Cixin Liu, The Remembrance of Earth,
There's something of Mamoru Oshii's Avalon in The Three body problem, and also something of Kim Stanley Robinson, and also something of Otherland by Tad Williams (in much, much better), and also something of Stephen Baxter... Actually, the list of works and authors who seem to have inspired Cixin Liu is a long one, but the novel can't be summed up to that because it's a story in its own right...
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Adrian Tchaikovsky, Children of Time, Tor, 2015.
In the future, humanity is divided because of projects that aim to terraform uninhabitable planets, and then to introduce animal species whose evolution will be guided by a nanovirus. Dr Avrana Kern is about to finalise one of these projects with a population of apes. But right when she's about to press the button for the final launch, one of her team, who secretely adheres to the faction opposing the projects, destroys the orbital station in which they all are. It's only the first terrorist action of a war that will decimate humanity... Lois McMaster Bujold, (by internal chronological order (1))
The Vorkosigan Saga is one of the names given to an ensemble of science-fiction novels and novellas written by Lois McMaster Bujold. Most of the novels focus on the Vorkosigan family, and more particularly on Miles Naismith Vorkosigan. Currently, the series spans about forty years of the life of this family (apart from Falling Free which takes place 200 years in their past) and takes place on the planet Barrayar, on other planets colonised by humanity or on an orbital station... James S. A. Corey, The Expanse,
The Expanse is a series of space-opera novels written by Daniel Abraham (who also writes fantasy) and Ty Frank, under the pseudonym James S. A. Corey. If I had to sum up the series, I'd say: "You can feel a strong Firefly influence (but not as good as), with multiple points of view chapters à la Song of Ice and Fire and it ain't much, but it's fun." ... Connie Willis, To Say nothing of the dog, Bantam Spectra, 1997.
When someone tells me they don't like reading science-fiction but would like to give it another try anyway, To Say nothing of the dog is the book I always recommend. It's also one of my all times favourites... Emily St John Mandel, Station Eleven, Picador, 2014.
It all begins an evening in Toronto. A man goes to see King Lear with his girlfriend. A famous actor plays Lear but during the madness scene he collapses on stage. The man, who has medical training rushes to the stage to help but the famous actor dies. He goes out of the theatre. It's night, everyone is gone, his girlfriend didn't wait for him. He starts walking back home when he receives a call on his mobile from one of his friend who works in a hospital. He tells him to stock on food and to lock himself in his flat: a pandemic is spreading... Charles Stross, The Laundry Files
Bob Howard is a civil servant and takes care of the IT in his department. His department? The Laundry, a parallel branch of the British Intelligence services, that deal in the supernatural threats. Because yes, magic is real. But it's nothing more than digital algorithms and equations. So it's a bit of a problem when everyone has a PC and can casually summon the monstruous horrors of the neighbouring dimension... Jane Rogers, The testament of Jessie Lamb, Cannongate Books, 2012.
Reading The testament of Jessie Lamb was quite an experience: the teenager I was and who still exists in a corner of my head and the adult that I am were spending their time arguing about the book. |
All reviews are spoiler free unless explicitly stated otherwise.
I only review stories I have liked even if my opinion may be nuanced. It doesn't apply for the "Novels published before 1978" series of blog posts. Comments are closed, having neither time nor the inclination to moderate them. |