Great list, whenever the topic is 80s SF i have to mention the "Killer Bees": Bear, Benford, and Brin :) David Brin - Startide Rising (1983) Greg Bear - Eon (1985) Greg Benford - Great Sky River (1987)
Hey, loved this video! Thanks for the mention. Also very impressed/jealous that you know so many booktubers to do all your collabs. If you ever get around to it, would love to pick your brain about booktube and your success. (and if you ever want to do another collab but with a smaller booktuber, I would be interested and have a few ideas).
Admittedly I don't read much from the 80's, so I'm happy for these recs! Both Enders Game and Neuromancer have been on my tbr for awhile but I haven't gotten around to them yet. Replay sounds like actual hell to me haha
I bought replay off your rec from a previous video. Havent read it yet, but I love the premise, so many possibilities! Also Hyperion, and FOH is the possible GOAT
Nice video. Have you read Michael Swanwick's Vacuum Flowers? It's an early cyberpunk novel, published a few years after Neuromancer and Schismatrix. I haven't read it yet but everything I have read by Swanwick has been amazing.
Great list! I loved Hyperion and Replay. Another 80s SF novel that stands out for me is David Brin's The Postman, which in terms of sub-genre could be classed as post-apocalyptic dystopia. Have you read it?
Thanks! I’m glad you enjoyed Hyperion and Replay like I did! I haven’t read The Postman but I own Startide Rising by David Brin. Thanks for the recommendation!
Love this video. I am reading a fantasy (Through the Ice by Piers Anthony) that was written in 1989 that was recommended to me by my sister-in-law and it is really good. I would have never picked it up without the push to do it.
Thanks Corina! That’s awesome that you are enjoying Through the Ice, I’m sure your sister-in-law will be excited to talk about with you haha. Let me know if you pick up any of these sci-fi books!
For 80s sci-fi I would highly recommend Greg Bear's books such as Eon, The Forge of God, and my personal favourite, Blood Music. Also, Spider Robinson's Lifehouse trilogy of Mindkiller, Time Pressure and Lifehouse (first two came out in the 80s, last one in the 90s). Another great trilogy is John Varley's Gaea Trilogy: Titan, Wizard and Demon (yes, they are sci-fi, not fantasy).
Thanks for the recommendations! Greg Bear is on my TBR and I wasn’t familiar with John Varley but I looked up the Gaea trilogy and it sounds pretty interesting!
Off the top of my head, two notable omissions are The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood and The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe. Somewhat unrelated, but if you look for "Orson Scott Card Secular Humanist Revival" you'll find an artifact that's very hard to reconcile with where he went as he got older/
Thanks for the recommendations Eric! I have read Oryx & Crake but not The Handmaid’s Tale yet. I read The Shadow or the Torturer and it didn’t work for me but I see the appeal. I have heard some things about Orson Scott Card but luckily those things didn’t seem present in Ender’s Game.
That’s a good question, I don’t actually listen to many audiobooks. Off the top of my head I remember hearing good things about Project Hail Mary on audio. I loved that book!
I have read 3 OSC books. I loved Ender’s Game, I liked Speaker for the Dead, and I loved Ender’s Shadow. Speaker for the Dead was not what I expected after Ender’s Game as it’s much slower and more philosophical.
Is there anything similar to Hyperion ? I'm looking for similar sci-fi books and can't find anything that good :( Enjoyed Dune, Neuromancer & Snow Crash.
Hyperion is unique haha. Dan Simmons has another duology with Ilium and Olympos. I don’t think it’s quite as good but it’s very ambitious and has some amazing moments. And Sun Eater is my favourite modern series. It was influenced by Dune and Hyperion.
I read Neuromancer in the 80s. I worked for IBM and ran around fixing what were then called minicomputers, though not by IBM. Gibson didn't know squat about computers. Check out the Two Faces of Tomorrow by James P Hogan. He worked for Digital Equipment Corpration who made the machine UNIX was developed on. But that is from 1979. Quality of writing and quality of science fiction are somewhat separate things. What does the reader care about? Someone told me Isaac Asimov could not write. LOL
It will vary for different readers but I think on as long as they can suspend their disbelief regarding the accuracy of the science, more readers probably care about the quality of the writing. I will look up The Two Faces of Tomorrow.
I am currently reading a book where the author uses the term "elliptical plane". That is supposed to be "ecliptic plane". In a way this is irrelevant to the story, but it annoys me every time I encounter it. How many sci-fi readers won't even recognize the error?
@@WordsinTime I started reading SF in 4th grade at a Catholic elementary school. A nun told my sister "science and religion don't mix." I never got a science class until high school biology my sophomore year. But I would have two encyclopedia open on my bed while I read an SF book. What can a kid learn from incorrect words? A Fall of Moondust by Arthur C Clarke I read that in 7th grade and decided to go to college for engineering. I was debating between electrical and mechanical in high school. So I expect some plausible science and scientific word usage in science fiction. Just good writing does not cut it. It might as well be fantasy.
That’s okay, we all have a list of shame haha. I made a video with the 5 biggest sci-fi authors I haven’t read yet. I understand your thoughts on Neuromancer, I think I respect it more than I enjoyed it as well.
Just finished Ender's game, a fast read, really fun, but there was just... something I didn't like about it. I think it was the occasional, totally unnecessary to the plot, use of racist language, casual xenophobia and sexism, which just jarred me and took me out of the flow of the book. Otherwise I would have enjoyed it a lot more. Still bought the sequel though as the story overall and characters make me want to find out what happens next!
That’s fair Dominic. I felt like some of that was true to how some of those characters might behave, but I understand finding it off putting. The sequel is very different in style. Much slower and very philosophical. I’ll be interested to see your reaction to it!
@@WordsinTime I'll let you know! There was one time when Ender used the N word and then made a comment about his ancestors owning his friends ancestors which, for a 21st Century reader, was really uncomfortable. (I would put it down to the time it was written, but apparently OSC is quite a... shall we say "controversial" character himself.)
Great list, whenever the topic is 80s SF i have to mention the "Killer Bees": Bear, Benford, and Brin :)
David Brin - Startide Rising (1983)
Greg Bear - Eon (1985)
Greg Benford - Great Sky River (1987)
Thanks for the recommendations Adam! I own Startide Rising and Eon is on my TBR. I will have to check out Great Sky River!
@@FIT2BREAD Ooh, a mystery!
Hyperion rules! ☄
Haha yes it does!
Hey, loved this video! Thanks for the mention. Also very impressed/jealous that you know so many booktubers to do all your collabs. If you ever get around to it, would love to pick your brain about booktube and your success. (and if you ever want to do another collab but with a smaller booktuber, I would be interested and have a few ideas).
I’m glad you enjoyed it! If you want to chat about BookTube, feel free to message me on Discord: Words in Time#7671
Admittedly I don't read much from the 80's, so I'm happy for these recs! Both Enders Game and Neuromancer have been on my tbr for awhile but I haven't gotten around to them yet. Replay sounds like actual hell to me haha
Nice! Let me know your thoughts if you read any of them! It sounds like Replay might be more fun to read than experience haha
I bought replay off your rec from a previous video. Havent read it yet, but I love the premise, so many possibilities!
Also Hyperion, and FOH is the possible GOAT
That’s awesome Franz, let me know your thoughts when you read Replay! And yes, I’m glad you enjoyed the Hyperion duology as much as I did!
Nice video. Have you read Michael Swanwick's Vacuum Flowers? It's an early cyberpunk novel, published a few years after Neuromancer and Schismatrix. I haven't read it yet but everything I have read by Swanwick has been amazing.
Thanks Jeroen! I haven’t read Swanwick, so I will have to check out Vacuum Flowers. Thanks for the recommendation!
I have 8 scifi books earmarked for Sci Fi September, and Replay is definitely the one i’m most excited to read!
That’s an epic September TBR! I hope you enjoy Replay!
Great video!!
Thanks Marcela, I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Great list! I loved Hyperion and Replay. Another 80s SF novel that stands out for me is David Brin's The Postman, which in terms of sub-genre could be classed as post-apocalyptic dystopia. Have you read it?
Thanks! I’m glad you enjoyed Hyperion and Replay like I did! I haven’t read The Postman but I own Startide Rising by David Brin. Thanks for the recommendation!
Love this video. I am reading a fantasy (Through the Ice by Piers Anthony) that was written in 1989 that was recommended to me by my sister-in-law and it is really good. I would have never picked it up without the push to do it.
Thanks Corina! That’s awesome that you are enjoying Through the Ice, I’m sure your sister-in-law will be excited to talk about with you haha. Let me know if you pick up any of these sci-fi books!
@@WordsinTime ender’s game is on my list. I definitely am more interested now.
@@whatbringscorinajoy2724 That’s a great one to start with!
For 80s sci-fi I would highly recommend Greg Bear's books such as Eon, The Forge of God, and my personal favourite, Blood Music. Also, Spider Robinson's Lifehouse trilogy of Mindkiller, Time Pressure and Lifehouse (first two came out in the 80s, last one in the 90s). Another great trilogy is John Varley's Gaea Trilogy: Titan, Wizard and Demon (yes, they are sci-fi, not fantasy).
Thanks for the recommendations! Greg Bear is on my TBR and I wasn’t familiar with John Varley but I looked up the Gaea trilogy and it sounds pretty interesting!
Off the top of my head, two notable omissions are The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood and The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe. Somewhat unrelated, but if you look for "Orson Scott Card Secular Humanist Revival" you'll find an artifact that's very hard to reconcile with where he went as he got older/
Thanks for the recommendations Eric! I have read Oryx & Crake but not The Handmaid’s Tale yet. I read The Shadow or the Torturer and it didn’t work for me but I see the appeal. I have heard some things about Orson Scott Card but luckily those things didn’t seem present in Ender’s Game.
What are the easiest sci fi audiobooks to listen?
That’s a good question, I don’t actually listen to many audiobooks. Off the top of my head I remember hearing good things about Project Hail Mary on audio. I loved that book!
@@WordsinTime Thank you so nuch
What about Brin's Uplift novels?
I own Startide Rising and plan to read it soon!
@@WordsinTime You should start with "sundiver" it's the first book in the trilogy.
I've just started reading Enders Game, i really hope i like it, it's a massive series, have you read complete series?
I have read 3 OSC books. I loved Ender’s Game, I liked Speaker for the Dead, and I loved Ender’s Shadow. Speaker for the Dead was not what I expected after Ender’s Game as it’s much slower and more philosophical.
I really do need to read more scifi
Haha plenty of amazing sci-fi awaits!
Is there anything similar to Hyperion ? I'm looking for similar sci-fi books and can't find anything that good :( Enjoyed Dune, Neuromancer & Snow Crash.
Hyperion is unique haha. Dan Simmons has another duology with Ilium and Olympos. I don’t think it’s quite as good but it’s very ambitious and has some amazing moments. And Sun Eater is my favourite modern series. It was influenced by Dune and Hyperion.
@@WordsinTime Thank you very much for reply, will look into the Sun Eater series! Yea I tried Ilium but couldn't really get into it.
I read Neuromancer in the 80s. I worked for IBM and ran around fixing what were then called minicomputers, though not by IBM.
Gibson didn't know squat about computers.
Check out the Two Faces of Tomorrow by James P Hogan. He worked for Digital Equipment Corpration who made the machine UNIX was developed on. But that is from 1979.
Quality of writing and quality of science fiction are somewhat separate things. What does the reader care about? Someone told me Isaac Asimov could not write. LOL
It will vary for different readers but I think on as long as they can suspend their disbelief regarding the accuracy of the science, more readers probably care about the quality of the writing. I will look up The Two Faces of Tomorrow.
@@WordsinTime If you're checking out Hogan's work look up "Inherit the Stars".
You are the only person who connects dragon's egg with children of time. They are very similar.
Yeah, they’re a little different stylistically but they share some ideas!
I am currently reading a book where the author uses the term "elliptical plane". That is supposed to be "ecliptic plane". In a way this is irrelevant to the story, but it annoys me every time I encounter it. How many sci-fi readers won't even recognize the error?
I don’t think I would have noticed haha
@@WordsinTime
I started reading SF in 4th grade at a Catholic elementary school. A nun told my sister "science and religion don't mix." I never got a science class until high school biology my sophomore year.
But I would have two encyclopedia open on my bed while I read an SF book. What can a kid learn from incorrect words?
A Fall of Moondust by Arthur C Clarke
I read that in 7th grade and decided to go to college for engineering. I was debating between electrical and mechanical in high school.
So I expect some plausible science and scientific word usage in science fiction. Just good writing does not cut it. It might as well be fantasy.
Enders Game and Hyperion are on my 'list of shame'. Own both, not not got round to them yet. I respect Neuromancer, but I really didn't enjoy it.
That’s okay, we all have a list of shame haha. I made a video with the 5 biggest sci-fi authors I haven’t read yet. I understand your thoughts on Neuromancer, I think I respect it more than I enjoyed it as well.
Just finished Ender's game, a fast read, really fun, but there was just... something I didn't like about it. I think it was the occasional, totally unnecessary to the plot, use of racist language, casual xenophobia and sexism, which just jarred me and took me out of the flow of the book. Otherwise I would have enjoyed it a lot more. Still bought the sequel though as the story overall and characters make me want to find out what happens next!
That’s fair Dominic. I felt like some of that was true to how some of those characters might behave, but I understand finding it off putting. The sequel is very different in style. Much slower and very philosophical. I’ll be interested to see your reaction to it!
@@WordsinTime I'll let you know! There was one time when Ender used the N word and then made a comment about his ancestors owning his friends ancestors which, for a 21st Century reader, was really uncomfortable. (I would put it down to the time it was written, but apparently OSC is quite a... shall we say "controversial" character himself.)
@@DJYoue Yes, that is unfortunate.