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quantumfoam posted:Even at $2.99 skip the Ken MacLeod Corporate Wars Trilogy bundle unless you're desperate for entertainment during COVID-19 lockdown. The interesting robotic entities that open the series quickly get shunted aside fast so MacLeod can re-fight all the ideological battles he lost in real life, and masturbate over full-immerson VR. I'm going to counter this - I ultimately gave the trilogy a 3/5 stars on goodreads and it's a fascinating, flawed read about a future where humans are minds that can be uploaded and toyed with at will. I haven't yet read his other works, but this one was neat because it went hard on politics in a way I don't normally see in sci-fi, and it had an optimistic, clever ending which I appreciated. Also, the aliens in the final book were really.... interesting, and underdeveloped. Shoddy character work though, sadly.
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Mar 21, 2020 11:44
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Bunch of interesting books today. World War Z by Max Brooks -$2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000JMKQX0/ Talked about in thread pretty recently. If you put it off you can grab it now. The Crown Tower (Riyria Chronicles #1) by Michael J Sullivan - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A2D7VCA/ Kings of the Wyld (The Band #1) by Nicholas Eames - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01KT7YTXW/ Luna: New Moon by Ian McDonald - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00V34YJE0/ American Elsewhere by Robert Jackson Bennett - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008AS84PM/
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Mar 21, 2020 17:48
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anilEhilated posted:Oh hey, there is a second one, cool! In the US there is, at least, so maybe still hope?
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Mar 21, 2020 18:38
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RIP ZEEZ
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foutre posted:In the US there is, at least, so maybe still hope?
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Mar 21, 2020 19:17
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StrixNebulosa posted:I'm going to counter this - I ultimately gave the trilogy a 3/5 stars on goodreads and it's a fascinating, flawed read about a future where humans are minds that can be uploaded and toyed with at will. I haven't yet read his other works, but this one was neat because it went hard on politics in a way I don't normally see in sci-fi, and it had an optimistic, clever ending which I appreciated. Also, the aliens in the final book were really.... interesting, and underdeveloped. I also hate the Corporate Wars, all of his other books are wildly better and they were just a huge disappointment.
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Mar 21, 2020 20:15
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pradmer posted:Luna: New Moon by Ian McDonald - $2.99 Just read this and really liked it, it's the first of a trilogy. Stupid tagline is "Game of thrones in space" because there's 5 industrial families on the moon competing with each other quote:The Crown Tower (Riyria Chronicles #1) by Michael J Sullivan - $2.99 Have been reading his legends of the first empire series, I should check this out
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Mar 21, 2020 20:31
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mewse posted:Just read this and really liked it, it's the first of a trilogy. Stupid tagline is "Game of thrones in space" because there's 5 industrial families on the moon competing with each other oh poo poo, I don't get the deal in Norway, but that made me think of a question for all of you; what's some good industrial rivalry sci-fi in general?
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Mar 21, 2020 23:22
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Clair Noto's The Tourist screenplay has been called the greatest scifi movie never made, and honestly, that's not far off the mark. It's free online(google/Bing/DuckDuckGo it), and is a pretty quick read. Best way I can personally describe the Tourist screenplay without spoiling it for anyone too much is as "a bizzaro take on Hal Clement's 1950 story Needle", which itself got semi-adapted into 1987's action-thriller movie The Hidden. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093185/ Once you've read the Tourist screenplay, you'll see how it inspired lots of later scifi movies. Just skip Lee McGeorge's novelization of the screenplay, though because it's 60% McGeorge one-handedly writing out his alien sex fetish kinks. Ken MacLeod's Corporation Wars series sucks because it's a massively diluted down repetition (like re-using tea leaves or coffee grounds for 8 times) of the same "hardcore politics through a sci-fi lenses" story MacLeod has been writing since his debut novel The Star Fraction (1995), only with worse characters/weaker writing/dumbed down politics across the board. Do not buy the Corporation Wars trilogy, instead buy and read MacLeod's Star Fractions/Fall Revolution series.
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Mar 22, 2020 04:34
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BaldDwarfOnPCP posted:I was a huge fan of Blade Runner (seen it a hundred times) and then I learned he was a crazy madman. I honestly think that the movie improves Dick's stories. He had good ideas, but workmanlike prose. There's no way he could've come up with the "tears in the rain" bit for example.
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Mar 22, 2020 13:30
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Alhazred posted:I honestly think that the movie improves Dick's stories. He had good ideas, but workmanlike prose. There's no way he could've come up with the "tears in the rain" bit for example. Hampton Fancher didn't come up with it either. I maintain that a SF book collection is like lesbian porn, in that there's no need to have any Dick in it.
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Mar 22, 2020 13:44
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mewse posted:Just read this and really liked it, it's the first of a trilogy. Stupid tagline is "Game of thrones in space" because there's 5 industrial families on the moon competing with each other To be fair, McDonald himself called it 'Game of Domes'.
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Mar 22, 2020 14:13
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mewse posted:Just read this and really liked it, it's the first of a trilogy. Stupid tagline is "Game of thrones in space" because there's 5 industrial families on the moon competing with each other It's a mix of Game of Thrones, Dune, and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, I guess. As you might expect from the combination of Martin, Herbert, and Heinlein, it has a lot of weird sex stuff. 
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Mar 22, 2020 16:38
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Seconding the recommendations for Luna: New Moon and its sequels. They're probably not going to blow anybody's minds, but they're definitely a cut above average, even if the third book sort of runs out of plot. Obviously marketing it as Game of Thrones in Space was a no-brainer but IMO the family politics stuff was less compelling than the general worldbuilding re: hypercapitalist lunar nightmare society. I appreciated McDonald's attempts to try and think about the pop culture and fashion and spirituality of his future society rather than just have it as set dressing. OTOH on the other hand there is indeed a bunch of sex stuff, and while I wouldn't say it's weird in an 'author's fetish clearly on display' thing it's definitely uncomfortably over-written so...yeah. There's also a lot of broad-brush deep thoughts about various nationalities, which given I'm not Brazilian/Chinese/Australian/Ghanaian I can't really say if they're as sensitive as McDonald wants it to be.
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Mar 22, 2020 19:13
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Jedit posted:Hampton Fancher didn't come up with it either.
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Mar 22, 2020 20:49
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Gato posted:Seconding the recommendations for Luna: New Moon and its sequels. They're probably not going to blow anybody's minds, but they're definitely a cut above average, even if the third book sort of runs out of plot. Obviously marketing it as Game of Thrones in Space was a no-brainer but IMO the family politics stuff was less compelling than the general worldbuilding re: hypercapitalist lunar nightmare society. I appreciated McDonald's attempts to try and think about the pop culture and fashion and spirituality of his future society rather than just have it as set dressing. I actually like Luna. The was meant to indicate that my mention of weird sex stuff wasn't meant as a serious criticism. I agree it's probably not even about the author's fetishes, so much as him exploring the bizarre possibilities of his high-tech, low-gravity, and open-minded setting.
Silver2195 fucked around with this message at 04:15 on Mar 23, 2020 |
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Mar 23, 2020 04:09
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So, I've suddenly developed an interest in two very different types of setting, and was hoping somebody would have an idea of where I might find them. The first type is wholesale integration of science and magic - either in the context of magic being newly rediscovered in an advanced society or a society that developed magic and science in tandem. The kind of thing I'm looking for is, for example, somebody ordering something on Amazon, then getting up from the computer to draw a magic circle to bargain with demons for instant delivery. What I don't want is "science-justified" magic - no PSI, no ESP, nothing of that sort. The second setting I'm looking for is one with fantasy races, abilities and classes, but developed "organically" instead of grafting on to a quasi-medieval setting. (This was inspired by a couple of joke posts in the milhist thread, where a question about historical dragoons (mounted infantrymen) was answered as if it was about Final Fantasy dragoons (spearmen who can Jump really high).)
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Mar 23, 2020 04:56
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Gnoman posted:(This was inspired by a couple of joke posts in the milhist thread, where a question about historical dragoons (mounted infantrymen) was answered as if it was about Final Fantasy dragoons (spearmen who can Jump really high).) Your link isn't working.
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Mar 23, 2020 05:04
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xcheopis posted:Your link isn't working. It was just one post so far, but it was enough to put the idea in my head, and sparked an interest in a "serious" exploration. Nessus posted:With their amazing Jump powers they're able to ignore almost all terrain advantages, but their proclivity to complex psychodrama makes it hard to build your force around them. Sort of like mountain troops, unless you happen to be in a long-term dragon war.
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Mar 23, 2020 05:43
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Gnoman posted:So, I've suddenly developed an interest in two very different types of setting, and was hoping somebody would have an idea of where I might find them. Category one: Check out Isaac Asimov's Azazel short stories, and the short story collections of Damon Knight and Fritz Leiber.
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Mar 23, 2020 05:49
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American Elsewhere is... fine. You figure out the twist like 30% of the way through the book at the latest point but it’s still a decent read as you watch the main character fail to make obvious connections for the rest of it.
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Mar 23, 2020 05:50
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Gato posted:OTOH on the other hand there is indeed a bunch of sex stuff, and while I wouldn't say it's weird in an 'author's fetish clearly on display' thing it's definitely uncomfortably over-written so...yeah. There's also a lot of broad-brush deep thoughts about various nationalities, which given I'm not Brazilian/Chinese/Australian/Ghanaian I can't really say if they're as sensitive as McDonald wants it to be. The Australian stuff at least was quite good. Only two things were jarring to me: "mate" genuinely is used as a generic term of address, but you'd never address a whole crowd as "mates," which some characters do here; and his Rupert Murdoch stand-in is noted as being Western Australian, but names a cocktail he invents a "1788," which is the date Sydney was founded - WA has a strong secessionist streak, particularly among mining magnates, so it's a bit like a proud Texan calling a cocktail a Yankee Doodle or something. Anyway they're great books and I definitely agree that McDonald excels at fully thinking out all the other little details of a world 100 years in the future, not just sticking his story on the moon but everything else feels like the present day. The third book does run out of steam a bit, but the first two are brilliant.
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Mar 23, 2020 06:08
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Gnoman posted:So, I've suddenly developed an interest in two very different types of setting, and was hoping somebody would have an idea of where I might find them. You might like The Laundry Files by Charles Stross. Here's a hilarious explanation of how Magic in the Laundry Files works, by the author: quote:I have been tasked with briefing you on the nature of ‘magic’ in our world. What follows is by no means a comprehensive explanation, but I can safely say that it is short enough that we should be finished in time for the afternoon tea break, and that this is important.
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Mar 23, 2020 10:51
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biracial bear for uncut posted:You might like The Laundry Files by Charles Stross. My first thought too. Be aware the first few books are homages to great British spy novelists before him in Fleming, Deighton, Price - oddly no Le Carre who was the best of them imo. Dying Earth by Jack Vance NK Jemsin trilogy that escapes me but won everything Shadows of the Apt series is a very long fantasy series about bug people in a magical world where the ability to use technology is restricted by race. Adrian Tchaikovsky. And maybe one of my favourite novels ever Lord of Light by Zelanzy
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Mar 23, 2020 12:04
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branedotorg posted:NK Jemsin trilogy that escapes me but won everything https://www.amazon.com/gp/bookseries/B01947LZ8A Everybody should read the Broken Earth trilogy anyway, but yeah.
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Mar 23, 2020 12:35
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Free stuff to read while being stuck inside: The British Science Fiction Association: https://bsfa.co.uk/reaching-out-some-opportunities-to-read-watch-listen/ https://twitter.com/UnlikelyWorlds/status/1241987522235940864 US link: https://www.amazon.com/Very-British-History-Science-Fiction-ebook/dp/B073NXRMWJ
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Mar 23, 2020 12:36
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Gnoman posted:So, I've suddenly developed an interest in two very different types of setting, and was hoping somebody would have an idea of where I might find them. You want The Iron Dragon's Daughter by Michael Swanwick, first part of an extremely loose trilogy. It is exactly what you're looking for. Maybe Metropolitan by Walter Jon Williams (cyberpunk, but it's fantasy), too.
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Mar 23, 2020 15:02
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Gnoman posted:The first type is wholesale integration of science and magic - either in the context of magic being newly rediscovered in an advanced society or a society that developed magic and science in tandem. This sounds a bit like Perdido Street Station as well, at least if you're willing to indulge a sort of early 20th-century-with-magic level of technology in your science+magic genre.
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Mar 23, 2020 15:51
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https://twitter.com/tazmuir/status/1242096023750787073
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Mar 23, 2020 15:54
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Mar 23, 2020 16:06
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Safety Biscuits posted:You want The Iron Dragon's Daughter by Michael Swanwick, first part of an extremely loose trilogy. It is exactly what you're looking for. Was Mother as much of a non-stop misery grind as Daughter?
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Mar 23, 2020 16:25
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branedotorg posted:My first thought too. Stross should've kept it up imo
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Mar 23, 2020 16:40
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Fallom posted:Stross should've kept it up imo Given the way the story has gone, I wouldn't be surprised if that makes a comeback given the New Management's sense of humor.
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Mar 23, 2020 16:42
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Five Massive SFF Books to Read While You’re Social-Distancingquote:Now, booksellers will try to claim this is a ten-book series and then attempt to sell you ten separate volumes. Don’t be fooled! If you want the largest possible option, demand the one, true complete edition: the 11,927-page ebook! 
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Mar 23, 2020 16:44
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But what if I want to read something that's actually good?
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Mar 23, 2020 16:55
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biracial bear for uncut posted:But what if I want to read something that's actually good? Mary Gentle's Ash has you covered!
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Mar 23, 2020 16:57
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StrixNebulosa posted:Mary Gentle's Ash has you covered! Read a synopsis that mentions detailed descriptions of an 8-year old being gang-raped by some mercenaries, so nope.
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Mar 23, 2020 17:10
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Malazan's not even 3.5m words though.
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Mar 23, 2020 17:12
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grassy gnoll posted:Was Mother as much of a non-stop misery grind as Daughter? I haven't read it yet. StrixNebulosa posted:Mary Gentle's Ash has you covered! Really good book, although, as noted, some grim stuff happens.
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Mar 23, 2020 17:26
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biracial bear for uncut posted:Read a synopsis that mentions detailed descriptions of an 8-year old being gang-raped by some mercenaries, so nope. Skim/skip the first chapter where Ash grows up in a mercenary camp.
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Mar 23, 2020 17:27
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I can't buy the malazan omnibus in Norway and that annoys me because I want to own an 11 000 page book
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Mar 23, 2020 18:09
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