I would add Peter Watts’s “Blindsight”. It broke my brain with how it handles neurologically modified humanity. In the same vein, Watts also wrote “Starfish”, which is equally wild, if not as compelling.
Blindsight was one of the most boring books I've ever read. It's badly written, with poor character development. I forced myself to finish it only to find out that it just ends with no conclusion.
The Scramblers have to be some of the weirdest aliens I've come across in scifi. I think they're weirder than Lovecraftian horrors--or rather, they are what Lovecraftian horrors would be like in a hard scifi setting. It could share the crown on top of that list alongside Greg Egan's "Wang's Carpet" and the aliens created by Stephen Baxter.
Great video essay. A couple of these I have not read, but they sound fun. And Forever War, I have read, but you reminded me how good it was, and now I think i will re-read it. I read it as a junior in highschool, and now my 64 year old self may see it in a new light. Thanks for your videos.
Thank you. Three sci-fi novels that come to mind which I found thought-provoking are Eight Keys to Eden by Mark Clifton, Darwin's Radio by Greg Bear, and Brainwave by Poul Anderson whose Tao Zero you touched on.
I love the three body problem series but people give it a lot more credit imo than it deserves when it comes to hard science. It very much verges on science fantasy and if anything is a very compelling telling of the dark forest hypothesis and geopolitics between aliens of massively advanced tech to the point of being magic
Well, my TBR list just expanded again. I tried reading Neuromancer at least 3 times and just couldnt get into it. Maybe I'll try it again now that I have a much deeper understanding of the Internet, VR, and software in general. Thanks for taking the time to make these vids.
Interesting topic. What I like about science fiction is not only the ‘technical’ science but the societal developments as well. For me, the Mars trilogy is a good example of that. And can I make a request, Darrel? Could you please make a video about found (alien?) artefacts , that need an explanation? You have suggestions in that departement? Kind regards, Jasper
_Brain Wave_ by Poul Anderson had a similar concept to Vinge's in that Earth started in a 'low intelligence' zone, but moved into a higher one. Humanity, having developed in the 'low' zone, turned into a race of supergeniuses overnight! (Animals, too!) It's a short novel - check it out!
Serious list of book, good times. "I know it all sounds bizarre--but the whole point is that, in fact, it's all utterly commonplace. Everyone spends their whole life collapsing the systems they interact with." From 'Quarrantine' by Greg Egan.
My favourite Sci-Fi channel. I would add to the list "The Memory of Whiteness" by Kim Stanley Robinson: Time existing not as a singular point always moving forward, but as an immutable four dimensional structure where all moments exist together.
Number 4 - Tau Zero, let me tell you, there is much older novel by polish autor Stanislaw Lem from 1961 "Return from the stars" where expedition to Fomalhaut returns after 10 years voyage, but on earth over century has passed.
I'm surprised "Roadside Picnic" didn't make the list. I've read a few of these with a number in the last few years. Not a fan of "A Fire Upon the Deep," but "Forever War" and "Three Body Problem" were interesting.
If you liked the Three Body Problem, check out the original "Dark Forest" novel THE KILLING STAR by Charles Pelligrino. This one is scarier in its setting and also pushed the boundaries on many scientific concepts that were proved to be very feasable.
"Broke science", of course, the science is that of the time around which the author was experiencing. And "broke"? Think that's just an expression of the fact that there are in fact fewer things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of by authors, think it was Russell that said that. I would quibble that a "top 10" makes no sense, and that the list isn't about the books at all. But it was worth putting the list/video together and summarizing, a very useful thought starter.
Daryl, I appreciate your intellect and I like your videos .I've read sy fi my entire life. I was hoping you could help me or someone else who Read's sy fi, . I was trying to find the story of the Starship Captain far in the future who goes on an exploration mission with the turtle people, who are his advisors to the outer spiral arm of the Galaxy where he comes upon a human inhabited planet apparently from a colony ship from Earth possibly 300 years. in the past . although females cannot survive on the planet after the first couple years all females die including animal females only males can live on the planet. So after years a scientist, female by the way, before she dies discovers a way that men can have kids, get pregnant . when the captain arrives, the people on the planet realize he is a human from Earth, who they've had no contact with since they had colonized the planet, nor do they have any idea where earth is.The people although not super technically Advanced,the people on the planet have ships that can reach his orbiting Starship, which they attack they are so upset and mad at earthlings who had sent them out there to live rather horrible lives so it was a planet of all males he does not want to kill any humans,( his code) but they are breaking into his Starship, so he sends cats down to a Moon with an atmosphere 1 million years into the past and programs the cats to become intelligent as humans and to protect him and his starship.... so I don't want to spoil the rest of the story if you haven't read it, I'm wondering if anybody has ever read that? I believe it was in a best pics paperback from either Anderson Paul or p o h l Anderson I gave the book away, and haven't been able to find this story since , but it's so good I enjoyed reading it several times over the years when I had it.i haven't read it for many years , and I was wondering if you or another sci-fi reader could help me find the name or author of that story ?
I used to enjoy your videos but I’ve gone off them because you do not introduce new or novel sci-fi, you just constantly regurgitate the same old books. Tau Zero, The Forever War, Neuromancer, Revelation Space, Vernor Vinge’s novels, Ringworld etc. You have a set group of books that you select out of and you don’t seem to expand it. You also refuse to acknowledge certain brilliant series like the Commonwealth series, The Saga of the Exiles, The Galactic Milieu series, the Rampart Worlds etc. You are becoming boring and predictable. 😢
Hush up and let the man pay his bills. There are other videos you can watch and you don't have to waste your time criticizing a video that obviously took a lot of time and effort to write and film and edit and God knows what else. I don't make content so I don't know what all goes into it but I bet it took a lot more effort to make than your pretentious comment.
Check out his Smash or Pass video from early this year where he briefly reviewed a list of new books by different authors. Also check viewers' comments which add many authors. Thus you can get a couple dozen new authors. I have read all of PF Hamilton but a couple years pass before each new book comes out.
Fascinating how most of the books here came out of the early 70s. I'm sure it had nothing to do with the popularity of mind altering... stuff......
Greg Egan has some of the most insane concepts of any Sci-Fi writer I ever read.
As soon as I read the video title, I knew Egan would be on the list.
No. A C Clarke. is still now years after his death. Breaking Boundries. Etc et. I never liked ASIMOV . Boring Detective stuff. .
You should check out Robert Garfinkel
I would add Peter Watts’s “Blindsight”. It broke my brain with how it handles neurologically modified humanity. In the same vein, Watts also wrote “Starfish”, which is equally wild, if not as compelling.
Yeah watts really blew my mind with the concept of life itself being a virus something unnatural and accident, as with consciousness
Blindsight was one of the most boring books I've ever read. It's badly written, with poor character development. I forced myself to finish it only to find out that it just ends with no conclusion.
@@camcolt3530 a lot of brilliant scifi doesn't have character development, that doesn't mean it's poorly written
The Scramblers have to be some of the weirdest aliens I've come across in scifi. I think they're weirder than Lovecraftian horrors--or rather, they are what Lovecraftian horrors would be like in a hard scifi setting. It could share the crown on top of that list alongside Greg Egan's "Wang's Carpet" and the aliens created by Stephen Baxter.
Great video essay. A couple of these I have not read, but they sound fun. And Forever War, I have read, but you reminded me how good it was, and now I think i will re-read it. I read it as a junior in highschool, and now my 64 year old self may see it in a new light.
Thanks for your videos.
"Constants aren't : Variables don't"
Enjoyable as always DW. Thank you. 🖖
Thank you. Three sci-fi novels that come to mind which I found thought-provoking are Eight Keys to Eden by Mark Clifton, Darwin's Radio by Greg Bear, and Brainwave by Poul Anderson whose Tao Zero you touched on.
I thought of _Brain Wave_ when he talked about _A Fire upon the Deep._
Eon and Blood Music....by greg bear ...
I love the three body problem series but people give it a lot more credit imo than it deserves when it comes to hard science. It very much verges on science fantasy and if anything is a very compelling telling of the dark forest hypothesis and geopolitics between aliens of massively advanced tech to the point of being magic
I would say it's hard sci-fi inasmuch as it's ideas over individuals; something I view as a recipe for bad storytelling (didn't like 3 body, TBH).
Really fun video! There’s a couple of books I will need to check out. Thanks.
Almost done with Permutation City. Highly recommended!
Thanks for your video and book suggestions. In the future, Please chapterize your video so it's easier to navigate to the books. Thank you
Excellent video. Would make a case for robots series by Asimov
Also: how would senses work in only 2 dimensions? tavi.
Great list. Many thanks!
Danke!
Thank you!
Great idea all books I've enjoyed except for TBP which i just couldn't get on with .
Well, my TBR list just expanded again. I tried reading Neuromancer at least 3 times and just couldnt get into it. Maybe I'll try it again now that I have a much deeper understanding of the Internet, VR, and software in general.
Thanks for taking the time to make these vids.
You gotta ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya, cyberpunk? tavi.
I'm glad i found this channel, my tbr list has expanded even more and I can't wait to read these. Subsribed! 🫶
1:02 - suddenly I feel like listening to Synthwave
I wonder if the Minds of the Culture series would fit into this. They certainly portray AI quite differently from what we are seeing.
Amazing list! A few i've read, a few i've meant to read and a few new ones to read!
Interesting topic. What I like about science fiction is not only the ‘technical’ science but the societal developments as well. For me, the Mars trilogy is a good example of that. And can I make a request, Darrel? Could you please make a video about found (alien?) artefacts , that need an explanation? You have suggestions in that departement? Kind regards, Jasper
I will always swear by W. Olaf Stapledon's Last and First Men and Star Maker.
_Brain Wave_ by Poul Anderson had a similar concept to Vinge's in that Earth started in a 'low intelligence' zone, but moved into a higher one. Humanity, having developed in the 'low' zone, turned into a race of supergeniuses overnight! (Animals, too!)
It's a short novel - check it out!
Permutation City is such a banger of a book
So happy to see Egan mentioned here.
Perihelion Summer is going to be my first Egan book. If I like It I Will cointinue with his work
I wasn’t too keen on Perihelion Summer. I don’t think it’s his best. I’d start with Schilds Ladder as an Egan introduction.
@@Sci-FiOdyssey YES! Schild's Ladder is my all time fav by Egan.
The Integral Trees was pretty wild, too. That's Niven, I think
This is a great channel
Serious list of book, good times.
"I know it all sounds bizarre--but the whole point is that, in fact, it's all utterly commonplace. Everyone spends their whole life collapsing the systems they interact with." From 'Quarrantine' by Greg Egan.
My favourite Sci-Fi channel. I would add to the list "The Memory of Whiteness" by Kim Stanley Robinson: Time existing not as a singular point always moving forward, but as an immutable four dimensional structure where all moments exist together.
Yes! I thought Ring World was fantastic. Maybe i should give it another read. 🤔 😉
Well worth another read.
Number 4 - Tau Zero, let me tell you, there is much older novel by polish autor Stanislaw Lem from 1961 "Return from the stars" where expedition to Fomalhaut returns after 10 years voyage, but on earth over century has passed.
great book
I'm surprised "Roadside Picnic" didn't make the list. I've read a few of these with a number in the last few years. Not a fan of "A Fire Upon the Deep," but "Forever War" and "Three Body Problem" were interesting.
I'm sure the aliens turned the proton into 3 dimensions, not two
Terrific video!
The Forever War reminds me of an anime called Voices of a Distant Star, same kind of ideas, but anime.
Im surprised he used to do sci fi
If you liked the Three Body Problem, check out the original "Dark Forest" novel THE KILLING STAR by Charles Pelligrino. This one is scarier in its setting and also pushed the boundaries on many scientific concepts that were proved to be very feasable.
Now I’ve got 7 new books I’m gonna read. Thanks.
Darrell counting the books up from 1 to 10 and the video counting the books down from 10 t0 1. Trying to break mathematics? 😀
Filming me and editing me need to talk more 😅
"Broke science", of course, the science is that of the time around which the author was experiencing. And "broke"? Think that's just an expression of the fact that there are in fact fewer things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of by authors, think it was Russell that said that. I would quibble that a "top 10" makes no sense, and that the list isn't about the books at all. But it was worth putting the list/video together and summarizing, a very useful thought starter.
Time is there so everything doesn't happen at once!
I have no time to think on all this
*Brainwave* by Poul Anderson
Time machine
Flatland
Permutation city
Three body problem
Neuromancer
Ringworld
Tau Zero
The Forever war
A fire upon the Deep
The gods themselves
The Forever War is a quick read. Neuromancer narrative was slow and convoluted for me. HG Wells Time Machine is a classic.
I would add: Thrice Upon A Time & The Infinite Cage
Sorry, but Ringworld is a derivation from a Dyson Sphere, nothing new here.
Daryl, I appreciate your intellect and I like your videos .I've read sy fi my entire life.
I was hoping you could help me or someone else who Read's sy fi, . I was trying to find the story of the Starship Captain far in the future who goes on an exploration mission with the turtle people, who are his advisors to the outer spiral arm of the Galaxy where he comes upon a human inhabited planet apparently from a colony ship from Earth possibly
300 years. in the past . although females cannot survive on the planet after the first couple years all females die including animal females only males can live on the planet. So after years a scientist, female by the way, before she dies discovers a way that men can have kids, get pregnant . when the captain arrives, the people on the planet realize he is a human from Earth, who they've had no contact with since they had colonized the planet, nor do they have any idea where earth is.The people although not super technically Advanced,the people on the planet have ships that can reach his orbiting Starship, which they attack they are so upset and mad at earthlings who had sent them out there to live rather horrible lives so it was a planet of all males he does not want to kill any humans,( his code) but they are breaking into his Starship, so he sends cats down to a Moon with an atmosphere 1 million years into the past and programs the cats to become intelligent as humans and to protect him and his starship.... so I don't want to spoil the rest of the story if you haven't read it, I'm wondering if anybody has ever read that? I believe it was in a best pics paperback from either Anderson Paul or p o h l Anderson I gave the book away, and haven't been able to find this story since , but it's so good I enjoyed reading it several times over the years when I had it.i haven't read it for many years , and I was wondering if you or another sci-fi reader could help me find the name or author of that story ?
You refer to science many times yet you seem to be quite ignorant of actual science. But you have lots of company.
how superior of you
I used to enjoy your videos but I’ve gone off them because you do not introduce new or novel sci-fi, you just constantly regurgitate the same old books. Tau Zero, The Forever War, Neuromancer, Revelation Space, Vernor Vinge’s novels, Ringworld etc. You have a set group of books that you select out of and you don’t seem to expand it. You also refuse to acknowledge certain brilliant series like the Commonwealth series, The Saga of the Exiles, The Galactic Milieu series, the Rampart Worlds etc. You are becoming boring and predictable. 😢
Hush up and let the man pay his bills. There are other videos you can watch and you don't have to waste your time criticizing a video that obviously took a lot of time and effort to write and film and edit and God knows what else. I don't make content so I don't know what all goes into it but I bet it took a lot more effort to make than your pretentious comment.
@@abbysweat9202maybe it is a bit pretentious.. i mean we cant all be reading tons of books year in year out.. but he is right
@@tamerlaaane that may be true, I'm only a casual viewer so I don't know, but that wasn't constructive criticism. There's a difference.
Check out his Smash or Pass video from early this year where he briefly reviewed a list of new books by different authors. Also check viewers' comments which add many authors. Thus you can get a couple dozen new authors. I have read all of PF Hamilton but a couple years pass before each new book comes out.
So you just want someone who will create content that you want to see and nothing else? Don't you think that's a little egotistical?