You killed it on your goals! You mentioned so many authors I intend to get to: Connie Willis, Neal Stephenson, Justin Cronin, China Mieville! Hope you enjoy all your 2024 reads!
I read almost exclusively SF novels from the Golden Era of the 1950's-1970's but I did read one novel by Connie Willis and I absolutely LOVED it! "To say nothing of the dog" has it all: humor, history, suspense, and lots of passages about fishing in English rivers and streams. Very highly recommended!
I am just finishing Martha Wells' Murderbot Series. The best series I have read in twenty years. It has action, great characterization, and perceptive understanding about the human personality and how we perceive the world. Great stuff! 👍👍👍
Anathem! Read Anathem. Ken MacLeod (pronounced ma-cloud) is great. Star Fraction and Newton's Wake would be my suggestion. Good luck with your reading plans. 👍📚🚀
For your author specific portion, I really really loved Kim Stanley Robinson's "The Years of Rice and Salt" and had lots of fun with Neal Stephenson's "Cryptonomicon".
I was gifted New York 2140 by KSR from a distant relative who I think only knew that 1) my profession was as a city planner and 2) I liked sci-fi. I haven't read any other long-form work of this author. have 2312 on my TBR shelf and it's been there for many years. ... used copies of that seemed to pop up everywhere. So I can't compare New York to other work, or much modern sci-fi for that matter, but it was solid future urban world building in a multi-layered multi-character slice-of-life style. Kind of like a space opera but all grounded in a world impacted by climate change that is a lot more realistic than a post-apocalyptic zombie dystopia that others might write about. And Forever War is something I picked up in a used book buying binge recently. It's one of the most highly acclaimed novels I haven't read or didn't own until recently, so if I tackle that this year I will fill in one of my awards gaps. Happy reading!
Thank you! Im taking that as a recommendation!! Thanks for sharing! Also, The author who wrote “memory called empire” is also a city planner. Random fun fact.
Vonnegut is one of my favorite writers so I guess we’re enemies now haha I hope you enjoy Baxter and Egan. I haven’t read Raft but I loved Ring. Daemon is also on my TBR, it sounds fun!
Glad you're enjoying your foray into the work of China. I'm both a fan and a comrade, my MA thesis was inspired by a talk he did at a political conference on Monsters and Marxist cultural theory. He's a brilliant writer, his non fiction work is every bit as good as his novels, a great orator, charming and generally a good dude. Just one thing, it's not a big deal but I'm sure you'd prefer to do it right, MacLeod is pronounced like "McCloud", like in Highlander. That's just because of the way vowels work in Scottish-English and/or Scots. The Forever War is incredible, I have no doubt you'll have a good time with it. Enjoy.
For me, I want to finish the last books in the Ann Leckie Ancillary and Tchaikovsky's Children trilogies. I need to knock Robert Silverberg off my list of shame and will probably read Dying Inside at some point. I have been trying to read more women, POC and LGTBQIA+ authors, I got into some Butler and Jemisin this year which were great obviously and I want to expand my horizons further. I have a couple of Poppy Z Brite that I didn't get to last Halloween so at least one of those probably. I'll see what else takes my fancy (tho if May Leitz publishes another book I'll have it on preorder). But the very next thing after I finish I Am Legend which I'm reading now is going to be Topographica Hibernica by comedian, TV presenter, musician, podcaster, writer, voice of my generation of Irish millennials and all round cultural icon Blindboy Boatclub.
I used to read a lot of Sci Fi and Fantasy back in the 80s and 90s and then got away from it for about 20 years. One of my favorites was Brust's Jehreg series. I don't know if it has aged well, but ironically I decided before Christmas that I was going to read the series again in 2024. I find it humorous that your list contains both titles read years ago and many that I've never heard of. Thanks for the suggestions and I hope you'll reconsider Brust.
It might be fun to read Robinson's first novel The Wild Shore. I remember enjoying it a lot way back when. Looking forward to your thoughts on all these books and authors.
Congrats on doing so well on your goals! I read Rosewater a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it. So many SF books are written from Western perspectives, so Rosewater was such a refreshing read. Not only in terms of the setting, but also how it weaves magic and mysticism into the story. I really enjoy thoughtful, contemplative SF and Rosewater is an excellent example of that. Seeing Xenocide on your list reminds that I’ve had it for over a decade and still not read it. (Weird how that happens sometimes.) Like you, I loved Speaker for the Dead.
I’m reading Grass now. Roadside Picnic was a DNF for me. Liked Mote in Gods Eye but I won’t read the sequel. I have some PKD on my TBR as well as some horror which you don’t really cover (I branched out and they were some of my favourite books last year)
Reading Seveneves right now, based on your recommendation. I'm in Part 3 and I am really enjoying it. For such a long book it's really flying by. I hope you enjoy The Passage. I've read the series twice, it's a really good bit of post-apocalyptic fiction. In my mind it belongs in the same headspace as The Stand. Not the same story, but the same gestalt if you know what I mean. As for Joan Vinge, I enjoyed the Summer Queen and its sequel quite a bit, although it's been many years since I've read them.
The "Canadian Roberts," as I call them, are my favorite SF authors -- Robert Sawyer and Robert Charles Wilson. I'm more of a concepts person so I enjoy big ideas mixed with philosophy, more so than plot and characterization. Granted, it's not for everyone. That's why I liked The Three Body Problem series, for example. The characters are pretty blah, but man, the ideas! I saw the Chinese miniseries last year, and can't wait for the American version coming to Netflix soon.
The Forever War and Mickey7 are both books I also want to get to, hopefully in the next two or three months. I honestly don't know why I haven't read The Forever War yet, I love military scifi and also like time dilation stories so it seems like it ought to be a perfect fit
Daemon...yay !!! My 2024 TBR Seveneves, Generation Ship, Ymir, Children of Time/Ruin/Memory, Murderbot System Collapse, A.G Riddle Quantum Radio, Mistborn, The Five Warriors Angels and The Bloodsworm Saga....no name a few lol.
You don’t need to have read fire upon the deep to read deepness in the sky. It’s a VERY loose prequel. I went in looking for direct connections and it almost pulled me out of the book because they just weren’t there. Thankfully I stopped looking for them and focused on the story and it became one of my favorite reads last year.
Delta-v has a sequel „Critical Mass“. Preordered it, started it and … read something different. So not sure if and when I will read it. Also not sure to recommend it. Same for Kim Stanley Robinson: „Antarctica“. Very interesting setting, though.
Sun Eater series is so damn good. Book 6, Disquiet Gods, is going to be released very soon and Christopher Ruoccio is writing book 7. 😊 For 2024 I want to read more Miéville and Iain M. Banks.
Okay I know it’s technically for a younger audience but as an adult I think it’s actually a great read - “House of Stairs” by William Sleator - plus it’s getting made into a movie with Jacob Tremblay and nobody is talking about this?! I’m shocked!! I feel like you should read and review it to get ahead of it!! The ENDING of it is so worth it!
Nice! I’m pretty sure that if you loved Embassytown, you’ll like Perdido even more. 🙂 Mieville’s the 💩😜 Also makes me happy to see someone actually read beyond Ender’s Game. Yeah EG’s great, but it’s mainly setting up S4tD and Xenocide!
The Moties series is a strange one. Written in collaboration by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, the first book, The Mote in God's Eye, was released in 1975. The second book in the series, The Gripping Hand, was published in 1993, also a collaboration. The third one, Outies, was published in 2010 and it written by Pournelle's daughter. The action in the books is also happening decades apart.
@@secretsauceofstorycraft The first one was the best indeed. It was cerebral, which is something I like, and had some very nice ideas. The second one is similar, but with a lot of filler. Nothing happens three quarters of the book. The third one was written in a more modern style, with all these writing schools teaching the same thing, but I didn't like it at all. It should be the most accessible, but its pacing is all over the place. I liked the ideas in the series, though, if you liked the first one, you almost have to read the second, regardless if you like it or not. :)
I LOVE Joe Haldeman, and The Forever War is brilliant. Very probably his best, and certainly his most popular. Not my favorite, though. I like it, but there are at least a few I like more, starting with (1) Old Twentieth and (2) All My Sins Surrendered. So, if you wanted to do a second Haldeman novel, ....
For the Vinge's, you could try A Deepness in the Sky, the prequel to A Fire Upon the Deep. It won a Hugo too. I haven't read The Snow Queen yet, but its cover is one of my favorites. Unfortunately, Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead are much better books than the rest of the series.
Hi Whitney. Happy New Year, and thank you for another great video. If you're going to try some more by C J Cherryh, may I recommend 'The Gate of Ivrel' which starts like classic fantasy but you soon realise that it is more mainstream SF. Its great story and first part of a series (if you like it). Like you I didn't finish 'Ministry for the Future' either , but that was because I lost interest sadly. It failed to hold my attention. And I agree with you regarding 'Left Hand of Darkness' - an undoubted classic but not for me. Re 2024: 'Forever War' is just amazing - very different from Starship Troopers and a great introduction to Haldeman. I hope you enjoy it. And I'll look forward to your thoughts on the other books on your list (very few of which I know). Have a great year.
You too Alan! I actually just got Cherryh’s cyteen and foreigner. So ill probably start own of those soon since i have em. But i will keep an eye out for Ivrel!
2024: I have to get to Children of Ruin/Memory. C.J. Cherryh's The Faded Sun, Ann Bishop's The Black Jewel trilogy. Scott Lynch's The Lies of Loch Lamora. Dying Inside (Silverberg). This Is How You Lose the Time War (Amal El-Mothar). The Book That Broke The World (Mark Lawrence). I started Gardens of the Moon (Erikson) and These Burning Stars (Bethany Jacobs). As the lone woman in the New Alliance you need to vociferously offer your opinion to the others that female content creators are not properly represented. May I suggest Tori Morrow , Johanna and (remember when you had 650 subscribers) Frankfiction.
I might put Perdido street station on my list too! I really enjoyed city and the city last year. Consider Plebas is fun but I thought player of games was better. I have use of weapons on my list this year. I'm really interested in what you think of the passage! As far as Adrian Tchaikovsky, his children of time trilogy is one of my favorites!!
@@secretsauceofstorycraft I've never done a buddy read before but I'd be down for trying to plan for that some time! (Sorry for the delay I just saw your BR video go up and was like D'OH!)
Oh! We had similar reactions on “Lord of Light” and “The Lefthand of Darkness”. I’ve been picking up some Ken MacLeod recently: “Corporation Wars” omnibus and two from his “Lightspeed Trilogy” - yet to read any though. Surprise 🤦♂️ Currently reading Tchaikovsky’s “Shards of Earth” however, and I *just* finished Egan’s “Permutation City” which was my final read of 2023 🙆♂️
The Gripping Hand was a disappointment. But it was so long ago I just remember the reaction, not why. Do Legacy of Heorot instead of Gripping Hand. Outcasts of Heaven's Belt by Joan D Vinge was good.
Hope you like Forever War more than I did. For me it failed that deadly sin “expectation”. What the blurb promised me, it didn’t deliver. Plus so much was illogical. And the beginning read like a teenage boy’s wet dream
A Fire Upon the Deep has a more direct sequel that came out a few years ago. I found it enjoyable. I don't read much fantasy but Perdido Street Station is a great read! The Forever War really stands the test of time. If to like Blind Lake you should read, The Chronoliths.
You'll have a good time with Perdido Street Station. If you intend to read Mieville's entire list, leave his first novel (King Rat) till last - it starts off well, then kind of fizzles out with too much exposition, thereby destroying the wonder of the thing - his other books are much better than this early effort. Robert Charles Wilson is one of my favorite authors - I liked "The Harvest", which explores similar themes to Blood Music, & Octavia Butler's works - & I was blown away by "Darwinia", which starts off in 1912, then fast forwards to the far future in the 2nd part of the book.
Another great vid!! "If you like this book..." I read Generation Ship on your recommendation - good...but the ending was a familiar copout. From your "if you like this..." If you like Generation Ship you'll love Mission by (Paul - now Pauli - Kidd). If you like books of virtual and real worlds, "the Inquisitor's Progress" where a monk dies and wakes as a character created...in yet another virtual world and he must climb up the levels until reality and a forced proposition! In my Top Five. Charles Stross is right up your alley. Very prolific. The Eschaton series were incredible space operas and his VW novels - Halting State, Rule 34 superb. His Accelerando (the singularity as told by a lobster) suggests future entertainment will be a return to past eras. In Glasshouse we do that but memories are wiped and in 1950s suburbia.and something is not quite right
Wow 🤩 thanks for the reccs!! Stross was on my list but got bumped to pull forward a few. (But i can get to him unofficially if i have time) and im hoping too. Im glad u like generation ship- i agree with on the ending, but i had such a good time with the rest I forgave it..:.
Cryptonomicon, Stephenson, is one of my few novels I have to read/listen to every year or so. I have a small collection of 'comfort' books that I re-read/listen to periodically just because (the same with movies/tv). Do you have such a book list?
I do not reread 😱 its crazy i know! Im afraid itll take away all the things i loved about them in first place, but im thinkin of trying some rereads this year… we will see. As for rewatching movies, absolutely!
I want to like Stephenson. I enjoyed snowcrash soon after it came out. a few years ago I tried Anathem and honestly gave up 50 pages in. If I remember correctly two monks were talking math and it just lost me. I tried reading the hardcover while listening to the audiobook. I plan to start cryptonomicon and go from there. Does anyone have tips on how to read stephenson? Great video. BTW looking forward to the DUNE movie in march and the new GODZILLA is great!!!!
@@secretsauceofstorycraft Your videos. you take the time make them editing, research etc. I've watched most of your videos and have yet to see a ad break. I get value from your suggestions. Do a poll for your subs I think you would be surprised.
You killed it on your goals! You mentioned so many authors I intend to get to: Connie Willis, Neal Stephenson, Justin Cronin, China Mieville! Hope you enjoy all your 2024 reads!
Thanks girl
I read almost exclusively SF novels from the Golden Era of the 1950's-1970's but I did read one novel by Connie Willis and I absolutely LOVED it! "To say nothing of the dog" has it all: humor, history, suspense, and lots of passages about fishing in English rivers and streams. Very highly recommended!
I am just finishing Martha Wells' Murderbot Series. The best series I have read in twenty years. It has action, great characterization, and perceptive understanding about the human personality and how we perceive the world. Great stuff!
👍👍👍
👍🏻 🚀 so glad u are enjoying!!
Anathem! Read Anathem. Ken MacLeod (pronounced ma-cloud) is great. Star Fraction and Newton's Wake would be my suggestion. Good luck with your reading plans. 👍📚🚀
Haha 😂 i hoped i had said it right darn it. Thanks tho. I’m soo excited by all these books on my list!
I have a couple of Miévilles on my list this year: The Scar, Iron Council, The City & The City, and This Census-Taker. I hope I get to all of them.
I have city& the city sitting on my shelf right now…. 👀 it staring me down. Might have to pick it up after perdido.
Seeing Permutation City on your list really made my day. I have the copy I purchased new summer of 95. Such good memories!
Started it!! Ch 4!
For your author specific portion, I really really loved Kim Stanley Robinson's "The Years of Rice and Salt" and had lots of fun with Neal Stephenson's "Cryptonomicon".
Ooh both r books I own!!!Thank you!
I was gifted New York 2140 by KSR from a distant relative who I think only knew that 1) my profession was as a city planner and 2) I liked sci-fi. I haven't read any other long-form work of this author. have 2312 on my TBR shelf and it's been there for many years. ... used copies of that seemed to pop up everywhere. So I can't compare New York to other work, or much modern sci-fi for that matter, but it was solid future urban world building in a multi-layered multi-character slice-of-life style. Kind of like a space opera but all grounded in a world impacted by climate change that is a lot more realistic than a post-apocalyptic zombie dystopia that others might write about. And Forever War is something I picked up in a used book buying binge recently. It's one of the most highly acclaimed novels I haven't read or didn't own until recently, so if I tackle that this year I will fill in one of my awards gaps. Happy reading!
Thank you! Im taking that as a recommendation!! Thanks for sharing!
Also, The author who wrote “memory called empire” is also a city planner. Random fun fact.
Great book. 2312 is very interesting too.😊
Vonnegut is one of my favorite writers so I guess we’re enemies now haha
I hope you enjoy Baxter and Egan. I haven’t read Raft but I loved Ring.
Daemon is also on my TBR, it sounds fun!
Haha 😆
Good to see Ken McLeod on here (pronounced McCloud btw). Would recommend his Corporation Wars as the best way into his work.
Yeah im excited to try him out! Thanks for the suggestion & correction
I'm planning to read all the books in the Dune series. I do recommend Perdido Street station, awesome book. I don't recommend Anathem.
Oh no! Dont tell me that!! Haha. I still gotta try anathem. But thanks for warning me. And good luck with Dune! U’ll b ready for part 2 movie in march
Glad you're enjoying your foray into the work of China. I'm both a fan and a comrade, my MA thesis was inspired by a talk he did at a political conference on Monsters and Marxist cultural theory. He's a brilliant writer, his non fiction work is every bit as good as his novels, a great orator, charming and generally a good dude.
Just one thing, it's not a big deal but I'm sure you'd prefer to do it right, MacLeod is pronounced like "McCloud", like in Highlander. That's just because of the way vowels work in Scottish-English and/or Scots.
The Forever War is incredible, I have no doubt you'll have a good time with it. Enjoy.
For me, I want to finish the last books in the Ann Leckie Ancillary and Tchaikovsky's Children trilogies. I need to knock Robert Silverberg off my list of shame and will probably read Dying Inside at some point. I have been trying to read more women, POC and LGTBQIA+ authors, I got into some Butler and Jemisin this year which were great obviously and I want to expand my horizons further. I have a couple of Poppy Z Brite that I didn't get to last Halloween so at least one of those probably. I'll see what else takes my fancy (tho if May Leitz publishes another book I'll have it on preorder).
But the very next thing after I finish I Am Legend which I'm reading now is going to be Topographica Hibernica by comedian, TV presenter, musician, podcaster, writer, voice of my generation of Irish millennials and all round cultural icon Blindboy Boatclub.
Whew sounds like you got your work cut out for you! Good luck. 🍀
Im excited to get to forever war! And thanks for the pronounciation tips. Im not great with names
I used to read a lot of Sci Fi and Fantasy back in the 80s and 90s and then got away from it for about 20 years. One of my favorites was Brust's Jehreg series. I don't know if it has aged well, but ironically I decided before Christmas that I was going to read the series again in 2024. I find it humorous that your list contains both titles read years ago and many that I've never heard of. Thanks for the suggestions and I hope you'll reconsider Brust.
Im not giving up on him, im just taking it off my to-do list so it’ll b a fun read rather than a must-do
It might be fun to read Robinson's first novel The Wild Shore. I remember enjoying it a lot way back when.
Looking forward to your thoughts on all these books and authors.
👍🏻
Congrats on doing so well on your goals! I read Rosewater a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it. So many SF books are written from Western perspectives, so Rosewater was such a refreshing read. Not only in terms of the setting, but also how it weaves magic and mysticism into the story. I really enjoy thoughtful, contemplative SF and Rosewater is an excellent example of that. Seeing Xenocide on your list reminds that I’ve had it for over a decade and still not read it. (Weird how that happens sometimes.) Like you, I loved Speaker for the Dead.
Hey we can both get to xenoside this year!! Im pumped for rosewater!
I’m reading Grass now. Roadside Picnic was a DNF for me. Liked Mote in Gods Eye but I won’t read the sequel. I have some PKD on my TBR as well as some horror which you don’t really cover (I branched out and they were some of my favourite books last year)
Branching out is good!!
So many of my favs!!
Yay! 👍🏻🔥
Reading Seveneves right now, based on your recommendation. I'm in Part 3 and I am really enjoying it. For such a long book it's really flying by. I hope you enjoy The Passage. I've read the series twice, it's a really good bit of post-apocalyptic fiction. In my mind it belongs in the same headspace as The Stand. Not the same story, but the same gestalt if you know what I mean. As for Joan Vinge, I enjoyed the Summer Queen and its sequel quite a bit, although it's been many years since I've read them.
Yay! Im so glad u are liking Seveneves!
The "Canadian Roberts," as I call them, are my favorite SF authors -- Robert Sawyer and Robert Charles Wilson. I'm more of a concepts person so I enjoy big ideas mixed with philosophy, more so than plot and characterization. Granted, it's not for everyone. That's why I liked The Three Body Problem series, for example. The characters are pretty blah, but man, the ideas! I saw the Chinese miniseries last year, and can't wait for the American version coming to Netflix soon.
I’m looking forward to that as well!
I'm currently reading 'The Ministry for the Future'. On chapter 59 as of this comment. Will review it.
Looking forward to your thoughts!!
I hear that Joan d Vinge snow queen is good on my tbr
🔥 will have to prioritize!
The Forever War and Mickey7 are both books I also want to get to, hopefully in the next two or three months. I honestly don't know why I haven't read The Forever War yet, I love military scifi and also like time dilation stories so it seems like it ought to be a perfect fit
Good plan!! Im thinking about doing one as a buddy read :)
@@secretsauceofstorycraft I would be up for that 🙂
Cronin's Passage trilogy was really good if you like it, the Ferryman might even be better.
I’ve been eyeing Ferryman- but i thought I better get to Passage first since i own it
Daemon...yay !!! My 2024 TBR Seveneves, Generation Ship, Ymir, Children of Time/Ruin/Memory, Murderbot System Collapse, A.G Riddle Quantum Radio, Mistborn, The Five Warriors Angels and The Bloodsworm Saga....no name a few lol.
Wow!! Sounds like a great reading year!
I love Connie Willis. I understand that not everybody does, but she just works for me. The whole time traveler's series is wonderful!
I loved the doomsday book- and am looking forward to To say nothing of the dog!
You don’t need to have read fire upon the deep to read deepness in the sky. It’s a VERY loose prequel. I went in looking for direct connections and it almost pulled me out of the book because they just weren’t there. Thankfully I stopped looking for them and focused on the story and it became one of my favorite reads last year.
Oh good to know!! Maybe will start that one then without a reread….
Delta-v has a sequel „Critical Mass“. Preordered it, started it and … read something different. So not sure if and when I will read it. Also not sure to recommend it.
Same for Kim Stanley Robinson: „Antarctica“. Very interesting setting, though.
Hmmm will look into it! Thanks!
Sun Eater series is so damn good. Book 6, Disquiet Gods, is going to be released very soon and Christopher Ruoccio is writing book 7. 😊
For 2024 I want to read more Miéville and Iain M. Banks.
🔥 📚
Okay I know it’s technically for a younger audience but as an adult I think it’s actually a great read - “House of Stairs” by William Sleator - plus it’s getting made into a movie with Jacob Tremblay and nobody is talking about this?! I’m shocked!! I feel like you should read and review it to get ahead of it!! The ENDING of it is so worth it!
Will look into it…
Nice! I’m pretty sure that if you loved Embassytown, you’ll like Perdido even more. 🙂 Mieville’s the 💩😜 Also makes me happy to see someone actually read beyond Ender’s Game. Yeah EG’s great, but it’s mainly setting up S4tD and Xenocide!
Yes! Speaker is my fave!!
The Moties series is a strange one. Written in collaboration by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, the first book, The Mote in God's Eye, was released in 1975. The second book in the series, The Gripping Hand, was published in 1993, also a collaboration. The third one, Outies, was published in 2010 and it written by Pournelle's daughter. The action in the books is also happening decades apart.
🤔 what did u like or dislike about it?
@@secretsauceofstorycraft The first one was the best indeed. It was cerebral, which is something I like, and had some very nice ideas. The second one is similar, but with a lot of filler. Nothing happens three quarters of the book. The third one was written in a more modern style, with all these writing schools teaching the same thing, but I didn't like it at all. It should be the most accessible, but its pacing is all over the place.
I liked the ideas in the series, though, if you liked the first one, you almost have to read the second, regardless if you like it or not. :)
I LOVE Joe Haldeman, and The Forever War is brilliant. Very probably his best, and certainly his most popular. Not my favorite, though. I like it, but there are at least a few I like more, starting with (1) Old Twentieth and (2) All My Sins Surrendered. So, if you wanted to do a second Haldeman novel, ....
Hmmm will keep it in mind. I have another of his books: camoflauge
For the Vinge's, you could try A Deepness in the Sky, the prequel to A Fire Upon the Deep. It won a Hugo too. I haven't read The Snow Queen yet, but its cover is one of my favorites. Unfortunately, Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead are much better books than the rest of the series.
Oh no! Im sad to hear that about xenoside. But i will def look at deepness in sky. Thank you!
Permutation City is amazing!!
🔥 cant wait to get to it
@@secretsauceofstorycraft I hope you like it. I can see it might not be for everyone.
Hi Whitney. Happy New Year, and thank you for another great video. If you're going to try some more by C J Cherryh, may I recommend 'The Gate of Ivrel' which starts like classic fantasy but you soon realise that it is more mainstream SF. Its great story and first part of a series (if you like it). Like you I didn't finish 'Ministry for the Future' either , but that was because I lost interest sadly. It failed to hold my attention. And I agree with you regarding 'Left Hand of Darkness' - an undoubted classic but not for me. Re 2024: 'Forever War' is just amazing - very different from Starship Troopers and a great introduction to Haldeman. I hope you enjoy it. And I'll look forward to your thoughts on the other books on your list (very few of which I know). Have a great year.
You too Alan! I actually just got Cherryh’s cyteen and foreigner. So ill probably start own of those soon since i have em. But i will keep an eye out for Ivrel!
I wish I could read as many books as you do, Whitney. Enjoy these reads!
Thanks! I hope I do!
Whoa! I just recently came across Grass by Sheri Tepper and cool to hear a recommend for it. Going to have to read it this year!
Hope you enjoy it!!
2024: I have to get to Children of Ruin/Memory. C.J. Cherryh's The Faded Sun,
Ann Bishop's The Black Jewel trilogy. Scott Lynch's The Lies of Loch Lamora.
Dying Inside (Silverberg). This Is How You Lose the Time War (Amal El-Mothar).
The Book That Broke The World (Mark Lawrence). I started Gardens of the Moon (Erikson) and These Burning Stars (Bethany Jacobs).
As the lone woman in the New Alliance you need to vociferously offer your opinion to the others that female content creators are not properly represented.
May I suggest Tori Morrow , Johanna and (remember when you had 650 subscribers) Frankfiction.
Haha, i love those girls! Sadly, I think moid has dissolved the alliance 😢 but we can keep making hood content!
I hope you enjoy Permutation City, it’s one of my faves. You have great books ahead!
Thank you! You too I hope!!
my last read was Permutation City. Some of his books are in my top 10. This one, not so much. I'm interested to see your thoughts on it.
Yeah i just started it - ch4. We will seee.
I might put Perdido street station on my list too! I really enjoyed city and the city last year.
Consider Plebas is fun but I thought player of games was better. I have use of weapons on my list this year.
I'm really interested in what you think of the passage!
As far as Adrian Tchaikovsky, his children of time trilogy is one of my favorites!!
I loved children of time too!! If u wanna do a buddy read of perdido street station- let me know!
@@secretsauceofstorycraft I've never done a buddy read before but I'd be down for trying to plan for that some time! (Sorry for the delay I just saw your BR video go up and was like D'OH!)
Oh! We had similar reactions on “Lord of Light” and “The Lefthand of Darkness”.
I’ve been picking up some Ken MacLeod recently: “Corporation Wars” omnibus and two from his “Lightspeed Trilogy” - yet to read any though. Surprise 🤦♂️ Currently reading Tchaikovsky’s “Shards of Earth” however, and I *just* finished Egan’s “Permutation City” which was my final read of 2023 🙆♂️
….Aaand? What did u think?
The Gripping Hand was a disappointment. But it was so long ago I just remember the reaction, not why.
Do Legacy of Heorot instead of Gripping Hand.
Outcasts of Heaven's Belt by Joan D Vinge was good.
Oh I havent heard of these last two! Tha ks for recommendation. Im hoping to go to bookstore soon
Hope you like Forever War more than I did. For me it failed that deadly sin “expectation”. What the blurb promised me, it didn’t deliver. Plus so much was illogical. And the beginning read like a teenage boy’s wet dream
Hmmm 🤔 thay doesnt bode well
A Fire Upon the Deep has a more direct sequel that came out a few years ago. I found it enjoyable.
I don't read much fantasy but Perdido Street Station is a great read!
The Forever War really stands the test of time.
If to like Blind Lake you should read, The Chronoliths.
Do u know the name of fire upon the deep sequel?? Its not Rainbow’s End is it?
@@secretsauceofstorycraft The Children of the Sky.
Did you see that Keanu Reeves and China Mieville have a novel coming out?!
@@toddchapman3032 say what!?!
@@secretsauceofstorycraft right?! He just announced it on Good Morning America. It's based on a comic book he created.
You'll have a good time with Perdido Street Station. If you intend to read Mieville's entire list, leave his first novel (King Rat) till last - it starts off well, then kind of fizzles out with too much exposition, thereby destroying the wonder of the thing - his other books are much better than this early effort.
Robert Charles Wilson is one of my favorite authors - I liked "The Harvest", which explores similar themes to Blood Music, & Octavia Butler's works - & I was blown away by "Darwinia", which starts off in 1912, then fast forwards to the far future in the 2nd part of the book.
Ooh this is good info. I will def keep that in mind about mieville’s work (very helpful! I almost picked that one up recently)
Another great vid!! "If you like this book..." I read Generation Ship on your recommendation - good...but the ending was a familiar copout. From your "if you like this..." If you like Generation Ship you'll love Mission by (Paul - now Pauli - Kidd). If you like books of virtual and real worlds, "the Inquisitor's Progress" where a monk dies and wakes as a character created...in yet another virtual world and he must climb up the levels until reality and a forced proposition! In my Top Five.
Charles Stross is right up your alley. Very prolific. The Eschaton series were incredible space operas and his VW novels - Halting State, Rule 34 superb. His Accelerando (the singularity as told by a lobster) suggests future entertainment will be a return to past eras. In Glasshouse we do that but memories are wiped and in 1950s suburbia.and something is not quite right
Wow 🤩 thanks for the reccs!! Stross was on my list but got bumped to pull forward a few. (But i can get to him unofficially if i have time) and im hoping too. Im glad u like generation ship- i agree with on the ending, but i had such a good time with the rest I forgave it..:.
I completely failed on my 23 for 23 list, and only got 8 of them read. Hopefully I do better with my 24 for 24 list.
hey 8 is still good! It's so hard sometimes. Good news there is always this year!
Cryptonomicon, Stephenson, is one of my few novels I have to read/listen to every year or so. I have a small collection of 'comfort' books that I re-read/listen to periodically just because (the same with movies/tv). Do you have such a book list?
I do not reread 😱 its crazy i know! Im afraid itll take away all the things i loved about them in first place, but im thinkin of trying some rereads this year… we will see. As for rewatching movies, absolutely!
I want to like Stephenson. I enjoyed snowcrash soon after it came out. a few years ago I tried Anathem and honestly gave up 50 pages in. If I remember correctly two monks were talking math and it just lost me. I tried reading the hardcover while listening to the audiobook. I plan to start cryptonomicon and go from there. Does anyone have tips on how to read stephenson?
Great video. BTW looking forward to the DUNE movie in march and the new GODZILLA is great!!!!
Hopefully ill have more ideas after this year. I liked seveneves tho!
"The Scar" by Mieville is amazing. - Follow upt to Perdido st
Consider Phlebas is fantastic. I keep reading negative reviews but honestly don’t get it.
I will give it a chance this year i think
Patron:?
I dont have one…. Wasnt sure i should take ppls money 💰 not sure how to make it worth it. Open to ideas
@@secretsauceofstorycraft Your videos. you take the time make them editing, research etc. I've watched most of your videos and have yet to see a ad break. I get value from your suggestions. Do a poll for your subs I think you would be surprised.