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Thanks for the recommendations so far. I've been smashing through novels incredulously quickly lately so it's always nice to end up with a pile to tackle.
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May 18, 2015 06:06
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Sextro posted:Can anyone recommend something like the early parts of Leviathan Wakes? A universe where space travel/life is commonplace, but still highly dangerous. Especially something with a "lived-in" feel for the tech/locales. McAuley might also be up your alley, especially the Quiet War series.
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May 18, 2015 06:40
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Hedrigall posted:Reynolds' Blue Remembered Earth and KSR's 2312 are two novels that take place in our solar system featuring pretty realistic space travel. The Reynolds book is the first of a trilogy that then expands to other stars in the later books. The trilogy also has some politics similar to The Expanse, with the relationship between Moon- and ocean-dwelling humans being at odds with continental humans. Looking at the classics, the society in "Rendezvous with Rama" is also a space-traveling culture, with complicated political relationships between the different worlds. Specially Mercury. Mercurians usually think a well placed nuke is the universal solution to any problem
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May 18, 2015 11:27
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Hedrigall posted:Looks really stylish, although the aging-up of everyone is a bit jarring. It, I think deliberately, given the "delayed adulthood" theme, feels like everyone involved is a lot younger, but I remember Quentin being high-school graduate/university age in the books too? (I know I shouldn't, but I got hung up on picking apart the trailer trying to work out how closely it followed the text. Not a lot, I think?)
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May 18, 2015 18:51
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Are Moorcock's Elric books worth reading? I'm about 40 pages into the first and, like, it's ok, but is it really just Elric's tortured soul looking moodily into the mournful dark and howling wind for the entire book? I don't mind relatively generic fantasy and will probably keep reading for now, just wondering what people think. I guess I'm curious if people thought it was good at the time because it was one of the first antihero epic fantasies, or if it holds up and is actually good besides that novelty.
sourdough fucked around with this message at 19:10 on May 18, 2015 |
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May 18, 2015 19:07
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Amberskin posted:Looking at the classics, the society in "Rendezvous with Rama" is also a space-traveling culture, with complicated political relationships between the different worlds. Specially Mercury. Mercurians usually think a well placed nuke is the universal solution to any problem So they are basically space-republicans, got it.
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May 18, 2015 19:07
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RVProfootballer posted:Are Moorcock's Elric books worth reading? I'm about 40 pages into the first and, like, it's ok, but is it really just Elric's tortured soul looking moodily into the mournful dark and howling wind for the entire book? I don't mind relatively generic fantasy and will probably keep reading for now, just wondering what people think. I guess I'm curious if people thought it was good at the time because it was one of the first antihero epic fantasies, or if it holds up and is actually good besides that novelty. I read the first five or so and it seemed like it was all about setting him up so that Stormbringer would kill everyone he loved in a WHOOPS, HOW TRAGIC kind of way.
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May 18, 2015 19:56
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RVProfootballer posted:Are Moorcock's Elric books worth reading? I'm about 40 pages into the first and, like, it's ok, but is it really just Elric's tortured soul looking moodily into the mournful dark and howling wind for the entire book? I don't mind relatively generic fantasy and will probably keep reading for now, just wondering what people think. I guess I'm curious if people thought it was good at the time because it was one of the first antihero epic fantasies, or if it holds up and is actually good besides that novelty. I yield to no one in Moorcock fanboyism, and I say ... eh, well, kinda. I thought the Elric books were awesome poo poo when I was in high school, but I have a more tempered view of them in these latter days. I will say that I do think they improve as the series goes on, and even at its worst, there's still enough imagination there to keep it from being just another Conan ripoff.
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May 18, 2015 20:43
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I'd just read the original Elric novels, which are mostly short stories/novellas loosely tied together. They have a certain dated panache. Nothing written since the 70's is really worth bothering with.
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May 18, 2015 20:48
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They got a lot of cool ideas in them, you just have to put up with Elric being a whiny poo poo. I'd say soldier on.
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May 18, 2015 20:59
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Hah, alright, works for me! They're reasonably short, so I'll keep on going, and give up if I can't put up with Elric anymore.
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May 18, 2015 21:17
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Autonomous Monster posted:It, I think deliberately, given the "delayed adulthood" theme, feels like everyone involved is a lot younger, but I remember Quentin being high-school graduate/university age in the books too? Well, he was 17 in the start of the first book. It ended when he was 21. The actors all look 25+ And hey, I did some picking apart too for a blog post  https://outtherebooks.wordpress.com/2015/05/18/the-magicians-tv-series-the-first-trailer/
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May 18, 2015 22:58
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Hedrigall posted:Well, he was 17 in the start of the first book. It ended when he was 21. The actors all look 25+ I suspect they'll explicitly make everyone who attends older.
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May 18, 2015 23:08
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Internet Wizard posted:I tried asking in the Space Opera thread a bit ago about this, but nobody was really able to come up with what I wanted, so I'm hoping I'll get something here. You should read up on Frederik Pohl's Heechee series. Gateway is an excellent novel, although the interaction with the named aliens doesn't come into play until later books, and follows more of a Babylon 5 type war between more advanced aliens that we hairless apes in the midst of by getting off our pebble.
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May 18, 2015 23:52
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Almost finished Red Country by Joe Abercrombie. Enjoying it and enjoyed The Heroes after the massive disappointment that was Best Served Cold although I still miss his far more efficient prose from the original trilogy. Can't go into the Abercrombie thread for fear of spoilers, but how has his new trilogy been? I hear they're in the Young Adult genre - sounds offputting but I'm honestly not sure what that really means. I thought Hunger Games was fun if that helps?  Probably next on my reading list are: The Name of the Wind by Pat Rothfuss. I've heard controversial but generally positive things... And I thought I'd give The Last Wish by Andrej Sapkowski a go because uhh Penny Arcade recommended it. What's the goon take on the Witcher stuff? Might give Brandon Sanderson another chance and try the first Mistborn book, but after Way of Kings, I have my doubts...
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May 19, 2015 01:48
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VagueRant posted:Might give Brandon Sanderson another chance and try the first Mistborn book, but after Way of Kings, I have my doubts... If you didn't like Way of Kings, I can't imagine you would like Mistborn any better, to be honest.
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May 19, 2015 02:07
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Autonomous Monster posted:(I know I shouldn't, but I got hung up on picking apart the trailer trying to work out how closely it followed the text. Not a lot, I think?) Looks like it followed the text pretty well? Except for the headmaster being Simon from Battlestar Galactica. And Brakebills looking like a "real" university. I always pictured it as a Victorian-style sprawling mansion, but I've been known to mis-read things. I unno, I'm pretty excited? Speaking of book-to-screen adaptations, the BBC production of "Johnathan Strange and Mr.Norrell" is cpmpletely spot on and amazing so far. Definitely worth checking out if you're a fan of the book. Snuffman fucked around with this message at 02:35 on May 19, 2015 |
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May 19, 2015 02:30
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Are the Witcher books any good? Thinking of getting the new PS4 game but was wondering if the novels were any good. I know they are polish to english translations, but I don't know anything else about them.
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May 19, 2015 02:32
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I personally found The Last Wish to be kinda...dry. That could just be the translation/localization of the novel though.
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May 19, 2015 02:41
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The Ninth Layer posted:If you didn't like Way of Kings, I can't imagine you would like Mistborn any better, to be honest. Agreed. I recommend The Emperor's Soul instead.
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May 19, 2015 02:59
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VagueRant posted:Can't go into the Abercrombie thread for fear of spoilers If the point is to get new readers to the author/series, the OP may as well just link to the Amazon page for the first book or Wikipedia because there's no way to ask questions in the thread as you're reading without running the risk of having the whole drat thing spoiled. I ran into this when I was going through the Dresden Files books and had some questions when I was 5-6 books in, so I went into the thread, read the OP and had to back right out, since they spoil the poo poo out of everything but the most recent book (or did when I was reading anyways). Maybe I'm strange, but it makes me avoid most threads in this subforum.
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May 19, 2015 04:10
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The Ninth Layer posted:If you didn't like Way of Kings, I can't imagine you would like Mistborn any better, to be honest. Mistborn certainly gets to the action faster at least. (at least for the first book)
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May 19, 2015 05:08
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I don't know about the English localization, but the Witcher books have a bit of a curve to them where most of the short stories are pretty good and the saga thing starts off strong but feels really rushed at the end. It's pretty good in general. Rothfuss, I'ď avoid like plague.
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May 19, 2015 06:37
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Azathoth posted:I really don’t understand the purpose of author-specific threads where you need to have read everything the author has written if you don't want to get spoilered to hell. I understand what you're saying, but people don't generally like clicking through pages of spoilers for books they read decades ago on the off-chance someone says something interesting. I think both sides have a point. Even if there are rules on pacing spoilers, they're made obsolete by the length of time books can be knocking around. I think making spoilers easier to use, [ s ] instead of [ spoiler ] or something, would be the best thing. I don't often see strikethrough anyway. E: I thought there was a spoiler on/off button on the control panel, but I can't find it, if it's there. Megazver posted:I suspect they'll explicitly make everyone who attends older. 17-year-olds loving, or something more interesting? Safety Biscuits fucked around with this message at 07:19 on May 19, 2015 |
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May 19, 2015 07:14
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The Ninth Layer posted:If you didn't like Way of Kings, I can't imagine you would like any other Sanderson book better, to be honest. FTFY RVProfootballer posted:Are Moorcock's Elric books worth reading? I'm about 40 pages into the first and, like, it's ok, but is it really just Elric's tortured soul looking moodily into the mournful dark and howling wind for the entire book? I don't mind relatively generic fantasy and will probably keep reading for now, just wondering what people think. I guess I'm curious if people thought it was good at the time because it was one of the first antihero epic fantasies, or if it holds up and is actually good besides that novelty. I would say so. The imagery is still pretty great in the books and the books have been a clear inspiration to many fantasy authors. Example: Anomander Rake in the Malazan series. I currently going through the Runestaff/Hawkmoon series and it is pretty good with a good flow. Moorcock's strength have always been in world building and imagery, while his characters are rather bland. The stories are short as well and pretty stand alone, which for me is kinda good, since all of these long fantasy series is wearing me down.
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May 19, 2015 07:17
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I personally cannot stand Elric but read 2 or 3 books to make sure I wasn't missing something vital and unexplained. He seems to just be the prototypical white haired emo with stupidly overdone powers. Also anime.House Louse posted:I understand what you're saying, but people don't generally like clicking through pages of spoilers for books they read decades ago on the off-chance someone says something interesting. I think both sides have a point. Even if there are rules on pacing spoilers, they're made obsolete by the length of time books can be knocking around. coyo7e fucked around with this message at 09:48 on May 19, 2015 |
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May 19, 2015 09:45
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coyo7e posted:I personally cannot stand Elric but read 2 or 3 books to make sure I wasn't missing something vital and unexplained. He seems to just be the prototypical white haired emo with stupidly overdone powers. Also anime. Plus I'm fairly sure he's actually THE prototypical white-haired emo. anilEhilated fucked around with this message at 14:47 on May 19, 2015 |
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May 19, 2015 10:50
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anilEhilated posted:Plus I'm fairly sure he's actually THE prototypical white-haired emo. I thnk that's the thing. he's famous for being the first of a new thing, and that resonates. It's not anything new or different nowadays, and it's not particularly standout great compared to modern pieces. I think you have to respect it, but you definitely don't have to like it.
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May 19, 2015 14:29
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The Last Wish is kind of a weird book to start with for people who have played the games because from what I remember it doesn't exactly take place in the same setting. Like the basics are there but its more generic Europe than the countries from the games. Also its mostly just twists on classic fairy tales like a version of Beauty and the Beast where he decides to stay as the Beast because its better than a human body and he just pays young women to come live with him.
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May 19, 2015 14:36
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The games are either a different continuity or set after the series, yeah. Witcher 3 seems to promise to establish some kind of connection there. But a lot of the short stories are firmly rooted in folklore or subverting established fantasy conventions, it doesn't really start doing its own thing until the novels kick in.
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May 19, 2015 14:49
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Snuffman posted:
Yeah it was awesome. It totally captured the feel & world of the book for me and also had perfect casting. Even the loud, flamboyant society dude mispronounced "Norrell" the same as I do in my head.
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May 19, 2015 14:51
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anilEhilated posted:Yeah, it's been said you don't really read Elric for Elric. You read him for the parralel universes, Lovecraftiana, landboats and similar zany setpieces. Also because he inspired a lot of great stuff not only in literature. Personally, i think the Corum stories hold up better these days.
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May 19, 2015 14:59
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anilEhilated posted:The games are either a different continuity or set after the series, yeah. The latter; the games are explicitly set after the series.
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May 19, 2015 15:27
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computer parts posted:House of Suns maybe? Oooh, I'm listening to this on Audible right now and it's very good.
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May 19, 2015 15:42
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The Rat posted:I read the first five or so and it seemed like it was all about setting him up so that Stormbringer would kill everyone he loved in a WHOOPS, HOW TRAGIC kind of way. Well, given that Stormbringer was the first book written that's hardly surprising.
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May 19, 2015 15:43
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Khizan posted:The latter; the games are explicitly set after the series. Plus there's a new Witcher novel that came out like last year but that could fairly easily be a prequel since it has nothing to do with anything.
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May 19, 2015 15:47
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Deptfordx posted:Personally, i think the Corum stories hold up better these days. Yeah, Corum has the same "last vestige of a dying race" thing going as Elric, but without the angst.
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May 19, 2015 15:50
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Fiendish Dr. Wu posted:Oooh, I'm listening to this on Audible right now and it's very good. I liked House of Suns but the ending is very abrupt. I was reading it on my Kindle and the percentage complete kept on getting higher and I had no idea how it would finish and then everything kind of gets done in about a chapter.
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May 19, 2015 16:24
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anilEhilated posted:Also because he inspired a lot of great stuff not only in literature. I almost didn't make it through the boring part at the start to the insanity beyond. I'm still not sure that I actually like that style of metal. I waver from  to 
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May 19, 2015 16:28
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The only Elric books I really liked were Elric of Melniboné and Stormbringer. I preferred Hawkmoon and the John Daker books. Probably ripe for a re-read.coyo7e posted:It is pretty simple to join a thread and say hey, I'm new to this please be gentle. And most TBB threads will react positively from what I have seen. Yeah but there's a difference between reading a thread and just popping in to ask some questions.
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May 19, 2015 17:17
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