Why Are Science Fiction Writers So Inept On This Front? [100 Book Challenge #53-55]

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00:00 River of Gods by Ian McDonald
06:28 Ice by Anna Kavan
12:03 The City and the Stars by Arthur C. Clarke
16:17 What I'm Reading Next

[thesci-fished]

Please continue reading books you don't like, because I love your passionate criticism 😁

[dimitrikorsakov]

Please, Matt, never leave us waiting for the next Bookpilled video this long again. I was getting withdrawal symptoms!

[neilmannion]

I love when you have such high praise for a book so I know to add it to my TBR list. Recently finished 'Other days, other eyes' after you mentioned it and it was worth the difficulty in trying to find a copy, so can't wait to get to ICE, also this review had me reading her wiki and god damn what a bio.

[chrisw]

I remember The City and the Stars being a more unique departure for Clarke. I need to reread it, last time was 30 years ago.

[rickkearn]

Historical fiction/fantasy is a nice change of pace from SF. For instance, Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth and Eye of the Needle were good reads. Thanks for another great post, BP. Cheers.

[chuckbridgeland]

"City and the Stars" was a reworking of ACC's first novel, which was "Against the Fall of Night". Plot is essentially the same. Gregory Benford wrote a loose sequel to ATFON, published bundled with it as "Beyond the Fall of Night". It's readable.

Yeah, I thought it was great stuff when I was 13.

[alexp]

"Sexual blood" seems like something off Garth Marenghi. Glad you've got a good supply of books over there

[WndFlcn]

The Decay of the Angel is book #4 in Mishima's Sea of Fertility series. I don't think it's best to jump straight to it.

[sciencefictionreads]

I cant wait to get to 'Ice'. Been hoping to find it in the wild for a few years now. I didn't think much of 'The City and the Stars' but then again its a reworked version of his first novel. Not as good as his later stuff.

[splifftachyon]

I haven't read 'River of Gods', but I really enjoyed McDonald's 'Chaga' (also known by it's US title 'Evolution's Shore'). Granted, I read it over 25 years ago, so I can't really tell you what I liked about it, but it did have a big impact on me at the time.

[steverobbins]

One of the things I liked about Against the Fall of Night was the Moving Way. Was that in The City And The Stars?
The Moving Way is a transportation system with no moving parts; this is a recurring trope is Clarke's work. The monolith in 2001 is another example.

[anonymes]

"Ice" has been on my list for a while, might be time (looked for it in secondhand shops for a couple of months before realising i'd been checking under 'C' instead of 'K' because I am a very smart person).

(and I _think_ Ian McDonald is one of my gaps though i've had 'Brasyl' on the TBR for years)

[noeditbookreviews]

I totally agree about the sex thing. Here's a good example. The Scarface novelization. I'm no prude, but the book has all these detailed sex scenes with Tony and different people, and I'm like, WHO GIVES A SHIT?! Is this why I bought Scarface? What does this have to do with anything?

[treytechie]

He's in rare form in this video. So much so, that it has "inhabitated" my mind now and for days to come.

[paulboicourt]

Just found out it’s book ‘pilled’ as opposed to ‘piled’! Yes!

[davea]

As you are in Mexico City do not miss the local style of Chinese food. Some young cook is going to bring it to the US and be an instant sensation.

[rlativ]

In The City and the Stars I thought it was interesting that the inhabitants of the city were immortal and periodically recreated by the computer. The main character had this drive toward creativity and escape because he was one of the very few new people created by the computer. This said, you might be right that it's a YA novel, I only read it as a teenager, but I still remember it fondly.

[OmnivorousReader]

I had the same thing with The Dervish House by the same author. Loved the first part then grew so disenchanted with it. I actually might never have finished it if I was not on a 30+ hour flight with no other reading matter. I was SO relived to finish it and I left it on a bench in Berlin hoping to never see it again.

[unstopitable]

You really did a good a job of capturing the essence of Clarke (in the novel), just as you did with Silverberg, Miller, and, come to think of it, all the writers I've heard you critique. I'm impressed.

[donaldb]

I found _Ice_ just electrifying. I found a close comparison to be JG Ballard, in the way that global and personal catastrophe intersect.