Love so much how 'to the point' you approach your videos. Thanks for not wasting my time with intros and yammerings🙏

The way you characterize MODERAN made me smile all over my old-man face. My 5* review says of these stories: "they are brilliant tours-de-force of a man's vision of a future no one could possibly want, but they're likely to get anyway." Such a delight to find someone else who appreciates Bunch.

@meesalikeu

Ай бұрын

i've seen it around, but never thought about reading it -- that will have to change. i like different takes on similar stories. rashomon!

@FormIsContent

Ай бұрын

Came to also praise Bunch. I discovered him in one of the Dangerous Visions anthologies (Again?) when I was 11 and loved him ever since.

I like these tier videos a lot

@meesalikeu

Ай бұрын

i do too here as he had to catch us up on a lot of books, it was very well done and covered a lot of ground, but normally i prefer mr. matt's three at a time review videos.

It's incorrect to say that The Lord of The Rings was originally published as a single book and then split up to make money. Tolkien wanted to publish it as a single novel but paper shortages in post-war Britain made it impractical. This is well-documented.

@outlawbookselleroriginal

Ай бұрын

Correct, but it was also felt that marketing a single volume that big would be difficult at that time, plus binding technology was against an easy print job.

Project Hail Mary is the first book I’ve read in over five years, and I’ve historically disliked reading for a long time. It worked great for me, easy to digest, and since I don’t have much references to compare it to, it served its purpose. I’m excited to read more well-written works in the future.

1. I like this format 2. Thank you for the "The Sorrow of War" rec. My father (a Vietnam vet) has recently been reading these types of biographies by US authors. I had him watch your review of it and he quite quickly got the book. I'm going to try to get to it myself 3. I'm right there with you on Weir in finding his writing utterly tedious to read. The Martian was just barely good enough to get through, but Hail Mary is so bad that I DNFd pretty early on

Great vid. The thumbnail with Hail Mary made me click this to see your opinion of it. Felt a bit disappointed, but to each their own.

Thanks for this, always enjoy your videos. I loved your description of the writing style on Hail Mary 😆 You have single-handedly summed up what I hate about the dialogue in many modern movies and tv shows...

I only read The Long Tomorrow by Brackett, and it is not pulpy; it is a grounded post-apocalyptic story. Now I’m curious about her wilder stories if you dare compare her to Robert E Howard.

Love to see lots of people losing their mind over you putting PHM in F. In my opinion, it belongs somewhere lower than an F, but you did the best you could. I mean, most of the people aggressively defending it are saying that they listened to it on audiobook and that it has good voices... One person even said that it NEEDS the voices for the story to be enjoyable... It's like you insulted the single book that certain people listened to (not even read) that year and they take that extremely personally.

I dig these ranking lists they're a fun way to get a quick rundown on many books. Thank you Bookpilled, very cool!

People can hate books. No problem. But if he thinks Project Hail Mary is a bad book, he has actually never read a bad book in his life 😂

@dracul74

7 күн бұрын

Ehhh, I've read a lot of books that are popular and didn't click with me. I like this guys approach and I don't feel like he is saying it to get a rise out of ppl... at least imo.

My favorite Alan Dean Foster novel is Quozl. I reread it at least a couple times a year, and is currently within reach in a stack that also includes Thebes Of The Hundred Gates by Robert Silverberg. Quozl is a story told multiple points of view, both human and alien. The aliens have a particular mindset when it comes to sex, and violence, that is rooted in their biology. That is treated by the narrative as largely positive, but that most humans might find upsetting without the core philosophy behind it. The aliens' very confused perspective on the events of the 20th century is fun to read.

@meesalikeu

Ай бұрын

this sounds right up my alley thx for the tip.

MODERAN sounds worthy of checking out. Usually when I speak with my friends about programmable body parts we joke that in the future you'll have to pay subscriptions for all your organs or else their creators just shut them down or reudce their function till you pay again or die.

When I read Andy Weir, it feels like he is writing for a summer movie audience.

@meesalikeu

Ай бұрын

absolutely -- too mercenary hollywood script oriented for me.

@k-ondoomer

Ай бұрын

nailed it, pop sci fi

@trashcangoblin420

Ай бұрын

I mean, this has nothing on the majesty of The Core.

@EricKay_Scifi

Ай бұрын

I get you. In fact I liked the PHM audiobook better than the actual novel. I suspect I will love the movie more than both. It's possible that the 'smarmy' gets bleached out of the text in different mediums.

@Wingedmagician

Ай бұрын

@@meesalikeuyeah but F?

Just want to say thanks for doing what you do. I’ve found so many great books because of your channel! Appreciate you

I really appreciate your reviews! You've introduced to me new authors, and renewed my love of reading, thank you for what you do!

I tried very hard to read The Snail on the Slope. I got 2/3 of the way in and threw in the towel. The symbolism was lost on me, which was disappointing because I know they considered it their best work. Even after reading the Afterword and a detailed explanation about the story, I was unable to pick it up again. I respect it and appreciate the number of hoops they had to jump through to get any of their work published. That aside, you have given me several books to put on my reading list.

I’ve been wanting to read Joanna Russ and decided to start with The Female Man if for nothing else than to see what “Old cranky-ass Bookpilled” finds really funny.

@ReinReads

Ай бұрын

Ok so now I need to look for something by Margaret St. Clair too.

The Snail on the Slope is called The Forest in czech. It was the most favorite book of my father and my gateway to sci-fi. Listening to you and looking back I see this is truly difficult book, but I read it as a fairytale for adults and enjoyed it immensely as sixteen year old. It is brilliant and strangelz funny. Resambles Kafka in some passages. And this book is the reason I was able to read Kafka later. Great.

Reading Project Hail Mary was like reading a car manual for me. The F is justly deserved. Moderan is a unique work, but not for everyone. I enjoyed it immensely. Definitely deserves more attention by readers. Have you read A Canticle For Leibowitz? I'd like to hear your take on it.

@Bookpilled

2 күн бұрын

Yes, found it mixed. There's a review on the channel.

Project Hail Mary is right up there with Ready Player One for “books which are depressingly popular”. There are so many great books, but people generally prefer this slop.

@keithcovington4987

Ай бұрын

You sound so dumb lol

Eden is definetely my TOP3 Lem. Probably my faviourte after Solaris. Although I loved Invicinble and Fiasco too.

There's a book called "Tales Before Tolkien" which contains fantasy stories that inspired Tolkien, one of them being "The Baumhoff Explosive" by Hodgson.

Brunner can do no wrong. Reconsider. Also his novel Crucible of Time is peak Brunner.

Perfect description of Hail Mary!

Excellent, I have just acquired Moderan, looking forward to it!

Great review as usual. No jibber jabber, begging to subscribe or inane filler. Just straight to the point. Hope you do some Charles Sheffield soon. Well done.

So happy to see this pop up just now! Love when you do these.

"I don't want to make a stink. I just..............................hate it." I see Project Hail Mary around in used book stores. I was tempted, but thanks.

Good to see someone else besides me mentioning David Bunch. Lots of great stuff here, Matt, your first Derek Raymond, Russ, Lem, the Strugatsky book I found the most irksome despite its virtues, Bayley, Kuttner - I've been telling people for years that 'Fury' is the precursor of Bester's 1950s novels. Upwards and onwards, my friend. And a bottom tier ranking for Weir cannot go without the praise it deserves.

@meesalikeu

Ай бұрын

i just knew you would agree about weir lol.

15:40 lmao, this is exactly what I imagine these super bestselling sci-fi books to be like everytime I see them in the bookstore

Hope someone can help me out. I have been looking for a book going on 15 years now. The premise is a priest is asked to interview a little girl A.I. to see if she has a soul. I believe her name was Ariel. She explains time travel or that she no longer sees time like we do. The thing I remember the most is she apologizes for his inability to understand. if you think of the book help me out.

@Bookpilled

Ай бұрын

@@ericharris9427 Deus Ex by Spinrad?

@ericharris9427

Ай бұрын

nope but thank you it only contains 3 characters the priest the little girl and the Biship that sends him. I do remember that at the start he walks by a little girl praying. That girl is the AI in the end.

The funny thing for me is that the only two books on here that I've read are in your F Tier. I read The Third Eye as a young teen in the early 60s. My mother was reading it and the title and cover intrigued me so I asked about it. She described boring a hole in the forehead and inserting a wooden sliver to wake up the extra senses. I was hooked. The book was strange and engaging for a kid in a small country town in the middle of nowhere in Australia back then. Years later we heard it was an English plumber. This is one of the first times I've even heard it mentioned since then.

Bro, I never had the feeling that REH was racist when I read his stories...

@soopahsoopah

Ай бұрын

Same, there are some elements but I chalked them up to the pulp style of the times, similar with HPL. Some stories are stronger than others but overall his writing was quite good, and he does get into some deeper ideas here and there. Would put at A myself.

@e.matthews

Ай бұрын

I've read maybe 12-15 REH stories, and can't help but feel like racial othering was among his favourite tools. I think once you see it you can't unsee it, but that's partially because he baked it into his worldbuilding, and partially because Conan looks down on pretty much everyone...

@MFDOOOOM

Ай бұрын

bookpilled is the quintessential hipster shitlib

@chrisw6164

Ай бұрын

“The Apparition in the Prize Ring” is about a black boxer who has visions of the ghost of another famous black boxer from the past encouraging his fighting prowess. “Racists” don’t write stories about heroic figures among people they supposedly hate.

@blueblood8658

Ай бұрын

@@chrisw6164 Yeah, I really appreciate Bookpilled and his recommendations. He is my favorite booktuber, but I am convinced that he has to read some more REH stories. Especially his boxing and horror stories like "Pigeons from Hell"... Don't want to spoil anything but that ending though...

I just discovered your channel, I needed to see if our tastes align before I took the plunge and and acted on your recommendations. Your take on Project Hail Mary is bang on, it's 100% YA, (nothing wrong with that, I'm just not in that demographic) yet I keep seeing it at the top of "must read sci fi" lists. I've just acquired 5 of the titles that you recommended from a previous video - Neuromancer, Roadside Picnic, Solaris, Blindsight and Fire Upon the Deep. Thank you, and I'm now subscribed.

15:05 - I *knew* it! 😀 (Your description is hilariously eloquent.)

This format is S tier. 🙂

I also hated Project Hail Mary. DNF. Same reasons plus some. Good rankings overall.

Sorry you didn't get on with _The Man in Black._ It is repetitive, but I think in a ritualistic, fairy tale sort of way. I can imagine some people might find the style a bit arch, but I found it slyly witty. Otoh - Like _The Stars My Destination?_ Ok, that's _Fury_ straight on my wish list.

@donaldb1

Ай бұрын

I mean _Traveller in Black_ obvs. Doh!

i havent read Project Hail Mary yet but you perfectly described the issues i had with The Martian. no matter how cool the story or the ideas may or may not have been, the goddamned Marvel humor writing threw me off by like page 100

Another ask to read/review a scanner darkly. IMO PKD's best

@FatherGod-rc8lz

Ай бұрын

I will second this request, it's also my favorite PKD

Midworld was one of the first books I read from beginning to end. I haven't touched it since--no need to destroy a pleasant memory. ("The characters are obnoxious"--perfect.) Glad you've mentioned Barrington Bayley--accurate assessment of his genre/subgenre. These made me think "The KZread guy might like these": The Year of the Quiet Sun - Wilson Tucker Replay - Ken Grimwood Lords of the Starship (I stayed away for ages thinking it was some old pulp thing) - Mark Guston Level 7 - Mordecai Roshwald Russ' We Who Are About To... remains one of the most miserable sf novels I've read. Not entirely a bad thing.

Read ALL the Conans in my very early teens and loved them. But when I tried a revisit later found them, as you say, very much repetitive wish-fulfillment - though with some excellent horror thrown in. For adolescents at best.

@meesalikeu

Ай бұрын

absloutely. those stories are meant for teens. that said, i am going to buy that complete chronicles collection, it looks very well done and i just want it.

I read _The Third Eye_ when I was about 12. I gave it to an intellectual adult friend, and she told me "this is bullshit". That was kind of an "ah ha" moment.

Moderan is great. Definitely agree that it required full attention for its depth & style. I actually just blindly bought the Snail & the Slope and now it’s moved up the pile after watching this! Good video!

Will check out the S tiers! Actually rather enjoyed this format, though it requires volume.

Timing is everything

Great succinct video and very useful presentation of relatively rare authors and titles- miss the sci fireplace but the tier tower is an okay digital display. Thanks Matt, you rock!

Can't wait for the next whatnot auction! Very cool platform

Or the people at the CDC just aren’t very bright. That’s my hypothesis. Evil through stupidity.

Thanks for doing this.

Surprised you didn't like Eden more. It's been a while since I read it, but I thought that you would like the body horror component and the idea of alien recycling of body parts. That was quite a revelation when I read it. I love the sense of incomprehension that Lem builds in this series (Eden, Solaris, Fiasco).

I like Lord of the Rings, but completely agree with your criticisms of it.

8:00 - Ah! Thank you! I am sick of "punchline" type of short stories (although they are not all necessarily bad, e.g. Clarke's _The Star_ )

Andy weir is rather pulpy beach read in my opinion.

What do you think of hitch hiker’s guide to the galaxy or can’t you recommend some other books of levity in that same vein?

@yelisieimurai

23 күн бұрын

I can recommend Sirens of titan by great Kurt Vonnegut. I like this one much more.

You may be too kind to The Third Eye. The Factory books are something I see hardcore crime fans really drool over as height-of-the-genre work. The one I read was certainly amazing, and I’ve got the others here to read, too. You’ve sold me on checking out Margaret Sinclair. Weir gives pleasure to many of my friends. I don’t hear the music. The Sorrow Of War sounds fascinating. On my list it goes. Hearing Gypsy praised by someone who also bounced off Palimpsests makes me add that to my list, too. Amerika is like Borges writing Tintin. It’s great. For a long time I didn’t realize David Bunch wasn’t Chris Bunch, and I was very confused.

I'm currently reading Roadside Picnic on a vacation in Zion national park, fantastic book so far! I intended to read it on the side as I get through Gravity's Rainbow, but ended up reading 60 pages in a single sitting of Picnic.

@bigman3274

Ай бұрын

The Castle is the only Kafka I've read and it left a deep deep impression on me. Given, I was stuck in a dorm room during lockdown in my first year of college ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Which is your favourite bookcover ? Fury and Moderan I might like the the most.

I've gor the DAW We Can Build You. It is mid-range PKD, but I still like it. I think Priz is a great character and I love the conversations between the Lincoln android and the humans. Funny and moving. I must re-read it sometime.

Finally agree with you on something with Project Hail Mary. Reminded me of Becky Chambers. YA with interchangeable characters and "potty mouth".

I guess I can’t invite you to the family reunion because I loved Project Hail Mary haha

You may be too kind to The Third Eye. The Factory books are something I see hardcore crime fans really drool over as height-of-the-genre work. The one I read was certainly amazing, and I’ve got the others here to read, too. You’ve sold me on checking out Margaret Sinclair. Weir gives pleasure to many of my friends. I don’t hear the music. The Sorrow Of War sounds fascinating. On my list it goes.

Have you ever read John Crowley? I'd love to see you review Engine Summer and I haven't watched all your videos but I haven't seen his name come up once

@Bookpilled

20 күн бұрын

@@bambiterranova5837 I haven’t read him but he’s on my radar.

I agree with you that The Return of the King is a weak link. The Two Towers is def the best, but I love The Fellowship for how it sets up the story, and the magical world. Took lots on notes from this one...lots to read. Thanks!

Does anyone know if the character of Lobsang in The Long Earth series by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter a reference to this T. Lobsang Rampa?

Just read Gypsy from this - excellent read!

Thanks for another round of great reviews!

So you hate Project Hail Mary but use it as thumbnail click bait. It worked on me lol. Well played sir 👍

Thanks to you Moderan! What a read

Glad to see moderan top tier. I’m VERY ATTACHED to that one

I agree about Return of the King, but the chapter where one of the hobbits spends a day just futzing around in the big city right before the war starts is probably my favorite part of the whole series for some reason I can't quite put my finger on.

Thanks for putting Derek Raymond on my radar, mon.

Great review!

Great stuff. A half-serious question: Are there any books in your S (or even A) tier that aren't "unremittently bleak?"

I was waiting for your review of Hail Mary! I found it ok, but twee - cosy sci-fi.

32:20 - Exactly - that's Lem.

Very interesting, particularly re the female authors. Am sure you’re right about Tolkien and Hodgson. Only the completist should read Edgar Rice B’s turgid Mars pulp, ‘he did this , he did that’ - flatter than a cowpat. Kafka, of course, laughed out loud when he read his texts to friends … I think the Hofmann translations in those faux Art Povera covers are the best, but this is why I bought Das Schloss (in German) tho the attempt is …daunting

ok just finished ice by ana kavan. holy mackeral what a harrowing novella. incredibly hallucinatory world building and style - and so well written. i loved it, but needless to say i am rattled. 👍🏽

midworld being the most mid sci fi is hilarious.

@Rsimps88

Ай бұрын

The single most aptly named book of all time apparently

Kind of refreshing to get a different take on PHM. I thought it was a fine book - nothing at all special. Everyone seems to gush though... I thought The Martian was better back when I listened to it years ago. It can't help that I had just finished Blindsight, Ice and re-reads of Solaris and Roadside Picnic prior to PHM. All of those were far more interesting to me and better constructed. I didn't love Ice, personally. I guess I didn't 'get it'. I still generally look for a story more than it provided, or perhaps a read I can relate more to. I can respect and value it's construction and prose. Similarly, I also have only tried a bit of (Crash), and failed to get into Ballard. Anyway - I can't understand PHM's massive popularity. I would not place it in F-tier, but it's not better than B or C or so for me. I can still enjoy a C-tier book - it's just not going to ever be re-read or considered a classic/great.

Project Hail Mary at f turned it off…

@SteveHolthof

Ай бұрын

I did the same thing…he lost his nut.

Project Hail Mary is still S tier through a hundred listens already

@werewolf_sif

Ай бұрын

I enjoyed Project Hail Mary quite a bit but I have to agree that Weir's writing style is truly wretched. I read The Martian first, annoyed by the style. The when I started PHM I immediately thought, "oh no, not again"

@kokorospirit5006

Ай бұрын

I really enjoyed it, it was very entertaining. As a con I have found it a bit naive and puerile in the way he approached unknown alien life.

@meesalikeu

Ай бұрын

nope. did not like. did not like the martian either.

@belefuu

Ай бұрын

@@werewolf_sif Yeah, I enjoyed it quite a bit as a turn your brain off, easy breezy sci-fi adventure story. Listening to it as an audiobook while doing other things probably helped as well. But at the same time, I really can't disagree with any of Bookpilled's complaints 😅. It is extremely broad, mass-appeal stuff. For some reason I thought it might escape to C-tier, but I should've known it would end up in F for Bookpilled.

@luiznogueira1579

Ай бұрын

I enjoyed It very much, even though my copy had a massive 30-page printing error. I get Matt's objections, though. So Weir isn't Balzac, who cares?

1- I just bought the book Fury from some guy that looks like you 2- I found The Book of Skaith last week that is in the same series as the Stark book.

Agree on We Can Build You. I’ve read about a dozen PKD books and it’s probably my least favorite.

I hope you get to The Ragged Astronauts soon.🤞

Peter Watts... I am mixed about him. I read Blindsight a couple months ago based on Matt's love for it. It's good, I'll give it 4/5 stars, but it does have problems. It's certainly not S tier. Now I am reading Echopraxia, the sequel and am very close to DNFing it. (I purchased Firefall, the omnibus edition of it.) It has some ideas but the characters are weak and the plot confusing. I also doubt any of this stuff would be happening in the next 50 years, maybe 100 or 150.

@meesalikeu

Ай бұрын

blindsight is 5/5 for me. other watts i am afraid of dipping into. ha.

OMG, thank you for that Hail Mary review. 😄

Project Hail Mary: I could have read an entire tale about Eva Stratt. Slinky ship attachment and Jazz Hands, not so much.

Can't say I agree completely, but good job and some good reads in there. I always enjoy Traveller, but you need to dip in and out. We Can Build You is one of my favourite Dicks. Couldn't tell you why, but then again, I like Maze of Death. Rampa can be a bunch of fun when viewed as comedy. At least it was when I read it forty odd years ago.

This is why i love this channel

I've always felt crazy but I agree with you about Lord of the Rings. It's not bad by any means and I appreciate the things it did for fantasy but it's just not my favorite thing to read. Since you mentioned Lem and the impossibility of proper cultural understanding between humans and aliens I think you might really enjoy a book called Children of God by Mary Doria Russell if you haven't already read it

Matt, I quite enjoyed Hail Mary but found your review of it very funny with valid points. How much money would it take for you make a video where you watch a marathon of Marvel movies or other smarmy Reddit-Joss Whedon style crap and comment on it on detail? I would personally give $150 to see this and would give $500 if you could persuade Outlaw Bookseller to join you.

@Bookpilled

Ай бұрын

Seven digits

Read it Pattern Recognition by William Gibson, is so good!!!

Cool insight. Thanks!

Wonder if you'd enjoy the HBO show scavenger's reign, which judging by your description must have been inspired by Lem's Eden...

@Bookpilled

Ай бұрын

Haven’t seen it

you throwing project hail mary into the F teir has pleased me greatly, I cannot even begin to express how much it killed my will to want to read. maybe I should read the wikipedia plot summary to see the ending but I don't think I care?

Hey there, I just posted my first video where I bought six mystery sci-fi books and then unboxed, reviewed and ranked them. I am not quite the finished article yet but I'd appreciate some feedback! There are a couple of interesting books in there and I think you've read a few of them.

Leigh Brackett is the best!

@jumpingjohnflash

Ай бұрын

I've almost literally just finished "The Long Tomorrow" after finding the original Ace 1961 paperback for NZ$10 yesterday. I absolutely loved it, it was just such a pleasure to read. I'm going to keep an eye out for more of her work from now on although classic SF is hard to find down here in New Zealand these days.