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FPyat posted:Nothing he's written after 2010 has attracted me enough for me to buy it, but his 90s work solidly make him a legend. That's an interesting cutoff date. I'd hard-recommend all of Orthogonal (Clockwork Rocket, etc), The Book of All Skies, and Perihelion Summer, all from after that date. But you do you. Zendegi's right on the line and that's one of the only books I own that makes me so sad I can't reread it.
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Aug 31, 2023 11:06
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I finished Max Gladstone's Empress of Forever. I never read The Craft Sequence, but I did enjoy This Is How You Lose The Time War. It's a pretty good space opera, emphasis operatic epic than hard sci-fi. I feel kind of silly because as soon as I finished the book and read the acknowledgements, I realised that I did not pick up any of the homages to Journey to the West that were so obvious in retrospect. There's also a Seth Dickinson quote/review in the book, "A gloriously maximal space opera in the tradition of Banks and Rajaniemi - the diamond-bright adventure of five unlikely companions across a trans-human galaxy", if that sells the book any more. In 2023 (cf. 2019), the set up of the story where a tech billionaire travels to a different dimension and learns that friendship is better than being a dipshit tech billionaire rear end in a top hat might be a bit eye-roll, but once you get past that, it's a solid read.
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Aug 31, 2023 17:51
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Now that's pure fantasy
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Aug 31, 2023 18:07
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Well it helps that MAJOR SPOILER she learns to be good because the other version of her is such a dick
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Aug 31, 2023 18:16
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DACK FAYDEN posted:Trip report: I didn't really have expectations of what this would be like going in, but if I did it absolutely would have been nothing like them. Really good book, set at a magical school but it's not a "magical school book". Big fan. Ccs posted:That reminds me there's a sequel to Vita Nosta. Reviews seemed divisive though so I haven't picked it up yet. For the Vita Nostra fans, The Night-Bird's Feather is described by the author as something like Vita Nostra plus Spirited Away. I haven't read VN yet - soon! - so I can't say if the description is accurate, but I'd say it's a place to start if you're looking for more in that vein.
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Aug 31, 2023 18:24
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Deep Navigation by Alistair Reynolds - $0.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00XT0V0DY/
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Aug 31, 2023 19:05
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Rosewater book 2 was great. Femi is my favorite character to hate. What a loving monster.
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Aug 31, 2023 19:07
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NoneMoreNegative posted:I posted this over in YOSPOS but I really feel 36 Streets deserves more eyes on it Halfway through this and it owns, great protagonist and setting, good prose; sweaty, sticky noir. It's 2 bucks on kindle.
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Aug 31, 2023 19:10
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tokenbrownguy posted:Rosewater book 2 was great. Femi is my favorite character to hate. What a loving monster. yessss 
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Aug 31, 2023 19:27
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buffalo all day posted:Best part of my bookshelf: Finally went into my local bookstore during their back to school sale and picked up that copy of Earthsea. Now I've reading ahead of me! Its not quite the heaviest book in my collection (that is my Globe Collected Works of Shakespeare) but its up there. A handsome book! And, strangely, nearly $30 cheaper than the collected Hanish cycle they also had on sale in a much smaller and non illustrated version vOv Bilirubin fucked around with this message at 22:17 on Aug 31, 2023 |
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Aug 31, 2023 22:09
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Bilirubin posted:Finally went into my local bookstore during their back to school sale and picked up that copy of Earthsea. Now I've reading ahead of me! It’s extremely awesome, goongrats op 
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Aug 31, 2023 22:14
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got some chores tonight posted:I finished Max Gladstone's Empress of Forever. I never read The Craft Sequence, but I did enjoy This Is How You Lose The Time War. It's a pretty good space opera, emphasis operatic epic than hard sci-fi. I feel kind of silly because as soon as I finished the book and read the acknowledgements, I realised that I did not pick up any of the homages to Journey to the West that were so obvious in retrospect. the craft sequence books, particularly the ones with Tara Abernathy, are a class above Empress imo. i thought that was forgettable and silly, although i also missed the Journey to the West influences - i mostly know that from Monkey (Saiyūki) and its endless repeats in Australia
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Sep 1, 2023 03:49
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To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00309SCOE/ Shepherd's Crown (Discworld #41) by Terry Pratchett - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00W2EBY8O/ On Blue Waters (Book of the Short Sun #1) by Gene Wolfe - $3.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003J5UI4G/ Nightside the Long Sun (Book of the Long Sun #1) by Gene Wolfe - $3.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008YHUNTY/ Starfish (Rifters #1) by Peter Watts - $3.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00M64A8EG/ Keeper of the Keys (Cycle of Fire #2) by Janny Wurts - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08S6V4DV5/ Shadowfane (Cycle of Fire #3) by Janny Wurts - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08S7BL67B/ A Spindle Splintered (Fractured Fables #1) by Alix E Harrow - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08PSFF6PM/ The Near Witch by VE Schwab - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07L2GGTWW/ Thief's Magic (Millennium's Rule #1) by Trudi Canavan - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EXTQV2A/
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Sep 1, 2023 15:19
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pradmer posted:To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00309SCOE/ I picked up the Watts, thanks. I'll also say, having reread recently, that To Say Nothing of the Dog is a great comedy of manners l, if you are into that sort of thing
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Sep 1, 2023 17:25
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I'm currently reading The Death of the Necromancer by Martha Wells and really enjoying it. I'd only read her murderbot stuff until I read the element of fire a couple weeks ago because it's the previous book to this one, and this one was nominated for a nebula. Both of them have been slow starters but really get going. The element of fire was her first published novel so it's excusable but it felt like she was cramming a lot of extraneous detail into the early parts of the book. The payoff is huge though, incredibly satisfying conclusion. e: and was just reminded she is being treated for cancer 
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Sep 1, 2023 17:42
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I've bought Blindsight and The Sheep Look Up after discussions in the thread, had a long slump where I didn't read anywhere near as much as I usually do. Very much looking forward to the weekend to get back into it and those two seem perfectly up my alley for now! I got a used paperback for the sheep look up and it has the little form to tear out of the book to sign up for magazines from the 80s, I love when books have that, it feels like a portal back in time. 
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Sep 1, 2023 17:44
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I started on Origin Complex, then decided to reread Steel Frame first. It's really funny that this hardened criminal and former search and rescue pilot, who flies a space robot through endless, trackless space clouds, gets vertiginous about the thought of dropping relative-down from her space ship instead of going straight out from it. Also the spooky song loses a little of its bite when your brain keeps automatically substituting it out for the theme from Sealab 2021.
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Sep 1, 2023 19:53
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Harold Fjord posted:I'll also say, having reread recently, that To Say Nothing of the Dog is a great comedy of manners l, if you are into that sort of thing I picked this up without ever hearing of this or the series. Any chance I can jump in without having read the first?
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Sep 2, 2023 02:15
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Whale Vomit posted:I picked this up without ever hearing of this or the series. Any chance I can jump in without having read the first? It’s basically stand alone, so you’ll be fine. Wildly different tone from Doomsday Book, too.
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Sep 2, 2023 03:36
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Whale Vomit posted:I picked this up without ever hearing of this or the series. Any chance I can jump in without having read the first? I would read Three Men in a Boat first though. It's not a requirement but To Say Nothing of the Dog is a homage.
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Sep 2, 2023 03:37
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RDM posted:I'd read Doomsday Book first just because it's better but you don't need it for this book. Three Men in a Boat is fantastic too. Fairly short and hilarious.
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Sep 2, 2023 03:49
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HopperUK posted:Three Men in a Boat is fantastic too. Fairly short and hilarious. Incredibly fresh for something written while Jack the Ripper was at large.
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Sep 2, 2023 06:07
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HopperUK posted:Three Men in a Boat is fantastic too. Fairly short and hilarious. To say nothing of the dog!
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Sep 2, 2023 07:02
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Speaking of men in boats I’m deep into Aubrey Maturin and god drat is THE SURGEON’S MATE good. The whole range of manners, intrigue and an absolutely cracking ship to ship action. Jack don’t crack
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Sep 2, 2023 17:16
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General Battuta posted:Speaking of men in boats I’m deep into Aubrey Maturin and god drat is THE SURGEON’S MATE good. The whole range of manners, intrigue and an absolutely cracking ship to ship action. Jack don’t crack Hell yeah, and you have like 7-8 absolute bangers in a row after that one. Such a crazy good run.
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Sep 2, 2023 17:24
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No poo poo!? It just keeps going!!!
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Sep 2, 2023 17:26
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gently caress yeah it does.
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Sep 2, 2023 17:27
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General Battuta posted:No poo poo!? It just keeps going!!! me thinking about GB’s posts when he reads the far side of the world 
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Sep 2, 2023 17:29
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General Battuta posted:No poo poo!? It just keeps going!!! it is eternally recurring; once you reach the end, you can start over at the beginning and it's even better and even that keeps happening I am so happy for anyone who starts these books because you have so much ahead of you
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Sep 2, 2023 17:37
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I’m jealous and I don’t have time for a reread right now.
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Sep 2, 2023 17:39
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General Battuta posted:No poo poo!? It just keeps going!!! I'm on book 19 of my first read through the series and gently caress yeah it keeps going. If anything they get better.
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Sep 2, 2023 18:20
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I couldn't get through the first chapter of the first book but you all are making me think about trying again
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Sep 2, 2023 18:36
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Try it as an audiobook, Patrick Tull is great.
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Sep 2, 2023 18:43
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Hyphen-ated posted:I couldn't get through the first chapter of the first book but you all are making me think about trying again General Battuta posted:Try it as an audiobook, Patrick Tull is great. Seconding the audiobook approach, it's one of those stories that really comes alive when it's read aloud. Or at least, the first book is! I need to get around to reading more.
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Sep 2, 2023 18:51
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Hyphen-ated posted:I couldn't get through the first chapter of the first book but you all are making me think about trying again Took me about half of the first book to "get" how the information is all presented, and then it all just starts slipping into the old think-meat. Just finished The Mauritius Command but I gotta cleanse the palate with a little Battletech before reading the next one. They are still very dense.
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Sep 2, 2023 19:14
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Hyphen-ated posted:I couldn't get through the first chapter of the first book but you all are making me think about trying again The trick is just accepting that there will be parts you don't understand and letting it just wash over you like a wave and then you keep going.
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Sep 2, 2023 19:15
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I sometimes skipped the sea battles
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Sep 2, 2023 19:41
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Arsenic Lupin posted:I sometimes skipped the sea battles 
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Sep 2, 2023 19:58
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I'm only there for the goat-buggering.
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Sep 2, 2023 20:18
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Arsenic Lupin posted:I'm only there for the goat-buggering. What about the sloth-debauching?
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Sep 2, 2023 20:26
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