Moving over from Reddit, I don’t want to just lurk here, so I thought I’d introduce myself by mentioning the last science fiction novels I read along with how I enjoyed them. I just reread what I wrote and I believe they are spoiler-free, though I may be corrected on that point.
I just finished Translation State by Ann Leckie, and overall I’d say that I enjoyed it. Interesting characters and alien species (particularly the Presger) told at an interesting pace that eschewed typical action-centric plotting. My one real complaint was that the last quarter of the book felt like it ran into a wall for me, forcing the characters suddenly into a restricted space that felt like it was all about placing the various characters into different combinations to force the dialogues that the author wanted to happen before the end of the book. That felt clumsy to me and I found myself tempted to skip pages.
A few books before that I had read Titanium Noir by Nick Harkaway. I have a long history with hardboiled/noir fiction and the sci-fi variants, but I have tended to avoid it for a long time just because I grew tired of it through overexposure. But between how much I enjoyed Harkway’s Gnomon and the rave reviews for Titanium Noir this was an easy pick-up and I’m glad I did pick it up, because I loved it and was driven to finish it in a few reads. Harkaway does an exceptional job of creating his own hardboiled atmosphere and characters, coming up with his own spin on the trope-y patois made relevant to its particular setting and wrapping it all around an excellent investigation into where our haves vs have-nots society is heading with his concept of Titans. Not a long read, but a particularly enjoyable one. I see how it could easily turn into sequels, but personally I’m really happy for this to be a terrific one-and-done.
A few books before that was Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Infinity Gates. I think I’m not alone in saying that his Children of series is among my favorite science fiction of all time. I haven’t read anything else by him that I was into until this. It’s not conceptually as amazing as the Children of books (for me at least), but I found it a good actiony yarn that has a fresh and very neat spin on the now-tired multiverse concept, something which also allows it to avoid needing to come up with some broken explanation for ftl travel so it could have radically different settings and species.
A handful of books before that one, my next-previous sci fi read was the remarkable A Half-built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys, which is really stellar science fiction by my tastes. Great and big ideas in regards to aliens, gender and climate response, bringing both Butler’s Xenogenesis and Robinson’s Ministry for the Future strongly to mind though not in any way aping them. In fact I think Emrys one-upped Robinson in respect to her incorporation of how the tech of social networks and communications might evolve (including using AI/algorithms responsibly to support the mechanisms rather than guide them) and be used to form non-state governance, mutualism and corporate resistance centered around dealing with climate change and environmental restoration. I REALLY want there to be watershed networks and given my geography I look forward to being a part of the Chesapeake Watershed.
This is a book that made me think a lot, and beyond that it worked on me with its use of personal pronouns. It’s far from the first stuff I’ve read that makes a point of upending traditional gender pronouns (I think Xenogenesis may be my first significant encounter with that long ago), but the degree and the rapid fluidity of the usage here (all required by the story I should note) definitely challenged my reading flow due to my old man conditioning. At some point during my read, though, that friction receded. I’m not saying I had no issues at all with the writing (some of which I recall was in regards to character motivations I found bit sudden and/or baffling and unsupported to me), but this was Emrys’ book, not mine, and for something this inspired and beautifully-executed I’d feel pretty petty for nit-picking over what are ultimately personal choices. This is exceptional science fiction that I highly recommend.
I want to read Translation State, I’ve loved Ann Leckie’s other books. But I have a bunch of other books ahead of it on my TBR.
Several of which are Adrian Tchaikovsky books, as it happens!
Right now I’m reading the last book in The Expanse series, Leviathan Falls. (I know, I’m late getting round to it.)
Tchaikovsky’s output is kind of stunning, especially given just how good I find so much of his stuff, how memorable. “We’re going on an adventure!”
Children of Time was one of the best books I’ve ever read. I hope you enjoy it when you get around to it!
I recently read On The Loop by J.D. Robinson. It was okay. Interesting enough to finish it I suppose but it wasn’t as satisfying as I had hoped.
Before that I finished The Ministry of the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson. I really liked the concept of the book but I think the storylines were a bit thin. It’s Climate Fiction as much as scifi and if you want to learn more about the cutting edge of climate technology and how to save the planet, this book has a nice format that will teach you a lot.
Prior to that I re-read Iain M. Banks’ Culture Series (most of them). These are classics and I highly recommend The Player of Games if you haven’t read any of his work. I think his final book, The Hydrogen Sonata, might be my favorite. My mind dwells on it.
I’m currently working on the culture series. Apparently the first book in the series is considered the worst, though I didn’t hate it. I’m looking forward to reading the rest. I started The Player of Games but I haven’t been reading much lately so I think I’ll have to re-start it when I pick it back up.
Prior to that I read the entire Revelation Space series including all the side stories. I really enjoyed most of them.
No sci-fi I’ve read has compared to The Expanse unfortunately. I’m still looking for something that grabs me in the same way.
I started with The Player of Games and that was a great way for me. I think that was when it actually came out, so it’s been a while since I read that series but I absolutely loved it.
I wasn’t crazy about The Expanse with the first book but it just kept growing on me and ended up one of my very favorites. And the same thing happened with the tv adaption. Truly amazing.
The Expanse series was great! I watched S1 then went back and read the first back. After that I kept ahead of the show (and have since finished the book series).
People complain about Consider Phlebas because it’s told from the perspective of someone outside the Culture. I think it’s a really good book and one of my favorite of the series. There are others that are more turgid or whose themes don’t strike me as deeply.
Consider Phlebas is a great book, activist who says otherwise can come and fight me!
I ended up loving Ministry. The way it was written felt like it was putting together moments to evoke more of a history of events rather than developing a rich narrative around a few characters. The individual human characters were less important than the development of official and non-official policy that grew through the book, seeing how it all might happen. It really worked for me in this case.
I read it a few months after having read Stephenson’s Termination Shock, which I really didn’t care for. I feel like his dialogue and sensibilities about characters and society haven’t really moved since the early 90s, except to get progressively more weirdly monarcho-libertarian. I think I’m finally done picking up his new books out of habit.
I think your analysis of Ministry is spot on, specifically the way the characters are defined. That’s something that I felt a disconnect with and I think a major criticism from most people.
I liked Translation State as well, though for me, the midsection was the drag. I noticed she started doing a lot of time skips and admittedly during that point there wasn’t a lot going on, but it got tedious. Finally they got to the Treaty station and then things picked back up again. I know she was developing the character’s internal world and opinions and expectations, but with how mysterious the Presger faction is and all the talking around a point – it dragged for me.
Fair enough. The pacing was definitely unconventional.
