The Light of Other Days should be compulsory reading for politicians, technologists & the public. What a superb treatise on the concepts of 'privacy' and human nature. A 'happy ending' I thought. Children of Time and its sequel are stunning works showing humans interacting with radically different non-human intelligences - a theme common to lots of his SF work. recommended!!!
I think "The Final Architect" series from Adrian Tchaikovsky, is a very interesting, dark forest story. It's a messier and grayer version of Lui Cixin's Dark Forest. It spends more time on character building and world building Space Opera style. Cixin's characters are concepts to implement ideas, in contrast, the characters in The Final Architect exist in a full, rich world, with complex conflicts within themselves, pulled towards several valid solutions. We join them on their journey through the forest.
Rajaniemi's Quantum Thief trilogy is extraordinarily dense and a testing read. It is worth the effort of concentration to keep up with it. One thing that I really like is the paradoxical first line of each book -- 1. As always, before the warmind and I shoot each other, I try to make small talk. 2. That night, Matjek sneaks out of his dream to visit the thief again. 3. Alone on the timeless beach, Joséphine Pellegrini finds herself disappointed by the end of the world.
Perfect timing, I just watched the first episode of the Netflix show, and enjoyed it. I had read the trilogy several years ago and was just thinking to myself to search for similar books.
Great video! Had never heard of The Starship and the Canoe, sounds interesting. It’s also in the Audible Plus catalog 😊 I agree with Children of Time. Just finished the trilogy. Tchaikovsky is a very good writer.
I found Liu Cixin's trilogy very rewarding and read the first one twice plus watched the Chinese TV version on youtube. That production was fairly faithful to the text. I also heartily endorse The Starship and the Canoe and Children of Time. However, Anathem was overlong and quite tedious so that I did not finish it. The vocabulary and situations so derivative of medieval monastic orders were more irritating than clever. The plot, which I never reached, is buried deep. Fans of hefty tomes might like it.
"Anathem was overlong and quite tedious so that I did not finish it." - kinda Neal Stephenson in a nutshell, imo. His writing is fun to read, but hoo boy is there a lot of it.
Thanks! Those books look very interesting. Anathem is already on my list and children of time I already read a long time ago so the others are new to me and I am excited to grab them
I'd also add Mote in God's Eye by Niven and Pournelle came out ~50 yrs ago, and I mention it cuz *no spoilers* it's a first contact with kind of a few similar plot points, I think one of my favs
All great books. The only one I haven't read yet is The Light of Other Days. It was about 40 years ago that I read The Starship and the Canoe, time for a reread.
The three books are instant classics. My nine sci fi gf loved them. Just finished episode six of the Flix show and I am very upset. It’s brilliant but book one need 16 episodes. More seriously the changes were seamless and worked great.
Just started watching three body, read the three books and loved them, children of time is awesome, loved the another two books in the series , yet to read anathem (is on the shelf) but seveneves was in the same style as three body Got your two books on the way ... should be here soon
For Stephenson fans: I really enjoyed "Snow Crash" and "The Diamond Age", but really didn't like "Cryptonomicron". It was begging to be shortened through strong editing. Do you think I would I enjoy "Anathem"? I see it's another hefty tome!
I don't wanna be THE pedant, but Hannu Rajaniemi is a Finn, so his surname shall (ain't 100% sure) be rather pronounced as if it were written as "Rayaniyehmi".
Recently read Anathem and was actually quite disappointed. The world-buidling is not bad, but feels lengthy and on-the-nose at times. The pacing in general is weirdly uneven. The worst for me personally however, is that the book is ultimately not as smart as it thinks it is. What I mean, without spoiling, is that while the world-building works, the "cosmos-building" and whole meta-story eventually collapses on its own weight. Will give the other books a try though. Thanks for the video!
Thank you. I enjoy reading sci-fi books but am not as invested as yourself and your audience. I've on read one of the books. Children of Time was amazing, and Tchaikovsky handles the narrative very skilfully, imho skilfully weaving together (sorry couldn't resist) the generational narrative to depict the growth of the arachnidan civilisation. Maybe not for arachnophobes.
Earlier today I read a review of the new Netflix show and the critic's conclusion basically was that the show is overall "brilliant" (that's the word he really used), but should have rather been 16 episodes long instead of only the existent 6. I think that I should find enough spare time to binge-watch it next weekend; hopefully. Looking forward to it.
I haven't watched the video yet, but I put aside the novel of Three Body Problem about 2/3 of the way through. The format of alternating with the game world was a major distraction and confused the story. It sucked the interest out it for me. It didn't deserve the Hugo. Edit: A few weeks later and I have watched 4 episodes of the video series. It was much easier to follow and actually a lot of fun. I understood the role of the game world and the detail was reduced somewhat,to it's benefit. Naturally the actors developed the characters better. I don't recall that original warning message from the aliens in the novel, as shown clearly in the video.
You should try the Chinese version on Prime called Three Body. A lot of reading of subtitles if you don't know the language but is enjoyable and close to the book.
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Children of Time is a perfect recommendation. Cheers.
The Light of Other Days should be compulsory reading for politicians, technologists & the public. What a superb treatise on the concepts of 'privacy' and human nature. A 'happy ending' I thought.
Children of Time and its sequel are stunning works showing humans interacting with radically different non-human intelligences - a theme common to lots of his SF work. recommended!!!
I think "The Final Architect" series from Adrian Tchaikovsky, is a very interesting, dark forest story.
It's a messier and grayer version of Lui Cixin's Dark Forest.
It spends more time on character building and world building
Space Opera style.
Cixin's characters are concepts to implement ideas, in contrast, the characters in The Final Architect exist in a full, rich world, with complex conflicts within themselves, pulled towards several valid solutions.
We join them on their journey through the forest.
Rajaniemi's Quantum Thief trilogy is extraordinarily dense and a testing read. It is worth the effort of concentration to keep up with it.
One thing that I really like is the paradoxical first line of each book --
1. As always, before the warmind and I shoot each other, I try to make small talk.
2. That night, Matjek sneaks out of his dream to visit the thief again.
3. Alone on the timeless beach, Joséphine Pellegrini finds herself disappointed by the end of the world.
Good list. I'd also add The Killing Star, by Charles R. Pellegrino and George Zebrowski, and The Forge of God, by Greg Bear.
From experience I second your recommendation of _The Forge of God._ I'll add its sequel, _Anvil of Stars._
Anathem is an absolute favorite, and Children of time excellent.
The only one ive read on this list is children of time, which i adored. The others are all high priority on my TBR now! Great video!
Perfect timing, I just watched the first episode of the Netflix show, and enjoyed it. I had read the trilogy several years ago and was just thinking to myself to search for similar books.
i have found you a few days ago and while i am in bed with cold, i am binging on your podcasts, thank you!
Hope you feel better soon! 🤧
Great video! Had never heard of The Starship and the Canoe, sounds interesting. It’s also in the Audible Plus catalog 😊 I agree with Children of Time. Just finished the trilogy. Tchaikovsky is a very good writer.
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Dam that chapter MLM
I found Liu Cixin's trilogy very rewarding and read the first one twice plus watched the Chinese TV version on youtube. That production was fairly faithful to the text. I also heartily endorse The Starship and the Canoe and Children of Time. However, Anathem was overlong and quite tedious so that I did not finish it. The vocabulary and situations so derivative of medieval monastic orders were more irritating than clever. The plot, which I never reached, is buried deep. Fans of hefty tomes might like it.
"Anathem was overlong and quite tedious so that I did not finish it." - kinda Neal Stephenson in a nutshell, imo. His writing is fun to read, but hoo boy is there a lot of it.
Excellent! I'm adding The Light of Other Days and Children of Time to the bucket list. Cheers! 📚
Children of time is great. The next two are not as good but enjoyable. The opening of time is a huge surprise.
@@HuplesCat Thanks! You know, you got me thinking... isn't Children of Time the one about aliens who look like demons? I already read that ages ago 😅
I’m a fan of Three Body and I love every book I’ve read by Philip K. Dick. Highly recommend them all.
Thanks! Those books look very interesting. Anathem is already on my list and children of time I already read a long time ago so the others are new to me and I am excited to grab them
Oh dear. More books to read. Thanks Darryl!
I'm a big fan of Stephenson. Anathem is by far my favorite.
There could be cases for At the Mountain of Madness in that list
Somehow I haven't read any of these. They all sound intriguing
Anathem is a masterpiece.
Thanks!
Thanks again Chris 🖖
Well I loved Three Body Problem and Children of Time, so thanks for the other suggestions 😊
Anathem sounds fascinating, I put it on my list, thanks! I would add Greg Egan's Diaspora; hard to read at times but an amazing experience overall.
Not new and not technical but The Book of Strange New Things is a fun read. I adored Anathem (and most of Stephenson's work).
I'd also add Mote in God's Eye by Niven and Pournelle
came out ~50 yrs ago, and I mention it cuz *no spoilers* it's a first contact with kind of a few similar plot points, I think
one of my favs
I would add His Master's Voice (Głos Pana) by Stanisław Lem to that list.
All great books. The only one I haven't read yet is The Light of Other Days. It was about 40 years ago that I read The Starship and the Canoe, time for a reread.
The three books are instant classics. My nine sci fi gf loved them. Just finished episode six of the Flix show and I am very upset. It’s brilliant but book one need 16 episodes. More seriously the changes were seamless and worked great.
Thanks for the recommendations! But your shoulder is blocking those awesome Darrell K. Sweet WOT covers.
Just started watching three body, read the three books and loved them, children of time is awesome, loved the another two books in the series , yet to read anathem (is on the shelf) but seveneves was in the same style as three body
Got your two books on the way ... should be here soon
For Stephenson fans: I really enjoyed "Snow Crash" and "The Diamond Age", but really didn't like "Cryptonomicron". It was begging to be shortened through strong editing. Do you think I would I enjoy "Anathem"? I see it's another hefty tome!
I think I could only understand Anathem with some sort of primer and/or study guide. My brain can't do it on its own.
Yes, read it!
I don't wanna be THE pedant, but Hannu Rajaniemi is a Finn, so his surname shall (ain't 100% sure) be rather pronounced as if it were written as "Rayaniyehmi".
Recently read Anathem and was actually quite disappointed. The world-buidling is not bad, but feels lengthy and on-the-nose at times. The pacing in general is weirdly uneven. The worst for me personally however, is that the book is ultimately not as smart as it thinks it is. What I mean, without spoiling, is that while the world-building works, the "cosmos-building" and whole meta-story eventually collapses on its own weight. Will give the other books a try though. Thanks for the video!
Thank you.
I enjoy reading sci-fi books but am not as invested as yourself and your audience.
I've on read one of the books. Children of Time was amazing, and Tchaikovsky handles the narrative very skilfully, imho skilfully weaving together (sorry couldn't resist) the generational narrative to depict the growth of the arachnidan civilisation.
Maybe not for arachnophobes.
Rajaniemi is a Finnish surename :) (my mother language is hungarian, Very close to Finnish) i speak both.
where do you get your excellent art?
Perfect timing. Just saw the first episode and did not like the adaptation. Looking forward to reading some of the mentions.
Earlier today I read a review of the new Netflix show and the critic's conclusion basically was that the show is overall "brilliant" (that's the word he really used), but should have rather been 16 episodes long instead of only the existent 6.
I think that I should find enough spare time to binge-watch it next weekend; hopefully. Looking forward to it.
Sorry. I hated The Quantum Thief. Just an impenetrable mess.
I haven't watched the video yet, but I put aside the novel of Three Body Problem about 2/3 of the way through. The format of alternating with the game world was a major distraction and confused the story. It sucked the interest out it for me. It didn't deserve the Hugo. Edit: A few weeks later and I have watched 4 episodes of the video series. It was much easier to follow and actually a lot of fun. I understood the role of the game world and the detail was reduced somewhat,to it's benefit. Naturally the actors developed the characters better. I don't recall that original warning message from the aliens in the novel, as shown clearly in the video.
The game world was one of the weaker aspects of 3 Body, but if you finish this series, you won’t regret it.
That Netflix show was pure 🗑️ trash. Thank you for these recommendations 🎉
You should try the Chinese version on Prime called Three Body. A lot of reading of subtitles if you don't know the language but is enjoyable and close to the book.