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Everyone posted:The people who could have invented them would have been gay and any gay people in Card's world get exterminated. Oh heavens no. The gay person in that world is so bereft at being unable to reproduce and have a family that he starts an unethical genetic experiment using his own DNA and is eventually blackmailed into repeating it.
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Sep 17, 2022 05:54
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Thranguy posted:I'd say the central premise of a small evenly distributed geographicly population of genetically superintelligent humans who peak in their early teens is more important to the series as far as sf bs goes. in my mind that's just card's lame excuse for why his story involves children. oh we were smart enough to win the first war and to unify our entire society in the name of total interstellar war, but we weren't smart enough to fight it. so we did rampant genetic experiments for reasons? and at the end of the day ender isn't actually much of a tactical genius.
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Sep 17, 2022 11:47
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Everyone posted:The people who could have invented them would have been gay and any gay people in Card's world get exterminated.
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Sep 17, 2022 12:44
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DACK FAYDEN posted:the sequels prove this is false, the people who invent FTL travel are a single AI Who stays in a closet?
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Sep 17, 2022 14:14
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Everyone posted:Who stays in a closet?
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Sep 17, 2022 17:03
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I dropped out of the Laundry Files around the superhero arc. Does Bob ever return as a protagonist or at least main character, or does he stay an Angleton/Auditor peripheral type?
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Sep 17, 2022 17:23
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Titus Groan (Gormenghast #1) by Mervyn Peake - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MW9PQ88/ A Man of His Word: The Complete Series by Dave Duncan - $4.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0732J6PN5/
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Sep 17, 2022 17:35
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navyjack posted:I dropped out of the Laundry Files around the superhero arc. Does Bob ever return as a protagonist or at least main character, or does he stay an Angleton/Auditor peripheral type? The Delirium Brief has Bob as the main pov character.
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Sep 17, 2022 18:16
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Accidental delayed phone double post.
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Sep 17, 2022 18:36
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General Battuta posted:Jackie is my least favorite character in that nobody, including the narration, seems to have any empathy or respect for her. Jackie gets a short POV chapter in The Martians, about raising Zo as a baby and toddler. It fleshes her out a little bit, but that just deepens the sense of sadness around her character.
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Sep 17, 2022 22:08
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navyjack posted:I dropped out of the Laundry Files around the superhero arc. Does Bob ever return as a protagonist or at least main character, or does he stay an Angleton/Auditor peripheral type? I also dropped that book because I thought it was kind of boring and dumb, and similarly thought the next book with the vampire protagonist fighting elves was pretty bad, but I'm reading Delirium Brief now so I'll let you know if it grabs me again!
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Sep 17, 2022 22:08
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Laundry was much better when it was occult spy flicks playing up the parallels between cosmic horror and the civil service. I feel like it sort of became formula of taking an insufferable nerd thing (elves, vampires , loving superheroes ) and putting a lovecraftian apocalypse spin on it.
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Sep 18, 2022 00:12
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I have been reading 1635: A Parcel of Rogues. Since I did not grow up as a Christian I didn't know anything about the whole presbyterian vs. episcopal thing. Wacky stuff.
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Sep 18, 2022 00:31
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Almost through FreedomTM and this 2 part novel (Daemon/Freedom) is extremely good and I agree with the previous description of it as a manifesto. Things are super hosed up and it's all because of Capitalism and it makes you really mad at capitalism. Written in 2006 is kinda wild for the original book
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Sep 18, 2022 01:51
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FPyat posted:I'm starting Speaker for the Dead ten years after I finished Ender's Game. Young me spurned reading it because of the lack of epic space war. I'm still totally thrown for a loop by the subplot of Ender's siblings taking over the world and its political discourse by posting online. Ender's Game is a story about being a very smart and special boy. A subplot about getting elected president of the world because you are the very smartest boy on the forums is a predictable next step
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Sep 18, 2022 02:34
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VostokProgram posted:I have been reading 1635: A Parcel of Rogues. Since I did not grow up as a Christian I didn't know anything about the whole presbyterian vs. episcopal thing. Wacky stuff. me reading the "monk politics" stuff in The Name of the Rose: 
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Sep 18, 2022 03:02
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AARD VARKMAN posted:Almost through FreedomTM and this 2 part novel (Daemon/Freedom) is extremely good and I agree with the previous description of it as a manifesto. Things are super hosed up and it's all because of Capitalism and it makes you really mad at capitalism. Written in 2006 is kinda wild for the original book It's been a while since I read it, but it's that the one where the guy gets robot eyes and whatnot cause he gets hosed up by some bad guy? I think he wore a black motorcycle helmet to hide em. I'm not sure I'm thinking of the plot points from this book or another end of the world book, or mishmashing them together. gently caress I think I might need to reread em.
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Sep 18, 2022 03:04
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:It's been a while since I read it, but it's that the one where the guy gets robot eyes and whatnot cause he gets hosed up by some bad guy? I think he wore a black motorcycle helmet to hide em. I'm not sure I'm thinking of the plot points from this book or another end of the world book, or mishmashing them together. that might be absolutely true, i have about 20% left and the 'necessary but extremely evil' character got all his fingertips cut off and his eyes plucked out one by one in graphic detail, so having his eyes replaced seems like a likely outcome, but hasn't happened
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Sep 18, 2022 03:24
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Reading The Land that Time Forgot by edgar rice burroughs, I get that it came out in 1918 but " Their features were distinctly negroid, though their skins were white. A considerable portion of both torso and limbs were covered with short hair, and their physical proportions were in many aspects apelike, though not so much so as were Ahm's. They carried themselves in a more erect position, although their arms were considerably longer than those of the Neanderthal man. As I watched them, I saw that they possessed a language, that they had knowledge of fire and that they carried besides the wooden club of Ahm, a thing which resembled a crude stone hatchet. Evidently they were very low in the scale of humanity,"
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Sep 18, 2022 04:19
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AARD VARKMAN posted:that might be absolutely true, i have about 20% left and the 'necessary but extremely evil' character got all his fingertips cut off and his eyes plucked out one by one in graphic detail, so having his eyes replaced seems like a likely outcome, but hasn't happened Ah, poo poo dude, sorry if I spoiled something. I was 99% sure it was in daemon and I thought you were done with that one. Let me know though cause now that I'm wondering about it I kinda wanna read it again.
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Sep 18, 2022 04:44
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Clark Nova posted:Ender's Game is a story about being a very smart and special boy. A subplot about getting elected president of the world because you are the very smartest boy on the forums is a predictable next step All the other kids, all the other kids just aren't as smart. Sad. But it's tremendous. We're gonna win so much.
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Sep 18, 2022 08:10
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VostokProgram posted:I have been reading 1635: A Parcel of Rogues. Since I did not grow up as a Christian I didn't know anything about the whole presbyterian vs. episcopal thing. Wacky stuff. The 1632verse is pretty good overall. Really thoughtful and detailed. I eventually lost track of it and it got huge but at some point I'm going to rebuild it and read it via Kindle. Flint also did Trail of Glory two book series that I was disappointed he didn't continue before he died. 1812: The Rivers of War and 1824: The Arkansas War are variously an attempt to fix/prevent the Trail of Tears, an alternate history of the American frontier and an alternate biography of Sam Houston. It's a "pure" alternate history (no science fiction/magic stuff) with a single oddly minor break-point that goes in some really interesting directions. It also makes you kind of go "God-dammit I wish this had been actual America history!"
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Sep 18, 2022 10:11
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Clark Nova posted:Ender's Game is a story about being a very smart and special boy. A subplot about getting elected president of the world because you are the very smartest boy on the forums is a predictable next step Card is lucky he made his mark before modern social media, because he 110% would have posted himself to death. I still think a lot about the forward he wrote whinging about a teacher that had the gall to tell him that, no, his superbabies weren't developmental possible, you can't teach a baby calculus and formal murder, they do not learn that fast. He got super incensed about how DARE she doubt the potential of Great Babies, how could an educator lack such basic faith in the ability of children to learn how to murder and oppress each other faster.
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Sep 18, 2022 14:36
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but have we considered that one of the current sc2 top dogs was like 12 or some poo poo when he started going to tournaments. maybe he's right and we're all fools for doubting his genius
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Sep 18, 2022 14:42
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Larry Parrish posted:but have we considered that one of the current sc2 top dogs was like 12 or some poo poo when he started going to tournaments. maybe he's right and we're all fools for doubting his genius Apparently the average age of Khmer Rogue was 17. So, yeah, kids are totally capable of learning torture/murder/etc. young. Hell, there's a reason that child soldiers are a thing.
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Sep 18, 2022 17:24
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The Blade Itself (First Law #1) by Joe Abercrombie - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00TOT9LDK/ Foundation (#1) by Isaac Asimov - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FC1PWA/ The Divine Invasion (VALIS #2) by Philip K Dick - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005LVQZS4/ The Last Wish (Witcher) by Andrzej Sapkowski - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0010SIPT4/ The Pillars of the Earth (Kingsbridge #1) by Ken Follett - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003TO5GXU/
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Sep 18, 2022 17:44
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Haystack posted:Card is lucky he made his mark before modern social media, because he 110% would have posted himself to death. Whatever you do, do not look into Dan Simmons' online presence for the past 20 years, especially if you love his work.
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Sep 18, 2022 18:05
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FPyat posted:Whatever you do, do not look into Dan Simmons' online presence for the past 20 years, especially if you love his work.
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Sep 18, 2022 18:12
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RDM posted:I haven't read any of his social media but it seems unlikely it's worse then ilium / olympos Narrator: "It was so much worse."
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Sep 18, 2022 18:38
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Easier to make a list of authors who are good posters and ignore the rest. Here is the list: * Ursula k le guin * general battuttutta Enjoy appearing in the same list with the greatest sci fi author, it won’t happen again
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Sep 18, 2022 19:04
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- Neil Gaiman
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Sep 18, 2022 19:07
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Pratchett was a good poster. Watts is a good blogger, at least. Graydon Saunders is posters.
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Sep 18, 2022 19:09
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Is there a website that is good for recommendations or a list of recommendations somewhere? I want to start reading some SFF that is preferably good and not schlock. Most lists you get from googling seem to be filled with some very boring stuff.
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Sep 18, 2022 19:10
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leekster posted:Is there a website that is good for recommendations or a list of recommendations somewhere? I want to start reading some SFF that is preferably good and not schlock. Most lists you get from googling seem to be filled with some very boring stuff. https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3900237&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=2
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Sep 18, 2022 19:17
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leekster posted:Is there a website that is good for recommendations or a list of recommendations somewhere? I want to start reading some SFF that is preferably good and not schlock. Most lists you get from googling seem to be filled with some very boring stuff. You can ask us too! What kind of sci-fi do you want to get into? Have you read anything by: Nomnom Cookie posted:Easier to make a list of authors who are good posters and ignore the rest. Here is the list: Or CJ Cherryh?
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Sep 18, 2022 19:26
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Nomnom Cookie posted:Easier to make a list of authors who are good posters and ignore the rest. Here is the list: Robert Jackson Bennett was pretty funny on Twitter when I had a Twitter. Kelly Link also a surprisingly great poster
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Sep 18, 2022 19:43
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NK Jemisin and Nnedi Okorafor seem to handle Twitter pretty well, particularly given how much harassment they must get. Also lol if you could read Ilium and not realize that Dan Simmons had gone completely off the deep end.
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Sep 18, 2022 19:46
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However the majority of SFF posts so badly that I would describe them as morally incompetent (morally inept if you must). Not evil, not malicious, just consistently unable to make the right decisions even when presented with moral choices as clear as “should we make angry demands of a guy fresh out of heart surgery, knowing that stress plays a significant role in post surgery mortality”. It’s not like they all say “lol we should kill this guy” but that their brain worms are so powerful that they cannot clearly think about the choices they’re making and prioritize the right thing. The “behavior of goons” classic post with the Parisian catacombs but for SFF Twitter
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Sep 18, 2022 19:46
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An author mentioned upthread does not so much punch down as drop a two-footed stomp and bounce off their heads, like Mario e: obviously I mean Grayson Saunders General Battuta fucked around with this message at 19:56 on Sep 18, 2022 |
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Sep 18, 2022 19:50
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General Battuta posted:However the majority of SFF posts so badly that I would describe them as morally incompetent (morally inept if you must). Not evil, not malicious, just consistently unable to make the right decisions even when presented with moral choices as clear as “should we make angry demands of a guy fresh out of heart surgery, knowing that stress plays a significant role in post surgery mortality”. It’s not like they all say “lol we should kill this guy” but that their brain worms are so powerful that they cannot clearly think about the choices they’re making and prioritize the right thing. STEM is a helluva drug
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Sep 18, 2022 20:00
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