I look back on all the Hugo Award winning novels I've read, along with a few I'm planning to read. Which one should I read next? #booktube #sciencefiction #scifi
The Man in the High Castle is a fantastic novel. Just don't go into it expecting shootouts, resistance movements and war room scenes like in the show. In fact, the TV series misses the point of the book almost entirely and so a lot of readers tend to be disappointed when they later go to the book when it's far slower and more cerebral than they were otherwise expecting. It's bloody clever and its ending still hasn't quite left my mind ever since reading it.
Best wishes with your reading choices. I hope you get some great stories. Taking more than a month to read one. Currently at page 883 of the Count of Monte Cristo. Still got some way to go. Happy reading.
Love your channel. Like all of your reviews. You've helped me find some more books to add to my "Future Reads" books. Also, on your Future Reads, I've read Ringworld by Niven, and I really, really enjoyed it. It's been quite a while, but I think it's one of the better sci-fi books that I've ever read. Also, I read the sequel too, "Ringworld Engineers", I think. Too long, don't remember sequel, but I sure remember the original and enjoyed it immensely.
First week of the year I read Waystation having just read City by Simak , that was enough to convince me to read all his work from the beginning. Waystation is a wonderful read. I am now on book 22 of his.
I was not a fan of Canticle or PKD's offering I accept that I am unusual there. I would highly recommend Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang; that one surprised me with how good it was. Rendezvous with Rama I just recently read and it deserved all the awards. So good! For Roger Zelazny (probably my favourite author) I love Roadmarks and A Night In The Lonesome October are both really unusual, really well written.
Good for you about Riverworld ... 13:14 ... yes, I agree with that ranking. One of the best sci-fi books that I ever read. Changed my perception on life alot.
Great video. I DNFed Stranger in a Strange Land… it became so tedious and annoying to read what you aptly described as pontificating, that I just couldn’t do it anymore. I am for now staying away from Heinlein.
I'm enjoying Stranger more than The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress at least. It definitely seems to be a case of diminishing returns though, I can see why you gave up on it.
@@bookspin I couldn’t take it. 😂 It wasn’t like Stephen King mentioning something political once in a while of hand. These were whole paragraphs, whole speeches. I found it unbearable.
I also DNF'd Stranger in a Strange Land. Has to be almost 40 years ago now, lol. But somehow the word 'grok' crept into my vocabulary even though I didn't finish the book! 🤣
Rendez-vous With Rama's will rekindle for you the "Awe of Wonder" and cleanse your literary palate of annoying characters and endless pontificating. Yes, Speaker For The Dead is a wonderful novel and a total departure from Ender's Game which becomes no more than a quirky intro that could have been a novella.
I really didn't like Dune, the novel - was extremely disappointed. The new movies I get on with better. I think I've only read a couple of Zelazny's ages ago, and I think all in the Chronicles in Amber series (which were just okay imho) - maybe I should try some of his Hugo winners... LeGuin's two novels and Hyperion are all 5-stars for me, but we'll have to agree to disagree on American Gods - it really fell flat for me. It was a favorite of my daughter's and that's why I read it. I'm doing a Bingo challenge this year that wants me to read a genre-fiction prizewinner, so of course I chose the Hugo and had to find one I hadn't already read! I just started The City & the City by China Miéville, not far into it enough to give an opinion, but I did like the one other book of his I read, which was Embassytown. I thought The Way Station was a good read, but nothing super-spectacular. When Late the Sweet Birds Sing is about clones and also post-apocalyptic. I can't say it was all that amazing, but I do have to say I still remember it many decades after reading it, so there's that.
Thanks for your comment! I agree I really enjoyed the new Dune movies, more so than the actual book. Not sure which Hugo winner I'll pick next but it'll probably be Man in the High Castle or Way Station.
"He has a habit of using his characters to pontificate on his views, his politics" ... isn't that what literally every single author has been doing in the past 10 years or so, plus all the streaming platforms and certainly Hollywood ?
Yes that's true to some extent, but I think it's more evident in some authors than others. I haven't read a lot of Heinlein but he seems to devote an excessive amount of time expounding his political and philosophical views through his characters - oftentimes it feels like I'm reading a Socratic dialogue, with one character 'enlightening' another.
Yes, Robin. You absolutely nailed it, Heinlein's overbearing recurrent habit of pontificating through his characters . He is recognized worldwide for that. Ariane you clearly didn't read many Heinlein books to be saying this.. 😉
