The Silmarillion isn't really a novel with a narrative like LOTR. Instead, it's a compendium of myths from Middle Earth and reads like the Bible. So, yeah, it throws a lot of names and events at the reader in a short amount of time.

MONKEYMAN
Written by Ken & Carol Douglas
Available on Amazon

This is different. A book written by local writers about a primate research facility out by Lexington Missouri that has been able to successfully impregnate a bonobo chimpanzee with human sperm.

The story is about the offspring and how he ends up changing the world. This is book one with the sequel expected to be out later this year.

It's written like a premium series with a lot of short chapters and some really interesting characters. It's a family drama with a sci-fi twist. I'm looking forward to the next one!

Tried to upload a pic of the cover but I guess I don't know how. Just gets upload failure.

Sounds like a Planet of the Apes knockoff....could be interesting.

Have any of you read Ann Leckie's Ancillary series? I'm curious how others feel about it. I've read the first two books and like it quite a bit, but I'm a sucker for stories in which the author explores identity of self. I'm not sure how to describe it really. It has some impressive world building, but doesn't forget to tell a story too. I did have to find audio versions just to learn how to pronounce some of the names.

No, actually quite different. It concerns a human - chimp hybrid. A "humanzee". The story takes place in the Kansas City area.

Pretty interesting how they reveal some of the skills this hybrid possesses.

Expect the sequel out in a few months.

By the way, local writers. I know them, if anyone would like an autographed copy.

(And yeah, they, - the writers - are huge Chiefs fans, just like the humanzee that the story is about. The hybrid kid has a Mahomes poster in his room.)

I’m intrigued. What skills?

Just now discovering this thread, as an avid lover of Sci-Fi and Fantasy I’m looking forward to forward to checking in periodically. I’ve migrated to audiobooks in recent years, working my way through 50-60 books per year.

As for the prompt in the OP, my favorites of all time:
1. Foundation Series - Asimov (the classic)
2. Eon Series - Greg Bear (the less well known)
3. Star Wars Expanded Universe - Multiple Authors (this was my childhood, reading nearly 200 of the books before Disney acquired the franchise and made my childhood non-cannon)


Lately I’ve been sucked into the world of GameLIT (books that incorporate some sort of video game like mechanics or worlds… like Ready Player One which was my gateway). It’s genre adjacent to this thread. If anyone else is into GameLIT or LitRPG and wants to share notes, happy to chat via PM.

One that I would HIGHLY recommend for anyone who cares enough to be in this thread: the Dungeon Crawler Carl series. It’s one of the most hilarious and entertaining books I’ve ever read / listened to. It’s a fantastic mix of sci-fi, fantasy, and comedy. The basic synopsis is that Earth is turned into a massive sadistic game show for an intergalactic audience with life and death stakes. The dust jacket description and cover art is honestly a bit of a turn off (I avoided it for a long time), but it’s a fantastic listen and has become one of my all time favorites.

Would highly recommend if you have a spare audible credit.

We find out that primates, like chimps and others, have highly developed abilities to communicate via sensory perceptions, which is influenced by proximity and relationship. By the end of the second book, we find out how that skill, in particular, saves the world. That along with some physical abilities make Charlie a very unique boy and then eventually man. I don't want to give away too much of the story.

Let me know if you'd like a copy and I can send you one. The first book is available on Amazon. Book 2 should be done really soon. It goes into editing probably next week.

Posted in the general books thread instead of this one by mistake:

Just finished Justin Cronin's "The Ferryman"....Scifi with some interesting twists and a dash of dystopia thrown in. Enjoyed it.

My son just read The Hobbit and is now diving in on LOTR. He is almost 18, and used to read a ton, all the Dresden File novels, Bobiverse, and a bunch of other stuff. Over the last couple years he hadn't been reading much at all. Is good to see him back into it, and sounding like he'd be open to some of my favorite series like The Expand and Malazan Book of the Fallen.

I stumbled on to the Starsea Cycle books by Kyle West. I didn't feel like I was crazy into them, but next thing I know I'm about to start book 10, the final book, in the series.

It kind of feels like the author is ripping off a number of other well known and established sci-fi/fantasy movies and stories to write this series, but it's just different enough to make it work. And I've enjoyed the ride, as well - a good mix of sci-fi and fantasy.

Project Hail Mary was a 10/10 for me.

By Andy Weir, who wrote The Martian… last I heard it is being adapted into a film with Gosling as the lead