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Don't gently caress with the Culture is my favourite saying  You are all little soldiers to the Culture and this thousand year dark age is for your own goodAlso can we get a :culture: emote one day
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Oct 9, 2016 03:21
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Fangz posted:The games in Player of Games are essentially excuses to have battles in a setting where there aren't any real fair battles. Not really because you never get any clear idea of what's going on. I don't like to be that negative about Banks because he's beloved and I'm willing to accept I'm in the minority. I've read three Culture books and was never bored during them, or felt like it was a waste of my time, but I've never thought they were worth recommending either.
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Oct 9, 2016 03:36
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The game in Player of Games is Civ. e: or I guess not but no wonder Banks loved civ
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Oct 9, 2016 03:38
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General Battuta posted:The game in Player of Games is Civ. He wrote a blogpost or something years ago that was just a long explanation of how much and why he loved that game
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Oct 9, 2016 04:43
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I think there's a guy in one of his other novels who's addicted to Civ, isn't there? I haven't read any of his mainstream books.Dire Wombat posted:They all sound awfully similar to chess, too. All highly abstract, all about moving little soldiers around a physical space. Banks was obviously writing before the explosion of board game design since 2000 or so. Funny that, considering it was published in 1988.
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Oct 9, 2016 05:36
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General Battuta posted:The game in Player of Games is Civ. Also apparently Matter was delayed because Banks spent three straight months playing it instead of working.
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Oct 9, 2016 07:11
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He wasn't playing he was trying to help those fission era losers and drat if they didn't shoot themselves in the foot every time.
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Oct 9, 2016 10:46
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90s Cringe Rock posted:It was one of his non-M books where the protagonist is obsessed with totally-not-civ and buys a fancy laptop for it. Is that why Matter is so flabby and meandering? I love what he tried to do with all the civilizations at different tech levels (oh god i really is Civ) but it just sort of blobbed them about with no real meaning to it. If any of his books was deserving of structural silliness and format screwing it would be Matter. Fangz posted:The games in Player of Games are essentially excuses to have battles in a setting where there aren't any real fair battles. The human level battles are pretty bland, but the heroic last stand of the Beats Working in Hydrogen Sonata (which deserves to be on the short-list of amazing novel titles) was probably the most moving death in any of his books.
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Oct 9, 2016 14:03
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Safety Biscuits posted:I think there's a guy in one of his other novels who's addicted to Civ, isn't there? I haven't read any of his mainstream books..
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Oct 9, 2016 14:32
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There's an alternate universe out there where Banks got really into Paradox games instead. I want to read those books.
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Oct 9, 2016 14:40
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Dire Wombat posted:They all sound awfully similar to chess, too. All highly abstract, all about moving little soldiers around a physical space. The two games described in POG are meant to be somewhat similar, it's why Gurgeh uses the Possession game as a warmup for his Stricken match. However, they're not both the same. Possession is most analogous to Tai Shogi, although the board is a lot larger and it plays in fewer moves - probably around 100. It also has a card-based element for simulation of events, the ability to hide up to three pieces at the start of the game, and each player can booby trap nine intersections on the board. Obviously not everything is explored because the story doesn't demand it, but it wouldn't be too hard to make a Possession game that has the feel of the game Banks described. Stricken, on the other hand, is more like Go. It's an enclosing game that takes place in three dimensions, where pieces have differing hidden strength levels that must be both remembered and deduced. Victory is determined on a point scoring system where 33 is an exceptionally large lead, which suggests it may be based on percentage control of the web. Again, further details are not required, but much about how a Full Web victory is achieved can be inferred.
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Oct 9, 2016 16:23
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90s Cringe Rock posted:It was one of his non-M books where the protagonist is obsessed with totally-not-civ and buys a fancy laptop for it. If memory serves, he even went as far as to snap the game disk to avoid further temptation.
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Oct 10, 2016 01:22
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Just finished Death's end, god drat what a cool ending. Loved every second of it. the whole dimensional warfare stuff was pretty mindblowing, holy god drat! Currently listening to Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits and it's a much lighter book, but very entertaining and cool, has some great future vision in it for sure. Thinking of reading the culture books next, was there ever a consensus on which order to read them? quick edit: if anyone is looking for a good rear end trilogy read the quantum thief trilogy! i was recommended it here and it's probably my favorite sf trilogy yet AEMINAL fucked around with this message at 16:50 on Oct 10, 2016 |
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Oct 10, 2016 16:47
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AEMINAL posted:Thinking of reading the culture books next, was there ever a consensus on which order to read them? Use of Weapons first
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Oct 10, 2016 16:50
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less laughter posted:Use of Weapons first I'd still endorse reading Player of Games to get your feet wet with the setting first. But if you decide you'll only ever read one Culture book, then it's that one.
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Oct 10, 2016 16:54
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Seems like the consensus is Player of Games into Use of Weapons. I'm currently doing this and am about 30% of the way through Player of Games. I'm enjoying it, I don't feel super close to the main character, but I'm such a sucker for sci-fi worldbuilding and good "ideas" that I can forgive it. Which is a bit weird considering how fast I bounced off the Foundation series because of the complete lack of characters I cared about.
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Oct 10, 2016 22:11
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If you don't care about Sassy Drone and, later, Jerk Drone you have no soul 
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Oct 11, 2016 19:26
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Fans of Powder Mage series: they've announced a rpg kickstarter will be launching on the 18th. It's going to be based on the Savage Worlds rules. I haven't found any other details but I thought I'd share
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Oct 11, 2016 22:18
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FastestGunAlive posted:Fans of Powder Mage series: they've announced a rpg kickstarter will be launching on the 18th. It's going to be based on the Savage Worlds rules. I haven't found any other details but I thought I'd share That's not bad, as systems go.
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Oct 11, 2016 22:24
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I'm looking for some recommendations. I read a ton of fantasy until about 2008, when I started medical school, and basically stopped reading for fun. I just started reading for pleasure on a regular basis again, so I'm hoping to go through some of the great stuff I passed up. When I was younger I read all the big things like LOTR, Game of Thrones, Wheel of Time, etc... More recently I've read Joe Abecrombie's stuff and the two Broken Earth books. I enjoyed both series immensely-- Abecrombie for his humor and plot twists, Broken Earth for it's very unique setting/world building, and both series for their strong characters and interesting tone. I did also read The KingKiller Chronicles, but didn't think it was quite as good as the other two. I know I must have missed a lot in the past 8 years. What are the other must-have fantasy novels/series I should be reading that have come out in that time span? Also can we discuss The Obelisk Gate for a bit? I've seen a lot of Fifth Season chat, but not much about it's sequel. Overall I think it was weaker than The Fifth Season, but still a fun read. The pacing was somewhat worse than the original, and being stuck in Castrima for the entirety of the book was a bit of a bore. Shaffa's chapters were the most interesting, but there were relatively few. I'm also not really digging all the stuff about magic. Orogeny was interesting to read about, because the author put a lot of thought into it's backstory and mechanisms. Now all of a sudden we have everything happening through a new mechanism that is way less clear. I think the thing I am most anticipating is see Father Earth's perspective, because Alabaster hinted that Earth itself seems to be a living breathing being that can communicate.
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Oct 12, 2016 04:37
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Check out the Malazan thread.
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Oct 12, 2016 04:56
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I think the Obelisk Gate's issue is that it's very much a middle book; involved parties are preparing for whatever's happning in book 3. I enjoyed it, but I know when I finished it, I went 'yeah, that's a middle book'. It's hard for me to say a lot about it because of that. I don't know that it does anything wrong, it's just... what it is.
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Oct 12, 2016 05:11
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Megasabin posted:I'm looking for some recommendations. I read a ton of fantasy until about 2008, when I started medical school, and basically stopped reading for fun. I just started reading for pleasure on a regular basis again, so I'm hoping to go through some of the great stuff I passed up. Scott Lynch Brent Weeks Robert Jackson Bennett Mark Lawrence Anthony Ryan Richard K. Morgan Daniel O'Malley Don't read Weeks' Night Angel trilogy, but Lightbringer loving owns. The final book comes out this month. Mark Lawrence's second trilogy is a lot less grimdark than the first, and has an immensely satisfying conclusion. Robert Jackson Bennett's two novels are set in one of the most unique and interesting fantasy worlds I've ever read. O'Malley writes silly fluff about a world where the X-Men are also the Men in Black.
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Oct 12, 2016 07:16
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Don't forget that women exist! NK Jemisin Zen Cho People seem to like Robin Hobb a lot Kameron Hurley Catherynne Valente Nicola Griffith Naomi Novik seems to get a lot of love Nnedi Okorafor Elizabeth Bear Sofia Samatar Also buy my book 
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Oct 12, 2016 07:50
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Megasabin posted:I'm looking for some recommendations. I read a ton of fantasy until about 2008, when I started medical school, and basically stopped reading for fun. I just started reading for pleasure on a regular basis again, so I'm hoping to go through some of the great stuff I passed up. Martha Wells Ken Liu Kai Ashante Wilson Aliette de Bodard quote:
The underlying mechanism was a bit less interesting, though it showed Essun overcoming her previous limits and her daughter instinctively grasping the concept either because of talent or because she's not limited by Imperial training. Schaffa's change is interesting and I think his perspective is somewhat Father Earth's, but yes, I am looking forward to finding out more of that. I also just find the ultimate plot about the moon to be an interesting idea. I liked the Castrima stuff well enough, but it was more about a community trying to navigate disaster and balancing various needs and fears to survive--given how much emphasis Jemisin put on community survival values so far it'd be a little weird if we never saw them in action.
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Oct 12, 2016 08:20
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General Battuta posted:Also buy my book Do this.
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Oct 12, 2016 08:56
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General Battuta posted:Elizabeth Bear I remember reading and thinking Dust was pretty solid years ago but not reading further for some reason. Is the rest of that series good and what else good has she done?
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Oct 12, 2016 09:11
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General Battuta posted:Also buy my book Don't buy his book. If he's starving he'll have to work faster on the sequel.
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Oct 12, 2016 10:20
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Megasabin posted:I'm looking for some recommendations. I read a ton of fantasy until about 2008, when I started medical school, and basically stopped reading for fun. I just started reading for pleasure on a regular basis again, so I'm hoping to go through some of the great stuff I passed up. If you like Joe Abercrombie, you'll like Miles Cameron. Also, if you've read the Glen Cook's Black Company (which you should, if you like Abercrombie) you may also like Graydon Saunders.
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Oct 12, 2016 13:43
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Aggro posted:Are you me? Sidenote: there's going to be a 5th Lightbringer book. Kind of makes sense, I wasn't sure how the 4th was going to wrap everything up. I'm still excited for Blood Mirror but also a little sad I'll have to wait another 1-2 years for it to wrap up 
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Oct 12, 2016 16:16
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Jedit posted:Don't buy his book. If he's starving he'll have to work faster on the sequel. If he starves he won't be able to write a sequel.
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Oct 12, 2016 16:24
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Xaris posted:This is good. For real? Man, I have way too many incomplete series in my catalog now. Oh well, Lightbringer is still an amazing series. The first book is the benchmark by which I judge all plot twists.
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Oct 12, 2016 17:22
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Neurosis posted:I remember reading and thinking Dust was pretty solid years ago but not reading further for some reason. Is the rest of that series good and what else good has she done? I haven't read Dust, but the Range of Ghosts books were really good.
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Oct 12, 2016 18:00
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Some supposed cult classic called "day of the triffids" is on kindle daily deal. Any good? I've gotten Leviathan Wakes, the first Faust book, and the first Witcher book so far this month. Kindle dailies are pretty good.
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Oct 12, 2016 18:14
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Nevvy Z posted:Some supposed cult classic called "day of the triffids" is on kindle daily deal. Any good? I can't tell if you're taking the piss here, its day of the loving triffid's man! As to the question - kinda. It's very much of its time, and hasn't aged all that well. But, and I want to reiterate, it's day of the loving triffids man!
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Oct 12, 2016 18:26
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Jedit posted:Don't buy his book. If he's starving he'll have to work faster on the sequel. If he's comfortable and happy the sequel may take longer, but it might be less brutal. Please, think of the readers.
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Oct 12, 2016 19:09
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Strom Cuzewon posted:I can't tell if you're taking the piss here, its day of the loving triffid's man! I have never heard of this but I guess I'll be checking it out. $3 is the perfect price to impulse buy books.
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Oct 12, 2016 19:21
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Nevvy Z posted:I have never heard of this but I guess I'll be checking it out. $3 is the perfect price to impulse buy books. I'm pretty sure it was one of the first, if not THE first works of fiction that introduced the whole "zombie apocalypse" scenario into popular culture, despite not using actual zombies. Bonus points on having perfectly reasonable and valid explanation why all the armies of the world did not deal with easily escapeable and easily killable monsters that haunt the ruins of civilization. I reread it recently and I think that despite its age, it is still a good book. Lt. Lizard fucked around with this message at 19:38 on Oct 12, 2016 |
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Oct 12, 2016 19:36
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Has anybody read anything by VE Schwab? I got "a darker shade of magic" on audible (i had a credit laying around and wanted a new commute audiobook so it was an impulse buy) and only got a little way into it before it started to become, well, very YA romancey. Also, the narrator who is otherwise good picked possibly the most annoying voice I've ever listened to for one of the main characters. These two things kind of drove me off it, but I'm interested to hear if anyone else has thoughts about it.
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Oct 12, 2016 19:52
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andrew smash posted:Has anybody read anything by VE Schwab? I got "a darker shade of magic" on audible (i had a credit laying around and wanted a new commute audiobook so it was an impulse buy) and only got a little way into it before it started to become, well, very YA romancey. Also, the narrator who is otherwise good picked possibly the most annoying voice I've ever listened to for one of the main characters. These two things kind of drove me off it, but I'm interested to hear if anyone else has thoughts about it. I liked it enough to read the whole thing. Didn't leave me yearning to pick up the follow-ups. Parallel worlds stuff is usually my jam but there wasn't much focus on the the different Londons beyond their rulers.
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Oct 12, 2016 20:47
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