r/scifibooks

> His most famous and most classic revolutionary book, of course, is The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress (1966). It's even more elaborate and more detailed, together with (not being a "juvenile") having a more mature and less adventure-focused tone. Here, the Moon has arranged itself as a capitalist anarchy under the nominal control of an Earth-appointed "Warden", when our protagonists realize his control will in the long run render the Moon uninhabitable. So, they form an underground revolutionary group to throw him out, which leads to more oppression, stage-managed until an actual revolution breaks out. Then, our protagonists are in a place to seize command (with a stage-managed election) and fight Earth's army sent up to regain control. > > For all the parallels Heinlein (and his mentor character Professor de la Paz) draws to America, he draws just as many parallels to other historical revolutions. This's fitting; things do not go like in America. Nor could they, from the starting point Heinlein gives us here.

— Evan Þ, Revolutions as told by Heinlein

So I went to a charity book fair today, and managed to score a couple of books. $40aud for the lot! I’m a huge fan of Wilbur Smiths Courtney series - and as you can see I have started to collect his works again (starting with his Egypt series, which I haven’t read) I’ve added them to my bookshelves and reorganised them a tad.

I unfortunately could not find any of your recommendations from my last post the other day but hopefully these couple will do well enough. I have heard very good things regarding both Consider Phlebas and pushing ice.

I’m currently slowly making my way through Red Mars (page 49) not really far enough to make a decision on it yet but did not expect the story to go the way that it already has.

Any thoughts on the books in slide one?

As I have said to others before, I was complaining to my wife that I have read all of the sci-fi and fantasy and was bored with a lot of the new offerings. She went out and bought me a book by a local indie author, and since then I have been doing nothing but reading indie authors and really falling back in love with the genre.

To that end, here are three books that I really enjoyed and thought I would pass on. (Please note, I am not a writer, so my reviews are not going to be a literary wunderkind). All these books are on Amazon for Kindle.

Way Up There: A Sci-Fi Novella by Collin Bolton

I was not sure what to think about this when I got it, but the price was right, and the premise sounded interesting. Without giving too much away the story follows two kids in a sleepy town who go out looking for summer jobs and things get really interesting from there. While the story is unique, what really got me was the characters. The book reminded me of Christopher Moore and books like Fluke or The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove. Not that the author ripped off those stories, but the characters were engaging like one of those books. I also liked that it was a unique take on first contact. It is a novella so it was a quick but enjoyable read.

The Toll of the Forgotten by Joseph A Oaks

This is a novel, so it took me a week to read. Not because it was arduous, but I am just a slow reader. The science feels grounded in reality as does the future political dynamics that lay out the state of the world. It kind of feels like, almost, a prequel to The Expanse universe, before Mars was founded. The author does not seem to indicate that, but that is how I am kind of seeing it. The story is complex in that it weaves three different narratives, that all unify into one story. Each character goes through their own arc, with John and Colt balancing one another while Luisa moves from duty above all else, to found family and doing the right thing. The first part of the book is a bit slow just because it has to setup the remainder of the book, but it was well worth it. At no time did I think about not finishing it.

Rogue Planet by Donald McHugh II

This is one where the premise sounded very interesting. The book itself is not bad, but could use some editing. If you can get past the inconsistent naming and some bad formatting, the story is good. Basically, enemy factions have to work together to save their world that is adrift through space. This book seems to be the foundation for what may be an ongoing series. For the price, it is worth the read, although formatting issues and inconsistent naming may turn some people off. I hope that he fixes this for future Kindle buyers.