I really love sci-fi novels and I read a lot of books. I read 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson a while back and that book is particularly interesting to me. Rather than each chapter advancing the narrative of the story, there were occasional breaks where a chapter would have a list of semi-random words which just gave the vibe of what’s happening, or some history of a scene, or a recipe for how to build an asteroid.
There’s another book that I have heard of but neglected to write the name down, where the reader of the book is a character within the book, and the narrator speaks directly to you (but not a choose-your-adventure style book).
All of this got me interested in finding other books, preferably sci-fi or maybe fantasy, where the concept of being a book is played with and new ideas are tried. Any recommendations?
Redshirts suuuuuuuucked. Good lord I could barely stomach getting through it after absolutely adoring Kaiju Preservation Society. The audiobook being narrated by Wesley Crusher didn’t help certainly but that was some of the most pat, ham fisted deus ex machina bullshit I’ve ever read. And the premise “no actually we’re just in a *badly written show * does nothing to make those chapters easier to stomach’s.
Well, to each their own then. I rather enjoyed it. It was a silly self-aware little romp. I’m pretty sure being ham-fisted was kind of the point, in keeping with original Trek tradition.
Didn’t know Will Wheaton narrated the audiobook.
I agree. Scalzi isn’t exactly attempting to be a modern-day Dostoevsky. He is a very self-aware author, and he writes fun, entertaining, and sometimes dumb (in the best way), stories.
Wheaton does a good job with the audiobook. Because of his minor celebrity, I feel that he gets more credit than other, equally talented, narrators, but there is no denying he’s pretty good at it.