The Expanse made other sci-fi seem like fanfic
this post was submitted on 15 May 2024
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The Expanse.
Don't think I'm alone either.
Yep. Its such a great series with such a cool, fleshed out world, its hard to find another scifi series that hits the same way.
I had the opposite with The Witcher, I couldn't force myself to continue reading it. Andrej Sepkowsky is so horny, I was trying to read it for the story, but it read like some bad erotica, with the stories not having incredibly original or compelling ideas anyway.
On the other hand, the His Dark Materials trilogy has had a lasting impact on me, very thoughtful and interesting, not to mention entertaining, book.
Same for enders game series, Orson Scott card had a great thing going... But then went whackadoodle
The Witcher novels are one of the few epic fantasy franchises I've read and man, I didn't really like them.
Unsurprisingly, I came from the playing the Witcher 3, and I loved the first two books; the collections of short stories. The actual main plot felt that it never knew clearly where it was going, and it often suddenly meandered at times that killed the pacing, and man was it horny.
I don't mind horny either. I really enjoyed reading Murakami's The Wind Up Bird Chronicle, and the authors horniness is prevalent throughout the novel, but it actually works to complement the narrative. Even in the Song of Ice and Fire series where GRRM can get distractedly horny, it doesn't read as off-puttingly as Sapkowski's "edgy horny" style.
Yeah there is a lot of time where it’s soo ridiculous.
For real, like some mermaid's green nipples are described in more detail than the protagonist himself 🙄🙄
The Dark Tower series by Stephen King. It’s so much better than any of this other writing that it’s actually upsetting. But that series stuck with me for a long time.
Someday I hope to make it past the first book. I have read almost every King novel leading up to The Dark Tower series but I couldn't get through The Gunslinger and I couldn't say exactly why, it just didn't grab my attention like his other works.
I’d say give it another shot. The first book is short, and 2, 3, and 4 are the best parts. 5, not so much unfortunately.
I'm thinking of taking my fourth turn of the wheel soon.
I binged the Dredsen Files, and after that found it a little difficult to reset. Same for the Dune series.
Then I binged all of the James Bond books, and by the last 2 or 3 I was more than ready to be done with those.
- "The Neverending Story" by Michael Ende as a kid
- "The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R. Tolkien as a teen
- "The Realm of the Elderlings" by Robin Hobb
- "The Ea Cycle" by David Zindell
- "The Manifold Trilogy" by Stephen Baxter
These books' worlds absorbed me so completely in the most positive way!
Though I must admit I'm a fan of rereading anyway. Don't know how many unknown books I skipped for a reread of know ones. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Malazan Book of the Fallen was like this for me. Great worldbuilding. Big ideas and loads of characters. Lots of obscure detail, all the way down to potsherds and verdigris.
When I finished, I had a powerful impulse to reread the series immediately after finishing it.
I binged books 1 through 4 absolutely loved them. Then book 5 happened and I forced my way through it. And now starting Bonehunters, no energy to go on. I just needed a break is Midnight Tides exhausting for everyone? I was so thrown off with a whole book being a flashback.
Steven Erikson makes a lot of bold choices throughout the series that go beyond plot structure and character deaths. If you don't like something about any particular book, it will probably be absent in the next book.
There are several times where (after 1000+ pages of build-up) he shifts to an entirely different set of characters on a different continent. You get thrown into the deep end and have to start over with no immediate clues about where you are, when you are, who the people are, and what it has to do with what you read before. A book or two later threads start to intersect.
A later book has Kruppe as the narrator, which is fantastic if you love Kruppe as much as Kruppe loves Kruppe.
I feel that way whenever I finish a reread of Wheel of Time or the Broken Earth trilogy that makes me have to avoid the genre for a bit afterwards
Yeah, after finishing the Wheel of Time series it felt like I really lost something important and it was so hard to get into other fantasy worlds for a while due to how immersed I was in it for so long.
Have you tried any of Brandon Sanderson's books?
I find storm light archive very difficult to pivot from. Mostly the prose used is gets so out of your face that you can focus on just consuming the story rather than the words.
I also found cradle by Will Wight sticking with me seeing as I read all 12 books in a month so I became quite familiar with the world and the characters
I judge all superhero media against Worm.
Me too, I've binged it twice (takes a good few weeks each time). Haven't been able to get into the sequel nearly as much though.
The Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy ruined sci-fi for me for a while. In a good way.
Man really? Theres like 1 good book in there out of the three. And its the second half of book 2 combines with the first half of book 3
Charlie Huston’s “Caught Stealing Trilogy” or “Hank Thompson Trilogy”. One of my favourite modern noir pieces of work. A damn solid 3 book series about a guy who gets mixed up in shady stuff and can’t seem to find an exit.
I actually found and read the last book first, not knowing it was a trilogy. Which made me think it was trés cool how things in the past were referenced and added more weight to the main character/world. Turns out it was book 3 of 3. 🤪
All three made/make it hard to get into clunky modern pulp/noir style fiction since.
I didn't even know there were Metro 2033 books! I'll have to read them.
They are super cool!
I finished the first one and am halfway through 2034. Do you happen to know how old Hunter is? Also, thank you for the recommendation!
The Night’s Dawn Trilogy by Peter F. Hamilton.
Star trek new frontier
The closest thing is the hundreds of books from other Star trek series, but this one is far my favourite.
Most of Brandon Sanderson's newer books make me feel like that.