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zoux posted:Is there a term for that wry British self-aware writing style that Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett do? I ask because Stross has always struck me as a poor imitator of that style. They're all riffing off of wodehouse
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Apr 29, 2022 20:36
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:They're all riffing off of wodehouse Yes, but Jerome K Jerome precedes even Wodehouse? I’d say Three Men in a Boat influenced English humor like nothing else. The scene with the German professor, oh God, I’ve never read anything funnier.
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Apr 29, 2022 20:47
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Three Men in a Boat is one of my favourite books of all time.
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Apr 29, 2022 21:01
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The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K Le Guin - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B087X6Z1GS/ Peace on Earth (From the Memoirs of Ijon Tichy #4) by Stanislaw Lem - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008533DBW/
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Apr 29, 2022 22:14
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Nitrousoxide posted:Working my way through "The Dark Forest" and Luo Ji just blowing tons of money and resources on his quest to find his dream girlfriend as a Wallfacer is just hilarious to me Not even an ounce of desire to assist with saving humanity, just pure hedonism. I can respect the guy. He knows what he wants and doesn't give a gently caress. Never understood the focus of him finding his waifu for the first half of the book. I'm glad that ended at the half-way mark, and the series got progressively better.
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Apr 29, 2022 22:42
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You don’t understand why a selfish self-absorbed responsibility-averse guy suddenly given absolute power and a (as far as he can tell completely arbitrary and mistaken) task to save the world would instead turn his power on selfish stuff?
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Apr 29, 2022 22:59
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a funny thing about that series is how absolutely anybody with the right knowledge who thinks about it just ends up going 'oh this is loving hopeless isn't it. oh well, might as well enjoy it while I'm here'
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Apr 30, 2022 00:11
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Larry Parrish posted:a funny thing about that series is how absolutely anybody with the right knowledge who thinks about it just ends up going 'oh this is loving hopeless isn't it. oh well, might as well enjoy it while I'm here' without spoilers, poor dude.
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Apr 30, 2022 00:17
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HopperUK posted:Three Men in a Boat is one of my favourite books of all time. It's incredible how a book that old can still be so fresh. Gods, all the stuff they go through even before they get to the boat.
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Apr 30, 2022 09:05
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So I just started Revenger and it seems like the sci-fi version of the fantasy trope with a kid with hidden talents being pulled into Big Things. I love this poo poo. Does anyone really write this kind of SF/Fantasy anymore? I feel like I've read most of the older stuff growing up. Not sure if there's anything newer.
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Apr 30, 2022 12:33
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StrixNebulosa posted:It's time to enter the terrifying world of MUDs and MOOs Oh boy. I own and have read this one. It's, uh, a book.
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Apr 30, 2022 13:55
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Finished With the Lightnings (book 1, RCN/Lt Leary series) by David Drake yesterday. Actually read most of it in one sitting. I can't resist an obvious Aubrey/Maturin ripoff, and I'd never read David Drake before. Overall I liked it, I haven't been into military SF stuff for a while and this actually won me back over. We'll see how many of the 12 sequels I make it through though 
AARD VARKMAN fucked around with this message at 14:24 on Apr 30, 2022 |
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Apr 30, 2022 14:20
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pradmer posted:The Gone World by Tom Sweterlitsch - $1.99 Proposal: Leverage time travel to temporary future realities for the benefit of humanity. Reality: Military bureaucracy buries it under special clearances, refuses to collaborate with any other agencies, and help to individual agents appears to only extend to getting them false identities and some cash. Has complex selection process and massive pool of people but somehow only manages to send through people who quickly become criminals and rapists. Entire Jag-like military court system has to be established to handle the excesses of people who return. Proposal: Give travelers to deep waters math proofs that show the alternate reality vanishes as soon as they leave in order to help them remain aloof and impartial. Reality: Many if not most use this science-proven "no consequences" nihilism to go absolutely feral and debased on their fellow humans because "it's only a dream". We're talking horrific, serial killer fantasy poo poo. Even presumed-good protagonist IMMEDIATELY discards the mission, connects with and gets emotionally re-attached to family, friends, acquaintances in a doomed world before doing literally anything else including her job they sent her to another reality for. Proposal: Expeditions can be sent to bring back life-changing technology from alternate future timelines, helping to cure the ills of the world in everything from cancer to aging to climate change. Reality: None appear to bring back world-changing tech except that which can make future travel more efficient, not even to receive futuristic life extension treatments for themselves or, if they do, it's buried entirely in the aforementioned government bureaucracy. Instead, absolute hedonism and avarice at the individual level reigns as every single person sent forward immediately starts crimeing day and night, doing everything from smuggling actual cash/valuables back to enjoying years spent in a "better life". Some real winners bring back "echos" of people they know, only to do horrible things to them. Proposal: Send detectives to alternate realities to solve a world-ending disaster because time is short and every time someone is sent the end gets closer Reality: Protagonist fucks (sometimes literally) around for months and months as an undercover cop slowly worming their way into friendships and manipulating people and largely appears to do solo cop investigatory poo poo instead of using the entire bureaucracy dedicated to saving the world to cut away any and all red tape. Oh and don't bother prepping them with a recent-history infopackage when the agents land, I'm sure they'll figure everything out themselves. It's like, what if sliders but only horrible people get to go. I'm only 1/3rd in and entirely rooting for the terminus. Bhodi fucked around with this message at 19:44 on Apr 30, 2022 |
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Apr 30, 2022 15:28
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Bhodi posted:So I started reading this from the thread reccs and it's well written and compelling with some cool ideas HOWEVER I'm only 1/3rd in and maybe some of this is addressed later in the book but man do I have some thoughts centered around "This is why you don't give time travel to cops and troops." I guess have to read this book now because this is all so drat real.
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Apr 30, 2022 15:40
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It's like the Mean World bias made manifest. The book implies that the travelers somehow warp and influence the realities they get sent to and so when they send detectives who deal with violent crimes, it sort of makes sense that the world shifts to become that in it's entire. However, really feels like it's happening at the meta level because it seems like the author themselves can't conceptualize or write people who are actually empathetic and caring and make a real difference in the world. It's like everyone is written to be inherently mean or selfish or duty-bound and the only thing holding people back from brutishness is laws and the fear of getting caught. It's all a very negative view of people in general, the kind I imagine people who deal with the worst humanity has to offer day in and day out begin to project into the world. Not even being able to do "minority report" style future casting seems to slow bad things down. Even the "best" people seem beaten down by the system or are deeply flawed in some way. I guess maybe that's kind of police procedurals / crime thrillers in general? It's not a genre I normally read so this giving me real "The Wire" vibes of being trapped in a hopeless system just surviving best they can, many having given up and just waiting for the end. Not quite Noir, but close. e: Don't get me wrong, I'm loving this book; if I didn't care about it I'd just DNF it and move on. I do wish that people wouldn't take the people in alternative worlds as not being real at face value; it's real to those who live in it and whether or not it pops like a soap bubble when they leave does not absolve them of their behavior within. I am once again begging time-travelers to take a philosophy and ethics class Bhodi fucked around with this message at 18:24 on Apr 30, 2022 |
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Apr 30, 2022 16:00
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Blood of Elves (Witcher #1) by Andrzej Sapkowski - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00276HAEY/ A Shadow in Summer (Long Price #1) by Daniel Abraham - $3.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001AN4WSW/
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Apr 30, 2022 18:55
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Bhodi posted:So I started reading this from the thread reccs and it's well written and compelling with some cool ideas HOWEVER I'm only 1/3rd in and maybe some of this is addressed later in the book but man do I have some thoughts centered around "This is why you don't give time travel to cops and troops." My *coughcoughcough*, have you tried the Time Wars series by Simon Hawke?
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Apr 30, 2022 20:08
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AARD VARKMAN posted:Finished With the Lightnings (book 1, RCN/Lt Leary series) by David Drake yesterday. Actually read most of it in one sitting. It gets kind of dull halfway through the series, for kind of stupid reasons. The Republic of Cinnabar and the Alliance both are brought to the brink of collapse by the cost of the war, and since they are the Only Civilized Nations in the galaxy this would doom the human race. That said, the first book is probably the weakest, because there's so much "This is not the Honor Harrington series" exposition that comes off extra clumsy if you don't know that's what he's doing.
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Apr 30, 2022 21:31
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AARD VARKMAN posted:Finished With the Lightnings (book 1, RCN/Lt Leary series) by David Drake yesterday. Actually read most of it in one sitting. Not to worry because in true rip off fashion you can read them in pretty much any order and not miss much
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Apr 30, 2022 21:51
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Hello thread. We just finished audiobooks for the Wayfarers series by Becky Chambers and the Murderbot series by Martha Wells and both were excellent. But now we need a new book/series, and not all good books are read well. So! I'm looking for recommendations for audiobooks that are good and also performed well, please.
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May 1, 2022 01:03
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Beachcomber posted:Hello thread. We just finished audiobooks for the Wayfarers series by Becky Chambers and the Murderbot series by Martha Wells and both were excellent. It's fantasy, but I'll always recommend Piranesi. Also really liked the narration of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell. Also if YA is okay, I quite like Naomi Novik's magic school series, The Scholomance, in audiobook form A Proper Uppercut fucked around with this message at 01:51 on May 1, 2022 |
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May 1, 2022 01:12
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Beachcomber posted:Hello thread. We just finished audiobooks for the Wayfarers series by Becky Chambers and the Murderbot series by Martha Wells and both were excellent. If you're okay with memes occasionally popping up, I really loved Moira Quirk's narration of Gideon the Ninth.
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May 1, 2022 01:32
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silvergoose posted:If you're okay with memes occasionally popping up, I really loved Moira Quirk's narration of Gideon the Ninth. Oh yea those are really good audiobooks too.
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May 1, 2022 01:52
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Beachcomber posted:Hello thread. We just finished audiobooks for the Wayfarers series by Becky Chambers and the Murderbot series by Martha Wells and both were excellent. Quoting myself from earlier: Follow Me to Ground by Sue Rainsford is about a nonhuman heroine who lives in a village and heals the humans who visit her and her father. There's some body horror (they heal people manually, and then by burying them in the ground) and a fascinating look at what it means to be human, and what love is. I read this via audiobook and it really resonated with me. One of the few books where the audiobook worked for me better than reading it.
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May 1, 2022 01:53
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A Proper Uppercut posted:It's fantasy, but I'll always recommend Piranesi. Along those lines, I also enjoyed the audiobook of Uprooted. The narrator brought great exasperated Polish lady energy.
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May 1, 2022 02:26
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Quorum posted:Along those lines, I also enjoyed the audiobook of Uprooted. The narrator brought great exasperated Polish lady energy. Oh, also Spinning Silver. Same narrator I believe.
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May 1, 2022 02:36
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If you liked the Sandman graphic novels, the Audible audio dramas they did of them are fantastic. They’re more like a radio play than a straight audiobook, with the VAs reading the lines and Gaiman as narrator. Great voice acting and production quality.silvergoose posted:If you're okay with memes occasionally popping up, I really loved Moira Quirk's narration of Gideon the Ninth. Also this.
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May 1, 2022 02:53
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RoboCicero posted:I've been inexplicably on a "human mind(s) shatter on the rocks of something fundamentally incomprehensible" kick lately, with some prime examples being like, The Cipher by Kathe Joka, Uzumaki by Junji Ito, House of Leaves, Blindsight, or the Area X trilogy. Stuff like Ship of Fools is good too! Does anyone have any other recommendations along those veins? Just read The Last Astronaut and, while it was decent, it wasn't quite what I was looking for. Nobody seems to have mentioned foundational stories such as The King in Yellow, House on the Borderlands, or [i]The Great God Pan{/i]. That type of story was also Clark Ashton Smith's thing. More modern stuff, both the metaplot of Gravity's Rainbow, The Crying of Lot 49 & Infinite Jest apply. Been reading the Fantomas stories. For stuff written in two months and older than a century, they hold up pretty well. Around book 3 is when Fantomas starts doing ludicrous "fifteen steps ahead" escapes.
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May 1, 2022 03:10
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A Proper Uppercut posted:Oh, also Spinning Silver. Same narrator I believe. I don't do audiobooks but I did just finish reading Spinning Silver last night and it was good.
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May 1, 2022 04:22
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silvergoose posted:If you're okay with memes occasionally popping up, I really loved Moira Quirk's narration of Gideon the Ninth. Tamsyn Muir's fairytale novella, Princess Floralinda and the Forty-Flight Tower, also has an audiobook read by Moira Quirk, and it's also very good.
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May 1, 2022 04:31
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Beachcomber posted:Hello thread. We just finished audiobooks for the Wayfarers series by Becky Chambers and the Murderbot series by Martha Wells and both were excellent. I won't die on a hill of how "good" they are, but I have heard that James Marsters (of Buffy the Vampire Slayer)) does an amazing job reading Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series.
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May 1, 2022 07:15
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AARD VARKMAN posted:Finished With the Lightnings (book 1, RCN/Lt Leary series) by David Drake yesterday. Actually read most of it in one sitting. I've read them all, they are pretty consistently fun and the 'space sailing' schtick is way less annoying than I expected. Solid 5/10 series, methadone to the addicts.
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May 1, 2022 08:27
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Beachcomber posted:Hello thread. We just finished audiobooks for the Wayfarers series by Becky Chambers and the Murderbot series by Martha Wells and both were excellent. Another YA series you might enjoy that’s read well is Raybearer and Redemptor written by Jordan Ifueko and read by Joniece Abbott-Pratt. Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao is also very good and read very well by Rong Fu. If you want a longer series, the October Daye series by Seanen McGuire are great. The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman is frustratingly well read by the author. DreamingofRoses fucked around with this message at 13:16 on May 1, 2022 |
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May 1, 2022 13:11
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Beachcomber posted:Hello thread. We just finished audiobooks for the Wayfarers series by Becky Chambers and the Murderbot series by Martha Wells and both were excellent. As for well-narrated audiobooks, if you haven't already gone through the Cassandra Kresnov books by Joel Shepherd and narrated by Dina Pearlman, I quite liked the narration of those. Similarly, while someone did say they're self-published (which I think was supposed to be some kind of critique?), the audiobooks for the Intrepid Saga by M. D. Cooper narrated by Khristine Hvam. BlankSystemDaemon fucked around with this message at 13:34 on May 1, 2022 |
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May 1, 2022 13:30
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Beachcomber posted:So! I'm looking for recommendations for audiobooks that are good and also performed well, please. The Red Sister trilogy by Mark Lawrence was wonderfully read by Helen Duff. Similarly the Red Rising series by Pierce Brown also had a great performance from Tim Gerard Reynolds. I also very much enjoyed The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch as read by Michael Page. And the Cradle series starting with Unsouled by Will Wight really came alive through Travis Baldree. It always amazes me when I can identify what character is speaking even when they make their first reappearance in like 500 pages, because the narrator has given them such a distinct voice.
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May 1, 2022 16:01
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See also Kate Reading and Michael Kramer, because you can tell the moment Domon reappears after multiple long *books*.
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May 1, 2022 16:27
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That do no be too difficult no matter what voice is used for him, imo.
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May 1, 2022 16:55
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I don't do a lot of audiobooks but I listened to a couple of The Witcher books and would praise Peter Kenny's delivery, he does a great job handling a fairly diverse cast
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May 1, 2022 17:43
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Peter Kenny does a really good job with the Culture novels, too. Adjoa Andoh is a reliably good narrator. She did The Power by Naomi Alderman and The Old Drift by Namwali Serpell, both of which are excellent. Since you're after a series, she also narrates the Ancillary Justice books, though I haven't listened to those myself.
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May 1, 2022 18:06
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The Sweet Hereafter posted:Peter Kenny does a really good job with the Culture novels, too. Another audiobook that I recall as being particularly good is Red Dwarf: Last Human narrated by Craig Charles - and the other books in the series also have pretty good narration.
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May 1, 2022 18:36
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