|
stirling comes off as a kind of normal guy by the standards of that milieu most of the time, but then it feels like at least once per series you get something like a character musing "and the good thing about this timeline divergence is that Islam will never exist!"
PupsOfWar fucked around with this message at 03:54 on Jul 21, 2021 |
#
?
Jul 21, 2021 03:31
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 20, 2024 06:07 |
|
|
FPyat posted:Stirling was later banned from alternatehistory.com for saying (I recall) that he would kill all Muslim males if given the option to do so.
|
|
#
?
Jul 21, 2021 04:07
|
|
|
Marshal Radisic posted:My memory is spotty, but didn't he also got himself banned from soc.history.what-if for similar behavior? SHW-I was an unmoderated newsgroup so I'm not exactly sure how he'd have been banned, but he was known to have said similar things there according to people I've seen discussing his history. Best reference I can find is from years ago on a non-public forum, so I won't link it here but if someone is curious enough to sign up for access you can PM me.
|
|
#
?
Jul 21, 2021 04:50
|
|
|
SM Stirling getting banned from a usenet group: Hoping it's something stupid similar to how Jerry Pournelle got himself banned from the Arpanet. https://www.bradford-delong.com/2013/07/how-jerry-pournelle-got-kicked-off-the-arpanet.html
|
|
#
?
Jul 21, 2021 06:41
|
|
|
Beefeater1980 posted:E: my immediate mental image for Cazaril like 5 pages in is Jim Caviezel at the start of Person of Interest. Yes ! More weatherbeaten and careworn, but that's exactly what Cazaril looks like. Aka Spanish as all hell.
|
|
#
?
Jul 21, 2021 06:53
|
|
|
mllaneza posted:Yes ! More weatherbeaten and careworn, but that's exactly what Cazaril looks like. Aka Spanish as all hell. I'm chuckling at you two picturing a character as looking like Jim Caviezel when you've both almost certainly drawn the association because the names are similar.
|
|
#
?
Jul 21, 2021 09:19
|
|
|
I don't imagine actors/actual people any more when reading. I definitely did when I was a kid/teenager, but at some point in my imagination, characters started becoming.. more abstractly visualized? I get kind of an idea of a face, their clothing, etc. Hard to describe.
|
|
#
?
Jul 21, 2021 14:39
|
|
|
Aardvark! posted:I don't imagine actors/actual people any more when reading. I definitely did when I was a kid/teenager, but at some point in my imagination, characters started becoming.. more abstractly visualized? I get kind of an idea of a face, their clothing, etc. Hard to describe. I kinda blip over direct visual descriptions of people a lot of the time; just doesn't make me form an image in my mind, even the usual "hair color and shape, height, coloring, eye color" just goes in one eye and out...the...okay what's the "in one ear and out the other" phrase for reading
|
|
#
?
Jul 21, 2021 14:55
|
|
|
silvergoose posted:I kinda blip over direct visual descriptions of people a lot of the time; just doesn't make me form an image in my mind, even the usual "hair color and shape, height, coloring, eye color" just goes in one eye and out...the...okay what's the "in one ear and out the other" phrase for reading Aphantasia is a gently caress, I don't get the visuals even if I do read them. I can empathize.
|
|
#
?
Jul 21, 2021 15:32
|
|
|
SkyeAuroline posted:Aphantasia is a gently caress, I don't get the visuals even if I do read them. I can empathize. Oh wow, cool, there’s a word for it. I always just thought I had a bad imagination.
|
|
#
?
Jul 21, 2021 15:41
|
|
|
I imagine every book I read in an anime visual aesthetic, similar to Kentaro Miura's style with a bit of Yutaka Minowa. Kind of similar to how the recent Castlevania series was animated. It's part of why I think every fantasy series would be better as an animated adaption that live action if an adaption happens. It would also avoid having to spend $15 million an episode to make a dragon seem like it really exists alongside real people.
|
|
#
?
Jul 21, 2021 16:43
|
|
|
Ccs posted:I imagine every book I read in an anime visual aesthetic, similar to Kentaro Miura's style with a bit of Yutaka Minowa. 
|
|
#
?
Jul 21, 2021 16:46
|
|
|
Ccs posted:I imagine every book I read in an anime visual aesthetic, similar to Kentaro Miura's style with a bit of Yutaka Minowa. Kind of similar to how the recent Castlevania series was animated. It's part of why I think every fantasy series would be better as an animated adaption that live action if an adaption happens. It would also avoid having to spend $15 million an episode to make a dragon seem like it really exists alongside real people. I've been thinking a lot about how great an animated movie or series of Tooth & Claw would be.
|
|
#
?
Jul 21, 2021 16:47
|
|
|
they should make an animated Culture show *monkey paw curls* Starring, produced by, and funded by: ELON MUSK!!!!!!
|
|
#
?
Jul 21, 2021 17:08
|
|
|
Don't worry, Jeff Bezos probably still has the rights
|
|
#
?
Jul 21, 2021 17:24
|
|
|
Tor is offering Charlie Jane Ander's newest book for free today only as part of their book club. I enjoyed that author's previous book All The Birds in the Sky fair enough, though it got a bit weird at the end, and I didn't enjoy it enough to check out their next book The City in the Middle of the Night. But can't argue with free! https://www.tor.com/2021/07/19/this-july-21-get-a-free-download-of-victories-greater-than-death-by-charlie-jane-anders/ https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/53205810-victories-greater-than-death
|
|
#
?
Jul 21, 2021 18:11
|
|
|
Ccs posted:Tor is offering Charlie Jane Ander's newest book for free today only as part of their book club. I enjoyed that author's previous book All The Birds in the Sky fair enough, though it got a bit weird at the end, and I didn't enjoy it enough to check out their next book The City in the Middle of the Night. But can't argue with free! quote:Tina never worries about being ‘ordinary’—she doesn’t have to, since she’s known practically forever that she’s not just Tina Mains, average teenager and beloved daughter. She’s also the keeper of an interplanetary rescue beacon, and one day soon, it’s going to activate, and then her dreams of saving all the worlds and adventuring among the stars will finally be possible. Tina’s legacy, after all, is intergalactic—she is the hidden clone of a famed alien hero, left on Earth disguised as a human to give the universe another chance to defeat a terrible evil. hmmm
|
|
#
?
Jul 21, 2021 18:18
|
|
|
Ccs posted:Tor is offering Charlie Jane Ander's newest book for free today only as part of their book club. I enjoyed that author's previous book All The Birds in the Sky fair enough, though it got a bit weird at the end, and I didn't enjoy it enough to check out their next book The City in the Middle of the Night. But can't argue with free! Thanks, i had signed up for the book club ages ago for another free book but it was on one of my spam accounts so I'd miss a limited offer like this otherwise. Don't know if I'll like it, it seems like a book I'd like but I'm not 100% jazzed on the author, but it's free so worth a shot, worst it can do is I close the tab 50 pages in
|
|
#
?
Jul 21, 2021 19:04
|
|
|
wizzardstaff posted:Oh wow, cool, there’s a word for it. I always just thought I had a bad imagination. Can you imagine you can imagine the image?
|
|
#
?
Jul 21, 2021 20:40
|
|
|
Aardvark! posted:they should make an animated Culture show Jolier Veppers is the role he was born to play
|
|
#
?
Jul 21, 2021 20:45
|
|
|
I am an infrequent browser of this thread, but I was hoping for some assistance. I had never heard of KJ Parker (or Tom Holt), but the 16 ways book looks quite interesting (the fencer trilogy less so). I was wondering if there are any other books that he has written under either name that is particularly recommended?
|
|
#
?
Jul 21, 2021 21:47
|
|
|
Bertilak posted:I am an infrequent browser of this thread, but I was hoping for some assistance. I had never heard of KJ Parker (or Tom Holt), but the 16 ways book looks quite interesting (the fencer trilogy less so). I was wondering if there are any other books that he has written under either name that is particularly recommended? I'm reading his book "Savages" right now and enjoying it. It's actually a pretty good intro to Parker because its hitting all his standard material but at a faster pace than usual since its just one volume. For his more atypical works there's The Folding Knife and Sharps. My favorite work of his is his short story collection Academic Exercises. 16 Ways is really good though, I do recommend it. Fencer was interesting at times but a bit of a slog to get through. I'm not sure I'll be tackling his Engineer trilogy unless I really run out of stuff to read since I think his early trilogies are just too much. He has since thankfully learned how to be more concise.
|
|
#
?
Jul 21, 2021 22:14
|
|
|
Several Zelazny books have come out in ebook format, including Today We Choose Faces and both Dilvish books.
|
|
#
?
Jul 21, 2021 22:36
|
|
|
I just finished the sequel to 16 Ways (How to Rule an Empire and Get Away With It), and while it didn’t grab me like the first one, it was still a fun read with a few good twists. Looking forward to the third book in the series (out next month, iirc). Also finished The Gone World a few weeks back, reminded me a bit of Jeff Vandermeer’s Southern Reach series. Some parts of it felt straight up uncomfortable to read - the cabin with all the mirrors, the explanation of how the timelines work/collapse, etc. Ending felt a bit abrupt, but still worth a read. I read Neal Asher’s Spatterjay series a while back and mostly enjoyed it (mortal fear of leeches and anything with a leech mouth aside) but he has a pile of other books and I wasn’t sure where to go next. Any recommendations?
|
|
#
?
Jul 21, 2021 22:57
|
|
|
Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003NX7NEM/
|
|
#
?
Jul 21, 2021 23:08
|
|
|
Bertilak posted:I am an infrequent browser of this thread, but I was hoping for some assistance. I had never heard of KJ Parker (or Tom Holt), but the 16 ways book looks quite interesting (the fencer trilogy less so). I was wondering if there are any other books that he has written under either name that is particularly recommended? As Tom Holt he is almost entirely missable except for The Walled Orchard, which is one of the best historical novels I've read. It's certainly unlike any other historical novel, and despite a few misgivings about how Eupolis' relationship with his wife was portrayed, I would recommend it to anybody. On a vaguely related but non-SFF note, To Calais In Ordinary Time always comes to mind when I think of The Walled Orchard because it is also one of the best historical novels I've ever read and is also unlike any other historical novel I've encountered. Well worth checking out.
|
|
#
?
Jul 21, 2021 23:13
|
|
|
Instead of going back to sleep I finished 16 Ways while the sun came up this morning. Really enjoyed that, another stellar recommendation from this thread. I will likely just read the sequel next, but it made me think, in some weird way, of Death Note's "battle of wits" between the two protagonists and how much I liked that way back when. Is there some other good SFF literature with a feel like that? Two great minds continuously scheming and outscheming each other?
Oenis fucked around with this message at 07:02 on Jul 22, 2021 |
|
#
?
Jul 22, 2021 06:56
|
|
|
This Is How You Lose The Time War sort of fits that (and is amazing so you should read it.)
|
|
#
?
Jul 22, 2021 08:09
|
|
|
Kalman posted:This Is How You Lose The Time War sort of fits that (and is amazing so you should read it.)
|
|
#
?
Jul 22, 2021 08:24
|
|
|
Thanks for the advice on Parker/Holt.
|
|
#
?
Jul 22, 2021 14:30
|
|
|
Does anyone know why Tanith Lee's Heart-Beast doesn't have an ebook edition? I thought she was a big enough name that her stuff would have been ebooked. (but then, I would have thought the same for Cherryh  )
|
|
#
?
Jul 22, 2021 14:39
|
|
|
https://twitter.com/jeffvandermeer/status/1418235754317221893
|
|
#
?
Jul 22, 2021 17:04
|
|
|
The Adventures of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser Volume Two: Swords Against Wizardry, The Swords of Lankhmar, and Swords and Ice Magic by Fritz Leiber - $3.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07L8WP9LR/ The King Must Die (Theseus #1) by Mary Renault - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DCGJ6UO/ The Novels of Alexander the Great: Fire from Heaven, The Persian Boy, and Funeral Games by Mary Renault - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DIRC81G/
|
|
#
?
Jul 22, 2021 22:08
|
|
|
Clark Nova posted:Jolier Veppers is the role he was born to play you know, I'd watch that
|
|
#
?
Jul 22, 2021 22:38
|
|
|
Just got done with all of the Starship’s Mage (1-10), Curse of Chalion, Paladin of Souls, and the Hallowed Hunt. Don’t really know what to go for next. Anything new that is super interesting? Don’t necessarily want a whole series
|
|
#
?
Jul 22, 2021 23:58
|
|
|
KKKLIP ART posted:Just got done with all of the Starship’s Mage (1-10), Curse of Chalion, Paladin of Souls, and the Hallowed Hunt. Don’t really know what to go for next. Anything new that is super interesting? Don’t necessarily want a whole series Piranesi is very good. I’m enjoying KJ Parker’s “Savages” right now but I haven’t finished it yet. It’s new-ish. The Blacktongue Thief is good and can be read as fairly self contained.
|
|
#
?
Jul 23, 2021 00:31
|
|
|
Bertilak posted:I am an infrequent browser of this thread, but I was hoping for some assistance. I had never heard of KJ Parker (or Tom Holt), but the 16 ways book looks quite interesting (the fencer trilogy less so). I was wondering if there are any other books that he has written under either name that is particularly recommended? I really liked his two short story collections, Father of Lies and Academic Exercises.
|
|
#
?
Jul 23, 2021 00:49
|
|
|
Ccs posted:Fencer was interesting at times but a bit of a slog to get through. I'm not sure I'll be tackling his Engineer trilogy unless I really run out of stuff to read since I think his early trilogies are just too much. He has since thankfully learned how to be more concise. At least read the first Engineer book like I did. SFL Archives 1997: Beyond the Beyond/Dead Space is a 1997 satiric SFF murder-mystery novel (about a Star Trek: TOS analogue tv series getting rebooted in the 1990's and the fandom's reaction to it) got someone so not-Mad they wrote a negative review of it so long and angry the mailing list moderator had to break it up into 3 parts. The review was so angrily incoherent with dozens of blanket quotes from the book and angry rebuttals defending SFF fandom/making GBS threads on the book's author that I ended up reading Beyond the Beyond earlier this week just to see what the fuss was about. BtB gave off strong "this books existence inspired the Galaxy Quest scriptwriters" vibes. quantumfoam fucked around with this message at 02:17 on Jul 23, 2021 |
|
#
?
Jul 23, 2021 01:39
|
|
|
Worth a read then?
|
|
#
?
Jul 23, 2021 01:42
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 20, 2024 06:07 |
|
|
Benagain posted:Worth a read then? Beyond the Beyond or Tom Holt's the Engineer trilogy? Beyond the Beyond is a solid maybe recommendation. Everything revolves around around 5-8 characters, including a out-of-nowhere transgender reveal. Beyond the Beyond is a 1980's -present day actual tv screenwriter/tv producer's take on SF themed tv shows, tv networks, tv network execs interference into tv shows and hollywood talent agencies. I read Engineer book 1 last month and didn't like it; but would like someone else's fresh take on it, especially if they are a existing Tom Holt in his KJ Parker persona fan.
|
|
#
?
Jul 23, 2021 02:08
|
|