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holocaust bloopers posted:Kindle tells me I'm 30% into American Gods. I'm finding it to be fairly unengaging. Does it pick up or continue developing at a fairly slow clip?
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Jun 4, 2014 19:41
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Cardiovorax posted:Not really, it's just really overrated, like a lot of Gaiman's work. Alright so it isn't me then. I was stoked to get it and it's not terrible by any means but I'm failing to see why it's so revered.
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Jun 4, 2014 19:49
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holocaust bloopers posted:Kindle tells me I'm 30% into American Gods. I'm finding it to be fairly unengaging. Does it pick up or continue developing at a fairly slow clip? Already been beaten here but this was suggested by a friend and I read about half of it before stopping.
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Jun 4, 2014 20:16
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holocaust bloopers posted:Kindle tells me I'm 30% into American Gods. I'm finding it to be fairly unengaging. Does it pick up or continue developing at a fairly slow clip? I did enjoy it but it doesn't really change. If you're not digging it at this point, you can drop it.
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Jun 4, 2014 20:49
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holocaust bloopers posted:Kindle tells me I'm 30% into American Gods. I'm finding it to be fairly unengaging. Does it pick up or continue developing at a fairly slow clip? If you aren't digging it by now you probably aren't going to. Give Good Omens a shot instead
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Jun 4, 2014 20:57
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Fried Chicken posted:If you aren't digging it by now you probably aren't going to. Give Good Omens a shot instead
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Jun 4, 2014 21:02
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Good Omens was awesome. American Gods was horrible. To be fair, it's one of those books where there's very little middle ground for people. Either they completely love it, or think it's horrible. Personally, I found it a drudge to get through and thought it was just annoying. I regret actually finishing the book because I have a bad habit of forgetting "a bad book doesn't get better". I've read some stinkers simply because I just KNEW they had to get better after this chapter, and they didn't 
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Jun 4, 2014 21:03
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:To be fair, it's one of those books where there's very little middle ground for people. Either they completely love it, or think it's horrible. I thought it was all right. v  vI read it, I'd read it again, but it didn't blow my mind or anything.
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Jun 4, 2014 21:18
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:To be fair, it's one of those books where there's very little middle ground for people. Either they completely love it, or think it's horrible. I'm in the middle ground, but I haven't read it in a while. The core idea of old gods living in a mortal world that doesn't believe in them anymore is full of potential that the book doesn't remotely meet at all. I really wish Gaiman had just made it as a collection of short stories about these gods as told through a road trip with Shadow and Wednesday rather than trying to tie it into some grand plot that is so, so very unsatisfying. With the grand plot, things just seem meandering, rather than just an exploration into this world. I think I found Anansi Boys more enjoyable, since it didn't take itself nearly as seriously. And Good Omens is wonderful, as noted.
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Jun 4, 2014 21:39
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American Gods was my second Gaiman book after Neverwhere and I loved it. I've re-read it several times. I like books that are about stories, belief and mythologies. I've also read everything else he's ever written, be it prose or comic, and loved it. I would say he's well-regarded, not overrated (which is just code for 'I don't like him but lots of other people do and they're obviously wrong').
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Jun 4, 2014 23:28
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Cardiovorax posted:Not really, it's just really overrated, like a lot of Gaiman's work. Agreedo American Gods just isn't that great I don't think I really like anything Gaiman writes, though, and usually when I'm reading something of his I just wish Clive Barker had written it instead.
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Jun 4, 2014 23:30
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bonds0097 posted:American Gods was my second Gaiman book after Neverwhere and I loved it. I've re-read it several times. I like books that are about stories, belief and mythologies. I've also read everything else he's ever written, be it prose or comic, and loved it. I would say he's well-regarded, not overrated (which is just code for 'I don't like him but lots of other people do and they're obviously wrong').
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Jun 4, 2014 23:43
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That's exactly the problem with Gaiman - he has a great idea, it's just time to move on to a new one. Every time Gaiman has released a new novel since American Gods, I look at the blurb and figure out which of his previous work it rehashes (and then I usually just go reread Sandman.)
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Jun 4, 2014 23:46
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Yeah I generally like his shorts better than his novels.
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Jun 4, 2014 23:47
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Kalman posted:That's exactly the problem with Gaiman - he has a great idea, it's just time to move on to a new one. I like Gaiman, but his thing has always been 'what if this concept/object was anthropomorphised?' over and over again across all his stories. It's been the same from Sandman right through to his Doctor Who episode. Crashbee fucked around with this message at 23:55 on Jun 4, 2014 |
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Jun 4, 2014 23:50
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GENDERWEIRD GREEDO posted:Agreedo American Gods just isn't that great
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Jun 4, 2014 23:55
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I really felt that Good Omens was juvenile/predictable and got bored of it 30% in. Oh look, you turned cerberus into a toy dog. ha ha I saw what you did there.GENDERWEIRD GREEDO posted:Agreedo American Gods just isn't that great
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Jun 5, 2014 01:28
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So I started reading the first Uplift book after a recommendation upthread. Please for the love of god, tell me the writing gets better as they go on? The story seems interesting but it honestly reads like it was written by someone from TV Tropes. Every second sentence ends with an exclamation mark, and the female characters (of which there are like 2 so far) are pretty much only described in terms of whether they are attractive or not.
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Jun 5, 2014 06:03
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Vulpes posted:So I started reading the first Uplift book after a recommendation upthread. Please for the love of god, tell me the writing gets better as they go on? The story seems interesting but it honestly reads like it was written by someone from TV Tropes. Every second sentence ends with an exclamation mark, and the female characters (of which there are like 2 so far) are pretty much only described in terms of whether they are attractive or not. If by first book you mean Sundiver, Startide Rising and The Uplift War are much better. I don't remember all that much about Sundiver, but I revisit SR and UW pretty often. Brin's not all that good a character writer, though; they tend to be pretty flat. But I just love the Uplift universe and wish there was more of it. Most people seem pretty down on the 'second' trilogy, but I like it.
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Jun 5, 2014 06:10
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Pyroclastic posted:If by first book you mean Sundiver, Startide Rising and The Uplift War are much better. I don't remember all that much about Sundiver, but I revisit SR and UW pretty often. Brin's not all that good a character writer, though; they tend to be pretty flat. I bought the trilogy as one e-book on Amazon, but yeah Sundiver sounds right given the plot so far. Glad to know it improves later.
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Jun 5, 2014 06:15
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I don't think anyone ever recommends starting Uplift with Sundiver, it's the shoddy prequel book you can go read if you want more stuff, even if it was published first.
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Jun 5, 2014 06:16
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Startide Rising is definitely the best. I was glad I'd read Sundiver first though.
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Jun 5, 2014 06:47
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I liked Sundiver best, because it didn't have masturbating dolphins or extended discussions of chimp genitals.
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Jun 5, 2014 08:30
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The two things SF literature needs more of if you ask me! edit: Hey talking about chimp genitals, has anyone read The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore? It seems kinda interesting but I'm wondering if it's good or not. Hedrigall fucked around with this message at 10:24 on Jun 5, 2014 |
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Jun 5, 2014 10:21
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GENDERWEIRD GREEDO posted:Agreedo American Gods just isn't that great If you're reading Coraline, he did.
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Jun 5, 2014 12:59
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Kalman posted:Every time Gaiman has released a new novel since American Gods, I look at the blurb and figure out which of his previous work it rehashes (and then I usually just go reread Sandman.) I'd include American Gods in this, given its treatment of the Norse gods and (minor American Gods/SANDMAN spoiler) Bilquis and Ishtar... Hedrigall posted:The two things SF literature needs more of if you ask me! Quoted for posterity, but more to the point, who the hell's the author? Someone might be able to say "Haven't read that one but her other book Columbus' Disintegration was awesome, so try it" or whatever. Sorry to pick on you, I know loads of people don't do this... (E:  ~*~*~*Cheers m8!!!11!!*~*~*~ )Also, the Hugo Voter Packet is now available, although I can't see a list of contents (yes, yes, I know... "Not most of Ancillary Justice"...). If you can afford to be banned four times, you can buy it and the right to vote, including voting for the Retro Hugos which will also be included. Vote for Ayn Rand's Anthem! Safety Biscuits fucked around with this message at 17:05 on Jun 5, 2014 |
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Jun 5, 2014 16:18
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House Louse posted:Quoted for posterity, but more to the point, who the hell's the author? Someone might be able to say "Haven't read that one but her other book Columbus' Disintegration was awesome, so try it" or whatever. Sorry to pick on you, I know loads of people don't do this... Oh okay. Has anyone read The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore by ~*~*~*Benjamin Hale*~*~*~ ?The plot by the way, is about an uplifted chimp who falls in love with a primate researcher. As a primate researcher who likes the concept of uplift in SF, I find this to sound fascinating, and I might read it. (I definitely have never had a chimp fall in love with me though.)
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Jun 5, 2014 16:26
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Hedrigall posted:Startide Rising is definitely the best. I was glad I'd read Sundiver first though. Seconded. Uplift war is not bad either. But Sundiver does not compare with the other two books By the way, I found the second trilogy quite inferior to the first one. I can't say way, but I didn't got caught by thr Brightness Reef world, nor their inhabitants, nor their personal stories.
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Jun 5, 2014 17:54
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Two books summaries were posted in the GBS "space thread":Yaos posted:I remember reading a cool short story about FTL travel, I wish I could find it again because it owned. In the story FTL travel was really easy to figure out, and everybody but Earth figured it out when they were in the pre-industrial age. In the story some space craft is coming after Earth and because Earth does not have FTL travel so the aliens assume Earth is some backwards planet full of idiots they can conquer. and d3c0y2 posted:There was a really shitily amazing book series that I forget the name of just now which involved two incredibly peaceful but diametrically opposed civilizations fighting a very low violence war for eons against each other because while they realise war is inevitable between the two of them they both abhor violence to such a degree that they can't bring themselves to just start vapourising each other. Anyone ever read either of these? Also, any good books where humans are not the put upon upstarts of an aged universe but the biggest baddest dudes in it? Preferably from the standpoint of an alien race that's being oppressed by them (us)?
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Jun 5, 2014 20:50
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I've read the latter, it's by Alan Dean Foster and called "The Damned" trilogy. I enjoyed them a lot, they're not exactly masterpieces but I wouldn't call them "lovely" either. The setting makes it sound like it should be milfic, but it isn't really. Their big selling point to me is how differently they portray humans from basically every other science fiction setting: instead of being the average to which all aliens are compared, aliens are the average to which we are compared. The premise is that all intelligent species eventually develop into a highly cultured pacifism out of evolutionary pressure or go extinct before ever becoming civilized. Only three or four out of hundreds of species are even capable of facing violence at all without going catatonic out of emotional trauma. Humanity is horribly, horribly different due to a number of factors and scares the piss out of everybody else as a result. The real narrative lies in the exploration of how humanity integrates with this galactic society, where everyone is all that our better impulses make us want to be but that we can't be.
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Jun 5, 2014 21:07
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Cardiovorax posted:I've read the latter, it's by Alan Dean Foster and called "The Damned" trilogy. I enjoyed them a lot, they're not exactly masterpieces but I wouldn't call them "lovely" either. It is a trilogy... First book is "A Call to Arms". I have just added it to my reading queue. Alan Dean Foster is usually a "light" read, and I'm now in the mood for that after "Germline".
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Jun 5, 2014 21:21
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zoux posted:Two books summaries were posted in the GBS "space thread": The first is Harry Turtledove's short story, "The Road Not Taken". Incidentally, the identify that story thread is the best place for this sort of thing.
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Jun 5, 2014 22:31
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zoux posted:Anyone ever read either of these? Also, any good books where humans are not the put upon upstarts of an aged universe but the biggest baddest dudes in it? Preferably from the standpoint of an alien race that's being oppressed by them (us)? I haven't read those, but the first kinda reminds me of a book called Pandora's Legions by Christopher Anvil. It's told from the perspective of aliens trying to invade Earth, but that turns out to be very difficult as we're naturally much smarter than they are, the only reason they have FTL and whatnot is because they're much better at working together and haven't wasted nearly as much time and effort fighting wars amongst themselves. Eventually we relent and join their galactic empire and effectively ruin the galaxy taking advantage of aliens with used-car-salesman type tactics. I last read it when I was a teenager so I can't swear as to its quality, but it is the sort of thing you're looking for and I remember it being pretty entertaining. Edit: Oh and the whole thing is adapted from his short stories written between the 50s and the 70s, so if you're particularly sensitive to the social justice issues brought up so often in this thread, I'd skip it. I don't remember anything blatantly offensive, but you won't see many female characters for example. Arcsech fucked around with this message at 22:56 on Jun 5, 2014 |
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Jun 5, 2014 22:47
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I'm about halfway through Brian McClellan's second Powder Mage book, Crimson Campaign, and it's really good so far. I like it even more than the first one.
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Jun 5, 2014 22:54
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Hedrigall posted:Oh okay. Has anyone read The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore by Looks interesting. Years ago I read The Woman and The Ape which seems to be a similar concept.
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Jun 5, 2014 23:49
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Mister Kingdom posted:Red Mars I liked, but I got about halfway through Green Mars and kept saying, "Get on with it!". Lord Hydronium posted:I read about half of Red Mars before getting sidetracked, but I did enjoy it, and it's a series I'd like to try again. How is 2312, for anyone who's read it? A few pages back, but everytime I hear someone say that they tried the Mars trilogy only to get bored with it I have to say this to them: Find the audiobook. KSR's a great world-builder, but his writing is dense as gently caress and difficult, at times, to force yourself through. I read the Mars Trilogy in the 90s and didn't like it too much (though that might have more to do with me being 9-10 when I was reading it), read it again in highschool and still didn't like it too much, but then listened to Red Mars while I was driving cross country. It works much better when you can just sit back and listen to how KSR describes Mars and the process by which it is peopled. The Mars Trilogy works way, way, way better as a radio documentary than as three books that you have to slug through. They're great as something that you can drop in and out of in terms of paying attention, letting myself get lost in the audiobook was the best time I've ever had with any of KSR's books.
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Jun 6, 2014 03:38
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Amberskin posted:It is a trilogy... First book is "A Call to Arms". I have just added it to my reading queue. Alan Dean Foster is usually a "light" read, and I'm now in the mood for that after "Germline". I'm reading Germline right now. It's utterly fantastic and heavy as hell.
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Jun 6, 2014 04:15
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zoux posted:Two books summaries were posted in the GBS "space thread": The first one is The Road Not Taken
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Jun 6, 2014 04:24
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Cardiovorax posted:I've read the latter, it's by Alan Dean Foster and called "The Damned" trilogy. I enjoyed them a lot, they're not exactly masterpieces but I wouldn't call them "lovely" either. This sounds really good and it's a pity that, from the sounds of it, the writing lets the idea down.
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Jun 6, 2014 12:47
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The writing isn't actually bad, as scifi goes I'd say it's at least average. It's more character-driven than high concept, which I guess makes it comparatively light reading to some tastes, but I think it does its premise justice.
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Jun 6, 2014 14:11
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