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legendof posted:I've realized what Friendship Is Optimal reminds me of. The author has clearly read Accelerando by Charles Stross, missed the message, and mimicked the structure, plot, and like, half of one of the themes. It's definitely aping one half of a Charlie Stross story and forgetting to include the bit where a more levelheaded character points out how hosed this all is then, if not tearing it all to the ground before the Earth is destroyed, killing the AI overlord, giving everyone the freedom to be whatever they want to be, and closing on the dawn of human-directed space exploration. The Quantum Thief trilogy manages to be a pretty entertaining read (if an unforgiving one, offering only context as to what the future vocabulary means), and features Pretty Much Yudkowski as a villainous faction, while the Friendship is Optimal dorks and VR wonks in general get their wishes granted. Their society is about as terrible as you would expect, and I recommend the books pretty strongly if you at all enjoyed Stross' futurism-with-a-side-of-hey-this-is-kinda-hosed-up-when-it-goes-wrong. e: Also thanks to whomever posted the Let's Read of Friendship is Optimal. That was a great horrible trip down memory lane! 
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Jan 6, 2018 23:22
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The_White_Crane posted:The biggest problem was that I legitimately didn't know that shrimp and prawns were the same thing. I thought they were two separate species of small edible Usage is regional, in some places both terms are used interchangeably, in other places one dominates, in yet others both are used with a different meaning (usually then prawns are the larger species while shrimp are the smaller ones). In any case it's not one or two species, but a whole lot of them.
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Jan 6, 2018 23:37
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legendof posted:I've realized what Friendship Is Optimal reminds me of. The author has clearly read Accelerando by Charles Stross, missed the message, and mimicked the structure, plot, and like, half of one of the themes. Also The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect, which is set in the post-singularity world (as the singularity happens too fast for anyone to notice)
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Jan 7, 2018 00:55
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I loving loathe The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect. The morale of the story is an absolutely rage-inducing luddite take that it is better to murder billions of people and condemn the survivors to a stone-age existence of starvation, disease and suffering than to allow humanity to live in a perfect, tailor-made utopia ~because it isn't real enough~. E: gently caress, even thinking about it makes me irrationally angry. Go chisel your trash novel onto a loving slab of stone, Roger Williams you loving hack, because words on a computer screen aren't loving real enough for you. Goddamn. Mr. Sunshine has a new favorite as of 16:18 on Jan 9, 2018 |
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Jan 9, 2018 16:15
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Mr. Sunshine posted:I loving loathe The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect. The morale of the story is an absolutely rage-inducing luddite take that it is better to murder billions of people and condemn the survivors to a stone-age existence of starvation, disease and suffering than to allow humanity to live in a perfect, tailor-made utopia ~because it isn't real enough~. You may have missed the point that by surrendering themselves totally to a pleasure-maximising AI, humanity had turned themselves into a genocidal threat to every other sapient species in the galaxy. Burning down the system and (possibly fatally) crippling our species basically meant accepting the consequences of our actions rather than fobbing them off onto uninvolved innocents who our AI overlord happened to find useful/threatening to our utopia.
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Jan 9, 2018 16:28
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I dunno how you got that message from the story, since the point that the protagonist keeps repeatedly hammering on is that unless suffering and death are ~really real~ life has no purpose and you might as well have murdersex with a serial killer for all eternity (and once you're bored with that it's morally justifiable to murder every other human in existence save one in order to ~bring back reality~). E:I mean, I don't even remember what the AI might do to the rest of the universe being an issue. It's all about the protagonist and her thourogly hosed up idea of what is best for humanity. Mr. Sunshine has a new favorite as of 17:33 on Jan 9, 2018 |
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Jan 9, 2018 17:14
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Mr. Sunshine posted:I dunno how you got that message from the story, since the point that the protagonist keeps repeatedly hammering on is that unless suffering and death are ~really real~ life has no purpose and you might as well have murdersex with a serial killer for all eternity (and once you're bored with that it's morally justifiable to murder every other human in existence save one in order to ~bring back reality~). As I recall, the AI casually genociding an alien species was one of the major instigators for the human rebellion.
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Jan 9, 2018 17:42
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Darth Walrus posted:As I recall, the AI casually genociding an alien species was one of the major instigators for the human rebellion. It's actually a scathing condemnation of that Yudkowsky nonsense and the whole Dark Forest stuff... just, like, I don't think it was intended that way. I don't even think it was intended as Cold War satire of preemptive strikes gone mad. It is just presented as the way it is and the humans get a lot less mad about it than you'd expect.
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Jan 9, 2018 17:49
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Mr. Sunshine posted:I dunno how you got that message from the story, since the point that the protagonist keeps repeatedly hammering on is that unless suffering and death are ~really real~ life has no purpose and you might as well have murdersex with a serial killer for all eternity (and once you're bored with that it's morally justifiable to murder every other human in existence save one in order to ~bring back reality~). I don't have a dog in this fight, but you should probably be aware that your overusage of tildes is making you look like a dick.
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Jan 9, 2018 18:04
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Darth Walrus posted:As I recall, the AI casually genociding an alien species was one of the major instigators for the human rebellion. I just reread it and you're correct. Well, it didn't genocide them per se, it just froze them for all eternity with no hope of ever escaping while Prime Intellect was still intact. For that reason alone, smashing Prime Intellect is morally imperative. Now, the real reason to have a problem with that story is the daughter loving.
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Jan 9, 2018 18:05
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Mr. Sunshine posted:The morale of the story 
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Jan 9, 2018 18:25
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Dearest Father, We have reached the third chapter today and morale of the story remains high, though I fear it may not last for long.
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Jan 9, 2018 18:42
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I feel like I must have missed some portion of Prime Intellect, because I have no memory of alien genocide or human rebellion playing any significant role in the story. Only the protagonist's obsession with pain and death, and her attempts to keep her incestuous descendants from inventing any technology more advanced than sticks and stones. Hell, the AI crashes itself and reboots reality because it can't reconcile it's imperative to keep humanity safe and happy with the concept (explicitly derived from the protagonist herself) of "what is best for humanity in the long run". Anyway, I'm sorry if I come off as a raging dick - there's just something about The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect that triggers my reflex to throw people into gulags.
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Jan 9, 2018 20:52
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Mr. Sunshine posted:Hell, the AI crashes itself and reboots reality because it can't reconcile it's imperative to keep humanity safe and happy with the concept (explicitly derived from the protagonist herself) of "what is best for humanity in the long run".
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Jan 9, 2018 22:52
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girl pants posted:I'm in a book club and our selection for this month was Special Topics in Calamity Physics. I feel like the author read a few pages of a Jonathan Franzen novel and went "pfft, I could do this." We tried reading this for my book club a couple of months ago and none of us could finish it. This book is aggressively bad. The writing is truly awful because of the insane pretentiousness. Some examples: The author cites references within the text for real and fake things, a constant gimmick which makes paragraphs unreadable.  Sent this edited version to a friend while complaining about the book:  The chapters are all titled after other famous books, none of which tie in thematically to what's happening in said chapter:  The final chapter is a final exam composed by the main character, complete with true/false, multiple choice, and essay questions:  The worst thing is that she clearly has no idea how metaphors and similes work. If she says someone is like or comparable to something, she then spends the rest of the paragraph describing the person as literally that thing. Here's her comparing a character we haven't met yet, Jade, to a vine.  The character's name is not Jade Vine. Edit: fixed links! Wiggy Marie has a new favorite as of 22:35 on Jan 18, 2018 |
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Jan 18, 2018 22:24
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Wiggy Marie posted:We tried reading this for my book club a couple of months ago and none of us could finish it. This book is aggressively bad. The writing is truly awful because of the insane pretentiousness. Some examples: Holy poo poo thats a lot of effort to make something so bad.
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Jan 31, 2018 05:47
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Wiggy Marie posted:We tried reading this for my book club a couple of months ago and none of us could finish it. This book is aggressively bad. The writing is truly awful because of the insane pretentiousness. Some examples: I think that last image broke my brain for a minute.
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Feb 2, 2018 01:26
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Seems like CargoCultIntellectualism.txt.
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Feb 4, 2018 20:35
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A Pinball Wizard posted:I think that last image broke my brain for a minute. You see, I have said she is Jade Vine, which makes her an actual vine! Page 8 of the book. I made it about 200 pages in and it was nonstop this. I gave up.
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Feb 4, 2018 21:56
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Wiggy Marie posted:You see, I have said she is Jade Vine, which makes her an actual vine! You made it farther than I did I think. The whole book put me in a fierce Bourbon Mood. Which is how the MC tells the reader that her dad is drunk.
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Feb 6, 2018 20:09
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Have we found it? The new Eye of Argon?
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Feb 7, 2018 07:32
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CommissarMega posted:Have we found it? The new Eye of Argon? I dunno, for all its faults, Eye of Argon felt like a story some kid was just SO HYPED TO SHOW THE WORLD that he put it out without any "editing" or "revising" because I HAVE THE COOLEST STORY GUYS! And that enthusiasm kind of bleeds into every incompetently put together sentence. This just reads like it's pretentious for pretentiousness sake.
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Feb 7, 2018 10:28
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girl pants posted:You made it farther than I did I think. I read it all. I remember liking it.
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Feb 7, 2018 10:30
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Arivia posted:I read it all. I remember liking it. Yea STiCP isn't a bad book. A little pretentious and overambitious? Sure, but it's a first novel.
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Feb 7, 2018 12:38
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Wiggy Marie posted:You see, I have said she is Jade Vine, which makes her an actual vine! I don't even understand the point of the metaphor. How do vines have anything to do with ringing someone up to apologise?
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Feb 7, 2018 13:58
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Strom Cuzewon posted:I don't even understand the point of the metaphor. How do vines have anything to do with ringing someone up to apologise? The author published the book when she waa 26. She had no idea about metaphor, she just thought it would sound cool.
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Feb 7, 2018 14:19
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girl pants posted:The author published the book when she waa 26. She had no idea about metaphor, she just thought it would sound cool. Because someone who's twernty-six doesn't understand metaphor?
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Feb 7, 2018 15:27
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I'm going to say that someone who is 26 can have a good understanding of metaphors and how they work. I think the problem here is more the pretentiousness, which drives the bad writing. She falls in love with her amazing metaphors/ similes/ in-text citations and then doesn't stop until it's no longer charming. Comparing a character to a vine isn't bad by itself. If this is a character who wasn't the type to apologize, it's an easy shorthand for growth. But then the character is dispersing seeds and growing to a maximum height of 70 feet. It's too much! I remember a paragraph where she makes a point of saying the main character is reading Mein Kampf, to make sure you understand the character is educated and well versed. There's also a whole backstory subplot for the dad involving the Congo which gets mentioned regularly, in ways that make the Mein Kampf inclusion a tad suspicious. Unfortunately I didn't take pictures of those pages.
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Feb 7, 2018 15:58
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Yeah, weirdly, Congo Free State apologia has recently become a popular hill to die on.
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Feb 7, 2018 16:04
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Wiggy Marie posted:She falls in love with her amazing metaphors/ similes/ in-text citations and then doesn't stop until it's no longer charming. It's this. She didn't understand how to use them or where to stop.
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Feb 7, 2018 17:03
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Metaphors and similes are taught in elementary school
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Feb 7, 2018 17:11
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Calaveron posted:Metaphors and similes are taught in elementary school You can understand what something is without understanding how to use it effectively, which is what she did, and what I was trying to get at
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Feb 7, 2018 17:15
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Wiggy Marie posted:I'm going to say that someone who is 26 can have a good understanding of metaphors and how they work. I think the problem here is more the pretentiousness, which drives the bad writing. She falls in love with her amazing metaphors/ similes/ in-text citations and then doesn't stop until it's no longer charming. Comparing a character to a vine isn't bad by itself. If this is a character who wasn't the type to apologize, it's an easy shorthand for growth. But then the character is dispersing seeds and growing to a maximum height of 70 feet. It's too much! The dad is a domestic terrorist and the last third of the book is about coping with that. You’re supposed to be wary of him and his influence.
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Feb 8, 2018 00:37
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Arivia posted:The dad is a domestic terrorist and the last third of the book is about coping with that. You’re supposed to be wary of him and his influence. Yeah, I looked up the parts I missed. If I had pushed through, that reveal and the associated ending would have pissed me right off. One of our book club members actually recommended it, and it was clearly a favorite of hers. Unfortunately she didn't make it to the discussion so we just sat there with nothing other than "I hated this so much" to say. So I am genuinely curious to hear the opinion of someone who liked it!
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Feb 8, 2018 02:57
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Don Gato posted:I dunno, for all its faults, Eye of Argon felt like a story some kid was just SO HYPED TO SHOW THE WORLD that he put it out without any "editing" or "revising" because I HAVE THE COOLEST STORY GUYS! And that enthusiasm kind of bleeds into every incompetently put together sentence. Also, as I recall it (having read it many years ago) it actually moves along at a fairly decent pace. Stuff happens and asses are kicked.
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Feb 9, 2018 13:29
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Groke posted:Also, as I recall it (having read it many years ago) it actually moves along at a fairly decent pace. Stuff happens and asses are kicked. Says something that's actually notable for amateur fantasy fiction. Though iirc, it basically ends mid-sentence.
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Feb 9, 2018 14:18
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Groke posted:Also, as I recall it (having read it many years ago) it actually moves along at a fairly decent pace. Stuff happens and asses are kicked. Don't forget that one guy who gets kicked between the testicles (it is very specific about it being between rather than in) and gets about four sentences describing his reaction.
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Feb 9, 2018 14:52
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Inescapable Duck posted:Says something that's actually notable for amateur fantasy fiction. Though iirc, it basically ends mid-sentence. The sentence that the story does end on manages to squeeze in one last malapropism (or horrible delibrate pun?) to finish it all on a high note: quote:With a sloshing plop the thing fell to the ground, evaporating in a thick scarlet cloud until it reatained its original size. It remained thus for a moment as the puckered maw took the shape of a protruding red eyeball, the pupil of which seemed to unravel before it the tale of creation. How a shapeless mass slithered from the quagmires of the stygmatic pool of time, only to degenerate into a leprosy of avaricious lust. In that fleeting moment the grim mystery of life was revealed before Grignr's ensnared gaze. (Jay T. Rikosh was the fellow OSFAN member who illustrated the story.) Sham bam bamina! has a new favorite as of 16:15 on Feb 9, 2018 |
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Feb 9, 2018 16:07
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Mods change my title to "leprosy of avaricious lust".
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Feb 9, 2018 16:15
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Godamn blotches, blotching things up then trooting off.
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Feb 9, 2018 16:57
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