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MockingQuantum posted:I've just finished Altered Carbon, and I'm only, what, 16 years late to the party. I enjoyed it pretty well, kind of wonder how much more the book would have dug into the nature of identity and "person-ness" as it relates to sleeving if it were written today. How are the rest of the Takeshi Kovacs books? I didn't love AC so much I feel the need to rush out and grab them, plus I've heard they're pretty different from this one. The next two Kovacs books are definitely very different -- the second is about an archaeology find on a war torn planet and the third is a heist story set on Kovacs's home planet. I enjoyed them slightly more than AC, mainly because they cover a lot more about the Martian relics and weird consequences of alien technology, and I find that some of the most interesting stuff in the Kovacs series. If you liked what was alluded to in AC about the Martians, I think they're worth reading. The bad sex scenes persist, though -- that feels like something one just has to accept in a Morgan book. At least his Black Widow comics avoided that. Strong second the recommendation of the Eisenhorn novels. All the Dan Abnett 40K books are at least pretty good, and the Eisenhorn series is excellent by any standard, far in excess of what one would expect from a series based on a single piece of 40K art. The 40K thread here can steer you to the good 40K books, but without a doubt the place to start is the Eisenhorn trilogy.
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Oct 1, 2018 22:34
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MockingQuantum posted:Cool, that's sort of what I gathered from looking back through the thread a bit. AC falls squarely in "glad I'm read it, won't re-read it" territory, so I think I'll just move on to something else. I second Blindsight by Peter Watts for sci-fi with a horror tinge.
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Oct 1, 2018 22:55
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My Lovecraft choices off the top of my head: Pickman’s Model, Dreams in the Witch House, The Color our of Space, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward(a light edit away from a very interesting story on gender! But just sexist as is), and A Shadow Over Innsmouth. Probably missing a few notables but some good high points there. E: Bonus option of A Study In Emerald by Gaiman. Lovecraftian Sherlock Holmes! Alaan fucked around with this message at 23:16 on Oct 1, 2018 |
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Oct 1, 2018 23:13
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MockingQuantum posted:In the spirit of halloween, what are everyone's favorite spooky sci-fi or fantasy books? Horror is not required, I'm thinking of stuff like Bradbury's October Country, Something Wicked This Way Comes, and (I assume, given some of the characters show up in October Country) From the Dust Returned. I'd take some gothic fantasy recommendations too. And gothic sci-fi, if that's even a thing... Not necessarily spooky, but A Night in the Lonesome October by Zelazny is definitely an ace Halloween read.
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Oct 1, 2018 23:20
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The Zelazney book and Robertson Davies' "High Spirits'. Also, I love ghost stories and there are a couple of collections of Victorian ghost stories that are delightful.
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Oct 2, 2018 00:23
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I’d recommend London Falling. It’s urban fantasy but it’s not goofy or light hearted at all. I can’t give a great summary of it and do it justice, but it’s really creepy. My biggest problem with it the characters aren’t very like-able.
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Oct 2, 2018 00:41
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MockingQuantum posted:In the spirit of halloween, what are everyone's favorite spooky sci-fi or fantasy books? Horror is not required, I'm thinking of stuff like Bradbury's October Country, Something Wicked This Way Comes, and (I assume, given some of the characters show up in October Country) From the Dust Returned. I'd take some gothic fantasy recommendations too. And gothic sci-fi, if that's even a thing... Sparrow Hill Road and The Girl in the Green Silk Gown by Seanan McGuire are about a hitchhiking ghost, which seems appropriately spooky.
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Oct 2, 2018 00:42
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Stuporstar posted:Alan Dean Foster is one of those guys who considers himself a One Draft Wonder and brags about sharting out over 9 novels a year, so I'm not all surpised to hear his work is aggressively mediocre, full of plotholes, and boneheadedly dumb. oh, he's like every author discussed in this thread?
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Oct 2, 2018 00:48
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StrixNebulosa posted:Eisenhorn is great because it's less over the top and more pulpy gothic sci-fi action, which is a hoot to read. If you want more mil-sci-fi out of Warhammer, try his Gaunt's Ghosts novels. It's also got adventures in strange geometries, places with too many angles, and that sort of stuff. There's a lot of cool stuff in the series.
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Oct 2, 2018 00:53
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mllaneza posted:It's also got adventures in strange geometries, places with too many angles, and that sort of stuff. There's a lot of cool stuff in the series. I named my cat Bequin, so it's also good for grabbing cat names.
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Oct 2, 2018 01:22
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MockingQuantum posted:In the spirit of halloween, what are everyone's favorite spooky sci-fi or fantasy books? If you like gothic SF and Halloween you gotta watch Event Horizon  Book wise, obviously there's Blindsight, but Ship of Fools/Unto Leviathan (I bought it as Ship of Fools) is even more explicitly a haunted house story in space. Bunch of Catholics on a generation ship locate a planet sporting ruins, jungle, and a room full of several thousand skeletons dangling from meat hooks. They follow a mysterious transmission to a titanic drifting object in space nearby, which they explore while discussing the nature and origins of evil.
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Oct 2, 2018 01:25
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General Battuta posted:Book wise, obviously there's Blindsight, but Ship of Fools/Unto Leviathan (I bought it as Ship of Fools) is even more explicitly a haunted house story in space. Bunch of Catholics on a generation ship locate a planet sporting ruins, jungle, and a room full of several thousand skeletons dangling from meat hooks. They follow a mysterious transmission to a titanic drifting object in space nearby, which they explore while discussing the nature and origins of evil. I adore Richard Paul Russo and would recommend anything he's written, although Ship of Fools is probably the only one that would count as cosmic horror. I think The Explorer and The Echo (and anything else) by James Smythe are extremely creepy despite the relatively rough writing.
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Oct 2, 2018 01:35
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MockingQuantum posted:Oh wow I definitely read the Coldfire Trilogy when I was in junior high or something, I absolutely remember the covers (which are awesome in a very late-80s Fantasy cover kind of way). I might have to give those a spin again, I vaguely remember a couple of plot points but not much beyond that. I should actually do a reread too. The story beats of the three novels are a little samey, but there's also something thematic to be said about how they change between the books. Friedman's best product is In Conquest Born, distantly followed by The Madness Season, though.
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Oct 2, 2018 01:38
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This was a few pages back but the reason why Humans did so well in the Damned series if I recall correctly is that they were basically superhuman compared to all of the other species in the good guy alliance. First contact involved some dude jerking his hand away from one of the aliens trying to to touch him which breaks the aliens arm and freaks them out because they moved so fast. Also we can swim which only the fish aliens could do. Also Earth was basically a death world for all other species which is why are the super weird ones. Everyone else basically evolved on garden worlds. Also there was a series of wars going on when contact was made and people basically dropped everything to go kill some aliens so yeah.
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Oct 2, 2018 01:40
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MockingQuantum posted:Oh wow I definitely read the Coldfire Trilogy when I was in junior high or something, I absolutely remember the covers (which are awesome in a very late-80s Fantasy cover kind of way). I might have to give those a spin again, I vaguely remember a couple of plot points but not much beyond that. Michael Whelan cover-art is always fantastic. I think he was the go to cover artist of Fantasy books (and some SF) for Ballantine/DelRey covers in the 80s and 90s. It's a shame you really don't see more of his work these days, though he is doing the covers for Sanderson's Stormlight books.
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Oct 2, 2018 01:46
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Ben Nevis posted:Not necessarily spooky, but A Night in the Lonesome October by Zelazny is definitely an ace Halloween read. I read that last year around this time (it's fun to read a chapter a day and watch it unfold in time, because I'm a gigantic nerd.) My wife and I are reading through it together this year and I'm pretty sure she'll love it. Wolf Pussy posted:I second Blindsight by Peter Watts for sci-fi with a horror tinge. I just read that recently enough that I want to let it simmer a bit before I go back to it, but I agree wholeheartedly. General Battuta posted:If you like gothic SF and Halloween you gotta watch Event Horizon One of my co-worker's go-to responses when we get a completely incomprehensible email or request from clients is "Where we're going, we don't need eyes to see!" and it both makes me laugh and horrifies me every time. Also thank you for reminding me of Ship of Fools! I actually have a copy that is in a box somewhere from the last time I moved and I keep forgetting to pull it out and actually read it, now may be the time! And alright, you all convinced me, I'll give Eisenhorn a spin sometime, though I think I have plenty of spooky options to hit up for this month.
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Oct 2, 2018 01:56
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GreyjoyBastard posted:I should actually do a reread too. The story beats of the three novels are a little samey, but there's also something thematic to be said about how they change between the books. You're almost right, but it goes In Conquest Born > This Alien Shore > Madness Season. I love those books so much and highly rec them... But not as Halloween novels, they're not spooky enough. Madness Season almost qualifies - it has a vampire - but it's more sci-fi than spook-tastic.
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Oct 2, 2018 02:05
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Michael Shea wrote a sequel to The Color Out of Space called, creatively, The Color Out of Time and yesterday I found it at a bookstore. Anyone read it? Read Nifft the Lean a few months ago and it was very good at creating very unsettling scenes with restrained description so I am optimistic.
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Oct 2, 2018 02:14
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StrixNebulosa posted:Eisenhorn is great because it's less over the top and more pulpy gothic sci-fi action, which is a hoot to read. If you want more mil-sci-fi out of Warhammer, try his Gaunt's Ghosts novels. I remember trying to read the Coldfire books in HS, but I think I came away with the impression they were trying to be edgy Christian books and never finished the first one. Was that a mistaken idea?
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Oct 2, 2018 02:49
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Proteus Jones posted:Michael Whelan cover-art is always fantastic. I think he was the go to cover artist of Fantasy books (and some SF) for Ballantine/DelRey covers in the 80s and 90s. He's largely decided to focus on gallery work rather than book covers. I suspect Tor threw buckets of money at him for the Stormlight covers. Also you can buy the original paintings of those covers (for like $40 grand). His covers were always awesome not only because he's a good artist, but also because they fit the story because he wouldn't do a cover unless he'd read at least a draft of the book first. navyjack posted:I remember trying to read the Coldfire books in HS, but I think I came away with the impression they were trying to be edgy Christian books and never finished the first one. Was that a mistaken idea? Mostly, yeah. Religion plays a pretty big part, especially in the last book, but I wouldn't call it pro-Catholic so much as "pro the power of belief explicitly because of the quirks of this weird planet."
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Oct 2, 2018 03:01
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StrixNebulosa posted:You're almost right, but it goes In Conquest Born > This Alien Shore > Madness Season. I love those books so much and highly rec them... But not as Halloween novels, they're not spooky enough. Madness Season almost qualifies - it has a vampire - but it's more sci-fi than spook-tastic. I think I liked This Alien Shore more than In Conquest Born but yes. Friedman is one of my favourite authors, she has her ups and downs but I don't think I've been disappointed by any of her books except, perhaps, The Wilding. navyjack posted:I remember trying to read the Coldfire books in HS, but I think I came away with the impression they were trying to be edgy Christian books and never finished the first one. Was that a mistaken idea?  Yes, it was. I mean, the church that Damien belongs to is recognizeably Christianity-inspired¹ and plays an increasingly important role over the course of the trilogy, but they definitely are not "edgy Christian books" or trying to push a particular religious agenda. ¹ With good in-universe reason; the designers of the Church used (what they remembered of) Earth Christianity as a template, since, in order to create God, they needed a highly organized monotheistic religion, with rituals that would would ensure all of the faithful would believe in the same god, in the same way.
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Oct 2, 2018 03:29
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If you're looking for creepy reading and like anthologies, you should check out David Hartwell's The Dark Descent, which is a massive collection of stories, some of which are very familiar ("The Call of Cthulhu," "The Yellow Wallpaper," "Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper") but many of which will probably be new to you.
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Oct 2, 2018 04:28
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my bony fealty posted:Michael Shea wrote a sequel to The Color Out of Space called, creatively, The Color Out of Time and yesterday I found it at a bookstore. Anyone read it? It's Jaws with a Lovecraft monster instead of a shark. I had no problems with it. Pretty fun read.
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Oct 2, 2018 10:44
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The Bone Doll's Twin by Llyn Flewelling was a pretty spooky fantasy book. It's the first in a trilogy though and the second book is okay, the third feels like an extended denouement for the second. A lot of Michael Swanwick stuff is scary but not like Halloween scary more like giant asteroid of our own hubris and malice scary. I guess this is one of those questions where genre tags start to blur. Thomas Ligotti and Laird Barron both write very explicitly supernatural horror which is sold as horror and is definitely horror but again supernatural premises. Usually modern life rather than anachronism though at least a few of Baird's are weird west. People already mentioned Ship of Fools of course but RPR's short stories also sometimes contain elements of that same unfathomable terror. He's a bleak dude, maybe not at Peter Watts levels of bleak. Caitlin R Kiernan often has horror themes, often body horror or existential dread.
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Oct 2, 2018 11:31
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Final Murderbot installment, Exit Strategy, is out today. If the price is too steep for some (and 9.99 for a novella is a bit much), it looks like it takes about a year before it drops to a more reasonable 3.99 (at least that's how long it took the 1st one to drop in price). I'd also recommend checking your library for either eBook or physical versions. Also, I'd guess there'll be an omnibus version soon.
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Oct 2, 2018 13:11
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Somehow I thought last Murderbot was later, but I am not going to complain about having Murderbot today. Wells has said she's doing a Murderbot novel so I bet the omni will come out a bit before that does.
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Oct 2, 2018 13:15
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occamsnailfile posted:Somehow I thought last Murderbot was later, but I am not going to complain about having Murderbot today. I could very well be wrong about this being the last novella. I thought I read there was only going to be the four, but that was just after the 1st one and the release dates for the three others was announced. occamsnailfile posted:Wells has said she's doing a Murderbot novel so I bet the omni will come out a bit before that does. More Muderbot, especially novel length Murderbot, is awesome news.
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Oct 2, 2018 13:24
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Proteus Jones posted:Final Murderbot installment, Exit Strategy, is out today. *sigh* I love you Murderbot but why do you hurt me like this, I thought we were friends Oh who am I kidding you know I can't say no to you *pays*
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Oct 2, 2018 13:40
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occamsnailfile posted:Somehow I thought last Murderbot was later, but I am not going to complain about having Murderbot today. I just finished #3 so that was decent timing.
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Oct 2, 2018 13:47
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Wheel of Time series officially greenlit by Amazon. https://www.ign.com/articles/2018/10/02/the-wheel-of-time-series-given-the-greenlight-by-amazon-studios
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Oct 2, 2018 15:25
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:Wheel of Time series officially greenlit by Amazon. It'll be interesting to see the casting and how they manage to compress the series because I can't imagine they're gonna do 14 seasons
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Oct 2, 2018 18:47
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The Glumslinger posted:It'll be interesting to see the casting and how they manage to compress the series because I can't imagine they're gonna do 14 seasons Wheel of Time is really easy to compress since a good 50% of it is just tertiary characters giving ground level perspective on stuff. You also have a ton of extraneous characters you could combine, and you don't need to have people spinning their wheels on all the subplots for as long as they do. You could also really easily compress the ninth book into a single episode since its literally just a single day reaction shot across 99% of the cast to a major event.
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Oct 2, 2018 18:53
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Zore posted:You could also really easily compress the ninth book into a single episode since its literally just a single day reaction shot across 99% of the cast to a major event. ...That actually sounds cool as a book concept. With a skilled writer, that could be really evocative.
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Oct 2, 2018 18:54
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The Glumslinger posted:It'll be interesting to see the casting and how they manage to compress the series because I can't imagine they're gonna do 14 seasons Always felt WoT could have been great as a 4-5 book series, just so much fluff in them that could easily be removed or compressed. Remove the 6.5 books worth of braid tugging and dress descriptions and you are halfway there.
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Oct 2, 2018 18:57
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WoT adaptation sounds like a tough sell to me the early books do not actually have much spectacle, which on the one hand keeps costs down but on the other hand doesn't give you a lot of material to entice a fantasy action audience with unless you shift things forward from later books. The Eye of the World concludes with the gang fighting two halloween villains in a cave, after all. also, whereas GRRM at least ~thought he was writing a short series at the time he published A Game of Thrones, jordan clearly knew he was in for the long haul and starts immediately dropping things in book 1 that don' pay off much for 6 or 7 books imo what you do is grab the first three books, take an axe to the plots, and sorta congeal 'em together for a first season somehow - book 3 is the most natural act-break for a show that'd get maybe 3 seasons
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Oct 2, 2018 18:59
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otoh a wheel of time series is a good opportunity for diverse casting people from where the leads are from are usually described as dusky, even before getting into the global plotlines of later books even if they don't go for race-blind casting, you'd think they would be looking at a lot of brown-skinned actors for the leads and attached characters (90% odds they'll just go with tanned white people like usual, but you never know)
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Oct 2, 2018 19:03
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PupsOfWar posted:WoT adaptation sounds like a tough sell to me they can throw new springs in the beginning.
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Oct 2, 2018 19:10
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StrixNebulosa posted:...That actually sounds cool as a book concept. With a skilled writer, that could be really evocative. Yeah it could have been. Instead it just spins its wheels on literally every plot, goes through some slice of life poo poo while characters basically repeat whatever the last scene they had in the previous book was (Wandering around camp angsting over kidnapped wife, trying to juggle being a queen and being pregnant etc) with absolutely no advancement. And because mass communication isn't a thing there's like... a hundred people total who actually know what happened. Everyone else is just vaguely aware some poo poo went down because they felt something huge and magical before going right back to the poo poo they were already doing. Literally all of it is scenes that could have been cut completely and folded entirely into a later POV. Zore fucked around with this message at 19:21 on Oct 2, 2018 |
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Oct 2, 2018 19:17
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Yeah I’m curious how that goes. It’s a series I’d read the remaster of after someone goes through it with an editing machete which is roughly what happens when a book converts to a visual medium.
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Oct 2, 2018 19:23
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Submarine Sandpaper posted:they can throw new springs in the beginning. Most recent thing I saw implied they are doing exactly that, saying that the first season would focus on Moiraine.
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Oct 2, 2018 19:28
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