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DancingMachine posted:I'm a fantasy reader primarily, but I'd like to try some sci-fi. Either space opera or cyberpunk, I think. I'm aware the genres are riddled with crap so I'm wary of just picking something with a lot of stars on Amazon. On the fantasy side, I've recently really enjoyed Abercrombie, Lynch, Rothfus, and Martin. So I think I want something modern - published fairly recently by an author who is still under 60 or so (preferably younger). Any suggestions? I'm gonna buck the trend here and suggest you not go to Morgan. Given your love of Dune, try a space opera - I've lately been on a recommendation kick for Scott Westerfeld's Succession duology.
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Sep 5, 2013 16:34
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As far as space operas go, you can't do much better than Reynolds' Revelation Space. I get people to read it by hyping it's huge influence on the Mass Effect games, but that's just a trick to get you in the door. Also yeah, don't do Morgan unless you want to read about musclebound Gary Stus having increasingly weird sex while ripping off either Raymond Carver or the plot of Aliens. Popular Human fucked around with this message at 17:08 on Sep 5, 2013 |
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Sep 5, 2013 17:06
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I need to read a lot more multi-book scifi. I used to think of Reynolds as the go to recommendation for Space Opera, but so much of his stuff is very hit or miss. Most everything in the Revelation Space universe is good, but the third book in the main trilogy really started popping at the seams. People have a huge issue with how he dedicated a massive portion of the third and final book to something that felt more like a separate novella, and the ending to that book and the whole trilogy is, dare I use the word "objectively", poo poo. I happened to like the sidetracked plot line of the third book enough that it didn't totally put me off, but I had some other huge issues with really stupid physics ideas turning into plot lines his fascination with the inertia suppression, the conjoiners goofy time talk tunnel, the guns that they got on the ship via that time talk tunnel, etc . You can also argue that he did not do a great job on follow through in many cases. The first book in the series builds up a plot aspect The weapon cache that ends up fizzling and being largely irrelevant later on. Reynolds is not known for having great character-driven stuff, but there are enough memorable characters within the trilogy to be enjoyable for me. I think Reynolds is actually stronger on stand-alone and more contained works. My top three Reynolds books are, in this order: House of Suns, Chasm City, and the Prefect. The latter two of those take place in the Revelation Space universe. Reynolds also has some really bad stand-alone works that should be avoided at all costs. I have listed them a few times already in this thread. If I ever get a break from writing I want to start reading some more "epic sci-fi" series and see if there is something out there that is heads and shoulders above Reynolds. The only other thing I tried was Hamilton's The Reality Dysfunction which is just god awful and should not be read for any reason.
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Sep 5, 2013 17:21
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My dad keeps recommending me all this weird creepy cyberpunk. There was this one book where the opening chapter featured a woman walking into an office, going into the toilets, then making GBS threads out a robot cockroach covered in tiny microphones so she could 'bug' the place. It was terribly worded, so it sounded like she had a generator in her chest and connecting wires going up her rear end. The book was heavy enough to use as a blunt instrument, but I could never finish that first chapter. I don't remember much else about the book, but I have a distinct feeling it was by Peter F. Hamilton. I dunno if my dad is secretly a pervert or what but now whenever somebody mentions Peter F. Hamilton, I remember that awful robot rear end cockroach. Thanks a lot, dad.
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Sep 5, 2013 17:36
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Peter F. Hamilton is famous for having Al Capone's soul take over someone's body in the year 2800 so that he could have Al Capone as a character in his trilogy.
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Sep 5, 2013 17:38
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Thanks for the recs everyone! I just picked up Revelation Space and A Deepness in the Sky (yeah I know that one doesn't really fit my original criteria). Will probably check out Asher and Westerfeld down the line. Is there no modern cyberpunk that folks wholeheartedly recommend?
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Sep 5, 2013 17:52
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I recently read Nexus by Ramez Naam. http://www.amazon.com/Nexus-ebook/dp/B009U9S6B2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1378399985&sr=8-1&keywords=nexus+book It reads like "modern cyber punk" and I enjoyed it. The action is done well and the ideas that it plays around with are fairly interesting. It is near future and takes place mostly in Thailand, but it hits a lot of political conflict, cyber-enhanced agents, etc. Some of the characters felt a bit forced to me and there was some clunky writing, but it was a quick and enjoyable read. It didn't do anything egregiously terrible. I think the author used to work for Microsoft and has researching background in hard sciences and that shows well through the narrative.
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Sep 5, 2013 17:55
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DancingMachine posted:Is there no modern cyberpunk that folks wholeheartedly recommend? I know some folks here are not big fans of Morgan's Takeshi Kovacs books (starting with Altered Carbon), but I loved them and know a number of people who felt the same way. Altered Carbon is a hardboiled detective-style scifi novel, which I found to be a worthwhile mixing of genres, and not any kind of Carver ripoff, and the two sequels are somewhat different in style, although expanding on the same character and some of the same ideas about ancient Martians and some political stuff. I'd say at least give AC a try -- if you get halfway through and it's not doing it for you, then maybe take a pass, but I think it would be a shame to be scared off those books if you're looking for modern cyberpunk.
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Sep 5, 2013 18:04
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systran posted:Peter F. Hamilton is famous for having Al Capone's soul take over someone's body in the year 2800 so that he could have Al Capone as a character in his trilogy. Al Capone in the Night's Dawn trilogy was a badass, sir. I need to read those books again. Except on a Kindle this time, and not the giant bludgeoning books.
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Sep 5, 2013 18:09
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House Louse posted:I don't totally buy the argument that the Nebulas are less reliable because I think that would imply that juried awards are worthless - they seem to be halfway between juried awards and the Hugos' "anyone with the money" model. Although maybe you feel it's a worse of both worlds situation? (And if so what about, say, the BFAs, where members select the shortlists that judges choose from?)
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Sep 5, 2013 18:21
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Phummus posted:The third chunk of the Wool books, called Dust came out last month. Has anyone read it yet? I enjoyed Wool, but not so much Shift. I'm really in need of a good, long series to read. I'm usually a fantasy guy, but I've read most of the major recommendations here. If anyone could just travel into the future and get me the rest of The Way of Kings, that would be splendid. Dust is good - and satisfying. It does bring closure. I think there is another sequence called SAND coming out eventually.
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Sep 5, 2013 18:52
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I think Dust adequately takes the series to the conclusion the previous books were setting it up for. It did feel a little rushed, but then again I don't think adding more to it would have been appropriate.
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Sep 5, 2013 19:40
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DancingMachine posted:Is there no modern cyberpunk that folks wholeheartedly recommend? They are fun action romps in a post-nuclear war UK/London, where there are plenty of gang shoot-outs, AI controlled death robots, an super neo-conservative USA threatening our hero, who starts out by seriously needing a new heart. http://www.simonmorden.com/books/ This is not "high literature", but pretty drat fun Sunday afternoon reading.
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Sep 5, 2013 21:51
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I had a good time with Petrovich, although it got a bit over the top by the end. And that's coming from someone whose name is an anagram for "Jesus Hacker".
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Sep 5, 2013 22:04
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Lex Talionis posted:The difference between the Nebula and the Clarke is that the Clarke jury reads every single novel before they even make a shortlist. There's an initial filter in terms of what gets published in the UK and what publishers choose to submit, but this still left 54 novels in 2011 and 60 in 2012. From that they pick a shortlist of 6 books, so it's pretty much a straight application of Sturgeon's Law. How many Nebula nominators do you think read 60 novels published in the previous year? It's very possible the answer is zero. Well, as you say, Sturgeon's Law applies - credible nominees get noticed and more widely read and discussed than other books, so the fact that not every Nebula voter reads the hundreds of eligible books isn't that bad. All I'm saying is that I think see the Nebulas as between the Clarkes and the Hugos, although more similar to the latter.
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Sep 5, 2013 22:57
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Fart of Presto posted:I keep recommending the Metrozone series by Simon Morden: The Petrovich Trilogy (Degrees of Freedom, Theories of Flight and Equations of Life) and the followup up, The Curve of the Earth. I also really liked the Petrovich series and I also highly recommend the Continuing Time series by Daniel K. Moran (Book 1 - Emerald Eyes).
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Sep 5, 2013 23:27
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DancingMachine posted:Thanks for the recs everyone! I just picked up Revelation Space and A Deepness in the Sky (yeah I know that one doesn't really fit my original criteria). Will probably check out Asher and Westerfeld down the line. Is there no modern cyberpunk that folks wholeheartedly recommend? Blindsight has major cyberpunk elements but the focus of the story is first contact with aliens, so maybe it doesn't get brought up for that reason. Fantastic, fantastic book, though. And its sequel Echopraxia is currently being edited, oh man I am looking forward to that, especially given Watts said he was much happier with this rewrite than the first draft he turned in to an editor that disappeared, never to be heard from again.
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Sep 6, 2013 01:08
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SurreptitiousMuffin posted:I dunno if my dad is secretly a pervert or what but now whenever somebody mentions Peter F. Hamilton, I remember that awful robot rear end cockroach. Thanks a lot, dad.
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Sep 6, 2013 03:47
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Bhodi posted:That was Fallen Dragon, one of his best novels and it's honestly a pretty good standalone book. Best part, most of the awkward sex happens off-camera. Maybe we need a :heinlein: smiley involving redheads and boobs. I really enjoyed the book however, by "goon standards"  it was pretty obviously cringe-inducing sex scenes and some trappings.
coyo7e fucked around with this message at 04:52 on Sep 6, 2013 |
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Sep 6, 2013 04:48
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Who wants to see more terrible opinions from a white dude about the state of science fiction today? Everybody does? Cool. Here: http://amazingstoriesmag.com/2013/09/science-fiction-science-fiction/ re: Book of the New Sun: quote:I can tell you that these books–masterpieces as everyone seems to think they are–are actually medieval/Arthurian fantasies. In fact, there is virtually no real “science fiction” in these books other than various tropes… Severian’s travels and adventures and storytelling (Book Two has a long fairy tale inserted in the middle of the novel that goes absolutely nowhere and adds nothing to the novel) are straight out of a YA rite-of-passage fantasy… The earth does not wobble on its axis (as it would if the moon were gone) and without vulcanism and tectonic plate induction in the ocean, carbon dioxide would not be removed from the atmosphere and recycled into the mantle where it can stay out of the atmosphere and not smother life. These things don’t matter to the fantasist. They didn’t matter to Wolfe. re: Bujold quote:Another writer well-praised (from every corner) is Lois McMaster Bujold. Her great work is the Miles Vorkosigan series. These are supposed to be military science fiction stories, but they are really at their core Romance novels. At first, they were military science fiction novels of a higher order than most. But the romance elements creep in very early on. Bujold tips her hand in the eloquence of her language (normally a good thing) and the attention to detail that only women would find attractive: balls, courts, military dress, palace intrigues, gossiping, and whispering in the corridors. All of this is right out of Alexander Dumas. True, these intrigues and flourishes do happen in the real world (or they used to), but Bujold, over time with novels such as Miles in Loveand Cordelia’s Honor, you can see that Bujold is a closet romance writer. Not that this is a bad thing, but some of us aren’t that interested in romance. For me, personally, it takes much of the dramatic urgency out of a story if the hero is already married or if during a skirmish comes back to canoodle or wine or dine with his beloved before rushing back to the fray.
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Sep 6, 2013 05:13
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fritz posted:Who wants to see more terrible opinions from a white dude about the state of science fiction today? Everybody does? Cool. After thinking "Why the hell would the drummer of the Sex Pistols have an opinion on SF?" I goggled the guy and it seems his claim to fame is that he has taught some famous writers back in the day?
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Sep 6, 2013 06:31
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coyo7e posted:However it was all about an underage girl who the author had a crush on, so he wrote a book and sent his mary sue back in time to gently caress the poo poo out of her again when he was in his 40s. Sweet jungle fighting space marine scenes, though. Hamilton does pretty solid space marine slogfests. Expecting scifi-writers ie colossal nerds to write sex scenes which are not cringe-inducing is hoping to much. Hamilton as a writer for WH40k would incidentally be quite interesting, since Space Marines are neutered killing machines, thereby taking that part of Hamiton's work out of the equation.
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Sep 6, 2013 08:52
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fritz posted:Who wants to see more terrible opinions from a white dude about the state of science fiction today? Everybody does? Cool. This guy just comes across as Roman from Party Down. "I'm into hard sci-fi."
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Sep 6, 2013 10:01
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I'm glad I'm not the only one that found Peter Hamilton's sex scenes weird and uncomfortable reading. I almost put one of his books down during a pretty graphic sex scene where a dude with one conscience controlling multiple bodies bangs a woman. (Dreaming Void spoiler I guess) That was just too weird.
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Sep 6, 2013 12:39
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So back to the recommendations for me I guess, since Dust doesn't sound worth reading. I'm going to be spending a couple hours a day, 2 days a week hooked up to some tubes so I am looking for something I can throw on an e-reader that will take me a while to chew through I've read ASoIaF, Malazan. I tried to read Wheel of Time, but couldn't make the slog in the middle. I've read all of the stuff Sanderson has published. I've read some of Joe Abercrombie's stuff and it was OK. I guess what I'm looking for is a lot of pages, good world building, and ideally little/no creepy sex and rape. I'm going to be surrounded by people and wouldn't, for instance want to be reading GRR Martin. Pretty narrow request, I know.
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Sep 6, 2013 15:42
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Phummus posted:So back to the recommendations for me I guess, since Dust doesn't sound worth reading. Have you ever read any of Charles Stross books? I really enjoyed his Merchant Princes series [Book 1: The Family Trade]. I'd say it is roughly 2000 pages or so. The basic plot, without spoilers is this: The first novel introduces us to journalist Miriam Beckstein, who finds herself in a parallel world in which her extended family holds power in both worlds. (thanks Wikipedia) #edited for terrible basic plot after reading it again. Virigoth fucked around with this message at 15:56 on Sep 6, 2013 |
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Sep 6, 2013 15:50
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Virigoth posted:Have you ever read any of Charles Stross books? I really enjoyed his Merchant Princes series [Book 1: The Family Trade]. I'd say it is roughly 2000 pages or so. I have not. I will have to look these up.
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Sep 6, 2013 15:53
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Decius posted:After thinking "Why the hell would the drummer of the Sex Pistols have an opinion on SF?" I goggled the guy and it seems his claim to fame is that he has taught some famous writers back in the day? While I don't necessarily agree with his opinions, I can tell you he's an author as well. I didn't realize he had written Tintagel, which had a very interesting concept and was well done, at least as I remember. I still have the book on the shelf, let me re-read it and I'll let you know if it aged well.
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Sep 6, 2013 15:53
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Cardiac posted:Expecting scifi-writers ie colossal nerds to write sex scenes which are not cringe-inducing is hoping to much. A lot of SF/F writers can write sex really well! Catherynne Valente's Palimpsest is a book entirely about sex and it's neither pornographic nor cringe-inducing. Sex in that book isn't even particularly erotic. Naturally, when it went up for the Hugo/Nebula, it suffered a storm of misogynistic and Puritan attacks so vitriolic I don't think she's even willing to talk about the book in public any longer.
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Sep 6, 2013 16:28
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The OP already has plenty of authors for me to check out (and my book backlog is already frighteningly huge) but I'm curious about what's up with Jeff Noon. I've heard his name mentioned vis a vis surreal cyberpunk-ish modern scifi, and that sounds intriguing. Where should I start? And just for fun, the last 3 books I read were McCarthy's The Road, Abnett's Eisenhorn trilogy and DeLillo's White Noise.
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Sep 6, 2013 17:59
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fritz posted:Who wants to see more terrible opinions from a white dude about the state of science fiction today? Everybody does? Cool. Ugh, people that get picky about what genre something *actually* is are the worst. Kinda says a lot if the biggest criticism you can put forth is "It's not part of X genre but actually Y!". Also that quote sounds like he was dissing Dumas and if so, that's not cool 
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Sep 6, 2013 18:41
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fritz posted:
Hmm.
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Sep 6, 2013 18:48
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spider wisdom posted:The OP already has plenty of authors for me to check out (and my book backlog is already frighteningly huge) but I'm curious about what's up with Jeff Noon. I've heard his name mentioned vis a vis surreal cyberpunk-ish modern scifi, and that sounds intriguing. Where should I start? And just for fun, the last 3 books I read were McCarthy's The Road, Abnett's Eisenhorn trilogy and DeLillo's White Noise. Start with Automated Alice. Finish there as well.
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Sep 6, 2013 18:55
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fritz posted:Who wants to see more terrible opinions from a white dude about the state of science fiction today? Everybody does? Cool.
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Sep 6, 2013 19:09
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Jedit posted:Start with Automated Alice. Finish there as well. Is it essentially a techpunk reskinning of Alice in Wonderland? I'm less inclined to check it out if so, but if you can sell me on it, I'm down with that. Also keep steady reppin' old school MtG, dude 
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Sep 6, 2013 19:39
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General Battuta posted:A lot of SF/F writers can write sex really well! Catherynne Valente's Palimpsest is a book entirely about sex and it's neither pornographic nor cringe-inducing. Sex in that book isn't even particularly erotic. I hadn't heard about that. Is there anywhere that's got the rundown on it so I can see which authors I like said really stupid poo poo? Also, I'm pretty sure that guy making GBS threads on The Book of the New Sun hasn't actually read it. There is a moon, in fact in the third book it's heavily implied that it's been terraformed and there might be people living on it.
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Sep 6, 2013 20:04
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Popular Human posted:I hadn't heard about that. Is there anywhere that's got the rundown on it so I can see which authors I like said really stupid poo poo? Yup. Its green, as a matter of fact.
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Sep 6, 2013 20:06
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mystes posted:For my amusement, I want to know what he thinks is good science fiction.
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Sep 6, 2013 20:06
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spider wisdom posted:Is it essentially a techpunk reskinning of Alice in Wonderland? I'm less inclined to check it out if so, but if you can sell me on it, I'm down with that. Yes. It's fun, but not his best. Nymphomation was similarly pretty cool, but maybe not groundbreaking. Vurt is his best, and won awards. It reads even better when you're young n' rebellious and cyberpunk was newish, but it's probably still worth a read.
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Sep 6, 2013 21:35
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Zola posted:I read them recently. Good, solid workmanship, even when zombies aren't particularly my thing. I liked them but really could have done without the incest and justification for why its totally ok at the end of the last one. Also the one character at the very end died because no one knew to just drop the pda. It's an upload, you don't need to do anything else with it!
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