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Kestral posted:Sci-fi fans, any suggestions for books that prominently feature encounters with / survival in profoundly alien ecosystems? I've started watching Scavengers Reign, which I can only describe as Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind meets Akira as drawn by Moebius, and I'm now craving some literary depictions of seriously weird and hostile ecosystems that aren't just set dressing to human drama, but which actually drive the story. Neal Asher's Splatterjay series, starting with The Skinner.
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Nov 1, 2023 22:07
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Kestral posted:Sci-fi fans, any suggestions for books that prominently feature encounters with / survival in profoundly alien ecosystems? I've started watching Scavengers Reign, which I can only describe as Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind meets Akira as drawn by Moebius, and I'm now craving some literary depictions of seriously weird and hostile ecosystems that aren't just set dressing to human drama, but which actually drive the story. Would, for want of a better term, ‘zone fiction’ work? Thinking of stuff like the Strugatsky’s Roadside Picnic, Vandermeer’s Area X books, Harrison’s Nova Swing, Beckett’s Beneath the World, a Sea… Maybe not ecosystem-driven exactly but they all drive the story.
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Nov 1, 2023 22:08
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Worlds of Exile and Illusion: Rocannon's World, Planet of Exile, City of Illusions (Hainish #1-3) by Ursula K Le Guin - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MQIG9PL/ Guns of the Dawn by Adrian Tchaikovsky - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00N4UYWNY/ The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno-Garcia - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08GJQD2HD/ Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NTCZ2ND/ Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KDX5NTF/ Prime Meridian by Silvia Moreno-Garcia - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077338PFK/ Memory's Legion: The Complete Expanse Story Collection by James SA Corey - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B096RSDCVK/ Fiasco by Stanislaw Lem - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008R2J70M/ The Sudden Appearance of Hope by Claire North - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00Z7J7CZA/ Three Hearts and Three Lions by Poul Anderson - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B016CQUL4U/ The Malevolent Seven by Sebastien de Castell - $0.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BC83MRPL/ Fire & Blood (Song of Ice and Fire) by George RR Martin - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07C6TBTV3/ Tuf Voyaging by George RR Martin - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0092EE5HY/ The Jasmine Throne (Burning Kingdoms #1) by Tasha Suri - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08F4YZZ84/
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Nov 1, 2023 23:01
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pradmer posted:Tuf Voyaging by George RR Martin - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0092EE5HY/ This is a really fun collection. Really all of Martin’s space operas are great. Highly recommend Dying of the Light and Windhaven also.
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Nov 1, 2023 23:43
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pradmer posted:Worlds of Exile and Illusion: Rocannon's World, Planet of Exile, City of Illusions (Hainish #1-3) by Ursula K Le Guin - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MQIG9PL/ I think Bilirubin said somewhere that the November book of the month will probably be Rocannon's World, maybe that was in this thread? I can't remember.
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Nov 2, 2023 00:16
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pradmer posted:Tuf Voyaging by George RR Martin - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0092EE5HY/
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Nov 2, 2023 00:45
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anilEhilated posted:I firmly maintain that is the best thing GRRM ever wrote. I agree with this statement.
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Nov 2, 2023 00:52
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Kestral posted:seriously weird and hostile ecosystems that aren't just set dressing to human drama, but which actually drive the story. The Stars are Legion* by Kameron Hurley might pique your interest. *could not remember the title, googled 'lesbian biopunk space opera' and it was in the first few results to remind me
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Nov 2, 2023 00:58
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pradmer posted:The Malevolent Seven by Sebastien de Castell - $0.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BC83MRPL/ Bought this at full price, but it’s clearly a first novel later patched up to releasable status, so it’s well with a buck.
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Nov 2, 2023 00:58
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Kestral posted:Sci-fi fans, any suggestions for books that prominently feature encounters with / survival in profoundly alien ecosystems?
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Nov 2, 2023 01:01
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MockingQuantum posted:I think Bilirubin said somewhere that the November book of the month will probably be Rocannon's World, maybe that was in this thread? I can't remember. I did! I just posted the new month's BotM post in the thread in fact, so perfect timing on this. AND THE SALE IS ON IN CANADA TOO WOOHOO!!!
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Nov 2, 2023 01:16
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Kestral posted:Sci-fi fans, any suggestions for books that prominently feature encounters with / survival in profoundly alien ecosystems? Dark Eden trilogy by Chris Beckett, which I didn't like enough to finish the second book.
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Nov 2, 2023 01:18
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Is Kim Stanley Robinson's Green Earth a replacement for the entire trilogy? Or is there a trade off between reading one or the other?
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Nov 2, 2023 01:52
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Kestral posted:Sci-fi fans, any suggestions for books that prominently feature encounters with / survival in profoundly alien ecosystems? Starting Rising. There's lots going on in that book, but the weird metallic ocean planet that they're crashlanded on is a major factor in the plot.
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Nov 2, 2023 02:27
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Kestral posted:Sci-fi fans, any suggestions for books that prominently feature encounters with / survival in profoundly alien ecosystems? I've started watching Scavengers Reign, which I can only describe as Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind meets Akira as drawn by Moebius, and I'm now craving some literary depictions of seriously weird and hostile ecosystems that aren't just set dressing to human drama, but which actually drive the story. Chtorr
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Nov 2, 2023 02:49
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Kestral posted:Sci-fi fans, any suggestions for books that prominently feature encounters with / survival in profoundly alien ecosystems? I've started watching Scavengers Reign, which I can only describe as Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind meets Akira as drawn by Moebius, and I'm now craving some literary depictions of seriously weird and hostile ecosystems that aren't just set dressing to human drama, but which actually drive the story. The Genocides by Thomas M Disch Raft by Stephen Baxter
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Nov 2, 2023 03:11
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Not related to the recommendation fest, but I did want to mention that, in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Young Wizards series, Diane Duane is having a sale on her stuff at Ebooks Direct, including a "everything we have" package for $40, all DRM-free, today only. Note that this only includes the stuff at EBD, which basically means all of her original work, but not any of her licensed stuff like her Star Trek novels.
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Nov 2, 2023 03:15
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Mr. Nemo posted:Is Kim Stanley Robinson's Green Earth a replacement for the entire trilogy? Or is there a trade off between reading one or the other? It's a slightly shortened/condensed single volume version. The figure he usually gives is 15% shorter compared to the trilogy. Having only read Green Earth it doesn't feel rushed or chopped down. KSR said something about cutting a lot of descriptive text treating the DC area like one of his Mars scapes, as if it were a place no reader could ever see or visit, beyond that I'm not sure what else was dropped. It's still plenty long and fleshed out. He regards it as the definitive edition and is happier with the shorter version. If you like KSR I'd recommend it, although the "what do we do about climate change" conversation has moved on considerably.
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Nov 2, 2023 03:15
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anilEhilated posted:I firmly maintain that is the best thing GRRM ever wrote.
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Nov 2, 2023 03:37
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Haystack posted:Starting Rising. There's lots going on in that book, but the weird metallic ocean planet that they're crashlanded on is a major factor in the plot. First sci fi book I can recall reading, I was utterly captivated Arsenic Lupin posted:Nah, that would be Fevre Dream. 
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Nov 2, 2023 03:46
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Kestral posted:Sci-fi fans, any suggestions for books that prominently feature encounters with / survival in profoundly alien ecosystems? I've started watching Scavengers Reign, which I can only describe as Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind meets Akira as drawn by Moebius, and I'm now craving some literary depictions of seriously weird and hostile ecosystems that aren't just set dressing to human drama, but which actually drive the story. It's weird and gross but THE JESUS INCIDENT by Frank Herbert and Bill Ransom is...mostly this? It's about a spaceship that is God which has gathered humans from many realities and brought them to a planet that makes Dune look cozy, where they must learn how to 'WorShip' or be annihilated. It was a huge inspiration for Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, the mind worms from SMAC are a straight lift from the nerve runners in this book. The weirdness and the grossness extends to just about every possible aspect of human behavior, it is not a comfy book. I also love Startide Rising, read it as a kid and it's caught in the amber of time.
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Nov 2, 2023 04:16
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Man, I remember when Martin was this reasonably obscure writer that I was grabbing people by the lapels and saying MUST READ THIS. Like, not unknown, but certainly not guy-who-needs-a-bodyguard.
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Nov 2, 2023 04:52
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Arsenic Lupin posted:Nah, that would be Fevre Dream. drat I remember loving that vampire steamboat book in high school. Although The Sandkings is not only his best work but probably the best SFF novelette of the late 20th century, only competition being Enders Game and probably something by Gibson or Ted Chiang that I’ve mentally miscategorized as a novella or short story. Yes, Enders Game is a all-time novelette and badly overrated novel, I’ll knife-fight you in the showers with other soaped-up preteen boys to prove it.
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Nov 2, 2023 06:32
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The Bungie news made me wonder, are you basically NDA'd until the end of time about destiny stuff?
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Nov 2, 2023 07:44
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Bilirubin posted:I did! I just posted the new month's BotM post in the thread in fact, so perfect timing on this. AND THE SALE IS ON IN CANADA TOO WOOHOO!!! Not any more, it seems. I guess it was a one day thing?
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Nov 2, 2023 08:16
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Read The City of Last Chances by Adrian Tchaikovsky, my first of his, and I was drawn to its worldbuilding and plotting and as events have unfolded in Palestine it certainly took on a more immediate relevance as I finished it, notwithstanding the two "Pals" being on opposite ends of occupation. I like his writing, I want to read more of his work and will buy the sequel - when these days I'm impatient with books I don't like and drop them midway - but this book ticked my checkmarks while not leaving me really impressed upon. I think it's the characters. The narration is detached from them beyond its mosaic chapters. It's not a failing but there wasn't something there to hook me otherwise. The most absorbed I found a character is early when you meet the playboy Ruslav who's looking to seduce a girl but while pursuing her has his world shattered by a painting at her art show that penetrates his psyche and changes him in ways he doesn't understand. And he continues to have his sense of identity challenged by other events, but I was not as interested in him after that initial wonderfully captured shock to his sense of himself. The events really drive the book. I was invested in rooting for the occupees despite the macro-leaning presentation Tchaikovsky goes for. I suppose there's merit in how there's no grand dramatic flourishes in the later action. It feels like a snippet in a long history. This also might explain my inability to love it though. The Reproach is obviously the best part, and God is very funny. snoremac fucked around with this message at 13:00 on Nov 2, 2023 |
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Nov 2, 2023 12:46
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The fate of Hegelsy was brutal. I shook my head smiling. Just destroyed by a little bureaucratic meddling.
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Nov 2, 2023 12:54
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sebmojo posted:The Bungie news made me wonder, are you basically NDA'd until the end of time about destiny stuff? I've been pretty open (probably too open) about the most horrible parts, so if I've violated NDA they haven't done anything about it (yet)
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Nov 2, 2023 13:21
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Silly Newbie posted:Thanks, that confirms that I didn't miss anything and it just wasn't explained any further. I cannot guarantee you didn't miss anything because I can't guarantee I didn't miss anything. But I think Tchaikovsky is not somebody who feels as though a story needs to explain every little detail to a reader.
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Nov 2, 2023 14:30
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The mystery of the Essiel is a feature, the reader is just as baffled by them as the characters. I also finished Lords of Uncreation yesterday, I thought the series as a whole was very good. He'll be remembered for his Children of Time series, pending future magnum opii of course, but I thought this was a solid trilogy with a good plot, satisfying conclusion, and nice worldbuilding. Also he used the terms "lampshaded" in the TVTropes sense of the word and also "going ham" so I guess these are idioms that people just know about now Arsenic Lupin posted:Man, I remember when Martin was this reasonably obscure writer that I was grabbing people by the lapels and saying MUST READ THIS. Like, not unknown, but certainly not guy-who-needs-a-bodyguard. I was never a big fantasy reader, but in 2003 someone loaned me Game of Thrones and I was blown away. So much has happened since then, I think people now view the books through the lens of incompletion/the show/the memes etc. but before all that, those first three ASOIaF were absolutely killer. After I finished, I was like, drat maybe fantasy IS good after all and I went back to the guy that gave me GoT for more recs and he hooked me up with Wizard's First Rule... I've kind of been chasing that GoT high since and there's only a handful of fantasy series I would recommend (all the stuff you would expect, except maybe Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone), and I've started and DNFed dozens if not hundreds of them. And really I've never come close to those first three books (with the promise of more to come!) since.
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Nov 2, 2023 14:49
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Fevre Dream and Tuf Voyaging are both great. I haven't read Sand Kings, I probably should.
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Nov 2, 2023 15:16
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Lead out in cuffs posted:Not any more, it seems. I guess it was a one day thing? Sorry, I guess it was. I went to dot com first from the link posted upthread, and it kicked me to dot ca so maybe it was a fluke? But if its not on sale on dot com anymore it must be one of those day-long mad sales Another goon posted it was also on sale in Canada on koobo or whatever in the BotM thread
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Nov 2, 2023 15:35
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This is probably more reflective of myself than anything else but up until the Game of Thrones show started I always thought of Martin as a primarily science fiction/space opera author who I dimly knew had also written a Lord of the Rings-type series. I think whenever I had heard A Song of Ice and Fire before 2010 I always confused it with The Wheel of Time.
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Nov 2, 2023 15:50
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shirunei posted:Chtorr I love these books. There are, however, big huge major content warnings that should get slapped all over it. The whole world is legitimately mentally ill, including the protagonist. People die in horrifying ways and in even more horrifying quantities. Some legitimately wrong sexual things happen. The end of the world and of Homo sapiens as a species is on the horizon and terrifyingly close. That said, it's one of the finest pieces of world building work ever done with an honestly compelling plot. The biggest reason to beware these books is that the series will never be finished.
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Nov 2, 2023 16:06
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Chairman Capone posted:This is probably more reflective of myself than anything else but up until the Game of Thrones show started I always thought of Martin as a primarily science fiction/space opera author who I dimly knew had also written a Lord of the Rings-type series. I think whenever I had heard A Song of Ice and Fire before 2010 I always confused it with The Wheel of Time.
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Nov 2, 2023 16:25
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dwarf74 posted:I had only known him from the Wild Cards series, which I ate up. For a while. My online nickname was Popinjay for a period of time, I ate those books up. On re-examination later in life, uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh.
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Nov 2, 2023 16:38
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All I remember from Wildcards is I AM THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TURTLE, and I’m ok with that.
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Nov 2, 2023 16:46
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Remulak posted:All I remember from Wildcards is I AM THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TURTLE, and I’m ok with that. Outside of that it gets seriously hosed up. It starts out that way, tbh, lol
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Nov 2, 2023 16:52
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The Great Turtle is fun because Martin specifically made it to make fun of a fellow writer. Martin has never did who it was, but in their GURPS games they were always the one who overloaded their character with flaws in order to buy a ton of advantages and make themselves godlike in one or two areas.
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Nov 2, 2023 17:03
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dwarf74 posted:Far and away, the most wholesome. As far as I remember. The Turtle eventually shacks up with a girl young enough to be his daughter, if that helps. (She is an adult though.)
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Nov 2, 2023 17:05
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