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If I said to you I'd just read a book involving: - a post-apocalyptic world which centuries later has developed into a new generic-fantasy-level-of-tech society - A centuries-old cybernetic super-soldier from the past era - Ancient orbital weapons being reawakened What would you think it's ripping off? I just read a fairly obscure book which strongly reminded me of something else, but maybe these are fairly common tropes?
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Mar 8, 2020 09:24
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Those are pretty common. I can't think of anything that has all 3 though. What was the book? If it was good, sounds like a fun read.
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Mar 8, 2020 10:04
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Well, the first two make me think of Viriconium but I don't remember orbital weapons.
anilEhilated fucked around with this message at 10:07 on Mar 8, 2020 |
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Mar 8, 2020 10:05
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freebooter posted:If I said to you I'd just read a book involving: Asher?
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Mar 8, 2020 12:19
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I read Merchanter's Luck as my introduction to Cherryh and I've got 40000 in Gehenna to read as well because it's apart of the same two-parter. What people say about Cherryh's world building ability is spot-on - I really enjoyed the first half of the book getting to know everyone and everything, but thought the end of the book was a bit rushed and sometimes a little confused as to what was happening. Good book though; definitely scratched a sci-fi itch after an unintentionally heavy fantasy book start to 2020.
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Mar 8, 2020 12:21
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Thank you to the thread for introducing me a while back to the Expeditionary Force series by Craig Alanson. I started in late-January and just got through the 9th book as of Friday. The finale of the 9th book did leave me with a slight concern in Skippy despite being unable to travel himself, appears to disappear into higher energy space. He managed to give Bishop a full explanation of exactly what he found before deciding that he had to contact the Maxults or Rindalu. There’s simply nothing from the previous 8 books which would suggest how he can achieve it without the Valkyrie or Dutchman.
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Mar 8, 2020 12:43
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freebooter posted:If I said to you I'd just read a book involving: At first sight I'd say that it reminds me of David Weber's Dahak series, specifically its third book. Or his Safehold series, which is basically a rehash of the same idea, but extended into ¿9? books so far, each increasingly boring.
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Mar 8, 2020 14:39
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freebooter posted:If I said to you I'd just read a book involving: #1 is pretty common. #2 and #3 are less common but not exactly super rare. I can't, offhand, think of anything that has all three in combination, except perhaps Weber's Safehold, but those are pretty bad. What did you read? It sounds interesting.
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Mar 8, 2020 15:03
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freebooter posted:If I said to you I'd just read a book involving: I can't think of any books offhand, but that sounds pretty close to the plot of a bunch of video games and animes. That pretty much describes Xenoblade Chronicles 2 exactly for instsnce.
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Mar 8, 2020 15:08
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freebooter posted:If I said to you I'd just read a book involving: sounds like the steerswoman series except for 2
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Mar 8, 2020 17:34
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Cherryh's Morgaine series, perhaps?
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Mar 8, 2020 17:36
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freebooter posted:If I said to you I'd just read a book involving: Dragonriders of Pern? Though I guess that might not cover #3.
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Mar 8, 2020 18:28
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freebooter posted:If I said to you I'd just read a book involving: Wait a second....Escape from L.A. got novelized? Offhand and taken a little bit more seriously, I'm thinking Michael Moorcock's Corum Jhaelen Irsei stories plus Sean McMullen's Greatwinter series as "inspirations" for that un-named book you are referencing. quantumfoam fucked around with this message at 23:00 on Mar 8, 2020 |
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Mar 8, 2020 18:51
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freebooter posted:If I said to you I'd just read a book involving: The Mortal Engines Quartet? Except for the first point, its more steam punk, and moving cities are not too generic fantasy.
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Mar 8, 2020 21:18
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freebooter posted:If I said to you I'd just read a book involving: That sounds like Minla's Flowers by Alastair Reynolds.
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Mar 8, 2020 21:24
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Doctor Jeep posted:sounds like the steerswoman series except for 2 Also without #2 it also sounds like Sean McMullen's Greatwinter trilogy. Which is pretty good fun.
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Mar 8, 2020 21:52
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Someone mentioned Eifleheim here and I decided to check it out. I really liked it, aside from the end feeling a little anticlimactic to me. I wish they had gone more into the whole multiple dimension space travel stuff. I suppose it would be way more than the scope of the book, but I really wanted to see more of that happening.
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Mar 8, 2020 22:40
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https://thefantasyinn.com/2018/10/11/intro-to-female-authored-speculative-fiction/ I have quibbles with some of the choices but I keep seeing authors and going "hmm yes" so this checks out
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Mar 8, 2020 23:43
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StrixNebulosa posted:https://thefantasyinn.com/2018/10/11/intro-to-female-authored-speculative-fiction/ Looking at the list real quick just reminded me of Mary Stewart's The Crystal Cave. That was one of my first fantasy novels after LOTR. I haven't thought of that book in 20 years. I seem to remember it kinda lost me when Merlin got older.
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Mar 8, 2020 23:47
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Wow, thanks for posting. I pretty much like all the authors I recognize on that, which seems like a good sign. I'll have to start working through some of these. I like that node to 'All Systems Red' is just 'Murderbot!'. cant cook creole bream posted:I agree about that. I am sort of glad the final book acknowledged in universe what a stupid name Lord Lorcan Lochan is. Some fantasy stories would just ignore that and act like that's normal. Yeah, I think focusing on the relationship between Manon and Asterin, or some earlier history between the different factions of witches would be great, as long as it didn't go too one-note dark. And yeah, agreed re: acknowledging the name, it's very much a DnD random name generator result. I think my favorite discordant names are in the Empire Trilogy, where everyone in Kelewan have fantasy names , and then the outworld barbarians are all called like 'Kevin' and 'Jimmy'. I think it works just fine in context, but it was definitely a weird contrast.
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Mar 8, 2020 23:55
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RIP ZEEZ
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StrixNebulosa posted:https://thefantasyinn.com/2018/10/11/intro-to-female-authored-speculative-fiction/ If I have one complaint there it's that the SF section is really underdeveloped (and if I have two it's that I don't think Foreigner is the best choice for Cherryh) but since it's from "the fantasy inn" I guess that's not too surprising. That said, the authors there I recognize I've generally enjoyed, and even the ones I don't (like Robin Hobb) I can see why people might disagree. Also, Rachel Aaron wrote a LitRPG? That's a genre I have exactly zero interest in (and very little interest in its sister genre, "you're in a computer game, Max", although I did enjoy Mogworld), but I've enjoyed here other stuff enough that I may need to at least see if the library has it.
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Mar 9, 2020 00:09
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StrixNebulosa posted:https://thefantasyinn.com/2018/10/11/intro-to-female-authored-speculative-fiction/
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Mar 9, 2020 00:31
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ianmacdo posted:The Mortal Engines Quartet? This was what it reminded me of, except all the other responses make me think, yeah, this is all pretty common stuff. The book in question is Lotus Blue by Cat Sparks, and it was... fine? Too many characters, needed a firmer editor, felt kind of amateurish. I would say an author to watch out for except it's her debut and I think she's already at least in her 50s.
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Mar 9, 2020 00:42
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freebooter posted:This was what it reminded me of, except all the other responses make me think, yeah, this is all pretty common stuff. I think the median age for a first traditional publication is 35, according to a Charles Strauss blog (iirc not firm on that).
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Mar 9, 2020 01:36
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Sci-Fi History lesson # 035: .....Rudyard Kipling considered as a Science Fiction writer aka The Reader Wants a Story, Not a Lesson [Sarcasm]...not applicable for Kim Stanley Robinson fans[/Sarcasm] http://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/rg_scifi.htm quote:Kipling faced the same technical problem that the modern science fiction writer faces: the need to make an alien time and place understandable to his audience. Whether the scene be India under the British Raj or Mars under the Solar Federation, the reader needs to know the essential differences in biology, technology, and sociology that govern the characters and their actions. This information needs to be provided without interfering with the narrative. The reader wants a story, not a lesson. Link added to OP of thread.
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Mar 9, 2020 06:25
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freebooter posted:If I said to you I'd just read a book involving: Hell, it's arguably The Broken Earth, depending on your definition of cybernetic.
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Mar 9, 2020 06:49
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StrixNebulosa posted:
Earthsea is legitimately good but doesn't for me have the same beats as Tolkien. Read it. I read it at about the same time as the dying earth books by Jack Vance so my brain files them together more than lotr. The 70s/80s threw up a lot of lotr clones with one of the most obvious being Terry Brooks' Shannara books. They aren't as good obv. Semi comedy option: Dragonlance Chronicles by Weiss and Hickman TSR spin-offs. Lord Soth is a nazgul with a back story.
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Mar 9, 2020 06:54
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Man I dread rereading Dragonlance because it was so formative for me as a child I bet it aged terribly.
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Mar 9, 2020 10:53
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Edit: nevermind, mentally mistook that for a different series.
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Mar 9, 2020 11:11
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algebra testes posted:Man I dread rereading Dragonlance because it was so formative for me as a child I bet it aged terribly. As someone who also read them in middle-school and loves them a lot: YEP they aged so poorly. They read very much like transcripts of the writer's D&D session with very little nuance. I had to can at least one reread attempt because I realized early on: I treasure my memories of what happened more than I do finding out what actually happened. Also the paladin in that series was the best paladin, he was a good dude who did his best.
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Mar 9, 2020 11:40
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freebooter posted:If I said to you I'd just read a book involving: This sounds like Safehold to me, which was a cool idea done poorly - what book did you read? I'm really curious to know.
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Mar 9, 2020 12:34
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freebooter posted:If I said to you I'd just read a book involving: freebooter posted:This was what it reminded me of, except all the other responses make me think, yeah, this is all pretty common stuff.
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Mar 9, 2020 12:37
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StrixNebulosa posted:https://thefantasyinn.com/2018/10/11/intro-to-female-authored-speculative-fiction/ The person who created this and lumped Foz Meadows (who's out as genderqueer) into their "female" list can gently caress right off and die, actually. I am very tired of watching non-binary authors get co-opted by "look at all these ~*~women writers~*~" assholes.
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Mar 9, 2020 13:02
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The_White_Crane posted:The person who created this and lumped Foz Meadows (who's out as genderqueer) into their "female" list can gently caress right off and die, actually.
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Mar 9, 2020 13:25
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StrixNebulosa posted:As someone who also read them in middle-school and loves them a lot: YEP they aged so poorly. They read very much like transcripts of the writer's D&D session with very little nuance. They pretty much were, weren't they? IIRC, all of the characters were taken straight from Tracy and Laura Hickman's D&D campaign.
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Mar 9, 2020 13:40
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Put in a hold at my library for The Fifth Season from that picture.
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Mar 9, 2020 18:22
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StonecutterJoe posted:They pretty much were, weren't they? IIRC, all of the characters were taken straight from Tracy and Laura Hickman's D&D campaign. Basically, yes. The characters were hashed out in the planning and playtesting campaigns that ran as part of the development of the game and novel lines. The first novel is essentially a "let's play" of the first two modules in the series. Then when that novel didn't cover the four adventures it was supposed to cover, they realized they couldn't just continue on like that, which is why the second two modules get summarized with a poem and short prologue to the second novel. From that point on, the second and third novels more loosely follow the adventure modules. The adventure modules also get less linear as the series progresses, so the novels only cover one of the possible paths players can take. While the series as a whole doesn't age well, Dragons of Winter's Night is an exception. There's a huge jump in the quality of prose from the first novel (though it's still pretty par for the licensed D&D fiction course). More significantly, they realize their cast is too big, and so they begin focusing on just a handful of central characters with some very good results. The climax is legit tragic because the characters it's focused on are interesting and fairly well fleshed out. The third book then ignores a lot of that well developed characterization to force everyone into place for its finale.
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Mar 9, 2020 18:43
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The_White_Crane posted:The person who created this and lumped Foz Meadows (who's out as genderqueer) into their "female" list can gently caress right off and die, actually. This is a bit confusing as Foz Meadows still uses she/her pronouns...? Right. I'm not an authority, I suck at gender. Meadows probably shouldn't be on that list, but it's still worthwhile to look at, as it has a lot of good authors on it and I don't want us to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
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Mar 9, 2020 21:22
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Also the purpose of lists like that are generally to encourage people read fewer white men and bring attention to minority writers, so telling someone to gently caress right off and die seems a bit of an overreaction.
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Mar 9, 2020 22:29
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freebooter posted:Also the purpose of lists like that are generally to encourage people read fewer white men and bring attention to minority writers, so telling someone to gently caress right off and die seems a bit of an overreaction. Yeah it sucks that they were misgendered, but the intent behind it seems good. I bet if the creators were contacted they'd update it correctly, I am pretty sure they didn't intentionally misgender them. e: StrixNebulosa posted:This is a bit confusing as Foz Meadows still uses she/her pronouns...? Right. I'm not an authority, I suck at gender. Meadows probably shouldn't be on that list, but it's still worthwhile to look at, as it has a lot of good authors on it and I don't want us to throw the baby out with the bathwater. According to twitter they are a "Jack of all pronouns, master of none", which I am a huge fan of as a description.
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Mar 10, 2020 00:06
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