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anilEhilated posted:Isn't he basically Sanderson-lite? Pages and pages on the mechanics of magic? For some people, it's a feature.
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Mar 24, 2019 14:43
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anilEhilated posted:Isn't he basically Sanderson-lite? Pages and pages on the mechanics of magic?
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Mar 24, 2019 18:24
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https://twitter.com/cstross/status/1109882891897589760
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Mar 24, 2019 22:54
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Isn't optioned for TV a really long way away from being on TV? Still kind of cool news, I quite like the laundry files aside from the nerd jokes.
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Mar 24, 2019 23:12
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pseudanonymous posted:Isn't optioned for TV a really long way away from being on TV? Still kind of cool news, I quite like the laundry files aside from the nerd jokes. Yeah, the surprising thing is that a series that long running and successful hadn’t been optioned a long time ago. Everyone sells an option, few ever get produced.
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Mar 24, 2019 23:48
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Drone Jett posted:Yeah, the surprising thing is that a series that long running and successful hadn’t been optioned a long time ago. Everyone sells an option, few ever get produced. Well cool, he's getting a check I guess.
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Mar 25, 2019 00:08
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Drone Jett posted:Yeah, the surprising thing is that a series that long running and successful hadn’t been optioned a long time ago. Everyone sells an option, few ever get produced. It may have been optioned previously and Stross just couldn't say anything.
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Mar 25, 2019 01:31
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I recently read Kings of the Wyld, which I thought was a fun read but nothing amazing. The sequel, Bloody Rose, was just kind of terrible. The pacing felt ridiculous, including the hinting at, introduction of, and resolution of an antagonist in what felt like less than a third of the page count.
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Mar 25, 2019 01:52
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Are the new Revelation Space books good? I just polished off Absolution Gap and was kind of let down by it: The series has a great feeling of spinning up to be a long, drawn out story of survival against the Inhibitors, and then he resolves the plot entirely in the epilogue. I mean, it's not implausible in the universe - Travelling Fearlessly the grub talks about how there are a lot of surviving super-advanced species out there - but it's a pretty abrupt end. He also leaves such interesting threads dangling: why is FTL travel so taboo, and what's on the other side? Who was the Maidemoiselle and was she actually acting through Skade? He hints pretty heavily that Sky Haussman survives, so where does he end up?
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Mar 25, 2019 02:08
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Red Crown posted:Are the new Revelation Space books good? I just polished off Absolution Gap and was kind of let down by it: https://twitter.com/atomicthumbs/status/1044691056250388481
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Mar 25, 2019 03:03
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Red Crown posted:Are the new Revelation Space books good? I just polished off Absolution Gap and was kind of let down by it: Revelation Space series suffers from diminishing returns and the need to make enemies super-evil so you don't root for them.
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Mar 25, 2019 03:13
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At some point, they re-uploaded the preview for Tiamat's Wrath. Book's out tomorrow. You should probably know that the first line mentions a character dying.
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Mar 25, 2019 03:27
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Krazyface posted:At some point, they re-uploaded the preview for Tiamat's Wrath. Book's out tomorrow. You should probably know that the first line mentions a character dying. oohoohhhhhhh nooooooooooooo
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Mar 25, 2019 03:34
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Krazyface posted:At some point, they re-uploaded the preview for Tiamat's Wrath. Book's out tomorrow. You should probably know that the first line mentions a character dying. I guessed correctly!
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Mar 25, 2019 03:39
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Alright thread, I'm back again. I got back into fantasy around 7 years ago by reading A Song of Ice and Fire, and since then, I've plowed through a dozen authors, and I've finally hit a rut. So far, I've read everything by: Joe Abercrombie Mark Lawrence Robert Jackson Bennett Django Wexler Brian Staveley Scott Lynch Brandon Sanderson Brian McClellan Brent Weeks Anthony Ryan Michael J. Sullivan Richard K. Morgan Daniel O'Malley Patrick loving Rothfuss I've enjoyed all of the above authors (sigh, even Rothfuss), with Abercrombie probably striking the most perfect note of low fantasy, sardonic humor, and strong characters. Robert Jackson Bennett's Divine Cities trilogy was outstanding with a really intriguing setting and well-developed characters to back it up. I like Sanderson, Weeks's, and McClellan's magic systems, and their world-building generally makes up for weaker dialogue and writing. Wexler and Stavely have been enjoyable, but truth be told, I read them back-to-back...and they aren't particularly memorable. I've tried to read some high fantasy series like Book of the Fallen, and N.K. Jemison, and Kameron Hurley, and it just didn't click for me. The Palace Job by Patrick Weekes might be the worst thing I've managed to power through. I've previously read all of LeGuin's Earthsea and everything Hobb has written involving Fitz. I enjoyed them, but it's not something I'd like to go back to. I'm about to take a week's vacation -- fill me with your fantasy recommendations. Thanks!
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Mar 25, 2019 04:30
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Steven Brust and Seth Dickenson. Maybe Lev Grossman although portal fantasy is outside the space your list defines.
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Mar 25, 2019 04:42
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David Gemell. If you want to read about a dude who solves his problems with an axe, Druss the legend is there for you.
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Mar 25, 2019 04:43
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Red Crown posted:Are the new Revelation Space books good? I just polished off Absolution Gap and was kind of let down by it: If it helps 
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Mar 25, 2019 04:56
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Aggro posted:Alright thread, I'm back again. Take a break from your streak with a book by a woman! I'm sorry Jemisin and Hurley didn't click, those would definitely have been two of my recs. Have you tried comedy option, run that streak deep into a hole in the ground: R Scott Bakker
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Mar 25, 2019 05:05
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Glen Cook Lois McMaster Bujold's fantasy LeGuinn's Earthsea series - all six books. The Paksennarion seriews by Elizabeth Moon. Zelazny, Lord of Light. Seconding Brust. Read To Reign in Hell then start picking up the Taltos series.
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Mar 25, 2019 05:10
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Check out Jack Vance's Lyonesse, it was a big influence on A Song of Ice and Fire and one of the most beautiful fantasy series there is. The first hundred pages or so of Suldrun's Garden are rather slow but it's well worth getting through. How about some classic sword n sorcery? Fritz Lieber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories are the archetype; others to check out would be Moorcock's Elric, CL Moore's Jirel of Joiry, Michael Shea's Nifft the Lean. A big influence on folks like Joe Abercrombie and Glen Cook for sure.
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Mar 25, 2019 05:27
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General Battuta posted:Take a break from your streak with a book by a woman! I'm sorry Jemisin and Hurley didn't click, those would definitely have been two of my recs. Have you tried I mean really, you don’t like Jemisin? Did you read Fifth Season or Inheritance? It makes a difference. Maybe also try Martha Wells. Thread fave is Murderbot but her fantasy is solid.
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Mar 25, 2019 05:56
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I didn't see Terry Pratchett on that list, p. messed up TBH.
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Mar 25, 2019 08:04
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Chairchucker posted:I didn't see Terry Pratchett on that list, p. messed up TBH. Pratchett's purest fantasy stuff (the first two or three Rincewind centric books) is very skippable. Wouldn't really call Pratchett's Witches series, Guards series, Death series, etc series fantasy because even at their rawest 1st book states, they were more like humorous fiction pastiches that just happened to be set in a fantasy world......shaped like a disc....resting ontop of titanic elephants...etc.
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Mar 25, 2019 12:12
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occamsnailfile posted:I mean really, you don’t like Jemisin? Did you read Fifth Season or Inheritance? It makes a difference. Maybe also try Martha Wells. Thread fave is Murderbot but her fantasy is solid. I read Fifth Season after it won the Hugo a few years ago. I should probably give it another shot — I think it just wasn’t what I expected from “wizards on the run”, which is how it was described to me.
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Mar 25, 2019 13:25
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I'd honestly try giving Erikson a second chance; some people recommend skipping the first book and starting at Deadhouse Gates, that could help a lot. It's bit harder to get into than your average fantasy series but it will l'ast you fo'r a whi'le. He also hits the similar combination of humor/horror that Abercrombie goes for but - at least in my opinion - is much better at it. e: Also China Mieville if you don't mind steampunk. e2: And if you liked Bennett, chances are you'll enjoy Max Gladstone. anilEhilated fucked around with this message at 14:30 on Mar 25, 2019 |
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Mar 25, 2019 14:20
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Aggro posted:I'm about to take a week's vacation -- fill me with your fantasy recommendations. Thanks! Try Gutter Prayer, Priest of Bones, Cradle, For the Killing of Kings, Blackwing, The Waking Fire and maybe give Mother of Learning and A Practical Guide to Evil a try, they're fun. EDIT: Oh yeah, if you haven't read The Goblin Emperor, you should read it, it's dope. When the names scare you, don't forget that there's an appendix that explains how they work. Megazver fucked around with this message at 14:42 on Mar 25, 2019 |
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Mar 25, 2019 14:35
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If anyone's looking for a good standalone fantasy piece, Ann Leckie's newest, The Raven Tower was really good. Pretty small setting and cast of characters, but the intriguing way the novel approaches the idea of gods in a fantasy setting keeps things interesting. And the inherent mystery stringing it all together kept me hooked. It does have a different sort of narrator, which is why parts are seemingly in second person. But the way all of that comes together is fantastic.
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Mar 25, 2019 17:00
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I read Below by Lee Galtieri that someone recommended a few weeks back, and it was pretty enjoyable for what it is. Any of his other stuff decent? I probably won’t be in the mood for something like that soon, but you never know.
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Mar 25, 2019 17:51
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pseudanonymous posted:Isn't optioned for TV a really long way away from being on TV? Still kind of cool news, I quite like the laundry files aside from the nerd jokes. Considering the laundry files are mostly nerd jokes I wonder what you see in the series then? An illustration of UK bureaucracy? It sounds like the TV series would be The Office (Cthulu edition) NoNostalgia4Grover posted:Pratchett's purest fantasy stuff (the first two or three Rincewind centric books) is very skippable. The first 3 Pratchett are still great. Also by your logic, GoT is a retelling of the War of the Roses with dragons.
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Mar 25, 2019 18:14
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Cardiac posted:It sounds like the TV series would be The Office (Cthulu edition) Cardiac posted:GoT is a retelling of the War of the Roses with dragons.
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Mar 25, 2019 19:29
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anilEhilated posted:I'd watch that. It's totally different. He changed Lancaster to Lannister. See different.
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Mar 25, 2019 19:30
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Never bothered reading Martin's game of thrones because his self-edited/curated WildCard series was too poo poo/degenerate/rapey/murder-rapey for me. Sanderson, Goodkind + Kim Stanley Robinson always seemed like stockholm syndrome trap authors, so avoided them too. Cryptologs: Unredacted info in Cryptolog (dec 1974) #05 managed to spoil something completely redacted in Cryptolog #02 (sept 1974). Good job NSA. If my barely interested rear end caught that slip, can only imagine what other vastly more motivated peoples/agencies/foreign governments have been able to catch. loving fire whoever did the censoring.
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Mar 26, 2019 15:22
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NoNostalgia4Grover posted:Never bothered reading Martin's game of thrones because his self-edited/curated WildCard series was too poo poo/degenerate/rapey/murder-rapey for me. I wouldn't lump KSR in with the rest of them, he's not really one of those authors I could see someone convincing themselves they like purely because they're popular/sunk cost. It's more that KSR is such extremely hard sci-fi that if that's not your thing, you probably won't like most of his books. I read Aurora and didn't like it for a lot of reasons, but still, certain parts of the book have stuck with me even a couple of years later, and I would absolutely recommend it to people. It wasn't my cup of tea but he's miles ahead of crap like Goodkind.
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Mar 26, 2019 16:14
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Cardiac posted:Considering the laundry files are mostly nerd jokes I wonder what you see in the series then? An illustration of UK bureaucracy? They should make it The Thick of It (Cthulhu Edition).
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Mar 26, 2019 19:09
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NoNostalgia4Grover posted:Never bothered reading Martin's game of thrones because his self-edited/curated WildCard series was too poo poo/degenerate/rapey/murder-rapey for me. Goodking is worse than those other authors by an order of magnitude.
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Mar 26, 2019 19:16
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Does anyone have any recommendations for a good audiobook? I'm going on a trip and will be driving a ton, and a good book to keep me going would help. I have a bunch of books in my backlog, but I kind of want to read them as books. Sci-fi, fantasy, whatever - just a good book done well in audio.
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Mar 26, 2019 20:33
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I’ve been listening to Bujold’s Penric & Desdemona novellas in audiobook form because that’s the only way to get them from my library and they’re pretty good
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Mar 26, 2019 20:40
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Sulphagnist posted:They should make it The Thick of It (Cthulhu Edition). War with R'hleh is unforseeable
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Mar 26, 2019 23:05
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Solitair posted:Goodking is worse than those other authors by an order of magnitude. Ok, that makes sense because the name Goodkind scans as being extemely made-up to me. The KSR clarification: thanks, scientist-leader hard scifi devolves into preachiness or utter boredom fast for me. Plenty of modern scifi/fantasy authors have tried writing endless series but excluding the mens adventure book genre, it's pretty drat hard to top EC Tubbs Dumarest of Terra scifi-adventure series. For 32 books, the question was "Will Dumarest reach Earth by the end of this book?", and the answer was gently caress No. Read two or three books in that series, and it was very Quantum Leap-y in that progress was made, but never quite enough to get home. Had to exclude the mens adventure genre, because there is multiple mens adventure series with 50+ -100+ "books" published(the Destroyer, the Executioner, etc). Used the word "books" in quotation marks because they are usually thin-as-hell (think shorter stories than Martha Wells's standalone murderbot books), 60-70% of every story is blow-by-blow action-scenes/main character sex-god scenes, and everything is written at a 5th grade reading level.
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Mar 27, 2019 05:10
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