|
biracial bear for uncut posted:Isn't Stephen King pretty much solely to blame for at "magic negro" trope becoming a trope? IIRC, Green Mile was one of the two big trope-namers there (the other was The Legend of Bagger Vance.)
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2020 12:08
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 31, 2024 09:41 |
|
|
StonecutterJoe posted:IIRC, Green Mile was one of the two big trope-namers there (the other was The Legend of Bagger Vance.) Plus Mother Abagail in The Stand.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2020 14:03
|
|
|
I got an update from Amazon today that Baru 3 release is now in August. Was this a case of the initial pre-order date being wildly off and is now being corrected or did something else happen with the publication process? (e.g. final editing got slowed down because of COVID-19 etc.) Anyway hope things are doing well for General Butts.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2020 17:54
|
|
|
anyone have a book rec about a faster than light drive being built ? I’m trying to find a book I read a while ago.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2020 20:30
|
|
|
Selachian posted:Plus Mother Abagail in The Stand. detta walker cruisin into the thread like WHATUP HONKEY MAFAS
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2020 20:31
|
|
|
buffalo all day posted:detta walker cruisin into the thread like WHATUP HONKEY MAFAS To be fair, that whole persona is explicitly constructed by Odetta’s subconscious from stereotypes; Eddie straight up says that no one actually talks the way “Detta” does.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2020 20:37
|
|
|
Silver2195 posted:To be fair, that whole persona is explicitly constructed by Odetta’s subconscious from stereotypes; Eddie straight up says that no one actually talks the way “Detta” does. Odetta was a perfectly reasonable woman, although she came off as much older than she developed to. This may have been a similar facade persona to her Detta one, with "ultra-respectable civil rights activist" replacing the "hood rat stereotype" feed. What little we see of them before she got pushed is more normal still.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2020 20:46
|
|
|
Xtanstic posted:I got an update from Amazon today that Baru 3 release is now in August. Was this a case of the initial pre-order date being wildly off and is now being corrected or did something else happen with the publication process? (e.g. final editing got slowed down because of COVID-19 etc.) Anyway hope things are doing well for General Butts. Neither, the manuscript is final. They're just delaying the book because they think the pandemic is going to make the launch suck.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2020 21:44
|
|
|
PawParole posted:anyone have a book rec about a faster than light drive being built ? There’s one called The Founder half the book is about building a ship to escape the solar system as it collapses
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2020 21:51
|
|
|
There's a short story that was expanded into a novella about an engineer/scientist figuring out an Alcubierre drive. It involved a side character with savant syndrome. That's all I remember. Dijkstra is associated with it in my head but Google isn't helping Edit: It was a good and fun read but this is a lovely recommendation since I can't think of the title.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2020 22:04
|
|
|
PawParole posted:anyone have a book rec about a faster than light drive being built ? Not quite recommendations, though I can recall 3 different books about building a ftl drive off the top of my head plus a few pulp fiction Randall Garrett/Mack Reynolds short stories which I can't remember the names of. pulp fiction era: Skylark of Space/EE Smith Star Smashers of the Galaxy Rangers/harry harrison (A parody of the Skylark series/EE Smith's plots....story has dated references in it but is still hilarious) cosmonaut keep/ken macleod (very tankie with 2 dueling narrations, infinitely fresher than MacLeod's Corporation War series) On a totally different note, social isolating cabin fever has confirmation biased me into a "everyone with a goatee is a douchebag, especially authors, most especially SciFi/Fantasy authors" viewpoint. And I say this as a person whose two favorite authors (Harrison H + Harrison MJ) rocked goatees for 97% of their career
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2020 22:09
|
|
|
General Battuta posted:Neither, the manuscript is final. They're just delaying the book because they think the pandemic is going to make the launch suck. That's dumb, people are stuck at home with nothing to do.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2020 23:25
|
|
|
buffalo all day posted:I'm a pretty fast reader but Memory called empire was a total slog for me. The main character does basically nothing for the entire book. I think someone else in the thread pointed out - she's completely passive. I loved the plot hook - diplomat investigating her predecessor's death under mysterious circumstances - but it all just ends up being so drat boring. You're not wrong. It's certainly nothing I'd push to get an award.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2020 23:50
|
|
|
I think King's racism is a pretty standard subconscious Maine attitude - having zero contact with black people even in the most fleeting sense during his formative years meant he only knew them from film and TV and came to think of them as a funny old folk with their own weird talk and customs, but who aren't "real" Americans in the sense that he probably thinks of them. While I'm playing armchair psychologist though, I also noticed that in the section introducing Randall Flagg he's wearing all kinds of flag pins, reading all sorts of radical literature from the far right to the far left, is said to make his way around college campuses etc. Which is obviously a product of the 1970s body politic, but also made me think that good old all-American working class high school graduate Stephen King had a deep suspicion of any questioning of the American status quo and maybe a vague inferiority complex about all those drat college kids and their radical ideas. Then I looked it up and he does actually have a BA from the University of Maine, so what do I know? It's occurred to me I've read like 20 of his books without knowing much about the author or his life path, and it's interesting to try to glean it from his writing, particularly the way The Stand leaves his typical confines of Maine and rambles all over the USA. Obviously he knows much of New England back to front, though he seems far more familiar with New York City than Boston. He also seems to have spent a bit of time in California as well. A lot of the other scenes are written with a bit less confidence; less of a distinct sense of place. I have a firmly-held opinion that, while nobody would ever call him America's greatest writer, he is America's most American writer; his prose is littered with pop culture and snatches of song lyrics and and even references to commercial jingles in a way that just seems fundamentally mid-to-late century American; utterly unique to its time and place. Apart from his fantasy or science fiction stuff, I think he's written a grand total of two scenes, in all his millions of words, that took place outside America: a short story set in London and a brief part of Salem's Lot in Mexico.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2020 00:17
|
|
|
freebooter posted:I think King's racism is a pretty standard subconscious Maine attitude - having zero contact with black people even in the most fleeting sense during his formative years meant he only knew them from film and TV and came to think of them as a funny old folk with their own weird talk and customs, but who aren't "real" Americans in the sense that he probably thinks of them. I believe he lived in Colorado while writing The Shining and The Stand, which might be why all of the former and a good deal of the latter take place there.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2020 00:55
|
|
|
I really liked the one with the shitweasel that they kind of ruined for a movie. Edit- Dreamcatcher. There was stuff that was kinda clunky and weird in it but it was mostly cool.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2020 01:21
|
|
|
PawParole posted:anyone have a book rec about a faster than light drive being built ? If you can remember any other details you might have better luck in the book identification thread
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2020 02:19
|
|
|
Safety Biscuits posted:Surreptitious Muffin, I hope you didn't pay anything for this "advice"... Well, I suppose it's good to know that these things are just totally compromised marketing vehicles that should be ignored.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2020 05:48
|
|
|
I thought you would have ignored them anyway!Poldarn posted:That's dumb, people are stuck at home with nothing to do. You may have noticed that there's a massive worldwide health crisis happening...
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2020 06:43
|
|
|
A human heart posted:Well, I suppose it's good to know that these things are just totally compromised marketing vehicles that should be ignored. Popular vote awarded to things that are popular. Stop the presses, clearly speculative fiction is unredeemable.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2020 06:49
|
|
|
cptn_dr posted:Popular vote awarded to things that are popular. Stop the presses, clearly speculative fiction is unredeemable. It just seems like making the most prominent award for a particular type of book akin to one of those online polls where harry potter wins best novel ever because it's very famous might not be conducive to literary quality. Why not simply report the sci fi book that sold the most and skip the award ceremony? That would be more or less the same thing as far as I can tell.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2020 08:24
|
|
|
Poldarn posted:That's dumb, people are stuck at home with nothing to do. And lots of those people are really short on spare money right now.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2020 09:50
|
|
|
A human heart posted:It just seems like making the most prominent award for a particular type of book akin to one of those online polls where harry potter wins best novel ever because it's very famous might not be conducive to literary quality. Why not simply report the sci fi book that sold the most and skip the award ceremony? That would be more or less the same thing as far as I can tell. I think you're looking for the Nebulas, where the professional org known as the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Of America nominates and votes on what they believe to be the best SF/F works published that year. As opposed to something like the Hugos, where a self-identified (via purchasing WorldCon membership) collective of SF/F fans, writers, and industry folks tell you what they think is good, plus or minus a few years where bad actors attempted to run a slate and stuff the ballot box because they were offended that women, minorities, and LGBTQ people exist and write stories with characters they can relate to. Liquid Communism fucked around with this message at 11:58 on Apr 10, 2020 |
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2020 11:56
|
|
|
A human heart posted:It just seems like making the most prominent award for a particular type of book akin to one of those online polls where harry potter wins best novel ever because it's very famous might not be conducive to literary quality. Why not simply report the sci fi book that sold the most and skip the award ceremony? That would be more or less the same thing as far as I can tell. The Hugos suck, but they do suck differently than a bestseller list (for example, fantasy novels don’t get Hugos much, whereas they consistently outsell SF). The Hugos are more of a popularity contest than a sales race, especially in the categories with small voting pools. The Nebulas are a popularity contest too but for a different scene.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2020 14:16
|
|
|
Khizan posted:And lots of those people are really short on spare money right now. Yeah, a lot of stuff is getting cancelled and delayed right now and I figure the powers that be are calculating that a massive amount of layoffs and pending recession is a bigger factor than people having way more spare time.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2020 16:18
|
|
|
The Girl with All the Gifts by MR Carey - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CO7FLFG/ The Pale Dreamer (Bone Season novella) by Samantha Shannon - Free https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01JADTUYE
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2020 16:59
|
|
|
A human heart posted:It just seems like making the most prominent award for a particular type of book akin to one of those online polls where harry potter wins best novel ever because it's very famous might not be conducive to literary quality. Why not simply report the sci fi book that sold the most and skip the award ceremony? That would be more or less the same thing as far as I can tell. popularity with the hugo voters isn't the same as overall sales though  if you made a list of "best selling" SF novels of the last 25 years probably the only one that won a hugo was Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. None of the other HP books won. Ready Player One wasn't nominated (not that it's any good, but it's gotta be the sci fi book that sold the most). it basically judges popularity of a book among people who take SF seriously, which is at least interesting to know
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2020 17:25
|
|
|
buffalo all day posted:it basically judges popularity of a book among people who take SF seriously, which is at least interesting to know That's the theory, but the practical was shown to be something different by the Puppies fiasco. In practice, it's decided by however many people decide to lay out the cash (what is it, $25 I think?) for the membership. There's no way to test for "people who take SF seriously". Pay your money, get your vote, and if you can get together enough people to pay and vote the way you want, you can buy one or more awards. Paying the membership fee doesn't make your anymore serious about SF than paying for an account here on SA makes you serious about posting.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2020 18:23
|
|
|
buffalo all day posted:popularity with the hugo voters isn't the same as overall sales though
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2020 18:36
|
|
|
jng2058 posted:That's the theory, but the practical was shown to be something different by the Puppies fiasco. In practice, it's decided by however many people decide to lay out the cash (what is it, $25 I think?) for the membership. There's no way to test for "people who take SF seriously". Pay your money, get your vote, and if you can get together enough people to pay and vote the way you want, you can buy one or more awards. That just shows that smaller organizations are especially vulnerable to group strategic voting. It's still true that people who pay the money to join are generally more interested in scifi/fantasy than your average person.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2020 18:43
|
|
|
Honestly at this point Hugo/Nebula/other rewards have about as much weight as random "top 10 book" lists on tor or wherever. Which is to say they're useful for looking through to see if there's anything I missed, but if something dumb wins who cares.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2020 18:46
|
|
|
In the membership form: [ ] Check here to indicate that you take S.F. seriously. Bing bong so simple.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2020 18:49
|
|
|
DACK FAYDEN posted:Huh, is there not a YA Hugo? I feel like basically all the HP books were the best YA SF/F of their year. Say what you want, those books were compelling to young me. There was a lot of fighting in the WSFS back in the early 2010s over adding a YA category to the Hugos, driven by the success of Potter and The Hunger Games, among others. It was finally settled by creating a separate award, the Lodestar, which is only open to YA books. The Lodestar has only been awarded since 2018, though. (If you're curious, this year's nominees for the Lodestar: Naomi Kritzer, Catfishing on CatNet Frances Hardinge, Deeplight Yoon Ha Lee, Dragon Pearl T. Kingfisher, Minor Mage Fran Wilde, Riverland Holly Black, The Cruel King)
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2020 18:50
|
|
|
withak posted:In the membership form: if you pay $25 to cast a vote for something, you probably give a poo poo about it. is that always true, no. and giving a poo poo about SF doesn't mean you have good taste, obviously. it's just a data point. jo walton's "among others" is like the dictionary definition of a book with unique appeal to hugo voters.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2020 18:56
|
|
|
Selachian posted:
holy poo poo
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2020 18:56
|
|
|
Selachian posted:
just thinking about a dog typing in a dark room quietly woofing to himself as the letters CATNET glow on the screen
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2020 18:58
|
|
|
That's a sequel to Cat Pictures Please. Both are fun reads.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2020 19:12
|
|
|
Catfishing on Catnet is definitely a YA book and it's also a wonderful one. Dragon Pearl was good too.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2020 19:23
|
|
|
buffalo all day posted:if you pay $25 to cast a vote for something, you probably give a poo poo about it. Puppies gave a poo poo about pushing their lovely views, for example. e: Post brought to you by the word "poo poo". anilEhilated fucked around with this message at 19:57 on Apr 10, 2020 |
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2020 19:54
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 31, 2024 09:41 |
|
|
say one thing for the puppies, at least they proved pretty conclusively that there wasn't a pre-existing secret cabal fixing the hugo nominations
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2020 20:11
|
|