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gender illusionist posted:Man, that sounds cool, however I feel I have to ask whether he holds any unusual views on minority groups, ug.
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Jan 6, 2014 21:56
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I found a self-published fantasy book today in a bin. The author description is magical (literally): 
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Jan 6, 2014 22:41
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Megazver posted: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: I really liked your other recommendation post on martial fantasy, I read about 5 of the 7 you listed and thoroughly enjoyed them. Just wanted to say thanks a lot, I will check some of these out too. I thought that Anthony Ryan book was going to suck with its generic fantasy name and premise but surprisingly I thought it was the best of the bunch.
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Jan 6, 2014 23:40
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I've been bored waiting for a new Vorkosigan book from Lois McMaster Bujold, so I went and grabbed the first of her Sharing Knife series without reading anything about it first. It's good, and I'm enjoying it for the most part, but knowing that it's fantasy-romance before might have been nice. I swear the last hour or so has been taken up with the protagonists loving each other and it's starting to get old.
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Jan 6, 2014 23:55
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crowfeathers posted:I found a self-published fantasy book today in a bin. 
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Jan 6, 2014 23:56
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coyo7e posted:Well, we gotta know what the book is, and who the author is. Also, post a review.  That's the author description, this is her. Real name Cheri Lesh, seems to be some dumb burnt out hippie.
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Jan 7, 2014 00:02
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coyo7e posted:Well, we gotta know what the book is, and who the author is. Also, post a review. The author is the description I posted, she's a professional Wiccan and psychic. The book is The Heart of the Fire and is a "erotic historical fiction" but it fails at all of those, including the fiction part since according to the author it isn't made-up but is drawn from her natural-born time travel skill, which she used to access her past lives and document them (she has written other novelizations of other past lives, apparently). So according to her it's non-fiction. According to anyone who isn't crazy, it is fiction. quote:It is an authentic past-life chronicle, a unique and revealing window into the lives of historical Witches from their own viewpoint; who they were, what they believed, what all of us lost as the magical web of life was torn asunder. It's basically a terrible romance novel. Fiona, the heroine, has sex with people, and also she punches a goat to death. Her grandmother is a witch, and they do weird witch-stuff like invoking Baphomet and trying to kill people with magic. Also she's a lesbian sometimes because that is "more pure" because it doesn't include men, although their coven has some men in it who are not named as far as I know. Sometimes the author starts writing page after page of insane hippie witch nonsense. quote:Hypnotic access to time travel is one shamanic tool among many from which we may heal our shattered sense of self, recreating our awareness of continuity and restoring our knowledge of our sacred essence and its immortality. The book ends with the church realizing Fiona is too sexy and lesbian to be allowed to live, and also that she is a witch, so she is burned at the stake for being too cool for the patriarchy so please become a wiccan today everybody corn in the bible fucked around with this message at 01:24 on Jan 7, 2014 |
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Jan 7, 2014 01:21
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Seldom Posts posted: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. I know it isn't Sci-Fi but Charlie Huston's Hank Thompson Trilogy is probably the best crime story ever. Caught Stealing, Six Bad Things and A Dangerous Man. Fantastic.
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Jan 7, 2014 01:34
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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? Asher's Spatterjay books are his best work and The Skinner is a great book. The Agent Cormac stuff is OK also, but Spatterjay is awesome.
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Jan 7, 2014 01:38
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I feel like reading too much Dan Simmons helped put me off of science fiction for a while. I read Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion about a year ago and I haven't really picked up any scifi since.
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Jan 7, 2014 01:50
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A good optimistic scifi series I read through recently was the sector general books It's basically a medical drama in space, weird aliens come in and then they have to figure out what the hell they are in order to do surgery or whatever. There's lots of silly theorizing about evolution and it's just generally entertaining. Unfortunately the series started in the 1960s and women aren't allowed to be space-doctors, so that aspect can be off-putting, especially since the giant alien insects are allowed to be doctors Anyway it's interesting series and you should check it out; the first couple of books have been put into omnibuses which are pretty easy to find and are also available as eBooks.
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Jan 7, 2014 02:04
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thespaceinvader posted:I've been thinking about Asher but have NO clue where to start with his work - can anyone make a recommendation? Either Gridlinked or The Skinner. They're separated by enough time that reading one doesn't really spoil the other. The Skinner is better but Gridlinked was written first and is still okay. Gridlinked is more of a straight sci fi action book about an agent of the principal human civilisation who has recently been disconnected from mental interface with AIs tracking down a terrorist. The Skinner is about a world in the same universe with one of the most bizarre ecosystems I have ever read about. The world was set up by criminals and kind of deals with the fallout of that, in addition to the fact that some of the native flora give immortality (not as big a deal in this setting as it sounds because there are other paths to immortality but it's still important). What really sets Asher apart for me is his imagination for alien life. Some really cool ideas as to how a planet's biosphere might develop. The quality of the writing is solid, too, and the books move along at a decent pace. The only thing some people find odious about Asher's politics is he will often interject with statements on the superiority of artificial intelligences to humanity and how everyone who doesn't allow an AI to make all of the political and bureaucratic decisions is a fool. It might be seen as a little authoritarian but I don't really have any problems with it because if we actually did develop benevolent weakly godlike intelligences I'd probably want them making decisions for us as well.
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Jan 7, 2014 03:31
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I'll strongly second the James White Sector General books. They can be a little off-putting (as mentioned the gender issue - though this does get a little better in the later books), and since they are collections of separately published short-stories, it does get a somewhat annoying the tenth time you see it explained the reason humans are classified as species type DBDG, etc. But they are good stories and well worth anyone's time.Neurosis posted:The only thing some people find odious about Asher's politics is he will often interject with statements on the superiority of artificial intelligences to humanity and how everyone who doesn't allow an AI to make all of the political and bureaucratic decisions is a fool. It might be seen as a little authoritarian but I don't really have any problems with it because if we actually did develop benevolent weakly godlike intelligences I'd probably want them making decisions for us as well. The AI political stuff is forgiveable, and usually understandable from the character's POV (though see Ken MacLeod's work for a rather different perspective on AIs). Later on in the Cormac novels you get a bit of odious taker-vs-maker type stuff creeping in that can't really be seen as anything other that straight word-of-author. But even with that I enjoyed most of Asher's novels. I had no idea the Splatterjay novels took place so much later than the Cormac stories - I though they were pretty much contemporaneous. (I would have sworn at least one of the Cormac novels takes place after The Skinner, though I can't remember enough details to say why I think that).
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Jan 7, 2014 04:07
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Play posted:Also Finch is a great sort-of detective story set in a very strange fictional universe. Just wanted to second this suggestion for cross-genre stuff. Finch is a follow-up story set in the same city as two previous books by the same author, but each book can stand on its own. There are some references to an earlier book in Finch, but you could easily read Finch first and then read the previous book (Shriek: An Afterword) second if you liked Finch and want more. As said, Finch is sort of a hard-boiled detective story set in a city that has been taken over by mushroom-people. Finch works for "the man" as a detective, but becomes caught up in revolutionary stuff during the course of the book.
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Jan 7, 2014 05:38
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Hobnob posted:
Yeah, it gets noticeable later on that Asher is a right-leaning (in the European sense, so about a right-wing Democrat converted into the US spectrum) libertarian. Not to a degree that distracted from my enjoyment though, despite being about the opposite of my political beliefs.
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Jan 7, 2014 07:21
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The ending to the Agent Cormac series where they revealed that Earth Central was assassinated for being a manipulative bastard really struck me as an odd, jarring note given his aforementioned pro AI/authority stance though I still enjoyed the series. The Spatterjay sequence was much better though is that whole universe one vast Jain plot? I really enjoyed Cowl, very imaginative dystopian time travel revenge fest. Some of his politics does come through but not enough to ruin it for me. Really good fun, only one it hood I've actually bothered to reread if that's any endorsement. I haven't read his new series yet, is it any good?
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Jan 7, 2014 14:09
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The Gunslinger posted:I really liked your other recommendation post on martial fantasy, I read about 5 of the 7 you listed and thoroughly enjoyed them. Just wanted to say thanks a lot, I will check some of these out too. I thought that Anthony Ryan book was going to suck with its generic fantasy name and premise but surprisingly I thought it was the best of the bunch. To be honest, I don't recall recommending any martial fantasy in this thread. I suspect you mistake me for someone else. (Did that list have The Thousand Names, The Ten Thousand, The Black Company or Red Knight? That's probably what I'd recommend if 'martial' meant 'military'. If it was 'fantasy with martial arts' I'd be stumped.) On the other hand, I have recommended Blood Song here several times before, so thanks I guess? 
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Jan 7, 2014 15:36
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Yeah sorry just a brain fart, I meant military. I thought The Thousand Names was pretty good but that it suffered a bit from introducing the usual fantasy magical stuff far too late into the story. I had long since become accustomed to the more grounded approach it seemed to be taking then it pulls the rug out from under you a bit. Overall a good book, it felt the best elements of a Glen Cook novel without the simple, non descriptive narrative style he has.
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Jan 7, 2014 23:03
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That... was not a problem I've had with it. I mean, it introduces the antagonists and has them explicitly do magic poo poo before it even introduces the protagonists. “Now,” she said, “we shall have some answers.” “This is Mother,” said Akataer, in a high, clear voice. “I charge you to answer her questions, and speak truthfully.” The corpse shifted again, drooling another skein of smoke. The glowing green eyes were unblinking. “You followed Jaffa here,” the old woman said, gesturing at him. “This man.” There was a long pause. When the corpse spoke, more smoke escaped, as though it had been holding in a draw from a pipe. It curled through the girl’s hair and hung oddly still in the air above her. Her voice was a drawn-out hiss, like a hot coal plunged in a water bucket. “Yesssssss . . .” Jaffa swallowed hard. He’d been half hoping Mother was wrong, though that meant the girl would have died for nothing. Small chance there, though. Mother was never wrong. “And who bade you follow him? Who are your masters?” Another pause, as though the dead thing were considering. “. . . Orlanko . . . ,” she said eventually, reluctantly. “. . . Concordaaaaaat . . .” “The foreigners,” the old woman said. She made a hawking sound, as though she would spit but didn’t have the juice. “And what were the raschem looking for?” “. . . Names . . .” The corpse groaned. “. . . Must . . . have . . . the Names . . .” She wriggled in Onvidaer’s grasp, and the green flared brighter. Akataer glanced anxiously at the old woman, who waved one hand as though bored by the proceedings. “Dismiss her,” she said. EDIT: Was this my rec post? Yeah, these are all drat good. Read the other two. All but Thousand Names and Blood Song have sequels out by now, too. Megazver fucked around with this message at 23:59 on Jan 7, 2014 |
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Jan 7, 2014 23:34
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crowfeathers posted:Fiona, the heroine, has sex with people, and also she punches a goat to death. Best book summary.
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Jan 7, 2014 23:42
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Enfys posted:Best book summary. Better that than the other way around.
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Jan 7, 2014 23:52
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Megazver posted:That... was not a problem I've had with it. I mean, it introduces the antagonists and has them explicitly do magic poo poo before it even introduces the protagonists. Yeah you're right, I forgot about that. I guess I just got used to the seemingly grounded not-British musket style warfare that made up the majority of the book and was ignoring other foreshadowing and magical elements (healing, super powerful foes, etc) that hinted about what it was building up to. The Gunslinger fucked around with this message at 00:05 on Jan 8, 2014 |
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Jan 8, 2014 00:01
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The Gunslinger posted:Yeah you're right, I forgot about that. I guess I just got used to the seemingly grounded not-British musket style warfare that made up the majority of the book and was ignoring other foreshadowing and magical elements (healing, super powerful foes, etc) that hinted about what it was building up to. Yeah, I figured. By the way, if you want to chat about the other books or get more reccomendations you can hit me up on Gtalk (the Google IM thing). I'm megazver there as well. I always love hearing about what people thought about the poo poo I've recommended. (Most of my buddy list there is basically people who I bully into reading books that I liked. I have no regrets.)
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Jan 8, 2014 00:16
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Decius posted:Yeah, it gets noticeable later on that Asher is a right-leaning (in the European sense, so about a right-wing Democrat converted into the US spectrum) libertarian. Not to a degree that distracted from my enjoyment though, despite being about the opposite of my political beliefs. Neal Asher @nealasher 2h Oh gently caress off. The cold in the US is due to global warming? Now I have to figure out precisely when it was I entered the Twilight Zone. #fb
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Jan 8, 2014 01:54
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fritz posted:Neal Asher @nealasher 2h Haha god dammit.
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Jan 8, 2014 01:56
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Enfys posted:Best book summary. The way it happens is honestly pretty great, too. She's attacked by a goat and her friend tells her to use witch powers, but she doesn't know how yet so she just punches the goat instead. It immediately falls the gently caress over.
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Jan 8, 2014 02:02
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I read a short story of Asher's in some compilation and I immediately got the feeling he was kind of a twat
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Jan 8, 2014 02:03
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fritz posted:Neal Asher @nealasher 2h I have Gridlinked and Line of Polity I got used from a yard sale. I'm now contemplating ritually burning them instead of reading them. I'm not even kidding. drat you, SF author derangement syndrome. (I do believe they're supposed to be good and not-obnoxious books, though.)
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Jan 8, 2014 07:30
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fritz posted:Neal Asher @nealasher 2h A refrigerator compressor can overheat? Heh, nice try pinkos 
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Jan 8, 2014 07:54
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EdBlackadder posted:The ending to the Agent Cormac series where they revealed that Earth Central was assassinated for being a manipulative bastard really struck me as an odd, jarring note given his aforementioned pro AI/authority stance though I still enjoyed the series. The Spatterjay sequence was much better though is that whole universe one vast Jain plot? I thought The Owners (new Asher series) was awful and I gave up on it about 1/3 way through book 1. His fantastical weaponry works well in the far future but this was sort of inexplicable Dystopian something or the other. Then again, I own every other book he wrote and some collector stuff as well that he signed for me but Cowl was my least favorite of all his books so our tastes might be different although Spatterjay - great.
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Jan 8, 2014 08:28
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Ceebees posted: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. The really fun part was how he borrowed an incident from real history for a major part of the plot: Specifically the 1904-1905 attempt by Russia to send the Baltic Fleet the long way around to the Far East to fight the Japanese. Which was all kinds of hosed up to the point where it's kind of hard to believe it's something that actually happened in real history. (They started out by shooting at some British fishing vessels in the North Sea in the belief that they were Japanese torpedo boats, and it only got worse from there.)
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Jan 8, 2014 14:10
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Mr.48 posted:A refrigerator compressor can overheat? Heh, nice try pinkos
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Jan 8, 2014 14:31
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fritz posted:Neal Asher @nealasher 2h And I was going to read his stuff too. Can there be one sci-fi author who isn't a massive shitheel (or dead)? 
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Jan 8, 2014 17:23
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Strategic Tea posted:And I was going to read his stuff too. Can there be one sci-fi author who isn't a massive shitheel (or dead)? I find this kind of farcical. Reading one tweet and suddenly "Nope! I wouldn't enjoy those! Couldn't allow myself to enjoy them, in fact!" is pretty silly.
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Jan 8, 2014 18:08
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fritz posted:Neal Asher @nealasher 2h Ok, far more looney than I remembered. BTW where I live it is about 5-10°C for weeks now. Around this time it should be rather -5-10°C. Strategic Tea posted:And I was going to read his stuff too. Can there be one sci-fi author who isn't a massive shitheel (or dead)? Scalzi and Stross might not write the most groundbreaking prose, but at least they have their head screwed on the right way.
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Jan 8, 2014 18:10
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Eh, Asher's books are pretty entertaining and have some fantastic world building however I've only read the Agent Cormac books. Anyone have any thoughts on Stephen Baxter's books? Was reading the blurb for Proxima and it sounded like a cool read. Saw he has a whole other stack of published work which also sounded interesting.
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Jan 8, 2014 18:41
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Decius posted:Scalzi and Stross might not write the most groundbreaking prose, but at least they have their head screwed on the right way. I've been wildly underwhelmed by Scalzi's recent output, but Stross has been improving in both quality and rate of output. (I was sad that he's returning to the Merchant Princes millieu for another whole trilogy, because it was my least favorite of his work, but I have to admit the things he's said about the new trilogy have made me kind of excited for it anyway.)
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Jan 8, 2014 18:44
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ed balls balls man posted:
Manifold Space and Time are good books, and I really liked The Time Ships which is basically written as a sequel to The Time Machine. He has a lot of cool ideas and it's also interesting to see some of them (for example one of the main characters is a tech industrialist who creates a cheaper, privatized space vehicles like what SpaceX is doing) actually becoming reality.
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Jan 8, 2014 18:51
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Vacuum Diagrams is pretty good. I couldn't get into his novels.
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Jan 8, 2014 19:10
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ed balls balls man posted:Anyone have any thoughts on Stephen Baxter's books? Was reading the blurb for Proxima and it sounded like a cool read. Saw he has a whole other stack of published work which also sounded interesting. I liked him up to and including Voyage. Then I read Titan and one of the Manifold: Something books and never touched him again, because why would you after those.
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Jan 8, 2014 19:22
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