Mount TBR

[extrapenguin]

Since I've read two books already this month and will probably try to keep up the book a weekend habit:

Poll #30778 Reading material

This poll is closed.
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 13

View Respondents

What book(s) should I read next?

View Answers

Stephen Baxter: Xeelee (omnibus edition)
0 (0.0%)

Cixin Liu: The Wandering Earth
3 (23.1%)

Arkady Martine: A Desolation Called Peace
8 (61.5%)

Jane O'Reilly: Blue Shift
1 (7.7%)

Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter: The Long Cosmos & The Long Utopia
4 (30.8%)

Alastair Reynolds: Aurora Rising
0 (0.0%)

Alastair Reynolds: Century Rain
0 (0.0%)

Alastair Reynolds: Revenger
1 (7.7%)

Peter Watts: Blindsight
4 (30.8%)

(The Martine and Baxter are sequels; I read the Martine original semi-recently and the first three Baxter books zonks ago. I've enjoyed other stuff by Reynolds. I did read The Three-Body Problem and did not vibe with it at all, but I acknowledge that might've been the translation or just the nature of the book.)

Has anyone read any of the above? Opinions welcome, though please no spoilers.

Comments

[hamsterwoman]

I've read A Desolation Called Peace and quite disliked it / thought it was not a very good book, although in the interests of full disclosure, I was also somewhat disappointed by A Memory Called Empire. But with 'Memory', I thought it was a decent book which I had gone into with overly inflated expectations and that was a big part of my disappointment. I was hoping the sequel would build on the things I enjoyed or was intrigued b in book 1y. The sequel did not build on the things I had enjoyed, and instead convinced me that some things I was willing to accept were just part of the POV in book 1 were writing flaws. Most people do seem to like these books more than I do, but I think everyone on my flist who's read the sequel thought it was less good than the first book.

[extrapenguin]

Noted. I found the first book enjoyable enough of a read, but I think I missed a lot of the hype and it's been a while since I read it.

[lannamichaels]

I didn't like the Martine, which I've read, so I voted for the Pratchett, which I haven't read.

[extrapenguin]

The characters in the first three books of the series were the most annoying characters I have ever had the misfortune of suffering through. I liked the worldbuilding enough to persevere, but fingers crossed that the sequels are about different protagonists.

[satsuma]

I've read A Desolation Called Peace, which I enjoyed overall but found quite different from A Memory Called Empire in a way that was initially a bit jarring to adjust to (I read them more or less back to back which presumably exacerbated this).

The Long Earth series is the only Pratchett I've ever DNF'ed, about 3/4ths of the way through Long Utopia (book 4). Really tainted my feelings about the whole series too, which was a shame because I'd enjoyed the first couple.

[extrapenguin]

Now I'm intrigued by wtf is going on in The Long Utopia *g* My memory of the first three books is basically "cool concept, I wish I could replace the protagonists" since I uh. Did not like them at all as characters. (I'd rather have had protagonists airdropped in from Golden Age, Asimov-type stuff.)

[satsuma]

light spoilers (like, on par with the official book blurbs) inside

It’s been a few years, and I read them all in a row so I may be getting what happens in which book a bit confused, but my broad recollection is that the first book was straightforward but enjoyable “exploring uninhabited alt-earths”, while the second introduced non-human “primitive” humanoids which I was a little ‘hope this doesn’t go in a gross direction 😬’ about but not enough to drop the series. Book four is, by memory, when things did indeed start going in some gross directions, with some extra bonus eugenics coming from a 2nd introduced group—the Next who are ‘hyper-evolved’ humans (as a result of the stepping process i think? forget the exact details). Anyway as a disabled person, my tolerance for sci-fi exploring eugenics as a neat thought experience is….low and I also found it to be quite out of character for Terry

[extrapenguin]

Oh I already encountered the Next, and yeah, in addition to the eugenics, they were IIRC somehow even more annoying than the rest of the cast. But yeah if it sucks too much I'll drop it.

[satsuma]

I hope it works better for you then it did for me, haha

[independence1776]

I've read Blindsight. It turned me off scifi for years. I'm very thankful I regained my love of scifi but I do not recommend that book.

[extrapenguin]

Oh huh, how come? I've heard a lot of praise for its innovative aliens, but that's it.

[independence1776]

I honestly don't remember exactly why anymore; I read it shortly after its publication.

[flowersforgraves]

I have issues with A Memory Called Empire (which I'm willing to discuss privately) and won't be reading more of the author's work. I really enjoyed Wandering Earth when I read it about a year ago.

[extrapenguin]

I'll keep that in mind wrt Wandering Earth! Did you read The Three-Body Problem as well, or just WE?

[flowersforgraves]

Yes, I read Three Body Problem probably about six years ago. I think a lot of it went over my head and should probably reread it.