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The Culture is good but it's not what he's asking for. It doesn't dwell much on intricate worldbuilding or history. It just creates an appropriate stage for that novel's drama, with some callbacks.
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Aug 5, 2014 19:03
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For intricate world building in a Sci-Fi setting, I did really like Peter Hamilton's stuff. his Commonwealth Saga (first book "Pandora's Star") covers this pretty well. He has a large and intricate sci-fi setting which he explores through many different POVs. One thing I particularly liked about it is how he showed what living in this universe would be like for multiple different socio-economic classes (there are some uber-rich elite leaders, middle class working people, frontier explorers, urban bureaucrats, etc. etc.) Many goons get turned off by his egregious sex scenes, but I didn't think they were that bad. It has also plenty of cool action and space battles and whatnot!
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Aug 5, 2014 19:12
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Peel posted:The Culture is good but it's not what he's asking for. It doesn't dwell much on intricate worldbuilding or history. It just creates an appropriate stage for that novel's drama, with some callbacks. Hmmm. Perhaps. Read the Cordwainer Smith's books, perhaps? The Foundation series by Asimov? The Golden Age and Count to a Trillion by John C. Wright? (The guy is bugfuck insane but I still enjoyed TGA.)
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Aug 5, 2014 19:20
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Does anyone know of anything similar to Charles de Lint's novels? He writes stories mostly about mythical beings--lots of Native American mythology, which is cool--that kind of straddle the line between magic realism and urban fantasy, and I absolutely love him but I've read all of his books now (...several times). I love urban fantasy in general (Kate Griffin, Melissa Marr, Kelley Armstrong and Patricia Briggs are some people I've read recently) so if anyone knows of any cool urban fantasy series that isn't just (ick) twilight with a different name I'd love to hear any suggestions.
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Aug 5, 2014 19:26
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Fraction posted:Does anyone know of anything similar to Charles de Lint's novels? He writes stories mostly about mythical beings--lots of Native American mythology, which is cool--that kind of straddle the line between magic realism and urban fantasy, and I absolutely love him but I've read all of his books now (...several times). Some of Clive barker's novels have the same sort of magic and mythology in the modern world vibe like de Lint's. I just read Daryl Gregory's Pandemonium, and while it's not urban-fantasyish really, it was a very good book with a modern world setting like our own except that demons based on archetypes from popular culture would possess people. You might enjoy that.
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Aug 5, 2014 20:50
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Fraction posted:Does anyone know of anything similar to Charles de Lint's novels? He writes stories mostly about mythical beings--lots of Native American mythology, which is cool--that kind of straddle the line between magic realism and urban fantasy, and I absolutely love him but I've read all of his books now (...several times). Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London series and Paul Cornell's Shadow Police are both cool urban fantasy series that have nothing to do with Twilight. Both are about police in London dealing with the occult, and despite that common element are pretty different. Both great and worth reading. Richard Kadrey's Sandman Slim series is another good one that is similarly unlike Twilight. It's sort of like if John Constantine was from Los Angeles. McCoy Pauley fucked around with this message at 21:50 on Aug 5, 2014 |
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Aug 5, 2014 21:47
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Someone in the GBS sci fi thread recommended MacLeod's The Cassini Division. The premise looks pretty interesting, but, given that the political leanings of the various factions crop up in the short descriptions, I am leery of hamfisted filibusters on the author's pet political causes appearing every 3 pages. Should I bother?
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Aug 5, 2014 22:04
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Neurosis posted:Someone in the GBS sci fi thread recommended MacLeod's The Cassini Division. The premise looks pretty interesting, but, given that the political leanings of the various factions crop up in the short descriptions, I am leery of hamfisted filibusters on the author's pet political causes appearing every 3 pages. Should I bother? I couldn't get through the politics. Which is a shame, because he's an okay writer otherwise.
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Aug 5, 2014 22:14
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McCoy Pauley posted:Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London series and Paul Cornell's Shadow Police are both cool urban fantasy series that have nothing to do with Twilight. Both are about police in London dealing with the occult, and despite that common element are pretty different. Both great and worth reading. I loved Rivers of London, but I found Cornell's Shadow Police stuff virtually unreadable. I bought the first book and got maybe two chapters in before putting it down. I found his writing oddly stilted and difficult to follow, and the chapters didn't grab me at all.
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Aug 5, 2014 22:16
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Megazver posted:Hmmm. Perhaps. Read the Cordwainer Smith's books, perhaps? The Foundation series by Asimov? The Golden Age and Count to a Trillion by John C. Wright? (The guy is bugfuck insane but I still enjoyed TGA.) Cordwainer Smith is mentioned less often than CJ Cherryh. And that's a crying shame because he's simply one of the best prose stylists ever to write science fiction. He wrote a few novels and a lot of short stories (mostly) set millennia in the future. They're all splendid; a few get an emotional reaction from me after many rereads in the course of decades. Baen reprinted most of his stuff recently; Smith balances out Ringo quite nicely.
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Aug 5, 2014 22:30
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eriktown posted:I loved Rivers of London, but I found Cornell's Shadow Police stuff virtually unreadable. I bought the first book and got maybe two chapters in before putting it down. I found his writing oddly stilted and difficult to follow, and the chapters didn't grab me at all. Yeah, the first few chapters are a slog. I only made it through them because I had nothing better to do. Try reading up to the point where they, uh, touch the cauldron and see if it picks up for you from there. It did for me, in an amazing way.
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Aug 6, 2014 00:15
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Neurosis posted:Someone in the GBS sci fi thread recommended MacLeod's The Cassini Division. The premise looks pretty interesting, but, given that the political leanings of the various factions crop up in the short descriptions, I am leery of hamfisted filibusters on the author's pet political causes appearing every 3 pages. Should I bother? I liked it, though I don't know how much sense it would make outside of the rest of the Fall Revolution series. I think The Star Fraction is a better book and probably a better place to start from. The politics were fine for me, especially since you don't get much overt Trotskyism in most SF stories. And the take on AI (more prominent in The Cassini Division) is fairly unusual also.
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Aug 6, 2014 01:21
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I started reading The Dark Defiles today. Morgan does not get nearly enough love for his fantasy series.
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Aug 6, 2014 01:55
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Ornamented Death posted:I started reading The Dark Defiles today. Morgan does not get nearly enough love for his fantasy series. Or does he? Since that series is set in the deep future of the Altered Carbon setting, and thus technically science fiction.
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Aug 6, 2014 02:18
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Ornamented Death posted:I started reading The Dark Defiles today. Morgan does not get nearly enough love for his fantasy series. Also, how the hell are you reading this already? 
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Aug 6, 2014 02:21
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eriktown posted:Also, how the hell are you reading this already? I got an ARC from Net Galley. I've said it before, if you want advanced copies of stuff, just start a review blog and eventually you'll be getting more books than you can possibly read. You probably won't get any of the big names (Butcher, Rothfuss, Sanderson, etc.) unless you can prove you get massive traffic, but you'll still never be wanting for something to read. Hell, I don't even have a blog and they still let me get this book  .
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Aug 6, 2014 02:25
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Ornamented Death posted:I got an ARC from Net Galley. I've said it before, if you want advanced copies of stuff, just start a review blog and eventually you'll be getting more books than you can possibly read. You probably won't get any of the big names (Butcher, Rothfuss, Sanderson, etc.) unless you can prove you get massive traffic, but you'll still never be wanting for something to read. Boo, hiss <starts terrible blog> Land Fit for Heroes feels underappreciated and I enjoyed it a whole ton. I find Morgan's sex scenes absurdly gratuitous and unnecessary in their detail, though, over the Kovacs books and these.
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Aug 6, 2014 03:23
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Too many classics to get through to start receiving an endless wave of new ones! On that note does anyone have a list of blogs that review SF (preferably ebooks)? I've just published a book through a new imprint (as in, I'm the editor/publisher) and am looking for publicity. I have contacted quite a few blogs and sites, but if anyone knows any bloggers that have a decent following and would be willing to read an Italian-to-English cyberpunk adventure story involving transhumanism and a world of trash that would be great! thehomemaster fucked around with this message at 03:40 on Aug 6, 2014 |
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Aug 6, 2014 03:37
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Neurosis posted:Boo, hiss <starts terrible blog> I haven't read the Kovacs series so I can't comment on that comparison, but I didn't feel the sex scenes in A Land Fit For Heroes were any worse than what you find in most fantasy that includes sex scenes. But so far, at ~25% in, there haven't been any sex scenes in The Dark Defiles and it doesn't really seem like the plot will allow time for one to happen. Edit: And on the topic of ARCs, it doesn't always work out well. A while back I mentioned I won one for Robin Hobb's latest, which comes out next week. I'm still waiting on that loving thing to show up and I'm going to be pissed if the hardcover I ordered shows up first. Ornamented Death fucked around with this message at 04:37 on Aug 6, 2014 |
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Aug 6, 2014 04:28
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Ornamented Death posted:
Is it about baby dragons again?
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Aug 6, 2014 05:27
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No, it's 'on third thought, I really didn't want Fitz to be happy after all'.
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Aug 6, 2014 05:58
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Fraction posted:Does anyone know of anything similar to Charles de Lint's novels? He writes stories mostly about mythical beings--lots of Native American mythology, which is cool--that kind of straddle the line between magic realism and urban fantasy, and I absolutely love him but I've read all of his books now (...several times).
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Aug 6, 2014 06:10
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Is Watt's Blindsight separate from the Rifters series (Starfish, Maelstrom, Behemoth)? Should I read it before or after?
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Aug 6, 2014 07:50
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Haerc posted:Is Watt's Blindsight separate from the Rifters series (Starfish, Maelstrom, Behemoth)? Should I read it before or after? Yes. I'd read Blindsight first, because it's great, but Starfish might be a little bit of a let-down afterwards. Still worth reading though.
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Aug 6, 2014 07:52
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Haerc posted:Is Watt's Blindsight separate from the Rifters series (Starfish, Maelstrom, Behemoth)? Should I read it before or after? They're completely disconnected. Just read it first because it's best. I think Starfish is quite strong too, though.
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Aug 6, 2014 08:31
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So is Alastair Reynolds one of those authors that likes to use as many words from a thesaurus as he possibly can? I'm about 50-60 pages into Revelation Space, which has been awesome so far, but I had to use the Kindle dictionary for three words on a single page once and about every other page at another section. Not that I don't mind coming across a new/interesting word every so often, but using an obscure 16th century word when "desk" would suffice is irritating. Maybe it's just me? I did just finish up with Leviathan Wakes, so my brain might still be stuck on S.A. Corey's writing style.
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Aug 6, 2014 08:38
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Fraction posted:I love urban fantasy in general (Kate Griffin, Melissa Marr, Kelley Armstrong and Patricia Briggs are some people I've read recently) so if anyone knows of any cool urban fantasy series that isn't just (ick) twilight with a different name I'd love to hear any suggestions. So far there have been at least three recommendation posts that did not mention Mike Carey's Felix Castor series, and hence are incomplete.
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Aug 6, 2014 09:16
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BadOptics posted:So is Alastair Reynolds one of those authors that likes to use as many words from a thesaurus as he possibly can? I'm about 50-60 pages into Revelation Space, which has been awesome so far, but I had to use the Kindle dictionary for three words on a single page once and about every other page at another section. Not that I don't mind coming across a new/interesting word every so often, but using an obscure 16th century word when "desk" would suffice is irritating. Maybe it's just me? I did just finish up with Leviathan Wakes, so my brain might still be stuck on S.A. Corey's writing style. Don't read Jack Vance.  (You should totally read all of Jack Vance.)
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Aug 6, 2014 10:14
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Jedit posted:So far there have been at least three recommendation posts that did not mention Mike Carey's Felix Castor series, and hence are incomplete. Fair warning, the protagonist in that series really, really, really, really likes to make his life harder than it needs to be. To the point where if there was a book where he won the lottery, but decided to take a hammer to his balls instead, it would not be really that out of place. I liked the series, but holy poo poo this dude just cannot go with the flow. I have to recommend Craig Schaefer's Daniel Faust series. First book is The Long Way Down, followed by Redemption Song. Both are honestly incredibly good. Protagonist is a black wizard (necromancer), who does odd jobs on the side, and he sort of ends up involved with all sorts of bad people. Honestly it took me till about the third chapter (or whenever he goes underground) to really get into it, but when it kicked off it really loving kicked off.
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Aug 6, 2014 10:38
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my bony fealty posted:I'm looking to get into a new sci-fi series that features expansive worldbuilding and a lengthy story documenting a future history of humanity - something like Revelation Space, or even Foundation. I really like the emphasis on crazy future technology that Revelation Space has, especially 'transhuman' elements. Neal Ashers Polity series should also be mentioned. Similar universe to Banks (ie AIs and aliens), but faster-paced, more nihilistic and the best and most horrible eco-systems within scifi.
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Aug 6, 2014 13:34
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Megazver posted:Don't read Jack Vance. Similarly, don't read (but actually definitely do) China Miéville. I honestly didn't find Reynolds that bad with regards to his vocabulary when he was going through scenes dealing with characters and plot. I've found most of his verbosity comes when he delves into the science aspects of his world, but I give him a pass because he literally was a scientific researcher for the ESA before becoming a writer, so that probably informs his terminology quite a bit. Miéville definitely seems a lot more like the type of author who writes with a thesaurus within arm's reach, but his stories are great so what are you going to do?
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Aug 6, 2014 15:01
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General Battuta posted:They're completely disconnected. Just read it first because it's best. I think Starfish is quite strong too, though.
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Aug 6, 2014 16:16
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I agree. Behemoth in particular felt really regrettable to me.
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Aug 6, 2014 16:29
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Yeah. Even though I read it as a single thing instead of the two books it was published as, it just felt sloppy. Making Lenie's whole "revenge" arc be based on a lie and turning the book into a big revenge story was just... eh. It was like he took advice from people's criticisms of Maelstrom and went "sure, how about I return to the bottom of the ocean" but never really capitalized on the horror and beauty of the setting he'd built. Lenie was too dark, the repercussions of the story in Starfish and Maelstrom too hosed up, and it just put a sour taste in my mouth. Plus, there was a not-insignificant amount of sexual torture, if I remember right. I'm glad that when I read it, I followed it up with Blindsight because it bumped Watts back up in my mind, and I'll constantly think of Starfish as a great book, but man. Man. I haven't thought about Behemoth in years, what a bummer.
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Aug 6, 2014 19:42
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In Lev Grossman's The Magicians trilogy, can someone refresh me on who the neither worlds monks are? I know Penny is now one of them, but I forgot who the rest of them are/how they got their start/how they recruit new members. Also are dragons bad guys or good guys? And what's Alice's deal again with regards to how she got into Brakebills/why she never took the entrance exam?
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Aug 6, 2014 19:59
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regularizer posted:In Lev Grossman's The Magicians trilogy, can someone refresh me on who the neither worlds monks are? I know Penny is now one of them, but I forgot who the rest of them are/how they got their start/how they recruit new members. Also are dragons bad guys or good guys? And what's Alice's deal again with regards to how she got into Brakebills/why she never took the entrance exam? I believe the answer to the first two questions is that neither is really explained in the prior book. I take the dragons as being good guys because they team up with the Neitherworld monks against the old gods, but mostly the dragons just seem sort of mysterious. as for the third question my recollection is that Alice isn't allowed to sit for the Brakebills test because of what happened to her brother, like the school thought it would be too traumatic for her to be there, so she just travels to the area near the school by cab and wanders around the woods until they find her and let her in.
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Aug 6, 2014 20:42
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McCoy Pauley posted:I believe the answer to the first two questions is that neither is really explained in the prior book. I take the dragons as being good guys because they team up with the Neitherworld monks against the old gods, but mostly the dragons just seem sort of mysterious. Also having just finished Magician's Land...this is probably is the best in the series.
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Aug 6, 2014 22:38
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lurksion posted:The first two questions are still pretty much unanswered (more questions raised about #1, actually) by the end of the third book as well. I believe the answer to the last (as spoilered above) was answered somewhere in book one. That's pretty upsetting, they were my favorite part of the first two books and I just got to the part where they try to steal the Chatwin bag that Quentin was hired to help steal, so not getting some explanation of who they are kind of sucks.
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Aug 6, 2014 23:16
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I'm still working on The Blade Itself and after a good start, it seemed the story was really spinning its wheels. But the Logen chapter titled Tea and Vengeance (at the end of Part I) was sooooo good. There wasn't a lot of story, but the tension, the dialogue, the excitement, the use of language - it was terrific. It read smoothly but felt worded beautifully. My only issues were that it was hard to tell how close Blacktoe actually was, and the bodycount got a little absurd. But I hope there's more as good as that. (I know there's a Joe Abercrombie thread, but I'm afraid to take these comments there for fear of spoilers.) coyo7e posted:Should Kalak ought to have been named "bill" or something? You're mixing up character names with nouns and verbs, which strikes me as you trying a bit too hard to find something to bitch about (when there's plenty to dislike, without having to jumble everything together and then claim that it's all the same.) At face value, "Legolas" is at least as generic fantasy bullshit as "Kalak". And then you gotta realize that Sanderson is pretty much king of making up generic fantasy bullshit, if you've read any of his other stuff. Plus overuse of "K"s is the equivalent of spelling extreme without the 'e' - it's like cheesy nineties garbage. There were actually names I thought were okay in the audiobook version when I assumed they were Zeth, Sen and Calladin...Then kinda hated them when it turned out they were written as Szeth, Cenn and Kaladin. coyo7e posted:Way of Kings starts off slow but keep in mind that you've barely even scratched the surface. It quickly ramps up into Thanks for the info on the sketches. I wonder if the audiobook does anything to compensate for that or draws any attention to it. I should have a look for these pictures.
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Aug 7, 2014 06:47
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though, and eventually hits DBZ levels of crazy.
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my bony fealty posted:I'm looking to get into a new sci-fi series that features expansive worldbuilding and a lengthy story documenting a future history of humanity - something like Revelation Space, or even Foundation. I really like the emphasis on crazy future technology that Revelation Space has, especially 'transhuman' elements. You mention Revelation Space but have you read Reynolds' House of Suns yet?
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Aug 7, 2014 12:29
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