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Kilmers Elbow posted:Finished Hyperion last week following a spell of Simmons-induced ennui. I liked Hyperion enough. I enjoyed the short story aspect of each of the pilgrim's tales (The priests being my favorite, I agree the detectives was the worst). I got about halfway through Fall of Hyperion about a year ago and decided to re-start at the beginning, realized I don't remember much at all about it, and am having trouble making my way through it. I'm finding 2001 A Space Odyssey to be more interesting at the moment. On the other hand, the last story I finished was Leviathan Wakes which was amazing. Is Caliban's War worth reading?
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Sep 16, 2014 19:43
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I stumbled on 'Fear the Sky' the other day on an Amazon deal, and to my delight (after blasting through in a few days) discovered there is a sequel recently published, and a final book in a few months. Appears to be a fledgling authors first book (and series) about first contact with another species who are far more interested in the Earth than us. http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22171637-fear-the-sky Turned out to be really good with a lot of decent characters, good plot and fun times all round. Definitely worth a read.
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Sep 16, 2014 20:52
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Fiendish Dr. Wu posted:On the other hand, the last story I finished was Leviathan Wakes which was amazing. Is Caliban's War worth reading? Yes -- Caliban's War is definitely worth reading. I would have a hard time recommending the third book though, and still haven't gotten up the energy to read the fourth.
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Sep 16, 2014 20:53
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Has anybody picked up Upgraded yet? I read peter watts' contribution to it ("collateral") last night when i was half asleep and i think i missed something. How did the signal recovered from the dead college kid's cellphone camera, or whatever it was, manage to 'offline' Becker and how did that contribute to her course of action at the end of the story? It seemed like she would have reached the same conclusion without that having happened and i didn't understand how it fit into the chain of events.
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Sep 16, 2014 20:55
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McCoy Pauley posted:Yes -- Caliban's War is definitely worth reading. Awesome thanks!
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Sep 16, 2014 20:56
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Fiendish Dr. Wu posted:On the other hand, the last story I finished was Leviathan Wakes which was amazing. Is Caliban's War worth reading? While still good, I didn't think Caliban's War quite lived up to the high standards of awesomeness set in Leviathan Wakes. And I really didn't care much for Abaddon's Gate, which leaves me a little worried for the future of the series since they're contracted to write, what, nine more books in this universe?
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Sep 17, 2014 11:31
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I'm enjoying Jim Butcher's Codex Alera way too much. It's like a much better written David Eddings book with a few different takes on things but satisfies the itch for some easy reading fantasy series that also isn't 10+ books long also this is hilarious quote:The inspiration for the series came from a bet Jim was challenged to by a member of the Del Rey Online Writer’s Workshop. The challenger bet that Jim could not write a good story based on a lame idea, and Jim countered that he could do it using two lame ideas of the challenger’s choosing. The “lame” ideas given were “Lost Roman Legion", and “Pokémon”
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Sep 17, 2014 15:19
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Nuclear Tourist posted:While still good, I didn't think Caliban's War quite lived up to the high standards of awesomeness set in Leviathan Wakes. And I really didn't care much for Abaddon's Gate, which leaves me a little worried for the future of the series since they're contracted to write, what, nine more books in this universe? I enjoyed Leviathan's Wake immensely, but was a little thrown off by the direction it took at the end with the whole Julie thing. Does it continue in that direction?
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Sep 17, 2014 15:56
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Not immediately, I guess, though I'm not sure I know what you mean by 'that direction.' The sequel is solid and has some much better characters. Acceptance is really really good so far.
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Sep 17, 2014 16:04
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Fiendish Dr. Wu posted:
Yes, it is. In my opinion, it is the strongest of the three expanse books I have read so far (I have not read Cibola Burn yet). It has also the two best characters in the series: Avasarala (sp?), a very likeable politician who swears a lot, and Bobbie, an interresting female martian marine.
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Sep 17, 2014 20:03
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Fiendish Dr. Wu posted:I enjoyed Leviathan's Wake immensely, but was a little thrown off by the direction it took at the end with the whole Julie thing. Does it continue in that direction? Not really, I would say. In the second book the story morphs into more of a political thriller, if anything. Leviathan Wakes remains my favorite of the first three books because it nails the whole sci-fi noir vibe so perfectly, but as mentioned Caliban's War is also great.
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Sep 17, 2014 21:16
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There's a new storybundle available. Looks like some decent reads from the descriptions. http://storybundle.com/suspense Still have the Dark Fantasy one available as well : http://storybundle.com/darkfantasy (for the next day or so) As well as the cyberpunk : http://storybundle.com/cyberpunk
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Sep 18, 2014 01:02
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:There's a new storybundle available. I haven't read that particular title, but Brian Hodge is a phenomenal writer.
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Sep 18, 2014 03:09
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Ornamented Death posted:I haven't read that particular title, but Brian Hodge is a phenomenal writer. The Clive Barker one they got is good too.
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Sep 18, 2014 04:31
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Jedit posted:If you are still feeling critical of YA fiction, then mark the page in what you are reading, go to your nearest bookshop or the Kindle store, buy Dodger and Nation by Terry Pratchett, and read them. No to the first. Yes to the second. Dodger is a dull, stodgy book that is written for people who give out awards for YA fiction and that I can't imagine any actual young adult - or for that matter anyone who was disappointed by books like Snuff and Raising Steam and who is on the lookout for some top tier Pratchett - actually liking. Nation and the Tiffany Aching series a kind of prize-baity as well, but they're compelling reads. If you want to get any young person in your life into PTerry, go with the Johnny Maxwell books, or the Nomes Trilogy, or any of the early Disc novels (which are far more age appropriate, and more importantly, age accessible than anything the guy has published for kids in the last decade). High Warlord Zog fucked around with this message at 11:34 on Sep 18, 2014 |
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Sep 18, 2014 11:30
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Alzheimer is the worst loving piece of poo poo.
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Sep 18, 2014 18:28
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Finished Echopraxia the other day and that was easily the most boring book I've read all year. It felt like a good 50% of the book was spent badly describing unimportant crap, and the rest was Watts going on (and on, and on) about how much more badass future humans are going to be.
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Sep 18, 2014 19:44
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Dude almost died from flesh-eating bacteria and got permanently exiled from his biggest writing market, I'm willing to forgive him for Echopraxia being rough. I still enjoyed it. Did any of you guys read his (I kid you not) Crysis 2 tie-in novel? It was pretty good. Lots of opportunities for Watts to be a snarky, cynical gently caress, which he excels at.
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Sep 19, 2014 00:12
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eriktown posted:Did any of you guys read his (I kid you not) Crysis 2 tie-in novel? It was pretty good. Lots of opportunities for Watts to be a snarky, cynical gently caress, which he excels at. I unironically love that novel. To the point where I'll try and convince other sci-fi-reading friends of mine to read it. "Well, it's a novelization of a videogame no hang on it's actually pretty good come back--" But seriously, goddamn.
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Sep 19, 2014 02:26
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I liked it better than the game.
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Sep 19, 2014 06:22
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I liked that book too. I also really liked the game, mostly, I think, because of the book. And the multiplayer being hilarious and packed with idiots.
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Sep 19, 2014 07:00
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General Battuta posted:And the multiplayer being hilarious and packed with idiots. See also: every multiplayer videogame ever
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Sep 19, 2014 10:51
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Jedit posted:If you are still feeling critical of YA fiction, then mark the page in what you are reading, go to your nearest bookshop or the Kindle store, buy Dodger and Nation by Terry Pratchett, and read them. I didn't know Terry Pratchett wrote a book about the Artful Dodger! There's another book called Artful by Peter David which is coming up on my reading list, so maybe I'll read both.
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Sep 19, 2014 15:49
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Hey, anyone post about Robert Jackson Bennett's City of Stairs yet? New standalone secondary world fantasy, and really good! http://www.tor.com/blogs/2014/09/cultivating-wonder-robert-j-bennetts-city-of-stairs
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Sep 19, 2014 16:42
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So I just finished rereading the Magicians, and read The Magician King for the first time. I plan to move on to Land but I have a question for the thread first. Are there any INCREDIBLY uncomfortable and off putting scenes like Reynard the Fox at the end of Julie's story? Because if so, I'd just as soon not.
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Sep 19, 2014 18:29
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Dreqqus posted:So I just finished rereading the Magicians, and read The Magician King for the first time. I plan to move on to Land but I have a question for the thread first. Are there any INCREDIBLY uncomfortable and off putting scenes like Reynard the Fox at the end of Julie's story? Because if so, I'd just as soon not. No -- there's nothing like that. You'll be fine. onefish-- I haven't posted about it yet but I just started City of Stairs this week and am loving it. Really interesting setting.
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Sep 19, 2014 18:50
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onefish posted:Hey, anyone post about Robert Jackson Bennett's City of Stairs yet? New standalone secondary world fantasy, and really good! I posted in the "what did you just finish?" thread. Brandon Sanderson's publisher recommended this book, and I am so glad he did. This is an outstanding novel. The setting is unique and enthralling, based in a city and society two generations past the assassination of its deities and overthrow of a government by its slaves. It starts as a murder mystery, then peppers in spycraft and subterfuge, all the while setting up a few badass confrontations with gods, demigods, and cults. The characters are intelligent enough that it never feels like anything is intentionally overlooked, and the protagonist's revelations were often in line with my own. The only major complaint I have about the book is that it answers all of its questions. The mysteries it poses are all neatly wrapped in the end, so I feel like there's not much world-building left to do if Bennett wishes to revisit this setting. Oh, and it's written in the present tense, which is weird as hell. But yea, I can't recommend the book enough. It's really, really good stuff.
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Sep 20, 2014 12:18
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regularizer posted:I didn't know Terry Pratchett wrote a book about the Artful Dodger! There's another book called Artful by Peter David which is coming up on my reading list, so maybe I'll read both. Artful update: its preface is far better and funnier than most novels. Read it now "[b posted:Artful[/b]"] "[b posted:Artful[/b]"] regularizer fucked around with this message at 19:01 on Sep 20, 2014 |
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Sep 20, 2014 18:56
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City of Bohane is better than pretty much every pulp fiction book this godforsaken forum loves. Just trying to help.
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Sep 20, 2014 19:01
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genghis.khan posted:Finished Echopraxia the other day and that was easily the most boring book I've read all year. It felt like a good 50% of the book was spent badly describing unimportant crap, and the rest was Watts going on (and on, and on) about how much more badass future humans are going to be.
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Sep 20, 2014 22:39
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regularizer posted:Artful update: its preface is far better and funnier than most novels. Read it now It's probably by the xfactor guy. He's a great writer.
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Sep 21, 2014 10:03
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Finished up the last Craig Schaefer book this morning. The Living End. It was a great book. It didn't end the way I expected it to, but it was still pretty awesome.
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Sep 21, 2014 17:16
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:Finished up the last Craig Schaefer book this morning. The Living End. It did a suprisingly good job of resolving a bunch of stuff that was brought up in the first book. I'm impressed by how tight the plotting is. Definitely going to keep reading.
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Sep 21, 2014 17:54
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Daniel keeps ignoring the fact that he owes the one dude for his awesome car and gun. I wonder if that will be a catalyst for the plot of the next book.
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Sep 22, 2014 04:08
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corn in the bible posted:City of Bohane is better than pretty much every pulp fiction book this godforsaken forum loves. Just trying to help. It's alright. I really didn't think it was anything special.
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Sep 22, 2014 06:21
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Victorkm posted:Daniel keeps ignoring the fact that he owes the one dude for his awesome car and gun. I wonder if that will be a catalyst for the plot of the next book. They mention it a time or two in the last book, but it's literally "I have no time to worry about that, this is WAY more important" for each time it's brought up. I would not think you remiss in that idea though, because I can easily see the guy charging him an extra "job" fee for taking so long to get him paid back. Might be why the next book kicks off an adventure. That and I cannot possibly see Caitlin ever giving up that ride.
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Sep 22, 2014 07:37
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:They mention it a time or two in the last book, but it's literally "I have no time to worry about that, this is WAY more important" for each time it's brought up. Worst case scenario, the guy tries to get him to pay up by kidnapping his pretty businesswoman girlfriend, and a few bodies later everyone agrees to call things even.
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Sep 22, 2014 08:29
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I'm reading FOREVER WAR... It's AMAZING how fast we used to think our space travel technology would advance. The stuff he has going on in this novel is something that--today--authors would probably project to be two-hundred years from now, and Haldeman predicted it 25 years out. I know prediction isn't the point of sci-fi, but it's really interesting to see how we just assumed things would keep going. It seems like a rather reasonable assumption since we went from zero to the moon so quickly. angel opportunity fucked around with this message at 15:04 on Sep 22, 2014 |
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Sep 22, 2014 13:28
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I wonder how constant that is historically during the rise of new technologies. You have the singularitarians today drawing dubious trend lines to the nerd rapture, following on from the space enthusiasts promising Moon colonies and travel to the stars. Before that was there a literature of air travel enthusiasts or steam industrialisation enthusiasts?
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Sep 22, 2014 13:36
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Mars4523 posted:Considering how many world ending threats Daniel has defeated I'm thinking that he's a little out of the gun dealer guy's league. Eh, he's Jennifer's friend or at least business associate. I'd think that might earn him a little leeway in the "might be magical" department. Worst case Daniel has to do the jail job, which would at least make for an interesting read as well.
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Sep 22, 2014 13:42
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