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The correct Dune reading order is to read the first three letters, then you are dun.
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May 24, 2023 18:33
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How you dune?
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May 24, 2023 18:34
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Tars Tarkas posted:The correct Dune reading order is to read the first three letters, then you are dun. I've found no change in my pigment?
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May 24, 2023 18:37
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Tars Tarkas posted:The correct Dune reading order is to read the first three letters, then you are dun. Lol
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May 24, 2023 18:52
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Admiralty Flag posted:Also seconding reading Doon if you can get your hands on a copy. Some of the references may be a bit dated but they nail Herbert's prose perfectly, and by perfectly I mean exaggerate to extreme comedic effect, making it truer than the actual. Yeah, Doon is fun, although not quite as hilarious as Bored of the Rings.
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May 24, 2023 19:05
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Selachian posted:Yeah, Doon is fun, although not quite as hilarious as Bored of the Rings. Dribble dribble bounce, dribble bounce shoot swish!
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May 24, 2023 19:40
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Alien 3: The Unproduced Screenplay by William Gibson by Pat Cadigan - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08T19ZGHF I remember seeing a lot of positive comments about this novelization by Pat Cadigan around the time of the release.
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May 24, 2023 20:33
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cptn_dr posted:"Arrakis teaches the attitude of the knife - chopping off what's incomplete and saying: 'Now, it's complete because it's ended here." Aiat
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May 24, 2023 20:55
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I've bought a lot of Steam game keys from Fanatical in the past but I didn't know they'd branched out into ebooks as well - I read the synopses of the books in this 'Cyberpunk Collection' and I'm not so enthused, but I figured someone ITT might get something out of it: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/cyberpunk-dystopia-novels-collective-bundle
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May 24, 2023 21:05
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I remember liking Eclipse by John Shirley enough that I bought both sequels back in the early 90s. I can't remember anything about them now, other than something about the protagonist was a former rockstar that fought fascists, and at the time I though it was great (fighting fascism is still great!)
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May 24, 2023 21:14
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I'm reading Anno Dracula which is basically League of Extraordinary Gentlemen of gothic horror characters, it's cool when one of the protags ends up in a room with Bill Sykes from Oliver Twist, Moriarty and Col. Morel from Sherlock Holmes, Griffin from the invisible man and Fu Manchu from Racism. The premise is that Dracula won, put Van Helsing and J. Harker's head on a pike in front of buckingham palace and married the widower Queen Victoria and rules the UK as Prince Consort. Seems cool! Apparently Dracula isn't actually in it much so it's more about the way the society works when half the people decide to become vampires (also vampires are a bit weaker than we're accustomed to and easier to kill) and the framing is an ancient vampire and an alienist teaming up to track down "the Silver Knife" who is Jack the Ripper but he only kills vampire Whitechapel ladies.
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May 24, 2023 21:27
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zoux posted:I'm reading Anno Dracula which is basically League of Extraordinary Gentlemen of gothic horror characters, it's cool when one of the protags ends up in a room with Bill Sykes from Oliver Twist, Moriarty and Col. Morel from Sherlock Holmes, Griffin from the invisible man and Fu Manchu from Racism. The premise is that Dracula won, put Van Helsing and J. Harker's head on a pike in front of buckingham palace and married the widower Queen Victoria and rules the UK as Prince Consort. Seems cool! Apparently Dracula isn't actually in it much so it's more about the way the society works when half the people decide to become vampires (also vampires are a bit weaker than we're accustomed to and easier to kill) and the framing is an ancient vampire and an alienist teaming up to track down "the Silver Knife" who is Jack the Ripper but he only kills vampire Whitechapel ladies. I liked Anno Dracula quite a lot, but one of the sequels moved into WW1 and suddenly it felt weird having real people in the story in fictional form. Whereas in a book set like 20 years previous I was fine with it. No idea why it bugged me! They're really nicely-written books.
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May 24, 2023 21:37
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habeasdorkus posted:There's only one more actual original Frank Herbert book after Heretics, which is Chapterhouse. I personally think the best endpoint of the story is after God-Emperor. I think Chapterhouse is a strong step up from Heretics and does a lot to make good on the story it set up. That said, I agree that the best stopping point if you want a sense of completion is God-Emperor. You'll miss out on the chairdogs, but we can fill you in on the chairdogs. Captain Monkey posted:I usually stop around God-Emperor. I've read uh.. way too far before and everyone is correct, every single book is slightly (or significantly) worse than the last. I read Hunters and Sandworms out of curiosity to see how they ended the series, and those were painfully and stupidly bad books. Selachian posted:Yeah, Doon is fun, although not quite as hilarious as Bored of the Rings. Doon is great because it swerves effortlessly between incisive spoofs of Herbert's style and goofballs slapstick. Fart of Presto posted:I remember liking Eclipse by John Shirley enough that I bought both sequels back in the early 90s. I read those last year, and they're solid fun. The rest of that list looks very meh.
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May 24, 2023 21:43
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Admiralty Flag posted:Also seconding reading Doon if you can get your hands on a copy. Some of the references may be a bit dated but they nail Herbert's prose perfectly, and by perfectly I mean exaggerate to extreme comedic effect, making it truer than the actual. "He who pours without foam" is etched into my brain lo these many decades later.
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May 24, 2023 21:49
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PeterWeller posted:I think Chapterhouse is a strong step up from Heretics and does a lot to make good on the story it set up. That said, I agree that the best stopping point if you want a sense of completion is God-Emperor. You'll miss out on the chairdogs, but we can fill you in on the chairdogs. There are chairdogs in Whipping Star etc too; nobody has to miss out on chairdogs.
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May 24, 2023 21:53
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Someone post about the chairdogs. I need to know. And I also need to see the fanart of, like, a golden retriever in the shape of an overstuffed lounge chair who is just overjoyed that a human is sitting on him. Chair that drools on you and has a personal relationship with the UPS guy.
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May 24, 2023 22:25
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What if you have to put your feet up, are there ottodogs
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May 24, 2023 22:38
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Hummingbird Salamander by Jeff VanderMeer - $3.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B088DPRZPJ/ The Transmigration of Timothy Archer (VALIS #3) by Philip K Dick - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005LVR6P0/
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May 24, 2023 22:40
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Kestral posted:Someone post about the chairdogs. I need to know. And I also need to see the fanart of, like, a golden retriever in the shape of an overstuffed lounge chair who is just overjoyed that a human is sitting on him. Chair that drools on you and has a personal relationship with the UPS guy. 
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May 24, 2023 22:45
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fermun posted:As everyone else has mentioned, read in published order, including prequels (though those are a SIGNIFICANT drop in quality from the Frank Herbert books), but even then every single book is worse than the book before it, so when you reach a point where a book is only just OK, stop, you've gotten a full story. The Dune books are actually pretty good about every book being a decent stopping point. Yeah this. Also, reading plot summaries for the Brian Herbert books will give you about as much detail as whatever scrap of Frank Herbert's notes were actually used, so if all you want is to fill yourself in on the lore, just read the summaries.
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May 24, 2023 23:58
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zoux posted:I'm reading Anno Dracula which is basically League of Extraordinary Gentlemen of gothic horror characters, it's cool when one of the protags ends up in a room with Bill Sykes from Oliver Twist, Moriarty and Col. Morel from Sherlock Holmes, Griffin from the invisible man and Fu Manchu from Racism. The premise is that Dracula won, put Van Helsing and J. Harker's head on a pike in front of buckingham palace and married the widower Queen Victoria and rules the UK as Prince Consort. Seems cool! Apparently Dracula isn't actually in it much so it's more about the way the society works when half the people decide to become vampires (also vampires are a bit weaker than we're accustomed to and easier to kill) and the framing is an ancient vampire and an alienist teaming up to track down "the Silver Knife" who is Jack the Ripper but he only kills vampire Whitechapel ladies. It’s fun alright. I remember some stuff about Dracula lounging around the throne room with his enormous dick just flopping about. Didn’t read the other books but there was a short story in the same setting about Francis Ford Coppola filming his Dracula, now based on the events of Anno-Dracula, but in this world it’s basically his Apocalypse Now, with disastrous set problems and Brando playing the titular character. I think Newman discovered the same thing as Alan Moore, that there’s a kind of addictive fun just shoving all these fictional characters into your setting, like Game Master Anthony
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May 25, 2023 00:01
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Blindsight is good The Fifteen Lives of Harry August was also good. Reading the Raven Tower now, should be quick. I didn't realize the text was so big when I picked it up but its like a harry potter book.
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May 25, 2023 00:24
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My favourite Kim Newman book is Life's Lottery. It's formatted as a CYOA. You can live a completely reasonable ordinary life in it, or you can spiral into some deeply weird poo poo. The first choice you make is which main character you like best from The Man From UNCLE.
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May 25, 2023 00:26
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goodness posted:The Fifteen Lives of Harry August was also good. Personally I ended up disliking Harry August, perhaps unfairly, because it's established right at the beginning that Harry a) was very likely the result of a rape, and b) has the power to protect his mother by asking another time-traveller to go back and and stop this from happening, although it will mean he will never be born. I went through the whole novel waiting for the other shoe to drop but he never even considers doing this, and it ultimately just felt unnecessary .
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May 25, 2023 01:00
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Fart of Presto posted:I remember liking Eclipse by John Shirley enough that I bought both sequels back in the early 90s. The Eclipse books are solid fun, although like Spinrad's Russian Spring they were almost immediately march-of-timed by the Soviet Union going tits up just as they were published.
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May 25, 2023 03:32
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Isn’t Eclipse the one where in an aging rockstar is playing on top of I think it was the Capital, valiantly sacrificing himself while distracting the evil fascists from the Good Kids who are getting away. I think about this every single time I read complaints about the game Cyberpunk 2077 by being inauthentic because who would care about rock stars and why would they be involved in a violent revolution? Also weren’t the fash driving this:  But probably without the racist character drawings. Also gently caress spoilers I’d WANT to read it based on this description.
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May 25, 2023 04:45
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Has anyone read the Jade Phoenix Saga books? It's YA cultivation fantasy, but it's written incredibly well with a cool world and a fun main character. Loved the audiobooks, especially the new second one.
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May 25, 2023 07:49
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HopperUK posted:My favourite Kim Newman book is Life's Lottery. It's formatted as a CYOA. You can live a completely reasonable ordinary life in it, or you can spiral into some deeply weird poo poo. https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/cade_04_23/ Clarkesworld had a cute story like this recently. Crashbee posted:Personally I ended up disliking Harry August, perhaps unfairly, because it's established right at the beginning that Harry a) was very likely the result of a rape, and b) has the power to protect his mother by asking another time-traveller to go back and and stop this from happening, although it will mean he will never be born. I went through the whole novel waiting for the other shoe to drop but he never even considers doing this, and it ultimately just felt unnecessary . My main problem with Harry August is one that it shares with a lot of genre fiction: The bad guy is the one trying to accomplish something cool and interesting while the protagonist just wants to maintain the status quo. Are we supposed to root for a guy trying to preserve a situation in which a bunch of bored immortals relive the same lives over and over in existential ennui? Turn on the drat quantum mirror! Ending the world would be a mercy.
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May 25, 2023 07:52
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I honestly enjoyed Harry August and should probably give it a re-read some time to see how some of my criticisms of it hold up. I think my main one is that Harry feels incredibly passive throughout the story, he has very little personality, and very little character development. Also, in a story where he's a 1-in-a-hundred-million chosen one in being a time looper, he's also even more of a chosen one with his extra special brain. He happens to have no attachments at all; he has no parents, no siblings, no close friends, and no children to feel real loss over. He has a wife in his 4th life for 15 years who immediately leaves him and has him committed when he tells her about his looping and that's about it for the downsides of his looping life. He doesn't even have to deal with losing parts of his past because he has a perfect memory forever.Crashbee posted:Personally I ended up disliking Harry August, perhaps unfairly, because it's established right at the beginning that Harry a) was very likely the result of a rape, and b) has the power to protect his mother by asking another time-traveller to go back and and stop this from happening, although it will mean he will never be born. I went through the whole novel waiting for the other shoe to drop but he never even considers doing this, and it ultimately just felt unnecessary . He has never met his biological mother, so that would be a pretty extreme thing to do when he could prevent tons of other bad things from happening in every single loop without having to permanently die to do it. Is the other time looper going to prevent it in every loop forever, or will Harry just permanently die to prevent it from happening like 6 out of an infinite number of times until the other time looper gets bored? It's also drilled into Harry's head to never tell someone about where you come from because it gives other time loopers a crazy amount of power over you if they betray you. What if they don't stop the rapist, but instead just decide to kidnap Harry as a child every loop and make him eat Brussels sprouts with every meal?
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May 25, 2023 10:11
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No. No more dancing! posted:Also, in a story where he's a 1-in-a-hundred-million chosen one in being a time looper, he's also even more of a chosen one with his extra special brain. No. No more dancing! posted:He has never met his biological mother, so that would be a pretty extreme thing to do
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May 25, 2023 11:09
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cant cook creole bream posted:Has anyone read the Jade Phoenix Saga books? It's YA cultivation fantasy, but it's written incredibly well with a cool world and a fun main character. Loved the audiobooks, especially the new second one. I forgot what thread this was and thought you were talking about the Battletech Legend of the Jade Phoenix trilogy, which is extremely yikes in a number of ways.
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May 25, 2023 12:29
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Remulak posted:Isn’t Eclipse the one where in an aging rockstar is playing on top of I think it was the Capital, valiantly sacrificing himself while distracting the evil fascists from the Good Kids who are getting away. I think about this every single time I read complaints about the game Cyberpunk 2077 by being inauthentic because who would care about rock stars and why would they be involved in a violent revolution? hmm, I remember some book (series?) which has a scene with rockstars playing on the Arc de Triomphe and the bad guys destroying that with a sonic weapon in form of a Hakenkreuz. Oh yeah, that's the Eclipse trilogy. Hmm, I thought it was George Alec Effinger. OTOH I recently thought I should maybe reread Gravity Falls.
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May 25, 2023 12:54
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Mano posted:hmm, I remember some book (series?) which has a scene with rockstars playing on the Arc de Triomphe and the bad guys destroying that with a sonic weapon in form of a Hakenkreuz. Oh yeah, that's the Eclipse trilogy. Yeah, that's the first Eclipse book. The bad guys have weapons called Jaegernauts, giant wheel-like war machines that use sonic beams to soften up structures and then roll through them to crush them, and it's the Arc de Triomphe. The scene is depicted on the cover of the paperback edition I have (although that doesn't look like the Arc he's standing on): 
Selachian fucked around with this message at 14:31 on May 25, 2023 |
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May 25, 2023 14:27
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cant cook creole bream posted:Has anyone read the Jade Phoenix Saga books? It's YA cultivation fantasy, but it's written incredibly well with a cool world and a fun main character. Loved the audiobooks, especially the new second one. I've read it and enjoyed it. Exactly the sort of pulp I enjoy.
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May 25, 2023 17:28
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What is cultivation fantasy
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May 25, 2023 17:44
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zoux posted:What is cultivation fantasy Its chinese fantasy punch wizards, the genre.
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May 25, 2023 18:31
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Do they like, farm
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May 25, 2023 18:39
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zoux posted:Do they like, farm They like, meditate and cultivate their qi.
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May 25, 2023 18:40
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Yeah, elements of cultivation stuff have been creeping over from Chinese literature for a while. At its basic level its about people progressing through defined tiers of power to remake themselves and become immortal/have incredible super powers by shedding their internal impurities and utilizing mystical elixirs and hidden treasures. I think its partially catching on now in Western fiction to ride the wave of translated Chinese novels that have had some popularity and because its very uh 'video gamey' in terms of discrete levels, goals, reward structure, powers etc which appeals to a weirdly large population of people. Also the protagonists lean towards being incredibly amoral murder hobos to a kind of shocking degree. If you're familiar with Beware of Chicken, its a parody/reaction to this kind of story where the main character is put into a traditional cultivation set up and immediately dips out to become a farmer.
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May 25, 2023 18:41
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Zore posted:Yeah, elements of cultivation stuff have been creeping over from Chinese literature for a while. So it's shonen manga + litRPG
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May 25, 2023 18:47
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