The great thing about BookTube is how often your discover new things (or new perspectives on things). If you have asked me over a year ago about any of the four titles you've talked about, I would have known nothing. In the past eight months, I've read three of them (Dawn was good, didn't click with Electric Forest, LOVED Inverted World) and I own First Fifteen Lives. Thanks to you and your fellow booktubers for helping me keep my TBR long!
📬 The little aside on “Electric Forest” was great! The lengths we bookish types go 😆 I believe I’ve seen this one on Secret Sauce of Storycraft and Shades of Orange, but it wasn’t me that scored a copy when you were looking for a replacement 🥹 Absolutely splendidly smooth nudge towards the Patreon! I proper-LOL-ed at that 😃 Really delighted you enjoyed “…Harry August.” I enjoyed that one a whole bunch and have read some of her other work too.
Electric Forest! That is a bit of a unicorn in QLD, it is on my wish list. Tanith Lee is a unique author by any standards and her books are never straightforward, which can be highly addictive or off-putting depending on the reader. The other two are ones I would definitely like to get to one day. Thanks for the reviews.
@@WordsinTime Well do I have a recommendation or two! Me and my sister both adore Drinking Sapphire Wine and Don't Bite The Sun. They have aged a bit tbh but are still pretty wild. I personally think that The Silver Metal Lover is one of her best pieces of writing and very accessible to a modern reader so that is often one I recommend.
Two suggestions I have for anyone interested in reading more obscure works by well-known authors are: Now Wait For Next Year by Philip K. Dick and A Fall of Moondust by Arthur C. Clark.
I think you’ll enjoy Dawn. It’s creepy and reads like a thriller. I couldn’t put it down. I just finished the series last Sunday. I’ll be reading more Butler in the next 2-3 months.
Glad you got your copy of Electric Forest! I stumbled upon that same Daw edition at a new bookstore (with a used section) for $2.50 in Like New condish like a solid 2 years ago. And honestly I only bought it because of the beautiful cover and the title. We have a locally famous music festival in Michigan called electric forest. And now this year guys like you and bookpilled are reviewing it! I read it a few months back and enjoyed it pretty well. Beautiful prose. I rated it a strong/positive 3 stars out of 5!
Ha ha! Can't wait to see how you like Xenogenesis. I can't imagine you will read a book and not the other two. Also it will be fun to see how your sensibilities respond to the ideas in the book.
I recently read Dawn and will talk about it more in a video, but my short thoughts are I found the interactions with the Oankali to be very intriguing/unsettling.
Inverted World and Harry August are both bangers in my opinion, especially the latter. I'm a sucker for time loop stories and I found the sci-fi thriller narrative in Harry August utterly compelling.
I think the science ideas in Inverted World warped my little brain, which is why I liked it so much. Not sure if you watch much television, but I loved the Netflix series Bodies.
i have Inverted World sitting in my e-reader as one of a dozen TBR. This is the first time I've heard anyone give any criticism of it, thanks for balancing out all the love I've heard. And I raced through Harry August. What a great story and told by a master. I keep track of my reading on Hardcover and there I gave it five stars. Ironically, the next book I read was The Lathe of Heaven, another story of somebody with the capacity to change history but on a totally different scale. They were a good pairing for me. It was funny to find that in each book the character comes across a woman to whom he was married in another existence and has to think through how to relate to her this time.
I haven't read Inverted World for yonks but I recall that it was a quite challenging read; But I do vaguely remember the opening line which was something like: "I was born at the age of 650 miles..." That is enough to hook most readers, I think.
Hey Jonathan! Such an amazing channel you have (came across it today). Have you reviewed Nyxia Trilogy by Scott Reintgen, would like to hear your view about it.
Dawn was amazing, as was the entire Xenogenesis / Lilith's Brood trilogy. It barely missed the mark for a 5/5 read for me (but then again I tend to be very very strict with 5 star ratings.)
Thanks for your reviews which are once again very interesting and not ones I've considered before. I have now added Inverted World and The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August to my reading list. Your review of Inverted World also reminded me of Cities in Flight by James Blish which I had originally read in the 80's. I do recall being totally enthralled with them at the time which had whole cities that were able to leave Earth and fly through space. From what I can recall these cities would compete with each other and on the plants they landed for work and resources. I also recall being a bit disappointed with the ending however I am now tempted to re-read to refresh my memory and to see how it now compares with modern Sci-Fi books. Is Cities in Flight a book you have read? If so, if you haven't already reviewed it, what are your thoughts on it?
I discussed I, Robot in one of my videos called 6 Sci-Fi Books with Astounding Visions for Robots. But I haven’t read the rest of the Robot series. Although I plan to read Caves of Steel this year.
It's relieving to hear that someone else didn’t love Inverted World either. It didn’t really work for me for the same reasons you outlined, as well as another which I'm not sure if you were implying when you mentioned characters withholding information from each other. It sort of has to do with that romantic sub-plot and bit of "drama" between 2 characters in the middle of the book. Found it infuriating and derailed (yes, pun intended) the story for me. This is why I tend to veer away from SF with romance in it.
![This Book Has Sold 8 Million Copies - Is It Good? [100 Book Challenge #77-79]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/piNdNZBVtF4/mqdefault.jpg)
The great thing about BookTube is how often your discover new things (or new perspectives on things).
If you have asked me over a year ago about any of the four titles you've talked about, I would have known nothing. In the past eight months, I've read three of them (Dawn was good, didn't click with Electric Forest, LOVED Inverted World) and I own First Fifteen Lives.
Thanks to you and your fellow booktubers for helping me keep my TBR long!
Haha that’s great! I’m glad you liked Dawn. I hope you enjoy Harry August too!
I want to read Harry August at some point this year. Time loops are fun and Groundhog Day is an all time fave! 😂
I think you’ll burn through it quickly!
if you like time loops read silverberg and heinlein.
@@PaulSaether Thanks.
I read A Time of Changes by Silverberg recently and loved it. No time loops, but a great story!
📬 The little aside on “Electric Forest” was great! The lengths we bookish types go 😆 I believe I’ve seen this one on Secret Sauce of Storycraft and Shades of Orange, but it wasn’t me that scored a copy when you were looking for a replacement 🥹
Absolutely splendidly smooth nudge towards the Patreon! I proper-LOL-ed at that 😃
Really delighted you enjoyed “…Harry August.” I enjoyed that one a whole bunch and have read some of her other work too.
Haha I’m glad you enjoyed my book adventures/misadventures.
And Harry August was a real page turner!
Electric Forest! That is a bit of a unicorn in QLD, it is on my wish list. Tanith Lee is a unique author by any standards and her books are never straightforward, which can be highly addictive or off-putting depending on the reader. The other two are ones I would definitely like to get to one day. Thanks for the reviews.
I agree she has a unique style! Would be interested to try something else from her.
@@WordsinTime Well do I have a recommendation or two! Me and my sister both adore Drinking Sapphire Wine and Don't Bite The Sun. They have aged a bit tbh but are still pretty wild. I personally think that The Silver Metal Lover is one of her best pieces of writing and very accessible to a modern reader so that is often one I recommend.
@@OmnivorousReader Thanks! I’ll look those up!
Im soooo excited for u to read DAWN!!! Although i will say, its uncomfortable, and thats what I appreciated. Looking forward to your review!
I’m about 90 pages and it’s definitely unsettling but I’m enjoying it!
I’ve read the Lee and Priest. Good but sort of frustrating too. Thanks for giving them a fair shake.
🤝
Two suggestions I have for anyone interested in reading more obscure works by well-known authors are: Now Wait For Next Year by Philip K. Dick and A Fall of Moondust by Arthur C. Clark.
Thanks for the recs!
I think you’ll enjoy Dawn. It’s creepy and reads like a thriller. I couldn’t put it down. I just finished the series last Sunday. I’ll be reading more Butler in the next 2-3 months.
Ooh, sounds good to me!
Glad you got your copy of Electric Forest! I stumbled upon that same Daw edition at a new bookstore (with a used section) for $2.50 in Like New condish like a solid 2 years ago. And honestly I only bought it because of the beautiful cover and the title. We have a locally famous music festival in Michigan called electric forest. And now this year guys like you and bookpilled are reviewing it! I read it a few months back and enjoyed it pretty well. Beautiful prose. I rated it a strong/positive 3 stars out of 5!
That’s a great deal!
Ha ha! Can't wait to see how you like Xenogenesis. I can't imagine you will read a book and not the other two. Also it will be fun to see how your sensibilities respond to the ideas in the book.
I recently read Dawn and will talk about it more in a video, but my short thoughts are I found the interactions with the Oankali to be very intriguing/unsettling.
Inverted World and Harry August are both bangers in my opinion, especially the latter. I'm a sucker for time loop stories and I found the sci-fi thriller narrative in Harry August utterly compelling.
I burned through Harry August!
I think the science ideas in Inverted World warped my little brain, which is why I liked it so much. Not sure if you watch much television, but I loved the Netflix series Bodies.
Trying to visualize the shape of the planet and how it operated was awesome. I’ll have to look up the show Bodies!
@@WordsinTime Bodies is the weirdest time travel story I have ever seen.
@@cherylmccutchan1282 I’m intrigued haha
Great video Jonathan! Harry August has been on my curiosity list. Electric Forest sounds fun.
Cheers Chas! Harry August is real ride and Electric Forest is thought-provoking.
i have Inverted World sitting in my e-reader as one of a dozen TBR. This is the first time I've heard anyone give any criticism of it, thanks for balancing out all the love I've heard.
And I raced through Harry August. What a great story and told by a master. I keep track of my reading on Hardcover and there I gave it five stars. Ironically, the next book I read was The Lathe of Heaven, another story of somebody with the capacity to change history but on a totally different scale. They were a good pairing for me. It was funny to find that in each book the character comes across a woman to whom he was married in another existence and has to think through how to relate to her this time.
I’m glad you also enjoyed Harry August! The Lathe of Heaven is on my TBR, looking forward to that one!
So was inverted world good ? lol it’s in my bucketlist
I've read Electric Forest but it was such a long time ago that I have no recollection of it. I will probably reread it some time in the future.
I thought she brought an interesting style to some familiar themes.
Have not read any of these but they sound fascinating. Thanks for the reviews!
Thanks Paul, I hope you enjoy them if you pick any of them up!
I haven't read Inverted World for yonks but I recall that it was a quite challenging read;
But I do vaguely remember the opening line which was something like:
"I was born at the age of 650 miles..."
That is enough to hook most readers, I think.
Haha it does have some cool ideas like that.
Hey Jonathan! Such an amazing channel you have (came across it today). Have you reviewed Nyxia Trilogy by Scott Reintgen, would like to hear your view about it.
Thanks for the kind words, welcome to the channel! I haven’t read that series, I’ll have to look it up!
Dawn was amazing, as was the entire Xenogenesis / Lilith's Brood trilogy. It barely missed the mark for a 5/5 read for me (but then again I tend to be very very strict with 5 star ratings.)
I’m glad you liked it!
Thanks for your reviews which are once again very interesting and not ones I've considered before. I have now added Inverted World and The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August to my reading list. Your review of Inverted World also reminded me of Cities in Flight by James Blish which I had originally read in the 80's. I do recall being totally enthralled with them at the time which had whole cities that were able to leave Earth and fly through space. From what I can recall these cities would compete with each other and on the plants they landed for work and resources. I also recall being a bit disappointed with the ending however I am now tempted to re-read to refresh my memory and to see how it now compares with modern Sci-Fi books. Is Cities in Flight a book you have read? If so, if you haven't already reviewed it, what are your thoughts on it?
You’re welcome! I haven’t read Cities in Flight but it is on my TBR so I’m looking forward to trying Blish.
Not keen on any of those three but Dawn is excellent!
Glad you enjoyed Dawn!
Can you pleasee make a video about Isaac Asimov and his Robot series?
I discussed I, Robot in one of my videos called 6 Sci-Fi Books with Astounding Visions for Robots. But I haven’t read the rest of the Robot series. Although I plan to read Caves of Steel this year.
That's a bummer. I live in Utah, haven't seen it! 😂 But if i see someone else reading it i will rip it from their hands and send it your way 😉
Hahaha I appreciate it Cindy!
It's relieving to hear that someone else didn’t love Inverted World either. It didn’t really work for me for the same reasons you outlined, as well as another which I'm not sure if you were implying when you mentioned characters withholding information from each other. It sort of has to do with that romantic sub-plot and bit of "drama" between 2 characters in the middle of the book. Found it infuriating and derailed (yes, pun intended) the story for me. This is why I tend to veer away from SF with romance in it.
Yeah, that subplot didn’t really pay off for me either.
Ive read the last two. Inverted world i just found mildly annoying for some reason. Loved First 15 Lives.
I’m glad you also enjoyed First Fifteen Lives!
"So you're telling me there's a chance!"
No, not this month.
You didn’t lose per se, you’re just in the wrong universe.
@@WordsinTime - I'm currently reading Blake Crouch (albeit, not Dark Matter). So I approve this message.
Hey, Carsick Colin really exists. So the channel is not altogether about fiction. 😀
@@Kim_Miller - That's "The Quantum Colin" to you!
⚛😀❤
❤️
Still hate the epilogue.
Haha fair