David Zindell’s Neverness is one of the more interesting sci-fi novels I’ve ever read, and The Broken God picks up where it left off. Zindell’s prose is often breathtakingly beautiful and his world building is ambitious but he’s also prone to heady philosophizing and meandering narratives that can pretentious.
My Cultural Diet
I love this utterly bizarre and super-metaphysical Star Trek novel in which the Enterprise uses an experimental engine built by a singing glass spider to travel to another universe where there’s no entropy, the crew’s thoughts all start to run together, and a proto-god threatens both universes. Written way back in 1983, it feels unique and blissfully free of any franchise “baggage.”
This collection of short stories and novellas isn’t necessary reading if you enjoyed the Expanse novels, but it does flesh out some of the characters, both main and secondary. I think my favorite story was probably “The Churn,” a dark and disturbing tale from Amos Burton’s younger days, followed by “The Vital Abyss,” which explores Paolo Cortázar’s research into the alien protomolecule.
I’ve been slowly making my way through Alexander’s Prydain series over the last year or so. I never read them as a kid, but given how much I like them as an adult, I think 11-year-old Jason would’ve loved them. This book, in particular, contained some poignant ruminations on honor, duty, and freedom.
Well, Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck pulled it off. After nine books, they wrapped up The Expanse in a way that’s both very fitting and rewarding, but also leaves behind some interesting ethical/philosophical questions about the character’s actions. And I appreciate how the book jumps back and forth between cynicism and optimism concerning humanity right up until the final pages.
These books just keep getting better and better. The invasion of Laconia was thrilling, there were several moments that practically had me cheering, and though some of the revelations could be seen coming from a mile away, they were no less enjoyable for that. I also loved the vivid imagery used to describe the various weird alien phenomena. Can’t wait to dive into the final book.
Set in the distant future à la Gene Wolfe’s Book of the New Sun, The Pastel City jumps back and forth between sci-fi and fantasy with a pulp-y style. As a fan of both Wolfe’s stories and Michael Moorcock’s Elric saga, The Pastel City hit a sort of weird sweet spot for me.
The thirty-year time jump took a little getting used to, but the updated character relationships and revelations of the Laconian Empire made up for it. Given that I watched The Expanse before reading the novels, it was nice to finally start reading a story that I hadn’t already seen in some way, shape, or form.
Always interesting to compare these books to the TV series, especially re. character changes. Perhaps the best example is Michio Pa, who’s the basis for TV’s Camina Drummer. Also, Marco Inaros is just one of those characters that you love to hate. I’m consistently impressed with Corey’s ability to balance the horrors of war with an underlying optimism.
This Expanse novel takes a break from the vast space opera/alien stuff to focus on individual stories for each of the Rocinante’s crew. Amos Burton is one of my favorite Expanse characters and I liked his story the best.
Pretty much what I’ve come to expect from Scalzi: nothing earth-shattering, but light, clever, and very entertaining nevertheless. (I finished it in less than two days.) He likens the novel to a fun pop song, which is pretty accurate.
I liked this better than Black Helicopters, but I still think Agents of Dreamland is the best of the trilogy.
I didn’t enjoy this nearly as much as Agents of Dreamland. Lots of interesting ideas and striking prose, but the disjointed and meandering narrative made it a slog.
An excellent Lovecraft-inspired novella. Reads like the trippiest X-Files episode never made.
Packard has more fun toying with the “Choose Your Own Adventure” format, though Inside UFO 54 – 40 isn’t as trippy as Hyperspace.
My least favorite Expanse novel to date. But even a “bad” Expanse novel is still pretty good.
Read this in under 24 hours. Hurwitz knows how to write a pageturner, but it’s 100% style over substance. I appreciated the effort to make more nuanced and thoughtful bad guys, but I would’ve liked more mindless action and less existential philosophizing re. marriage, parenting, etc.
For a “Choose Your Own Adventure” book geared towards grade schoolers, Hyperspace is pretty trippy and meta.