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Cardiac posted:I guess the Maturin series don’t contain sea dragons?
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Jan 1, 2022 00:36
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Cardiac posted:I guess the Maturin series don’t contain sea dragons? Does have debauched sloths, though.
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Jan 1, 2022 01:27
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aurbury/martuin ftw. the RCN novels by David Drake scratch the same itch, and unlike many 'maritime novel translated to the future' books is actually good on its own merits. it's a similar character dynamic without being a retread, and it's a wildly different political situation, just reminiscent of the age of sail without feeling too engineered. It's really good and made me sad that Drake retired earlier this year lol.
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Jan 1, 2022 02:23
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The great virtue of the RCN books is that Drake is perfectly happy to draw from the entire history of humanity for inspiration. Many of hpthe books have a forward where he describes his inspiration, and these are quite diverse.Goes a long way to compensate for the fairly generic dark grey v black factions and invincible protagonists.
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Jan 1, 2022 03:32
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Is there an Aubrey/Maturin equivalent for sci-fi? I know, I know, "A/M is sufficiently distanced from our perspective that its lovingly detailed look at tall ship sailing is effectively science fiction," but seriously, is there? The closest thing I can think of is Passage at Arms, but that's really a submarine story, and doesn't have quite the same gleeful obsession with the technology.
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Jan 1, 2022 04:01
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Gnoman posted:The great virtue of the RCN books is that Drake is perfectly happy to draw from the entire history of humanity for inspiration. Many of hpthe books have a forward where he describes his inspiration, and these are quite diverse.Goes a long way to compensate for the fairly generic dark grey v black factions and invincible protagonists. that's a big reason I like them. on paper it's a generic, endlessly retreaded concept, but in execution it's very good and original, because he put the effort in. Kestral posted:Is there an Aubrey/Maturin equivalent for sci-fi? I know, I know, "A/M is sufficiently distanced from our perspective that its lovingly detailed look at tall ship sailing is effectively science fiction," but seriously, is there? The closest thing I can think of is Passage at Arms, but that's really a submarine story, and doesn't have quite the same gleeful obsession with the technology. the RCN books. read e'm.
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Jan 1, 2022 04:02
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RCN is specifically billed by the author as Aubrey-Maturin in space.
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Jan 1, 2022 04:22
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Gnoman posted:The great virtue of the RCN books is that Drake is perfectly happy to draw from the entire history of humanity for inspiration. Many of hpthe books have a forward where he describes his inspiration, and these are quite diverse. Goes a long way to compensate for the fairly generic dark grey v black factions and invincible protagonists. He also had the sense to make his FTL system something that's roughly analogous to sailing in a way that allows his version of Aubrey to feasibly win ship battles via superior
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Jan 1, 2022 05:20
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Eh, not really a fan of that. Leary is made into the second-greatest spaceman ever to justify why he can repeatedly defeat battleships with his dinky corvette. He is also able to defeat entire fleets due to Adele the super-hacker. They're fun, but there's a lot of jank,
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Jan 1, 2022 05:27
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Drake is probably the best of the SF Aubrey/ Maturin knockoffs but there's a reason we're talking about Aubrey/Maturin knockoffs and not David Drake knockoffs.
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Jan 1, 2022 05:30
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I mostly like how there's literally linemen even though it's in space.
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Jan 1, 2022 05:39
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:Drake is probably the best of the SF Aubrey/ Maturin knockoffs but there's a reason we're talking about Aubrey/Maturin knockoffs and not David Drake knockoffs. Although if we were, David Weber would probably qualify.
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Jan 1, 2022 08:28
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The Temeraire books by Naomi Novik also have their origin in Aubrey/Maturin fanfic. They get kind of meh later but the first few are good fun.
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Jan 1, 2022 09:54
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ulmont posted:Although if we were, David Weber would probably qualify. Other way around. The RCN books originated in an Honorverse short story, and there's a lot of "not the Honorverse" explanations in the first book or two as a result,
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Jan 1, 2022 10:00
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ulmont posted:Although if we were, David Weber would probably qualify. IIRC David Weber was drawing far more from the Hornblower books.
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Jan 1, 2022 10:00
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He was, and Drake said specifically that he wasn't working of Hornblower because "somebody else" had already done it far better than he ever could.
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Jan 1, 2022 10:04
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C.M. Kruger posted:IIRC David Weber was drawing far more from the Hornblower books. Hornblower and Horatio Nelson directly, who was well known for his love triangles and psychic super-cat
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Jan 1, 2022 10:14
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branedotorg posted:Hornblower and Horatio Nelson directly, who was well known for his love triangles and psychic super-cat I unironically believe psychic cats are an improvement to any book they arrive in. I also hate Weber for sucking at writing when his premise was fun. (Also his politics suck)
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Jan 1, 2022 13:18
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Gnoman posted:He was, and Drake said specifically that he wasn't working of Hornblower because "somebody else" had already done it far better than he ever could. Drake was wrong.
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Jan 1, 2022 13:48
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StrixNebulosa posted:
This is how I feel about all the Aubrey / Maturin knockoffs but especially Temeraire.
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Jan 1, 2022 15:18
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:This is how I feel about all the Aubrey / Maturin knockoffs but especially Temeraire. Temeraire has an incredible premise and starts even okay but then immediately tries to shoot itself in the foot over and over and OVER again to the point that I cannot trust the author with anything else, no matter how much praise she gets 
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Jan 1, 2022 15:22
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Gnoman posted:Eh, not really a fan of that. Leary is made into the second-greatest spaceman ever to justify why he can repeatedly defeat battleships with his dinky corvette. He is also able to defeat entire fleets due to Adele the super-hacker. Yeah, I think I punted on that series two or three books in when it became clear that Adele was basically a big red I WIN button and any sense of tension or risk in combat came from the author (a) finding excuses for her to be unavailable or (b) just outright forgetting she exists for a few chapters.
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Jan 1, 2022 15:44
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StrixNebulosa posted:Temeraire has an incredible premise and starts even okay but then immediately tries to shoot itself in the foot over and over and OVER again to the point that I cannot trust the author with anything else, no matter how much praise she gets She definitely learned a shitton from the Temeraire series and all of her later standalones are really good, would recommend. One shot fairy tale influenced stories with complete character arcs.
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Jan 1, 2022 17:45
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Temeraire: very bad for me. But I felt basically everything after that she’s written has been much, much better. Deadly Education is also solid if you want a darker Harry Potter.
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Jan 1, 2022 18:08
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I read most of Uprooted and didn't care for it at all, is that representative in quality of her other more recent works?
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Jan 1, 2022 18:09
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And they are all fan fiction based around the exploits of Thomas Cochrane.
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Jan 1, 2022 18:11
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Kestral posted:Is there an Aubrey/Maturin equivalent for sci-fi? I know, I know, "A/M is sufficiently distanced from our perspective that its lovingly detailed look at tall ship sailing is effectively science fiction," but seriously, is there? The closest thing I can think of is Passage at Arms, but that's really a submarine story, and doesn't have quite the same gleeful obsession with the technology. I was about to mention the Star Trek parallels (mostly in terms of character dynamics), but then I realized that Master and Commander was published in 1969, so the influence, if any, goes the other way. StrixNebulosa posted:I unironically believe psychic cats are an improvement to any book they arrive in. Speaking of influences on Star Trek, have you ever read Voyage of the Space Beagle?
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Jan 1, 2022 18:22
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No Dignity posted:I read most of Uprooted and didn't care for it at all, is that representative in quality of her other more recent works? If you didn’t like uprooted then Deadly Education is probably a better choice than her other one shot books- Eg you almost definitely won’t like spinning silver. Personally it’s my favorite of her stuff and is pretty different from them. But check the synopsis and see if it seems up your alley first imo.
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Jan 1, 2022 18:46
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Looks like first RCN book is free today, and a bunch of Mary Gentle stuff is on sale: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B4HAI2I?ref_=dbs_m_mng_rwt_calw_tkin_0&storeType=ebooks Complete Ash? https://www.amazon.com/Ash-Secret-H...xt%2C104&sr=1-2
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Jan 1, 2022 19:06
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Remulak posted:Looks like first RCN book is free today, and a bunch of Mary Gentle stuff is on sale: Great find!
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Jan 1, 2022 19:07
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Empress of Forever by Max Gladstone - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GVCXWR5/ The Birthday of the World by Ursula K Le Guin - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FC10U2/ Eden by Stanislaw Lem - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008533D44/ The Emperor's Blades (Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne #1) by Brian Staveley - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FCQQCX6/ Ghosts of Gotham by Craig Schaefer - $0.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GZGXP13/
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Jan 1, 2022 20:01
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branedotorg posted:So, following on from this is was thinking of reading 'the borrowed man' and wondered if the thread recommends it?
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Jan 2, 2022 00:45
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90s Cringe Rock posted:your only hope is to do a The Joke Baru Cormorant bit, he loves that Just recently made it to my list.
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Jan 2, 2022 02:24
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:This is how I feel about all the Aubrey / Maturin knockoffs but especially Temeraire. I read Temeraire before I'd been plunged into the internet enough to articulate what felt off-putting about it, but today I'd describe it as "furry-adjacent"
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Jan 2, 2022 02:52
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freebooter posted:I read Temeraire before I'd been plunged into the internet enough to articulate what felt off-putting about it, but today I'd describe it as "furry-adjacent" That's not the problem with it.
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Jan 2, 2022 02:53
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pradmer posted:Empress of Forever by Max Gladstone - $2.99 I do enjoy Max Gladstone's Craft sequence, but I tend not to like space operas. I enjoyed the poo poo out of Empress of Forever, though.
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Jan 2, 2022 03:35
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I picked it up after noticing every low review was people just mad the lead woman had sex with a lady
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Jan 2, 2022 03:38
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A Deadly Education is really bad. I don't think I've ever read a book with a higher ratio of exposition to action, even amongst doorstopper epic fantasy novels. Every actual event is followed by 2-3 pages of explanations about the magic system and how the school works.
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Jan 2, 2022 08:38
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The exposition is interesting though? The whole point of the book is an exploration of how a Harry Potter wizard school where the students routinely die could come to be and how magic could exist in the present day world with out anybody noticing, neither of which TERF ever bothered to do. The story is the daily routine of a student who has survived most of her term in the school, narrated from her perspective in whatever order she think is most important.
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Jan 2, 2022 10:18
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pseudorandom name posted:The exposition is interesting though? The overall premise of why the school exists was fine, but all the explanations of class timetables and crafting mechanics felt like reading a strategy guide for a videogame.
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Jan 2, 2022 11:13
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