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Captain Monkey posted:Hard sci-fi is a broad term that mostly means heavy on technical details. Most ‘hard’ sci-fi contains some fantastical elements. My experience is that 'hard sci-fi' tries to explain in some level of detail how their world works. 'Soft' sci-fi just goes "How does X work? Quite well, thank you!" and moves on.
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Feb 28, 2020 19:25
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Hard sci-fi can also deal with scientific and natural solutions for what is perceived in our contemporary world to be magic. "Any sufficiently advanced technology" but a book.
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Feb 28, 2020 19:55
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Cardiac posted:I didn’t know that vampires counted as hard sci-fi? if blindsight isnt hard sci fi nothing is
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Feb 28, 2020 19:58
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I can't remember if it's in Blindsight or Echopraxia but I do remember there being a genuine hard sci-fi attempt at explaining the vampires. Watts tends to not be "everything has a scientifically sound foundation" hard sci-fi and more of the "none of this is likely to ever happen, but given a certain set of assumptions and scientific meddling, it's not impossible" camp.
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Feb 28, 2020 20:13
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In Blindsight, it's explained that the vampires were an apex hyperpredator tens of thousands of years before the rise of human civilization, but, remembering the important caveat about "survival of the fittest" not referring to the "strongest", they met their end at the dawn of humanity, especially because of a genetic aversion to right angles, which would render them useless through seizures. The end of the book also explores just how superficial their similarity to humanity is, and whether they're sentient creatures at all. The vampire in the book is basically Jurassic Park'd. (certain details might be misremembered)
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Feb 28, 2020 20:18
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Having a bit of trouble imagining a not hilariously insane sci-fi explanation for vampires that isn't either MGS-style nanomachines or "exotic alien virus/parasite/symbiotic lifeform".
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Feb 28, 2020 20:19
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biracial bear for uncut posted:Having a bit of trouble imagining a not hilariously insane sci-fi explanation for vampires that isn't either MGS-style nanomachines or "exotic alien virus/parasite/symbiotic lifeform". The book is pretty short and pretty darn good if you're curious! I haven't reread it in a while but it's favourite of mine and I think it strikes a great balance between the foundational science and the wackadoo poo poo. It is also, as evidenced by posts in this thread, not for everyone. I can absolutely see why people are turned off by the cynicism and the voice. But if those things don't bother you it's an extremely enjoyable read that builds to a truly horrific reveal and ending. I loved that slow simmering horror so much. I'm mad I can't go back and read it for the first time again.
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Feb 28, 2020 20:26
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biracial bear for uncut posted:Having a bit of trouble imagining a not hilariously insane sci-fi explanation for vampires that isn't either MGS-style nanomachines or "exotic alien virus/parasite/symbiotic lifeform". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WdCvGDpM9k
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Feb 28, 2020 20:59
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biracial bear for uncut posted:Having a bit of trouble imagining a not hilariously insane sci-fi explanation for vampires that isn't either MGS-style nanomachines or "exotic alien virus/parasite/symbiotic lifeform". They’re an obligate carnivore great ape that branched off from early humans. They can’t manufacture certain amino acids so they get them through diet. They eat rarely and hibernate a lot. Their whole niche turned out to be pretty lovely and untenable so they died off. Modern humans resurrected them to exploit their hibernation ability and divergent neuroarchitecture. It’s not particularly weird, except maybe the crucifix glitch. e: and the ethical minefield surrounding autism
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Feb 28, 2020 21:12
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General Battuta posted:They’re an obligate carnivore great ape that branched off from early humans. They can’t manufacture certain amino acids so they get them through diet. They eat rarely and hibernate a lot. Their whole niche turned out to be pretty lovely and untenable so they died off. Modern humans resurrected them to exploit their hibernation ability and divergent neuroarchitecture. Way better memory than me, also, I didn't read your avatar text until now and obviously I love it.
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Feb 28, 2020 21:20
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General Battuta posted:They’re an obligate carnivore great ape that branched off from early humans. They can’t manufacture certain amino acids so they get them through diet. They eat rarely and hibernate a lot. Their whole niche turned out to be pretty lovely and untenable so they died off. Modern humans resurrected them to exploit their hibernation ability and divergent neuroarchitecture. Watts has a pretty extensive list of references for his vampires at the end of Blindsight: https://rifters.com/real/Blindsight.htm#Notes I was curious about the language bit at the end there, and the paper he cites is honestly godawful. quote:You'll have noticed that Jukka Sarasti, like all reconstructed vampires, sometimes clicked to himself when thinking. This is thought to hail from an ancestral language, which was hardwired into a click-speech mode more than 50,000 years BP. Click-based speech is especially suited to predators stalking prey on savannah grasslands (the clicks mimic the rustling of grasses, allowing communication without spooking quarry)11. The Human language most closely akin to Old Vampire is Hadzane12. This is the sort of work parodied so well in https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/2012-03-21. Regardless of the quality of the references, it's neat that he put together an annotated bibliography.
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Feb 28, 2020 21:38
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Groke posted:Yeah, it's the kind of book you read for the wild ideas; the characters are ultimately two-dimensional, mostly. They sure are lol. 
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Feb 28, 2020 22:29
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a foolish pianist posted:Watts has a pretty extensive list of references for his vampires at the end of Blindsight: I was really intrigued by the last line about Chernoff Faces and how you could use different facial parameters to represent statistical data. Makes me want to learn the necessary computer skills to be able to set up something that would translate a spreadsheet into a video game character generator. Or even something like https://www.thispersondoesnotexist.com/.
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Feb 28, 2020 22:43
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Really it is about the modern trend of worshipping psychopaths as some sort of godlike apex predator (see also the Expanse). I guess based on their RL ability to identify and latch on to people who will put up with their poo poo? Really any kind of abuse or coercive manipulation has a compelling effect on us as observers - we will go to huge lengths to either justify it or otherise it as some sort of magic power.
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Feb 28, 2020 22:52
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a foolish pianist posted:Watts has a pretty extensive list of references for his vampires at the end of Blindsight:
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Feb 28, 2020 23:11
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Recently read C. Robert Cargill's Sea of Rust and a 1972 non-fiction "state of AI development" book simply because it covered stuff most modern "history of AI' books gloss over within 3 pages(for valid reasons). The 1972 non-fiction book's cover-art was definitely an inspiration for System Shock's SHODAN. Sea of Rust ended up as ok, not great/not terrible read for me. Give it big props for the unique setting, a post-humanity robo-Mad Max 2 world, however the actual plot, multiple factions and the secret backstory in Sea of Rust heavily reminded me of John Barnes exceedingly dark novel Candle mixed with Stanislaw Lem's GOLEM 14 short story. quantumfoam fucked around with this message at 05:49 on Feb 29, 2020 |
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Feb 29, 2020 05:45
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Had a dream tonight that Joe Abercrombie released a lemon. Like, just a lemon with gritty packaging that you'd eat. It was called Hades.
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Feb 29, 2020 09:34
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Black Griffon posted:Had a dream tonight that Joe Abercrombie released a lemon. Like, just a lemon with gritty packaging that you'd eat. It was called Hades.
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Feb 29, 2020 13:17
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quantumfoam posted:Nebula awards chat reminds me...did the person who was doing the Hugo Award nominee re-read in the last SF&F thread finish or give up on their personal project? I never said I would finish doing that anytime soon, or that I would spend all of my free time on it. Edit: I'm not disagreeing with you about the quality of the nominations. When I make progress I'll tell you. Solitair fucked around with this message at 19:03 on Feb 29, 2020 |
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Feb 29, 2020 18:45
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Solitair posted:I never said I would finish doing that anytime soon, or that I would spend all of my free time on it. Good to hear. It sounded like an interesting personal project, and hadn't heard it mentioned in awhile. Can't quite remember if you were re-reading all the yearly category nominations (novels/short stories/etc). Rest of thread: Saw Jeff VanderMeer's latest book, Dead Astronauts, in a local library. Is it worth reading standalone or are earlier VanderMeer book(s) required reading for Dead Astronauts to make sense?
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Feb 29, 2020 19:12
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quantumfoam posted:Rest of thread: I read it without reading either of the two in the same world (Borne and Strange Bird) and enjoyed it. it doesnt really make much sense on a first read but I dont think it would make any more if you had read the other two. Definitely ok to read it first then the others later if you like it.
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Feb 29, 2020 21:02
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Reading Foreigner right now and really enjoying it. Though I wish I hadn't read the first 2 added short stories, I saw the warnings ITT but picked it at random from my unread list and forgot it was about this book 
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Feb 29, 2020 21:07
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quantumfoam posted:Good to hear. It sounded like an interesting personal project, and hadn't heard it mentioned in awhile. For now I'm just gonna focus on novels, since those are the easiest for me to track down with entries older than ten years or so. With short stories, novelettes, novellas, and older equivalents of the latter two categories, it's kind of a crapshoot whether or not I can find each individual entry online or in a collection.
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Feb 29, 2020 21:10
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TheAardvark posted:Reading Foreigner right now and really enjoying it. Though I wish I hadn't read the first 2 added short stories, I saw the warnings ITT but picked it at random from my unread list and forgot it was about this book I'm so sorry. They're not bad but they're a thousand times more interesting to read when you're deeper into the series and invested in the setting.
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Feb 29, 2020 21:11
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StrixNebulosa posted:I'm so sorry. They're not bad but they're a thousand times more interesting to read when you're deeper into the series and invested in the setting. I'm just a bit annoyed because the backstory and descriptions of Atevi/the planet aren't really in sync with how Foreigner portrays them. In the 15 books between her writing Foreigner, and her writing these short stories, obviously her perspective on them has changed, and it is really noticable.
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Feb 29, 2020 21:19
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TheAardvark posted:I'm just a bit annoyed because the backstory and descriptions of Atevi/the planet aren't really in sync with how Foreigner portrays them. In the 15 books between her writing Foreigner, and her writing these short stories, obviously her perspective on them has changed, and it is really noticable. er, to be clear, as I understand it she wrote the short stories before she wrote Foreigner. And the editor made her sell the lot as one package.
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Feb 29, 2020 21:25
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StrixNebulosa posted:er, to be clear, as I understand it she wrote the short stories before she wrote Foreigner. And the editor made her sell the lot as one package. Really? There was a foreword about how she didn't really want to write them but was glad she did. If they are pre-Foreigner that makes me feel much better. The differences in how she portrays them being 'more accurate' in the books themselves is fine, thinking they were a perspective far in advance was annoying.
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Feb 29, 2020 23:41
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TheAardvark posted:Really? There was a foreword about how she didn't really want to write them but was glad she did. Huh. I'd have to get a fact-check on myself. Either way - they're not really representative of the novels themselves.
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Feb 29, 2020 23:49
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Well, if January was the succulent meat of my 52 book project, (Black Griffon's review of books read in) February was the tough but vital greens. The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson I love queer romance and... this book crushed me. It dragged me first across hot coals, and then dumped me in ice cold water where I struggled until I was once again dragged across the coals. It's ceaselessly nerve wracking, holds your heart in a steel gauntlet and does not stop until the end, and it's beautiful. It mixes forbidden lust, worldbuilding, victory and wounds in a way that cannot keep from pulling you in so far that when things occur as they must, you're hopelessly bound and pulled along. Read it. Pushing Ice by Alastair Reynolds Where some stories weave their richness deep into the cloth, displaying dense embroidery, others weave vast displays where you struggle to see each end simultaneously, and Pushing Ice is one of those. It's rich and deep, yes, but what truly makes the book remarkable is the scope of time it shows. Reading some other Reynolds blurbs, a lot of his books involve things happening thousands to millions of years in the past or future, contemporary or contemporaneously, and that's very much my poo poo. Pushing Ice has its issues with characterization and occasionally dry dialogue, but by the end of the journey, you love the characters still, and you, along with them, have seen so much. Read it. Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer Now comes the brussels sprouts (I happen to like them, but for the metaphor, indulge me). Let me get the bad stuff out of the way firsthand, so that I may praise the book fully, for it is praiseworthy. Too Like the Lightning is too heavy on rape themes. For reasons that involve the core themes of the novel, I assume that Palmer sees virtue in not shying away from such themes, but it's still jarring and lessened my enjoyment of the work. But still, I truly enjoyed the work, more than I can put into words. If Pushing Ice a work of scope in time, Lightning is a work of scope in society. Rarely have I seen a representation of our world a few centuries in the future that is so fully realized and ambitious. Some works might show a future indiscernible from our own except for a few details, some might show a future so far gone that it no longer resembles humanity, but Lighting shows something slavishly bound to our contemporary past and our current, a humankind that cannot let go of old ideals whilst still building to utopia and . It's a world that is brutal, careless and authoritative, while still being unfathomably liberated and merciful. It's not the extreme parody of either side or section of a radius, but a realized world of good and bad, of changes I desperately want to happen, and changes I desperately hope will never come to pass. At the beginning I was turned off by the narrative style, and at times the book is a little too self-indulgent and overwrought (good God, that certain someone draped over the knees of two certain somebodies near the end), but I cannot stay mad, and I am still drawn in. And yes, dear reader, the fact that I finished the book only a few hours past has certainly affected the way I now write these reviews. I apologize if it's grating, but like a scene in the book that shows how an idea might stick to the mind like a barnacle, there is a feeling and notion that will not leave me and which now type these letters in turn. Read it, but please, know what you're reading.
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Feb 29, 2020 23:53
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Too like the lightning is a 18th century costume drama trying to masquerade as sci-fi.
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Mar 1, 2020 06:17
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Cardiac posted:Too like the lightning is a 18th century costume drama trying to masquerade as sci-fi. That sounds good rather than bad
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Mar 1, 2020 07:14
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Baru 3's out in June, read all about it.
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Mar 1, 2020 08:10
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Yesss gotta go pre-order from my local.
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Mar 1, 2020 08:39
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A human heart posted:That sounds good rather than bad Too like the lightning is like an 18th century costume themed BDSM club. It’s very, very present in the first book but doable, but the sequel takes it up to a whole different level.
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Mar 1, 2020 09:41
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A human heart posted:That sounds good rather than bad It's not really accurate. Yes, there's an 18th-century cosplay club (of which the narrator is a member) and I guess you could say the society as a whole (possibly mis-)read a bunch of enlightenment thinkers and decided to cosplay the 18th century, but it's also chock full of sci-fi ideas that it takes seriously. Honestly it's kind of overstuffed with ideas of all sorts, but whether that's a bad thing is up to you. I love it.
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Mar 1, 2020 10:02
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I'm a completionist but Too Like The Lightning is one of very few books I've given up on in the last ten years within the first 100 pages. It's the only book I've ever read where the author spent more time banging on about people's clothes than the Wheel of Time series, and it struck me as a very shallow, sophomoric obsession with Enlightenment Europe masquerading as scifi. Blindsight, I read and remember liking - but I only read it a few years ago and now I remember virtually none of it, which I suspect is a bad sign.
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Mar 1, 2020 10:14
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freebooter posted:I'm a completionist but Too Like The Lightning is one of very few books I've given up on in the last ten years within the first 100 pages. It's the only book I've ever read where the author spent more time banging on about people's clothes than the Wheel of Time series, and it struck me as a very shallow, sophomoric obsession with Enlightenment Europe masquerading as scifi. I find this interesting because in the last few months I've been working on Too Like the Lightning and I have zero recollection of what anyone is wearing, compared to the multiple mysteries going on + remembering how 'bashes work, and "since I'm a murderer it means I get free reign to every noble's house because they think it's fashionable"
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Mar 1, 2020 11:56
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I'm not surprised at all that someone would try to read TLTL and go "nah gently caress this", but I'm very happy I stuck with it. I think it's a love or hate kind of thing, and I don't blame anyone for falling on either side.
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Mar 1, 2020 13:38
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dreamless posted:It's not really accurate. Yes, there's an 18th-century cosplay club (of which the narrator is a member) and I guess you could say the society as a whole (possibly mis-)read a bunch of enlightenment thinkers and decided to cosplay the 18th century, but it's also chock full of sci-fi ideas that it takes seriously. Honestly it's kind of overstuffed with ideas of all sorts, but whether that's a bad thing is up to you. I love it. It is a costume drama because it is overly focused on nobility, interpersonal drama and slow meandering story line. Not because of the 18th century cosplay club. The sci-fi is glued in on top of this.
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Mar 1, 2020 16:31
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Looking forward to it. Preordered in order to support and hopefully to ensure the 4th book gets published.
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Mar 1, 2020 17:32
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