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Jedit posted:They mean that he's dead. Indeed; they should all follow their leader's example. Just go straight to the conclusion, no need to waste time.
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Aug 8, 2023 21:50
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Barlows guide to extraterrestrials The TSA spacecraft book
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Aug 8, 2023 22:39
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Provenance by Ann Leckie - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XW6YTKV/ The Last Wish (Witcher) by Andrzej Sapkowski - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0010SIPT4/ Ithaca (Songs of Penelope #1) by Claire North - $0.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09HQMF3M2/
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Aug 8, 2023 23:10
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sebmojo posted:The TSA spacecraft book If the Terran Trade Authority books, co-sign 100%
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Aug 8, 2023 23:15
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buffalo all day posted:go read “tlon uqbar, orbis Tertius” by Borges, right now!!! Go!!!! (It’s a short story) Yeah, this is a very good tip. Great fuckin' story.
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Aug 9, 2023 03:04
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GhastlyBizness posted:
Not specifically familiar with that one, but there are people who genuinely believe that the world of the Cthulhu mythos is real and incorporate that into their spiritual practice. So if all of that author's other books are more earnest books on magick, then it's likely this one is too. That shouldn't affect anyone's enjoyment of it, I hope. Just read it with a flashing "this is what real-life Cthulhu cultists actually believe" going through your mind.
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Aug 9, 2023 03:31
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if you can find a scan of it or something, the manual for Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri is like 250 pages and has a thorough explanation of the geography and so on of the planet it's set on, it was really fun to read as a kid
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Aug 9, 2023 03:40
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Chairman Capone posted:If the Terran Trade Authority books, co-sign 100% Tta, that was it
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Aug 9, 2023 03:48
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Came to mention Always Coming Home, too. Incredible book.
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Aug 9, 2023 04:19
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Barlowe's EXPEDITION: Being an Account in Words and Artwork of the 2358 A.D. Voyage to Darwin IV is also fantastic. (If you've ever seen the Discovery special 'Alien Worlds' most of the material is adapted from the sketches, paintings and notes in EXPEDITION). Humanity is rescued from its bullshit by benevolent aliens who invite us along on their next exploration mission so we poor humans get a chance to see what an unpolluted world looks like. The book is a collection of the sketches and field notes of a naturalist who went on the expedition. You may recognize creatures that turned up in films like Pitch Black, Pacific Rim and Avatar; Barlowe's done a lot of creature concepts for Hollywood.
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Aug 9, 2023 04:41
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The manual for the game Homeworld was pretty great. The lengthy, troubled history of Kharak and its people, later retconned for Deserts of Kharak, all to make mission 3 that much more heartbreaking.
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Aug 9, 2023 04:48
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FPyat posted:The manual for the game Homeworld was pretty great. The lengthy, troubled history of Kharak and its people, later retconned for Deserts of Kharak, all to make mission 3 that much more heartbreaking. Actually yeah seconding this
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Aug 9, 2023 04:50
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Reading through The Last Defender of Camelot I mentioned up thread and after the first half of the book is completely separate stories. Is that common practice for older compilations? Just print a new edition of a book and change up what's in it?
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Aug 9, 2023 05:01
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Lead out in cuffs posted:Not specifically familiar with that one, but there are people who genuinely believe that the world of the Cthulhu mythos is real and incorporate that into their spiritual practice. So if all of that author's other books are more earnest books on magick, then it's likely this one is too. This does appear to be Tyson. I’ve not read them but he does seem to incorporate Cthulhu stuff into his magical practices elsewhere. That said, there doesn’t appear to be anything in the Necronomicon that looks like actual practice, you know? No “here’s how you draw on Azathoth for your own health and well-being” or similar. There’s a lot that shows off a familiarity with the history of western esotericism/the occult but even there it’s all written in a pretty wry tone with a lot of black humour. It’s much more of a Lovecraftian piece, with a focus on Alhazred being a sociopathic shithead Volo/Xanathar figure who’s written a gazetteer, rather than something more obviously focusing on the author’s own beliefs, if you like. GhastlyBizness fucked around with this message at 07:36 on Aug 9, 2023 |
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Aug 9, 2023 07:20
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Macdeo Lurjtux posted:I enjoyed The Resurrectionist
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Aug 9, 2023 13:14
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Oh, there's also The Dunwall Archives https://www.amazon.com/Dishonored-D...ps%2C123&sr=8-2 Dishonored was one of those games like the 'Shock series that puts all this narrative world building in little scraps of data and stories hidden throughout the levels. Dark House did a collection of all of them that does a good job of portraying a slice of life for a few days in a smoggy fantasy London. Just get the kindle version since the physical goes for close to $200 these days.
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Aug 9, 2023 15:46
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Ooh blubberpunk
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Aug 9, 2023 15:56
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DACK FAYDEN posted:if you can find a scan of it or something, the manual for Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri is like 250 pages and has a thorough explanation of the geography and so on of the planet it's set on, it was really fun to read as a kid Watch out for the mind worms.
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Aug 9, 2023 20:26
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Kesper North posted:Actually yeah seconding this Speaking of great stuff about fictional desert worlds, I'd also suggest finding a copy of The Wanderer's Journal from the original Dark Sun Campaign Setting box. It's this wonderful and evocative in-character guide to a weird and terrifying setting, maybe the best setting book ever written for D&D.
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Aug 9, 2023 21:11
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GhastlyBizness posted:This does appear to be Tyson. I’ve not read them but he does seem to incorporate Cthulhu stuff into his magical practices elsewhere. There's also the classic 80s Necronomicon which iirc is still in print, which was written by a lunatic who calls himself "Simon" (though he insists that he just did some editing and this is the real honest to goodness and totally true book straight out of Lovecraft. It's an entertaining read, though clearly written as a deliberate hoax (lots of the spells are left deliberately incomplete, so readers can't even try to recreate them) The repeated warnings that this book is so gonna curse you, for real, you're totally doomed now, are wonderfully over the top.
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Aug 9, 2023 22:12
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The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ECE9OD4/ The Kingdom of Copper (Daevabad #2) by SA Chakraborty - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076P8TD5Y/ The Boy on the Bridge (Girl with All the Gifts #2) by MR Carey - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LL8BX9Q/ Redshirts by John Scalzi - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0079XPUOW/ Recursion by Blake Crouch - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HDSHP7N/ Supernova Era by Cixin Liu - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07LF5W148/
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Aug 9, 2023 23:26
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pradmer posted:The Kingdom of Copper (Daevabad #2) by SA Chakraborty - $2.99 I finished this series a few days ago and really enjoyed it. The books felt like much longer than average so this felt like a really worthwhile buy (I bought it last time it was on sale I guess). The first book is on Kindle Unlimited, too.
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Aug 9, 2023 23:41
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pradmer posted:The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North - $2.99 Random nobody's endorsement of all these books. Two removed because I haven't read them yet.
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Aug 10, 2023 00:12
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I've discovered recently that the books posted for Amazon.com sales are often also discounted on Amazon.com.au, although they don't seem to show up in the kindle daily deals and you have to search for them manually. I'm no longer spiteful about those deals being posted and am now very grateful.
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Aug 10, 2023 00:44
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Redshirts by John Scalzi is real good. I remember it was supposed to be an FX show (I think) but that adaptation obviously stalled out. It's a shame, for obvious reasons it's one book that I think wouldn't be hurt by being adapted to TV, though probably Paramount would have to do it. I feel like Scalzi was really big in the mid-00s for a decade or so and then kind of faded away. StonecutterJoe posted:There's also the classic 80s Necronomicon which iirc is still in print, which was written by a lunatic who calls himself "Simon" (though he insists that he just did some editing and this is the real honest to goodness and totally true book straight out of Lovecraft. It's an entertaining read, though clearly written as a deliberate hoax (lots of the spells are left deliberately incomplete, so readers can't even try to recreate them) The repeated warnings that this book is so gonna curse you, for real, you're totally doomed now, are wonderfully over the top. Dan Harms and John Wisdom Gonce have a book called The Necronomicon Files: The Truth Behind Lovecraft's Legend, which goes in detail on Lovecraft's inspiration for the book, its role in his fiction, and its afterlife in pop culture. It's a pretty good look at everything Necronomicon-related. They go in depth on the Simon hoax.
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Aug 10, 2023 01:12
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I'll also toss in a rec for Red Shirts, even though it seems like most folks around here don't like it. It's not a transcendently great novel by any means, but the premise is fun and it's got a good grasp on human emotion. I will go even further and say that the codas are Good, Actually.
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Aug 10, 2023 02:30
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habeasdorkus posted:I'll also toss in a rec for Red Shirts, even though it seems like most folks around here don't like it. It's not a transcendently great novel by any means, but the premise is fun and it's got a good grasp on human emotion. I will go even further and say that the codas are Good, Actually. Yeah I enjoyed it and did not feel like it was a waste of the $3 or whatever I paid for it.
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Aug 10, 2023 03:16
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pradmer posted:The Boy on the Bridge (Girl with All the Gifts #2) by MR Carey - $2.99
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Aug 10, 2023 03:23
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StumblyWumbly posted:I never knew there was a sequel, does anyone know if its any good? It's actually a prequel, although the epilogue does explain what happened after the first book. I'd say it's good.
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Aug 10, 2023 03:40
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StumblyWumbly posted:I never knew there was a sequel, does anyone know if its any good?
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Aug 10, 2023 03:57
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Remulak posted:It’s excellent; I’ve never experienced such a sense of utter dread in my life (from media). I think I posted about that in this very thread. Closest was watching 28 Days Later when the guy from the roof with a daughter exactly my daughter’s age at the time was gonna go into the tunnel. Even better than a recommendation is a recommendation not to read it while in uncertain circumstances! Thanks!
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Aug 10, 2023 05:18
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Remulak posted:It’s excellent; I’ve never experienced such a sense of utter dread in my life (from media). I think I posted about that in this very thread. Closest was watching 28 Days Later when the guy from the roof with a daughter exactly my daughter’s age at the time was gonna go into the tunnel. yeah that sequel is better than the first one imo mr carey is very good, both in books and in comics, i will never stop regretting his "the highest house" not getting renewed for more issues
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Aug 10, 2023 06:24
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Is The Boy from the Bridge still good if I can't remember anything that happened in The Girl With All the Gifts?
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Aug 10, 2023 06:58
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MockingQuantum posted:Is The Boy from the Bridge still good if I can't remember anything that happened in The Girl With All the Gifts? I'd say yeah
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Aug 10, 2023 07:07
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MockingQuantum posted:Is The Boy from the Bridge still good if I can't remember anything that happened in The Girl With All the Gifts? As a prequel, I'd say it's probably better. I also recommend Carey's Someone Like Me, although it's horror rather than SF.
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Aug 10, 2023 09:54
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I mean if you can't remember what happens in it then reread Girl too because it's great.
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Aug 10, 2023 10:47
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Just finished Hopeland by Ian McDonald. As normal with McDonald, it is a mix of near earth future mixing sort of cyberpunk with how other cultures would use it. In hopeland, he mixes together London, pacific island culture, Greenland/Iceland, renewable energy sources, Tesla coils, climate refugees and non-gender normative magic anarchism. It is a long winding story but well executed (as usual). An in contrast to other stories, this is not a dystopian story. Btw the bitcoin financed seasteading episode is hilarious.
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Aug 10, 2023 14:41
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I’m interested in reading Foundation but there seem to be a lot of books in the series then a bunch of stuff that’s loosely tied in, and several different reading orders. What’s the recommended order for this stuff?
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Aug 10, 2023 15:07
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Foundation, then Foundation and Empire, then Second Foundation, then you're done.
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Aug 10, 2023 15:09
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So it's not worth reading the side stuff, then?
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Aug 10, 2023 15:10
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