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Agreed, Lem books to read is always good. Hospital of the Transfiguration + The Investigation are up next, then Ninefox Gambit.
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Jun 4, 2018 19:00
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Rusty posted:I have seen it mentioned once in this thread I think, but Gnomon is a really good book, like kind of amazing. It reminds me a lot of a David Mitchell book, but maybe more dense and better writing. I'm half way through and I think about how good it is all the time. I thought Gone Away World was interesting and worth reading, but I'm not sure I think it was great, this book is different. I haven't finished it, so that could change, but I doubt it. Also, has anyone read Angelmaker (or Tigerman I guess) by Harkaway? Wondering if I should read that after liking this so much.
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Jun 5, 2018 11:42
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After enduring the sensation of slathering poo poo onto my eyeballs that was The Expanse, I re-read The Prefect and started on Elysium Fire.  it's wonderful to read an author who can actually write worth a drat.
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Jun 6, 2018 18:57
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Reynolds can plot and has interesting ideas about science and technology, but let’s be frank, he’s a lousy writer. His prose is stilted, and his characters are wafer thin.
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Jun 6, 2018 19:34
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Yeah, that comparison between him and the The Expanse guys seems backwards to me.
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Jun 6, 2018 21:31
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a foolish pianist posted:Yeah, that comparison between him and the The Expanse guys seems backwards to me. Gonna have to disagree. The Expanse was much worse than Reynold's worst book or worst series (pushing ice and that blue remembered eath series, respectively). Where Reynolds had wafer thin characters, the Expanse guys had tissue paper thick characters yanked straight from whatever SpaceRPG campaign the Expanse dudes had been playing for most of their adult lives. The lead character in the Expanse who constantly re-broadcast anything he came across was a SpacePaladin(tm, do not steal this concept).
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Jun 6, 2018 22:59
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Baru Cormorant 1 is a mere three dollars today on US Amazon. There's basically no excuse not to get it at this point.
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Jun 7, 2018 15:59
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I gave up on Stanislaw Lem's The Investigation(originally published 1959). It had all the "did that happen or was it a hallucination?" and blurred reality confusion of Mr Robot Season 1, only without the fun or the overwhelming sense of doom for that tiny dog. Add in that Lem was trying to write about Scotland Yard detectives trying to solve a weird mystery about vanishing corpses while living behind the USSR Iron Curtain, and that 1959 was a year where the Cold War between the west & USSR had big swings in temperature so it is very possible USSR censors left the novel text very confused...PLUS add in the fact that the English version of the Investigation was done by a translator who just worked on that one Lem novel(aka not Michael Kandel, the Lem super-translator). The Investigation might be better in the original Polish version, I guess. quantumfoam fucked around with this message at 19:08 on Jun 7, 2018 |
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Jun 7, 2018 19:03
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Khizan posted:Morgan's stuff is always about an over-the-top alpha-male protagonist in a dystopian world, but I like pretty much everything of his I've read anyways. Wouldn't disagree with this at all (especially 13!). For me I take it a bit like adult-airport fiction if that makes any sense. Over the top characters, settings and scenarios but with better everything. For UK kindle-havers The Red Knight is only 99p at the moment. I'd ignored this for years just based from the blurb and cover because i'm an idiot. It has some strong prose and a good mix of historical research (in the sense of armour and logistics etc) and fantasy elements. Might be worth a read for some of you!
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Jun 8, 2018 09:09
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Just a heads up. Brian Keene got pretty badly burned in an accident, and they've opened a gofundme to help out with it. I've already donated, but if you wanna toss a few bucks at the dude who writes some pretty gritty horror, head over to https://www.gofundme.com/brian-keene-burn-fund
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Jun 8, 2018 09:29
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:Just a heads up. This is a confusing appeal. Why is someone listed as a philanthropist soliciting money from others? And are we sure treating burns is the artistically right choice for an author of gritty horror?
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Jun 8, 2018 14:49
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That sucks, hope Keene recovers with minimal issues. After bailing on the Stanislaw Lem book yesterday, I power skimmed the contents of The Best of the Nebulas, published 1989 edited by Ben Bova. The Brian Herbert homage to Dune + his dad Frank that started off the story collection was very hilarious in retrospect. AKA Kevin J. Anderson + Brian Herbert present DUNE: The Gurney Halleck Chronicles Part 1, coming in 2019. Harlan Ellison, Roger Zelazny, Samuel R Delaney, James Tiptree Jr, and Fritz Leiber all had multiple stories in the anthology. Some of the stories aged badly, or were just too long feeling, George RR Martin's "Sandkings" 1979 Best novelet Nebula winner deserved the win it got.
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Jun 8, 2018 14:58
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NoNostalgia4Grover posted:The Brian Herbert homage to Dune + his dad Frank that started off the story collection was very hilarious in retrospect. AKA Kevin J. Anderson + Brian Herbert present DUNE: The Gurney Halleck Chronicles Part 1, coming in 2019. The quest to leave no aspect of the Dune universe to anyone's imagination continues.
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Jun 8, 2018 17:13
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NoNostalgia4Grover posted:PLUS add in the fact that the English version of the Investigation was done by a translator who just worked on that one Lem novel(aka not Michael Kandel, the Lem super-translator). The Investigation might be better in the original Polish version, I guess. I think the first guy to work on Solaris also only did one Lem book, and that's a remarkably bad translation as I understand it. Literally translating stuff backwards level bad.
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Jun 8, 2018 17:16
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Safety Biscuits posted:I think the first guy to work on Solaris also only did one Lem book, and that's a remarkably bad translation as I understand it. Literally translating stuff backwards level bad. IIRC it was something like a Polish > French > English translation by two people and the French version they were working from was a bad translation itself.
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Jun 8, 2018 18:08
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NoNostalgia4Grover posted:George RR Martin's "Sandkings" 1979 Best novelet Nebula winner deserved the win it got. It's kind of hilarious how the man's main claim to fame used to be some pieces of really excellent and concise short fiction.
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Jun 8, 2018 20:34
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ed balls balls man posted:Wouldn't disagree with this at all (especially 13!). For me I take it a bit like adult-airport fiction if that makes any sense. Over the top characters, settings and scenarios but with better everything. And an exceptionally creepy protagonist sneaking up on nuns. Oh, and villains taken directly from world of Warcraft. For what it is worth, at least a decent read, but nothing special. I saw no reason to continue after the first.
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Jun 8, 2018 20:43
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C.M. Kruger posted:IIRC it was something like a Polish > French > English translation by two people and the French version they were working from was a bad translation itself. Reminds me of English As She Is Spoke, whose author wanted to write a Portuguese-English phrase book, but did didn't speak English, so he translated an existing Portuguese-French phrase book via a French-English dictionary.
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Jun 8, 2018 20:53
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Groke posted:It's kind of hilarious how the man's main claim to fame used to be some pieces of really excellent and concise short fiction. His short story collections, Dreamsongs 1 and 2, were really good, if I remember right.
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Jun 8, 2018 22:19
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Yeah, GRRM used to write great short stories.
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Jun 8, 2018 22:28
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hey im like halfway through the city & the city right now, old news but it loving owns. i was wondering what eastern european goons thought of it, it seems to do a really good job with its invented history. also, weren't they making a bbc series about it?
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Jun 9, 2018 00:31
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StashAugustine posted:hey im like halfway through the city & the city right now, old news but it loving owns. i was wondering what eastern european goons thought of it, it seems to do a really good job with its invented history. also, weren't they making a bbc series about it? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9Ds23M9-RE
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Jun 9, 2018 00:50
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tooterfish posted:They made it. It was good. Oh poo poo, is there any way to watch this in the USA?
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Jun 9, 2018 01:02
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A Proper Uppercut posted:Oh poo poo, is there any way to watch this in the USA? Without verifying, probably BritBox or Acorn.
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Jun 9, 2018 03:01
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StashAugustine posted:hey im like halfway through the city & the city right now, old news but it loving owns. i was wondering what eastern european goons thought of it, it seems to do a really good job with its invented history. also, weren't they making a bbc series about it? EE goon here, read it, realized it was supposed to be an Eastern European type setting later, after reading a review. The system is too orderly. Nothing that complex would ever work around here.
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Jun 9, 2018 05:43
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StashAugustine posted:hey im like halfway through the city & the city right now, old news but it loving owns. i was wondering what eastern european goons thought of it, it seems to do a really good job with its invented history. also, weren't they making a bbc series about it?
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Jun 9, 2018 08:51
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A Proper Uppercut posted:Oh poo poo, is there any way to watch this in the USA? Import a DVD from the UK, if you have a Region 2 compatible player.
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Jun 9, 2018 09:40
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anilEhilated posted:Nowhere near enough corruption. Yeah, there should be a way to make Breach look away. No way an organization that powerful wouldn’t be completely corrupt in Eastern Europe.
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Jun 9, 2018 10:34
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Cardiac posted:And an exceptionally creepy protagonist sneaking up on nuns. I'm not sure where you're getting the World of Warcraft villains from. The villains are, at first, a couple of squabbling demigods that personify some sort of cosmic force of nature and wildness that hate civilization and want to destroy it. I mean, I guess there's a couple of monstrous races, but they're not particularly world of warcraft-y, unless just the idea of a bestial nonhuman immediately makes you think World of Warcraft.
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Jun 9, 2018 12:12
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StashAugustine posted:hey im like halfway through the city & the city right now, old news but it loving owns. i was wondering what eastern european goons thought of it, it seems to do a really good job with its invented history. also, weren't they making a bbc series about it? You might not like it as much when you finish it.
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Jun 9, 2018 14:23
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Alternatively, you might like the end just fine
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Jun 9, 2018 16:36
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Wolpertinger posted:I'm not sure where you're getting the World of Warcraft villains from. The villains are, at first, a couple of squabbling demigods that personify some sort of cosmic force of nature and wildness that hate civilization and want to destroy it. I mean, I guess there's a couple of monstrous races, but they're not particularly world of warcraft-y, unless just the idea of a bestial nonhuman immediately makes you think World of Warcraft. I guess Warcraft 3 is more apt description. I kept thinking the main villain was one of the bizarre creatures from Warcraft 3 or one of the expansions. Regardless, the whole setup was as generic as it could be, albeit done in a decent way with a good flow in the story. The whole thing about representing medieval combat in a good way was boring as hell btw.
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Jun 9, 2018 17:59
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I thought the ending was fine, only real issue is it leaned a little on 'investigator explains everything to the suspect'. there were a couple of setting details i wish he'd explained a little more, like the weird church they have or the political situation in ul quoma, but overall it was pretty good. i like how someone in the dedicated mieville thread called it 'social science fiction'
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Jun 9, 2018 19:19
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I normally love Mieville but I could not get into TC&TC miniseries. Especially whenever the main actor would say "I should know, I'm a cop." Is that meant to be cheesy, a send up of boilerplate police novels?
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Jun 10, 2018 00:28
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I just read freeze frame revolution. Did anyone else get the hidden message in it? Some of the letters are different and this is what you get if you write them down. i see you've found my eighth notes. The first few anyway:for the rest check out the archived gene map for Usurper alternantis d Also https://www.rifters.com/EriophraRoot-Archive-Log-Ahzmundin-frag/derelict.htm I think i might have missed a character though, because that url doesnt work.
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Jun 10, 2018 01:59
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Read Ninefox Gambit. Interesting call by the author to cram all the character development into the last 50 pages of the book. Overall I would rate Ninefox Gambit as strong not great, would read the inevitable sequel books if I came across them at a public library. Somehow I was HEAVILY reminded of something from the ultra-cheesey Sten Chronicles scifi series when NineFox Gambit finally revealed how the immortality process in it worked.
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Jun 10, 2018 02:27
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NoNostalgia4Grover posted:Read Ninefox Gambit. Interesting call by the author to cram all the character development into the last 50 pages of the book. Overall I would rate Ninefox Gambit as strong not great, would read the inevitable sequel books if I came across them at a public library. Somehow I was HEAVILY reminded of something from the ultra-cheesey Sten Chronicles scifi series when NineFox Gambit finally revealed how the immortality process in it worked. Ninefox Gambit is a book where I was pretty interested in the tertiary worldbuilding, but the main characters were mostly not that interesting, except maybe Jedao. It's the opposite reaction I had to All the Birds in the Sky, which I read around the same time.
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Jun 10, 2018 02:38
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ianmacdo posted:I just read freeze frame revolution. The actual URL was posted itt in the last few pages; for your convenience it's http://www.rifters.com/Eriophora-Root-Archive-Log-Ahzmundin-frag/derelict.htm And man do I ever want to know what happens next.
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Jun 10, 2018 02:46
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Welp, I went ahead and bought The Books of the South; the next thrilling chapter in The Black Company annals, after you all recommended The Silver Spike and suggested continuing until the series stopped being good. (I also ordered The Alexiad, seeing as I've always intended on reading it. Hardly sci-fi, though!) I assume I should start with TSS, despite it being listed as the third BotS? Or will it potentially ruin some aspects of the later books, somehow? But yeah, assuming I like this omnibus, I think I'll probably leave it at that. Since part of the reason why I even got it is because someone mentioned loose ends at the conclusion of the original trilogy, which TSS clears up...and well, the whole BotS omnibus was discounted, so why not? (Although I suppose I might also get Port of Shadows, since I did enjoy reading about the shithole they call Juniper) Major Isoor fucked around with this message at 13:56 on Jun 10, 2018 |
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Jun 10, 2018 10:43
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Solitair posted:Ninefox Gambit is a book where I was pretty interested in the tertiary worldbuilding, but the main characters were mostly not that interesting, except maybe Jedao. It's the opposite reaction I had to All the Birds in the Sky, which I read around the same time. I agree with you. The main character was left pretty undefined so that the Crysis 2 style personality overwriting could happen. Figured out why NineFox Gambit was constantly giving me deja-vu flashbacks to a engaging scifi short story from 2011 involving WarKites and a eerily similar built-out universe. Turns out I wasn't crazy, rechecked this morning and the short story I was getting flashbacks to was 2011's Ghostweight ALSO written by Yoon Ha Lee. Roughly 85% of the setting + unique technology from Ghostweight got recycled into the Ninefox Gambit series universe. Would DEFINITELY read followups to Lee's Ghostweight, oddly not so much with Lee's Machineries of Empire series.
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Jun 10, 2018 13:40
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