|
ed balls balls man posted:Hoo boy have to wait till the 20th in the UK. Rooting for the General! Post honest reviews to Amazon, once the book hits 50 reviews the algorithm starts treating it like a real boy. Also thank you!
|
#
?
Aug 11, 2020 14:45
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 29, 2024 07:43 |
|
|
freebooter posted:Finished Blind Lake, a first contact novel which was a 2003 Hugo nominee. I really enjoyed it; a solid 4/5 star book. It's about a research facility in the Midwest using technology they don't quite understand to monitor aliens in a city on another planet; at the same time an unexplained military cordon/lockdown/quarantine descends on their facility, the alien they've been monitoring breaks his unchanging routine and departs the city to walk into the desert. And I think that dual mystery of "why have we been quarantined with no explanation" and "why has The Subject departed his city and gone into the desert on some kind of... pilgrimage?" works really well in a gripping airport thriller kind of way. Most engaging sci-fi book I've read since The Last Policeman trilogy. This sounds interesting enough that I've put it on my to-read list, thanks!
|
|
#
?
Aug 11, 2020 14:47
|
|
|
Finished Doomsday Book by Connie Willis, the first Oxford Time Travel novel. I was expecting something cozy, and I think the next book is closer to that, but Jesus what a bleak novel Doomsday Book turned out to be. Good book but damned depressing.
|
|
#
?
Aug 11, 2020 14:56
|
|
|
TheAardvark posted:Finished Doomsday Book by Connie Willis, the first Oxford Time Travel novel. fair warning that blackout/all clear are far more boring than books about time travel during the Blitz have any right to be
|
|
#
?
Aug 11, 2020 16:37
|
|
|
buffalo all day posted:fair warning that blackout/all clear are far more boring than books about time travel during the Blitz have any right to be Also, if you're actually British and especially a Londoner you will realise that despite claiming to do a lot of research, she really didn't and its jarring. At one point the characters ride on the Jubilee Line . Which is named for the current Queen's Silver Jubilee and thus opened in 1979.
|
|
#
?
Aug 11, 2020 17:21
|
|
|
freebooter posted:Finished Blind Lake, a first contact novel which was a 2003 Hugo nominee. I really enjoyed it; a solid 4/5 star book. It's about a research facility in the Midwest using technology they don't quite understand to monitor aliens in a city on another planet; at the same time an unexplained military cordon/lockdown/quarantine descends on their facility, the alien they've been monitoring breaks his unchanging routine and departs the city to walk into the desert. And I think that dual mystery of "why have we been quarantined with no explanation" and "why has The Subject departed his city and gone into the desert on some kind of... pilgrimage?" works really well in a gripping airport thriller kind of way. Most engaging sci-fi book I've read since The Last Policeman trilogy. This was a pretty enjoyable read, good characters and concept, and it threw me for a major loop at the end: I assumed the computer system was "dreaming" the aliens and they didn't actually exist. Imagine my surprise!
|
|
#
?
Aug 11, 2020 17:22
|
|
|
feedmegin posted:Also, if you're actually British and especially a Londoner you will realise that despite claiming to do a lot of research, she really didn't and its jarring. At one point the characters ride on the Jubilee Line . Which is named for the current Queen's Silver Jubilee and thus opened in 1979. I googled the author maybe 20-30 pages in to Doomsday book because I had a hunch she wasn't actually British. Her British speech felt a bit on the nose in the beginning, and I wasn't remotely surprised to find out she was an American. She got over it pretty quick though, but yeah, it's kinda obvious even without being British. It was the over use of "I do so hope that" specifically that made me suspicious.
|
|
#
?
Aug 11, 2020 18:26
|
|
|
General Battuta posted:Post honest reviews to Amazon, once the book hits 50 reviews the algorithm starts treating it like a real boy. Also thank you! I'm surprised someone hasn't written a sci-fi dystopia where society is ruled by an extremely blatant reimplementation of amazon's book sorting algorithm
|
|
#
?
Aug 11, 2020 18:46
|
|
|
Ben Nerevarine posted:This was a pretty enjoyable read, good characters and concept, and it threw me for a major loop at the end: I assumed the computer system was "dreaming" the aliens and they didn't actually exist. Imagine my surprise! Can you spoil the reveal for me? I read it like 15 years ago and don't quite remember, though I recall the setup quite well.
|
|
#
?
Aug 11, 2020 19:04
|
|
|
Less Fat Luke posted:Can you spoil the reveal for me? I read it like 15 years ago and don't quite remember, though I recall the setup quite well. If I remember, the crystal-like structure that destroyed the previous facility turns out to be a natural consequence of intelligent life. The same sort of structures pop up wherever there's an intelligent species in the universe, and these structures communicate with each other instantaneously and comprise some sort of super-intelligence. The aliens that the facility was "seeing" was really just the human scientists tapping into these structures communicating with each other instantaneously over interstellar distances. The lobster aliens exist but, like humans, they are really just one more instance of the necessary step before these super-intelligent structures come into being.
|
|
#
?
Aug 11, 2020 19:15
|
|
|
Thanks, I don't remember that at all. Guess I'll read it again!
|
|
#
?
Aug 11, 2020 19:30
|
|
|
feedmegin posted:Also, if you're actually British and especially a Londoner you will realise that despite claiming to do a lot of research, she really didn't and its jarring. At one point the characters ride on the Jubilee Line . Which is named for the current Queen's Silver Jubilee and thus opened in 1979. Is this the author who thought that there were 5 pence in a shilling?
|
|
#
?
Aug 11, 2020 19:39
|
|
|
mllaneza posted:Steven Brust's The Baron of Magister Valley was good. It's the weakest of the Paarfi novels, but still drat good. Now we just need to find out how badly Vlad has to gently caress up that the cycle turns and Norathar takes the throne.
|
|
#
?
Aug 11, 2020 19:42
|
|
|
Qwertycoatl posted:Is this the author who thought that there were 5 pence in a shilling? I mean there were...after 1971. Also she thinks Manchester is in the Midlands which is roughly like saying Atlanta is in the Midwest (and our North has close to as much regional identity and pride as the US South right down to being on the losing side of our Civil War so yeah thats a big nono). And yeah her characters' dialogue is very noticeably American. feedmegin fucked around with this message at 20:16 on Aug 11, 2020 |
|
#
?
Aug 11, 2020 20:09
|
|
|
Qwertycoatl posted:Is this the author who thought that there were 5 pence in a shilling? There are five pence in a shilling. This just wasn't the case prior to decimalisation in 1971. My personal All-Time Award for Bad Research goes to Ben Aaronovitch, who when asked which building on Russell Square was meant to be the Folly admitted that he didn't actually go there to check out the buildings despite living two Tube stations away.
|
|
#
?
Aug 11, 2020 20:13
|
|
|
feedmegin posted:I mean there were...after 1971. Also she thinks Manchester is in the Midlands which is roughly like saying Atlanta is in the Midwest (and our North has close to as much regional identity and pride as the US South so yeah thats a big nono). I'm the one who set off pounds vs. kilograms chat, and I couldn't imagine trying to accurately portray specific bits of the UK in a novel. Even outside of SF/F, are there novelists who have really captured, accurately, society outside of their own experience? Stephen King may get poo poo for always setting his novels in Maine but it's obvious why when he tries to capture even other parts of America. Precluding historical novels where we're all basically working off the same written knowledge.
|
|
#
?
Aug 11, 2020 20:15
|
|
|
TheAardvark posted:I'm the one who set off pounds vs. kilograms chat, and I couldn't imagine trying to accurately portray specific bits of the UK in a novel. You can ask someone from the place you're portraying to proofread your poo poo, and then actually listen to them. That would have caught a lot.
|
|
#
?
Aug 11, 2020 20:17
|
|
|
feedmegin posted:I mean there were...after 1971. I meant in a book set during WWII of course
|
|
#
?
Aug 11, 2020 22:03
|
|
|
I was a bit worried about diving into The Tyrant Baru Cormorant without rereading the previous books, but the opening got me back up to speed pretty quickly (but nicely done without a clunky Last Time on Baru Betrays Everyone wall of exposition) and I am excited to be back in this depressing world!
|
|
#
?
Aug 11, 2020 22:35
|
|
|
Quinton posted:I was a bit worried about diving into The Tyrant Baru Cormorant without rereading the previous books, but the opening got me back up to speed pretty quickly (but nicely done without a clunky Last Time on Baru Betrays Everyone wall of exposition) and I am excited to be back in this depressing world! I was wondering about rereading. I'm still rereading Gideon before going into Harrow, and I did reread Traitor before reading Monster, but I was wondering if I should reread Traitor and Monster, or just Monster, or skip that. (Very economical to reread books I guess).
|
|
#
?
Aug 11, 2020 22:44
|
|
|
Sibling of TB posted:I was wondering about rereading. I'm still rereading Gideon before going into Harrow, and I did reread Traitor before reading Monster, but I was wondering if I should reread Traitor and Monster, or just Monster, or skip that. (Very economical to reread books I guess). I think rereading Gideon before Harrow (if the details are not fresh in your mind) is worthwhile due to some specifics of the structure of Harrow. Thus far (just a couple chapters in), Tyrant has been good about reminding me how we got here. I did reread Traitor ahead of Monster though.
|
|
#
?
Aug 11, 2020 22:49
|
|
|
Thirteen by Richard K Morgan - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000SCHCAQ/ Childhood's End by Arthur C Clarke - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07XG6MG3Y/
|
|
#
?
Aug 11, 2020 23:22
|
|
|
Why does that 13 book sound familiar? Did it have some hosed up plot bit that we talked about?
|
|
#
?
Aug 11, 2020 23:42
|
|
|
Jedit posted:There are five pence in a shilling. This just wasn't the case prior to decimalisation in 1971. I remember in The Forge of God Greg Bear was under the illusion that Melbourne is Australia's capital and that there's a "Royal" Australian Army (that one's especially puzzling since even the British Army doesn't have the royal prefix) TheAardvark posted:Even outside of SF/F, are there novelists who have really captured, accurately, society outside of their own experience? Stephen King may get poo poo for always setting his novels in Maine but it's obvious why when he tries to capture even other parts of America. Any specific scenes you're thinking of here? Obviously I'm an outsider but I've never noticed anything off in his portrayal of other places. He certainly seems to have a decent handle on New York City, at least.
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2020 00:08
|
|
|
freebooter posted:I remember in The Forge of God Greg Bear was under the illusion that Melbourne is Australia's capital and that there's a "Royal" Australian Army (that one's especially puzzling since even the British Army doesn't have the royal prefix) To be fair the Air Force and Navy are both Royal, and aren't there some units that are Royal Australian Regiments? I can kind of get why he'd extrapolate from that and just assume the whole army had the prefix. The Melbourne thing is especially puzzling though, I remember being pretty confused by it when I read the book.
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2020 00:21
|
|
|
There are some regiments that are royal in the British army and a bunch of Commonwealth countries; the Army itself not being royal I think dates back to medieval times when there was no standing army and the various barons and lords were tasked with raising regiments in times of war, which was a duty but also a right because they didn't want to entrust that power to the crown.
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2020 00:40
|
|
|
Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:Why does that 13 book sound familiar? Did it have some hosed up plot bit that we talked about? I read the Amazon synopsis and it just sounded like Bladerunner to me for some reason.
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2020 00:54
|
|
|
13 is also called Black Man I believe. It’s okay. More Morgan super manly men doing manly things.
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2020 01:22
|
|
|
freebooter posted:There are some regiments that are royal in the British army and a bunch of Commonwealth countries; the Army itself not being royal I think dates back to medieval times when there was no standing army and the various barons and lords were tasked with raising regiments in times of war, which was a duty but also a right because they didn't want to entrust that power to the crown. The modern army isn't royal because it's descended from Parliament's New Model Army, founded during the 1640s to fight the Royal armies. Also, it needs Parliament's approval to continue existing. Regarding research fails: apparently in N. K. Jemisin's new book there's a scene where a Brit uses a pound note for something, which is almost as bad as if they'd used a ten-shilling note.
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2020 01:37
|
|
|
Safety Biscuits posted:The modern army isn't royal because it's descended from Parliament's New Model Army, founded during the 1640s to fight the Royal armies. Also, it needs Parliament's approval to continue existing. The idea of pound coins or similar is apparently so repellent to Americans that we refuse to acknowledge our own dollar coin ever existed. I forget that other countries realized long ago that small-denomination paper money is kind of stupid.
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2020 01:44
|
|
|
Small denomination paper money is important so homeless people don't know how much you have as you power walk past, eyes fixed on the horizon.
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2020 01:56
|
|
|
Quinton posted:I was a bit worried about diving into The Tyrant Baru Cormorant without rereading the previous books, but the opening got me back up to speed pretty quickly (but nicely done without a clunky Last Time on Baru Betrays Everyone wall of exposition) and I am excited to be back in this depressing world! I appreciate this post. I'll dive into it tomorrow without rereading.
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2020 02:14
|
|
|
MockingQuantum posted:The idea of pound coins or similar is apparently so repellent to Americans that we refuse to acknowledge our own dollar coin ever existed. I forget that other countries realized long ago that small-denomination paper money is kind of stupid. I quite like the American dollar bill; having a few of them is more convenient than having dollar coins mount in your wallet. America's real failing is making all of its bills the exact same colour and size. Britain's failing is having its notes be too loving tall to fit properly in the average wallet. A failing shared by the US, UK and EU together is not abolishing the useless 1c and 2c coins. Those are my thoughts on the now-defunct virus transmission vector of cash money. I just remembered I have a $50 bill in my wallet which has been there since March and which I'll presumably one day have to deposit directly back into the bank.
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2020 04:33
|
|
|
Australia is perfect it just needs to get rid of 5c coins.
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2020 05:50
|
|
|
BurgerQuest posted:
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2020 06:14
|
|
|
I just finished Tyrant; I think it's my favorite SFF book I've read this year. The previous books already hit a lot of things I really like in fantasy novels, but this one just absolutely nailed it. E: looking back it might actually be my favorite since like the Stone Sky? Just a v good book. I don't think this is really a spoiler, but just in case, it's hopeful in a way I think the other books weren't quite, and really validates that (at least some of!) the hurt in the previous books wasn't for nothing. The way the various plots, and relationships between different characters, developed, were tested, and changed was just excellent. The world just keeps getting more interesting, and the plot is gripping (the fact that I'm writing this like 12 hours after starting the book is probably pretty clear evidence of that). It was exactly the sequel I'd hoped for and more, my lord. I also liked the acknowledgments section that goes into the realities of colonialism, eugenics, etc. - a very good alternate take on what a book should be acknowledging imo! It's very clear that those things were treated very thoughtfully and well from the book, and it was nice that the explicit link were made for readers. Anyway, love the book GB, hope you can take a rest now that it's out. You've made something special! foutre fucked around with this message at 08:05 on Aug 12, 2020 |
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2020 07:46
|
|
|
Goddamnit
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2020 07:56
|
|
|
Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:Why does that 13 book sound familiar? Did it have some hosed up plot bit that we talked about? The version I have is called Black Man. It's about a genetically engineered Neanderthal type used as special forces in the terraforming of Mars, returned to earth to be a private detective sort of. Same world as his most recent novel. Gratuitous violence, sex the usual stuff.
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2020 10:45
|
|
|
feedmegin posted:And yeah her characters' dialogue is very noticeably American. I had to stop reading after awhile because it's such a badly drawn depiction of English speech and mannerisms. It's an American tourist's idea of an English person should talk and act like. Before they've ever visited. Any Connie Willis story is likely to be as corny as poo poo. But it's particularly egregious here.
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2020 10:54
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 29, 2024 07:43 |
|
|
The UK just needs to make the 5p coin copper and add a £5 coin and make the £1 and £2 coins golden again, none of this gold and silver together nonsense. Then we'd have proper copper, silver & gold in 1, 2 & 5 denominations. Small coin, large coin, polygonal coin in each if we're re-shaping some of them, round off the 20p and swap its size with the 10p. Like loving D&D.
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2020 11:08
|
|
