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silvergoose posted:Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi is a very easy read, told like Sinbad kind of stuff. Seconding this. It was one of my favorite reads last year. It’s like Stranger Tides, except medieval Arabic. It was also more breezy and fun
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May 3, 2024 15:02
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Thanks all! Throwing some of these out there for a vote. Or maybe I just tell them we're gonna read Exordia. 😈
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May 3, 2024 16:57
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NmareBfly posted:Or maybe I just tell them we're gonna read Exordia. 😈 If you go this route, I humbly request a trip report.
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May 3, 2024 17:50
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Late, but I'm suggesting The Singing Hills Cycle series by Nghi Vo. Fantasy genre novellas, all standalone, sometimes deals with heavier topics like war but not in a traumaporn, Poppy Wars level.
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May 3, 2024 18:20
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Finished Permutation City by Greg Egan. Definitely what I'd describe as ideas sci-fi, and good at that. The last few Egan I've read was twenty years ago (Diaspora and Distress) and the recollection I had from those held, really heady ideas stuff where the rest doesn't distract from that main point, even if it that rest isn't particularly good. Was really hit by the realization that that book is 30 years old and it did feel pretty fresh in the current space.
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May 3, 2024 22:30
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The Curse of Chalion (World of the Five Gods #1) by Lois McMaster Bujold - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FC11AQ/ All the Seas of the World by Guy Gavriel Kay - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09CYNZLSV/ The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. (#1) by Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M0HPHR6/ Set this House in Order by Matt Ruff - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000W913R8/
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May 3, 2024 23:58
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pradmer posted:The Curse of Chalion (World of the Five Gods #1) by Lois McMaster Bujold - $1.99 So good! A bargain if you haven't read it already.
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May 4, 2024 00:03
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Benagain posted:wait wait wait Nah. Picard is Maturin, they get along swimmingly. Aphex- posted:I've never read any Pratchett (I know, I'm so sorry),
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May 4, 2024 04:05
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I adore Small Gods but I don't really laugh at comedy novels. If there's something really clever I might smile, but I've never laughed out loud. Also Brother Brutha is pretty eye rolling
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May 4, 2024 06:33
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I just listened to the audio book and I honestly accepted his name was Brother Brother.
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May 4, 2024 07:41
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Pratchett chat SOUL MUSIC is in the UK kindle daily deal for a quid, one of my Discworld favourites https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00413PJ76 Might be cheap in other markets, you'll have to check
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May 4, 2024 11:17
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The Dispossessed (Hainish #6) by Ursula K Le Guin - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FC11GA/ The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BJZT8GJ/ Burning Chrome by William Gibson - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ICMWZH4/
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May 4, 2024 18:33
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pradmer posted:] The sequel to this is also on sale for $1.99!
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May 5, 2024 01:37
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Metis of the Chat Thread posted:I just listened to the audio book and I honestly accepted his name was Brother Brother. I can accept Major Major Major Major, but Brother Brother is a step too far!
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May 5, 2024 15:55
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FewtureMD posted:The sequel to this is also on sale for $1.99! Thanks, not sure if I missed it or it went on sale later. Master of the Revels (DODO #2) by Nicole Galland - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B088RF3199/ The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B9L229QW/ The Expert System's Brother (#1) by Adrian Tchaikovsky - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0791K4V2F/ The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NRQOR26/ Reamde by Neal Stephenson - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004XVN0WW/
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May 5, 2024 17:31
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pradmer posted:The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi - $1.99 if you read this and like it, you may very well be interested in the non-fiction account of America's water policy over the years Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner https://www.amazon.com/dp/0140178244
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May 5, 2024 17:42
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pradmer posted:
this gets a solid recc from me. It's a really interesting mix of fantasy and magical realism in a SE Asian-ish setting, that deals with religion and cults and family and multiculturalism and the banalities of fascism
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May 5, 2024 20:26
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voiceless anal fricative posted:this gets a solid recc from me. It's a really interesting mix of fantasy and magical realism in a SE Asian-ish setting, that deals with religion and cults and family and multiculturalism and the banalities of fascism Yeah this one was really good. I’m reading The Jinn-bot of Shantiport right now by Samit Basu and enjoying the hell outta it. Like, I dunno if anyone remembers my complaints about the Stardust Thief, but take something of the same Aladdin flavor (except scifi), with a similar setup of a somewhat poor female rabble-rouser protagonist (and this time also a robot brother) pitted against a kinda no-nothing but well-meaning prince of a lovely ruler, and throw a djinn into the mix. But in this one all the characters are complex and interesting, the prince is not stupid, the protagonists are all cunning, and actual socialist revolution is at stake. It’s everything I wanted and more
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May 5, 2024 21:37
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FewtureMD posted:The sequel to this is also on sale for $1.99! I didn't realize there was one! I enjoyed but didn't totally love DODO 1, any reviews on 2? 1 had some neat ideas but kinda meandered then ended badly, so I'm not opposed to a continuation but how is it?
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May 5, 2024 22:50
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voiceless anal fricative posted:this gets a solid recc from me. It's a really interesting mix of fantasy and magical realism in a SE Asian-ish setting, that deals with religion and cults and family and multiculturalism and the banalities of fascism I'll correct that to South Asian, the author is Sri Lankan. Highly recommend it as well.
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May 5, 2024 23:05
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voiceless anal fricative posted:this gets a solid recc from me. It's a really interesting mix of fantasy and magical realism in a SE Asian-ish setting, that deals with religion and cults and family and multiculturalism and the banalities of fascism Thanks for the recommend, might need to pick this one up. Spotted it on both Nebula and Hugo shortlists but wasn’t familiar with the author at all.
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May 5, 2024 23:09
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Saint of Bright Doors was the best SFF novel I read last year, and it should — though not necessarily will — win the Hugo and Nebula. It's a bit tricky to find comp titles for, but I think if you enjoyed The Spear Cuts Through Water, you'll like Saint. Vajra's also got a new novel coming this year, Rakesfall, and it looks fantastic.
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May 5, 2024 23:33
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NmareBfly posted:I didn't realize there was one! I enjoyed but didn't totally love DODO 1, any reviews on 2? 1 had some neat ideas but kinda meandered then ended badly, so I'm not opposed to a continuation but how is it? i didn't know it existed either but it seems to be a solo effort from NS' writing partner Nicole Galland. Given how little i've enjoyed his later work that might be a plus tbh.
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May 6, 2024 00:48
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Pages late to The Dawnhounds chat but I'm rereading it right now in anticipation of The Sunforge and I wanna post this amazing fan art that I love: https://twitter.com/layahimalaya/status/1693017604972224652 In other goon books news, the first three books in Selkie Myth's series, Beneath the Dragoneye Moons is currently up for free on Kindle (UK and US, not sure about the rest of the world): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NWL5J8S?binding=kindle_edition I think it's LitRPG? I recently finished reading this:  I've seen this cover floating around a lot and showed my husband. He turned a page, then another, and another, and then we were 50% through the book and I was STILL waiting for the damned space cat to show up, riding a burrito. Spoilers: the cat did not make an appearance until 77% and while it was cute it did not feature as prominently in the narrative as the cover would lead you to believe and I ended the book both feeling vaguely satisfied that I now knew what was behind this cover and also wanting the time I had spent reading it back and absolutely no intention of going on to read anything else in the series because it is clearly Not For Me, though I probably could've been convinced if the damned book had ACTUALLY been the zany and wacky adventures of Lion the spacecat zooming around the universe on a space burrito from a cat's POV because I am a sucker for cat POV books, apparently. 2/5. Then again, I read this because I was brain dead and had no capacity to read anything good, so technically it wasn't like I actually missed out on reading a better book. Finally, on this note: Doktor Avalanche posted:a typeface moving sales seems loving insane to me Great typography is one of those things where you don't notice it when it's there, and when it's not there, you know something's off but unless you're a font geek, you won't be able to pin down why. Here's an example from the self-pub thread: newts posted:Guys, I have font problems. And then Megazver comes along and drops this: Megazver posted:I'm just messing around with this to get a little better at it for my own sake; I hope you don't mind newts. Look how cool it makes the book look: newts posted:To those who gave me advice and help on my cover, thank you so much! Paperback looks pretty sweet: newts's book is also good, by the way, if anyone feels like reading detective murder mystery procedurals in an urban sci-fantasy parallel universe where there's another species of psychic humans called nocturnum.
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May 6, 2024 05:44
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pradmer posted:The Dispossessed (Hainish #6) by Ursula K Le Guin - $1.99 Everyone should read both of these.
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May 6, 2024 06:30
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Either ban or mod this nutball please.
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May 6, 2024 06:33
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That burrito looks terrible. Is that macaroni?
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May 6, 2024 06:34
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withak posted:That burrito looks terrible. Is that macaroni? With peas and pepperoni?
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May 6, 2024 06:49
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Looks like a breakfast burrito with eggs and hash browns and peppers
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May 6, 2024 13:52
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It really is impressive how much geographic complexity Joe Abercrombie is able to introduce without the slightest need for a map.
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May 6, 2024 14:02
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That looks like an amazing breakfast burrito to me: eggs, tater tots, bacon, cheese, and guacamole!
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May 6, 2024 14:27
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FPyat posted:It really is impressive how much geographic complexity Joe Abercrombie is able to introduce without the slightest need for a map. I didn't know until recently that we have an Abercrombie thread. I read 9 Abercrombie books without knowing about the thread existing lol
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May 6, 2024 15:40
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FPyat posted:It really is impressive how much geographic complexity Joe Abercrombie is able to introduce without the slightest need for a map. You can also see his (yikes, 17 year old, now) thoughts about maps back when the first law trilogy was coming out here. I have always tended to agree with, and appreciate, his choice not to include them, because if Logen doesn't have a map, and their navigator doesn't share a map, then why would we get to see one?
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May 6, 2024 16:15
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I'm halfway through a re-read of Revelation Space - this time in Japanese which has actually made me read it more carefully I like how the slowness of non-FTL travel in the universe affects characters (and it being central to Chasm City). Bringing the various characters together requires those planetary-bound to be put into coldsleep etc
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May 6, 2024 16:54
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the kindle version of The Heroes (which I would like to finish at some point) opens with a map, is that an exception to his normal thing or something?
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May 6, 2024 16:55
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Bayham Badger posted:the kindle version of The Heroes (which I would like to finish at some point) opens with a map, is that an exception to his normal thing or something? Isn't that a very local map of just the area where poo poo goes down in the book? Tactical, like?
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May 6, 2024 18:16
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Groke posted:Isn't that a very local map of just the area where poo poo goes down in the book? Tactical, like? Yes. It makes it even more like a US Civil War era war narrative for whatever reason.
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May 6, 2024 18:20
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Can anyone with a great memory, physical access or an ebook version please quote me Anna's actual early line from Exordia that goes something like "'Hey,' she said, opening up interstellar communications, 'What the gently caress?'" I'm trying to shill some friends on the novel after we spent the weekend marathoning Three Body Problem. Thanks. My copy is the audiobook which I still have 6-7 hours left in. Fascinating crazy stuff.
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May 6, 2024 18:52
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bagrada posted:Can anyone with a great memory, physical access or an ebook version please quote me Anna's actual early line from Exordia that goes something like quote:"So," she says, opening diplomatic relations with another world. "What the gently caress?"
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May 6, 2024 19:20
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Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell is a thread favorite, and one of my favorites as well, so I figure this might be the place to ask: is the 2015 TV adaptation some kind of weird tonal parody of this book, or have I misinterpreted a book I've read half a dozen times? I finished a reread of it last night and started on the first episode of the show, and I was astonished at how different the tone of the show feels. Scenes that felt deadly serious in the book are played for laughs (I'm thinking particularly of [spoiler]Strange's father trying to murder his servant), and some of the characters don't even seem to resemble their book versions: John Segundus I always read as sober and earnest and probably pretty nerdy, while the show portrays him as bumbling, flustered, and energetic. Is this just a bad adaptation, or have I been misreading this book for years and years? I haven't read a whole lot of Regency or Victorian lit, so I'm willing to believe that there's a reading that has flown under my radar, but this seems like a lot.
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May 6, 2024 19:36
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