Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
 
  • Post
  • Reply
Franchescanado
Feb 23, 2013

If it wasn't for disappointment
I wouldn't have any appointment

Grimey Drawer

Jerry Cotton posted:

:lol: I just looked up what "literary" means in this context and I'm loving glad I live in a civilized culture where we don't have an equivalent word or concept.

e: Not that I actually found any reasonable definition for it apart from "books I think are really good".

This is a pretty impressive level of arrogant ignorance.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

Ras Het
May 23, 2007

when I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child - but now I am a man.
You can say "kaunokirjallinen kauhu" in Finnish too, the semantics just haven't shifted quite the same way they have in English

sephiRoth IRA
Jun 13, 2007

"Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality."

-Carl Sagan

Bilirubin posted:

oh come on don't be like that

It was pretty bitchy

To me, I use the word literary in the context of genre fiction to imply that I found the writing to be more developed or profound than other books I’ve read within that genre. While I don’t believe it’s entirely subjective, my use of the term is based on my opinion. So when some internet poster makes a dickish statement like that, it just screams snob to me, and there’s just no pleasing some people. You might think I’m wrong, which is an opinion to which you’re absolutely entitled.

I just don’t give a gently caress if you think I’m wrong or not :)

Franchescanado
Feb 23, 2013

If it wasn't for disappointment
I wouldn't have any appointment

Grimey Drawer

areyoucontagious posted:

It was pretty bitchy

To me, I use the word literary in the context of genre fiction to imply that I found the writing to be more developed or profound than other books I’ve read within that genre. While I don’t believe it’s entirely subjective, my use of the term is based on my opinion. So when some internet poster makes a dickish statement like that, it just screams snob to me, and there’s just no pleasing some people. You might think I’m wrong, which is an opinion to which you’re absolutely entitled.

I just don’t give a gently caress if you think I’m wrong or not :)

Someone was asking you to elaborate on your book opinion, on this, a book discussion forum.

There's plenty of literary fiction that plays with genre, including horror, like the recently mentioned North American Lake Monsters by Ballingrud and also-TBB-favorite Michael McDowell's literary horror fiction. That does not necessarily mean that that descriptor is appropriate for John Lagan, but it would be interesting to hear your reasons for using the descriptor instead of you calling people bitches for asking.

quantumfoam
Dec 25, 2003

Literary books, to me, are works where the author spent just as much time on the word phrasing in the book(or way way more time) as the actual boring bits like dialogue, characters, plot, etc. I'd classify China Mieville, and Thomas Pynchon and possibly David Foster Wallace (just for his love/usage of footnotes) as "Literary authors".

Also, on the subject of read books, recently finished Norbert Wiener's Cybernetics: or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine. Would definitely classify it as literary work that has been adopted/admired/implemented worldwide. Also would say that it's a tough boring as gently caress read, full of ponderous phrases, equations + weird analogue-comparisons that barely made sense when the book was orginally published/republished (@1941, 2nd edition @1961) but in 2019, read like everything was run through google translate 2 or 4 times before being published.

sephiRoth IRA
Jun 13, 2007

"Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality."

-Carl Sagan

Franchescanado posted:

Someone was asking you to elaborate on your book opinion, on this, a book discussion forum.

There's plenty of literary fiction that plays with genre, including horror, like the recently mentioned North American Lake Monsters by Ballingrud and also-TBB-favorite Michael McDowell's literary horror fiction. That does not necessarily mean that that descriptor is appropriate for John Lagan, but it would be interesting to hear your reasons for using the descriptor instead of you calling people bitches for asking.

For what it’s I was joking that what I posted was bitchy, not Chernobyl’s post, although it’s hard for me to interpret their post in a way that wasn’t a snide attempt to poo poo all over my opinion.

I think that Langan writes his relationships in a very realistic way, where I know people who have similar relationships to the way he writes. The depth of his stories, the way he writes his characters, and his use of metaphor make feel like I’m not necessarily reading horror any more. Of course then there’s a turn and the horror pieces come back.

This isn’t to say Langans work is a masterpiece on par with Anna Karenina; nowhere close, in fact. I don’t think you could ever argue that his work can be on the same shelf as what is generally considered literary fiction. Nor are all of the stories literary. I guess I would say that there were moments within this collection I thought were elevated compared to other horror I’ve read.

I’m sorry for being bitchy, but I found Chernobyl’s post to be kind of dickish- again, it’s hard for me to pretend that it was seeking discussion in the discussion forum rather than waiting for a chance to poo poo on whatever points I tried to make.

Bilirubin
Feb 16, 2014

The sanctioned action is to CHUG


NoNostalgia4Grover posted:

Literary books, to me, are works where the author spent just as much time on the word phrasing in the book(or way way more time) as the actual boring bits like dialogue, characters, plot, etc. I'd classify China Mieville, and Thomas Pynchon and possibly David Foster Wallace (just for his love/usage of footnotes) as "Literary authors".


Cool. But what you say is the "boring bits" is a little :chloe:

My take on it is its not just "word phrasing" (which I take to be the craft of writing; if you meant something different please elaborate), but being able to add depth via allegory or metaphor, emotional impact, humor, mood and atmosphere, etc. All of this adds to the plot and the world. Being able to do this with a minimal number of words is real art. Ballingrud mentioned in a previous post is a good example, because with a short story one has to do the scene setting immediately, and he does it with such economy and effectiveness it is breathtaking.

Of your list above I'd certainly agree to Pynchon and Wallace. Mieville is an interesting discussion, as I think it depends on which book we are speaking of. Kraken was a super fun romp, great drive to the story, but it was also a dog's breakfast so I'd consider it a more campy pulpy fun story. This Census-Taker on the other hand I would place in a literary realm. Last Days in New Paris was pretentious drivel and I am as a reader almost insulted by what he tried to pull over.

chernobyl kinsman
Mar 18, 2007

a friend of the friendly atom

Soiled Meat

areyoucontagious posted:

It was pretty bitchy

To me, I use the word literary in the context of genre fiction to imply that I found the writing to be more developed or profound than other books I’ve read within that genre. While I don’t believe it’s entirely subjective, my use of the term is based on my opinion. So when some internet poster makes a dickish statement like that, it just screams snob to me, and there’s just no pleasing some people. You might think I’m wrong, which is an opinion to which you’re absolutely entitled.

I just don’t give a gently caress if you think I’m wrong or not :)

i didn't make any statement at all, i asked "what makes john langan 'literary'" and you got real mad. it's a fair question. are you just using as a synonym of 'good'? or does 'literary' mean 'realistic relationships?' because then i think stephen king would fit the bill. or 'uses metaphors'? i can think of stereotypical 'literary' authors who don't do much of that.

quantumfoam
Dec 25, 2003

areyoucontagious posted:

For what it’s I was joking that what I posted was bitchy, not Chernobyl’s post, although it’s hard for me to interpret their post in a way that wasn’t a snide attempt to poo poo all over my opinion.

I think that Langan writes his relationships in a very realistic way, where I know people who have similar relationships to the way he writes. The depth of his stories, the way he writes his characters, and his use of metaphor make feel like I’m not necessarily reading horror any more. Of course then there’s a turn and the horror pieces come back.

This isn’t to say Langans work is a masterpiece on par with Anna Karenina; nowhere close, in fact. I don’t think you could ever argue that his work can be on the same shelf as what is generally considered literary fiction. Nor are all of the stories literary. I guess I would say that there were moments within this collection I thought were elevated compared to other horror I’ve read.

I’m sorry for being bitchy, but I found Chernobyl’s post to be kind of dickish- again, it’s hard for me to pretend that it was seeking discussion in the discussion forum rather than waiting for a chance to poo poo on whatever points I tried to make.

Chernobyl posted a one sentence question-statement, you had a multi-post meltdown about it.
Just let it go, the Streisand effect is kicking in.

Re-read Iain Bank's Against a Dark Background to escape from the dullness of Norbert Wiener's Cybernetics this weekend. The multiple heist scenes in it were A++, however the main character was pretty terrible, then again so was their entire family tree. AaDB can be seen as a solid transition piece between Banks non-scifi fiction with hyper-privileged people doing hyper-privileged things and the Culture's hyper-competent machine intelligences saving the day. Favorite piece of gear in in AaDB was the MonoCycle, which gave immediate flashbacks to a half-remembered Jack Vance story., and made me want to find that exact Jack Vance story.

Dirty Frank
Jul 8, 2004

NoNostalgia4Grover posted:

Chernobyl posted a one sentence question-statement, you had a multi-post meltdown about it.
Just let it go, the Streisand effect is kicking in.

This is Chernobyl's thing though, after the poster responds he mocks them. It happens on a weekly basis. Not surprising when people don't trust him to be acting in good faith.

sephiRoth IRA
Jun 13, 2007

"Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality."

-Carl Sagan

NoNostalgia4Grover posted:

Chernobyl posted a one sentence question-statement, you had a multi-post meltdown about it.
Just let it go, the Streisand effect is kicking in.

Re-read Iain Bank's Against a Dark Background to escape from the dullness of Norbert Wiener's Cybernetics this weekend. The multiple heist scenes in it were A++, however the main character was pretty terrible, then again so was their entire family tree. AaDB can be seen as a solid transition piece between Banks non-scifi fiction with hyper-privileged people doing hyper-privileged things and the Culture's hyper-competent machine intelligences saving the day. Favorite piece of gear in in AaDB was the MonoCycle, which gave immediate flashbacks to a half-remembered Jack Vance story., and made me want to find that exact Jack Vance story.

You’re naive to think that wasn’t just a setup to take a dump on whatever I posted next, but you make a good point on things just getting worse.

I also finished North American Lake Monsters this weekend and echo that is was a pretty good read. My favorite story was the guy with his suicidal wife- the guys denial and longing made me feel really weird and unsettled for the rest of the day.

A human heart
Oct 10, 2012

did you guys know that my posts are also 'literary horror'?

Franchescanado
Feb 23, 2013

If it wasn't for disappointment
I wouldn't have any appointment

Grimey Drawer

A human heart posted:

did you guys know that my posts are also 'literary horror'?

Yes. But like most 'literary horror' most of them can be skipped, with the occasional gem somehow slipping through.


Dirty Frank posted:

This is Chernobyl's thing though, after the poster responds he mocks them. It happens on a weekly basis. Not surprising when people don't trust him to be acting in good faith.

Sure. It's still a cynical comedy website. If you're familiar enough with a poster's habits, you should also be aware that, like, a third of the books they discuss and enjoy are horror novels, and are asking for elucidation on opinions of a horror novel.

'Literary' doesn't mean good. For instance, I recently read Indra Das's literary horror novel, The Devourers, which is a story-within-a-story about shape-shifters from different cultures, folk tales, myths and religions, migrating over the course of a few centuries, with the majority of the tale taking place throughout India, with the modern framing device taking place in Calcutta, India. While all that is interesting and good, the majority of the novel is a rape revenge story, plus some explorations of sexual fluidity and gender fluidity and identity. The narrative device--an Indian history professor who is transcribing manuscripts given to him by a stranger who claims to be a 'werewolf'--falls apart at the end (along with the themes that its tried to explore), making it instead 1/3rd of an interesting novel that falls into what I can only really describe as, sadly, a Paranormal Romance novel without romance that wants to be a horror novel and a historical fiction novel of India.

So, because it bleeds many genres together, takes the framing device of a horror novel, but attempts to explore topical and heavy issues through it's themes, it has been labelled by most publications as 'literary fiction' and 'literary genre fiction' but it is still all very not good.

MockingQuantum
Jan 20, 2012



Franchescanado posted:

Yes. But like most 'literary horror' most of them can be skipped, with the occasional gem somehow slipping through.


Sure. It's still a cynical comedy website. If you're familiar enough with a poster's habits, you should also be aware that, like, a third of the books they discuss and enjoy are horror novels, and are asking for elucidation on opinions of a horror novel.

'Literary' doesn't mean good. For instance, I recently read Indra Das's literary horror novel, The Devourers, which is a story-within-a-story about shape-shifters from different cultures, folk tales, myths and religions, migrating over the course of a few centuries, with the majority of the tale taking place throughout India, with the modern framing device taking place in Calcutta, India. While all that is interesting and good, the majority of the novel is a rape revenge story, plus some explorations of sexual fluidity and gender fluidity and identity. The narrative device--an Indian history professor who is transcribing manuscripts given to him by a stranger who claims to be a 'werewolf'--falls apart at the end (along with the themes that its tried to explore), making it instead 1/3rd of an interesting novel that falls into what I can only really describe as, sadly, a Paranormal Romance novel without romance that wants to be a horror novel and a historical fiction novel of India.

So, because it bleeds many genres together, takes the framing device of a horror novel, but attempts to explore topical and heavy issues through it's themes, it has been labelled by most publications as 'literary fiction' and 'literary genre fiction' but it is still all very not good.

Thanks for this, I was actually pretty intrigued by The Devourers but it sounds like very much not my thing.

Franchescanado
Feb 23, 2013

If it wasn't for disappointment
I wouldn't have any appointment

Grimey Drawer

MockingQuantum posted:

Thanks for this, I was actually pretty intrigued by The Devourers but it sounds like very much not my thing.

The first third--all the different shapeshifters from different cultures and myths creating tribes--is legit pretty interesting set-up. My book club chose it, and everyone either really liked the first 1/3rd or even the first half, no one liked the ending. You can feel the author's confidence just wilt away. It's a really short book, though, and I'm positive a less-discerning reader interested in "a book about werewolves from different cultures, myths and religions doing stuff" and "LGBQT+ horror genre fiction with a hint of historical genre fiction" would still find enjoyment out of it.

I can DM you a review if you'd like to know more about some of the structural things it attempts and how the middle section of the novel is pretty much an exploitation movie, so you can fully skip it, if you want.

Solitair
Feb 18, 2014

TODAY'S GONNA BE A GOOD MOTHERFUCKIN' DAY!!!
Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse is alright but not really my thing. I was excited to see what Roanhorse would do after reading "Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience," her short story which deservedly won a Hugo and which I think stands among the best episodes of The Twilight Zone. I wanted to see what she'd do next, which ended up being urban fantasy. Sure, it's not exactly our world—it takes place after a severe climate apocalypse where most of the continent is underwater, which ended up bringing magic and magical beings out of the woodwork—but I got a serious Dresden Files vibe from the majority of conversations, except without some of the dumbest baggage you get in Dresden Files. It helps that all of the characters are Navajo, and I admire that the setting and culture of the book is just allowed to be itself without too much concern for what white characters or readers will think of it. Everything else, on the other hand, is too familiar. The emotional arc of the protagonist choosing between giving in to self-loathing and hoping for self-improvement works well enough, but I was barely invested in the mystery going on. I wouldn't say no to picking up the sequel, but only if I can get it for less than full price.

Bilirubin
Feb 16, 2014

The sanctioned action is to CHUG


Bilirubin posted:

Mieville is an interesting discussion, as I think it depends on which book we are speaking of. Kraken was a super fun romp, great drive to the story, but it was also a dog's breakfast so I'd consider it a more campy pulpy fun story. This Census-Taker on the other hand I would place in a literary realm. Last Days in New Paris was pretentious drivel and I am as a reader almost insulted by what he tried to pull over.

After taking the piss out of Mieville I've decided to read Perdido Street Station. I already kind of regret this decision

MockingQuantum
Jan 20, 2012



Bilirubin posted:

After taking the piss out of Mieville I've decided to read Perdido Street Station. I already kind of regret this decision

I was mostly bored by Perdido Street Station, he gasses on at too great a length about the least interesting aspects of the book imo. I loved The Scar though. Embassyland is great too, though not a Bas-lag book. Long story short, if you must read Mieville, I wouldn't make it PSS.

Bilirubin
Feb 16, 2014

The sanctioned action is to CHUG


MockingQuantum posted:

I was mostly bored by Perdido Street Station, he gasses on at too great a length about the least interesting aspects of the book imo. I loved The Scar though. Embassyland is great too, though not a Bas-lag book. Long story short, if you must read Mieville, I wouldn't make it PSS.

Yeah exactly. I mean I'm still in early scene setting but holy hell put down the thesaurus I get its a disgusting mess of a town.

Its kind of making me want to read an Ankh-Morpork story to wash the taste from my brain

MockingQuantum
Jan 20, 2012



Bilirubin posted:

Yeah exactly. I mean I'm still in early scene setting but holy hell put down the thesaurus I get its a disgusting mess of a town.

Its kind of making me want to read an Ankh-Morpork story to wash the taste from my brain

Was it you that just read Babel-17? If so, you really should check out Embassytown if you haven't, it's another sci-fi novel that has an interesting take on how language influences consciousness and perception, but in a rather different way. I think it would be an interesting contrast.

Bilirubin
Feb 16, 2014

The sanctioned action is to CHUG


MockingQuantum posted:

Was it you that just read Babel-17? If so, you really should check out Embassytown if you haven't, it's another sci-fi novel that has an interesting take on how language influences consciousness and perception, but in a rather different way. I think it would be an interesting contrast.

It was I. Thanks for the suggestion!

e. can I take this as my wildcard for the reading challenge?

MockingQuantum
Jan 20, 2012



Bilirubin posted:

It was I. Thanks for the suggestion!

e. can I take this as my wildcard for the reading challenge?

I have no authority on the matter but I'm gonna say yes anyway

Alhazred
Feb 16, 2011




Mother of Plenty

Better than Seasons of Plenty but still not as good as the first book. Mostly because the protagonist is almost completely irrelevant for the plot.

Hieronymous Alloy
Jan 30, 2009


Why! Why!! Why must you refuse to accept that Dr. Hieronymous Alloy's Genetically Enhanced Cream Corn Is Superior to the Leading Brand on the Market!?!




Morbid Hound

Alhazred posted:

Mother of Plenty

Better than Seasons of Plenty but still not as good as the first book. Mostly because the protagonist is almost completely irrelevant for the plot.

Colin Greenland's Harm's Way is one of my favorite "neglected under-rated masterpiece" SF picks.

He's apparently Susannah Clarke (Johnathan Strange & Mr. Norrell)'s significant other / live-in partner.

Alhazred
Feb 16, 2011




Hieronymous Alloy posted:

Colin Greenland's Harm's Way is one of my favorite "neglected under-rated masterpiece" SF picks.

Take Back Plenty is really fun which makes the sequels all the more disappointing.

stratofarius
May 17, 2019

How to Invent Everything: A Survival Guide for the Stranded Time Traveler by Ryan North. I got a cheap used hardcover copy off Amazon and it was worth every dollar. I do think the book pitches itself a lot as this sci-fi take on instructional manuals, when it's really more of a straightforward 'here's how the things around you are built/work and how you could replicate them'- the disparaging tones really hit you when you compare the first few tongue-in-cheek chapters to the later info dump chapters about medicine, heavy machinery and other stuff. If you're a fan of finding out how things are made, I recommend this book. It's like a cool encyclopedia with occasional bouts of humor.

Jedit
Dec 10, 2011

Proudly supporting vanilla legends 1994-2014

Randalor posted:

I finished Magic: The Gathering- Planeshift on Thursday. I've been working on collecting the novels and had a lucky score at a charity book sale last week, so I got the bulk of the novels I was missing. Is there not a thread around that series?

gently caress's sake, I wish I'd known - I just donated a bunch of those to charity including Invasion, Planeshift, Apocalypse, Odyssey and Legions.

StrixNebulosa
Feb 14, 2012

You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

Volume I of my four volume set of Romance of the Three Kingdoms! Over five hundred pages of drama and warfare and I think my favorite bit is still the one where Sun Ce throws his sword at a ghost and the ghost gets revenge.

I'm surprised and pleased at how fast and fun the prose is to read - Moss Roberts really did a hell of a job translating, and I can see why this thing has been an instant best-seller since it was written. Onwards to the second volume!

Sock The Great
Oct 1, 2006

It's Lonely At The Top. But It's Comforting To Look Down Upon Everyone At The Bottom
Grimey Drawer
Well this is pretty cool:

https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/24/18638720/hulu-horror-anthology-series-north-american-lake-monsters-nathan-ballingrud

Alhazred
Feb 16, 2011





I really liked this book. Willis uses a good part of the book to get you to care about the characters so the impact is even bigger when you realize that not everyone is going to make it. The book is kinda like HBO's Chernobyl that horrible poo poo is gonna happen and the best anyone can hope to do is to minimize the damage. The chapters set in present day kinda dragged the book down though.

tuyop
Sep 15, 2006

Every second that we're not growing BASIL is a second wasted

Fun Shoe
I've been meaning to post a review dump for awhile. In no particular order:

The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace-Wells: This is the latest book in a long line of climate change non-fiction and it's interesting that we went from the early 2000s with books like Heat by George Monbiot where the author was enumerating evidence and hopefully pointing to realistic solutions, to this brief and terrifying catalogue of horror with the only silver lining being "it could always be worse so we have to act as soon as possible". It's a great, important book.

The Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv: An awesome, lengthy review of the various trends in children's interactions with nature and the ways that we've created landscape architecture that fosters a fascination with nature or crushes it completely. I've used his references several times in my work.

Heads by Greg Bear: This is a really awesome Twilight Zone-y space-is-weird story set on the moon. A scientist wants to create absolute zero and some frozen heads are involved. It's awesome, read it on a plane ride.

Dogs of War by Adrian Tchaikovsky: A journey into the post-human/singularity near future told from the perspective of a dog "bioform" designed to fight war. It was a fun read but I was expecting more from the author of Children of Time

I also went on an Octavia E. Butler kick:

Kindred: Outstanding time travel book where a black woman living in modern LA finds herself inexplicably transported back to the Antebellum south where she has to protect her slave ancestors. It's excellent.

Wild Seed: I would call this one eugenics horror, I think. It's about two immortals, one who can shapeshift into other people and creatures and one who takes the form of any person around him when he is killed. The latter wants to breed new traits into humans and the former wants to foster good relationships. It's really good!

The Parable series: Parable of the Sower is great, Parable of the Talents is not so great. This is like near-future apocalypse fiction based around a new messiah trying to create and spread a religion that saves humanity from the horrors of climate change and late stage capitalism.

Fledgling: :stare: It's about a vampire who looks nine but is actually like 50 and the prepubescent vampire girl fucks. The worldbuilding is clumsy, the vampire mechanics are weird, and the focus on a little kid (-appearing thing?) loving was just a strange choice. I was uncomfortable throughout.

Based on the thread:

Blackfish City by Sam J. Miller: Now this is awesome sort of Inuit futurism that turns into a really fun sci fi heist on a floating city filled with climate refugees. Recommended.

North American Lake Monsters Stories by Nathan Ballingrud: Holy poo poo read this. It's chilling and beautiful and really hard but scary.

The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley: It's Starship Troopers plus time travel for modern sensibilities. I really loved it and if you enjoyed Starship Troopers, you should read this too.

There are more but this is already enough of a dump.

Robot Wendigo
Jul 9, 2013

Grimey Drawer
Roadside Picnic by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky. This book felt like it could have been written last year and not almost a half century ago. The bleakness and 'no-one in control' feel of the book after an alien visitation seem more fitted to this time than the 1970s. Boris' afterword about the problems they had getting it published--and how it was more really literature snobs than governmental interference for alleged criticism of the Soviet establishment (which Picnic doesn't do--it actually takes aim at capitalism quite well)--just shows how little has changed for the genre.

Robot Wendigo fucked around with this message at 02:04 on May 27, 2019

The Grey
Mar 2, 2004

Inherit the Earth by Brian Stableford

I got this at a library book sale about 15 years ago and just got around to reading it now.

Sci-Fi a little like William Gibson, but takes place further in the future. The world was getting over populated, so some scientists released a virus that made everyone sterile. They eventually released a new technology that let babies be grown in artificial wombs, and now they come up and are raised with multiple foster parents. I guess it's because there are so few babies and so many adults. Oh yeah, there is also nanotech and biotech that has greatly increased the human lifespan and maybe upcoming tech that can make humans immortal. The impact on society of these changes is a major theme and the best part of the book. The worst part of the book is it also tries to be a mystery, and it's a poor one at that.

It's the second book in the "emortality" series, but the first one written. I don't think I'll be reading the rest.

Also, the cover looks like this. There is no scene in the book that remotely resembles it.

StrixNebulosa
Feb 14, 2012

You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

The Grey posted:

Inherit the Earth by Brian Stableford

I got this at a library book sale about 15 years ago and just got around to reading it now.

Sci-Fi a little like William Gibson, but takes place further in the future. The world was getting over populated, so some scientists released a virus that made everyone sterile. They eventually released a new technology that let babies be grown in artificial wombs, and now they come up and are raised with multiple foster parents. I guess it's because there are so few babies and so many adults. Oh yeah, there is also nanotech and biotech that has greatly increased the human lifespan and maybe upcoming tech that can make humans immortal. The impact on society of these changes is a major theme and the best part of the book. The worst part of the book is it also tries to be a mystery, and it's a poor one at that.

It's the second book in the "emortality" series, but the first one written. I don't think I'll be reading the rest.

Also, the cover looks like this. There is no scene in the book that remotely resembles it.

I love Brian Stableford but really struggle with his emortality series because the two of them I've read so far try to be mystery/thrillers but he really, really sucks at those. He said in an introduction that he read Raymond Chandler and wanted to emulate him, and I can see it, but pal.... your strengths are not that. Please go back to writing weird sci-fi/fantasy with lots of weird meandering dialogue, that's what you're good at.

The Cassandra Complex, another of his emortality books for example is the world's slowest and most boring thriller. It only gets interesting when the characters stop doing things and discuss philosophy and mice and feminism - he has some wildly interesting takes on this stuff, but it's surrounded by blah.

The Grey
Mar 2, 2004

StrixNebulosa posted:

I love Brian Stableford but really struggle with his emortality series because the two of them I've read so far try to be mystery/thrillers but he really, really sucks at those. He said in an introduction that he read Raymond Chandler and wanted to emulate him, and I can see it, but pal.... your strengths are not that. Please go back to writing weird sci-fi/fantasy with lots of weird meandering dialogue, that's what you're good at.

The Cassandra Complex, another of his emortality books for example is the world's slowest and most boring thriller. It only gets interesting when the characters stop doing things and discuss philosophy and mice and feminism - he has some wildly interesting takes on this stuff, but it's surrounded by blah.

I almost bought The Cassandra Complex to read first, since it's the prequel to Inherit the Earth. Glad I didn't based on what you say.

Can you recommend anything by him that focuses on interesting concepts and philosophy without the lame mystery/thriller part?

quantumfoam
Dec 25, 2003

Recently finished The Tango War: the struggle for the hearts, minds, and riches of Latin America during World War 2 by Mary Jo Mcconahay.
As the title alluded, the tango War covered the struggle between the Axis + Allies factions over the peoples/money/material resources of Latin America during the buildup to and throughout World War 2. Overall, it was a very interesting book, the Smoking Cobra stuff was legitimately interesting slashbadass, but the real meat/interesting sections of the book cover the 200% illegal extraditing of native born citizens with German/Japanese/Italian ancestry from Brazil/Chile/Peru/Columbia to special USA internment camps is something 98% of the history books covering World War 2 never seem to mention or gloss over real fast. Basically whoever went on the LATAM extradition lists was for 40% potential prison swap bait/political importance in the LATAM immigrant communities reasons, the other 60% justification was old-schoolcorruption so that local Latam governments + US based companies could steal uh---nationalize...nope steal and take over the extradited peoples businesses and property. Definitely check out this book.



Also read No Beast So Fierce by Dane Hucklebridge. No Beast was about one of the most prolific man-eating animals recorded in modern history.
Aka The Champawat Tiger, a Bengal Tiger with a body count of roughly 436 people. The author covered the background of Nepal and India, reasons why certain animals become man-eaters, why that particular tiger migrated to that area of the Nepal/India border, and why the tiger was able rack up such a huge bodycount, and finally a extended look into the life of the person who killed the Champawat Tiger, and their later efforts towards animal habitat conservation. The book tended to repeat certain things, but is definitely worth checking out, especially if you are interested in animal conservation and man made climate change.

StrixNebulosa
Feb 14, 2012

You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

The Grey posted:

I almost bought The Cassandra Complex to read first, since it's the prequel to Inherit the Earth. Glad I didn't based on what you say.

Can you recommend anything by him that focuses on interesting concepts and philosophy without the lame mystery/thriller part?

Yes, but it depends on what you like. My personal favorite works of his are the Werewolves of London trilogy, where he tackles the idea of eldritch gods, mixes in a healthy dollop of sci-fi and runs wild. The first two books are essentially historical horror fiction, and it's the third where the sci-fi elements really come into play. I found this to be a really evocative, interesting trilogy that hooked me for a couple weeks.

My second favorite works are his Genesys trilogy, which is a sci-fi set on a planet where everything decays in time, even stone. Despite being a sci-fi - it's a world that was colonzed, and the colonizers left - it's more of a fantastical journey through a strange place, with the humans having tech levels that are mostly, eh, let's say Bronze era, but with some strange stuff like plastics and explosives that are hold-overs from their origins. There's a lot of genetic hybrids / what it means to be a man / absolutely bizarre aliens and while the pacing of these three books is pretty slow, I loved all of it.

And then there's the Hooded Swan series, of which I've only read the first book so far. It's a more standard sci-fi adventure series, but really shows off his love of exotic alien biologies.

...which is to say, none of these series have the modern meditations on where humanity is going like the emortality series, as they're focused into different areas. They're really good, but if you want that specific modern stuff you may have to sit through more weak mysteries.*

*I'm reading the third(? the order of this series is whacked) emortality book, Dark Ararat. Slowly. It's about a colony ship that's been in stasis while traveling, and now that they're at their target planet, things have gone weird. A cliche, but the neat twist is that the pov character is a dude who's been woken up after the initial bases were settled, and he's been woken up specifically to help investigate a murder. It's better than the other two emortality books I've read so far, but as I'm easily distracted it's been slow going.

The Grey
Mar 2, 2004

Adventure! Thrilling Tales of Discovery edited by John Richard Stephens

I thought this was going to be a collection of Indiana Jones style fictional short stories. It's actually a collection of true journals and published accounts from the 1850's - 1920's.

This was the golden age of adventure and the book chronicles explorer's trips through jungles and deserts in search of artifacts, mummies, ruins, and lost texts. A lot of the journeys are grueling with the exploration party having to battle advisories like snakes, spiders, smugglers, cannibals, and starvation.

There are a ton of interesting moments. Like the dude who gets lost in the Amazon, gets taken in by a friendly cannibal tribe and lives with them for a few months. Whenever they start eating humans, he pretends like he is sleeping so he doesn't have to offend them by turning down their offer of human delicacies. Or the dude who got trapped in quicksand but saved at the last moment when his horse comes over to pull him out. There is also a guy who gets shipwrecked on an island and continually attacked by a swarm of crabs. The guy who took a brutal trip across Africa to find Dr. Livingstone tells his story. Teddy Roosevelt tells a story about piranhas eating people in the Amazon.

Since these stories are primarily told by upper class white men from generations ago, some of them give you plenty of reason to dislike them. (Describing natives as sub-human savages, literal tomb raiding, etc.) One of them goes to an ancient monastery and proudly swindles them out of centuries old scrolls. Another unearths ancient statues in Egypt and covertly ships them out to a museum in England.

However, the journal entries give a fascinating true look into the explorers journey that just doesn't happen today.

Turbinosamente
May 29, 2013

Lights on, Lights off
Tales from the Arabian Nights translated by Richard Burton. To get more specific the edition I have is from 1978 and edited by David Shumaker. Like all fairy tales the stories in Arabian Nights have magical beings, good triumphs over evil, the poor become rich, and evil is punished severely. Also apparently being able to spin a good yarn will get you out of almost anything, including murder charges or your own execution.

Once I got used to the 19th century style of writing (though it is rather frankly written/translated) it was refreshing to read some folklore from a different culture than the usual western oriented stuff such as Greek/Roman mythology or Grimm's fairy tales. Burton's footnotes were also surprisingly helpful at times. I can see why his translation seems to be the one that has stuck around. Though I was beginning to tire of it at the end, overall I enjoyed the read.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

nankeen
Mar 20, 2019

by Cyrano4747

tuyop posted:

The Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv: An awesome, lengthy review of the various trends in children's interactions with nature and the ways that we've created landscape architecture that fosters a fascination with nature or crushes it completely. I've used his references several times in my work.
i might chase down a copy of this, thanks for bringing it to my attention!

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • Post
  • Reply