Four Phenomenal Science Fiction Books I Finished Recently
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- Опубліковано 6 кві 2022
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You've done something rather remarkable with this channel, that is to say, that listening to you talk about books absolutely makes me want to read those books.
I just found his channel recently and I agree.
Simple.
@@HankBukowski I'll Third that
Agreed.
I was lucky enough to take a class taught by Samuel R Delany in college. "Interesting guy" is a bit of an understatement.
I went and bought and read Hothouse specifically because of this review. Wow. I was not disappointed. What a great and imaginative book. It was so good that I'm eyeing up all my houseplants as we speak for subversive activity.
I'm delighted to have found this channel. There is so much great sci fi from the past! Unfortunately, Booktube often focuses on the present.
Blood Music is one of my all time favorites. I stumbled onto it by accident, and actually sat and read the whole thing in one go. What a ride. Hard to say more without giving it away, but one of the most surreal and surprising books I ever read. Have never read Hothouse so will definitely check it out.
oh yeah for sure -- i finally read it and as matt says it starts off coventional and then wowee wow wow it goes way way the hell out there. did not see that coming. greg bear had ballz of iron to actually do that. what a shockingly amazing amazing first novel.
I just bought Hothouse based on your review. I may have pulled the trigger too soon, since your next review, of Blood Music, was so glowing. Got to learn to finish the video first.
Your impulse buy is a smart one, hope you love it as much as I did.
Or you might have pulled the right trigger since Blood Music is available here on yt as an audiobook, but Hothouse is not.
Both dope novels in any case.
Seven🚀
There was a whole series of those seventies "Best of" books collecting mostly pulp material in hardcover for the first time. Among the other volumes I remember were, for Leigh Brackett, Edmond Hamilton, Frederick Pohl, Henry Kuttner, Alfred Bester, C.L. Moore, and Fredric Brown.
Great channel! Your talks are insightful, personal and thoughtful without being pretentious. Keep going !!
Just subscribed... your book hauls & reviews are addictive. I've gotten into reading more classic sci-fi since discovering your channel. I've also read "Hothouse" and share your opinion of it... the imagination and creativity just keeps on coming, page after page. Nice job posting the different book covers from various editions, too. Great stuff!
You're really delving into the key books here - I read 'Blood Music' when I was a manuscript advisor for Pan Macmillan in 1986, alongside 'Eon'. I suggested they buy both from Gollancz but issue 'Eon' first as it was more commercial but not as good. They lost the bid and Arrow won it, taking just the course of action I recommended and it worked commercially for them. 'Blood Music' is Bear's best, I think. Aldiss? Well, 'Hothouse' is a masterpiece, one of the most imaginative books ever and 'Nova' shows how Bester channeled through into New Wave and then Cyberpunk. Delany's a bigger influence on Gibson than anyone ever says, I think. Great choices!
Was surprised when you mentioned in one of your vids how prolific Aldiss was. Amazing to me how many authors from that era wrote in quantity without huge sacrifice to quality.
@@Bookpilled - I have a video coming up next tuesday where I visit a friend who has an even bigger collection than me and he has loads of Aldiss, you'll see some in the clip. I met him a couple of times and hosted him at a bookshop event in Wales once, great man!
Hothouse? You had me at humans are green and small. Yet...okay, with a good writer.
I stumbled into Non-Stop a long time ago, loved it, its still on my shelf, but for some reason never went back to Aldiss until I saw this video. What a mind-expanding journey that was. Your channel is brilliant. Thank you!
Well THIS is exciting because I already have Nova & Blood Music on my shelf. Will be keeping my eye out for the other two. Appreciate you sharing your thoughts.
Alright. JUst wanted to write to say how much I've been enjoying listening to your videos over ther past few months. I've been picking up and reading older, often neglected science fiction and fantasy books for almost my entire adult life, really, and it's been so nice to listen to someone who obviously recognises the value and literary panash that alot (i.e. many more than people might think) of these have. Cheers!
Cheers, Ross.
Kornbluth was only 34 years old when he died. the man would of been a legend if he lived and wrote until his 50's or longer!!!
How did he die?
@@peterpuleo2904 heart attack
While shovelling snow, or so I have heard.
@@simonagree4070 Then it was probably a heart attack. Happens to some people every winter.
Cannot talk about Cyril M Kornbluth without mentioning the classic he co-wrote with Fredric Pohl : The Space Merchants. A novel that deserves a video of its own.
AMEN!
@@hummingbear88 Also Wolfbane and Search the Sky.
@@lightbearer313 Well it’s been about 60 years since I read them, so I’m sure you’re right I don’t remember them LOL
@@hummingbear88 one of the really cool things about books is that you can reread them. Large print and ebooks exist if your eyes are aging.
watching this i knew they had a very well known collab but couldnt recall it thx!
Can't wait for your next really pleasant reviews.
Best book review channel on the net, period. +1
I got big Tommy Boy vibes as you were trying to sort out the pronunciation of Pleiades. That section of your review really made me chortle. Thanks!
Excellent. Exactly what I was looking for.
The science fiction short story is where I started, I feel it's the best vehicle of the genre. There's something about a writer being able to put forth so much in so little. I haven't seen any of your videos dedicated to this, maybe I just missed it. I look forward to diving into the rest of your channel, Thanks. Also, it looks like Kornbluth passed quite young at 34.
Nice selection, I remember reading hothouse about 20 years ago. I should reread it one of these days. Nice work as always.
The earliest pulp I can read with interest consistently is probably Edmond Hamilton's work. Also, the stories in "Before the Golden Age" are pretty consistently good. Asimov had a good eye.
Great video and it’s a,ways great the way you analyse the reading experience with your books. I’ll b3 looking out for Hothouse first.
I love these vids. I've started reading your recommendations. Right now I'm reading The Iron Heel and I absolutely love it!
Hell yeah
It's funny that I've had the Kornbluth book in the NESFA edition, His Share of Glory, for decades and have never gotten around to reading it, except for the story The Marching Morons. Now watching your video has motivated me to put it at the top of my TBR pile. Hopefully I get to read it before the year ends.
Hothouse was so influential and so many ideas inspired following stories. The green-skin photosynthetic men adapted to get energy from the sun were picked up by Gene Wolfe in The Book of the New Sun. Silverberg’s “The day that the sun stood still” is based on a concept that’s very similar to what you described. Of course, Aldiss might have channeled these ideas from elsewhere himself… art constantly imitates itself, right?
Another great video! Thanks!
I’m going through these books and catching up with Kornbluth after 40 years was mindblowing but I’ve been laughing for days over Hothouse’s yummy tummy guys and their “nice sandwich lady” routine
Hothouse was one of the first "adult" sci-fi books that I read, back in the late 1960's. I remember being absolutely blown away and totally immersed. Previously I had only read some of the more "young adult" novels of Heinlein and Bradbury that were available in my school library. I really should go back and re-read it after 50 more years of life experience. Too many books, too little time. Currently reading the Malazan series (I know, not sci-fi, but still outstanding). This is a good reminder that I also need to read Blood Music, since as someone who has biology/immunology training it is right up my alley. It is clear to me that I wouldn't have pursued this career path without the influence of the great classic sci-fi novels.
I'm in awe of Greg Bear. Forge of God, Eternity, Slant... but I'm willing to call Queen of Angels the best sci-fi novel I ever read.
I liked Eon best -- maybe because the environment reminded me so much of the hill behind my house. I came to find out later that Bear lived on the other side of the hill.
+1 - Queen 👑 of Angels 😇
@@8020Alive Awesome, scary, exhilarating book, eh?
Honestly give Dhalgren a go. I think in a 100 years it will be seen as a major novel of the late 20th century.
It was actually a bestseller when first published. Notice how the linking, circular structure is mirrored in 'Watchmen'?
I should have read down before I posted above. I was just starting active duty and was stationed in Spain when someone gave me the book. I couldn't finish it, it was just a little too rough for me. I think that after starting it, I gave up on science fiction. I will have to say though, that throughout my life, I've often thought of it.
I tried to read that book and failed. I don't remember anything about it but I remember not caring and constantly losing focus trying to follow it.
Great channel. Seems my taste is aligned, which makes it easier to discover new reads.
one again a very insight full review thank you for this ...👏
Just enjoyed this video! Just yesterday at a Goodwill near me I found Greg Bear's Strength Of Stones. Looks like a good read. It's great to see you like the older stuff. I was around when all those authors were popular and read many of them. I sometimes pick up the new issues of F&SF & Asimov's Science Fiction Magazines but never heard of any of the new writers and got bored reading them. Yes, I know I am getting old! My latest obsession is finding books by Judith Merrill like Shadow On The Hearth, The Tomorrow People and Out Of Bounds.. She was once married to Fred Pohl. Keep up the good work on both channels. I'm also an Ebay seller.
Probably less you getting old than the writing getting blander. I'm on the lookout for Merrill too.
'Shadow on the Hearth' is really important as it really shows a female housewives' perspective on nuclear war in the early 50s - it has dull moments but is historically really important. She deserves a revival. I think the very first clip I posted on my channel shows her short stories best of.
I really liked Nova, btw. Very creative, although, yes, an opera. I really like your reviews. I love the covers you show - not sure you can tell a lot from the covers, but they are gorgeous.
I’ve been on the look out for Blood Music but haven’t found it yet. Glad to hear you like it.
I read Not This August by Kornbluth when I was 8th or 9th grade. It was one of my favorite novels for years. Even then, I could tell he was a better craftsman than most SF writers I'd read. That was 40 years ago and I still remember some of the descriptions in that novel.
Just wanted to say a quick thank you for blowing my spark of interest in SF into a raging wildfire. Thank you Bookpilled!
Ply-add-eez! That's my take.
The Kornbluth book has an amazing collection of short stories. Because Pohl knew him Kornbluth personally, he is able to offer insightful commentary at the beginning of each story. My take-away after reading this book is that he had a remarkable imagination. Your "economy of language" comment is also spot-on.
Thanks. Great review!
Babel-17 is perhaps my favorite sci-fi book.
Babel-17 is the book where I just want more of that world. Lots more.
If you haven't yet, read Dahlgren. It folds back on itself, but has long sections (120 pages?) of impossible boredom/cultural conflict that are central to the final gestalt. Not that many people complete it, but it is worth the effort. This is the closest thing to having lived through the 60's as a young adult that I have read.
Oh DAMN! I musta missed the end before! I liked your talk on Nova. I laughed at the Ophidian Conspiracy jokes, and I sympathized with you on Triplanetary. I've not gotten to it yet, I've heard a LOT of feedback that you "shouldn't start there" or "just burn through it to get to the next one" or "start with the prequel trilogy." Maybe I don't know about that though. . .
🤣 I 💖 Pleiades! HA hahahaha
I read a lot of Kornbluth in my youth - really liked him. Good review of a really good author.
Hot damn,
I loved Greg Bear back in the day, and I don't remember Blood Music as you described it at all! Have to keep eyes peeled for that one.
Just ordered Kornbluth on your recommendation, sound like short stories I'll enjoy. Mille Grazie 🤓
PS: I don't think you'd go wrong with Eon, Queen of Angels, Darwin's Radio, etc. Bear seems to be a pretty consistent author.
Delany has a novella called "We in some strange powers employ move in a rigorous line". Best title ever! And a book called "Stars in my pocket like grains of sand" also a great title.I like his work a lot but Dhalgren was to difficult for me as English is not my first language. I read Nova and I liked it. Also read his autobiography "The motion of light in water" which is about his early years. Kornbluth is also very good.
I read Dhalgren when I was 19 and loved it. "Stars in my pocket like grains of sand" I liked even more. It's supposed to have a sequel but it probably never will get it. I met Delany at a book seminar in NYC about 20y ago and asked him about and he just kindly smiled and said "maybe".
Wonderful introduction to Kornbluth.
Cleared some big names in that one. All of those were on my tbr except kornbluth. Gotta check him out
Greg bear - queen pf angels
Just finished blood music because of your review. Truly amazing book. Please keep these videos coming. Can't wait to start hothouse
I don't get these comments that often and it's always a thrill. I'm glad you read it.
@@Bookpilled its well deserved. You hit the nail on the head about the goodreads reviews. I do use goodreads for book suggestions and could have missed out just based on the lukewarm response there.
Share your opinion of Blood Music! That book has stayed with me ever since I read it in the 1980s. As I recently told Science Fiction Reads, it was the Hollywood blockbuster that never was. Great channel!
Frederik Pohl's Gateway is a must read, he wrote sequels much later... but a novel that won both the fan and writer awards in the same year might be worth checking out. Probably one of my top recommends.
Half to agree. Gateway is a book that really stuck with me for a very long time. It's a spectacular novel. I have a print of the original cover hanging up on a wall.
To anyone who wants to read it: avoid looking up any spoilers!
@@erichpryde5309 I think I own 5 copies, one is the Easton Press version autographed by Pohl. As a young man and aspiring programmer it was very influential, and I was fascinated by both 'parts' of the story. It never failed to fuel my imagination. Also love the 'prequel' story "Merchants of Venus". Not a big fan of the sequels.
Yes, the sequels are... interesting. I definitely agree that this is one of those books that would have been better off without sequels, so that the reader can be left to wonder and speculate on their own (much like Hyperion, which I feel is weakened by its sequel).
I've read it at least half a dozen times, but not within... the last half decade or so. Definitely time to remedy that. I appreciate the conversation!
@@erichpryde5309 Also, thanks for the conversation, and I agree. The most recent audiobook of Gateway is pretty decent, if you are in to those. I was a little sad that BP did not enjoy it much.
Read Hothouse on your recommendation and so glad I did. You are spot on. Thank you
Struggled through Dahlgren. Liked NOVA. Thanks for your perspective. BTW, your etsy link above consistently results in a "oops! something went wrong!" message.
You could use a speech-to-text program & put together books compiled of your critiques that would be fantastic! You or someone else should edit them & clean them up. I can see books, each dedicated to a sci-fi sub-genre. Dana
The lower class in Nova were the Unsocketed.
Yay! The Marching Morons is one of my favorite ever!!!! And now we're living it! I think you'd like Jack L. Chalker. Dhalgren is hard....
Thanks for reminding me of Aldiss and Hothouse. I just re-read it ; so, so good! I hope you don't mind (but I thought I would ask) that I added a link to this video.
Hey man just run into this video after watching your more recent stuff. Where and what is your history with you life with regards education as you are so erudite in your reviewing of the books you read that is so good to be like an expertise that a career reviewer of books would find hard to match you. Cool channel and beyond amazing to find someone with the passion for the ‘true science fiction’ era (sorry but pre-80s is where most of us live lol ). Fabulous. And thank you
Recently read Hothouse (aka The Long Afternoon of Earth) and it’s a really fun book. Definitely worth the time.
Also reading CM Kornbluth as well and Matt’s praises are so accurate. Definitely seek it out!
About to start Hothouse. I found an awesome little vintage copy at Powells in Portland, super excited to crack that baby open. Also found a copy of blood music with one of the ugliest covers I’ve ever seen lol. Wish I could post picture here
Hothouse, I really couldn't stand the tummy belly men. Aldiss and I do not have the same sense of humor. Jack Vance, on the other hand, is hilarious.
It's pronounced plee-a-dees. Your tries were adorable!!
Kornbluth’s poor dental hygiene probably contributed to his death by heart attack. There is a connection.
Hothouse is superb. Great summary and review from you, maybe someone will check it out. I loved being out in the foliage, courtesy of Aldiss, much more than I enjoyed the spaceship confines of Non-Stop. My fave Aldiss is Greybeard, and I like his Fantasy effort, The Malacia Tapestry. Books you might like, since you liked Hothouse: Davy, by Edgar Pangborn, and After London (from 1885!), by Richard Jefferies.
Thanks for the recommendations, etching them on the mental tablet
I read After London, I thought I was interesting, had some nice writing and world building, but definitely showed it’s age
'After London' is the seminal English catastrophe novel, love it, so influential. Agree re 'Non-Stop', 'Greybeard'....my other Aldiss fave is 'Frankenstein Unbound', all books I think Matt will love. Pangborn great too.
Delany’s Dhalgren is one of my favorites
Good video. Thanks. You mentioned World building. A good writer for this is Hal Clement Harry Clement Stubbs (May 30, 1922 - October 29, 2003). One is Mission of Gravity.
Hey bro, I just found your channel yesterday. And today I went out of my way to go to my local bookstore. I picked up Hyperion by Dan Simmons, children of time by Tchaikovsky and a random one that the cashier lady recommended called re-entry by Paul preuss. Hope you post more videos again
"Dray Prescot" series by Alan Burt Akers. 52 books. (37 in English) talk about worldbuilding.
I just re-watched this review and then read Pohl's intro to the Kornbluth book. The moment I read about Kornbluth's unfinished novel Crater, all I could think of it that this sounds like the plot of Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier, which was a huge hit.
Makes me wonder if Frazier or some publisher got a hold of Kornbluth's unfinished manuscript and Frazier ended up finishing it.
"The Marching Morons" by Kornbluth was basis for "Idiocracy" film.
I like the random book generator. Every time I go into a bookstore, I know that somewhere among the thousands of titles is the perfect book. I just cannot find it.
Subscribing and now I want to get a copy of Blood Music ...
Great reviews! I tried the link to your Etsy page and it said page not found. Greg Bear is definitely underrated.
Sounds like "Hothouse" has our probable future pegged perfectly !
Dhalgren comes highly recommended by William Gibson. A difficult book, but wow- Delany is a stylist par excellence. Read it. BTW, I would be interested in your take on what I consider a hoary classic, Poul Anderson's Tau Zero. Talk about hard core concept...
Funny end great video
Wow, I vaguely remember reading Blood Music years ago, after my friend recommended it.
I think this was late middle school.
Speaking of Kornbluth's vicious satire, let's deirect viewers to _The Space Mershants_ he co-wrote with Pohl in '53.
Strange - _Hothouse_ didn't quite work for me, long ago. Perhaps I should revisit it.
Love your wide ranging taste. A book you might consider (if you haven't already) is A Philosophical Investigation by Philip Kerr (1992). Detective Isador Jakowicz (all police are women) is faced with the sudden return of murder to society, in particular, the brilliant, mad killer who goes by "Wittgenstein". Fantastic and so literary.
Also, The Inquisitor's Progress by Paul Hardy. A religious inquisitor in a strange kingdom dies and discovers he is a character in a game that was invented in another game than was invented.... Incredible writing.
incredible reviews as always - i always wanted to read hothouse you used to see it around a lot i thought it was like early aldiss pulp with those covers but sounds great. also the greg bear too which is talked about a lot. not a big fan of delanys style. kornbluth seems like it will hold me over for short stories - until ted chaing gets off his butt and delivers again for us haha.
Your great to listen to. Thank you. I am writer of historical fiction series and a short medical thriller
To be fair to Alan Dean Foster, most of his stuff is YA or movie adaptions. It's not intended to be complex or full of interesting new concepts. He's a storyteller.
yes, I agree. one of my favorite ADF books is Cat-a-lyst, but it is what it is. Movie adaptions and potboilers mostly, but 30 years ago there was definitely more of a place for that sort of thing.
I'm reading the Lensman series now, from my dad's amazing collection of ScFi which dates back to the 50s or maybe earlier and it is "pulp" (not a word I would use but I can't think of another) I haven't got book 5 though ...
Thats a great series. One of my all time favourites.
I rate both Hothouse and Nova very highly. However I did read both in swedish 70's translations which have their own kind of style (poetic but kind of stiff). I really liked Babel-17 mostly for the language (I think he is a bit similar to LeGuin in that way) and The Einstein Intersection is a good, shorter read. I have tried Dhalgren but failed so I will attempt that one again soon.
During my adolescent and teen years, I was an extremely voracious reader of science fiction. I believe I read _Nova_ during that time, but it did not make a lasting impression. Two works of Delaney's I do remember are the short story, _Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones_ and the novel, _Triton._ The first was excellent, and I feel it fulfilled the promise of its intriguing title. _Triton,_ (aka _Trouble on Triton_ ) though, is one of the few science fiction books I remember disliking intensely. (I'm in the minority , though.) My impression was that it was about a troubled, unhappy guy who goes through enormous changes, but in the end never evolves. That sounds kind of interesting now -- maybe I was just too inexperienced as a young man to appreciate it.⬅
I fully agree with you about _Blood Music._ It was very intriguing and went places such a short novel shouldn't have been able to go. I'm a big fan of Greg Bear. The first work of his I read was a fantasy called _Songs of Earth and Power_ (originally published as two separate books, but updated and released as a single work). Two of his SF books are standouts in my opinion. _The Forge of God_ and _Anvil of Stars_ tell an extended story about the fate of humanity. I read somewhere that it was originally envisioned as a trilogy, but for some reason the third work never happened. Each book fully stands on its own, though.
Convergent Evolution was the term you were looking for.
I always loved "The Marching Morons" -that story always stuck with me for some reason (one that grows more obvious by the day)
If you are collecting vintage scifi, a lot of famous collections were sold together with a slipcover. Nova was in one. Maybe you'll find some.
I read hothouse base on your recommendations. The book managed to turn plants into something truly horrifying. the world aldiss creates would be a great basis for a video game/film
STARS IN MY POCKET LIKE GRAINS OF SAND Samuel R Delaney
To quote Doctor Who: most things are not evil but hungry.
I knew a music professor who would occasionally give a talk/demo on the reasons we didn't study the less well-known composers of the classical period, instead focusing on the big names everyone's heard of. And the point was to show that the main reason was generally that they were far inferior composers, their works were less interesting and didn't bear repeated listening. They lacked the talent, skill, and artistry of true masters. It's certainly informative, and sometimes entertaining-ish, to read lesser authors, but it's seldom rewarding, and usually a waste of time.
Many people praised GoT for creating a sense that any character could die as if it's a new thing but Hothouse seems to be one of the earlier works that did that same sort of thing
I just encountered the novel Blood Music a few months ago from another BookTube channel and had read 2 other books from Greg Bear Eon and The Forge of God and thought they were very good SciFi books so I gave this one a try and the plot and ideas of this one were much more astonishing than those two books and is just as good if not better in some ways…The ending was truly epic and surreal…I won’t say anymore but to highly recommend reading it…Love the channel and keep up the good works 👍🏻
Look out for the Helliconia trilogy by Aldiss. Pretty interesting and seems to share some of the themes you seemed to like from Hothouse
'The Ultimate Jungle' by Michael Coney has some similarities to 'Hothouse' and 'Midworld', as does 'On' by Adam Roberts. But 'Hothouse' reigns supreme.
Helliconia trilogy is magnificent late Aldiss.
Luckily I read this Blood Music when I was young and before I undertook the Anatomy and Physiology series for my undergrad degree. All fiction requires some suspension of disbelief and obtaining a science degree can be bad for enjoying some science fiction books. So I won't go on about some of the ideas in Blood Music and how they clash with the facts surrounding the Blood Brain Barrier. It is still a good book and I enjoy it immensely.