Glad to have found your channel… had to skip ahead on ‘let the right one in’ because it’s in my tbr and I already know too much. Heart Shaped Box was fun!
Thanks so much! I'm having a lot of fun :) Please make sure to remember to come back after you've read Let The Right One In and let me know what you thought! I still need to watch the movie, maybe I'll get to that tomorrow.
@@BenjaminsBookclubwhoa didn’t know it was a movie! Neat! Have you read My Best Friend’s Exorcism or Hörrorstor by Grady Hendrix? Those were fun. Just finished Mary by Nat Cassidy (it was wild!) and am halfway through Camp Slaughter by Sergio Gomez :) I added some recommendations from this video to my list. I have House of Leaves in my drawer at work… eeek not sure I can get to that for awhile, it makes you work too hard 😂
@@teslagoth9401 House of Leaves is definitly one of the harder books ive read, but it just sits with me for ever, I loved that book. I've read Horrorstor and quite enjoyed it. I havn't got around to any other Grady Hendrix, but I think I have basically all his books on my shelf.
From the top-10 list, I am familiar with 5. I read for enjoyment as well as learning about new worlds and ideas, so my top 2 from the list are Project Hail Mary and Altered Carbon. I couldn’t get through Dark Forest and Rendezvous with Rama. I skipped around to finish them, but they were dry. I couldn’t believe some of the science, and yet their technology seemed oddly limiting as well. Blindsight was pretty good and enjoyable. I read so many scifi books it’s hard to recommend just a few, but SnowCrash and Diamond Age were very enjoyable and memorable. Fall or Dodge in Hell, Seveneves, Old Man’s War, Forever War, The Word for World is Forest, and Diaspora are some other memorable books. A Good list, and I hope you do a longer list with more books next. 😊
To me, Martian was a boring book. Hail Mary was Far, Far Better! I couldn’t get past potato farming on Martian soil, from a few whole potatoes shipped from Earth months ago, frozen presumably for months, and maybe irradiated too.
I adored Diaspora, read that a month or so ago, I have a video up for it too :D Dark Forest and Rama are definitly the drier of the books on my list, can't fault you there! SnowCrash is getting read this month hopefully as part of CyberPunk Month. Old Man's War and Forever War are on my list to try to get to before the end of the year as well! Thanks so much for the recomendations!
Just finished this book, but there are so many questions, I wonder if anyone could help me to clarify these... 1. Wig claims that there was God in matrix around 13 yrs ago, back then there was no super AI(Wintermute/Neuromancer), who was the God? 2. Wig went to space around 11 yrs ago, Freeside still operating at the time, where did he go? 3. Wig retired in Cannes around 22 yrs old, Marly meet him after 15 yrs later, how come he is so old? 4. Who gave the ICE to Wig at first place? He upload the data into the core and then he sold the ICE to Finn, then Finn sold it to Beauvoir... 5. Case and Molly help freeing Wintermute around 8 yrs ago, how come those VooDoo Gods(seperate AI) could help Mitchell to get into Maas before that time? 6. When did Mitchell get the Biochip inside Angie's brain? After he went to Arizona or after he joined Maas in Swiss? 7. Why Maas gave the address of Boxmaker to Alain and asked him to trade with Marly? 8. Who hired the Lobe to rob Bobby, was that Maas? 9. How did Virek know the connection between Boxmaker and the AI at first place?
I'll do my best, I had some of the same questions, and the answer I got was read Mona Lisa Overdrive before digging any deeper. 1 - This may be answered later but I just got the feeling that his intial idea of God in Cyberspace wasn't real, and that it was in part his searching that gave the fragments of Wintermute the identities they claimed. 2 - No idea, but we did see in Neuromancer the other communities around there, I'd guess just with one of them. 3 - Dunno, maybe he retired old? Boy I am not doing a good job of answering any of these 4 - I think from my brief research this is a key point in Mona Lisa Overdrive, which I will be reading this month so I'll report back 5 - I think the machine that helped Mitchell, and created the boxes, predates Wintermute being freed. I'm going to guess we will see more in Mona Lisa Overdrive, but if I had to guess I'd say that it's a legit being like a god or something, feels like thats the direction things are leaning after CZ 6 - I assumed that he was experimenting on her brain basically from birth. 7 - Good Question 8 - I think he just got robbed, dazed confused young kid with a deck, in a dangerous part of town, not directly affiliated with one of the powerful gangs, I think he just got rolled 9 - Also no idea. Okay so at the end I have cleared up nothing :) But there's my thoughts, I suspect a lot of these will be answered or atleast touched on in MLO.
Im not a huge reader, so this particular series is my first "big" reading project ive undertaken and ive just discovered your channel today and im very glad youre enjoying the book so far! I started blue mars only a couple of days ago and its been great to hear someone else's (more insightful) thoughts about the book and its ideas. Without spoilers, still even in blue mars it doesnt shy away from discussing different sides of the political and ethical sides of the terraforming projects so there will be plenty more opportunities to delve into what you think will/should happen. This little series has also been great for me personally since i find myself struggling with remembering details that turn out to be important later on in the series, and its also great to recap on the earlier points in the story that ive forgotten. I sincerely hope you end up finishing the series! I'll be tuning in every fortnight for sure :)
Thank you so much for the comment, these videos don't get a lot of views, but they are the reason I started the channel and the ones I really enjoy doing, so it's super appreciated to hear that it's helping out! I was considering a different series after Red Mars, but your comment, and what I've read of Part 6 so far, reminded me how much I enjoy the book, so I went ahead and ordered Green & Blue Mars, so I think we will continue right into Green Mars after this one finishes! Thanks again :)
‘Midshipman’s Hope” by David Feintuch is astounding. Interstellar travel intermingled with tragedies, gripping tension, plot twists, and an ending that causes you to hope for sequels.
So happy to see you're having a good time with FIO so far! I think a full cyberpunk month of reading sounds like a TON of fun. I would recommend Thrill Swith by Tim Hawken and 36 Streets by TR Napper. Both cyberpunk goodness 🦾
Oh two cyberpunk novels I hadn't heard of! Ordered! This is the first time, to my knowledge at least, that an author will see my thoughts on their book, nerve wracking, luckily I loved it :D book two when?
Just finished the first book for cyberpunk month, got snow crash and Mona Lisa overdrive on my bedside table, I think I'll start with snow crash tonight!
I tried out “Rivers of London “ a year ago but I couldn’t get into it for some reason. Thought I’d really like it. Maybe you’ll convince me to give it another go!
It's not the sort of book I would of picked for myself, my wife suggested it after we finished our latest shark audiobook, and I'm glad she did I have been really liking it, as with a lot of crime related things it will probably all rest on how well the mystery gets concluded though. Thanks so much for watching!
This was a great list I need to get back into reading Warhammer 40k. The first book I read was Death World by Steve Lyons and that book was weird as hell considering what was going on with the planet but also the Catachan Jungle Fighters are an interesting group for sure. Good one off book I think because it's just about this one squad of Jungle Fighters trying to complete their mission and deal with a strange planet.
I havnt read death world, but I have painted quite a few catachan in my day, the old metal ones mostly :D. I should read it, I'll see if I can find a copy, gosh old (and new sometimes) black library books are crazy expensive.
Awesome! Thanks so much for watching! I can't wait for space marine 2, although I am super sad the Orks arnt in it, whenever I think of space marine I just think "Spaaaccshh marrinnneee"
@@BenjaminsBookclub Most of my lore for now comes from RU-vid videos.😅 I've ordered a few beginner warhammer books and read a little from all of them, I guess I'll start with the Night Lords or Eisenhorne next time I'm free.
Its a skipable book for sure, I did enjoy it while reading it, but it's not going to stick with me. If you adore the orks, it's fun but there's definitely other stuff to read.
Cool video and list mate. Gaunts Ghosts is absolute gold from book 3 onwards i felt. Great action, varied war zones, amazing characters and the further you go it packs an incredible emotional punch that you just wouldnt expect from "pulpy space war " novels 😂
I'm just about to finish #5 now, and book 4 was fantastic, 5 has been great so far too. Really connecting with the characters and yeah some great emotional moments.
You've got so much awesome stuff to come. Enjoy it mate. Would also recommend Titanicus if you haven't read it. Set in the Sabbat Worlds also and by Abnett. Huge Titan battles and great depiction of the Mechanicus but intertwined with the same ground level chatacter work as Gaunts Ghosts.
@BenjaminsBookclub yeah space marine books are full of convenience and plot armor. Where there are the serious dude, the fat funny guy, the dumb guy, and the gun guy. I've read the ultra marine, space wolf, etc omnibus. The guard novels feel grounded.
Thanks for the video! At a used book store I found forges of mars, the 2 space wolf omnibus' and the first space marine omnibus. How'd i do? Atleast one was on the list😅
@@josiahsterling7308 as someone who's been in and out (mostly in) of the game for almost 2 decades... You're not wrong... Make sure to come back and let me know what you read and what you thought!
100 views🎉🎉 thank you everyone for watching, this was a fun one to make, looking forward to picking up Ghost station later on this year (hopefully the paperback releases soon)
The shelves look fantastic! My vote is that you need to pick up the Expanse. I haven’t read it yet but I’ve heard really only positive things. It’s fun to hear you enjoyed Kings of the Wyld so much! I’ll have to bump it up my TBR
Yeah I really loved king sof the Wyld! I loved the expanse books as I was reading them, not sure why I didn't keep going, I may of read up to where I needed to wait for the next book to release, and nothing kills my drive than waiting for a book ha
Awesome review Benjamin! I’m surprised your copy didn’t have a map, mine did and I definitely referenced to it frequently. Hahaha you NEED to read WoT 😂
Ha that is quite a statement 😄 to each their own, plenty of very popular.books that I havnt enjoyed as well. Any other cyber punk books you did enjoy? Trying to plan a month of cyberpunk reading :)
Thanks! Yeah I havnt read it, it's sitting on my shelf waiting for me. It's funny, Ive read some absolutly all time great books this year, I'm worried about adding another, already got like 5 that would of been book of the year any other year hah
I originally read Neuromancer in the 2000's and was disappointed at the time. This year I reread the book and liked it much more, from a 5/10 it went to a 8/10 for me. I prefer Snow Crash, which I read before rereading Neuromancer during the same month. I had read other books and short stories by Gibson and none of them really blew my mind. But I finally decided to buy Count Zero and I hope I like it more than Neuromancer. I often hear that the second book is the best of the Sprawl trilogy.
I hope you like it, lots of people do. I'm thinking I might spend next month reading all cyberpunk books, I have snow crash sitting on my shelf and I'm keen to get into it!
Count Zero wasn't my favorite either right after reading it, because it's not like Neuromancer. Give Mona Lisa Overdrive a shot. I thought it tied the trilogy together quite nicely.
I think the nonstop action and excitement actually hindered my enjoyment for this book (and the series as a whole). It's cool and all, but when we're constantly in battles it becomes dull and I lose interest. Mentioned it before and in a comment below, but the whole first person POV with the reveals/twists just really didn't work for me. Aside from that, though, I enjoyed the trilogy. High-adrenaline space opera with some neat world-building and fun characters. Think I'd give it an overall rating of 7/10. Definitely glad I read it, but not one of my absolute favorites.
I think that's fair, something about the pacing in this series just worked for me, where as usually I think I'd agree that books do need a bit of slow down every now and then to contrast with the high intensity sections, something about this series just did it right for me, hard to explain why. I'm going to continue with book 4 soon, have you checked it out?
Overall I enjoyed it, but not as much as I had hoped 7.5/10. Here are some of my opinions... - positives: Ragnar, Sevro, Victra, absolutely epic space battles, just an overall intensity that I don't think I've ever read before -negatives: the reveals (training with Lorn being one of them). I just find it really awkward when Brown tries to have an impactful reveal, which is so hard to do when the story is told first person. We get Darrows perspective and hear his thoughts ALMOST all the time, until it's convenient for us not too. Also, wish the pacing slowed a bit every once in a while for us to catch our breath and maybe get some little character moments. I also agree that it was pretty dumb for him to trust the Jackal when he had no reason to, and also Roque turning was foreshadowed way too heavily.
I was fine with the lorn reveal, it's not like Darrow was lying about that one, he does quote Lorn a couple times if I remember correctly, and mention that he wasn't joining the others for activities, I think the lorn reveal was handled a looooot better than the end of book 3.
Great review! Dead silence really fell flat for me personally. I was pretty bored throughout. I felt like it started really well and then just fizzled out. I was sooooo hopeful for it too. Maybe that’s why it fell short was because my expectations were too high! I absolutely love sci-fi horror especially deep space. There is a novelization of event horizon that is supposed to be great. Recommendations I have are the reality bleed series books 1-4. They are kinda b-movie sci-fi horror but super fun. Also the awakening series by James Murray another b movie type. Amalgam by Mike duke which is a body horror alien first encounter. I’d also say the deep by Nick cutter for a deep sea claustrophobic type feel and the cavern by alister hodge. Sorry that’s a lot! I’m reading the novelization of the thing right now too and it’s awesome so far!
Wow thanks for all the recommendations! I have tried to read the deep by Nick cutter, but the version I have has the smallest text size Ive ever seen, I thought I was losing my eyesight I couldn't read it, took it with me to my optometrist appointment, she took one look at it and said "that font is not fit for human reading" :D I'll keep an eye out for the others. I love B movie books!
I always use immersion reading I find it particularly useful as someone with ADHD, where I get distracted constantly, in school I fell out of reading because I struggled to stayed focused, but having to read and listen keeps me engaged, I have found a new love for reading by utilising immersion reading. It is funny that you enjoyed Darrow as an Irish guy , this is one thing I disliked, because Darrow is so young but the voice is so much older 😂
Thats fantastic that you found a new love for reading with immersive reading, I think its deffinitly a fantastic tool for a lot of people, I can see how it would be super useful for a lot of people, including some people I know offline :). I'm not too upset that it didn't really click with me, but it was fun to try! Yeah Darrow deffinitly had the voice of a 40 year old didn't he :D
i love seeing these videos! welcome to bingo and i hope you enjoy! i really love seeing people who really love certain squares. i just watched a bingo video where they were very worried about Space Opera, and here you are super hyped!
I really liked Dead Silence and look forward to reading Ghost Station. SA Barnes does things that I like even if they're not quite five stars for me. I was going to recommend The Luminous Dead but I'm pretty sure you've already read it. So weird. So good.
Having read both Lies and Mistborn, I think you describe the difference in plot structure adequately. I probably enjoyed this book more than you because I didn’t mind the flashbacks at all. Once the first couple happened I accepted it as something that was going to continue happening. The two books that come after are not as good. Also, the flashbacks continue. If you want to read a fast paced book with dragons, I would suggest The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter.
Just read the blurb for Rage of Dragons, that sounds like a heap of fun! Adding it to my wishlist and keeping and eye out for it in shops! Thanks for the recomendation! Yeah I think I may give the rest of the series a skip, I'll revisit it perhaps if it ever gets finished and people are happy with the conclusions. Thanks so much!
I haven't read it, and forgive me if you mentioned it, and I missed it but I've heard good things about 'Ship of Fools' which is similar in premise. I believe the author's surname is Russo, if memory serves.
I had been trying to find a copy of Ship of Fools for years, but it was always too expensive online and I had never seen one at a store, but my wife and I went on holiday and I finally found a copy in a used book store, so it's on my shelf waiting to be read
Great review! Since you ask for sci-fi horror recomendations, are you familiar with Darcy Coates' Parasite? It's a fast-paced space horror with definite 'The Thing' vibes. I think you'd enjoy it.
You know Parasite has been on my wish list for ages and I havnt gotten around to picking it up, I should get to it! Thanks for the recommendation, I love The Thing.
really enjoyed the list. I have read most of the books here, Rama is one of my all time favourite books too, a 10/10 for me that I read over 40 years ago. There are tons of other books dealing with a BDO entering the solar system but this is the grandaddy and all the others have been inspired by this.
Thanks for doing my tag. On The Beach sounds like a book I might like. A Short Stay in Hell seems to have a very interesting premise. Adding to the TBR ASAP. 😊💙
