Looking to start new series for the coming year (second poll). Can you help me out #Bookstodon? Because you can only have for poll topics on Mastodon, this is the second poll asking for recommendations. I'll take the top two from both polls and do a final four poll. Go to the comments for a link to the first poll.
@seanbala@bookstodon
A year ago I did a series of polls regarding space operas so that I could get some ideas on what to prioritize in my reading. Below are the final results. The Expanse won, in case you're curious. I know I don't need to point out there was nothing scientific about my polls. Also, I'm currently reading both The Expanse series and the Three Body Problem series and they're both good. I personally would recommend the latter, though.
@seanbala@bookstodon
Foundation trilogy - in many ways feels dated now, and a lot of people read only the 1st book and give up. Get to the 3rd book, though, where are protagonist is a teenage girl who is definitely the smartest person in the room except for the shadowy second foundation. Get thru the whole trilogy by taking it in context of time it was written - and then when you read those others, you'll see how much was influenced by this Golden Age trilogy.
@seanbala@bookstodon I'd like to also suggest Ringworld, by Larry Niven, and The Pleiocene Saga, by Julian May. (They're older works, sir, but they check out ...)
@bookstodon@seanbala
I think all of these are overrated, but I like character and immersive atmosphere, and all of these are about big ideas and complex plot.
If you’re into physics, go for the 3 body problem, if you’re into terraforming and politics, mars. If space opera is your thing and you don’t mind body horror, be expansive, and if you want the foundations of late 20th C U.S. science fiction…
@justabaldguy@seanbala@bookstodon Agreed. The first Expanse was a clever blend of Science Fiction, Film Noir and Detective story. After that it kinda fell back into a bit of the Wild West format of Sci Fi. Thought the characters were well developed and kept me engaged enough to read until the end.
In saying that I just re-read Foundation and I felt Asimov was similarly ‘keeping it going’ a bit with the later books.
@seanbala@bookstodon the expanse is great. I did a dive through the classics a couple of years back and did the foundation books. I think the concept of psycho history bugged me as a historian.
@thehomespundays@seanbala@bookstodon psychohistory is what happens when you assume the social sciences function the same way as the physical ones do (cf. the worst excesses of classical economics)
@seanbala@bookstodon this year I did The robot series, galactic empire series and the Foundation series in the order recommended by Asimov. I really enjoyed it
@seanbala@bookstodon the Expanse is my all-time favorite series of any genre. I can't say enough good things about it. Realistic, complex characters, interwoven stories and plots throughout all nine books, and add-on novellas with great backstory. I've read some or all the others in your poll, the Three Body Problem is excellent. I couldn't get into the Kim Stanley Robinson series. I actively disliked the first Foundation book because there are zero women in it.
@Jennifer@seanbala@bookstodon yeah, I'm with you. The Expanse is just so much fun, especially the first couple The first one is an amazing amalgamation of mystery / sci-fi / mysticism.
@seanbala please stop doing these irrelevant polls using generic hashtags. You've done your homework already, you found four candidates. Well done! Now, just read all of them.
@alien I realized afterwards that the responses to both polls were re-sent to the Bookstodon group. I should have removed that in my replies. I'm sorry if you were bothered - it is really meant to be quite a light-hearted set of polls. Kind of at a crossroads with reading right now and thought I might ask. I'll be asking one more poll and you welcome to mute me for a week if it bothers you.
Add comment