s, I read a book which I would like to re-read but cannot remember the title or author! The gist of the story is a man in an airport invaded by aliens who look like dogs or wolves. He is abducted and when he awakes finds that his brain has been transplanted into some sort of tank or war machine along with lots of others. The aliens are going to use them as an army. Can anyone help, please?
Maybe “A Plague of Demons” by Keith Laumer .
@@carolanon8060 Thanks so much! Yes, I am sure this is the book and it’s subsidiary title is Dogs of War which I think is what is was called when I read it. I have been searching for this for a long time so thanks for taking the time to let me know!
the series was called Amtrak wars,by ptrick tilley
I think Verne translates better than other french authors like Dumas. I alwasy wished I could read him in French. Not enogh to learn french :). Vinge has some great ideas. Bubbles, tiny computers powered by mycrowaves. Hive mind dogs:? The list is endless. You have to wade through his stories some times. But worth it. His wife is pretty good too...
Klono's tungsten balls!
Please don’t use the sci-fireplace. For obvious reasons.
Sci-firehazard
Galactic Patrol is Star Trek before Star Trek.
Love your channel. Just a heads up: the link to your Etsy store is broken.
~ 18:00 - Yeah, i _do_ read and enjoy mysteries (say, P.D.James or some of those new crop of Nordic authors), but _Marooned..._ left me almost bored. I see what you mean by "clunkiness" in both novels, but I enjoyed _Peace War_ much more. Even Vinge's sometimes laughably extreme libertarian worldview (see, for example, _The Ungoverned_ novella) didn't stand in the way too much.
One tip about verne, many of the early translations were censored by the translator who removed much of the humor poking fun at americans.
If you want to read some really thoughtful SF about religion I highly recommend Mary Doria Russell The Sparrow and Children of God
I saw "Fascism" I immediately thought Heinlein. And Heinlein means Starship Troopers, the best space fascism movie ever, and, finally all discerning intellectuals agree that Dina Meyer rocked and Mrs. Charlie Sheen came in third (Brenda Strong being a "strong" second place).
National Socialism is Race centered.
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Fascism is State centered Socialism.
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I've read _Weeping May Tarry_ and thought the anviliciousness of the message was ridiculous. I did get more out of the Lensman series than you did, but perhaps that was a result of the age I was when I read them. E.g., I still don't know what a dexithropober does, but I remember the alien. :)
Actually, I _DO_ find pro-religion books dangerous, evil and inherently stupid. I still would not ban them, however.
Anvilicious, great word. Thanks.
I like Greg Bear books don’t necessarily love all of them but enough of them to say I do like this author…I really liked Blood Music…Eon has an Arthur C Clarke kind of feel to it if you have read Rendez-vous with Rama you will definitely get that feel but this was done slightly better in my opinion…It’s a Cold War era story with maybe a bit to many POV which hurt the story for me but I gave it 7 out of 10
I think you will like it roughly about the same…I am a big fan of Vinge and agree AFUtD and ADitS are top of the line SciFi…he is definitely hard SciFi but not the hardest SciFi in my experience…Maybe the hardest SciFi book I have ever read is Schild’s Ladder by Greg Egan and I rate Egan as the most hard SciFi author I have read…If you haven’t read Schild’s Ladder I would like to recommend it to you…Love the channel keep up the good works 👍🏻
Schild's Ladder is on the sci-fireplace. I am very curious about him, gets recommended to me a lot. Thanks for the comment.
I'm new to the channel and I'm really enjoying it.
The link to your Etsy shop is broken. Can that be fixed? Your reviews make me think you'll have some really interesting stuff to sell.
Thanks for asking, I've taken the Etsy shop down. I sell books on a live auction app called Whatnot now. I post about upcoming auctions in advance here on the channel and on my instagram too.
FYI your etsy link is broken.
Want to visit Vernor?
Absolutely. I just sent you an email, to the address listed on your website. Thank you.
I cringe when you say Vinge. Is that the correct pronunciation?
Keep up the great work.
2,000 years into the future and Jesus still hasn't returned?
Good luck but, your taste does not match mine.
Yep. Rainbows End. Total garbage. Hugo winner. Why? Quite enjoyed the Bobble diptych though. Yet to read the Zone of Thought books. Here's looking at you kid!
Fire Upon the Deep is a must-read if you liked these.
Eh ... I liked _Dredd_ .
.
Hope that he never read any isekai
Why would he do that, there's no good iseakais
Verne was a good sloppy writer. His timeline for mysterious is incoherent. Off on a comet is anti semetic.