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Patrick Spens posted:Yo Warlocke, I don't mean to seem mean, but are there any books you don't like? I bounced pretty hard off of Blindsight. I wouldn't say I disliked it, as much as the writer's style doesn't work for me. I generally don't read books that I don't like. You can usually get a feel from blurbs/reviews/knowledge of the author/talk here/etc.
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Dec 14, 2016 22:34
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It looks like Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee is currently on sale on Amazon US for $0.99. It's not listed as a Daily Deal, so no idea how long this sale is on. I've only heard good things about it, though it supposedly is a clear Part 1 of a series. Still, hard to beat that price.
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Dec 14, 2016 22:55
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ToxicFrog posted:This exactly. I read Long Way and The Goblin Emperor shortly after Traitor Baru this year and they were the perfect antidote to it. Not everything has to be about square-jawed space marines or steel-eyed fleet commanders fighting to save the planet/nation/galaxy; sometimes I just want to relax and chill out with my space-friends for a while. I didn't really care for Goblin Emperor. Long Way worked for me because things actually happened and I liked the characters, twee as they were, and those characters were proactive in their own story and did things. The Goblin Emperor had basically none of those things. No likable characters, no real progression, and Maia basically just sat there and waited for things to happen to him.
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Dec 14, 2016 22:59
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fritz posted:Yeah, that was my guess too before I found out (and dropped Bullingdon from my consider-reading pile). Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart and Enterprise of Death are both good. Grossbart especially.
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Dec 15, 2016 01:53
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I've read three Philip K Dick novels: Martian Time-Slip, A Scanner Darkly and DADoES. Can anyone recommend what I should read next on the basis that I found DADoES more enjoyable than the other two?
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Dec 15, 2016 09:35
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snoremac posted:I've read three Philip K Dick novels: Martian Time-Slip, A Scanner Darkly and DADoES. Can anyone recommend what I should read next on the basis that I found DADoES more enjoyable than the other two? Time Out of Joint might be a good choice. It's one of the earlier Dick novels and thus lacks some of the religious and psychedelic weird of the latter novels, but it's still a pretty solid and very readable take on the reality the protagonist is living in and his altering perception of it. Of course I suggest you read The Man in the High Castle too just because it's really one of the cornerstone Dicks and a pretty cool novel overall.
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Dec 15, 2016 12:43
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I'll check out Time Out of Joint, thanks. A Scanner Darkly wasn't too out there. I liked it, though it took me all the way up to the author's note at the end to really appreciate it. It put a lot of earlier scenes in a more poignant context. When I think of the book I immediately think of Bob and his friends joking around while fixing the car, a scene that contributes little to the plot but is such a nice bit of life among all the paranoia and tragedy.
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Dec 15, 2016 13:32
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snoremac posted:I've read three Philip K Dick novels: Martian Time-Slip, A Scanner Darkly and DADoES. Can anyone recommend what I should read next on the basis that I found DADoES more enjoyable than the other two? His short stories are good - I think there's a series collecting all of them with notes.
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Dec 15, 2016 13:43
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Safety Biscuits posted:His short stories are good - I think there's a series collecting all of them with notes. I think PKD is somewhat better at short-story length, even. Definitely seek them out if you can. The series published by Voyager is the one with the authors notes.
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Dec 15, 2016 15:16
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Ubik owns.
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Dec 15, 2016 15:24
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A maze of death, ubik, we can build you
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Dec 15, 2016 16:15
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Fart of Presto posted:It looks like Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee is currently on sale on Amazon US for $0.99. It's not listed as a Daily Deal, so no idea how long this sale is on. e: also, PKD goon, you should try VALIS because it's pure distilled batshit post-stroke PKD, but if you don't like it there's zero shame in abruptly dropping it and never returning to it or ever reading The Divine Invasion.
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Dec 15, 2016 17:25
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DACK FAYDEN posted:e: also, PKD goon, you should try VALIS because it's pure distilled batshit post-stroke PKD, but if you don't like it there's zero shame in abruptly dropping it and never returning to it or ever reading The Divine Invasion.
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Dec 15, 2016 18:01
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Galactic Pot Healer and Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said are also some choice Dicks. 
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Dec 15, 2016 18:07
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I'm 60% through Bone Clocks, and it's starting to be a bore. Is the ending worth sticking it through for?
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Dec 15, 2016 19:59
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Megasabin posted:I'm 60% through Bone Clocks, and it's starting to be a bore. Is the ending worth sticking it through for? I thought the final part was the best. At which point are you at the moment? What bores you?
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Dec 15, 2016 20:00
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Take the plunge! Okay! posted:I thought the final part was the best. At which point are you at the moment? What bores you? I'm probably halfway through Hershey's chapters. I feel like the book is 90% about each individual characters life, and only 10% about the weird psychic cult. It's not bad per say, but I just don't find the mundane life antics of these characters very exciting. The characters in Cloud Atlas were more interesting to me.
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Dec 15, 2016 20:18
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So glad I got the Library of America volumes of collected Dick. Great selections and the LoA is always wonderful on a purely aesthetic and physical level. Three Stigmata and Flow My Tears, as others have recommended.
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Dec 15, 2016 20:36
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Megasabin posted:I'm probably halfway through Hershey's chapters. I feel like the book is 90% about each individual characters life, and only 10% about the weird psychic cult. It's not bad per say, but I just don't find the mundane life antics of these characters very exciting. The characters in Cloud Atlas were more interesting to me. Part 5 is almost completely about the cult. I really liked the story of Hershey's petty revenge blowing way out of proportion and the guilt he deals with as a result, though.
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Dec 15, 2016 20:56
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i'm reading brandon sanderson's Mistborn series! it's bad. he writes like he's directing a video game. maybe it'll get better over time, but the setup has not been amazing sticking with it for now because it's a fantasy heist series, and i don't feel like rereading Jhereg again, but i wish there were better options in this extremely niche subgenre
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Dec 15, 2016 23:32
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Megasabin posted:I'm probably halfway through Hershey's chapters. I feel like the book is 90% about each individual characters life, and only 10% about the weird psychic cult. It's not bad per say, but I just don't find the mundane life antics of these characters very exciting. The characters in Cloud Atlas were more interesting to me. Hold on for the next chapter, as the poster above suggested. That one was pretty much the best one IMO.
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Dec 15, 2016 23:57
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Venuz Patrol posted:i'm reading brandon sanderson's Mistborn series! it's bad. he writes like he's directing a video game. maybe it'll get better over time, but the setup has not been amazing Tried Rogues of the Republic by Patrick Weekes or Lies of Locke Lamora by ToxicFrog fucked around with this message at 02:35 on Dec 16, 2016 |
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Dec 16, 2016 00:18
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Venuz Patrol posted:i'm reading brandon sanderson's Mistborn series! it's bad. he writes like he's directing a video game. maybe it'll get better over time, but the setup has not been amazing Some more series suggestions: Daniel Faust by Craig Schaeffer (just started this a few days ago and love it), or for more traditional fantasy instead of urban, Tales of the Kin by Douglas Hulick (maybe more just-plain-thieves than the fun of a heist story, I haven't read it in a while) and the Nightrunner trilogy by Lynn Flewelling (only the opening trilogy, the rest forget the spy premise in favor of bad fanfic-level drama and thus suck). Maybe the Collegia Magica by Carol Berg? Not really a heist story, but it has some similar elements. It's a stretch but it might be worth a look. I tried reading some Sanderson (The Way of Kings). I started skimming by the time I was 15% through and gave up entirely by 25%, which felt like it should have been at least 50% of any other novel. It started with the worst combat scene I've ever read in a trad-published book and didn't get much better after too many pages of too many characters doing nothing to get me invested in them. Glad it was free. If you, too, would prefer a video game with the writing quality of a book to a book with the writing quality of a video game, it probably isn't going to improve.
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Dec 16, 2016 01:40
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StonecutterJoe posted:I just tuned into this, and it is glorious. NK Jemisin is a legit action hero. Quick follow up, but seriously. Watching this clip will forever change the way you read her books: https://clips.twitch.tv/nkjemisin/InquisitiveWormBabyRage
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Dec 16, 2016 01:55
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ToxicFrog posted:Lies of Locke Lamora by David Lynch? Holy poo poo that would own.
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Dec 16, 2016 02:28
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Sanderson is basically a DBZ videogame in novel form. Him being a Mormon helps to file any potential rough edges--or anything interesting at all--off almost entirely.
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Dec 16, 2016 02:41
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Coldforge posted:Quick follow up, but seriously. Watching this clip will forever change the way you read her books: rofl
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Dec 16, 2016 02:43
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Coldforge posted:Quick follow up, but seriously. Watching this clip will forever change the way you read her books: Wait, what? What other authors play games on Twitch besides her?
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Dec 16, 2016 03:16
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Thanks for the recommendations! i was just so crestfallen after how good the description of mistborn was, and how not good the books are. it's nice to see the genre isn't quite as barren as i had feared.
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Dec 16, 2016 03:32
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ToxicFrog posted:Tried Rogues of the Republic by Patrick Weekes or Lies of Locke Lamora by I read the first two Rogues books by Weekes and recommend them. They're light and fun
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Dec 16, 2016 03:32
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TOOT BOOT posted:Wait, what? What other authors play games on Twitch besides her? i don't know about authors but t-pain's stream is quality
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Dec 16, 2016 04:09
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Venuz Patrol posted:Thanks for the recommendations! i was just so crestfallen after how good the description of mistborn was, and how not good the books are. it's nice to see the genre isn't quite as barren as i had feared. Sanderson's writing style is polarizing more than anything. Personally I love Sanderson but I'm completely indifferent to Joe Abercrombie who tons of people here like to gush over so different strokes.
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Dec 16, 2016 04:13
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I enjoyed the Mistborn trilogy but bounced hard off of Alloy of Law when I got a distinct babysitters' club sense in the magic system recapping and the only thing that kept me from throwing way of kings against a wall in the prologue was the fact I was reading it on my kindle. That's the real loss of going over to digital, let me tell you.
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Dec 16, 2016 04:46
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Sanderson is terrible, but I don't think Locke Lamora holds up after the first book or after re-reading, either. It'll scratch the itch a little better, though. Fritz Lieber and Jack Vance are classic sword and sorcery, but they might be ok, too. I mean they're both terrific pulp writers but just outside of the heist stuff you want.
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Dec 16, 2016 05:42
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Oh, neat, the new Hard Luck Hank book is out on kindle unlimited. The series is a guilty pleasure of mine. I'd recommend for anyone just looking for a hosed up sci fi gangster/mob read. They get weirder and more hilarious as it goes.
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Dec 16, 2016 07:32
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idiotsavant posted:Sanderson is terrible, but I don't think Locke Lamora holds up after the first book or after re-reading, either. It'll scratch the itch a little better, though. Fritz Lieber and Jack Vance are classic sword and sorcery, but they might be ok, too. I mean they're both terrific pulp writers but just outside of the heist stuff you want. Having read it three times, I think the first book does hold up well on re-reading -- but the second book is two potentially excellent heist stories (Locke Lamora on the High Seas and Locke Lamora Robs a Casino) awkwardly wedged together into one book, and the third book felt like Lynch was trying to do the same thing Brust is doing in the later Taltos books, but not nearly as well.
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Dec 16, 2016 15:04
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angel opportunity posted:Sanderson is basically a DBZ videogame in novel form. Him being a Mormon helps to file any potential rough edges--or anything interesting at all--off almost entirely. I had a bad time at the beginning of Mistborn and especially when I thought they were setting up Vin as a love interest for Kelsier (so sick of younger heroines, especially abuse victims, getting matched up with older male protagonists in sci fi/fantasy.) I got hooked in the second book when it turns into more of a weird supernatural teen romance book with fantasy politicking on the side. I thought it dipped a little in the third book, but I really like that middle chapter, and Sanderson is good at making big swerves to keep it interesting.
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Dec 16, 2016 15:17
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ToxicFrog posted:Having read it three times, I think the first book does hold up well on re-reading -- but the second book is two potentially excellent heist stories (Locke Lamora on the High Seas and Locke Lamora Robs a Casino) awkwardly wedged together into one book, and the third book felt like Lynch was trying to do the same thing Brust is doing in the later Taltos books, but not nearly as well. I'd have loved it if it was just fantasy oceans eleven but the sea stuff really dragged.
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Dec 16, 2016 15:40
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Sanderson does a lot of things mechanically correctly and knows how to keep plots engaging, while also not having weird gaping plot holes or really odd tonal shifts, etc. If you like to read about spergy magic systems in books that are way longer than they need to be, it's at least readable and might engage you. Abercrombie is just straight up bad and unreadable 
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Dec 16, 2016 15:46
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Dunno why but I enjoyed Mistborn way more than Sanderson's heart and soul career masterpiece Way of Kings.
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Dec 16, 2016 19:05
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