My science fiction top 7 this year: 1) Never Let me go , by Kazuo Ishiguro, 2) Solaris, by Stanislaw Lem, 3) Valis , by P K Dick, 4) Slaughterhouse 5 , by Kurt Vonnegut, 5) The three body problem trilogy, by Liu Cixin , 6) Man in the high castle, by P K Dick, 7) The anomaly by Hervé Le Tellier. Thanks for your list!
Love this channel, love your review style, something that is cemented for me after your Orphans of the Sky portion in this. Don't change this channel at all, you are a keen reader and an astute assessor of science fiction (and fantasy!) If those whose brains are poopoo and peepee don't get it, don't let 'em drag ya down!
I think Heinlein was just a product of his times, like most people are always. Although I won't say that it's impossible that there was some outright misogyny in the book, I suspect he was simply being a somewhat typical male of the times and channeling more of a cultural than a personal bias - although I suppose there's a good argument for those two things being indistinguishable. I would argue, though, that Heinlein was motivated more by a kind of passive disdain than hate. In other words, maybe he just didn't see women as being heroic stuff, as protagonist material, and he was more dismissive of them than hateful toward them. But who knows.
Please continue with the golden age stuff, but don't tire yourself either. All that reading, and the work on this video... you're the best!!! Thank you so much and I wish you a happy 2023!!!
Great all-encompassing review of your year, and I look forward to all your videos of 2023. 10 Books I Hope You Get To, That Are By Authors You Read In 2022: 1. Jack of Shadows by Roger Zelazny 2. The Sheep Look Up by John Brunner 3. Ring Around The Sun by Clifford D. Simak 4. Concrete Island by J. G. Ballard 5. Downbelow Station by C. J. Cherryh 6. Bug Jack Barron by Norman Spinrad 7. Dancers At The End Of Time by Michael Moorcock 8. Orbitsville by Bob Shaw 9. On Wings Of Song by Thomas M. Disch 10. The Last Revolution by Lord Dunsany I’m sure I missed something better than at least one of the books I mentioned, or maybe not. Whatever - can’t wait to see what you do read, or hear the reviews. Happy New Year!
Hey man, just want to say I really love the channel. You review style is great and I like the way you just batch them. I also enjoy that you aren't afraid to read and talk about lesser known titles. You've given me so many titles to add to the TBR I don't know whether to curse you or bless you. Hope you have a great year
Black Easter is a great little book that I would nominate for the award of "Book with most unexpected sequel". Not that the sequel is nearly as good, but the mere fact that it exists given the ending of the first one is a miracle.
In your review of A Canticle for Leibowitz, you talked about feeling it had a religious outlook. Others have mentioned the religiosity of the novel, but I don't see it. I consider myself an atheist, and I loved the book, and I never felt that. The religious element of the book was like a shell which contained the story, not an element of the ideas of the book.
Aldiss Hot House - sucks everyone in. I've loaned that book out to so many peeps - everyone always keeping it. I'm on my 5th copy. Legit dark creative space haunted (not the haunted you might think) house fun. If anyone is interested - buy it cheap and don't read too many Goodreads or Amazon reviews, too many spoilers.
the 3 lord of the rings books read by Phil Dragash is a must. i couldn't read the books myself (too long, wordplay too much to engage me), but Phil's audiobooks are something else to be experienced (bucket list worthy).
I’m new to the channel and am going to say something shocking for the internet: it’s OK that you don’t like some of the books that I love. Everyone is different and has different likes and dislikes in art - plus there are works that you need to encounter at certain set stages of development to love. If you come across them later in life they can seem trite, tired, or light weight: certainly not the seminal works they are to the less experienced. If you haven’t tried James White yet you might enjoy his work. He was a Golden Age author who turned his back on the aggressive aliens trope, reasoning that any lifeform that survived long enough to develop interstellar travel would likely be peaceable. So he wrote about alien cultures brought together by one shared constant - caring for the ill and injured. So the setting is a massive, multi species, multi environment, hospital space station. (I adore Cordwainer Smith’s style and am very happy to see you enjoyed Norstlrilia!) May I also recommend Walter Moers? He writes comic, absurdist, whimsical, and often quite deep, fantasy, and isn’t particularly well known outside mainland Europe, even though the English translations of his work are excellent.
This is one of the best and most profound reviews I've ever seen on RU-vid. Congratulations on the breadth and depth of your commentary. I enjoyed every minute of it. It doesn't mean I agreed with everything you said, but that's probably why I enjoyed it so much. Keep up the great work!
I read Neuromancer for the first time in my mid-thirties and I was "okay, this was a very influential book, everyone and their mother stole from here, so I probably won't be surprised... but I'll read anyway because it's a classic"... How wrong I was, I wasn't able to put it down; so atmosferic, so vivid, amazing book! Re read it last month and enjoyed it just as much, I can't begin to fathom how it was almost 40 years ago, when this was brand new, leaving aside things like 4mb of RAM being something impressive it still feels like a future world
Another great 80's Dystopian book is Sea of Glass by Barry B. Longyear (Longyear's story Enemy Mine was made into a good 80's SF movie starring Dennis Quaid and Louis Gossett Jr).
For Christmas I got a gift card to a fantastic bookstore down the road from me. (If you’re ever in the Jacksonville area in Florida: Chamblin’s Book Mine) I was able to find Blindsight, The Dream Master, A Case of Conscience, and Darwin’s Radio by Greg Bear. They didn’t have Blood Music in stock, unfortunately. Your short summary of the book in the top 15 video had me hooked, and I’m excited to find and read it. I picked up The Stars My Destination a few months ago after watching a video of yours and absolutely loved it. It’s remarkable how fast paced that book is. Like a blockbuster film, but without many of the tropes that go along with that style. Thanks for all of the great recommendations!
Great, really enjoyed this. I will take your recommendation of Jack Vance, Brian Aldiss and Roadside Picnic. I feel like your sense of "boring" is the same as mine. I am a slow reader so I have to pick my reads carefully. These reviews will save valuable time.
After I finished preparing for my comprehensive finals for my PhD in literature, I went back to sf and read 100 novels over the course of three years. I ranked them along the way. My #1 book was Lem’s His Master’s Voice.
I am not _quite_ sure I would rank it ahead of _Solaris,_ but it is very close call. And, of course, communication, or inability thereof, all over again, just like in _The invincible_ - with different "tools" used in each of those, but for the same goal. Quite an obsession of Lem's, that.
This was a great run through, and an IMPRESSIVE showing for the 100 book challenge. Thanks for an accessible mini review and great feedback on all of these books conveniently in one place!
I knew about Master and Margarita before I read it and I was apprehensive because I was afraid it would be over my head. I read it very slowly and stretched it out. I loved the book and the experience of reading it. It stayed in my head for a very long time. I think I'll read it again. Same speed. It's so beautifully written.
Nice take on the “Orphans of the sky”. I imagine people’s reactions to your commentary is due to them remembering it, rather than reading it recently. I enjoyed this book when I read it in the 80’s, but there are issues with all of his books.
Great content so keep it up! Can I just remark that Lord Dunsany's title is pronounced like this 'Dunsaaany', with a long drown out A sound. It's similar to the A in 'insane'.
I am a new subscriber and I haven't seen all your videos yet. But I will throw here a title nit knowing if you read it; The Carpet Makers by Andreas Eschbach (German). Nice video btw 👌
It is exactly the perspective you bring, BP, as a "2022 reader" or put another way - a contemporary - that I appreciate most about your excellent YT channel. Keep it up, please! I really enjoyed this review, it was, as always, most helpful and thought provoking. Cheers.
I played the first STALKER game based off of Roadside Picnic and it was a masterpiece. It’s pretty janky by modern FPS/RPG standards, but the mood of it all was phenomenal. The world felt more alive than many more modern games I’ve played since NPC factions would engage in firefights as you pass by, sometimes even killing quest-givers. It kind of feels like Fallout but without the zaniness and satire mixed with the charming awkwardness that only comes from super ambitious 2000s shooters.
I just finished Solaris for the first time a few days ago! Also my #1 this year, and a great way to finish off 2022. Thanks for the list and for your wonderful videos as always!
Suggestion: read and review The Player of Games and Use of Weapons by Iain Banks and Hyperion by Dan Simmons. All three have got to be in the top 30 since 1980, IMO. Thanks. Also, althugh he's more famous for his Golden Age stuff, the later Vance, such as Araminta Station, is hugely entertaining. He never lost his unique voice.
Fair criticism of E E “Doc” Smith and his “of his time” writing. I love his books, but I love much of the pulp authors that I read in the 80’s and 90’s.
Brilliant video as ever! Could comment on so much, but mostly wanted to thank you for the recommendation of Roadside Picnic. I finished it this morning, and will start my second reading soon. It's such an interesting piece, and wish it was better known. You compared it to Solaris in a previous video, which I agree is a high watermark of literary SF. Had to keep reading Roadside Picnic because the strangenesses were so intriguing and disturbing. What an ending though! Sad that Douglas Adams didn't float your boat. Maybe try Dirk Gentley's Hollistic Detective Agency? It was written first as a novel, whereas Hitchhiker was a novelisation of the radio series (which is well worth a listen for all kinds of reasons). Dirk Gentley has a much more coherent plot, it's less episodic and scatter-gun. So pleased you enjoyed the Martian Chronicles. You've piqued my interest in Jules Verne too! But your "bad" reviews are so brilliant! That's what makes me really L.O.L. (in real life). Keep it up, my dude!
I just can not believe it has taken me so long to discover your channel. Just fantastic reasoning. I love it when someone is good at laying out their thoughts in an engrossing manner. You do raise a very interesting, and possibly deep point at #51. About misogyny, and racism. About what it is. Is it something that is absolute? Impervious to time and age? You've given me quite a reading list. When you mentioned this one 'perfect' paragraph, I was going to reply about Gibson. Who IMO is one of the most beautiful writers. I have opened books by him at a random page, and just let it flow. And kudos to you for not mentioning the Rolling Stones connection in the "Master & Margarita" review.
Please read the Three Body Problem series. I listened to the first book in 2018 and have been thinking about it ever since. Unironically, it's become like a modern bible to me. It's a masterwork of sociological scifi. There are a couple scenes in the first book in particular that blew me out of the water.
He read the first book and hated it. So much so he refused to read the second. His reasons were fair but man I loved those books even though I agree the writing wasn't great. Him hating Three Body AND thinking Hitchhiker's Guide is "mid" are pretty wild takes. I still watch these videos because I appreciate different perspectives but...damn man.
i saw his first patreon review but not the one afterwards. it's hard to hear someone i respect actively detest something that's so special to me, but it's useful for people to express good faith criticisms, and it's useful to incentive people to express good faith opinions. bp seems pretty obsessed with prose, which i don't care about very much. i also listened to the audiobook, and did not read a physical copy, so that could entail a very different experience. i was also very surprised at his distaste for the sophon, and didn't understand his characterization of it being a "whoa man..." plot device-- i thought it was peak scifi; using theoretical but self-consistent premises of (alternate-)physics to underpin what otherwise would've been magic; and the fact that these mechanisms are woven into each other throughout the series, and are thematically relevant. there's a lot more that could be said about it, but ultimately people have their preferences, and it's fine if not everybody likes the same things i like.@@sirpsys
I do believe The Dream Master was an inspiration for/straight up ripoff that was made into the 80's Sci Fi film Dreamscape with Dennis Quaid and Kate Capshaw (Mrs Steven Spielberg).
…and I answered my own question about whether you have read the Strugatsky brothers with this second video. Thanks for yet another awesome list! Cheers! 😊
I'm reading Solaris on your recommendation at the moment and will move on to Dunsany soon. I'd love to see your reaction to The Two Towers. Shelob's Lair is an incredible chapter.
Hitcher Hike's Guide is a work of genius, its on the level of Swift and Rabelais and I don't feel at all troubled by making that statement. It is both witty, funny and excellent sci-fi. Many of the tiny stories are far better sci-fi than anything the great sci-fi writers come up with. The thing I loved most was the invasion by a super powerful AI species which turns out to be tiny and irrelevant to us. With so much sci-fi where the aliens are the same size as us and can move about in our spaceships all set up in one joke. The novel manages to present a horrific nihilistic view of space and human's position in the universe while still remaining enjoyable and funny.
Wonderful, thanks for taking the time to do this! Roadside Picnic was one of my faves for the year. Brutal, so awfully tragic, even that last declaration of hope is so desperate... Did you have the opportunity to read a version with an afterword about the Soviet editing bureau? Fascinating. Semiosis and A Canticle for Leibowitz also were top tier books for me in 2022. More fantasy this year I think. I have to recommend Bakker's Second Apocalypse series: it's got history so deep it becomes science fiction, he does crazy stuff with theology and philosophy later on. His prose can be a little inappropriately introspective at times but he is a truly talented writer. Happy New Year!
That was quite the gallop through the variety of authors. Thanks for your thoughts & by extension recommendations. Look forward to more videos & book hauls/reviews in 2023.
Just spent a good bit of time looking into it and unfortunately that Incredible cover for Neuromancer is only available in Portuguese. That cover is so much cooler than all of the other ones. I might still get one anyway haha
Also saw that one of your top 15 is Gene Wolfe Shadow of the Torturer - great series & you described it so well… bizarre brilliant prose… Read all of that series (New Sun) & all of Book of the Long Sun & Book of the Short Sun… I LOVED the Long Sun books best of all of them & they are on my top 20 list… they are much more “normal”, easier to read than Shadow et. al., more plot driven while still benefiting from Wolfe’s brilliant prose & wild imagination. It’s about a generation starship… same universe as Shadow. Based on your favs, I think you would love them.
Great list. With you on Pandora’s Star. Funny how we all like different things. Hitchhiker’s Guide is my all time favourite novel and I’ve read it so many times. Neuromancer, however, was a bit like wading through treacle for me. Took me 5 attempts to finish. Plenty mentioned here are on my TBR.
Excellent video. Have to say the quality of this video is really great. Some of your other stuff, with the camera focus issues, is just really hard to watch. Really enjoyed this. Your content is always great and the production quality here matches your content quality. Looking forward to more videos with this quality!
Always a pleasure to watch your videos, Matt. Your reviews are succinct but cogent. As Moid said, you’re very insightful. Please keep reading and reviewing books, especially classic works. Talking of classic works, I recently got hold of an old edition of What Mad Universe by Fredric Brown. I haven’t read it yet. I’m not a fan of sci-fi comedy, but What Mad Universe is supposed to be good. Have you heard of it or read it? I’d love to hear your thoughts on it.
I grew up in a library. I spent weekends with my 5.00 allowance, at the used book store. I read widely. My father told me to memorize the date on the page of each book, I was 9 years old I didn't understand why after he told me I almost did not but I still remember the moment to just go ahead and do what he told me. I read mostly, due to the used bookstore access, what the Boomers read. I read reference, History, Psychology, Art History, Literature, Science Fiction and Fantasy, plus reference books about those books. The glass bead game, or Magister Ludi is a Science Fiction book. Its weirdly written to be boring somewhat disinterested tone. I was going to produce Lord Of Light. The rights are owned by Geller, the producer for Mission Impossible. I spoke to him on the phone. I suggested you get on pod cast like Tim Pool. Or Rogan, or whoeever. Great channel. You might eventually turn to Philosophy, so let me suggest "Wisdom of the West" by Bertrand Russell. Its a survey. You would enjoy Nietzche, he is conversational.
Even the opening lines of Hitchhikers Guide are smug and a good ice breaker. It’s maybe more charming than laugh out loud funny but even saying that is diplomatic because some of the conversations are great. How can anyone say that the line ‘Time is an illusion, at lunchtime doubly so’ isn’t funny?!
Great job. Great list. As I was watching the list, I kept thinking if he hasn't read Roadside Picnic, I think he would like it. It's in my top 10 favorite books of all time list. I was quite pleased to see its placing.
Thank you for opening my eyes to so many books that I hadn’t know about before. Your dedication to providing intelligent reviews and the love of the genre is very evident. Happy New Year
I'm just getting back into Sci-fi after a multi-decade hiatus, and your channel has made me enamored with the idea of scouring used book stores and thrift stores for cheap old printings. Have you ever considered doing a video on a list of authors that you suggest newcomers keep in back of mind when searching? Thanks for all your wonderful content!
Kay's 2nd and 3rd books in this series were better than the first. I agree on the firs: two or three stars. "Orphans of the Sky" was a poorly executed novelization of Heinlein's novella "Universe.' The novella is consdiered a classic and appears in "The Science Fiction Hall of Fame," a five-volume collection of works published before the awards started. Includes stories like "The Time Machne" and "Who Goes There," the story upon which John Carpenter's film "The Thing" was based. Some of the stories are brilliant, others quite data. But across the board a wonderful insight into the history of SF.
A huge thank you for your channel in 2022. The post contents have been brilliant. I hope that 2023 will see your channel go from strength to strength. Have a very happy new year and may it be a healthy and prosperous one 😉😘
It will be interesting to see a 365 sci-fi books review, kind of grouper per similar 12 sub-genres ( space opera, robots, new worlds, time travel, cyber punk, space adventure, aliens, politics dystopia, shocking ideas…) Happy New Year!
You got me reading “city.” on the 6th story and I absolutely love this book. I have a love/hate relationship with Heinlein books. I love a lot of his dialogues between characters, a lot of good one-liners and some of his ideas for stories but some of his views and philosophy is the exact opposite of mine.
For your next Jack Vance adventure, try the Lyonesse Trilogy. It's not your typical high fantasy series...but it's Jack Vance, so you already knew that. You'll get into the military fantasy subgenre soon enough, and Glen Cook is the place to begin. The Dread Empire and The Black Company series are where military fantasy was born. One of the Malazan Book of the Fallen volumes is dedicated to Cook, in fact.
Great channel - I have always loved Sci Fi as a genre in a typical "pedestrian" sort of way (for example I am a huge fan of the first Matrix movie and of Geoff Darrow's graphic novels), but as a Sci Fi reader, I am a complete luddite. This is a great resource - thanks! Could you possibly do like a top 10 "Dystopic" genre list (my fave so far is The Road by Cormac McCarthy).
New sub, your channel makes me want to read sci-fi again after leaving in frustration many years ago. Frustration with terrible books that were highly acclaimed. This video has several bad books that I forgot I started reading and gave up on, or in the case of Peter F Hamilton, struggled through, waiting for the payoff. Enjoying working my way through your videos!
Bookpilled I love how much you love sci-fi. I have always have been drawn to those golden age sci-fi books. I have read many. (A drop in the ocean compared to you!) I just finished Solaris after watching your review. God, I loved it. Anyway my next book i am just now starting is "The Three Body Problem". I've seen so much good hype and reviews so it should be really good. Have you read it? If so could we get a review? Thanks man. Love ur content.
Wow, 2 by Blish! I love "Black Easter" for how it makes hard-boiled "realism" and bonkers fantasy collide. But I don't see how anyone can like "A Case of Conscience" unless they think Catholic theological dogma is interesting, and I just don't. But my entry point to Blish was "A Life For the Stars" in the Cities in Flight series, which feels a lot less literary but I enjoy it.
I have the penultimate sci-fi body horror for you: Radiant Dawn/Ravenous Dusk by Cody Goodfellow. Its a shadow war between military scientists using cutting-edge weaponry against a cult of zealots with full control over their cellular structure. (i.e., "The Thing"). Do not read up on it as there's a huge reveal/tie-in to an established mythology. You can thank me after.
Your channel is bankrupting my bank account but enriching my life. I literally just bought 4 used books from your list out of sheer excitement. Edit: it’s 5 now
I would recommend giving the Earthsea series another chance. The complete books of earthsea as a whole are great. The first three books are pretty much exactly as you described the first. I think the first is the weakest. She was tasked to write a children’s series and at the beginning she seems a little lost on how to do that. But Tehanu, the short stories, the otherwind, feel like they are written by a completely different person.
A Canticle for Leibowitz got me back into reading earlier this year after years of neglecting the medium. Curiously, the next book I picked up was Foundation. I have been reading daily since then, but Canticle stands out to me. The world it presents is mundane and familiar in post-apocalyptic sci-fi, but it executes it in a way that was particularly satisfying to me for reasons I can't quite articulate
Agreed! I was giggling when they described their rationale for fallout being a kind of large salamander. It has charm and so very much despair. Canticle leaves a deep impression!!
I read Lem back in the late 1980s, early 1990s, glad to finally see a proper English translation of Solaris. When you have the time/energy, read Fiasco, Return from the Stars, The Futurological Congress, His Master's Voice, The Cyberiad, and The Star Diaries.
Thanks for sharing. I now have Blood Music and Roadside Picnic on my to be read list. Both I was unaware of before. I think I'm going to start with Roadside first. The premise really intrigues me.
I'm currently reading Judas Unchained, I'll let you know if all 2,000 pages were worth it when I get to the end haha. I recently purchased Solaris, Roadside Picnic, and The Martian Chronicles and look forward to reading them in 2023!
This is my third video of yours & was so excited to find a voracious reader of science fiction with reviews on RU-vid. However, after the 1st of this video, I realize we have very different tastes in sci-if! You seem like an intelligent, interesting fella but really…?!? We both love A Fire Upon the Deep & The Mote in God’s Eye - both also in my top 20… but Use of Weapons & all the Culture novels to me are most amazing sci fi ever written… can’t fathom how a sci-fi lover wouldn’t love them lol! The Commonwealth books by Hamilton are among my favorites of all time! I liked Blindsight a lot too. Not a big fan of Phillip K. Dick either but get there is merit in his writing. Also so incredibly happy that Dune was NOT in your top 15! It’s an okay series but almost gotten to point where I hate it bc of the irrational devotion to it! That said, I am interested in your recommendations…have started a list & hoping you will lead me to some works I haven’t found yet that I like. I almost feel like I’m out of science fiction… really struggle to find books in genre I haven’t read that I like. I want to recommend to you that you read The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell if you haven’t. Mostly non-genre writer who produces a true life-changing literary masterpiece! Nice to find you!
I respect your list and the fact Solaris is no 1. I reread it recently after years, and it drags a bit at some points on subsequent reads, but it still lingers on after you finish it. Lems best book I read so far, that's the only downside. The rest is just ok to good. Banks fandom is a bit cultish, but Player of Games was 9/10 for me. It helps if you are a gamer yourself though:) Good stuff man, keep them coming. I can even forgive you no Vonnegut. But just this year;)
Every of your "review of reviews" video costs me quite some penny. Fortunately, most of these titles are available on kindle for $1-$4, mostly in Gateway or SF Masterworks re-issues, and I don't have any more shelf space for DTBs anyway. OTOH, I hate to part with a book once acquired, so Kindle is perfect. Have you read _Hard to be a God_ by Strugatsky brothers? Do. Also, if you consider reading something else by Iain Banks (by all means do), may I suggest two nominally "mainstream" works, _The Bridge_ and _Walking on Glass_ ? I would _really_ like to hear your impressions on those.
As I slip deeper into middle age I found myself nearly divorced from reading. In my youth I voraciously devoured good and bad books primarily in both the Sci-Fi and fantasy genre. Your very thoughtful and well delivered insights / critiques rekindled my interest in reading. I just finished Vernor Vinge's "A Fire Upon the Deep" and Asimov's "Nightfall" with a little bit of Harry Harrison in between to lighten the mood. For some reason I enjoy Harrison's lighthearted & funny stuff like "Stainless Steel Rat". I picked up Alistair Reynolds "House of Suns" which is next on my list. Thanks for the very intelligent content & look forward to more in 2023. Cheers!
Eyes of the overworld is also my alltime favorite fantasy book. It is rare that I sit and watch a 44 min video on youtube, so you must be doing something right.
Yep, Solaris is so good. It moved me profoundly when i read it. Also agree about P F Hamilton. Those books are obese. So much fat. I do love them anyway and have read most of his work.😂
I have a hard time believing you didnt like Pandoras Star, which is one of my alltime favorite SF books. I guess theres no point in watching the rest of this, we dont see SF the same way
