Well frens, it’s been a little while since I’ve written. Dad passing away, sorting his affairs, loss of old job, moving to new job, very busy. One thing to come out of it all is a new perspective on life and what really matters. That’s why I’ve appeared fairly chilled in the comments no-one reads over “current events.”
The corona virus, officially dubbed Covid-19, known as kung-flu by rest of us, has seemingly come out of nowhere and blindsided us. It even managed to knock Meghan and Harry, the Labour leadership contest, Greta and climate change off the news and mainstream media. Powerful indeed. It seems we’re all headed for a lengthy spell in lockdown. Access to going outside may be limited. TV is shit and you can only stand so much of your relatives. There are only so many cans of Stella you can get through. All news broadcasts will be about the virus. You’ve rewatched every episode of Dad’s Army. You’ve redecorated the spare room twice and even cleaned behind the fridge. So what to do?
I for one will be reading a lot. In between working really, really hard, of course. I thought I would come up with some recommendations. With the power of the internet, you can download most if not all of them on phone, tablet, PC or e-reader in some shape or form. I mainly read sci-fi, fantasy and factual history, so they make up the bulk of the list. Some are standalone, some are part of a series. I’ve tried to go a bit different and outside the norm from the books most people have already read. I include a (very) brief synopsis.
A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller Jr
Monks help rebuild a post-apocalyptic world by preserving science.
Prince of Thorns (Broken Empire book 1) Mark Lawrence
Prince Jorg cuts a bloody swathe through post-apocalyptic Europe.
Heroes Die (The Acts of Caine series) by Matthew Stover
Clever mix of sci-fi and fantasy. Fast paced and action packed. Earth movie star becomes trapped on another planet.
The Three Body Problem, Cixin Liu
Intelligent and SJW free sci-fi. Humanity faces extinction. Chinese bloke to the rescue.
The Vagrant, Peter Newman
Written completely in the present tense, this is very different and very good. A nameless wanderer who never speaks travels a future wasteland kicking arse. Plus there is a goat.
A Man Disrupted, Vox Day
Old fashioned sci-fi. Racist policeman cracks crime on a planet full of alien immigrants. An easy read.
The Way of Kings (Stormlight Archive series) Brandon Sanderson
Epic fantasy from a master craftsman. One of the best fantasy books I have ever read.
Rhetoric, Aristotle
Aristotle shows how to argue like a boss.
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Edward Gibbon
Old but still good. A classic.
Gridlinked (Agent Cormac series) Neal Asher
Autistic super warrior fights men and machines across the stars. Plus there’s a killer android.
Terms of Enlistment (Frontlines series) Markos Kloos
Top military sci-fi featuring alien invasion.
United states of Japan, Peter Tieryas
Written as a sequel to The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick. Video games and giant fighting robots in a future where Japan and Germany won WWII.
These are just a few. I know people will have loads of other suggestions. Feel free to mention them in the comments that no-one reads. Take care everyone.
© Jonathon Davies 2020
The Goodnight Vienna Audio file