Book Group

131 watchers
Feb 2022
11:27am, 16 Feb 2022
132,915 posts
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GregP
I know several people who have similar taste in Sci Fi to me who have damned Three-Body Problem with the very faintest of praise.
Feb 2022
11:37am, 16 Feb 2022
51,004 posts
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McGoohan
Gave after the bore-fest book 1
KPM
Feb 2022
12:43pm, 16 Feb 2022
918 posts
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KPM
GregP I read the first book last year and thought it was a bit boring. I had no interest in a cultural revolution in China, which was the main part of the first book; it wasn't really my bag.

For whatever reason though, I think a few of the novel ideas that are threaded into the story that stuck with me, i decided to read it again and must say the second time through I thought it was brilliant.
Went straight onto book 2 and then book 3 and am powering through it as we speak. The scope of the first book seems very small, but it is insane how far it goes.

Book 1
Cultural Revolution in China, set sometime in the 1960s i think? Some minor dealings through a game with an alien race. Turns out they're real and due to someone who'd given up on Earth, give the aliens the ability to locate Earth. They set off to find us and the journey will take centuries.

Book 2 - this is where it kicks off for me
More info on aliens, who develop technology to restrict human development - maybe this is in book 1 actually. Time passes and they are monitoring our every move to stop us from being able to progress to a state where we can defend ourselves against them. The story focuses on the brilliant ways we come up with to try and solve this problem of being in 100% surveillance and finding a way to still try and stop them, when restricted technologically as we are. Hundreds of years pass.

Book 3 - still all in
They arrive. We're completely powerless against them and without hope. Or are we? Mind blowing ideas abound
Feb 2022
1:14pm, 16 Feb 2022
132,935 posts
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GregP
Hmm. Maybe it's me and mine. We were equally underwhelmed by the Tchaikovsky books with the spiders.
Feb 2022
1:15pm, 16 Feb 2022
132,936 posts
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GregP
In terms of Big Ideas, while we're here, I'm thoroughly enjoying Pandora's Star thus far.
KPM
Feb 2022
2:53pm, 16 Feb 2022
923 posts
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KPM
Yeah we all have our own preferences, i'm just saying that the second time around it clicked for me - this is quite rare as i've tried to re-read a few things before and newarly always have the same opinion (Dune - dense and boring!)

Peter F Hamilton, I keep getting tempted by his stuff and then put off as i've read him classed as 'Space opera', making me imagine Coronation Street, in space.
Feb 2022
2:55pm, 16 Feb 2022
132,940 posts
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GregP
I read The Reality Dysfunction a few years ago and liked it a lot. Pandora's Star is, so far, altogether better.

The Expanse series are space opera. What's not to like?
KPM
Feb 2022
3:06pm, 16 Feb 2022
925 posts
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KPM
I do have The Expanse series queued up as i'm enjoying the TV show, but when it comes to books I usually prefer reality-shifting/psychological Sci-Fi (I can't get enough Dick) and find it hard to spend time on other things, though I have loads queued up.

The other issue with those types of books is the size. They're usually the size and weight of weapons, those books, so it's a lot of time to invest.
Feb 2022
5:01pm, 16 Feb 2022
14,844 posts
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Badger
I liked Pandora's Star and the concluding book, disliked the Reality Dysfunction as magical fantasy dressed up as SF, and hated the end of Great North Road so much that I've never read another word by Hamilton.
Feb 2022
5:02pm, 16 Feb 2022
14,845 posts
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Badger
(Channelling my inner McG there I think :) )

About This Thread

Maintained by fetcheveryone
The Fetch Everyone Book Group

December 2024 book


Welcome to Season Seven

December 2024 (Westmoors)
Mind of Winter (Laura Kasischke)
Discussion: fetcheveryone.com/forum/mind-of-winter---dec-2024-book-group-discussion-thread-63388
Poll: fetcheveryone.com/polls-view.php?id=11632

November 2024 (McG)
Appliance (J O Morgan)
Discussion: fetcheveryone.com/forum/appliance-by-j-o-morgan---nov-2024-book-group-choice-63327
Poll: fetcheveryone.com/polls-view.php?id=11610

October 2024 (Bint)
Hangsaman (Shirley Jackson)
Discussion: fetcheveryone.com/forum/hangsaman-by-shirley-jackson---october-2024-book-group-thread-63280
Poll: fetcheveryone.com/polls-view.php?id=11598

September 2024 (The Greppler)
Florida Roadkill (Tim Dorsey)
Discussion: fetcheveryone.com/forum/florida-roadkill---book-group-september-2024-discussion-thread-63210
Poll: fetcheveryone.com/polls-view.php?id=11489

August 2024 (The Scribbler)
A Thousand Ships (Natalie Haynes)
Discussion: fetcheveryone.com/forum/a-thousand-ships---august-2024-book-group-discussion-thread-63153
Poll: fetcheveryone.com/polls-view.php?id=11435

July 2024 (Fetch)
The Cranes That Build The Cranes (Jeremy Dyson)
Discussion: fetcheveryone.com/forum/the-cranes-that-build-the-cranes---by-jeremy-dyson---july-2024-book-group-discussion-thread-63104
Poll: fetcheveryone.com/polls-view.php?id=11364

June 2024 (Dio)
Bournville (Jonathan Coe)
Discussion: fetcheveryone.com/forum/bournville-by-jonathan-coe---book-group-june-2024-discussion-thread-63061
Poll: fetcheveryone.com/polls-view.php?id=11356

May 2024 (Quimby)
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry (Gabrielle Zevin)
Discussion: fetcheveryone.com/forum/the-storied-life-of-a-j-fikry---may-2024-book-group-discussion-thread-63033
Poll: fetcheveryone.com/polls-view.php?id=11337

April 2024 (Maclennane)
Independence Day (Richard Ford)
Discussion: fetcheveryone.com/forum/independence-day-by-richard-ford---april-2024-book-group-choice-63006
Poll: fetcheveryone.com/polls-view.php?id=11269

March 2024 (Chrisull)
The High House (Jessie Greengrass)
Discussion: fetcheveryone.com/forum/the-high-house-by-jessie-greengrass---march-2024-fetch-book-group-discussion-thread-62965
Poll: fetcheveryone.com/polls-view.php?id=11192

February 2024 (Linds)
Severance (Ling Ma)
Discussion: fetcheveryone.com/forum/severance-by-ling-ma---feb-2024-book-group-discussion-thread-62917
Poll: fetcheveryone.com/polls-view.php?id=11165

January 2024 (Night-owl)
The Rabbit Factor (Antti Tuomainen (Author), David Hackston (Translator))
Discussion: fetcheveryone.com/forum/the-rabbit-factor---jan-2024-book-group-discussion-62892
Poll: fetcheveryone.com/polls-view.php?id=11119

December 2023 (Serendippers)
The Indisputable Existence of Santa Claus (Hannah Fry and Thomas Oleron Evans)
Discussion: fetcheveryone.com/forum/the-indisputable-existence-of-santa-claus---december-2023-book-group-discussion-thread-62852
Poll: fetcheveryone.com/polls-view.php?id=11004

November 2023 (Columba)
Watling Street (John Higgs)
Discussion: fetcheveryone.com/forum/watling-street---nov-2023-book-group-dicussion-thread-62830
Poll: fetcheveryone.com/polls-view.php?id=10925

October 2023 (Little Nemo)
Before the Coffee Gets Cold (Toshikazu Kawaguchi trans. Geoffrey Trousselot)
Discussion: fetcheveryone.com/forum/before-the-coffee-gets-cold---book-group---oct-2023-discussion-thread-62811
Poll: fetcheveryone.com/polls-view.php?id=10860

The last two months of Season Six:

September 2023 (westmoors)
Rabbit, Run (John Updike)
Discussion: fetcheveryone.com/forum/rabbit-run-by-john-updike---book-group-sept-2023-discussion-thread-62786
Poll: fetcheveryone.com/polls-view.php?id=10848

August 2023 (Serendipps)
Queenie (Candice Carty-Williams)
Discussion: fetcheveryone.com/forum/queenie-by-candice-carty-williams---august-2023-book-group-discussion-thread-62766
Poll: fetcheveryone.com/polls-view.php?id=10808

Currently Choosinating

Not yet chozzed:
~~Season Seven now complete!~~

Already chozzed:
Little Nemo
Columba
Serendippers
Night-owl
Linds
Chrisull
Maclennane
Quimby
Dio
Fetch
The Scribbler
Grepples
Bint
McG
Westmoors

Earlier book choices and discussion threads
All previous runners and riders can be found on this thread here: http://www.fetcheveryone.com/viewtopic.php?id=58751

===

Fetch's Positronic My Book Listing Device!: fetcheveryone.com/mybooks.php

===

Discussion thread for all those unofficial but almost official books we discuss on the thread:
http://www.fetcheveryone.com/viewtopic.php?id=59469

===

The Book Group motto: If you never take a chance with your reading you'll never read anything new or great

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