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MrSlam posted:So there's this guy who wants to be recommended a fantasy series but he hates even the slightest hint of fantasy tropes. I don't know what to tell him. He keeps bringing up how much he thinks fantasy is bullshit because it's fantasy and I can't wrap my head around what he's talking about. I bring up low-fantasy and he ignores me. Is he taking the piss? Bas-Lag maybe?
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Jun 9, 2016 23:53
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Reason posted:Bas-Lag maybe? Unfortunately, he wants a fantasy novel with zero magic, no potions, no fantasy races, no dragons or unrealistic animals, no gods, no dream sequences or prophecies. I think he wants historical fiction but it in a made up place? MrSlam fucked around with this message at 00:02 on Jun 10, 2016 |
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Jun 9, 2016 23:59
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MrSlam posted:Unfortunately, he wants a fantasy novel with zero magic, no potions, no fantasy races, no dragons or unrealistic animals, no gods, no dream sequences or prophecies. I think he wants historical fiction but it in a made up place? That sounds like it. Just have him read some Christian Cameron and/or Bernard Cornwell.
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Jun 10, 2016 00:04
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MrSlam posted:Unfortunately, he wants a fantasy novel with zero magic, no potions, no fantasy races, no dragons or unrealistic animals, no gods, no dream sequences or prophecies. I think he wants historical fiction but it in a made up place? Guy Gavriel Kay. Let me suggest the Lions of Al Rassan first.
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Jun 10, 2016 00:05
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ulmont posted:Guy Gavriel Kay. Let me suggest the Lions of Al Rassan first.
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Jun 10, 2016 00:16
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Thanks guys. I was kind of in a Spongebob Salad kind of situation.
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Jun 10, 2016 00:23
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ulmont posted:Guy Gavriel Kay. Let me suggest the Lions of Al Rassan first. Yup, that's the exact recommendation I'd make. There is very minimal magic (one minor character has some psychic clairvoyance) but it's portrayed as rare and unusual. Otherwise, Bernard Cornwell or Patrick O'Brian.
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Jun 10, 2016 00:31
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I've been very slowly reading The Blade Itself, finding it good but not compelling. But Logen just arrived in the city around page 270 and it's gotten very good since then. I hear the series picks up a lot in book two. I'm excited.
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Jun 10, 2016 00:50
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Subterranean Press tweeted that Alastair Reynold's Deep Navigation is on sale (Kindle) for $2.99 today. https://twitter.com/SubPress/status/740928680302632964 Also, Gollancz revealed the cover for Revenger 
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Jun 10, 2016 00:58
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MrSlam posted:So there's this guy who wants to be recommended a fantasy series but he hates even the slightest hint of fantasy tropes. I don't know what to tell him. He keeps bringing up how much he thinks fantasy is bullshit because it's fantasy and I can't wrap my head around what he's talking about. I bring up low-fantasy and he ignores me. Is he taking the piss? Kim Stanley Robinson's The Years of Rice and Salt and the Carey family's The City of Silk and Steel both sound like exactly what he wants. There's also David Gemmell's Troy trilogy.
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Jun 10, 2016 01:06
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MrSlam posted:So there's this guy who wants to be recommended a fantasy series but he hates even the slightest hint of fantasy tropes. I don't know what to tell him. He keeps bringing up how much he thinks fantasy is bullshit because it's fantasy and I can't wrap my head around what he's talking about. I bring up low-fantasy and he ignores me. Is he taking the piss? Make him buy my book
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Jun 10, 2016 01:22
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General Battuta posted:Make him buy my book I'm waiting for the paperback because I'm a cheap gently caress
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Jun 10, 2016 01:27
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MrSlam posted:Unfortunately, he wants a fantasy novel with zero magic, no potions, no fantasy races, no dragons or unrealistic animals, no gods, no dream sequences or prophecies. I think he wants historical fiction but it in a made up place? KJ Parker. I liked the Engineer Trilogy, but that's a dense place to start. The Folding Knife is fantastic, though, and not as brutally bleak as something like The Company.
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Jun 10, 2016 01:49
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MrSlam posted:Unfortunately, he wants a fantasy novel with zero magic, no potions, no fantasy races, no dragons or unrealistic animals, no gods, no dream sequences or prophecies. I think he wants historical fiction but it in a made up place? David Mitchell's The Thousand Autumns of Jacob DeZoet. Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy. The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey. The King Must Die by Mary Renault. Shardik by Richard Adams. Kindred by Octavia Butler. Abercrombie's The Heroes. Stephenson's Baroque Cycle. There, you should be able to find something suited to your friend's tastes in all of that. Baru Cormorant is good too.
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Jun 10, 2016 01:49
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There's no Harry Potter thread but over in the general TBB chat thread I'm talking about spoiler reports from the new play, HP and the Cursed Child. Plot sounds batshit insane. If you don't care about spoilers go go go: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3273783&pagenumber=89#post460855530
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Jun 10, 2016 03:04
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MrSlam posted:Unfortunately, he wants a fantasy novel with zero magic, no potions, no fantasy races, no dragons or unrealistic animals, no gods, no dream sequences or prophecies. I think he wants historical fiction but it in a made up place? Titus Groan and Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake.
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Jun 10, 2016 03:35
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General Battuta posted:Make him buy my book gently caress elves.
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Jun 10, 2016 04:01
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Ugly In The Morning posted:KJ Parker. I liked the Engineer Trilogy, but that's a dense place to start. The Folding Knife is fantastic, though, and not as brutally bleak as something like The Company. Emphatically seconded.
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Jun 10, 2016 05:24
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RoboCicero posted:Thanks to everyone who recommended "Too Like The Lightning". It's a really enjoyable, if loving weird, and the author's history and love of the Renaissance really shines through. It's a book that is deeply interested in questions of religion which was also cool -- it's also one of those books that delve into gender stuff, so if anyone was put off by Ancillary Mercy you should probably steer well clear of this book because I can tell you right now you'll hate it to death. I liked it though, even if I disagreed with some of the propositions in the book. A unique read with fascinating stakes -- I can't wait for the sequel! In the process of writing this post I looked it up and there's going to be four books in the series? I was really hoping it was a duology instead of a trilogy, but looks like I erred in the wrong direction. I thought the gender stuff in Ancillary was lazy gimmickry, but I liked and appreciated what Palmer did with gender in Too like the Lightning. Palmer takes everything much more seriously, and seems to grapple with how difficult (read impossible) a gender neutral society would be. Patrick Spens fucked around with this message at 06:00 on Jun 10, 2016 |
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Jun 10, 2016 05:57
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Again, thanks everybodydy. posted:I too hate fantasy tropes and Battuta's book is real good and not at all tropey. It just bugs me that he dismisses the story being told because he doesn't like the wrapping paper. I guess we all dismiss genres though deep down. I'd be really surprised for instance if there were a Romance Appreciation thread in the Book Barn. General Battuta posted:Make him buy my book What's it called? MrSlam fucked around with this message at 06:54 on Jun 10, 2016 |
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Jun 10, 2016 06:52
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MrSlam posted:Again, thanks everybody http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23444482-the-traitor-baru-cormorant
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Jun 10, 2016 06:57
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General Battuta posted:Make him buy my book gently caress it, I just bought it. Can't wait to read it!
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Jun 10, 2016 07:08
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Patrick Spens posted:I thought the gender stuff in Ancillary was lazy gimmickry, but I liked and appreciated what Palmer did with gender in Too like the Lightning. Palmer takes everything much more seriously, and seems to grapple with how difficult (read impossible) a gender neutral society would be. To me, it feels like the gender stuff in the Ancillary books wasn't supposed to be that important, but the tumblr crowd saw a genderless language/society and ran with it and suddenly that's all anybody talked about when it came to the books. I get the feeling like was just a weird little thing about their language that was mostly meant to make Breq a bit more alien. Most of the humans you meet gender characters instantly and without any apparent difficulty, even the ones from the Radchaai,, but Breq just absolutely cannot do it correctly despite all of her inhuman abilities and her long lifespan. It's just a failure to grasp something basic about humanity.
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Jun 10, 2016 07:48
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MrSlam posted:Unfortunately, he wants a fantasy novel with zero magic, no potions, no fantasy races, no dragons or unrealistic animals, no gods, no dream sequences or prophecies. I think he wants historical fiction but it in a made up place? I've turned a few people onto fantasy who had the same mindset with The Lies of Locke Lamora. No potions, dwarves, elves, no gods in the flesh, no prophecies. There's some magic, but don't tell him that. And it's not the kind where wizards are waltzing around everywhere throwing fireballs and raising the dead, it's powerful, scary and extremely rare.
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Jun 10, 2016 08:23
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Pratchet's Wee Free Men is on sale at Amazon today (for you yankee bastards  ) https://www.amazon.com/Wee-Free-Men-Discworld-Book-ebook/dp/B000R33QWY?ie=UTF8&redirect=true&ref_=br_prlt_grdDy_pdt-5Also WTF: https://www.amazon.com/TERRY-PRATCH...JK78NQFZKDR1WW5
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Jun 10, 2016 09:22
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Paul Kearney's Macht Trilogy is a sword-and-sandals low-fantasy retelling of Anabasis (I don't know what that is but its what The Warriors is based one) meshed with Alexander the Great. The only real fantasy element is the presence of seemingly indestructible cuirasses that came from the Gods, and Yetis show up in one chapter but that's it. For the reader who got pissed at GRRM's pacing his story like Zeno's marathon this is a much briefer affair at a complete trilogy of 400 page instalments. You can fault the story for being straightforward and some of the turns being token and predictable, but it's refreshing to have an epic that's concise. Kearney is also excellent at warfare scenes.
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Jun 10, 2016 10:22
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Inspector Gesicht posted:Paul Kearney's Macht Trilogy is a sword-and-sandals low-fantasy retelling of Anabasis (I don't know what that is but its what The Warriors is based one) meshed with Alexander the Great. The only real fantasy element is the presence of seemingly indestructible cuirasses that came from the Gods, and Yetis show up in one chapter but that's it. For the reader who got pissed at GRRM's pacing his story like Zeno's marathon this is a much briefer affair at a complete trilogy of 400 page instalments. You can fault the story for being straightforward and some of the turns being token and predictable, but it's refreshing to have an epic that's concise. Kearney is also excellent at warfare scenes. Anabasis is the Greek general Xenophon's story of how he guided an unsupported and isolated Greek mercenary army out of Babylon after the death of Cyrus the Younger at Cunaxa and the betrayal of the senior officers. It's been adapted half a dozen times, and to keep things relevant was a big inspiration on The Lost Fleet.
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Jun 10, 2016 11:08
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MrSlam posted:Unfortunately, he wants a fantasy novel with zero magic, no potions, no fantasy races, no dragons or unrealistic animals, no gods, no dream sequences or prophecies. I think he wants historical fiction but it in a made up place? The Traitor Baru Cormorant seems to fit nicely.
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Jun 10, 2016 11:41
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Jedit posted:Anabasis is the Greek general Xenophon's story of how he guided an unsupported and isolated Greek mercenary army out of Babylon after the death of Cyrus the Younger at Cunaxa and the betrayal of the senior officers. It's been adapted half a dozen times, and to keep things relevant was a big inspiration on The Lost Fleet. It's also a surprisingly fun read, for such an old book. (Was BOTM here not long ago.) And I don't think anyone even knows how many times it's been ripped off in various contexts (SF and otherwise), it's been a standard work in classical literature for as long as there has been a thing called "classical literature" and has influenced all manner of things.
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Jun 10, 2016 11:45
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MrSlam posted:Unfortunately, he wants a fantasy novel with zero magic, no potions, no fantasy races, no dragons or unrealistic animals, no gods, no dream sequences or prophecies. I think he wants historical fiction but it in a made up place? In that case Guy Gavriel Kay sounds like the author for him to read. He is always writing historical fiction analogs in fantasy worlds that are basically Earth, but with made up names for places and people. Maybe start him off with one of Kay's standalone books like The Lions of Al-Rassan, which is all about religious and political conflicts between not-Muslims, not-Christians, and not-Jews in medieval not-Spain. It sounds a little silly, but Kay is actually a really good writer, and I guess that setting his stories in analog-worlds that aren't actually Earth allows him to explore some themes a bit more freely. Edit: son of a bitch, just noticed that someone has already made this exact recommendation! Mr.48 fucked around with this message at 12:57 on Jun 10, 2016 |
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Jun 10, 2016 12:50
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General Battuta posted:Make him buy my book I bought your book and somehow didn't realize/remember that it was written by someone who posts here. I am absolutely loving loving your book.
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Jun 10, 2016 15:39
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Khizan posted:To me, it feels like the gender stuff in the Ancillary books wasn't supposed to be that important, but the tumblr crowd saw a genderless language/society and ran with it and suddenly that's all anybody talked about when it came to the books. My original theory about that was that Breq's inability to determine gender was "brain" damage from the destruction of Torren, but something in the next couple of books made me think that wasn't right.
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Jun 10, 2016 19:30
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Khizan posted:To me, it feels like the gender stuff in the Ancillary books wasn't supposed to be that important, but the tumblr crowd saw a genderless language/society and ran with it and suddenly that's all anybody talked about when it came to the books.
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Jun 10, 2016 20:42
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Stubb Dogg posted:I read the book in English but as my native language does not have gender pronouns I missed whole genderless thing until it was mentioned in some review I read after finishing the book. IIRC it was only explicitly mentioned in first chapter or so anyway. It comes up a few other times, although the only one I remember is when Breq returns to Radchaii space, steps into a space station, and has a moment of "gently caress, I don't remember how these fashions match up to gender markers at all, I'm going to be constantly insulting people by misgendering them" before remembering, oh yeah, I'm back home, I can use my native language again and just give no shits about gender.
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Jun 10, 2016 22:02
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Khizan posted:To me, it feels like the gender stuff in the Ancillary books wasn't supposed to be that important, but the tumblr crowd saw a genderless language/society and ran with it and suddenly that's all anybody talked about when it came to the books. It honestly seemed a bit gimmicky to me, but not in a bad way, if that makes sense. A lot of decent and even classic SF is "let's turn a gimmick into a story", so points for coming up with a new gimmick.
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Jun 10, 2016 22:18
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I don't think the gender stuff came up any more often than 'raadchai means civilised in their language so if you say you aren't raadchai you're saying you're a big stinky barbarian' did. To me that says it's just an author interested in how a society chooses its language, rather than someone out to make a political point.
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Jun 10, 2016 22:25
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Rough Lobster posted:I've turned a few people onto fantasy who had the same mindset with The Lies of Locke Lamora. No potions, dwarves, elves, no gods in the flesh, no prophecies. There's some magic, but don't tell him that. And it's not the kind where wizards are waltzing around everywhere throwing fireballs and raising the dead, it's powerful, scary and extremely rare.  I think that's a pretty good rec. And hopefully by the time the magic thing comes up they'll be hooked.I'd also recommend and say Abercrombie's works are very good and similar though technically it does have ~magic~ but they'd pretty much miss the entire point since it's much more about humanity. Plus just reading Blade Itself is a little rough at first so whoever just say Heroes is probably spot on. Strategic Tea posted:I don't think the gender stuff came up any more often than 'raadchai means civilised in their language so if you say you aren't raadchai you're saying you're a big stinky barbarian' did. I've only read the first one though and didn't feel too compelled to read the second and third but maybe I will get around it.
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Jun 11, 2016 02:40
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After 30 pages of the first Expanse book I have groaned several times. I particularly hated the description of plastic buttons and switches as being "designed for high Gs." As if that could possibly matter. And the authors like infodumping paragraphs constantly instead of delivering information through the scene. Another 30 pages in and it's getting better. I guess with Sci-fi you just have to accept that some things are going to be overly described into order to please the tech fans blue squares fucked around with this message at 05:06 on Jun 11, 2016 |
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Jun 11, 2016 03:53
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Strategic Tea posted:I don't think the gender stuff came up any more often than 'raadchai means civilised in their language so if you say you aren't raadchai you're saying you're a big stinky barbarian' did. I don't think the gender stuff was anything about how society chooses language. It was about Breq not having access to people's information via wifi or whatever and an excuse for people to make two or three jokes at her expense. People make too much of it.
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Jun 11, 2016 05:07
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Page 404: Gender not found.
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