|
sam16 posted:Does anyone have any recommendations for genre crossovers, e.g. heist books, spy books, private detective books and police procedurals in a sci-fi or fantasy setting? There's Red Planet Blues by Robert J. Sawyer, a private detective story on Mars. And Caves of Steel/The Naked Sun by Isaac Asimov which are detective stories that can be read on their own without the rest of his robot/empire stuff.
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2014 16:29
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 15, 2024 00:20 |
|
|
PupsOfWar posted:Man why do so many white dudes think the New Caliphate is a plausible thing? Probably since they don't realize that there ain't going to be a Caliphate until the Middle East finally get around to sort out their own problems, which doesn't seem like it is gonna happen this century. Nowadays I regard Simmons in the same way as Lovecraft, ie he can write good stories, but something must have come loose in his head. As for Ian McDonald, Dervish House deals with a future version of Turkey, and is a good read.
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2014 17:38
|
|
|
PupsOfWar posted:What are some works that have had a better or more interesting take on a futuristic Middle East? Most everything I've ever read either ignores it (in much the same way that most SF ignores the current developing world) or does this same nonsense. Does Ian McDonald have something maybe? It's set in space, but Sarah Zettel's Fool's War has a Muslim woman as the co-owner of a commercial ship. In a rather nice touch, her sister is the ship's lawyer. The book is mainly about the implications of AI in their society and is a pretty drat good read.
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2014 17:41
|
|
|
I just tried reading Ryk Spoor's Grand Central Arena and I got to chapter 6 before I realized I wasn't going to be able to go any further. Do his other books use the same prose style or did he write like a dingus in this one on purpose?
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2014 18:34
|
|
|
I liked the first Hyperion book, but the second book in the series became really off the rails. The plot was stupid, the characters were ridiculous, goofy and uninteresting things were happening; it was just bad. That summary of his new crazy story is absolutely ridiculous, but his bad writing was already enough for me to not bother reading more from him.
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2014 18:43
|
|
|
muike posted:I just tried reading Ryk Spoor's Grand Central Arena and I got to chapter 6 before I realized I wasn't going to be able to go any further. Do his other books use the same prose style or did he write like a dingus in this one on purpose? He himself is a bit of a dingus.
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2014 20:31
|
|
|
Ok maybe I shouldn't have bought this book without checking it out a bit more first then.
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2014 20:32
|
|
|
FewtureMD posted:If you want non-appalling fantasy by a decent person, I just finished After a thoroughly depressing turn in this thread, thank you for the recommendation!
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2014 20:55
|
|
|
sam16 posted:Does anyone have any recommendations for genre crossovers, e.g. heist books, spy books, private detective books and police procedurals in a sci-fi or fantasy setting? The Dresden Files
|
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2014 00:58
|
|
|
sam16 posted:Does anyone have any recommendations for genre crossovers, e.g. heist books, spy books, private detective books and police procedurals in a sci-fi or fantasy setting? I suggest The Last Policeman which is set in a pre-apocalyptic earth as a large asteroid inexorably approaches and society melts down. This is a police procedural but the unique setting is pretty scary. It's book 1 of a trilogy. I was less impressed by book 2 but I'm anxiously awaiting book 3.
|
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2014 01:32
|
|
|
sam16 posted:Does anyone have any recommendations for genre crossovers, e.g. heist books, spy books, private detective books and police procedurals in a sci-fi or fantasy setting? A bit of an odd one, but Servant of the Underworld is a murder investigation in fantastical pre-conquistador South America. So far as I can tell it's fairly authentic in how it represents their culture. The later books turn more into general fantasy plots, but the first one is definitely a murder investigation.
|
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2014 01:32
|
|
|
sam16 posted:Does anyone have any recommendations for genre crossovers, e.g. heist books, spy books, private detective books and police procedurals in a sci-fi or fantasy setting? There's the Laundry Files. IT guy conscripted into an occult British intelligence agency because magic is advanced mathematics. Mixes Lovecraft with le Carre/Fleming. They're a pretty fun read. Recommended earlier, but The Last Policeman is a fascinating setting, but IMO it's kind of marred by the whole "autist tries his hand at noir" narration. The prose can be really stilted sometimes. Haven't read the sequel yet.
|
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2014 03:06
|
|
|
sam16 posted:Does anyone have any recommendations for genre crossovers, e.g. heist books, spy books, private detective books and police procedurals in a sci-fi or fantasy setting? Gun, with Occasional Music by Jonathan Lethem is basically a noir detective novel set in a horrible future. Its a world where animals have been put through a process that evolves them into sentience and gives them the ability to talk and manipulate objects, the disturbing part is that society also does/did this to all its children. So now there are the "babyheads," who have a child's body but an adult mind.
|
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2014 03:43
|
|
|
sam16 posted:Does anyone have any recommendations for genre crossovers, e.g. heist books, spy books, private detective books and police procedurals in a sci-fi or fantasy setting? Try Sleepless by Charlie Huston. Huston is one of the best living crime/noir writers, and the book's main characters are a cop and an assassin living in Los Angeles as the world melts down around them.
|
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2014 03:46
|
|
|
muscles like this? posted:Gun, with Occasional Music by Jonathan Lethem is basically a noir detective novel set in a horrible future. Its a world where animals have been put through a process that evolves them into sentience and gives them the ability to talk and manipulate objects, the disturbing part is that society also does/did this to all its children. So now there are the "babyheads," who have a child's body but an adult mind. Holy poo poo this sounds amazing. Thanks for the post!
|
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2014 04:06
|
|
|
The book reads a lot like a Philip K Dick novel, which is on purpose because Lethem is a huge PKD scholar.
|
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2014 05:35
|
|
|
Cardiac posted:Probably since they don't realize that there ain't going to be a Caliphate until the Middle East finally get around to sort out their own problems, which doesn't seem like it is gonna happen this century. I'd be more willing to believe a future scenario with 4-6 different Caliphates which all hated each others' guts and put together still only encompassed significantly less than half the world's Muslims.
|
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2014 06:53
|
|
|
sam16 posted:Does anyone have any recommendations for genre crossovers, e.g. heist books, spy books, private detective books and police procedurals in a sci-fi or fantasy setting? WOW. I just finished reading The Fractal Prince, the follow-up to The Quantum Thief. For lack of a more reasonable word, these books are amazing, especially the first. They are just so chock-full of fascinating sci fi ideas, the pace is amazing, they are not too long, the characters are fascinating (although not as relatable as could be). At first I had trouble getting into the first one but just stick with it and the rewards are legion. They aren't heist-books per se, more like high-concept action sci-fi, but the main character is a thief who outsmarts people so it might appeal. I would recommend these books to you and to everyone else in this thread. Seriously, go read The Quantum Thief. Also Finch is a great sort-of detective story set in a very strange fictional universe. Play fucked around with this message at 11:59 on Jan 6, 2014 |
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2014 10:12
|
|
|
There's also Hard Spell and Evil Dark. They are both part of the Occult Crimes Investigation Unit series (the first 2 actually). Basically, imagine a world where it's like it is today, except there are witches and vampires and werewolves and whatnot. The main kicker is the "monsters" are legally protected same as humans. Basically if you kill a vamp that isn't currently trying to kill you, you end up with a murder charge. Both are pretty good. Quick note, I'm attempting to read Stone by Adam Roberts, and I am about 4-5 pages in, and the main character basically is going on and on about nanotech and how he's not sure he's a guy anymore cause his genitals all shrunk off, and he scratched his crotch enough to give himself a vagina. Has anyone read this, and if so, does it get better? The plot sounded interesting but this is just sorta... weirdly hosed up.
|
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2014 11:45
|
|
|
Is Neal Asher any good? I've seen his name around but can't think of a single book of his I might've read. I just saw Prador Moon on my recommendations on goodreads and wondered if anyone had anything to add? Edit: Just realised I do own one of his books "Gridlinked". May as well crack on with them since there's a nice timeline for his series in the Polity universe 
WastedJoker fucked around with this message at 14:00 on Jan 6, 2014 |
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2014 13:42
|
|
|
Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:Quick note, I'm attempting to read Stone by Adam Roberts, and I am about 4-5 pages in, and the main character basically is going on and on about nanotech and how he's not sure he's a guy anymore cause his genitals all shrunk off, and he scratched his crotch enough to give himself a vagina. Has anyone read this, and if so, does it get better? The plot sounded interesting but this is just sorta... weirdly hosed up. I haven't read that one but Adam Roberts is a pretty cool dude with a cool blog, I wouldn't expect him to turn into late Heinlein.
|
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2014 14:37
|
|
|
sam16 posted:Does anyone have any recommendations for genre crossovers, e.g. heist books, spy books, private detective books and police procedurals in a sci-fi or fantasy setting? This is a recommendation post I wrote recently somewhere else for people with my taste in Urban Fantasy. I am reasonably sure you'll like at least some of these. I am listing first books, when there's more than one in a series: The Rook: A Novel by Daniel O'Malley. Slightly Whedonesque UF with an espionage bent. Excellent. Child of Fire by Harry Connolly. Rather dark, a page-turner, very inventive worldbuilding. I think this might actually be my favorite UF series. Midnight Riot/Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch. A British cop becomes an apprentice of Britain's last wizard-slash-detective inspector. Dryly witty, in a British way. (US and UK releases got different names.) Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey. A magician is back after spending eleven years in Hell and he's really, really pissed at the people who sent him there and killed his girlfriend. Dead Things by Stephen Blackmoore. Modern day necromancer investigates the murder of his SPOILER. More noir than Twenty Palaces, somehow. Good, but it depressed me. Libriomancer by Jim Hines. Less derivative of Dresden Files than Iron Druid, but yeah, it's fluff like Iron Druid. Okay read. London Falling by Paul Cornell. A British Police Procedural. Cops desperately trying to figure out how to deal with a hosed-up supernatural threat. I found the first act a little hard to get into, but once poo poo hits the fan, it's a fun ride for the rest of the book. Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone. This is set in a secondary world, but it's very much UF to my taste. A [strike]mage[/strike]craftswoman has a few days to solve a god's murder and try to bring him back to life. Fantastic worldbuilding. Low Town by Daniel Polansky. Noir UF \ fantasy hybrid. Former guard and current drug dealer is forced to investigate a series of murders in a fantasy city. My Life as a White Trash Zombie by Diana Rowland. Awesome covers. Barely any romance, which is a plus for me in UF. A girl gets saved from death by a mysterious benefactor who also gets her a job at a local morgue. Then weird poo poo starts happening, not the least to her own body. The author spent a few years working as a coroner and it shows - I actually enjoyed the parts about her job a bit more than the supernatural bits. (I have to admit I stopped reading on book 3 when it slid down to the same RELATIONSHIPS poo poo as most other UF by female authors.) Blackbirds by Chuck Wendig. A psychic who can see when people die, sees her own death and now has to somehow try and prevent it, even though she never succeeded before. The Dirty Streets of Heaven by Tad Williams. Angels and demons both send out their own to work among humans while wearing human bodies. The hero is an angel PI who investigates a disappearance of a soul. Tad Williams is a good writer, you guys. This is a good book. A few more off-beat suggestions that aren't strictly UF: Neil Gaiman's books. Duh. I'd say Sandman *starting with volume 2 is what I love the most, but *The Graveyard Book might be a good introduction. Gun Machine by Warren Ellis. Watch the trailer if "this is by Warren Ellis" isn't recommendation enough. The Alienist by Caleb Carr. New York, 1896. When a serial killer starts butchering boy prostitutes, Police Commissioner Roosevelt sets up a secret task force to help hunt him down with the power of alienism and forensics! (Alienism is what they called psychology back then.) Silver Pigs by Lindsey Davis. Wisecracking gumshoe solves crimes and travels around Imperial Rome. A really entertaining mix of mystery, humor, adventure and romance. Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan. Hardboiled post-cyberpunk, basically. The Yard by Alex Gracian. A really high-tension thriller about the newly formed Scotland Yard Murder Squad. (It was formed after the Ripper murders.) Frankly, this was actually a little too thrilling for my constitution but if you don't have anxiety issues like me you'll probably enjoy it. There's a few more series that weren't my thing, but hey, you might want to check them out anyway: Felix Castor series by Mike Carey. Alex Verus series by Benedict Jacka. Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs. Grimnoir Chronicles by Larry Correia. Red Planet Blues was a 2.5/5 at best.
|
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2014 15:08
|
|
|
General Battuta posted:The Lies of Locke Lamora is a really popular fantasy heist book. Nthing this. I read it based on this thread and it's own thread. It's a great choice. In a mix of name that book and is that book good, I was looking at a thick as gently caress softcover yesterday and wanted to ask this thread before I bought it but my phone was dead. It looked interesting. Alternate history with time travel, from the back cover it's a setting where the Titanic never sank, US stayed out of WWI, and now the US is partially invaded by Japan and Germany. It didn't look like Harry Turtledove stuff and sounded much better than his works. Anyone have any guesses or read it and can tell me if it was worth getting?
|
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2014 15:56
|
|
|
sam16 posted:Does anyone have any recommendations for genre crossovers, e.g. heist books, spy books, private detective books and police procedurals in a sci-fi or fantasy setting? I've been eating Alex Bledsoe's "Eddie LaCrosse" series like candy lately. Private detective books in a fantasy setting (some magic but it's rare, some mythological creatures but they're rare, low-tech life is a bit sanitized but it's forgiveable). The voice and characters really pop, the stories and mysteries are fun. They're also extremely quick reads if you're in the mood for that sort of thing. There are also two "sci-fi series masquerading as fantasy series" you might check out; one is Charles Stross's "Merchant Princes" books, which are a paratime/alt-history series masquerading as portal fantasy, and Richard Morgan's "Land Fit for Heroes" series, which is baseline humanity trying to make its way among the wreckage of a massive post-Singularity war with reality-altering weapons in the distant future of his Altered Carbon setting masquerading as low fantasy. The "Merchant Princes: The Next Generation" trilogy, which Stross is working on now, is going to be even more of a cold war spy/paratime mashup.
|
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2014 18:17
|
|
|
quote:The Dirty Streets of Heaven by Tad Williams. Angels and demons both send out their own to work among humans while wearing human bodies. The hero is an angel PI who investigates a disappearance of a soul. Tad Williams is a good writer, you guys. This is a good book.
|
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2014 18:30
|
|
|
I've been upping the quality of my sci-fi reading lately, and it's been one of the most rewarding things I've done recently, especially as I start getting more into software engineering and thinking more along the lines of an actual engineer. Let's see, what have I read... I started by picking up a copy of Singularity Sky, which was really interesting but the ending felt a bit esoteric. I liked it overall. Fun read, interesting concept of singularities. Then I read A Fire Upon the Deep. So good. Loved every goddamn minute of it. The characters, the story, the aliens, the universe. It was just all so well thought out and described and imagined. Brilliant. Especially considering the thought of automation and computing limited by certain "zones". I struggled with what to read next, but then picked up Hyperion. Loved it too, each story could have been its own novel. Now I'm reading Fall of Hyperion because I wanted to know where the story went. It's good so far, but not as great as the first. I picked up Lucifer's Hammer based on the recommendation of friends. Looking forward to reading it. I also got Red Mars since it's considered great sci fi too. Out of curiosity, will it be worth finishing out the Hyperion series after Fall of Hyperion? Or should I just finish it up after Fall? Here's something completely out of left field too: I read all of the stories in the core rulebook for Eclipse Phase which deals with transhumanism, aggressive AI, various forms of colonization, and mysterious gates to the unknown. Maybe like Abaddon's Gate? I dunno, haven't read that one. Does anyone know of anything that would scratch the same itch?
|
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2014 18:41
|
|
|
quote:Out of curiosity, will it be worth finishing out the Hyperion series after Fall of Hyperion? Or should I just finish it up after Fall? It's not even worth finishing the second book. Quit while you're ahead.
|
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2014 18:49
|
|
|
Cardiovorax posted:I really don't share in that opinion. I don't know about that particular book, but I haven't yet read any other book by the guy that didn't make me want to burn it after the first quarter. Otherland and that thing with the elves are awful. Fair warning. I liked it quite a lot, but I didn't hate the other books by Williams either. Second book I liked less, but that might be because Richard Kadrey did something very similar just two months before.
|
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2014 18:52
|
|
|
systran posted:It's not even worth finishing the second book. Quit while you're ahead. Any particular reason? Does it just get lazy or something? So far it's not been incredible but the story is okay.
|
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2014 18:55
|
|
|
SquadronROE posted:Out of curiosity, will it be worth finishing out the Hyperion series after Fall of Hyperion? Or should I just finish it up after Fall?
|
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2014 19:01
|
|
|
SquadronROE posted:I've been upping the quality of my sci-fi reading lately, and it's been one of the most rewarding things I've done recently, especially as I start getting more into software engineering and thinking more along the lines of an actual engineer. Read Vinge's A Deepness in the Sky next, if you loved Fire. It is peripherally related in ways I won't spoil. The direct sequel to Fire is Vinge's least good book, so if you have a long list skip it for now. It has serious second book of trilogy issues. Charles Stross has a novel called Accelerando which is all about the singularity, but it has bad characters and it is one of the few books I've ever given up on. The Quantum Thief and The Fractal Prince are both excellent transhuman stories that are regularly posted about here. Velius fucked around with this message at 19:50 on Jan 6, 2014 |
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2014 19:47
|
|
|
SquadronROE posted:Any particular reason? Does it just get lazy or something? So far it's not been incredible but the story is okay. Let's just say there come to be multiple robot clones of Keats (both POV characters,) and really goofy stuff just starts happening. The tight, focused Canterbury Tales style of the first book becomes a very distant memory.
|
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2014 20:15
|
|
|
systran posted:Let's just say there come to be multiple robot clones of Keats (both POV characters,) and really goofy stuff just starts happening. The tight, focused Canterbury Tales style of the first book becomes a very distant memory. That sounds fun. Looks like I can happily move on to something else after reading the Wikipedia to sate my curiosity.
|
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2014 20:18
|
|
|
SquadronROE posted:transhumanism, aggressive AI, various forms of colonization, and mysterious gates to the unknown. Maybe like Abaddon's Gate? I dunno, haven't read that one. Does anyone know of anything that would scratch the same itch? I also like his near-future novels: Permutation City (in-depth exploration of philosophical implications of AI, with some truly bizarre and unexpected conclusions) and Distress (strange new mental illness sweeps the world just as revolutionary physics theory is about to be unveiled at upcoming conference). Lastly, his current work in progress, the Orthogonal trilogy is about different universe that he made up by slightly changing one of the equations that describe shape of our space-time, and going from there to create entire consistent alternate physics. He also has several short story collections: Luminous, Axiomatic and Dark Integers, that are great too, maybe even better than his novels. You can read some of his short stories and companion guides to his novels at his website.
|
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2014 20:48
|
|
|
Thanks for all the suggestions guys. That should keep me busy until the next Stormlight Archive book comes out  .
|
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2014 21:11
|
|
|
Forgall posted:Have you read Greg Egan? Because you definitely should read some Greg Egan. Books that probably match your description best are Diaspora (far future posthumans decide to get out of their simulations and pay attention to real world again when nearby stars start mysteriously blowing up) and Schild's Ladder (far future posthumans try to figure out what to do about giant expanding sphere of altered vacuum that was accidentally created in an experiment on remote space station). Man, that sounds cool, however I feel I have to ask whether he holds any unusual views on minority groups, ug.
|
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2014 21:19
|
|
|
Velius posted:Charles Stross has a novel called Accelerando which is all about the singularity, but it has bad characters and it is one of the few books I've ever given up on. Accelerando is Stross waving his arms in the air and screaming "FUUUUUUUUTURE!!!" at you, as hard as he can. If you can get past that, it has a lot of interesting thoughts. Singularity Sky, on the other hand, is the only one of Stross' books that i felt like was a waste of my time after it was over. I'd seen the ideas somewhere else, they weren't deployed in a new or unique way, and the plot was basically a guided tour of said ideas.
|
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2014 21:19
|
|
|
WastedJoker posted:Is Neal Asher any good? I've seen his name around but can't think of a single book of his I might've read. I just saw Prador Moon on my recommendations on goodreads and wondered if anyone had anything to add? I've been thinking about Asher but have NO clue where to start with his work - can anyone make a recommendation?
|
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2014 21:38
|
|
|
^^^ I simply just started from the chronological beginning. Prador Moon is just world building and setting up the universe. There are a few references to one of the characters later on, but it's very much a stand alone book. Shadow of the Scorpion is again a stand alone book, but with Cormac as a child. I've only read the two first Cormac books so far and they are OK, if you go into them and just expect light entertainment. While there are some similarities to other Space Opera universes (AI, plenty of everything etc), it's definitely not on par with the Culture. These are the types of books I enjoy reading on the bus and when on vacation. A bit of pew pew, a bit of mil-sf, an interesting universe and that's it. So far, Ashers political views don't shine too much through, except for the macho mil-sf stuff. Ceebees posted:Accelerando is Stross waving his arms in the air and screaming "FUUUUUUUUTURE!!!" at you, as hard as he can. If you can get past that, it has a lot of interesting thoughts. http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/fiction/accelerando/accelerando-intro.html Fart of Presto fucked around with this message at 21:49 on Jan 6, 2014 |
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2014 21:40
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 15, 2024 00:20 |
|
|
Ceebees posted:Accelerando is Stross waving his arms in the air and screaming "FUUUUUUUUTURE!!!" at you, as hard as he can. If you can get past that, it has a lot of interesting thoughts. I'd never really encountered the idea of an economic singularity before, although I'd definitely been familiar with the technological version. I do feel like the mysteries he put forward in the storyline really weren't that gripping though.
|
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2014 21:43
|
|