Like just about everyone, everywhere, these days, I’ll start this note with a disclaimer: I like early SciFi books.
Okay, now that that is out of the way, we can get to the business at hand. One of the reasons I decided to start this newsletter now, of all times, is that I got tired of seeing people recommending the same books over and over again. Sure, Foundation is a great story. Ender’s Game is a classic. And so and so forth…
We are living in a time of incredible abundance of Science Fiction titles. Great new authors are producing at an unprecedented pace, as the gatekeepers to this universe have been mostly cast aside. I am a compulsive reader. In ancient times, such as the 1980s and 1990s, I used to read each book multiple times, as I was never able to get new books at the rate I read them. Either because they weren’t available or because I couldn’t afford them. Living in Brazil and having to get titles imported tended to make them cost a lot more.
Today, you can have instant access to an incredible wealth of titles from great authors that have come into the scene in the last decade. While I may or may not discuss some of the “old classics” from time to time, I will be focusing mostly on 21st-century titles and authors.
I hope you enjoy coming along for the ride and invite your friends to do so. ;-)
Today’s Recommendation
I could let you go without recommending a book, right?! Wayward Galaxy, by Jason Anspach and J.N. Chaney, is an exciting book. It surprised me quite a bit and gave me a certain 1960s’ low-budget SciFi movie feeling. The low-budget commentary being in no way a derisive comment on the quality of the story. This was one of the most entertaining books I read in the past few months, and that is exactly why I read: to be entertained.
For those that prefer the audio version, this book is read by the incredible RC Bray.
PS: If you have books and authors that you believe I should be reading, please do post a comment or send me a message through Twitter (@longoreview).
Wayward Galaxy’s description on Amazon:
The future isn’t what they expected.
A company of Army Rangers is sent on an interstellar colony ship to secure a foothold on a dangerous, alien planet through the violence of action. Leaving behind a warring Earth flung headfirst into a conflict of mutually assured destruction, the Rangers and the accompanying crew of first colonists are guided on a 40-year journey by an unprecedented artificial intelligence.
But when they emerge from the frigid embrace of cryosleep, they awake to a nightmare, finding themselves greeted by the same ruthless enemy that brought about the ruin of Earth. Alone on a dangerous, alien planet and with no hope of rescue or relief, the military colonists are forced to finish the war they thought they’d left behind. And in an unknown galaxy, friends and enemies alike prove to be much more than they seem.
Wayward Galaxy is an explosive military science-fiction adventure featuring defective AIs, valorous soldiers, a brilliant scientist, and gritty combat written by Jason Anspach (Associated Press best seller and cocreator of Galaxy’s Edge) and J.N. Chaney (USA Today bestseller and author of the Renegade series).