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Hieronymous Alloy posted:Any advance reviews out? I think three solid entries is my threshold for starting a new series. Says right there reviews should be scheduled to run after publication date.
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Aug 16, 2013 18:47
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fritz posted:So's the Gerrold that people posted upthread.
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Aug 16, 2013 21:12
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Top 3 reasons to travel back in time 1. Kill Hitler 2. Give AK-47s to Confederate soldiers 3. Sex with your underage self/underage girl you had a crush on/underage clone of yourself Good job, science fiction writers! 
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Aug 17, 2013 13:27
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tliil posted:1. Kill Hitler I did always like the short story someone wrote about that cliche, though.
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Aug 17, 2013 13:34
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The only reason to time travel is to take a JFK from a dystopian future where he wasn't assassinated and have him go back in time with you to assassinate himself 
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Aug 17, 2013 13:46
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Loving Life Partner posted:The only reason to time travel is to take a JFK from a dystopian future where he wasn't assassinated and have him go back in time with you to assassinate himself Ah - the Red Dwarf Grassy knoll gambit.
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Aug 17, 2013 14:43
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Darth Walrus posted:I did always like the short story someone wrote about that cliche, though. That's really good, especially from the point of view of an ex-wikipedia admin. Ever since I read it, I've had a sneaking suspicion that Gerrold wanted to call his book The Man Who hosed Himself.
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Aug 17, 2013 17:06
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I got Perdido Street Station a few days ago and it's really, really good. The best book I probably read this year. My only problem is that I've been watching a lot of Family Guy recently and since Isaac is described as really fat I can't stop imagining him looking like Peter Griffin.
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Aug 17, 2013 17:59
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Rurik posted:I got Perdido Street Station a few days ago and it's really, really good. The best book I probably read this year. I imagine him as a slightly grizzlier Bunk Moreland from the Wire.
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Aug 17, 2013 20:15
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Copernic posted:
Ahh I hope this is good. I've been wanting to get into that series for a while now, but everyone said book 2 had a huge cliffhanger so I never bothered starting.
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Aug 17, 2013 22:38
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Geek U.S.A. posted:Ahh I hope this is good. I've been wanting to get into that series for a while now, but everyone said book 2 had a huge cliffhanger so I never bothered starting. I wouldn't believe until I actually see it. This book has been postponed for years due to the authors mental instability. Book 1 is good as a stand-alone and is a really excellent book. Book 2 is pretty tedious.
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Aug 17, 2013 22:40
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Book 2 doesn't end on much of a cliffhanger, and I thought it was maybe 75% as good as the first, which is spectacular. Worth a read at least.
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Aug 17, 2013 22:45
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Slo-Tek posted:I imagine him as a slightly grizzlier Bunk Moreland from the Wire. poo poo, this is how I picture just about all the protagonists I read.
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Aug 17, 2013 23:14
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Rurik posted:I got Perdido Street Station a few days ago and it's really, really good. The best book I probably read this year. Isaac is clearly Hedrigall posted:Chiwetel Ejiofor if he eats like 40 cakes.
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Aug 17, 2013 23:21
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Dear Neal Asher, Please do not write about those dumb religion havers and how smart atheists are. Do not use the word Jihad. Do not write about how cool and horny immortal shipbabes are. And please don't write a weird scene where she's totally like "check out my snatch. lol we're naked" Thank you, A reader of Shell Game
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Aug 18, 2013 00:09
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specklebang posted:I wouldn't believe until I actually see it. This book has been postponed for years due to the authors mental instability. Book 1 is good as a stand-alone and is a really excellent book. Book 2 is pretty tedious. I've read it, it's real. You can believe in it. 'Mental instability' is a pretty lovely way to describe it, and you should feel bad!
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Aug 18, 2013 00:14
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Slo-Tek posted:I imagine him as a slightly grizzlier Bunk Moreland from the Wire. It makes me irrationally angry whenever I see fanart of Isaac and he's white.
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Aug 18, 2013 00:17
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I don't think of anyone in Bas Lag as white because they're too busy being covered in literal poo poo and soot.
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Aug 18, 2013 00:19
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General Battuta posted:I've read it, it's real. You can believe in it. I imagine you're under a NDA, but can you make a relative comparison completely devoid of any plot information? Like, "It is as good as the second book," or something?
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Aug 18, 2013 00:27
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No, I haven't read the first two 
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Aug 18, 2013 00:30
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General Battuta posted:I've read it, it's real. You can believe in it. How should I have described it? I wasn't trying to be unkind. I've written him regarding my own experiences with anxiety disorder. I've donated to his Martian serial story which has never been completed and I've bought his books (many times since I keep gifting TLOLL to friends). So I'm not trying to be an rear end. Why don't you just correct what I said.
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Aug 18, 2013 01:30
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I assumed (unfairly) that you spoke out of hostility, tacit or otherwise. I took issue with the language because I don't think depression or anxiety really belong under the same label - 'instability' - as problems like schizophrenia or dissociative disorders. But I leapt to conclusions, and honestly you've done more to support him and people with similar issues than I have. I apologize.
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Aug 18, 2013 01:41
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General Battuta posted:I assumed (unfairly) that you spoke out of hostility, tacit or otherwise. I took issue with the language because I don't think depression or anxiety really belong under the same label - 'instability' - as problems like schizophrenia or dissociative disorders. But I leapt to conclusions, and honestly you've done more to support him and people with similar issues than I have. I apologize. No problem Thanks for acknowledging and making peace. I'm eagerly awaiting the new book.
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Aug 18, 2013 03:17
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Darth Walrus posted:I did always like the short story someone wrote about that cliche, though. Personally, I rather liked the movie starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt about that cliche. Also, I'm pretty confident the best use of time travel is to ace a history assignment.
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Aug 18, 2013 04:51
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Chairchucker posted:Personally, I rather liked the movie starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt about that cliche. Not the best use, just the most excellent.
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Aug 18, 2013 08:13
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Just finished Abaddon's Gate in The Expanse series and really enjoyed all three books; what should I read next for more space opera? I'd also be down for something harder/darker like Revelation Space or more optimistic/progressive like The Culture series.
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Aug 18, 2013 10:06
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Chairchucker posted:Also, I'm pretty confident the best use of time travel is to ace a history assignment. Not really, because history often gets distorted in the telling over the years, decades and centuries, and is always an interpretation of whomever recorded it and passed it along, so history tests probably don't reflect the real history very or entirely accurately. So if you'd go check for yourself what the correct answer is, you'd be correct in terms of the actual history and truth, but still might get an F on the test because is not the "correct" answer according to the answer sheet, due to the history and telling of it getting distorted since the original event happened.
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Aug 18, 2013 10:33
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fookolt posted:Just finished Abaddon's Gate in The Expanse series and really enjoyed all three books; what should I read next for more space opera? Try Downbelow Station, I guess!
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Aug 18, 2013 12:53
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Joramun posted:Not really, because history often gets distorted in the telling over the years, decades and centuries, and is always an interpretation of whomever recorded it and passed it along, so history tests probably don't reflect the real history very or entirely accurately. So if you'd go check for yourself what the correct answer is, you'd be correct in terms of the actual history and truth, but still might get an F on the test because is not the "correct" answer according to the answer sheet, due to the history and telling of it getting distorted since the original event happened. You do know that was a Bill & Ted joke, right?
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Aug 18, 2013 12:59
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Well I finally finished the last Dread Empire book. It was kind of awful between the pedo wizard, nothing happening for half of it, and it not really ending. Also between the 25 years it took to write it because the original manuscript got stolen Cook kind of forgot some of what happened in the earlier ones. Huge letdown after the rest of them. I'm taking the thread's advice and starting in on the Malazan series next, I think.
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Aug 18, 2013 21:46
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I might have missed it already being talked about, but I just finished Emperor of Thorns to finish off the The Broken Empire series. It definitely isn't a series you can try and puzzle through what, exactly, happened in the past to cause the current state of events which distracted me a lot because I was looking for a explanation at some point. The ending was a let down for me, especially the twist at the end. I was hoping for something more epic or less vague, and it didn't help that the last hour of the book was one long massively rushed event at the "final confrontation" when it would have really been better served as a more strung out series of events, even if it had to be told via flashbacks. All that being said, I didn't mind the series too much once I got past the whole "magic" system. The characters were passable enough even if very one dimensional, and so far it's only the second series I've ever read that had an actual Anti-Hero that actually fit the description of an Anti-Hero. Its definitely over the top and quite ridiculous at times, but at least it's consistent and there is no "I totally murdered hundreds of thousands and caused massive political upheaval but that was all a phase and now I'm married with kids and build shelters for orphans" coming out of nowhere. Other than that one aspect I don't think there is anything really positive I can say about it the book, other than it wasn't a really bad book either. If you're interested in anti-hero style books it's worth it, but if that gimmick doesn't interest you, or if you need more than that gimmick to carry the book, then don't read it because it won't do anything for you.
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Aug 18, 2013 22:56
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fookolt posted:Just finished Abaddon's Gate in The Expanse series and really enjoyed all three books; what should I read next for more space opera? Have you tried M John Harrison's "Light" trilogy? I've only read the first ([i[Light[/i), which is about two characters in the very far future and the dysfunctonal present-day inventor of their spaceship drives. It's dark.
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Aug 19, 2013 11:05
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nessin posted:I might have missed it already being talked about, but I just finished Emperor of Thorns to finish off the The Broken Empire series. It definitely isn't a series you can try and puzzle through what, exactly, happened in the past to cause the current state of events which distracted me a lot because I was looking for a explanation at some point. The ending was a let down for me, especially the twist at the end. I was hoping for something more epic or less vague, and it didn't help that the last hour of the book was one long massively rushed event at the "final confrontation" when it would have really been better served as a more strung out series of events, even if it had to be told via flashbacks. For another anti-hero series, there is the Left Hand of God by Paul Hoffman. About as good as Broken Empire, although no magic whatsoever and British Spartans.
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Aug 19, 2013 11:55
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House Louse posted:Have you tried M John Harrison's "Light" trilogy? I've only read the first ([i[Light[/i), which is about two characters in the very far future and the dysfunctonal present-day inventor of their spaceship drives. It's dark. Light is really good. Very dark, there is rarely any unmitigated good. Two of the characters are brokenly dysfunctional and almost completely deplorable. But the setting and writing is so cool it remains awesome. I had trouble getting through Nova Swing. Just didn't feel the same. Felt downright facetious at times. Taking a breather before book 3.
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Aug 19, 2013 12:15
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If any of you are into short fiction I have a piece up on Strange Horizons, one of my favorite pro markets. Even comes with a podcast!quote:A problem of scale: e: For those of you who are constantly looking for good space opera, I also wrote a big stupid post about why I like Scott Westerfeld's Succession so much. Might be of interest. General Battuta fucked around with this message at 19:12 on Aug 19, 2013 |
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Aug 19, 2013 19:09
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Apropos of nothing, but I was so excited by the first edition A Darkness at Sethanon I picked up this weekend that I almost missed the fact that the copy of Shadow of a Dark Queen I grabbed was signed by Feist. I almost feel bad for paying a buck each for those. Almost.
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Aug 20, 2013 04:54
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^^^How much can you flip it for on ebay, though  I just finished a four book series by Megan Lindholm (from before she became Robin Hobb), the Ki and Vandien Quartet. Not as good as her Hobb stuff, but it's really interesting to see her developing ideas to use later. There were human/nonhuman relationships that are both beneficial and morally questionable, people pouring their emotional memory and lives into works of art, and people metamorphosing and getting all scaly by getting a bit too close to powerful nonhumans. As well as some other stuff. Not sure I'd recommend the books to anyone but a Hobb fan. They're a bit more pulpy than her regular stuff. Each book is pretty self contained, but also varies widely in tone from the previous one. The last one ends with a badass fencing tournament, though, so that's cool. This has been Hobbchat, thanks for joining me.
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Aug 20, 2013 06:20
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General Battuta posted:E: For those of you who are constantly looking for good space opera, I also wrote a big stupid post about why I like Scott Westerfeld's Succession so much. Might be of interest. Oh damnit, I didn't know The Risen Empire went by that name abroad so when I read your post I assumed Westerfeld had written more awesome space opera.
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Aug 20, 2013 08:17
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General Battuta posted:If any of you are into short fiction I have a piece up on Strange Horizons, one of my favorite pro markets. Even comes with a podcast! This was fantastic, thanks. And it has inspired me to get going again on a story of my own. For more content, I'm curious, how many people ITT have published SF/F, or tried to do so? I submitted to the James White Award last year, but didn't win.
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Aug 20, 2013 18:43
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I submitted shorts to magazines for awhile years ago. They're really bad and they were deservedly rejected,  I still have about 3 fleshed out and plotted books that I really really want to write, one of them about 10% done even, but I always lose the thread or the inspiration falls away and I just stop. That's what makes me think I'm not really a writer, just someone who likes to dabble in storytelling.
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Aug 20, 2013 19:30
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