Це відео не доступне.
Перепрошуємо.
8 MODERN SCI-FI BOOKS | Recommendations by Subgenre
Вставка
- Опубліковано 15 сер 2024
- Here are 8 of my favourite modern science fiction books that I think might best suit you based on your reading tastes.
Discord Server - / discord
Patreon - / wordsintime
Amazon Wishlist - www.amazon.com...
Use code JONATHANFANS for 20% off book orders from the Tertulia online bookstore:
tertulia.com/b...
tertulia.com/b...
tertulia.com/b...
tertulia.com/b...
tertulia.com/b...
tertulia.com/b...
tertulia.com/b...
tertulia.com/b...
00:00 - Intro
00:36 - 1. Space Opera
01:58 - 2. First Contact
03:30 - 3. Post-Apocalyptic
04:41 - 4. Hard Sci-Fi
06:04 - 5. Sci-Fantasy
07:18 - 6. New & Old Sci-Fi Readers
09:08 - 7. For Fans of Christopher Nolan
10:15 - 8. Pulpy Sci-Fi
#ScienceFiction #Books
Absolutely loved the Three body problem series the later two books were mind boggling
I still don’t think my brain has recovered! 🤯
100% Agreed
It has completely changed how I view SETI. Don't do it!
House of Suns is easily the best book I've read so far in 2022 and I would recommend that to anyone who is even remotely interested in Sci-Fi on large scales. Remembrance of Earth's Past is also one of the greatest Hard sci fi book series I've ever read. The second installment, the Dark Forest, is a thought-provoking wild ride! Great video Jonathan, I'm looking forward to your next one!
Thanks so much! I’m glad you enjoyed House of Suns and The Dark Forest as much as I did!
project hail mary was awesome. been hearing a lot about those three bodies and their problems i reckon i’ll have to pick those up!
Haha I hope you like them as much as I did!
The algorithm brought me here, and I'm glad it did. Good to hear an Australian reviewer. My particularly self-serving suggestion is my debut, 36 Streets (Titan Books UK). It was just last week shortlisted for an Aurealis Award (Best Science Fiction Novel), so I can assure you it's not terrible. Cover quote from Richard Morgan (Altered Carbon), who's a huge fan of the book. Cheers, T. R. Napper.
Congrats on your novel! Believe it or not it is actually already on my TBR after it was recommended to me on Discord. I don’t know when I’ll get to it but I’m looking forward to it. Glad you found my channel!
@@WordsinTime Cool. Cheers.
My top sci-fi reads this year were The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet and To Be Taught, If Fortunate (both by Becky Chambers), The Midnight Library, by Matt Haig and The Locked Tomb Series by Tamsyn Muir, which I need to reread now… and possibly several times to fully grasp all of its intricacies. Thanks for this list! I can’t wait to discover more from Black Crouch and Andy Weir in particular.
Thanks for recommendations! Becky Chambers is on my radar and I’ll check out the others too! I hope you enjoy Crouch and Weir!
I want to read House of Suns, Children of Time, and Empire of Silence. I love Project Hail Mary 😃
I love Project Hail Mary too! * Jazz hands * I hope you enjoy the others as much as I did!
This is a great list. I've read most of these and really enjoyed each of them.
That’s awesome, I’m glad you enjoyed them!
First off: love the tone and pace of your content, cheers 😊
Second: you mentioned a sci-fi/fantasy title, so it got me thinking, "Did anyone ever expand on the concepts and world-building in the movie"Krull"? It would be fun to know more about The Beast, how the world knew about it? who forged The Glaive? what are the Hunters? And on and on.
Thanks for the kind words Spencer! I haven’t seen Krull, I will have to check it out!
@@WordsinTime it's a bit of a mess, almost no exposition, just a lot of "of we go to the next step" kind of adventure. Plus: you get a very early Liam Nelson role 😁
Ooo, I like lists! There is a risk of repeating myself since I don’t recall if I have used these items before, but I own and have read all of these:
1️⃣ Space Opera: The Cold Between by Elizabeth Bonesteel.
2️⃣ First Contact: Terms of Enlistment by Marko Kloos
3️⃣ Post-Apocalyptic: Wool by Hugh Howey
4️⃣ Hard SciFi: Ring by Stephen Baxter
5️⃣ Sci-Fantasy: The Unspoken Name by A.K. Larkwood
6️⃣ New&Old: Lightless by C.A. Higgins
7️⃣ Nolan: 🤷♂️
8️⃣ Pulpy: Trading in Danger by Elizabeth Moon
I need to get to the Suneater series - that is high on my TBR.
Awesome list Tufty! Wool is on my TBR. I will check out the others!
Wool is on my TBR list, too. I read Trading in Danger a while ago and enjoyed it. Most of the others I don't think I've even heard of, but I'll have to look into them. 😉
Very good selection with a nice blend of genres and style.
I’m glad you enjoyed it Alex!
My favorite scifi subgenre is space opera so I try to consume as much as I can.
House of Suns is great it makes you think.
The Expense everyone knows about it, fun read. James Pinche Holden
HOWEVER! What I want to give out a shoutout to is "Spiral Wars" It's a book not really talked about in the UA-cam community and it's actually great I'm on book 7 (the latest book) so you know you've got good consistent reading. It's a bend of military action and brings some interesting things which makes you stop and think about it once in a while. EG how does natural evolutionary traits effect different spices inclination to things like curiosity, democracy, etc.
Just wanted to give a shoutout to spiral wars since ya its good stuff.
Thanks for the recommendation! I’ve never heard anyone talk about it except for Liam’s Lyceum and he loves it. I hope to be able to get around to it relatively soon!
EMpire of Silence is one I have been meaning to pick up! It sounds fantastic.
Awesome! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! The series ramps up from book 2 onwards but I thought the writing, world building and character development was already fantastic in book 1.
I’ve been enjoying your recommendation videos and 2 of those are on my September TBR. Children of Time is one I’ve been meaning to read for years but upon seeing that book 3 will be coming out soon I finally got the push I needed. Hail Mary is the second TBR book. I’ve enjoyed Weir’s other books The Martian and although many didn’t enjoy his follow up Artemis, it’s one I enjoyed as well.
Next year project:Empire of Silence, I must know what all the hype is about!📚
That’s awesome! I’m looking forward to hearing your reactions in September! Children of Time can be read as a standalone but I am also intrigued to read the next two!
Empire of Silence sounds fantastic... you are making my tbr grow !
I think Ruocchio has the best prose in sci-fi and some of the things that happens as the series progress is 🤯
@@WordsinTime always good to know an authors’ prose are on par with the plot
I'm always behind you with your love for Three Body, I've got at least one of the others on my ereader TBR... Trying to work my way through the 200+ unread books on there but for every one I finish I buy another five!
It’s a series that really stays with you!
That is a rapidly expanding ratio haha
I recently added The Three Body Problem and its' sequels to my TBR. I'm curious about Blake Crouch and will look into his work later as time and money allow. Since I already own several Arthur C Clarke books I still havn't read I'll add a few to my list of planned reading including Imperial Earth, 2061: Odyssey Three, Astounding Days, and The Fountains o Paradise. Happy reading.
That’s an awesome TBR Curt! Upgrade by Blake Crouch and The City and the Stars by Arthur C. Clarke are on my TBR.
The Three Body Problem is one of those books that I wish I could read in the original language. From what I've heard, there were different translators for some of the installments? There seems to be a bit of a divide on that level. Without being able to read the original, it's impossible for me to know if one or other of the translators have a style that doesn't work for me, even if they are correctly conveying the meanings of the words, or if the way the original writer wrote it was something I didn't enjoy in general. Translations can be tricky. You can directly translate words, sentences, and paragraphs word-for-word. The entire book may correctly convey the meaning of the original 100% accurately. But it can be done in a way that is clunky / doesn't flow well in that other language. Does that make sense? (Apparently, I'm bad at communicating even in my own native language, LOL!)
That is a great point! I would be intrigued to read the series in Chinese if I was able to. Books 1 and 3 were translated by Ken Liu and book 2 was translated by Joel Martinsen. I thought the writing felt a tad smoother in book 2 but there wasn’t a big difference.
@@WordsinTime book 2 and 3 are imo unreadable the first book is amazing
@@brazejan1 There is a bit of a change in style. I liked the sequels, but I can see how someone might prefer the first.
Three-Body Problem is a bit strange, because Dark Forest (which I'm currently reading) is actually much improved over book #1. On one side, I'd love to recommend this series to other people, but I am aware that TBP has some serious flaws, even though I liked it too.
I felt similarly. I liked book 1 but I loved book 2. The Dark Forest is my favourite in the series.
Great recommendations, I finally put House of Suns on my TBR list. The Trisolaris trilogy was great and I agree, book 2 and 3 are much stronger than the first one which seems a little too classic. Also, Oryx and Crake sounds interesting, I'm feeling very postapocalyptic right now. 🖤
Thanks! Let me know your thoughts on House of Suns and Oryx & Crake when you read them!
I have got to pick up House of Suns. The more you talk about it the more I want to read it.
Haha House of Suns hype!
I've just got into Sci-Fi and still trying to find my ideal genre. This was really helpful for being open minded and exposure to a broad array of stuff, thanks for creating and sharing! Cheers
That’s great to hear! Hopefully the channel can be a resource to help you find sci-fi books that might suit the type of reading you’re looking for!
Great video. Have you ever done a video of like your top 10 or 20 favorite science fiction books of all time? If not, I'd really be interested. I'm getting most of my book ideas from you. Thanks buddy
Thanks Dale! I haven’t made my all-time list video yet. That video has the potential to get the highest amount of views so I want to do something special for it. I plan to make it this year!
@@WordsinTime I agree. I've noticed some of the other sci fi reviewers do one every so often to update it and such. I look forward to yours.
I've read Three-Body Problem and Children of Time and loved both of them. Great recommendations. After this set of recommendations, I feel like I must pick up House of Suns. Also, just ordered Oryx and Crake. I tried to read it several years ago and it is just so grim as is most Atwood. I would place Ancillary Justice on modern scifi list also.
I’m glad you enjoyed those two, hope you enjoy House of Suns as well! Oryx and Crake certainly is bleak and there’s some cool ideas in Ancillary Justice!
Some very solid picks! I’m currently binging Blake Crouch, I highly recommend delving into Recursion if you haven’t already.
I just finished Upgrade his most recent novel, while I didn’t enjoy it as much as the other two, it’s still better than other novels I’ve forced myself to suffer through recently 😂
I really liked Recursion as well! I recently picked up Upgrade but haven’t read it yet. I’m also interested in his Wayward Pines trilogy!
@@WordsinTime ah yes! I was thinking about reading the wayward pines trilogy as well. Unfortunately I had watched the show years ago and some things stuck with me that I’ll have to push through now lol. Luckily the pacing of his books so far have been great and I’m sure I’ll be sucked in in no time. Cheers and enjoy! Let me know what you thought of Upgrade when you finish!
@@TheReaper1 Thanks! I’ll let you know what I think, I’m sure it will be a quick read!
Recursion is one of my favorite books ever! I read Upgrade this year and really enjoyed it. I have to check out Dark Matter based on my experience with Crouch so far.
@@branwynnemay yeah dark matter is really good. If you haven’t I also recommend you check out his Pines Trilogy too!
Welp… I’m a Christopher Nolan fan, so I guess I should try Dark Matter. 😅
Great list. I’ll probably return to it for more recommendations in the future.
-T
Yes! It’s a fun, fast read. I think you’ll enjoy it!
Oryx and Crake brought me to tears near the end! The second book was ok, I find there was too many coincidences just for the purposes of moving along the plot
I’ve only read the first book, but I also found it impactful!
The last book, Madd Adam ties up all the threads but the ending felt rushed. Atwood is not an action writer.
Can't say I thought much of Dark Matter, but otherwise a very tight list.
Thanks!
Nice list, great commentary!
Thanks Steve, I’m glad you enjoyed it! Let me know your thoughts if you read any of them!
House of Suns is on my Kindle and I hope to read it soon. I loved Children of Time. One of my favorite recent books. I'm ambivalent about Three Body Problem, I just could not get into it. Empire of Silence is another book I already have on my Kindle. Project Hail Mary is another book I loved. Great concept and a couple of very memorable characters in Grace and Rocky. Dark Matter is yet another book I bought and hope to read soon. Deathstalker is the only one of your reconendatios I have not already read or bought and plan to read!
You’ve got some great books to look forward to Michael, let me know your thoughts when you read them! And yes, I loved Grace and Rocky too!
Project Hail Mary had some of the greatest ideas how first contact with allien species could be like!
I thought it was incredibly thoughtful and optimistic, which I enjoyed!
Loved this vid! I loved the ones on here I’ve read (three-body, PHM, and Sun Eater) so I really need to check out the others!
Thanks, I’m glad you enjoyed it! I’m 3/3 so far, hopefully I can go 8/8 haha
some excellent suggestions. Thank you.
I’m glad it was helpful!
6 words. Red Rising Series by Pierce Brown. Unreal.
Haha nice! I enjoyed the original trilogy and need to catch up on reading the sequels.
I have a lot of stuff to read hahaha great list Jonathan!
Haha I’m glad I could contribute to the never ending battle with the TBR!
Sweet Temptation! I want them all!
Haha the TBR never ends!
Added all to my TBR
That’s awesome Laura! Let me know your thoughts when you read them!
Three Body Problem was a interesting read. But the physics part made it complicated, since I haven't read in in my language.
The idea of Children of Time is great. The way he describes the spider civilization is fun, the spaceship part is very emotional. Great final. The only small thing, that was a let down, was the history of the spiders. Here is too much human history interwoven.
Thanks for sharing Andreas! I agree that some parts of the spider history were taken from human history, but there were also some aspects that were unique to the spiders.
Thank God I'm glad I'm not the only one. Everybody problem was a unpleasant read. Children of time was fun.
I have actually read four of these:
House of Suns...loved it
Children of Time...not my cuppa
Project Hail Mary...excellent
Dark Matter...pretty good
Awesome! I’m glad you enjoyed some of them. Let me know if you pick up any of the others!
Okay so I just ravenously devoured children of time in under 5 days after seeing into this channel and thanks! I love all spiders now.
Haha I’m glad you enjoyed it! I loved the spiders as well! 🕷️
It's an old story, but if you like books that combine elements of science fiction and fantasy, consider "Port Eternity" by C. J. Cheeryh. Not a long read, but an enjoyable one.
I have read Kesrith by Cherryh. I’ll have to check out more!
House of Suns is a favorite. Big scope and a great love story.
I’m glad you loved it too!
While I love fantasy, and I love SCI FI, I can’t seem to wrap my head around mixing them.
Sci-Fantasy has been hit or miss for me.
Children of time had some Deus Ex Machina in it bridging some gaps in the spider evolution, and along with some plot manipulations, the human conflict, I was a bit frustrated by it. Beautifully written, and fast paced, I finished it and was entertained by it.
I’m glad you enjoyed it despite some of the plot devices.
LOVED Children of Time!!
Awesome! I’m glad it’s one of your favourites too! 🕷️
Oof yeah I was warned about some of the content in Oryx and Crake, but I still really want to read it. I thought Hard Scifi was going to be a sub-genre I wouldn't like, but I actually ended up really enjoying the Three Body Problem, so I might have to give the subgenre more of a chance. Okay I'm finally putting Project Hail Mary on my TBR.
I’m glad you enjoyed The Three-Body Problem. I think the sequels are even better. I’m excited to hear your thoughts on Project Hail Mary!
@@WordsinTime Hard to imagine the next two books are even better but that makes me excited to get to them!
For a dystopian modern sf novel I think I'd lean toward The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I know many people are freaked out by this book, but it's hard to argue with a Pulitzer Prize.
I have watched the film and it was rather impactful. I need to read the book!
The movie was good but I thought it was post-apocalypse.
For first contact stories I always liked Murray Leinster
Thanks for the recommendation, I’ll check it out!
Great first contact/horror sci fi in a way is Hull Zero Three by Greg Bear
Thanks for the recommendation! Greg Bear is on my list but I’m not familiar with Hull Zero Three so I will look it up!
Read it and loved it! I think people who like Andy Weir would also like Hull Zero Three. Something horrible went wrong and a man and woman need to survive and figure out what happened kind of story.
My recommendation Strugatsky Deffinetely Maybe.
Thanks!
I've read project hail Mary and recommended it to my son, and I'm currently reading the three body problem, and it's still early to say how it will go. We'll see 😊
Awesome! I think Project Hail Mary is great and will appeal to a broad range of readers. I hope you enjoy The Three-Body Problem!
I loved Children of Time. However, I’m struggling with the sequel, Children of Ruin. My first thoughts was that the author gave us a hit with intelligent spiders, so, why not do the same thing with intelligent octopus? For me, it’s just not working. Not sure if I’ll continue with the series or not. Very disappointed with Children of Ruin after loving Children of Time so much.
Love you videos and your book recommends.
Thanks for your thoughts on Children of Ruin! I’ve heard mixed reactions, I haven’t tried it yet as it would be hard to live up to Children of Time!
I loved Children of Ruin myself. The concept up uplifted octopi after uplifted spiders does seem a lot like just a remake of the first book, but I found it was different enough to still draw me in and I'm looking forward to the next installment in the series. I've seen enough reviews of the book by people who didn't like it to know you are not alone though.
You might try the Poseidon's Children series by Alastair Reynolds. Neural interfaces with elephants and eventually super smart elephants. It's an epic space opera!
I read Oryx and Crake a few years ago and loved it. At the time I didn’t know there were sequels. Have you read those? Are they worth reading?
I didn’t feel the need to continue but someone commented on my channel recently that they enjoyed them.
@@WordsinTime good to know - thanks!
The trilogy imo is very close to being a masterpiece. I would also recommend her Handmaids Tale series the second is better than the first ( but probably because I was too familiar with the first due to the TV series)
Children of Time is wonderful.
Love Alistair Reynolds' work but not read House of Suns. That will be going on the wish list.
Awesome! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Good idea to have these caategories. In the strange case anyone else cares here's my take on them ...
House of Suns is the last SF book i read. Loved it.
Children of Time . On my TBR list.
Oryx and Crake. DNF. Just did nothing for me.
3 Body problem. Hated it. I know everyone else seems to loves it.I bailed out half way through skimmed parts of the sequels and glad i didnt bother finishing.
Empire of Silence. Sounds interesting, not heard of it, will check it out though though sword fighting seems anachronistic given its someone who can destroy suns !
Project Hail Mary. Loved it (also loved The Martian). Read it last month.
Dark Matter. Ah yes i read that some time ago. Interesting idea and a good read AFAICR.
Deathstalker. The cover puts me off and likely not for me off but I'll check it out.
Thanks for the reactions Joe, I’m glad you also loved House of Suns and Project Hail Mary!
How would you contrast and compare the spider civilization in the Tchaikovsky book (I have not read it) with the spider civilization in Vinge's book "A Deepness in the Sky"?
Good question, however I have only read Children of Time and A Fire Upon the Deep and have not yet read A Deepness in the Sky. It’s on my TBR!
thank you so much for the help
I’m glad you’re enjoying the videos!
I'm always going door to door, telling people about: Too Like the Lightning, by Ada Palmer.
It's such a radically *different* science fiction book.
It takes place in 2454, and human society has really changed, a lot. People are living on the moon, and engaging in a very long-term deep time scale terraforming of Mars. ...
Too much to say. It's about society, and religion (religion has been banned in this world,) war, law, time, ... so many things...
If you're looking for something *different,* and very much science fiction, -- I want to direct your attention to Too Like the Lightning.
I love your passion for it! I recently purchased Too Like the Lightning and will be reading it early next year. I’m looking forward to it!
@@WordsinTime I'm so glad! I can't wait to hear what you have to say about it!
You make a good case for all of these.
Thanks! Let me know your thoughts if you pick any of them up. I hope you enjoy them!
@@WordsinTime Already have Three Body Problem, so that's the most likely candidate.
And in Hail Mary there is John Paul, George and Ringo🤪
Haha love it!
Great video
Thanks JoJo, I’m glad you enjoyed it!
5:25 I like to call the characters flat 😉
@@scottv5587 Fair haha
Did you ever try out Peter F. Hamilton?
Pandora’s Star is the next book I’ll be reading! Can’t wait to talk about it soon!
A subgenre that gets overlooked is soft sci-fi. I think there are lots of good examples but I would use Greg Bear's Blood Music as one.
I enjoy soft sci-fi as well such as Flowers for Algernon, Cat’s Cradle, and The Children of Men. I haven’t read Blood Music yet but it’s on my TBR!
Please, I'm seeking help finding this book again. It's about a man hunting impending darkness, a mother with a daughter who controls the forest and a man battling the cold.
I don’t know that one, sorry. If you go to the printSF subreddit and make a post, someone might recognize it and be able to help!
@@WordsinTime I attempted it a few years ago but I'll try again, it's driving me crazy.
that sounds like a great list
Thanks John! Let me know your thoughts if you read any of them!
@@WordsinTime oh I will! Your channel is great and I enjoy the enthusiasm in your voice, even when broken lol.
@@johnsparegrave5996 Hahaha that’s much appreciated!
Children of time was brilliant.
A hard and unforgiving read but ultimately rewarding
I’m glad you loved it too!
Deathstalker anytime anywhere, it just fits somehow.
Haha yes! More people need to read it!
I honestly thought it was the source material to the campy 80's movie series.
@@deadapostle I looked up the series and at first thought they'd turned it into a movie, then figured out they were unrelated.
With the Three Body Problem I actually liked the first book better than the other two.
Interesting!
@@WordsinTime It turns out that the relatively grounded atmosphere of the cultural revolution with somewhat smaller concepts was easier to visualise, but that could be because I attended some political studies in the past. Later books had some interesting ideas as well, but overall I found the lack of closure annoying and overall it felt like if the books ran further and further in to a fairytale land with motivations not too clear. Too broad strokes on that painting I guess.
@@vojtechpribyl7386 I liked all the far out concepts but I can see your perspective.
II have something to say about hard sci-fi - I've read your recommendations, but I do wonder why you don't recommend Ken MacLeod or Greg Egan in the hard sci-fi category? The Three body Problem is fascinating don't misunderstand me, it's grappling with cultural history is perhaps its best aspect, otherwise strangely idealistic yet nihilistic simultaneously with it's chaos dynamic sysetm themes, it doesn't address our pressing issues like AI and politics, extremism and corporate greed and politics like: Dissidence (2016), Insurgence (2016), or Emergence (2017), or sideloading in Zendegi (2010), these make Liu Cixin book feel dated by comparison, like a rediscovered classic. Read these and while Greg Egan gives everyone a run for the intellectual money, he makes the competition look decidedly easy.
I have read Greg Egan and loved him but haven’t tried Ken MacLeod yet.
Have you read any Robert Charles Wilson?
I read Spin and loved it!
Murderbot series by Martha Wells
I recently read the first book!
👍
Cheers Bill!
I have 7 of 8
Nice! Hope you enjoy the 8th one if you read it haha
Hope you've managed to read some Becky Chambers Wayfairer series
I own the first book, I’m looking forward to it!
They're all great . Lot's of sci-fi but realy about good people takeing care of each other .
@@cmdrvernondingo1540 Sound like it might be good to break up some heavy or bleak reads with Wayfarers!
Absolutly - it's the most positive stuff i've read in a long time - allso contains a lot of fully rounded charecters which a lot of sci-fi lacks .
day zero, sea of rust, CARGILL!
I really enjoyed Sea of Rust. I need to try Day Zero!
As far as I'm concerned, all sci-fi stories should have cool sword fights.
Haha “spot the sci-fantasy fan” mission complete
@@WordsinTime Well, yes. Also space opera.
Science Fantasy The Lord of Light Zelazny
I read that one and liked it, although it was a little tricky to connect with.
This is a great list. I've read most of these and really enjoyed each of them.
Awesome! I’m glad you also enjoyed them!