August SFFkit - Space - Stars/Comets/meteors

In August lets take our reading to the stars. Read a work of science fiction or fantasy set in space or anywhere but earth.

20 best books of Comets
https://bookauthority.org/books/best-comet-books

20 best books of Asteroids
https://bookauthority.org/books/best-asteroids-books

or https://www.bookscrolling.com/the-best-asteroid-comet-and-meteor-books/

I think this month can work nicely for fans of nonfiction as well.

Happy travels!

I am planning on reading a space opera entitled Haywire by Justin R. Macumber.

I just read Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir earlier this year and I think that would fit here and I'd recommend it.

I don't usually read or participate in sci-fi/fantasy reads....but....I do have What We See in the Stars: An Illustrated Tour of the Night Sky which includes comets and meteors, so I will attempt!

I have Cosmology: A Very Short Introduction by Peter Coles planned for July, but if I don't get to it, I can carry it over to August.

Otherwise I think I will go for Deepsix by Jack McDevitt

>3 dudes22: 100% agree on recommending Project Hail Mary - Rocky is my favourite book character ever!

I think it is time for me to get back to the Lady Astronaut series with The Relentless Moon. Or Orion Lost, which is my middle grade book club's pick for August.

>3 dudes22: >6 JayneCM: more Rocky love from here

Starred! (no pun intended)

I have several to choose from.

I have two titles that I'm considering:
• Thanks for All the Fish (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy #4; by Douglas Adams) and;
• 2312 (by Kim Stanley Robinson)

I'm thinking about reading The Tombs of Atuan, the second volume of Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea Cycle. Will that count, Kristel? It's not really about comets, but it IS set on another world.

>10 PlatinumWarlock: that is a great idea! I’ve been thinking about what to choose for this challenge, and you inspired me to think again.
I recently started the Red sister trilogy by Mark Lawrence which would fit that definition. It takes place on a planet colonized by spaceships long ago. There are technological artifacts from the past - space ship engines, hull material, and a satellite set-up to enhance the heat of a dying sun.

>10 PlatinumWarlock: Lavinia, the rules are not hard and fast and I think anything in space (not on earth) counts.
>11 amberwitch: same for Sanne. Sounds good.

Planning on Elysium Fire , Embers of War , and Quarter Share

>11 amberwitch: That sounds good too, Sanne... I don't know that series. Thanks for the BB!!

I just started 2312 (by Kim Stanley Robinson). It starts out on Mars and the protagonist is now traveling via a terraformed asteroid to another planet’s moon! Definitely fits the bill 🙂

I've chosen Courageous: the Lost Fleet, next in Jack Campbell's very readable series.

Just finished The spare man by Mary Robinette Kowal.
Set om a cruise ship to Mars, it is a classical murder mystery referencing a number of American TV series and crime tropes. Not recommended at all. I have no idea why this is a Hugo nominee, except perhaps the disability that is front and center in the protagonists identity, or maybe the treatment of gender, both very performative.

On Friday afternoon, I finished reading 2312 (by Kim Stanley Robinson) - Swan Er Hong's grandmother has passed away and left Swan with a posthumous errand: to carry a message from their home planet, Mars to a colleague of the grandmother's on Saturn. Swan herself is not privileged to know what the message contains; but it becomes clear that the big project to which her grandmother had dedicated her life is at stake. In her interplanetary journeys aboard terraformed asteroids to complete her mission, Swan comes to a new understanding of her role not only in relation to the assignment, but her responsibility towards the outcome and, her feelings toward Warham (the contact on Saturn). There are secret projects, covert plots, ethno-geographic leagues and many of KSR's hallmarks: environmentalism, Antarctic-like landscapes, a reference to Indian culture (e.g., Kali the death goddess), a female protagonist-- who despite her years-- acts oddly young and immature and, passages that read like credible non-fiction.... There are dozens of threads one could follow throughout the book; but the overarching theme is made self-evident in an interstitial chapter called, "Lists (15)" where KSR posits at the end of a 48-item catalog, "the opportunity to become more what you are... that's all you need."

This book absolutely fits the challenge: The descriptions of Swan as a "sunwalker" on Mars including the blindingly mesmeric images of the sun, surfing the rings of Saturn and, floating in space waiting to be rescued are exquisite. The terraformed asteroids serving as terrariums and transport are intriguing as KSR takes into consideration the issues of surviving off-planet (Earth).

The book that did not fit the prompt as I had expected is So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish (Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy #4; by Douglas Adams). Arthur Dent lands back on Earth-- the Earth he was swept away from eight year ago before it was destroyed in favor of an intergalactic bypass. It's not made quite clear how this has come to be; but the disappearance of all the dolphins seems to be a clue. Arthur himself is busy falling in love with Fenchurch ("Fenny")-- a woman who one had the answer as to the why of everything, but forgot. There is some intergalatic travel; but for the most part, it's a very earth-bound tale. If I have time this month, I'll pick up, Mostly Harmless (Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy #5; by Douglas Adams) which seems a bit more promising in terms of "space" :-)

COMPLETED

The Disappeared
Extremes
Consequences
The Retrieval Artist

all by Kristine Kathryn Rusch and all set for the most part on the Moon.

The September thread is up: https://www.librarything.com/topic/353010

>18 Tanya-dogearedcopy: I'm also surprised that So long and thanks for all the fish does not fit the space theme better! 2312 also sounds interesting. It's been a long time since I read any KSR...

My current read fits the theme: God's War by Kameron Hurley. It takes place on Umayma, a planet that has been somewhat terraformed through means that are halfway between science and magic but is still somewhat hostile to human life.
The worldbuilding is very original, with most technology intrinsically linked to some kind of magic that acts on bugs so we have car running on bugs, light-emitting bugs in lamps, all that in some hostile desert, and two countries at war, one of which sends all its men to front so the country is mostly populated by women. It's hard to describe but I am quite enjoying it.

>21 chlorine: God's War looks really interesting-- off to see if I can grab a copy from my bookstore this afternoon :-)

>22 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Great, I hope you like it! It's not perfect but since it's her first book she seems very promising!

I finished Orion Lost, a middle grade space adventure. Really enjoyed it, the plot would have been great as an adult book as well. Gave me Andy Weir vibes, in a middle grade way.

So, Mostly Harmless (Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy #5; by Douglas Adams) totally works for this challenge! Our erstwhile hero, Arthur Dent and his girlfriend, Fenchurch were, at the end of So Long and, Thanks for All the Fish on the planet where God's Final Message to His Creation is written; but since then, Arthur has literally lost "Fenny" and has been traveling to alternate Earths. Just as he finally settles on a planet where he achieves esteem as a sandwich maker, his ex-crush Trillian shows up with their daughter (!) And then Ford Perfect enters the picture trying to track down the New Edition of the Hitchhikers Guide. Mayham, as much as nothing else can be predicted, ensues! The last two books in the series are less absurdist than the first three; and this one takes a stab at some quantum mechanics; but there's plenty of travel across the multiverse for our protagonists and Vogons alike.

I read Binti: The Complete Trilogy by Nnedi Okorafor for this challenge -- but actually, a good chunk of the book takes place on (a futuristic version of) Earth! Still, there is significant space travel near the beginning and near the end, so I'm counting it anyway. :)

Well, bummer. I am reading Courageous but there's no way I'll be finishing it before Friday. We're expecting some weather later today and I've been doing "batten down the hatches" work outside for the last few days. Sigh.