I tried reading Consider Phlebas by Iain Banks but couldn’t get more than a few pages in to it. It got great reviews so it’s just not my cup of tea 🫖.
Instead I started The Lies of the Ajungo by Moses Ose Utomi and am liking it so far. #amreading@bookstodon
@CuriousMagpie@bookstodon I couldn't get through PHLEBAS but I got further than you did. There's something about the rhythm of his writing that doesn't work for me. I did like the idea of THE CULTURE and it's various forms and how non-CULTURE civilizations were struggling to fight it. I read another Banks novel and didn't have the same issue. PHLEBAS wasn't my cup of tea either.
In contrast, Cory Doctorow's THE BEZZLE and LOST CAUSE are great. Or you might like STARTER VILLAIN for something lighter and more fun.
@mvilain@CuriousMagpie@bookstodon "Consider Phlebas" is kind of a slog to get into. If you ever want to give Banks another try, "Player of Games" or "Excession" move better and provide interesting entry points to the Culture. I think 'Use of Weapons' tilts way too far toward the grimdark end of things to be a good entry point. I can't judge the later books -- I was too familiar with the Culture (and Banks) by the time I encountered them.
I would also recommend Player of Games as a good starting point to the Culture novels. My book group enjoyed it including one member who'd previously tried and not liked Consider Phlebas.
@mvilain@bookstodon I adore Scalzi’s (mostly but not always) raucous style and have read all his works. I’ve tried Doctorow a few times but he doesn’t appeal - as a fiction writer - for me.
I’ve been reading SFF since the early 70s and have dipped into most writers and have developed a good sense of what holds my interest.
@CuriousMagpie@bookstodon Cory's work has a lot of tech thrown in, almost to Tom Clancy levels. Some of it gels. Some doesn't. William Gibson's can tell a story in fragments that you have to connect together for yourself. It's ingenious how he does that with his spare prose. Pity he had nothing to do with THE PERIPHERAL on Apple TV.
I grew up on Heinlein, Clark, Niven, and Asimov in the 70s too. And suffered through the subgenre wars ("That's not Hard SF."). It wasn't until I was in my 40s that I read a "mainstream" mystery novel and my sister-in-law convinced me to read Jane Austin. As a reward, I have her a copy of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES for Christmas which I'm sure she regifted to her teenage son.
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