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I don't read as much as I used to but a few times a year, I feel like reading a few books. I just finished the Last of Us Part 2 video game and everything else I could think of playing would pale in comparison so getting involved in stories/characters is appealing to me right now and of course books is where I would get this fix but I'm not sure where to go since I'm not always in the book scene. Back in the 90 while in high school, I read so much horror and Stephen King stuff and in college I discovered Fantasy while getting into D&D so I read and enjoyed that stuff a lot. I'm taking a chance of posting here and maybe bother you guys to give me some suggestions. I did check some of the websites in the OP but it's a bit overwhelming trying to find stuff to read when you don't know what you could be looking for in the first place. I tried reading the latest pages of the thread but I don't feel like it's worth it doing that way. I feel like I'm in a mood for Science-Fiction or Fantasy. I didn't read much Science-Fiction but I did read a lot of Fantasy (Dragonlance, Drizzt, Death Gate Cycle, Chevaliers d'Émeraude and sequels which are a french canadian series, not sure if it was translated in English, some Witcher to name a few and gives an idea). I think I could go for something "new" as a book genre as I always liked apocalyptic/post apocalyptic movies, tv shows and video games, especially with a science fiction cause (like the fungus thing in The Last of Us). Are there good books on this kind of settings you guys could suggest? Especially when the book or the series is not just about the "apocalypse" but the post stuff to survive, etc... I would also like to add some other science fiction stuff and fantasy to my to read list. You already have an idea of the kind of fantasy I enjoy but I don't mind different suggestions as I'm kind of looking at discovering new things right now. I'm usually pretty open with the science-fiction when I look at the kind of comics, movies or tv shows I enjoyed (pretty much all big stuff I must have seen I think at least with tv and movies). Thank you for your time!
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Jul 5, 2020 23:11
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The Road, by Cormac McCarthy.
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Jul 5, 2020 23:37
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quantumfoam posted:Pournelle ... had legit access to the ARPANET email system. Not for too much longer!
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Jul 6, 2020 00:07
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It'd be worth checking out some collections of short science fiction too, that's one way to start narrowing down the kind of style you like, and themes you like, if you're not super familiar with the genre.
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Jul 6, 2020 00:08
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Well if you're talking post apocalyptic fantasy, N.K. Jemisin's Broken Earth trilogy is I guess an obvious recommendation.
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Jul 6, 2020 02:44
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Cool thread on qibla and how it's calculated with modern tech + tips on how to do it in space and I am suddenly starved for sci-fi including this. There's prayer in Kameron Hurley's Bel Dame trilogy but they're not in space. https://twitter.com/Foone/status/1279893046692216832?s=19
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Jul 6, 2020 04:19
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I remember one of the characters in Charles Stross's Accelerando was a Muslim imam who lived in Jupiter orbit, but I don't recall if the issue of prayer direction came up.
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Jul 6, 2020 04:23
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I'm pretty certain it was mentioned in connection with the space rabbi in one of the later Dune books, but it was a very tiny digression. And here's a similar but different bit of Jewish responsa about terrestrial timekeeping in outer space
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Jul 6, 2020 04:36
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Anne Leckies Ancillary justice and the sequels for sci fi! Raven tower by her for fantasy. Broken earth is a great rec as well.
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Jul 6, 2020 04:53
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Selachian posted:I remember one of the characters in Charles Stross's Accelerando was a Muslim imam who lived in Jupiter orbit, but I don't recall if the issue of prayer direction came up. I'm pretty sure there's something about it. But it's also... the Earth is so small and space is so big, it would be fairly trivial to be pointed towards the Earth.
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Jul 6, 2020 05:00
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Hemish posted:I think I could go for something "new" as a book genre as I always liked apocalyptic/post apocalyptic movies, tv shows and video games, especially with a science fiction cause (like the fungus thing in The Last of Us). For post apocalyptic fiction, John Wyndham, especially his four classics: The Day of the Triffids, The Kraken Wakes, The Chrysalids and The Midwich Cuckoos. (Last one is actually about an apocalypse averted, I guess). John Christopher, especially The Death of Grass. Russell Hoban's Riddley Walker and David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas. Also, re: The Last of Us, I also really recommend the first two Telltale Walking Dead games if you haven't played them. Forget everything else about that dumbass franchise, it's basically a really excellent post-apocalyptic story piggybacking on the brand name. More like interactive fiction than a video game, and the best example of it I've ever seen. StrixNebulosa posted:Cool thread on qibla and how it's calculated with modern tech + tips on how to do it in space and I am suddenly starved for sci-fi including this. There's prayer in Kameron Hurley's Bel Dame trilogy but they're not in space. I remember reading about that Malaysian astronaut ages ago! And the advice being basically, "look, if it's not possible to do, you don't have to worry about it." Similar to a Muslim engineer who went and worked on a site in far northern Norway, above the Arctic circle, and was in perpetual daylight during Ramadan. So he wrote to an imam in Mecca who said yeah, it's fine to just go by Mecca sunrise/sunset, God doesn't want you to starve to death.
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Jul 6, 2020 06:20
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freebooter posted:For post apocalyptic fiction, John Wyndham, especially his four classics: The Day of the Triffids, The Kraken Wakes, The Chrysalids and The Midwich Cuckoos. (Last one is actually about an apocalypse averted, I guess). John Christopher, especially The Death of Grass. Russell Hoban's Riddley Walker and David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas. Yeah somehow it's okay to throw gay people off of buildings, but if it would inconvenience you, don't stress it. (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)
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Jul 6, 2020 06:21
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pseudanonymous posted:Yeah somehow it's okay to throw gay people off of buildings, but if it would inconvenience you, don't stress it. Did this hot take come from r/atheism or r/the_donald?
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Jul 6, 2020 08:00
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pseudanonymous posted:Yeah somehow it's okay to throw gay people off of buildings, but if it would inconvenience you, don't stress it. Thank you Chris Kyle
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Jul 6, 2020 09:09
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freebooter posted:Similar to a Muslim engineer who went and worked on a site in far northern Norway, above the Arctic circle, and was in perpetual daylight during Ramadan. So he wrote to an imam in Mecca who said yeah, it's fine to just go by Mecca sunrise/sunset, God doesn't want you to starve to death. We have full-time Muslim communities living up in the Arctic these days and, yeah, no, they don't starve to death every year.
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Jul 6, 2020 13:58
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pseudanonymous posted:Yeah somehow it's okay to throw gay people off of buildings, but if it would inconvenience you, don't stress it. The fact that someone is Muslim does not mean they throw people off buildings, come on. There are a billion Muslims on the planet, they're not an echo chamber.
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Jul 6, 2020 16:10
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SFL Vol 03 update final. Picking up from where I left off in SFL Vol 03 (57% completion i think), it was fullbore '50's/60's/70's juvenile print and multimedia entertainment nostalgia chat until RotLA came out, and even then it took Clash of the Titans (1981), Superman 2(1981) and Dragonslayer (1981) to derail juvenile entertainment nostalgia chat. Finally RODOF, the twice doxxed son of Dr Robert Forward, came forward (terrible pun but I'm keeping it) to end Vol 03 on a creepy note [Subject: Hymen Hijinx]. -Raiders of the Lost Ark chat was mainly angrily posting unfavorable reviews of RotLA, arguing whether Belloq ate a fly during the Bazooka-Indy standoff, seeing C3P0 & R2D2 in wall inscriptions of the buried city of Tanis, everyone saying that Indy shooting the swordsman got the highest audience reaction, and then trying to break down why in SMG/BotL style, followed by infinite seeming waves of punny RotLA sequel concept titles. -Clash of Titan chat included 2 profiles of Ray Harryhausen, wooden acting, not sticking to Greek myths as understood/remembered, slams about Harryhausen's work, body doubles...all in all; the people who were the most vocal about Excalibur 1981 (mentioned in earlier Vol 03 recaps) were also the most vocal posters about Clash of Titans. -Nothing big on Superman 2 chat other than long-exposed to public awareness behind-the-scenes drama involving Donner and Superman 1/2. Dragonslayer mostly got mentioned for the early CGI/first generation digital optical efforts in it, then... -RODOF made a series of posts about [Subject: Hymen Hijinx]...........in Dragonslayer (1981). Everywhere you think those RODOF posts probably went re: [Subject: Hymen Hijinx], Yup, you are correct. Bonus correctness points go to people whom also predicted "I wasn't being serious in my earlier posts, I was only joking BUT....". And that's that for SFL Vol 03. Still undecided about how detailed future SFL archive recaps will be. Even these highly summarized recaps take most of an hour to write up. quantumfoam fucked around with this message at 18:59 on Jul 6, 2020 |
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Jul 6, 2020 17:07
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quantumfoam posted:And that's that for SFL Vol 03. Still undecided about how detailed future SFL archive recaps will be. Even these highly summarized recaps take most of an hour to write up. They're fascinating to read, thank you for your time.
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Jul 6, 2020 17:41
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I've started reading the revelation space series. Does the author ever expand on the story arch of the first book? I'm midway the second one but feel left out a bit after that sort-of-cliffhanger of the first one. Reading the wiki synopsis it seems the whole series is only loosely connected?
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Jul 6, 2020 20:22
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Mikojan posted:I've started reading the revelation space series. The second book is a direct sequel to the first one, eventually. They connect. The third is...in theory a conclusion, it's pretty disappointing in a lot of ways.
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Jul 6, 2020 20:28
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General Battuta posted:The second book is a direct sequel to the first one, eventually. They connect. I hated Absolution Gap. I’d strongly recommend ending with Redemption Ark and reading Chasm City.
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Jul 6, 2020 20:40
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quantumfoam posted:-Clash of Titan chat included 2 profiles of Ray Harryhausen, wooden acting, not sticking to Greek myths as understood/remembered, slams about Harryhausen's work, body doubles...all in all; the people who were the most vocal about Excalibur 1981 (mentioned in earlier Vol 03 recaps) were also the most vocal posters about Clash of Titans.
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Jul 6, 2020 20:50
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The reviews on Goodreads for ARCs of The Tyrant Baru Cormorant seem really good. I enjoyed the second book a lot, especially the flashback sections, but people who didn't seem pleased with the new one, and it pays off a lot that's been built up. Looking forward to August.
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Jul 6, 2020 21:13
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anilEhilated posted:Please tell me at least someone was angry about naming the loving Kraken. Such a weird decision. This is something you can easily check for yourself. Links to the SF-LOVERS Digest are in the thread OP and also pinned in the off-site Book barn Discord server. Currently am 21% into SFL Vol 04 and John Carpenter's The Thing just got teased for a mid 1982 release(stoked for SFL reactions), while Dino DeLaurentis Dune got mentioned as recently entering pre-production.
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Jul 6, 2020 23:15
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Prince of Fools (Red Queen's War #1) by Mark Lawrence - $3.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00G3L1338/ Worlds of Exile and Illusion by Ursula K Le Guin - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MQIG9PL/ The Waking Fire (Draconis Memoria #1) by Anthony Ryan $3.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B016JPTQ68/
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Jul 6, 2020 23:19
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Thank you for your recommendations, guys. I wrote them down and I'll look into it! Some of them are pretty old (going back to the 50s) and I'm not sure if I'll be able to read them. I like practicing my English by reading in that language instead of findinf a translated copy but I found it's not as easy when it's older stuff. We'll see! I also played The Walking Dead and I agree that the first 2 "seasons" are the best.
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Jul 7, 2020 00:00
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Oh hey, if you like sci-fi and video games, play the most recent Prey. It's a really good immersive sim with a fascinating sci-fi story.
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Jul 7, 2020 00:11
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Ccs posted:The reviews on Goodreads for ARCs of The Tyrant Baru Cormorant seem really good. I enjoyed the second book a lot, especially the flashback sections, but people who didn't seem pleased with the new one, and it pays off a lot that's been built up. Looking forward to August. I finished it about mid-June and agree that it's good payoff in Tyrant, along with some great twists that my broke brain didn't see. Also congrats to General Battuta on starred review in Publisher's Weekly he got a while back!
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Jul 7, 2020 00:13
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StrixNebulosa posted:Oh hey, if you like sci-fi and video games, play the most recent Prey. It's a really good immersive sim with a fascinating sci-fi story. My addiction to "collect" games finally pays off. I already purchased Prey some time ago, installed it and never played. It's one of my 50 currently installed games! I'll try to go through The Last of Us Part 2 in a New Game+ first as I wanted to fiddle more with the weapons and upgrades. To stay more on the books side of things, just quickly looking all those titles you guys recommended, I feel like The Broken Earth trilogy is what seems to have grabbed my attention the most so I might look into those first.
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Jul 7, 2020 00:25
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Hemish posted:Thank you for your recommendations, guys. I wrote them down and I'll look into it! Some of them are pretty old (going back to the 50s) and I'm not sure if I'll be able to read them. I like practicing my English by reading in that language instead of findinf a translated copy but I found it's not as easy when it's older stuff. We'll see! Wyndham and Christopher are from the '50s but don't let that stop you, they're very simply written and shouldn't be a problem for a non-native speaker. In fact I remember reading a piece about how Wyndham in particular has a more outdated 1920s/1930s view of British society than the 1950s and '60s that he was actually writing in, but I never even noticed that when I read him as a teenager - the books could have been written yesterday for all I knew, they were just immediately compelling apocalyptic sci-fi mysteries. Having said that, if English is not your first language, don't read Riddley Walker. It's written in a deliberately broken, phonetic English designed to give the impression of a changed language two thousand years after the apocalypse, and is a difficult read even for native speakers. This is the first paragraph: On my naming day when I come 12 I gone front spear and kilt a wyld boar he parbly ben the las wyld pig on the Bundel Downs any how there hadnt ben none for a long time befor him nor I aint looking to see none agen. He dint make the groun shake nor nothing like that when he come on to my spear he wernt all that big plus he lookit poorly. He done the reqwyrt he ternt and stood and clattert his teef and made his rush and there we wer then. Him on 1 end of the spear kicking his life out and me on the other end watching him dy. I said, "Your tern now my tern later." The other spears gone in then and he wer dead and the steam coming up off him in the rain and we all yelt, "Offert!"
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Jul 7, 2020 00:49
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freebooter posted:Wyndham and Christopher are from the '50s but don't let that stop you, they're very simply written and shouldn't be a problem for a non-native speaker. In fact I remember reading a piece about how Wyndham in particular has a more outdated 1920s/1930s view of British society than the 1950s and '60s that he was actually writing in, but I never even noticed that when I read him as a teenager - the books could have been written yesterday for all I knew, they were just immediately compelling apocalyptic sci-fi mysteries. I can make it out but the effort/focus required don't really tempt me for a full novel like that!
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Jul 7, 2020 03:19
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Hemish posted:To stay more on the books side of things, just quickly looking all those titles you guys recommended, I feel like The Broken Earth trilogy is what seems to have grabbed my attention the most so I might look into those first. Very good call imo! Actually for sci-fi Murderbot by Martha Wells would also be a good pickup for just a fun good series (and short stories, so fairly easy to get through).
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Jul 7, 2020 04:26
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Third cry pilot book just came out if anyone's interested. (Bio mecha apocalypse meets generic kid goes to training academy stuff)
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Jul 7, 2020 12:30
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branedotorg posted:Third cry pilot book just came out if anyone's interested. Was the second any good? The premise of the first was fun, but it spent 80% of its time in boot camp, ignoring the interesting stuff in the world.
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Jul 7, 2020 15:21
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Is Artemis by Andy Weir any good?
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Jul 7, 2020 17:34
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Brandon Sanderson is doing a kickstarter for a 10th anniversary signed, two-volume leatherbound edition of The Way of Kings. Some of the add ons are pretty interesting too. A copy of The Way of Kings Prime which is a alternate story/version of WoKs. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dragonsteel/the-way-of-kings-10th-anniversary-leatherbound-edition If you haven't read the series, I think it's one of my favorite fantasy series and Sanderson's best.
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Jul 7, 2020 18:43
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I never got past Words of Radiance. I have a gap in work coming up so it would be a good chance to read Oathbringer but I've found my patience with the amount of jargon and the inelegance of his battle descriptions grate on me more than it used it.
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Jul 7, 2020 19:16
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D-Pad posted:Brandon Sanderson is doing a kickstarter for a 10th anniversary signed, two-volume leatherbound edition of The Way of Kings. Some of the add ons are pretty interesting too. A copy of The Way of Kings Prime which is a alternate story/version of WoKs. This has been an insane KS. He met his goal is three minutes (likely less, it just took that long for the system to catch up) and blew through all the original stretch goals in like three hours. It's at $3.8 million right now. That's insane for a campaign where the vast majority of backers are spending a minimum of $200.
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Jul 7, 2020 22:48
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Ben Nevis posted:Is Artemis by Andy Weir any good? It's not as good as the Martian, but I found it enjoyable enough.
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Jul 7, 2020 22:57
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Ornamented Death posted:This has been an insane KS. He met his goal is three minutes (likely less, it just took that long for the system to catch up) and blew through all the original stretch goals in like three hours. It's at $3.8 million right now. That's insane for a campaign where the vast majority of backers are spending a minimum of $200. With 30 days still to go Sanderson already has to sign 12,000 books (24,000 if he signs both leather bound copies). It'd be easier to hire a team of people to learn his signature at this point
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Jul 7, 2020 23:16
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