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StrixNebulosa posted:Wow I missed this, sorry for the delayed response! With the caveat that it's been some years since I read 40k in Gehenna, IIRC the phases go like this: it starts as a sci-fi about a colony dealing with being abandoned -> devolves slowly into generational cultural development as the youngsters develop new and wilder cultures (especially with the lizards) -> becomes full-blown fantasy with lizard-riding warfare with a society that has never known spaceflight. Like, if you cut out the first half of the book and focused entirely on that sequence it'd read as straight fantasy. I've always wondered if 40k sparked off as a Pern origin fanfic, though that's probably mostly just because telepathic lizards...
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Nov 21, 2021 22:13
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There's an old photo of Robert Howard workshopping out one of his Conan the Barbarian fight scenarios in a loincloth vs 2 dudes with "spears", that is floating around the internet somewhere (Think I saw it at the "playing at the world" authors blog/in the actual book.). You can take that photo as deeply hilarious or endearing. I view the photo as endearing, mostly because Robert Howard went "if I, a modernday person can do this in real life, then Conan given his background can do so much more".
quantumfoam fucked around with this message at 22:28 on Nov 21, 2021 |
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Nov 21, 2021 22:17
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Runcible Cat posted:I've always wondered if 40k sparked off as a Pern origin fanfic, though that's probably mostly just because telepathic lizards... It definitely took some inspiration from Starship Troopers considering the various similarities such as the Tyranid and the bugs sharing more than a passing resemblance.
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Nov 21, 2021 23:03
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Evil Fluffy posted:It definitely took some inspiration from Starship Troopers considering the various similarities such as the Tyranid and the bugs sharing more than a passing resemblance. 40k in Gehenna or Warhammer 40k?
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Nov 21, 2021 23:25
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quantumfoam posted:There's an old photo of Robert Howard workshopping out one of his Conan the Barbarian fight scenarios in a loincloth vs 2 dudes with "spears", that is floating around the internet somewhere (Think I saw it at the "playing at the world" authors blog/in the actual book.). You can take that photo as deeply hilarious or endearing. I view the photo as endearing, mostly because Robert Howard went "if I, a modernday person can do this in real life, then Conan given his background can do so much more".  Amazing!
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Nov 21, 2021 23:30
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pradmer posted:Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir - $4.99 This is a fun book. The main character is a bit of a science explained self insert, but his continuous remembering what's going on is interesting.
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Nov 21, 2021 23:47
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cant cook creole bream posted:This is a fun book. The main character is a bit of a science explained self insert, but his continuous remembering what's going on is interesting. The Martian was dumb fun and the reviews for his second were so dire I didn’t read it. This one is good?
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Nov 22, 2021 00:59
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buffalo all day posted:The Martian was dumb fun and the reviews for his second were so dire I didn’t read it. This one is good? I read it after feeling the same on his first two books and I liked it. It's going back to the same well a little, but more out there.
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Nov 22, 2021 01:13
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buffalo all day posted:The Martian was dumb fun and the reviews for his second were so dire I didn’t read it. This one is good? I enjoyed it but I think it suffered some from trying to be the Martian redux.
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Nov 22, 2021 01:13
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buffalo all day posted:The Martian was dumb fun and the reviews for his second were so dire I didn’t read it. This one is good? It's closer to the Martian than Artemis but far more out there in terms of trying to have some grounded science. I didn't enjoy it because there was too much made up stuff and things that couldn't actually happen while the story feels more like coincidence instead of a step by step process to the end. Basically the stuff that was happening was so outlandish it got in the way of the dumb fun.
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Nov 22, 2021 04:39
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nessin posted:It's closer to the Martian than Artemis but far more out there in terms of trying to have some grounded science. I didn't enjoy it because there was too much made up stuff and things that couldn't actually happen while the story feels more like coincidence instead of a step by step process to the end. Basically the stuff that was happening was so outlandish it got in the way of the dumb fun. I agree with your characterization of the facts of the plot, but i enjoyed it rather than disliked it. I never read the Martian
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Nov 22, 2021 04:54
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Sham bam bamina! posted:I almost bought that Conan omnibus, but the Amazon reviews mentioned that some of the stories are missing pages and even chapters. I'm seeing two sorts of complaints about this edition. The first is in regards to the quality of the physical book itself. At nearly a thousand pages, in general I'd expect tissue-thin paper and binding issues, so there's probably some merit to such complaints. The other is about missing stories or scenes. What's happening here is that for like 70 years it was all but impossible to find the original, Howard-only versions of any Conan story. Everything in print was altered in some way by Lin Carter and/or L. Sprague de Camp. So the people making complaints that fall into this category almost certainly read the old Ace paperbacks and don't know they're remembering butchered versions of Howard's stories.
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Nov 22, 2021 05:31
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I think if you enjoyed The Martian, you will probably enjoy Project Hail Mary, and I would recommend it if you're in the mood for whatever you liked about The Martian. Barring what you liked being strict scientific accuracy on any scale
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Nov 22, 2021 05:38
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Lol. I kind of thought that The Martian was stupid, but I really liked Artemis. Anyway I'm reading Hail Mary and I like it so far. It's like his other books, I guess. It reads like a science teacher is trying to get me to do my homework, but in a good way.
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Nov 22, 2021 07:26
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I wasn't a fan of it but that's because I went in expecting it to be HARD SCI FI kinda like the martian, and it ended up just being sci fi instead. I do agree the flashback memories thing was neat though. I guess I was just pissed cause I was wondering how they were gonna save the day with just our current levels of tech, and instead it just went off the rails into standard sci fi.
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Nov 22, 2021 07:57
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the flashback memories were like amateur-level poo poo. just flashbacking to convenient knowledge whenever the plot required it lmao
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Nov 22, 2021 11:00
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I’ve been reading Ken Liu’s Dandelion series and really enjoying it. Its ‘classical Chinese style but woke’ approach is neat and there’s some great stories within the story. I’m early in book 2 and the zodiac creation myth is enjoyable and even a bit moving. Take a look if you haven’t read it!
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Nov 22, 2021 11:30
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Regarding Project Hail Mary, I really liked the (at least for me) unexpected places the story went, but the dialogue and humor was pretty cringy, and there was so much hand-wavey stuff when it came to the science, it drove me nuts. However I think I came down on the side of just barely liking it. I have the same problems with the Bobiverse books. The nerd humor makes me want to die. But I really like the ideas so I keep reading them. Probably didn't help that the same audiobook narrator did Weir's stuff and also the Bobiverse books.
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Nov 22, 2021 14:12
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Myself being a horrible nerd with a taste for horrible nerd humor, should be good to go then.
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Nov 22, 2021 20:31
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A Desolation Called Peace (Teixcalaan #2) by Arkady Martine - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QPJHNSM/ One I've definitely been waiting for. Harrow the Ninth (Locked Tomb #2) by Tamsyn Muir - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07WYSGHC7/ Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0054LJGWS/ Doomsday Book (Oxford Time Travel) by Connie Willis - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004G60FXG/ Books 1 and 2 of The Shadows of the Apt series by Adrian Tchaikovsky - $2.99 each Empire in Black and Gold (#1) - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003GK21XK/ Dragonfly Falling (#2) - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003GK223Y/ Skyward by Brandon Sanderson - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BJLB5LY/
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Nov 22, 2021 23:13
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Currently reading a collection of pulp tales that are so purple prosed and manly man it's hilarious and I'll go into more detail here when I finish the last one with some other just reads.pradmer posted:A Desolation Called Peace (Teixcalaan #2) by Arkady Martine - $2.99 quote:Books 1 and 2 of The Shadows of the Apt series by Adrian Tchaikovsky - $2.99 each I honestly forgot where I stopped reading with this series, maybe book 8? I'd have to read summaries to catch up to finish it
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Nov 22, 2021 23:40
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Do these Amazon deals gently caress over authors or is it Amazon itself giving the promotion and the author/publisher slice is intact?
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Nov 23, 2021 00:22
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I've seen authors themselves promote them like "hey my book is on sale, go buy it" enough times that I don't think it's screwing them over? And I'm sure the publishers just want to see the sales numbers go up. There's also the marketing aspect of it where you get a book or two for a discount and, hopefully, enjoy them enough to buy more at full price later on. That's exactly why Tor has their free ebook club.
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Nov 23, 2021 13:55
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Velius posted:Do these Amazon deals gently caress over authors or is it Amazon itself giving the promotion and the author/publisher slice is intact? If Amazon itself is setting the promotional deal then they take the hit. If the item owner is setting the deal, then the item owner takes the hit. If the item owner takes the hit then it's dependent upon the publisher/author contract as to who gets how much money (royalties per sale or royalties by revenue). I don't know what the standard is in the industry, however if you're published through Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) then royalties are based on list price at the time of the sale and Amazon takes the hit.
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Nov 23, 2021 17:30
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Plus it varies book to book. I've seen authors who are like "Hey guys, my book's on sale at Amazon" and others who are like "Weird, I had no idea it was on sale, go forth and get it while it's cheap!". Everyone seems to be fairly happy about it though, regardless of if they knew or not. I can't recall an author ever being like "WHAT THE poo poo WHO'S IDEA WAS THIS JACKASSERY?"
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Nov 23, 2021 18:05
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:Plus it varies book to book. I've seen authors who are like "Hey guys, my book's on sale at Amazon" and others who are like "Weird, I had no idea it was on sale, go forth and get it while it's cheap!".
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Nov 23, 2021 18:33
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I thought that was rife? With Amazon's algorithm even promoting the pirate over the authorial version. Or is that mainly self pub problem?
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Nov 23, 2021 18:51
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Tars Tarkas posted:Gonna gamble on these having not read part 1 for either but they got good reviews (and I have Gideon the 9th from a free Tor offering but just not yet read it) They're both great but read the part 1s first
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Nov 23, 2021 18:59
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Harrow the Ninth is going to make even less sense if you don't read the first one, lmao. Like that's genuinely one of the worst books I can think of to just jump in on.
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Nov 23, 2021 19:06
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I think Tars meant they were going to buy them without having read the first book, not read the series out of order.
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Nov 23, 2021 20:20
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The Cyberiad: Stories by Stanislaw Lem - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CKDFE9W/ Fiasco by Stanislaw Lem - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008R2J70M/ Cradle, Foundation: Box Set by Will Wight - Free https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076G8DVN6/ The Traveler's Gate Trilogy by Will Wight - Free https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ZK3KUE8/
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Nov 23, 2021 23:24
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I'm definitely going to read them in order I just was apprehensive on buying the second entries before reading the firsts, but enough people in this thread and elsewhere like them I believe it is a good risk.
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Nov 24, 2021 00:59
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pradmer posted:Fiasco by Stanislaw Lem - $1.99 drat, its $16 on Amazon.ca
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Nov 24, 2021 02:21
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Ornamented Death posted:I'm seeing two sorts of complaints about this edition. If this is still about the Gollancz black book edition then I have to say, the copy I have doesn't have any problems with quality. The paper is decent and the binding is holding up - though I don't really treat it roughly. It's a big heavy thing so I'm not exactly bending it in half to read it if you get what I mean. In terms of content, I've never read the stories any other way, so I don't know about that one.
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Nov 24, 2021 02:32
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i briefly caught some of the apple Foundation series and became very confused because it appeared to have 0 whatsoever to do with the foundation novels I've read are they drawing from the spinoff/prequel/expanded universe Foundation books written by the Various Gregs, which I never delved into?
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Nov 24, 2021 09:41
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show me a meandering columbo-esque discourse by Salvor Hardin, you television cretins!
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Nov 24, 2021 09:44
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PupsOfWar posted:i briefly caught some of the apple Foundation series and became very confused because it appeared to have 0 whatsoever to do with the foundation novels I've read They're drawing from the fertile* imagination of David S. Goyer I was really mad Lee Pace didn't shave his pits for that role, I expect my emperors to conform to a rigid 21st century beauty standard 
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Nov 24, 2021 14:53
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I went from struggling with book 1 of Commonweal to staying up late reading the second one. It turns out I am *way* more excited for magical building things than I am for magical artillery.
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Nov 24, 2021 16:22
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graydon has even infiltrated the mod staff, his alts are everywhere
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Nov 24, 2021 16:55
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eke out posted:graydon has even infiltrated the mod staff, his alts are everywhere guerilla marketing
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Nov 24, 2021 21:26
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