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sebmojo posted:The cyberiad owns so hard. 
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Jul 29, 2022 04:08
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Cyberiad: Hats off to Michael Kandel for the frankly bullshit task of getting Trurl's machine poet to work at all cross-languages. https://mwichary.medium.com/seduced-shaggy-samson-snored-725b5a8086d9
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Jul 29, 2022 04:47
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I'm always so jealous of the US kindle shop deals, the ones in Australia are always the same terrible crime thrillers.
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Jul 29, 2022 05:09
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You can just register a US address for the purchase and enjoy those deals! Source: my amazon.co.uk purchases from my alternate address of 10 Downing street while technically being in a location that some might consider to be California.
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Jul 29, 2022 05:32
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withak posted:You can just register a US address for the purchase and enjoy those deals! I registered/bought a Canadian address so I could get a physical copy of The Age of the Triffids which is only available in Canada or New Zealand for some weird copyright reason. I have yet to read and am undecided as to whether I'll read it or mount it on my wall like a hunting trophy.
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Jul 29, 2022 05:45
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NoneMoreNegative posted:Cyberiad: Hats off to Michael Kandel for the frankly bullshit task of getting Trurl's machine poet to work at all cross-languages. Interestingly, the Swedish one is almost directly translated (about a cybererotomaniac) but still fulfills all the requirements.
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Jul 29, 2022 05:53
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pradmer posted:Cradle series box sets 1-3 (effectively the first 9 books) by Will Wight - Free This is a real steal. If you even vaguely like martial arts punch-wizards, you will like Cradle.
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Jul 29, 2022 06:31
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Metis of the Hallways posted:I'm always so jealous of the US kindle shop deals, the ones in Australia are always the same terrible crime thrillers. Big same my brother. withak posted:You can just register a US address for the purchase and enjoy those deals! Last time I tried to change my kindle country Amazon said if I changed it to US it'd delete everything and I couldn't get it back, so I stopped trying.
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Jul 29, 2022 10:25
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Just finished the new Katherine Addison, The Grief of Stones. The sequel to The Witness for the Dead, and if you enjoyed that you'll enjoy this one. I really liked it. Celehar was the best character from The Goblin Emperor, and I think this spin-off series is better than the original. That said, I'm glad I have the original to hand so I can re-read the appendix on elf names and language every time, because it never really gets less dense.
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Jul 29, 2022 11:04
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cptn_dr posted:Just finished the new Katherine Addison, The Grief of Stones. The sequel to The Witness for the Dead, and if you enjoyed that you'll enjoy this one. That's awesome, I was really surprised how much I enjoyed speaker for the dead, buying it now.
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Jul 29, 2022 11:53
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sebmojo posted:The cyberiad owns so hard. It really does; I think it's my favourite Lem. And yeah, Translator Kandel must be some kind of demigod.
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Jul 29, 2022 12:42
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anilEhilated posted:Those do look interesting. House of Rust and The Past Is Red are in my reading backlog - anyone can chime in on them? I've read both. Past is Red is a shorty and very good, about Tetley, a girl growing up in a garbage patch after a climate disaster. House of Rust is really interesting, first half is sort of a heroes journey almost fairy tale sort of thing. It seems very informed by the authors specific ethnic group and faith. There are definitely some interesting faith discussions with odd supernatural beings. The latter half is more family drama and magical realism sort of thing where she searches for the House of Rust. I enjoyed the book, and found it to be pretty unique.
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Jul 29, 2022 14:46
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cptn_dr posted:Just finished the new Katherine Addison, The Grief of Stones. The sequel to The Witness for the Dead, and if you enjoyed that you'll enjoy this one. Wow, that sequel seems fast to me, but in actuality I probably read Speaker for the Dead like 2 years ago.
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Jul 29, 2022 16:33
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The dead speak!
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Jul 29, 2022 16:36
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ToxicFrog posted:It really does; I think it's my favourite Lem. And yeah, Translator Kandel must be some kind of demigod. Kandel wrote a few novels of his own. I've only read one, Captain Jack Zodiac, but sadly it wasn't that good -- he was trying for a Brazil-esque wacky dystopia but pushed the "wacky" button way too hard.
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Jul 29, 2022 16:41
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As good as Stanislaw Lem's Cyberiad is, his Star Diaries short story collection tops it. Less omnipotent constructor robots, but it triples down on the Cyberiad cool scenarios and ideas.
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Jul 29, 2022 17:16
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General Battuta posted:The dead speak! As long as they don't tweet
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Jul 29, 2022 18:51
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If you get the emote pack for just $3.99, you can make them dab.
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Jul 29, 2022 20:00
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quantumfoam posted:As good as Stanislaw Lem's Cyberiad is, his Star Diaries short story collection tops it. Less omnipotent constructor robots, but it triples down on the Cyberiad cool scenarios and ideas. I've read three of his short story collections (The Cyberiad, The Star Diaries, and Mortal Engines) and for me Cyberiad tops the list -- there's a bunch of stories in Star Diaries that just did not land for me, for whatever reason.
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Jul 29, 2022 20:11
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Ceebees posted:If you get the emote pack for just $3.99, you can make them dab. And here's what it would look like if Edgar Rice Burroughs did fortnite dances. $0.99 a piece.
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Jul 29, 2022 20:25
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I'm going through the Culture books for the first time, and I was blown away by how great Use of Weapons was.
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Jul 29, 2022 20:52
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Not gonna lie, if I could spend a buck to make Edgar Allen poe or Lovecraft boogie onscreen for my Xbox live avatar, I wouldn't be able to throw money at the screen fast enough.
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Jul 29, 2022 21:28
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Tokelau All Star posted:I'm going through the Culture books for the first time, and I was blown away by how great Use of Weapons was. Agreed. I took a break from the series there a month back because the loving chair reveal, and then the identity reveal, were a bit too much. The previous 2 books were also very good, that one just hit me harder than I was expecting. I put the Dungeon Crawler Carl and Cradle series in my list when they were discussed in this thread and have greatly enjoyed both.
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Jul 29, 2022 21:31
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Just want to shout out the Spiral Wars series by Joel Shepherd. 8 (so far) doorstopper space opera books, and I just finished the 6th in a row and will definitely read them all. Comparatively, I gave up on David Drake's RCN series after only a few books. Spiral Wars is a series with loads of alien species and AI factions with their own perspectives and goals, from the POV of a renegade human fleet ship that Has To Save The Human Race Even Though They Think We Disobeyed Orders. They are a marine carrier, and so there's always some big extraction operation with powered armor on a planet or quiet infiltration or giant space battle that usually takes up the last 1/4th of each book. But it's the alien races and politics and the huge long history that are my favorite part. Joel Shepherd is traditionally published but I think this series is all self-pub for money (???) 
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Jul 29, 2022 21:47
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Jade City (Green Bone Saga #1) by Fonda Lee - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XRCBRX8/ Fire from Heaven (Alexander the Great #1) by Mary Renault - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DCGJ6Z4/
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Jul 29, 2022 22:25
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Excession, Matter, Surface Detail, and The Hydrogen Sonata are the books where he goes from being somewhat literary as far as action-packed space opera adventures go to Full Technothriller Grandiose mode. Personally liked that style a lot more, though it seems rare for Banks readers.
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Jul 29, 2022 23:58
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Use of Weapons feels like Literature; like something he could have published without the middle initial. The Player of Games is more unabashedly genre fiction, but still in the realm of classic, clever science fiction. Stuff like Excession is a lot more cookie cutter space opera, with only the funny names ai ship gimmicks to set it apart.
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Jul 30, 2022 01:21
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And I love each and every one of them.
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Jul 30, 2022 01:31
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I am finally, extremely late to the party, getting around to The Dispossessed and I know "Le Guin is good" is the stalest take in SF/F but holy poo poo Le Guin is good. I never got super into Earthsea, it was definitely good fantasy it just didn't light a fire under me, the The Dispossessed is something-loving-else, if you've skipped it, change that
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Jul 30, 2022 01:58
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Its been long enough that I can't remember why but I think look to windward was the one I liked the most
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Jul 30, 2022 02:07
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SurreptitiousMuffin posted:I am finally, extremely late to the party, getting around to The Dispossessed and I know "Le Guin is good" is the stalest take in SF/F but holy poo poo Le Guin is good. I never got super into Earthsea, it was definitely good fantasy it just didn't light a fire under me, the The Dispossessed is something-loving-else, if you've skipped it, change that https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3812499
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Jul 30, 2022 02:09
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SurreptitiousMuffin posted:I am finally, extremely late to the party, getting around to The Dispossessed and I know "Le Guin is good" is the stalest take in SF/F but holy poo poo Le Guin is good. I never got super into Earthsea, it was definitely good fantasy it just didn't light a fire under me, the The Dispossessed is something-loving-else, if you've skipped it, change that I'm also getting into Le Guin kick and this feels like my reaction to The Left Hand of Darkness which I was apprehensive about because of its infamous "everyone gets called 'he/him' on the genderless planet" problem. But the way things end up, it's basically "and that's the only problem with the novel, period" which is a really high bar. I'm reading her The Wind's Twelve Quarters anthology right now which is so far worthwhile mostly in the 'seeing an excellent author in embryo' way. Doesn't always hit as hard as I know she can, and some ideas don't get to breathe enough, but most of the stuff is apprentice-work and its roughly-chronological order means you get a feel for the refinement of the craft as she gets better at this. Excited to read The Dispossed but probably going to read The Lathe of Heaven first.
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Jul 30, 2022 03:17
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A while back this thread reminded me Necroscope existed so I started reading that series. It is very ridiculous and racist in only the way the British can be. It is great.
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Jul 30, 2022 03:21
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AARD VARKMAN posted:Just want to shout out the Spiral Wars series by Joel Shepherd. … The Spiral Wars series, which I bounced off of a couple of times due to the lackluster first 30-or-so pages of the first book, grabbed me and I read all 8 doorstops in a few weeks.
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Jul 30, 2022 03:41
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Falls Down Stairs posted:I'm also getting into Le Guin kick and this feels like my reaction to The Left Hand of Darkness which I was apprehensive about because of its infamous "everyone gets called 'he/him' on the genderless planet" problem. But the way things end up, it's basically "and that's the only problem with the novel, period" which is a really high bar. Just a heads up, I just finished Lathe of Heaven and while I liked it, I think I liked it the least of all of the Le Guin I've read, which isn't a ton admittedly. One thing I wish I'd known going in is that it was originally serialized in a sci-fi magazine and I think it has some oddities because of it, mostly a disconnected feeling between chapters and some minor repetitive story or narrative beats. it's still worth reading, but imo not as compelling as Left Hand or Dispossessed.
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Jul 30, 2022 04:29
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Counterpoint: Lathe of Heaven is probably my favourite Le Guin, and one of the few works of fiction I could plausibly say changed my outlook on life.
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Jul 30, 2022 04:45
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Sailor Viy posted:Counterpoint: Lathe of Heaven is probably my favourite Le Guin, and one of the few works of fiction I could plausibly say changed my outlook on life. I read LoH for the first time late last year and enjoyed it a lot NoneMoreNegative posted:Also, Le Guin's 'LATHE OF HEAVEN' which was a lot more enjoyable - definitely had the 'classic era scifi' vibe emanating from it, but the story and the writing were top notch. Reading it I was thinking 'What else did I read that has this kinda storyline?' and it was Blake Crouch's recent-ish 'RECURSION' (which is totally a wrote-for-hollywood book but actually a lot of fun) but looking up further he claims to have not read LoH at the time of writing Recursion; I'm rubbing my chin here.
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Jul 30, 2022 05:50
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Remulak posted:Trad in Australia, not the US. His stuff is all on KU and he has another, I think even better SciFi but not space opera series, Cassandra Kresnov, starting with Crossover. He also has a very good fantasy series, A Trial of Blood and Steel, starting with Sasha. Shepard has a really interesting, pragmatic approach to politics that to my mind make his work unique. Just started #7 and read the intro material, it says the entire 6 book Cassandra Kresnov series was published by Pyr in the US. And I look forward to reading it 
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Jul 30, 2022 07:00
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I haven't read the other two series yet but I did like how Spiral Wars manages to be like... non-ideological, but still a deeply political story. That's a really fine line to tread in a genre where many, many authors have their characters turn to the screen and talk about how the pussy Space Democrats are the only reason Space America hasn't won the war yet or whatever.
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Jul 30, 2022 07:09
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Larry Parrish posted:I haven't read the other two series yet but I did like how Spiral Wars manages to be like... non-ideological, but still a deeply political story. That's a really fine line to tread in a genre where many, many authors have their characters turn to the screen and talk about how the pussy Space Democrats are the only reason Space America hasn't won the war yet or whatever. I've gotten maybe a few small hints of libertarianism (I mean he actually uses the word libertarian a few times and has a character who is a self avowed libertarian). But then he introduces a race or two who are more libertarian and shows them as being just as hosed up as everybody else so 
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Jul 30, 2022 07:14
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