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pseudanonymous posted:What is a dragon? A miserable pile of scales. And now for something completely different: I recently finished The Descent by Jeff Long, which I hadn't read since like the year it came out. It holds up pretty well. It's a sci-horror with a premise that just charms me: the discovery and exploration of a sprawling labyrinth of tunnels beneath the earth's surface that turn out to have a demonic humanoid race living inside them. The character-level drama is pretty good, and way more importantly the top-down exploration of how the world would deal with literally discovering a tunnel to Hell is well thought-out and the ideas are well-deployed. Long has worked in both mountaineering and government and his expertise makes it all sound terrifically plausible. The parts that didn't hold up as well as you'd expect are... well, about what you'd expect from a Dude Book of that era: the female protag has some issues that border on Cliche Woman Stuff, the villains are kinda rapey, and it has whiffs of an underlying pro-interventionist message that reminds me a lot of pre-9/11 superhero stories. Still, despite the complaints above, I enjoyed it and not many folks seem to have heard of it, possibly because they confuse it with the film of the same name or assume it's a novel that film was based on. What really charmed me is the exquisite detail that Long goes into about the subterranean environments and how he describes them differently when writing from the POV of the 'demons' vs the humans who are exploring them the first time. The book's full of nice little touches like that and it's a quick, entertaining read.
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Jun 8, 2020 23:16
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Black Leopard, Red Wolf (Dark Star #1) by Marlon James - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DP5W1LT/ A Wizard of Earthsea (Earthsea #1) by Ursula K Le Guin - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008T9L6AM/
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Jun 9, 2020 00:37
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TheAardvark posted:If nothing else I loved the shark substory. I'm a huge sucker for books with multiple semi-connected stories, though. I loved the first 2 Hyperion books. I'm in the minority here because I liked the Endymion books, too. I will reread the whole series every few years.
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Jun 9, 2020 01:38
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I recall in the 80s there being a surge in fantasy novels possibly due to D&D. One thing I remember was seeing how many apostrophes the author could put in their characters' names.
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Jun 9, 2020 01:46
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pradmer posted:A Wizard of Earthsea (Earthsea #1) by Ursula K Le Guin - $2.99 Read. This. Book. Damnit.
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Jun 9, 2020 01:56
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mllaneza posted:Read. This. Book. Damnit. Why?
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Jun 9, 2020 02:22
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Ack I just bought Wizard of Earthsea for full price a few days ago. Already finished it. Good book! I could see where other authors lifted from. I’ve been on the hunt for new books about wizards that aren’t urban fantasy and have been pretty disappointed with the offerings.
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Jun 9, 2020 02:22
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It's a good book OP.
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Jun 9, 2020 02:25
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The first three are good classic fantasy with Taoist influence and beautiful prose, the last three are an incredible example of an author returning to a setting with compassion and purpose to right past wrongs. Or to see what had changed.
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Jun 9, 2020 02:30
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Because it's got a dragon in it. It's about a boy who chooses to go to wizard school and become the most powerful wizard in the world. And its sequel The Tombs of Atuan is about a girl who is forced to become the most powerful priestess in the world's biggest death cult and chooses to leave it.
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Jun 9, 2020 02:38
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Hmmmm. It's been at least a decade since I last tried Earthsea, and it might be time now. Shoutout to the illustrated edition being one of the prettiest looking things I've seen in ages, even if I'd be completely unable to read it in the bathtub.
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Jun 9, 2020 03:01
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You can also start with Tombs if the first book isn't grabbing you; they are largely unconnected although the second book spoils and gives some context to an event late in the first.
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Jun 9, 2020 03:06
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General Battuta posted:The first three are good classic fantasy with Taoist influence and beautiful prose, the last three are an incredible example of an author returning to a setting with compassion and purpose to right past wrongs. Or to see what had changed. It's also one of the few fantasy series with chiefly non-White protagonists.
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Jun 9, 2020 16:03
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StrixNebulosa posted:Hmmmm. It's been at least a decade since I last tried Earthsea, and it might be time now. Shoutout to the illustrated edition being one of the prettiest looking things I've seen in ages, even if I'd be completely unable to read it in the bathtub. Tehanu will 100% be your jam but you need the first three books to really "get" what's going on, and I think that General Battuta's description of an author returning to a setting with passion and purpose to right past wrongs particularly applies to this book. edit: And yeah, what the poster above said...if Wizard of Earthsea isn't quite catching your fancy, try Tombs of Atuan but do see if you can get back into Wizard after the fact. Grimson fucked around with this message at 16:16 on Jun 9, 2020 |
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Jun 9, 2020 16:13
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https://twitter.com/see_starling/status/1270427138655584256
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Jun 9, 2020 20:33
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His Dark Materials (Golden Compass #1) by Philip Pullman - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FC1ICM/ Berserk #1 (manga) by Kentaro Miura - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073ZJV2VG/
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Jun 9, 2020 23:01
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If anyone reads the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, the newest issue includes my critique partner Holly Messinger's novella Byzantine. It's legitimately one of the best novellas I've ever read. You might know her from her weird western The Curse of Jacob Tracy. I contributed absolutely nothing to this one, save for telling her that it was great. Here's the pitch from F&SF: F&SF posted:Novelist Holly Messinger makes her F&SF debut with an ambitious and vivid historical "gay demon romance" set during the Fall of Constantinople. Sfsite just did an interview her: Holly Messinger
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Jun 10, 2020 01:05
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pradmer posted:His Dark Materials (Golden Compass #1) by Philip Pullman - $1.99 Wow. I’d pick up Berserk for my kindle if they were all that cheap. Too bad the first few volumes are quite bad.
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Jun 10, 2020 03:29
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Is it enjoyable to read a comic on a kindle? I've had a bad time trying to zoom and pan illustrations in books and I can't imagine its fun applying that to a book that is entirely pictures.
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Jun 10, 2020 05:54
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It is alright on a large tablet. On a regular kindle reader it is unbearable.
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Jun 10, 2020 07:16
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Poldarn posted:Is it enjoyable to read a comic on a kindle? I've had a bad time trying to zoom and pan illustrations in books and I can't imagine its fun applying that to a book that is entirely pictures. The comics I've read on an iPad (non-Mini) have been fine. It starts with the whole page visible, then you double tap the first panel, it zooms to just that, then you swipe between panels, zooming out for each new page. It works surprisingly well. You get the glory of the full layout, plus you can see each panel zoomed in. And the app does the zoom for you !
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Jun 10, 2020 07:31
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That makes more sense on a tablet, I was thinking a Paperwhite or something.
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Jun 10, 2020 10:24
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The climax of the final Malazan book features a dragon made of dragons which should satisfy anyone who felt the rest of the series was unsufficiently dragon-y
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Jun 10, 2020 11:32
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Poldarn posted:Is it enjoyable to read a comic on a kindle? I've had a bad time trying to zoom and pan illustrations in books and I can't imagine its fun applying that to a book that is entirely pictures. Western comics are pretty terrible for an E-reader, but a lot of Manga is released as paperback sized black and white, so I would imagine works well on a paperwhite.
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Jun 10, 2020 14:58
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Strom Cuzewon posted:The climax of the final Malazan book features a dragon made of dragons which should satisfy anyone who felt the rest of the series was unsufficiently dragon-y What dragon isn't made of dragons?
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Jun 10, 2020 17:01
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BananaNutkins posted:What dragon isn't made of dragons? Dragons plural. Your basic dragon only has a dragon:dragon ratio of 1.
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Jun 10, 2020 17:08
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Undead dragons should count as 2:1 imo
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Jun 10, 2020 17:11
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Depends. A skeleton dragon is giving you objectively less dragon per dragon.
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Jun 10, 2020 17:17
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What is the conversion ratio of kilograms to dragons? My worthless U.S. education has failed me.
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Jun 10, 2020 17:18
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Strom Cuzewon posted:The climax of the final Malazan book features a dragon made of dragons which should satisfy anyone who felt the rest of the series was unsufficiently dragon-y So Voltron?
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Jun 10, 2020 17:28
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Bujold's Curse of Chalion is $2.99 on Kindle. A great starting place for the Five Gods setting. https://www.amazon.com/Curse-Chalion-Lois-McMaster-Bujold-ebook/dp/B000FC11AQ/
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Jun 10, 2020 20:36
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mllaneza posted:Bujold's Curse of Chalion is $2.99 on Kindle. A great starting place for the Five Gods setting. Also a great standalone in its own right!
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Jun 10, 2020 20:43
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What do people here think of the self published fantasy blog off and its winners? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-Published_Fantasy_Blog-Off I just read Blood of Heirs and its sequel and I was actuallydecently impressed. Reminded me a bit of Robin Hobb. On the other hand, I was quite dissapointed with The Grey Bastards.
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Jun 10, 2020 20:59
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StrixNebulosa posted:My brother's birthday is upcoming and while I have some gifts lined up for him, it never hurts to check: are there any cool books about dragons? And I mean: dragons as main characters, dragons as badasses, dragons as a central focus. He doesn't mind if they're evil, but he wants them to be cool alien-esque scaly winged badasses who influence the plot. One of his favorites is Deathwing from the warcraft universe, for an example. I know this is late but I always liked the Enchanted Forest books by Patricia Wrede. The first one is Talking To Dragons (though it was apparently rewritten to be read last at some point because it's chronologically the last book) and is about the son of the protagonist of the prequels. They are good and have good dragons. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dealing_with_Dragons
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Jun 10, 2020 21:34
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 The mail came today!  Put this under books I never expected to exist they seem so surreal, and translated by Le Guin to boot!
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Jun 10, 2020 21:40
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I've never heard of that book before but literally every aspect of the cover has me interested.
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Jun 10, 2020 21:44
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wizzardstaff posted:I've never heard of that book before but literally every aspect of the cover has me interested. Here's a neat tor.com article on the book!
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Jun 10, 2020 21:47
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Recursion by Blake Crouch - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HDSHP7N/ I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JVCHEMU/
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Jun 10, 2020 22:37
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StrixNebulosa posted:My brother's birthday is upcoming and while I have some gifts lined up for him, it never hurts to check: are there any cool books about dragons? And I mean: dragons as main characters, dragons as badasses, dragons as a central focus. He doesn't mind if they're evil, but he wants them to be cool alien-esque scaly winged badasses who influence the plot. One of his favorites is Deathwing from the warcraft universe, for an example. If they like dragons with lots of power, use people like pawns, and have a ton of influence, maybe some Shadowrun novels?
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Jun 10, 2020 22:38
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Has anyone read the Great North Road by Peter Hamilton? I am like 2/3 of the way through and the creepy male writer fantasy sex stuff seems to have really ramped up. There are like half a dozen middle aged, slightly out of shape men with much younger, hot wives (or mistresses, harems, whatever). We get really detailed discussions of exactly how sexy and taut random women are. There’s a ton of random sketchy stuff like this. But then.... There is an entire POV character where we just learn about how he uses his access to police databases to stalk women he wants to date in really violating ways. That character is presented more as a single young dude’s fantasy, not a complete creep. These POV sections; as far as I can tell, almost overwhelmingly have nothing to do with the plot and don’t advance it at all, so I’m not even really sure it needs any spoiler tags. E: does this somehow turn around and someone else realizes how lovely it is? Like, I get that someone can write a character who is an rear end in a top hat and does things they don’t agree with, but I’m struggling to see that here. Like, I actually like the book on a high level, this stuff very very much excepted. But wtf? tildes fucked around with this message at 11:05 on Jun 12, 2020 |
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Jun 12, 2020 10:55
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