The following is a list of those SF/F works that I read in 2015 and that stood out among the many other works that I had read. These will be read again, sometime in the future.
SCIENCE FICTION
First time readings
Robert Silverberg Downward to the Earth
Liu Cixin The Three-Body Problem
Emily St. John Mandel Station Eleven
Andy Weir The Martian
China Mieville Railsea
Ben Winters The Last Policeman
Andy Weir The Martian
China Mieville Railsea
Ben Winters The Last Policeman
Re-reads
Hal Clement Mission of Gravity
Hal Clement Mission of Gravity
Alfred Bester The Stars My Destination
Arthur C. Clarke Rendezvous with Rama
Gene Wolfe Nightside the Long Sun
David Brin The Uplift War
FANTASY
First Readings
Sofia Samatar A Stranger in Olondria
Russell Hoban Linger Awhile, Angelica Lost and Found, Soonchild
It's been a good year for SF/F as there are five new authors on the list.
The only one we match up on, Fred, is The Martian. I read it just a couple of months ago and loved it.
ReplyDeleteI can't really seem to get into this modern fantasy genre. I loved almost all of the Pern books and Piers Anthony wrote some fantasy that I liked too, but my brief samplings of some of the newer fantasy authors has left me cold.
madamevauquer,
DeleteI'm not much for modern fantasy either--got ruined by Tolkien, I guess. You might want to take a look at _A Stranger in Olandria_ as it's more of an adventure story set in a foreign culture and really not too much in the way of magic.
Russell Hoban's stuff is really quirky, and his last works were really short novels or long novellas. He might be best known in the wide world as the creator of children's books. His _Riddley Walker_ is one of my all-time top ten
SF novels. The film Turtle Diary, with Glenda Jackson and Ben Kingsley, is based on one of his novels. I think it's on YouTube. I did a post on Angelica Lost and Found, as well as other works by Hoban.
Have you seen the film version of The Martian? I'm on the waiting list at Netflix and the local public library. I've heard good things about it.
Thanks, Fred, for the recommendation of A Stranger in Olandria. I'll keep it in the back of my mind.
DeleteNo, I haven't seen The Martian movie yet. From what I've noticed, those who didn't read the book first uniformly loved the movie. Mixed response for those who did read the book first with many really enjoying the movie while feeling it didn't compare to the book.
madamevauquer,
DeleteIt's been several months now since I read the book, so I will probably forget much in the book, which will help my attitude toward the film. No doubt, they dropped some of the incidents to make the film. One comment that I remember is that some of the humor in the book got lost somewhere in transferring it to film.
R.T.,
ReplyDeleteThe top 4 or 5 from this list would be (today anyway)
Robert Silverberg: Downward to the Earth (echoes of Conrad's Heart of Darkness), a recent discovery which I wish I had read earlier
Andy Weir: The Martian, recent novel, film version now out, man stranded on Mars, very realistic and high tech stuff, no Disnyish aliens,etc.
Ben Winters: The Last Policeman, recent novel, combination police procedural and impending catastrophe
Alfred Bester: The Stars My Destination, a classic, one of my all-time top ten SF novels
Arthur C. Clarke: Rendezvous with Rama, another classic, exploration of an alien spaceship that passes through our solar system. No aliens were killed in the writing of this novel.
R.T.,
DeleteEnjoy!
tx for the recommends. sci fi was my first love, many moons ago, but i haven't read much of it for forty years or so... i remember loving hal clement, though, except for his last effort which i felt was a bit off at the time; don't recall much of it now... and i can't remember the name of it. darn.
ReplyDeleteMudpuddle,
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by and commenting. I think you will find that SF has changed considerably since you last read some, especially the newer and younger writers.