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Seldom Posts posted:The last policeman series is great. Incredible mashup of noir and post apocalyptic delivered in a very grounded way. I read this series around 4 months into covid and it triggered a depressive episode. So very powerful writing, I would say.
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Jun 12, 2023 23:55
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big dyke energy posted:I just finished it and LOVED it. There are some characters from the earlier books that show up in passing or are mentioned, but they aren't major and it's not important if you recognize them or not. The book does a really good job at explaining the entire galaxy situation and also moving past that to actually tell the story that's currently happening. I'm about halfway through and I'm really enjoying it so far. Leckie has a real knack for making alien societies out of humans or mostly-humans.
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Jun 13, 2023 00:15
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Seldom Posts posted:The last policeman series is great. Incredible mashup of noir and post apocalyptic delivered in a very grounded way. Agree! TLP has a lot of things to say about slow decay, doing your best in the face of inevitably, the value of both being honest with yourself and the benefit of self-deception. Great book.
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Jun 13, 2023 01:51
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Ancillary Justice won the Hugo and Nebula for a reason. Was an incredible series. If you liked it I will definitely second the recommendation for Translation State.
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Jun 13, 2023 02:18
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Remulak posted:God I love this book, metaphor made real. I've bounced off of the other China Miéville books I've tried to read, but I really enjoyed The City & the City. Definitely an odd but neat book.
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Jun 13, 2023 03:16
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I'm about 40% throught Curse of the Mistwraith and I'm finding it a bit slow... does it get better?
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Jun 13, 2023 03:50
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No. No more dancing! posted:I've bounced off of the other China Miéville books I've tried to read, but I really enjoyed The City & the City. Definitely an odd but neat book. I thought the BBC adaptation was surprisingly good.
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Jun 13, 2023 04:12
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D-Pad posted:I am enjoying the new Ann Leckie. The presger translators were some of my favorite parts of the original trilogy and this book heavily focuses on them and they are appropriately weird af Ty for making me aware this was out!
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Jun 13, 2023 04:17
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KKKLIP ART posted:I'm about 40% throught Curse of the Mistwraith and I'm finding it a bit slow... does it get better? I admit it was a DNF for me, but the pace does pick up about halfway through. For me, the catch wasn't so much the pace but that I didn't like any of the main characters. (Except Elaira. The book needed more Elaira.)
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Jun 13, 2023 04:21
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I still wonder whether China was inspired by that city divided into two halves that don't acknowledge each other in The Dying Earth. Though that one had a hovercar in it.
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Jun 13, 2023 04:50
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Gotta say that The Last Policeman sounds like it's right up my alley. Thanks for the tip, I think I know what I'm getting with my next audible credit.
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Jun 13, 2023 04:57
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Seldom Posts posted:The last policeman series is great. Incredible mashup of noir and post apocalyptic delivered in a very grounded way. I have mixed feelings about this series, but they’re strongly mixed because they’re worth it, I paid more than $9 for the three well worth it and then ~15 hours. I’ve been told I met the dude a couple of times when he was working on the (better) Underground Airlines but he made zero impression. I’m sure it was mutual. Now that I think about it this was when I lived l think 7 doors away from Fault of Our Stars author John Green also with no awareness other than some neighbor had cool literary stuff on their fence posts, then later a big boat and constant renovations.
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Jun 13, 2023 05:00
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Seldom Posts posted:The last policeman series is great. Incredible mashup of noir and post apocalyptic delivered in a very grounded way. Strictly speaking pre-apocalyptic, no?
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Jun 13, 2023 06:44
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Kinda of just apocalyptic. Society has already kinda gone in the shitter in book one. Dark books. Good books, but dark.
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Jun 13, 2023 06:56
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Groke posted:Strictly speaking pre-apocalyptic, no? I would say “during the apocalypse” as much as anything.
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Jun 13, 2023 08:09
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HopperUK posted:I thought the BBC adaptation was surprisingly good. Yeah, the BBC adaptation had fantastic aesthetics for their budget:       Seldom Posts posted:The last policeman series is great. Incredible mashup of noir and post apocalyptic delivered in a very grounded way. I read the first book in the last policeman series, but then I felt like I had gotten the point and never continued. Do the sequels add some new twist to the concept, or is it just more relentless existential despair?
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Jun 13, 2023 08:47
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The BBC adaptation makes a very major change to the plot that I quite like in how it economizes the story. Worth a watch for those who’ve read the book.
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Jun 13, 2023 09:10
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FPyat posted:The BBC adaptation makes a very major change to the plot that I quite like in how it economizes the story. Worth a watch for those who’ve read the book. I thought all of the changes they made were improvements, and I was a big fan of the book to begin with: Borlú has an ex-wife who disappeared mysteriously and is presumed taken by Breach, giving him more of a personal stake in figuring out the secrets of the cities. Instead of basically being invisible, which wouldn't work well on TV, Breach are undercover agents living amongst us. Any of your friends or colleagues could secretly be working for Breach! A major character turns out to have been a Breach agent all along and takes the place of the old man in the Breach investigation section, ensuring that the viewer has a pre-existing attachment to both characters. On a more minor note, Borlú's Ul-Qoma counterpart is a gay woman instead of a straight man. You get the same scene of her inviting Borlú home to the wife for dinner, but now the subtext is that Ul-Qoma is more progressive. It makes the story less of a sausage-fest while avoiding any will-they-won't-they romance subplot.
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Jun 13, 2023 09:47
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FPyat posted:I still wonder whether China was inspired by that city divided into two halves that don't acknowledge each other in The Dying Earth. Though that one had a hovercar in it. Pedantic, but I'm pretty sure that city was actually in Servants of the Wankh. Vance made up so many loopy alien societies it's hard to keep them all straight...
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Jun 13, 2023 10:00
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Sailor Viy posted:Pedantic, but I'm pretty sure that city was actually in Servants of the Wankh. Vance made up so many loopy alien societies it's hard to keep them all straight... I have just checked and yes, this book did have a slightly different title in the UK for... reasons
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Jun 13, 2023 10:19
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The Sweet Hereafter posted:I have just checked and yes, this book did have a slightly different title in the UK for... reasons The UK edition dropped the H.
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Jun 13, 2023 10:39
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Sailor Viy posted:Pedantic, but I'm pretty sure that city was actually in Servants of the Wankh. Vance made up so many loopy alien societies it's hard to keep them all straight... Talking specifically about the city in "Ulan Dhor."
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Jun 13, 2023 10:59
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https://subterraneanpress.com/newsannouncing-no-choice-a-free-ebook-by-k-j-parker/ Free KJ parker novelette from subterranean press
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Jun 13, 2023 11:45
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Sailor Viy posted:Pedantic, but I'm pretty sure that city was actually in Servants of the Wankh. Vance made up so many loopy alien societies it's hard to keep them all straight... edit: maybe I'm wrong fez_machine fucked around with this message at 12:19 on Jun 13, 2023 |
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Jun 13, 2023 12:06
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Been playing D4 and the world is captivating, this demon infested hellworld with pockets of besieged towns. Are there books with that kind of vibe? (not the actual Diablo books) A good example would be The Warded Man the first book in the Demon Cycle (I couldn't get very far into book 2, though I can't recall why, just that I didn't like it.)
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Jun 13, 2023 16:33
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zoux posted:Been playing D4 and the world is captivating, this demon infested hellworld with pockets of besieged towns. Are there books with that kind of vibe? (not the actual Diablo books) A good example would be The Warded Man the first book in the Demon Cycle (I couldn't get very far into book 2, though I can't recall why, just that I didn't like it.) Some of the stories in Ligotti's Teatro Grotessco have that vibe for me. No swords though if that is a requisite
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Jun 13, 2023 16:38
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Sure it can be polearms, maces, flails, all that stuff is fine. (I am looking for more of a fantasy setting than a cosmic horror setting....unless there was some incredible book that amalgamated them)
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Jun 13, 2023 16:46
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I assume you’ve done Between Two Fires
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Jun 13, 2023 16:47
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Yeah, but I'm thinking about hitting myself in the head with a hammer until I forget about it so I can read it again I think my affinity for this demonic poo poo comes from my evangelical upbringing and being blown away by Frank Peretti's Piercing the Darkness and This Present Darkness. I'm sure they're unreadable trash to a normie but to an 11 year old hardcore christian they were fantastic. Also all this stuff was massively forbidden, I freaked the hell out of my mom by checking a book on witches and witchcraft out from the library at school. See what you did to me, christian upbringing! zoux fucked around with this message at 16:52 on Jun 13, 2023 |
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Jun 13, 2023 16:49
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Berserk is technically a type of book
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Jun 13, 2023 16:50
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zoux posted:Been playing D4 and the world is captivating, this demon infested hellworld with pockets of besieged towns. Are there books with that kind of vibe? (not the actual Diablo books) A good example would be The Warded Man the first book in the Demon Cycle (I couldn't get very far into book 2, though I can't recall why, just that I didn't like it.) Why not consume the many B grade Diablo novels?
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Jun 13, 2023 16:54
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Ravus Ursus posted:Why not consume the many B grade Diablo novels?
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Jun 13, 2023 17:05
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God’s Demon by Wayne Barlow is about actual cities in Hell ruled by demons. There’s no real human resistance, mostly just demons scheming and fighting each other. It’s a setting I don’t see much with some cool ideas.
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Jun 13, 2023 17:11
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zoux posted:Been playing D4 and the world is captivating, this demon infested hellworld with pockets of besieged towns. Are there books with that kind of vibe? (not the actual Diablo books) A good example would be The Warded Man the first book in the Demon Cycle (I couldn't get very far into book 2, though I can't recall why, just that I didn't like it.)
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Jun 13, 2023 19:48
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RDM posted:Broken Earth trilogy If you count that, then the Commonweal series by Graydon Saunders.
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Jun 13, 2023 20:10
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i forgot i was gonna try reading the knaak diablo books
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Jun 13, 2023 20:30
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The Magicians (#1) by Lev Grossman - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002AU7MJU/
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Jun 13, 2023 22:29
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mewse posted:i forgot i was gonna try reading the knaak diablo books I've wanted to read the Sin War trilogy a few times now but book 2, Scales of the Serpent, is inexplicably not available in ebook format. I meant to buy the humblebundle of blizzard lore which included it a few months ago but I missed it.
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Jun 13, 2023 22:49
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Groke posted:If you count that, then the Commonweal series by Graydon Saunders. New Saunder's alt just dropped
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Jun 14, 2023 00:56
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SimonChris posted:
It's the same theme but it comes at it in different ways as society continues to decay. Also the relationship between the protagonist, his sister, and others is dug into the way that continues to reflect the theme. But it is definitely an existentialist trilogy. I personally find it very uplifting but others may not and I understand why.
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Jun 14, 2023 03:19
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