My favorite sheep related sci-fi is 'Norstrilia' by Cordwainer Smith. 'The Sheep Look Up' is indeed dark. The truly frightening part is how it all seems to be coming to pass, albeit at a slightly slower tempo. I will be reading more Adam Roberts - Bête to the TBR ('Jack Glass' first) Thanks for the video!
Live Nostrillia. I'll talk about it briefly on Thursdays video...also, check out who's talking about The Sheep Look Up on that video as well. A very special guest
The most chilling part of The Sheep Look Up for me was the last sentence, the world having "survived" a horrendous year... "...but what about next year?"
Great video, Michael! 🐑 Wow, I was thinking of starting Sun Eater as my next sci-fi series, but now I’m really between that one and The Three Body Problem. Death’s End sounds incredible!
5:46 ... this has echoes of the Uplift series by David Brin, animals gaining sentience... 6:38 ... I might give this a read...the adaptation of the 3 Body Problem to a mini-series I found, well, slow and boring. Having to constantly read fast moving subtitles may have been a factor, I quit after two episodes... I can recommend the Salvation trilogy by Peter Hamilton!
I loved the three bodied-problem Trilogy except for death’s end. The main character was a naïve idiot who did more damage than good. Honestly it felt like reading an idiot villain‘s account of being the hero. There were redeeming qualities in the book, but that main character sucked so badly!
I get that and I sort of felt that way at 1st bat 1st but for me this was really all about the ideas and when I thought more about the character I thought you know what it's OK that it's a flawed character because I'm buying into this world and I'm buying into this universe and perhaps somebody in that position might not be very competent and I saw that in dark forest as well with flawed characters and with this being a translation I'm not sure how much of that I put on the author failing at writing a character or if I want to give him credit because the character has realistic flaws and makes mistakes Or if it's just me so I defaulted to buying into the characters just being whoever they were And just really enjoyed the ideas. Sorry sorry for stream-of-consciousness but I'm using voice texting on my phone
I agree that Death's End is a mind-blowing read, so many fascinating concepts are explored on such an epic scale. Another favourite mind-bender for me is A Fire Upon the Deep, which I read earlier this summer. I was really impressed with the imaginative world-building, variable physics and bizarre alien races.
Thanks. Also loved Fire Upon the Deep. On Thursday, check out who's presenting that book on my top 210 video...it's one of his favorite books of all time too
Fine video - the '3 great books in 8 minutes' format works for me. In terms of mind-blowing SciFi books, and avoiding all Seventies JG Ballard (too obvious), I'd suggest something non-canonical: 1969's Hugo-nominated 'Macroscope' by Piers Anthony, from waaaay back when he was trying to be the greatest, most mind-boggling SF author ever.
thanks and uh-oh. on Thursday, you may want to watch the 3.5 hr top 210 scifi books video in 25ish separate 8 minute different chunks ;) seriously though thanks for your suggestion of Macroscope. that definitely wasn't on my radar before.
The Sheep Look Up is staggeringly prescient and well written. The advance of environmental degradation detailed reminded me of the quote about how you go bankrupt in The Sun Also Rises- "Two ways, gradually, then suddenly." Most all the environmental collapse noted in the 1970 book has been proceeding slowly, but surely, since
You seem like such an inquisitive person. Do you also enjoy reading non-fiction? There's a planet's worth of incredible non-fiction out there. Granted there's probably a greater amount of baloney non-fiction out there but hey, nothing is perfect.
Great list, excited to check these out! My favorite mind-bending SF read is Gnomon by Nick Harkaway. Have you checked this one out? I had trouble thinking about anything else for weeks after…
@@FIT2BREAD Complex narrative structure with intricately nested and intertwining layers of reality. Reading it feels like solving a puzzle at times…the main character is tasked with solving an impossible mystery and so the reader is too. Definitely more to grasp on the next time around, looking forward to my eventual second read.
Great list!! So many books I haven't heard of! Three Body Problem blew my mind a bit, but I was disappointed that none of the characters seemed like actual people - they really felt like mouthpieces for the ideas. I'm planning to continue with the series, though, and seeing the 3rd book in this video got me a bit more excited!
@@FIT2BREAD I likes the entire series AND the spin off. It's probably the most inventive (sometimes a little OVERLY SO) work of science fiction ive ever read.
Dick said that "The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch" wasn't about insanity, because it is insanity. It's a very strange but brilliant novel, one of those that changed the face of SF. He wrote more than a few mind-blowing novels, not least of all "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep".
@@FIT2BREAD Yes, but "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" is the one where his empathy theme is most centralised of course, although it's present to some degree in more than a few of his novels. It's got some pretty weird things in it though.
@@FIT2BREAD No, I think I read a short piece by him. I don't think what he wrote really appealed to me. The Penfield Mood Organ though, seems to be his intention to have made a connected history, even though his characters and places aren't interchangeable. They are the creation of the Rosen Association, that also makes mechanical simulacra and androids, that appeared in "We Can Build You, "The Simulacra" and "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep", but only in the last novel, are people dependant on them to stimulate human feeling.
I love it when a book blows my mind. That's one of the reasons I love sci-fi so much. A teenager in the 1990s, eh? Me too! BTW, nice Star Trek: TNG shirt.
I also love Zanzibar...though I prefer Sheep Look Up. Watch my Top 210 episode tomorrow, one of the best scifi authors on the planet will be pressing both of those books in a cameo appearance
Good morning sir . What a list . You pop up in that STNG tee shirt . And you drop John Brunner on us .😁 . Yes his works are mind blowing . Take a gander at " The Squares Of The City " . Not as depressing as sheep , but still real . Now i up off to read ST . Thanks for the vid . Looking forward to the next vid .
I was def thinking about Ubik for this list also. Have a great cameo on Thursday with a freind presenting that book on my top w10 scifi books episode:)
Three stigmata has always beenone of my favorites as is ubik, I reread them and get even more lost in the hallucinations. Thanks for the other suggestions
Excited for you to experience it. Very trippy and at one point there's a fork in the road decision moment..I either was going to let my mind shut down cause I couldn't fully grasp 4 dimensionality or I could roll with it and just experience the ride and accept everything Cixin was shoving in my face. I'm glad I took that latter road. Simply amazing.
Awesome Patrick. I'd love to see it get more recognition for what it brings to the table. I get that part of the issue is that it's the 3rd book of a series, but for me, I can't think of many scifi books of this century that bring this many ideas to the table.
@@FIT2BREAD Liu Cixin was my biggest inspiration over the last few years as a writer, and is the reason I finally completed a damn manuscript to start querying. Great stuff
