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anilEhilated posted:Hey folks, looking for an audiobook recommendation for the gym - need something light, page-turny and not big on romance/sex scenes. I like the blue ant trilogy, it's a bit of a who done it. Try the first one, pattern recognition, on audible/ audio book
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Jul 18, 2016 21:18
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I crave sci and fantasy that's straight up weird. Or maybe not weird per say, but definitely different. Like Planescape Torment different. I want chrono vessels powered by that look like pirate ships which travel diagonal through time and are powered by exploding stars, dig? Moorecock-like, maybe. Preferably audio book, but not necessarily.
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Jul 20, 2016 00:55
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WickedHate posted:I crave sci and fantasy that's straight up weird. Or maybe not weird per say, but definitely different. Like Planescape Torment different. I want chrono vessels powered by that look like pirate ships which travel diagonal through time and are powered by exploding stars, dig? Moorecock-like, maybe. Harm's Way by Colin Greenland Also the Book of the New Sun
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Jul 20, 2016 01:03
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China Mieville, Perdido Street Station
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Jul 20, 2016 01:31
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You might like John Crowley's Engine Summer or Michael Swanwick's The Dragons Of Babel. I'll second the Mieville rec, especially if you're into communism. If you really wanna go full acid trip, check out Richard Brautigan's In Watermelon Sugar
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Jul 20, 2016 02:33
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WickedHate posted:I crave sci and fantasy that's straight up weird. Or maybe not weird per say, but definitely different. Like Planescape Torment different. I want chrono vessels powered by that look like pirate ships which travel diagonal through time and are powered by exploding stars, dig? Moorecock-like, maybe. You should read the Human Age books by Wyndham Lewis, because he's an extremely good underread modernist, but also because if you look online you'll find that he has an entry in the encyclopedia of science fiction and there's a quote somewhere that calls them 'theological science fiction', so it counts for your criteria.
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Jul 20, 2016 12:43
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WickedHate posted:I crave sci and fantasy that's straight up weird. Or maybe not weird per say, but definitely different. Like Planescape Torment different. I want chrono vessels powered by that look like pirate ships which travel diagonal through time and are powered by exploding stars, dig? Moorecock-like, maybe. I've already mentioned him not too long ago, but M. John Harrison's Kefahuchi trilogy might be for you; I'd compare it to Moorcock's Second Ether books. Also, have you ever tried Cordwainer Smith? Look into his short stories; I believe they've all been collected in one book, The Rediscovery of Man.. He wrote one novel, Norstrilia, but it's not as good.
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Jul 20, 2016 14:30
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Thanks~! I'll give all these a look.
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Jul 20, 2016 16:24
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A friend is asking me for book recommendations, specifically thrillers. She loves stuff like Gone Girl. I don't really read many thrillers. Anyone have any good recommendations for page turners like that?
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Jul 21, 2016 20:10
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Megasabin posted:A friend is asking me for book recommendations, specifically thrillers. She loves stuff like Gone Girl. I don't really read many thrillers. Anyone have any good recommendations for page turners like that? I've not read gone girl, but the millennium series (girl with the dragon tattoo) is a thriller and is hugely popular, so might be about right. The first one is self contained if she doesn't the idea of a series. Be warned that they're badly enough written that I want to give excuses for why I read and enjoyed them here. So if gone girl is actually good and your gf has literary tastes look elsewhere.
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Jul 21, 2016 20:42
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Dirty Frank posted:...that I want to give excuses for why I read and enjoyed them here. Look at this fuckin' guy here, enjoying books that are wildly popular.
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Jul 21, 2016 22:00
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Ornamented Death posted:Look at this fuckin' guy here, enjoying books that are wildly popular. Yeah I feel a total dick.
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Jul 22, 2016 06:35
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I guess I'm looking for book equilevants of Kar-Wai Wong films. Melancholic and atmospheric books that deal with things like tragic love and breaking up and so on. Also depression, isolation and suicide are good subjects. Preferably written originally in English as I don't like translations. Also I'd like the book to have some literary merit. ROLEX VISION fucked around with this message at 16:53 on Jul 22, 2016 |
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Jul 22, 2016 16:40
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by ruling out translations you've already excluded some pretty good novels right off the bat. edit: but The Comfort of Strangers by Ian McEwan might fit the bill. ulvir fucked around with this message at 17:11 on Jul 22, 2016 |
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Jul 22, 2016 17:03
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Still Dope posted:I guess I'm looking for book equilevants of Kar-Wai Wong films. Melancholic and atmospheric books that deal with things like tragic love and breaking up and so on. Also depression, isolation and suicide are good subjects. Preferably written originally in English as I don't like translations. Pretty much all the best books like that are translations, mostly from central or eastern european languages.
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Jul 23, 2016 02:22
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But not those books in the original, they're all trash.
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Jul 23, 2016 09:46
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Megasabin posted:A friend is asking me for book recommendations, specifically thrillers. She loves stuff like Gone Girl. I don't really read many thrillers. Anyone have any good recommendations for page turners like that? Why is your friend asking you, then? That said, check out Girl on the Train and pretty much anything by Sophie Hannah.
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Jul 26, 2016 23:08
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Any good fiction books about modern-day martial arts? Bonus points for actual MMA although I could devour a sf/f take on the subject too. I know there's good manga - All-Rounder Meguru in book form is essentially what I am itching for, which is a comic following a regular kid as he trains and competes - but all books I've seen on the subject are either steamy MMA romance or non-fiction fighter memoirs.
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Jul 27, 2016 01:32
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Morning Bell posted:Any good fiction books about modern-day martial arts? Bonus points for actual MMA although I could devour a sf/f take on the subject too. I know there's good manga - All-Rounder Meguru in book form is essentially what I am itching for, which is a comic following a regular kid as he trains and competes - but all books I've seen on the subject are either steamy MMA romance or non-fiction fighter memoirs. Street Lethal by Steven Barnes. Science fiction punchman.
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Jul 27, 2016 03:39
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Still Dope posted:I guess I'm looking for book equilevants of Kar-Wai Wong films. Melancholic and atmospheric books that deal with things like tragic love and breaking up and so on. Also depression, isolation and suicide are good subjects. Preferably written originally in English as I don't like translations. "On Chesil Beach" by Ian McEwan. "Ada, or Ardor" by Nabokov. Pretty much everything else in this mode is in another language first though.
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Jul 27, 2016 20:02
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I need BotM recommendations
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Jul 27, 2016 22:10
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:I need BotM recommendations Do Wolf In White Van, already. It gets recommended every time and it's under 250 pages. Edit: Or how about an Etgar Keret short story collection, like The Girl on the Fridge? He's basically an Israeli Kafka, but manages to throw in optimism and humor as a light in his story's horrific absurdity. He has made me laugh and broken my heart in a story in under three pages. Most of the stories are bite-sized, defy genre, explore different perspectives and have enough ideas and themes to explore. He's one of my favorites, and my go-to recommendations. It is also under 200 pages, with 47 stories. Franchescanado fucked around with this message at 22:24 on Jul 27, 2016 |
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Jul 27, 2016 22:12
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:I need BotM recommendations You should do Chris Kraus' I Love Dick b/c it's been optioned as an Amazon series so you can read it before it's cool and it'll also push a lot of goons out of their comfort zone wrt female sexuality and privacy and critical theory and stuff
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Jul 27, 2016 23:51
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:I need BotM recommendations Pale Fire - Nabokov
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Jul 28, 2016 02:45
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Thanks to this thread for the recommendation of Blindsight. I think that is one of the best books I've ever read. I'm looking for something else that does more of that, and it doesn't have to be sci-fi. Specifically, I liked the blending of psychology and philosophy that focused on real existential questions. Peter Watts clearly did his research, and I appreciated that too. He's also a good writer, I think. I'd prefer a story that doesn't dwell on relationships too much; I don't have much patience for it unless it is really well done and I think many genre authors can't pull that off. My job and education deals with human behaviour and relationships so I'm, regrettably, fairly critical of them.
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Jul 28, 2016 10:17
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Tenacious J posted:Thanks to this thread for the recommendation of Blindsight. I think that is one of the best books I've ever read. I'm looking for something else that does more of that, and it doesn't have to be sci-fi. Specifically, I liked the blending of psychology and philosophy that focused on real existential questions. Peter Watts clearly did his research, and I appreciated that too. He's also a good writer, I think.
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Jul 28, 2016 10:41
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Tenacious J posted:Thanks to this thread for the recommendation of Blindsight. I think that is one of the best books I've ever read. I'm looking for something else that does more of that, and it doesn't have to be sci-fi. Specifically, I liked the blending of psychology and philosophy that focused on real existential questions. Peter Watts clearly did his research, and I appreciated that too. He's also a good writer, I think. Permutation City by Greg Egan will blow your mind at least 5 times.
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Jul 28, 2016 19:48
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Thank you. I tried China Miéville once (Perdue Street Station?) and I didn't really like it for some reason. I could try again. I'll definitely try Permutation City though!
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Jul 28, 2016 22:48
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:I need BotM recommendations pale fire is a great idea id like an excuse to revisit the mabinogion in a non-academic context, and thats on gutenberg iirc du maurier - rebecca
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Jul 29, 2016 19:07
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To the goon who recced me Sum by David Eagleman: this is a great book, to the point where I loaned it to my dad and he loved it. Thank you!
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Jul 31, 2016 08:06
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StrixNebulosa posted:To the goon who recced me Sum by David Eagleman: this is a great book, to the point where I loaned it to my dad and he loved it. Thank you! Glad you both enjoyed it!
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Jul 31, 2016 15:06
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I just wanted to pop in here and say that Guy Gavriel Kay's Children of Earth and Sky is quite possibly the best book he's ever written. I'm struck by how contemplative it is and yet how surprised I was with it, at times. There's a different feel to it compared to his other works. Detached, but not unemotional, with an eye to Kay's world in both the past, the present, and the future (sometimes all at once). I can't recommend it enough.
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Aug 3, 2016 13:53
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Rollofthedice posted:I just wanted to pop in here and say that Guy Gavriel Kay's Children of Earth and Sky is quite possibly the best book he's ever written. I'm struck by how contemplative it is and yet how surprised I was with it, at times. There's a different feel to it compared to his other works. Detached, but not unemotional, with an eye to Kay's world in both the past, the present, and the future (sometimes all at once). Did someone ask for contemplative yet surprising mystery elf books
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Aug 3, 2016 14:02
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Ras Het posted:Did someone ask for contemplative yet surprising mystery elf books the op said to tell about books i've liked so i did 
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Aug 3, 2016 14:15
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Oh oops I didn't realise that this thread's principles are different than those imposed on NMD by my fascist nemesis het, my apologies
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Aug 3, 2016 14:27
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Ras Het posted:Did someone ask for contemplative yet surprising mystery elf books Yes
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Aug 3, 2016 16:11
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Rollofthedice posted:I just wanted to pop in here and say that Guy Gavriel Kay's Children of Earth and Sky is quite possibly the best book he's ever written The Amazon preview seemed business but usual, but does he drop all of those Kay-isms afterwards? BravestOfTheLamps fucked around with this message at 19:04 on Aug 3, 2016 |
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Aug 3, 2016 19:00
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if you scroll past Guy Gavriel Kay real fast it looks kind of like Grand Belial's Key
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Aug 4, 2016 07:53
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BravestOfTheLamps posted:The Amazon preview seemed business but usual, but does he drop all of those Kay-isms afterwards? It doesn't stray particularly far from his style, but I will say that he introduces several characters that all have pretty different motivations and ways of thinking about the world. So it's not all just straight white dudes pondering the universe and their mortality. There's a prominent female character or two that are different. But in the end, it's still definitely a Guy Gavriel Kay book. fake edit: I looked at the amazon preview, and (trying to spoil as little as possible here): what you read in the preview isn't very indicative of the rest of the book, in terms of plot and tone.
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Aug 4, 2016 15:21
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WickedHate posted:I crave sci and fantasy that's straight up weird. Or maybe not weird per say, but definitely different. Like Planescape Torment different. I want chrono vessels powered by that look like pirate ships which travel diagonal through time and are powered by exploding stars, dig? Moorecock-like, maybe. There's a contemporary genre of fiction called Bizarro that really tries to capture weird and different stuff. People sometimes don't give it a chance because it's assumed to be gore-porn fetishism by no-name authors and whilst there's certainly an edge of that there's a lot more people just writing fun, fast, strange stories in bizarre worlds. One of my favorite (small press, no-name author) examples is Grudge Punk, a collection of short stories set in a 1940's pulp fiction city where all the people are made of cogs and springs and slime and sawdust. Sort of gangster crime meets monster mash. Great fun.
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Aug 11, 2016 11:37
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