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He actually wears a Pork Pie hat in the books, not a Fedora.
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Jan 16, 2016 06:10
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Patrick Spens posted:If you aren't enjoying it, just skip to Passage at Arms. Reading the earlier book is in no way required for understanding and enjoying passage. Shadowline does pick up nicely, thing actually start happening. As for Passage, I put it first in the reading order because a) it's the best book of the four and b) it's set well before the others and c) there's a Climber reference in the third book, and if you've read Passage you really get how much poo poo is hitting the fan.
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Jan 16, 2016 07:00
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johnsonrod posted:He actually wears a Pork Pie hat in the books, not a Fedora. Well in his century a Pork Pie hat is the equivalent of a Fedora in our century. 
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Jan 16, 2016 08:58
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angel opportunity posted:I'm not sure, but I watched it first during christmas on my parents' TV which has a pretty good sound system through ondemand. At home I watch it with a decent soundbar that never really gives me issues. When I tried to watch at my parents' house (where I couldn't figure out which of their ten remotes to turn subtitles on with) I could only pick up like 60-70% of the dialogue, less in some scenes. It just felt like everyone was mumbling and whispering while a bunch of machinery or loud background noises drowned out their voices. It still sounds like that to me, but I have the subtitles on now so it doesn't hurt my comprehension of the show. This is how it sounds when you play 5.1 channel audio without the centre speaker. Your parents probably have it set up to play surround, but because you didn't know which remote to use you played the sound out through the TV built in speakers instead. -- On topic: I recently read and enjoyed Robin Hobb's Rain Wild Chronicles. The books are clearly designed to be read back to back (which is how I read them). Book 1 in particular ends without much having happened but having done all the setup work for the next 3 books.
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Jan 16, 2016 09:11
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Urcher posted:This is how it sounds when you play 5.1 channel audio without the centre speaker. Yeah, if your channel levels aren't set correctly, 5.1/7.1 can sound like poo poo. A lot of A/V systems can use (or come with) a mic you can set in various places in your room to allow the system to auto set the channel levels. Mine came with a mic, and it allowed me to set a primary listening spot in the room, and also adjustments for three more "secondary" spots. I just mounted the mic on a tripod and moved it around when it told me to. Took about 20 minutes to set all the levels.
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Jan 16, 2016 14:08
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gohmak posted:Aurora basically made the reader realize that they where no better than the initial planners and voyagers that condemed the future generations to a fate they didn't choose for themselves. gently caress them and gently caress you if you don't agree that they deserve to enjoy the planet from which they came. I guess my only complaint with Aurora was that after setting up this idea, it kinda took the easy way out by having the returning crew suddenly invent cold sleep. It obviously makes it a more satisfying narrative seeing the protagonists reach home, but it slightly cheapens the idea in my opinion. It was a huge sacrifice for this middle generation, giving up any chance of living on a planet so that a future generation wouldn't pay for the decisions of a previous one, but hey look cold sleep capsules, yay.* *I'm not actually as down on it as that makes me sound, just a thought.
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Jan 16, 2016 14:19
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I've been reading a lot of random science fiction books -- read Dark Eden, which is one of those books I think works if you like fallen civilization books where they go around talking about Kom Pew Hers and so on. I didn't like it as much towards the end because the author seems like he's passing judgement on the main protagonist for being so bloody single-minded, but every single plan he has (bar one) works out perfectly and all his enemies are of the "I'M SO LOUD AND SO GOD drat CRAZY" type. Binged through all of the Daniel Faust books, and I think as far as urban fantasy goes it's a really easy read. It's no The Rook, but out of most yearly urban fiction I'd put it near the top, ahead of London Falling, Laundry Files, and Rivers of London. It's not ambitious, but it's at least consistent (putting it ahead of Laundry Files), has a large / decent cast of characters (putting ahead of Rivers of London), and doesn't feature a cameo by Tortured With Visions Of The Occult Neil loving Gaiman (putting it ahead of London Falling). I'm currently wrapping up the sequel to The Palace Job, The Prophecy Con, and it's not bad, but I'm rolling my eyes extremely hard at Dairy. Ululenia and Dairy hook up at the end of the last book, but in this book it's revealed that Dairy didn't want to have sex with Ululenia! A woman! The sexiest woman alive! How could anyone turn down offer of sex with a hot woman? What kind of man would not experience sexual attraction to a lady? This is a mystery that apparently stumps most of the cast for 80% of the book, despite the fact that gay and lesbian couples exist.
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Jan 16, 2016 20:29
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mllaneza posted:Shadowline does pick up nicely, thing actually start happening. As for Passage, I put it first in the reading order because a) it's the best book of the four and b) it's set well before the others and c) there's a Climber reference in the third book, and if you've read Passage you really get how much poo poo is hitting the fan. Yeah I stuck with Shadowline and it was pretty goddamned nuts by the end.  About halfway through Starfisher right now and jesus this benRabi guy gets me right in the gut.
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Jan 16, 2016 22:21
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I really do need to try reading The Rook again. Maybe if I find a copy in print the fuckawful Exposition By Binder would be easier to get past.
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Jan 16, 2016 23:00
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Just read Planetfall on a plane ride. drat. Highly recommended. It reminded me in ways of Xenocide and Hyperion.
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Jan 17, 2016 01:47
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Junkenstein posted:I guess my only complaint with Aurora was that after setting up this idea, it kinda took the easy way out by having the returning crew suddenly invent cold sleep. It obviously makes it a more satisfying narrative seeing the protagonists reach home, but it slightly cheapens the idea in my opinion. It was a huge sacrifice for this middle generation, giving up any chance of living on a planet so that a future generation wouldn't pay for the decisions of a previous one, but hey look cold sleep capsules, yay.* I agree with this. Although, I think having a bunch of people die in hibernation and during the decel made it a lot more realistic and impactful. It worked, but not magically well. I'm still on my KSR kick, about midway through Green Earth which is his condensed and updated single volume Science in the Capitol trilogy. It's slow moving, of course, but I don't mind at all. Robinson's deep love for the world and people comes through in his prose, and that's what I really feed on in his work. A character in that novel buys an Acheulean hand axe, a Homo erectus tool, that's about 500,000 years old. I was inspired and did the same, mine is from Africa and supposedly around a million years old. Amazing to hold it and think how far we've come. I finally read The Wild Shore, the first in the loose Three Californias trilogy. I was pleased that based on the themes and character arcs in the other two (which I read first), I was able to accurately predict a couple major and minor plot points - it's a loose trilogy, all three take place in different future timelines, but the thematic connections are very strong, and harmonize well. I'll also add my praise for Baru Cormorant! I haven't read any fantasy in a while, and this was a great book to dip back in to that kind of story with. I was pretty sure that she would betray the rebellion, but I appreciated the la Carre style wondering it put me through - is this Baru double crossing the Empire? Triple crossing? Quadruple? I'm definitely excited for the follow up.
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Jan 17, 2016 02:33
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Yeah I really want to read The Wild Shore but the first one isn't an ebook in Australia yet. Also, where do I get me an ancient axe?
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Jan 17, 2016 03:54
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I got mine here. That place had good reviews from fossil collectors, the biggest issue with buying ancient stuff is that a lot of it is fake. They've got a good reputation, so I hope my piece is genuine. I got the last one on the page, the reddish one. If you want better documented pieces and are willing to pay (significantly) more, there's this site, which also has a good reputation. They've also got Neanderthal (and other) tools, which is rad. There's a lot that show up on ebay, I stayed away from those because I assume at least some of them are modern fakes. I'll probably take the one I got to the local university and see if anyone there can tell me what they think.
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Jan 17, 2016 07:31
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RoboCicero posted:I've been reading a lot of random science fiction books -- read Dark Eden, which is one of those books I think works if you like fallen civilization books where they go around talking about Kom Pew Hers and so on. I didn't like it as much towards the end because the author seems like he's passing judgement on the main protagonist for being so bloody single-minded, but every single plan he has (bar one) works out perfectly and all his enemies are of the "I'M SO LOUD AND SO GOD drat CRAZY" type. I kind of liked the way Redlantern is portrayed; the judgement isn't so much about his plans succeeding or failing as it is about how he treats the people around him, as we see from his followers' POV chapters. I remember reading an interview with the author where he says a lot of the "great men" of history were probably also narcissists or psychopaths, but sometimes we need people like that to nudge us along as a society and break us out of old ways of thinking.
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Jan 17, 2016 08:55
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Baru Cormorant was really good. I don't know if I can recommend it to, like, my mom or my girlfriend, but it's an amazing book and anyone on the fence should buy it.
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Jan 17, 2016 19:13
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Speaking of TV pilots, Syfy put up the full pilot of The Magicians. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T0a2B71qs8 Half way through so far, and the aging up of the cast makes the whole thing seem really weird so far. It feels like we're already at the mid-point of the first book before the story even starts. Also not liking the whole Quintin and gang being the "prophesied" ones. The whole point of the first book is that they weren't special, they just happened to go through the right iteration with Jane, that had the "best" results. There had been others, Quintin and co. just happened to work out and Jane Chatwin didn't know that it was all going to work out in advance. EDIT: Finished and woo-wee are we blasting through plot points. I will say that The Beast is more that suitably creepy. Different than the book but still creepy. Still disliking the prophecy angle, and it has a somewhat different tone than the books, but I'll check out the next episode. Snuffman fucked around with this message at 00:23 on Jan 18, 2016 |
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Jan 17, 2016 23:35
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I'm not sure the Magician was ever a story that could survive with its themes intact when transitioning to TV.
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Jan 18, 2016 01:01
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The pilot loving sucked IMO
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Jan 18, 2016 01:19
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Speaking of TV versions of genre books, I recently watched the Childhood's End mini series and there was one thing I might have missed or it simply wasn't explained: Why did the Earth have to explode? I read the book back in the '80s but I can't remember details like that in books I read 20-30 years ago.
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Jan 18, 2016 02:23
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Fart of Presto posted:Speaking of TV versions of genre books, I recently watched the Childhood's End mini series and there was one thing I might have missed or it simply wasn't explained: Why did the Earth have to explode? I just read it actually, and what's in your spoiler does happen at the very end. What's-his-face that went to the Overlord world and came back stayed on earth when the post-human children fully ascended or whatever, and they made the earth break apart/blow up/vaporize to use all its energy to do ~something~
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Jan 18, 2016 02:45
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RVProfootballer posted:I just read it actually, and what's in your spoiler does happen at the very end. What's-his-face that went to the Overlord world and came back stayed on earth when the post-human children fully ascended or whatever, and they made the earth break apart/blow up/vaporize to use all its energy to do ~something~
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Jan 18, 2016 03:13
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Hey General Battuta, my cat digs your book. So do I. It's a loving dope read so far. 
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Jan 18, 2016 05:14
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Jan 18, 2016 05:47
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Fart of Presto posted:I just didn't remember that the ascension also demanded the Earth breaking apart. They could at least have hinted at a space highway or something. I read the book (too) many years ago, but I remember Earth "dissolving" rather than exploding when the new children ascended. I found the change acceptable, due to more visual impact and bla bla bla.
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Jan 18, 2016 12:05
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Children of Time posted:Holsten yelled: no words, not even a sound that had any particular emotion behind it – neither fear, triumph nor surprise. It was just a noise, loud and pointless, as though his mouth had been left tuned to a dead channel.
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Jan 18, 2016 14:21
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I dunno if this counts, but I haven't read the book yet but I had a dream last night I did and in the dream I thought it was amazing. I don't remember anything about whatever plot it had, but I do remember logging on here to say it was awesome and how I left a 5 star review. It's up on the list after I finish up Angelmaker and Declare.
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Jan 18, 2016 14:45
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chrisoya posted:Haven't seen a new version of that phrase in a while. I mainly want to know because I already think Adrian Tchaikovsky is the worst writer in the history of the universe and I would be greatly amused if he ripped off the first line of Neuromancer, which doesn't even accurately describe television in 2016, to describe a far-future setting where there isn't even such a thing as a "channel," much less a "dead channel." mystes fucked around with this message at 15:52 on Jan 18, 2016 |
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Jan 18, 2016 15:50
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mystes posted:Do "dead channels" even make sense in the context of this book? It sounds like some sort of space opera, so are they even using analog radio transmissions? A better writer could have made it a great book. Even a better worldbuilder would have been an improvement. And an ending that wasn't painfully rushed. Still, it worth the time I spent reading it. I was hoping he'd do something more interesting with the spider half of the book, but they had their moments.
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Jan 18, 2016 17:23
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angel opportunity posted:I was doing the research for my brother...I'm not going to go out of romance until I'm like filthy rich and have time to spare on sci-fi. I'm doing romance now instead of erotica, and even though it's still not my ideal thing, I'm having a blast writing it. I'm trying to make my plots well crafted, and I'm getting all good reviews, and people are really loving the books. My erotica fans would email me really creepy stuff like, "I enjoy your books very much. My partner enjoys them too...sometimes I read them aloud to him." The romance fans are more like "Ahhhh x character was sooo sweet Not kidding, guy who is going to buy two of your books, here.
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Jan 18, 2016 18:10
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Evfedu posted:Please link me to the smut and romance respectively that you are most proud of. This is his: http://www.amazon.com/Billionaire-Black-White-Part-Contrast-ebook/dp/B00X2QNTT8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1453140982&sr=8-1&keywords=Celia+Snow
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Jan 18, 2016 19:17
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That's my dead pen name that I gave up on. I have a new one that I'm not posting here (and if you know it, please don't post it here) which does much better.
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Jan 18, 2016 19:43
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Weird to see people have that many problems with Tchaikovsky's Children of Time! Maybe I've got zero taste but to me it felt like a really cool space opera book with some very imaginative elements - most of all the way the 'uplifted' spiders functioned as an increasingly biotechnological society, and the old woman's reaction to it. Also I haven't read a non-genre literary fiction book in ages aaaa.
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Jan 18, 2016 20:49
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ToxicFrog posted:My only real complaint about Declare is that it was my second Tim Powers book (after The Anubis Gates), and nothing else of his I've read since has been anywhere close. My Declare ebook is a formatting catastrofuck. 
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Jan 19, 2016 02:04
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ToxicFrog posted:My only real complaint about Declare is that it was my second Tim Powers book (after The Anubis Gates), and nothing else of his I've read since has been anywhere close.  Maybe try The Stress of Her Regard and On Stranger Tides, avoid everything else he's done.
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Jan 19, 2016 02:12
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mystes posted:Do "dead channels" even make sense in the context of this book? It sounds like some sort of space opera, so are they even using analog radio transmissions? You definitely still need to use channels for digital transmissions
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Jan 19, 2016 04:39
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Internet Wizard posted:You definitely still need to use channels for digital transmissions A dead digital channel is just silence.
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Jan 19, 2016 04:43
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The neat thing about the opening line of Neurormancer line is that its meaning was entirely inverted.
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Jan 19, 2016 04:47
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pseudorandom name posted:
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Jan 19, 2016 07:06
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chrisoya posted:Don't tell people not to read Last Call, please. They might believe you
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Jan 19, 2016 07:59
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chrisoya posted:Don't tell people not to read Last Call, please. They might believe you Last Call and the rest of the Fault Lines trilogy are garbage. So is Hide Me Among the Graves. I actually kind of like Dinner at Deviant's Palace, too. Three Days to Never is at best adequate.
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Jan 19, 2016 08:47
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