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I've often heard that KJA is much better when writing his own work than when writing Dune or Star Wars fanfiction. How much better I couldn't say.
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Sep 22, 2014 14:28
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Any recommendations for spying/intrigue/spec ops heavy sort of books? I really enjoyed all of Banks' works and Hamilton's Commonwealth saga. Also I just finished the first Uplift trilogy by Brin and am somewhat disappointed. My gripes are mostly with the third book, The Uplift War. The happy resolution comes from a deus ex machina, and none of the mysteries that set up the conflict back in book 2 are resolved. Brief google search indicates that the next trilogy doesn't seem to resolve them either.
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Sep 23, 2014 22:16
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pokie posted:Any recommendations for spying/intrigue/spec ops heavy sort of books? I really enjoyed all of Banks' works and Hamilton's Commonwealth saga. Wasp was pretty good: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wasp_%28novel%29
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Sep 23, 2014 22:21
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pokie posted:Any recommendations for spying/intrigue/spec ops heavy sort of books? I really enjoyed all of Banks' works and Hamilton's Commonwealth saga. The second trilogy does resolve everything, you just have to wait until the third book for something interesting to happen. If you like reading about the live of some weird society in space, then the rest isn't too bad either.
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Sep 23, 2014 22:33
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blue squares posted:I saw a book called Leviathan Wakes at the book store by a James SA Corey. Is it any good? It looked cool but I know nothing about it (or space opera). Yeah, it's pretty good. Some of it is trope-y, but that's what you get with Space Operas. If you're going to read it, do it soon though, as SyFy has already begun casting it for a series.
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Sep 23, 2014 22:36
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Tanith posted:Is it better than the Dune prequels? That was my first and only ( Havent't read the Dune prequels, but I wouldn't recommend it. Each book in the series tries to outmatch the previous by putting in even more stuff and it actually all just goes downhill. I read the latter part of the series and it is kinda like seeing a train wreck slowly hurdle itself from a cliff, ie you know it is bad but you can't stop watching/reading. I bought my book in an airport, which I guess says a lot. XBenedict posted:Yeah, it's pretty good. Some of it is trope-y, but that's what you get with Space Operas. First and second book is ok, from thereon the series goes downhill.
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Sep 24, 2014 13:56
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)KJA, and I like pangalactic family feuding, but I'm wary.
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pokie posted:Any recommendations for spying/intrigue/spec ops heavy sort of books? I really enjoyed all of Banks' works and Hamilton's Commonwealth saga. Also interested in this. Although I can recommend a bunch non-SF ones off the top of my head. quote:Also I just finished the first Uplift trilogy by Brin and am somewhat disappointed. My gripes are mostly with the third book, The Uplift War. The happy resolution comes from a deus ex machina, and none of the mysteries that set up the conflict back in book 2 are resolved. Brief google search indicates that the next trilogy doesn't seem to resolve them either. Kiln People had the same problem: Brin sets up a nice crunchy SF setting and then goes completely off the rails into a magic-powered deus ex machina at the end, resulting in a profoundly unsatisfying ending. That and The Uplift War pretty much killed my desire to read more Brin.
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Sep 24, 2014 20:17
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pokie posted:Any recommendations for spying/intrigue/spec ops heavy sort of books? I really enjoyed all of Banks' works and Hamilton's Commonwealth saga. Singularity Sky and Iron Sunrise are a space opera duology by Charles Stross that heavily focus on intelligence/statecraft work. Main characters are spies, secret police, assassins, and black chamber agents.
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Sep 24, 2014 20:58
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Fried Chicken posted:Singularity Sky and Iron Sunrise are a space opera duology by Charles Stross that heavily focus on intelligence/statecraft work. Main characters are spies, secret police, assassins, and black chamber agents. Funny how that turned out to be a huge running theme in his later work. I kinda feel like Stross is secretly a little bit  about not having gotten to be a Cold War spy novelist, Thatcher Years notwithstanding.
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Sep 24, 2014 21:16
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eriktown posted:Funny how that turned out to be a huge running theme in his later work. I kinda feel like Stross is secretly a little bit Except Accelerando all of his works focus on that. Even the "Scotland, 2017" books have elements of it. It makes sense really, plucky band of ragtag heroes saving the world is an absurd concept, intelligence agents subverting/defending the state is something that really happens.
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Sep 25, 2014 15:58
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It's probably come up in the thread before, but speaking of Stross, is Neptune's Brood any good? I really liked Saturn's Children for its more modern take on "Heinlein space opera + Asimov robot mystery" formula. I know Neptune's Brood probably has almost no connection to it plot-wise, but even so, worth getting if I liked Saturn's Children?
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Sep 25, 2014 16:06
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I liked Neptune's Brood better in almost every way, though the ending is pretty abrupt and not great (and Stross has apologized for it in his blog; he says he was in an awful deadline rush when he finished the book due to having had to throw out half of it and rewrite it).
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Sep 25, 2014 16:19
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I'm wondering if someone who's a big fan of The Expanse (or at least very knowledgeable about it) can spoil a few things for me about it. The reason is because I've been working on a science fiction IP for nearly 10 years now, wrote several drafts of a pilot in 2010, and am working on a novel that fleshes out the world. A few things I've seen about The Expanse have been a tad too similar for comfort, so basically I'm looking for ways to avoid writing something that will be seen as a clone of it without needing to read through it myself, since I'd rather not have ideas from The Expanse coloring the way I write it (either subconsciously ripping it off or consciously avoiding certain subjects - either is a bad way to write). I'll probably get to reading it eventually, but I'd really like to know a few things about the following subjects just to see how similar my ideas already are: -How much detail do they go into about what the planets are like on the surface, how they developed, and what the civilizations there are like? Is everything fully terraformed and breathable or are there failed/struggling colonies and atmospheres? -Mine has no spaceships and no aliens. The method of transit is more space-bending oriented. The main antagonists are humans, and the technology they've created either going awry or breaking down and leaving us stranded. To what extent does The Expanse deal with these themes? I know a lot takes place on ships in space, but are they the main setting? And is everyone human? I did read something about alien technology but I don't know to what extent they use it. -Mine focuses less on politics and more on military conflicts, but also a greater conspiracy and some metaphysical stuff. How focused is The Expanse on military operations? Do individual planets act like countries or does each planet have its own internal political system? -I've heard The Expanse deals with a war between Earth and Mars. This is a particularly big issue for me because it's one of the central plot points of my story. What happens to trigger it, and what's the story arc like? How about the resolution? From what perspective is the war shown? Is it more background or does it have the full focus of the story? And does much of it take place on the ground? Mine is all land, sea, and air, but no space war. Since I'm aware that not everyone has read The Expanse, answers can either come in spoilers or you can PM me if you'd rather not post them all in the thread. I'd appreciate the help. Or if you can point me to a very detailed spoilery Wiki or something - most of the ones I've seen so far are scarce in details.
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Sep 29, 2014 22:39
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Bonk posted:-How much detail do they go into about what the planets are like on the surface, how they developed, and what the civilizations there are like? Is everything fully terraformed and breathable or are there failed/struggling colonies and atmospheres? Everyone is human... more or less, though it's implied that different environments and the difficulty of emigration from the Belt to high-G environments is causing Earthers, Martians and Belters to diverge physically. There's a caveat to this but I don't think it's one you need to worry about. The alien teck-nollogee is a scary goo-phase replicator that turns people into puke zombies (and has its own agenda). The setting is mainly on spacecraft and space habitats, with a few ventures onto the surface of Earth, Mars, and various moons and minor planets. Mars is lightly terraformed, though it has a long way to go. The outer planets are depicted as having incredibly fragile artificial ecosystems, and death and disaster happen in a matter of hours when those ecosystems are disrupted. We do see a colony on one of Jupiter's moons collapse when its ecosystem crashes due to damage during the Earth-Mars war; it's pretty clear that anyone who doesn't manage to flee as a refugee aboard a departing ship is probably going to starve to death over the next few weeks. In short, being a member of a failed or struggling colony in space basically means you're a dead man walking and your lifespan is measured in weeks. Bonk posted:-Mine focuses less on politics and more on military conflicts, but also a greater conspiracy and some metaphysical stuff. How focused is The Expanse on military operations? Do individual planets act like countries or does each planet have its own internal political system? Earth and Mars have their own governments; friction between the major planets and the Outer Planets Association, which starts off as a sort of business association of outer habitats but morphs into a revolutionary government, is a major plot point. Bonk posted:-I've heard The Expanse deals with a war between Earth and Mars. This is a particularly big issue for me because it's one of the central plot points of my story. What happens to trigger it, and what's the story arc like? How about the resolution? From what perspective is the war shown? Is it more background or does it have the full focus of the story? And does much of it take place on the ground? Mine is all land, sea, and air, but no space war. The war mainly happens offscreen. It basically happened because Earth and Mars were having a cold war, and both sides start flipping out because Earth corporations were experimenting with the alien goo and it got loose and killed a bunch of soldiers on both sides.
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Sep 29, 2014 23:04
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Your works don't sound very similar. You should be much less worried about some conceptual overlap in the already crowded space opera arena, and much more worried about actually finishing your work and getting it published.
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Sep 30, 2014 02:45
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General Battuta posted:Your works don't sound very similar. You should be much less worried about some conceptual overlap in the already crowded space opera arena, and much more worried about actually finishing your work and getting it published. This is good advice.
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Sep 30, 2014 03:09
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eriktown posted:This is good advice. It is and, also, stick with your instinct to not read the Expanse, there's much better stuff to have your writing be subconsciously influenced by.
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Sep 30, 2014 03:38
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Thanks for the details. I wasn't really that worried about it, just that now that it's gotten a TV deal I wanted to make sure I wasn't already going to be treading on too-familiar ground because it was originally a pilot and I have a series bible already. It sounds like most of what's similar happens for very different reasons, and the differences are strong enough that any comparisons are going to be very thin. I've been plinking away at it gradually because writing/editing other things is most of my day job, but I've been making good progress. I use Scrivener and it's been really awesome so far, especially for organizing something that takes place on so many different worlds.
Bonk fucked around with this message at 13:07 on Oct 17, 2014 |
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Sep 30, 2014 07:45
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savinhill posted:It is and, also, stick with your instinct to not read the Expanse, there's much better stuff to have your writing be subconsciously influenced by. Or read it when you're done since this is valid but everyone's tastes are different and I actually really like the books.
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Sep 30, 2014 12:09
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I just finished reading Cibola Burn and liked it. It felt a bit flat compared to the previous entries in the Expanse series though. It entertained me to be sure, but if something along the same lines exists, but is "better" I'm open to recommendations. I really like the universe presented in the expanse. I guess I'm looking for something where the characters aren't so one-dimensional/off a single mind and show something more akin to regular human traits/have more internal struggle or something.
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Oct 8, 2014 01:12
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dog nougat posted:I just finished reading Cibola Burn and liked it. It felt a bit flat compared to the previous entries in the Expanse series though. It entertained me to be sure, but if something along the same lines exists, but is "better" I'm open to recommendations. I really like the universe presented in the expanse. I guess I'm looking for something where the characters aren't so one-dimensional/off a single mind and show something more akin to regular human traits/have more internal struggle or something. I only just finished it two days ago and have similar sentiments. The last 100 pages took me a long time to get though and felt kind of disjointed close to the end. I honestly enjoyed the book quite a bit, but I think that I need a break from the Expanse series. I'll definitely return for the next two, although from what I've seen here the third book has a dip in quality, before picking up again for the fourth book. I've just started reading The Martian, which seems like a fun read.
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Oct 8, 2014 08:59
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Anybody know whether the newest Honorverse book ("A Call to Duty (Manticore Ascendant)") is more David Weber, or more Timothy Zahn? If it's more Zahn I'm inclined to pick it up, but... http://www.amazon.com/A-Call-Duty-Manticore-Ascendant/dp/1476736847
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Oct 8, 2014 16:26
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ulmont posted:Anybody know whether the newest Honorverse book ("A Call to Duty (Manticore Ascendant)") is more David Weber, or more Timothy Zahn? If it's more Zahn I'm inclined to pick it up, but... It looks like it avoids the biggest problems with Weber's writing. That is, it happens before the tech gets crammed up to ludicrous speed, Manticore isn't the dominant force in the galaxy,and it doesn't have Honor in it. Also Timothy Zahn.
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Oct 8, 2014 21:23
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Huh, that's a pretty interesting collaboration. If you're looking to produce a functional, engaging, easy-to-read space opera, Zahn is a good pick to counterplay Weber's flaws.
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Oct 9, 2014 01:34
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I picked up the kindle preview on Zahn's name, and the first chapter has two separate instances of Foolish Liberal Politicos, a main character that blatantly thinks his motivations at the reader, and generic milSF boot camp sequence #421. Also, a forward declaring it to be the intended first in a series of 3+ books, and a ship size-comparison chart that includes Haven ships because of course it does. So maybe this is the chapter Weber showed Zahn to say "please help"?
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Oct 9, 2014 05:21
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53 pages of thread, lightly skimmed, but I was wondering if the Ark Royal trilogy by Christopher Nutall would be considered Space Opera? Or would that just be generic sci-fi? It's about Humanity's first encounter with an alien race, and how an old museum warship brought back into service ends up being the only ship in the Space Navy able to stand up to the alien weaponry because it has solid armor instead of relying on force field/shield technology (which the alien weapons just punch through while only lightly scarring the old hull of Ark Royal). EDIT: Also, B.V. Larson's Star Force series. So 80's Sci-Fi it hurts, with nanotechnology, Artificial Intelligence and Humans/other non-robotic life forms vs. a universe-spanning empire of intelligent machines. Some Pinko Commie fucked around with this message at 14:46 on Oct 14, 2014 |
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Oct 14, 2014 14:43
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Yeah that'd be space opera, warts and all.
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Oct 14, 2014 20:26
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It's also kinda generic and honestly pretty mediocre. It has a couple nice concepts, like the way the aliens reproduction influences their society, but in the end it does feel rather uninspired to me. Like the author wanted to do a roughly WWII-period story but found the setting too constrained and just decided "screw it, we'll do this in space".
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Oct 15, 2014 02:53
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Wade Wilson posted:It's about Humanity's first encounter with an alien race, and how an old museum warship brought back into service ends up being the only ship in the Space Navy
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Oct 15, 2014 04:25
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Does anyone know of any Lovecraftian space operas? Preferably directly incorporating Lovecraft's mythology, although I'd take something just along the lines of cosmic horror in the cosmos also. I've always been interested in what the future of the Lovecraft setting would have been once humans started going out into space on their own and encountering the Mi-go and Old Ones on different planets as equals. I think the only thing that kind of comes to mind in that genre is Charles Stross's story "A Colder War".
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Oct 20, 2014 13:38
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Chairman Capone posted:Does anyone know of any Lovecraftian space operas? Preferably directly incorporating Lovecraft's mythology, although I'd take something just along the lines of cosmic horror in the cosmos also. I've always been interested in what the future of the Lovecraft setting would have been once humans started going out into space on their own and encountering the Mi-go and Old Ones on different planets as equals. I think the only thing that kind of comes to mind in that genre is Charles Stross's story "A Colder War". Nothing other than warhammer 40k.
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Oct 20, 2014 14:16
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Chairman Capone posted:Does anyone know of any Lovecraftian space operas? Preferably directly incorporating Lovecraft's mythology, although I'd take something just along the lines of cosmic horror in the cosmos also. I've always been interested in what the future of the Lovecraft setting would have been once humans started going out into space on their own and encountering the Mi-go and Old Ones on different planets as equals. I think the only thing that kind of comes to mind in that genre is Charles Stross's story "A Colder War". I've only read the first book in the Revelation Space series, but I think it would kind of fit the theme you're looking for: an alien species mysteriously goes extinct thousands of years ago, weird regions of space-time that only two men have returned from, and a FTL ship that's huge but mostly uninhabited/in serious dis-repair. If you're looking for something with fast pacing then WH40k might be something you'd enjoy, though I wouldn't really say that's space opera... 
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Oct 20, 2014 14:41
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Chairman Capone posted:Does anyone know of any Lovecraftian space operas? Preferably directly incorporating Lovecraft's mythology, although I'd take something just along the lines of cosmic horror in the cosmos also. I've always been interested in what the future of the Lovecraft setting would have been once humans started going out into space on their own and encountering the Mi-go and Old Ones on different planets as equals. I think the only thing that kind of comes to mind in that genre is Charles Stross's story "A Colder War". The Mutant Chronicles Trilogy.
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Oct 20, 2014 19:19
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The first two Revelation Space books are almost exactly what you want. Chasm City as well.
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Oct 20, 2014 19:53
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Chairman Capone posted:Does anyone know of any Lovecraftian space operas? Preferably directly incorporating Lovecraft's mythology, although I'd take something just along the lines of cosmic horror in the cosmos also. I've always been interested in what the future of the Lovecraft setting would have been once humans started going out into space on their own and encountering the Mi-go and Old Ones on different planets as equals. I think the only thing that kind of comes to mind in that genre is Charles Stross's story "A Colder War". In terms of cosmic horrors, there's the Graken-trilogy by Andreas Brandhorst.
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Oct 21, 2014 09:53
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New Peter Hamilton book out today, set in the Commomwealth. http://smile.amazon.com/Abyss-Beyon...s+beyond+dreams
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Oct 21, 2014 13:34
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rafikki posted:New Peter Hamilton book out today, set in the Commomwealth. poo poo, now I have to re-read my Void books, I remember practically nothing from the end of the trilogy.
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Oct 21, 2014 19:39
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Just FYI The last book in the Lost Fleet saga that focuses on the Midway systems, which rebelled from the Sydics, came out a few weeks ago. The Lost Stars: Imperfect Sword Also FYI, battle cruisers are smaller, faster battleships. They lack the firepower or armor of a real battleship but were much preferred by officers because they can charge fast into battle and be at the front.
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Oct 23, 2014 20:40
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Vanilla posted:Just FYI The last book in the Lost Fleet saga that focuses on the Midway systems, which rebelled from the Sydics, came out a few weeks ago. The Lost Stars: Imperfect Sword
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Oct 23, 2014 21:15
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Mars4523 posted:Is it any good? Or, well, marginally competently written? It's been discussed on here quite a bit. I feel it's worth a read, but is a bit repetitive. The last line of my post was a reference to that which many will get.
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Oct 23, 2014 21:36
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