What books are you reading at the moment? - eviltoast

I’m currently reading the Wool omnibus by Hugh Howey. It’s pretty decent I’ve been making very rapid progress as it’s been too hot to sleep here recently now the summer has arrived.

I haven’t seen the Apple show, but maybe I’ll watch it in the future when I’ve finished all the books (I had Shift and Dust as well).

  • w3dd1e@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    Wool was great. And the show was good too. You can basically watch the first season after finishing Wool, if you’d like.

    I’m reading He Who Fights With Monsters but I’m going to dig through this thread and find a good scifi novel to read next!

    • minerva@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I just started HWFWM and it’s my first LitRPG. Very different from what I’m used to reading but I really like so far. Going to try and finish it before I start Brandon Sanderson secret novel #3

      • w3dd1e@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        It was my first LitRPG too. I wasn’t sure I’d like it but I do. I’m on the 3rd book, actually.

        I haven’t read anything by Sanderson yet but I follow him on social media and I really like him.

  • allalae@orcas.enjoying.yachts
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    1 year ago

    A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine.

    I really loved the first book in the series, A Memory Called Empire, but I find the second one harder to get through. The writing really gets into the protagonist’s head, and with all the stress she’s in, it gets… claustrophobic, I guess, for me. I wish there was a bit more focus on the plot about the cool mysterious aliens.

  • varjen@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I’m currently nostalgia-reading Robert Rankin’s Dance Of The Voodoo Handbag but that’s more far fetched fiction than sci-fi. Silly, entertaining and lots of tall tales. I’m also reading The Quantum Magician by Derek Künsken. I was hoping for it to be the start of a good series of books to read over the summer but it’s not very good. I will probably not bother with the rest of the series.

  • fl3tching101@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Currently reading Foundation and Earth by Asimov, I absolutely loved the original trilogy so I’ve been reading through the sequels and plan on going back to the prequels after. In my opinion the sequels have a big shift in pacing and sort of the way that the plot develops… not sure how I feel about that. On one hand it is easier to keep up with with less characters, but on the other it feels like the scale of things is much smaller. Trying to not spoil anything. The series is a fantastic read nevertheless!

      • laurelinae@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Difficult to say. If you keep in mind, that he wrote the sequels 30 years or so later and acknowledge that one’s views change over such a period, then go ahead. If you, however, expect the same flavor as the trilogy, then I wouldn’t recommend reading foundation’s edge and foundation and earth. And although these are meant as an introduction to the men behind time, that one makes no reference to the foundation trilogy. So it’s fine to just read the end of eternity on its own.

  • FatLegTed@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Seveneves by Neal Stephenson. Was a recommendation on the R site.

    Complex, eon spanning, hard sci-fi. I’m loving it!

    • TooL@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      If you could, what other sci-fi works would you compare it to? I am wrapping up the Children of Time series and could use something else.

      • AWizard_ATrueStar@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        I sold Seveneves to a friend by saying it is like Neal Stephenson wrote The Martian. Well, at least the first 2/3 of it. It talks a lot about the science how how an event like the one described in the book might happen but with the kind if granularity and verbosity you would expect from NS.

  • MagpieRhymes@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I’m working my way through both the Murderbot Diaries (just started Network Effect) and the Rivers of London series (just finished Broken Homes, though this series is more urban fantasy). Both and very enjoyable!

    • ScrivenerX@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      My wife and I just ran through the whole murderbot series. They are such a fun read. I’m convinced that the author plays/has played a ton of Shadowrun.

    • OldFartPhil@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      The murderbot stories get so much praise but I was never able to get into them. I binge read (well, actually binge listened) to the Rivers of London books a few months ago and thought they were first-rate.

      I just finished the new Ann Leckie book, Translation State, which I liked very much. If you couldn’t get enough of the the Imperial Radch universe it’s a must read.

    • CylonBunny@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I really liked Canticle, but I really felt like it suffered from being a fix-up novel. It’s three acts are not equal and don’t totally fit together in my opinion. It really starts off strong though! Hope you like it!

  • alienabductionsg@reddthat.com
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    1 year ago

    I’m halfway through Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson. I didn’t know anything about this book other than it was about a generation ship but I’m really enjoying it. Every time I pick up one of his books I can’t believe how good the science is, dude really digs into everything

  • Walop@sopuli.xyz
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    1 year ago

    I am reading currently Snow Crash. A great example how pioneers of a genre seem to lose their originality over time, but the book hasn’t changed, everyone else has just copied it to death.

    Previously I read some if the Culture series and got surprised by the genuine atrocities popping up in them. The books were interesting and the horrible things had a reason to be there, but I just became overwhelmed.

  • Ranolden@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Surface Detail, and The State of the Art by Iain M Banks. Been on a Culture bend recently. Excession is next on my list

  • DarthVi@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    I’m currently reading Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey, which is the first book of the Expanse series. I haven’t watched the TV series, since I wanted to dive into the books without previous knowledge.

    • DLBPointon@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Amazing series of books that are up in my top three, still trying to find time to read Leviathan Falls (the final book). The story gets crazy.

      • elephantium@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Right? It starts off all very hard sci-fi, the only “magic” is a rocket motor that makes travel around the solar system doable on story-friendly timelines.

        That expectation gets broken pretty quickly, and it really is amazing how far the story goes after such a simple beginning as the incident with the Canterbury!

      • Silvus@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Has anyone told about our lord and savior, the audiobook? listening while driving, doing housework, ect can free up crazy time. And if you dont want your first read to be audio, use it for rereads!

        • RBWells@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I read faster than I listen/talk so have trouble with spoken books. The eyes are faster than the ears. Hate video explanations of things for the same reason, usually end up reading transcripts.

          Spoken conversations with real people move at the right pace for me, entertainment TV shows too, and some radio theatre stuff is good but books, have not been able to enjoy them like that, it feels plodding. To be fair I have no driving commute though. One of my coworkers listens to audiobooks only while driving and says that’s the way to do it.

  • Collard@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    Just started “The City We Became” by N.K. Jemisen. It took a minute for me to get my bearings, but I’m really digging the concept

    • OldFartPhil@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      N.K. Jemisen is one of my favorite sci-fi/fantasy writers. If you like her style and world building I’d highly recommend the Broken Earth trilogy.

      • EtnaAtsume@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        It took me quite some time to get past the rocky (hah) start, the absolute lack of all but the barest exposition, but once I did…wow.

        And I recognize the talent and skill it takes to make that work. Very risky to do, but it damn sure paid off.

    • EtnaAtsume@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Seems to be the general flow of her writing style. Broken Earth certainly doesn’t hold your hand, either, but if you stick it out through the directionless lost feeling at the start, suddenly you’re hooked.