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Louise Cooper's Time Master series?
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Sep 6, 2021 12:29
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There was one I can't remember the title of right now where it's literally a party of villains (and a druid) questing d&d style to keep law from winning and locking down the world forever, it was so heavily d&d that there's literally a scene where the assassin makes the party hire him to turn on his class features.
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Sep 6, 2021 15:05
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NinjaDebugger posted:There was one I can't remember the title of right now where it's literally a party of villains (and a druid) questing d&d style to keep law from winning and locking down the world forever, it was so heavily d&d that there's literally a scene where the assassin makes the party hire him to turn on his class features. Eve Forward's Villains by Necessity?
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Sep 6, 2021 15:25
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Runcible Cat posted:Eve Forward's Villains by Necessity? Yeppers, good call.
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Sep 6, 2021 15:29
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Runcible Cat posted:Eve Forward's Villains by Necessity? Read that way back when; it was pretty good.
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Sep 6, 2021 15:56
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Runcible Cat posted:Eve Forward's Villains by Necessity? Lol they kill the smurfs
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Sep 6, 2021 16:22
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The Boy on the Bridge by MR Carey - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LL8BX9Q/ The King Must Die (Theseus #1) by Mary Renault - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DCGJ6UO/ Cold Iron (Masters and Mages #1) by Miles Cameron - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079L5669Y/ Saint's Blood (Greatcoats #3) by Sebastien de Castell - $0.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TV2VS7R/ Mona Lisa Overdrive (Sprawl #3) by William Gibson - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009QJMUAY/ Fool Moon (Dresden Files #2) by Jim Butcher - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001BPYD2O/ Included for completion. Some really dislike this book.
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Sep 6, 2021 16:28
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Cugel the Clever posted:Have a request for recommendations around a plot point that I don't think I've really seen before. The forces of pure Chaos and darkness are ubiquitous big bads in sci-fi and fantasy, but I've got a weird craving for a villain that is the inverse: the searing zeal of an uncompromising force of Order. Not just a "tyrant is bad, we should overthrow them" story, but a "the cleansing crusade of an impossibly exacting dogma has set out to eradicate the impure and that means us". That's the Baru Cormorant series you're looking for, fits that bill perfectly.
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Sep 6, 2021 20:20
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Cugel the Clever posted:Have a request for recommendations around a plot point that I don't think I've really seen before. The forces of pure Chaos and darkness are ubiquitous big bads in sci-fi and fantasy, but I've got a weird craving for a villain that is the inverse: the searing zeal of an uncompromising force of Order. Not just a "tyrant is bad, we should overthrow them" story, but a "the cleansing crusade of an impossibly exacting dogma has set out to eradicate the impure and that means us". There's some elements of this in Peter Watt's Rifters trilogy but it gets pretty icky in places and will definitely not increase your will to live or anything like that. I second recommendations for Baru Cormorant under any circumstances. (Including Special Circumstances. God, what a field day SC would have had with Baru Cormorant).
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Sep 6, 2021 20:58
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branedotorg posted:How far in did you get? I read them a years ago when he released them, I think I finished the third one? Just finished book 2 and I think I've had enough. Too much lean in to the harem of women/male gaze stuff towards the end of this one. Really enjoyed Quarter Share at least, I might come back to the series at some point.
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Sep 6, 2021 21:04
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Runcible Cat posted:Louise Cooper's Time Master series? Is that any good? I've read the Indigo Saga multiple times, but never those.
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Sep 6, 2021 22:54
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Aardvark! posted:Just finished book 2 and I think I've had enough. Too much lean in to the harem of women/male gaze stuff towards the end of this one. Really enjoyed Quarter Share at least, I might come back to the series at some point. yeah i think that's why i gave up, he turned out to be a real 'nerd who women find irresistible' and also is really good at sex IIRC
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Sep 6, 2021 23:29
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Cugel the Clever posted:Have a request for recommendations around a plot point that I don't think I've really seen before. The forces of pure Chaos and darkness are ubiquitous big bads in sci-fi and fantasy, but I've got a weird craving for a villain that is the inverse: the searing zeal of an uncompromising force of Order. Not just a "tyrant is bad, we should overthrow them" story, but a "the cleansing crusade of an impossibly exacting dogma has set out to eradicate the impure and that means us". it is what it is but it's the reason for the breaking of the cataclysm in Dragonlance. The lord soth one was about him being able to stop the cataclysm but not being willing to sacrifice himself, the legend of huma is sort of about it. I haven't read any of those books in a long time though so can't comment on the quality
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Sep 6, 2021 23:38
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Kesper North posted:There's some elements of this in Peter Watt's Rifters trilogy but it gets pretty icky in places and will definitely not increase your will to live or anything like that. The first Rifters novel (Starfish) is pretty great (and is available free on Watt’s site, along with some other gems), but I’d skip the sequels. Or at least any chapter where KJ shows up, some of their scenes are still etched in my mind like a Bloodborne rune.
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Sep 6, 2021 23:47
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branedotorg posted:yeah i think that's why i gave up, he turned out to be a real 'nerd who women find irresistible' and also is really good at sex IIRC yup, about 3/4 through the second book the occasional mention of his attractive crewmates leads in to like 4 chapters straight of him realizing he's Hot and being lusted after by literally all of the female characters. then he finally gets laid and mentions multiple times how Good he is at sex. god drat it  i just want to read about daily life on a space ship with some trading thrown in
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Sep 6, 2021 23:49
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Aardvark! posted:yup, about 3/4 through the second book the occasional mention of his attractive crewmates leads in to like 4 chapters straight of him realizing he's Hot and being lusted after by literally all of the female characters. then he finally gets laid and mentions multiple times how Good he is at sex. god drat it It's pretty odd but basically goes away in the books after the first trilogy and I found them to be really compelling.
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Sep 6, 2021 23:56
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Aardvark! posted:yup, about 3/4 through the second book the occasional mention of his attractive crewmates leads in to like 4 chapters straight of him realizing he's Hot and being lusted after by literally all of the female characters. then he finally gets laid and mentions multiple times how Good he is at sex. god drat it you might like Christian (Miles) Cameron's new book Artifact Space, it's about a huge ship that travels between a series of worlds trading alien technology on a fixed cycle, i guess loosely based on the galleon loops in the pacific. big space opera, lots of trading and minutiae of day-to-day flight deck ops stuff if you like his series masters and mages, this is extremely similar except the protagonist is female and it's in space, YMMV, i know that had a lukewarm reaction in here. https://www.amazon.com/Artifact-Space-Miles-Cameron-ebook/dp/B08KSX3439
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Sep 7, 2021 00:46
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Thanks for the recommendations, all! Have a good list to to sample through.
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Sep 7, 2021 01:49
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There's a deeply weird roleplaying game called Nobilis where you play minor deities, and there are many factions, Light, amd Dark among them. The Light wanted the survivial of Humanity as a whole but didn't care about individuals or morals, the Dark wanted to convince every sentient creature to commit suicide of their own free will.
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Sep 7, 2021 02:00
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Nobilis has interesting ideas but is completely impossible to actually play.
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Sep 7, 2021 02:13
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Cugel the Clever posted:Have a request for recommendations around a plot point that I don't think I've really seen before. The forces of pure Chaos and darkness are ubiquitous big bads in sci-fi and fantasy, but I've got a weird craving for a villain that is the inverse: the searing zeal of an uncompromising force of Order. Not just a "tyrant is bad, we should overthrow them" story, but a "the cleansing crusade of an impossibly exacting dogma has set out to eradicate the impure and that means us". Moorcock's Eternal Champions series does this quite a lot. The Lords of Chaos are still bad guys, but the Lords of Law are just as bad, as they want everything to stagnate forever. Semi-comedy answer: like 30% of modern Warhammer 40k stuff.
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Sep 7, 2021 02:39
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Cugel the Clever posted:Have a request for recommendations around a plot point that I don't think I've really seen before. The forces of pure Chaos and darkness are ubiquitous big bads in sci-fi and fantasy, but I've got a weird craving for a villain that is the inverse: the searing zeal of an uncompromising force of Order. Not just a "tyrant is bad, we should overthrow them" story, but a "the cleansing crusade of an impossibly exacting dogma has set out to eradicate the impure and that means us". Have you read any Zelazny? A lot of his stuff involves a protagonist trying to thread the middle as the two extremes greedily consume everything they can. Lord of Light or ...Call Me Conrad would be good places to start.
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Sep 7, 2021 05:02
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There's a new Greg Egan book. It sounds cool and I'm looking forward to reading it, while occasionally looking at the diagrams on this page and nodding at the arcane sigils.
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Sep 7, 2021 07:31
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Jedit posted:Is that any good? I've read the Indigo Saga multiple times, but never those. No idea, sorry, tried reading the first as a teen and got bored a few chapters in.
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Sep 7, 2021 07:57
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inhibitor phase was a decent return to the revelation space universe but made me notice (in a bad way) how often reynolds pulls the amnesiac narrative trick
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Sep 7, 2021 08:48
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Cugel the Clever posted:Have a request for recommendations around a plot point that I don't think I've really seen before. The forces of pure Chaos and darkness are ubiquitous big bads in sci-fi and fantasy, but I've got a weird craving for a villain that is the inverse: the searing zeal of an uncompromising force of Order. Not just a "tyrant is bad, we should overthrow them" story, but a "the cleansing crusade of an impossibly exacting dogma has set out to eradicate the impure and that means us". Try The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin. The rest of the series doesn’t follow that theme but it’s a pretty good sum up of what’s happening in the first book
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Sep 7, 2021 10:22
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Macdeo Lurjtux posted:Have you read any Zelazny? A lot of his stuff involves a protagonist trying to thread the middle as the two extremes greedily consume everything they can. Lord of Light or ...Call Me Conrad would be good places to start. Or Creatures of Light and Darkness, or the Amber books especially the later ones. This thread is going to trace back to zelazny eventually because that's where Gygax got the law/chaos alignment idea from.
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Sep 7, 2021 11:30
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:This thread is going to trace back to zelazny eventually because that's where Gygax got the law/chaos alignment idea from. Michael Moorcock as well: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_and_Chaos Cugel the Clever posted:Have a request for recommendations around a plot point that I don't think I've really seen before. The forces of pure Chaos and darkness are ubiquitous big bads in sci-fi and fantasy, but I've got a weird craving for a villain that is the inverse: the searing zeal of an uncompromising force of Order. Not just a "tyrant is bad, we should overthrow them" story, but a "the cleansing crusade of an impossibly exacting dogma has set out to eradicate the impure and that means us". After a bit of searching, maybe Louise Cooper's Time Master trilogy. I haven't read it but the plot set up sounds like what you want. Also suggested on the top of the page. fez_machine fucked around with this message at 11:52 on Sep 7, 2021 |
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Sep 7, 2021 11:36
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branedotorg posted:you might like Christian (Miles) Cameron's new book Artifact Space, it's about a huge ship that travels between a series of worlds trading alien technology on a fixed cycle, i guess loosely based on the galleon loops in the pacific. One of my favourite books of the year. Absolutely steamed through it.
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Sep 7, 2021 11:40
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branedotorg posted:you might like Christian (Miles) Cameron's new book Artifact Space, it's about a huge ship that travels between a series of worlds trading alien technology on a fixed cycle, i guess loosely based on the galleon loops in the pacific. Jack Vance's last two novels (really the one story split up) Ports of Call and Lurulu are also based around trading loops in a galactic setting, supposedly based in part on his experiences working in the Merchant Marine. It's very cozy when it's not being very cruel, which is typical for Vance. fez_machine fucked around with this message at 12:02 on Sep 7, 2021 |
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Sep 7, 2021 11:59
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Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City (Siege #1) by KJ Parker - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078W5M7DB/ There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm - $0.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08FHHQRM2/
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Sep 7, 2021 16:42
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pradmer posted:There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm - $0.99
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Sep 7, 2021 16:46
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pradmer posted:Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City (Siege #1) by KJ Parker - $2.99 Hey I've read both of these and enjoyed them both.
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Sep 7, 2021 17:36
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Yea, TINAMD is actually really great. Well worth the buck.
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Sep 7, 2021 17:55
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packetmantis posted:Nobilis has interesting ideas but is completely impossible to actually play. Nobilis is easy to play and I do it all the time.
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Sep 7, 2021 18:54
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dy. posted:I bought this kind of by accident and at first was kind of appalled that I bought something that appeared to be self-published but it's actually very good if not slightly disturbing and is set in that reddit SCP universe.
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Sep 7, 2021 18:59
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dy. posted:I bought this kind of by accident and at first was kind of appalled that I bought something that appeared to be self-published but it's actually very good if not slightly disturbing and is set in that reddit SCP universe. Starts off strong and gets asymptotically dumb toward the end.
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Sep 7, 2021 19:25
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DACK FAYDEN posted:Yeah, they started as a few SCPs and attendant short fiction on the SCP site proper, but then got self-published and I honestly can't recommend it enough, very high quality compared to the self-publishing norm. Good (and creepy) stuff. I don't remember where I came across it, maybe this thread even, but their story Lena is one of the most dry, clinical, terrifying things I've ever read.
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Sep 7, 2021 19:36
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Kesper North posted:Starts off strong and gets asymptotically dumb toward the end. Yeah, I read this on thread recommendation and found it familiar, silly, and not very creepy at all. There are a couple fun ideas in there, but not a character in sight. Not really what I'm looking for in my reading.
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Sep 7, 2021 20:20
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Anyone read the Powdermage Trilogy? Had it recommended to me and I’ll need something new after Abercrombie’s next book comes out on the 14th.
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Sep 7, 2021 22:03
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