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Origin is the third in a trilogy but what's kind of funny about your fear of reading it out of order is that the trilogy involves three thematically linked novels that take place in alternate universes. So you could read them in any order. I read them in order and loved the first, 'Time', the most. There's also a collection of stories in the same universe (universes?) called Phase Space. I find Baxter's prose pretty dry but his combination of extreme Hard SF with sense of wonder is great.

On the positive you are a normal appearing guy, so viewers will not be turned off by you. You appear to have acceptable video and audio set up. You come across as intelligent. Aesthetics are important, so consider your background. It’s cliched I know, but “Top 10’s” are good clickbait, so consider those from time to time when the breadth of your reading expands. In my opinion, since your interest is older SF, you might consider a modern to vintage comparison. “If you liked ‘Genetation Ship’ then read….” Kind of thing. Give it time and experiment. All the best on your endeavors

I like your videos, but I felt you needed to focus on themes to grow from the generic. This idea is the perfect avenue. My other fav booktubers have referenced that compilation, but have chosen to not integrate the books into a tbr. Keep up the good work.

Great idea! Looking forward to future videos on this topic!

I think it’s a good idea to put some structure behind a reading schedule. I could sure use one! 😂 This list however , while it’s chuck full of important books, wouldn’t work for me. I find that while I love all of SF my favorite titles (with exceptions) tend to be from the period this list does not cover; books like: Fire upon the Deep, House of Suns, Children of Time, Player of Games etc. Happy reading!

Love Drowned World! Hope you enjoy

More Than Human is a beautiful book, arguably Sturgeon's magnum opus. I loved it and highly recommend it.

Slightly disappointed with myself after checking that 100 list - read 37 (maybe 40) of the 100 - My top 10 choices from that list (not in order would be Earth Abides by George R. Stewart (1949) The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke (1953) The End of Eternity by Isaac Asimov (1955) The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester (1956) The City and the Stars by Arthur C. Clarke (1956) The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham (1957) Way Station by Clifford D. Simak (1963) Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes (1966) Orbitsville by Bob Shaw (1975) Timescape by Gregory Benford (1980) (sorry 11 listed) :-)

There's a graphic novel version of Gibson's Alien 3 screenplay as well you might be interested in. It's a shame David Fincher had so much studio interference while making the film, the Assembly cut is about as close as we'll ever likely get to what he was aiming towards. Good luck with the top 100 challenge, it should give you a good overview of a wide range of SF novels.

If you have time you should take a look at Brian Lee Durfee’s top 100 science fiction novels. I think he forgot about the 4 Hyperion novels.😀

I have found the list on a website called Worlds Without End. Looks fabby! I have only read a few of these so I am looking forward to discovering some great tales. Cheers!

Like the idea of creating structure using the top 100. You should be in for a really good reading year!

Great review! I have to give Demolished Man a shot at some point. The book has been sitting on my shelf for quite some time. 😂

Great channel!

Jack I love that you are showing us all the different cover art, please always do this it is so much fun to see it all. I bet you get 500 soon!

I did not have any luck with Bester. Didn't like Stars, My Destination at all. How similar would you say The Demolished Man is to Stars (other than the formating quirk you mentioned)? I want to give Bester a fair shot, but I'm hesitant.

Your review was spot on. Babel-17 was a 5 star book for me, but it took me a while to figure out why, but essentially, Delany's writing was more performance than text for me, and I enjoyed it in the way you enjoy a concert more than listening to the record, if that makes sense. A definite "Masterwork!"

Hello there really nice review! I have never read this novel and have added it to the old TBR. Quick question, where did the art included in the thumbnail come from? It's really lovely!

I might have to read this it sounds good, great review as always!

Great review! Read it last month. Brillant in many regards! The world-building, for one, is top-notch, and you are just dropped into it, no build up; info-dumps, if any, are minimal. Delany does a great job balancing action, characters, and ideas into a neat package.

This book sounds great! Fortunately I have a SF Masterworks edition sat (unread!) on my shelves. One day 🤞

I was scared off by Dhalgren, maybe I should pick this one up?

I'm a big Delany fan and have read all of his science-fiction and fantasy works multiple times; Babel-17 is an excellent early novel of his, nice review! I don't know if you've read any of his other books, but 'Nova' is a good starting point for his later period, which includes one of my favorite novels in any genre, 'Dhalgren'.

Listening to your sinopsis it reminded me Arrival by Ted Chiang where military and business of deciphering alien languages were present. More books to read!

I loved Rydra Wong and the ragtag crew she acquires! I was glad to hear you mention Silverberg’s A Time of Changes as a comp title. Every time I hear someone mention the premise of that book, it reminds me of Babel-17. Excellent review! ✨

I finished my first read of The Day of the Triffids a week ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. Added more John Wyndham on my to be read list!

Man, this made me want to re-read “triffids”. It’s been 20 years. Fantastic review 👏

I always thought the 'cosy catastrophe' label a little strange for a novel in which everyone has gone blind and sentient killer plants walk the earth.

Great review. Yes, the fragile thin veil that is holding civilization together, well put. Besides everything you mention, I also really like the moral dilemma that the main character has to go through when deciding how or if he could help some of the survivors. Just finished To Open the Sky yesterday and excited for our chat.

I just finished Triffids a couple of days ago and quite enjoyed it. Thoughts about the thin veveer of civilization, by now almost a cliche, are pretty spot on given its 1951 release date. I found the book reminiscent of Wells War of the Worlds in tone. I did find the ending a bit abrupt but overall an excellent read. By the way, I also just finished Midwich Cuckoo and enjoyed that as well though not as much as Triffids. It also had an very abrupt ending. Is this a Windhym trait? Cheers!

Hah! the Walking Dead tv show borrowed this book’s beginning!! I look forward to your collaboration! You teased this book just enough where I want to read it.😀

Well explained. I feel this sense of loss due to the breakdown of society is directly related to WWII. Wyndham served and saw how the veneer of civilization, the infrastructure of a nation, can be destroyed. In this way I find ‘Triffids’ to ultimately be an uplifting novel. Look forward to further Wyndham reviews!

10:20 - in CoT, the timeline covers a couple thousand years, not decades.

"Ordinary people" she said, "can see only a little bit. They can't change much or go any higher than they are, but you're a genius. You’ll keep going up and up, and see more and more. And each step will reveal worlds you never knew existed". I really liked Flowers for Algernon too. So many themes explored in a relatively short book. I've listened to Downward to the Earth on audiobook but need to actually read it to do it justice. I've read The Man in the Maze which I really enjoyed and would recommend it if you haven’t read it already. As for Neuromancer, I think I got used to the style by the 2/3 mark but loved the language he used. I've enjoyed Gibson's prose in other works and really should re-read Neuromancer. It's stuck with me ever since because of it's sheer inventiveness. Solid ranking, well presented 👍

Very nice! I have Winter's Children on my winter TBR.

Nostrilia is a book I’m going to read at some point.; I’m glad you liked it. The other two I’ve never heard about. Thanks for the mention! 🙌

I'm a big fan of Cordwainer Smith's short stories but yet to read Norstrilia - sounds intriguing

Once you finish Hyperion Cantos, I highly recommend "Sun eater" series - thats one of my favourites of all time. It is somewhat inspired by Dune and Hyperion, but unique in its own way.

Late 60’s and 70’s silverberg is my fave period. Thorns, man in the maze, downwards to the earth, nightwings, shadrach in the furnace, dying inside. So good!

Hi Jack, the McAuley book Red Dust is one of his earlier books, the illustration is by Jim Burns. I have the hardback which has a larger, or wider perspective, version of the same image. Those Aldiss covers are my favourite livery. Or at least joint favourite with the 1970s NEL editions which have the Bruce Pennington covers. Nice little haul there. 👍

Cordwainer Smith's writing is as awesome as his pen name.

Great video!

Can't wait to hear what you thought of The Eyes of Heisenberg. I read a reprint edition of The Dosadi Experiment / The Eyes of Heisenberg and am curious about what others thought. I hope someday you read The Hair Carpet Weavers by Andreas Eschbach, because I'd like to hear your opinion on that one, too. And thanks for reminding me to read some Aldiss!

Nice haul! I have no mouth and I must scream is good, very good. From PKD I’d recommend Ubik and Do Androids dream of Electric Sheep? But I really liked Maze of Death as well. Happy reading.

This was my first SF read when I was 14 or 15. I read the first 3 and Enders Shadow back in the day. I really liked them as a kid and I'm going revisit them soon and try and read the first 4 Enders books since I've never read Children of the Mind. Great review.

PKD's Ubik, and Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, are the ones to read.

Looking forward to you talking about Smith’s book. Great haul, all good authors. Glad to see so many short story collections.