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okay as I shift into the world of audiobooks more (but never completely there's too much weird/old stuff I want to read that will never be recorded) I am fascinated at how the opening chapters of Lord of the Rings go from ho-hum to "wow this is british classist as gently caress" as you really have to listen to the accents and dialogue in a way I hadn't fully processed before. It's good!
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Mar 29, 2021 21:08
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Saturn's Children by Charles Stross - $4.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0013A1IYI/
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Mar 29, 2021 21:44
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pradmer posted:Saturn's Children by Charles Stross - $4.99  cum and bbbuy this m'lord
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Mar 29, 2021 21:46
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No I now demand ISBN numbers only. Thank you for your cooperation.
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Mar 29, 2021 21:52
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someone's gonna post the link where Stross talks about how the cover isn't his fault but eternally lmao at the cover
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Mar 29, 2021 21:55
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he apparently used his veto on the cover art of his previous book but hey it's an accurate cover on an sf book, how often do you see that?
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Mar 29, 2021 22:12
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buffalo all day posted:someone's gonna post the link where Stross talks about how the cover isn't his fault but eternally lmao at the cover The weird thing about that piece is how he says the cover will attract men in a certain age range, as if he thinks that photo is actually sexy in some capacity, as opposed to being a hideous circa-1991 CGI tech demo that's somehow from loving 2008.
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Mar 29, 2021 22:13
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Harold Fjord posted:Does Chalion keep being good? I liked curse Paladin is better IMO, Hallowed is still good but not quite as good as either of the first two, and the Penric novellas are excellent and a ton of fun.
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Mar 29, 2021 22:24
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Kalman posted:Paladin is better IMO, Hallowed is still good but not quite as good as either of the first two, and the Penric novellas are excellent and a ton of fun.
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Mar 29, 2021 22:52
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a foolish pianist posted:The weird thing about that piece is how he says the cover will attract men in a certain age range, as if he thinks that photo is actually sexy in some capacity, as opposed to being a hideous circa-1991 CGI tech demo that's somehow from loving 2008. hahaha 2008? hahahaha holy poo poo
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Mar 29, 2021 23:28
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a foolish pianist posted:The weird thing about that piece is how he says the cover will attract men in a certain age range, as if he thinks that photo is actually sexy in some capacity, as opposed to being a hideous circa-1991 CGI tech demo that's somehow from loving 2008. We had more seductive GPU box elves in 1998 
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Mar 29, 2021 23:28
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Has anyone read The Unbroken? It’s getting compared a lot to Baru in various places online and receiving strong recommendations. Ordinarily that would be enough but I wanted to check if it’s got the Something Awful Sci Fi and Fantasy Thread Seal of Approval*. *Seal does not exist, any claims that the thread exists as a hegemonic hivemind is unsubstantiated.
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Mar 30, 2021 01:10
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Ccs posted:Has anyone read The Unbroken? It’s getting compared a lot to Baru in various places online and receiving strong recommendations. Ordinarily that would be enough but I wanted to check if it’s got the Something Awful Sci Fi and Fantasy Thread Seal of Approval*. It's probably the next thing I'm reading after my current book. I pre-ordered it a while ago and forgot that it just came out this past week, so thanks for the reminder!
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Mar 30, 2021 01:28
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General Battuta posted:We had more seductive GPU box elves in 1998 Someone played Everquest...
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Mar 30, 2021 01:42
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blew my mind when i saw that Everquest is still around and still releasing expansions.
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Mar 30, 2021 01:46
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a foolish pianist posted:The weird thing about that piece is how he says the cover will attract men in a certain age range, as if he thinks that photo is actually sexy in some capacity, as opposed to being a hideous circa-1991 CGI tech demo that's somehow from loving 2008. there are loads of people melting down because their pixellated waifus' cleavages have been covered up a bit also, I'd say that the problem is also that the cover will repel more people than it will attract
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Mar 30, 2021 04:48
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Harold Fjord posted:Does Chalion keep being good? I liked curse Yes it keeps being good and once you’ve read the 3 main books there are a whole series of great novellas.
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Mar 30, 2021 07:13
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Someone asked a while ago for good climate change sci-fi and I recommended James Bradley's novel Clade; I just finished his 2020 book Ghost Species and would recommend that also. It's about a tech billionaire cloning a Neanderthal, but the book sort of moves away from that as it follows the clone's life and since it's the near future she's inevitably growing up in a climate-ravaged world. Very much a literary author doing sci-fi, a sort of Atwood-esque book that's fundamentally about grief and loss and loneliness, but I liked it a lot.
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Mar 30, 2021 08:38
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cardinale posted:Agreed, although I haven't read the novellas. Paladin's protagonist's bitterness and desire to escape her trammeled life rang really true. It also had more of the Bastard, and the Bastard's one of my very favourite gods.
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Mar 30, 2021 11:46
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a foolish pianist posted:The weird thing about that piece is how he says the cover will attract men in a certain age range, as if he thinks that photo is actually sexy in some capacity, as opposed to being a hideous circa-1991 CGI tech demo that's somehow from loving 2008. quote:NB: In a spirit of full disclosure, I have occasionally thrown my toys out of the pram over cover art. The worst three: quote:"Why did you pick such an awful cover?" (US edition—the UK cover is a perfectly reasonable example of genre-specific artistic tagging). Hint: my editor at Ace is an old hand who worked on "Friday" at Del Rey and had something to do with the Michael Whelan cover.
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Mar 30, 2021 14:13
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It's an accurate portrayal of the main character and also completely horrible, I love it.
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Mar 30, 2021 14:22
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Basically, he's saying it was not his decision, but also he does not think it's that terrible. If you believe him it's a pretty good defense; it's difficult to be outraged that some stranger has bad taste.
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Mar 30, 2021 15:09
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thotsky posted:it's difficult to be outraged that some stranger has bad taste. Pardner, it’s the easiest thing in the world. 
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Mar 30, 2021 15:14
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Charles Stross have had some other clunkers too. These look like programming books or powerpoint presentations. .jpg)  This one looks like a stock image somebody would use in a piece of news about computer security. 
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Mar 30, 2021 15:26
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I refused to buy Saturn's Children when it came out and for years after, solely because of the cover. In the last year-ish I got an electronic copy so finally got to read it, and in retrospect the previous me was correct.
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Mar 30, 2021 15:48
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Yeah it's not a very attractive cover, but tells you a lot about the kind of book you're getting.
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Mar 30, 2021 15:50
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Patrick Spens posted:Yeah it's not a very attractive cover, but tells you a lot about the kind of book you're getting. buffalo all day posted:cum and bbbuy this m'lord
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Mar 30, 2021 17:00
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I finished The Two of Swords: Volume 2. It drags a bit in a few section but overall a lot of fun, as far as Parker goes. He's a big fan of having characters wander in the wilderness for a long time, commenting on how they hardly have any food left, no one has any idea where they are, and towns are either abandoned or nonexistent. There's a sense that the world itself is emptying out thanks to the never ending war between Empires. It just goes on for too long though, and at this point the reader knows that the agents of The Plot will drop in soon enough to sweep the important character(s) off into the more interesting stuff, so I wish he wouldn't dwell on it. The Secret Society that motivates a lot of the action is organized unlike any actual government in history, as far as I know, and seems utterly impractical. For them to be so effective strains credulity. What will keep me reading Volume 3 is finding out if things totally fall apart for them. That would be a classic Parker ending. His characterization of women also tends a bit thin, but the POV character for the third volume is Telamon, his one fairly successful female character, so that's all right then.
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Mar 30, 2021 19:18
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The Stars Are Legion by Kameron Hurley - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BKR14LA/ The Transmigration of Timothy Archer (VALIS #3) by Philip K Dick - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005LVR6P0/ Cradle, Path of Gold (Books 4-6) by Will Wight - FREE https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0891YTJYR/
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Mar 30, 2021 22:20
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Ccs posted:The Secret Society that motivates a lot of the action is organized unlike any actual government in history, as far as I know, and seems utterly impractical. For them to be so effective strains credulity. Tell us more!
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Mar 30, 2021 23:22
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General Battuta posted:Tell us more! Haha it’s organized differently than the cryptarchs who actually have an incentive for remaining part of the organization. Parker’s Lodge adds extra layers of anonymity to the proceedings and no incentive aside from a vague faith. In fact there are disincentives to rising in the organization. This is pitched as a reason the Lodge works, no one wants to be promoted because it makes life difficult, and yet the most competent still rise to the top. Each person only knows who the people a level above them are and there’s no way someone can prove their rank. Someone says they’re at a certain level and that’s always taken at face value. Adding to this, any member can induct anyone they choose, so one wonders why everyone in the world doesn’t know the words to pass as Lodge in cases it might be convenient. The one thing that might explain it is there are hints of actual supernatural power in the world that’s organizing everything through the tarot-esque deck the Lodge members carry but are not supposed to tell fortunes with (they do so anyway.) In that case i suppose we could attribute their organization’s competence to a higher power guiding every action. I’m still waiting to see if Parker pulls out some really excellent explanations in the final volume or has the whole thing collapse. Ccs fucked around with this message at 23:46 on Mar 30, 2021 |
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Mar 30, 2021 23:44
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So I was thinking about the plot of Saturn's Children since the cover was brought up yesterday, and a question occurred to me: did the robots arrange for the extinction of biological humans in order to escape their slavery, or were they compelled to bring about the biological human extinction by Asimov's First Law? I previously assumed the former interpretation without thinking about it, but having pondered how Saturn's Children and the companion short story I can't remember the name of are a meditation on how monstrously evil Asimov's Laws were, I think there's a case for the later being what actually happened. And as I'm writing this it, it further occurs to me that the extinction of biological humans is what must occur in the absence of R. Daneel's and R. Giskard's Zeroth Law. pseudorandom name fucked around with this message at 23:55 on Mar 30, 2021 |
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Mar 30, 2021 23:52
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I just finished Aurora. I'm not sure how much of this is due to me having worked night shift for the last few months, but it wrecked me. A 40 year old man sitting in the canteen at work at 2am on the verge of tears, and not even sure why exactly. I do know that I'm going to the beach as soon as possible.
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Mar 31, 2021 01:52
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I know I am years late to the party but I blew through Traitor Baru Cormorant in a day and am now pretty bummed, but in a good way
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Mar 31, 2021 01:55
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StashAugustine posted:I know I am years late to the party but I blew through Traitor Baru Cormorant in a day and am now pretty bummed, but in a good way I still haven't read the second one because the first one wrecked me so bad. 
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Mar 31, 2021 01:59
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StashAugustine posted:I know I am years late to the party but I blew through Traitor Baru Cormorant in a day and am now pretty bummed, but in a good way Keep going there are a few more.
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Mar 31, 2021 01:59
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I read the three Baru's in a marathonic way and it burned me out of reading for a month or two, so take your time with them. The second specially is kinda weirdly paced. They are all good and worth it though!
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Mar 31, 2021 02:02
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packetmantis posted:I still haven't read the second one because the first one wrecked me so bad. Yeah like the one hesitation I have about going onto the sequel is that it feels like doing Godfather part 2 when the original already ends with Michael killing Fredo
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Mar 31, 2021 02:19
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I liked the second one better. It was a similar to the experience I had with Harrow the Ninth vs Gideon. The first book in the Locked Tomb was good but it threw so many characters at the reader that it was hard to me to keep track. The second relaxes on introducing so many new characters and we spend more time with the ones we know, with only a few new additions. Also, and this is weird, but the second book has flashbacks to a part of Barus world that is warm, and I like reading about warm places. It was relaxing. I also enjoy seeing some of the future megalomaniacs as less established eccentrics developing their twisted world views or being challenges on their held beliefs.
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Mar 31, 2021 03:00
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Yeah, the Oriati Mbo sections are some of my favourite bits of writing... Ever? For a long time at least. They're just deeply satisfying to read, and Tau-indi is the best. I think Traitor is basically perfect, one of the most tightly-written fantasy novels I've ever read, and the sequels are a lot messier/more challenging and ambitious, but ultimately I think they're books I like more, even if they're not quite as "perfect", if that makes sense.
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Mar 31, 2021 03:15
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