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angel opportunity posted:
The second book contains a load of Reynolds signatures, so you might enjoy it more; (not-really-spoilers): mysterious ancient alien artifacts, approaching-lightspeed warfare in generation ships, malevolent(?) AI ghost in the machine, clones exploring and reporting back....
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Apr 30, 2015 20:19
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Maybe i'll try it sometime... The alien artifacts really annoyed me tbh, because it's become such a cliche to me in sci-fi where some plot-device alien artifact is the key that lets space travel happen. I had the same issue in Rev Space when it was revealed the idea for the conjoiner drive came from the future. I like how Reynolds usually stays within real physics and doesn't have warpgates etc., but when you have to have some deus ex machina answer for humans being able to move through space, it gets kind of old 
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Apr 30, 2015 20:22
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angel opportunity posted:Maybe i'll try it sometime... You might dig this; to save time, the generation ships were launched before developing a method to slow down, figuring they'd find a way en-route. So there's this race to come up with the technology before they all overshoot the target and go flying on into inter-stellar space forever.
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Apr 30, 2015 20:26
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That's actually a fun plot point. Well, I like Reynolds most of the time...maybe I'll give that trilogy a shot.
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Apr 30, 2015 20:28
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Ornamented Death posted:It won't be out until 2016, but Jeff and Ann VanderMeer are putting together a Big Book of Sci-Fi and are putting a huge focus on stories from outside of English-speaking countries. Some things he's said in the last few months: Will read.
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Apr 30, 2015 21:02
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Although it's not really needed anymore, I'll just add my love for Alastair Reynolds' books. There's no one else that I've read that evokes such a feeling of awe and wonder. If anyone can point me towards someone similar, however, I'm always looking for more! House of Suns is definitely the place to start, though I actually really enjoyed Chasm City. As far as The Prefect goes, I loved the setting, and quite liked they story/characters, but it's not one of my favourite. I'd love to see more of the Pre-Melding Plague Yellowstone. Hedrigall posted:Some of the other stuff is good too. Terminal World is steampunk, not an amazing book, but it's notable for a certain secret about the world it's set in, that's never spelled out in the book, but if you figure it out you'll feel incredibly smart. Sounds like I need to go back and read it again, then again I'm a bit slow on the uptake when it comes to books and movies.
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May 1, 2015 02:27
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Khaba posted:Sounds like I need to go back and read it again, then again I'm a bit slow on the uptake when it comes to books and movies. somebody just spoil it here because that book sucked rear end.
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May 1, 2015 02:49
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angel opportunity posted:I have posted this many times, and I'd rather just retype the list than trying to find my original post, but to me the Reynolds "don't bother even reading it" list is: Pushing Ice is my second favorite Reynolds novel behind Chasm City. The only novel I haven't enjoyed is Terminal World.
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May 1, 2015 02:50
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andrew smash posted:somebody just spoil it here because that book sucked rear end. Hey you know some people like rear end sucking.
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May 1, 2015 02:54
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andrew smash posted:somebody just spoil it here because that book sucked rear end. Terminal World spoilers: They call it Earth the whole way through but they're actually on Mars. More info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminal_World#.27Earth.27.
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May 1, 2015 03:00
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Hedrigall posted:Terminal World spoilers: They call it Earth the whole way through but they're actually on Mars. More info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminal_World#.27Earth.27. Can you explain the sentence at the end of that section?
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May 1, 2015 03:04
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goodness posted:Can you explain the sentence at the end of that section? They think they're on Earth so it's natural that they'd assume a planet in the sky is Mars. They've just forgotten that at some point in ancient history Earth got all dried up and humanity recolonised Mars.
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May 1, 2015 03:08
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It's a pointless and forgettable 'twist', just like the rest of the book.
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May 1, 2015 03:11
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General Battuta posted:It's a pointless and forgettable 'twist', just like the rest of the book. The thing is it's not a twist, it's just a hidden feature that you need to figure out yourself from clues within the book. It doesn't affect the plot at all and it's never made known to the characters. It's just a bonus for smart readers. 90% of people who read the book probably wouldn't even notice, and not care. For me, it's the most memorable aspect of the book. The steampunk stuff and the robot gorillas(?) were trash.
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May 1, 2015 03:16
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What the hey, robot gorillas? Must read!
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May 1, 2015 03:59
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If you can terraform loving Mars, then you can easily terramaintain loving Earth.
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May 1, 2015 05:47
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In principle, yes, (and probably in practice too) but KSR in 2312 actually lays out a fairly convincing narrative where Mars is a terraformed paradise and Earth is still warming and doing poorly. You can do anything you want to Mars - crash comets, set off underground nukes, etc, because nothing and nobody lives there. Earth has to be much more delicately handled, because people live more or less everywhere. And while a small group of people might be able to decide exactly what should happen to Mars over decades or centuries, on Earth it takes much broader political consensus. So broad it might be basically impossible, especially given the necessary time scales.
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May 1, 2015 06:46
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Which is why I consider KSR to be one of the best writers out there. When's his next book out, damnit!
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May 1, 2015 10:47
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thehomemaster posted:Which is why I consider KSR to be one of the best writers out there. When's his next book out, damnit! Are his other books less insanely bland than the Mars trilogy?
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May 1, 2015 10:59
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Neurosis posted:Are his other books less insanely bland than the Mars trilogy? Years of Rice and Salt is good, but if you really didn't like the Mars trilogy it's probably not a good read for you.
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May 1, 2015 11:57
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Mimir posted:Years of Rice and Salt is good, but if you really didn't like the Mars trilogy it's probably not a good read for you. I'll avoid it. Seriously, 200 pages of 'I'm a fat woman who has no interests but bland poo poo. I just spent a bunch of time doing nothing.' It started with such promise...
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May 1, 2015 12:07
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KSR is certainly an acquired taste. I loved 2312 even though some people who liked the Mars trilogy didn't like it at all. It's not even the pace, there's something about the style - usually that kind of pacing bores me so much I drop the book or struggle to the finish.
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May 1, 2015 13:25
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Hint: it's because he's a genius.
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May 1, 2015 13:51
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I just finished reading The Magicians -- are the other two books in the series about the same in terms of quality? Overall I enjoyed it, despite Quentin being cartoonishly unlikeable for most of the book. (I get that that's kind of the point, but drat you still feel like slapping the guy a lot of the time).
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May 1, 2015 17:20
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Junkenstein posted:You might dig this; to save time, the generation ships were launched before developing a method to slow down, figuring they'd find a way en-route. So there's this race to come up with the technology before they all overshoot the target and go flying on into inter-stellar space forever. Well that's certainly a novel solution to the question of "how do you keep the people of the future focused on the same goals as the people initially on the generation ship"
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May 1, 2015 17:38
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colonel_korn posted:I just finished reading The Magicians -- are the other two books in the series about the same in terms of quality? No. (I thought the second one lacked all the positive qualities of the first, and am not going to read the third)
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May 1, 2015 17:40
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colonel_korn posted:I just finished reading The Magicians -- are the other two books in the series about the same in terms of quality? Overall I enjoyed it, despite Quentin being cartoonishly unlikeable for most of the book. (I get that that's kind of the point, but drat you still feel like slapping the guy a lot of the time). I liked the second book mainly for Juila's section, where you find out what she was up to during the events of the first book and explore the non-Brakebills magical world, but that was mainly it. That one spent too much time with Fillory, and the setup at the end of it the Gods are going to come back and
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May 1, 2015 18:02
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Channing Tatum got cast to star in the movie version of The Forever War. Not really sure an adaptation of that works, seeing as it is an absolutely anti-war book and it is nearly impossible to make an anti-war movie. But we will see.
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May 1, 2015 19:22
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thehomemaster posted:Hint: it's because he's a genius. Nope.
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May 1, 2015 19:29
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colonel_korn posted:I just finished reading The Magicians -- are the other two books in the series about the same in terms of quality? Overall I enjoyed it, despite Quentin being cartoonishly unlikeable for most of the book. (I get that that's kind of the point, but drat you still feel like slapping the guy a lot of the time). To contradict the other two opinions provided, I thought the second and especially the third were even better than the first. They still have off-putting characters (though I've never hated Quentin as much as most readers), but I found they did a better job having the characters grow and change, especially by the end of the third.
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May 1, 2015 19:34
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Antti posted:KSR is certainly an acquired taste. I loved 2312 even though some people who liked the Mars trilogy didn't like it at all. It's not even the pace, there's something about the style - usually that kind of pacing bores me so much I drop the book or struggle to the finish. I thought Shaman was quite good, with a much brisker pace and style than Years of Rice and Salt. But then I really liked YR&S...
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May 1, 2015 19:54
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CaptCommy posted:To contradict the other two opinions provided, I thought the second and especially the third were even better than the first. They still have off-putting characters (though I've never hated Quentin as much as most readers), but I found they did a better job having the characters grow and change, especially by the end of the third. I thought the second was weaker than the first, but I thought the third actually made the second and first books better retrospectively. They're definitely worth reading - the characters aren't necessarily likable, but the world and story are still well done and the characters exhibit believable development.
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May 1, 2015 20:38
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CaptCommy posted:To contradict the other two opinions provided, I thought the second and especially the third were even better than the first. They still have off-putting characters (though I've never hated Quentin as much as most readers), but I found they did a better job having the characters grow and change, especially by the end of the third. I was about post exactly this, so I'll second it. It's definitely worth reading the second two books if you enjoyed the first, and for my money the third was about as good as the first, and over all it was a very satisfying trilogy. It's worth your time to check out the 2nd and 3rd books.
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May 1, 2015 22:17
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Just a quick thank you to folks for the K.J. Parker discussion a few pages back, it got me to read Colours in the Steel and I loved it. I'm really looking forward to reading the rest of the Fencer Trilogy and the others.
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May 1, 2015 22:54
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Neurosis posted:I'll avoid it. Seriously, 200 pages of 'I'm a fat woman who has no interests but bland poo poo. I just spent a bunch of time doing nothing.' It started with such promise... I'm not gonna sit here and let you talk poo poo on Nadia Chernyshevski, damnit. Well maybe I will, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.
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May 1, 2015 23:01
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Fried Chicken posted:Channing Tatum got cast to star in the movie version of The Forever War. omgomgomgomg my dreams are coming true. And if it has Tatum in it then that means I can drag my gf to see it. I consider The Forever War one of the best SF books ever written.
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May 1, 2015 23:39
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gently caress you all Nadia and Arkady are the best god drat characters in Mars. John is also charismatic as hell, and Frank's slow mental breakdown bounces off him well.
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May 2, 2015 00:14
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Phobophilia posted:gently caress you all Nadia and Arkady are the best god drat characters in Mars. I've seen Saxifrage spelled in a lot of ways but that's not one of them  Really though Nadia, Arkady and Sax are pretty much equally my top three.
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May 2, 2015 00:17
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Yeah I love Sax, but I love Maya as well. Those are my top two characters. The space elevator coming down in Red Mars is probably my most favouritest scene in a book eva.
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May 2, 2015 00:43
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colonel_korn posted:I just finished reading The Magicians -- are the other two books in the series about the same in terms of quality? Overall I enjoyed it, despite Quentin being cartoonishly unlikeable for most of the book. (I get that that's kind of the point, but drat you still feel like slapping the guy a lot of the time). The series as a whole is about how Quentin finally stops being a horrible person. If you got through the first book you've basically gotten through his most rear end in a top hat-ish period and the other two he's better. The second book deals with the magical world outside of his little college bubble and the third really delves into the history and meaning of Fillory. It also does a pretty good job of wrapping things up and every question raised by the first book eventually gets answered.
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May 2, 2015 02:33
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