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Doctor Faustine posted:I just read The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling and really loved it. I’d like to read more SF in this vein but I don’t know where to look—I’ve read fewer than 10 SF books in my entire life. What I liked about The Luminous Dead was that there was no military conflict or strong emphasis on space travel or robots, which seem to be SF mainstays but I don’t really care for them. I liked that all the technology was pretty grounded and easy to imagine how and why it would be developed. I also loved the horror elements and character-driven story. You might also like The Lathe of Heaven, where dreams start to alter reality; Hyperion, featuring a group of strangers telling their stories while on a pilgrimage to the Time Tombs of Hyperion; or Gideon the Ninth, where some necromancers explore a weird mansion and try to unravel its secrets. The latter two feature some future tech/space travel, but more as a means to an end (get to spooky planet/mansion) than as a main feature. If you’re ok with some schlock, The Fold & Dark Matter are pretty entertaining entries in the “whoops we built this machine we don’t fully understand” genre.
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Feb 8, 2022 01:30
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Mercury Hat posted:Oh man, I loved the Southern Reach series, I just blitzed through it this past fall. It has a LOT to say if you're paying attention, but if someone's just reading and expecting a character to exposit what Area X is and what happened to every single other character, yeah they're going to be disappointed. Which it seems like a lot of these 1 and 2 star reviews are, lol. i loved that series even more on reread but yeah, I think a lot of people expect Monsters and it's more about struggling with your identity in the face of unknowable systems that control you nonetheless there's still some really good horror but vandermeer cares a lot more about what it means to exist in this world (also he rules irl and is probably an environmentalist above all else at this point)
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Feb 8, 2022 02:29
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southern reach owns, ambergris owns, borne owns, vandermeer owns
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Feb 8, 2022 02:57
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moonmazed posted:southern reach owns, ambergris owns, borne owns, vandermeer owns anilEhilated fucked around with this message at 09:34 on Feb 8, 2022 |
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Feb 8, 2022 09:32
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Idle question: has Stross used the word "wreakings" outside the sense of "wreaking havoc" in the previous books in the Laundry series? Quantum of Nightmares is good by the way.
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Feb 8, 2022 11:28
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Vandermeer posts a lot of birds on his twitter account, and I enjoyed City of Saints and Madmen, so he's all right by me.
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Feb 8, 2022 12:45
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90s Cringe Rock posted:Idle question: has Stross used the word "wreakings" outside the sense of "wreaking havoc" in the previous books in the Laundry series? I don’t know but I love the coinage and hope he does 
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Feb 8, 2022 17:19
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Doctor Faustine posted:I just read The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling and really loved it. I really like this so far, about 1/2 way through and will probably finish it today
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Feb 8, 2022 17:37
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Just checked out the ebook for GRRM’s Dying of the Light. If I counted correctly, there are exactly 69 blurbs (praise for novels he’s written, whatever you call that) before you hit the table of contents
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Feb 8, 2022 17:43
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Stuporstar posted:I don’t know but I love the coinage and hope he does I mean, the literal meaning of the word is to cause or bring about from Ye Olde English. It's an entirely legit construction. And if you're interested in the use of the word "wreaking" without association with the word "havoc," have I got a series for you.
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Feb 8, 2022 19:03
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anilEhilated posted:I really didn't enjoy Hummingbird Salamander. i thought it was all right, kind of disjointed, but definitely not one of his best
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Feb 8, 2022 19:30
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90s Cringe Rock posted:Idle question: has Stross used the word "wreakings" outside the sense of "wreaking havoc" in the previous books in the Laundry series? Stuporstar posted:I don’t know but I love the coinage and hope he does This is, believe it or not, a tribute to The Commonweal series, of which Stross was an early fan. He posts about it here and there, comments on Saunders' blog, and iirc has recommended it on twitter. In that setting, wreaking refers to structured, orderly, ritual magic with predictable material consequences.
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Feb 8, 2022 19:35
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Kestral posted:This is, believe it or not, a tribute to The Commonweal series, of which Stross was an early fan. He posts about it here and there, comments on Saunders' blog, and iirc has recommended it on twitter. In that setting, wreaking refers to structured, orderly, ritual magic with predictable material consequences. lol at one point i twitter searched that series and like 90% of all posts are Stross, over multiple years, recommending it over and over. he's the original sockpuppet account eke out fucked around with this message at 19:51 on Feb 8, 2022 |
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Feb 8, 2022 19:40
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Feb 8, 2022 19:49
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I'm not surprised at all to find out that Stross posts here and is constantly promoting my, Graydon Saunders, work.
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Feb 8, 2022 19:50
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Sigh I ended up re-reading Gridlinked by Neal Asher, which is a tight little space opera story with some cool ideas and great action. He starts off every chapter with some flavor text describing some tech or event in his universe ala Wikipedia, and there was one that made some dismissive comment about political correctness. It was bothering me so before I cracked book #2 in that series, I decided to look him up on twitter and it's just constant retweets of the Canadian trucker protest and Jordan Peterson bullshit and now I can't read any more of his stuff. Usually I can separate art and artist but I can't read scifi from somebody that stupid. So now I'm reading that killer cave book instead.
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Feb 8, 2022 22:42
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zoux posted:Sigh I ended up re-reading Gridlinked by Neal Asher, which is a tight little space opera story with some cool ideas and great action. He starts off every chapter with some flavor text describing some tech or event in his universe ala Wikipedia, and there was one that made some dismissive comment about political correctness. It was bothering me so before I cracked book #2 in that series, I decided to look him up on twitter and it's just constant retweets of the Canadian trucker protest and Jordan Peterson bullshit and now I can't read any more of his stuff. Usually I can separate art and artist but I can't read scifi from somebody that stupid. So now I'm reading that killer cave book instead. Yeah he's a real rear end in a top hat, which is just so.... urgh. I want to read that kind of cyberpunk /gritty action gore sci-fi action stuff but there's not much out there.
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Feb 8, 2022 22:55
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zoux posted:Sigh I ended up re-reading Gridlinked by Neal Asher, which is a tight little space opera story with some cool ideas and great action. He starts off every chapter with some flavor text describing some tech or event in his universe ala Wikipedia, and there was one that made some dismissive comment about political correctness. It was bothering me so before I cracked book #2 in that series, I decided to look him up on twitter and it's just constant retweets of the Canadian trucker protest and Jordan Peterson bullshit and now I can't read any more of his stuff. Usually I can separate art and artist but I can't read scifi from somebody that stupid. So now I'm reading that killer cave book instead. I read like 4 or 5 of those, and yeah, I could tell we obviously did not agree on some fundamental stuff. But weird as gently caress sci-fi dragon though 
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Feb 8, 2022 23:01
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He's also a freaking climate change denier. How can you be a SFF author in 2022 and a global warming crank. Mr Crane is so coooool though
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Feb 8, 2022 23:09
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The weird thing is it's really not that obvious from the stories at the start. If I recall Gridlinked its pretty sympathetic to the idea that the working class are being hosed over by society and that's why the separatists exist. Cormac has a different opinion but, though the protagonist, he's explicitly portrayed as machinelike and losing touch with his humanity. You can easily take it as good characterization rather than any one side being "right". Several books in, though, you start getting some nasty "taker vs. maker" stuff and it becomes increasing clear that this is the Word Of Author and the Correct Opinion. Shame.
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Feb 9, 2022 01:09
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I've nearly finished reading The Famished Road by Ben Okri. I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoyed Akata Witch. Although it's written in a more literary style, it has the same Nigerian setting and a similar sense of unbound playfulness with the fantastic. It's a book that I kept putting down and coming back to--there isn't much of an overarching plot, but each scene and sentence is really beautifully constructed.
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Feb 9, 2022 01:45
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anyone itt score an advance copy of moon witch spider king? Had no idea it was even coming out despite loving the first book. Reviews seem good, interesting to retell the first book from sogolon’s perspective
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Feb 9, 2022 01:52
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zoux posted:Sigh I ended up re-reading Gridlinked by Neal Asher, which is a tight little space opera story with some cool ideas and great action. He starts off every chapter with some flavor text describing some tech or event in his universe ala Wikipedia, and there was one that made some dismissive comment about political correctness. It was bothering me so before I cracked book #2 in that series, I decided to look him up on twitter and it's just constant retweets of the Canadian trucker protest and Jordan Peterson bullshit and now I can't read any more of his stuff. Usually I can separate art and artist but I can't read scifi from somebody that stupid. So now I'm reading that killer cave book instead. I literally spent the good part of my lunch hour trying to figure out if a guy who wrote an ebook discounted to $1 was a chud or not, but he seemed to scrub all political opinion off of his socials so I guess I'll find out if it is in the book itself. At least the dead authors can't tweet
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Feb 9, 2022 02:00
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anilEhilated posted:I really didn't enjoy Hummingbird Salamander. Same. OTOH Veniss Underground was great
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Feb 9, 2022 02:37
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I am a little over half way through Ada Palmer's Too Like the Lightning. Uh, cannot say that I predicted the direction the story went with Mycroft Canner's background. The first part of the book has you thinking his crime and punishment are related to the canner device and his ability to bypass security. But nope, turns out he was a serial killer that engaged in a little wholesome cannibalism.  That being said, while it was a pretty slow burn for me at first, I am really getting into the book. Looking forward to seeing where this goes.
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Feb 9, 2022 04:52
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Sailor Viy posted:I've nearly finished reading The Famished Road by Ben Okri. I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoyed Akata Witch. Although it's written in a more literary style, it has the same Nigerian setting and a similar sense of unbound playfulness with the fantastic. It's a book that I kept putting down and coming back to--there isn't much of an overarching plot, but each scene and sentence is really beautifully constructed. Isn't his prose just stunning? He's the author I most wish I could write like. Him and like, John Steinbeck.
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Feb 9, 2022 04:55
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Tars Tarkas posted:dead authors can't tweet
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Feb 9, 2022 06:01
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Sailor Viy posted:I've nearly finished reading The Famished Road by Ben Okri. I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoyed Akata Witch. Although it's written in a more literary style, it has the same Nigerian setting and a similar sense of unbound playfulness with the fantastic. It's a book that I kept putting down and coming back to--there isn't much of an overarching plot, but each scene and sentence is really beautifully constructed. Have dipped a little into Nigerian literature lately, wanting more. Lots of rich cultural stuff that's just different enough from my own background to be fresh and interesting. There's like 200 million of them and a decent percentage is literate in English so it shouldn't be surprising they got a bunch of talented and accessible writers.
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Feb 9, 2022 09:11
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Screaming_Gremlin posted:I am a little over half way through Ada Palmer's Too Like the Lightning. Uh, cannot say that I predicted the direction the story went with Mycroft Canner's background. The first part of the book has you thinking his crime and punishment are related to the canner device and his ability to bypass security. But nope, turns out he was a serial killer that engaged in a little wholesome cannibalism. lol this sounds like the reveal at the end of perdido street station
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Feb 9, 2022 09:14
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Groke posted:Have dipped a little into Nigerian literature lately, wanting more. Lots of rich cultural stuff that's just different enough from my own background to be fresh and interesting. Ngugi wa Thiongo’s Wizard of the Crow was pretty cool modern fantasyish novel at least. Edit: Now that I double checked, he’s actually Kenyan, but anyway.
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Feb 9, 2022 11:07
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moonmazed posted:lol this sounds like the reveal at the end of perdido street station Pinch of salt because I DNF'ed Too Like the Lightning and it's been 15 years since I read Perdido Street (so I remember the crime in question but not how the other characters react to it) but I don't like the idea of introducing a more or less sympathetic character and then having the author say "haha well GUESS WHAT they actually committed a terrible crime"
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Feb 9, 2022 23:00
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freebooter posted:Pinch of salt because I DNF'ed Too Like the Lightning and it's been 15 years since I read Perdido Street (so I remember the crime in question but not how the other characters react to it) but I don't like the idea of introducing a more or less sympathetic character and then having the author say "haha well GUESS WHAT they actually committed a terrible crime" It's not secret that the narrator in Too Like the Lightning did something notably awful in his past.
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Feb 9, 2022 23:31
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Danhenge posted:It's not secret that the narrator in Too Like the Lightning did something notably awful in his past. As per the OP, emphasis on terrible crime
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Feb 9, 2022 23:33
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Though if you read through the rest of the series (massive spoiler obvs) the terrible crime was committed in an attempt to prevent far worse from happening.
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Feb 9, 2022 23:40
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Hobnob posted:The weird thing is it's really not that obvious from the stories at the start. If I recall Gridlinked its pretty sympathetic to the idea that the working class are being hosed over by society and that's why the separatists exist. Cormac has a different opinion but, though the protagonist, he's explicitly portrayed as machinelike and losing touch with his humanity. You can easily take it as good characterization rather than any one side being "right". The Polity books were pretty fun and the author's politics largely ignorable; likewise Cowl, his standalone about time travel bullshit. In the more recent Owner trilogy, though, he goes completely off the rails, including weird rants about present-day (as in, our present-day, not the book's present-day) public health care in the narration.
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Feb 9, 2022 23:41
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ToxicFrog posted:The Polity books were pretty fun and the author's politics largely ignorable; likewise Cowl, his standalone about time travel bullshit. In the more recent Owner trilogy, though, he goes completely off the rails, including weird rants about present-day (as in, our present-day, not the book's present-day) public health care in the narration. Yeah, I was gonna say the Owner trilogy was past the batshit event horizon.
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Feb 10, 2022 05:24
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HopperUK posted:Isn't his prose just stunning? He's the author I most wish I could write like. Him and like, John Steinbeck. I know, right? I love the way he will come out with a casual reference to something like a god, spirit or other dimension--stuff that in western fantasy would be "worldbuilding" but with Okri is just part of the texture of the prose. Another good book in the same vein is Search Sweet Country by Kojo Laing.
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Feb 10, 2022 09:27
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Asher’s Owner trilogy owns. The angry white dude literally brexits the planet because the EU made him use pronouns IIRC
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Feb 10, 2022 09:46
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Danhenge posted:It's not secret that the narrator in Too Like the Lightning did something notably awful in his past. It kind of leads you into thinking his terrible crime is something their culture thinks is the worst thing ever but we wouldn't give a poo poo about
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Feb 10, 2022 11:46
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Take the plunge! Okay! posted:Asher’s Owner trilogy owns. The angry white dude literally brexits the planet because the EU made him use pronouns IIRC Looking back at my journal entry for the book, it's because the government tried to force him to do work that would benefit society somewhat rather than just loving everyone else over in order to become rich. He refused, so they mindwiped him and then tried to execute him (I don't think it's ever explained why they did both), but because he's a genius polymath unparalleled in every academic field and a master of half a dozen different schools of martial arts and an expert marksman and a master tactician and strategist (really), he anticipated this well in advance and set up an intricate plot that would result in him being set free post-mindwipe with everything he needs to enact his revenge. The rest of the book is about him destroying the one world government (resulting in billions of deaths) because it's the right thing to do, IIRC. I think there was also something about orbital bombardment in there, but I may be getting that part mixed up with something else. Writing that out it actually reminds me a lot of K.J. Parker's Engineer trilogy, although even more unhinged.
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Feb 10, 2022 15:07
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