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Finally got around to reading The Forgotten Beasts of Eld and drat, I need to read more of her stuff -- I liked the Riddle-Master trilogy when I read it many years ago but I liked this more, I think. Next up is the only other Patricia A. McKillip book on my shelves, The Changeling Sea. One thing that I probably would not have really noticed if I'd read it at the same time I read the Riddle-Master books, but definitely noticed and appreciated now, is how there is not a single wasted word in there. Scenes that are important for character development are given their full weight, but events that merely need to happen to move the plot along are dispatched in highly compressed style that nonetheless never makes me feel like I'm missing out. A lesser author might have been tempted to stretch this out to a single doorstopper or a trilogy of more modestly sized books; McKillip tells this story -- about a reclusive sorceress getting drawn into a massive civil war by unasked-for but cherished human connections -- in 200 pages.
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Aug 15, 2022 02:04
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A bit of the way through the second book in The Steerswoman series and these are the best books about using goats to terraform a planet I've ever read.
Gato The Elder fucked around with this message at 03:47 on Aug 15, 2022 |
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Aug 15, 2022 03:45
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At least, I think that's what going on.
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Aug 15, 2022 03:45
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Like, these people are definitely abandoned colonists on an alien planet right? Everything about life in the Outskirts (and specifically Humanity's place in it) points to yes.
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Aug 15, 2022 03:47
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I'm rereading The Lord of the Rings, bar none my favorite fantasy world and always will be. I enjoy other fantasy series, but none of them have the elegant simplicity of LOTR. Is there any other series out with a deeply complex world but a tight narrative focus? It seems like every other series I try to get into either has 1000 main characters or is way too magic heavy. I might be looking for a goldilocks kind of thing here. I've read GoT, most of WoT, the first Malazan, and the first Storm light Archives, for what it's worth.
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Aug 15, 2022 04:23
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Gato The Elder posted:Like, these people are definitely abandoned colonists on an alien planet right? Everything about life in the Outskirts (and specifically Humanity's place in it) points to yes. yeah, something like that
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Aug 15, 2022 06:42
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Why does the thread not care for Brandon Sanderson again? I’ve started reading Elantris and Warbreaker, and neither have made me pissed off to continue reading, like Patrick Rothfuss’ books instantly did. They don’t seem bad at all so far. I’m concerned they won’t be violent enough for my liking, but oh well.
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Aug 15, 2022 08:42
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Nigmaetcetera posted:Why does the thread not care for Brandon Sanderson again? I’ve started reading Elantris and Warbreaker, and neither have made me pissed off to continue reading, like Patrick Rothfuss’ books instantly did. They don’t seem bad at all so far. I’m concerned they won’t be violent enough for my liking, but oh well. Some of us like Brandon Sanderson just fine. There's a Sanderson chat thread over here, where we are all very excited about the Mistborn adaptation in the works and the 4 secret novels coming next year: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3334571
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Aug 15, 2022 08:51
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Count Thrashula posted:I'm rereading The Lord of the Rings, bar none my favorite fantasy world and always will be. I enjoy other fantasy series, but none of them have the elegant simplicity of LOTR. It's not nearly the same scope as LOTR but I actually feel like The Goblin Emperor and the 2 sequels in the same universe do this. There's not really a lot of world building at all, but what you get are hints of a very complex world through the eyes of the main character. It's also a lot more slice-of-life with no huge stakes like LOTR.
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Aug 15, 2022 08:59
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A Proper Uppercut posted:It's not nearly the same scope as LOTR but I actually feel like The Goblin Emperor and the 2 sequels in the same universe do this. There's not really a lot of world building at all, but what you get are hints of a very complex world through the eyes of the main character. This was my first thought too, with all the same caveats.
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Aug 15, 2022 09:01
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Nigmaetcetera posted:Why does the thread not care for Brandon Sanderson again? I’ve started reading Elantris and Warbreaker, and neither have made me pissed off to continue reading, like Patrick Rothfuss’ books instantly did. They don’t seem bad at all so far. I’m concerned they won’t be violent enough for my liking, but oh well.
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Aug 15, 2022 09:12
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His prose is bad
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Aug 15, 2022 09:22
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sebmojo posted:I can't stand what I've read of long sun fwiw, it's just endless scenes of people speculating about what the plot might be. I really fall off Wolfe after Soldier of arete, though that's not a common view so take it with a grain of salt. I almost gave up on the slog through Long Sun, but there were a few payoffs in Short Sun that made it more than worth it.
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Aug 15, 2022 09:27
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SurreptitiousMuffin posted:I think he's generally liked fine, the issue is that a certain type of r/fantasy nerd is obsessed with him. There's this whole like "I really enjoyed This Is How You Lose The Time War, does anybody know any more sapphic SF?" "HAVE U TRIED MISTBORN?!??" thing, a lot of his readers are evangelical to the point of annoyance and frustration. Brando Sando is like veganism and polyamory y'know, an overwhelming majority of people into it are cool but holy poo poo the uncool ones are loud. he's one of those authors that much like generic pop music or Fortnite or whatever is designed to be as bland yet acceptably entertaining as humanly possible, which im sure makes him good money but also means every idiot in the universe wants me to reread mistborn because im sure I'll love it on the second go
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Aug 15, 2022 09:32
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Brandon's consistent at writing many words, has an editor, and gives people the magic systems and hidden interconnections between series they enjoy daydreaming about. If he published by rss I would probably read him.
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Aug 15, 2022 09:52
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Nigmaetcetera posted:Why does the thread not care for Brandon Sanderson again? I’ve started reading Elantris and Warbreaker, and neither have made me pissed off to continue reading, like Patrick Rothfuss’ books instantly did. They don’t seem bad at all so far. I’m concerned they won’t be violent enough for my liking, but oh well. He writes his worlds like shonen animes
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Aug 15, 2022 09:58
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Nigmaetcetera posted:Why does the thread not care for Brandon Sanderson again? I’ve started reading Elantris and Warbreaker, and neither have made me pissed off to continue reading, like Patrick Rothfuss’ books instantly did. They don’t seem bad at all so far. I’m concerned they won’t be violent enough for my liking, but oh well. he's incredibly boring, his prose is bland, and if you've read one Sanderson novel then you've read all of them. as others have said, his fans are the worst part of it.
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Aug 15, 2022 09:59
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Nigmaetcetera posted:Why does the thread not care for Brandon Sanderson again? I’ve started reading Elantris and Warbreaker, and neither have made me pissed off to continue reading, like Patrick Rothfuss’ books instantly did. They don’t seem bad at all so far. I’m concerned they won’t be violent enough for my liking, but oh well. he's like a jigsaw puzzle factory that always uses the same pattern, no matter what's painted on it
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Aug 15, 2022 10:00
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:I feel like Wolfe is more an author's author than he is a reader's author. His stuff is technically brilliant and intricate and he's always doing neat things, but he often quite literally loses the plot and his books are often a lot more puzzle than they are story. i disagree with this very strongly! it's not so much that he loses the plot as it is his books are just very light on plot because the individual events are what he's there for, not, in the end, how they come together
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Aug 15, 2022 10:03
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Ok so what should I read instead? I think I should proactively state that I don’t want to give China Mieville’s writing another chance at this time.
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Aug 15, 2022 10:07
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well, what are you looking for?
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Aug 15, 2022 10:11
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Nigmaetcetera posted:Ok so what should I read instead? I think I should proactively state that I don’t want to give China Mieville’s writing another chance at this time. i don't have any idea what you like besides the aforementioned most generic fantasy humanly possible.
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Aug 15, 2022 10:12
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have u heard of Greydon Saunders' The March North edit: weird? yes. and then there's the content of the writing, not just the style. violence? yes. they have weeding, and geese, and throwing weapons. planar travel? well, demons get summoned, and they have interesting ways of exchanging the local landscape. weird sex? if you catch the one off-hand mention that loads of people have prehensile penises then sure, but like literally everything else it's easy to miss. and there's the thing with the... there are a few things. there's a fun polycule! there is also horror, but she's got a lovely sheep. 90s Cringe Rock fucked around with this message at 10:24 on Aug 15, 2022 |
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Aug 15, 2022 10:13
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moonmazed posted:well, what are you looking for? More like Imajica. Already reading Weaveworld. I want fantasy full of weird gross sex and violence and planar travel. I don’t mind a heavy dose of horror in the fantasy I read. Imajica wasn’t a book for me, it was like a drug, when I started reading it I was filled with a sense of elation like I only ever experienced the first times I tried amphetamines and alcohol, but it lasted until I finished the book. It wasn’t a psychiatric episode either, I don’t get those kinds of episodes, the writing and the subject matter were just that intoxicating to me. Ok maybe that’s a bit dramatic, I just really liked the book. Nigmaetcetera fucked around with this message at 10:34 on Aug 15, 2022 |
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Aug 15, 2022 10:13
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Nigmaetcetera posted:Ok so what should I read instead? I think I should proactively state that I don’t want to give China Mieville’s writing another chance at this time. Dawnhounds
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Aug 15, 2022 10:14
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DACK FAYDEN posted:How am I supposed to buy these things that are not on amazon, get with the evil monopolist already
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Aug 15, 2022 11:22
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anilEhilated posted:They... should be? The first book is here: https://www.amazon.com/Physiognomy-Jeffrey-Ford-ebook/dp/B07S1P76J8/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=  You'd think they should be! And yet!
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Aug 15, 2022 11:29
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I read The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, and while I enjoyed some of the more uplifting scenes and generally cute characters, there's a lack of radicalism to the underlying politics that is a little disgusting. Like, the book is touted as especially optimistic, politically, but the world it portrays is pretty much identical to how liberals view ours today. There's still genocidal wars, exploitation and fundamentalism, and these things are presented as sad and frustrating, but ultimately normal things. Capitalism is a literal universal constant, and mostly works. Bad actors exist, but do go to jail, sometimes. Hard work is rewarded. Government and bureaucracy are not perfect, but mostly work when it really matters. The extent of its optimism seems to be that people are generally bit more accepting of people's freedom of expression or individuality than we are now. This is usually demonstrated by people having the autonomy to mod their bodies in a way that matches their internal identity (although great pains are taken to explain that only fully grown adults should do so, lest the consequences be dire) and through sexuality (although some pairings are still controversial and require discretion, lest the consequences be dire). Racism was solved by the remnants of the human race being crammed into a diaspora of ships leaving a dying earth for space, or, hilariously, an Elon Musk-esque Mars colony for the rich elite, where they bred themselves into a light brown color. There's really no evidence of any of this social progress being systemic, aside from the generic pronouns used by Galactic Commons AI when addressing individuals, which might be considered practical, rather than woke, in a multi-species society. In fact, it feels very much like the message is that individual virtue trumps all, examplified by the privileged daughter of a war-profiteering one-percenter buying herself a new life as white-collar worker upon which she is absolved of the sins of her father by her new adoptive family. The book ends with the Galactic Commons just barely passing a decree to end an alliance with a species locked in constant ideological struggles. Some aliens are just too incomprehensible, or just plain bad dudes, after all. The book came out in 2014. Granted, the author herself does not claim this world as any sort of political horizon, as far as I know, but it is very interesting that it was received as such. thotsky fucked around with this message at 11:46 on Aug 15, 2022 |
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Aug 15, 2022 11:40
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Nigmaetcetera posted:More like Imajica. Already reading Weaveworld. I want fantasy full of weird gross sex and violence and planar travel. I don’t mind a heavy dose of horror in the fantasy I read. i think the prince of nothing series is like that but i don't know if it has planar travel also i had the same experience with perdido street station, read it all in one day
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Aug 15, 2022 11:51
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thotsky posted:I read The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet Yeah I liked it a lot and the sequels but you really have to ignore the background details because it comes off as pure strain liberal copium. The universe is, overall, a lovely evil place but we tried an authoritarian empire so now we're trying liberal anarchism or benign negligence or whatever you want to call it because slug Nazis didn't work and now we're all out of ideas. The people with political power or a knowledge of political economy just come off like they're depressed or something most of the time.
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Aug 15, 2022 11:53
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DACK FAYDEN posted:
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Aug 15, 2022 12:07
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Nigmaetcetera posted:More like Imajica. Already reading Weaveworld. I want fantasy full of weird gross sex and violence and planar travel. I don’t mind a heavy dose of horror in the fantasy I read. Maybe Vellum by Hal Duncan? It's similar to Barker, but hard to recommend exactly. If you like it, you'll really like it -- the reviews on Goodreads are nearly all either one or five stars.
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Aug 15, 2022 12:08
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Nigmaetcetera posted:More like Imajica. Already reading Weaveworld. I want fantasy full of weird gross sex and violence and planar travel. I don’t mind a heavy dose of horror in the fantasy I read.
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Aug 15, 2022 12:09
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palimpsest by catherynne valente, although that's more magic realism i think? there's lots of sex though
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Aug 15, 2022 12:13
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Nigmaetcetera posted:Why does the thread not care for Brandon Sanderson again? I’ve started reading Elantris and Warbreaker, and neither have made me pissed off to continue reading, like Patrick Rothfuss’ books instantly did. They don’t seem bad at all so far. I’m concerned they won’t be violent enough for my liking, but oh well. I read Mistborn and it was fine, but I kind of disliked most of his WOT books. Not sure I can really find a positive reason to recommend his books either. moonmazed posted:i think the prince of nothing series is like that but i don't know if it has planar travel Not sure I'd really recommend that one anymore. There were always issues, but the final two books were just an awful bloated mess.
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Aug 15, 2022 13:30
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thotsky posted:I read The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, and while I enjoyed some of the more uplifting scenes and generally cute characters, there's a lack of radicalism to the underlying politics that is a little disgusting. It's a lot like firefly in that way.
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Aug 15, 2022 13:46
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thotsky posted:I read The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, and while I enjoyed some of the more uplifting scenes and generally cute characters, there's a lack of radicalism to the underlying politics that is a little disgusting. Ultimately, it's a product of its time, and I hope the author improves in her upcoming books.
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Aug 15, 2022 14:08
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Nigmaetcetera posted:More like Imajica. Already reading Weaveworld. I want fantasy full of weird gross sex and violence and planar travel. I don’t mind a heavy dose of horror in the fantasy I read. A Land Fit for Heroes trilogy, possibly.
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Aug 15, 2022 14:48
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thotsky posted:I read The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, and while I enjoyed some of the more uplifting scenes and generally cute characters, there's a lack of radicalism to the underlying politics that is a little disgusting. This take is absolutely wild to me because I don't think I have ever see Long Way lauded as "especially optimistic, politically" until your post. The setting it takes place in is a pretty crappy one, in a lot of ways, for a lot of people, and while the sequels get more up-close-and-personal with that, it's not exactly hidden in the first book. What it is is cozy and comfortable, because it's very good at, as BSD put it, "finding the small moments in a lovely world that make life worth living". At the end of the book no systemic change has occurred or seems likely to, but it's not a book about systemic change, it's a book about a chosen family making a corner of the crappy setting that isn't crappy for them, and that's all it needs to be -- not every book needs to a political manifesto about how to build the perfect society. The Goblin Emperor falls in the same bucket -- by the end of the book Maia is not about to reshape the entire fabric of the Empire, but life is better for him and his chosen family, and it looks likely that he'll be a better emperor than his predecessors even if he is still going to be an emperor. The Hands of the Emperor is an interesting contrast, because it is a book about systemic change, but it also takes as one of its foundational premises "the empire is ruled by a literal God-Sorceror who is aware of the moral and practical necessity of such change and fully backs it", with the result that while I hugely enjoyed it, and a lot of the individual scenes and dialogues are extremely powerful, overall it ended up feeling much more unrealistic and fantastical than Long Way simply because that part of the premise is so central to the plot and at the same time so wildly divorced from reality.
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Aug 15, 2022 15:43
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I wouldn't say Long Sun is light on plot. Oodles of stuff happen in that book. But Wolfe is a writer who's light on action. What little he shows is often obscured or is service of character rather than spectacle. He's more interested in the action's import and ramifications, so it makes sense there's more conversations about the action than depiction of it. This is a story where an army of robots fights off an invading empire's airship and a battle-nun on horseback slices through hovertanks with her infinite lightsaber. It's basically a final fantasy. But because Wolfe keeps that stuff shrouded he can write a story that's way more cerebral and philosophical, with interest into moral and theological concerns, while still being anime star wars.Carrier posted:Not yet, still need to get my hands on a copy. Is it that necessary? As a matter of fact, are the short sun/long sun books good? Urth is very divisive. It's written in a different style than New Sun and can be pretty jarring coming straight from Citadel. However it expands New Sun's story to mythological levels and enriches it in essential ways. It can come across as sour first. Def an acquired taste, but afterwards you'll wonder how you ever did without it. Long and Short are equally as good as New, and connected to New's story as a whole both logistically and thematically, but like Urth told in their own style. Any Wolfe book is going to defy first impressions and expectations, so you'll have a leg up if you don't come in expecting Book of the New Sun 2.
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Aug 15, 2022 15:56
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