Re: What are the best books you've read in 2024?

On 2024-12-24 11:52, Mark Carroll wrote:
 > On 14 Dec 2024, Sam Whited wrote:
 >> - "The Player of Games" by Ian M. Banks
 >
 > This is one of my favorites among his science-fiction novels, though I
 > recall it's also one that divides readers: people tend to rather like it
 > or not. It's an interesting premise that he just about pulls off.
Interesting, I was under the impression that this was the most widely acclaimed! You may be thinking of the first one, "Consider Phlebas", which I know some people recommend skipping and reading later on, but personally I loved that one too and thought it was a great introduction to the series. Or I could just be wrong. After the first two, I could take them or leave them, but these two I found extremely compelling!
 >> - "Record of a Spaceborn Few" by Becky Chambers"
 >
 > Hmmm, I've got the first of the series on my library reserve list, the
 > only copies are either missing or overdue so goodness knows if any will
 > ever turn up.
If you can get a copy of these, I definitely recommend it! All four books were absolutely fantastic. The first one, "The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet" is her first novel, but when I first read it it didn't feel like a first book to me. That is, until I read the others, it's fantastic to see her coming into her own as a novelist throughout the series; if anything they get better and better! You can read these in any order too and it likely won't impact anything much, they may mention a character or two from a previous book, but other than that the stories aren't connected at all. The last one is a little bit more slow and reflective than the others, so depending on your style that may or may not be a good one to start with, otherwise I'd say "start anywhere" with these.
Despite "Player of Games" and "Record of a Spaceborn Few" being two of my favorite books in general, I'm not normally all that into the "space opera" style of grand sci-fi narrative. If you want something a little more cozy and self-contained, try "A Psalm for the Wild-Built" which is also on my list (and is by the same author as "Spaceborn", Becky Chambers). It's a *very* different experience, but is quite possibly my favorite book, and doesn't fit quite as neatly into the sci-fi genre as these two do.
—Sam