5 Science fiction books for people who don't like science fiction
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 19 มิ.ย. 2024
- Some easy introductory science fiction books for people new or unfamiliar with the genre, paired with their more hardcore alternatives.
SF fans feel free to suggest others in the comments!
Books Mentioned:
To Say Nothing of The Dog by Connie Willis / The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K Le Guin / The Left Hand of Darkness
The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham / More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon
The Blue Book of Nebo by Manon Steffan Ros / Earth Abides by George Stewart
Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang / Flowers for Algernon by Richard Keyes & Crown of Stars by James Tiptree Jr
#sciencefiction #scifi
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Just discovered your channel! Some great recommendations. I also really enjoyed The Lathe of Heaven, Stories of Your Life and The Midwich Cuckoos. Flowers for Algernon and More Than Human are on my reading list. This is the first I've heard of The Blue Book of Nebo but it definitely sounds intriguing.
Blue Book is lesser known but I really loved it, it's very light on the usual post-apoc stuff too.
Great recommendations! Sci-fi is one of my favorite genres although I often don’t read as much as I’d like. The Chrysalids by John Wyndham has been on my TBR for a long time. I’d never heard of The Blue Book of Nebo, but it sounds quite good. I’ll have to see if I can find a copy. Thanks for adding a few books to my TBR.
I hadn't either until Dewithon, but I loved it. Chrysalids is my favourite and would be the one I would recommend to people who already read lots of SF. They are very 50s though.
16:55 - Yes, Ted Chiang writes slowly, but every story of his output is a gem, and not two are alike.
However, if the goal it to introduce SciFi to uninitiated gently, I would recommend another collection, _Impossible Things_ by Connie Willis. This magnificent collection (Amazon calling it, inexplicably, "a novel") contains several stories extremely pertinent to our troubled times, such as _Even the Queen_ and _Ado._
I've read most of her novels, but never actually read any Connie Willis short stories, I'll have to check them out!
@@AaronReadABook Oh, you absolutely _have to_ ! You will see why I think them a better introduction to SciFi than Chiang, brilliant as he is.
Gateway edition (in Kindle or mass market paperback format) is only three quid on British Amazon at the moment.
This is an awesome list and thank you for leaving the names of the books in the info box. I haven’t read any of these and I like that you mention which ones are better for beginner SF readers. They all sound really interesting!
I kinda hate leaving the list because I think it should be a surprise when you are watching the video, but it is needed in this case 😁
@@AaronReadABook haha yeah, I know what you mean. I feel that way when I do my “favorite books of the year video” 😆
Still need to try Connie Willis. Currently reading the first of the Culture series by Iain M Banks. I had always thought it would be intimidating but I'm absolutely loving it.
Yeah Banks is great, and I think that series gets better and better as it goes on and becomes less traditional.
I love these recommendations! I am adding The Lathe of Heaven and Stories of Your Life and Others to my TBR right now The only book I have read by Ursula K Le Guin is The Wizard of Earthsea but that was 6+ years ago. I am excited to try out one of her books again!
I think the earthsea books as a whole are a great summary of her, as Wizard was her first ever book as it is about children, and the later ones she wrote when she was old and the characters are old. I do think Lathe is a better idea of her though as she was fully in the swing of things by then. I think you will like Chiang!
Connie Willis is brilliant! Her prose is beautiful, both intelligent and frequently hilarious. I love all her stories equally.
Really, time travel may well be the only true fiction in science fiction. All the other obstacles could be solved within the next few centuries, if we don’t kill the Earth before then.
According to the rules of English grammar, Aaron, Reed a Book, contains punctuation, so I call your channel Aaron Red a Book. Of course it’s yours to title as you please, but there is quite a lot of confusion when others refer to your videos by channel name, so it might benefit you to choose one or the other. Entirely your choice.
Thanks for the interesting content!
😺✌️
When I originally made the channel it was, Aaron Red A Book in my head, but then I would comment in lives and people would say Aaron Reed A Book out loud so it became both! I agree most SF is within the realms of physics, and that often makes it even more compelling.
I loved your recommendations! I have only read a couple of the books you recommended - I've added the rest to my TBR. 🤩. Also happy booktube channel birthday 🎉
Thanks!
I love sci fi and have had similar feedback from fellow booktubers that they aren't. I've only read Ted Cs book from your recs. These all sound great. I usually read the most sci-fi during space opera September 😊
I didn't even know that was an event! I need to fit it in with shorty September and Shaketempber somehow 😂
Thank you for this Aaron, really enjoyed it...I have not read a lot of sci-fi but remember "The Stepford Wives" and Ira Levin's "This Perfect Day" and enjoyed them however did not continue in this genre (but may pick up some of your recommendations...We did read John Wyndham's "The Chrysalids" at school...One of my favourite books of all times is Daniel Keyes' "Flowers for Algernon" but never realized it was sci-fi! Who knew? Thanks again - love your content
I've never read Levin but I always like the sound of his plots, I love the film of Rosemary's Baby too. I'm a big fan of Flowers for Algernon, I generally enjoy SF that plays with soft science like psychology.
Oh love this camera angle! Happy anniversary!!! I’m glad you’re here! I’m interested in sci fi because what I’ve read, I’ve liked! Oooh I love books about strange children and enjoyed The Day of the Triffids so I’m interested in the golden eye book and the one you mentioned after that too!!! Thank you! 🎉
Ahhh I LOVED The Blue Book of Nebo!
Wyndham's book The Chrysalids has strange children, and Chocky too. He really liked them 😂
😂 me too! My degree is in emotional impairment!!!
@@AaronReadABook Oh PS- Just requested both from the library :)
Hi Aaron. This was a delightful video! I’m relatively new to Science Fiction, so I’m always looking for recommendations. I’ve just recently been introduced to Connie Willis. I love that John Wyndham was taught in school. I have read quite a bit of H.G. Wells. I’m very interested in reading Ursula Le Guin, but I haven’t read her yet. Thanks for this video!
Yes I think it's great that you are exploring the genre! I think Le Guin would be a good one for you as she is very literary and has a wonderful style.
@@AaronReadABook I will definitely explore LeGuin! Gareth has given me some recommendations of her books too! 😊
I love this video idea and how you paired a light sci fi with one that's a little bit more science-y. If you haven't read it, I'd recommend the short story collection Invisible Planets that's translated by Ken Liu. It's translated from the Chinese and I recall a lot of the short stories being more philosophical at their core.
Sounds interesting, I read his translation of The Three-Body Problem, although I thought that book was pretty bad I don't think that was his fault.
@@AaronReadABook I've heard so many good reviews of that book but I've been very hesitant on reading it. What kind of 'bad' would you classify it as? 😅
@@ellethinks Very very bad writing and characterisation. The ideas of the book were good and interesting, but I struggled with how bad the rest of it was. Asimov and some of the classic ideas guys were pretty shocking at that stuff too though.
@@AaronReadABook yeah I get that. I can generally let it go if a book struggled in one area, but if there are multiple things done poorly it can be hard to overlook that
@@ellethinks Maybe it just didn't click with me, it was so long ago now, lots of people love it though.
This is great! Thank you for the recs. I have tried to get into SiFi with no luck. I had a neighbor who only read SF and I asked him for a few recs, but I ultimately concluded that the genre was just not for me. However, when I talk to enthusiasts of SF, everybody is SO "into" the genre that I'd like to give it another try. I like Victorian lit, so I may check out To Say Nothing of the Dog and go from there. Again, thanks for the recs!
I think when you dig into any genre there ends up being a great variety, also when SF becomes very popular they take the SF label off. Things like 1984 are SF. Most people think of Space Opera I guess.
I love this and wholeheartedly agree with what you have chosen. It's a good point that lots of people don't associate science fiction with everything that science fiction offers. Those books are great and good recommendations. I am massively tempted to do a follow up video with some more.....great stuff Aaron.
People will think they don't like science fiction but then love 1984 or other books which seems to have disassociated with it somehow. I thought when I was editing 'Gareth has probably already made this video' haha, would love to see your version!
I appreciate your recommendations. I have read very little sci fi, but I enjoy it when I read it. I am a big fan of Le Guin's sci fi and I loved To Say Nothing of the Dog. I have the Ted Chiang book you discussed, but I haven't read it yet. Apparently I need to pick it and soon because the stories sound fascinating.
Chiang is great and there are many others in that book I didn't mention, I do slightly prefer his book Exhalation too but both are great.
The only SF writer I’ve read is Connie Willis (and a Wrinkle in Time series when I was a pre-teen). I prefer a Time Travel theme; I don't care about aliens, post-apocalyptic themes, monsters, etc.
I do love a time travel book, I'm always on the look out for new ones. Wrinkle in Time is one that passed me by, I don't think it is as known in England maybe, but I plan to read that as I keep seeing good reviews of it on booktube.
Thank you for this video, Aaron. I have no experience reading science fiction, but I’m interested in getting into it. It’s cool to see Le Guin on this list. I loved her Earthsea novels, so the Lathe of Heaven seems like a natural place to start for me. And I enjoyed hearing about all the other books as well!
I love Earthsea too, I came to her fantasy after reading her SF. I think Tehanu is actually my favourite book of hers but I may be the only one 🙂
Tehanu is probably my favourite out of all the novels, though in general I think I liked Tales from Earthsea the most!
I tried to read The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K LeGuin and had to put it down because I could not figure out what was going on. 😅 The premise sounded amazing though!
It is definitely confusing in the beginning, it's unfortunate that her most famous book is the hardest one to get into 😂
I love science fiction and I certainly agree there is something for everyone. Some great suggestions here. My favourite John Wyndham is The Chrysalids. Great video 😊
The Chrysalids is probably my favourite too, and that one is more similar to More Than Human by Sturgeon, I was originally going to recommend that as I see it less often on booktube but I thought the setting was maybe a bit too weird for newbies haha.
Great idea for a video! It's funny, I don't think of travel as sci-fi (maybe it's just the ones I've read) but I love time travel in books - to the past I'd say more than the future.
I got the first one in the Connie Willis series when you talked about it ages ago - I can't start not at the beginning of a series 😂
Never found a post apocalyptic book that I enjoyed. They always feel scary and bleak.
Happy booktube birthday! 🎂
Now I'm trying to think of happy post-apocalyptic books 😂 Becky Chambers's Monk & Robot kinda fits that, it's very optimistic and humanity has become almost Buddhist. Earth Abides itself too, the world becomes better without humanity in many ways, it's like a nature book in parts. Another interesting one is City by Clifford Simak, because in that intelligent dogs take over the world. Doomsday Book is good, but it lacks the humour that is part of a lot of her stuff, it was the first one I read though and it didn't put me off.
@@AaronReadABook thanks so much for the recommendations 😊 all added to my wishlist.
@@YourTrueShelf I'm not sure you would actually like those but they are examples 😁 I actually think you would like Blue Book of Nebo, I first saw it on Heather's channel, and maybe Becky Chambers.
@@AaronReadABook 😂😂 I'm happy to give them a try!! I remember Heather and Karen saying the blue book is sooo sad though so I guess that put me off a bit.
@@YourTrueShelf it's only sad in real life ways though really. It's not like mad max. I love the idea of living off the land in rural Wales though, I would welcome that apocalypse 😂
5? I counted to 10?!😂 Thanks so much for these! Much appreciated! I haven't read much scifi at all, but I read a book a year or two ago that I guess is scifi 'cause it's set on another planet, mostly. It's The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber. I loved that book! But it's kind of about relations and life, in general. Not action packed and not just "spacey".Have you read it? I really want to read The Midwich Cuckoos, and Stories of Your Life and Others also sounds interesting. (And several more).
I've not read Faber but his books sound really weird and interesting, I'll have to look out for that one!
New Sub... you should be at 684 now 👍
The Man In The High Castle is possibly the best sci-fi book for non scifi fans
That would definitely be the PKD I would recommend. I guess all alternative history works well for people coming from a history background too. The Guns of the South by Turtledove is another interesting one.