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fez_machine posted:Maybe the Hemingway Hoax and Camouflage? They won prizes but I don't hear anyone talk about them ever I'll vouch for Camouflage, both my wife and I read that one independently and liked it.
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Feb 21, 2024 03:32
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I think e: ok it wasn't that book it was some book where Spock became a pirate? Or was enslaved by very hairy women? Or both?? General Battuta fucked around with this message at 05:04 on Feb 21, 2024 |
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Feb 21, 2024 04:57
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Speaking of...well, none of that Finished Exordia and I think I'm gonna be chewing on it for a while, that's a wild ride that kinda didn't let off the gas once things got going.
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Feb 21, 2024 06:36
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General Battuta posted:I think Could it be Spock, Messiah!? Yeah, that one's rotten.
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Feb 21, 2024 13:13
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Selachian posted:I remember liking There Is No Darkness and Mindbridge, but it's been a very long time since I read them so I have no idea how well they've aged. I like All My Sins Remembered for hosed-up unglamorous interstellar spy stuff, so if you like the sound of that...
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Feb 21, 2024 15:12
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Selachian posted:Could it be Spock, Messiah!? Yeah, that one's rotten. It was called BLACK FIRE apparently. I had to google 'spock pirate depilatory'
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Feb 21, 2024 15:36
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SFF Megethread: I had to google 'spock pirate depilatory'
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Feb 21, 2024 17:45
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Exordia was quite something, wasn't it? I'll be making my way back through the last few pages of the thread which I avoided because I'm bad with spoilers, can't wait to read everyone else's take on it. Anyway, hell of a book, really enjoyed it. Will recommend to people I think will appreciate it, although a lot of the people I recommend books to seem to be really put off by body horror, so perhaps not those people...
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Feb 21, 2024 20:44
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Like a lot of the body horror in the locked tomb, my brain kind of blips over those passages, which is good because I hate that stuff myself.
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Feb 21, 2024 20:52
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A Deepness in the Sky was losing me a little bit at the start - I’d find myself either not invested in the space or planet POV in turn. But by the middle of the book it absolutely drew me back in. I think I still wasn’t quite as into it as I was into A Fire Upon the Deep- the ending felt maybe a little rushed? But still one of the better books I’ve read in quite awhile. Very glad this wasn’t a Hyperion > Hyperion’s sequels situation. Spoilers for a book older than many of my coworkers below: Eg the revelation that there has been a secret plot to counteract the humans sort of made sense given hints? Like I’m not shocked that was what happened, but it did feel slightly hand wavy. The translators getting fully invested in their subjects and being immune to the dehumanizing effects of focus as a result did feel like it made sense, and wasn’t totally out of the blue? But yea still a twist. The in space stuff felt more like it sort of tracked based on what we’d learned so far. I did like the parts where it emphasized how alien the spider architecture actually was by showing how humans perceived it at the end. In general I really liked the world building of the spider world - again did a great job taking a really different society (like the tines were) and playing it out. Working through Children of the Sky now- the start again hasn’t sucked me in quite as much but momentum definitely building/getting more invested. It does feel like there is probably an argument in reading Fire > Children > Deepness? But I’m not sure. Just to have the Tines more fresh in your mind when you start Children. Deepness felt like it relied much less on your knowledge of what happened in the other two books, at least so far.
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Feb 21, 2024 22:11
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Muir also has a talent for making horror beautiful, and we see some of that in Exordia too imo
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Feb 22, 2024 01:49
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Kesper North posted:Muir also has a talent for making horror beautiful, and we see some of that in Exordia too imo I'm not finding anything beautiful about Exordia's body horror, but it sure is good body horror.
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Feb 22, 2024 02:07
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voiceless anal fricative posted:I'm not finding anything beautiful about Exordia's body horror, but it sure is good body horror. The initial description of Blackbird/Rosamaria as some sort of fractally-limbed angel-human was pretty beautiful. Certainly divine in one sense or another.
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Feb 22, 2024 07:50
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Steve Miller, the husband and writing partner of Sharon Lee, has died. They were the team responsible for the Liaden books, which many here (myself included) have expressed a liking for.
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Feb 22, 2024 15:25
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I'm reading The Vagrant and I'm about halfway in and it's getting to the point where I think he's being a little too obfuscatory about what the hell is going on. I know that's just something you have to deal with in SFF, getting dropped into an unfamiliar world with people using terms and referencing people and events that you have to figure out from context, but with a mute protagonist it's even more difficult. What I can figure out is cool, I like the vibe of the post-apocalyptic fantasy. Is it worth sticking with?
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Feb 22, 2024 17:55
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I read all three so I will say yes. As I recall there's not much more than what you see
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Feb 22, 2024 18:09
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Is there any consensus on which of the Vlad Taltos novels are the good / bad ones, or is it more of a Dresden Files situation where no two people will agree on anything other than Fool Moon being weak?
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Feb 22, 2024 22:17
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Kestral posted:Is there any consensus on which of the Vlad Taltos novels are the good / bad ones, or is it more of a Dresden Files situation where no two people will agree on anything other than Fool Moon being weak? The series starts out as good but simple cloak and dagger stuff focusing on Vlad and then gets more experimental and pretentious as the series shifts focus to the long-lived Dragereans, at one point adopting a Three Musketeers like style. If you're a literary sort you might love that, but it was not my thing.
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Feb 22, 2024 22:33
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Read Annihilation, it was fun and short. Should i read the sequels? Can i watch the movie now or does it include sequel material?
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Feb 22, 2024 22:59
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Mr. Nemo posted:Read Annihilation, it was fun and short. You can watch the movie. Read the sequels. Opinions differ on how satisfied you’ll be at the end, but imo they’re both worth reading and the second book is unforgettable.
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Feb 22, 2024 23:11
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Mr. Nemo posted:Read Annihilation, it was fun and short. The sequels are great though less accessible (imo each one is better than the last). The movie is only based on the first book, and a bit loosely at that.
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Feb 22, 2024 23:11
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I find Acceptance to be pretty weak, there are four or five strains of plot and two of them I find incredibly dull. Authority is great though, especially if you've had to deal with serious workplace power struggles before. It seems he is also now writing a prequel to the series.
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Feb 22, 2024 23:21
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Selachian posted:Yeah, Haldeman's Star Trek novels, Planet of Judgement and World Without End, are a cut above the glorified fanfic being published under the Trek banner back then. (The less said about the Marshak-Culbreath novels, the better.) All my sins remembered is extremely hosed up and good
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Feb 22, 2024 23:25
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Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke - $4.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003RRXXMA/ The Kill Society (Sandman Slim #9) by Richard Kadrey - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M031BL8/ Infinite Dreams: Stories by Joe Haldeman - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PI1847M/
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Feb 22, 2024 23:38
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thotsky posted:The series starts out as good but simple cloak and dagger stuff focusing on Vlad and then gets more experimental and pretentious as the series shifts focus to the long-lived Dragereans, at one point adopting a Three Musketeers like style. If you're a literary sort you might love that, but it was not my thing. The Musketeers one is an in-universe historical retelling of events you-the-reader are already familiar with, written by a character who was neither there nor interested in an accuracy. It's fun.
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Feb 23, 2024 04:17
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Poldarn posted:The Musketeers one is an in-universe historical retelling of events you-the-reader are already familiar with, written by a character who was neither there nor interested in an accuracy. It's fun. It's also a spinoff in the same setting but not part of the actual Taltos series, so if for some reason you do not vibe with the style you can ignore them completely.
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Feb 23, 2024 05:16
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Yes, I think there are a couple of weaker Taltos ones in the main series but in general I think the quality is very consistent, especially from the fourth or so going forward. I’ve also appreciated more some of the books I didn’t like as much initially when I’ve gone back for a re-read. I suspect the jumping around in time probably won’t work for some people, as some of the “bigger” plot elements relating to the setting progress very glacially. The Dumas-pastiche side books (Phoenix Guards) I think are fantastic and I’m even tempted to say in many ways are better than the source material. The first is a lot sillier / more fun (depending on how much you like it) than subsequent books, which become much more serialised, serious (while still retaining a lot of humour) and more involved in fleshing out the background to the main Taltos books. I really enjoy how the two separate series cover parts of the setting from very different and biased perspectives, I can’t think of any other series that does anything similar. I can see it not working for others though. But in general I think all the Dragaera books are quite unusual, very readable and fun with a bit of depth. The characters are paper thin outside of Vlad himself, though.
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Feb 23, 2024 09:35
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Mr. Nemo posted:Read Annihilation, it was fun and short. You can watch the movie now, but personally, I'd recommend going in with expectations lower than the basement. It is... not good.
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Feb 23, 2024 10:56
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PriorMarcus posted:You can watch the movie now, but personally, I'd recommend going in with expectations lower than the basement. It is... not good. The movie is really good, what?
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Feb 23, 2024 13:04
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Poldarn posted:The Musketeers one is an in-universe historical retelling of events you-the-reader are already familiar with, written by a character who was neither there nor interested in an accuracy. It's fun. The kind of author-character who goes off on a long digression about some irrelevant (but nonetheless interesting) historical aspect of something or other; and then spends another half-page profusely apologizing to the readers for wasting their valuable time with such verbiage.
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Feb 23, 2024 13:06
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PriorMarcus posted:You can watch the movie now, but personally, I'd recommend going in with expectations lower than the basement. It is... not good. The movie is great, as long as you’re not expecting it to tell the same story as the book. It captures the deeply unsettling feeling of Area X quite well, though.
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Feb 23, 2024 13:47
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Should I aim for the Gentleman Bastards trilogy, start with the guards subseries of Pratchett, read the standalones by Abercrombie (and presumably the next trilogy after that), the Dandelion Dynasty, or the Realm of the Enderlings saga by Robin Hobb (starting with the Farseer trilogy)? I just finished the Stormlight Archive up to current and the first Mistborn saga. Already read the First Law trilogy. Just getting back into reading, so could use some suggestions
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Feb 23, 2024 18:03
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virinvictus posted:Should I aim for the Gentleman Bastards trilogy, start with the guards subseries of Pratchett, read the standalones by Abercrombie (and presumably the next trilogy after that), the Dandelion Dynasty, or the Realm of the Enderlings saga by Robin Hobb (starting with the Farseer trilogy)? My vote would be Pratchett. On the topic of Gentleman Bastards, I thought the first book was great, the second was two potentially-great books awkwardly spliced together into a single ok book, and the third was disappointing, so my rec there would be to read the first one and then stop, but seriously, Pratchett.
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Feb 23, 2024 18:08
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ToxicFrog posted:My vote would be Pratchett. Agree on Pratchett and to just read Lies as a one off.
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Feb 23, 2024 18:12
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virinvictus posted:Should I aim for the Gentleman Bastards trilogy, start with the guards subseries of Pratchett, read the standalones by Abercrombie (and presumably the next trilogy after that), the Dandelion Dynasty, or the Realm of the Enderlings saga by Robin Hobb (starting with the Farseer trilogy)? I thought the standalones were the best Abercrombie. The next triology is somewhat disappointing. Didn't really care much for Gentleman Bastards.
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Feb 23, 2024 18:13
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Everyone else is right about the options you presented. Lies and Abercrombies single novels own If you're just getting back into reading, I suggest thread favoritesThe Traitor Baru Cormorant or Gideon the Ninth
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Feb 23, 2024 18:16
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Harold Fjord posted:Everyone else is right about the options you presented. Lies and Abercrombies single novels own Added to my kindle! Edit: Pratchett is next.
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Feb 23, 2024 18:22
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What do you all do to avoid distractions while reading?
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Feb 23, 2024 20:56
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genericnick posted:I thought the standalones were the best Abercrombie. The next triology is somewhat disappointing. Didn't really care much for Gentleman Bastards. The heroes is great. Gideon is incredible, the trilogy is just an insanely good journey albeit unfinished at this time.
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Feb 23, 2024 21:00
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A Sneaker Broker posted:What do you all do to avoid distractions while reading? Sit on the couch away from my phone and computer, or read in the hour before sleep where I'm supposed to avoid blue light anyway.
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Feb 23, 2024 21:09
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