Tag Archives: Science Fiction

Books

Books I read in August 2023

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Continuing my series, as promised. In this post, I present the books I read in August 2023, in sequence.

BookAuthorMy Rating
Project Hail MaryAndy Weir10/10
RecursionBlake Crouch8/10
ArtemisAndy Weir9/10
UpgradeBlake Crouch7/10
Randomize (Forward Collection)Andy Weir5/10
ExhalationTed Chiang7/10
Books I read in August 2023

In August, I decided to continue my Science Fiction streak. I saw an advertisement for Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir and decided to give it a go. Within a few pages, it was clear to me that this was the best Science Fiction novel I had ever read.

Andy Weir is quite unlike the other Sci-Fi authors I normally read (Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov etc). While the latter are serious and scientific, I found Andy Weir to be positively comic. But that doesn’t mean the science is lacking; that is also explained in detail. After a long time, I had found a book that I couldn’t put down and was completely engrossed.

Apparently, there would be a movie based on this book which I will surely go watch it.

After this, I tried reading The Devgarh Royals trilogy by Alisha Kay, but didn’t like it after a few pages and abandoned it.

Flip-Flop

I saw a recommendation from Andy Weir for a book called Recursion by Blake Crouch, so decided to give it a go. Recursion is a psychological thriller mixed with Sci-Fi. It took a lot of mental power to keep track of all the time travel, but the story was engaging. I was afraid it would become as complicated as Tenet, but thankfully, it didn’t. One of the most intense books I have ever read.

After this, I went back to Andy Weir‘s Artemis. Just like Project Hail Mary, it was humorous Sci-Fi. The book also has a unique protagonist – A promiscuous–saudi female porter on the moon. I really enjoyed the book, although I found some parts a bit hard to believe.

After this, I went back to Blake Crouch‘s Upgrade. It was entertaining, but nothing special. I probably won’t go back to the author again.

Wanting to go back to Andy Weir; I considered reading The Martian, but since I had already seen the movie twice, gave it a skip. Instead, I bought Randomize (Forward Collection). The story started off interested, but then ended within 40 pages on a cliffhanger. WTF!

Amazon recommended me Exhalation by Ted Chiang, which is a collection of short stories. The short parables were perfect for weekday reading, where I could finish 1 story before I went to bed. The stories had a definite Black Mirror vibe.

PS: I also switched from reading on my Kindle Paperwhite to the Kindle app on the iPad, because I also wanted to read magazines. Below are the magazines I am reading

  1. Reader’s Digest India
  2. Travel+Leisure India
Books

Books I read in July 2023

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Continuing my series, as promised. In this post, I present the books I read in July 2023, in sequence.

BookAuthorMy Rating
2001: A Space OdysseyArthur C. Clarke8/10
2010: Odyssey TwoArthur C. Clarke9/10
2061: Odyssey ThreeArthur C. Clarke7/10
3001: The Final OdysseyArthur C. Clarke7/10
Books I read in July 2023

In July, I went back to my trusty Kindle. I had a yearning to read Sci-Fi and not able to find anything new that I wanted to read, I went back to books I had already read.

2001: A Space Odyssey is one of the rare books, which was adapted from the screenplay of a movie, also written by Arthur C. Clarke along with Stanley Kubrick. Now, there are 2 versions of the book. The original one and the one based on the movie screenplay. I seem to have read the original one, because when I moved on to the second part, I could see several inconsistencies. That is because the second book onwards are adapted from the screenplay version instead.

2010: Odyssey Two is even better than the first part and I enjoyed reading it.

2061: Odyssey Three and 3001: The Final Odyssey were both above average, but not awesome. Although I had read all these books, it was long ago. And I did enjoy reading them again.

2001: Differences between original book and movie

After spotting the inconsistencies between the books 2001: A Space Odyssey and 2010: Odyssey Two, I decided to watch the movie, and document the differences, because I did not find a good summary online

  1. In the book, TMA-2 is on Iapetus, a moon of Saturn. But in the movie and the sequels, TMA-2 is in Orbit around Io, a moon of Jupiter.
  2. In the book, Frank Poole is killed by HAL 9000 and floats away. But in the movie and the sequels Dave Bowman goes out to rescue him and gets locked out of the ship by HAL.
  3. In the book, Discovery uses Hydrogen as a propellant. But in the movie and the sequels, the propellant is Ammonia.
  4. In the book, Discovery carried only enough propellant to go into Orbit around Iapetus. But in the movie and the sequels, Discovery has enough propellant to return back to earth.
  5. In the book, Discovery was already running out of air when Dave Bowman left. But in the movie and the sequels, Discovery has sufficient air even after jettisoning the stale putrid air into space.