|
Xtanstic posted:Does anyone have a book recommendation that deals with monkey's paw-like consequences? Maybe something like a society unearths ancient technology and thinks it's a boon but spends an entire book dealing with unforeseen consequences? The Expanse is pretty much composed of a series of unforeseen consequences.
|
#
?
Dec 27, 2017 12:19
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 11, 2024 05:12 |
|
|
occamsnailfile posted:Did people get any good SF books as gifts? I got Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty which I am v. excited about. Also got a big coffee table book of history stuff but that's not for the same kind of reading. John Barnes' Kaleidoscope Century was in my pile with Us Conductors (not sci-fi but it's about the theremin which might as well be a sci-fi invention), Guns of August, and a few others. My friend wants me to spend this winter with hot cocoa sitting next to a warm fire so darnit that's what I'm going to do.  I also used giftcard money to grab the Amber series and some others, so I am drowning in books, which is the best state to be in~
|
|
#
?
Dec 27, 2017 12:23
|
|
|
Best for me was Forging Hephaestus but if superheroes don't count Caine's Mutiny was next. Worst was Wizard Defiant which managed even to beat out Cartwrights Calvaliers and Morningwood in awful.
|
|
#
?
Dec 27, 2017 16:16
|
|
|
occamsnailfile posted:Did people get any good SF books as gifts? I got Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty which I am v. excited about. Also got a big coffee table book of history stuff but that's not for the same kind of reading. Got the new Philip Pullman and N. K. Jemisin's The Fifth Season.
|
|
#
?
Dec 27, 2017 17:01
|
|
|
Best book I read this year that wasn't a Wolfe re-read was Nifft the Lean by Micheal Shea. It's the rare fun adventure story that can remind you that fun adventure stories can be more than guilty pleasures. Worst I finished was The Land of Laughs by Jonathan Carroll, which was fine but didn't light me on fire. Worst I abandoned was Last Dragon by J. M. McDermott which felt overwritten and obscure to no point. I donno, maybe I'll try it again some time and see if I'm missing something. I might have just not been in the right mood.
|
|
#
?
Dec 27, 2017 19:05
|
|
|
Xtanstic posted:Does anyone have a book recommendation that deals with monkey's paw-like consequences? Maybe something like a society unearths ancient technology and thinks it's a boon but spends an entire book dealing with unforeseen consequences? A Blue Remembered Earth Alistair Reynolds.
|
|
#
?
Dec 28, 2017 16:23
|
|
|
Who recommended Max Frei in this thread ages back? Just kind of randomly picked up The Stranger and really enjoyed it. Nothing groundbreaking or anything, I just liked it 
|
|
#
?
Dec 28, 2017 18:05
|
|
|
DACK FAYDEN posted:Who recommended Max Frei in this thread ages back? Just kind of randomly picked up The Stranger and really enjoyed it. Nothing groundbreaking or anything, I just liked it I doubt anyone other than me has even heard of him in this thread, so I guess that'd be me. Glad you enjoyed it.
|
|
#
?
Dec 28, 2017 18:27
|
|
|
Any of the of the price points in this bundle look like they would be any good? I've only heard of a couple of the authors. https://www.humblebundle.com/books/galaxy-of-stars-books
|
|
#
?
Dec 29, 2017 01:50
|
|
|
The Cyberiad is a classic.
|
|
#
?
Dec 29, 2017 01:53
|
|
|
A Proper Uppercut posted:Any of the of the price points in this bundle look like they would be any good? I've only heard of a couple of the authors. Cyberiad and boy's life are both 10/10 books.
|
|
#
?
Dec 29, 2017 02:14
|
|
|
The whole collection is decent value, so long as you are willing to read a chunk of novels by classic SF/F authors (Octavia Butler, Greg Bear, Ursula Le Guin, Stanislaw Lem...).
|
|
#
?
Dec 29, 2017 02:38
|
|
|
Tokamak posted:The whole collection is decent value, so long as you are willing to read a chunk of novels by classic SF/F authors (Octavia Butler, Greg Bear, Ursula Le Guin, Stanislaw Lem...). Oh the agony  The Cyberiad for a dollar is a great value. Adding in some Butler, LeGuin, and Bear is just a bonus. A totally worthwhile bonus. Go spend some money.
|
|
#
?
Dec 29, 2017 03:34
|
|
|
The Wolf's Hour in the lowest tier is literally "what if James Bond was a werewolf". That's basically the only fantasy element in it but it's pretty good for the trashy fun it is.
|
|
#
?
Dec 29, 2017 08:37
|
|
|
Sunshine is also a fun read.
|
|
#
?
Dec 29, 2017 08:48
|
|
|
anilEhilated posted:The Wolf's Hour in the lowest tier is literally "what if James Bond was a werewolf". That's basically the only fantasy element in it but it's pretty good for the trashy fun it is. Absolutely. It's fantastic fun. McCammon is weird one for me. I really liked him when his stuff was first being published, then I couldn't stand him, and now I'm coming back around to more or less enjoying his stuff again.
|
|
#
?
Dec 29, 2017 08:52
|
|
|
The Cyberiad is extremely good and I still occasionally laugh because I remembered the machine that makes things beginning with N and how it won't make Natrium because that's just Sodium and begins with an S.
|
|
#
?
Dec 29, 2017 09:48
|
|
|
90s Cringe Rock posted:The Cyberiad is extremely good and I still occasionally laugh because I remembered the machine that makes things beginning with N and how it won't make Natrium because that's just Sodium and begins with an S. quote:One day Trurl the constructor put together a machine that could create anything starting with n. When it was ready, he tried it out, ordering it to make needles, then nankeens and negligees, which it did, then nail the lot to narghiles filled with nepenthe and numerous other narcotics. The machine carried out his instructions to the letter. Still not completely sure of its ability, he had it produce, one after the other, nimbuses, noodles, nuclei, neutrons, naphtha, noses, nymphs, naiads, and natrium. This last it could not do, and Trurl, considerably irritated, demanded an explanation. Also, I'm always amazed that Michael Kandel was able to translate this: quote:"Just a minute," said Klapaucius, annoyed. He was trying to think of a request as difficult as possible, aware that any argument on the quality of the verse the machine might be able to produce would be hard if not impossible to settle either way. Suddenly he brightened and said:
|
|
#
?
Dec 29, 2017 10:33
|
|
|
A Proper Uppercut posted:Any of the of the price points in this bundle look like they would be any good? I've only heard of a couple of the authors. Lem is cool and the rest are bad
|
|
#
?
Dec 29, 2017 10:49
|
|
|
StrixNebulosa posted:John Barnes' Kaleidoscope Century was in my pile that is a dark book. i really liked that linked series of books 'the century next door' about memetic viral control.
|
|
#
?
Dec 29, 2017 12:56
|
|
|
anilEhilated posted:The Wolf's Hour in the lowest tier is literally "what if James Bond was a werewolf". That's basically the only fantasy element in it but it's pretty good for the trashy fun it is. You forgot "... in World War 2, and there's bad sex scenes" - although in this thread the word "bad" is pretty much superfluous when it prefixes "sex". It's still a really fast and easy read, though. McCammon is a very cinematic writer; you can imagine almost anything in his books translating to the screen. Swan Song in the top tier is basically "The Stand, except with nuclear war" and also reads very easily for a book almost 1000 pages long in paperback.
|
|
#
?
Dec 29, 2017 13:21
|
|
|
Three Hearts and Three Lions from that humblebundle deal is worth getting, just to see what Gary Gygax ripped off when creating D & D. Spoiler alert: most of the book was ripped off 4th'ing the Cyberiad book being good. The Ijon Tichy Star Diaries that Stanislaw Lem wrote are superior to the Cyberiad, and the Prix the Pilot series is pretty good too. Tiichy manages to get stuck in 2.5 stable time loops, well technically zero stuckness because TIME LOOP. Prix shows up in Fiasco, one of the strongest scifi 1st contact books I've read. The one Lem book I'd take carefully is "Memoirs found in a Bathtub". It's orwellian from start to finish, and depressed people really should not read the ending or more accurately the entire book: it's that bleak.
|
|
#
?
Dec 29, 2017 16:16
|
|
|
It's weird to separate the Patternist series out like that. They order it chronologically, which is not a great reading order since you start out with brutal historical fantasy and end with cheesy sci-fi pulp. For anyone who's interested, the ideal reading order IMO is Wild Seed, Patternmaster, Mind of my Mind, Clay's Ark.
|
|
#
?
Dec 29, 2017 21:16
|
|
|
NoNostalgia4Grover posted:The one Lem book I'd take carefully is "Memoirs found in a Bathtub". It's orwellian from start to finish, and depressed people really should not read the ending or more accurately the entire book: it's that bleak. (Second and third best are Imaginary Magnitude and A Perfect Vacuum, which are the introductions to and book reviews of entirely fictional books, respectively, with the exception of the former's own introduction and the latter's first review, which is a review of the book itself. But now I'm just singing Lem's praises.)
|
|
#
?
Dec 29, 2017 22:26
|
|
|
We talked about John C Wright in the Space Opera thread, but he has a new book out, Count To Infinity, and I have to bring up the obvious agenda he inserts into his books. A big piece of the plot is the god-like intelligences that control the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies are at war. The reason they're at war is basically that they have two different future space-political-science theories. The Andromeda galaxy's theory is basically a stand-in for socialism and the Milky Way galaxy is essentially ancap libertarianism. lol. I hate Wright's politics but I really can't help that I enjoy his books a lot. that's all.
|
|
#
?
Dec 30, 2017 02:05
|
|
|
DACK FAYDEN posted:That's my favorite of his work. Lem excels in that bleak Soviet Union misery. The bit where he gets his instructions, the bit with the intelligence officer, the bit where the professors get drunk, the trip through the spy museum... and, of course, the ending, which was not what I expected even two pages before it happened despite knowing from the beginning where the titular Memoirs were found. He kind of pulled a Baru Cormorant there. Lem's His Master's voice was pretty good too, the best part of Imaginary Magnitude was the Golem XIV stuff. Chain of Chance was interesting for the point on title in regards to the story. The Tichy stories are my favorites, and they cover about every possible subject. Futurism conferences, tele-dildonics, time loops, time travel, people being utter bastards, deranged robots, bio-sculpting, more time loops, the big bang theory, and so on. Tichy stories, Solaris, and Fiasco are my 3 favorite Lem books. Now if we start talking Strugatski brothers books, welp thats another soviet bloc supergem.
|
|
#
?
Dec 30, 2017 05:24
|
|
|
Grimwall posted:The Expanse is pretty much composed of a series of unforeseen consequences. Unfortunately, I'm saving the books since I'm watching the TV show. I'm a jerk that can't enjoy a book adaptation if I've read the book first. gohmak posted:A Blue Remembered Earth Alistair Reynolds. Does that book flow better than his Revelation series? I couldn't get into Revelation Space and had to set it aside, despite the good stuff I heard about him. Constant POV shifts were way to jarring and I felt like just as I was getting engrossed into a plotline, I got yanked away. Xtanstic fucked around with this message at 08:01 on Dec 30, 2017 |
|
#
?
Dec 30, 2017 07:52
|
|
|
Today's Kindle Daily Deal has a bunch of Goodreads Choice Awards winners and finalists with decent discounts. Among them are: The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi Borne: A Novel by Jeff VanderMeer The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin Babylon's Ashes by S.A. Corey Star Wars: Thrawn by Timothy Zahn Binti: Home by Nnedi Okorafor and for those who crave a paranormal romance: White Hot: A Hidden Legacy Novel by Ilona Andrews
|
|
#
?
Dec 30, 2017 14:24
|
|
|
DACK FAYDEN posted:That's my favorite of his work. Lem excels in that bleak Soviet Union misery. The bit where he gets his instructions, the bit with the intelligence officer, the bit where the professors get drunk, the trip through the spy museum... and, of course, the ending, which was not what I expected even two pages before it happened despite knowing from the beginning where the titular Memoirs were found. He kind of pulled a Baru Cormorant there. This whole conversation is reminding me that I need to read more Lem this year. The Star Diaries and Memoirs Found in a Bathtub are due for a reread this year, and I still haven't read Fiasco.
|
|
#
?
Dec 30, 2017 15:32
|
|
|
Fart of Presto posted:Today's Kindle Daily Deal has a bunch of Goodreads Choice Awards winners and finalists with decent discounts.
|
|
#
?
Dec 30, 2017 19:58
|
|
|
occamsnailfile posted:Did people get any good SF books as gifts? I got Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty which I am v. excited about. Also got a big coffee table book of history stuff but that's not for the same kind of reading. I got Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer, really excited to get stuck into it when I have a day to myself. Also got Passage At Arms by Glen Cook, which after reading the Black Company a few years ago I've got high hopes for.
|
|
#
?
Dec 30, 2017 21:08
|
|
|
ed balls balls man posted:I got Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer, really excited to get stuck into it when I have a day to myself. Also got Passage At Arms by Glen Cook, which after reading the Black Company a few years ago I've got high hopes for. Passage at Arms is his best work of SF, IMO, for all that it lacks the grandiose scope and madness of The Dragon Never Sleeps.
|
|
#
?
Dec 30, 2017 22:46
|
|
|
ToxicFrog posted:Passage at Arms is his best work of SF, IMO, for all that it lacks the grandiose scope and madness of The Dragon Never Sleeps. In many ways those novels are exact opposites and they're both among the very best in their respective styles. That shows great range in an author when they're published only three years apart.
|
|
#
?
Dec 30, 2017 23:36
|
|
|
Fart of Presto posted:Today's Kindle Daily Deal has a bunch of Goodreads Choice Awards winners and finalists with decent discounts. I tried reading the kindle sample of Borne, because it sounded interesting, and the writing is loving bad. Also, what's with SF writers starting to stick "A Novel" on their titles like a bunch of pretentious twats. NoNostalgia4Grover posted:Lem's His Master's voice was pretty good too, the best part of Imaginary Magnitude was the Golem XIV stuff. Golemn XIV was great, but my favorite bit was An Introduction to Bitic Literature. I think I loved A Perfect Vacuum more on the whole though. pospysyl posted:It's weird to separate the Patternist series out like that. They order it chronologically, which is not a great reading order since you start out with brutal historical fantasy and end with cheesy sci-fi pulp. For anyone who's interested, the ideal reading order IMO is Wild Seed, Patternmaster, Mind of my Mind, Clay's Ark. Wild Seed is the only one worth reading out if that series, and I'm a huge Butler fan. Patternmaster and Mind of my Mind are her first two novels and you can tell, and Clay's Ark is kind of extraneous. If you read Wild Seed first, you might as well stop there because the rest will be a huge disappointment. Stuporstar fucked around with this message at 05:17 on Dec 31, 2017 |
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2017 05:14
|
|
|
Stuporstar posted:I tried reading the kindle sample of Borne, because it sounded interesting, and the writing is loving bad. Also, what's with SF writers starting to stick "A Novel" on their titles like a bunch of pretentious twats. To me it doesn't seem very pretentious to clearly label the kind of book you've written on the front cover
|
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2017 06:52
|
|
|
Sounds like something a publisher would push, not an author.
|
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2017 06:54
|
|
|
I liked Borne, but I did stop reading it once and then return to it later.
|
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2017 07:12
|
|
|
Stuporstar posted:Also, what's with SF writers starting to stick "A Novel" on their titles like a bunch of pretentious twats. Since when do authors get to choose their titles.
|
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2017 07:25
|
|
|
Stuporstar posted:I tried reading the kindle sample of Borne, because it sounded interesting, and the writing is loving bad. Also, what's with SF writers starting to stick "A Novel" on their titles like a bunch of pretentious twats. Definitely a publisher thing, and hardly exclusive to the world of SF. I'm curious as to why you found the writing bad. VanderMeer is like... good???
|
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2017 16:38
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 11, 2024 05:12 |
|
|
I dunno. I bounced off annihilation pretty hard the first time I tried to read it. Tried it again and few years later and thought it was ok. Maybe Borne was like that for him?
|
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2017 17:21
|
|
