Reading Science Fiction in November 2026

[Hobbit]

Welcome to November!



Cover of “Analog", October 1976 – 50 years ago this month!)

Last month's thread is HERE.

Now that it is November, this thread has the usual message - this is where you tell us about what you've been reading in Science Fiction this month.

Remember, good or bad, we still want to know what you think.


Hobbit/Mark

 

[Sfinx]

Hey all - been a while Life happened - but the fantasy/sci-fi reading continued. Just finished M.R. Carey's Echo of Worlds, the second installment in his Pandominion duology. I guess on this forum Carey does not need much of an introduction. One of the best storytellers out there imo, and one of the few writers of whom i want to have and read every single novel (the others including Gene Wolfe, Steven Erikson, KJ Parker, Fritz Leiber...). Echo of Worlds takes off where Infinity gate left things and along the way neatly ties everything up - including the identity of the narrator. It is another big rollercoaster of a book, which, as is his wont, Carey not only explores the tech, but also the bigger societal picture and what is happening in people's (term used loosely) heads, and in their interaction. Speaks volumes about his craft that he is able to do all that and deliver a highly readable and enjoyable novel. Recommened!

Continuing in the (post) Pandominion world, just started Outlaw Planet. Less ambitious scale than the duology, but interesting nonetheless. The moralistic message bit more present / laid on a bit more thickly than usual in Carey's work though. Still: very entertaining!

 

[dannymcg]

I'm trying Afterwar by Lilith Saintcrow, a bloody account of the end of a modern day American civil war, lots of slang that you have to pick up as you read

 

[TheSeveredWorldNovels]

I'm reading A True Story, by Lucian of Samosata.

https://www.globalgreyebooks.com/true-story-ebook.html

 

[TheSeveredWorldNovels]

I'm reading A True Story, by Lucian of Samosata.

https://www.globalgreyebooks.com/true-story-ebook.html

Finished book one. I guess I kind of see why some people call it science fiction, but it could also be considered fantasy.

I wonder if there's an inverse version of Clarke's 3rd Law along the lines of "Any sufficiently advanced civilization will project science onto fantastical speculation."

Maybe book two will clarify one way or the other.

 

[Ropie]

It's been well over a decade since I read anything by Sheri S Tepper, and when I found Sideshow at a local second-hand bookshop recently I snapped it up. A couple of chapters in, it's pretty enticing. I love the way she writes and the story, which seems to be about conjoined twins on Earth and a lost baby on a far away planet, is not bad either.

 

[Hobbit]

There's an author I've not heard of for a while.

 

[Ropie]

I remember finding out only recently that she'd died about 10 years ago, and although she was in her late 80s it was still a bit of a shock. She's one of the all time great SF authors of the late 20th Century, IMHO, up there with Vance and Wolfe.

 

[Hobbit]

Talking of older writers you hear less of these days, I've fallen down the rabbit-hole with the latest Humble Bundle offer of 42 Poul Anderson books for £15. (Erm: $20 US.) That's about 36p each (Erm: 50c US). Most of them are usually £5 - £7 each here.

I don't really agree with his right wing political views - same as Heinlein in the end - but I do think he can write.

 

[TheSeveredWorldNovels]

Talking of older writers you hear less of these days, I've fallen down the rabbit-hole with the latest Humble Bundle offer of 42 Poul Anderson books for £15. (Erm: $20 US.) That's about 36p each (Erm: 50c US). Most of them are usually £5 - £7 each here.

I don't really agree with his right wing political views - same as Heinlein in the end - but I do think he can write.

View attachment 1116

I liked Brainwave. Tau Zero was less to my liking... I remember thinking it was okay. Genesis was good.

I don't remember being "swept away" by any of his books the way I have been by, for instance Asimov's work. I remember during Foundation and Empire, thinking "It's 3am. I have to get up and start getting ready to go to the client site in 4 hours. I have to stop reading. Okay. Just one more chapter."

I've never had something like that happen with Anderson, but I've only read three of his books.