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Crashbee posted:Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao is 99p on UK Amazon today https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B091QDF9R1 This book is super super YA so I think you sort of have to be up for that, but a pound is probably a good price to try it out with the expectation you might reasonably bounce right off. FuzzySlippers posted:I'm only about 20% into Commonweal book 1 but I feel most of the text has been exposition so far. It's just exposition about local metallurgy or social conventions of the Line instead of more grounding ideas around the main plot. Like we just had pages and pages of random explanatory details told to me the reader, a couple paragraphs of plot that got tossed out with zero explanation so I'm not sure what is happening, and then we're back to meandering around the local area wiki. Part of the toss you in the deep end no explanation idea is to usually avoid characters saying stuff everyone in universe already knows, but our narrator is a straight up guide, like Black Company, that's just breezing over stuff I wouldn't mind some clarity on. Croaker might breeze through people or places but usually came back around for conceptual stuff. It’s a weird mix of lots of detail with minimal clarity imo.
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Dec 25, 2021 06:52
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tildes posted:This book is super super YA so I think you sort of have to be up for that, but a pound is probably a good price to try it out with the expectation you might reasonably bounce right off. This is a perfect description of it. Clarity trickles in over time, and by the end of the first book I had a pretty good idea of what's what, although some scenes really put my aphantasia brain through a wringer. I still have very little of what the fortress full of demons looked like, or the nature of the trap within it, or what the captain physically did to it to compromise it[/spoilers]; if anyone with a better ability to visualize weirdness can chime in on that, I'd love to hear their take. I'm about a quarter of the way into book two now and the transition from military fantasy to... civil engineering fantasy? Is really is quite stark. It feels inevitable that they'll go back to addressing the [spoiler]ongoing crisis of the Commonweal being invaded by... things from the Paingyre, and I'll be happy when they do, but this is probably necessary worldbuilding, and the setting is interesting enough that I'm willing to go along for the ride. Kestral fucked around with this message at 06:37 on Dec 26, 2021 |
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Dec 25, 2021 10:01
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Kestral posted:This is a perfect description of it. Clarity trickles in over time, and by the end of the first book I had a pretty good idea of what's what, although some scenes really put my aphantasia brain through a wringer. I still have very little of what the fortress full of demons looked like, or the nature of the trap within it, or what the captain physically did to it to compromise it; if anyone with a better ability to visualize weirdness can chime in on that, I'd love to hear their take. You missed a spoiler tag, so you know.
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Dec 25, 2021 10:12
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Ccs posted:Hey season 1 of west world was alright. Nah, season 1 of Westworld wasn't that great but it ended up leagues better than seasons 2 & 3, overall the 2016 tv-series was garbage. Nudity, better visuals, and Anthony Hopkins in auto-pilot acting mode are mainly the "improvements" the showrunners and HBO made for the 2016 Westworld tv-series versus the original Westworld 1973 + Futureworld 1976 combo. Pretty much the only things I liked in the 2016 Westworld tv-series was the female black lead from season 1/her storyline and the two idiot body technicians that did a Plan Nine: Really can't remember anything from Ed Wood the movie, I watched Plan Nine as a product of earlier 1950's scifi movies, and not with the baggage of 40+ years of mockery over the budget and acting. UFO's and superscience in 1950's scifi movies were almost an omnipresent thing, going for zombies & the undead versus interocitors and matter transmutation and Robbie the Robot or Gort felt fresh from a 2021 perspective. Plan Nine's UFO's & special effects really made me appreciate the special effects and UFO from Forbidden Planet, although I admit decades of seeing Leslie Nielsen in other stuff & ZAZ films had me expecting Frank Drebin-isms and for Cook to be revealed as a super-degenerate ala Captain Oveur or McCroskey from Airplane!. Eye of Argon: remember how one-sidedly dogpiled that "I Identity as Attack Helicopter" story got when it initially came out? Eye of Argon got that treatment but worse in every way. No twitter existed back then, instead it was established SF&F authors and SF&F editors sharing copies of it to other SF&F authors and SF&F editors that organized hate-reads and punching down and down. Both the authors of "Argon" and "Helicopter" abandoned dealing with "in-the-loop" SF&F people forever and I can't blame them.
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Dec 25, 2021 16:10
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Worse in every way. Incredible take
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Dec 25, 2021 18:03
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Red Rising by Pierce Brown - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CVS2J80/
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Dec 25, 2021 18:25
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The Eye of Argon thing was just making fun of some kid's weird writing style, admittedly to the point of mean-spirited bullying. Didn't have any culture war connotations.
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Dec 25, 2021 18:38
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quantumfoam posted:Eye of Argon: remember how one-sidedly dogpiled that "I Identity as Attack Helicopter" story got when it initially came out? Eye of Argon got that treatment but worse in every way. No twitter existed back then, instead it was established SF&F authors and SF&F editors sharing copies of it to other SF&F authors and SF&F editors that organized hate-reads and punching down and down. Both the authors of "Argon" and "Helicopter" abandoned dealing with "in-the-loop" SF&F people forever and I can't blame them. Sham bam bamina! fucked around with this message at 18:46 on Dec 25, 2021 |
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Dec 25, 2021 18:42
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Pretty sure nobody in the fandom even knew who Jim Theis was.
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Dec 25, 2021 18:53
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Mean spirited bullying happening over and over (and over) again in SF&F fandom is what I've been talking about, not culture war. Not sure why culture war got brought up but whatever. Holiday themed scifi movies: There's the obvious Halloween horror movies, Santa Claus vs the Martains, and Jason Goes to Space. Half remember Mars Attacks! happening around a holiday. Anyone have better memory of holiday themed scifi movies than me?
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Dec 25, 2021 19:09
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This is The Book Bran.
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Dec 25, 2021 19:14
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quantumfoam posted:Holiday themed scifi movies: There's the obvious Halloween horror movies, Santa Claus vs the Martains, and Jason Goes to Space. Half remember Mars Attacks! happening around a holiday. Anyone have better memory of holiday themed scifi movies than me? i think you should go ask this over at rec.arts.sf.movies
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Dec 25, 2021 19:18
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Eye of Argon wasn't mean-spirited when I experienced it. It was spread by writers ribbing each other for their own bad prose using Argon as a scape goat. I don't remember the Ben "Black Culture" Biddick book being made fun of as mean-spirited either. Unless all humor is a little mean-spirited? If you arent being at least mildly transgressive, no one is laughing.
MartingaleJack fucked around with this message at 19:23 on Dec 25, 2021 |
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Dec 25, 2021 19:19
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What are you smoking man.
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Dec 25, 2021 22:06
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I just finished Master Assassins and I can really recommend it. The reason why I read it is the review of its sequel by Mark Lawrence:Mark Lawrence posted:Book 1, Master Assassins, was one of the top 2 or 3 books I've read in the past decade, so this book had a LOT to live up to. And it did a fantastic job - I pity the next book I read having to struggle out of the shadow of this tome! See https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2185389606?book_show_action=true for his more extensive review of the first book itself. To avoid dissapointment from people who might have a wrong idea based on the title: it's not a book about assassinations at all.
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Dec 25, 2021 23:07
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Hopefully this isn't too vague/broad of a request, but I'm looking for a (good) book that deals with advanced alien civilizations, but still leaving some sort of mysterious component about them and/or their intentions, or at least waits until towards the end before "all is revealed." For example, something like the "Three-Body Problem", where you don't get the full story until later on, but you see glimpses of their advanced nature that keeps you curious. I appreciate any recommendations
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Dec 25, 2021 23:10
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MarksMan posted:Hopefully this isn't too vague/broad of a request, but I'm looking for a (good) book that deals with advanced alien civilizations, but still leaving some sort of mysterious component about them and/or their intentions, or at least waits until towards the end before "all is revealed." For example, something like the "Three-Body Problem", where you don't get the full story until later on, but you see glimpses of their advanced nature that keeps you curious. I appreciate any recommendations I assume you've read Banks (the culture) and Clarke (Rama). If not, there you go. You might not have read Octavia Butler (Dawn, but many of her other works are worth reading as well.) Perhaps you might enjoy Julie E Czerneda's Trade Pact (A Thousand Words For Stranger is the start point).
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Dec 25, 2021 23:38
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MarksMan posted:Hopefully this isn't too vague/broad of a request, but I'm looking for a (good) book that deals with advanced alien civilizations, but still leaving some sort of mysterious component about them and/or their intentions, or at least waits until towards the end before "all is revealed." For example, something like the "Three-Body Problem", where you don't get the full story until later on, but you see glimpses of their advanced nature that keeps you curious. I appreciate any recommendations Have you read Revelation Space? It’s gothic space opera that makes 3BP look kitschy and cozy.
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Dec 25, 2021 23:48
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Burning Chrome by William Gibson is $1.99 on US Kindle today.
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Dec 25, 2021 23:58
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Poul, no! https://twitter.com/sfruminations/status/1474867184056819713?s=21
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Dec 25, 2021 23:59
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 If you want the opposition/support battle lines for Vietnam without having to dive the twitter thread. Nothing super surprising on a quick glance.
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Dec 26, 2021 00:06
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Jack Vance is on the supporters list later in the thread 
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Dec 26, 2021 00:10
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Let's see... Dangerous Visions includes stories by Lester Del Rey, Robert Silverberg, Frederik Pohl, Philip Jose Farmer, Miriam Allen deFord, Robert Bloch, Brian Aldiss, Howard Rodman, Philip K. Dick, Larry Niven, Fritz Leiber, Poul Anderson, David R. Bunch, James Cross, Carol Emshwiller, Damon Knight, Theodore Sturgeon, Larry Eisenberg, Henry Slesar, Sonya Dorman, John Sladek, Jonathan Brand, Kris Neville, R. A. Lafferty, J. G. Ballard, John Brunner, Keith Laumer, Norman Spinrad, Roger Zelazny, Samuel R. Delany, and of course Ellison himself. So cross-referencing with the above-posted list, the two hawks who made the book (besides Anderson) were Lafferty and Niven. I'm rather surprised Keith Laumer isn't on the hawk list from what I know of his attitudes... DACK FAYDEN posted:Jack Vance is on the supporters list later in the thread Sorry to say, Vance was pretty right-wing even if it doesn't come through in his fiction.
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Dec 26, 2021 01:57
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Walh Hara posted:I just finished Master Assassins and I can really recommend it. The reason why I read it is the review of its sequel by Mark Lawrence: book 2 came out this year, redick is still good his red wolf series was great up until the ending which made me want to throw the book into the wall
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Dec 26, 2021 01:59
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Read The Sentinel, and it was not good. It's a good "we found weird poo poo and dunno what it does" kinda book idea but the overall arc of the story from them finding it to the ending is just bleh. I kept hoping it'd get more interesting or just more lively, but nope. If you are absolutely dying for a new mystery object book, give it a whirl. That's about the only recommendation I can make for it.
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Dec 26, 2021 03:28
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Selachian posted:I'm rather surprised Keith Laumer isn't on the hawk list from what I know of his attitudes... IIRC Laumer was still in the USAF at the time so (unlike today's officers) may have refrained from signing for or against due to a officer's patriotic duty to his country and all that. Or because he'd also done a few years in the 50s with the US Foreign Service in Burma as a vice consul, he'd seen enough of how the sausage was made to leave him more ambivalent towards our policies in the region.
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Dec 26, 2021 04:01
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Selachian posted:I'm rather surprised Keith Laumer isn't on the hawk list from what I know of his attitudes... My understanding was that the Retief series is in partial response to both his service in Burma and deals with Vietnam in metaphor as well in later books. I didn't get the sense from the Retief books that he was a fan of military adventurism per se. Also interesting to note that his brother, March Laumer, did sign the anti-war petition.
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Dec 26, 2021 05:04
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Walh Hara posted:I just finished Master Assassins and I can really recommend it. The reason why I read it is the review of its sequel by Mark Lawrence:
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Dec 26, 2021 11:20
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branedotorg posted:I remember seeing a big splash quote from Rothfuss and it put me off a bit - what would you say it's most like in terms of style? If it’s like Red Wolf Conspiracy (another great series by Redick), Hobb or Tad Williams in terms of style. Red Wolf Conspiracy is for me on a similar level as liveship series or Bone ships.
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Dec 26, 2021 12:52
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branedotorg posted:I remember seeing a big splash quote from Rothfuss and it put me off a bit - what would you say it's most like in terms of style? There is just one POV and he has no idea what's going on, just wants to stay alive, and can't trust anybody - pretty much everybody has secrets. The seting is probably inspired by Indonesia and contains both references to a more technologically advanced outside world and hints of supernatural elements (no magic as such). The style reminded me a bit of Buehlman.
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Dec 26, 2021 14:47
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So apparently every year this guy on Reddit organizes a huge two-day book sale for charity (don't ask me details, I just found out about it this morning lol). This year it's 400 sci-fi/fantasy e-books for 0.99$ each, with the proceeds going to St. Judes. If you've got reddit, here's the direct post, but if you don't wanna go there here's the google doc spreadsheet with everything (and links to the non-US Amazon pages). There's some good stuff on there, and A LOT of stuff I've never heard of, but I figure for a buck a book you can't really go wrong.
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Dec 26, 2021 16:00
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Tales from Earthsea (Earthsea Cycle #5) by Ursula K Le Guin - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003ZX86BO/ The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure by William Goldman - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003IEJZRY/ pradmer fucked around with this message at 00:10 on Dec 27, 2021 |
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Dec 26, 2021 18:18
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I'm really enjoying the Blacktongue Thief. A lot of it is drawn straight fun the fantasy trope playbook. On paper, if you looked at the plot outline, you'd roll your eyes because the first third of the book is basically a first edition D&D campaign. It starts with a bandit attack and moves into various taverns. The main character has racial bonuses. There's a literal 'save the cat' moment. But the first person narrator's voice is pretty fun when he's not delivering exposition, which is still enjoyable, but sometimes feels like going down the rabbit hole Wikipedia articles. At times I've lost track of who was speaking because these narrator comments/world building/lore dumps can happen in the middle of conversations and carry on for several pages before picking up exactly where the conversation left off. The voice and humor is a bit like Gideon the Ninth. The narrator's way of relating the tale reminded me of the Name of the Wind, but not in a bad way. It's the second fantasy book I read this year that I've found engaging (The Curse of Chalion was the first.)
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Dec 26, 2021 18:52
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Finished the 7 and a half Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. I'll say pretty good, an interesting premise, decently done. The ending was fine. I've read a shitload of Agatha Christie and ultimately I felt about like I had finished reading a pretty average one of those, even given the SFF premise Which isn't a terrible comparison, considering that the above average Christie novels all kept me up late reading, but ultimately, this didn't do that.
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Dec 26, 2021 19:01
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General Battuta posted:Have you read Revelation Space? It’s gothic space opera that makes 3BP look kitschy and cozy. It's also a really boring book where we skip between unlikable characters with no character development until they finally meet up so nothing can happen.
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Dec 26, 2021 19:38
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Can’t remember who recommended the Bone Ships, but ty! I got the audio books from the library and they’ve been great gym/commute buddies.
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Dec 26, 2021 19:40
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Soysaucebeast posted:So apparently every year this guy on Reddit organizes a huge two-day book sale for charity (don't ask me details, I just found out about it this morning lol). This year it's 400 sci-fi/fantasy e-books for 0.99$ each, with the proceeds going to St. Judes. If you've got reddit, here's the direct post, but if you don't wanna go there here's the google doc spreadsheet with everything (and links to the non-US Amazon pages). There's some good stuff on there, and A LOT of stuff I've never heard of, but I figure for a buck a book you can't really go wrong. dammit amazon give me my money back, I will spend it immediately (they're not going to give it back yet, it was going to take ten business days and there hasn't been a lot of those)
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Dec 26, 2021 19:54
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BananaNutkins posted:I'm really enjoying the Blacktongue Thief. Honestly, it's just got a sense of fun to it. That's something I'm missing a lot of in fantasy. Sometimes you have to acknowledge that you're writing something fun and not grim.
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Dec 26, 2021 19:55
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A lot of people seemed to enjoy Sword of Kaigen which is on that list. So if you were only going to grab one you might want to make it that one.
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Dec 26, 2021 19:56
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GrandmaParty posted:Honestly, it's just got a sense of fun to it. That's something I'm missing a lot of in fantasy. Sometimes you have to acknowledge that you're writing something fun and not grim. Everyone should read Fritz Leibers Fahrd and the Grey Mouser for exactly this. One of my favorite parts of the Malazan series is the fun conversations that happens between all the grim parts.
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Dec 26, 2021 20:33
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