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Harold Fjord posted:I've enjoyed the little bit of Christopher Moore I've read, mostly Lamb, the Gospel According to Biff. Comparable to Discworld. Bloodsucking Fiends is an absolute favorite of mine.
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Nov 8, 2021 15:02
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:Anyone have any comedic fantasy or sci fi to recommend? I've read all of discworld, and space team, just looking for some good fun reads. Was working my way though the magic of magic series but it got kinda weird in the last book and the opening of the new book was just kinda ugh, so I'm looking for something new. Janitors of the Post-apocalypse is pretty silly
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Nov 8, 2021 15:11
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:Anyone have any comedic fantasy or sci fi to recommend? Vance! It's not all comedic by any means but his signature ironic tone is the source for loads of humor, and there are books like Cugel's Saga which is nothing but a series of goofball escapades. The chapter Cugel spends as a worminger jumps to mind as a highlight. Or Hughart! Bridge of Birds is profoundly beautiful by the end, but the journey there is mostly comedic with plenty of scams, schemes, and shenanigans.
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Nov 8, 2021 15:22
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Bear Sleuth posted:Vance! It's not all comedic by any means but his signature ironic tone is the source for loads of humor, and there are books like Cugel's Saga which is nothing but a series of goofball escapades. The chapter Cugel spends as a worminger jumps to mind as a highlight. drat it's been a minute since I read Cugel but still lmao Cugel and Bunderwal are competing for a job quote:Cugel gave Bunderwal a careful inspection. "He seems to be a modest, decent and unassuming person, but definitely not a sound choice for the position of supercargo." Iucouno the wizard wants Cugel dead, but it would be gauche to just blast him quote:Iucounu led the way into a hall panelled in fine dark mahogany, where he was greeted effusively by a small round animal with long fur, short legs and black button eyes. The creature bounded up and down and voiced a series of shrill barks. Iucounu patted the beast. “Well then, Ettis, how goes your world? Have they been feeding you enough suet? Good! I am glad to hear such happy tidings, since, other than Cugel, you are my only friend. Now then! To order! I must confer with Cugel.” Edit: Cugel has been sent to a domain of darkness to be consumed by the demon Phampoun (who sleeps with blinders on to keep out any stray light rays) but wrangles the sleeping demon to the surface by outwitting Pulsifer, the demon's homunculus tongue quote:"Most interesting, although I am unfamiliar with such extensive vistas. In fact, I feel almost a sense of vertigo. What is the source of the savage red glare?” NoneMoreNegative fucked around with this message at 16:29 on Nov 8, 2021 |
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Nov 8, 2021 15:50
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:Anyone have any comedic fantasy or sci fi to recommend? James Schmitz' The Witches of Karres is a hoot. Do not under any circumstances read the sequels-by-other-hands they are abominations before the Lord.
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Nov 8, 2021 16:39
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Harold Fjord posted:I've enjoyed the little bit of Christopher Moore I've read, mostly Lamb, the Gospel According to Biff. Comparable to Discworld. I don’t know if I would quite characterize Moore as “Fantasy.” I tell people he’s Absurd Magical Realism. Lamb is one of my all-time favorite books. Bloodsucking Fiends, Practical Demonkeeping, and Coyote Blue are all awesome, although I never cared for the BSF sequels. The Stupidest Angel is cute (and it’s a Christmas story) but you might have to read The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove to know who the characters are and I always felt kind of meh about that one. Island of the Sequined Love Nun gets honorable mention for a great title and having Roberto in it (he no like the light). .
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Nov 8, 2021 18:02
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Reading Dune and I still can't get over the name of the chosen one. Like you got people named Pardot Kynes, Thufir Hawat, Vladimir Harkonnen, Glossu Rabban Harkonnen, Gurney Halleck and....Paul.
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Nov 8, 2021 18:56
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How can you not include Duncan Idaho on your off-the-dome list of amazing names in Dune?
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Nov 8, 2021 19:25
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Nov 8, 2021 19:30
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World Fantasy Awards were handed out last weekend: http://www.worldfantasy.org/world-fantasy-awards%E2%84%A0-2021/ Novel shortlist and winner in bold: quote:Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (Bloomsbury) Need to remember to push The Midnight Bargain ahead on my reading queue I guess...
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Nov 8, 2021 19:39
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Sometimes I think Longmont Potion Castle got his ideas for stupid names from Dune
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Nov 8, 2021 21:28
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Alhazred posted:Reading Dune and I still can't get over the name of the chosen one. Like you got people named Pardot Kynes, Thufir Hawat, Vladimir Harkonnen, Glossu Rabban Harkonnen, Gurney Halleck and....Paul. ... Vladimir is not really any less usual than Paul, though, just from a different culture?
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Nov 8, 2021 22:31
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Alhazred posted:Reading Dune and I still can't get over the name of the chosen one. Like you got people named Pardot Kynes, Thufir Hawat, Vladimir Harkonnen, Glossu Rabban Harkonnen, Gurney Halleck and....Paul. Geoff. Geoff the Fremen.
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Nov 8, 2021 22:32
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Don't forget Jessica.
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Nov 8, 2021 22:54
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Strom Cuzewon posted:Geoff. Geoff the Fremen. please, my father is mr. fremen, i'm just geoff
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Nov 8, 2021 22:55
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I know at least 3 Thufirs
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Nov 8, 2021 23:07
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thotsky posted:Barrayar is definitely better than Shards. Presumably this is because Barrayar wasn't a star trek fic with some names switched around
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Nov 8, 2021 23:07
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The Kingdom of Copper (Daevabad #2) by SA Chakraborty - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076P8TD5Y/ Theft of Swords (Riyria Revelations #1) by Michael J Sullivan - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004XWBUKK/ To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07L2Z4DBK/ pradmer fucked around with this message at 01:15 on Nov 9, 2021 |
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Nov 8, 2021 23:48
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Lunsku posted:World Fantasy Awards were handed out last weekend: weird winner, I haven't heard anything about it that indicates it's better than Piranesi and people seem much more excited about the Big Book of Modern Fantasy win
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Nov 9, 2021 00:02
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fez_machine posted:weird winner, I haven't heard anything about it that indicates it's better than Piranesi and people seem much more excited about the Big Book of Modern Fantasy win Hadn't heard about that fantasy anthology before. Anyone checked it out?
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Nov 9, 2021 01:44
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anilEhilated posted:Don't forget Jessica. And the Reverend Mother, whose middle name is Helen. Plus the names with just a slightly different spelling - Piter and so on. In a lot of editions there's a point where a proofreader automatically altered "Jamis" to "James".
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Nov 9, 2021 01:52
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fez_machine posted:weird winner, I haven't heard anything about it that indicates it's better than Piranesi and people seem much more excited about the Big Book of Modern Fantasy win I haven’t heard of any of the other books on the list, but I was a little disappointed in Piranesi. Admittedly that might be a function of being a huge fan of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell and expecting something at least equal to that effort after all those years of waiting.
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Nov 9, 2021 02:05
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It wasn’t really all these years of waiting, though, it was her suffering ill health for years and then only recently beginning to write again.
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Nov 9, 2021 02:22
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Oh. I honestly didn’t know that. Good on her for getting back to it then. I definitely enjoyed Piranesi, just had expected something far more substantial because I had no idea she had any issues.
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Nov 9, 2021 02:25
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Vance's Cudgel/Dying Earth is fantastic, and seems incredibly contemporary, I was shocked to find it dated back to the 50's. Finally reading the only virgin trilogy left from thread fave JK Parker, the Scavenger series, and it's frigging awesome and and a radical step forward. First novel reminds me a lot of the Wolfe The Book of the New Sun, second book is like one of those Wolfe or Vance books where they design a new society wholesale, plus the New Sun stuff continued from the first book and a little Parker blacksmithing thrown in for luck. Just started #3, so really curious where this goes.
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Nov 9, 2021 02:26
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picnics are good actually
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Nov 9, 2021 03:14
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Nomnom Cookie posted:picnics are good actually Just make sure to clean up after yourself.
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Nov 9, 2021 03:17
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Jedit posted:And the Reverend Mother, whose middle name is Helen. Plus the names with just a slightly different spelling - Piter and so on. In a lot of editions there's a point where a proofreader automatically altered "Jamis" to "James". I've always been curious about Piter de Vries -- was it some sort of backhanded reference to Peter de Vries, or did Herbert just like the way the name sounded?
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Nov 9, 2021 12:49
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Selachian posted:I've always been curious about Piter de Vries -- was it some sort of backhanded reference to Peter de Vries, or did Herbert just like the way the name sounded? I’ve seen a couple people question this before and I don’t think there was ever any indication that he was referencing anyone. The best answer seems to be that it’s just a relatively common Dutch name, there’s actually another famous Peter de Vries who was a journalist that got shot this year.
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Nov 9, 2021 16:23
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Book 3 of Planetfall completed. Another main character, another history of mental health problems, severe trauma, etc. In this case, post-partum depression. 10% in to the fourth (and final?) one and the main character also has a massively traumatic history, as expected These books are very good if you don't mind damaged characters processing internal problems, while legitimately terrible things happen to and around them. The first one was the weakest so far, kind of an abruptly ended Rama. #2 was a futuristic detective story, #3 was a "what's actually going on this space station?" sort of mystery thriller. Both 2 and 3 I think were much better paced than Planetfall, and while continuing to cover serious stuff, never get to the absolute horrifying depth of book #1's having the main character's hoarder house publicly exposed. Overall strong recommend for those who can stomach it.
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Nov 9, 2021 17:07
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fez_machine posted:weird winner, I haven't heard anything about it that indicates it's better than Piranesi and people seem much more excited about the Big Book of Modern Fantasy win I've read all of them except Midnight Bargain, and I'd definitely put Only Good Indians and Piranesi above Trouble the Saints. I'd need to double check my reviews, but I'm betting I put Mexican Gothic over it too. To be clear, it's good, they all are, just it's probably the bottom of the 4 of those I read.
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Nov 9, 2021 21:52
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I'm looking for some fantasy that's heavily inspired by Norse mythology, or just stuff that has a similar feel. I've read The Broken Sword (which was great, and definitely the sort of thing I'm looking for) and I know LotR draws heavily from a lot of mythology and folklore of the area, but anything else? I'm sure there's obvious stuff I'm forgetting that I've read, but I'm curious if there's anything out there I've overlooked entirely. I know there's a fair amount of viking- and Norse-flavored fantasy that is quietly (or not so quietly) white supremacist, so it's hard to know what's actually good and what's just getting pushed because somebody has an agenda.
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Nov 9, 2021 21:59
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MockingQuantum posted:I'm looking for some fantasy that's heavily inspired by Norse mythology, or just stuff that has a similar feel. I've read The Broken Sword (which was great, and definitely the sort of thing I'm looking for) and I know LotR draws heavily from a lot of mythology and folklore of the area, but anything else? I'm sure there's obvious stuff I'm forgetting that I've read, but I'm curious if there's anything out there I've overlooked entirely. I know there's a fair amount of viking- and Norse-flavored fantasy that is quietly (or not so quietly) white supremacist, so it's hard to know what's actually good and what's just getting pushed because somebody has an agenda. Gene Wolfe’s The Wizard Knight books? I think there are two of them but they’re sold as one now.
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Nov 9, 2021 22:02
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MockingQuantum posted:I'm looking for some fantasy that's heavily inspired by Norse mythology, or just stuff that has a similar feel. I've read The Broken Sword (which was great, and definitely the sort of thing I'm looking for) and I know LotR draws heavily from a lot of mythology and folklore of the area, but anything else? I'm sure there's obvious stuff I'm forgetting that I've read, but I'm curious if there's anything out there I've overlooked entirely. I know there's a fair amount of viking- and Norse-flavored fantasy that is quietly (or not so quietly) white supremacist, so it's hard to know what's actually good and what's just getting pushed because somebody has an agenda. David Drake's Northworld: https://david-drake.com/2000/northworld/ quote:I made what I thought was a pointless change from my normal procedure by adding a short afterward to Northworld. For years my friends Jim Baen and Mark Van Name had been urging me to do that, telling people the literary and historical background of the work. I regarded this as silly: the story was the story, good or bad; and no better or worse because it had a background in history, classical literature, or (here) Norse myth. But I did it anyway, because Jim and Mark are very smart and unquestionably have my best interests at heart.
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Nov 9, 2021 22:06
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MockingQuantum posted:I'm looking for some fantasy that's heavily inspired by Norse mythology, or just stuff that has a similar feel. I've read The Broken Sword (which was great, and definitely the sort of thing I'm looking for) and I know LotR draws heavily from a lot of mythology and folklore of the area, but anything else? I'm sure there's obvious stuff I'm forgetting that I've read, but I'm curious if there's anything out there I've overlooked entirely. I know there's a fair amount of viking- and Norse-flavored fantasy that is quietly (or not so quietly) white supremacist, so it's hard to know what's actually good and what's just getting pushed because somebody has an agenda. I honestly don't know how it has aged but as a young adult I loved the Renshai Chronicles: https://www.goodreads.com/series/43042-renshai-chronicles The universe is heavily Norse-inspired and and the gods take a pretty active role in the world as the series goes on. Esposito fucked around with this message at 23:16 on Nov 9, 2021 |
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Nov 9, 2021 23:14
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Is there a good replacement for the Gardner Dozois anthologies? I used to get those for my dad every year and the Best American one last year wasn't as good.
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Nov 9, 2021 23:41
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MockingQuantum posted:I'm looking for some fantasy that's heavily inspired by Norse mythology, or just stuff that has a similar feel. I've read The Broken Sword (which was great, and definitely the sort of thing I'm looking for) and I know LotR draws heavily from a lot of mythology and folklore of the area, but anything else? I'm sure there's obvious stuff I'm forgetting that I've read, but I'm curious if there's anything out there I've overlooked entirely. I know there's a fair amount of viking- and Norse-flavored fantasy that is quietly (or not so quietly) white supremacist, so it's hard to know what's actually good and what's just getting pushed because somebody has an agenda. John Gwyne, Shadow of the Gods
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Nov 9, 2021 23:43
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MockingQuantum posted:I'm looking for some fantasy that's heavily inspired by Norse mythology, or just stuff that has a similar feel. I've read The Broken Sword (which was great, and definitely the sort of thing I'm looking for) and I know LotR draws heavily from a lot of mythology and folklore of the area, but anything else? I'm sure there's obvious stuff I'm forgetting that I've read, but I'm curious if there's anything out there I've overlooked entirely. I know there's a fair amount of viking- and Norse-flavored fantasy that is quietly (or not so quietly) white supremacist, so it's hard to know what's actually good and what's just getting pushed because somebody has an agenda. Been a long time since I read it but Harry Harrison's The Hammer and the Cross series is definitely Norse. Snuff (Discworld #39) by Terry Pratchett - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005FFW46S/ Red Rising by Pierce Brown - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CVS2J80/ Tower Lord (Raven's Shadow #2) by Anthony Ryan - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00G3L6ML6/ Aurora Rising (Aurora Cycle #1) by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FS1K4WL/ YA
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Nov 9, 2021 23:45
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mrs. nicholas sarkozy posted:Is there a good replacement for the Gardner Dozois anthologies? I used to get those for my dad every year and the Best American one last year wasn't as good. The Saga Anthologies edited by Jonathan Strahan are the ones geared to be the replacement Year's Best Science Fiction anthology. Strahan is a very good anthologist in his own right, many of the original stories that appeared in his anthologies also appeared in Dozois' Best of the Years, and he had a lot of contact with Dozois. They also include a year's summation, but not unfortunately a short blurb about the author and the contents of the story before the story itself (which I understand for artistic reasons but gently caress it makes deciding which stories to read hard). 2 volumes have been released: https://www.amazon.com.au/Years-Best-Science-Fiction-Vol/dp/1534449590/ https://www.amazon.com.au/Years-Best-Science-Fiction-Vol/dp/1534449620/
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Nov 9, 2021 23:53
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making a "best american" sci-fi anthology seems like a silly way to snub a bunch of british writers for no real reason 
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Nov 10, 2021 00:12
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