what did you go with?
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Do you like real science in a SciFi book?
I’m about to re-read Dragon’s Egg by Robert L Forward.
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I will say this is a solid book. Probably the most laid back read of AW’s.
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I don’t know Old Man’s World.
Artemis however, I have read. My opinion, a good solid book, but not Weir’s finest work. His writing groove works best with a single(ish) protaganist, and Artemis has a lot of characters, and as such he can’t quite develop them all as well. Still a solid book. If The Martian and Hail Mary are A+ books, then Artemis is a B / B+ work.
I’m currently re-re-re-reading Fourth Wing which is more fantasy. A.K.A. sword and arrow technology age military, but with Dragons and Magic. Considerable sections of overly explicit, blow by blow, sex, which not what I’m there for, but a very good read, none the less.
AND… I just finished re-reading the Skyward series. That’s about a young girl joining a struggling human military underdog in a space fighter pilot based war. Throw in some mental powers. Good stuff, entertaining and Funny. Highly reccomend.
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I’ve read a few Scalzi books and enjoyed them. Old Man’s War was good
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The reviews are straight up bipolar.
This is what I needed to hear. Thank you! I thoroughly enjoyed both the Martian and Project: Hailmary (which i went into utterly blind–probably the best way to do it, imo). As a space cadet, I already struggle with large casts. I think this stays on the back burner for now.
Yes. Frederik Pohl is one of my favorite authors. Dragon’s Egg is now on my “to read” list–not the next in the queue. Mostly because I love tropes. And it may be the genesis that particular one. Thanks!
Awesome. Here we go!
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We should start an Intovert’s Book Club.
You know, where we all read the same books, but never ever talk about it.
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Single sentence book club:
“Meh, it was alright.”
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ive just finished operation bounce house by matt dinniman (author of the dungeon crawler carl series)
5/5 stabs. multi-generational low tech space colony farmers being invaded by earth using remote mechs the general public are piloting like its a video game, super awesome concept that was executed perfectly.
its a standalone novel with no homework needed and its decetly large but not insanely so, it has a very satisfying ending that leaves it open to a sequel but doesnt have a cliffhanger that forces a sequel to exist.
big recommend, sci fi, class war, AI, found family type shit.
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Fate Petrov has a biography i wrote audio book.
I cannot recommend The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson enough. It’s very well written epic high fantasy, and if you like it it’s a great intro to his Cosmere as well, a set of several related book series he’s writing between different planets with one underlying magic system and story. I’m on probably my fourth read through of it in three years, and still finding fun nuances I missed.
For non-fiction, A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson is a hilarious and informative record of nearly all modern science, and some of the only non-fiction I read semi-regularly
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I LOVED these. I personally started with Mistborn, then moved on to rest of his Cosmere. I especially love how he writes his magic on a simple set of Hard rules.
I would say that it’s his trashiest book. It’s not bad at all, but it’s also not as hard-core SCIENCE! as PHM or The Martian. It’s a bit pulpy, low-brow high-action fun story. If you don’t think too hard about all the tropes that make it seem all a bit Ocean’s Eleven and just enjoy the story, you’ll have a good time.
In unrelated news, is anyone else here a big Vonnegut-head? I’ve been going through pretty much everything he’s written at a decent clip.
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Not bad. Gonna hafta do all of 'em now. 
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Part of the hope was finding a new series 
I appreciate its flavor absurdity so far.
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For absurdity I thoroughly enjoyed the Tim Dorsey series. Had just caught up on all the books when he passed away
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Thoughts on The Old Man’s War (kinda spoilery.. so.)
Summary
The first three felt really complete, but I want more, right? The rest were less complete, but still good. Note, I skipped Zoe’s Tale as it was repeat story line. My big gripe though is that the conclave is well explored, at least in structure and motivation, the earth is less so, but complete enough. The Colonial Union, however… It almost seems like a throwaway character / force / entity even though it’s main storyline. For example, who or what is in charge? President? Emperor? Military Junta? I initially kind of got the impression that Phoenix colony was calling the shots, but in the later books, they’re just on the sidelines too. Really feels like a hole in the worldbuilding.
Otherwise, solid work, and enough of it that I got to spend some quality time in that world. 