Thanks for the shout-out to my podcast! It was fun watching your bookstore scores, mentally cataloguing the things I're read, heard of, and not encountered yet. And, yes, you deserve to read some Heinlein!
I found that same edition of Clarke’s “The Space Dreamers “ a few years ago, and was ,like you, initially delighted and confused, until I discovered I already had it under the title “ Prelude to Space” . A query to the Outlaw Bookseller soon settled its hash! Nice haul!
The Ragged Astronauts is my second favourite novel by Bob Shaw...and sometimes I think of it as perhaps my top favourite by him; a re-read of Orbitsville a few years ago, has only made things tougher when it comes to ranking his novels. I still loved Orbitsville, but re-reads can highlight a few flaws, decades later. Bob Shaw has two trilogies - the Orbitsville trilogy, and the Land and Overland books, consisting of The Ragged Astronauts, The Wooden Spaceships, and The Fugitive Worlds. I read The Ragged Astronauts when the paperback first appeared on the shelves in Toronto, and the same goes for The Wooden Spaceships. But The Fugitive Worlds eluded me for years - until I saw a used Baen paperback and snatched it up. So I read that one quite later than the other two, and not as an Orbit edition. Everyone reacts differently, but with both the trilogies, I feel the first book is the best offering. The Orbitsville Sequel - Orbitsville Departure - seemed to be merely a highly enjoyable action-adventure story, with none of the sublime feel of Orbitsville. I didn't have anything to think deeply about, and the original Orbitsville novel has, for me, a strong allegorical facet to it that had - has - a profound impact on me. Then came Orbitsville Judgement - all the Orbitsville books have big gaps between when they were published - and I remember starting it while riding the bus, and being just so overjoyed to be back "on Orbitsville" one last time. That book is called Orbitsville Judgement, and Bob Shaw went back to more cosmic ideas, larger concepts, larger reasons for Orbitsville's exitsence in the first place - and though I still prefer the first book, and guess many Orbitsville fans might have been taken by surprise when it comes to what Orbitsville Judgement does, I came out of it content and feeling the story had truly ended. As far as the other trilogy: The Ragged Astronauts blew me away, and The Wooden Spaceships did not quite blow me away, but had close to the same vibrant energy as the first book. I think a problem Shaw faced was that a lot of the Sense of Wonder naturally established by anything to do with the balloon trips of the first book, mixed with the rules of the two planets with atmospheres that barely overlap, becomes just a wee bit "business as usual" in any further books. That said, I think Ragged Astronauts and Wooden Spaceships are a dynamic duo...whereas I feel The Fugitive Worlds to be a rather rushed and weary final book. It was a decent read; I don't know if Shaw was dealing with serious health issues when he was writing it, or was just finishing up with worlds and characters he had already become a bit ambivalent to. All these books in both sagas tend to jump ahead, significantly, from where the previous one left off; this means they function quite well as stand-alone experiences for a reader...but it does help to read them in order, even though leaving time between each book doesn't cause the kind of problems that happen when books in series are tightly linked in time.
You may remember I was somewhat disappointed with Orbitsville but your thoughts on the trilogy have me wanting to revisit it. And likewise I'm now much excited for the other trilogy. Perhaps i wont wait to find the third and will give the first a go sometime soon 👍
If you liked previous Silverberg books, then you'll find similar themes in his collection Feast of Dionysus. Silverberg has long been one of my favorites. Whenever I encounter an SF book that isn't as good as advertised, I can always follow-up with a yet to read book by Silverberg (or sometimes a re-read) to restore my faith in the genre. Thankfully, Silverberg was very productive, so there's a lot of titles by him to choose from.
I started the St Dionysus collection yesterday. Enjoying it so far! And as you say, there’s plenty of his to read so I’m looking forward to exploring his work.
If you havent read this yet, check out a book called "Second Angel" by Phillip Kerr. Its synopsis will make you roll your eyes because its seems like itll be the same ol' dystopian future...plague.. blah blah blah. Nope. Not at all. Its one of the best books ive ever read. Incredibly smart story and its written very well. I cannot recommend it enough
@@sciencefictionreads I promise you its good. Oh, on a side note... and a very random note, Tim Allen, like, Tim the Tool Man Taylor Home Improvement Tim Allen, he wrote a few books, and one of them is titled "I'm Not Really Here". I only read it because I saw his name on the spine and thought "noooo... no way it's that Tim Allen" Yep. It's that Tim Allen... and its an incredible read. He delves into Quantum Mechanics and the different theories of the Universe's origin. Of all people... Tim Allen. I bought a new hardback copy from Amazon for like $6. Seriously, it's worth taking the time to read.
When i first started reading Science Fiction I read an equal amount of newer releases and older vintage stuff to get a good idea of the genre in general. I read a lot of Arthur c Clarke and Isaac Asimov to begin with, and that's how i discovered i liked Hard sf and problem solving sf. I don't think you can go wrong checking out landmark authors of the genre like that to get an idea for it! (although both can be dry at times in terms of their prose). I also enjoyed discovering Alastair Reynolds and Stephen Baxter. Both contemporary writers that fueled my interest in SF early on!
I thought I saw you hold up that copy of planetary Hunter more than a month ago. . . If you just got it, who the heck was talking about it? Well, I look forward to your review. 😁
@@sciencefictionreads No. Pressure. Matt. It will get better. Perhaps you could read some spooky season stuff; lean **into** the otherworldliness of sleep dep. Hit Mythago Wood yet?
@@salty-walt Not yet no. I filmed a video a week ago (not yet released) where I mention Mythago wood and Dracula as the two things I had planned to read this month but Instead Ive stuck with short stories. I don’t want to read either of those books until I can properly enjoy them 👍
Thanks for the shout-out to my podcast! It was fun watching your bookstore scores, mentally cataloguing the things I're read, heard of, and not encountered yet. And, yes, you deserve to read some Heinlein!
Hey Tom, Thanks for watching! I'll get to Heinlein soon thanks to you guys! Keep up the great work with the podcast!
I love that edition of Ragged Astronauts.
In my head Cannon it is a tie in to Old Warhammer 40K books.
I'm really interested on hearing what you think of the Gallun article. De Camp has been very entertaining so far, lol. Great haul.
I’m going to read that soon! And agreed with De Camp. I enjoyed the intelligent Bear story 👍
I found that same edition of Clarke’s “The Space Dreamers “ a few years ago, and was ,like you, initially delighted and confused, until I discovered I already had it under the title “ Prelude to Space” . A query to the Outlaw Bookseller soon settled its hash! Nice haul!
Glad I’m not the only one who couldn’t understand how I’d missed this book in the past 😄
Love your channel man!
Thanks! And thanks for watching!
The Ragged Astronauts is my second favourite novel by Bob Shaw...and sometimes I think of it as perhaps my top favourite by him; a re-read of Orbitsville a few years ago, has only made things tougher when it comes to ranking his novels. I still loved Orbitsville, but re-reads can highlight a few flaws, decades later.
Bob Shaw has two trilogies - the Orbitsville trilogy, and the Land and Overland books, consisting of The Ragged Astronauts, The Wooden Spaceships, and The Fugitive Worlds. I read The Ragged Astronauts when the paperback first appeared on the shelves in Toronto, and the same goes for The Wooden Spaceships. But The Fugitive Worlds eluded me for years - until I saw a used Baen paperback and snatched it up. So I read that one quite later than the other two, and not as an Orbit edition.
Everyone reacts differently, but with both the trilogies, I feel the first book is the best offering. The Orbitsville Sequel - Orbitsville Departure - seemed to be merely a highly enjoyable action-adventure story, with none of the sublime feel of Orbitsville. I didn't have anything to think deeply about, and the original Orbitsville novel has, for me, a strong allegorical facet to it that had - has - a profound impact on me. Then came Orbitsville Judgement - all the Orbitsville books have big gaps between when they were published - and I remember starting it while riding the bus, and being just so overjoyed to be back "on Orbitsville" one last time. That book is called Orbitsville Judgement, and Bob Shaw went back to more cosmic ideas, larger concepts, larger reasons for Orbitsville's exitsence in the first place - and though I still prefer the first book, and guess many Orbitsville fans might have been taken by surprise when it comes to what Orbitsville Judgement does, I came out of it content and feeling the story had truly ended.
As far as the other trilogy: The Ragged Astronauts blew me away, and The Wooden Spaceships did not quite blow me away, but had close to the same vibrant energy as the first book. I think a problem Shaw faced was that a lot of the Sense of Wonder naturally established by anything to do with the balloon trips of the first book, mixed with the rules of the two planets with atmospheres that barely overlap, becomes just a wee bit "business as usual" in any further books. That said, I think Ragged Astronauts and Wooden Spaceships are a dynamic duo...whereas I feel The Fugitive Worlds to be a rather rushed and weary final book. It was a decent read; I don't know if Shaw was dealing with serious health issues when he was writing it, or was just finishing up with worlds and characters he had already become a bit ambivalent to.
All these books in both sagas tend to jump ahead, significantly, from where the previous one left off; this means they function quite well as stand-alone experiences for a reader...but it does help to read them in order, even though leaving time between each book doesn't cause the kind of problems that happen when books in series are tightly linked in time.
You may remember I was somewhat disappointed with Orbitsville but your thoughts on the trilogy have me wanting to revisit it. And likewise I'm now much excited for the other trilogy. Perhaps i wont wait to find the third and will give the first a go sometime soon 👍
Although I have not read the entire comment yet, i, for one, support your girthy essay length comment.
Rock on.
I've sold a few copies of that Arthur Barnes, and it always sells thanks to the wild cover art. I hope it's a good book too! 🙂
@@normdykstra9116 Halfway through now. Dated but charming. Basically African safari’s on other planets with some meddling bad guys thrown in lol 👍
If you liked previous Silverberg books, then you'll find similar themes in his collection Feast of Dionysus. Silverberg has long been one of my favorites.
Whenever I encounter an SF book that isn't as good as advertised, I can always follow-up with a yet to read book by Silverberg (or sometimes a re-read) to restore my faith in the genre.
Thankfully, Silverberg was very productive, so there's a lot of titles by him to choose from.
I started the St Dionysus collection yesterday. Enjoying it so far! And as you say, there’s plenty of his to read so I’m looking forward to exploring his work.
If you havent read this yet, check out a book called "Second Angel" by Phillip Kerr. Its synopsis will make you roll your eyes because its seems like itll be the same ol' dystopian future...plague.. blah blah blah. Nope. Not at all. Its one of the best books ive ever read. Incredibly smart story and its written very well. I cannot recommend it enough
I’ll keep an eye out for it, thanks for the recommendation!
@@sciencefictionreads I promise you its good. Oh, on a side note... and a very random note, Tim Allen, like, Tim the Tool Man Taylor Home Improvement Tim Allen, he wrote a few books, and one of them is titled "I'm Not Really Here". I only read it because I saw his name on the spine and thought "noooo... no way it's that Tim Allen"
Yep. It's that Tim Allen... and its an incredible read. He delves into Quantum Mechanics and the different theories of the Universe's origin. Of all people... Tim Allen. I bought a new hardback copy from Amazon for like $6. Seriously, it's worth taking the time to read.
Haven’t read Saxon either but I like the livery for the series.
HAL!!! ❤
Starting reading Science Fiction, do you have any recommendations? Or maybe a video talking about good books to start?
When i first started reading Science Fiction I read an equal amount of newer releases and older vintage stuff to get a good idea of the genre in general. I read a lot of Arthur c Clarke and Isaac Asimov to begin with, and that's how i discovered i liked Hard sf and problem solving sf. I don't think you can go wrong checking out landmark authors of the genre like that to get an idea for it! (although both can be dry at times in terms of their prose). I also enjoyed discovering Alastair Reynolds and Stephen Baxter. Both contemporary writers that fueled my interest in SF early on!
@@sciencefictionreads Thank you
I thought I saw you hold up that copy of planetary Hunter more than a month ago. . . If you just got it, who the heck was talking about it?
Well, I look forward to your review. 😁
@@salty-walt it’s entirely possible I showed it off in two book hauls. I’m sleep deprived enough to make such a mistake lol.
@@sciencefictionreads
No. Pressure. Matt.
It will get better.
Perhaps you could read some spooky season stuff; lean **into** the otherworldliness of sleep dep.
Hit Mythago Wood yet?
@@salty-walt Not yet no. I filmed a video a week ago (not yet released) where I mention Mythago wood and Dracula as the two things I had planned to read this month but Instead Ive stuck with short stories. I don’t want to read either of those books until I can properly enjoy them 👍
@@salty-walt Interplanetary Hunter is fun. I’m not yet finished but there’s at least one stand out story that I’ve really enjoyed.
@@sciencefictionreads RE: spooky books-
I agree, Don't Force It. Read them when they call to you.
Hello