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Snapchat A Titty posted:Red Mars I think it was mostly jealousy. With John out of the picture, Frank became the only suitable partner for Maya, or so he thought. And his political influence probably grew with the First Man on Mars out of the picture. The trilogy is also very good. It's engaging and how society on Mars develops is fascinating.
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Mar 21, 2015 13:12
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On the more fairy-tale-esque fantasy front, what do you think of Patricia McKillip's stuff? I've enjoyed some of her stand-alone books, her trilogy not so much. Alphabet of Thorns is one of my favorite books overall. Tells the tale of a translator who gets her hands on a book written in a language of thorns. The book details the lives of the long dead Axis and Kane, a great conqueror and his sorcerer companion, and the translator becomes obsessed with finishing it to the alarm of her friends. This happens during the crowning celebration of a strange child queen, with the nobles sensing weakness and the old king's court desperate to hold the kingdom together and avoid civil war. The whole book has this strange feel to it, both dreamlike and tense. And the magic just feels like magic.
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Mar 21, 2015 17:52
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I'm 3/4 of my way through Justin Cronin's The Twelve. I like it. The pacing is a lot better than The Passage, while it retains all of the things that made The Passage good. It also adds more flavour to the vampires which gives them more character than just being zombie-analogues like they were for large parts of the first. I guess my only complaints are that in this one the world feels a lot less dangerous to simply exist in, and that the protagonist remains a bit bland, but they're pretty minor and the book overall is quite good.
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Mar 21, 2015 19:47
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Neurosis posted:I'm 3/4 of my way through Justin Cronin's The Twelve. I like it. The pacing is a lot better than The Passage, while it retains all of the things that made The Passage good. It also adds more flavour to the vampires which gives them more character than just being zombie-analogues like they were for large parts of the first. I guess my only complaints are that in this one the world feels a lot less dangerous to simply exist in, and that the protagonist remains a bit bland, but they're pretty minor and the book overall is quite good. Supposedly the third book is coming out later this year. Cronin says he's turned in the manuscript and now it's just a matter of how long the manuscript to published book dance takes.
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Mar 21, 2015 22:28
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In anticipation of the forthcoming TV show, I just finished Pines by Blake Crouch. It was far better than I was expecting, and I wasn't even expecting the full blown science fiction aspect of it. It seems like the show is cast pretty well, and judging by the number of episodes listed on IMDB for some of the characters, they look to fill in a lot of the character stories that were glossed over in the novel. I expect that they'll probably start the show prior to the opening events of the book to fill in some blanks. It's well worth the read. It has a bit of Twilight Zone, Twin Peaks, and Southern Reach, as well as some other intriguing concepts. If M. Knight Shamalamadingdong doesn't gently caress it up, it could make for a good show.
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Mar 21, 2015 22:46
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Benjanun Sriduangkaew is in the newest Infinity anthology (Meeting Infinity), edited by Jonathan Strahan. I was going to buy it, but now... How come, with what's now pretty widely known about her, she continues to have a career?
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Mar 22, 2015 09:14
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Hedrigall posted:Benjanun Sriduangkaew is in the newest Infinity anthology (Meeting Infinity), edited by Jonathan Strahan. I was going to buy it, but now... That she's not a good person? Or an internet troll or whatever? Who gives a poo poo aside from the tumblr crowd?? (or is this a different author?)
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Mar 22, 2015 09:48
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Hedrigall posted:Benjanun Sriduangkaew is in the newest Infinity anthology (Meeting Infinity), edited by Jonathan Strahan. I was going to buy it, but now... Your definition of "widely known" is not the usual one. Most people don't read about authors. Most people don't even know Orson Scott Card has unfortunate opinions, let alone some writer with a few short stories and one novella under her belt.
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Mar 22, 2015 10:04
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Drifter posted:That she's not a good person? Or an internet troll or whatever? It's a matter of degree. She was pretty spectacularly nasty to a whole bunch of folks. Also, she tried to deliberately sabotage several other writers' careers with poison-pen letters, which is as good a reason as any for her own career to take a hit.
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Mar 22, 2015 10:44
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Jedit posted:Your definition of "widely known" is not the usual one. Most people don't read about authors. Most people don't even know Orson Scott Card has unfortunate opinions, let alone some writer with a few short stories and one novella under her belt. Yes, but the scandal is an internal, writers-community one. The readers probably don't know, but Strahan surely does.
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Mar 22, 2015 10:52
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She's a minority writer and it's good to have those for PR.
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Mar 22, 2015 10:59
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anilEhilated posted:She's a minority writer and it's good to have those for PR. ... even when driving out othe minority writers is basically a second job for her. 
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Mar 22, 2015 11:11
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Guess I'm checking out for the next 5 pages.
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Mar 22, 2015 11:54
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Hedrigall posted:Benjanun Sriduangkaew is in the newest Infinity anthology (Meeting Infinity), edited by Jonathan Strahan. I was going to buy it, but now... I was going to defend Strahan here but it's not like the book's been published, it's just the contents page - http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2015/03/table-of-contents-meeting-infinity-edited-by-jonathan-strahan/ sez it's due in December. I might believe that Sriduangkaew's story was bought just before the Requires Hate business broke, and it was too close to publication to change, but no way. This happened on tor.com in January and whoever posted it didn't even mention that the story was bought and paid for before they knew about Requires Hate. Nice as it might be for Sriduangkaew's career to disappear, she'd probably just come back in a different disguise, so what's the point? At least the author bio might be amusing ("Benjanun Sriduangkaew is a Thai author and well-known blogger. Her stories often centre on themes of control, oppression and victimhood...").
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Mar 22, 2015 12:07
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Megazver posted:Yes, but the scandal is an internal, writers-community one. The readers probably don't know, but Strahan surely does. In his capacity as editor I suspect Strahan cares mostly about what people will read.
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Mar 22, 2015 12:08
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Darth Walrus posted:Also, she tried to deliberately sabotage several other writers' careers with poison-pen letters, which is as good a reason as any for her own career to take a hit. Is this part actually known? When I was paying attention it was still at the 'rumours are going around claiming that X' level. Also, I expect Strahan and a lot of his colleagues (and authors) are opposed to blacklisting authors in general.
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Mar 22, 2015 13:33
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Peel posted:Is this part actually known? When I was paying attention it was still at the 'rumours are going around claiming that X' level. It's mentioned (though not in detail) in the Mixon report, and Athena Andreadis has testified about the efforts of Sriduangkaew's clique to force her out of the sci-fi community.
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Mar 22, 2015 14:16
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Welp. Assuming it's all true, of which publishers will have a better idea than us, I wouldn't blacklist someone from publication for it, but it's up to readers to decide whether they want to pay for those stories, like with Card or the Sad Puppies lot. Luckily I don't care for her writing (it's overcooked), so I'm spared the need to.
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Mar 22, 2015 17:03
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The young writers' workshop where I learned how to write is running a raffle through Tor.com. You can just comment on this post to win a copy of  MY BOOK six months in advance. Just click the huge broken face I'm not exactly sure how this raffle helps the workshop, but all you have to do is leave a comment on the post and you'll be entered. My book has been described as 'huh, that's cool man' by coffee shop waitstaff all around New York. The workshop itself is a genuinely great cause, it brings teenagers age 14-19 out for two weeks to learn writing from the likes of Tamora Pierce, Ellen Kushner, Scott Westerfeld, Justine Larbalestier, the list goes on and on.
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Mar 22, 2015 17:16
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So I just finished City of Stairs, based on the glowing recommendations in this thread. It was competently written with a good story but I was expecting something a little bit more innovative than playing on the normal fantasy tropes. Regardless, it was a good read.
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Mar 22, 2015 20:40
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Hey, I'm kind of getting back into Sci-Fi after reading Ready Player One and enjoying the easiness of the read. I'm in college so I do a lot of challenging reading and it was a nice change of pace. Anyway, what are the thoughts on the Oxford Time Travel series mentioned in the OP? It seems fun and has won awards. Where should one start?
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Mar 22, 2015 21:16
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Read Doomsday Book if you want something sad. Read To Say Nothing of the Dog if you want something funny. I'd definitely start with Doomsday Book.
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Mar 22, 2015 21:24
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blue squares posted:Hey, I'm kind of getting back into Sci-Fi after reading Ready Player One and enjoying the easiness of the read. I'm in college so I do a lot of challenging reading and it was a nice change of pace. Anyway, what are the thoughts on the Oxford Time Travel series mentioned in the OP? It seems fun and has won awards. Where should one start? I really enjoy Connie Willis. But yeah, as said above, just read them in order. Bk1 is Doomsday, Bk2 is Say Nothing of the Dog. I'd also recommend you give Vernor Vinge a try; an easy but fun read is Rainbows End. Really good with neat ideas. It's not true 'vernor vinge' like his amazing Zones of Thought series, but there you go. Neal Asher is also pretty fun and easy to read. Check out his Spatterjay series or any others if they catch your fancy. he's much more action oriented than, say, Ian M. Banks - another great author, but a little more challenging read, with the fantastic Culture series. I'm never really sure what it means when someone says 'difficult read', and I always feel like I end up giving out YA recommendations or something. That said, I loved loved loved Nick Harkaway's Gone-Away World, but think it might be not so easy a read as the other two main recs up above.
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Mar 22, 2015 21:45
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Kellanved posted:On the more fairy-tale-esque fantasy front, what do you think of Patricia McKillip's stuff? I've enjoyed some of her stand-alone books, her trilogy not so much. I love McKillip for those very reasons. She has problems with endings petering out at times, but that's my only complaint. My favorites were The Bell at Sealey Head, Ombria in Shadow, Winter Rose and The Book of Atrix Wolfe, so if you haven't gotten to those yet I suggest them. I also suggest looking into Catherynne Valente afterward.
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Mar 22, 2015 21:51
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Drifter posted:I'd also recommend you give Vernor Vinge a try; an easy but fun read is Rainbows End. Really good with neat ideas. It's not true 'vernor vinge' like his amazing Zones of Thought series, but there you go. This book was such an easy read that I'd hesitate to recommend it to anyone with a serious interest in literature. I like me some Vinge but Rainbow's End was so plainly written it felt like chewing through particle board.
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Mar 22, 2015 22:10
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General Battuta posted:This book was such an easy read that I'd hesitate to recommend it to anyone with a serious interest in literature. I like me some Vinge but Rainbow's End was so plainly written it felt like chewing through particle board. Oh, my bad. Lit-rah-chooor.
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Mar 22, 2015 22:16
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I don't mean to be a colossal snob, I just really didn't get on with that book.
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Mar 22, 2015 22:25
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Drifter posted:
I liked Gone-Away World a lot, but you really had to stick with it through the first half to get the payoff. It was a difficult read in that regard though I enjoyed the author's prose and have Angelmaker lined up for later reading.
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Mar 22, 2015 23:16
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I loved Gone Away, though I hated the twist and everything that happened after that
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Mar 23, 2015 00:31
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blue squares posted:I loved Gone Away, though I hated the twist and everything that happened after that Why did you hate the plot reveal? I thought it was a pretty cool extension of the world. I wasn't blown away or anything, but I did think 'yeah, okay, I can see that. nice.' edit: Oh, and if anyone wants to read a cool mil-ish scifi book, Cook's The Dragon Never Sleeps is pretty fantastic. Drifter fucked around with this message at 01:19 on Mar 23, 2015 |
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Mar 23, 2015 01:16
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Maybe not the reveal itself, more the ending action stuff I just hated. Not sure why.
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Mar 23, 2015 01:31
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Drifter posted:: Oh, and if anyone wants to read a cool mil-ish scifi book, Cook's The Dragon Never Sleeps is pretty fantastic. Big fan of this too. Keep in mind, it throws you in the deep end, and explains things at its own pace. If you MUST HAVE EVERY LITTLE THING EXPLAINED NOW, you probably won't enjoy this book. It really excels at making you feel like there's a ton more in the universe going on than what's in the book though. Really reminds me of Dune with the Houses and
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Mar 23, 2015 01:34
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thetechnoloser posted:Big fan of this too. Keep in mind, it throws you in the deep end, and explains things at its own pace. If you MUST HAVE EVERY LITTLE THING EXPLAINED NOW, you probably won't enjoy this book. It really excels at making you feel like there's a ton more in the universe going on than what's in the book though. I read and enjoy the gently caress out of a lot of books where the main criticism seems to be 'this book didn't exposit the gently caress out of itself for me right at the beginning' and many times I can't help but think "well, gently caress you reader, why don't you learn how to read better?" I realize that's an unfair sentiment to take, but I do feel like world-building is the best when it's done through pieces and characters rather than three back-to-back chapters of being force-fed stuff.
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Mar 23, 2015 01:43
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occamsnailfile posted:I liked Gone-Away World a lot, but you really had to stick with it through the first half to get the payoff. It was a difficult read in that regard though I enjoyed the author's prose and have Angelmaker lined up for later reading. The Gone Away World is really good. And yeah the payoff to that book is loving amazing. Angelmaker had some similarly interesting (and frequently horrific) ideas but I liked the characters a lot less (except for the villain, he was good). Seriously, manic pixie lesbian grandma and manic pixie love interest and super boring protagonist. Ugh.
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Mar 23, 2015 03:30
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Peel posted:Also, I expect Strahan and a lot of his colleagues (and authors) are opposed to blacklisting authors in general. Refusing to work with someone isn't blacklisting, just like bad stories aren't blacklisted. Drifter posted:Oh, my bad. Lit-rah-chooor. New thread title please.
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Mar 23, 2015 03:49
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Anyone here a fan of David Eddings?
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Mar 23, 2015 04:15
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Looking for some dystopian and/or post/apocalypse scifi. Been on a bit of a movie kick of that lately- from the Purge to the Running Man to Escape from New York, Equilibrium, so I'm looking for something more on the action side of the house. Recently read through the Darwin Elevator series, which is basically a summer popcorn flick in book form. Would like to avoid the weirdo, mary sue prepper, anti-government what-if fantasy wanking that I imagine makes up most this genre.
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Mar 23, 2015 05:00
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Arcsquad12 posted:Anyone here a fan of David Eddings? I really enjoyed all of his Belgarath and Sparhawk series' when I was a teenager. More interesting characters that Jordan's Wheel of Time, at least. I'd rank him a bit below Modesitt and Gordon Dickson. They're all fun for what they are, but they're very light and simple. I'd recommend Modesitt over Goodkind and Terry Brooks, at least.
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Mar 23, 2015 05:18
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Arcsquad12 posted:Anyone here a fan of David Eddings? He did a fairly fun, simple fantasy series, but I have to question whether it needed quite so many reprints.
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Mar 23, 2015 05:39
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Drifter posted:I'd recommend Modesitt over Goodkind and Terry Brooks, at least. Modesitt has this weird thing going where I'm pretty sure that I'd willingly read a 500+ page book about some dude doing nothing but making barrels or or chairs or horseshoes, but I'd be completely unable to tell you why I bothered to do it at the end of it.
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Mar 23, 2015 05:51
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