• Children of Time

Is also one of my favourite books full stop. The followingups are pretty solid as well. It’s amazing that he was writing Shards of Earth and its followups at the same time.

• The Use of Weapons

• is Piranesi sci-fi or is it crossing more over to that crossover genres of science fantasy?

The Expanse series has done it for me. Best books I’ve read in a long time.

“The Book of the New Sun” by Gene Wolfe.

Tough, hard to follow or understand (deliberately so - this book and a number of the author’s other books are well known for “unreliable narrator”), excellent prose, and thought provoking. I generally dislike rereading a book, with all the other books to read and new ones coming out every year, but this is an exception.

“Creatures of Light and Darkness”, and “Lord of Light” by Roger Zelazny - I love the blending of mythology and science fiction.

“Dune” though it hasn’t aged well in terms of the science of genetics.

“Cyteen” by C.J. Cherryh

“Starship Trooper” and “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress” both are peak Heinlein.

I’m a big fan of world building and well fleshed out settings and characters. I love getting lost in descriptive and unique imagery.

• Hyperion by Dan Simmons - feels like such a lived-in universe, some interesting tales, and a horrifying antagonist in the Shrike.
• Neuromancer by William Gibson - cyberpunk ahead of its time, great story, incredible atmosphere.