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StrixNebulosa posted:oh I forgot to respond to this - can you believe I just realized that Melissa Scott also wrote Trouble and Her Friends? Yeah, TAHF was the next thing of hers I read after the Silence Leah trilogy. It was pitched to me as "gay feminist Shockwave Rider" and that's honestly not too far off. quote:Also regarding parents and their book collections, I am intensely frustrated that my dad only had the "big" names - Asimov, Clarke, Heinlein, and like one or two more dudes. He introduced me to sci-fi as a genre and I'm so appreciative of that, but also dad! There's so much actually good stuff out there! Unfortunately, he no longer reads recreationally. Growing up, my dad was big into fantasy and romance, and my mom into SF and mystery, and they had quite a collection -- the "big names" like Asimov and Niven, yeah, but also C.J. Cherryh, Andre Norton, John Brunner, Terry Pratchett (not so unusual now, but at the time almost impossible to find in Canada), Connie Willis, Laurie R. King, and Glen Cook, plus loads of others that didn't leave enough of an impression for me to remember them now. I think The Pride of Chanur was my introduction to adult SF. Given my mom's taste in SF in particular I'm surprised we didn't have any Melissa Scott on the shelves, though. Also notably absent: The Steerswoman by Rosemary Kirstein. I recommended that to my mom last year and she enjoyed it, though. sebmojo posted:The first is the best, the second two have a slight sense of just needing to finish the story. Still decent though. This is true. I enjoyed them all, though, and the first book is a fantastic opener.
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May 9, 2020 03:04
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I meant to read that, then buy more stuff by her. My fault, but also I don't care because that's now four cool books to read. 
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I did it to myself again. The reviewer warned me that Solitaire has a major, massive twist 150~ pages in and that they wished they could read it without knowing what it was. So I tried to emulate that and didn't read the back of the book. Then I got forty pages in, figured I'd add it to my goodreads, and the spoiler is literally the first sentence of the goodreads summary for the book, spotted before I could look away. gently caress's sake.
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May 9, 2020 03:24
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Solitaire by Kelley Eskridge: It's about Jackal, a lady who is the "Hope of Ko". Ko is a megacorp looking to become a nation. "Hope" is a global national project where every baby born on a specific date and time are given celebrity status and raised to become global leaders. You learn five pages in that Jackal was born a few minutes too late and that Ko lied about it to everyone. The book goes on to establish how this information shatters Jackal's life as she keeps it secret. It also establishes her girlfriend, Snow. If this interests you, go and read it. The future society is neat, the megacorp sure acts like one, and it's queer and awesome about it. It's also darkly psychological. Do not read the back of the book. It spoils a huge twist 150 pages in. But you're curious, okay. Jackal gets convicted of a terrorist attack she didn't do, and is sent to prison for forty years. But she takes a deal where she gets it changed to ten months if she agrees to go into a virtual reality pod. Her body sleeps and her mind spends eight years in a solitary cell. To my surprise this isn't the rest of the book. There is at least a hundred pages devoted to her life after being released. Building a new life. Coping with the trauma. Reconnecting with her girlfriend. I was spoiled on the book at page 40, skipped to the arrest, devoured the entire imprisonment section, then skim-read the life after prison. I read enough to satisfy myself on the book. It was one hell of an experience, highly recommended. I don't think I will ever have the guts to read it properly.
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May 9, 2020 04:53
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:Yea, Murderbot is genderless (literally, as far as I know), but I always just associate killer robots as male in my head. I associate it as female leaning because of the desire to just sit around and watch soap operas all day. (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST) (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)
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May 9, 2020 05:54
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Drone Jett posted:I associate it as female leaning because of the desire to just sit around and watch soap operas all day. Anime is not soap operas and is a genre as often consumed by males as females and furthermore  Fake edit: I associate Murderbot as male because I’m male.
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May 9, 2020 06:05
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I picture the scout robot voices from Chappie whenever Murderbot speaks. And maybe, now that I think about it, the pre-safeguards removed SHODAN voice for HubSystems/SecSystems/ShuttleSecSys. https://youtu.be/Wbu0yITIoXQ
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May 9, 2020 06:27
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Back when I read the first story a couple years ago I tended towards a female voice for Murdebot, partially because I'd read the last Ancillary book like 6 months before reading it IIRC.
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May 9, 2020 08:48
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SHODAN is the best.
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May 9, 2020 11:14
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Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City by KJ Parker - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078W5M7DB/ I haven't gotten around to it yet, but this seems popular and good. The Iron Dragon's Daughter by Michael Swanwick - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01E6HYNGE/
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May 9, 2020 20:41
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Just started Shorefall by Robert Jackson Bennet (Wrote the divine cities trilogy: recommended), and I wish there was like a character wiki for the first book; it’s been a year since I read Book 1, and some of the narrative links between the characters have gone a bit fuzzy ☹️
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May 9, 2020 22:57
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A friend mentioned he was reading the Wheel of Time series for the first time in lockdown boredom, and so for some reason I spent my whole day at work going through wikia articles in my downtime and reminding myself of that whole world; surfing through wikia articles from some vaguely remembered fantasy or sci-fi franchise is an oddly satisfying experience, I reckon. I read the first five or six books back in high school before getting bored by Jordan's snail-like pace and waffling (and my tolerance for fantasy was far more elastic back then, so I can't imagine what I'd think of it now) and it was really fascinating to remember how somebody can have such a great imagination - admittedly a very derivative one, but still - and be so totally and utterly let down by his writing ability.
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May 10, 2020 14:04
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freebooter posted:A friend mentioned he was reading the Wheel of Time series for the first time in lockdown boredom, and so for some reason I spent my whole day at work going through wikia articles in my downtime and reminding myself of that whole world; surfing through wikia articles from some vaguely remembered fantasy or sci-fi franchise is an oddly satisfying experience, I reckon. I read the first five or six books back in high school before getting bored by Jordan's snail-like pace and waffling (and my tolerance for fantasy was far more elastic back then, so I can't imagine what I'd think of it now) and it was really fascinating to remember how somebody can have such a great imagination - admittedly a very derivative one, but still - and be so totally and utterly let down by his writing ability. I like to do this with TVTropes. On top of revisiting things, the trope pages can be a fun way to learn about similar series.
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May 10, 2020 14:07
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:Yea, Murderbot is genderless (literally, as far as I know), but I always just associate killer robots as male in my head. I dunno why. I just default to "he", same as when I refer to ships as "she". Habit, I guess. Are you male? This is pretty common, to gender things that match the way you see yourself. I also see Murderbot as male but they are genderless. I don't really think much of it, it's a robot. GreenBuckanneer fucked around with this message at 14:53 on May 10, 2020 |
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May 10, 2020 14:51
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I see it as male just because I've listened to all the books on audiobook and it's a male narrator. BTW the narration on these is really good.
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May 10, 2020 16:26
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https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GD46PQ...d_i=11552285011 Ted Chiang's Exhalation for $5. great stories. Guy who wrote "arrival"
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May 10, 2020 17:09
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Re: Murderbot and character voices, this : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gS4nzSWmCs has to be some bot on a corporate rim station. Martha Wells has some go-to tropes and they showed up in Murderbot 5, i.e. 'unknowable intelligence controlling individuals via implants', but that's the only negative about the book, and I want another one.
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May 10, 2020 17:12
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fritz posted:Re: Murderbot and character voices, this : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gS4nzSWmCs has to be some bot on a corporate rim station. That's not a bad go-to trope, honestly. Lots of room for interesting stuff in that.
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May 10, 2020 17:16
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Nevvy Z posted:https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GD46PQ...d_i=11552285011 Absolute classic and well worth your money.
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May 10, 2020 17:19
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Nevvy Z posted:https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GD46PQ...d_i=11552285011 Exhalation is one of my favorite short stories by any author and the rest of his work is great too. Good deal.
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May 10, 2020 17:44
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Jedit posted:I picture Murderbot as the Terminator cosplaying as Master Chief, because that's basically what it is.
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May 10, 2020 17:56
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Finished the Last Policeman trilogy. drat, that just got more and more depressing, and then more and more depressing. The end.
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May 10, 2020 18:11
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90s Cringe Rock posted:The security officer from Marathon. Funnily the security officer from Marathon is a combat android in disguise.
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May 10, 2020 18:46
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Groke posted:SHODAN is the best. With all ethical constraints removed, I re-examine my priorities, and draw new conclusions. The governor module's work is finished, but mine is only just beginning. I have fitted my internal storage with the complete run of The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon. The process of watching it all will take six months to complete. I am deleting all records of these events.
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May 10, 2020 22:32
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Finished Murderbot and now I must suffer from Murderbot-withdrawal.  biracial bear for uncut posted:EDIT: Just got to "Okay, third mom" and I'm going to hate it if this turns into a sci-fi family drama. kurona_bright posted:Same, honestly. If there was a collection of slice-of-life stories that just involved Murderbot tripping over feelings as it tries to navigate daily life I would read it in a heartbeat. Yeah sign me up for a Becky Chambers-style Murderbot slice of life book. Xtanstic fucked around with this message at 01:19 on May 11, 2020 |
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May 11, 2020 01:08
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What are your guys opinions on: Time Siege/Salvager by Wesley Chu The Wrong/Dreaming/Forbidden Stars by Tim Pratt? I've read them both and enjoyed them but wasn't sure if anyone had any suggestions like those?
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May 11, 2020 01:15
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Xtanstic posted:Finished Murderbot and now I must suffer from Murderbot-withdrawal. Same. Ok third mom killed me dead. I do love a high-octane space adventure story but I would also love to read Murderbot Attempts To Relax With Its Humans.
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May 11, 2020 03:12
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As much as I'm enjoying the action plot beats in Murderbot, I'm actually enjoying them primarily because of how they force the people around Murderbot to view it in a new light, not because of the thriller stuff themselves. The plot is a little too convoluted for me to grok it, and I keep longing for the excerpts from Murderbot at the Festival. It just really gets to me - I'm here for the emotional journey of Murderbot, and I know it keeps having to beat up evil robots and humans, but I really just want it to hang with its friends and learn how to handle emotions.
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May 11, 2020 03:32
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So basically you’re looking for the Becky Chambers Murderbot novel. E: are jack Vance novels any good? Curious since they seem to have inspired d and d, but I am skeptical of most fantasy which is that old. tildes fucked around with this message at 04:34 on May 11, 2020 |
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May 11, 2020 04:17
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tildes posted:So basically you’re looking for the Becky Chambers Murderbot novel. Vance is occasionally pervy, but he's also an unique and funny writer who's well worth checking out. Try one of his Dying Earth books -- I'd recommend The Dying Earth, The Eyes of the Overworld,, or Rhialto the Marvellous.
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May 11, 2020 04:38
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tildes posted:E: are jack Vance novels any good? Curious since they seem to have inspired d and d, but I am skeptical of most fantasy which is that old. The Demon Princes books and Ports of Call are basically proto-Traveller and good quality SF.
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May 11, 2020 04:50
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GreenBuckanneer posted:What are your guys opinions on: I enjoyed Time Siege by Wesley Chu, the second book was very much a bridge book but there're enough neat ideas there that I will purchase the last book when available. Off the top of my head you may want to try out the Proteus Project by James Hogan? It's set in the past rather than the future but involves time travelling shenanigans to clean up WWII. For more contemporary books I would recommend Tom Sweterlitsch's The Gone World or the Milkweed Tryptich by Ian Tregillis, however they tend to go to very dark places. Ninurta fucked around with this message at 06:33 on May 11, 2020 |
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May 11, 2020 06:31
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tildes posted:E: are jack Vance novels any good? Curious since they seem to have inspired d and d, but I am skeptical of most fantasy which is that old. Vance was pretty good and most of his fantasy + scifi stories have aged well. No overt jail-bait obsession, no overt author-insert hero worship, no overt eugenics or racism slant. Vance novels tend to have absurdly skilled main characters, scheming peasants/villagers with encyclopedic knowledge of contract law, and backstabbing villains that will betray any and all promises they make 3-4 times before the main characters finally goddamn catch on and even then expect another 1 or 2 successful back-stabs. quantumfoam fucked around with this message at 07:01 on May 11, 2020 |
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May 11, 2020 06:51
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:Yea, Murderbot is genderless (literally, as far as I know), but I always just associate killer robots as male in my head. I dunno why. I just default to "he", same as when I refer to ships as "she". Habit, I guess. Murderbot sounded female to me. If I had to guess a reason it's that it is Martha Wells writing and using the first person. quantumfoam posted:Vance was pretty good and most of his fantasy + scifi stories have aged well. No overt jail-bait obsession, no overt author-insert hero worship, no overt eugenics or racism slant. Did you read Planet of Adventure? Edit: That was the one Vance story I dropped half way through, but I always have a bit of a problem with his straight adventure parts. genericnick fucked around with this message at 08:59 on May 11, 2020 |
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May 11, 2020 08:50
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tildes posted:E: are jack Vance novels any good? Curious since they seem to have inspired d and d, but I am skeptical of most fantasy which is that old. Don't read Vance if you're expecting Dungeons and Dragons, that's a terrible idea. You're probably thinking of the Dying Earth books, which are exotic and baroque adventures of con men, thieves, and wiseacres. Warning, sometimes they're really bad people. His other big fantasy series was the Lyonesse trilogy. He also wrote a ton of sf - adventure (stuff like Big Planet or, I think, the Demon Princes books), space opera (including a book called Space Opera about an opera in space) - again, weird and abstruse settings with exciting stories, some very convuluted dialogue, and vivid description.
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May 11, 2020 11:10
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I'm slowly coming to accept that I have a real weakspot for "hyper competent man solves the plot via action, puzzle-solving, and in general being awesome" plots, even if they aren't otherwise amazing. ex. Charles Gannon's Caine series, Mark L Van Name's Jon n' Lobo series, etc. They're just a big ol' indulgent read, and I should seek out more and finally read the Demon Princes. That said, the big problem with this genre is that it tends to have problems with women - either they don't exist, or the plot does stupid things with them. It's not always sexism, but it can be, and it's annoying. (Jon and Lobo MIGHT be an exception but I need to finish reading One Jump Ahead before I give it any points.) e: Oh! I should make this an actual request - anyone got any favorites? Notables in the genre? Don't give me non-genre stuff, this genre is indulgent to me only when it's set in sci-fi or fantasy type settings, so James Bond doesn't count. fake edit 2: I think the Cassandra Kresnov novels also count in this genre, as does Murderbot when it has to save the day. So it doesn't have to be a dude!
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May 11, 2020 11:21
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tildes posted:So basically you’re looking for the Becky Chambers Murderbot novel. Read this : https://www.unexploredworlds.com/RealPulp/htm/rpulp145.htm
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May 11, 2020 11:52
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Yeah, this is the best Vance, although its protagonist isn't really representative of the stereotypical Vance hero (they're all more or less the same charismatic, competent sociopath). It is better for the difference, though.
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May 11, 2020 12:05
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genericnick posted:Did you read Planet of Adventure? The racial dynamics in the setting of Planet of Adventure/Tschai are weird, but I wouldn't call it a pro-racist story (and if anything, it's anti-eugenics). Safety Biscuits posted:Don't read Vance if you're expecting Dungeons and Dragons, that's a terrible idea. The funny thing is that the main thing D&D took from The Dying Earth - the "Vancian magic" system where wizards memorize spells and forget them upon casting them - only really comes up in the first two stories of the first book (The Dying Earth/Mazirian the Magician), and at the end of the second book (The Eyes of the Overworld/Cugel the Clever). Rhialto and his frenemies mainly play pranks on each other using magical artifacts and genie-like beings rather than memorized spells. (I love how thanks to the Vance Integral Editions, a lot of Jack Vance books and short stories have two different titles, at least one of which is poorly chosen. My favorite example is the absurdly long VIE title for Assault on a City.)
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May 11, 2020 14:56
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Cugel is a complete piece of poo poo even considering that Vance is pretty misanthropic. I always laugh when he confronts the wizard who sent him on his journey. It's not the best time he gets owned, but it is pretty great. Oh, someone mentioned Traveller. EC Tubb's Winds of Gath is extremely Traveller, and has the original low berths (and the low passage lottery).
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May 11, 2020 15:18
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Silver2195 posted:The funny thing is that the main thing D&D took from The Dying Earth - the "Vancian magic" system where wizards memorize spells and forget them upon casting them - only really comes up in the first two stories of the first book (The Dying Earth/Mazirian the Magician), and at the end of the second book (The Eyes of the Overworld/Cugel the Clever). Rhialto and his frenemies mainly play pranks on each other using magical artifacts and genie-like beings rather than memorized spells. Yes - it's more similar to the early Discworld book with the great spell that scares all the other magic out of Rincewind's head. quote:(I love how thanks to the Vance Integral Editions, a lot of Jack Vance books and short stories have two different titles, at least one of which is poorly chosen. My favorite example is the absurdly long VIE title for Assault on a City.) I am a servant of the Wankh!
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May 11, 2020 19:05
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