5 Science Fiction Books I Read Recently That Were Mostly About God 

Just started an instagram. Join me on my journey to become the third Paul brother: @book.pilled

Matt, 2 videos in 3 days! You are spoiling us my man! Thanks for the great content!

really enjoy the "perfect five" game. Going to share it with my reading buddies

I read a good line in a review of an Iain Banks book once, paraphrased here: "Imagine that you are sitting comfortably, and that you are being told a great and tangled adventure story set in the far reaches of the galaxy and the spaces beyond. Imagine that the storyteller has a well-educated and thoughtful mind with which he fills you in on all the details of these new worlds and peculiar personalities, and that he has the skill to paint in words the most breathtaking portraits of our universe on levels from the chemical to the personal. Now imagine that his editor is on holiday."

I'm 61, loved sci fi most of my life. Iain M Banks 'culture' novels are absolutely my favourites of my entire life, I wish the 'culture' was real!

It's refreshing to hear someone under the age of 55 who is unimpressed by Banks. As I've hinted on my channel, I think his influence upon SF has not always been for the best. I like Spinrad a lot, but I've not actually read 'Deus X', so I'll have to get down to it at some point. It's such a long time since I read the Moorcock - people tend to love his end of time stuff, the 'Dancers at the End of Time' sequence always gets a mention when Moorcock comes up in conversation - I never have to mention these books, they just pop up. 'A Case of Conscience' is great -that's the edition I bought new in the early 80s. 'After Such Knowledge' is the title of the Thematic Tetralogy - "A Case of Conscience", "Black Easter", "The Day After Judgement" and "Dr Mirabilis". I love thematic series, always much more satisfying than regular series.

Just discovered your channel today (or rather it was recommended to me by RU-vid.) Great stuff! Your honesty and deep appreciation for fiction rings simultaneously through your content, and true, also. I have just listened to four videos in a row. Subscribed.

Mr. Banks also puts me to sleep. I have tried to read three of his novels. I don't think I made it through a complete chapter yet.

I always liked A Case of Conscience. I have read it a few times over the last 50 years. Glad you found it worthwhile as well. Hope one day you your dad and I will make it fishing again. I enjoy your reviews. Nick

Love Blish, his Cities in Flight series is great--even his Trek books are good!

Two videos in one week. What a treat!

These videos where you do a couple of reviews are really awesome.

Can't wait to check out Blish. I've been getting bogged down in larger books recently and I could really use a quick but worthwhile read.

Based on your description of the world of The Player of Games, it sounds like something I would have liked in my 20s but definitely would not like today. I recently read several early-70s spins on that kind of society, and they annoyed me. Maybe it will be a different story from a modern writer, so we’ll see. Good video as usual.

Absolutely delighted to see On the Beach lurking behind you in this one

If you wanted to give Banks a final go I'd maybe recommend Use of Weapons, a very different style to Player of Games that you may think more successful, but can understand if you're just not bothered having gone 0/2 so far.

Great vid! Way to pack in the info!! Your order makes perfect sense too. I was bummed at first that Moorcock didn't rate higher, but comparing that particular book ( which I myself picked up and put down a number of times, and have difficulty remembering the specifics of most of those stories ) with the great experience you had from that classic James Blish, how could it? It's funny, I used to trip over James Blish all the time while book hunting- where is he now? Kulture: I don't thrive on the negative, but it is often more useful to have someone explain why they didn't like a book than to have yet another useless four or five star goodread/amazon rating. I am reminded that a lot of Moid's people loved the HBO show The Leftovers - which I found to be pointless meandering melodrama. These are likely the same people who love the Culture novels. Perhaps I am just not one of those. That's fine. Different Strokes & all. I'll still try them; they sound great in principle, but your review has allowed me to put that on the shelf until after I've got some other stuff done. Thanks.

Cities in Flight is interesting, I have them all. But, his short stories are very good, too. "Common Time" has so many inventive twists and turns, that the ending can be forgiven. "Beep", "Surface Tension", "The Box", "A Work of Art", "Tomb Tapper", what I can think of offhand. Worth your time.

The Blish series is called "After Such Knowledge". The first book in the series is 'Doctor Mirabilis' and isn't actually sf, but an historical novel on the life of Roger Bacon

Ive read all the Culture novels by Banks, almost in the order as they were published when they were published and I loved them, except for the first one that was a slog, havent read Player of Games now for a couple of decades, but I remember my teenage self realy liking it. I think it was his second try at scifi. I think the thing with the Culture novels for me was that they were so god damn soothing and worked as a kind of balm or safe haven even, where my mind could dwell to escape the harshness of reality and my depressions. Maybe its how benevolent and fair Culture society is, and the logic and rationality of the Minds, that had that effect on me. I loved the Ideas and storytelling to. They got progressively better though and more elaborate with deeper meaning, I felt. The last five or so were a great pleasure to read. Sometimes I have found that it is better to read an authors books backwards, to give the first books the benefit of perspective of what the author became, so that you may hunt for and find the germs of that greatness in his/her first fledging atempts. Many would agree with that with Pratchetts Discworld books, the first 1/4, were not as good at all as the latter, but actually I like his very first two books very much, perhaps because they were scifi and held the germs of future discworld books. Ive actually stopped reading Alstair Reinolds books, I liked Revelation Space, but many of his latter books got worse and worse, in my opinion, despite containing gems of their own. After giving him some four more chances, I just gave up on him som 15 years ago and havent dared giving him an other try...

Totally agree about The Player of Games. I feel like sometimes books get so much hype built around them that gets you really exited to read and then most times when you finish reading it never matches the hype.

I recently found this channel, and consider Banks and Reynolds two of my favorite authors. This 'mediocre' impression you take of them makes me really curious to read the books from your 'top 15' lists, most of which I haven't read. I am curious if I just haven't tapped into the really good stuff yet, or if we just have different tastes. Either way, it will be a lot of fun to read some books that come highly recommended. This is my favorite new channel, keep up the great reviews!

Wells will not let you down. BTW you're making me really want to re-read Blish after about forty years......

So glad I’m not the only one that found Consider Phlebas and The Player of Games boring. I stopped 20 pages in for both which is rare. I typically read 50-100 pages before quitting.

A Case of Conscience may be a top fifty all-time sci fi book. Blish is very underrated these days, in part because late in life he took the easy payday doing those Star Trek novelizations (mini-novelizations in some cases). But you can't blame the guy for wanting to eat, his earlier work is genius, and anyway, those Star Trek books are actually pretty good for what they are.

I read I.M. Banks Hydrogen Sonata. I had to start it three times as I gave up on it twice and returned it to the library. I had an advantage in that I had studied music so the theme of the unplayable 'Cello/Double Bass' sonata was a draw to the book that I really understood. The sonata that the main character was trying to play through once perfectly in a custom instrument designed purely for playing the sonata and with two extra arms surgically added to her body in order to be able to play it was her life goal/bucket list item before her culture transitioned into a higher dimension. The book ended up worth the read, but there were so many sub-stories! One of the things that I enjoyed was Bank's sentence construction: He writes a 'fact'/exposition sentence and in hyphens, he adds a contradiction to the cultural 'fact'. I really enjoyed the fact that the exposition about the world had insights into that world's contradictions in every world-building sentence! I almost read the whole book to see if Banks continued this throughout or if he dropped it after the first section of the book. It is saying something if you have to play a game with yourself regarding finding sentences with hyphens to keep yourself reading!

I've placed "A Case of Conscience" in my top ten. In fact, tomorrow I am going to include my take on it in a stream on top ten books, but I have to say that your presentation was so much better than anything I will come up with. I was a little intimidated in making this recommendation because it seems so out of sync with modern SF sensibilities - maybe too literate and too knowledgeable - but you've given me the heart to talk up that angle. Thanks.

Spinrad also wrote a lot of short stories. I have his collection The Last Hurrah of the Golden Horde. Some of them are pretty darn good

I think the “The Golden Barge“ was Moorcock’s first published short story.

I'm the same with Banks. I've read Player, Phlebas, and The Hydrogen Sonata. Nothing happens...I really like Reynolds and Century Rain is my favorite. Highly recommended as is his short 'Minla's Flowers'

Wow, just found you and glad I did. You are a refreshing change from that other guy Moid the Maniac....

The Time Dweller is such a mixed bag/ buried treasure. NOT something I'd recommend for getting into Moorcock, or as a starting point, but definitely the sort of incubular writings you seek out after you become obsessed with an author. As an original story from the man who brought us multiverse, I LOVE the refinement on Wells; the idea that if time is a dimension you can be brought up to perceive it as a space you move through like any other dimension. Great! I *also* understand why some of these stories would leave little or no lasting impact if you don't have more of his ouvre in your head already. Doubly so if you read this while tired, sunstroked or distracted. (I also read it and forgot most of it one summer, then had to go back and reread later!) The Golden Barge is a dreamy sort of mythological template of a lot of his stories. Other than that fact, I can't remember much of it now myself. " The Pleasure Garden of Felipe Sagittarius" is another one of his foundational texts: a VERY "New Wave SF" surreal , low budget proto cyberpunk / steampunk alternate universe political piece? He refers back to this story a lot in his later more complex works, but all I really remember from it was imagery of butterflies and a Soviet style cyber tech Stalin with paper accordion bellows lungs. WTF. The Deep Fix , if I remember correctly, was an experimental sort of thing that tried different disorienting techniques to put you in the mindset of a tripping, countercultural band member in the 60s. It seems expected that you would forget it.

I've been on the lookout for Blish ever since your review of "The day after judgement." Surprisingly rare (for me at least) but finally found a book he co-authored with Normal L. Knight called "A Torrent of Faces." Haven't read it yet but cool to see that Blish wasn't a one hit wonder for you, I'll have to give it a go soon.

Interesting what you said about Player Of Games is exactly how I feel about Blindsight. I also agree about the Banks bloat.

Norman Spinrad wrote one of my favorite Star Trek episodes, "The Doomsday Machine". He had a good story in Dangerous Visions too.

I love Iain Banks, but also thoroughly enjoy your defiant disdain for Banks!

FYI, I live in San Diego (La Jolla). I love Player of Games. But I grew up playing games so I identified.

H.G.Wells " A Short History of the World" (1922) is a great read too. When I was a young teen I was rather obsessed with Blish's "Cities in Flight" series (although my local library didn't have the last volume, and I had to wait another ten years for that). I think maybe the Battleship Galactica reboot is the closest TV thing approaching what Blish tries to do with these books. But obviously having a SF series based explicitly on the historical theories of German philosopher Oswald Spengler about the life cycle of a culture should intrigue...?

I am a new watcher to your channel and love seeing the vintage sci-fi books that you find. I was an estate sale today and found a couple shelves full of vintage 1970s hardcopy additions of various science fiction books. The one thing I noticed is on the inside of the dust cover it does say book club edition. Will this greatly diminished their value question thank you

I pretty much DNF'd The Culture stuff as a series. That said I think Look To Windward and Excession are the truly stunning novels in this series.

James Gunn has a novel called The Listeners that I think is brilliant. I like the Culture novels, but can see why many wouldn't - tastes vary. Neal Asher has a number of books set in the Polity, which is a Culture-Lite, and they are more action oriented. I like that you mention John Brunner, one of my favourite authors, and vastly under appreciated.

The player of games is one of my favorite books

I'm reading sci-fi chronologically, currently (this year) stuck in the 50's. Just read Case of Conscience and so far its the second with perfect 5.0/5.0 score (in my personal ranking). Glad you liked it.

Deus X sounds kind of unintentionally hilarious. The small interlude where you stabbed your own eyes was enjoyable (and great thumbnail bait). Recommendation for you - Raft by Stephen Baxter. Best thing I’ve read all year. Class warfare meets Robinson Crusoe in a universe where gravity is a billion times stronger than our own. Bonkers.

Damn! I really look forward to your reviews, thanks man. Wondering what you would think of the New Weird group of writers. I just finished Perdito Street Station not flawless but worth a read I think if you want to try some Fantasy.

Talking of religion and Moorcock, have you read Behold the Man (time traveler goes back to time of JC) - that is one freeky read

iain m banks has been a major mixed bag for me. I read books 1-3 and liked them well enough, then read 4 and 5 and absolutely hated them. Went back to read book 6 recently and it was just fine. Don't think I'm going to continue the series and I've probably read more of it than I actually should have. I'd rather read something that excites me.

Player of Games sounds like an homage to Magister Ludi. Right down to the copout ending.

I had a hard time getting through some of the culture books as well. One of my favorite books is The Use of Weapons by him though. I don’t really see it recommended, but it blew me away.

can anyone remember a SF short story I´m unable to find for 30 years now ? A family discoveres something like an egg in their garden, that is a transport ship of an an angellike-alien species. Told out of the view of the grandfather, as far as I remember, who in the end gives his life and memories to the entinity to learn about mankind. Can´t remeber more... AND there´s another one I´d love to read again: About an Australien, who tells the story of "Dyer", some charming guy starting in the neighborhood with a perfume, conquering the world with his scentes and in the end... leaves with a couple of dogs. Can anyone help me ?

I was surprised how much your description of plot in the Blish book sounded like the parts of Avatar that were not stolen directly from John Carter. I think Harlan Ellison had James Cameron's number all along.!

Do you take some notes or just do your reviews by memory only? Anyway it's always a pleasure listening to you.

James Blish - Cities in Flight. What city has two names twice? Still remember that line.

How do you manage to read books that are a perfect 5 (or less)? I feel I just can't commit my time to something that isn't compelling, doesn't grab me, or isn't written well. Love your channel btw, have been bingeing it a lot and it's adding to my TBR list. Just read Ice and Roadside Picnic and loved them. Neuromancer being read now 👌

What is your opinion of Clifford D. Simak's stories?

Not sure if you care about recommendations or not, but here's a few specific ones for you: Recalled to Life by Robert Silverberg Non-Stop by Brian Aldiss Unto Leviathan (aka Ship of Fools) by Richard Paul Russo

I see Gardens of the Moon in the background? Have you read it?

I've only read Iain Banks "Use of Weapons" and "Surface Detail" and found both of them very good for the most part. Long buildups don't bother me as long as they are well written.

I know you’ve talked about liking horror science fiction, have you read Hyperion? I haven’t seen all of your videos so it’s possible you’ve mentioned the series before. Just curious what you think of the book/series?

What is your opinion of Felix J. Palma's "The Map of..." trilogy?

Do your top 15 book covers.

What is your opinion of "A Canticle for Leibowitz" by Walter M. Miller Jr.?

I've been intrigued by this channel. I have to say, based on my reading of Western/American science fiction, I have found that the underlying philosophy in that genre precludes the existence of a higher power, whether from the Judeo-Christian tradition, Islam, or any other religion. In fact, I'm of the opinion that science fiction is a cultural result of the Free Thinkers movement.

I read many James Blish novels and short stories back in the 70's. Enjoyed his work very much, especially A Case of Conscience(which I should probably read again sometime). Funny, at the time I don't think I was aware of his Star Trek books--- perhaps just marginally--- but I think he was a well established SF master in his own right.

The Wasp Factory by Banks was, I believe, a great psychological weird novel. I haven't tried his science fiction yet.

The Blish sounds very interesting. Very limited SciFi reader here. Joanna Russ (the female man). Meant to read Lessing.

Might want to check the Etsy link,,,,

I'm curious about the review of "master of paxwax"!

Stephen Baxter is probably part of the three you mentioned. I was young but I loved Iron Dream (it was so unrelenting I read it virtually within 24 hours and Bug Jack Barron. I recently tried to re-read Bug Jack Barron and the language of the 60s didn't work for me. I was a child in the 60s so I remember that style of speaking even though I was under 10 but in my 50s. Not so much. I will re-read Iron Dream I hope.

Ian Banksis not for everyone, but then, who is? I think you will find Tono-Bungay strangely current. La plus ça change... Have you read any Connie Willis? _To Say Nothing Of The Dog_ might make a nice break from heavier stuff for you. And, while I didn't care for the first volume of Game of Thrones, I do love the Tuff short stories collected in _Tuff Voyaging_. Good fun.

I have mixed feelings about House Of Suns by Reynolds. I thought it was entertaining but it didn’t quite leave me wanting more from Alastair. I’m glad I decided to read Century Rain though because I absolutely adore that book. I’ve often heard HoS is the best place to start but I disagree. Century Rain is we’re it’s at. Would recommend.

What’s the app for selecting your next read?

I think I'd rather read The Ophidian Conspiracy than a Starcraft book lol. The randomizer has not been kind of late.

If that's your actual home in the background, might I suggest some shelves?

Another scifi book that deals with the subject of religion and God is "The Sparrow " (1996) and is the first novel by author Mary Doria Russell. It won major awards like the Arthur C. Clarke or the British Science Fiction Association Award. The Sparrow is similar to James Blish's science fiction novel A Case of Conscience.It's really a philosophical novel about the nature of good and evil and what happens when a man tries to do the right thing, for the right reasons and ends up causing incalculable harm. I liked it...

Are you taking recommendations? If yes, where?

James Blish and Damon Knight more or less created professional SF criticism. Except for that which is implicit in the editorial function (John W. Campbell et. al.) I believe I have his critical compilation, both the original and its successor, on my bookshelf. Yep, there they are: Issues at Hand and the sequel More Issues at Hand. I have re-read them many times. As I have Damon Knight's critical essays.

If you like Blish then try the Cities In Flight Anthology

perfectly in the middle should be 5.5 unless you are giving out 0s... :)

BP, I value the opinions of well-read persons, yourself included, so I thought I'd ask: Is there such a thing as the perfect sci fi book? I despair that it can't be determined due to the subjectivity of the reader. Still though, I value prose above all else, subject secondly, and pace thirdly so in this context, could you take a stab at your own choice for "perfect sci fi book"? I would be very interested in your choice. It might set me off in an entirely different direction in the sci fi world! Cheers.

Dont tell Moid you’re not a fan of the Culture series 😂

Just out of curiosity, have you read/reviewed C.S Lewis' Space Trilogy?

Past 55, have to count myself a Grognard SF reader at this point...with little of the reading stamina I once had 😑. I recently tried to "fill a few holes" in my authors read, with "Futures Past" by Van Vogt and "The Best of Cordwaimer Smith" edited by Pierce. ...I can't get past how dated and stilted the writing seems. I'm sure both authors have wonderful tales to share... but so far, I just can't get past the time stamps. Really wish I'd read them earlier.

Terry Pratchett has been recommended to you before, I am sure. Bet that you would like his Good Omens collaboration with Neil Gaiman. 😉

Hear, hear! I couldn't get through Consider Phlebas either. I thought it was mind numbingly tedious. I got through Player of Games, but I didn't see what everyone raves about...

Just for precision: James Blish adapted the episodes of the Animated Star Trek series; he did not adapt the Original series.

Blish: After Such Knowledge is he 'trilogy' which is four, actually. I love Blish, I have been looking for Black Easter for years as I sold my copy for poor reasons ages ago. Ian M. Banks is not really my cup of tea either, he does do sci-fi, and some of it's theory is good, it is just that the books are enormous and the pacing is slow and the overall experience is just so very 'meh'. I have read five or six of them now (I got gifted the whole set a few years ago), and they have left little long term impression at all. That said, Excision was my favourite so far, I even remember quite a lot of it, though I doubt I understood more than half of it. I did not read Player first, either, I was warned not to.

The Culture series has a very interesting world and worldbuilding, but I'd rather see completely different stories in it.

He just loves holding moorcock...books

I'm halfway through the Culture series and I also don't really get the hype, but I'd say Player of Games is my favorite for now.

I wouldn't give up on Iain Banks off the back of Player of Games. Its probably his most accessible Sci fi book but there are plenty with more going on. You should try something like The Algebraist and if you don't like that either then yeh, he's not for you.

3:34: Consider myself officially pissed off 😀 Strange, I usually agree with your assessment of SF novels, but Iain (with or without M.) Banks is one of my favorites (not _quite_ in the Le Quin or Lem league, but not far behind). I suggest that you read these two of his SciFi works and one "semi-SciFi": _The Use of Weapons_ (space opera novel), _The State of the Art_ (SciFi novella) and _The Bridge_ (semi.SciFi novel). Perhaps add another "semi-SciFi": _Walking on Glass,_ composer of three at first glance unconnected novellas in different genres. Yes, I know, life is short, but do the guy justice and you will perhaps change your mind. You _did_ about Tolkien, didn't you?

Iain Banks is far from my least favorite author, but he is probably the one who has most consistently left me feeling disappointed. Even when I kind of like one of his books, it's never as much as I feel I should considering how much the stuff he writes about is right up my alley. And bloat is such a serious problem across the board in sci-fi and fantasy. I like Alastair Reynolds waaaaaay more than Banks, and I still don't feel inclined to read him most of the time because his books take so long to get through. Though at least with him, it's usually because he's going deep into his big ideas rather than just faffing around.

8:50 - No, no, no, _Use of Weapons_ is the one where things happen, and _much_ more interesting.

NUTHIN' BUT SPOILERS! I've been thinking about this for a day and I'm surprised that you seem to have missed the point of Player of Games. What's the first thing that happens in Consider Phlebas? The birth of the first sentient ship, and the rest of the novel is about how stupid, useless human beings, ill-equipped to survive in a sci-fi space opera universe die by the score so that one of them can carry out a rescue mission for that ship. The afterward of Phlebas takes place 7,000 years later. All humans involved in the plot have been dead almost as long as we've had agriculture but the ships go on. Does the novel Player of Games have a hero or a protagonist? A hero is someone that makes things happen, a protagonist is just someone to hang a plot on. That first hundred "boring" pages made me realize that humans are the microflora living inside the ships. The main character may be the very best at what he does and look like a hero, but in reality he's nothing but a tool. He's a carrier system for a weaponized set of memes that the ships are using to alter a culture that might lead to another galactic war. The bad guys are cartoonish because Mao Tse Tung, Pol Pott, Mussolini, Edi Amin, Genghis Khan were all stupid buffoons because, generally, anyone with a higher intellect views people with lower intellect as cartoonish and simple. I'm not going to suggest you read the rest of them. If Banks isn't for you it's good that you know that and don't waste your time on things that displease you. To be honest, Banks himself sort of loses the thread partway through the series.

Oh gosh. I was originally going to read Use of Weapons by its lonesome, when it comes to the Culture series, because it was on a List of SF novels that came out in 2010, of the supposed best SF from 1985-2010. But then I saw a boxed set of the first three books, and figured, much as I hate and avoid long series, I might as well read Consider Phlebas, and The Player of Games, and finally Use of Weapons - with a Then Walk Away card in my pocket after that. Then I heard The Player of Games was great, and Consider Phlebas was boring. So the plan became to read The Player of Games so I could go back and read Consider Phlebas without having been driven screaming from the series by it. Now, everything's falling apart. I should have just got Use of Weapons for the list requirement. Good readers, bad choices... As someone who is not religious at all, I have found that overtly religious SF, pondering-god stuff and all the variations, does not do well with me. So I recall being fairly auto-pilot-y with A Case of Conscience after a while, while never disliking it. I would say some of my favourite SF - some, mind you - deals in subtle religious allegory that is not made explicit...you kind of have to notice it, and it adds to the layers of a good book. That I can handle, even appreciate, as a lapsed Doesn't Matter Anymore. But once an SF novel is about religion, god, in an up-front, "this is what we're here to talk about" way, I'm in trouble, even if it's well written. All of that said, my best experience with Blish, so far and by far, was with Black Easter and The Day After Judgement (which I picked up packaged together as The Devil's Day).

Bro, carry a utility belt with a canteen, flashlight, cellphone, and signal flare. Some day the books will collapse on you.

James Gunn, The immortals. Became a TV show.

I also found Consider Phlebas boring and could not finish it. Iain Banks was recommended to me by a friend who is also a big scifi fan, and I don't understand the attraction.

Had the same experience with Player of Games. Lots of fat and kinda ham-fisted. Consider Phlebas was entertaining and had decent pace. Reynolds main universe is WAY tighter for better and worse. Less space to go crazy, but real stakes and really deep action scenes. He gets the crazier stuff out in House of Suns and Pushing Ice.