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Ranking the 21 Books I Just Read (Sci-Fi, Fantasy & Lit Fic)
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- Опубликовано: 12 авг 2024
- Patreon ($5 for longform review vids of each book I read, plus extras): / bookpilled
SFUltra episode about The Third Eye: www.patreon.com/posts/sfultra...
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00:00 The Female Man by Joanna Russ
01:37 The Third Eye by T. Lobsang Rampa
03:25 He Died With His Eyes Open by Derek Raymond
04:54 Fury by Henry Kuttner
06:05 Eric John Stark: Outlaw of Mars by Leigh Brackett
07:34 Change the Sky and Other Stories by Margaret St. Clair
09:28 The Snail on the Slope by the Strugatsky Brothers
12:22 The Compleat Traveller in Black by John Brunner
13:51 The Garments of Caen by Barrington J. Bayley
15:00 Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
16:43 The Sorrow of War by Bao Ninh
18:42 The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien
19:52 Conan Stories by Robert E. Howard
21:57 Lilith by George MacDonald
23:10 Gypsy by Carter Scholz
24:42 The Freeze-Frame Revolution by Peter Watts
26:34 Amerika by Franz Kafka
28:15 Moderan by David R. Bunch
30:30 We Can Build You by Philip K. Dick
31:37 Eden by Stanislaw Lem
32:44 Midworld by Alan Dean Foster
34:18 Wrap-up
I like these tier videos a lot
i do too here as he had to catch us up on a lot of books, it was very well done and covered a lot of ground, but normally i prefer mr. matt's three at a time review videos.
Yeah Weir definitely writes his characters as “look at me! I’m a scientist but I’m also irreverent, isn’t that wacky!” They seem written with the intent to be adapted into movies.
i just can't stand that
The way you characterize MODERAN made me smile all over my old-man face. My 5* review says of these stories: "they are brilliant tours-de-force of a man's vision of a future no one could possibly want, but they're likely to get anyway." Such a delight to find someone else who appreciates Bunch.
i've seen it around, but never thought about reading it -- that will have to change. i like different takes on similar stories. rashomon!
Came to also praise Bunch. I discovered him in one of the Dangerous Visions anthologies (Again?) when I was 11 and loved him ever since.
Love so much how 'to the point' you approach your videos. Thanks for not wasting my time with intros and yammerings🙏
1. I like this format
2. Thank you for the "The Sorrow of War" rec. My father (a Vietnam vet) has recently been reading these types of biographies by US authors. I had him watch your review of it and he quite quickly got the book. I'm going to try to get to it myself
3. I'm right there with you on Weir in finding his writing utterly tedious to read. The Martian was just barely good enough to get through, but Hail Mary is so bad that I DNFd pretty early on
I only read The Long Tomorrow by Brackett, and it is not pulpy; it is a grounded post-apocalyptic story. Now I’m curious about her wilder stories if you dare compare her to Robert E Howard.
Project Hail Mary is the first book I’ve read in over five years, and I’ve historically disliked reading for a long time. It worked great for me, easy to digest, and since I don’t have much references to compare it to, it served its purpose. I’m excited to read more well-written works in the future.
Thanks for this, always enjoy your videos. I loved your description of the writing style on Hail Mary 😆 You have single-handedly summed up what I hate about the dialogue in many modern movies and tv shows...
What I have learned, as a subscriber, is that our tastes are polar opposite. If you say you hate a book, I'll probably check it out 😅
It's incorrect to say that The Lord of The Rings was originally published as a single book and then split up to make money. Tolkien wanted to publish it as a single novel but paper shortages in post-war Britain made it impractical. This is well-documented.
Correct, but it was also felt that marketing a single volume that big would be difficult at that time, plus binding technology was against an easy print job.
Hail Mary is a fun beach novel if you can get past the author's voice and one-dimensional characters. The friendship between the protagonist and his non-carbon-based counterpart is memorable.
Rocky is one of the most interesting aliens written IMO. Initially unsettling then deeply weird but in an understandable way. Most alien depictions seem to be either scary, or waay too human.
@@KatharineOsborne He is probably still too human, but I really enjoyed him.
I agree with your take on Margret St Clair. I've read her short story collection Change the Sky several times. The standard is remarkably high, & the stories are diverse & interesting.
I haven't read Amerika by Kafka, but I have read his short story collection Metamorphosis, & he's very high on my list of writers who write fiction that feels like SF, but which probably isn't. Anyway I recommend his works to SF readers.
For those who are leery of short stories in general, the best way to read them is to treat each story as a separate entity - like it's a novel - there's no need to finish the collection in one sitting.
MODERAN sounds worthy of checking out.
Usually when I speak with my friends about programmable body parts we joke that in the future you'll have to pay subscriptions for all your organs or else their creators just shut them down or reudce their function till you pay again or die.
So happy to see this pop up just now! Love when you do these.
Eden is one of the few Lem books I have yet to read. I'll have to fix that soon.
Same here!
I really appreciate your reviews! You've introduced to me new authors, and renewed my love of reading, thank you for what you do!
I dig these ranking lists they're a fun way to get a quick rundown on many books. Thank you Bookpilled, very cool!
Just want to say thanks for doing what you do. I’ve found so many great books because of your channel! Appreciate you
Project Hail Mary at F is the wildest thing I’ve seen lol
It's a book that 90% of people love and so the other 10% feel obligated to hate it.
@@joelstainer65 bingo.. I’m not coming from hateful place i just found it funny. Bookpill has actually given me couple good reads this year and he sounds like me when I hear commercial hip hop lmaoooo but giving it a F is some wild shit . It’s a very solid , fun well paced read. Which it’s time jumping was enjoyable.
@@joelstainer65 Yeah. Like it's fine to not think it's amazing or even very good at all. But people super low-ball it to try to counteract it's popularity. Or people have just never read an actual bad book.
I totally agree with every criticism Mr Bookpilled gives, but I gave it an A upon finishing, and would probably give it a B in hindsight.
@@joelstainer65I’m a Hail Mary hater, I don’t feel obliged to hate it, it’s just that the writing style is extremely grating, I liked the intro enough, waking up aboard a ship as a sole survivor and trying to figure out why you’re there and where you are going is interesting enough.
It’s the quippy, Marvel esque ‘’well, that just happened!’’ writing that makes it so unbearable. Also the flashback sequences are terrible, the characters are totally one dimensional and are all walking stereotypes, the woman in charge of the project (forget her name) is cliche beyond belief.
It’s the equivalent of a summer blockbuster. Switch your brain off and you might have fun, but the book is poorly written mass market slop.
Excellent, I have just acquired Moderan, looking forward to it!
Reading Project Hail Mary was like reading a car manual for me. The F is justly deserved. Moderan is a unique work, but not for everyone. I enjoyed it immensely. Definitely deserves more attention by readers. Have you read A Canticle For Leibowitz? I'd like to hear your take on it.
I tried very hard to read The Snail on the Slope. I got 2/3 of the way in and threw in the towel. The symbolism was lost on me, which was disappointing because I know they considered it their best work. Even after reading the Afterword and a detailed explanation about the story, I was unable to pick it up again. I respect it and appreciate the number of hoops they had to jump through to get any of their work published. That aside, you have given me several books to put on my reading list.
Oh no, I loved Hail Mary 😅 I did listen to the audiobook, which is really well performed, so I don't know if reading the book itself would be more of a slog. But I see where you are coming from. The main character is VERY similar to Mark from The Martian, so yeah if that's not your jam, it would be hard to get through. I did however really appreciate how the physics of space travel (and Rocky's dilemma with it) was depicted.
It’s a good book .. it’s enjoyable don’t worry lol
It has a specific style. I loved it. Each to their own Katharine!
When I read Andy Weir, it feels like he is writing for a summer movie audience.
absolutely -- too mercenary hollywood script oriented for me.
nailed it, pop sci fi
I mean, this has nothing on the majesty of The Core.
I get you. In fact I liked the PHM audiobook better than the actual novel. I suspect I will love the movie more than both. It's possible that the 'smarmy' gets bleached out of the text in different mediums.
@@meesalikeuyeah but F?
There's a book called "Tales Before Tolkien" which contains fantasy stories that inspired Tolkien, one of them being "The Baumhoff Explosive" by Hodgson.
Great vid. The thumbnail with Hail Mary made me click this to see your opinion of it. Felt a bit disappointed, but to each their own.
The Snail on the Slope is called The Forest in czech. It was the most favorite book of my father and my gateway to sci-fi. Listening to you and looking back I see this is truly difficult book, but I read it as a fairytale for adults and enjoyed it immensely as sixteen year old. It is brilliant and strangelz funny. Resambles Kafka in some passages. And this book is the reason I was able to read Kafka later. Great.
I’ve been wanting to read Joanna Russ and decided to start with The Female Man if for nothing else than to see what “Old cranky-ass Bookpilled” finds really funny.
Ok so now I need to look for something by Margaret St. Clair too.
Perfect description of Hail Mary!
Great succinct video and very useful presentation of relatively rare authors and titles- miss the sci fireplace but the tier tower is an okay digital display. Thanks Matt, you rock!
i'm almost done with left hand of darkness, geez is it well written and just plain enjoyable -- on deck tbr are a couple classic novellas, anna kavan ice and chambers the king in yellow.
I just discovered your channel, I needed to see if our tastes align before I took the plunge and and acted on your recommendations. Your take on Project Hail Mary is bang on, it's 100% YA, (nothing wrong with that, I'm just not in that demographic) yet I keep seeing it at the top of "must read sci fi" lists. I've just acquired 5 of the titles that you recommended from a previous video - Neuromancer, Roadside Picnic, Solaris, Blindsight and Fire Upon the Deep. Thank you, and I'm now subscribed.
If you haven’t already check out Lem’s His Master’s Voice and Fiasco. I think Fiasco was he last published SF novel. It’s my personal favorite of his.
i read hmv and just very recently read futurological congress, which was pretty interesting. at first i was flustered by the silliness, but then it took a more serious pkd/they live type turn didn't it?
Eden is definetely my TOP3 Lem. Probably my faviourte after Solaris. Although I loved Invicinble and Fiasco too.
Oh man, I like the old thumbnail… I love those editions of Lem books!
My bookshelves groan under the weight of your influence, sir.
Brunner can do no wrong. Reconsider. Also his novel Crucible of Time is peak Brunner.
15:40 lmao, this is exactly what I imagine these super bestselling sci-fi books to be like everytime I see them in the bookstore
I may have told you this before, but Bayley’s two best books IMHO are Fall of Chronopolis and Collision Course, both of which are time travel novels, but not the usual type.
Thanks for another round of great reviews!
Thanks for doing this.
Which is your favourite bookcover ?
Fury and Moderan I might like the the most.
Does anyone know if the character of Lobsang in The Long Earth series by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter a reference to this T. Lobsang Rampa?
"I don't want to make a stink. I just..............................hate it."
I see Project Hail Mary around in used book stores. I was tempted, but thanks.
What do you think of hitch hiker’s guide to the galaxy or can’t you recommend some other books of levity in that same vein?
I can recommend Sirens of titan by great Kurt Vonnegut. I like this one much more.
I have had that very copy of change the sky by Margaret st Clair on my tbr for a while . Made me want to read it and Kuttners fury also love the direct to the point reviews Matt don’t change a thing .
I bought Dangerous Visions in the early '70s and read it a bunch of times. So I recognized the name Bunch, but I can't recall any details of either story he had in it. Might have been the challenging prose, making my early teen brain glaze over.
dv part three is finally getting released this fall !!!
Hope someone can help me out. I have been looking for a book going on 15 years now. The premise is a priest is asked to interview a little girl A.I. to see if she has a soul. I believe her name was Ariel. She explains time travel or that she no longer sees time like we do. The thing I remember the most is she apologizes for his inability to understand. if you think of the book help me out.
@@ericharris9427 Deus Ex by Spinrad?
nope but thank you it only contains 3 characters the priest the little girl and the Biship that sends him. I do remember that at the start he walks by a little girl praying. That girl is the AI in the end.
Hail Mary is a super entertaining audiobook. Wouldn't want to read it though - needs the voices to be compelling.
Same. I read it when i came out, but enjoyed the audiobook. I bet the movie will be even better because it will make the 'smarmy' less pronounced.
Project Hail Mary is right up there with Ready Player One for “books which are depressingly popular”.
There are so many great books, but people generally prefer this slop.
You sound so dumb lol
Great stuff. A half-serious question: Are there any books in your S (or even A) tier that aren't "unremittently bleak?"
Timing is everything
Do you think one day you might do a video , or there might already be a book or something about what all the eras are. Like you reference “new wave” and “golden age” and as a moderate sci-fi reader I’m not too familiar with a few of the terms you use. Maybe like a video on the brief history of sci-fi , or how to approach and classify old sci-fi.
It's actually surprisingly tough to demarcate where eras begin and end. I'm not an expert. Maybe someday but it's pretty fuzzy around the edges at the moment with me.
The Outlaw Bookseller youtube channel defines these terms well, but from memory "Golden Age" is 1940s - early 1950s while "New Wave" is late 1960s - 1970s - although they're more descriptive terms of particular styles rather than strictly chronological.
I just read a Moderan story in the republishing of Harlen Ellison's Dangerous Visions and thought it was awesome in a terrible way, I'll have to check out the bindup.
15:05 - I *knew* it! 😀 (Your description is hilariously eloquent.)
Can't wait for the next whatnot auction! Very cool platform
Love to see lots of people losing their mind over you putting PHM in F. In my opinion, it belongs somewhere lower than an F, but you did the best you could.
I mean, most of the people aggressively defending it are saying that they listened to it on audiobook and that it has good voices... One person even said that it NEEDS the voices for the story to be enjoyable...
It's like you insulted the single book that certain people listened to (not even read) that year and they take that extremely personally.
Surprised you didn't like Eden more. It's been a while since I read it, but I thought that you would like the body horror component and the idea of alien recycling of body parts. That was quite a revelation when I read it. I love the sense of incomprehension that Lem builds in this series (Eden, Solaris, Fiasco).
Will check out the S tiers! Actually rather enjoyed this format, though it requires volume.
Great review!
Moderan is great. Definitely agree that it required full attention for its depth & style. I actually just blindly bought the Snail & the Slope and now it’s moved up the pile after watching this! Good video!
Have you ever read John Crowley? I'd love to see you review Engine Summer and I haven't watched all your videos but I haven't seen his name come up once
@@bambiterranova5837 I haven’t read him but he’s on my radar.
Sorry you didn't get on with _The Man in Black._ It is repetitive, but I think in a ritualistic, fairy tale sort of way. I can imagine some people might find the style a bit arch, but I found it slyly witty.
Otoh - Like _The Stars My Destination?_ Ok, that's _Fury_ straight on my wish list.
I mean _Traveller in Black_ obvs. Doh!
Cool insight. Thanks!
I've gor the DAW We Can Build You. It is mid-range PKD, but I still like it. I think Priz is a great character and I love the conversations between the Lincoln android and the humans. Funny and moving. I must re-read it sometime.
The funny thing for me is that the only two books on here that I've read are in your F Tier. I read The Third Eye as a young teen in the early 60s. My mother was reading it and the title and cover intrigued me so I asked about it. She described boring a hole in the forehead and inserting a wooden sliver to wake up the extra senses. I was hooked. The book was strange and engaging for a kid in a small country town in the middle of nowhere in Australia back then. Years later we heard it was an English plumber. This is one of the first times I've even heard it mentioned since then.
Howard was one of Lovecraft's pen pals. Howard, August Derelith, Clark Ashton Smith and maybe others. Lovecraft wrote 100-page letters to them.
Regardless of your opinion on Third eye I just really enjoyed their fake lama story. But to each their own, and your reviews are always welcome and entertaining. This a great format.
Wonder if you'd enjoy the HBO show scavenger's reign, which judging by your description must have been inspired by Lem's Eden...
Haven’t seen it
I was waiting for your review of Hail Mary! I found it ok, but twee - cosy sci-fi.
Always a good run of books when you have more SAB than C-F.
Not familiar with these acronyms
Your...
Another ask to read/review a scanner darkly. IMO PKD's best
I will second this request, it's also my favorite PKD
I read _The Third Eye_ when I was about 12. I gave it to an intellectual adult friend, and she told me "this is bullshit". That was kind of an "ah ha" moment.
I also hated Project Hail Mary. DNF. Same reasons plus some.
Good rankings overall.
I'm currently reading Roadside Picnic on a vacation in Zion national park, fantastic book so far! I intended to read it on the side as I get through Gravity's Rainbow, but ended up reading 60 pages in a single sitting of Picnic.
The Castle is the only Kafka I've read and it left a deep deep impression on me. Given, I was stuck in a dorm room during lockdown in my first year of college ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Midworld was one of the first books I read from beginning to end. I haven't touched it since--no need to destroy a pleasant memory. ("The characters are obnoxious"--perfect.)
Glad you've mentioned Barrington Bayley--accurate assessment of his genre/subgenre.
These made me think "The RUclips guy might like these":
The Year of the Quiet Sun - Wilson Tucker
Replay - Ken Grimwood
Lords of the Starship (I stayed away for ages thinking it was some old pulp thing) - Mark Guston
Level 7 - Mordecai Roshwald
Russ' We Who Are About To... remains one of the most miserable sf novels I've read. Not entirely a bad thing.
My favorite Alan Dean Foster novel is Quozl. I reread it at least a couple times a year, and is currently within reach in a stack that also includes Thebes Of The Hundred Gates by Robert Silverberg. Quozl is a story told multiple points of view, both human and alien. The aliens have a particular mindset when it comes to sex, and violence, that is rooted in their biology. That is treated by the narrative as largely positive, but that most humans might find upsetting without the core philosophy behind it. The aliens' very confused perspective on the events of the 20th century is fun to read.
this sounds right up my alley thx for the tip.
big scifi book news -- i heard dangerous visions 3 is finally being released this fall after 50yrs. i guess it took ellison's passing to get it out.
I guess I can’t invite you to the family reunion because I loved Project Hail Mary haha
Peter Watts... I am mixed about him. I read Blindsight a couple months ago based on Matt's love for it. It's good, I'll give it 4/5 stars, but it does have problems. It's certainly not S tier. Now I am reading Echopraxia, the sequel and am very close to DNFing it. (I purchased Firefall, the omnibus edition of it.) It has some ideas but the characters are weak and the plot confusing. I also doubt any of this stuff would be happening in the next 50 years, maybe 100 or 150.
blindsight is 5/5 for me. other watts i am afraid of dipping into. ha.
You may be too kind to The Third Eye.
The Factory books are something I see hardcore crime fans really drool over as height-of-the-genre work. The one I read was certainly amazing, and I’ve got the others here to read, too.
You’ve sold me on checking out Margaret Sinclair.
Weir gives pleasure to many of my friends. I don’t hear the music.
The Sorrow Of War sounds fascinating. On my list it goes.
Hearing Gypsy praised by someone who also bounced off Palimpsests makes me add that to my list, too.
Amerika is like Borges writing Tintin. It’s great.
For a long time I didn’t realize David Bunch wasn’t Chris Bunch, and I was very confused.
Kind of refreshing to get a different take on PHM. I thought it was a fine book - nothing at all special. Everyone seems to gush though... I thought The Martian was better back when I listened to it years ago. It can't help that I had just finished Blindsight, Ice and re-reads of Solaris and Roadside Picnic prior to PHM. All of those were far more interesting to me and better constructed. I didn't love Ice, personally. I guess I didn't 'get it'. I still generally look for a story more than it provided, or perhaps a read I can relate more to. I can respect and value it's construction and prose. Similarly, I also have only tried a bit of (Crash), and failed to get into Ballard.
Anyway - I can't understand PHM's massive popularity. I would not place it in F-tier, but it's not better than B or C or so for me. I can still enjoy a C-tier book - it's just not going to ever be re-read or considered a classic/great.
Thanks for putting Derek Raymond on my radar, mon.
I agree with you that The Return of the King is a weak link. The Two Towers is def the best, but I love The Fellowship for how it sets up the story, and the magical world. Took lots on notes from this one...lots to read. Thanks!
Thanks to you Moderan! What a read
Andy weir is rather pulpy beach read in my opinion.
Very interesting, particularly re the female authors. Am sure you’re right about Tolkien and Hodgson. Only the completist should read Edgar Rice B’s turgid Mars pulp, ‘he did this , he did that’ - flatter than a cowpat. Kafka, of course, laughed out loud when he read his texts to friends … I think the Hofmann translations in those faux Art Povera covers are the best, but this is why I bought Das Schloss (in German) tho the attempt is …daunting
I agree about Return of the King, but the chapter where one of the hobbits spends a day just futzing around in the big city right before the war starts is probably my favorite part of the whole series for some reason I can't quite put my finger on.
OMG, thank you for that Hail Mary review. 😄
You may be too kind to The Third Eye.
The Factory books are something I see hardcore crime fans really drool over as height-of-the-genre work. The one I read was certainly amazing, and I’ve got the others here to read, too.
You’ve sold me on checking out Margaret Sinclair.
Weir gives pleasure to many of my friends. I don’t hear the music.
The Sorrow Of War sounds fascinating. On my list it goes.
Glad to see moderan top tier. I’m VERY ATTACHED to that one
Love the five Factory novels by Derek Raymond and his dystopia A state of Denmark!
Project Hail Mary: I could have read an entire tale about Eva Stratt.
Slinky ship attachment and Jazz Hands, not so much.
1- I just bought the book Fury from some guy that looks like you
2- I found The Book of Skaith last week that is in the same series as the Stark book.
8:00 - Ah! Thank you! I am sick of "punchline" type of short stories (although they are not all necessarily bad, e.g. Clarke's _The Star_ )
Just read Gypsy from this - excellent read!
I've always felt crazy but I agree with you about Lord of the Rings. It's not bad by any means and I appreciate the things it did for fantasy but it's just not my favorite thing to read. Since you mentioned Lem and the impossibility of proper cultural understanding between humans and aliens I think you might really enjoy a book called Children of God by Mary Doria Russell if you haven't already read it
The books you dogged on are the only books that sounded interesting 😂😂😂
Great review as usual. No jibber jabber, begging to subscribe or inane filler. Just straight to the point. Hope you do some Charles Sheffield soon. Well done.
Can't say I agree completely, but good job and some good reads in there. I always enjoy Traveller, but you need to dip in and out. We Can Build You is one of my favourite Dicks. Couldn't tell you why, but then again, I like Maze of Death. Rampa can be a bunch of fun when viewed as comedy. At least it was when I read it forty odd years ago.
Since STAR MANS SON in 1964 ive been reading Sci-fi.
...pre internet it was virtually impossible to get reviews. One mans review was another mans BORING ALBUM, ya, records same thing. It was the occasional surprises that were so great.
Bookpilled reviews are , to me and my tastes , are very good. I write this because of his slam of 2 books that were crappy.. . Three Body Problem and Andy Weirs book.