Looking for your next sci-fi read? Check out my top 10 list of sci-fi series and stand-alones that I can't wait to dive into! These books are sure to transport you to new worlds and keep you hooked from start to finish. Which are on your TBR list? Which would you recommend?

Great list! I’ve read a bunch of these…but haven’t finished many of the series. Apparently I’m a starter but not a finisher. 😅 I much prefer stand-alones. Smaller commitment. And I don’t hesitate to bail on a series if I’m not feeling it anymore. So I admire anyone who completes a series…of any length!

@Shelf-Esteem

24 күн бұрын

haha as a chronic unfinisher of series I can empathize 😆so this is my attempt to start finishing some up! I completely relate to mood reading through books - sometimes a break even helps! Thanks for your kind comment my friend :)

I might try a few of these as audio books. I like to listen while I walk or run. SF can be hard to follow though so maybe I’ll do hard copy too so it sticks with me. Thanks for the pointers to some great series!

@Shelf-Esteem

23 күн бұрын

Thanks so much John!! ❤ Love you lots! Would you like to read one together? Let me know!

Such a great list Nikhil! Hyperion Cantos is amazing so far. I only have Rise of Endymion to read. Hyperion is my 2nd favorite sci-fi book of all time. Dune is my first, and Dune Messiah is almost just as good. I need to finish the series.

@Shelf-Esteem

24 күн бұрын

Thanks so much Chas! :) Great to hear about both the Hyperion and Dune sequels. Man, I'm even more excited to read those now!

Oh, wow, I didn't realize Children of Time had sequels! I did like the first one, though he has a style of writing that is not always my preferred style. It's like getting a drone aerial view, whereas I wanted to be on the ground, experiencing things in more detail and a bit more slowly. I'll have to check the library for the other ones to see how they are.

@Shelf-Esteem

24 күн бұрын

I know right? I usually only hear about the first one - I'm curious now if the sequels were worth the read! I know what you mean about the aerial view vs feeling in the thick of the action - I think I like a bit of both, so I'm curious to see how this ends up being If you like slow burn sci-fi space opera, and haven't tried Suneater already by Christopher Ruocchio, it might be up your alley!

I do love Arthur C. Clarke's writing. Just know that he's more about the worlds and the Big Ideas than he is about characters/character development. The first Hyperion book was extraordinary. I want to say I read Fall of Hyperion, but I think my brain was not in the place for it, so I don't recall much. I have not read the Endymion ones. But yes, that first one is unforgettable.

@Shelf-Esteem

24 күн бұрын

Ahh I'm that much more excited about Hyperion now! Thanks for your thoughts on all this - I do love philosophical and world / ideas exploration, so Clarke might be a good fit for me - though I totally agree, and am also usually a character-first kind of person :)

I gotta check out that Thrawn series!

@Shelf-Esteem

24 күн бұрын

Want to read it together?? Can have you on and we can talk about it

Nice list. You should check out a series called The Gap Cycle - Stephen R Donaldson It's a loose retelling of Wagner's Ring cycle.

@Shelf-Esteem

16 күн бұрын

Thanks a lot for watching, and for the recommendation! This is the third time I've heard Stephen R Donaldson's name in the past week, and I have a feeling it's a sign from the universe :P Thanks for this, sounds fascinating! I'll def check it out

I went on a buying spree last year when I discovered I enjoyed reading science fiction so I have about half of these on my bookshelf. My friend and I buddy read Hyperion this year and you are in for a treat, the writing is absolutely masterful and the book triggered so many different emotions. It's a very dense book but is so rewarding. Another great video, I really enjoyed it.

@Shelf-Esteem

24 күн бұрын

Thanks so much!! We are cut of the same cloth my friend, I have so many of these now as well (though haven’t read most of them 😂) So glad you liked Hyperion, and can’t wait to try it! Have you ever read the sequels?

@DisquietandDragons-lh3zm

24 күн бұрын

@@Shelf-Esteem not yet, I'm hoping to buddy read Fall of Hyperion in a couple of months time. I've heard the entire series is great though. I've read some of Dan Simmons horror which is also amazing, he's an extremely gifted writer. I could do with about 10 extra hours in a day just to read more and catch up with all these wonderful books and stories.

@Shelf-Esteem

24 күн бұрын

@@DisquietandDragons-lh3zm that’s awesome to hear! I’ve been wanting to read The Terror and Summer Of Night - hopefully one day when we figure out a way to slow time 😂 I feel the same way. Just not enough hours in the day, and so many worlds to discover!

@DisquietandDragons-lh3zm

24 күн бұрын

I've got The Terror on my Kindle, I'm really looking forward to reading it, I've heard people say it's his best book. If we colonise Mars we can move there, the days are 24hrs and 40mins, that's time for an extra chapter a day!

@Shelf-Esteem

23 күн бұрын

@@DisquietandDragons-lh3zm Hahah i like the way you think! One thing we can look forward to for the future 🤣

Great video! I definitely want to read more sci-fi, and in particular sci-fi horror this year. I started dipping my toes into the genre last year and loved the books I read- mostly classics. I really need to read Hyperion, primarily because I have read so many great horror novels by the author. A Canticle for Leibowitz, sounds awesome, love post-apocalyptic novels. I really need to re-read Dune, which I tried to read way to young. I recommend Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, purely based on glowing reviews on booktube. I plan to read this later in the year.

@Shelf-Esteem

23 күн бұрын

Oh i absolutely LOVED Project Hail Mary! Such a great book, can't wait to hear what you think of it! :) Do you have any sci-fi horror books you'd recommend checking out, or that are on your TBR? This is a sub-genre I've never explored! Thanks for your thoughts on all this Cliff! :)

@CliffsDarkGems

23 күн бұрын

@@Shelf-Esteem To be honest, my go to genres are horror and fantasy. One of my favorite authors is Ray Bradbury, who writes an often interesting blend of sci-fi/horror/fantastical short stories and novels. He is a classic author with distinctive, gorgeous prose that you need to discover for yourself. I love The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, but that is not horror. I can mention movies yes, but not books.

@Shelf-Esteem

23 күн бұрын

@@CliffsDarkGems believe it or not (i have trouble believing it myself!) I still haven't read any Ray Bradbury!! Criminal I know :P I'll def check out Farenheit 451 soon. I was trying to find sci-fi horror books but they are more sparse as well - if I see any to recommend I'll for sure let you know!

@CliffsDarkGems

22 күн бұрын

@@Shelf-Esteem Fahrenheit 451 is great but I prefer his fantastical fiction.

Hm, Sphere sounds intriguing. I can't believe I've never read any Crichton. Not even Jurassic Park! I love Childhood's End. It's short, I think I read it (or re-read it) in a day. Don't look up information on it, you don't want spoilers!

@Shelf-Esteem

24 күн бұрын

I'll def make sure to avoid reading anything about it before reading Childhood's End - good idea! Crichton is just phenomenal, I remember what an impression JP made on me, even when I was 5 haha! His ability to distill down scientific concepts in a way that anyone could understand, whilst making it about the story is just great. I hope you enjoy if you get a chance to read his books!

Since the books are on your list, I’m wondering, have you watched The Expanse tv series?

@Shelf-Esteem

18 күн бұрын

I haven't yet! I was going to read the series first haha :) Hopefully will finish it by end of this year, and then can binge watch!

I was with you until Sphere lol. I was not a fan of that book, but I also greatly disliked Jurassic Park, so you may not want to take me seriously! 😂 Childhood's End is amazing and not very long. I'd recommend reading that sooner rather than later! This is a great list (except Sphere)!

@Shelf-Esteem

23 күн бұрын

haha fair enough!! :P I'm curious about Sphere, and Crichton's works in general - side bar, have you ever read Blake Crouch? He's phenomenal if you like that kind of sciency thriller genre. I'll def move Childhood's End up on my TBR - thanks for the recommendation, and for your thoughts! Just subbed to you as well :) Looking forward to checking out your videos!

@TheBookclectic

22 күн бұрын

@@Shelf-Esteem Blake Crouch - yes I have read Dark Matter and Recursion; loved both. I also have Upgrade and his Wayward Pines trilogy, though I haven't read them yet. And thank you ❤.

Personally, after book 3 of the expanse it’s downhill I know I’m the minority, but Proto molecule is in the forefront of the first three books only. Such wasted potential.

@Shelf-Esteem

24 күн бұрын

Damn that sucks to hear!! I loved that stuff with the proto molecule. Super curious to see where the story goes from here though. Thanks for your thoughts on this!

great vid Nikhil, great picks . im i nthe same position i got red rising and children o ntime on my tbr. Hyperion is peak SF opera. regarding the expanse, i'e already read it (also the novellas) and, even though i did my first read though, imo i think those novellas really expand (hehe) the series, and "fill some gaps" (that doesnt it mean that you cant read the main series only) but those novelles really improve some details (and not only mention that some novellas are 5 stars imo), i thought if was tedious but no and if you are really hooked you want to get more. so i said read the expanse in publication order, i read it that way. and becasue each novellas was realeasd between each main series it fits perfevtly, so there is no spoiler. but at the end of the day if your pick. (one disclamer is that, although im selling you to read the novellas, the only novella that is NOT worth your time is "Gods of Risk", it is really bad and you can skip it; it does not really expand the saga or give you important info.) here is the publication order if you are interested in making the journey in publciation order : The Expanse #1: Leviathan Wakes (June 2, 2011) The Butcher of Anderson Station: An Expanse Short Story (Oct 17, 2011) The Expanse #2: Caliban's War (June 26, 2012) Gods of Risk: An Expanse Novella (Sept 15, 2012) Drive: An Expanse short Story (Nov 27, 2012) The Expanse #3: Abaddon's Gate (June 4, 2013) The Churn: An Expanse Novella (April 29, 2014) The Expanse #4: Cibola Burn (June 5, 2014) The Expanse #5: Nemesis Games (June 2, 2015) The Vital Abyss: An Expanse Novella (Oct 15, 2015) The Expanse #6: Babylon's Ashes (Dec 6, 2016) Strange Dogs: An Expanse Novella (July 18, 2017) The Expanse #7: Persepolis Rising (Dec 5, 2017) The Expanse #8: Tiamat's Wrath (Mar 26, 2019) "The Last Flight of the Cassandra" (bonus short story in The Expanse Roleplaying Game; May 14, 2019) Auberon: An Expanse Novella (Nov 12, 2019) The Expanse #9: Leviathan Falls (Nov 30, 2021) The Sins of our Fathers: An Expanse Novella (Mar 15, 2022) [take it from the wiki] also i see a common topic in the list, the subgenre of first topic, at least on 2 spots. i think you would like the sparrow by mary doria russell , 2001 and solaris by stanislaw lem.

@Shelf-Esteem

24 күн бұрын

Man, thanks for all this SUPER helpful info Cade!! I really appreciate you putting this together, and for suggesting I do a top 10 sci fi TBR video in the first place! I'm now totally sold on the idea of interspersing The Expanse novellas in my reading, and will def do that! :) The Sparrow and Solaris both sound incredible as well, and have made a note to add this to my never-ending TBR list - if now we could only invent a cure for sleep haha! Thanks again man, great suggestions!

@cade4746

24 күн бұрын

@@Shelf-Esteem no worries bro thanks to you. Is good to know you are going to read the novellas thats amazing! Also at the end of my answer i make a typo and i was saying that the recurrent topic in your list is "first contact" hence those books i recommended haha, just wanted to clarify that lol.

@Shelf-Esteem

23 күн бұрын

@@cade4746 haha totally thanks for clarifying! I guess I am a sucker for first contact stories - have you read Three Body Problem or the trilogy as a whole? It's mind-blowing sci fi!