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The Last Wish (Witcher) by Andrzej Sapkowski - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0010SIPT4/ The Forever War by Joe Haldeman - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PI184XG/ Kings of the Wyld (The Band #1) by Nicholas Eames - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01KT7YTXW/
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Jan 10, 2021 19:21
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The Sweet Hereafter posted:I had something important to procrastinate over for the last two weeks, so I've been catching up with about 150 pages of this thread. I had intended to continue lurking, except that somebody (probably about a year ago in real time) mentioned a book that makes me really angry whenever I think about it and I can't let it go. Nope, you are right. Though I think it was just an exercise in post apoc world building asking interesting questions and that's about it. Pretty much everybody in it was loathsome, except landholder lady, she was ok. The Bishop turning up as a surprise 3rd act villain, immediately getting mucked, then The Priest and Landowner Lady seal themselves in an airtight room (because they don't know what it is, but who would?). Fin. Why would the survivors have built an airtight room, for any reason? The fall is foreseen as technological collapse not a pathogen. It's like the book ends at the start of the 3rd act, but Harris didn't have any ideas for the 3rd act, so just ended it there. I listened to an interview he did while promoting it and it is entirely based on the concept that people in days of yore used to have 2 sleeping periods per night and that 7-8 hours is relatively new thing and if people after the fall of modern civilization would revert to that. Thus things happening in the intersleep period that are spooky or mysterious. That's it. Thus the name. The reason is that there was fk all to do in the old times when it got dark. Literacy was nonexistent and candles were an expense you don't need when you can hardly feed your massive family because the one thing you can do in the dark that costs nothing and can keep you warm in the middle of the night, is sex. I feel he didn't latch onto this.
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Jan 10, 2021 20:04
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Collateral posted:Nope, you are right. Though I think it was just an exercise in post apoc world building asking interesting questions and that's about it. Pretty much everybody in it was loathsome, except landholder lady, she was ok. Yeah, shot himself in the foot there making his main character a priest. I don't remember anything very interesting happening in the intersleep periods, he mostly used them to read. Those books did at least further the plot, not that it would have made any difference because goddamn mudslide out of nowhere. I will never not be angry about that book. If you ever want to read a (non-SFF) book that does a medieval village and its conflicted priest really well, The Western Wind by Samantha Harvey was really good.
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Jan 10, 2021 21:31
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A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon) is on sale for $0.99 - has anyone read this? I'm feeling in need of something a little more lighthearted and appropriately iso-themed.
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Jan 10, 2021 22:32
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Leng posted:A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon) is on sale for $0.99 - has anyone read this? I'm feeling in need of something a little more lighthearted and appropriately iso-themed. Fun, lighthearted-ish, features carnivorous sourdough starter. Would recommend.
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Jan 10, 2021 23:40
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wizzardstaff posted:ET is actually a pretty old dude who comes from a race of hardcore gardening enthusiasts, if I remember the official sequel novel correctly. I think it was written by Alan Dean Foster. DurianGray posted:
wizzardstaff posted:Yeah, that's definitely it. I read it when I was a child so my memory is extremely hazy, but the giant iron-skinned onion and the grumpy plants he enlists to help are fixed in my mind. I think one of them was called a "flopwobble" or something like that, and was described as resembling a neurotic bundle of socks. If I remember correctly he also gives horny teen Elliott the bravery to dance with his crush while he's dying in a failed attempt to return to earth.
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Jan 11, 2021 00:42
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ToxicFrog posted:Fun, lighthearted-ish, features carnivorous sourdough starter. Would recommend. Seconded. There are a few grim moments but it's pretty amusing.
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Jan 11, 2021 01:32
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Selachian posted:Seconded. There are a few grim moments but it's pretty amusing. Thirded because a girl is the main character and there's no actual romance, just really good adventure.
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Jan 11, 2021 03:25
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Leng posted:A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon) is on sale for $0.99 - has anyone read this? I'm feeling in need of something a little more lighthearted and appropriately iso-themed. The name always makes me think of Terry Pratchett's dwarf bread.
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Jan 11, 2021 06:37
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Khizan posted:The name always makes me think of Terry Pratchett's dwarf bread. Probably because in Feet of Clay Carrot mentions that the curator of the Dwarf Bread Museum is "the leading authority on offensive baking".
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Jan 11, 2021 11:26
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https://twitter.com/HNTurtledove/status/1348434051279949825 
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Jan 11, 2021 22:33
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Damnit Turtledove. You just had to make the Nazis win to get Weber home.
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Jan 11, 2021 22:38
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Second Sleep to me is a 100% perfect example of a fine 3/5 star book which I didn't mind reading but would probably never recommend to anyone. I did mention it in this thread, positively I think, but I don't know if that's the same as a recommendation; like, if you find yourself stuck in a seaside holiday town with nothing to read and it's among the books at the B&B, by all means take it down to the beach and you'll enjoy it; but don't go out of your way looking for it. Couple of recent reads: Gypsy by Carter Scholz - sleeper ship novella in which a secret society of scientists fund and launch an interstellar voyage to escape an increasingly authoritarian, ravaged Earth. Very hard science, very akin to KSR (in fact IIRC they're good friends). I liked it, but gently caress it was bleak. Flyaway by Kathleen Jennings. A short magical realism/fairtyale novel set in the Queensland bush. Really not my cup of tea, but if that's the genre you like, you might enjoy this, especially if you like more unusual settings; it did capture a nice aspect of that creepy, Australian Gothic horror sort of vibe.
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Jan 12, 2021 02:06
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The Two of Swords: Volume One by KJ Parker - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06Y5K2CK3/ First sale I've seen for this book. Note The Company and The Hammer both still on sale for $2. Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay - $4.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NZMDA0M/ Caine Black Knife (Acts of Caine 3) by Matthew Stover - $4.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0017SWPW0/
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Jan 12, 2021 02:11
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pradmer posted:The Two of Swords: Volume One by KJ Parker - $2.99 I was gonna buy this but i'm not seeing the sale.
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Jan 12, 2021 15:13
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pradmer posted:Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay - $4.99 Kay's got more ebooks on sale, Under Heaven is $5.99 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003NX7NEM and it's semi sequel River of Stars is $5. I think Kay is a beautiful writer but all his novels, I dont know how phrase it, have a similar flow and I would call it bittersweet.
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Jan 12, 2021 17:56
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muscles like this! posted:While I wasn't super thrilled with how it ended I mostly enjoyed the Long Earth series by Stephen Baxter and Terry Pratchett. It takes place in the near future where one day a device schematic appears on the internet that can be constructed out of basic household items. When completed the device lets you travel, one step at a time, to alternate universes. The twist is that as far as they can tell there are no humans on any alternate Earths. The first book (The Long Earth) follows a young man who is hired to be a guide by an AI who wants to see how far they can go into the depths of the alternate realities. I really enjoyed the first and second but when I picked up Long Mars (#3) a few years later and it really didn't do much for me. All I remember is lots of technical talk about (mild)how they got the glider there and planning their surveying and I didn't really remember or care much about those characters and their backstory. Maybe the AI got even more abstract and disconnected? I'm not sure if I finished it or not. I didn't realise there were any more. Were the later ones any good aside from the ending?
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Jan 12, 2021 18:14
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Ccs posted:I was gonna buy this but i'm not seeing the sale.
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Jan 12, 2021 18:20
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The sale was from yesterday, I remember seeing KJ Parker while flipping through the kindle daily deals.
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Jan 12, 2021 19:39
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Dang. Well maybe I'll buy it at full price some other time. I've got so many books sitting on my kindle unread, including all of Cradle and Harrow the Ninth.
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Jan 12, 2021 20:05
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Destroyenator posted:I really enjoyed the first and second but when I picked up Long Mars (#3) a few years later and it really didn't do much for me. All I remember is lots of technical talk about (mild)how they got the glider there and planning their surveying and I didn't really remember or care much about those characters and their backstory. Maybe the AI got even more abstract and disconnected? I'm not sure if I finished it or not. The later ones were increasingly Baxter and decreasingly Pratchett, unfortunately. The only bits I remember from them were when Baxter did what he does best; i.e. come up with fuckin' weird places and things for his non-characters to explore.
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Jan 12, 2021 20:38
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Supposedly Pratchett came up with the planet of big trees from the final book.
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Jan 12, 2021 22:05
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The Witcher books are really fun to read, a nice surprise. Occasionally very funny too.
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Jan 12, 2021 22:18
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Ccs posted:I was gonna buy this but i'm not seeing the sale. Sorry, must have ended overnight. An assortment of Charles Stross books are on sale - $4.99 each Glasshouse - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001161L6O/ Halting State - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000W9180A/ Rule 34 - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004Y3I6XW/ Saturn's Children - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0013A1IYI/ (with the famous creepy cover) Neptune's Brood - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AR2RZ4K/ Ashes of the Sun (Burningblade and Silvereye #1) by Django Wexler - $4.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZZ25BCX/
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Jan 12, 2021 23:30
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ToxicFrog posted:Fun, lighthearted-ish, features carnivorous sourdough starter. Would recommend. Selachian posted:Seconded. There are a few grim moments but it's pretty amusing. NinjaDebugger posted:Thirded because a girl is the main character and there's no actual romance, just really good adventure. Bought it and devoured  it last night, it is indeed a very fun book and I would love to have a tiny gingerbread familiar.A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking is still on sale for $0.99: https://www.amazon.com/Wizards-Guide-Defensive-Baking-ebook/dp/B08CJ86Y1W/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
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Jan 12, 2021 23:53
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Can someone recommend me a good sci-fi book to listen to at work? Preferably a series/trilogy or something. I just finished up The Expanse recently, and the last 2 books I've tried I've bounced off hard and I'm getting a little frustrated. I tried Brent Weeks Night Angel because I like Sanderson, but that book is incredibly cringe, I dunno how else to describe it. Then I went for some more sci fi, and grabbed the graphic audio version of Moon's Vatta series, and that one just seems boring, plus the voice actor for the main character sounds like Ash from the pokemon cartoon which is distracting. I'm not normally too picky, I even like trashy type stuff like Peter Hamilton. Any kind of sci-fi with decent world building and some sort of big science mystery would be cool, like The Expanse or Revelation Space. I tried The Culture and bounced off it for some reason, but I think that was mainly just because it wasn't working for me too well in audio format.
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Jan 13, 2021 00:39
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Drunk Driver Dad posted:Can someone recommend me a good sci-fi book to listen to at work? Preferably a series/trilogy or something. I just finished up The Expanse recently, and the last 2 books I've tried I've bounced off hard and I'm getting a little frustrated. I tried Brent Weeks Night Angel because I like Sanderson, but that book is incredibly cringe, I dunno how else to describe it. Then I went for some more sci fi, and grabbed the graphic audio version of Moon's Vatta series, and that one just seems boring, plus the voice actor for the main character sounds like Ash from the pokemon cartoon which is distracting. I'm not normally too picky, I even like trashy type stuff like Peter Hamilton. Any kind of sci-fi with decent world building and some sort of big science mystery would be cool, like The Expanse or Revelation Space. I tried The Culture and bounced off it for some reason, but I think that was mainly just because it wasn't working for me too well in audio format. Several years ago I listened to Neal Stephenson's Anathem on audiobook (swapping discs in and out of my car's CD player on my commute) and it worked pretty well as something that could be tuned in and out while doing another task. There's a background mystery that becomes more foregrounded as the book goes on, and it's certainly long enough to feel like you've read a trilogy.
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Jan 13, 2021 00:59
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Drunk Driver Dad posted:Can someone recommend me a good sci-fi book to listen to at work? Preferably a series/trilogy or something. I just finished up The Expanse recently, and the last 2 books I've tried I've bounced off hard and I'm getting a little frustrated. I tried Brent Weeks Night Angel because I like Sanderson, but that book is incredibly cringe, I dunno how else to describe it. Then I went for some more sci fi, and grabbed the graphic audio version of Moon's Vatta series, and that one just seems boring, plus the voice actor for the main character sounds like Ash from the pokemon cartoon which is distracting. I'm not normally too picky, I even like trashy type stuff like Peter Hamilton. Any kind of sci-fi with decent world building and some sort of big science mystery would be cool, like The Expanse or Revelation Space. I tried The Culture and bounced off it for some reason, but I think that was mainly just because it wasn't working for me too well in audio format.
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Jan 13, 2021 01:17
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Yeah, I'm still reading through Stormlight at night, so I figured I would go with another sci-fi to listen to at work. But I'm down with fantasy suggestions too.
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Jan 13, 2021 01:19
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If the Vatta's War books are the sort of thing you like but the execution didn't suit you, then maybe you'd like the Vorkosigan series.
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Jan 13, 2021 01:34
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Drunk Driver Dad posted:I tried Brent Weeks Night Angel because I like Sanderson, but that book is incredibly cringe, I dunno how else to describe it. Stay away from Lightbringer and any further Brent Weeks. Cicero posted:Not sci fi, but Brian McClellan and Will Wight are solid if you like Sanderson's stuff. This here is good advice if you're a Sanderson fan. Brian McClellan's writing of female characters wasn't great but at least he never goes near cringe territory unlike Weeks.
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Jan 13, 2021 02:24
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I finished SFL Archives 1992 which closed out with mild drama from the assholes that run BOSKONE. This drama started off about art shows/mail-in artwork at SF&F conventions that expanded into how BOSKONE/all NEFSA associated SF&F conventions operate vs how all non-NEFSA associated SF&F conventions operate worldwide, and let me be 100% clear: all the drama, pettiness, and anger came from the NEFSA/BOSKONE/friends of BOSKONE side. quantumfoam fucked around with this message at 04:54 on Jan 13, 2021 |
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Jan 13, 2021 04:07
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Groke posted:The later ones were increasingly Baxter and decreasingly Pratchett, unfortunately. The only bits I remember from them were when Baxter did what he does best; i.e. come up with fuckin' weird places and things for his non-characters to explore. To add some content: I'm currently roughly halfway through both Exhalation and Kalpa Imperial and they're both great, Kalpa being my favourite so far. Thanks for all the recommendations for them here.
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Jan 13, 2021 16:02
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Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FC130E/ Ancillary Justice (Imperial Radch #1) by Ann Leckie - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BAXFDLM/ Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K Dick - $4.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000SEGTI0/ The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers - $4.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006UMI0OK/ Jade City (Green Bone Saga #1) by Fonda Lee - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XRCBRX8/ Earthseed: The Complete Series by Octavia E Butler - $3.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072NZBPFG/
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Jan 13, 2021 23:31
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pradmer posted:Jade City (Green Bone Saga #1) by Fonda Lee - $2.99 Some Amazon discount fairy must be listening! Guess that's what I'm reading next.
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Jan 13, 2021 23:37
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The Bundle of Holding usually does PDFs of RPGs, but they do F&SF occasionally. Like their new Glen Cook bundle, https://bundleofholding.com/presents/GlenCook That's the full Dread Empire series, Darkwar, Starfishers/Passage at Arms, Swordbearer, and The Dragon Never Sleeps for $25.69.
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Jan 13, 2021 23:57
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I almost bought earthseed because "hey a full series!" but "A multiple Hugo and Nebula Award winner’s powerful saga of survival and destiny in a near-future dystopian America." and I'm not sure if I want to read dystopian future America right now. Is it actually really good and I should get it?
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Jan 14, 2021 00:13
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Leng posted:Some Amazon discount fairy must be listening! Guess that's what I'm reading next. I liked it a lot but haven't had time to get to the sequel yet
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Jan 14, 2021 00:19
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Sibling of TB posted:I almost bought earthseed because "hey a full series!" but "A multiple Hugo and Nebula Award winner’s powerful saga of survival and destiny in a near-future dystopian America." and I'm not sure if I want to read dystopian future America right now. It is really really good. But book two is an undending stream of gut punches so maybe wait to read it until you have a good cushion of non-depressing reads to sandwich them in Actually book one isn’t as brutal as book two and pretty hopeful. Also it’s fairly standalone. Book two though, phew! Maybe just read the first one unless you want to see Trump’s America predicted yet even worse.
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Jan 14, 2021 02:03
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Sibling of TB posted:I almost bought earthseed because "hey a full series!" but "A multiple Hugo and Nebula Award winner’s powerful saga of survival and destiny in a near-future dystopian America." and I'm not sure if I want to read dystopian future America right now. It is a fantastic series but it also feels VERY accurate to current day America, so it might be a tough read. It doesn't wallow in misery or anything like that, and it does have a lot of hope in it too.
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Jan 14, 2021 02:19
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