Public reader discussion about The Big Time by Fritz Leiber.
By followsForest60
Does anyone have any book recs where there’s some kind of war—doesn’t matter if it’s hot or cold—going on between factions that can time travel? I’m kinda looking for the same vibe as the Temporal Cold War in Enterprise, where the groups are based in different time periods.
By Mug-Couplet
I used to think Fritz Lieber was not just a really good writer but also someone who sometimes acted, so I’d keep an eye out for him in movies. Turns out there’s an actor named Fritz Lieber, and he’s been in a bunch of films, but it’s his father with the same name. A lot of film lists (even IMDb) seem to mix them up. That said, I did find at least one movie where Fritz Lieber Jr. is in it: *Camille* (1936). He’s got a small role as Valentin—he’s second from the left in the photo. Anyway, I totally get your enthusiasm for his books. I really like *The Big Time* and *The Wanderer*, and I’ve got several short story collections too. I’m about to start the *Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser* series.
By violetHorse16
I’m watching Burn, Witch, Burn on TCM right now and it just clicked that it’s based on Conjure Wife, by Fritz Leiber. I’ve got a bunch of Leiber stuff on my “to reread” list, and I’m always coming back to his work. What’s your favorite Leiber? Also, he feels like such an easy pick for adaptations—so which Leiber book/story should Hollywood turn into the next B-movie?
By Garden
So I did a big “Hugo winners ranked” post about a year ago (I had the pre-1990 Hugo stuff in there). Since then I’ve gone and read literally every Nebula best novel winner from that same era, plus the Retro Hugos, plus all the Hugo and Nebula winners from the 90s. Figured I should just roll them into the same ranking instead of starting over. I’m doing the usual thing where I’m ranking them just because it’s fun and because I want people to tell me why they disagree. I only included blurb for the newer ones though, so if you want my old thoughts on the stuff I already reviewed, you’ll need to look at the link. Also, like… most of these are good. They all won awards for a reason, so if something’s lower on my list, it doesn’t mean it’s not worth your time. 74: The Big Time (1958) - Fritz Lieber 73: Ringworld (1971) - Larry Niven 72: They’d Rather be Right (1955) - Clifton and Riley 71: The Sword in the Stone (1940) - T.H. White This is that coming-of-age story for young Arthur before Camelot. Retro Hugo winner too, and it’s basically the thing Disney pulled from, so I was expecting it to be fun—and it was. I liked seeing the British folklore stuff, like Robin Hood and King Arthur. It’s definitely more fantasy than I usually lean toward, but still enjoyable. 70: Timescape (1981) - Gregory Benford Scientists try to send messages back to prevent an environmental disaster in their time. It’s time travel, and it kind of plays around with the same “what if we could fix it” vibe you get in Back to the Future. The story works well enough and I liked the back-and-forth between timelines. I just think the idea could’ve gone further with a different author. 69: Shadow Over Mars (1945) - Leigh Brackett Rebellion on Mars, with a messiah-type hero from Earth. It’s classic 1945 pulp sci-fi—laser beams, space captains, all that Flash Gordon/Buck Rogers energy. It’s short so it’s easy to read, but it’s not perfect and you can feel that. 68: Stations of the Tide (1992) - Michael Swanwick A battle of wits between some authority person and a criminal, all on a world where the tides do weird things every few decades. Super original and the worldbuilding is genuinely great, but it didn’t really pull me in emotionally. 67: A Time of Changes (1972) - Robert Silverberg Noble character challenges the taboos of their culture and basically risks everything. The plot idea is awesome, but I just don’t like his writing style much. It feels like he’s aiming for something similar to Le Guin, except not nearly as enjoyable to read. Still interesting, just not for me. 66: The Einstein Intersection (1968) - Samuel Delany Post-transcendent Earth, intelligent “anthropods,” and genetic mutation from ancient radiation. This is probably the weirdest thing I read all year—really strange, but it moves fast and gets pretty poetic at points. 65: Man Plus (1977) - Frederick Pohl NASA trying to build a human who can live on Mars without all the usual life-support needs. It’s more about the process of changing a human than it is about action, and it’s really a product of its time (like, moon landing era America vibes). Not my favorite style, but it feels like it probably paved the way for stuff like Robocop. 64: A Case of Conscience (1959) - James Blish 63: The Wanderer (1965) - Fritz Lieber 62: The Claw of the Conciliator (1982) - Gene Wolfe Sequel to Shadow of the Torturer. I definitely like that Wolfe has way more going on than I catch on the first pass, but even so, I enjoyed this one less. The plot didn’t feel like it went anywhere sometimes, and parts of it were harder to follow. I’m guessing a lot of that is on me, though. 61: The Terminal Experiment (1996) - Robert J. Sawyer Near-future thriller where a guy basically has to deal with a computer simulation of his own brain, and it’s not trying to be friendly. Weird genre mix, but it’s very 90s and it does the thriller thing well. It’s neat proof that sci-fi can borrow from basically anything. 60: No Enemy but Time (1983) - Michael Bishop A man gets visions of early man and gets sent back to live among them. Another time-travel/history-style book, and those were really popular in the 80s. Cool setup—especially focusing on early humanity before civilization. Interesting, even if it got a bit strange. 59: The Healer’s War (1990) - Elizabeth Ann Scarborough Nurse in Vietnam war gets a magical amulet. I was about sixty pages in and honestly wondering if it was even speculative fiction. It does get weirder later, and the setting is great, and I ended up caring about the characters. 58: Babel 17 (1967) - Samuel Delany Linguist becomes a key player in a war where language is literally the weapon. Great female lead, and Rydra Wong is easy to like. The idea is cool too, even if it can feel a little pulpy in places. 57: A Canticle for Leibowitz (1961) - Walter M. Miller 56: Conjure Wife (1944) - Fritz Leiber College professor wives using witchcraft to control their careers. I’ve read two other Leiber books already, so I came in with low expectations—because yeah, I didn’t like those much. But this one is actually well written with a full story and a nice 1940s English university setting. Doesn’t overload you with characters, and the whole concept is interesting enough to keep you reading. 55: Starship Troopers (1960) - Robert Heinlein 54: The Man in the High Castle (1963) - Philip K. Dick 53: Fahrenheit 451 (1954) - Ray Bradbury Classic dystopia about censorship and the way society drifts away from “real thinking” toward disposable mass entertainment. This is massively important and it feels like it called a lot of modern stuff. If I were ranking “most important” books on this list, it’d be near the top with Dune. It’s also considered a legit literary classic outside sci-fi. The annoying part is it’s not as fun for me as a lot of the other books above it. Still—yeah, read it. It matters. 52: The Mule (1946) - Isaac Asimov Second half of Foundation and Empire—mainly about the Mule who messes with Seldon’s plan even though Seldon can’t really see him coming. Same deal as above: it’s hugely important and Asimov helped reshape sci-fi back when space heroes were all the rage. But it’s kind of dry and the characters aren’t super developed. Also it’s half a book, so it’s hard to judge alone. 51: Neuromancer (1985) - William Gibson 50: Beyond this Horizon (1943) - Robert Heinlein Selective breeding in humans, mixed with southern-gentlemen dueling culture. It’s odd, but it gets pretty detailed about the science. I was taught dominant vs recessive genes in school, including how it affects stuff like eye/hair color, so seeing that kind of biology actually woven into a story from 1941 was honestly impressive. It’s like “informative science” plus narrative, which is not an easy combo. 49: Stand on Zanzibar (1969) - John Brunner 48: Downbelow Station (1982) - C.J. Cherryh A space station that’s basically a blue-collar workplace and it gets tangled in an intergalactic conflict. The dock strike/union vibe feels like it influenced things like Babylon 5. But for me it sort of drifted—more ships and galaxy conflict than workplace stuff, and it felt like the author was setting up the next book. The worldbuilding is incredible, I just didn’t care about most of the characters, and I wasn’t even fully sure who I was supposed to be rooting for until the end. 47: The Diamond Age (1996) - Neal Stephenson Cyberpunk story about an advanced interactive book that changes the life of the girl who gets it. The ideas are often amazing and genuinely some of the best parts are really well done, but the book is ridiculously bloated and way too long. It basically feels like it’s split into part one and part two, and I think it would’ve been way higher if it just ended after part one. Which, yeah, is a 90s problem for a lot of books. 46: Slan (1941) - A.E. Van Vogt Evolved humans with psychic abilities, and the plot turns into this control-of-Earth thing. Slan feels like straight-up classic sci-fi—faults and all, but you can totally see why early sci-fi fans latched onto it. For 1941, it’s genuinely impressive. Quick pace, pulpy as hell, and fun. 45: Tehanu (1991) - Ursula K. Le Guin Fourth and final Earthsea book, looking at older versions of earlier characters. I really love Le Guin, and her style is still sharp here. The whole thing is about aging beloved characters, and it comes from a very “Le Guin in this time” place. 44: Way Station (1964) - Clifford D. Simak 43: This Immortal (1966) - Roger Zelazny 42: To Say Nothing of the Dog (1999) - Connie Willis Time travel in Victorian England, and it’s clearly having fun with Three Men in a Boat. It’s a really good, fun read. Even when it’s convoluted or a bit predictable, it still nails what it’s trying to do and you end up caring about the characters a lot. 41: Slow River (1997) - Nicola Griffith Near-future sci-fi about hostage taking/blackmail and abuse survivors. Really enjoyable, and I found the water purification information surprisingly interesting. Also written by a lesbian author, and it just… normalizes lesbian relationships in a way that felt way too rare mid-90s. 40: The Vor Game (1991) - Lois McMaster Bujold Sixth Vorkosigan Saga book. I love these books, and I’d binge them all, but I keep giving myself dumb restrictions like “only read Hugo and Nebula winners.” In this one, though, a lot of stuff just happens to Miles, so I don’t think it’s her strongest. Still very enjoyable. 39: Stranger in a Strange Land (1962) - Robert Heinlein 38: Mirror Dance (1995) - Lois McMaster Bujold Another Vorkosigan Saga one, this time dealing with his cloned brother. Everything says “read in order,” not publish order, and I didn’t. Time constraints made me mess that up, so things had changed since my last read. Still very enjoyable though, like all these. 37: Moving Mars (1995) - Greg Bear Revolution on Mars plus some crazy new tech to help Mars get independence for real. Fun, and also kind of wild—this was the first science fiction I ever read. I re-read it after about 25 years and it still holds up. Solid writing and good characters. 36: Foundation’s Edge (1983) - Isaac Asimov 35, 34, 33: Red Mars / Blue Mars / Green Mars (1994-1997) - Kim Stanley Robinson Can’t really split these. It’s one huge multi-century story, with ups and downs, so I’m basically reviewing the trilogy as one big thing. It’s epic, different chapters have different characters and lots of perspectives. Some people don’t like most of the characters, but I get it—and I also think that’s kind of the point. The ones I did like (Sax, Nadia) were really likable. A lot of it is fantastic and worth your time. I do think it’s bloated, and honestly didn’t need to be 2200+ pages total. If it was tighter or edited better, I’d place it way higher. But yeah, that’s my main gripe. 32: The Falling Woman (1988) - Pat Murphy Mother-daughter story with a Mayan dig backdrop. The speculative twist is that both of them can see and talk to Mayan ghosts from the past. I’m not sure it’s totally in my wheelhouse (probably fantasy), but it was beautifully told. I can’t even believe I ended up liking it as much as I did—there’s real empathy for the people involved and the whole situation. 31: To Your Scattered Bodies Go (1972) - Philip Jose Farmer 30: Doomsday Book (1993) - Connie Willis Another time travel story, except you go back to the 14th century. You genuinely care about what happens and the characters, and I loved even the future scientist parts too. If someone asked me “what time travel book should I read?” I’d tell them this one first. 29: The Moon and the Sun (1998) - Vonda D. McIntyre Mermaid captured and kept in Louis XIV’s court. Great female lead, very much a love story, and it mixes in the historical stuff with the mermaid fantasy. Really well written, and all the characters worked for me. Didn’t expect it to be my thing, but it ended up being a hit. 28: The Gods Themselves (1973) - Isaac Asimov 27: Flowers for Algernon (1967) - Daniel Keyes A human subject goes through an experiment to increase intelligence, and you basically follow everything through his eyes as it changes him. It’s a “classic” that the literary world respects, and it’s really good—though it is kind of heartbreaking. It should be on everyone’s list. 26: The Snow Queen (1981) - Joan D. Vinge 25: Hyperion (1990) - Dan Simmons A pilgrimage brings together a group of travelers who each share why they’re on the journey. I went in with way too-high expectations (partly because everyone online hyped it like it was the greatest thing since Dune). I did enjoy the framing story a lot. Also I loved the Priest’s Tale and the Scholar’s tale—solid short stories that build this whole world. The other four stories didn’t hit as hard for me, and I got bored by the Detective’s Story because it dragged. And I was annoyed it didn’t really end properly—it promises answers and then just stops, which is frustrating. That said, it still has enough genuinely great bits that I can see why it ranks where it does. 24: Rite of Passage (1969) - Alexei Panshin Girl has to do a coming-of-age ritual to earn her place/pass on her spacecraft. Female protagonist in sci-fi from 1969 feels almost impossible, but it’s done here and it’s really good. Mia is a great character—sort of Scout-like, tom-boy-ish, well rounded. You also get an open-ended morality question at the end instead of some super obvious “lesson,” and I actually like when morality isn’t shoved in your face. 23: Double Star (1956) - Robert Heinlein 22: The Demolished Man (1953) - Alfred Bester 21: Gateway (1978) - Frederick Pohl 20: Farmer in the Sky (1951) - Robert Heinlein Colonizing and terraforming Ganymede. It’s a YA book from the 1950s, so in the beginning it can feel a little juvenile. Still, you get big ideas like Earth having a food shortage and rationing. There’s also this father/son thing because the son’s upset the dad remarries, and it’s handled pretty tactfully for something aimed at teens. Once they get to Ganymede the story really kicks in—making a rocky moon into farmable land and all that—just really well told and fun to read. I feel like more people would like it if they ignored the YA label. 19: Falling Free (1989) - Lois McMaster Bujold Space station full of genetically modified workers suddenly becomes unnecessary. This was my first Bujold book, and I was genuinely blown away by the style. I totally get why people recommend the Vorkosigan Saga so much. It’s real characters, fast-paced heist plot, engineer as the main focus. It’s written well and it’s got a different flavor than “space combat every page.” 18: Fountains of Paradise (1980) - Arthur C. Clarke 17: Cyteen (1989) - C.J. Cherryh 16: A Fire Upon the Deep (1993) - Vernor Vinge Two kids land on a planet with dog-like aliens and a completely different civilization than ours, while a bigger galactic threat keeps building. Vinge makes alien races feel truly alien (not just “humans with different names”), and that was awesome. This totally delivered on the hype and it’s probably what people mean when they say “space opera.” 15: Startide Rising (1984) - David Brin 14: Dreamsnake (1979) - Vonda D. McIntyre 13: Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang (1977) - Kate Wilhelm 12: Lord of Light (1968) - Robert Zelazny 11: The Uplift War (1988) - David Brin 10: Barrayer (1992) - Lois McMaster Bujold Another Vorkosigan Saga book. This one follows Cordelia (his mom) and an attempted coup on Barrayer. Her writing is great like always, but the ending is just incredible. No spoilers, but you really need to read it and feel it for yourself. 9: Forever Peace (1998-1999) - Joe Haldeman Remote-controlled armored warfare plus the violence of man. Honestly it shouldn’t be called Forever Peace because it gets unfairly compared to the original, but it still works as its own thing. Well written, and it has something to say. I devoured it. 8: Rendezvous with Rama (1974) - Arthur C. Clarke 7: Dune (1965? 1966) - Frank Herbert 6: Ender’s Game (1986) - Orson Scott Card 5: Left Hand of Darkness (1970) - Ursula Le Guin 4: The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (1967) - Robert Heinlein 3: The Dispossessed (1975) - Ursula Le Guin 2: Speaker for the Dead (1987) - Orson Scott Card 1: The Forever War (1976) - Joe Haldeman Follows a draftee in a future war and how everything changes while he’s away. I read this like 15 years ago when I first got into sci-fi and I remember really liking it, but I straight-up forgot how good it is. Not just the “world changes while you’re gone” metaphor—he also makes space feel dangerous and brutal. It’s cold and hostile,
By door_rusty92
I started messing around with audiobooks a couple years ago, but I kept putting it off. Back when I was a kid, I’d listen to stuff on tape on long trips/commutes, and the narrators always sounded like they were reading instructions for a dishwasher or something. Like, super flat and mechanical. But honestly, I’m really glad I finally tried them—otherwise I never would’ve stumbled on some great books and authors, and I wouldn’t have made much progress on my “to be read” pile. Anyway, I’m wondering what people’s favorites are. Like, do you love a specific audiobook more because of the story, the narrator, or just the whole vibe? These are a few that really stuck with me: **I’m Glad My Mom Died** by Jennette McCurdy, read by Jennette McCurdy Hearing Jennette tell it herself made it hit way harder. It was both devastating and kind of uplifting at the same time? There were definitely parts where you could tell it was hard for her, and it showed in her voice. I also didn’t realize I was dealing with OCD until I got diagnosed this year, so the way she talks about compulsions and that “magical thinking” stuff felt super familiar. **NOS4A2** by Joe Hill, read by Kate Mulgrew This one was so good. Even though there’s just one reader, each character felt like its own person—Charlie Manx, Victoria, Lou, Wayne, etc. Kate’s Bing Partridge especially stood out. She made him feel genuinely creepy and unsettling, like she was going for “something’s off” the whole time. **Paradise Sky** by Joe R. Lansdale, read by Brad Sanders I swear sometimes the narrator and the book are just a perfect match. Brad Sanders has this deep, gravelly voice that fits Lansdale’s writing really well. His delivery made a lot of the weird metaphors and the totally unexpected stuff feel even bigger and better. **The Life and Death of Zebulon Finch** by Daniel Kraus, read by Kirby Heyborne This one is a beast—about 24 hours long—so it took me forever to finish. But Kirby Heyborne absolutely nailed it. He sounded like Zebulon Finch, like it actually lived inside his voice. The prose was pretty gorgeous and serious, and it reminded me of that old-school, solemn feeling you get from writers like Oscar Wilde or Mary Shelley (though I get that Wilde/Shelley isn’t a totally fair comparison). One quote ended up being my favorite though: “*What you do with your time alive defines you, Reader, but hear me, I beg you, when I say that you are not done being defined. Go out; break things. Go further; repair them. Break hundreds of hearts. Have thousands of children. Discover awe in a tangle of weeds; find delight in the pattern of a roll of mass-produced paper towels; live, Reader, live; live as hard as I died, and only then I will be happy.*”