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Fiendish Dr. Wu posted:
John Lee narrates Revelation Space and the rest of the Reynolds stuff, so if you like him and the recent posts haven't made it clear, you should definitely do this.
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Jun 2, 2015 06:26
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Tanith posted:John Lee narrates Revelation Space and the rest of the Reynolds stuff, so if you like him and the recent posts haven't made it clear, you should definitely do this. I was impatient and did exactly this with some of my extra audible credits. Liking it so far!
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Jun 2, 2015 15:39
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Finished Nemesis Games. Kind of blitzed through since the building where I work was closed due to a power failure all afternoon. I thought it was very enjoyable. A ton of focus on the non-Holden characters, and a more large scale, plot centric story. Only complaints so far are that there were a few too many plot contrivances, one in particular being almost insanely implausibly coincidental, and that the ending didn't resolve anything, but it's book five of nine so what can you do. Overall it's a super dark tone and crazily engaging. Very empire strikes back.
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Jun 4, 2015 01:43
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Velius posted:Finished Nemesis Games. Kind of blitzed through since the building where I work was closed due to a power failure all afternoon. I thought it was very enjoyable. A ton of focus on the non-Holden characters, and a more large scale, plot centric story. Jesus, nine? I thought it was six.
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Jun 4, 2015 02:23
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Anticheese posted:I would be all over a Bioware Revelation Space RPG. Lets get the goon who ditched Bioware to write Banner Saga to do the adaption!
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Jun 4, 2015 07:20
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Prolonged Priapism posted:Jesus, nine? I thought it was six. It was extended to six. Then it was extended to nine.
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Jun 4, 2015 20:52
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Well since there are two authors there's less chance of them both dropping dead before finishing book 15.  Velius posted:Finished Nemesis Games. Kind of blitzed through since the building where I work was closed due to a power failure all afternoon. I thought it was very enjoyable. A ton of focus on the non-Holden characters, and a more large scale, plot centric story. So am I to take it that I'm not alone in wishing that Holden had died and that Miller had lived? Because I totally wish that, and have gotten increasingly more annoyed every time Holden shows his face in the later books.
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Jun 4, 2015 22:30
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Fiendish Dr. Wu posted:I was impatient and did exactly this with some of my extra audible credits. Liking it so far! rear end in a top hat Space Archaeologist and rear end in a top hat Space Ghostdad are one of my favorite teams ever. Has SyFy released anything beyond that first trailer for The Expanse stuff they're doing?
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Jun 4, 2015 22:44
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Tanith posted:rear end in a top hat Space Archaeologist and rear end in a top hat Space Ghostdad are one of my favorite teams ever. Not that I could find. (I'm really amped for that show). But Dark Matter starts next Friday, and Killjoys the Friday after, so there's that!
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Jun 4, 2015 22:49
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Jack2142 posted:Lets get the goon who ditched Bioware to write Banner Saga to do the adaption! I've not played Banner Saga, but it sounds like an appropriate setup for something like the Inhibitor exodus. God I want to play something in that setting badly. Which book is about ghost dad and the archaeologist?
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Jun 4, 2015 23:44
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Fiendish Dr. Wu posted:Not that I could find. (I'm really amped for that show). Oh holy poo poo, now I have something to do on Friday nights. (FML)
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Jun 5, 2015 00:10
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Tanith posted:rear end in a top hat Space Archaeologist and rear end in a top hat Space Ghostdad are one of my favorite teams ever. There was a second trailer which showed quite a bit more. On phone so can't find link now.
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Jun 5, 2015 01:45
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Anticheese posted:Which book is about ghost dad and the archaeologist? I was being silly in reference to Dan and Calvin Sylveste in Revelation Space
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Jun 5, 2015 01:46
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jng2058 posted:Well since there are two authors there's less chance of them both dropping dead before finishing book 15.
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Jun 5, 2015 03:37
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Velius posted:Finished Nemesis Games. Kind of blitzed through since the building where I work was closed due to a power failure all afternoon. I thought it was very enjoyable. A ton of focus on the non-Holden characters Does it feature foul-mouthed UN grandma? This will sort of determine whether I read it right now or a bit later.
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Jun 5, 2015 10:40
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Surprise Expanse! Nice. No grandmas as I can see. I didn't dare to google too hard, in case I spoiled the plot/ending etc.
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Jun 5, 2015 17:35
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Yes, but she's a foul-mouthed Iranian grandma now. e: oops, misread the question and thought people were asking about the TV show.
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Jun 5, 2015 17:57
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Groke posted:Does it feature foul-mouthed UN grandma? This will sort of determine whether I read it right now or a bit later.
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Jun 5, 2015 18:23
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colonel_korn posted:Yes, but she's a foul-mouthed Iranian grandma now. I already have questions. Avasarala wasn't in book 1 was she?
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Jun 5, 2015 19:49
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Fiendish Dr. Wu posted:I already have questions. Avasarala wasn't in book 1 was she? You are correct.
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Jun 5, 2015 19:58
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Kesper North posted:You are correct. I mean, I knew that.. looks like they're definitely going to be changing the story up quite a bit then.
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Jun 5, 2015 20:34
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Fiendish Dr. Wu posted:I mean, I knew that.. looks like they're definitely going to be changing the story up quite a bit then. If only the writers would realize that Avaserala should have a much bigger part in every book!
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Jun 5, 2015 21:48
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coyo7e posted:How many did you read exactly? I hear this a lot from people who stopped at book 2. I'm about halfway through book five right now. I'm appreciating the depth we're getting on the rest of the Roci crew, and even the Holden chapters seem to be as much about Fred and Monica as Jim so in that regard the book's better for me than the last couple. Maybe it's just me, but the whiny "oh woe is me" protagonist always pisses me off. I did bail out of the second book of The Wheel of Time precisely because I couldn't handle whiny Rand any longer. Holden strikes a similar chord for me, especially in Cibola Burn where he spends the entire novel ignoring Miller's increasingly desperate pleas to investigate the planet-killer stuff. It's made especially hilarious, because in Nemesis Games, Holden spends times grousing that no one's listening to him about the danger Miller warned him about, when he himself spent the last two books ignoring that very same threat, the hypocritical gently caress! In short, Jim Holden should die in a fire. Bring back Miller!
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Jun 6, 2015 00:00
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Kesper North posted:If only the writers would realize that Avaserala should have a much bigger part in every book! They should do a GRRM on Holden and co, and make Avaserala as a CENTRAL character. I would read whole drat nine books of that. Haven't started fourth book yet because.
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Jun 6, 2015 14:28
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Just about done with Bio of a Space Tyrant. You guys were right, they're pretty bad books, but I go through stuff so fast I guess I've developed a tolerance (I also red all of the Drizzt stuff when I was a teen, ugh). The thing that finally got to me though was the sixth book, which is supposed to be basically the events of the first five from the point of view of the sister, but is actually about 80% literally lifted paragraphs from the other books with occasional new text. Lazy as gently caress.
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Jun 6, 2015 19:57
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Vaz posted:They should do a GRRM on Holden and co, and make Avaserala as a CENTRAL character. I would read whole drat nine books of that. Didn't the TV show basically do that? Also, I just finished Nemesis Games, and I really enjoyed it. Seemed like a return to the first book, although the plot hinges on some enormous loving coincidences. But whatever, it was a fun as gently caress adventure in space, and there was Grumpy Government Grandma and Honorable Space Marine.
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Jun 7, 2015 00:35
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WarLocke posted:Just about done with Bio of a Space Tyrant. You guys were right, they're pretty bad books, but I go through stuff so fast I guess I've developed a tolerance (I also red all of the Drizzt stuff when I was a teen, ugh). I did enjoy the politics aspect of that series, I wish there were more series with that kind of focus, aside from vorkosigan saga I haven't really come accross any.
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Jun 7, 2015 06:17
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faceglaven posted:I did enjoy the politics aspect of that series, I wish there were more series with that kind of focus, aside from vorkosigan saga I haven't really come accross any. It's really hard to do well (see: the trade federation in Phantom Menace) and few authors even try. Asimov's Foundation series, sortof. Some of LeGuin's stuff, maybe, depending on what you're looking for. Problem is that political SF tends to be about political ideas, not about political horse-race competition. Wheel of Time does a decent job on the fantasy side of things. Goblin Emperor does *great* fantasy politics. The old Deryni Chronicles books are cheesy-as-hell 80's fantasy but they do have some very good medieval politics sequences -- papal interdiction, excommunication, etc.
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Jun 7, 2015 06:33
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:It's really hard to do well (see: the trade federation in Phantom Menace) and few authors even try. Asimov's Foundation series, sortof. Some of LeGuin's stuff, maybe, depending on what you're looking for. Problem is that political SF tends to be about political ideas, not about political horse-race competition. Goblin emperor sounds cool actually, I'm going to check that out followed by the Foundation series. Cheers ^^^^^ finished goblin emperor great book, thanks for the rec faceglaven fucked around with this message at 11:25 on Jun 8, 2015 |
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Jun 7, 2015 07:51
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faceglaven posted:I did enjoy the politics aspect of that series, I wish there were more series with that kind of focus, aside from vorkosigan saga I haven't really come accross any. Some of the works of Karl Schroeder and Charles Stross go into political aspects of their worlds, though I'm not sure it's the dominant aspect of any of their works.
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Jun 7, 2015 18:37
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I loved Goblin Emperor a lot. It's a slow, introspective book with an interesting arc: there's a layer of court intrigue but the real story is everyone giving everyone else permission to warm up and be decent again. I have what they're calling a 'geopolitical fantasy' coming out from Tor this fall, but it won't hit until September. If you're still looking then it's called The Traitor Baru Cormorant. And Robert Jackson Bennett's City of Stairs is fairly political, with a lot of talk about the relationship between theology and social behavior. All fantasy though.
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Jun 7, 2015 19:39
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Finished the last bit of Bio over lunch, was thoroughly offput by the final chapter where all the spooky stuff that had happened off and on during the series but could usually be explained by fits of madness or fugues turns out to be, nope, it was magic all the time. The gently caress. Started Consider Phlebas based on the suggestions here (and also my vague memory of having read Player of Games years ago - so long ago that I couldn't give you plot details, I basically remember "I read that book") and it's pretty good so far. I especially like that even though the Culture is portrayed as near-practically all-powerful they still go out of their way to mention other races (like the Dra'Azon, if I spelled that right) which even they don't want to mess with.
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Jun 7, 2015 20:08
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Phlebas is an odd duck in the Culture flock. It's pretty ugly. Terrible things happen in the other Culture novels, but in general I think they're a lot more charming.
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Jun 7, 2015 21:48
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Republic of Thieves, the third Locke Lamora book, is ostensibly about politics on the surface but once I got into it turns out it's really just another excuse to have a bunch of tricks and con artistry going on and the political stuff is window dressing only. I still had fun with it - con artistry is the core skill and career of the protagonists, after all - but this is the sort of thing you come to expect when you are promised "political intrigue" in the jacket. For instance, I read NK Jemisin's The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms a month ago and it had a lot more politics going on (ethnic and geo-, especially). Re: the Culture, I'd love to read a novel about Special Circumstances agents trying to rig an election in as subtle a way as possible, or something in that vein. I have a vague memory of Use of Weapons having a sequence where an operation like this was alluded to. (Before anyone gets all politological here, I realize that defining "politics" as "an electoral horse race" or, say, "a revolution" is extremely narrow, but strangely enough this definition seems to be dominant in all spheres of pop culture except genre literature!)
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Jun 7, 2015 22:01
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Velius posted:Finished Nemesis Games. Kind of blitzed through since the building where I work was closed due to a power failure all afternoon. I thought it was very enjoyable. A ton of focus on the non-Holden characters, and a more large scale, plot centric story. I thought it was a well done story that knew exactly what its' place in the series was going to be. I can't wait to see how everything resolves. I also hope the TV show does well, because I really want to know who they'll cast as Bobbie.
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Jun 7, 2015 22:13
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I think I read Nemesis Games faster than anything I have read in a while, the pacing was perfect and I can't wait to find out where they are going with the story.
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Jun 8, 2015 01:40
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The Thousand Cultures novels by John Barnes tend to be nothing but politics, and I enjoyed the hell out of 'em.
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Jun 8, 2015 17:37
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I have to say I'm impressed by Evan Currie's On Silver Wings set of books. They're definitely weber-esque, but without the creepy sex (which makes them better, imo). Some of the  reads like it's trying to be hard scifi but that gets somewhat lost in the other books with the introduction of some handwavium, but they're good reads. On the other hand, it's pretty schlock milfic, but it takes place in space, and there's at least some political machinations happening in the last book.Basically, badass SOCOM female grunt in superarmour murders nasty aliens in spaaace. And that's what this thread is about, right?
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Jun 9, 2015 15:38
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kalleth posted:I have to say I'm impressed by Evan Currie's On Silver Wings set of books. They're definitely weber-esque, but without the creepy sex (which makes them better, imo). Point of order: You're mistaking Weber for Ringo. Weber doesn't do creepy sex, he just masturbates over missile volley numbers. The rest sounds good though, gonna have to track this down. e: Googling Evan Currie also led me to his Odyssey One series which I have obviously not read yet but the description of the first book seems possibly appropriate to the thread? WarLocke fucked around with this message at 15:49 on Jun 9, 2015 |
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Jun 9, 2015 15:42
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WarLocke posted:Point of order: You're mistaking Weber for Ringo. Weber doesn't do creepy sex, he just masturbates over missile volley numbers. Oops. Valid. I don't think there's a missile volley of over 3 figures in these books, even in the largest fights.. so there's that. WarLocke posted:e: Googling Evan Currie also led me to his Odyssey One series which I have obviously not read yet but the description of the first book seems possibly appropriate to the thread? I tried them, and they're certainly worth including in the thread, but I couldn't personally get into them. I felt not much happened in the first book. Perhaps I'll try again...
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Jun 9, 2015 18:03
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