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Hedrigall posted:Awesome, I am 30 pages from the end and will be finishing it tonight too! I really loved it. It reminds me of Dune in that it's a relatively short book (under 600 pages) yet is so packed with world-building and SF ideas and great characters, that it feels like you've just read a whole trilogy. 
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Jul 18, 2012 09:37
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TjyvTompa posted:Ah that makes sense, usually I only get angry when I don't get the plot but this book really clicked with me. Have you read the Red Mars trilogy also? To me I see this book as a straight sequel, even though some things have been changed, guess that's why I liked it so much despite not really getting it I havent read the Mars books but I have Red Mars and Green Mars on my shelf ready to go.... sometime in the future. I thought I heard that 2312 is meant to be in a separate future timeline though, just with some elements in common but not actually going alongside those books.
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Jul 18, 2012 09:45
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Hedrigall posted:I havent read the Mars books but I have Red Mars and Green Mars on my shelf ready to go.... sometime in the future. I thought I heard that 2312 is meant to be in a separate future timeline though, just with some elements in common but not actually going alongside those books.
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Jul 18, 2012 11:13
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2312 sounds good, although I'm just coming to the end of Blue Remembered Earth, so I think I'll wait a bit before reading another near-ish-future Solar System book. Can anyone who's read both comment on how they compare? They sound quite similar, even the covers look the same, but I suspect they're quite different when it comes down to it.
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Jul 18, 2012 14:24
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Junkenstein posted:2312 sounds good, although I'm just coming to the end of Blue Remembered Earth, so I think I'll wait a bit before reading another near-ish-future Solar System book. Can anyone who's read both comment on how they compare? They sound quite similar, even the covers look the same, but I suspect they're quite different when it comes down to it. The similarity has been noted in reviews. I'm going to hold off on Blue Remembered Earth for a few months so I don't confound the two books. Here's a review of 2312 I found on Goodreads which talks about the similarities and is in favour of KSR's work: some dude called Mike on Goodreads posted:A month or so ago I read Alastair Reynolds' sunshiney view of the possibilities of a post-Crisis Earth, a couple hundred years further along, humanity busting out into the solar system, getting a handle on its homefront poo poo (climate, poverty, inequality). He had some nice tweaks on new world order--Africa the hub of global commerce and politics; he positively swooned over assorted techxtrapolations; he wrapped it all up in a puzzlebox, giving us a mcguffin to attend to as he did the world-building thing. It was fun.
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Jul 18, 2012 14:45
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I am a huge Alistair Reynolds fan, and I found Blue Remembered Earth to be mostly boring as poo poo. It seems like it might be the setup for an interesting series, but as a standalone book I don't think I would recommend it.
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Jul 18, 2012 15:15
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Hedrigall posted:The similarity has been noted in reviews. I'm going to hold off on Blue Remembered Earth for a few months so I don't confound the two books. Here's a review of 2312 I found on Goodreads which talks about the similarities and is in favour of KSR's work: Interesting. I'm a fan of both Reynolds and KSR, so I've been meaning to read both novels, but it's good to hear that KSR is bringing his usual complexity. I really enjoyed the more political parts of Green Mars.
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Jul 18, 2012 15:16
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Trig Discipline posted:I am a huge Alistair Reynolds fan, and I found Blue Remembered Earth to be mostly boring as poo poo. It seems like it might be the setup for an interesting series, but as a standalone book I don't think I would recommend it. I agree it's not terribly thrilling, but I've enjoyed it well enough. There were enough interesting things, like the evolvarium, to keep me entertained. I like how it incorporates ideas from his previous books but sets them in a warmer, kinder universe. It'll be interesting to see if this continues as Man spreads into interstellar space.
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Jul 18, 2012 16:04
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TjyvTompa posted:Yes, it is not a real sequel, it just re-uses some elements, for example the terraformed Mars. Although Mars was terraformed in another way in 2312 then in Red Mars. The only thing that is really exactly the same is the city of Terminator, in that it exists in both books and works the same way. Again? He really likes rebooting that setting. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icehenge He can call his work "Three Mars'"
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Jul 19, 2012 02:19
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Quote is not edit
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Jul 19, 2012 02:20
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Junkenstein posted:2312 sounds good, although I'm just coming to the end of Blue Remembered Earth, so I think I'll wait a bit before reading another near-ish-future Solar System book. Can anyone who's read both comment on how they compare? They sound quite similar, even the covers look the same, but I suspect they're quite different when it comes down to it. Hilariously, the premise at the beginning of both books is very similar. They do end up very different, though. I enjoyed Blue Remembered Earth a lot more because its main character wasn't a 200-year-old with the mentality of a child.
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Jul 19, 2012 02:59
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Junkenstein posted:2312 sounds good, although I'm just coming to the end of Blue Remembered Earth, so I think I'll wait a bit before reading another near-ish-future Solar System book. Can anyone who's read both comment on how they compare? They sound quite similar, even the covers look the same, but I suspect they're quite different when it comes down to it. I'm a huge Alistair Reynolds fan and have read all his other novels but this one (BRE) did not start off good. I'd say the first half of this book is really really bad. It starts out with annoying characters, annoying settings and it's just a big mess. But then it starts to pick up and by the end you really want to read the 2nd book. Now, 2312, it starts out good, and continues good and ends, well, good. But it's not like "wow I must read more" it's more like "yup, that was a good book". I had only read the Red Mars trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson before so I'm not sure how his other books are but I found 2312 to be better then the Red Mars trilogy, although they have quite different settings for most of the time. If I had not already read Blue Remembered Earth I would wait with it until maybe even after the 2nd book has been released, 2312 I can recommend you read right now. Hope I make sense, I'm just a guy who likes sci-fi.
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Jul 23, 2012 15:20
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I've just finished Reynold's House of Suns and need another far-future themed book. I liked Reed's Sister Alice too, so I guess humans with godlike powers, millions of years in the future work for me.
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Jul 24, 2012 20:47
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Try Reed's Marrow books. Similar in theme, millions of years in the future with weird post-humans on a ship filled with aliens.
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Jul 24, 2012 23:40
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Has anyone done a TBB post on CJ Cherryh? She's chronically underrated so if there's not one already I think I'll put in some  and do an overview.
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Jul 25, 2012 00:05
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I found that CJ Cherryh had some cool ideas, but the actual execution was excruciatingly dry. I struggled through, but I don't think I could ever read her again. :\
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Jul 25, 2012 00:23
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oTHi posted:I found that CJ Cherryh had some cool ideas, but the actual execution was excruciatingly dry. I struggled through, but I don't think I could ever read her again. :\ Yeah, that's a fair comment. She tends to have agonisingly conflicted main characters who spend a lot of time considering their options. But the sci-fi and politics in (say)the Chanur series is brilliant. It's a literary game of Traveller.
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Jul 25, 2012 02:23
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I found the Dread Empire's Fall series by Walter Williams interesting. I really enjoyed the sense of decadence and decay throughout the futuristic setting.
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Jul 25, 2012 02:28
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oTHi posted:Try Reed's Marrow books. Similar in theme, millions of years in the future with weird post-humans on a ship filled with aliens. drat, not available on Kindle. At least in my country. Sounds like what I'm looking for, though.
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Jul 25, 2012 08:04
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As someone who loves Alastair Reynold's books, I'm a bit sad I haven't found this thread earlier. Having seen some of the Blue Remembered Earth chat going on, I have to admit that I prefer Reynold's far future work more, though I did enjoy BRE enough to want to read more of the series. I recently finished Peter F Hamilton's Commonwealth Saga on the recommendation of a friend. I enjoyed it quite a bit, but not as much as the majority of Reynold's stuff. Regardless, I'm now looking for new material to consume. I am in the process of reading through the thread looking for ideas, but I thought I'd ask a quick question here just in case someone has a specific idea for what I'm looking for. Sorry if it's already been posted. I found myself missing spaceships when I was reading the Commonwealth Saga. That doesn't mean that it needs to be entirely spaceship based, or actioney, but I do like them as a part of the universe and also as a setting. So I guess what I'm looking for is something set in the far future that features spaceships in some form or other. Any suggestions? Bonus, I love the sense of wonder you get from Alastair Reynold's writing. The incomprehensibly tiny feeling that you get from realising just how small you are, and how little we know. Not a requirement, just an addendum.
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Jul 26, 2012 15:17
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Khaba posted:I found myself missing spaceships when I was reading the Commonwealth Saga. That doesn't mean that it needs to be entirely spaceship based, or actioney, but I do like them as a part of the universe and also as a setting. So I guess what I'm looking for is something set in the far future that features spaceships in some form or other. Any suggestions? Ian M. Banks or Vernor Vinge would be my suggestions. For Vinge look up A Fire Upon the Deep and Deepness in the Sky.
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Jul 26, 2012 15:20
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It's not spaceshippy at all, but from this:Khaba posted:Bonus, I love the sense of wonder you get from Alastair Reynold's writing. The incomprehensibly tiny feeling that you get from realising just how small you are, and how little we know. Not a requirement, just an addendum. You might like the Spin trilogy. I just finished book two and started book three, and I'm loving it. The series is dominated by a really palpable feeling of mankind being a small and ephemeral phenomenon in a universe that is predominantly occupied by a completely different kind of life, which just pushes my buttons in all the right ways. It seems like some people didn't like book 2 because it didn't really answer any major questions, but that's less of an issue now that the third book is out. I still liked book 2 on its own anyway.
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Jul 26, 2012 15:27
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Khaba posted:
Think you might like Ship of Fools (also called Unto Leviathan).
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Jul 26, 2012 15:29
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Thanks for all the suggestions guys, I'll note down the ones I won't be reading right at this moment and get back to them. They all seem like worthy reading. That having been said, I think I may try one of the Vernor Vinge books suggested, as they look to scratch my current itch.Hieronymous Alloy posted:For Vinge look up A Fire Upon the Deep and Deepness in the Sky. It looks like Deepness in the Sky is a prequel to A Fire Upon the Deep, but the latter was written first. Is there an order I should read these in?
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Jul 26, 2012 19:07
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Khaba posted:Thanks for all the suggestions guys, I'll note down the ones I won't be reading right at this moment and get back to them. They all seem like worthy reading. That having been said, I think I may try one of the Vernor Vinge books suggested, as they look to scratch my current itch. Everyone asks that question, there's no good answer -- I thought about warning you but figured it wasn't worth it. Whatever order you feel like. I think I went order written.
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Jul 26, 2012 19:19
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Khaba posted:It looks like Deepness in the Sky is a prequel to A Fire Upon the Deep, but the latter was written first. Is there an order I should read these in? It doesn't matter. They take place thousands of years apart, essentially, and have totally different stories that don't really affect each other. They only thing they share is a certain character. Both excellent, though. If you like one, read the other.
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Jul 26, 2012 20:02
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Yeah you can't really go wrong. And those are two of my favorite sci fi books ever.
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Jul 26, 2012 20:20
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Khaba, try Stephen Baxter's Xeelee Sequence, or his Manifold series. Both are excellent.
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Jul 26, 2012 23:49
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Junkenstein posted:Think you might like Ship of Fools (also called Unto Leviathan). Unto Leviathan is the superior title.  Also, re: Fire, Deepness; Deepness is better written, Fire has a wider scope and cooler concepts, and they don't affect each other overly much. I'd go with Fire first, still.
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Jul 27, 2012 12:12
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Poul Anderson does the best spaceship books. Tau Zero is one of the better ones but he has written dozens.
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Jul 27, 2012 12:53
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Neurosis posted:Unto Leviathan is the superior title. Yeah. I really wanted to read it after it getting mentioned on here all the time, but 'Ship of Fools' wasn't available on kindle in the UK.
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Jul 27, 2012 13:22
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Goddamn it, my Kindle broke  I'd given Night's Dawn a break and was most of the way through Consider Phlebas (Pheblas? Phelbas? Can't remember), and was thoroughly enjoying it. Definitely going to read those Spin books, though, they sound neat.
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Jul 31, 2012 08:13
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I used my old Kindle so much the page turn buttons wore out, so I needed to push them 5-6 times for the page to turn.. Luckily the Touch has eliminated that issue. Now all I need to worry about is rubbing off all of the silver finish.
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Jul 31, 2012 08:15
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oTHi posted:I used my old Kindle so much the page turn buttons wore out, so I needed to push them 5-6 times for the page to turn.. Luckily the Touch has eliminated that issue. Now all I need to worry about is rubbing off all of the silver finish. As much as I like the E-Ink Kindles, I think I might get a Nexus 7 next.
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Jul 31, 2012 08:19
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B-but your eyes.. I could never go back to reading on LCD again.
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Jul 31, 2012 08:24
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Lprsti99 posted:Goddamn it, my Kindle broke Don't freak out! Download the Kindle app on your computer or phone, you can get all your books again and it'll keep all the page numbers you were up to  I have a Kindle, as well as the Kindle app on iPad, and I move between them. I use the cheap Kindle for bus/train reading, then when I get home, iPad is perfect for reading under the covers late at night.
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Jul 31, 2012 08:50
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I love my Kindle FIre 
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Jul 31, 2012 16:47
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Hedrigall posted:Don't freak out! Download the Kindle app on your computer or phone, you can get all your books again and it'll keep all the page numbers you were up to My books aren't from the Kindle Store  Last time I checked, the Kindle apps didn't allow outside files. Besides, reading on my phone sucks.
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Jul 31, 2012 20:17
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Lprsti99 posted:My books aren't from the Kindle Store The Kindle app on my phone is the default app for PDFs. No idea about other ebook formats though.
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Jul 31, 2012 21:14
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The actual Kindle, not the app allows sideloading. On topic: Margaret Weis who did Dragonlance writes some enjoyable Space Opera Lite. Its by no means a complex and deep read, but it was fun. Star of the Guardians, and the more comic Mag Force 7.
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Jul 31, 2012 23:50
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