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regulargonzalez posted:Stephen King has some, most notably Tommyknockers. And IT is technically an alien and closer to feel to Alien although calling it science fiction is a stretch. My personal favorite of his, Revival, is probably science fiction as well, at least technically. And I guess technically there are aliens too. And have you considered George RR Martin??? Lol, he asked for Alien and you suggested It?? I think the SF book thread could help - probably Blindsight by Peter Watts would be the first book that would be recommended to you.
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Mar 20, 2022 19:29
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I didn't suggest Alien, I used it as a comparison specifically because OP cited it.
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Mar 20, 2022 19:38
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PantsBandit posted:I'm interested in finding a sci-fi horror book, something in the vein of Alien. It's a surprisingly sparse niche as far as I've been able to tell! The Last Astronaut by David Wellington
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Mar 20, 2022 19:59
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regulargonzalez posted:I didn't suggest Alien, I used it as a comparison specifically because OP cited it. I capitalized “It” because I was talking about the book, OP. Respectfully don’t see a lot of overlap between a thousand page tome about kids/grownups in Maine fighting an evil clown monster, and a taut claustrophobic thriller in a spaceship.
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Mar 20, 2022 20:49
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buffalo all day posted:I capitalized “It” because I was talking about the book, OP. Respectfully don’t see a lot of overlap between a thousand page tome about kids/grownups in Maine fighting an evil clown monster, and a taut claustrophobic thriller in a spaceship. Yeah not ALL books with child sex scenes are sci-fi, just almost all.
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Mar 20, 2022 21:07
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PantsBandit posted:I'm interested in finding a sci-fi horror book, something in the vein of Alien. It's a surprisingly sparse niche as far as I've been able to tell! Alien is loosely based on The Voyage of the Space Beagle by Van Vogt so that might be enjoyable.
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Mar 21, 2022 05:47
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PantsBandit posted:I'm interested in finding a sci-fi horror book, something in the vein of Alien. It's a surprisingly sparse niche as far as I've been able to tell! "Legacy of Heorot" by Larry Niven might be that, I remember reading somewhere that it was the result of asking "but why is the Alien like that?" "Relic" by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child isn't really sci fi but has an Alien analogue as the beastie.
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Mar 21, 2022 05:56
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PantsBandit posted:I'm interested in finding a sci-fi horror book, something in the vein of Alien. It's a surprisingly sparse niche as far as I've been able to tell! Frozen Hell is what The Thing is based on, not exactly what you're looking for but close
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Mar 21, 2022 06:01
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Thanks for all the great suggestions! I ended up ordering The Last Astronaut and will be checking out your other recommendations too.
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Mar 21, 2022 17:32
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172 hours on the moon
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Mar 21, 2022 17:55
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I'm in the mood for some competence porn. Can anyone recommend a book where the MC(s) are both competent and decent human beings? The Martian was exactly what I am looking for (Project Hail Mary was also good, but not as good). I'd also recommend any of Christopher Anvil's Interstellar Patrol short stories despite being much softer on the science.
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Mar 25, 2022 02:15
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The Aubrey-Maturin series from Patrick O'Brian is pretty great and is absolutely about perfect professionals (at sea anyway).
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Mar 25, 2022 20:51
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LLSix posted:I'm in the mood for some competence porn. Can anyone recommend a book where the MC(s) are both competent and decent human beings? A couple of The Culture books by Iain M. Banks (Use of Weapons and Player of Games, for instance) are that. The Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold (any). Some books that scratch that itch for me but aren't perfect analogues: Neuromancer The City & the City Frankenstein Aurora (by KSR)
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Mar 25, 2022 22:20
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PatMarshall posted:The Aubrey-Maturin series from Patrick O'Brian is pretty great and is absolutely about perfect professionals (at sea anyway).
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Mar 25, 2022 23:36
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And occasionally hilarious flaming wrecks on land!
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Mar 25, 2022 23:57
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PatMarshall posted:The Aubrey-Maturin series from Patrick O'Brian is pretty great and is absolutely about perfect professionals (at sea anyway). Unfortunately, I've already read and enjoyed this series. The naval stuff is great, but the period accurate misogyny and general awfulness of the captain made it less enjoyable than it could have been. David Drake has a sci-fi series (With the Lightnings is the first book) inspired by it that I also enjoyed. tuyop posted:A couple of The Culture books by Iain M. Banks (Use of Weapons and Player of Games, for instance) are that. Already read the Vorkosigan Saga, but it's another great example of what I'm looking for. Its been a long time since I read the Neuromancer, but I remember not enjoying it much. I think maybe the MC is a jerk, which is not something I usually enjoy. Do you mean Frankenstein as in the original story by Mary Shelley?
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Mar 27, 2022 15:14
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LLSix posted:general awfulness of the captain 
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Mar 27, 2022 15:16
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I just browsed through sections of the first 4 books, and he's a better man than I remember, but I still wouldn't describe him as a good one. He is eager for war because it is his only chance of getting rich. This is both entirely understandable and horrifying. Speaking of his children in book 4 he says "I cannot tell one from t'other." As a captain, Aubrey is excellent. As anything else, he is a hot mess. The contrast between his competence at sea and frequent failures on land is an effective storytelling device, but not one I enjoy. LLSix fucked around with this message at 17:58 on Mar 27, 2022 |
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Mar 27, 2022 15:51
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On that same track -- when did the "professionally highly compentent but personally a wreck" character archetype really take off in pop culture? I can think of a million cop shows where that character is front and center so my knee-jerk guess is Sherlock Holmes, but there had to be plenty of examples before that.
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Mar 27, 2022 15:57
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There are a *lot* of tropes that trace back to and start with Sherlock.
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Mar 27, 2022 16:02
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Eason the Fifth posted:On that same track -- when did the "professionally highly compentent but personally a wreck" character archetype really take off in pop culture? I can think of a million cop shows where that character is front and center so my knee-jerk guess is Sherlock Holmes, but there had to be plenty of examples before that. That's a really interesting question and I hope it spurs some discussion. I was going to suggest Saki's Clovis stories as an early example of this trope but they date to 20-some years after Sherlock Holmes (but are still hugely worth reading. Humor often doesn't age well but the Clovis stories are hilarious).
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Mar 27, 2022 17:29
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Eason the Fifth posted:On that same track -- when did the "professionally highly compentent but personally a wreck" character archetype really take off in pop culture? I can think of a million cop shows where that character is front and center so my knee-jerk guess is Sherlock Holmes, but there had to be plenty of examples before that. For Western culture, I'd probably point to...Achilles?
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Mar 27, 2022 18:45
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E: no
3D Megadoodoo fucked around with this message at 20:42 on Mar 27, 2022 |
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Mar 27, 2022 20:39
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LLSix posted:Do you mean Frankenstein as in the original story by Mary Shelley? Yeah the original text. Frankenstein is highly capable and it tortures him so! And it’s also very interesting if you read it as a piece of feminist literature. Sort of the trope of the highly capable protagonist on its head, loved ones paying for the stuff that the man thinks he’s solely responsible for, things like that.
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Mar 27, 2022 21:29
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tuyop posted:Yeah the original text. Frankenstein is highly capable and it tortures him so! And it’s also very interesting if you read it as a piece of feminist literature. Sort of the trope of the highly capable protagonist on its head, loved ones paying for the stuff that the man thinks he’s solely responsible for, things like that. idk man Frankenstein the doctor continually fucks up throughout the entire book. He creates a wife for his creation and then realizes if he gives this thing a partner it's kind will dominate the earth so he just sorta destroys it all, his creation is a disgusting nightmare because he created it overnight in a haze, and he's not even well respected in his field because he's too busy reading the works of losers like Cornelius Agrippa. I don't think that quite lines up with "professionally highly competent."
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Mar 27, 2022 21:35
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Arc Hammer posted:28 years old and never knew much about the Cold War until I started picking up an interest in current day geopolitics. Are there any good recommendations for books that cover the proxy wars and regional conflicts that resulted from the decolonization of Africa and the subsequent efforts by western and soviet powers to influence the local situations? The gist that I've come away with from dipping my toes into this history is that the 70s and 80s were loving insane. A page late, but one of the best books I've read in the last 10 years has been this -  An oral history of the CIA, pieced together from interviews. It's amazing/horrifying.
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Mar 27, 2022 21:47
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Sandwolf posted:idk man Frankenstein the doctor continually fucks up throughout the entire book. He creates a wife for his creation and then realizes if he gives this thing a partner it's kind will dominate the earth so he just sorta destroys it all, his creation is a disgusting nightmare because he created it overnight in a haze, and he's not even well respected in his field because he's too busy reading the works of losers like Cornelius Agrippa. I don't think that quite lines up with "professionally highly competent." He's professionally competent in that he is extremely knowledgeable and technically proficient at his one specific thing, enough so that he was able to bring a body back from the dead. He's a failure at a lot of other things, but he's very good at the one thing that he's good at. A similar real life example that comes to mind is Ben Carson, a complete trash fire of a human being who was also a brilliant neurosurgeon.
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Mar 27, 2022 21:56
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Tulip posted:For Western culture, I'd probably point to...Achilles? Is Achilles older than Hercules? Bc uh...
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Mar 28, 2022 03:46
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Captain Monkey posted:Is Achilles older than Hercules? Bc uh... i mean might go as far back as enki? but not sure
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Mar 28, 2022 04:45
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Khizan posted:He's professionally competent in that he is extremely knowledgeable and technically proficient at his one specific thing, enough so that he was able to bring a body back from the dead. He's a failure at a lot of other things, but he's very good at the one thing that he's good at. Yeah that’s my point. Frankenstein is basically a more realistic James Bond, but for necromancy instead of espionage.
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Mar 28, 2022 21:54
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Oh for sure.
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Mar 30, 2022 16:03
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What makes Piranessi good? I read the sample and it didn't hook me.
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Mar 30, 2022 20:16
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LLSix posted:What makes Piranessi good? I read the sample and it didn't hook me. That's a good question. I love the exploration of Piranessi's thought process. He's also extremely credulous and charming. Other than that, it's a great mystery with some fun twists in a bizarre supernatural world. Fun callouts of occultism here and there. I also found it a total page-turner. I devoured that book despite my terrible attention span lately.
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Mar 30, 2022 21:05
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LLSix posted:What makes Piranessi good? I read the sample and it didn't hook me. For me it was the prose. Clarke writes really good prose.
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Mar 30, 2022 23:00
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This might be a hard one (or maybe something more fitting for the romance thread, idk): Looking for a suggestion for something to get my spouse to read on an upcoming relaxing beachside holiday. He already reads a lot, but the thing is... he reads exclusively gay-themed fanfiction, usually from fantasy or sci-fi IPs (I know, I know). So uh, I guess I'm looking for gay-themed romance that isn't too raunchy? And maybe with a fantasy bent to it (not a sexual fantasy, but like... fantasy the genre). Big shot in the dark here but 
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Apr 2, 2022 11:00
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I enjoyed Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell. It’s gay, was clearly once fanfiction (very tropey, but is well written), and is more science fantasy than straight-up fantasy, but the main focus is on the characters. Romance tropes abound as well.
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Apr 2, 2022 15:27
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Emelius Browne posted:This might be a hard one (or maybe something more fitting for the romance thread, idk): I just read Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh and it might hit all your criteria; it's also a novella, so a quick, light read. It's about a guy who has been living in an English forest for ~400 years and fights ghost bandits. But then the owner of the land he lives on comes to investigate a local folklore tale and meets his cat. Plus, as I mentioned, he has a cat.
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Apr 2, 2022 17:49
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Emelius Browne posted:This might be a hard one (or maybe something more fitting for the romance thread, idk): Check out TJ Klune for fantasy with gay characters that isn't necessarily "gay fantasy." E: Or 13-year-old me suggests the Vanyel saga (Magic's Promise, etc.) by Mercedes Lackey, but I honestly don't know how well that's held up.
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Apr 3, 2022 02:03
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Emelius Browne posted:This might be a hard one (or maybe something more fitting for the romance thread, idk): Has your spouse read any of the wayfarers series by Becky Chambers? Science fiction, the author is queer and many queer relationships of varying types occur in the stories. I think she got started as a fan fiction writer as well, and I feel like the "the characters sometimes just hang out, talk, and watch TV or whatever" trope from that genre is well represented. The second book, A Closed and Common Orbit, is one of my favorite books ever. It'll make you feel poo poo.
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Apr 3, 2022 04:22
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PantsBandit posted:I'm interested in finding a sci-fi horror book, something in the vein of Alien. It's a surprisingly sparse niche as far as I've been able to tell! I know this was from a while ago, but I also have wanted to find more books in this vein without much success but two of the best I've come across are Ship of Fools (Russo) and Obscura (Hart). Also Salvation Day and Six Wakes but I didn't enjoy those as much and they don't fit the bill quite as closely imo as they felt a bit more thriller than horror unlike the first two.
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Apr 3, 2022 10:26
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