Ideally I'd write long and highly detailed reviews of all the books I've read and games I've played, but who's really got time for that sort of thing? Not me unfortunately so instead what we have here are mini reviews - a line or two at most - of the books I've read so far in 2023-2024. I'm not going to give many details of the books themselves, this is really just intended to capture my immediate thoughts, and how I felt after finishing the book. It's probably worth mentioning that even if I didn't particularly like the book, then that's not to say it's bad (Old Man's War aside), it's just that it didn't work for me this time. The first time I read The Centauri Device I wasn't really taken with it, and since then it's become one of my very favourite books.
If you're so inclined I'm also on Goodreads, although I don't usually bother to post reviews there (Old Man's War aside, couldn't help myself with that one):
Link to my profile on Goodreads
Currently reading: The Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe, and The Big Book of Cyberpunk volume 1 (various authors)
I don't read a lot of fantasy and this isn't going to change that. Despite being interesting and engaging at the outset, it just becomes tedious and dull, while at the same time becoming ever less plausible. Racism and imperialism is bad, something that we should all know by now, and no one should need this book to tell them that.
Slightly challenging read, and it took a while to get started with this, but glad I persisted as it really picks up and there's a lot of different things going on. Scarily prescient about the current state of the world, especially given that it was written in 1968. Fully expect to re-read this and get even more from it the next time around.
Three short stories, one good, one fine, and one that I ended up skipping. Didn't really enjoy this as much as the other John Brunner that I've read so far.
Stunningly piece of writing about an alternative future England. I don't know how whether it's just me or that I'm English (sorry), but the writing just somehow resonates emotionally. I have no doubt that I'll read this again soon, and fully expect it to be just as good if not better the second time around.
This was great, and in several ways reminded me of Cage of Souls.
Really good, although I struggled with a little towards the end.
Didn't have particularly high expectations for this going in - perhaps just from the cover art, or perhaps because I thought it might be similar to the The World Swappers which I didn't really enjoy. No need to worry though, turned out to be a great little alternative history / time travelling shenanigans affair that worked much better than I was expecting it to.
Saddens me to say that I didn't really enjoy this. From the memory I enjoyed the first Prefect Dreyfus book, was less impressed with the second, and this continued that trend. Was mostly either bored or confused as I couldn't remember much of what had happened in the first and second books of which this is a direct continuation. Picked up a little towards the end but still disappointed anyway. Not the best of Alastair Reynolds at all.
Possibly the first book I've ever read by Brian Aldiss (although I may well have forgotten something from years ago), and it's an absolute stormer. Discounting High Rise as I've read that several times before, this is probably my favourite book of the year so far - although Frontera comes very very close.
Another short one from John Brunner, but far more enjoyable than The World Swappers. Action packed yet dirty and gritty vision of Mars, with better setting and plot.
As usual with Blake Crouch this doesn't take long to get through at all. An enjoyable although mostly unoriginal multiverse tale. Credit where it's due through, I did like the twist which kicked in just as I was starting to get bored of it. Somewhat disappointing resolution. I guess this is "pop" SF.
Chunky book packed with ideas all over the place. Struggled to finish it despite really enjoying it, which says more about my ability to concentrate than anything else. Read later that it was composed of a number of shorter stories which perhaps explains why I found it harder to focus on what was going on than might otherwise have been the case.
Four short stories, mostly forgettable apart from the excellent title story that was considering the future of writing.
Not the usual science fiction, and if it weren't for the excellent Never Let Me Go and Klara and the Sun I probably wouldn't have even thought about reading this. Kazuo Ishiguro is just a brilliant writer however, and so I gave it a go, and yeah, it's brilliant.
Dense and tightly packed, vaguely cyber-punk vision of a future dominated by massive corporations after the collapse of national governments, and a mission to mars. Really enjoyed this.
Odd little book, and not really quite up to the same standard as the other John Brunner books that I've read previously. It's not a bad book though, and the core premise is interesting, but overall it's just short and everything seems to resolve itself in a very neat and simplistic manner.
Re-reading Arthur C. Clarke is always a joy, although I must admit to finding to finding some of the relationships and language a little dated - perhaps that's not so surprising giving that the book is a ridiculous 70 years old. Great book.
Another re-read of one of my favourite le Carré novels. Nearly sixty years old, yet in a rapidly fading United Kingdom it still resonates although perhaps not in the way originally intended.
Garbage, do not read. Got to within a hundred pages of the and even then I couldn't be bothered to finish it. I don't mind a bit of Heinlein - Starship Troopers and The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress are great books - but this is something else entirely. I can't even be bothered to go into all of the things that are wrong with it. Probably the first book I've come across where I'm actually considering throwing it away to ensure that no else has to endure it.
Outstanding, incredibly disturbing, and definitely not to be missed. Have read this several times now, and I think it gets better each time.
Despite finding it rather slow going in the middle, and overlooking some of the more dubious attitudes of the time (yes, no excuse, but I was surprised to find it first published in 1953), this turns out to be a good examination of how unlikely we are as a species to be able to deal with any sort of genuinely existential threat. Given the current state of the world and the impending climate disaster, it seems particularly relevant.
Disappointing - didn't really get on with this and not sure why. Knew it was part of a series before going in, so it's not that. The world-building and setting was all fine, but I was just never really taken with any of the characters, and the action sequences were all a bit tedious. It felt kind of like a Star Trek movie, but not one of the good ones.
Second time I've read this, and I'm still not completely sure that I know what it was about. I mean, I understood and enjoyed the story, and I like the writing, but I still feel as if I'm missing something somewhere.
Interesting book - as I approached the end I was feeling a little underwhelmed, probably as it hadn't really gone where I'd expected it to. However, despite there not being any major twist at the end, by the time the book had finished it became rather hard to stop thinking about.
A disturbing and all too plausible future, which gets quite dark in places. Disappoints slightly due to the cliffhanger ending, but good enough that I've have to read the sequel sometime soon.
While this was somewhat shorter than I expected, it's still a stunning and quite disturbing work. On this first read I didn't quite enjoy it as much as High Rise, but that's on me rather than the book. Ballard, as always, is excellent.
Enjoyable enough read, but found it ultimately rather disappointing, probably because I've been spoilt by The Inverted World and The Prestige. Is really a two separate stories, and they do come together by the end, but there was no major shift or twist that really made it all worth while. A good portrait of future England in the face of climate change but didn't quite take it anywhere. Might even have been better as two stories without the highly improbable "sci-fi" linking them together.
Outstanding collection of short stores - some are obviously better than others, but there is nothing bad here, and the good stories are very very good. Probably the first short collection I've ever read where I've immediately gone back and re-read a couple of the stories again just to experience them for a second time while already knowing how they're going to turn out.
Another book that seems to have received glowing reviews but probably only from people who haven't read a lot of science fiction. I thought it started off really well and was interesting while moving along at a decent pace, but somehow failed to get anywhere particularly interesting.
Not as good as the Forever War books (but then what is?) but still a fun and fast moving read.
I've been searching for this book for YEARS! I've always had this vague memory of a book with children escaping from a dystopian city and suddenly there it is, referenced in some thread on Reddit. Bought it immediately, re-read it, and it's still a great book. Seems to be categorised as being for "older children", but that seems somewhat unfair, and I think anyone could enjoy this. It's a shame that this has never been made into a film or TV series while so many other inferior books have. Along with a handful of others, this is probably responsible for getting me addicted to science fiction as child.
A great collection of short stories or novellas (or whatever else they might be called) - as you might expect from them being Hugo winners. Harlan Ellison's "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" - which I have read several times before - was probably still the standout for me.
Being entirely honest, I struggled with this. It was okay, but I somehow didn't enjoy it as much as Roadside Picnic. I know there's a lot more going on here than just a plain sci-fi novel and so perhaps there's context that wasn't obvious to me. I suspect that I'll take to it better on a re-read which I will definitely do at some point.
My first Le Guin, and a great book. There's far more going on here than I summarise, and it's just fantastic. A book that I expect to re-read many times. Annoyingly it seems as though I now need to read the rest of the Hainish Cycle novels.
Not my usual science fiction this, but I'm always ready to read pretty much anything that Orwell has written.
It's the Stainless Steel Rat, what else is there to say? Not a lot really, they're more or less all the same and I absolutely loved these as a kid. They don't really hold up when compared to most serious books, but they're still kind of fun.
I don't usually do books in a series, but this is worth making an exception for. I didn't enjoy it as much as Hyperion, but it's still definitely worth reading. I'll probably read the final two books at some point, but this also feels like a good place to stop.
Good grief, it's non-stop action from start to finish. It reads a bit like Michael Bay making a X-Files episode written by Michael Chrichton. Not as good as Recursion but not bad either, just not particularly original.
Oh dear. Can't decide if the author was trying to make a point or just be funny. It doesn't matter, just don't read it. I'd expected better from such a well known author.
Outstanding from every angle, and another, immediate contender for my book of the year. A near future that scarily is all too believable, and full of fascinating ideas beyond the Octopuses that form the core of the story. Strongly recommended for anyone, no interest in science-fiction required.
Oh dear, this wasn't very enjoyable at all. While it rattles along at a reasonable rate, it's all faintly ridiculous. Perhaps it's just a product of its time, or perhaps because it's a fixup of some short stories - either way it doesn't leave a good impression. Reading it directly after The Stars My Destination definitely doesn't do it any favours either.
Featuring an amoral anti-hero set on revenge this is another stunning book, particularly when you consider that it was first published in 1956 (as "Tiger! Tiger!"). Absolutely nails the ending in a way that so many books fail to do. Possibly my favourite book of the year so far.
Another old book that was far better than the cover might have suggested. Not too long either, and one of the few books that I finished and was tempted to immediately read again. I didn't of course as there are too many other books waiting to be read. Will definitely read this again though.
Also brilliant.
Brilliant.
Short, concise, and brilliant.
Started off well but turned into a bit of a struggle where I didn't really understand what was going on, and by the end I wasn't really enjoying it at all. Having said that, I wonder if it might improve on a re-read, and I will re-read this eventually.
Despite really liking Zodiac and Snowcrash, I stopped reading Neal Stephenson after Cryptonomicon, as the books seemed to be getting longer and longer. Termination Shock reminds me why - it felt very long with the occasionally interesting parts swamped by various bits of randomness and over wordage, and by the end I was just rushing through to get it finished. In short I found it to be OK, some of it to be troubling, and a lot of it to be boring filler.
It's Philip K. Dick again! I find it difficult to compare Philip K. Dick books with those from other writers because his style is so unique. He might not be the best writer, and he often seems to struggle with endings, but it's really the journey that's so different from anything else. He writes in a way that can just turn your brain inside out with a single sentence, then do it again, and again. Overall this is in my opinion one of his best books, even if at the end you'll left wondering what on earth it was about. Required reading.
I don't see much point in arguing about genre, but this is a tricky one to label (so why bother?). I've seen it described as SF, Fantasy, and even horror, but I don't think it really fits solely as either of these. Fundamentally it's just an excellent story of two feuding magicians in 19th century England, told in an ingenious way through their individual stories and those of their descendants with twists and turns all along the way. Recommended for anyone, whether a fan of SF or not.
Found this to be even more disappointing than "...And All The Stars A Stage". Perhaps I just expected more as it's a very well known book that I've wanted to read for a long time, but again there's a man - just the one this time, all the others are useless - who keeps on saving the day with his astute observations and dogged persistence. There are some women in it too, but they don't do anything important. Again wasn't paying any attention by the end, and couldn't shake the thought that it was all entirely ridiculous.
After a promising start with a setup featuring a female dominated society, it just turned out that men are better after all and saved the day. Or something like that, I was bored and wasn't really paying attention by the end Maybe it was too just clever for me, but I don't think so, I think it was just bad.
Given the number of positive reviews I was expecting great things from this, and initially it all goes very well. Lovely writing and intriguing character threads had me deeply invested into how everything was going to link up. Eventually the time travel mechanic is unveiled (I don't that's a spoiler) and it all heads rapidly downhill. I can't put it better than Constance Grady in the Vox review which says that "the loveliness of Mandel’s sentences, though, stands in jarring contrast to the clumsiness of her plotting". Perhaps to someone who hasn't read much science-fiction then this might be a good place to start, but there are just so many better books on the theme of time travel, that it ultimately ends up being quite unsatisfying.
Although showing it's age in some ways - written in 1957 so perhaps that's really not surprising - this is a great alien invasion tale that doesn't hang around, and was a good fun read start to finish. Re-read The Day of the Triffids last year and found it slightly hard going (although that may well just be due to it not being as I'd remembered it), but since then have loved everything else I've read by John Wyndham.
A rare instance where I couldn't be bothered to finish the book - made it to the halfway point and then gave up as I really wasn't enjoying it, and having consulted with some friends and Wikipedia it seemed clear that my experience wasn't going to improve with the remaining half. I've seen this book recommended many times in the past as so was quite interested at the chance to actually read it. At first I didn't enjoy it all, but then after a while I got quite into it and really wanted to know where it was going. Unfortunately boredom soon set in, and it then there seemed to be nothing left apart a long set of semi-meaningless philosophical musings, and some arguably questionable parenting.
Somewhat implausible spy related shenanigans and the theft of an implausibly amazing new Russian military aircraft. Loved this as a kid, and while it seems a bit daft and one dimensional now, it was still entertaining. Should probably try and rewatch the film, but I suspect that the special effects may not have aged well.
Excellent future(ish) dystopia that's brim full of ideas and unlike many other recent examples feels all too plausible. Was so invested and keen to get to the end that I stayed up far too late one night and had to re-read the final chapters again the next morning as I'd been too tired and they hadn't made any sense. Strongly suspect that this book will improve even further on a re-read, and it's one that I'll definitely be returning to soon.
Eight short stories from A.E. Van Vogt, Damon Knight, Harlan Ellison, and others.
Arthur C. Clarke Award for best science fiction of the year in 2016, and it's not hard to see why. Overall I think I probably enjoyed Cage of Souls and Dogs of War more, but this is still a stunning piece of work, and ended up in a rather different place than I was expecting. Annoyingly it means that I'll to read others in the series now (even though that's not necessary - I think this book stands perfectly well one its own) and I generally hate it when that happens.
Really struggled with this one, and nearly gave up with it a couple of times before finishing. Found it to be a confusing read that was difficult to engage with, and I often felt that I didn't really understand what was going on. It definitely improves towards the last quarter or so, but I was already bored and fed up by then and just wanted to get it finished. It's probably my fault for rushing through it and I may feel differently if re-reading, but I think life's just too short for books where you don't actively enjoy the reading experience.
I've always enjoyed Bruce Sterling's sci-fi work and this was also excellent, although obviously very different as non-fiction. A fascinating detailing of the history, characters, and events of hacker subculture in the early nineties. It's quite scary how this book is over thirty years old now, yet still feels very relevant today.
Nice quick read, which doesn't hang around. Sets up an interesting time travel mechanic and then runs with it and never really slows down. At times it was hard to track some of the details, but not enough to interfere with the enjoyment of the book. I felt the ending was perhaps a little anti-climatic but then you can't have everything. Now need to read some more Blake Crouch.
Big Harry Harrison fan, loved the Stainless Steel Rat books as a kid, and they're still not bad even today. This on the other hand was a bit of a struggle - it seemed overly long, dull, and lacks the humour and fun from his other work. The speculation on AI (presumably from Marvin Minsky) is interesting but in the book it all comes across as far to easy. The end of the book picks things up a bit, and there's some interesting commentary on government morality right at the very end, but not enough to make up for the rest of the book. Still love Harry Harrison though.
Hrm, interesting one this. It's simple, straightforward, and not too long which is nice. There's time travel, and it's interesting to see a book from the 1950s considering the futures of 1970 and 2000. Despite the casual sexism - which I assume was not unusual for the time - it is also at times quite forward looking, but it's difficult to get past the point that the main character "adores" his (at the time) best friend's 12 year old daughter, and ultimately arranges to sleep until she's old enough for them to get married. I've no idea if was meant to be deliberately controversial or not, but for me it almost entirely overshadowed the rest of the book. I liked the bits about the cat though.
I've always thought that I probably ought to read more Stephen King. I enjoyed the Bachman books even though I only went there for The Running Man, and have read a couple of others (so long ago that I forget which) that I remember enjoying. This however was a real disappointment - it felt like a dumbed down episode of the X-Files that somehow got stretched out way further than was necessary, and with an ending that felt entirely unsatisfactory. Perhaps it's my fault for expecting more from such a big name author, and it's not completely put me off reading more of his work, but I hope it's not as overly long winded and dull as this.
Long time Alastair Reynolds fan, but his recent space pirate material really hadn't worked for me at all. While being quite different from the harder sci-fi Revelation Space novels this was still absolutely great, and kept me hooked right the the end. Reminded me somewhat of the sadly never to be completed 1899 on Netflix.
Winner of both the Nebula and Hugo awards for best novel, and it's not hard to see why. Really enjoyed this, although I found the middle section dragged a little. Asimov's puerile breast obsession grates in the third section, but that aside it's classic sci-fi and full of great ideas.
Not read any Christopher Priest before and really loved this book. There's a real sense of "what is going on?" all the way through, and it has the common decency to come to a satisfying conclusion rather than requiring you to read through another five books in some endless series. Decided that I need to read more Christopher Priest.
Proper old-school sci-fi yet still a great read. Interesting to see how relevant the financial impacts on people's lives are today some sixty years after it was first published.
Disappointing - an interesting(ish) premise and raises some deep philosophical issues before veering away from trying to answer or even discuss any of them in any detail. Could have been better, but at least it was a quick and (very) easy read.
What is there to say, it's Philip K. Dick! It's deeply odd, involves mind altering drugs, and it's never clear what's really going on. Unusually it also comes to what I thought was quite a clean and insightful ending.
Sequel to Dogs of War, also brilliant, although perhaps it lacks the impact of the first.
Brilliant book, read it immediately.
I've never been particularly taken with Greg Bear for some reason, but the premise of the book was amazing, and the first half of this book was great, and it seemed to be really going somewhere. After that it never seemed to quite go where I expected though, and so I ultimately found it to be a bit of a disappointment. It's a well regarded book so it sounds as though I'm in a minority with this one.
Well it was better than Old Man's War, but perhaps not that much better. Another very easy read that started off really well, but somehow never got to the level that it could have done.
Err yeah, where to start? I don't normally leave reviews on Goodreads, but I really couldn't help myself with this so I'll just include it here:
Don't normally write reviews, but found this to be absolute garbage. Have read children's books with more depth. Doesn't deserve to be mentioned along with Starship Troopers and The Forever War.
Perhaps it's because I was expecting something better, and perhaps it's just not understanding why this is so well liked, but it really didn't work for me.
This is an incredibly highly rated book, and I'd put off reading it for a long time, mostly because it's the first of a series. Annoyingly it's every part as good as everyone says it is, and now I have to read the rest of the series.
The first Adrian Tchaikovsky book that I read, and it's just wonderful. Proper writing, proper ideas, loved everything about it. Even the cover art is stunning.
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