Or alternatively, my journey into being a Sci-Fi reader.
Hi all, hope everyone is doing well and are staying warm (or cool if you happen to be in a place that is currently sunny). Today I’m going to talk about my journey into Sci-Fi and what I’ve found out in the last year reading more of it.
Can you pinpoint the first book in a genre that you read that made you go “Yes, more of this please”? Because I can, growing up I was solidly in the fantasy reader realm, and I didn’t really stray much. Occasionally I would pick up a procedural crime novel, but other than that Fantasy and nothing but Fantasy. The only Sci-Fi book I can remember picking up as a teenager was Enders Game (and the rest of the series). And I thoroughly enjoyed it then! But for whatever reason, I didn’t keep reading Sci-Fi. I’d pick up that series, but never anything else.
Well last year I decided that I wanted to try to read more Sci-Fi and see if it was a genre that I would enjoy reading more of or if Enders Game was just a one off series that I enjoyed in my youth. So where does one start with Sci-Fi? Do you go with a big long series, a Space Opera, and or do you go with everyone favorite Sci-Fi murder child? I’ll let you guess right quick where I started.
Have you guessed?
I’m about to tell you, so if you haven’t now’s your last chance
All right, you guys were right I obviously started with Murderbot book 1, All Systems Red. I figured it was a short well loved intro, that if I ended up not enjoying Sci-Fi wouldn’t be to much trouble to finish and then be done with. Well, I love Murderbot, I want to official join the Church of Murderbot and I would protect that sweet cinnamon roll from everything I could. I read all of the Murderbot books published last year and loved them, but where do you go after Murderbot, can anything compare?
The short answer is no, Murderbot is a class of his own. But I still wanted to try more Sci-Fi, so I went with another popular series, that would also give me a TV show. That’s right, The Expanse or Leviathan Wakes (Book 1). James S.A. Corey’s writing was so easily digestible, and fun to read that I would recommend the Expanse as a great starting point for others wanting to get into Sci-Fi. You also have the TV show that you can watch along with as you finish the books, that way if any specific part doesn’t make sense maybe the TV show will explain things in a better way for you. I just finished Caliban’s War (book 2 on 1/30/22) and I enjoyed it just as much! I have book 3 ready to go as soon as I want to pick it up.
After tasting the Expanse series, I decided I wanted to try a few more Sci-Fi authors and see if I had a lucky streak or if I really was enjoying the genre as much as I thought I was. So below are the books I picked up next:
- Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, I loved it so much! I can see why it has such polarized reviews though. But personally it was a hit for me.
- Artemis by Andy Weir, my least favorite of Weir’s Sci-Fi novels. But still good!
- The Martian by Andy Weir, Also loved this one! I don’t know if I could pick between Project Hail Mary or The Martian as my favorite Weir book.
- To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini. So I loved Eragon as a teenager! So I automatically pre-ordered To Sleep in a Sea of Stars when it was announced, because this was an author that I know I enjoyed their writing. And this was their first Sci-Fi novel, so I figure it would be a good edition to my year of Sci-Fi. It was fantastic! I need book 2 now, please and thank you.
- Nophek Gloss by Essa Hansen, this one was easy to get into had a weird middle and an ending that makes me want to pick up book 2 as soon as it’s out. I definitely think I would’ve enjoyed it a lot less if I had picked it up earlier in the year.
- A Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer – I wrote a full review on this one. But long story short go read it! LGBTQIA+, Enemies to Lovers, and A sassy ship
- Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaivkovsky, This one I need to read again. I think it was so technical and dense that I just couldn’t follow the story. Overall it was good, but I don’t really understand what happened in the story.
- Home: Interstellar and Pandora’s Razor by Ray Strong, probably my least favorite of my sci-fi reads last year. It was a little disjointed and hard to follow. An interesting premise and plot but could definitely use some more fine-tuned editing. It is a self-pub novel though, so worth picking up if you have KU.
- Destroyer of Light by Jennifer Marie Brissett, I wanted to like this one, so bad! It sounded so good, but alas it wasn’t for me and I am the odd man out on that opinion. Which is 100% fine, it didn’t fit my reading taste and not every book will. What I learned from this book is that I like Sci-Fi books that are set mostly in Space and not on undiscovered planets. Basically Space Pirates is my goal.
Overall I think my journey into Sci-Fi has gone fairly well! I had a couple of lemons, though nothing below a 3 star, which I count as a good thing! I’m interested to continue introducing myself to new Sci-Fi authors and series, so if you have a recommendation let me know! I’m happy to pick up anything in the genre still at this point!
Till next time Book Dragons,
Kaitlyn
Kaitlyn's Literary Teahouse 