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Daktari posted:I've recently picked up the Vorkosigan saga, and blown through two pre-Miles books. I get a good feeling from these. Oh, to be able to read the Vorkosigan saga for the first time again. I envy you. (The series has been an abiding favourite of mine for, what, about twenty years now, just did my nth reread of the whole thing last year.)
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Jun 18, 2015 20:24
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loving browser double-posting on me? Ah well. Bujold is one of the greats of the field and there's nothing else like the Vorkosigan series, really. Books are notably not all the same, some have plenty of action with space warships and ultratech commando raids and whatnot, others are more investigation and so on, at least one is almost pure romantic comedy.
Groke fucked around with this message at 20:30 on Jun 18, 2015 |
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Jun 18, 2015 20:25
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n4 posted:I just finished the four books in the Count to a Trillion series by John C Wright. I really dig them, though they're ridiculously complicated. Unfortunately John C Wright is a crazy homophobe or something too. These were pretty terrible though. From the tech to most of the plots. Don't forget the dragonballz style IQ reporting. Oh no better not mess with these dudes their IQ levels are over 9000!!!! Like literally that. Also I was wondering if these were published as a series of shorts because in each book he goes over the same plot exposition several times.
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Jun 18, 2015 21:39
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Fried Chicken posted:My point is that since he doesn't include character arcs, Ringo's works are more power fantasy than anything else. Sure, I agree with that. I appreciate your clarification - I totally read your first post as a more direct comparison of Traviss to Ringo than it was intended to be. Personally I'd say your main point about Ringo is patently obvious to anyone who's read fifty pages of a Ringo book, but then in order for anyone to argue otherwise they'd have to read a Ringo book. Not something I want to suggest 
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Jun 18, 2015 23:11
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I don't like right-wing crap but I am addicted to missile volley ekphrasis
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Jun 19, 2015 00:02
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Big word, bub. I don't know if missile volleys are art, but it's an interesting thesis.
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Jun 19, 2015 02:54
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Patrick Spens posted:[John Ringo's] Ghost series was originally never meant to be printed. It was just him writing down fantasies that he didn't think were fit for public consumption. Drifter posted:If you haven't read them, [John C. Wright's] Golden Age trilogy is also really entertaining. They're really cool. Psion posted:Jim Baen's publishing motto was "if it sells, I'll sell it" and that is why their stable of authors and the output therein seems to be so Fried Chicken posted:I have unfortunately read them all [the Republic Commando series]. I do agree that there was some interesting stuff there with how she worked the Sith creed into the Mandalorian code, and how that offered some storytelling possibilities along with showing how the creeping militarism and shock doctrine was reshaping the galaxy to fascism. Instead she went a different way. **************** I've been reading "Star Soldiers", by Andre Norton. It's okay; if you want some sci-fi action, it's...actually kind of light on the action, there's a lot more "we're walking from place to place, boy this sucks". I'm about a third of the way through, and so far it's another re-telling of the Anabasis. Miss-Bomarc fucked around with this message at 06:03 on Jun 19, 2015 |
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Jun 19, 2015 06:01
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scattered from far-left to far-right to far-out to far-far-away-from-me-at-all-costs.
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Ape Gone Insane posted:Any series like Game of Thrones in space? Google throws up The Expanse series which is nothing loving like GoT. Dune is probably the closest I've read and I liked the concept they reworked into Jupiter Ascending - so basically any powerful families/houses fighting over a resource or a throne in a space opera setting (with lots of grey characters and deaths)? Legend of Galactic Heroes. Multiple movies and hundreds of episodes with many OVAs etc (lookup a suggested watching order before starting). Yes, it's not a book. But it's basically GoT in space, and honestly, is much better.
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Jun 19, 2015 16:37
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Shakugan posted:Legend of Galactic Heroes. Multiple movies and hundreds of episodes with many OVAs etc (lookup a suggested watching order before starting). Yes, it's not a book. But it's basically GoT in space, and honestly, is much better. To be like GoT in space, it needs aliens and space monsters (Others and dragons). Does Legend of GH have that?
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Jun 19, 2015 22:24
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Libluini posted:To be like GoT in space, it needs aliens and space monsters (Others and dragons). Does Legend of GH have that?
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Jun 19, 2015 22:30
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Any recommendations for near future science dramas similar to The Martian or Contact?
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Jun 21, 2015 05:00
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Gamesguy posted:Any recommendations for near future science dramas similar to The Martian or Contact? You could try Seveneves.
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Jun 21, 2015 05:02
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General Battuta posted:You could try Seveneves. That's on my list.
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Jun 21, 2015 05:15
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Mars Trilogy
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Jun 21, 2015 05:28
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Gamesguy posted:Any recommendations for near future science dramas similar to The Martian or Contact? Some of Stephen Baxter's stuff (mainly Voyage, Moonseed, Titan, and the Manifold series) might fit this for you.
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Jun 21, 2015 05:29
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Shakugan posted:Legend of Galactic Heroes. Multiple movies and hundreds of episodes with many OVAs etc (lookup a suggested watching order before starting). Yes, it's not a book. But it's basically GoT in space, and honestly, is much better. It's fine for the first 20 episodes or so but very quickly goes downhill after that. Like after they capture the deathstar just quit watching.
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Jun 21, 2015 07:09
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Gamesguy posted:Any recommendations for near future science dramas similar to The Martian or Contact? Encounter with Tiber
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Jun 21, 2015 14:25
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Gamesguy posted:Any recommendations for near future science dramas similar to The Martian or Contact? Rendezvous With Rama, perhaps? (Don't read the sequels.)
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Jun 21, 2015 19:13
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I think most of the Niven/Pournelle books fit the bill, and Ben Bova's novels are pretty fun takes on near future exploration.
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Jun 21, 2015 19:19
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Oh yeah, I'm a big Bova fan. Kinsman, Voyagers (probably the closest novel I can think of to Contact), Colony, Mars, and Return to Mars were all pretty grounded "near-future" sci-fi when they were written, albeit they were all written over a time spanning like four decades so a lot of what was near-future shifted.
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Jun 21, 2015 19:39
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General Battuta posted:You could try Seveneves. OK so I gave up on this one a couple chapters in. It just felt too huge with too many characters with insufficient focus on any of them. I think I liked The Martian and Contact so much because they're tightly focused on one main character. I guess I'm just not into huge epics involving a dozen main characters. I just remembered another one I liked, Ready Player One. thehomemaster posted:Mars Trilogy Is it anything like Years of Rice and Salt? I couldn't get into that book despite the glowing recommendations. Gamesguy fucked around with this message at 16:45 on Jun 22, 2015 |
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Jun 22, 2015 16:38
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thehomemaster posted:Mars Trilogy Is this the Red/Blue/Green Mars trilogy? That series was pretty good for a while, but eventually just sorta dragged on.
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Jun 22, 2015 16:52
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I'm getting close to the end of Seveneves and this really should have been two books. The later parts feel far more superficially handled than they should be, yet Stephenson's descended into "As you know," to the point of parody, or possibly Weber.
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Jun 22, 2015 17:44
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Gamesguy posted:Any recommendations for near future science dramas similar to The Martian or Contact?
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Jun 22, 2015 20:34
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Gamesguy posted:It just felt too huge with too many characters with insufficient focus on any of them. This must have been your first, and consequently your last Neal Stephenson book.
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Jun 22, 2015 21:55
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chrisoya posted:I'm getting close to the end of Seveneves and this really should have been two books. The later parts feel far more superficially handled than they should be, yet Stephenson's descended into "As you know," to the point of parody, or possibly Weber. Miss-Bomarc fucked around with this message at 02:28 on Jun 23, 2015 |
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Jun 23, 2015 02:24
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WarLocke posted:Ringo is weird and I can't figure him out. Yeah, all that creepy poo poo he actually wrote, but it all happens in one of his book series. The others are mostly free of that poo poo (the Aldenata ones have the blondes in heat thing but it's mentioned maybe twice and never actually means anything to the plot), but hes still the guy ho wrote the Ghost books. I just don't get it. Blondes in heat is actually from the Troy Rising/Gates series, not Aldenata 
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Jun 24, 2015 12:46
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Darkrenown posted:Blondes in heat is actually from the Troy Rising/Gates series, not Aldenata Aldenata has its own set of women rebuilt by alien technology to be super horny blonde bombshells with the bodies of 18 year olds. I remember because their story was far more compelling than the men. Having your body completely reconstructed against your will by an automaton acting on its own directives is a much more interesting plot than "mindlessly slaughter putties while complaining about anyone to the right of Franco"
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Jun 24, 2015 17:52
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Fried Chicken posted:Aldenata has its own set of women rebuilt by alien technology to be super horny blonde bombshells with the bodies of 18 year olds. The fourth novel Hell's Faire includes some Sluggy Freelance guest strips by Pete Abrams since the popular internet comic strip is featured somewhat prominently in a way. (A massive armored military vehicle is named after Bun-Bun the mini-lop from the strip.) Some of the strips are samples of the actual comic strip and others are an exclusive alternate timeline setting where the Sluggy characters have to deal with the Posleen invasion. 
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Jun 24, 2015 18:18
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Someone ten pages back was asking for some plain sci-fi "ground pounders" without any of the weird poo poo usually associated with mil sci fi. Rick Shelley I read one of his books as a kid so last year I checked out the first in the Lucky 13th series to see how they've held up. Its a decent read, sets itself apart more on the fact that there's no creepy sex/politics/author BS. Shelley draws heavily on WW2 and presents a fairly conventional war with some technological advances that haven't aged well. The overarching story is the allied, independent planets defending themselves against invasion by the fascist planets, but it primarily focuses on the front line experience; the main characters are a grunt, a tanker, and a pilot.
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Jun 25, 2015 01:42
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Revelation Space was pretty decent, if a bit rough in some ways. Redemption Ark seems to be well reviewed so I'm starting that, but the reviews for Absolation Gap are terrible, is it reallly that bad?
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Jun 25, 2015 01:55
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Levitate posted:Revelation Space was pretty decent, if a bit rough in some ways. Redemption Ark seems to be well reviewed so I'm starting that, but the reviews for Absolation Gap are terrible, is it reallly that bad? I liked Absolution Gap a lot. It's very different though. About 33% of it continues the Inhibitors plot thread, while 66% of it concentrates on a new plot tangent. You get closure on some things (eg: the fate of Nostalgia For Infinity and some of its crew/passengers), but not others. You'll need to read the short story "Galactic North" in the collection of the same name to fully understand the ending. Reynolds could always write more books in that universe, too. Don't listen to the haters. It's a fine story.
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Jun 25, 2015 02:10
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It's okay on its own, but it isn't Redemption Ark Part 2, which is what a lot of people (like me  ) wanted.
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Jun 25, 2015 02:20
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Hedrigall posted:Reynolds could always write more books in that universe, too. IIRC he is contractually obligated to, as part of his million-pound 10 year deal.
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Jun 25, 2015 02:51
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If Reynolds wrote a collection of short stories that was just Clavain going on rad space adventures I'd buy it in a heartbeat.
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Jun 25, 2015 14:30
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Fried Chicken posted:Aldenata has its own set of women rebuilt by alien technology to be super horny blonde bombshells with the bodies of 18 year olds. Pretty sure they just get rejuvenated and had their strength and speed upgraded after one of their group gets badly wounded and they discover the alien-tech medical station, they didn't get made blonde, horny, or more attractive beyond what being rebuilt as your 18 YO self in top shape would normally do. Lots of people got rejuvenated in the series though (including the SS ), the only difference is the ladies found one of the unrestricted stations and were able to get "upgrades" too - which they asked for.
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Jun 25, 2015 14:46
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I just read the whole Old Man War series of books. Goddamn Scalzi needs to just sit still and write, all the books were much much too short.
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Jun 26, 2015 17:42
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They are a good length for selling lots of copies in print.
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Jun 26, 2015 19:19
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Baloogan posted:I just read the whole Old Man War series of books. Goddamn Scalzi needs to just sit still and write, all the books were much much too short. How YA-ish is Zoe's Tale? Is it perfectly skippable because it's all Zoe and alien love romances, or is it actually tolerable for someone who is not 14 anymore?
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Jun 26, 2015 19:26
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Its, uh, very YA. Explains wtf happened at the end of the Lost Colony though.
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Jun 26, 2015 19:28
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