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It's been years since I read a GREG BEAR novel, but I can't argue with your review and your impressions so far. I read a bunch of his books when they came out, and I think BLOOD MUSIC, EON, and MOVING MARS of his sci-fi, and SONGS OF EARTH AND POWER of his fantasy/sci-fi would be what Id recommend. And I will give him a thumbs up for a good novel trying to tie ASIMOV's FOUNDATION and ROBOT's series together. It was called FOUNDATION AND CHAOS. Bear, along with Gregory Bedford, and David Brin were commissioned to do a trilogy weaving the stories together, and I think BEAR and BRIN wrapped up the trilogy nicely (BENFORD's writing leaves me cold for some reason). The other GREG BEAR novel worth a shout, is ROGUE PLANET, which is a Star Wars novel set between the time of PHANTOM MENACE and ATTACK OF THE CLONES. It did a far better job of getting me to sympathise with Anakin than either those films did. Since you've already read FORGE OF GOD, than I guess you should read ANVIL OF STARS to finish the overall story, but my vague memory is that it left me a bit underwhelmed overall, while also having some amazing ideas and set pieces.

Interesting list. Never got the Warhammer books but I knew a few friends who were into them. I think Gaunts Ghosts were the ones they mentioned to me. Glad to see Iain M Banks there, but I'd personally replace Excession with Player of Games (but I know the fanbase is split with which one to recommend). I see from some of your other replies that you've read some other classics this year, so they might make the list next time. My list would probably go 1. Dune - Frank Herbert 2. The Stars My Destination - Alfred Bester 3. Lord Of Light - Roger Zelazny 4. Hyperion/Fall of Hyperion - Dan Simmons 5. Player Of Games - Iain M. Banks 6. Altered Carbon - Richard Morgan 7. Stations of The Tide - Michael Swanwick 8. To Say Nothing of The Dog- Connie Willis 9. The Diamond Age- Neal Stephenson 10. Rendezvous With Rama - Arthur C Clarke But now I feel bad for not including a bunch of authors who I really enjoy like Neal Asher, and Alastair Reynolds.

I enjoyed this for the most part. It went WAY out there where I was just after some VR life.

Imo the romance is the biggest part of this is how you you lose the timewar so I'd count it. Sapphic as well.

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Definitely recommend the Majipoor Chronicles. I may have enjoyed it more than valentines Castle. Valentine pontifex wasnt nearly as good and you probably wouldn’t like it as it was similar to valentines castle.

Subbed dude

Rendezvous With Rama #1! I don't feel so crazy anymore. Can't wait for the Denis Villenueve adaptation. "Arrival on steroids," he said.

I'm glad to have bumped across your review - I read The Forge of God earlier this year because I was looking for more sci-fi around the dark forest theory, and I read that Greg Bear's work was an inspiration for Cixin Liu's Three-Body Problem which I really enjoyed. I then discovered Fred Saberhagen's Berseker series and I think it might be worth a read for you - I don't know if I'd say it was bleak but I think the stakes of the story are. I've only read the first two so far, Berseker (1967) and Brother Assassin (1969), but I think the ideas were awesome - Berseker is made up of a bunch of short stories that kinda weave to form a novel, and it had two or three really good sections that have kept me thinking about it. There were several times reading both that I found myself going "ah, that's where Greg Bear got it from", and there were parts that also reminded me a lot of The Three-Body Problem. If you want really really bleak, my favourite book is Child of God by Cormac McCarthy, and basically every Cormac McCarthy novel is terribly bleak, lol.

I just started reading my first WH book the other day. I decided to go with Valdor, Birth of the Imperium. Really enjoying it so far. Think I might go with Forges of Mars next. Thanks for the tips!

As someone from mainland China and now lives in Australia, I have to say that I hate Liu's 3 body problem books. Upon first read they are great and thought provoking. But if you grow up in China where most people believe the society to be a jungle, you either give in to the jungle and become part of the competition, or you choose to leave. If you give in to the jungle, you will have to compete for every resource, the you become super utilitarian, like everyone else, then social Darwinism takes center stage. And if you "believe" in the way of the jungle, these books are like confirmation on their way of thinking: even the aliens are like this(not many actually think like this because they are not even aware of the words like social Darwinism, they just want to be better than their neighbors). Then there are the rebellious ones that hate the game but are also lucky enough to be able to leave, like me. We hate the books because it's a reminder of the jungle. Also there's almost no character building in the books, the people seem like machines that react to inputs, but not people with flesh and blood(just like many Chinese people I know that work their ass off and save up only for the sake of saving up).

Not every month can be the best. 35 books so far 😮. You are smashing it!

Hey four books read in one month is nothing to sniff at! Especially if WoW has consumed a lot of your free time lol I think you’ll really enjoy Lies of Locke Lamora!

Solid answers Benjamin. That’s cool to hear about you and your dad reading Harry Potter together.

What a cool video topic! I haven’t read any of the three but looking forward to picking up all three!

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I really enjoyed Whalefall, at least the parts that dealt with his attempt to survive. The "daddy issues" I liked less...

Thanks for the reminder about Forge of God. It's been on my TBR since I read that it has "little green men turn up in Australia" in it. Obviously not my part of Australia.

I did think Double Eagle was a bit silly in how much it was a WW2 novel with a coat of paint, and the idea of some campaign hinging on an air war when in most other stories every battle begins with the fragile, expensive air assets getting virtually wiped out to signify "shit's getting real."

Awesome answers.🔖📚😊

Great answers! I only know some of these books but I love finding new books to look into/read.

Arrival is so good 🤩 Also, I really want to finally read some J. G. Ballard, have you read any that you enjoyed? I also wanted to start with High Rise. Mid-year ‘freakout’ tags (I hate the name, but…) are always fun to watch if you’d be interested. June would be the perfect month for that! 😄

What are some good horror/supernatural books you really enjoyed and would strongly recomand. Love your vids

Your issues with the tone not being as bleak as you might want/expect is what makes me want to read it. I can't do bleak right now because *gestures at world* but if it's more adventure I'm in. I really loved 'Songs of Earth and Power' and 'Eon' by Greg Bear. SoEaP in particular is a favourite to reread for me. I've read the short story Blood Music but not the novel yet. The short story is very disturbing. Probably don't read it while you're sick lol.

Blood Music is the only Greg Bear book I read. It was very good, with story arc I enjoyed and resolution I did not expect. I recommend it. But again, like your complaint here, characters are flat. Crazy things happen to them and I’m in no way emotionally affected by it.

🐋The fact that this book exist is just mind boggling to me. Great review.😊

This sounds like another “cave”book! 😂 Interesting, also beautiful cover.

"This one might be a bit deep and you might figure out that I'm an idiot." Oh man, largely why I'm not a talker lol. I'm not stupid but I can't translate my thoughts to words well.

A letter to the luminous deep by sylvie cathral is underwater/ cave book i read for the challenge. I really liked 👍

That cover, though 😍

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I loved this book! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐🐳

Love this video! My greatest fear is getting trapped in an enclosed space with no way out, water rising etc. The Descent is one of my favorite horror movies. The Jeff Long story sounds very interesting! The Luminous Dead sounds like a great sci-fi horror and I love the way you described the atmosphere and tension. All three novels sound great. I would recommend Midnight's Lair, one of the few Richard Laymon books I have enjoyed.

They all sound great

Nice introductions. I read the Descent over ten years ago and still remember how wondrous that under-world was, but also the oppressive feeling of those deep cave tunnels and how creepy the Hadals were. Good book.

I really enjoyed this! Would love to see more of those theme videos! How about themes like: secret research station, ancient civilization found, exploring depths of the ocean (please dont use nick cutters the deep :D), conspiracy theory being true, antarcitca mystery

Cool theme! I enjoyed Luminous Dead, so I stalag-might need to read the other two.

I really like The Descent. An overlooked novel. I have not read the others, but The Anomaly is on my Kindle. Rutger is better known Michael Marshall Smith.

There are five books I've DNF in my entire life and this was one of them. And I bought the second and third books at the same time and they are still in the plastic for almost ten years. I hope to give it a second chance in a few months, as the author seems like a really nice guy despite everything.

I had never thought about this specific theme! Fun 😊 well, maybe not fun… 😂

Sci-fi isn’t my go to genre. I’m more into horror/extreme horror and thrillers, but Project Hail Mary was my intro to sci-fi and I got a kick out of the story. I think I’m going to read the three body problem once I’m done with what I’m currently reading.

Great video and I feel the same way. Loved a lot of the ideas and world-building but reading it as a narrative really was a bit of a slog. Interesting thought about how our expectations may change our experience with the book. I also came into it really excited, knowing a lot of people considered God Emperor the pinnacle of the series. Unfortunately after getting through it my appetite for Dune is blunted somewhat. Gonna take a break and then some before reading the last two books.

In recent years I have maintained that this is one of his best books ever, especially in the horror aspect.

Nice review! I agree, this is a truly gripping and gut-wrenching novel, with excellent character building and a terrifying build up of tension throughout.

Awesome review! Stephen King did state that he may have crossed the line with this book, seriously bleak and morbid. Love your bingo board. My favorite will probably always be The Stand!

Great review, PS is a certified banger. Glad you liked it!

I push book recommendations away 🙊

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Great review. This video makes me want to reread the trilogy.😊I was disappointed with Vin's ending when I read The Hero of Ages 3 years ago. Maybe I'll feel differently on a reread.🤷‍♀Elantris is a good one to go to next. It's not as long as Stormlight Archives and still has the Mistborn-esk vibes. Hope you enjoy it.☺