|
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. A better suggestion is to buy Memories of Ice but only read the prologue. By the time you're done with that you'll know if you like the writing, and you won't be spoiled for anything in the story's present day - or at least, nothing you'll notice until it happens.
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2013 19:42
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 9, 2024 22:14 |
|
|
^^^^ But not reading the climax of MoI ought to be a crime.  Seldom Posts posted: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.
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2013 22:30
|
|
|
Does anybody have good recommendations for time travel books? Ideally something where time travel is a major component, as opposed to a fish-out-of-water type thing like A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (which I admit I haven't finished). Really, any suggestions are welcome.
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2013 23:02
|
|
|
Aston posted:Does anybody have good recommendations for time travel books? Ideally something where time travel is a major component The End of Eternity, by Asimov, is great.
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2013 23:08
|
|
|
Aston posted:Does anybody have good recommendations for time travel books? Ideally something where time travel is a major component, as opposed to a fish-out-of-water type thing like A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (which I admit I haven't finished). Really, any suggestions are welcome. Tim Powers has a few, though i'm not sure his version of time travel is what you're looking for (its a major component but it isn't always voluntary or controllable). Anubis Gates is probably my favorite, but Salvage and Demolition (new novella) is pretty good as well for an intro to what a Powers time travel story reads like. Kage Baker's Company books might fit the bill as well; those are more traditional (time traveling cyborgs preserving historical relics.)
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2013 23:10
|
|
|
Aston posted:Does anybody have good recommendations for time travel books? Ideally something where time travel is a major component, as opposed to a fish-out-of-water type thing like A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (which I admit I haven't finished). Really, any suggestions are welcome. To Say Nothing of the Dog is the best time travel book I ever read, it's really awesome. The cool thing is that the rather unique time travel mechanics are experimented with and a central part of the story.
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2013 23:41
|
|
|
Walh Hara posted:To Say Nothing of the Dog is the best time travel book I ever read, it's really awesome. The cool thing is that the rather unique time travel mechanics are experimented with and a central part of the story. I second the rec, and it's also very funny.
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2013 23:48
|
|
|
Yes, read Connie Willis!
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2013 23:48
|
|
|
Walh Hara posted:To Say Nothing of the Dog is the best time travel book I ever read, it's really awesome. The cool thing is that the rather unique time travel mechanics are experimented with and a central part of the story. I'm not going to unrecommend it, because I gave my copy to my mom and she absolutely loved it, but if you're a binge reader like me, don't do what I did and read the whole thing in one evening, because the 500 page book is kind of repetitive, especially when the characters are running down the clues over and over again in some kind of Agatha Christie pastiche. What I'm saying is, that book did not need all those 500 pages to tell the story. Also, don't read Three Men in a Boat directly before this book either (save it for after), or her Jerome K. Jerome references will thump you over the head with as much subtlety as a 24 lb flounder and be more annoying than clever. I liked the rest of it though. Edit: I've been wanting to give Connie Willis another go. Any recommendations? Stuporstar fucked around with this message at 01:38 on Aug 15, 2013 |
|
#
?
Aug 15, 2013 01:27
|
|
|
Aston posted:Does anybody have good recommendations for time travel books? Just heard about this today: quote:The Time Traveler's Almanac Want to see the table of contents? quote:FICTION (apparently that's not the final order, they've just listed the stories alphabetically by author) To be honest an 800 page anthology is not for me because I would never, ever loving finish the thing. But if you want time travel SF, then, gently caress, it should have all bases covered. edit: it comes out March 2014 though Hedrigall fucked around with this message at 03:10 on Aug 15, 2013 |
|
#
?
Aug 15, 2013 03:08
|
|
|
coyo7e posted:^^^^ But not reading the climax of MoI ought to be a crime. Ok, thanks.
|
|
#
?
Aug 15, 2013 03:14
|
|
|
Hedrigall posted:Just heard about this today:
|
|
#
?
Aug 15, 2013 04:35
|
|
|
Thanks for the replies, sounds like To Say Nothing of The Dog is a good place to start.
|
|
#
?
Aug 15, 2013 09:52
|
|
|
Less Fat Luke posted:I got more and more excited, and then I saw March 2014. Doh!
|
|
#
?
Aug 15, 2013 10:10
|
|
|
The World Fantasy Award nominations are up. Here's the novel nominees:
• Some Kind of Fairy Tale, Graham Joyce (Gollancz; Doubleday) • The Drowning Girl, Caitlín R. Kiernan (Roc) • Crandolin, Anna Tambour (Chômu) • Alif the Unseen, G. Willow Wilson (Grove; Corvus) The Lifetime Achievement is shared between Tanith Lee and Susan Cooper.
|
|
#
?
Aug 15, 2013 10:12
|
|
|
Hedrigall posted:Want to see the table of contents? It's a bit weird to have a time travel anthology without any Poul Anderson story. Time Patrol is a classic of the genre.
|
|
#
?
Aug 15, 2013 10:26
|
|
|
Aston posted:Does anybody have good recommendations for time travel books? Ideally something where time travel is a major component, as opposed to a fish-out-of-water type thing like A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (which I admit I haven't finished). Really, any suggestions are welcome. David Gerrold's The Man Who Folded Himself is about as time-travel focussed as a story can be. Jack McDevitt's Time Travelers Never Die is very similar, but much more recent.
|
|
#
?
Aug 15, 2013 19:05
|
|
|
There's always Heinlein's By His Bootstraps and/or All You Zombies.
|
|
#
?
Aug 15, 2013 19:13
|
|
|
Robert Silverberg's Up the Line is a pretty good time travel novel. He also did a few short stories and The Time Hoppers, but I haven't read that one yet.
|
|
#
?
Aug 15, 2013 19:42
|
|
|
House Louse posted:The World Fantasy Award nominations are up. Here's the novel nominees: Only one of those I've read is the Jemisin, but it was pretty good.
|
|
#
?
Aug 16, 2013 01:18
|
|
|
Oh in other news related to Jemisin, did y'all see that SFWA kicked out Vox Day/Theodore Beale this week?
|
|
#
?
Aug 16, 2013 01:22
|
|
|
fritz posted:Oh in other news related to Jemisin, did y'all see that SFWA kicked out Vox Day/Theodore Beale this week? Good.
|
|
#
?
Aug 16, 2013 01:59
|
|
|
fritz posted:Oh in other news related to Jemisin, did y'all see that SFWA kicked out Vox Day/Theodore Beale this week? Yes! I guess I will actually join now, even though I'm sure there's still a long way to go.
|
|
#
?
Aug 16, 2013 02:01
|
|
|
What did he write anyway? I only know him as an rear end in a top hat blogger who occasionally tries to troll pz myers.
|
|
#
?
Aug 16, 2013 02:11
|
|
|
andrew smash posted:What did he write anyway? I only know him as an rear end in a top hat blogger who occasionally tries to troll pz myers. I would assume it's The War in Heaven that got him membership in SWFA. Nice to see he got kicked out, though. I hope the organization keeps taking good steps forward to deal with some of the issues they've had of late.
|
|
#
?
Aug 16, 2013 03:19
|
|
|
fritz posted:Oh in other news related to Jemisin, did y'all see that SFWA kicked out Vox Day/Theodore Beale this week? That's pretty good. Though it is dumb that it took them that long to boot him out. He is an awful person with truly despicable opinions. Nice to see the hand wrangling about "we don't want to kick people for their personal politics" amounted to nothing though, considering that his "personal politics" were things like ranting that black people were uncivilized subhumans. Srice fucked around with this message at 04:09 on Aug 16, 2013 |
|
#
?
Aug 16, 2013 03:55
|
|
|
Wasn't he that shithead who always got into feuds with John Scalzi?
|
|
#
?
Aug 16, 2013 05:01
|
|
|
Yes. Even ran for SFFWA president against him, leading to that hilarious proposed plot to elect Beale instead of Scalzi because it would be easier to control a Christian fundamentalist than the hordes of EVIL FEMINISTS.
|
|
#
?
Aug 16, 2013 05:23
|
|
|
Hobnob posted:David Gerrold's The Man Who Folded Himself is about as time-travel focussed as a story can be.
|
|
#
?
Aug 16, 2013 05:52
|
|
|
General Battuta posted:Yes. Even ran for SFFWA president against him, leading to that hilarious proposed plot to elect Beale instead of Scalzi because it would be easier to control a Christian fundamentalist than the hordes of EVIL FEMINISTS. Beale is also a raving pua, who makes other puas look sane in comparison. Even my staunch Catholic friend thinks he's a hateful twit. The only difference between his blog and Stormfront is Beale refrains from openly using the n-word so he can pretend he's taking the higher ground. Too bad the higher ground he picked is a mere tuft in the middle of a swamp. "Oh look, I'm only saying half-savage here, there's a difference see because ..." 
Stuporstar fucked around with this message at 06:21 on Aug 16, 2013 |
|
#
?
Aug 16, 2013 06:19
|
|
|
Stuporstar posted:Beale is also a raving pua, who makes other puas look sane in comparison. Even my staunch Catholic friend thinks he's a hateful twit. The only difference between his blog and Stormfront is Beale refrains from openly using the n-word so he can pretend he's taking the higher ground. Too bad the higher ground he picked is a mere tuft in the middle of a swamp. "Oh look, I'm only saying half-savage here, there's a difference see because ..." Actually, I think you can't even use racial slurs on Stormfront anymore so...  Good riddance to bad rubbish.
|
|
#
?
Aug 16, 2013 06:25
|
|
|
fritz posted:Oh in other news related to Jemisin, did y'all see that SFWA kicked out Vox Day/Theodore Beale this week? Thanks for being the bearer of good news! Hopefully this'll also make things easier should someone else need throwing out. E: Beale confirms his disgrace. quote:Well, so long as the consideration of the evidence was careful.... The reference to Lem is pretty amusing; Lem had a special membership as a mark of his reputation (during the Cold War, natch), which was revoked because he wouldn't stop criticising other members' writing. The parallels are, um, so plain I shouldn't even have to point them out for you... Safety Biscuits fucked around with this message at 10:10 on Aug 16, 2013 |
|
#
?
Aug 16, 2013 09:31
|
|
|
Hieronymous Alloy posted:There's always Heinlein's By His Bootstraps and/or All You Zombies. They're not time travel stories, they're weird sex stories. This is Heinlein, remember?
|
|
#
?
Aug 16, 2013 09:54
|
|
|
Can anyone recommend some SF writers who also write great non-S Fiction? I'm currently listening to an audio of "Welcome to the Monkey House" by Vonnegut, and I really enjoy things like "Who are we today." I also quite like Theodore Sturgeon shorts, which range from SF to fantasy to just odd little tales about real people.
|
|
#
?
Aug 16, 2013 17:34
|
|
|
Nevvy Z posted:Can anyone recommend some SF writers who also write great non-S Fiction? I'm currently listening to an audio of "Welcome to the Monkey House" by Vonnegut, and I really enjoy things like "Who are we today." I also quite like Theodore Sturgeon shorts, which range from SF to fantasy to just odd little tales about real people. Iain M. Banks had a distinguished career as a realistic lit author under the clever code name 'Iain Banks'. Any Banks books without the M are nominally literary rather than genre. Have you tried magical realism?
|
|
#
?
Aug 16, 2013 17:37
|
|
|
 From Saladin Ahmed's twitter feed.
|
|
#
?
Aug 16, 2013 17:56
|
|
|
They've been out for a while, I got to flip through one in early July. I guess this is not a very substantive post, except to suggest that Lynch has had a good while to draft!
|
|
#
?
Aug 16, 2013 18:00
|
|
|
General Battuta posted:Iain M. Banks had a distinguished career as a realistic lit author under the clever code name 'Iain Banks'. Any Banks books without the M are nominally literary rather than genre. There are a few writers who do things like that; Michael Marshall Smith dropped his last name to write thrillers. And thanks for reminding me that Jon Courtenay Grimwood's got a new mainstream novel out under the pen name "Johnanthan Grimwood" - I read a good review of it a while back. Nevvy Z posted:Can anyone recommend some SF writers who also write great non-S Fiction? I'm currently listening to an audio of "Welcome to the Monkey House" by Vonnegut, and I really enjoy things like "Who are we today." I also quite like Theodore Sturgeon shorts, which range from SF to fantasy to just odd little tales about real people. http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/mainstream_writers_of_sf, http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/fabulation, and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slipstream_%28genre%29 should be good places to start. Lots of more literary sf writers have dabbled in the mainstream (le Guin, Crowley) and plenty of literary writers contrariwise (Doris Lessing was the first Nobel laureate to have been a Worldcon Guest of Honour).
|
|
#
?
Aug 16, 2013 18:03
|
|
|
Copernic posted:
Any advance reviews out? I think three solid entries is my threshold for starting a new series.
|
|
#
?
Aug 16, 2013 18:06
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 9, 2024 22:14 |
|
|
Jedit posted:They're not time travel stories, they're weird sex stories. So's the Gerrold that people posted upthread.
|
|
#
?
Aug 16, 2013 18:46
|
|