PLEASE NOTE Anyone who lists the books included in this video in the comments will have themselves removed from the channel as a commentator and their post deleted. 'Lists' mean nothing without their contexts and comments. Thank you.
What I like about this channel is that it doesn’t panda to the masses by jumping on every bandwagon going, rather says it like it is and treats viewers as “grown ups” we can agree or disagree but Stephen is always true to himself. Keep the content coming
You're very kind. I simply don't care about popularity and what's 'hot', I only care about what I feel is of quality and what advances the genre- or at least keeps it afloat with some integrity and skill. I hope I continue to keep pleasing the discerning audience I'm blessed to have here.
Good Day from Arizona USA, 46 years young. I have been going through your back catalogue and love all of the videos. Comments when I am inspired. I told myself I was done with shopping until the new year two weeks ago. Ordered Beyond Apollo by Malzberg yesterday because of one of your vids. Love this video and eventually will get to Ballard and Europe in Autumn has caught my eye now
A solid list, with a few I've had on my TBR list, which will now move up in priority. For Adam Roberts 'Land of the Headless,' in particular, made a lasting impression on me, and I find myself thinking about it frequently. 'The This' is also among my 21st Century favorites.
Super interesting list. Lots of books and authors to check out. This is quite different than basically any other list on YT, with books, themes and authors there are rarely mentioned. Thank you!
Thanks- the difference comes for three reasons - I'm a professional bookseller with 40 years experience in selling SF, I've read and collected it for longer and I have an historical overview most booktubers lack. Watch more here and I'll continue to surprise you.
I got some really great recommendations from this video, so thank you for that! I had to comment as soon as you brought out Never Let Me Go. I read it for the first time last month not knowing a single thing about it (I had heard the author's name and found a copy at my local thrift store) and I have thought about it almost every day since finishing it. Immediately shot to the upper part of my favorites of all time list, not just SF. If you haven't read it, please go in blind, it truly makes the experience unforgettable imo
I've read it three times. There is a recent video on the channel- couple of months back entitled 'Game of Clones' which explores the book alongside Kate Wilhelm's 'Where Late The Sweet Birds Sang'- and I talk about the impact Ishiguro's book had on me. Please watch it...and I agree, it's a fantastic novel.
I bought and read Europe in Autumn on your recommendation and don't regret it. I enjoyed it a lot more than many books I have read recently. I find with a lot of modern science fiction I cannot keep reading due to irreconciliable differences and have to part ways. This book I easily finished. As a reader I did have a lot of problems with it, but at the end of the day none of them matter if it didn't lose me, I finished it and I appreciated the ideas. I appreciate the recommendations, thanks.
Glad you liked it. I think DH has gone off the boil a little of late, but the first three books in the sequence and his novel "The Vllages" remain faves. One thing to remember is that the SF published after the early 1990s isn't 'Modern' - Modernism as a period of Culture ended then- but 'Contemporary', so it reflects the cultural malaise of our times, when very little is new, where culture has slowed down creatively as tech has sped up. This is why this list contains few 'bestsellers', since they tend to travel paths well worn decades earlier and pander to expectations. Watch more on the channel and you'll discover the finest SF from 1950-1990, the key period in the genre.
Hi Stephen, really enjoyed the video. What strikes me most is your integrity and probably uniqueness in recommending and promoting SF works that quite frankly are largely ignored by many other book tube content creators. ok I guess this list is quite reflective that you are a UK based creator but thats not the whole story. You would be hard pushed to find many (any) of these on a top 20 SF books of the 21st C if you compiled it from numerous sources. I find this very refreshing and will add many of these to my TBR. I have only read a few of these so far, notably Dogs of War and Before Mars, both excellent.
My being British is part of this, also my age and the books I grew up reading- Wells, Wyndham, Doyle etc- see my 'Books That Made Me' video. Also, my sensibility is predominantly literary, so prose quality is vitally important for me. Hope you enjoy more of the books from this video.
Thanks very much. The aim here is to go beyond what anyone else does with SF on booktube, based on my forty years of selling it and fifty of reading it.
Aim achieved! I started back in the sixties and seventies with Clarke, Heinlein, Bradbury et al and then discovered PKD in 77 and quickly read and collected all of his published output. Now I'm getting back into Science Fiction and tried a lot of the new stuff I heard about on "book tube" but something was missing - both in the works themselves and in the commentary and analysis by the youngsters on YT. Glad I found a true connoisseur, such as you. Liked and subscribed. @@outlawbookselleroriginal
I have to admit I didn't finish Adam Roberts THE THING ITSELF. I spent so much time reading, thinking, and writing about Kant as an undergrad I suspect I didn't give Roberts's novel a fair shake. And your parting observation of THE ROAD is spot on- Biblical not necessarily just in imagery but in the divine bildungsroman of the Boy.
another great selection, i must admit i loved 'house of rumour' and 'the devils paintbrush' which is similar. jake is a great writer and i must check out his dr. who book.
Yes, I loved 'House'. 'Paintbrush' is only similar in that his perennial thing is looking at real characters and meshing them with fictitious (or lesser known) ones in a convincing period setting. Great guy too, high time he did something new.
Thanks for yet another great video. This provided me with both some authors I've never heard of and some new titles by old favorites. Great taste of the contents and context provided for the works. Please keep up the great work. You're doing a great service, especially to younger sci-fi fans like myself who are looking to dive deeper into sci-fi.
I really enjoyed this, and found it valuable. I remember most of these from their individual videos but I feel like you're definitely tossing in some bonus content (as the kids say.) So cool to get them all in one place, have a slightly different pass over them (thereby offering greater insight into whether or not their books for me me.) I'd have to go back and re- watch to discuss any of the particular books.
Your description of Submission, by Michel Houellebecq, puts me in mind of Arslan, by M.J. Engh - published in the mid 70s - which was a political novel about somebody from Turkistan taking over the the world..... Arslan was very controversial when it first came out as well - I'll have to give Houellebecq's book a try.
How on earth did I miss out on the Lovecraft book by Houellebecq? My two favorite dark-minded writers put together, oh my. As always, great stuff and lots of food for thought and new books to buy, thank you!
What a solid and unique list featuring a wide range of titles, you've straight-up sold Europe in Autumn as an an immediate purchase, and I bumped up The Thing Itself much higher on the TBR. I feel for your poor store patrons who futilely try to keep their wallet zipped.
Thanks Romina- in SF, the obvious and popular is rarely as interesting or genuinely Science Fictional as the subtler material. Hope you try some of these and enjoy them.
Thanks for this - I'm going out book shopping tomorrow, so you've given me a hefty list of stuff to look out for. I've read at least something by most of these authors (I'm reading Christopher Priest at the moment, in fact - Expect Me Tomorrow), but I've read very few of the books in question, and I'm glad to be reminded of the likes of Nina Allan, Dave Hutchinson and Adam Roberts who I've read and enjoyed, but who've fallen off my radar. Hopefully I'll get a few of them on the TBR list in the next few months. I was hoping we might see Anne Charnock here. I'm sure I saw you mention her on a comment on another channel once and I think that's the only mention I've ever seen of her on booktube. I'm a fan, A Calculated Life being my favourite of hers. A few 21st century things I've enjoyed: Jo Harkin : Tell Me An Ending Leni Zumas : Red Clocks Nnedi Okarafor : Lagoon Chris Beckett and Anne Charnock in general Ken MacLeod : Descent And although deeply flawed, it's enjoyable and interesting - Anna Smaill : The Chimes Thanks again and keep up the good work!
I've read Charnock's shorts, I should read more of her stuff really. I've read 'Descent' as well, but then I think I've covered around a dozen of KMs books. Thanks for your other suggestions. Some I recognise immediately, like 'Lagoon'.
I have read some of those novels, and I can agree with your choices, particulary about Adam Roberts, Chris Priest, and Richard Morgan. On the other hand I would put Stross's brilliant Glasshouse in front of Accelerando. Conerning your comment about The Thing you forgot to mention Peter Watts's excellent Hugo winner The Things, a retelling of John Carpenter's The Thing told from the pov of titular shapeshifting alien.
Another book in the same vein as Never let me go is Spares by Michael Marshall Smith. He has a wonderful turn of phrase, and his thrillers are pretty good page turners as well
@@outlawbookselleroriginal yeah I have all his Harper Collins editions from the 90s. I wish he'd go back to writing some SF but I guess the thrillers pull in more money. Glad to see Morgan making your list too - I've been wishing he got back to it too and was very pleased to hear he has a new SF due this year after a long wait.
Just finished The Anomaly. Very well written and very funny. I really liked the set up of the characters and their response to the event. Enjoyed the book but I didn’t love it. That might be because I read The Fall of Chronopolis recently and - in its fairly crazy way - that covered a lot of the same ground about reality and cyclicity but more inventively. One-nil to the twentieth century.
Both are very good reads. The fact is, the 20th century will always beat the 21st: Modernism was the thing and it's over. Now, writers can only do their best and not lie to themselves that it's possible to be wildly original- but several of the writers on this list do their damnedest.
Just ordered a copy of the Jake Arnott. Saw an interesting interview of his in Quietus so I’m also getting a copy of Rocket to the Morgue. Surprised how many of these are already out of print.
The Arnott is superb, fascinating book. The best literary SF vanishes quickly now as the market for it is tiny: everything now is skeweed toward Romantasy or rather dull Space Opera. A lot of younger SF writers now have read very little before Iain M Banks, who was of course responsible for the retroactive move back toward trad SF tropes. 'Rocket to the Morgue' is something I keep meaning to buy as well...
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Looking forward to reading it. Signed hardback for £5. Just need to finish Mother London first, which is stunningly good. I’ve only read Consider Phlebas so I don’t understand the Iain M cult.
Great to hear your most enjoyed Got the Hutchinson now, looking forward to that. I was also baffled by the Light Trilogy MJH but loved the Sunken Land. Gonna do Light Trilogy again. I fid enjoy the weirdness but didn't "get" it. But got it enough to have another go. Ive really liked his short stories. I enjoyed your interview with him. Amazing guy. Btw just lovely to see your clear enjoyment of what you are presenting. It really is. Great fun. Ive been having a great time since rediscovering the genre Cheers Steve and have a great Christmas
You too, thanks very much, though I don't really 'do' Christmas as it's burned out of me by working in retail forever, but sentiment much appreciated! Yes, the 'Kefahuchi' trilogy is challenging, but that's MJH for you, always working in several levels, as you say, the interview may have helped a bit, need a third reading of those books myself!
Great roundup, sir! Since Christopher Priest is one of your top authors, I sense we share much the same taste. Anyway, I be giving a number of novels you site a whirl, beginning with After Atlas. Thanks!!
I just discovered this channel! This video is amazing, and you are amazing, and the only thin not amazing is that my TBR has now again expanded. I will never catch up, it seems. :-)
Stick with me and yout TBR will grow, but you will find the most outre material, true SF that goes beyond the cliches found on screens and not in the best of the literature itself.
Super-cannes is superb. John Clute threw a wet blanket on it for me when he reviewed it. I don't disagree with his criticisms, but the book retains its magic.
Anomaly was a million copy bestseller in French, and its author is known, at least in part, as an SF writer, which says a lot about British publishing and British readers... and I don't mean a good lot. An interesting selection, Steve, I've read quite a few of them, but as it's a personal selection, rather than a "best", there's nothing for me to disagree about you'll be pleased to hear.
Big fan of Dave Hutchinson's Europe books. The 5th was less good. I'm yet to read Shelter, and the other one in the same world that Adam Roberts did. Talking of whom, I've picked up a few Adam Roberts recently, including Stone as you say. I now feel obliged to find them all, of course! I've really enjoyed Emma Newman's books, i just have the Mars book to go. I'm pleased to hear she is working on something new. I'm pleased to say there's a fair overlap of your 25, in that i know of many and have read a bunch. I may have (did do) ordered a few as i was watching... Excellent video Steve, top banana.
Thanks mate. The third in the Aftermath series should be out by now, but that reminds me I've not had it in yet, must chase.... Emma is a star...Adam is always worth reading, eager to hear what you think of 'Stone'.
@outlawbookselleroriginal it was an expensive watch, i bought 7 books while watching, or shortly afterwards. I'd have got a couple more but they proved elusive (at reasonable ££), but they are on my list....
Just finished 'The Thing Itself' - my head was blown off but possibly a bit too much - I now feel the need to read an idiot's guide to Kant. I'm trying to get my head around so much in the book - not least the part homosexuality seems to play in it. Definitely a memorable book though - I will need to re-read it.
That's what I liked about it- shows you don't have to go into mindbending physics or biology to create mindbending SF- I loved the way it took a Human Science and made it the 'soft science fiction' equivalent of Hard SF. And it's funny, of course!
@@outlawbookselleroriginal yes, loved that it approached things like time travel and AI using philosophy rather than tech. I found the chapter about the horribly abused little boy heartbreaking! But good, not gratuitous at all.
I won't do that because there are people out there who just want 'the list' without any context or reasoning and I had an experience with my book '100 Must Read Science Fiction Novels' where someone listed all the books on a website and then people made assumptions about (1) what the book was and (2) why certain books were included. This- besides robbing me of actual sales and royalties on the book- meant that those people did not read the contextual material in the book that described it's raison d'etre, assuming it was a 'top' 'best' 'favourites' list, when it was meant to be an historic and thematic overview of the genre that represented all the key tropes and moments. If I posted a list below the video, many people simply would not watch it- and of course the effort that goes into these videos creates a natural expectation in me there will be some reward which comes from the viewing. I hope you understand.
A lot of 21st century SF where Islamification takes place, I wonder if it's the collective subconscious at work... Or perhaps I am just a 'conspiracy theorist' 😂😂😂
Well, it does seem like an extrapolative possibility that would be fair game for SF writers- and of course great SF often reflects what is happening around us in the present. Who can say?
Sorry, but not surprised, that you overlooked Counting Heads by David Marusek (2005). To my mind the best debut novel in decades and shamefully overlooked. A very convincing projection of trends in politics, economics and technologies.
I'm aware of it and read about it, but I don't read everything so I will 'overlook' things, especially if I feel they are not going to be to my taste - I have exceptionally well developed instincts about this. But it's made it into some refeence books, so one day....
Of course, first time back in the 1980s from Blue Wind Press. I've had a poster for the current edition on the wall of the Hideout for around 18 months which can just about be glimpsed in the eyecorner of some videos. There is a video coming up about this, so watch this space for enlightenment- probably about 2 weeks time latest.
Hi Steve If I remember correctly you had mentioned in on of your videos that you enjoyed David Cronenberg and since I just finished watching his latest film Crimes of the Future i wanted to ask you if you had seen it and if you did what did you think about it. It was filmed in Greece the country were im from and I presonaly really liked it .
I'm an unabashed Cronenberg fanatic, so I loved it, particularly the line "I'm no good at the old sex," which summed up Mortensen's character for me - a fantastic bit of SF dialogue. I felt the film benefited from the Greek locations and it was great tos ee DC working outside Canada again and for the first time in Europe.
Have you read Something Coming Through by Paul McAuley? Has some actually alien aliens in it. And i think might fit into this. There is also a follow up that i can't recall and I won't cheat by looking it up. Yep, the M John Harrison 'light' trilogy definitely baffled me. Read the first, I think i may have DNF'd the sequel . Extra points for covering the often overlooked Accelerando. Would be in my top 5.
Many thanks, I'd not come across your channel before, but after watching this video, I subscribed. I'm a long-term SF reader (I picked up my first adult SF novel almost 60 years ago). The genre(s) seem to be, becoming subsumed as a vehicle for LGBT novels, please don't get me wrong, I'm not in the least anti LGBT. But it's not what I want the core emphasis of my SF to be.
Identity Politics is indeed now a massive issue for SF- it is actively hampering its development as much as advancing it, as there is a lot of tokenism about these issues in the genre for all the wrong reasons. Not only that, SF started tackling IP issues in the 1960s to great effect- it's old news, but the poorly read think these things are new to SF. Wrong, of course.
When was the last cat featured in a sci-fi book? Cats are ubiquitous, their absence is a mystery. Did they die out? Doubt it, too smart. I've wracked my head and can only come up with the cat in Alien (can't remember name). If some twit can think of a competing race of spiders, just imagine what a fabulous sci-fi cat novelist could do!
'Jones' was the cat in 'Alien'. A while ago I was collecting SF books with cats on the covers, but they were mostly by female fantasy writers doing SF on the side like Andre Norton and Katherine Kurtz.
Been a while since I dropped by and forgot what I have been missing. Cheers from a Welsh fan , 😎well I'm Welsh 350 years separated from "the old country "
I enjoyed it, but didn't feel it is in the same league as others here- I think it suffers from having an interesting but not interesting enough ending and the whole 'big dumb object' thing rarely does it for me. I think his best work is yet to come, though. It's going to be interesting to see how 'In Ascension' performs commercially in paperback.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal interesting. I thought you did like the BDO books, e.g. Solaris, rendezvous with Rama etc, but maybe those are the exceptions not the rule. Have you read Sphere by Michael Crichton? (I haven't but would be interested in your thoughts)
@@eggbert6900 Well, I don't regard 'Solaris' as a BDO book, since we're talking about an ocean that's a lifeform rather than a spacegoing bit of tech. 'Rama' I dislike, have said on the channel how dull I find it. I've read Crichton, but never 'Sphere' as although I like his stern attitude, he's not someone I ever bothered to explore in depth- I've read four of his novels and find them quite samey in their tone and messages- plus his prose is a little workmanlike and bestsellery. I love the end of 'Jurassic Park', though and 'The Terminal Man' was one of the first SF novels I ever read,
@@outlawbookselleroriginal I don't know why I said Rama, I meant 2001! Also arguably one of the quatermass I think is a bdo. On a mostly unrelated topic, are you a fan of Lovecraft or do you share Colin Wilson's views?
@@eggbert6900 You could argue that both the second and fourth Quatermass stories are BDO, but they don't put the exclusive focus on the elements that resemble BDOs, instead they look at the effects. I've read everything by Lovecraft- had done so by the late 80s, I like some of it, I have Arkham House editions, but I prefer Wilson's Mythos stories- there are videos on the channel about 'The Philosopher's Stone' (the video is called 'Mindwired') and there is a video in which I visit Monmouth and discuss "The Return of the Lloigor", Wilson's brilliant Mythos novella- it is partially set in Monmouth. Lovecraft has his virtues, but I don't get excited by him anymore.
Off topic, and in relation to an earlier video. SF writers non sf work. I'd highly recommend Harlan Ellisons collection of essays in.. The procrustean bed.
I wasn't overly impressed by The Road despite liking McCarthy and the sub-genre. I just didn't feel like it brought anything new compared to the post apocalyptic novels I'd already read. Super Cannes was excellent. What paperback format are MacLeod's books in? I know it's a weird question, but know you're the expert and they seem to have an usual size.
The Macleods shown in this video are 'A Format', which is the smallest standard format for mass market paperbacks. The predominant format since the late 1990s is 'B Format', which is larger and at least 95% of UK mass market paperbacks are B's. There are various 'trade' sizes, few of which are standard these days. There is a video on the channel from a month or so ago about Formats.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal I saw a selection of MacLeod books which were wider than normal A-format paperbacks. I think they were the same height. I can't remember which publisher it was (will see if I encounter one of them again). Ah my mistake, just remembered they were Alistair Reynolds paperbacks, not Ken MacLeod. I still need to read them both. Just my brain disintegrating due to age.
Interesting books - they could almost be as good as the Buffy-inspired female steampunk heroine who rides in airships and battles vampires/werewolves books I usually read. JOKING. You have sold me on Hutchinson (Deighton comparison is intriguing). Much prefer Pattern Recognition to Zero History - it’s a book I recommend to non-SF people. (Even though it is barely SF.) Those Blue Ant books really capture the early 2000s well - a strangely undefined era.
Hi Steve, I wuldn't disagree with any of your choices. I have read most of them. A few I don't know at all and will look out for. Of course there are some that just don't click with me. I always think I will like Ken MacLeod. He has all the right attitudes and his subjects are interesting, but there is smething about his style that just does not involve me. I would disagree with you slightly about Dave Hutchinson's Europe books. I did feel, like you, that the last two books were not quite up to the standard of the others, but with Hutchinson, I have to reread. His books are so readable on the surface that I have to read them several times to piece together what is happening and who is controlling events. It took me a while to work out that the American woman in the last book featured in two distinct time lines, that she featured in the Hungarian scene in a previous book, and also featured in a short story not in the books. On a second reading it became one of my favorites of the series. He is a very devious writer and you have to work quite hard on the books. I've been reading a lot of Deighton lately, and you are right, there isa lot of the Bernie Sampson books in Hutchinson's work. He does have some annoying habits. I wish he would name his characters instead of saying "The tall dark-haired woman suddenly appeared." I know if someone with a cane appears it is Rudi, but I still haven't worked out who the man in the Panama hat is!
Yes, he could do with being a little more opaque: I don't know if he's read Mick Herron - I've pointed both of them in each others' direction when meeting both, but I've only met Dave once and haven't seen Mick for 4 years, despite being in touch now and then, the point being that I think DH would benefit from taking on Mick's slightly more direct approach with characters. Dave is very clever, sometimes too much so maybe with plotting. I've had similar issues, especially as the series goes on and this fogging of things can make the later volumes a little tiresome for all their quality. Good to hear from you, my friend.
@outlawbookselleroriginal @27:42 You said you think sometimes McCarthy overwrites, sometimes he underwrites and that Blood Meridian was great- i agree. I couldve read more of "the road", less of "the crossing" and Blood Meridian was just right. Ps i really love the passion you have for books and i always learn about interesting books from you, so thank you! 😀
@@laurasalo6160 Many thanks! Always interested what McCarthy readers have to say as there is so much to say about his work- I probably could have managed more of 'The Road' too!
No sci fi list is complete without Neuromancer. Or maybe even the book of the new sun, although I feel like BotNS is so weird, idk if it really fits into a sci fi mold. I mean it's about the future, it's got a lot of sci fi, aliens, space and time travel etc etc. But in the end it reads like a fantasy book, the atmosphere feels gothic medieval. It's more a fantasy adventure .. while typing this I got really annoyed with my keyboard. I need to relube my stabilizers.
'Neuromancer' was published in 1984, the twentieth century- as the video title says, this is a 21st Century List...though I'm always saying that N is the most important SF novel of the last forty years.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Hahah don't know how I missed that. Probably the THC oil / edibles. Man I love neuromancer and the whole sprawl trilogy. A video about Count Zero and Mona Lisa Overdrive might be a cool idea since there are so few of them. I thought Quinn's ideas was gonna make one for each, but he made a Neuromancer one. Then never made a video for the second and third book.
@@3choblast3r4 Not sure who Quinn is. I'll do a Sprawl Trilogy at some point as a re-read of 'Overdrive' is due. There are many other Top 10s etc on my channel- there is a playlist- check them out.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal I'll make sure to check it out. Quinn's ideas is a channel by this dude who makes really great videos about sci fi books and their themes. He's probably one of the largest "booktube" style channels out there right now. Although I think most of his audience doesn't real the books but just watches his videos for the interesting lore. (I think he mainly got big with his three body problem videos) p.s subbed. Have a great new years!
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PLEASE NOTE Anyone who lists the books included in this video in the comments will have themselves removed from the channel as a commentator and their post deleted. 'Lists' mean nothing without their contexts and comments. Thank you.
What I like about this channel is that it doesn’t panda to the masses by jumping on every bandwagon going, rather says it like it is and treats viewers as “grown ups” we can agree or disagree but Stephen is always true to himself. Keep the content coming
You're very kind. I simply don't care about popularity and what's 'hot', I only care about what I feel is of quality and what advances the genre- or at least keeps it afloat with some integrity and skill. I hope I continue to keep pleasing the discerning audience I'm blessed to have here.
*Pander lols
@@DuaneJaspercame here to see if I needed to say just this!
panda 😂🎉
No pandas allowed. There simply isn't enough bamboo for everyone. 😅
hello I'm from Brazil. Your channel was one of my most stimulating discoveries in recent months.
Many thanks, great to have viewers from another hemisphere!
Loving your Channel and love the Space Ritual attire...
Well, we were born to go!
Good Day from Arizona USA, 46 years young. I have been going through your back catalogue and love all of the videos. Comments when I am inspired. I told myself I was done with shopping until the new year two weeks ago. Ordered Beyond Apollo by Malzberg yesterday because of one of your vids. Love this video and eventually will get to Ballard and Europe in Autumn has caught my eye now
Always good to hear from you!
THEY ARE GOING THROUGH THE BACK CATALOG!! HUZZAH!!
Your reviews are fascinating. Always an engrossing listen. Thank you.
You're very kind, cheers.
PKD? Oh, sold. The man who destroyed the world, God knows how many times, that C. P, mole.
The death of grass was a very cool book, no doubt.
I really appreciate your knowledge of the genre. Your recommendations always work for me.
Great to see you commenting here after such a while, glad to know you're still enjoying my stuff.
Thanks for bolstering my 2024 TBR with some interesting sounding books!
Cheers. We do the edge here, which is where the best SF has been for the last thirty years or more!
A solid list, with a few I've had on my TBR list, which will now move up in priority. For Adam Roberts 'Land of the Headless,' in particular, made a lasting impression on me, and I find myself thinking about it frequently. 'The This' is also among my 21st Century favorites.
Adam is always engaging, I find. He doesn't let the grass grow under his feet, exactly what an SF writer should be like.
Super interesting list. Lots of books and authors to check out. This is quite different than basically any other list on YT, with books, themes and authors there are rarely mentioned. Thank you!
Thanks- the difference comes for three reasons - I'm a professional bookseller with 40 years experience in selling SF, I've read and collected it for longer and I have an historical overview most booktubers lack. Watch more here and I'll continue to surprise you.
I got some really great recommendations from this video, so thank you for that! I had to comment as soon as you brought out Never Let Me Go. I read it for the first time last month not knowing a single thing about it (I had heard the author's name and found a copy at my local thrift store) and I have thought about it almost every day since finishing it. Immediately shot to the upper part of my favorites of all time list, not just SF.
If you haven't read it, please go in blind, it truly makes the experience unforgettable imo
I've read it three times. There is a recent video on the channel- couple of months back entitled 'Game of Clones' which explores the book alongside Kate Wilhelm's 'Where Late The Sweet Birds Sang'- and I talk about the impact Ishiguro's book had on me. Please watch it...and I agree, it's a fantastic novel.
Thanks for this revision...or, additions to your books.
Thank you for watching!
I bought and read Europe in Autumn on your recommendation and don't regret it. I enjoyed it a lot more than many books I have read recently. I find with a lot of modern science fiction I cannot keep reading due to irreconciliable differences and have to part ways. This book I easily finished. As a reader I did have a lot of problems with it, but at the end of the day none of them matter if it didn't lose me, I finished it and I appreciated the ideas. I appreciate the recommendations, thanks.
Glad you liked it. I think DH has gone off the boil a little of late, but the first three books in the sequence and his novel "The Vllages" remain faves. One thing to remember is that the SF published after the early 1990s isn't 'Modern' - Modernism as a period of Culture ended then- but 'Contemporary', so it reflects the cultural malaise of our times, when very little is new, where culture has slowed down creatively as tech has sped up. This is why this list contains few 'bestsellers', since they tend to travel paths well worn decades earlier and pander to expectations. Watch more on the channel and you'll discover the finest SF from 1950-1990, the key period in the genre.
Hi Stephen, really enjoyed the video. What strikes me most is your integrity and probably uniqueness in recommending and promoting SF works that quite frankly are largely ignored by many other book tube content creators. ok I guess this list is quite reflective that you are a UK based creator but thats not the whole story. You would be hard pushed to find many (any) of these on a top 20 SF books of the 21st C if you compiled it from numerous sources. I find this very refreshing and will add many of these to my TBR. I have only read a few of these so far, notably Dogs of War and Before Mars, both excellent.
My being British is part of this, also my age and the books I grew up reading- Wells, Wyndham, Doyle etc- see my 'Books That Made Me' video. Also, my sensibility is predominantly literary, so prose quality is vitally important for me. Hope you enjoy more of the books from this video.
Good to see Ken MacLeod getting some love.
Yeah, Ken is one of the good guys!
The Thing Itself sounds very interesting, thanks for calling attention to it, I wasn't aware of it.
Watch more of this channel and you'll find much, much more that others are not covering when it comes to mindbending SF.
Love your deep knowledge, particularly of the earlier ground-breaking stuff. I always learn so much from your shows.
Thanks very much. The aim here is to go beyond what anyone else does with SF on booktube, based on my forty years of selling it and fifty of reading it.
Aim achieved! I started back in the sixties and seventies with Clarke, Heinlein, Bradbury et al and then discovered PKD in 77 and quickly read and collected all of his published output. Now I'm getting back into Science Fiction and tried a lot of the new stuff I heard about on "book tube" but something was missing - both in the works themselves and in the commentary and analysis by the youngsters on YT. Glad I found a true connoisseur, such as you. Liked and subscribed.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal
Thanks for the great content and introducing some more authors to catch up with.
Pleasure as always.
Some of these sound interesting. Might check out some of these books
Subscribe and look at some more of my videos: you'll find much here you won't see elsewhere, in depth.
I have to admit I didn't finish Adam Roberts THE THING ITSELF. I spent so much time reading, thinking, and writing about Kant as an undergrad I suspect I didn't give Roberts's novel a fair shake. And your parting observation of THE ROAD is spot on- Biblical not necessarily just in imagery but in the divine bildungsroman of the Boy.
The old 'Uni reading list kills love of books' thing- I know all about that, having run a campus bookshop for a decade.
another great selection, i must admit i loved 'house of rumour' and 'the devils paintbrush' which is similar. jake is a great writer and i must check out his dr. who book.
Yes, I loved 'House'. 'Paintbrush' is only similar in that his perennial thing is looking at real characters and meshing them with fictitious (or lesser known) ones in a convincing period setting. Great guy too, high time he did something new.
Thanks for yet another great video. This provided me with both some authors I've never heard of and some new titles by old favorites. Great taste of the contents and context provided for the works. Please keep up the great work. You're doing a great service, especially to younger sci-fi fans like myself who are looking to dive deeper into sci-fi.
Great list! Your comments about not wanting to like Never Let Me Go made me chuckle. I felt the exact same way. I ended up really liking it as well.
Yes, it sucked me in. Video coming up soon about it and another cloning book.
I could (and do) listen to you talk about books for hours.
I really enjoyed this, and found it valuable. I remember most of these from their individual videos but I feel like you're definitely tossing in some bonus content (as the kids say.)
So cool to get them all in one place, have a slightly different pass over them (thereby offering greater insight into whether or not their books for me me.)
I'd have to go back and re- watch to discuss any of the particular books.
Thanks Walter, you're a rock!
Your description of Submission, by Michel Houellebecq, puts me in mind of Arslan, by M.J. Engh - published in the mid 70s - which was a political novel about somebody from Turkistan taking over the the world.....
Arslan was very controversial when it first came out as well - I'll have to give Houellebecq's book a try.
Yes, 'Arslan' is an interesting if over-long book.
How on earth did I miss out on the Lovecraft book by Houellebecq? My two favorite dark-minded writers put together, oh my. As always, great stuff and lots of food for thought and new books to buy, thank you!
What a solid and unique list featuring a wide range of titles, you've straight-up sold Europe in Autumn as an an immediate purchase, and I bumped up The Thing Itself much higher on the TBR. I feel for your poor store patrons who futilely try to keep their wallet zipped.
Thanks Romina- in SF, the obvious and popular is rarely as interesting or genuinely Science Fictional as the subtler material. Hope you try some of these and enjoy them.
Thanks for this - I'm going out book shopping tomorrow, so you've given me a hefty list of stuff to look out for.
I've read at least something by most of these authors (I'm reading Christopher Priest at the moment, in fact - Expect Me Tomorrow), but I've read very few of the books in question, and I'm glad to be reminded of the likes of Nina Allan, Dave Hutchinson and Adam Roberts who I've read and enjoyed, but who've fallen off my radar. Hopefully I'll get a few of them on the TBR list in the next few months.
I was hoping we might see Anne Charnock here. I'm sure I saw you mention her on a comment on another channel once and I think that's the only mention I've ever seen of her on booktube. I'm a fan, A Calculated Life being my favourite of hers.
A few 21st century things I've enjoyed:
Jo Harkin : Tell Me An Ending
Leni Zumas : Red Clocks
Nnedi Okarafor : Lagoon
Chris Beckett and Anne Charnock in general
Ken MacLeod : Descent
And although deeply flawed, it's enjoyable and interesting - Anna Smaill : The Chimes
Thanks again and keep up the good work!
I've read Charnock's shorts, I should read more of her stuff really. I've read 'Descent' as well, but then I think I've covered around a dozen of KMs books. Thanks for your other suggestions. Some I recognise immediately, like 'Lagoon'.
I have read some of those novels, and I can agree with your choices, particulary about Adam Roberts, Chris Priest, and Richard Morgan. On the other hand I would put Stross's brilliant Glasshouse in front of Accelerando. Conerning your comment about The Thing you forgot to mention Peter Watts's excellent Hugo winner The Things, a retelling of John Carpenter's The Thing told from the pov of titular shapeshifting alien.
Thanks for that. A few I've read, a few that are in my TBR and I bought three, Little Eyes, The Silver Wind, and The Holy Machine. Cheers.
Good choices.
Another book in the same vein as Never let me go is Spares by Michael Marshall Smith. He has a wonderful turn of phrase, and his thrillers are pretty good page turners as well
Yeah, I did a bookshop event with him about 26 years ago, great guy. Been selling his books for decades.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal yeah I have all his Harper Collins editions from the 90s. I wish he'd go back to writing some SF but I guess the thrillers pull in more money. Glad to see Morgan making your list too - I've been wishing he got back to it too and was very pleased to hear he has a new SF due this year after a long wait.
@@MarkCheverton Yes, it's been some years for RM- but then the money he would have made for the TV series probably allowed him to kick back a little!
Appreciate the Third Eye SPFX, a fun touch.
Just finished The Anomaly. Very well written and very funny. I really liked the set up of the characters and their response to the event. Enjoyed the book but I didn’t love it. That might be because I read The Fall of Chronopolis recently and - in its fairly crazy way - that covered a lot of the same ground about reality and cyclicity but more inventively. One-nil to the twentieth century.
Both are very good reads. The fact is, the 20th century will always beat the 21st: Modernism was the thing and it's over. Now, writers can only do their best and not lie to themselves that it's possible to be wildly original- but several of the writers on this list do their damnedest.
Daemon & Freedom by Daniel Suarez
More than enjoyment. Seriously thought provoking about things affecting the dynamics of the near future.
Just ordered a copy of the Jake Arnott. Saw an interesting interview of his in Quietus so I’m also getting a copy of Rocket to the Morgue. Surprised how many of these are already out of print.
The Arnott is superb, fascinating book. The best literary SF vanishes quickly now as the market for it is tiny: everything now is skeweed toward Romantasy or rather dull Space Opera. A lot of younger SF writers now have read very little before Iain M Banks, who was of course responsible for the retroactive move back toward trad SF tropes. 'Rocket to the Morgue' is something I keep meaning to buy as well...
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Looking forward to reading it. Signed hardback for £5. Just need to finish Mother London first, which is stunningly good. I’ve only read Consider Phlebas so I don’t understand the Iain M cult.
@@roylonergan7779 Yes, that's a peak Moorcock. Banks just has an adolescent tone that doesn't gel with me at all.
Great to hear your most enjoyed
Got the Hutchinson now, looking forward to that. I was also baffled by the Light Trilogy MJH but loved the Sunken Land. Gonna do Light Trilogy again. I fid enjoy the weirdness but didn't "get" it. But got it enough to have another go. Ive really liked his short stories. I enjoyed your interview with him. Amazing guy.
Btw just lovely to see your clear enjoyment of what you are presenting. It really is. Great fun. Ive been having a great time since rediscovering the genre
Cheers Steve and have a great Christmas
You too, thanks very much, though I don't really 'do' Christmas as it's burned out of me by working in retail forever, but sentiment much appreciated! Yes, the 'Kefahuchi' trilogy is challenging, but that's MJH for you, always working in several levels, as you say, the interview may have helped a bit, need a third reading of those books myself!
Great roundup, sir! Since Christopher Priest is one of your top authors, I sense we share much the same taste. Anyway, I be giving a number of novels you site a whirl, beginning with After Atlas. Thanks!!
Let me know how you get on with them!
yes The Anomaly was stunning!
I wasn't sure how interested I am in Sci-Fi specifically, but I see you visually name checked Hawkwind, Gibson and Christopher Priest, so I stayed.
I just discovered this channel! This video is amazing, and you are amazing, and the only thin not amazing is that my TBR has now again expanded. I will never catch up, it seems. :-)
Stick with me and yout TBR will grow, but you will find the most outre material, true SF that goes beyond the cliches found on screens and not in the best of the literature itself.
Super-cannes is superb. John Clute threw a wet blanket on it for me when he reviewed it. I don't disagree with his criticisms, but the book retains its magic.
I revere Clute, but don't always agree with him. Every Ballardian I know agrees SC is the best of the final tranche of books.
Never Let me Go reminds me of the Clonus Horror 1979 movie.
Anomaly was a million copy bestseller in French, and its author is known, at least in part, as an SF writer, which says a lot about British publishing and British readers... and I don't mean a good lot.
An interesting selection, Steve, I've read quite a few of them, but as it's a personal selection, rather than a "best", there's nothing for me to disagree about you'll be pleased to hear.
Ah yes, The Anomaly! I already heard of it, found it very intriguing, and then forgot about it. Thanks for reminding me to read this book :)
Grab it, it's really good. Though in British bookshops, you'll find it in Fiction, Crime, anywhere but SF...
Big fan of Dave Hutchinson's Europe books. The 5th was less good. I'm yet to read Shelter, and the other one in the same world that Adam Roberts did. Talking of whom, I've picked up a few Adam Roberts recently, including Stone as you say. I now feel obliged to find them all, of course! I've really enjoyed Emma Newman's books, i just have the Mars book to go. I'm pleased to hear she is working on something new. I'm pleased to say there's a fair overlap of your 25, in that i know of many and have read a bunch. I may have (did do) ordered a few as i was watching...
Excellent video Steve, top banana.
Thanks mate. The third in the Aftermath series should be out by now, but that reminds me I've not had it in yet, must chase.... Emma is a star...Adam is always worth reading, eager to hear what you think of 'Stone'.
@outlawbookselleroriginal it was an expensive watch, i bought 7 books while watching, or shortly afterwards. I'd have got a couple more but they proved elusive (at reasonable ££), but they are on my list....
@@SciFiScavenger 7 books, wow!
@@outlawbookselleroriginal plus 2 today...
Just finished 'The Thing Itself' - my head was blown off but possibly a bit too much - I now feel the need to read an idiot's guide to Kant. I'm trying to get my head around so much in the book - not least the part homosexuality seems to play in it. Definitely a memorable book though - I will need to re-read it.
That's what I liked about it- shows you don't have to go into mindbending physics or biology to create mindbending SF- I loved the way it took a Human Science and made it the 'soft science fiction' equivalent of Hard SF. And it's funny, of course!
@@outlawbookselleroriginal yes, loved that it approached things like time travel and AI using philosophy rather than tech. I found the chapter about the horribly abused little boy heartbreaking! But good, not gratuitous at all.
@@michaeldaly1495 That's the thing with Adam, proper novelist, nuance and skill.
Maybe you would enjoy the possibility of an island, if you haven't read it already?
Yes, read it.
Treasure trove-my shopping list is growing 😅Would it be possible for you to drop a list of these books/authors into the description?
I won't do that because there are people out there who just want 'the list' without any context or reasoning and I had an experience with my book '100 Must Read Science Fiction Novels' where someone listed all the books on a website and then people made assumptions about (1) what the book was and (2) why certain books were included. This- besides robbing me of actual sales and royalties on the book- meant that those people did not read the contextual material in the book that described it's raison d'etre, assuming it was a 'top' 'best' 'favourites' list, when it was meant to be an historic and thematic overview of the genre that represented all the key tropes and moments. If I posted a list below the video, many people simply would not watch it- and of course the effort that goes into these videos creates a natural expectation in me there will be some reward which comes from the viewing. I hope you understand.
A lot of 21st century SF where Islamification takes place, I wonder if it's the collective subconscious at work... Or perhaps I am just a 'conspiracy theorist'
😂😂😂
Well, it does seem like an extrapolative possibility that would be fair game for SF writers- and of course great SF often reflects what is happening around us in the present. Who can say?
a great erudite review... always an education... thank you!
Thank you too!
Sorry, but not surprised, that you overlooked Counting Heads by David Marusek (2005). To my mind the best debut novel in decades and shamefully overlooked. A very convincing projection of trends in politics, economics and technologies.
I'm aware of it and read about it, but I don't read everything so I will 'overlook' things, especially if I feel they are not going to be to my taste - I have exceptionally well developed instincts about this. But it's made it into some refeence books, so one day....
I've just noticed a reprint of Blade Runner - A Movie by William Burroughs & I wondered if you'd read it..?
Of course, first time back in the 1980s from Blue Wind Press. I've had a poster for the current edition on the wall of the Hideout for around 18 months which can just about be glimpsed in the eyecorner of some videos. There is a video coming up about this, so watch this space for enlightenment- probably about 2 weeks time latest.
Hi Steve If I remember correctly you had mentioned in on of your videos that you enjoyed David Cronenberg and since I just finished watching his latest film Crimes of the Future i wanted to ask you if you had seen it and if you did what did you think about it. It was filmed in Greece the country were im from and I presonaly really liked it .
I'm an unabashed Cronenberg fanatic, so I loved it, particularly the line "I'm no good at the old sex," which summed up Mortensen's character for me - a fantastic bit of SF dialogue. I felt the film benefited from the Greek locations and it was great tos ee DC working outside Canada again and for the first time in Europe.
Have you read Something Coming Through by Paul McAuley? Has some actually alien aliens in it. And i think might fit into this. There is also a follow up that i can't recall and I won't cheat by looking it up.
Yep, the M John Harrison 'light' trilogy definitely baffled me. Read the first, I think i may have DNF'd the sequel .
Extra points for covering the often overlooked Accelerando. Would be in my top 5.
I've read McAuley- met him once- but don't have that one under my belt. He's an ideas man and then some.
And I suppose you know about the reissue of Dead Fingers Talk, Minutes to Go, The Exterminator & also a new book Battle Instructions? (All WSB)
Yeah, I'm always on it with WSB, though I pretty much 'completed' what I want from him decades ago.
Many thanks, I'd not come across your channel before, but after watching this video, I subscribed.
I'm a long-term SF reader (I picked up my first adult SF novel almost 60 years ago). The genre(s) seem to be, becoming subsumed as a vehicle for LGBT novels, please don't get me wrong, I'm not in the least anti LGBT. But it's not what I want the core emphasis of my SF to be.
Identity Politics is indeed now a massive issue for SF- it is actively hampering its development as much as advancing it, as there is a lot of tokenism about these issues in the genre for all the wrong reasons. Not only that, SF started tackling IP issues in the 1960s to great effect- it's old news, but the poorly read think these things are new to SF. Wrong, of course.
When was the last cat featured in a sci-fi book? Cats are ubiquitous, their absence is a mystery. Did they die out? Doubt it, too smart. I've wracked my head and can only come up with the cat in Alien (can't remember name). If some twit can think of a competing race of spiders, just imagine what a fabulous sci-fi cat novelist could do!
'Jones' was the cat in 'Alien'. A while ago I was collecting SF books with cats on the covers, but they were mostly by female fantasy writers doing SF on the side like Andre Norton and Katherine Kurtz.
Door into summer features a cat
Thanks for another video Dad 🥹
Thanks for watching, dude.
Been a while since I dropped by and forgot what I have been missing. Cheers from a Welsh fan , 😎well I'm Welsh 350 years separated from "the old country "
Would be great to see you here more often, good to have you back and commenting. Cymru am bith!
Which literary/mainstream writers written bad SF novels? I've often heard about this but I can't recall many examples given.
Many - too many to list, though one day...Julian Barnes' 'England, England' comes to mind immediately though, it was so hamfisted.
Surprised in ascension didn't appear on this. you seemed quite positive on it in your review on the channel
I enjoyed it, but didn't feel it is in the same league as others here- I think it suffers from having an interesting but not interesting enough ending and the whole 'big dumb object' thing rarely does it for me. I think his best work is yet to come, though. It's going to be interesting to see how 'In Ascension' performs commercially in paperback.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal interesting. I thought you did like the BDO books, e.g. Solaris, rendezvous with Rama etc, but maybe those are the exceptions not the rule. Have you read Sphere by Michael Crichton? (I haven't but would be interested in your thoughts)
@@eggbert6900 Well, I don't regard 'Solaris' as a BDO book, since we're talking about an ocean that's a lifeform rather than a spacegoing bit of tech. 'Rama' I dislike, have said on the channel how dull I find it. I've read Crichton, but never 'Sphere' as although I like his stern attitude, he's not someone I ever bothered to explore in depth- I've read four of his novels and find them quite samey in their tone and messages- plus his prose is a little workmanlike and bestsellery. I love the end of 'Jurassic Park', though and 'The Terminal Man' was one of the first SF novels I ever read,
@@outlawbookselleroriginal I don't know why I said Rama, I meant 2001! Also arguably one of the quatermass I think is a bdo. On a mostly unrelated topic, are you a fan of Lovecraft or do you share Colin Wilson's views?
@@eggbert6900 You could argue that both the second and fourth Quatermass stories are BDO, but they don't put the exclusive focus on the elements that resemble BDOs, instead they look at the effects. I've read everything by Lovecraft- had done so by the late 80s, I like some of it, I have Arkham House editions, but I prefer Wilson's Mythos stories- there are videos on the channel about 'The Philosopher's Stone' (the video is called 'Mindwired') and there is a video in which I visit Monmouth and discuss "The Return of the Lloigor", Wilson's brilliant Mythos novella- it is partially set in Monmouth. Lovecraft has his virtues, but I don't get excited by him anymore.
Off topic, and in relation to an earlier video. SF writers non sf work. I'd highly recommend Harlan Ellisons collection of essays in..
The procrustean bed.
Read it many years ago. Ellison fan since the end of the 1970s. Good shout from yourself.
Dogs of wars, a great choice
Yeah, if he would slow down, write fewer books and focus on prose quality, he'd be as good as people seem to think he is!
I wasn't overly impressed by The Road despite liking McCarthy and the sub-genre. I just didn't feel like it brought anything new compared to the post apocalyptic novels I'd already read.
Super Cannes was excellent.
What paperback format are MacLeod's books in? I know it's a weird question, but know you're the expert and they seem to have an usual size.
The Macleods shown in this video are 'A Format', which is the smallest standard format for mass market paperbacks. The predominant format since the late 1990s is 'B Format', which is larger and at least 95% of UK mass market paperbacks are B's. There are various 'trade' sizes, few of which are standard these days. There is a video on the channel from a month or so ago about Formats.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal I saw a selection of MacLeod books which were wider than normal A-format paperbacks. I think they were the same height. I can't remember which publisher it was (will see if I encounter one of them again).
Ah my mistake, just remembered they were Alistair Reynolds paperbacks, not Ken MacLeod. I still need to read them both. Just my brain disintegrating due to age.
Interesting books - they could almost be as good as the Buffy-inspired female steampunk heroine who rides in airships and battles vampires/werewolves books I usually read. JOKING. You have sold me on Hutchinson (Deighton comparison is intriguing). Much prefer Pattern Recognition to Zero History - it’s a book I recommend to non-SF people. (Even though it is barely SF.) Those Blue Ant books really capture the early 2000s well - a strangely undefined era.
Yes, Blue Ant reminds us that the Contemporary is currently Endless, still with us, echoing away..what has happened since, we ask ourselves?
Hi Steve, I wuldn't disagree with any of your choices. I have read most of them. A few I don't know at all and will look out for. Of course there are some that just don't click with me. I always think I will like Ken MacLeod. He has all the right attitudes and his subjects are interesting, but there is smething about his style that just does not involve me.
I would disagree with you slightly about Dave Hutchinson's Europe books. I did feel, like you, that the last two books were not quite up to the standard of the others, but with Hutchinson, I have to reread. His books are so readable on the surface that I have to read them several times to piece together what is happening and who is controlling events. It took me a while to work out that the American woman in the last book featured in two distinct time lines, that she featured in the Hungarian scene in a previous book, and also featured in a short story not in the books. On a second reading it became one of my favorites of the series.
He is a very devious writer and you have to work quite hard on the books. I've been reading a lot of Deighton lately, and you are right, there isa lot of the Bernie Sampson books in Hutchinson's work.
He does have some annoying habits. I wish he would name his characters instead of saying "The tall dark-haired woman suddenly appeared." I know if someone with a cane appears it is Rudi, but I still haven't worked out who the man in the Panama hat is!
Yes, he could do with being a little more opaque: I don't know if he's read Mick Herron - I've pointed both of them in each others' direction when meeting both, but I've only met Dave once and haven't seen Mick for 4 years, despite being in touch now and then, the point being that I think DH would benefit from taking on Mick's slightly more direct approach with characters. Dave is very clever, sometimes too much so maybe with plotting. I've had similar issues, especially as the series goes on and this fogging of things can make the later volumes a little tiresome for all their quality. Good to hear from you, my friend.
i had a cat called Smudge
It's a great name for a pet, I feel.
The Crossing is too long, The Road is too short and Blood Meridian is just right.
- the Judge.
In what sense do you feel 'The Road' is too short? How would it have been improved by greater length? Would like to hear your theories.
@outlawbookselleroriginal
@27:42 You said you think sometimes McCarthy overwrites, sometimes he underwrites and that Blood Meridian was great- i agree.
I couldve read more of "the road", less of "the crossing" and Blood Meridian was just right.
Ps i really love the passion you have for books and i always learn about interesting books from you, so thank you! 😀
@@laurasalo6160 Many thanks! Always interested what McCarthy readers have to say as there is so much to say about his work- I probably could have managed more of 'The Road' too!
No sci fi list is complete without Neuromancer. Or maybe even the book of the new sun, although I feel like BotNS is so weird, idk if it really fits into a sci fi mold. I mean it's about the future, it's got a lot of sci fi, aliens, space and time travel etc etc. But in the end it reads like a fantasy book, the atmosphere feels gothic medieval. It's more a fantasy adventure ..
while typing this I got really annoyed with my keyboard. I need to relube my stabilizers.
'Neuromancer' was published in 1984, the twentieth century- as the video title says, this is a 21st Century List...though I'm always saying that N is the most important SF novel of the last forty years.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Hahah don't know how I missed that. Probably the THC oil / edibles.
Man I love neuromancer and the whole sprawl trilogy. A video about Count Zero and Mona Lisa Overdrive might be a cool idea since there are so few of them.
I thought Quinn's ideas was gonna make one for each, but he made a Neuromancer one. Then never made a video for the second and third book.
@@3choblast3r4 Not sure who Quinn is. I'll do a Sprawl Trilogy at some point as a re-read of 'Overdrive' is due. There are many other Top 10s etc on my channel- there is a playlist- check them out.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal I'll make sure to check it out. Quinn's ideas is a channel by this dude who makes really great videos about sci fi books and their themes. He's probably one of the largest "booktube" style channels out there right now. Although I think most of his audience doesn't real the books but just watches his videos for the interesting lore. (I think he mainly got big with his three body problem videos)
p.s subbed. Have a great new years!