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juliuspringle posted:Try this. Amazon has a sample you can read to see if you like it before you spend money. You sure post that in here a lot 
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Jan 21, 2015 22:45
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juliuspringle posted:Try this. Amazon has a sample you can read to see if you like it before you spend money. Oh man, I leave the thread for a couple of hours and so many good recommendations come along. So far I've got: The Line The Kindle App (I totally forgot about that) Calibre Forever Peace (I read Forever War and loved it but not Forever Peace) The Culture series Dune The Dragon Never Sleeps Hostile Takeover Good god there's a lot of books Blindsight I miss anything spectacular?
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Jan 21, 2015 22:58
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Hedrigall posted:You sure post that in here a lot Haha, seriously. Hired promo? Actually the author?
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Jan 21, 2015 23:03
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Sorry I want to talk about a Sci Fi book I liked in the Sci Fi thread. Next time I'll make sure I only post about authors that are terrible people.
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Jan 21, 2015 23:13
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I mean, you've only ever posted about that one book.
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Jan 21, 2015 23:13
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The Ninth Layer posted:I mean, you've only ever posted about that one book. I haven't really read alot of Sci Fi  For years most of what I read was Stephen King and poo poo like that.I have stuff to drop at the library on Friday though so feel free to tell me stuff to look for. juliuspringle fucked around with this message at 23:22 on Jan 21, 2015 |
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Jan 21, 2015 23:16
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RVProfootballer posted:I haven't actually heard of him before. Is the Confluence trilogy a good place to start? Any other authors that he's particularly similar to? I've only read a couple of books in his Quiet War series, and they reminded me a lot of Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy writ large across the solar system. It sounds amazing but I find his prose really dry, so ymmv.
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Jan 22, 2015 00:26
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Eh, it's 2 bucks. I'll give it a shot based on that. The plot sounds kinda cool.
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Jan 22, 2015 00:37
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RVProfootballer posted:I haven't actually heard of him before. Is the Confluence trilogy a good place to start? Any other authors that he's particularly similar to? I liked his older stuff, like Eternal Light and 400 Billion Stars, it was sort of New Space Opera-ish (similar to, though not as good as, Banks or Reynolds). He's also done smaller scale stories like The Secret of Life and The Whole Wide World which I enjoyed. I never read the Confluence stuff, however.
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Jan 22, 2015 00:50
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Junkenstein posted:epub-mobi conversion is as uncomplicated as it gets. Mostly. You sometimes have to download an additional codec for your Kindle. When I first got my Paperwhite, Calibre had not yet integrated it, so anything that I converted didn't read correctly, including missing some pages, and it didn't convert chapters correctly.
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Jan 22, 2015 00:59
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RVProfootballer posted:I haven't actually heard of him before. Is the Confluence trilogy a good place to start? Any other authors that he's particularly similar to? I read the first Quiet War book of McCauley's and liked it a lot, matter of fact I have to check out the sequels now that I'm reminded of him. It's been a few years since reading it so I can't really remember well enough to compare his prose or whatever to anyone, but tone, character and plot wise I'd say he's reminiscent of Alasteir Reynolds or Gary Gibson. The only thing I remember not liking about it is that there were a couple of times where he'd go into too much description of stuff like geological formations and ecosystems for my tastes, though it wasn't enough to ruin my enjoyment. SquadronROE posted:Oh man, I leave the thread for a couple of hours and so many good recommendations come along. So far I've got: I don't know if you're only interested in outer space scifi, but since you asked, TC McCarthy's Subterrene War series is really good, some of my favorite scifi from the past few years. It's similar to the Forever War in some ways but takes place only on earth.
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Jan 22, 2015 01:22
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SquadronROE posted:I miss anything spectacular? If you've never read the Vorkosigan books they're a lot of fun and military-ish. If you can find a hardcover copy of Cryoburn (check your local library!) it has a CD in the back that contains ebooks of the entire series.
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Jan 22, 2015 04:09
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I'm not terribly far into it yet, but I have to say that Steve Erikson's Gardens of the Moon is definitely scratching my itch for something like Black Company. Weirdly, after years of really digging fantasy series where writers go into encyclopedic description of the world and its past and peoples, I kind of enjoy a book that refuses to hold your hand, or tell you much of anything. I like that magic is treated similarly to Black Company, where it's kind of this terrifying force to most people, but to the actual users it can range from completely destructive to misunderstood to practically mundane. I do hope the Warrens and Ascendants, at least, get some more explanation as the book(s) go on, though. Also I'm just going to say it, maybe I'm getting old, but I love very dark, very cynical fantasy novels in a way I never thought I would when I was a 13-year-old learning Tolkien's elvish languages.
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Jan 22, 2015 04:18
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Bear Sleuth posted:If you've never read the Vorkosigan books they're a lot of fun and military-ish. If you can find a hardcover copy of Cryoburn (check your local library!) it has a CD in the back that contains ebooks of the entire series. And, you know, multiple Hugo-winning. juliuspringle posted:Sorry I want to talk about a Sci Fi book I liked in the Sci Fi thread. Well I'm not stopping you, how about you say more than "you should read it"?
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Jan 22, 2015 05:42
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Bleh, barely any of the Glen Cook stuff being mentioned seems to be available on Kindle and of course the McAuley is £1.99 to the US's $1.99... [edit] I've just read Fireblood and Dryad-born by Jeff Wheeler which are discounted on Kindle at the moment. They're not bad. Fireblood has some issues with tone at the start where certain bits of conversations etc don't achieve the effect the author seems to want. The uncle also has a touch of deus ex machina. Still, an enjoyable romp overall. Munin fucked around with this message at 09:58 on Jan 22, 2015 |
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Jan 22, 2015 09:50
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SquadronROE posted:Oh man, I leave the thread for a couple of hours and so many good recommendations come along. So far I've got: The Polity series, by Neal Asher. I think someone already mentioned it. If you like old-style hard SciFi, take a look at "Bowl of Heaven" and "Shipstar", by Larry Niven and Gregory Benford. It is really a single book published in two volumes, and the story is in the line of "Rendevous with Rama" or "Ringworld". Someone also mentioned the Subterrene War series. It is non-space science fiction, and quite grim and dark, but loving brilliant.
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Jan 22, 2015 11:02
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MockingQuantum posted:I'm not terribly far into it yet, but I have to say that Steve Erikson's Gardens of the Moon is definitely scratching my itch for something like Black Company. Weirdly, after years of really digging fantasy series where writers go into encyclopedic description of the world and its past and peoples, I kind of enjoy a book that refuses to hold your hand, or tell you much of anything. I like that magic is treated similarly to Black Company, where it's kind of this terrifying force to most people, but to the actual users it can range from completely destructive to misunderstood to practically mundane. I do hope the Warrens and Ascendants, at least, get some more explanation as the book(s) go on, though. You are in for one hell of a ride. Tangentially related, I'm at the fouth book of Glen Cook's Garret PI series and enjoying it a lot. It's a tongue-in-cheek fantasy about a not-so grizzled gumshoe solving cases in a city that intentionally overplays a lot of fantasy tropes. Kind of funny, I never heard about Cook before Erikson pointed to him as one of his sources of inspiration for Malazan and find myself liking the books of his that decidedly have nothing to do with it (since Black Company went really boring after four-ish books).
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Jan 22, 2015 13:29
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What's that Miller thing everyone was going on about before? That seems like a good place to start when I hit the library tomorrow.
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Jan 22, 2015 19:21
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juliuspringle posted:What's that Miller thing everyone was going on about before? That seems like a good place to start when I hit the library tomorrow. He is one of the main characters of "Leviathan Wakes" (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8855321-leviathan-wakes), the first book of The Expanse series, which is the base for a TV show premiering later this year. All the fuss was about the actor casted to Miller's role, in comparison with everyone's self constructed image of that character. The book is quite good. The series is quite irregular, but enjoyable.
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Jan 22, 2015 19:28
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It's Miller time.
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Jan 22, 2015 19:40
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Kesper North posted:It's Miller time. The champagne of scifi gumshoes
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Jan 22, 2015 20:24
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Amberskin posted:The Polity series, by Neal Asher. I think someone already mentioned it. Oh man I loved Rendezvous with Rama and Ringworld, I'll put that on the list too. Also Subterrene War. And multiple Hugo Award Winning Vorkosigan books. Also I really don't like how they made Miller look. For some reason I had pictured someone far less attractive.
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Jan 23, 2015 00:56
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The TV version of Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars is being written by Babylon 5 creator, J. Michael Straczynski http://deadline.com/2015/01/j-michael-straczynski-red-mars-series-spike-1201354875/ B5 is still my all time favourite scifi show and I absolutely loved the Mars trilogy even though parts of it was a bit on the heavy side.
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Jan 23, 2015 03:18
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I just finished reading Firefight by Brandon Sanderson. It's not bad, all things considered, but it feels like it would be vastly more interesting if the book had been from the perspective of it's titular character. At the very least she'd have a much less annoying sense of humor. Also I'm convinced that David's aura of infectious confidence is supernatural in nature.
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Jan 23, 2015 03:36
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Munin posted:Bleh, barely any of the Glen Cook stuff being mentioned seems to be available on Kindle and of course the McAuley is £1.99 to the US's $1.99... uBy it from Baen, they'll let you download Kindle-compatible files.
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Jan 23, 2015 03:39
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Mars4523 posted:I just finished reading Firefight by Brandon Sanderson. It's not bad, all things considered, but it feels like it would be vastly more interesting if the book had been from the perspective of it's titular character. At the very least she'd have a much less annoying sense of humor. I've been pondering reading Steelheart and Firefight but I'm leery of RPG sourcebook syndrome. How is he on these books?
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Jan 23, 2015 06:59
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Has anyone read #2 in Brian McClellan's Powder Mage trilogy, The Crimson Campaign? I've read #1 and apparently #3 is coming out next month so I'm wondering if I should pick them up. I liked #1 a fair bit so if the books maintain the same level it's enough for me.
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Jan 23, 2015 07:26
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boneration posted:I've been pondering reading Steelheart and Firefight but I'm leery of RPG sourcebook syndrome. How is he on these books? There's this one point where Sanderson uses the word "cooldown" to refer to a supervillain's teleportation ability. As you'd imagine it sounds awkward as gently caress. I also have a problem with the character voices, specifically the main character's voice. Maybe I'm just used to reading things from the perspective of adults but the main character (books are in first person) sounds a lot younger than he's supposed to be.
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Jan 23, 2015 08:09
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Cooldown, like in Diablo, as in he tried to teleport again but couldn't because teleport was still on cooldown?
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Jan 23, 2015 08:54
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andrew smash posted:Cooldown, like in Diablo, as in he tried to teleport again but couldn't because teleport was still on cooldown? It's just so blatantly a gaming term that hearing it being said like that takes you out of the story for a bit.
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Jan 23, 2015 09:14
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MockingQuantum posted:I'm not terribly far into it yet, but I have to say that Steve Erikson's Gardens of the Moon is definitely scratching my itch for something like Black Company. Weirdly, after years of really digging fantasy series where writers go into encyclopedic description of the world and its past and peoples, I kind of enjoy a book that refuses to hold your hand, or tell you much of anything. I like that magic is treated similarly to Black Company, where it's kind of this terrifying force to most people, but to the actual users it can range from completely destructive to misunderstood to practically mundane. I do hope the Warrens and Ascendants, at least, get some more explanation as the book(s) go on, though. There is an entire thread for Erikson and the Malazan books, just so you know. Also, GotM is good, but has nothing on the second and third book in the series, Deadhouse Gates and Memories of Ice.
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Jan 23, 2015 09:36
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Antti posted:Has anyone read #2 in Brian McClellan's Powder Mage trilogy, The Crimson Campaign? I've read #1 and apparently #3 is coming out next month so I'm wondering if I should pick them up. I liked #1 a fair bit so if the books maintain the same level it's enough for me. Yes -- I read it and liked Crimson Campaign as much as the first book. The ending is a little abrupt, but with the next book due out soon, I imagine that won't really be that annoying. Not that I found it tremendously annoying when I finished the book shortly after it came out -- it's just that Crimson Campaign clearly leads right into whatever will happen in the third book.
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Jan 23, 2015 12:55
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Sounds like waiting/being lazy might pay off in this case then!
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Jan 23, 2015 14:16
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Fart of Presto posted:The TV version of Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars is being written by Babylon 5 creator, J. Michael Straczynski I predict that this won't translate well to TV.
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Jan 23, 2015 14:33
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JMS' one standout achievement was B5. Hhis comics have been a lot of failed promise where he sets things up well (or extremely well, in the case of Supreme Power and Rising Stars) then drops the ball. His episode by episode writing was also poo poo in b5 and it was jsut the overall plot he wrote that worked. Edit: my above comment may be a little unfair to Supreme Power, since that was hosed up by Marvel editorial oversight rather than JMS himself. Rising Stars also ended up alright, though not great. Neurosis fucked around with this message at 14:40 on Jan 23, 2015 |
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Jan 23, 2015 14:37
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withak posted:I predict that this won't translate well to TV. I agree, but I don't think it's doomed by necessity. There's enough suspense and personal intrigue to put together good episodes, but the ordering of events/flashbacks/narratives might need jiggling. And now I wanna re-read at least the first one. Damnit, I don't have time!
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Jan 23, 2015 16:50
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At the very least, they'll probably rearrange things so that Boone doesn't get killed in the prologue.
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Jan 23, 2015 16:54
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mdemone posted:I agree, but I don't think it's doomed by necessity. There's enough suspense and personal intrigue to put together good episodes, but the ordering of events/flashbacks/narratives might need jiggling. Yeah it would be a good TV show with a significant amount of rearranging and pruning.
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Jan 23, 2015 16:58
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Clark Nova posted:At the very least, they'll probably rearrange things so that Boone doesn't get killed in the prologue. They should spend the first season periodically flashing back (ahead?) to the party, which would be a good way to slowly reveal the factions & characters, and then have Boone get offed in the season finale. Edit: Arkady could be a really great character for television.
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Jan 23, 2015 17:08
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mllaneza posted:uBy it from Baen, they'll let you download Kindle-compatible files. And then you can email the file over to your Kindle.
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