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This Becky Chambers novella is $11 on Kindle for 160 pages. I do not like that price point, no. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07L2Z4DBK
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Aug 11, 2021 22:21
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Empire of Gold (Daevabad #3) by SA Chakraborty - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YG44LJD/ The Relentless Moon (Lady Astronaut #3) by Mary Robinette Kowal - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07X17XSPS/ The Empress of Salt and Fortune (Singing Hills Cycle #1) by Nghi Vo - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VH6Y4JD/ Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0831QRN8T/ Ring Shout by P Djèlí Clark - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082RRJV54/
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Aug 11, 2021 22:52
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smackfu posted:This Becky Chambers novella is $11 on Kindle for 160 pages. I do not like that price point, no. It’s really excellent, but it’s always hard to pay novel prices for a novella.
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Aug 11, 2021 23:29
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I went into this SFL Archives readthrough knowing the names of only three SFF story editors (John W Campbell, Brian Aldiss and Gardner Dozois), and not knowing or caring whoever the other big names/lesser names of SFF editing or SFF criticism or SFF fandom were. So everything I've encountered has been with nostalgia free googles and I reign back my opinion anytime Aldiss gets mentioned. For example, James Davis Nicoll was either slightly amused or hiddenly annoyed I had no idea who the hell he was in the field of SFF earlier this year outside of what I read him post in the SFL Archives. James Davis Nicoll was mostly a forgettable SFL Archives poster in general and I said exactly that on one of his websites. A few months ago in this very thread I posted something like: Me mentioning SFL Archives 1992/1993/1994/1995(?): whoever this "patrick n. hayden" person that is claiming to be a book editor working at tor books/using a tor.com email address keeps edgelord posting in the SFL Archives and overall is kind of terrible and becoming toxic in the SFL Archives. i hope tor books (if they really work there) gets rid of them soon. people in this thread: LOL. You clueless fool, Patrick Nielsen Hayden is currently the TOR Books editor-in-chief and has been so for a while. Me: a WTF reaction. The only growth or change I've seen in Patrick N Hayden make since then is them in their 8+ year history in the SFL Archives now mostly remembering to use a private email address/not their tor.com email account whenever they need to catty edgelord post in the SFL Archives. Edgelords on the internet rarely improve and grow out of edgelording so that's why I groan every time Patrick N Hayden continues to do their thing.
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Aug 12, 2021 00:57
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pradmer posted:
I enjoyed Hench a whole lot. It starts out as sort of a Superhero-based parody of the gig economy before moving into the whole "how do you measure the impact of superheroes on normal people's lives" thing, but then it goes above and beyond that and gets into some surprisingly raw and insightful stuff. It reminded me a little bit of the Rook, but without the more glaring written-by-a-dude-isms that the Rook had.
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Aug 12, 2021 01:17
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Kalman posted:It’s really excellent, but it’s always hard to pay novel prices for a novella. I preordered it so far ahead of time that I forgot how much it cost. Ah, well. I did get the pre-order bonus enamel pin with it at least! 
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Aug 12, 2021 02:40
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DurianGray posted:I preordered it so far ahead of time that I forgot how much it cost. Ah, well. I did get the pre-order bonus enamel pin with it at least! e: haha, I didn't even click the link before. But yes, To be Taught if Fortunate is also really good! ee: whoops, Reply is not Edit
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Aug 12, 2021 04:01
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quantumfoam posted:More details for people, this plot synopsis (from a SFL Archives poster) sound familiar to anyone who read READY PLAYER ONE? Hints of Rainbows End. Not surprised novels with VR/AR gaming have a lot in common.
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Aug 12, 2021 08:05
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quantumfoam posted:More details for people, this plot synopsis (from a SFL Archives poster) sound familiar to anyone who read READY PLAYER ONE? Also similar to the Neal Stephenson one about mmos
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Aug 12, 2021 11:38
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Anyone read Thunderer by Felix Gilman? I rather liked the other book of his that I've read.
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Aug 12, 2021 13:08
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Neal Stephenson is one of the worse baby-boomer generation of SFF writers for me. He's never had an idea that wasn't stolen from Stewart Brand's Whole Earth Catalog, the cypherpunk movement or his uncle in that order. Those things (minus his uncle) are pretty amazing, seriously. More people need to at least power skim a few issues of the Whole Earth Catalog and the cypherpunk movement's Cyphernomicon FAQ, and maybe Ted Nelson's written way back in 1974 manifesto called Computer Lib Dream Machines too. It's Neal Stephenson's inability at merging those patent jacked ideas into his stories without relying on randomly cramming in 10+ page infodumps explaining the patent jacked idea, Stephenson's consistent inability to write layered non-gibberish plots, Stephenson's characters that operate on bizarro logic and bizarro motives, Stephenson's inability to write a story climax that makes any sense, and Stephenson's complete inability at writing story endings at all that makes Neal Stephenson a terrible author to me. If one or even two of those Stephenson constant inabilities didn't always exist, I'd find Neal Stephenson a much more tolerable writer similar to Steven Brust for example. Brust is able to construct layered non-gibberish plots, able to write believable characters, able to write story climaxes that make sense, etc. While Brust's writing in his Vlad Taltos stories viscerally repels me, Brust's Alexandre Dumas pastiche homage novels are pretty entertaining.
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Aug 12, 2021 15:38
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quantumfoam posted:While Brust's writing in his Vlad Taltos stories viscerally repels me, Brust's Alexandre Dumas pastiche homage novels are pretty entertaining.
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Aug 12, 2021 16:01
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quantumfoam posted:Neal Stephenson is one of the worse baby-boomer generation of SFF writers for me. Neal Stephenson has IMO been going downhill since Zodiac. Though I must admit the thicker books were useful as a monitor stand.
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Aug 12, 2021 18:18
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anilEhilated posted:If you're willing to try another Brust, give To Reign In Hell a read. It's a lot of fun. Alternatively please don't because Brust is a loving creep who got tossed out of the 4th Street writers group for stalking and harrassing a friend of mine (and others)
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Aug 12, 2021 21:16
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Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee - $0.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0877857CH/ Provenance by Ann Leckie - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XW6YTKV/ I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JVCHEMU/
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Aug 12, 2021 23:44
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Kesper North posted:Alternatively please don't because Brust is a loving creep who got tossed out of the 4th Street writers group for stalking and harrassing a friend of mine (and others) then don't buy it, find it online
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Aug 13, 2021 00:57
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quantumfoam posted:Neal Stephenson is one of the worse baby-boomer generation of SFF writers for me. I’m glad it’s not just me that was put off by the prose in the Taltos books. Do they change appreciably as they go on? I have started and put down the first one probably three times. The ideas, world, and atmosphere are so fun, but the mechanics of the actual writing are just awful.
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Aug 13, 2021 01:21
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SimonChris posted:If we are talking self-published SF, I would like to recommend goon-written Hard Luck Hank, which is the best kind of self-published fiction: A pile of crazy ideas thrown haphazardly together in ways that would never make it past an editor but is extremely entertaining to read. This reminds me of the novels in the 50’s & 60’s that were a buncha short stories crammed into a novel via hook or crook. Read the first 3.5 then got bored, but it was fun for a while.
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Aug 13, 2021 02:01
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BurningBeard posted:I’m glad it’s not just me that was put off by the prose in the Taltos books. Do they change appreciably as they go on? I have started and put down the first one probably three times. The ideas, world, and atmosphere are so fun, but the mechanics of the actual writing are just awful. I didn’t connect with the prose in Taltos either. I felt I got the same thing from Vance but more fun to read.
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Aug 13, 2021 03:21
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Kesper North posted:Alternatively please don't because Brust is a loving creep who got tossed out of the 4th Street writers group for stalking and harrassing a friend of mine (and others) sorry about your friend, but im still going to read his books. since where else can i find disgustingly gratuitous descriptions of feasts? im too old for redwall i think
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Aug 13, 2021 05:12
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I’m rereading Acts of Caine and it’s amazing how good and bad these books can be at the same time.
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Aug 13, 2021 08:00
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The Relentless Moon (Lady Astronaut #3) by Mary Robinette Kowal - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07X17XSPS/ [/quote] This is a really solid whodunnit set on the moon. anilEhilated posted:If you're willing to try another Brust, give To Reign In Hell a read. It's a lot of fun. To Reign In Hell is one of those first novels that is just off the charts good. It's a remarkable novel dealing with an unusual, and interesting, subject. The actual, no fooling, War In Heaven. BurningBeard posted:I’m glad it’s not just me that was put off by the prose in the Taltos books. Do they change appreciably as they go on? I have started and put down the first one probably three times. The ideas, world, and atmosphere are so fun, but the mechanics of the actual writing are just awful. His writing steadily improves over the course of the series. There's a breaking point where Vlad just becomes insufferable. This lasts for about half a book until he blows his life up (Teckla). Twice (Phoenix). Then he goes on a journey of self discovery (Athyra). Then he and Kiera the Thief team up (Orca) They fight crime. After that he's on walkabout and the books vary wildly in style. Phoenix Guards, 500 Years After, and the Viscount of Adrilankha series, the Paarfi novels are the Dumas homages and are really, truly, excellent. I enjoy the Vlad books. I treasure the Paarfi books.
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Aug 13, 2021 08:31
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I love those books too but I do have to start to reevaluate things in the light of Kesper's post. (And other stuff too at the "what the hell dude" level, but it's early and I'm on mobile and won't go looking)
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Aug 13, 2021 10:42
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There is a extremely low bar to writing Alexandre Dumas pastiche fiction. The in-story villains all have to be amoral opportunists doing villainy for personal gain and wealth. The heroes all have to be dumb as rocks with endless patience that comes from them being dumb as rocks. And finally anyone with the ability to think more than 8 days ahead is a god-tier master manipulator. Outside of those "extremely low bar to write" Alexandre Dumas pastiche stories, everything else Steven Brust has written is subjectively terrible, obnoxious, powerfully dumb and heavily vainglorious. To Reign In Hell is particularly subjectively terrible because the motivation for everything in Brust's take on the fall-from-Heaven myth is essentially the Flight of the Conchords "I've Got Hurt Feeling's" song amplified out. https://youtu.be/EuJzSTNDUGI
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Aug 13, 2021 12:15
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The Taltos books are probably the only fantasy novels I have actually liked rather than merely tolerated. I don't count Discworld as fantasy.
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Aug 13, 2021 13:07
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Oh, god. I had a dream about Cherryh's Rider at the Gates series and want to reread it, BUT it has no ebook and my physical book is currently boxed up in another state.  I'd go try to find it at the local library but I don't have a card yet and this is why moving is rough!!!!
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Aug 13, 2021 13:32
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quantumfoam posted:Neal Stephenson is one of the worse baby-boomer generation of SFF writers for me.
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Aug 13, 2021 13:51
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Kesper North posted:Alternatively please don't because Brust is a loving creep who got tossed out of the 4th Street writers group for stalking and harrassing a friend of mine (and others) Genuine thank you for the heads up, I'll continue to avoid him.
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Aug 13, 2021 13:52
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Captain Monkey posted:I’m rereading Acts of Caine and it’s amazing how good and bad these books can be at the same time. The most 90s fantasy books ever. There's a lot of good in them and a lot of bad but they're pretty fun if you can get past the bad.
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Aug 13, 2021 14:08
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Lampsacus posted:serious question, apart from brust, which baby-boomer generation of sci-fi writers would you recommend. i'm kind of curious to find some of that era that are actually good because all the big names i see but haven't read yet, stephenson included, are always chewed out so i'm like ok flip, what is actually good from that time, anything arghh.. also, anybody can answer this, i'm just fishing for good sci fi. Not sure what counts as Boomer but…Vernor Vinge? Gene Wolfe? Iain Banks? Cherryh?
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Aug 13, 2021 14:17
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Oh yeah, add in the fact that Patrick Nielsen Hayden has repeatedly burst into the SFL Archives posting about closely working with Steven KZ Brust on his next upcoming Taltos novel, bragging about being a personal friend of Steven KZ Brust, and going "OMG..the latest stuff I'm seeing from SKZB is so amaze-balls!! Everyone else is going to be blown away when they see it <X> months from now!". Literally none of the other professional book editors from book publishers like Ace, Bantam Spectra, DAW, Del Rey, Ziesing Press and uh Tor Books have done that, just Patrick Nielsen Hayden. Yeah, there was another TOR Books book editor that used to post in the SFL Archives before Patrick Nielsen Hayden took things over and became the face of TOR Books online. So let's add PN Hayden things up: -default persona on the SFL Archives is a catty edgelord. -humble-brags about their basic job functions when no-one else in the same field does so on the SFL Archives. -humble-brags about their access and close connections to authors when no-one else in the same field does so on the SFL Archives. -actually is kind of terrible at being a book editor given their repeated humblebrags about working with Brust. -uses their position as a TOR Books editor to punch-down and smack-talk whenever "little people aka non-authors" ask questions or complain about SFF industry trends. ABSOLUTELY NO ONE ELSE WORKING AS A PROFESSIONAL EDITOR IN THE SFL ARCHIVES HAS DONE THIS. -<non-confirmed personal opinion>I'm pretty sure Patrick Nielsen Hayden is the person who talked to the manager and got the Del Rey Internet Newsletters banned from the SFL Archives. Given all those things, this why Patrick Nielsen Hayden staying on at TOR and becoming the TOR Books editor-in-chief and a respected figure in the SFF industry is so baffling WTF to me. Patrick Nielsen Hayden's behavior as the face of TOR Books online in the 1990's repeatedly punching down & smack-talking SFF readers/potential SFF readers/driving away potential new SFF readers; well that behavior alone should have gotten them fired from TOR Books a dozen times over and majorly soured my opinion on TOR Books. Something is deeply deeply wrong within TOR and the SFF publishing industry in general if people like PN Hayden repeatedly become executives and mentors of the future incoming generations of SFF story editors/SFF authors.
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Aug 13, 2021 14:17
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Ok, that rant about PN Hayden had been building up and festering inside me for the past 7 seven years of the SFL Archives readthrough. He sucked online in the 1980's - 1990's and I refuse to belief he changed for the better since then. Assholes like him never do.Lampsacus posted:serious question, [s]apart from brust,[/] which baby-boomer generation of sci-fi writers would you recommend. i'm kind of curious to find some of that era that are actually good because all the big names i see but haven't read yet, stephenson included, are always chewed out so i'm like ok flip, what is actually good from that time, anything arghh.. also, anybody can answer this, i'm just fishing for good sci fi. My serious answer is: I recommend NONE OF THEM. Try and track down short stories collections by baby-boomer generation sci-fi authors first. Their foibles and writing styles tend to be more constrained in short story format, and then maybe try their first SFF novels. Baby-boomer generation sci-fi authors get way more self-indulgent in novel sized form past their first books, and the SFF editors who edited them tended to scream "GO BIGGER. I SAID BIGGER! BBIIGGGGGGGER!!!" in their ears versus actually editing for clarity. Baby boomer generation sci-fi writers I would always avoid given the chance: Neal Stephenson. Peter F Hamilton. Greg Bear. Steven Karl Zoltan Brust. Neal Asher. Stephen Baxter. Greg Egan. William Gibson. Stephen R Donaldson. I would have added Kim Stanley Robinson to that list but the issue I have with KSR is that I find his stories intensely boring and dry versus actively being terrible. quantumfoam fucked around with this message at 16:06 on Aug 13, 2021 |
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Aug 13, 2021 14:59
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quantumfoam posted:Baby boomer generation sci-fi writers I would always avoid given the chance: Neal Stephenson. Peter F Hamilton. Greg Bear. Steven Karl Zoltan Brust. Neal Asher. Stephen Baxter. Greg Egan. William Gibson. Stephen R Donaldson. Bear, Brust, Asher, and Gibson wrote some of my favorite books (admittedly their books do have flaws), so take this list with a shaker of salt.
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Aug 13, 2021 15:04
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quantumfoam posted:Given all those things, this why Patrick Nielsen Hayden staying on at TOR and becoming the TOR Books editor-in-chief and a respected figure in the SFF industry is so baffling WTF to me. Eh, you are doing that thing scientists do when they think they dumb something down to the lowest common denominator and still overshoots the audience. Before you started summarising SFL archives I was not aware of its existence and I am hardly the only one despite having read SFF the last 30 years. I can also safely say that internet in the 90s is quite far from what we have today.
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Aug 13, 2021 15:06
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KSR owns (Aurora is by a huge margin the best generation ship story ever written) and I think quantumfoam may have broken their brain on this Ahab -esque quest through the SF archives
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Aug 13, 2021 15:08
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quantumfoam posted:
K.
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Aug 13, 2021 16:00
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buffalo all day posted:KSR owns (Aurora is by a huge margin the best generation ship story ever written) and I think quantumfoam may have broken their brain on this Ahab -esque quest through the SF archives It's cool, nobody has the same reading tastes. I sort of gave up on reading Kim Stanley Robinson back around 2012? since every book and short story he had written to that point failed to engage me and came across as dry and boring versus how everyone else seemed to enjoy his work. If you say KSR's Aurora is good, I believe you. ulmont posted:Bear, Brust, Asher, and Gibson wrote some of my favorite books (admittedly their books do have flaws), so take this list with a shaker of salt. Keep in mind I wrote: "Baby boomer generation sci-fi writers I would always avoid given the chance", not Everyone avoid these authors. Going to go back and edit in bolding on that part after I finish this post. Past his short stories and first book, William Gibson is way more miss than hit for me. Neal Asher, body-torture porn isn't really my thing. Anyway, not everyone has the same reading tastes especially in SFF fiction, and that is cool with me.
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Aug 13, 2021 16:03
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On a mostly unrelated topic, the pacing of A Wizard of Earthsea was awesome. It's strange seeing a coming of age story not spend an entire book just at wizard school. Hell, every other chapter in that book covered the territory of one entire modern YA novel.
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Aug 13, 2021 16:08
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buffalo all day posted:KSR owns (Aurora is by a huge margin the best generation ship story ever written) and I think quantumfoam may have broken their brain on this Ahab -esque quest through the SF archives I read this recently after not reading any KSR for more than a decade and I must say he still owns. Though there is something about the flow of his plots. It's all fascinating, but I rarely find myself reading until the sun comes out. Also every time someone writes about Asher I need a moment to remember why that name rings a bell and it's just because I read Ash recently. Are any of Mary Gentle's other books worth checking out?
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Aug 13, 2021 16:13
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I'd still say Grunts is good despite the loving fans fixating on that one loving joke.
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Aug 13, 2021 16:15
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