I think you're going to LOVE Tad Williams. I read Dragonbone Chair last month and just started on Stone of Farewell, and the guy is just as good as advertised. For Tchaikovski, if you want to see if you jam with his style there are a couple of shorter books (under 200 pages) that aren't part of any series, Ogres and Elder Race, that are both very good and might give you a bit of an idea of what his style is.
Really hope these all live up to your expectations when you finally get to them. With Islington, please do yourself a favour and start with Will of the Many, I guarantee you will enjoy that more than Licanius. Also YEEESS for Ken Liu, the short story collection is a perfect place to start, though it won't totally prep you for his epic fantasy series because he's a bit of a chameleon author lol. Happy reading!
Tad Williams deserves your time, for sure! Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea books are huge favorites of mine, and she is among the very best when it comes to prose and exploring big themes. I am sometimes a little nervous about recommending her books because her handling of characters often reflects an older, terser style of storytelling, one that readers of modern genre fiction might struggle with. But I think you'll appreciate her writing a lot. I'm actually very curious to find out what you make of Bakker's unflinching storytelling. His talent is undeniable, but waiting until you're done with Malazan and WOLAS is not a bad idea. Finally, I am so honored to see the special edition of The Way of Edan behind you!
Thanks, Philip! Tad Williams is absolutely a must-read for me. I think I'm more likely to start the Le Guin journey with the sci-fi. and YES! The SHELF of EDAN!
Great video!! Really good topic. I’m definitely going to upvote Tad Williams!! I went from fan to super-fan last year, and it all starts with Memory Sorrow and Thorn!!! I’ll keep you posted with Dandelion Dynasty.. I read book 1 and it was “like not love” but I’ve heard a lot about how the story really takes shape in books 2-4. We can talk about my Licanius takes, but I’m super lukewarm on that series as a whole, but I’m actually super excited to try The Will of the Many. I have enjoyed all of the UKG stuff I’ve read, but I have to be in a very specific mood for the way she writes. Kristoff is cool, but you definitely don’t have to start with the vampire stuff if that’s not your jam! I will say, it’s not super traditional vampire fantasy so you may love it, but Nevernight is also a really good trilogy! I haven’t read children of time yet, either! If you want a buddy, let me know when you get to it and I will read it with you. Bakker is a favorite of mine, but I would definitely wait until you’re finished with Malazan before you start that.
Madison coming in hot with the great insights! I normally align pretty well with your tastes, so this is great to know! AND YES, we have to do a buddy read. We'll figure out a good one that we are both excited for :)
Another sweet jacket, bro! I definitely recommend Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn. I'll be trying Grace of Kings in June with the Discord read along happening. If I like it, I'll continue. I think Licanius is underrated and is judged completely unfair by Wheelies. Jay Kristoff kicks ass. Prince of Nothing is a mixed bag but definitely worth the trip. Book 1 is AMAZING.
I do not have to wait until the end to tell you Tad Williams! The Last King of Osten Ard has now snuggled into my top 5 series after LOTR #1 and before Warlord, now #3. I still have the 2 best books to read so that is saying something! Memory, Sorrow & Thorn is to First Law as The Last King of Osten Ard is to the Age of Madness… Tad’s 30 years in between series shows in his prose, it increased in greatness twofold.
That's so true, I keep discovering an endless number of books and authors through so many Booktube videos that I would love to read. But I already have a huge pile of books here. And the thicker the book, the slower my progress. It's really hard to catch up and read long series. Standalones have a certain added value in that respect. You get to experience the author's writing style and world of ideas and might either want more, or not.
I've only read 2 series from Tchaikovsky, but i loved Shards of Earth. I read it in 2023 and still think about it weekly, and I've never heard a booktuber talk about it
Awesome video Brian! Le Guin is such a great writer. Empire of the Vampire is an excellent series, and it’s almost complete. The final book comes out in November.
I vote for Leguin! I think her works would be a perfect antidote (for lack of a better term) of the big chonkers you're reading right now! She shows how well a skilled author can write epic fantasy that's concise but just as impactful as the big doorstops.
Watching this I realized Ive only read from LeGuin and Bakker (and Bakker was a MNF). I definitely need to hit up most of these myself. One take ...im so envious 😂. - Cheers Brian
@@BrianBell7 Honestly, I would love to trade Bloopers for a quick one-take recording...of course, at this point, I feel I would lose half my subscribers w/o them.
When FOMO strikes, I just move things up in the TBR. I started a physical list last year to help keep that in order. I'd love to be in on the conversation when possible, but we can't do all things. If I know ahead of time about a read-along I'd like to be part of, I shuffle things around to make that possible. A certain amount of order to the chaos that can be the TBR really helps out in getting rid of the FOMO.
I've only read the Dragonbone Chair (back when it first came out) and lots of Heinlein on your list. If you decide to read some Heinlein, treat your 12 year old self and read his "juveniles" i.e. Starman Jones, Citizen of the Galaxy, Tunnel in the Sky, and a bunch more from the 1950's. For fantasy, Tad Williams gets my vote.
I’m currently reading The Grace of Kings and loving it so far! Ken Liu won me over with The Paper Menagerie, and it’s wonderful to experience his style in an epic fantasy series. I far prefer Le Guin over Heinlein! While I don’t recommend Bakker widely, I think his prose is top-tier incredible. Great video in 1 take!
I only read Le Guin last year. I read Left Hand of Darkness. It is amazing. It is the perfect example of how SciFi can help you feel/see new ideas. I also love the two Culture books I’ve read.
For Culture I would start with Player of Games (or maybe the short essay "A Few Notes on the Culture"). I think it's a better start. All the Culture novels are standalones (Look To Windward is a loose sequel to Consider Phlebas). The universe of the Culture is very imaginative. Due to some longer Fantasy series I also didn't read any Culture book since July 2022 🙀From Tchaikovsky I only read Children of Time, it was a very enjoyable SciFi read (although at the beginning partly a bit dry in writing style). But hey if thats not for you you have 9 other great authors and especially Tad Williams has an awesome 7 book (plus 2 shorter novellas/short novels) series for you to read.
Children of Time is great. I was the same as you in not being interested in the premise, so it took me a bit to get into it. But I’m so glad I did. It will be a classic in the future
Ursula K LeGuin is fantastic. The Paper Menagerie is too. I've only read one book by Tad Williams, a standalone: War of the Flowers. It's been a long time, but it was pretty good.
Heinlein, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. It has at many times been my favorite book, any genre, ever written. Stranger in a Strange Land is very odd and not one of my favorites. It has been a critical darling, though. I'd also highly recommend his short fiction, probably starting with "The Green Hills of Earth". As another commenter said, his juveniles are also excellent; I'd recommend Podkayne of Mars or Farmer in the Sky, but only if you're in the mood for something dark. Tunnel in the Sky is excellent as well. Oh, and Borussia Dortmund is a decent choice if you just want to follow someone. To the extent that I follow German soccer, I root for 1.FCK (the Red Devils of Kaiserslautern). They were relegated after financial problems following the last German World Cup and haven't made it back up to the first league, but I have hopes.
Just so you know, I fully support "One-Take Brian"! On your list I've only read Adrian Tchaikovsky and Tad Williams. The first book I read from Tad was actually last month, a standalone called Caliban's Hour which retells the story of Caliban from Shakespeare's The Tempest. I've heard good things about Dragonbone Chair so that should be a good starting point. As for Tchaikovsky my first read from him was Cage of Souls. It's not his most popular work but I really enjoyed it! I got some classic sci-fi vibes from it. Guns of the Dawn was great too. They're both standalones so maybe you can try either one of those before moving on to his series.
I loved the Licanius Trilogy. I do recommend reading the books together without taking too long of a break between each book because the series has a lot of plot. Islington was gracious enough to write a story recap at the beginning of books 2 and 3 and he has a thorough glossary in each one. Also, some profound philosophical questions are explored throughout.
Charles de Lint! He has two long series, but they are place based, so the order is mostly unimportant. I suggest Some Place to be Flying for Newford series and Moon heart for Ottawa.
Great video Brian. I have arrived fairly late to the reading game (properly anyway) so I have massive gaps to fill with regard to what I have read. Out of the authors here I have read one book and it was in fact Children of Time. I did really enjoy this book when I read it and it definitely got me wanting to read more. Also great point about FOMO. It is very hard to resist buying and starting other series that you see people raving about. Just a quick fyi - I had previously been commenting on your videos as Broon88.
Thank you! In some sense, it's more fun to have these big gaps than to feel like you've read most of the things you'd like to. We're all on the journey together!
@ totally. I look ahead at all the books people rave about and that I haven’t read and just think how fortunate I am that I have so many good books ahead of me.
My fav author on that list is tad and although his books are chunky, they're definitely more of what you like. I was able to get through his 1st trilogy in about a week and 2nd series in less than 2 weeks if that tells you how good the series is! Hopefully you'll come to enjoy it as much as I have 👊🏾💥😎
The vampires made me a bit reluctant for the Jay Kristoff stories, but I decided to give him a go when I found out he was from Perth originally, where I live, in Western Australia. I was so glad I did. Just so much fun. 💜
I'm about halfway through Stone of Farewell at the moment and I'm enjoying M,S&T but it's not completely captivated me yet. His prose is beautiful, but something is missing for me. I hope you love it when you do get on to it. I'm actually planning on reading Children of Time next month and I'm not a huge Sci-Fi reader, so we'll see how it goes. I've read all the Earthsea books and none of them are below a 4 star. Tehanu and the Tombs of Atuan are exceptional. Really looking forward to reading her Sci-Fi books at some point this year hopefully.
I am trying to complete series before diving into new ones, but I also like to break up my reading to avoid burning myself out on an author. I did a good job closing out series in progress last year, but still have several big ones in progress. It's hard, because of the FOMO effect. That said, Tad Williams and Adrian Tchaikovsky are two of my favorites from this list. Williams does epic fantasy so well and his prose is a joy to read. I haven't read much from Tchaikovsky, but am impressed enough by what I have read that he quickly became one of my favorite authors.
I really appreciate your thoughts here. That seems to be a pretty consistent opinion on Tad Williams so I'm very much looking forward to getting started. I'll probably do a standalone first with Tchaikovsky just to not have to start yet another series :)
Honestly it doesn't really matter which Culture book you start with but the general consensus is that Player of Games is the best entry point. My personal favorites are Use of Weapons and Look to Windward
I have never had a problem with FOMO, rather I’m an anti-FOMO (the more people are talking about and hyping something up, the less likely I will be interested in reading it - unless it was already something I was reading or interested in before all that hype started). I have several series ongoing but that is because I am a mood reader, and also from the decades of having to wait at least a year (even over 5 years for some) for the next book in a series to come out. I like savouring the story and don’t binge read. Now and then I will be in the mood to reread a trilogy back to back, but mostly, series are better when you break them up and take your time.
You have found a way that works for you, which is terrific to hear! I generally like to read trilogies straight through so I don't forget what's going on, but you seem to know yourself and your reading habits really well!
Yep, technically Iain Banks - Culture is a universe where the 10 books series are. Most popular starting point we recommend are Player of Game or Use of Weapons. Not really important where but these two represent pretty well what Culture is. It’s a big loss he passed away so soon. All the books are theme heavy and around one or more like some central questions and they are written as an adventure with some characters but very focused so he never loses his point in the book about what he wants to say to us. Heinlein. Starship Troopers is really well known from him at least because of the movie. His books are really in the classic scifi type way more than Banks. It’s a sin that Banks is underrated here.
I also haven't read anything from all of these authors... but that's less surprising from me, being a lot less well-read. Which leads me to the One for the Road. I resonate with this one. I feel so behind and have so much FOMO... but I am trying not to start TOO MANY things without finishing others. Lol. Trying is the keyword! 😂
I Fing LOVE Jay Kristoffs writing!! Also Tad Williams more traditional but greatj all rounder I wish I had read him when I was younger. So in summery, top pick Jay K
You could try one of Tchaikovsky's shorts first, get a feel for his writing style. The Dandelion Dynasty is my only dnf, I managed the first book and a half there's just so much boring stuff to get to the good bits which appears to be half of books 3 and 4
My list resembles yours except I've read Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky. I got really into Fantasy and Sci-Fi 5 years ago and I have a lot of catching up to do.
I've only read Empire/Vampire out of Kristoff's works, and I really enjoyed it, but it IS very vampirey... so I can't promise you'd love it too if Vampires ain't yer thang 😁. I'm an all around reader, and not a fast one at that, so there's still a lot of SF/F popular authors and booktube darlings I still need to get to: Joe Abercrombie, Tad Williams, Fonda Lee, oh need I go on...
If you need an entry point for some of BookTube's sci-fi favorites, including some on Brian's list, I suggest picking up The Big Book Of Science Fiction edited by Ann and Jeff Vandermeer. Lots of short stories on double-columned pages, with a page (or more) about the author before each story. You can learn some interesting things, like Philip K. Dick, after he was praised by the man, reported Stanislaw Lem to the FBI believing he was a front for a communist agent. Some of the stories come with small diagrams (Ted Chiang), or graphics (Stanislaw Lem) that came with the original publication. I spent some time last night reading Pots by C. J. Cherryh.
Loved your idea of others FOMOing what I'm FOMOing, because FOMO frequently overwhelms me and I really need to do better a sticking through a book or series, instead of abandoning it for another shiny bauble that catches my attention. I've also never read Ursual LeGuin. An author I really want to read and haven't is Dr. Chase, I say shamefully. Can't wait to get into Way of Edan.
I might have some things to say about LeGuin, Heinlein and Banks. But the biggest hole in your repertoire (IMHO of course) is Tchaikovsky. Prolific, profound and a fine writer. Children of Time is a favorite of mine, as with so many. Also, if you're going to read only 1 Culture book, please make it Use of Weapons, which I think is the best of the first three. The narrative structure is unique and fascinating. You are similar to me in that I jumpstarted my SFF reading at the age of 56 three years ago, so we both have a lot of wonderful authors to explore.
So far, people have mentioned starting Culture with either Use of Weapons or Player of Games, so it'll be one of them for sure. What do you suggest for a non-series Tchaikovsky book? I have so many series going...
@@BrianBell7 I've read 5 Tchaikovsky standalones. My favorite is Cage of Souls, although Shroud comes out late this month, and has gotten a lot of solid advance reviews, so I'd be inclined to suggest that.
@@BrianBell7 Both of those Culture books are solid, but Use of Weapons is a cut above and has a M Night Shyamalan-worthy ending that I still think about years later.
Tad Williams: My favorite new author of 2024 (beating by a hair Christopher Ruocchio and B. Scott Bakker!) who builds a solid fundament of characters and setting in «The Dragonbone Chair», allowing the story to only accelerate from the end of throughout the series, plus beautiful & easy to read prose, which effortlessly move from cosy, to Machiavellian Politics & Backstabbing, action scenes as good as any, almost Cosmic Horror and borderline meta-humor! Looking for to continue with «The Last King of Osten Ard» this year! Ken Liu: «Grace of Kings» is my favorite fantasy novel published in the last ten years, I know I am in the minority even with the fandom with the majority preferring books 2 or 4, but I love how immensely efficient and effective Liu is in his prose and I rarely have seen such larger then life characters as Kuni & Mata becoming unlikely (and yet so naturally!) compatriots and felt such heartache over a fallout so clearly telegraphed from a mile away (as well as my boy Cogu Yelu! 😎🙌) Not one battle felt repetitive and how Liu made Economics, Technological Innovation, Culture , Chemistry & Diplomacy feel as natural to Epic Fantasy as Shield Walls, Magic or Divine Intervention, astonishes me! Ursula K Le Guin: «Earthsea» is a unique series in the characters, the setting and the prose of Le Guin! Easy to read, but gives much food for thought! Robert Heinlein: One of those truely American Writers you just can not put in a box, akin to Hemingway or Hunter S. Thompson! From his Military SciFi Classic «Starship Troopers» (equally a text on political theory, challenging many assertions of Modern Democracy, to the point he has been called a crypto-f@cist), via his Libertarian recreated American Revolution on the Moon in «The Moon is a Harsh Mistress» to a hippie-favorite with the free love spiritualism of «Stranger in a Strange Land». Similar to Le Guin (though she has the better prose) in that he is easy to read, but gives much food for thought! Bakker: His writing has a lot of references to history, religion, myth, literature, psychology and philosophy, and his prose can alter between being downright cruel and immensely beautiful, but his style is (rather) much more straightforward then say Steven Erikson, allowing the focus to be on the themes of Bakker, no matter how twisted & dark they may be! Will continue with «Aspect Emperor» this Summer!
For Tchaikovsky I'd say to start with Shards of Earth, if you want something scifi with found family and motley crew and is a short trilogy. Otherwise, he's got a number of novellas that could be fun for you. I like Ogres (novella) and Dogs of War (novel) too. Also, are you somehow hurt in the algorithm by people watching at more than 1x per the pinned comment?
@@BrianBell7 Will do. Still got a few other vampire books on my tbr shelf to read too. Been wanting to read a Dracula retelling by Kenneth Bøgh Andersen.
I read Dragonstone Chair in December and thought it was delightful. A fantasy to sink into. You'll be praying for rainy Sunday afternoons so you can take to the couch. Regarding Banks, he can be hit and miss, often in the same book, but he hits heights in both prose and ideas that are few other writers hit. I would not start with Player of Games, or Consider Phleobas (however it's spelled). Player of Games is a bit boring and not very space opera-y. Consider Phleobas was his first attempt at SF and it's very good on the whole, but there are extremely overwritten sections, and some extremely gross sections, worth reading, but not first. With Banks, I say be a tough guy and jump in with both feet and go straight to Excession. Peak space opera, tons of Big Idea SF stuff. If you don't want to do that, maybe consider starting with The Algebraist. It's a stand alone novel and gives you a good taste of Banks writing quality SF. Cheers
Goodkind is a literal ripoff collection. And wasn’t a good person at all. Let’s just leave this here. Brooks however is not a ripoff. Or Wheel of Time is too. Shannara starts just like Wheel of Time as a Lord of the Rings hero story. But over the books it has eras what Sanderson wants to do, goes into modern times. Etc. it has a lot of original stuff. And so on.
From those I've read, Jay Kristoff and Ken Liu were the most disappointing books. Jay Kristoff tends to recycle the same ideas over and over, and the style of Ken Liu was an instant turn-off for me. Tchaikovsky is often a solid 3 stars, it's never gonna be my favorite books, but I'm enjoying it for what it is. My main complain is that he often cram too much stuff in his books. He has a lot of great ideas, and often try to put as much as possible in his books. Ursula K. Leguin is a great author, and I have objectively no complain for her books, but for some reason, I'm always fighting to stay engaged for the story. Finally, Tad Williams and James Islington are also on my TBR, hopefully, they're as good as everyone says !
It is always interesting to me how we, as readers, can be so far apart from people who most of the time we align with taste-wise. This is really good to know info. Standalones I think across the board for me, excepting Tad are likely to be first up.
it's always so appreciated when people watch the whole video at normal speed! Thank you!!
I think you're going to LOVE Tad Williams. I read Dragonbone Chair last month and just started on Stone of Farewell, and the guy is just as good as advertised. For Tchaikovski, if you want to see if you jam with his style there are a couple of shorter books (under 200 pages) that aren't part of any series, Ogres and Elder Race, that are both very good and might give you a bit of an idea of what his style is.
That's so good to know! Thank you so much!
@@BrianBell7 I agree with this, that was gonna be my recommendation as well : Elder Race is a nice and quick way to discover Tchaikovsky.
Really hope these all live up to your expectations when you finally get to them. With Islington, please do yourself a favour and start with Will of the Many, I guarantee you will enjoy that more than Licanius. Also YEEESS for Ken Liu, the short story collection is a perfect place to start, though it won't totally prep you for his epic fantasy series because he's a bit of a chameleon author lol.
Happy reading!
I love chameleon authors! Cool! Noted on Islington, that's where I'll start.
Tad Williams deserves your time, for sure! Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea books are huge favorites of mine, and she is among the very best when it comes to prose and exploring big themes. I am sometimes a little nervous about recommending her books because her handling of characters often reflects an older, terser style of storytelling, one that readers of modern genre fiction might struggle with. But I think you'll appreciate her writing a lot. I'm actually very curious to find out what you make of Bakker's unflinching storytelling. His talent is undeniable, but waiting until you're done with Malazan and WOLAS is not a bad idea. Finally, I am so honored to see the special edition of The Way of Edan behind you!
Thanks, Philip! Tad Williams is absolutely a must-read for me. I think I'm more likely to start the Le Guin journey with the sci-fi. and YES! The SHELF of EDAN!
I was so surprised by some of the authors on this list! I think you make a valid point about finishing series.
Thank you! Yeah, I finally let my secrets out about who I've not started with :) And yeah, I have 30+ ongoing series....
Great video!! Really good topic. I’m definitely going to upvote Tad Williams!! I went from fan to super-fan last year, and it all starts with Memory Sorrow and Thorn!!! I’ll keep you posted with Dandelion Dynasty.. I read book 1 and it was “like not love” but I’ve heard a lot about how the story really takes shape in books 2-4. We can talk about my Licanius takes, but I’m super lukewarm on that series as a whole, but I’m actually super excited to try The Will of the Many. I have enjoyed all of the UKG stuff I’ve read, but I have to be in a very specific mood for the way she writes. Kristoff is cool, but you definitely don’t have to start with the vampire stuff if that’s not your jam! I will say, it’s not super traditional vampire fantasy so you may love it, but Nevernight is also a really good trilogy! I haven’t read children of time yet, either! If you want a buddy, let me know when you get to it and I will read it with you. Bakker is a favorite of mine, but I would definitely wait until you’re finished with Malazan before you start that.
Madison coming in hot with the great insights! I normally align pretty well with your tastes, so this is great to know! AND YES, we have to do a buddy read. We'll figure out a good one that we are both excited for :)
Another sweet jacket, bro! I definitely recommend Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn. I'll be trying Grace of Kings in June with the Discord read along happening. If I like it, I'll continue. I think Licanius is underrated and is judged completely unfair by Wheelies. Jay Kristoff kicks ass. Prince of Nothing is a mixed bag but definitely worth the trip. Book 1 is AMAZING.
I'm 100% going off of your appreciation of Jay Kristoff to put it on TBR. I might hit Grace of Kings with your Discord!
@@BrianBell7 Would love to have you!
I do not have to wait until the end to tell you Tad Williams! The Last King of Osten Ard has now snuggled into my top 5 series after LOTR #1 and before Warlord, now #3. I still have the 2 best books to read so that is saying something! Memory, Sorrow & Thorn is to First Law as The Last King of Osten Ard is to the Age of Madness… Tad’s 30 years in between series shows in his prose, it increased in greatness twofold.
Ha! I knew you'd be on the Tad train here! You have good taste, so it'll happen!
@@heidi6281 yesss!! A person of good taste, I see.
That's so true, I keep discovering an endless number of books and authors through so many Booktube videos that I would love to read. But I already have a huge pile of books here. And the thicker the book, the slower my progress. It's really hard to catch up and read long series. Standalones have a certain added value in that respect. You get to experience the author's writing style and world of ideas and might either want more, or not.
Totally. A number of the authors here, I'm much more likely to start with a standalone.
I've only read 2 series from Tchaikovsky, but i loved Shards of Earth. I read it in 2023 and still think about it weekly, and I've never heard a booktuber talk about it
Thank you! I'll look it up today!
Awesome video Brian! Le Guin is such a great writer. Empire of the Vampire is an excellent series, and it’s almost complete. The final book comes out in November.
Thanks, Chas! I certainly must get to both of them!!
I vote for Leguin! I think her works would be a perfect antidote (for lack of a better term) of the big chonkers you're reading right now! She shows how well a skilled author can write epic fantasy that's concise but just as impactful as the big doorstops.
In Red Fury I Trust!
Watching this I realized Ive only read from LeGuin and Bakker (and Bakker was a MNF). I definitely need to hit up most of these myself. One take ...im so envious 😂. - Cheers Brian
If I had the amazing blooper reels you come up with, I'd intentionally mess these up! Yeah, literally no cuts in this one :)
@@BrianBell7 Honestly, I would love to trade Bloopers for a quick one-take recording...of course, at this point, I feel I would lose half my subscribers w/o them.
Yeah, i like to finish series.
I have already missed it all, now i have nothing to fear.😉
I loooooove the no edit mode 😍
When FOMO strikes, I just move things up in the TBR. I started a physical list last year to help keep that in order. I'd love to be in on the conversation when possible, but we can't do all things. If I know ahead of time about a read-along I'd like to be part of, I shuffle things around to make that possible. A certain amount of order to the chaos that can be the TBR really helps out in getting rid of the FOMO.
That makes a lot of sense to me!
I've only read the Dragonbone Chair (back when it first came out) and lots of Heinlein on your list. If you decide to read some Heinlein, treat your 12 year old self and read his "juveniles" i.e. Starman Jones, Citizen of the Galaxy, Tunnel in the Sky, and a bunch more from the 1950's. For fantasy, Tad Williams gets my vote.
Cool. Adding those Heinlein books now to TBR Mountain.
I’m currently reading The Grace of Kings and loving it so far! Ken Liu won me over with The Paper Menagerie, and it’s wonderful to experience his style in an epic fantasy series. I far prefer Le Guin over Heinlein! While I don’t recommend Bakker widely, I think his prose is top-tier incredible. Great video in 1 take!
Thank you, Johanna! It's your advice on The Paper Menagerie I'm planning to follow!
I only read Le Guin last year. I read Left Hand of Darkness. It is amazing. It is the perfect example of how SciFi can help you feel/see new ideas.
I also love the two Culture books I’ve read.
I'm excited to get both authors started this year!
For Culture I would start with Player of Games (or maybe the short essay "A Few Notes on the Culture"). I think it's a better start. All the Culture novels are standalones (Look To Windward is a loose sequel to Consider Phlebas). The universe of the Culture is very imaginative. Due to some longer Fantasy series I also didn't read any Culture book since July 2022 🙀From Tchaikovsky I only read Children of Time, it was a very enjoyable SciFi read (although at the beginning partly a bit dry in writing style). But hey if thats not for you you have 9 other great authors and especially Tad Williams has an awesome 7 book (plus 2 shorter novellas/short novels) series for you to read.
Cool, Player of Games seems to a good starting point!
Children of Time is great. I was the same as you in not being interested in the premise, so it took me a bit to get into it. But I’m so glad I did. It will be a classic in the future
really good to know! thank you!
Ursula K LeGuin is fantastic. The Paper Menagerie is too. I've only read one book by Tad Williams, a standalone: War of the Flowers. It's been a long time, but it was pretty good.
Interesting! Sounds like we have some of these gaps in common!
Heinlein, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. It has at many times been my favorite book, any genre, ever written. Stranger in a Strange Land is very odd and not one of my favorites. It has been a critical darling, though. I'd also highly recommend his short fiction, probably starting with "The Green Hills of Earth". As another commenter said, his juveniles are also excellent; I'd recommend Podkayne of Mars or Farmer in the Sky, but only if you're in the mood for something dark. Tunnel in the Sky is excellent as well.
Oh, and Borussia Dortmund is a decent choice if you just want to follow someone. To the extent that I follow German soccer, I root for 1.FCK (the Red Devils of Kaiserslautern). They were relegated after financial problems following the last German World Cup and haven't made it back up to the first league, but I have hopes.
I'm going to make sure to put that Heinlein book into the 2nd quarter TBR. Thanks, Doug! I trust your judgement on all things books (and soccer)
Just so you know, I fully support "One-Take Brian"! On your list I've only read Adrian Tchaikovsky and Tad Williams. The first book I read from Tad was actually last month, a standalone called Caliban's Hour which retells the story of Caliban from Shakespeare's The Tempest. I've heard good things about Dragonbone Chair so that should be a good starting point. As for Tchaikovsky my first read from him was Cage of Souls. It's not his most popular work but I really enjoyed it! I got some classic sci-fi vibes from it. Guns of the Dawn was great too. They're both standalones so maybe you can try either one of those before moving on to his series.
Awesome to know this, Marianne! Thank you! And I'm glad "One-Take Brian" worked!!
I loved the Licanius Trilogy. I do recommend reading the books together without taking too long of a break between each book because the series has a lot of plot. Islington was gracious enough to write a story recap at the beginning of books 2 and 3 and he has a thorough glossary in each one. Also, some profound philosophical questions are explored throughout.
Nice! I’ll have it ready to go once I finish a few series I’ve got going
Charles de Lint! He has two long series, but they are place based, so the order is mostly unimportant. I suggest Some Place to be Flying for Newford series and Moon heart for Ottawa.
James Islington is awesome! Licanius was great trilogy and his newest series is set to top it!
That’s what I hear!
Great video Brian. I have arrived fairly late to the reading game (properly anyway) so I have massive gaps to fill with regard to what I have read. Out of the authors here I have read one book and it was in fact Children of Time. I did really enjoy this book when I read it and it definitely got me wanting to read more.
Also great point about FOMO. It is very hard to resist buying and starting other series that you see people raving about.
Just a quick fyi - I had previously been commenting on your videos as Broon88.
Thank you! In some sense, it's more fun to have these big gaps than to feel like you've read most of the things you'd like to. We're all on the journey together!
@ totally. I look ahead at all the books people rave about and that I haven’t read and just think how fortunate I am that I have so many good books ahead of me.
We line up on 7 out of the 10! Planning on knocking a few of these off the list this year myself.
It's always fun to compare lists, right? We can do some together!
@@BrianBell7 We absolutely should!
My fav author on that list is tad and although his books are chunky, they're definitely more of what you like. I was able to get through his 1st trilogy in about a week and 2nd series in less than 2 weeks if that tells you how good the series is! Hopefully you'll come to enjoy it as much as I have 👊🏾💥😎
Excellent! I'm excited! Wow, you blew through them!
The vampires made me a bit reluctant for the Jay Kristoff stories, but I decided to give him a go when I found out he was from Perth originally, where I live, in Western Australia. I was so glad I did. Just so much fun. 💜
I've heard such great things!
I'm about halfway through Stone of Farewell at the moment and I'm enjoying M,S&T but it's not completely captivated me yet. His prose is beautiful, but something is missing for me. I hope you love it when you do get on to it. I'm actually planning on reading Children of Time next month and I'm not a huge Sci-Fi reader, so we'll see how it goes. I've read all the Earthsea books and none of them are below a 4 star. Tehanu and the Tombs of Atuan are exceptional. Really looking forward to reading her Sci-Fi books at some point this year hopefully.
For sure keep me posted on how Children of Time goes for you. That's great to know about Earthsea too!
I am trying to complete series before diving into new ones, but I also like to break up my reading to avoid burning myself out on an author. I did a good job closing out series in progress last year, but still have several big ones in progress. It's hard, because of the FOMO effect.
That said, Tad Williams and Adrian Tchaikovsky are two of my favorites from this list. Williams does epic fantasy so well and his prose is a joy to read. I haven't read much from Tchaikovsky, but am impressed enough by what I have read that he quickly became one of my favorite authors.
I really appreciate your thoughts here. That seems to be a pretty consistent opinion on Tad Williams so I'm very much looking forward to getting started. I'll probably do a standalone first with Tchaikovsky just to not have to start yet another series :)
I would recommend Empire of the Vampire and the Memory, Sorrow and Thorn trilogy.
Thanks, so much!
Im a simple man-I see Brian in a thumbnail… I click…. And also Tad Williams…. Also Tad
haha, we are both simple men. Message received on Tad!
Dortmund?! Pray tell, good sir? :)
I have only done Guns of the Dawn by Tchaikovsky, but it was enough to make me want to read more.
Cool. I know a lot of people love that one.
Honestly it doesn't really matter which Culture book you start with but the general consensus is that Player of Games is the best entry point. My personal favorites are Use of Weapons and Look to Windward
really good to know. I think I'll take your advice. As long as publication order doesn't matter, let's start with a strong entry!
I have never had a problem with FOMO, rather I’m an anti-FOMO (the more people are talking about and hyping something up, the less likely I will be interested in reading it - unless it was already something I was reading or interested in before all that hype started). I have several series ongoing but that is because I am a mood reader, and also from the decades of having to wait at least a year (even over 5 years for some) for the next book in a series to come out. I like savouring the story and don’t binge read. Now and then I will be in the mood to reread a trilogy back to back, but mostly, series are better when you break them up and take your time.
You have found a way that works for you, which is terrific to hear! I generally like to read trilogies straight through so I don't forget what's going on, but you seem to know yourself and your reading habits really well!
Read Tad Williams. For Tchaikovsy, I'd suggest The Final Architecture, but if you want a stand alone then Dogs of War.
Cool, yeah I want more standalones with new-to-me authors if I can try them first. Excited for MS&T whenever I can get it in the TBR!
For Tchaikovsky, you could also try 'Dogs of War', which is part of an ongoing series, but could be read as a standalone.
cool. Thanks, Ron!
One of the big dangers of FOMO is it can cause you to not take the time to properly enjoy what you're reading right now!
completely. always trying to get to the "next big thing" prevents enjoyment in the now, for sure.
Yep, technically Iain Banks - Culture is a universe where the 10 books series are. Most popular starting point we recommend are Player of Game or Use of Weapons. Not really important where but these two represent pretty well what Culture is. It’s a big loss he passed away so soon. All the books are theme heavy and around one or more like some central questions and they are written as an adventure with some characters but very focused so he never loses his point in the book about what he wants to say to us.
Heinlein. Starship Troopers is really well known from him at least because of the movie. His books are really in the classic scifi type way more than Banks.
It’s a sin that Banks is underrated here.
Excellent, thank you!
I recommend James Islington and Robert Heinlein. If you only get to two authors on your list these would be the ones I’d pick
Thanks! I've heard really good things about both
I 100% agree about Vampires, I just don't enjoy them - which makes me wonder why I like Dresdan files so much.
Same, but I do like how Butcher does the different courts, each with sort of different power sets and motivations.
I also haven't read anything from all of these authors... but that's less surprising from me, being a lot less well-read. Which leads me to the One for the Road. I resonate with this one. I feel so behind and have so much FOMO... but I am trying not to start TOO MANY things without finishing others. Lol. Trying is the keyword! 😂
Daily small improvements, N.A! They make all the difference, they really do.
I Fing LOVE Jay Kristoffs writing!! Also Tad Williams more traditional but greatj all rounder I wish I had read him when I was younger. So in summery, top pick Jay K
So many of my booktube compadres love him! I really need to get going on it!
Reading Heinlein I would start with his short story collection The Past through Tomorrow
Thank you!
You could try one of Tchaikovsky's shorts first, get a feel for his writing style. The Dandelion Dynasty is my only dnf, I managed the first book and a half there's just so much boring stuff to get to the good bits which appears to be half of books 3 and 4
That's an excellent idea. Interesting about DD. I guess people either love it or maybe not so much.
My list resembles yours except I've read Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky. I got really into Fantasy and Sci-Fi 5 years ago and I have a lot of catching up to do.
We will get there! Thank you for watching and letting me know!
I've only read Empire/Vampire out of Kristoff's works, and I really enjoyed it, but it IS very vampirey... so I can't promise you'd love it too if Vampires ain't yer thang 😁.
I'm an all around reader, and not a fast one at that, so there's still a lot of SF/F popular authors and booktube darlings I still need to get to: Joe Abercrombie, Tad Williams, Fonda Lee, oh need I go on...
Yeah, for sure. Of the ones you listed, Abercrombie would be my suggestion to rock out first.
Dude you gotta read The Will of the Many!!!
I know! So many series!!! Thanks, Preacher!
If you need an entry point for some of BookTube's sci-fi favorites, including some on Brian's list, I suggest picking up The Big Book Of Science Fiction edited by Ann and Jeff Vandermeer. Lots of short stories on double-columned pages, with a page (or more) about the author before each story. You can learn some interesting things, like Philip K. Dick, after he was praised by the man, reported Stanislaw Lem to the FBI believing he was a front for a communist agent. Some of the stories come with small diagrams (Ted Chiang), or graphics (Stanislaw Lem) that came with the original publication. I spent some time last night reading Pots by C. J. Cherryh.
Excellent, thank you!!
I haven’t read Larry Correia, Steven Erikson or Roger Zelazny yet…
Love Correia and Erikson!
Loved your idea of others FOMOing what I'm FOMOing, because FOMO frequently overwhelms me and I really need to do better a sticking through a book or series, instead of abandoning it for another shiny bauble that catches my attention. I've also never read Ursual LeGuin. An author I really want to read and haven't is Dr. Chase, I say shamefully. Can't wait to get into Way of Edan.
FOMO is real! You will LOVE The Edan Trilogy.
I might have some things to say about LeGuin, Heinlein and Banks. But the biggest hole in your repertoire (IMHO of course) is Tchaikovsky. Prolific, profound and a fine writer. Children of Time is a favorite of mine, as with so many. Also, if you're going to read only 1 Culture book, please make it Use of Weapons, which I think is the best of the first three. The narrative structure is unique and fascinating. You are similar to me in that I jumpstarted my SFF reading at the age of 56 three years ago, so we both have a lot of wonderful authors to explore.
So far, people have mentioned starting Culture with either Use of Weapons or Player of Games, so it'll be one of them for sure. What do you suggest for a non-series Tchaikovsky book? I have so many series going...
@@BrianBell7 I've read 5 Tchaikovsky standalones. My favorite is Cage of Souls, although Shroud comes out late this month, and has gotten a lot of solid advance reviews, so I'd be inclined to suggest that.
@@BrianBell7 Both of those Culture books are solid, but Use of Weapons is a cut above and has a M Night Shyamalan-worthy ending that I still think about years later.
Tad Williams: My favorite new author of 2024 (beating by a hair Christopher Ruocchio and B. Scott Bakker!) who builds a solid fundament of characters and setting in «The Dragonbone Chair», allowing the story to only accelerate from the end of throughout the series, plus beautiful & easy to read prose, which effortlessly move from cosy, to Machiavellian Politics & Backstabbing, action scenes as good as any, almost Cosmic Horror and borderline meta-humor! Looking for to continue with «The Last King of Osten Ard» this year!
Ken Liu: «Grace of Kings» is my favorite fantasy novel published in the last ten years, I know I am in the minority even with the fandom with the majority preferring books 2 or 4, but I love how immensely efficient and effective Liu is in his prose and I rarely have seen such larger then life characters as Kuni & Mata becoming unlikely (and yet so naturally!) compatriots and felt such heartache over a fallout so clearly telegraphed from a mile away (as well as my boy Cogu Yelu! 😎🙌) Not one battle felt repetitive and how Liu made Economics, Technological Innovation, Culture , Chemistry & Diplomacy feel as natural to Epic Fantasy as Shield Walls, Magic or Divine Intervention, astonishes me!
Ursula K Le Guin: «Earthsea» is a unique series in the characters, the setting and the prose of Le Guin! Easy to read, but gives much food for thought!
Robert Heinlein: One of those truely American Writers you just can not put in a box, akin to Hemingway or Hunter S. Thompson! From his Military SciFi Classic «Starship Troopers» (equally a text on political theory, challenging many assertions of Modern Democracy, to the point he has been called a crypto-f@cist), via his Libertarian recreated American Revolution on the Moon in «The Moon is a Harsh Mistress» to a hippie-favorite with the free love spiritualism of «Stranger in a Strange Land». Similar to Le Guin (though she has the better prose) in that he is easy to read, but gives much food for thought!
Bakker: His writing has a lot of references to history, religion, myth, literature, psychology and philosophy, and his prose can alter between being downright cruel and immensely beautiful, but his style is (rather) much more straightforward then say Steven Erikson, allowing the focus to be on the themes of Bakker, no matter how twisted & dark they may be! Will continue with «Aspect Emperor» this Summer!
I knew you'd have great insights on these, Mac! Thank you! You are creating much optimism for me!
Jay Kristoff is the only author on this list I have read.
You have a few I have been wanting to get to!
I'm glad I'm not the only one!
The FOMO is real. I made a decision earlier this year to focus on a select number of series. The books will be there later!
For Tchaikovsky I'd say to start with Shards of Earth, if you want something scifi with found family and motley crew and is a short trilogy. Otherwise, he's got a number of novellas that could be fun for you. I like Ogres (novella) and Dogs of War (novel) too. Also, are you somehow hurt in the algorithm by people watching at more than 1x per the pinned comment?
Hi , thank you for those recs, Adam! Yeah, YT doesn't give the content creator full time value when people watch at higher than normal speed.
Dang, I listen to almost everything at 1.5x or 2x. Trying to get through all the good stuff is hard!
Watch Brian Lee Durfee’s video “ My Charles de Lint” collection!! Maybe you can get BLD on Whom the Bells Tolls and discuss this author live!!
I'll check it out this weekend!!
I don't know why i haven't read Jay Kristoff yet (or Anne Rice). I'm a big vampire fan so fairly sure i'll love the series.
If you get to it before I do, let me know your thoughts!
@@BrianBell7 Will do. Still got a few other vampire books on my tbr shelf to read too.
Been wanting to read a Dracula retelling by Kenneth Bøgh Andersen.
Whoa! What's the background for this wonderful Borussia jacket? ⚽️
Sorry couldn't wait until the end... 😉
lol I knew it :) thank you!
Brian for Charles de Lint "Moonheart".
good to know! I appreciate the assist!
I read Dragonstone Chair in December and thought it was delightful. A fantasy to sink into. You'll be praying for rainy Sunday afternoons so you can take to the couch.
Regarding Banks, he can be hit and miss, often in the same book, but he hits heights in both prose and ideas that are few other writers hit. I would not start with Player of Games, or Consider Phleobas (however it's spelled). Player of Games is a bit boring and not very space opera-y. Consider Phleobas was his first attempt at SF and it's very good on the whole, but there are extremely overwritten sections, and some extremely gross sections, worth reading, but not first. With Banks, I say be a tough guy and jump in with both feet and go straight to Excession. Peak space opera, tons of Big Idea SF stuff. If you don't want to do that, maybe consider starting with The Algebraist. It's a stand alone novel and gives you a good taste of Banks writing quality SF.
Cheers
That is great advice, thank you!!
Tad Williams
thank you!
I haven't read many of the classic fantasy ripoff books yet: Terry Brooks, Terry Goodkind, David Eddings.
Ah, I have a little bit.
Goodkind is a literal ripoff collection. And wasn’t a good person at all. Let’s just leave this here. Brooks however is not a ripoff. Or Wheel of Time is too. Shannara starts just like Wheel of Time as a Lord of the Rings hero story. But over the books it has eras what Sanderson wants to do, goes into modern times. Etc. it has a lot of original stuff. And so on.
From those I've read, Jay Kristoff and Ken Liu were the most disappointing books. Jay Kristoff tends to recycle the same ideas over and over, and the style of Ken Liu was an instant turn-off for me.
Tchaikovsky is often a solid 3 stars, it's never gonna be my favorite books, but I'm enjoying it for what it is. My main complain is that he often cram too much stuff in his books. He has a lot of great ideas, and often try to put as much as possible in his books.
Ursula K. Leguin is a great author, and I have objectively no complain for her books, but for some reason, I'm always fighting to stay engaged for the story.
Finally, Tad Williams and James Islington are also on my TBR, hopefully, they're as good as everyone says !
It is always interesting to me how we, as readers, can be so far apart from people who most of the time we align with taste-wise. This is really good to know info. Standalones I think across the board for me, excepting Tad are likely to be first up.