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Also the main Lost Fleet books have one of the worst, though admittedly not Honor Harrington bad, Marty Stus out there. The secondary series about the breakaway Midway system, on the other hand, have less perfect and therefore much more interesting protagonists and are better reads for it.
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Oct 23, 2014 23:09
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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 What about "Black Jack" Geary? Is he a soon-to-be dictator, or a thoughtful, considerate officer who respects the rule of law and civilian governance? I'm not sure which one it is this sentence.
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Oct 24, 2014 02:21
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Velius posted:What about "Black Jack" Geary? Is he a soon-to-be dictator, or a thoughtful, considerate officer who respects the rule of law and civilian governance? I'm not sure which one it is this sentence. He's an annoying Marty Stu who would make the whole series better through his death. 
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Oct 24, 2014 15:17
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jng2058 posted:He's an annoying Marty Stu who would make the whole series better through his death. Mercifully offscreen this series though.
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Oct 25, 2014 02:03
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From what I remember of the Lost Fleet books the love triangle subplot managed to be worse than the repeated necessary explanations of what a battle cruiser is and people thinking "Black Jack" was going to take over the universe combined.
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Oct 25, 2014 04:52
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G. Quietly posted:From what I remember of the Lost Fleet books the love triangle subplot managed to be worse than the repeated necessary explanations of what a battle cruiser is and people thinking "Black Jack" was going to take over the universe combined. I read them earlier this year. You remember correctly.
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Oct 25, 2014 14:54
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Upcoming Alastair Reynolds book, Slow Bullets. Standalone, I think? http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2014/10/coming-soon-slow-bullets-by-alastair-reynolds/ Cannot wait 
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Oct 25, 2014 15:09
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Nuclear Tourist posted:Upcoming Alastair Reynolds book, Slow Bullets. Standalone, I think? Sounds interesting; pretty short too at only 192 pages.
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Oct 25, 2014 15:33
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I felt like the lost fleet books were good bad books. They had some obvious flaws but they're enjoyable popcorn and they don't contain anything I found deeply objectionable (i.e., no villains named "Rob S. Pierre", no extended rape scenes). Their worst flaw is probably how repetitive the descriptions get but you can just skip those parts.
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Oct 25, 2014 16:22
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:I felt like the lost fleet books were good bad books. They had some obvious flaws but they're enjoyable popcorn and they don't contain anything I found deeply objectionable (i.e., no villains named "Rob S. Pierre", no extended rape scenes). Their worst flaw is probably how repetitive the descriptions get but you can just skip those parts. Oh, I agree. As much as I rag on old Blackjack, there are some good battle scenes and some of the secondary characters are kinda interesting. I read 'em in a day or two, enjoy 'em at the time, then forget about 'em until I happen upon the next one at the library. To put it another way, I just borrowed "Steadfast" from my local library, but I haven't read a word of Weber since "At All Costs" back in '05.
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Oct 25, 2014 17:30
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BadOptics posted:Sounds interesting; pretty short too at only 192 pages. I'm doubting that page count, unless the text is printed really large. Reynolds himself said it's about 40,000 words long. Anyway it's a novella, not published by his usual publisher but by a small press publisher. Also I posted about it in the sci-fi/fantasy thread like 2 months ago :P
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Oct 26, 2014 13:20
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The Lost Fleet series is a thinly veiled series of plots designed as an excuse to write fairly interesting space tactics/battles. As most others have said, they're enjoyable 'popcorn' books. I don't think I've ever actually heard someone who DIDN'T like them (although everyone enjoys picking apart their weaknesses).
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Oct 28, 2014 19:23
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syphon posted:The Lost Fleet series is a thinly veiled series of plots designed as an excuse to write fairly interesting space tactics/battles. The trouble is they all had two battles, one at the start, one at the end, and three hundred pages of repetitive and boring relationship drama/tension with the battlecruiser captains (battlecruisers are faster than battleships, while lacking the armor and full broadsides; hence the captains posted to them tended to be the ones motived by glory seeking) filler. Repeat through five novels. At least Weber can write crazy popcorn military Sci fi that completely ignores character (non) development for constantly fighting (see: On Death Ground). The Lost Fleet just mangled the ratio in light of how ungodly boring and repetitive the filler is.
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Oct 28, 2014 19:31
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Just finished 'The Causal Angel' by Hannu Rajaniemi and I really want more of the same, any ideas?
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Oct 28, 2014 23:58
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by.a.teammate posted:Just finished 'The Causal Angel' by Hannu Rajaniemi and I really want more of the same, any ideas? I'm gonna 'obvious guy' here. Did you read the first two books in the series?
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Oct 29, 2014 00:10
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XBenedict posted:I'm gonna 'obvious guy' here. Did you read the first two books in the series? He he yeah I did, worth checking though. Loved the whole series, felt so fresh. If anyone would keep on doing Culture books now we've lost Banks I think it could be him.
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Oct 29, 2014 08:56
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If I've read all of The Culture and The Expanse and enjoyed both of them, is there a recommendation for the next series to jump onto? The Expanse's relatively realistic science but kind of light hearted characters was really nice imo and I even liked the third book which most people didn't seem to like. The fourth book was great though, I wanted to rage against the pointless loving tribalism that Murtry and the chief engineer were getting up to, but it was such a human conflict I could see it happening IRL. I'm working my way through this thread taking notes of series names and stuff but anyone with a similar taste what would you rec?
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Nov 10, 2014 18:35
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Jerkface posted:If I've read all of The Culture and The Expanse and enjoyed both of them, is there a recommendation for the next series to jump onto? The Expanse's relatively realistic science but kind of light hearted characters was really nice imo and I even liked the third book which most people didn't seem to like. The fourth book was great though, I wanted to rage against the pointless loving tribalism that Murtry and the chief engineer were getting up to, but it was such a human conflict I could see it happening IRL. Hamilton's http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_Saga is pretty fun. He also has a very good standalone book that is even better in my opinion: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_North_Road_(book)
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Nov 10, 2014 19:47
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syphon posted:The Lost Fleet series is a thinly veiled series of plots designed as an excuse to write fairly interesting space tactics/battles. coyo7e fucked around with this message at 02:31 on Nov 11, 2014 |
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Nov 11, 2014 02:29
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coyo7e posted:Interesting to the average 6th grader who knows nothing about history or tactics..? I mean every novel is literally solved by "oh here comes man-from-the-past with another shocking idea such as flanking the enemy." You know, I'm in the middle of the newest The Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier book, Steadfast, and I'm finding it a real slog. In part it's because of the very low space battle (the only good parts) to everything else ratio. But reading this one has shown me what exactly it is that bugs me about this series. It's not just that Blackjack Geary is a Marty Stu. He is, and it's annoying as all hell. But that's not actually the biggest problem. The problem is that literally everyone else in the whole book series is a loving moron. Everyone. The Alliance? Overeager morons whose only tactic is "Get 'em!" The Syndicate Worlds? Cartoonishly evil corporate morons who only have just enough tactical sense to beat up the Alliance morons. Terrans? Bureaucratic morons who somehow survive in a world where even simple decisions require literally years of paperwork. And so on, and so forth. Literally the only characters who show even half a brain are the ones who are "smart" enough to recognize the brilliance of Space Jesus Geary.  I think I'm done with this series. The longer its gone on, the harder its been to force myself through the poo poo to get to the occasionally interesting space battles. I think I've waded through the brown stuff long enough. Bye, Blackjack. I still hope they kill you!
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Nov 11, 2014 11:40
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Jerkface posted:If I've read all of The Culture and The Expanse and enjoyed both of them, is there a recommendation for the next series to jump onto? The Expanse's relatively realistic science but kind of light hearted characters was really nice imo and I even liked the third book which most people didn't seem to like. The fourth book was great though, I wanted to rage against the pointless loving tribalism that Murtry and the chief engineer were getting up to, but it was such a human conflict I could see it happening IRL. The Culture and The Expanse are kinda different types of scifi. Hamilton, that was recommended here is closer to the Expanse, where the Reality Dysfunction series and the Commonwealth are good, although Hamilton loves his Deus Ex Machina endings. For something similar to The Culture, there is Neal Ashers work with the Spatterjay and The Polity series, with a similar universe as the Culture with ruling AIs. Ashers work is more fast-paced, more cynical and contains great aliens ecosystems.
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Nov 11, 2014 13:02
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Cardiac posted:Hamilton, that was recommended here is closer to the Expanse, where the Reality Dysfunction series and the Commonwealth are good, although Hamilton loves his Deus Ex Machina endings. Hamilton also loves cliffhangers. I love his stuff, it's great space opera, but I won't start a series until he's finished it.
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Nov 11, 2014 18:10
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How to kill any interest you might have in Ryk Spoor's Grand Central Arena series with one click of a mouse.
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Nov 11, 2014 18:27
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jng2058 posted:You know, I'm in the middle of the newest The Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier book, Steadfast, and I'm finding it a real slog. In part it's because of the very low space battle (the only good parts) to everything else ratio. But reading this one has shown me what exactly it is that bugs me about this series. It's not just that Blackjack Geary is a Marty Stu. He is, and it's annoying as all hell. But that's not actually the biggest problem.  and then forgets about it until the next book, where he goes "hey why don't we lure them into an ambush!?" and everybody's all .I got through like 4 before it was just too much of an obnoxious slog which repeats the exact same character conflicts over and over.
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Nov 11, 2014 19:55
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Darth Walrus posted:How to kill any interest you might have in Ryk Spoor's Grand Central Arena series with one click of a mouse. Ha ha ha ha oh god. I scanned through the first few chapters and closed the tab when I saw that he'd tuckerized Clive Cussler and Tom Clancy. Baen Books, ladies and gentlemen!
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Nov 11, 2014 23:53
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The majority of Baen imprints would be of better use shredded and used as home insulation.
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Nov 12, 2014 00:08
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If I go through this thread from start to finish it reads like a concerted effort to poo poo all over my reading choices over time. I feel like a bad person for liking all these books now 
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Nov 12, 2014 04:37
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I liked Spoor's stuff
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Nov 12, 2014 05:16
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kznlol posted:If I go through this thread from start to finish it reads like a concerted effort to poo poo all over my reading choices over time. Nah, never feel bad about things you enjoy. Your tolerance for certain flaws in writing is different from mine, which is in turn different from my brother's and so on and so forth. Some things bug you more than they do me and vice versa. If you enjoyed something that's a good thing. That I, or someone else didn't doesn't make us right or you wrong. That said, you should keep looking for new things to enjoy. Finding things similar to what you enjoy that are even better? That's a great feeling. And that's what this thread ultimately should be for. To point your way to the really good stuff.
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Nov 12, 2014 07:22
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rafikki posted:I liked Spoor's stuff It has its pros, but the dude waves his nerdboner around so hard and often that he really should have been charged for indecent exposure by now.
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Nov 12, 2014 14:40
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rafikki posted:I liked Spoor's stuff How many poo poo jokes are there about this guy's body of work, with a last name like that?
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Nov 12, 2014 16:21
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PupsOfWar posted:speaking of Path of the Fury/In Fury Born, I came across a web-original story the other day that is more or less a better version of the same narrative. On the Spacebattles.com forums, of all godforsaken places. Was doing a semi-annual checkup on the thread trolling for good reads. This was a really good read.
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Nov 13, 2014 06:24
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I remember reading a story by him, published some time in 2004, which referenced All Your Base. (And I'll claim that AYB is still funny, but...dude...no...)
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Nov 13, 2014 06:27
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Libluini posted:poo poo, now I have to re-read my Void books, I remember practically nothing from the end of the trilogy. I actually just finished "The Abyss Beyond Dreams" and really enjoyed it. You definitely are better off having just recently re-read the Void trilogy, to say the least. I felt like it flowed a lot more smoothly than some of the other Hamilton books by virtue of a smaller cast of characters to throw out and keep track of, but at the same time it's also a universe where I've read the previous books and have retained a lot of the world-building details, so maybe it's just me. I did feel that (direct plot spoilers) Nigel in the void itself was a bit Mary-Sue-ish and kind of obnoxiously smug all the times we see him. I really liked the reveal of the mountain of exopods in the Desert of Bones, though, and the body horror/general freakiness of getting "eggsumed" was pretty neat, at least for a while. I'd say I expect to be picking up the next book when it's out, for sure. It's actually led me to loop back around again - in part because I've momentarily run out of new books to read anyway - and reread the original Commonwealth saga. mcustic posted:Hamilton's http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_Saga is pretty fun. He also has a very good standalone book that is even better in my opinion: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_North_Road_(book) I liked Great North Road but I honestly found it less fascinating than the first book of the Commonwealth Saga for sheer captivation. Not sure how specific I should or shouldn't be about plot elements outside of spoilers as I don't post in this subforum regularly, but I'm not as big on the police procedural elements of the novel and the (more specific) ending/epilogue kind of left me a little meh because we jumped from 'contact with a superintelligent advanced alien species' to 'yeah I guess we're masters of the whole universe now yeah I guess it's cool c'mon now kids we gotta go.' I felt like there could have been more room in the universe to deal with how those final gaps were bridged.
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Nov 14, 2014 06:54
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Hamilton wrapping it up in one book was worth the weak ending, I think. He has cool ideas, but his trilogies are too long for me.
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Nov 14, 2014 09:37
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mcustic posted:Hamilton wrapping it up in one book was worth the weak ending, I think. He has cool ideas, but his trilogies are too long for me. It definitely avoided a cliffhanger, but it was pretty clear that there's still more plot to come. I'm kind of bummed that Slvasta (?) basically turned into an old-school paranoid communist dictator, apparently, but I'm wondering if it'll turn out that this planet in its new position is where Nigel actually was (or was going) during the events of the Void trilogy.
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Nov 14, 2014 13:42
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Ignoranus posted:I actually just finished "The Abyss Beyond Dreams" and really enjoyed it. You definitely are better off having just recently re-read the Void trilogy, to say the least. I felt like it flowed a lot more smoothly than some of the other Hamilton books by virtue of a smaller cast of characters to throw out and keep track of, but at the same time it's also a universe where I've read the previous books and have retained a lot of the world-building details, so maybe it's just me. I did feel that (direct plot spoilers) Nigel in the void itself was a bit Mary-Sue-ish and kind of obnoxiously smug all the times we see him. I really liked the reveal of the mountain of exopods in the Desert of Bones, though, and the body horror/general freakiness of getting "eggsumed" was pretty neat, at least for a while. I'd say I expect to be picking up the next book when it's out, for sure. I suppose it makes since that he is a bit mary-sue-ish anyway since he basically has every cheat code for living in the void since he had access to the 4 or 5 lifetimes that Edeard lived not to mention was fully prepared for any fuckery the void would do with technology. The one thing I did like was how questionable the methods Nigel used while he was on Bienvenido. I mean he's directly responsible for thousands of deaths, used domination on several people to essentially turn them into his thralls, and straight up murdered a dude for science. When the entire galaxy is at stake I suppose it's all justified, but Nigel is by no means a good person. That said I don't disagree with he did because it had to be done. I am pumped about psuedo-future 50's/60's technology Bienvenido vs the Fallers though.
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Nov 14, 2014 18:50
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kznlol posted:If I go through this thread from start to finish it reads like a concerted effort to poo poo all over my reading choices over time. Nah, that's how I feel, but I like lovely movies, too. Sometimes you've just got to learn to stop worrying and love the bomb.
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Nov 16, 2014 18:00
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In the line at the post office today, there was a guy in front of me who looked to be late 40s/early 50s, very overweight, with some kind of Royal Manticore Navy captain's hat on and a Honor Harrington fan club society badge around his neck, playing some space shooter on his Android. I felt kind of bad for him.
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Dec 17, 2014 00:30
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Chairman Capone posted:In the line at the post office today, there was a guy in front of me who looked to be late 40s/early 50s, very overweight, with some kind of Royal Manticore Navy captain's hat on and a Honor Harrington fan club society badge around his neck, playing some space shooter on his Android. I felt kind of bad for him. Yeah but he's probably one of the truly happy ones
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Dec 17, 2014 04:28
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