I didn't really read any sci-fi until I stumbled upon your channel and gave some a try based on your recommendations and I'm so glad I did! I really like that you're expanding the genres of what you read and review and looking forward to finding more great novels based on your videos. Will definitely give Mama Black Widow a try
There was someone missing from my youtube feed, and I was relieved too see you back. Glad, in fact. So I became a Patreon sub, it costs me no more than 2 coffees pr. month, my money is better spent here. Your reviews are great and I've read more quality books these last two years than in the 20 before that, and that means something.
Hope you feel better Matt! Ballard has a special place in my heart, his book high rise was the last book I gave to my mother to read before she passed a few months ago, and she loved it. Now I cannot read it myself. But I want to read his other books.
Yay! Bookpilled is back! Feels like a celebration haha! Hope you're well. Alright! You've finally sold me on him, I'll pick up the next Ballard I find for sure. Those first few titles sounded pretty boring, BUT the concepts in them sounded great, too bad they couldn't execute on them better.
Wow, you weren't kidding about Mama Black Widow. Can't put it down. I've read some incredibly brutal books but this one is BLEAK. You're right that in that it is very much similar to Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle", except through a Black lens. The story of one family reflects the horrors endured by so many Black families during the Great Migration. Also reminded me of Hubert Selby's "Last Exit to Brooklyn". in it's revealing an ugly, painful side of urban life that so many of us were for the most part unaware existed. A lot of Black Lit from the 60's and 70's was very pulpy, but there are some incredible works of what I consider to be true literature mixed in oeuvres of that era. Works of raw art that pull back the veil and display in full the unique ugliness that so many endured, much of it hidden from the eyes or demonized by White America. I'd also recommend the author Donald Goines, especially his novels "Dopefiend" and "Black Girl Lost". And you're right about the poignant empathy Beck displays with his main character Otis. Especially if you read Pimp, he doesn't hide how brutal, abusive, and nasty he treated the prostitutes in his "stable". He'd be the first to admit that he wasn't the greatest dude. But he had a profound ability to reveal the pathos of many of his characters, and to display the humanity within them, their hopes, dreams, joys, pain, sorrows, and flaws. Warts and All.
Glad you sort of liked the Disch - Camp Concentration and 334 are the ultimate expressions of his ability to write, imo. Hope you get to at least the first, which is well worth it.
From your recommendations I picked up vintage hardbacks for Echo Round his Bones, Beyond Apollo, Palace of Eternity and Inverted worlds from one FB marketplace seller for £10. Couldnt believe I found them all and very excited to get through.
@@rightcheer5096 nice! I've had Blindsight and Hyperion on my list for a few years but I've been in a reading slump, finding this channel lit a fire in me to start reading again so I picked up those three
Oh, well no problem then lol. Just an FYI, the larger plot of the series doesn't really get going until near the end of the first book. From there, the series takes off. Also, after you read the 4 main entries, read "Orphans of the Helix". It's a short story that wraps up some major threads.
Yes, Super-Cannes is great, possibly the best of his later novels. If you haven't read The Unlimited Dream Company, his 1979 novel, I highly recommend it.
Super-Cannes is my favourite Ballard as well. There was a film last year called Infinity Pool by Brandon Cronenberg that echoes Super-Cannes in many ways.
Covid?!! I love your videos, Matt. You're one of my favorite content creators. With that, just a little "fan advice". My husband (who was healthy and looked not a lot older than you) died of Covid during the pandemic. Don't just brush it off. If you start to go downhill please get early medical treatment. Sending positive thoughts your way.
Hope you get well soon. Loved your take on Disch. It's been more than thirty years since I'd read those early Disch novels, but your comments about them were spot on. Thanks also for your recommendation of Ballard's Super-Cannes.
Always pleasant to have one of your videos appear in my feed, always a must-watch for me. I like the shorter batches (five book updates) as well, though I know this one was prompted by the bug. Hope you're feeling better soon.
If you're not already in his patreon and you have 5 dollars to spare a month, it's so worth it to subscribe! The videos come out much more often and are top tier!
It's good to see you back. It's also good to take a break from the RUclips algorithm - no matter the reason. Hope you are well and look forward to more great reviews (in your own time man). I wonder if you can cover early space opera - Lensman series etc, that and Stainless Steel Rat (space "boys own" adventure) what started me in the genre over 45 years ago. It might be a challenge after the high level sci-fi books of later years. Anyways, stay safe and healthy!
Thanks for your latest reviews. Some interesting ones there. Number one priority is to take care of yourself. Don't fret about however long it takes to gain the energy to do another review. We'll be waiting!
I had anxiety about where the hell Matt was these past few weeks, knowing he was in Thailand and my having two nephews who encountered "inconveniences" there, because I really like Matt's perspective and I couldn't imagine a scenario where he wasn't doing this anymore. Call me paranoid or just someone with above average situational awareness, I was relieved to see this post of his. Loved the Ballard review especially. Cheers.
If you haven’t yet done Ballard’s The Drowned World, I recommend it. The best of his “disaster” books, and even more timely (in this age of global warming and sea level rise) than when it was first published. Also, exquisitely written. Really enjoyable all around.
So since the last video I bought and read Blindsight on your recommendation. I liked it, didn't love it, I'll give it 4/5 stars. The characters are a bit too odd. The aliens are very strange to the point of... I dunno, doubts anything like that could exist. How the humans deal with them is not what I expected, and the ending had me rolling my eyes. Overall a good novel with some good ideas (such as a person with multiple personalities being considered advantaged and desirable) but not among my favorites. Question: The copy of Blindsight I purchased was the Omnibus edition which included the sequel Echopraxia. I glanced at reviews on Goodreads and people seem mostly down on it. Opinion?
@@YouWinILose The aliens are so mysterious that even after studying them and conversing with them we still don't know anything about them. We still have no idea of their motives and plans. Heck, we're not even sure if the ones we see, the starfish looking things, are the real bosses or more like pets. At best the characters have just conjectures. The original Firefall event that kicked this scenario off is still mostly a mystery. I was disappointed in the ending. Just another version of "throw a big bomb at them."
@@douglasdea637 I also didn't quite think it a five star experience, but the central question is about consciousness, and the aliens are an effective way of broaching the question, alongside the Chinese Room. When the question is put out into the open, it is wild, and earned. Still not entirely down for the vampire, though.
@@YouWinILose That's actually two of the issues I had a problem with. The human characters start talking about the "Chinese Room" and suddenly the aliens blurt out the term too. Now, off hand, I'm not sure if that is a real term used in psychology or just something made up by the author. Either way, it seems uncommon to me and to just have the aliens know about it was a stretch. The Vampire too was a stretch, but then the twist at the end kinda ruined even that. I just have no idea what to make of the situation and what the author was trying to accomplish. I remember the reviewer loving the book, it was among his Top 10 as I recall, maybe even number 1. And it's just not all that.
Read Echo Round His Bones' after seeing this video, intrigued by the premise. Had to struggle with the writing, which I found pretty clunky; almost gave up but gave it another go and managed to finish the thing. Not a great reading experience, imo. Great concept, poor execution. Hope you make a full & speedy recovery.
oh geez covid again?? ugh. it seems the globe trotting is wearing on the health. feel better. i read super cannes immediately when it came out and loved it, yes more than high rise (but not as much as the re/search atrocity exhibition). i thought it was typical ballardian dystopia at the time, but now it seems like any common tech worldor pharma work settings, at least in the pre-wfh days.
I binged all your videos in a couple days and then rebinged. You're one of my favorite creators now. In the top three definitely
Who are the other 2? , cause I do like the way this dude discusses books
@@AcidicDelusion Better than food (book reviews) and Collative Learning
@@AcidicDelusion actually forget Redlettermedia. It's Better than food, Bookpilled, and Collative Learning.
I didn't really read any sci-fi until I stumbled upon your channel and gave some a try based on your recommendations and I'm so glad I did! I really like that you're expanding the genres of what you read and review and looking forward to finding more great novels based on your videos. Will definitely give Mama Black Widow a try
No apology necessary, man! Keep it up at your own pace.
Man, I don't know how you can make reviews so engaging and yet so laid back. Always awesome to see an upload. One of a kind.
There was someone missing from my youtube feed, and I was relieved too see you back. Glad, in fact. So I became a Patreon sub, it costs me no more than 2 coffees pr. month, my money is better spent here. Your reviews are great and I've read more quality books these last two years than in the 20 before that, and that means something.
Thanks for joining the Patreon and always gratifying to hear people are reading my recs.
Good to hear from you again, hopefully everything works out well, take care!
Get well soon Brother! I love these reviews. ❤
Hope you feel better Matt! Ballard has a special place in my heart, his book high rise was the last book I gave to my mother to read before she passed a few months ago, and she loved it. Now I cannot read it myself. But I want to read his other books.
My condolences
Yay! Bookpilled is back! Feels like a celebration haha! Hope you're well.
Alright! You've finally sold me on him, I'll pick up the next Ballard I find for sure. Those first few titles sounded pretty boring, BUT the concepts in them sounded great, too bad they couldn't execute on them better.
Wow, you weren't kidding about Mama Black Widow. Can't put it down. I've read some incredibly brutal books but this one is BLEAK. You're right that in that it is very much similar to Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle", except through a Black lens. The story of one family reflects the horrors endured by so many Black families during the Great Migration.
Also reminded me of Hubert Selby's "Last Exit to Brooklyn". in it's revealing an ugly, painful side of urban life that so many of us were for the most part unaware existed.
A lot of Black Lit from the 60's and 70's was very pulpy, but there are some incredible works of what I consider to be true literature mixed in oeuvres of that era. Works of raw art that pull back the veil and display in full the unique ugliness that so many endured, much of it hidden from the eyes or demonized by White America. I'd also recommend the author Donald Goines, especially his novels "Dopefiend" and "Black Girl Lost".
And you're right about the poignant empathy Beck displays with his main character Otis. Especially if you read Pimp, he doesn't hide how brutal, abusive, and nasty he treated the prostitutes in his "stable". He'd be the first to admit that he wasn't the greatest dude. But he had a profound ability to reveal the pathos of many of his characters, and to display the humanity within them, their hopes, dreams, joys, pain, sorrows, and flaws. Warts and All.
Best wishes with what you choose to read. The problem with watching other book tube channels is that it only increases the tbr! Happy reading to you.
So, so glad you’re back. Feel better!
Glad you sort of liked the Disch - Camp Concentration and 334 are the ultimate expressions of his ability to write, imo. Hope you get to at least the first, which is well worth it.
Oh, and get well!
CC is a masterpiece. 334 is also brilliant but quite odd. still not sure entirely what to make of it
Welcome back. Hope you are better soon. Your reviews are smart and valuable to me. Thanks.
From your recommendations I picked up vintage hardbacks for Echo Round his Bones, Beyond Apollo, Palace of Eternity and Inverted worlds from one FB marketplace seller for £10. Couldnt believe I found them all and very excited to get through.
Feel better!
Thanks for the recommendations. Always stellar picks.
Oh this finnally popped back into my YT feed. Good to see you back! Missed your reviews
I picked up Blindsight, Hyperion and Fire Upon the Deep because of you. Can't wait to read em👌 hope you feel better dude
Three absolutely great sci-fiers. I also read Fire Upon the Deep thanks to this channel.
@@rightcheer5096 nice! I've had Blindsight and Hyperion on my list for a few years but I've been in a reading slump, finding this channel lit a fire in me to start reading again so I picked up those three
I loved the Hyperion series. It's long, but stick with it 👍
@@jakefromstatefarm1405 I'm a sucker for huge books, I've read the wheel of time series six times🤣
Oh, well no problem then lol. Just an FYI, the larger plot of the series doesn't really get going until near the end of the first book. From there, the series takes off.
Also, after you read the 4 main entries, read "Orphans of the Helix". It's a short story that wraps up some major threads.
Yes, Super-Cannes is great, possibly the best of his later novels. If you haven't read The Unlimited Dream Company, his 1979 novel, I highly recommend it.
Super-Cannes is my favourite Ballard as well. There was a film last year called Infinity Pool by Brandon Cronenberg that echoes Super-Cannes in many ways.
Covid?!! I love your videos, Matt. You're one of my favorite content creators. With that, just a little "fan advice". My husband (who was healthy and looked not a lot older than you) died of Covid during the pandemic. Don't just brush it off. If you start to go downhill please get early medical treatment. Sending positive thoughts your way.
Very sorry for your loss. I'm keeping an eye on myself.
Hope you are feeling better. Love your reviews. Keep posting.
Hope you get well soon. Loved your take on Disch. It's been more than thirty years since I'd read those early Disch novels, but your comments about them were spot on. Thanks also for your recommendation of Ballard's Super-Cannes.
Always pleasant to have one of your videos appear in my feed, always a must-watch for me. I like the shorter batches (five book updates) as well, though I know this one was prompted by the bug. Hope you're feeling better soon.
I never clicked play so fast
Same
💯
Speaking of crime fiction, did you like Caves of Steel, and sequels by Asimov?
Quicker next time . .
If you're not already in his patreon and you have 5 dollars to spare a month, it's so worth it to subscribe! The videos come out much more often and are top tier!
I hear you. I just recently had covid again. Amazing how it saps your energy. Hope your recovery is smooth.
You're back! Awesome! Get well soon! Perfect excuse to stay on the couch and read!
Super Cannes sounds really worthwhile, will have to get to that this summer. Glad you're back and doing alright.
It's good to see you back. It's also good to take a break from the RUclips algorithm - no matter the reason. Hope you are well and look forward to more great reviews (in your own time man). I wonder if you can cover early space opera - Lensman series etc, that and Stainless Steel Rat (space "boys own" adventure) what started me in the genre over 45 years ago. It might be a challenge after the high level sci-fi books of later years. Anyways, stay safe and healthy!
I've reviewed Galactic Patrol. It's the first of the 100 book challenge videos.
I appreciate you making the Iceberg Slim review available to everyone. Please continue to take care of yourself.
ooooo, 'super-cannes' sounds so interesting . . . TY, M. Feel Better!
Great reviews, straight to the point, as always. Hope all is well for you soon.
I need to check out the Disch books now 😂. I been on a Brunner kick and I got to say, he’s going in the same tier as Silverberg for me.
Thanks for your latest reviews. Some interesting ones there.
Number one priority is to take care of yourself. Don't fret about however long it takes to gain the energy to do another review. We'll be waiting!
Thank you for these reviews. Hope you get better soon!
I just love it that you read so much, even more than me. thx for sharing your thoughts
I’m currently reading Cocaine Nights by J.G. Ballard
Fan of your book and thrift content. Appreciate your work.
Ok. Guess I need to read Mama Black Widow and Super-Cannes.
Thank you for the Mama Black Widow recommendation, in all its seriousness. If only a quarter of those who read A Little Life read MBW.
I had anxiety about where the hell Matt was these past few weeks, knowing he was in Thailand and my having two nephews who encountered "inconveniences" there, because I really like Matt's perspective and I couldn't imagine a scenario where he wasn't doing this anymore. Call me paranoid or just someone with above average situational awareness, I was relieved to see this post of his. Loved the Ballard review especially. Cheers.
Hey Matt, I'm a subscriber to Analog and it would be interesting to field your analysis of stories from that publisher.
The first Disch, Slim and Ballard seem excellent.. Thanks Matt.
new reviews let’s gooooooo! More to add to my want to read list
Hi Matt, welcome back. :)
Had COVID last February, so lots of rest, lots of liquids and a little whisky!
If you haven’t yet done Ballard’s The Drowned World, I recommend it. The best of his “disaster” books, and even more timely (in this age of global warming and sea level rise) than when it was first published. Also, exquisitely written. Really enjoyable all around.
Fave Ballard is still Crash. Not for everybody, though, ha. Most beautiful prose... Get well!
Glad to see you back
Super Khan! lol
Late Ballard is great; my favorite is The Kindness of Women (not SF).
4:02 total implausibility? In scifi? No way!
I don’t usually care whodoneit either. It’s all about the writing and the characters when it comes to crime fiction.
I read The Genocides by Disch, which I would only recommend after taking prophylactic anti-depressants.
Get well soon.
So since the last video I bought and read Blindsight on your recommendation. I liked it, didn't love it, I'll give it 4/5 stars. The characters are a bit too odd. The aliens are very strange to the point of... I dunno, doubts anything like that could exist. How the humans deal with them is not what I expected, and the ending had me rolling my eyes. Overall a good novel with some good ideas (such as a person with multiple personalities being considered advantaged and desirable) but not among my favorites.
Question: The copy of Blindsight I purchased was the Omnibus edition which included the sequel Echopraxia. I glanced at reviews on Goodreads and people seem mostly down on it. Opinion?
And what did you think of the central philosophical question-the reason Watts used the aliens he did?
@@YouWinILose
The aliens are so mysterious that even after studying them and conversing with them we still don't know anything about them. We still have no idea of their motives and plans. Heck, we're not even sure if the ones we see, the starfish looking things, are the real bosses or more like pets. At best the characters have just conjectures. The original Firefall event that kicked this scenario off is still mostly a mystery.
I was disappointed in the ending. Just another version of "throw a big bomb at them."
@@douglasdea637 I also didn't quite think it a five star experience, but the central question is about consciousness, and the aliens are an effective way of broaching the question, alongside the Chinese Room.
When the question is put out into the open, it is wild, and earned.
Still not entirely down for the vampire, though.
@@YouWinILose
That's actually two of the issues I had a problem with. The human characters start talking about the "Chinese Room" and suddenly the aliens blurt out the term too. Now, off hand, I'm not sure if that is a real term used in psychology or just something made up by the author. Either way, it seems uncommon to me and to just have the aliens know about it was a stretch.
The Vampire too was a stretch, but then the twist at the end kinda ruined even that. I just have no idea what to make of the situation and what the author was trying to accomplish.
I remember the reviewer loving the book, it was among his Top 10 as I recall, maybe even number 1. And it's just not all that.
"...LaHaye style."🤣🤣
Helllllllll yeaaaaaaahhhh my favorite channel 🎉here I find all the time some new books ideas whr tot read next
Read Echo Round His Bones' after seeing this video, intrigued by the premise. Had to struggle with the writing, which I found pretty clunky; almost gave up but gave it another go and managed to finish the thing. Not a great reading experience, imo. Great concept, poor execution.
Hope you make a full & speedy recovery.
Take care of yourself. Take time for yourself. Read only when you want to. Don't feel pressured to.
welcome back
Love your review series! Vitamin D3 and Zinc tabs.
Thank you. Such worthwhile reviews. 🍂🍃🌈
Missed you buddy, get well soon 🙏🖖✌️👍
Take care, dude. Thanks for the tips.
Deleting comments is so brave and progressive man.
Well done,keep it up!
You ever read any Cordwainer Smith?
Yeah, love him
He remind me of like a less emphasized book version of Charlie
So what I’m hearing is I should be reading Disch
I really wanna write a $hitty scifi book so Matt can destroy me on here😅
The Puppies of Terra sounds completely ridiculous and hilarious lol. 😅
You must be in Portugal.
Vietnam
get well soon
oh shit Holloway House!
Unimportant comment, but I just realized I wasn't subscribed. I have corrected that oversight. Hope you have a quick recovery!
I don t like sci fi AT ALL. I hate it in fact. I like your passion for it tho
Left behind LaHaye style, ha!
COVID was terrible for me. I'm glad to see you're getting through it. Take care.
What kind of shirt is that? I keep seeing those 3 x's...
oh geez covid again?? ugh. it seems the globe trotting is wearing on the health. feel better. i read super cannes immediately when it came out and loved it, yes more than high rise (but not as much as the re/search atrocity exhibition). i thought it was typical ballardian dystopia at the time, but now it seems like any common tech worldor pharma work settings, at least in the pre-wfh days.
Pineapple juice for the covid. Get well soon!
Damn, all those books sound boring. 😂 Fan of the channel though, Get well soon.🤘
book by a bllack about being transs reviewed by a californian - must be an unnderappreciated masterpiece