|
Peter Watts is a man of many sides. Remember him making GBS threads on the YA genre in one of his blog posts, then one or two updates later announcing he was working on a YA novel with someone. Anyway, hope that Peter Watts doesn't get anymore bizarre medical problems and that his ban from entering the USA gets lifted. Fanatsy series recommendations part 2: Mercedes Lackey maybe(no idea if her work is good or bad)? Since you never mention quality of writing why not Gary Gygax, if you can track down any of his fantasy "books" There's also DragonLance (aged better than most fantasy series), Dark Sun, Thieves World and at least 10 Drizz't(?) books.
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2019 03:00
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 22, 2024 11:01 |
|
|
Fallom posted:Man, that is even worse than I remembered. I didn't know she specifically targeted upcoming minority authors as competition. What an evil person. I went down the rabbit hole on this and stumbled on this persons twitter account. They’re still as angry as before, but now they post about it under their own name. So, uh, progress I guess.
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2019 04:27
|
|
|
Wrong thread Since I can’t delete this post Ill recommend Vita Nostra again. It’s stayed with me longer than most books. Ccs fucked around with this message at 05:12 on Feb 5, 2019 |
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2019 05:10
|
|
|
NoNostalgia4Grover posted:Anyway, hope that Peter Watts doesn't get anymore bizarre medical problems and that his ban from entering the USA gets lifted. But maybe he can tell Trump that Obama banned him, get invited to the White House, and infect him with flesh-eating bacteria.
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2019 09:32
|
|
|
Ccs posted:Wrong thread Huh wow, I just looked it up and that seems like a bizarro, if interesting read. Has anyone else read this, out of curiosity? I might need to check it out, sometime
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2019 10:06
|
|
|
Major Isoor posted:Huh wow, I just looked it up and that seems like a bizarro, if interesting read. Has anyone else read this, out of curiosity? I might need to check it out, sometime I did. Good book with a somewhat weak ending.
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2019 14:44
|
|
|
BENGHAZI 2 posted:I have a hundred bucks to blow on dumb fantasy novels, and I would like to get a series of dumb fantasy novels. I'm thinking of getting Black Company, because I can order the whole set of omnibhses for 84 dollars, but I'm open to suggestions! I'd prefer poo poo that's finished. Speaking of Black Company, apparently Cook released another novel last year? Has anyone read it? e: by most accounts it is bad RBA Starblade fucked around with this message at 15:57 on Feb 5, 2019 |
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2019 15:51
|
|
|
Major Isoor posted:Huh wow, I just looked it up and that seems like a bizarro, if interesting read. Has anyone else read this, out of curiosity? I might need to check it out, sometime Yes, I enjoyed it and recommended it last month I think.
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2019 15:58
|
|
|
I picked up Lord of Light when it was recently on sale for a few bucks. I remember trying to read this in high school, and I bounced off of it hard. This time 'round, twenty years later, I am really enjoying it. I'm only ~20% in, but the weird fusion of technology and religion is a vibe I really like. I also love the flowery dialogue. It's in this happy middle ground between boring every day parlance and Dumas-esque grandiosity. It vaguely reminds me of Brust's To Reign In Hell.
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2019 18:02
|
|
|
ConfusedUs posted:I picked up Lord of Light when it was recently on sale for a few bucks. I remember trying to read this in high school, and I bounced off of it hard. Zelazny on Brust: quote:Steven Brust was just starting out, and his publisher sent me his novel Jhereg just to read and see if I cared to give them a publication quote to promote the book. Along with Jhereg, they included his second book, Yendi. I read them both and liked them. https://www.tor.com/2016/05/26/a-few-more-words-from-roger-zelazny-on-ellison-delany-and-brust/
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2019 18:27
|
|
|
Hieronymous Alloy posted:Zelazny on Brust: I knew that Zelazny like Brust's work from his introduction in To Reign In Hell, but I'd never put together two-and-two and realized the depth of their similarities. I've read all of the Amber books, including the not-nearly-as-good second series, and I've read literally everything Brust has published. I just hadn't read their works close enough together to make the connection, until now.
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2019 19:40
|
|
|
Well, one thing they definitely have in common is that you can really tell which books are labors of love and which are just to pay the bills.
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2019 19:44
|
|
|
anilEhilated posted:Well, one thing they definitely have in common is that you can really tell which books are labors of love and which are just to pay the bills. I read a lot of genre fiction. This stopped bothering me decades ago. Not every book has to be a work of art or a labor of love for me to enjoy it. Schlock has its place. 
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2019 19:46
|
|
|
pseudorandom name posted:Comedy option: Wheel of Time. I reread this recently because I don't value my time at all and it's cemented my opinion that Robert Jordan was a gifted short-story writer who misused his talents to a comic extent*. *from an artistic stand-point. from a commercial viewpoint, he definitely made the right decision.
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2019 21:03
|
|
|
https://mobile.twitter.com/feliciaday/status/1092886507994505216 Congrats GB!
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2019 21:53
|
|
|
Wondering if Candle broke Neurosis or not. So many many bleak things in it, with cannibalism being the one thing even John Barnes wouldn't write about. Given that the outcome of the Meme Wr meant that everyone on Earth needed a cellaur hookup in their head, wondering what cell phone company also"won" the Meme War? .....placing my money down on Nextel's iDEN network. iDEN's PTT (push-to-talk) feature was extreme;y similar to Candle had going on.
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2019 21:58
|
|
|
Marlon James won the Man Booker prize in 2015 for A Brief History of Seven Killings and just released Black Leopard, Red Wolf, book 1 in a fantasy trilogy described as an "African Game of Thrones". Anyone read it yet? Just ordered my copy...
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2019 22:50
|
|
|
Alright alright guys, no need to twist my arm!  I bought Vita Nostra, so I'll see how that goes in a couple of weeks, when it arrivesKalman posted:I did. Good book with a somewhat weak ending. That's unfortunate to hear though, regarding the ending - is it mostly because they left it open for a sequel? (Since when I looked it up yesterday, there was mention that there is a thus-far-untranslated sequel to the book) Or simply because they didn't know how to wrap things up in general, to a satisfactory level?
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2019 23:07
|
|
|
uberkeyzer posted:Marlon James won the Man Booker prize in 2015 for A Brief History of Seven Killings and just released Black Leopard, Red Wolf, book 1 in a fantasy trilogy described as an "African Game of Thrones". Anyone read it yet? Just ordered my copy... I'm 70~ pages in and it's brutal, I love it. So far it's been a fantastical African coming-of-age, kind of - the Tracker's in prison, telling this dude about his life. How his father was a jerk so he fled the city and went back to living in the bush with his father's old tribe, and it's all been this...brutal, wild adventure. Lots of sex, lots of violence. If you've read Seven Killings* I assume you can stomach it, but if you haven't, be careful. It's well-written dark fantasy and requires your attention. *I haven't read it proper yet, just some opening sections, and Bam-Bam alone felt very similar to what's going on here. A young man going through sex, violence and adventure(?) not sure if you'd call what he went through adventure, but I don't have a better word. Cool things: - the Leopard, a shapeshifter who teaches the Tracker how to use a bow and arrow - everything about the cursed(?) children who are being raised by a not-witch (?) - the time Tracker (as an adult) went into the land of the drowned dead to bring back a King e: "The Dark Star Trilogy will unravel the tale of eight mercenaries hired to locate a missing boy; nine years later, the boy is dead and only three mercenaries remain, locked in the dungeon of a dying king awaiting trial for the boy’s death. Each book will take on one perspective—the Tracker, the Moon Witch, and the Boy—and reveal, Rashomon-style, what the previous books got right and wrong about the story."
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2019 23:09
|
|
|
Major Isoor posted:Alright alright guys, no need to twist my arm! I don't think there is a sequel. Vita Nostra is a first novel in a series called The Metamorphoses. The second novel is Brevis Est (2009), and the last one is Brevi Finietur (2010). I didn't read these two, but Vita Nostra was pretty good.
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2019 23:21
|
|
|
The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet was very good. As was book 1 of the Murderbot franchise. I am reading so much these days. Feels good man.
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2019 23:22
|
|
|
Hieronymous Alloy posted:Zelazny on Brust: That rules.
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2019 00:09
|
|
|
Oh, NoNostalgia4Grover - I finished Corp Wars 2 and see a little bit of where you're coming from - that was clearly a middle book, and it wanted to get into the politics of the Rax/Axle more. Fortunately, as I haven't read the rest of his stuff yet it's all new to me, and I'm enjoying the dive into politics along with the space robot wars. Opening Corp Wars 3 with a bunch of fascist Rax bastards literally saying the Fourteen Words in an inspirational speech before they went and tortured a robot to death before hunting more - that. That was a little over the top except that we've had tiki-torch waving Nazis in America lately so. Well. I hope they all get shot before this book ends.
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2019 01:15
|
|
|
Hieronymous Alloy posted:https://www.tor.com/2016/05/26/a-few-more-words-from-roger-zelazny-on-ellison-delany-and-brust/ It clearly has many similar elements to the story Harlen tells about meeting Roger Zelazny. It even has the same characters!
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2019 01:22
|
|
|
Everything I said about Corp War 3 + the earlier books stands. quote:Corp War 1 started off good but had a very shoehorned ending. "Read the free space robot sections in Corp War 3, powerskim everything else in Corp War 3" is my advice. Also Strix...just don't read John Barnes outside of his first Thousand Cultures book(even then Barnes manages to work in hosed up stuff).
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2019 01:42
|
|
|
What were this thread's thoughts on Ninefox Gambit? I just finished it up a couple nights ago and ended up with more mixed feelings than I expected with something so highly praised. I almost dropped the book during the intro where you get dumped into a world of jargon and extremely silly-sounding magic, stuck around for the protagonist enjoying future anime with little robot friends (:3), and got weirded about by the insanely casual disregard for human life as thousands of people die with somewhat silly narration (which ends up being part of Jedao's vendetta against the heptarchy). The description of the fight against the fortress shield was completely incomprehensible to me, but I did have fun piecing how the exotic technology worked otherwise and thought that was one of the novel's main strengths. There's a lot of ingredients in the novel that don't quite come together well enough to make me interested in the sequel, which I haven't heard many good things about. What do you guys think? Tiny Timbs fucked around with this message at 02:28 on Feb 6, 2019 |
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2019 02:19
|
|
|
StrixNebulosa posted:I'm 70~ pages in and it's brutal, I love it. So far it's been a fantastical African coming-of-age, kind of - the Tracker's in prison, telling this dude about his life. How his father was a jerk so he fled the city and went back to living in the bush with his father's old tribe, and it's all been this...brutal, wild adventure. Lots of sex, lots of violence. This all sounds awesome, can’t wait to get started!
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2019 02:45
|
|
|
Major Isoor posted:Alright alright guys, no need to twist my arm! The plot of the book is concluded in a way that is very opaque. It makes sussing out the theme, which I thought was how to over one fear hard to conceptualize. The character achieves it but not in a way that a reader can relate to.
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2019 02:51
|
|
|
Fallom posted:There's a lot of ingredients in the novel that don't quite come together well enough to make me interested in the sequel, which I haven't heard many good things about. What do you guys think? 
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2019 04:35
|
|
|
Major Isoor posted:Alright alright guys, no need to twist my arm! I didn't think it was weak, but it was also not particularly climactic. It's a story about the experiences of the main character rather than a story about events, if that makes any sense.
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2019 04:53
|
|
|
I remember liking Raven Strategem even more than Ninefox, for what it's worth. Since you come into it knowing a little about the setting there's less completely baffling bits. Feeling comfortable with calendrics and exotics and whatnot made it easier to follow.
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2019 07:16
|
|
|
tooterfish posted:I'm surprised Ellison didn't sue him for copyright on that first story. :masterstroke: Ninefox et al aren't easy to get into, it's very bizarre at first. I think it's worth it and I'm pre-orderinganything else he puts out. That already paid dividends in The Dragon Pearl, which is an excellent YA coming of age tale with space travel, disowned relatives, fox people, and ghosts.
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2019 07:39
|
|
|
Fallom posted:The description of the fight against the fortress shield was completely incomprehensible to me IIRC, it's something like this: The fortress shields are a projection of the belief system of one operator who's tied to the system with some kind of neural link. Jedao used the fleet's weapons to draw caste/religious symbols and icons and whatnot on the shield. Since the shield is a direct projection of the operator's mind, this also imprinted those symbols on the mind of the operator. The shield responded to those symbols with visible responses driven by the operator's instinctive responses to those symbols, and he analysed those responses until he came up with a combination that overwhelmed the operator and made them panic and lose control of the shields.
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2019 09:08
|
|
|
If you aren't sold on the series after Ninefox, quit now. Raven Stratagem suffers badly from "second book syndrome" in that it's hundreds of pages of killing time while setting up the end of the trilogy, and doing so in a way that puts the important events almost completely off-screen until the end of the book. I'm going to be in the minority on this, but I didn't feel like Revenant Gun paid off that setup, and Ninefox was the highlight of a shaky series.
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2019 09:31
|
|
|
If it helps anybody I'd suggest thinking of the Ninefox books as being kinda similar to Warhammer 40k Imperial stuff in theme, you've got this terrible empire except things are glossy and designed by Apple instead of "Space Battleship Sistine Chapel." Kel are basically Diet Adeptus Astartes. All the Calindrical stuff is basically the warp/psyker stuff. Though unlike 40k novels there's enough to figure all this out in the book itself, and you don't have to go peruse some wiki that collates 30+ years of contradictory lore from board game books and novels.
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2019 09:31
|
|
|
Khizan posted:IIRC, it's something like this:
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2019 09:37
|
|
|
apophenium posted:I remember liking Raven Strategem even more than Ninefox, for what it's worth. Since you come into it knowing a little about the setting there's less completely baffling bits. Feeling comfortable with calendrics and exotics and whatnot made it easier to follow. Kestral posted:If you aren't sold on the series after Ninefox, quit now. Raven Stratagem suffers badly from "second book syndrome" in that it's hundreds of pages of killing time while setting up the end of the trilogy, and doing so in a way that puts the important events almost completely off-screen until the end of the book. I'm going to be in the minority on this, but I didn't feel like Revenant Gun paid off that setup, and Ninefox was the highlight of a shaky series. I agree with apophenium and disagree with Kestral. I felt that Raven Strategem was significantly better than Ninefox, largely because it didn't feel so much like an attempt to establish a setting. I do think it's fair to say that it was somewhat weakened by its investment in setting up Revenant Gun, though. And I do think that Yoon is quite weak at conveying some of his setting details. Hell, a big part of the plot of Revenant Gun relies on the fact that (fairly big spoiler) the Voidmoths are actual moths which is basically never made apparent prior to that book.
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2019 12:32
|
|
|
I haven't read Revenant Gun so I can't speak to whether it pays off or not, but I'll agree that I found Raven Stratagem to be less engaging than Ninefox. It felt like it was supposed to be some gripping political thriller, but none of the politics were that interesting to me, and I didn't care about some of the characters it centered around. The sections on the ship with Jedao were alright, but I found a lot of the sections with Mikodez to be kind of toothless and boring. There were definitely some times where I felt like the book was telling me there was a bunch of compelling intrigue happening without really making it the centerpiece of the story.
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2019 15:37
|
|
|
The_White_Crane posted:I agree with apophenium and disagree with Kestral. I felt that Raven Strategem was significantly better than Ninefox, largely because it didn't feel so much like an attempt to establish a setting. I do think it's fair to say that it was somewhat weakened by its investment in setting up Revenant Gun, though. And I do think that Yoon is quite weak at conveying some of his setting details. Hell, a big part of the plot of Revenant Gun relies on the fact that (fairly big spoiler) the Voidmoths are actual moths which is basically never made apparent prior to that book. One of the major weaknesses in Ninefox Gambit was Yoon Ha Lee's decision to put all character development + backstory for the main character Jedao into the last 50 pages of the book. By that time, it was already too late: you were either already deeply invested in Jeado or you didn't give a gently caress about Jeado(me) and were reading NineFox Gambit to learn more about the universe/reality altering calendar/forgotten histories.
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2019 17:18
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 22, 2024 11:01 |
|
|
NoNostalgia4Grover posted:One of the major weaknesses in Ninefox Gambit was Yoon Ha Lee's decision to put all character development + backstory for the main character Jedao into the last 50 pages of the book. I think this is part of my issue too, I was more interested in Cheris than Jedao, though I liked Jedao well enough in the second book, but I was kind of lukewarm on the other Kel characters and the main Shuos characters introduced in the second book. It sounds like I hated the second book but honestly, I didn't, and I'll read Revenant Gun at some point. I do think the whole series got a bit overhyped for me, though. If I had gone into the second book with a little lower expectations I probably wouldn't think twice about the stuff I didn't like. That's probably more on me than the book though.
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2019 17:44
|
|