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What you should do with it is try to sell it. The big imprints will absolutely buy that, and people will absolutely read it.
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Aug 10, 2013 03:31
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SuBeCo posted:
It's 3/4 revised now, but the end is still a first-draft mess. Made my personal deadline the end of the year, and so far I've been making good progress, then it's on to write the next one. I'm still debating its fate publishing-wise though. I know a few good editors, a couple in trad publishing. What I'll probably do is hand it to them, if they have time to look at it, and listen to their recommendations.
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Aug 10, 2013 04:08
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Please can I read this?
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Stuporstar posted:I still don't know what to do with my LGBT romantic space opera about matriarchal trees and androgynous humanoid mimicks that have spent so long adapting to human imperialism and gender roles that it's hosed with their identities. For years I thought the big imprints were taking nothing but heteronormative cyberpunk and military SF anymore, but now I realize gently caress 'em.
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Aug 10, 2013 07:23
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Stuporstar posted:I still don't know what to do with my LGBT romantic space opera about matriarchal trees and androgynous humanoid mimicks that have spent so long adapting to human imperialism and gender roles that it's hosed with their identities. On the upside, the heavy similarities in worldbuilding means you can point to that and its sequel to any agent/publishing house and say "look it will sell!"
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Aug 10, 2013 08:53
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Fried Chicken posted:Go back in time to 2008 and publish it under the title Saturn's Children. I mean I don't know what your plot is, so long as it isn't a spy fighting an attempt to restart human imperialism through cloning one to enslave all robots you should be fine, but as far as worldbuilding goes that's an identical setup, right down the the matriarchal trees and the AIs imprinting on human ideological constructs to create a deeply dysfunctional society. Which isn't really a dealbreaker, look at the worldbuilding similarities of every "galactic empire" in your standard space opera. But it will invite comparison. Yeah, mine is not even close to that (but it looks interesting). I'm not too worried, especially since a lot of what I do is parody standard space opera. It's got your plant races, bug races, human empires, humanoids, and androids, but I'm doing entirely my own thing with them. One thing that's made me think what I'm doing is not "saleable" though (at least according to what I see in the current bookstore SF section) is the lack of physical violence. There's plenty conflict, but it's mostly character driven. In terms of opera, it's more like Gilbert and Sullivan than Wagner. tliil posted:Self publish it. If you want no money, sign with somebody. That option seems to look better every year. I am considering it.
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Aug 10, 2013 11:06
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Anyone know any good sci-fi about the discovery of a big unidentified object and that's not written by Clarke/Reynolds/Niven?
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Aug 10, 2013 11:22
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Geek U.S.A. posted:Anyone know any good sci-fi about the discovery of a big unidentified object and that's not written by Clarke/Reynolds/Niven? Excession by Iain M Banks. You can't really enjoy it properly without reading some of the other Culture books first though (which you should because they're fantastic).
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Aug 10, 2013 11:38
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Look up Big Dumb Object in the SF Encyclopaedia.SUPERFINE CONCUBINE posted:That's fair. I think discussions about the depiction of sexuality, and also of women, are open questions in scifi and should absolutely be discussed/criticised/analysed. I just wasn't sure whether the first volume of the thread had already covered it Even if people had talked about it (as I'm sure they have) it's not as if it's a used-up topic. Some topics do get repetitive but this isn't one. Megazver posted:You think being a socialist in Britain in the eighties makes you an starry-eyed idealist? Surely the other way round, being a socialist under Thatcher required starry-eyed optimism  Stuporstar posted:When I want progressive SF, it seems like the only stuff I could find was from the 60s and 70s. I got the impression sci-fi has kind of pulled back from it since, as the publishing industry has taken less risks over the past three decades. [...] For years I thought the big imprints were taking nothing but heteronormative cyberpunk and military SF What do you mean by progressive, though? I think sf's become more socially progressive and less weird since the 70s, but it's part of a continued move away from sf's pulpier roots to more literary styles that began in the 50s; less gonzo wackiness and more nuanced characterisation, and while I like wackiness I'm also glad every sf book doesn't have rishathra. And there's a bit of social background here too; the 60s and 70s were times of massive social changes and liberation, when political issues (particularly sex and feminism here) were much more visible and obviously important than they are today. Is it any wonder contemporary sf writers are writing about stuff that's more relevant today?
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Aug 10, 2013 11:58
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poo poo, I think things like feminism and anti-racism and all those other nice progressive things are just as important today as they were in the 70's. They definitely aren't as visible though. I'd love to see more sci-fi that really critically handles stuff like feminism, critical race theory, and institutionalized oppression. Hell, I'd just love for more diversity (although this is more of an issue for me in movies/TV). And also less eye-rolling fan service bullshit. In other news, I'm really, really enjoying The Expanse series. I'm a bit halfway through Caliban's War and it is wonderful. fookolt fucked around with this message at 12:23 on Aug 10, 2013 |
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Aug 10, 2013 12:21
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House Louse posted:Even if people had talked about it (as I'm sure they have) it's not as if it's a used-up topic. Some topics do get repetitive but this isn't one. FWIW, I really disagree with this. Sex and gender do seem to get brought up an awful lot in this thread (at least compared to similar threads I follow on other forums), and since neither topic interests me at all and are not what I read sci-fi for, I wouldn't mind if they got their own thread. But it's not a huge deal or anything, as is I'll just keep scrolling past all the posts about it to get to the posts about other topics. Geek U.S.A. posted:Anyone know any good sci-fi about the discovery of a big unidentified object and that's not written by Clarke/Reynolds/Niven? Under the Dome by Stephen King (the titular dome being the big unidentified object). Joramun fucked around with this message at 13:12 on Aug 10, 2013 |
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Aug 10, 2013 13:07
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Geek U.S.A. posted:Anyone know any good sci-fi about the discovery of a big unidentified object and that's not written by Clarke/Reynolds/Niven?
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Aug 10, 2013 13:20
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fookolt posted:I'd love to see more sci-fi that really critically handles stuff like feminism, critical race theory, and institutionalized oppression.
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Aug 10, 2013 13:22
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tliil posted:Part of the problem is that sci-fi tends to be written by less than social white guys. So even if they sympathize with all those things, they can't write them well. There are exceptions.
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Aug 10, 2013 13:32
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Geek U.S.A. posted:Anyone know any good sci-fi about the discovery of a big unidentified object and that's not written by Clarke/Reynolds/Niven? Jack McDevitt's The Engines of God might interest you. It's about xenoarcheology and all that fun stuff.
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Aug 10, 2013 14:42
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I remember enjoying The Chronoliths by Robert Charles Wilson. It's just enough about the objects, and just enough about the people whose lives are disrupted by them.
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Aug 10, 2013 14:56
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tliil posted:Part of the problem is that sci-fi tends to be written by less than social white guys. So even if they sympathize with all those things, they can't write them well. There are exceptions. While you're right, I think it's time for us to stop talking about non-white, non-male writers as exceptions, because I'm worried it's stopped being a way to recognize marginalization and accidentally become part of that marginalization. Writers like LeGuin and Butler are central parts of the genre. They are sci-f. I don't think we should call them exceptions. I'll make myself one of the guilty here: I've talked about SF/F as a white male genre because that's what I read growing up. But it's become increasingly clear to me that when I say 'there are exceptions', what I mean is 'I didn't read the right people growing up'.
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Aug 10, 2013 18:11
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regularizer posted:
Just finished it and it was really great. Started off a bit slowly, but holy gently caress the last few chapters.
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Aug 10, 2013 19:25
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regularizer posted:I really liked Deathless, which was kind of a modern adaptation of Russian folklore kind of similar to how Neverwhere was a modern fairy tale. I didn't like Silently and Very Fast, though, so anecdotally her fantasy is better than her sci-fi. But if there's 13 short stories in that collection then I'm sure there's going to be a few that are great. Hell, I made up a fake UK address just so I could buy Excession and Inversions from the UK Kindle store.
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Aug 10, 2013 19:28
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General Battuta posted:I'll make myself one of the guilty here: I've talked about SF/F as a white male genre because that's what I read growing up. But it's become increasingly clear to me that when I say 'there are exceptions', what I mean is 'I didn't read the right people growing up'. I just started reading the Eli Monpress series by Rachel Aaron and so far it's pretty good. Very lighthearted magician capers, it seems. The title character escapes from jail in the first chapter (by talking to the door of his jail cell and convincing it to open up) and then kidnaps a king. http://www.amazon.com/Legend-Eli-Monpress-ebook/dp/B0058ECNXU/ if anybody wants to give it a try. The sample preview is generously-sized.
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Aug 10, 2013 21:17
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fookolt posted:poo poo, I think things like feminism and anti-racism and all those other nice progressive things are just as important today as they were in the 70's. They definitely aren't as visible though. I didn't mean to imply that they were less important to society; more that there are newer concerns in sf and there's only so much rhetorical space the genre can occupy, so the less visible nice progressive things can seem less important to put in one's novel. Or, not putting in 2013's concerns dates a writer's work immediately, and there's only so many pages in a novel. Counterexample: Charles Stross deals with up-to-date concerns and also tries to be progressive with it (how successfully I don't know). Joramun posted:FWIW, I really disagree with this. Sex and gender do seem to get brought up an awful lot in this thread (at least compared to similar threads I follow on other forums), and since neither topic interests me at all and are not what I read sci-fi for, I wouldn't mind if they got their own thread. But it's not a huge deal or anything, as is I'll just keep scrolling past all the posts about it to get to the posts about other topics. Fair enough but it's not like Honor Harrington ("What's it like?" "Crap." "Crap." "Crap." "Rob S. Pierre.") - there's actual discussion. What's that guy's problem with Robespierre anyway, I'd've thought he loved him?
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Aug 10, 2013 23:39
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Geek U.S.A. posted:Anyone know any good sci-fi about the discovery of a big unidentified object and that's not written by Clarke/Reynolds/Niven? I have no idea of it's quality, but while looking around on Amazon, I came across this novel's description that sounds like what you're looking for: http://www.amazon.com/The-January-Dancer-Michael-Flynn/dp/0765357798 Oh, it's name is The January Dancer, and it's by Michael Flynn.
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Aug 11, 2013 04:47
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Geek U.S.A. posted:Anyone know any good sci-fi about the discovery of a big unidentified object and that's not written by Clarke/Reynolds/Niven? Grand Central Arena by Ryk Spoor is kinda a Big Dumb Object (basically a to-scale model of the universe), but it's hinted that it's not strictly 'dumb'. And the sequel is out in November! Speaking of BDOs, are there any actual books that are mostly about Dyson Spheres? They usually get offhand mentions in some books (like the 'spheres' in the Culture), but I don't really recall there being anything between Ringworld and the Xeelee Ring. The closest I can think of is a brief stopover at a 'retirement home' in the second Uplift trilogy, which was basically a shell of ices around an ancient red dwarf. A Ringworld is already an absurdly large place to visit, but I'd like to see someone handle something bigger.
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Aug 11, 2013 06:54
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Christ, I just finished The Wise Man's Fear. I'm sorry, sci-fi/fantasy thread. When you tell me a book is terrible, I'll goddam believe you from now on. The book has 200 pages of "Kvoth counts the money in his pockets again", 100 pages of "he blocks her STRIKING BEAR with his MEAT FIST UPPERCUT SUPREME" and 80 pages of "the best fairy sex ever guys". Also, more than one page of Denna. That is too many pages of loving Denna. God forbid anything interesting actually happens, it includes snappy paragraphs like "we were attacked by pirates, shipwrecked and had to make our way back to land but that's totes boring so let's move on and have some more KVOTH COMPLAINING ABOUT MONEY YAAAAY". It's not quite the worst book I've read this year, but only because I read self-published kindle singles for laughs.
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Aug 11, 2013 12:10
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SurreptitiousMuffin posted:Christ, I just finished The Wise Man's Fear. I listened via audiobook, and didn't find it as tedious, granted it takes a long time to listen, but the reader is great and when you listen who's driving or doing stuff, it's harder to feel like your time is being wasted. But yeah, little of consequence takes place in this book, but the light willing, there is only one more to tackle after this.
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Aug 11, 2013 14:18
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What's up with the weird-rear end availability of Iain Bank's books in Kindle format? I want to continue the Culture series with Excession, but while all the other books are available that one isn't.
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Aug 12, 2013 02:14
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SurreptitiousMuffin posted:Christ, I just finished The Wise Man's Fear. I thought Wise Man's Fear was a pretty good book but I take recommendations with a huge grain of salt because "enthusiasts" will recommend a thousand books if you let them. Read top user reviews on Amazon, they usually go into detail about why a book is good or sucks. Read samples from Amazon, if you don't like the first couple of chapters you probably won't like the rest of the book.
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Aug 12, 2013 05:59
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Lex Talionis posted:(and more dated, thanks to the inconvenient end of the Cold War). Man, that historical development hit everyone by surprise and especially the SF writers. I think the canonical example is probably Norman Spinrad's Russian Spring which has an early-21st century Soviet Union reforming its economy and generally getting its poo poo together and gaining the upper hand over an increasingly hosed-up USA; in the interval between the author submitting his final draft and the book getting printed and distributed, the actual Soviet Union ceased to exist. Pretty good book, though.
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Aug 12, 2013 07:11
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Fallom posted:What's up with the weird-rear end availability of Iain Bank's books in Kindle format? I want to continue the Culture series with Excession, but while all the other books are available that one isn't. I have Excession on Kindle so I don't know what to say.
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Aug 12, 2013 08:23
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Are you in the UK?Fallom posted:What's up with the weird-rear end availability of Iain Bank's books in Kindle format? I want to continue the Culture series with Excession, but while all the other books are available that one isn't. Some of his books are only in the Kindle UK store (Excession and Inversions are the ones I know of). I got the books by asking a UK friend if I could use an old mailing address of his for the address info when I requested to change from the US Amazon store to the UK Amazon store. http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200375710&#countrysettings
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Aug 12, 2013 08:38
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That would explain it. I assumed there'd be no difference.
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Aug 12, 2013 10:30
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Fallom posted:What's up with the weird-rear end availability of Iain Bank's books in Kindle format? I want to continue the Culture series with Excession, but while all the other books are available that one isn't. Just temporarily switch over to Amazon UK and grab it from there. The Kindle version is even on sale (about half off) there right now.
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Aug 12, 2013 11:06
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Joramun posted:Just temporarily switch over to Amazon UK and grab it from there. The Kindle version is even on sale (about half off) there right now. There have been cases of people having their Amazon accounts closed for doing that, it's not something that's really adviseable. quote:Technology writer Cory Doctorow suggested "the policy violation that Linn stands accused of is using a friend's UK address to buy Amazon UK English Kindle books from Norway". Under Amazon's rules, this type of action is barred, as the publisher seeks to control what content is read in which territory of the world. http://www.theguardian.com/money/2012/oct/22/amazon-wipes-customers-kindle-deletes-account
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Aug 12, 2013 13:08
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Oh I'd better be more careful then, because I switch back and forth all the time to take advantage of sales/discounts and price differences and such. Good to know, thanks.
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Aug 12, 2013 14:12
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Joramun posted:Oh I'd better be more careful then, because I switch back and forth all the time to take advantage of sales/discounts and price differences and such. Good to know, thanks. poo poo, I'm the same. I guess I'll have to be more careful as well 
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Aug 12, 2013 18:47
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Yeah, I'm in the UK and I changed my address to a US one once to get a book that wasn't available here and I got an email warning me about it and saying my account could be shut down etc. So definitely watch out for it.
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Aug 12, 2013 21:39
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minema posted:Yeah, I'm in the UK and I changed my address to a US one once to get a book that wasn't available here and I got an email warning me about it and saying my account could be shut down etc. So definitely watch out for it. Woah, really? Well poo poo, I've only done it to round out my set of Culture books anyway so unfortunately, I don't think I'll have to do it ever again 
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Aug 12, 2013 21:40
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I've finally gotten around to reading the second Dread Empire trilogy that Glen Cook wrote and I'm on to the one he released back in 2012. I think I liked the earlier ones more though, especially the first. It felt to me like the literary equivalent of those vans from the 70s with wizards and lightning and poo poo stenciled on the sides and the later ones kind of abandoned it for more armies and soldiers and stuff, more like Black Company. I did like his attempt at writing court intrigue in Ill Fate Marshalling, though I think the problem is again that he barely fleshes out his characters. I think I'm going to wait a few days before I move on to the last one, but what should I move on to reading afterwards once I've finished if I want something similar to that first Dread Empire book? I loved Black Company but I'm a little tired of reading fantasy military fiction after that and what Dread Empire ended up as. I recall Malazan being thrown around earlier, should I pick up the first book for that series?
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Aug 14, 2013 15:19
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If you're going to start Malazan start with the second book. You'll have no idea what's going on either way and it's a better book.
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Aug 14, 2013 16:43
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General Battuta posted:If you're going to start Malazan start with the second book. You'll have no idea what's going on either way and it's a better book. I wanted to cry blasphemy, but it's not actually a terrible idea. Maybe read book 2 and 3, then backtrack into 1 to get the complete picture before pressing on into the rear end end of the series.
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Aug 14, 2013 17:16
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General Battuta posted:If you're going to start Malazan start with the second book. You'll have no idea what's going on either way and it's a better book. I read book 1 a year or more ago. Wasn't overwhelmed, but didn't hate it. I found the next two at a used bookstore so I'll probably read them at some point. Is there something online that will refresh the salient plot points from #1 for me so that I don't miss stuff in the next two? Wikipedia just tells me what I can already remember, but I seem to recall some other stuff vaguely, like a magic portal during the garden party that went to some weird place.
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Aug 14, 2013 19:03
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