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fritz posted:There's "The High House" and "The False House" by James Stoddard but they're kind of Christian in the CS Lewis sense. I was coming to recommend those as well. There are some similar elements in China Mieville's Un Lun Dun, too. Selachian fucked around with this message at 02:33 on Mar 27, 2021 |
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Mar 26, 2021 23:58
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Drakyn posted:I'm... what's the word for 'didn't know this, but definitely not surprised by it'? I knew it had the 'actually global warming is keeping us from freezing to death in an ice age' Oh man, it just goes on and on and it's mindblowingly gatekeepery about fandom and what is and is not fannish. Did you know that fandom has ranks?! And you're nobody if you're not a Secret Master of Fandom (S.M.O.F. as the book carefully enumerates for you).
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Mar 27, 2021 02:11
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shtick already, and then the rest is just the author's names.
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A good rule of thumb is that if winning the Prometheus Award (aka the Libertarian Hugo) is heavily mentioned in the author bio section of a book or the author winning the Prometheus Award is plastered over the front cover & cover-leaf of a book, then that book is going to be terrible. I recently made the mistake of reading Eifelheim by Michael Flynn after seeing that warning sign. Michael Flynn was one of the co-writers of/provided the hard science "facts" inside Fallen Angels.
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Mar 27, 2021 02:48
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Aw, what was wrong with Eifelheim? I read it on recommendation from the previous incarnation of this thread and thought it was fine. At least on a "do I regret reading this?" level.
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Mar 27, 2021 02:59
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wizzardstaff posted:Aw, what was wrong with Eifelheim? I read it on recommendation from the previous incarnation of this thread and thought it was fine. At least on a "do I regret reading this?" level. Turgid writing. Smug rear end hyper-smart main characters. Bargain basement Kim Stanley Robinson hard-sciencing the spread of the Black Plague mixed with a alien first contact scenario that I've come across almost a dozen times now thanks to my hyper-deep dive into the SFL Archives.
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Mar 27, 2021 03:23
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freebooter posted:Yes, and the Gormenghast trilogy in general is a brilliant landmark of original fantasy. They are very dense books - written in the 1950s but almost in a 19th century style, like reading Dickens or Moby Dick or something - but if you can persevere they're really, really worth it. Like nothing else I've ever read. I have to put a caveat on this. Peake suffered with mental health problems through his life and the chaos of his mental state is very apparent in his books. It's especially true of Titus Alone, written after his nervous breakdown in 1956 and completed just before the progressive dementia that began in his late 40s rendered him unable to write. Reading the entire Gormenghast trilogy back to back is an invitation to watch that deterioration happen, and this as much as the density of the prose is what makes the books very difficult to read.
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Mar 27, 2021 11:05
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Finished Sixteen Ways to Defend a City and really enjoyed it. I loved the voice of the unreliable narrator; it is so good to see first person done well. I liked it much better than The Folding Knife. If I see a chance to pick up Academic Exercises, I definitely will now.
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Mar 27, 2021 11:29
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Gollancz is doing some kind of festival this weekend and has reduced a bunch of books to 99p, UK only though. Any recommendations? https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/pag...GiBraCOCLAzD7as
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Mar 27, 2021 13:12
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Today I learned that if you're a fan of Jane Lindskold's Wolf fantasy series, she wrote two more and self-published them practically a decade after the series ended: Wolf’s Search and Wolf’s Soul I haven't read her stuff outside of a few tries when I was a teenager, and it might be time to try again, hmm.
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Mar 27, 2021 14:08
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Crashbee posted:Gollancz is doing some kind of festival this weekend and has reduced a bunch of books to 99p, UK only though. Any recommendations? https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/pag...GiBraCOCLAzD7as How many do you want? Ash, Fevre Dream, The Prestige and The Shrinking Man are no-brainers. Anything else in the SF or Fantasy Masterworks collection is probably worth a punt. Louise Carey is Mike Carey's daughter and has co-authored two novels with him, so 99p is a good trial price for her stuff. Of the rest, I've heard good things about Gallow Glass, Planetfall and Revenger, and while I haven't read Fools Pat Cadigan is a known quantity.
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Mar 27, 2021 14:34
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uber_stoat posted:speaking of Piranesi, i am kind of obsessed with stories that describe vast mysterious structures that seem to go on forever. i used to have this recurring dream as a child of wandering through an endless network of furniture showcase rooms like they had in department stores way back when. just being trapped in a maze of fragments of other people's homes, trying and failing to get back to a place that was familiar. to be honest, kind of distressing at the time but it's a concept i enjoy now. Eon by Greg Bear has a megastructure like this, but its more of a big dumb object plot point than an actual setting for exploration, IMO. I also have muddled opinions about Greg Bear's work, so I offer this in case it seems interesting, not because I think it's a slam dunk.
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Mar 27, 2021 16:53
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I'm about halfway through Between Two Fires and oh my goodness, this is terrific. We've got a new thread favorite on our hands.
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Mar 27, 2021 16:54
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Jedit posted:How many do you want? Ash, Fevre Dream, The Prestige and The Shrinking Man are no-brainers. Picked all these up, thanks! For my part I enjoyed Book of Skulls.
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Mar 27, 2021 17:18
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Is there any good SF about black holes? I am fascinated by them as pure expressions of power. Like, they don't have to be portals or unlock time travel or whatever, they're plenty menacing and mysterious on their own.
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Mar 27, 2021 17:27
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Crashbee posted:Gollancz is doing some kind of festival this weekend and has reduced a bunch of books to 99p, UK only though. Any recommendations? https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/pag...GiBraCOCLAzD7as Besides the others, I'd recommend Thomas the Rhymer and The Centauri Device. I haven't read The Sunken Land Begins to Rise Again, but M. John Harrison is good enough I'd be inclined to risk a buck (or quid, rather) on it. I also liked Doomsday Book but it's not for everyone. But although I'm a Moorcock fanboy, My Experiences in the Third World War is definitely lesser Moorcock. Only for completists.
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Mar 27, 2021 17:29
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Crashbee posted:Gollancz is doing some kind of festival this weekend and has reduced a bunch of books to 99p, UK only though. Any recommendations? https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/pag...GiBraCOCLAzD7as
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Mar 27, 2021 17:36
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The Powder Mage Trilogy: Promise of Blood, The Crimson Campaign, The Autumn Republic by Brian McClellan - $9.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NZNTK6V/ The Iron Dragon's Daughter by Michael Swanwick - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01E6HYNGE/
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Mar 27, 2021 18:18
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Crashbee posted:Gollancz is doing some kind of festival this weekend and has reduced a bunch of books to 99p, UK only though. Any recommendations? https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/pag...GiBraCOCLAzD7as Thanks for pointing this out! I grabbed half a dozen books.
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Mar 27, 2021 18:28
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fritz posted:There's "The High House" and "The False House" by James Stoddard but they're kind of Christian in the CS Lewis sense. I tried the first one years ago and got exceedingly bored with it. But the only thing I can remember about it is noticing it had no female characters that weren't personifications/aspects of ~Cooonnncepts~. I think he's trying to be Jack Vance, but he just doesn't have the chops. Kind of surprised Vance never wrote a Big Creepy Ritualism-Filled Building novel that I can remember; it should have been jam for him. William Hope Hodgson's The Night Land might scratch the itch too, though for the sake of your sanity and your stomach lining skip the first (contemporary) chapter and fast-forward to the far-future narrative.
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Mar 27, 2021 19:50
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mllaneza posted:I'm about halfway through Between Two Fires and oh my goodness, this is terrific. We've got a new thread favorite on our hands. It was so good
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Mar 27, 2021 20:37
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withak posted:I started Unconquerable Sun but the first 50 pages are just characters reeling off massive, dense exposition dumps. Does it get any better? This is the worst job of “show don’t tell” that I’ve seen in a while. I was incredibly excited for this book and couldn't make it halfway.
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Mar 27, 2021 21:25
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Crashbee posted:Gollancz is doing some kind of festival this weekend and has reduced a bunch of books to 99p, UK only though. Any recommendations? https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/pag...GiBraCOCLAzD7as Mary Gentle's Ash is fantastic but is a long book to say the least. Empire of Silence is one of my favorite series in the last 5 years, bit of a love letter to Dune with a really well fleshed out universe. Blackwing is a great finished trilogy that's a pretty easy read. Abercrombie is great and everthing he's read is worth reading. Avoid Stormblood, Kingdom of Liars. Stormblood is a poor mans Altered Carbon. and Kindom of Liars is very shallow high fantasy. I paid full price though so at 99p might be worth it. I've picked up Seven Devils & Inscape on sale.
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Mar 27, 2021 21:33
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A Proper Uppercut posted:It was so good Still super glad people are enjoying Between Two Fires so much! Grab a copy of The Lesser Dead and The Necromancer’s House if you can. He tries different writing styles with each book but they’re all excellent.
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Mar 27, 2021 22:06
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space skeletons https://twitter.com/70sscifi/status/1345503822345510912?s=20
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Mar 27, 2021 22:09
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yes
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Mar 27, 2021 22:25
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Crashbee posted:Gollancz is doing some kind of festival this weekend and has reduced a bunch of books to 99p, UK only though. Any recommendations? https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/pag...GiBraCOCLAzD7as Well, my anti-recommendation is The God Game. I got given an ARC for free and I still think I paid too much for it.
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Mar 27, 2021 22:31
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Ccs posted:Still super glad people are enjoying Between Two Fires so much! Grab a copy of The Lesser Dead and The Necromancer’s House if you can. He tries different writing styles with each book but they’re all excellent.
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Mar 27, 2021 22:32
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https://twitter.com/70sscifi/status/1345503827894566912 I'm loling at the throught process that could have led to someone thinking that a skeleton in a space suit would make a good cover for Dune.
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Mar 27, 2021 22:40
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thotsky posted:Is there any good SF about black holes? I am fascinated by them as pure expressions of power. Like, they don't have to be portals or unlock time travel or whatever, they're plenty menacing and mysterious on their own. I enjoyed EARTH by David Brin as a kid, which is about what happens when people accidentally drop a black hole into the planet. Don't know if it's really what you're looking for but I'd give it a tentative recommend.
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Mar 27, 2021 22:46
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Gats Akimbo posted:William Hope Hodgson's The Night Land might scratch the itch too, though for the sake of your sanity and your stomach lining skip the first (contemporary) chapter and fast-forward to the far-future narrative. I thought maybe I'd re-read The Night Land recently but noped out after a few pages of the intro chapter. I'll probably try again and skip it, it's so dreadful. Mirdath the lovely. According to Michael Swanwick, Gene Wolfe cited a Hodgson novel as the only novel he read that started out poorly before turning into a good book. I am certain that must be The Night Land.
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Mar 27, 2021 22:57
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there's a rewritten version of the Night Land that intends to make it read as less archaic but i have not read it.
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Mar 27, 2021 23:05
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uber_stoat posted:there's a rewritten version of the Night Land that intends to make it read as less archaic but i have not read it. James Stoddard, "The Night Land: A Story Retold". It's on my to-read stack and came recommended but I haven't read it yet either.
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Mar 27, 2021 23:22
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quantumfoam posted:Turgid writing. Smug rear end hyper-smart main characters. Bargain basement Kim Stanley Robinson hard-sciencing the spread of the Black Plague mixed with a alien first contact scenario that I've come across almost a dozen times now thanks to my hyper-deep dive into the SFL Archives. Eifelheim rocks.  Jedit posted:I have to put a caveat on this. Peake suffered with mental health problems through his life and the chaos of his mental state is very apparent in his books. It's especially true of Titus Alone, written after his nervous breakdown in 1956 and completed just before the progressive dementia that began in his late 40s rendered him unable to write. Reading the entire Gormenghast trilogy back to back is an invitation to watch that deterioration happen, and this as much as the density of the prose is what makes the books very difficult to read. I can't say I noticed it in the first two books, but yeah, you definitely run into a wall and can't not notice in book 3. It's also just so weirdly different from the first two that, while I don't regret reading it, I'm not sure I recommend it. Especially since the second book has a perfect conclusion.
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Mar 27, 2021 23:36
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Posting here as I mostly read sci-fi and fantasy. I am slowly moving away from all things Amazon, so looking to replace my Kindle with another e-reader and online store(s). Does anyone here have a recommendation on some good ebook stores?
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Mar 28, 2021 01:36
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tima posted:Posting here as I mostly read sci-fi and fantasy. I am slowly moving away from all things Amazon, so looking to replace my Kindle with another e-reader and online store(s). Smashbooks for full indie (afaik), then kobo rakuten and possibly barnes n' nobles?
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Mar 28, 2021 01:58
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tima posted:Posting here as I mostly read sci-fi and fantasy. I am slowly moving away from all things Amazon, so looking to replace my Kindle with another e-reader and online store(s). I’d be curious too! Both for an iOS app to use to read books on my phone and a better store. I mostly use the Apple bookstore now, and I feel like there must be a better alternative.
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Mar 28, 2021 01:58
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my bony fealty posted:I thought maybe I'd re-read The Night Land recently but noped out after a few pages of the intro chapter. I'll probably try again and skip it, it's so dreadful. Mirdath the lovely. Yeah, it has by far the worst start of any of his novels. Got to be that. Lemniscate Blue posted:James Stoddard, "The Night Land: A Story Retold". It's on my to-read stack and came recommended but I haven't read it yet either. Given that he wrote the book I just dunked on in my last post I wouldn't get too hopeful!
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Mar 28, 2021 02:40
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Gats Akimbo posted:Yeah, it has by far the worst start of any of his novels. Got to be that. Haha, I didn't even notice. Well then!
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Mar 28, 2021 02:46
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tima posted:Posting here as I mostly read sci-fi and fantasy. I am slowly moving away from all things Amazon, so looking to replace my Kindle with another e-reader and online store(s). Smashwords, Storybundle, Humble, and Gumroad all sell DRM-free ebooks with a strong (or in some cases total) bias towards indie stuff. Kobo and Google Play Books both sell ebooks that may, depending on author or publisher, be DRM-free -- it depends on the book, but (unlike amazon) the DRM status is always listed clearly on the store page. In either case the books will generally be in EPUB format, which is understood by pretty much every e-reader and software ebook reader that isn't a Kindle. Unfortunately, for books that are only available on amazon it's generally more annoying to convert stuff to not-kindle format. As for reader hardware, I've generally been happy with Kobos; my current one is a Kobo Libra, which looks kind of weird, but it's waterproof and the hardware buttons are a godsend when operating it with mittens in the winter. And if you don't like the stock firmware you can install Koreader, which noticeably reduces battery life but gives you a lot more configuration options, better PDF support, and wireless book pushes via calibre or ssh. thotsky posted:Is there any good SF about black holes? I am fascinated by them as pure expressions of power. Like, they don't have to be portals or unlock time travel or whatever, they're plenty menacing and mysterious on their own. The only two that come to mind offhand are the Niven short stories There Is A Tide and The Hole Man, both of which I enjoyed years ago when I read them, but they're also (like much of Niven's short story work) very much "exploration of science fact idea in short story format" and less "a compelling story featuring a black hole". ToxicFrog fucked around with this message at 02:57 on Mar 28, 2021 |
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Mar 28, 2021 02:53
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Remember when I read The Queen of Ieflaria by Effie Calvin and liked it a lot? Fluffy fun romance/fantasy with some first novel pains, etc. Well, I finally read the sequel, Daughter of the Sun and it's a huge improvement over the first. Much better pacing and everything! Also, you can start with it if you'd like as it's a whole new set of characters - same world, more world-building and hinted plot-threads from the last book are picked up, but nothing you'll actually miss. (Though I do recommend reading the first one, it's fun and short!) Here's my review: Gosh that was sweet. Gosh. What a good book! The concept is, there's this lady paladin who is wandering the land looking for a great evil to slay, as she's been given a vision from her deity. The book opens with her rescuing a village from a minor chaos deity, and - here's the other heroine! She's the chaos deity, but now injured thanks to this paladin and bound to a mortal body. Through sheer chance the paladin finds her in the mortal body, doesn't realize she's the same chaos goddess (it looks different), and promises to escort her safely to wherever she wants to go. Cue a rambling journey as the goddess gets exposed to humanity and having friends and learning things for the first time ever, and as the paladin begins to learn things about herself. It's neat how her being a roving paladin opened up the plot to chained adventures as the paladin checked every small village for evil and sometimes found it - and sometimes it involved the goddess' siblings who weren't happy about her helping out a paladin. It's emotional and fun and builds up to both a plotty climax and an emotional climax and gosh! I loved this a lot!! It's sweet and romantic and the serious plot was fascinating. Nothing too complex but I like the worldbuilding and hints for future books, and I want more. This is my comfort fantasy-romance-lesbians-adventure reading, and I'm so happy I have it.
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Mar 28, 2021 03:34
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