|
Stuporstar posted:I DNFed the first one because I hated the vapid chip-on-her-shoulder space marine dude-with-boobs main character and the mediocre cliche-ridden writing grated on me branedotorg posted:I read the first two awhile back. It's big action set pieces and romance, not particularly compelling on either. Judging by these and the fact it was on my wishlist as filler while I currently have a huge queue of both books to read and books to buy (including some goon stuff still) I passed for now, these are older books so they'll probably be on sale a few more times or I'll just get it from the library Stuporstar posted:One of the best butch female characters I’ve ever read is a main character in the goon-written web serial Into the Mire. I can’t recommend it enough https://intothemire.com
|
#
?
Jul 5, 2022 09:16
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 31, 2024 17:45 |
|
|
Sibling of TB posted:New Cradle is out Just finished it. Cross posting my thoughts from the KU thread here: Leng posted:Just finished Dreadgod. I don't know how to describe it other than...it feels very similar to Bloodline and also this was the kind of experience that I wanted from Tongue Eater and did not get.
|
|
#
?
Jul 5, 2022 11:53
|
|
|
Kestral posted:This is the first time I've seen someone write about this series in a way that peaked my interest, so now I'm considering checking these out. But I have to ask a potentially spoilerific question: do they eventually come to an answer of, "Maybe religion is Good Actually" and restore world religious practices? Because if so, I'll just pass on that series. No, not really. There are some pretty weird religious twists and turns that begin literally in the first chapter of the first book, but the end result is definitely not "let's just return to how religion worked in the 21st century".
|
|
#
?
Jul 5, 2022 13:20
|
|
|
I forget who said weeks ago they love epistolaries but coming out this month: The Moonday Letters by Emmi Itäranta quote:An effortlessly rich and lyrical mystery wrapped in a love story that bends space, time, myth and science, perfect for fans of Octavia Butler and Emily St. John Mandel.
|
|
#
?
Jul 5, 2022 19:01
|
|
|
The Drawing of the Three (Dark Tower #2) by Stephen King - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B018ER7IRI/ Chasm City (Inhibitor #2) by Alistair Reynolds - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0819TXR83/ Against a Dark Background by Iain M Banks - $0.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002CT0TXK/ The usual suspects by KJ Parker. See his author page to save space and my typing. https://www.amazon.com/K-J-Parker/e/B001ILKHK8/
|
|
#
?
Jul 5, 2022 23:44
|
|
|
pradmer posted:Chasm City (Inhibitor #2) by Alistair Reynolds - $1.99 Real good book and - despite the "Inhibitor 2" - one that was intended as and can be read as a standalone novel, if you've never dipped into Reynolds. Although I'm halfway into Inhibitor Phase and boy howdy do I wish he'd closed the book on that city instead of deciding to revisit it again for a book that's not supposed to be anything to do with it.
|
|
#
?
Jul 6, 2022 08:56
|
|
|
tiniestacorn posted:Have you read The Curse of Chalion by Bujold? Or A Stranger in Olondria by Sofia Samatar? Seems like those might be up your alley. Quick follow-up, A Stranger in Olondria has been really enjoyable. Mayyyyyybe pushing the line between purple & lyrical but I don’t mind. I think the whole idea of “world-building” has been really overdone in a lot of shittier modern genre fiction and it’s used as an excuse to do encyclopedia exposition that has little bearing on the story, but in Olondria it’s all show, no tell, and it feels like a rich, vibrant, breathing place. Fun book!
|
|
#
?
Jul 6, 2022 16:11
|
|
|
freebooter posted:Real good book and - despite the "Inhibitor 2" - one that was intended as and can be read as a standalone novel, if you've never dipped into Reynolds. Seconded. It's an excellent stand alone hard sci-fi novel.
|
|
#
?
Jul 6, 2022 16:29
|
|
|
Geisladisk posted:No, not really. There are some pretty weird religious twists and turns that begin literally in the first chapter of the first book, but the end result is definitely not "let's just return to how religion worked in the 21st century". I wish more books had more interesting things to say than "Religion bad", or (increasingly rarely) "Religion good", because I think you can say that religious fanaticism is bad without saying that the solution is early 2010s edgelord-atheism. I mean, I don't know the solution either, but I wish more people were trying.
|
|
#
?
Jul 6, 2022 20:58
|
|
|
So I'm halfway through The Traitor Baru Cormorant and I like it quite a bit. I like Baru as a character. I like that the Empire of Masks isn't the stereotypical Evil Evildoers from the Land of Evil and that the harm they bring arises out of their assumption of superiority and what I mostly consider to be a "willful cultural neuroses" regarding gender, genetics and sexuality. I also like that so far magic and the supernatural doesn't seem to be a thing so far.
|
|
#
?
Jul 6, 2022 21:52
|
|
|
Hiro Protagonist posted:I wish more books had more interesting things to say than "Religion bad", or (increasingly rarely) "Religion good", because I think you can say that religious fanaticism is bad without saying that the solution is early 2010s edgelord-atheism. I mean, I don't know the solution either, but I wish more people were trying. Agreed. I have almost nothing in common with the Catholic faith but if I see one more story where the Catholic Stand-in Religion are universally hypocritical monster people who are literally summoning demons or whatever I'm going to give it the most pronounced eye-rolling of its life. Maybe even a sour review. Oh, how they'll rue the day. Even if you're entirely areligious, theology can be absolutely captivating and you can very easily hijack themes that'll get you easy props.
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2022 10:07
|
|
|
I feel like Hyperion did some interesting things with religion, not just saying It's Bad. But I also read it like 20 years ago so that could be a bad take.
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2022 11:22
|
|
|
Walter M Miller is one of the top guys for saying things about religion especially in his short fiction. An absolutely fanatical but also ambivalent/idiosyncratic Catholic. Everyone knows A Canticle for Leibowitz but his short story collections, most recently The Dark Benediction are worth tracking down.
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2022 15:07
|
|
|
Then there's Sisters of the Vast Black, which is about actual Catholics in space.
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2022 15:23
|
|
|
That's something I like about Gareth Hanrahan's Black Iron Legacy. Religion plays a huge freaking role in the setting, and it's currently kind of a bad thing, but only because something has gone terribly wrong with the spiritual balance of the world.
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2022 15:33
|
|
|
Katherine Kurtz’s Deryni novels take the position that religion itself is fine and can even be a force for good, but organized religion can be abused if the wrong people are in charge. Which, y’know, pretty reasonable position to take!
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2022 17:34
|
|
|
Bujold's Chalion and Penric series are religious fiction for a religion that doesn't exist, except that they're also good.
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2022 18:00
|
|
|
Between Two Fires does some interesting things with judeo-christian religion.
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2022 18:03
|
|
|
MartingaleJack posted:Between Two Fires does some interesting things with judeo-christian religion. Like claiming that such a thing exists?
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2022 18:13
|
|
|
OddObserver posted:Like claiming that such a thing exists? Yeah, that's probably not the right formulation. It's doing interesting things with Catholicism, but I don't think it touched Judaism in any way?
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2022 18:15
|
|
|
MartingaleJack posted:judeo-christian religion. 
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2022 18:23
|
|
|
OddObserver posted:Like claiming that such a thing exists? It's kind of an objective fact that such a thing exists. Whether it's true/factual is the iffy part.
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2022 18:41
|
|
|
Kalman posted:Katherine Kurtz’s Deryni novels take the position that religion itself is fine and can even be a force for good, but organized religion can be abused if the wrong people are in charge. I haven't read the Deryni books in probably 20 years. I wonder if they've held up.
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2022 18:54
|
|
|
Fighting Trousers posted:I haven't read the Deryni books in probably 20 years. I wonder if they've held up. I reread them a couple years ago and… they held up okay? I did a chronological reread and the difference in writing quality over her career was pretty jarring though (since pub and chron orders are quite different.)
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2022 19:16
|
|
|
I mentioned it a few pages back, but here it is again: The Book of the Dun Cow is the best talking-animals Christian allegory, and yes, I include Narnia in that.
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2022 19:33
|
|
|
Everyone posted:It's kind of an objective fact that such a thing exists. Whether it's true/factual is the iffy part. It's really not. "Judeo-Christian" is a political term meant to conjure some vague sense of "Western Civilization" that ignores the existence and cultural contributions of that other major Abrahamic religion.
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2022 19:40
|
|
|
PeterWeller posted:It's really not. "Judeo-Christian" is a political term meant to conjure some vague sense of "Western Civilization" that ignores the existence and cultural contributions of that other major Abrahamic religion. And is usually used to push things that mainstream Judaism would disagree with.
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2022 19:47
|
|
|
Jews for Jesus are absolutely Judeo-Christian and also bullshit
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2022 19:49
|
|
|
The more accurate term is probably "Abrahamic religion" since 1) it doesn't have the baggage of the term "judeo-christian"; 2) similarly, it doesn't speak to the actual tenets and practices of the religions; and 3) it doesn't entirely elide a major world religion. I'm not by any means a religious scholar though, so I might be wrong about parts of the above!
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2022 19:57
|
|
|
Everyone posted:It's kind of an objective fact that such a thing exists. Whether it's true/factual is the iffy part. Pretty sure the term gained prominence in the Bush years, because they needed Islam to be "other". Abrahamic religions make sense as a category, Judeo-Christian really doesn't.
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2022 20:00
|
|
|
Abrahammurabic religion
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2022 20:30
|
|
genericnick posted:Pretty sure the term gained prominence in the Bush years, because they needed Islam to be "other". Abrahamic religions make sense as a category, Judeo-Christian really doesn't. poo poo, arguably Islam and Christianity are closer to each other than Christianity and judaism are, Jesus is literally a formative figure in Muslim texts!
|
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2022 20:32
|
|
|
I'm all about judeo Christian values, like getting made fun of on Twitter, embarrassing myself publicly for no reason, having a stupid voice, etc.
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2022 20:49
|
|
|
genericnick posted:Pretty sure the term gained prominence in the Bush years, because they needed Islam to be "other". Abrahamic religions make sense as a category, Judeo-Christian really doesn't. I've always been partial to the islamic articulation (People of the Book) myself It just sounds cool
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2022 21:40
|
|
|
The Three-Body Problem (#1) by Cixin Liu - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IQO403K/ The Rage of Dragons (The Burning #1) by Evan Winter - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07L2VKFP5/
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2022 22:37
|
|
|
Babysitter Super Sleuth posted:poo poo, arguably Islam and Christianity are closer to each other than Christianity and judaism are, Jesus is literally a formative figure in Muslim texts! From my somewhat ignorant perspective Islam seems like an attempt by Mohammad to take the best out of Judaism and Christianity while otherwise boiling the stupid out of them. Like: Well, clearly no one could possibly follow all these little rules and laws so... how about pray five times a day and don't eat pork. Unless you'd otherwise starve. We're not fanatics, after all.
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2022 23:05
|
|
|
Can I politely ask that we not get into *substantive* discussions of real religions in the SFF thread? I can't see it going anywhere good, and it's definitely off-topic.
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2022 23:29
|
|
|
Kalman posted:Can I politely ask that we not get into *substantive* discussions of real religions in the SFF thread? I can't see it going anywhere good, and it's definitely off-topic. Yeah that is a good idea.
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2022 23:30
|
|
|
Let us settle this religion debate once and for all.
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2022 23:30
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 31, 2024 17:45 |
|
|
withak posted:Let us settle this religion debate once and for all. As the good book says, “Arrakis teaches the attitude of the knife - chopping off what's incomplete and saying: 'Now, it's complete because it's ended here.'"
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2022 23:51
|
|
