Yesterday’s solar eclipse was the topic of discussion at workplaces, online, and in news broadcasts. Here in Colorado, we got to about 65% of totality; every 10 or 15 minutes between 11:30am and 1:30pm I popped outside with my glasses to check it out.
Oooh, this is very exciting! We're planning an episode about Outer Space for our upcoming Strong Sense of Place podcast season, and I'm on the hunt for great books set in space. I'm excited to see what everyone shares. I think my husband/co-host Dave will be very interested in your nonfiction recommendations, Jeremy!
I have a few novels to share:
The Comet Seekers by Helen Sedgwick - This story is both tender and explosive: There are (actual) ghosts and emotional hauntings, a love story, moving family relationships — set in France, Ireland, and Antarctica. The main characters are a French chef and an Irish scientist on an astronomy mission in Antarctica, waiting for a comet to pass over head. Each chapter is framed by the arrival of a comet at different periods in time. It's very cool and beautiful, and although it's been years since I read it, I think about it from time to time.
The Mars House by Natasha Pulley - I love all of her books (favorites: The Bedlam Stacks [magical realism set in Peru] and The Kingdoms [time travel in an alternate-history Britain]). This one is sci-fi melded with her trademark humor and deeply romantic relationships — it takes the 'fake couple' trope from romance novels and spins into something magically different. A male ballet dancer from Earth is resettled in a colony on Mars and hijinks ensue. The sci-fi bits are smart and interesting, the characters feel real — loved it.
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel - Station Eleven is one of my all-time favorites, and this third book from the author is set in the same universe as that book (and her second is The Glass Hotel). You don't need to have read those to enjoy this one, but it's fun to feel the little tickle of 'Hey! I know that character.' I don't always love time travel stories, but I feel like this is a time travel story for people who love them AND people who don't. The setup is tasty: At different points in time (including characters on moon colonies), three different characters experience an unusual *something* — the sound of violins, a whoosh of hydraulics, disorientation. It's mysterious to them and to us, and then the threads start to come together. The descriptions of Vancouver, the colonies, what life might be like on Earth in 2203 are all fantastic. If you want to be transported, this is a good one.
Good Morning, Midnight by Lily Brooks-Dalton - This is a gorgeous novel about the apocalypse with a 78-year-old antihero Augie in the Arctic and a woman astronaut named Sally on a mission to/from Jupiter. I don't want to give away a *big surpise*, so I'll keep it brief. The chapters alternate between Augie and Sully's experiences, and eventually, their two plot threads connect, delivering thrilling action and quiet, meaningful moments. (You can hear me talk about it here, if you're curious: https://strongsenseofplace.com/podcasts/2021-09-27-arctic/)
The 4 Percent Universe by Richard Panek is about how very little we know about the universe. Dark matter and dark energy are theorized to make up the other 96%, but we don't really know what they are - we're just guessing.
On the completely opposite side of the universe to that are Joe Leiberman's Red Harvest and Death Troopers, two Star Wars books about zombies.
And far, far away from both, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy anthology by Douglas Adams.
We are Legion (We are Bob) is a great space series that includes amazing space battles that occasionally include planets and is all real science, no hyperdrive, just lots and lots of fun.
Completely agree with the Expanse. Watching the Prime Video series is what prompted me reading the series,which was excellent. Being partial to a bit of space opera David Feintuch’s Seafort Saga, is good. Vatta’s war series by Elizabeth Moon. The currently series I’m immersed in is Glynn Stewart’s Starship Mage series, which is a genius idea. Faster than light travel needing magic to work!
Wind, Sand and Stars by Antoine de Saint-Exupery (author of The Little Prince). It’s not about space so much as flight, but it’s a philosophical tract of a pilot stranded in the Sahara desert at night. Beautiful and powerful.
I really enjoyed both The Martian and Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. (His second book, Artemis, wasn’t as strong, I thought.)
Oooh, this is very exciting! We're planning an episode about Outer Space for our upcoming Strong Sense of Place podcast season, and I'm on the hunt for great books set in space. I'm excited to see what everyone shares. I think my husband/co-host Dave will be very interested in your nonfiction recommendations, Jeremy!
I have a few novels to share:
The Comet Seekers by Helen Sedgwick - This story is both tender and explosive: There are (actual) ghosts and emotional hauntings, a love story, moving family relationships — set in France, Ireland, and Antarctica. The main characters are a French chef and an Irish scientist on an astronomy mission in Antarctica, waiting for a comet to pass over head. Each chapter is framed by the arrival of a comet at different periods in time. It's very cool and beautiful, and although it's been years since I read it, I think about it from time to time.
The Mars House by Natasha Pulley - I love all of her books (favorites: The Bedlam Stacks [magical realism set in Peru] and The Kingdoms [time travel in an alternate-history Britain]). This one is sci-fi melded with her trademark humor and deeply romantic relationships — it takes the 'fake couple' trope from romance novels and spins into something magically different. A male ballet dancer from Earth is resettled in a colony on Mars and hijinks ensue. The sci-fi bits are smart and interesting, the characters feel real — loved it.
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel - Station Eleven is one of my all-time favorites, and this third book from the author is set in the same universe as that book (and her second is The Glass Hotel). You don't need to have read those to enjoy this one, but it's fun to feel the little tickle of 'Hey! I know that character.' I don't always love time travel stories, but I feel like this is a time travel story for people who love them AND people who don't. The setup is tasty: At different points in time (including characters on moon colonies), three different characters experience an unusual *something* — the sound of violins, a whoosh of hydraulics, disorientation. It's mysterious to them and to us, and then the threads start to come together. The descriptions of Vancouver, the colonies, what life might be like on Earth in 2203 are all fantastic. If you want to be transported, this is a good one.
Good Morning, Midnight by Lily Brooks-Dalton - This is a gorgeous novel about the apocalypse with a 78-year-old antihero Augie in the Arctic and a woman astronaut named Sally on a mission to/from Jupiter. I don't want to give away a *big surpise*, so I'll keep it brief. The chapters alternate between Augie and Sully's experiences, and eventually, their two plot threads connect, delivering thrilling action and quiet, meaningful moments. (You can hear me talk about it here, if you're curious: https://strongsenseofplace.com/podcasts/2021-09-27-arctic/)
Cloud Cuckoo Land. Still one of my all-time favorite books
The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe
The 4 Percent Universe by Richard Panek is about how very little we know about the universe. Dark matter and dark energy are theorized to make up the other 96%, but we don't really know what they are - we're just guessing.
On the completely opposite side of the universe to that are Joe Leiberman's Red Harvest and Death Troopers, two Star Wars books about zombies.
And far, far away from both, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy anthology by Douglas Adams.
We are Legion (We are Bob) is a great space series that includes amazing space battles that occasionally include planets and is all real science, no hyperdrive, just lots and lots of fun.
Completely agree with the Expanse. Watching the Prime Video series is what prompted me reading the series,which was excellent. Being partial to a bit of space opera David Feintuch’s Seafort Saga, is good. Vatta’s war series by Elizabeth Moon. The currently series I’m immersed in is Glynn Stewart’s Starship Mage series, which is a genius idea. Faster than light travel needing magic to work!
Wind, Sand and Stars by Antoine de Saint-Exupery (author of The Little Prince). It’s not about space so much as flight, but it’s a philosophical tract of a pilot stranded in the Sahara desert at night. Beautiful and powerful.
Just started Children of Time, about humans creating intelligent spiders and watching them evolve
The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe. Another nonfiction, but I really enjoyed Failure is Not an Option, by Gene Kranz.
The Canopus in Argos novels by Doris Lessing. The Martian Chronicles by Bradbury. For humor, Agent to the Stars and Redshirt by John Scalzi.
I haven't read The Expanse but heard the show (which I watched and loved) was pretty close to the books! Have you seen it?
I have Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse next up on my list. I've been assured that there is a celestial event in it.
The Expanse was great but has anyone actually finished the series?
I’m reading the Three Body Problem series now (almost done with the last book). Wow, wow, wow.
It's been a while, but I remember enjoying Rocket Boys, the book October Sky was based off of. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is a classic, too.