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Hieronymous Alloy posted:A lot of Bujold's stuff is like that. I'd agree with that. The Sharing Knife series was something that absolutely should not have been my bag but I really liked it anyway. Currently I'm on a Robert Jackson Bennett kick, reading through the Divine Cities trilogy on the way to Foundryside. Then I think I'll swing back and do his four earlier novels again. I've read American Elsewhere already, but that's some crazy poo poo I need to put in my brain again.
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Nov 11, 2022 03:14
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tiniestacorn posted:I'll give it another shot. I read Winter's Orbit when it was on Ao3, and again in its trad pub form, and I had a good time both times, so I should like this. Maybe I wasn't in the right mood for a romance that day. Ah, if you enjoyed CoH/WO then I think it's definitely worth giving it another go, it shares a lot of the same DNA in terms of tone, space conspiracies, and a fun and intelligent take on a ficcy romance trope (soulbonds this time as opposed to political marriages)
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Nov 11, 2022 17:12
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Neuromancer (Sprawl #1) by William Gibson - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000O76ON6/ Count Zero (Sprawl #2) by William Gibson - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000PDYVZM/
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Nov 11, 2022 17:16
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Leng posted:now The Dragon Republic is staring at me accusingly from my book shelf. Alright I have finished reading The Dragon Republic. It's basically more of what you get in The Poppy War. Uncanny valley of neither historical fiction nor original fantasy continues but now we're in the period where not-Britain makes its move. Rin continues being mostly passive, being pushed around by other characters, and seesawing wildly between one extreme to another. Characters and character relationships continue to be underdeveloped, though this book has slightly better character writing than the first book by virtue of having more pages to develop them. But I still do not buy Rin and Nezha. Or her other relationships with the Cike. At all. So the ending had very little emotional impact for me. But eh, it does what a sequel is supposed to do, so it's fine. Next read is The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty and I'm looking forward to this one. withak posted:Libraries rule. I blew a guy's mind this week when he was going around at work asking about borrowing a power sander from someone and I referred him to the public library. My library will loan musical instruments!
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Nov 12, 2022 09:47
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Finished the first obelisk book by Ari Marmell, and it's pretty good. It's kinda the mist meets Lovecraft meets event horizon with some extra what the gently caress thrown in. Basic plot synopsis is astronauts on the ISS wake up one day to see the earth covered in dust and storms and can't raise anyone on the radio anywhere. Things get worse from there. I think it's a 2 part series, or there's only been one more book announced so far.
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Nov 12, 2022 14:29
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Leng posted:Next read is The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty and I'm looking forward to this one. I've been stuck halfway through it for months. I loved the beginning where it's con tricks and survival in Cairo and I don't think I've got over the disappointment of that being swapped for "trekking through desert with hot angry guy with sad past omg he's hot omg he's angry omg he's hot".
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Nov 12, 2022 15:24
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Runcible Cat posted:I've been stuck halfway through it for months. I loved the beginning where it's con tricks and survival in Cairo and I don't think I've got over the disappointment of that being swapped for "trekking through desert with hot angry guy with sad past omg he's hot omg he's angry omg he's hot". It gets better when they get to the city of Djinn and turns into political intrigue
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Nov 12, 2022 16:02
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Stuporstar posted:It gets better when they get to the city of Djinn and turns into political intrigue I must be pretty nearly to that point, but the "young prince learning about how racist his society is" bits haven't particularly gripped me either... Maybe I'll give it a final go after I've read the John Collier collection I've got on the ereader and the pile of geriatric Puffins I've got on the bedside table.
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Nov 12, 2022 16:12
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The Devil You Know (Felix Castor #1) by MR Carey - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000QRIGVM/
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Nov 12, 2022 16:23
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Runcible Cat posted:I must be pretty nearly to that point, but the "young prince learning about how racist his society is" bits haven't particularly gripped me either... I enjoyed the series but if you're halfway through the first book and it's not grabbed you it might just not be your jam.
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Nov 12, 2022 16:46
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She Who Became The Sun was alright but yeah it totally should have been an actual wuxia novel.
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Nov 12, 2022 18:58
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Larry Parrish posted:She Who Became The Sun was alright but yeah it totally should have been an actual wuxia novel. It felt like that’s what her intentions were in writing it; it just took a bit to get to the payoff.
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Nov 12, 2022 21:13
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Runcible Cat posted:I've been stuck halfway through it for months. I loved the beginning where it's con tricks and survival in Cairo and I don't think I've got over the disappointment of that being swapped for "trekking through desert with hot angry guy with sad past omg he's hot omg he's angry omg he's hot". It definitely veers into goofy angsty romance territory. I thought it was fun in the first book but the repetition in the other two gets a little tired
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Nov 12, 2022 21:15
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Runcible Cat posted:I've been stuck halfway through it for months. I loved the beginning where it's con tricks and survival in Cairo and I don't think I've got over the disappointment of that being swapped for "trekking through desert with hot angry guy with sad past omg he's hot omg he's angry omg he's hot". Give up if you're wavering already, it doesn't get better. I read the entire series.
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Nov 12, 2022 21:51
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I agree with the others about the City of Brass series. I enjoyed the second book and stalled out entirely in the second. It's good, it just wasn't my jam.
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Nov 12, 2022 23:24
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Runcible Cat posted:I've been stuck halfway through it for months. I loved the beginning where it's con tricks and survival in Cairo and I don't think I've got over the disappointment of that being swapped for "trekking through desert with hot angry guy with sad past omg he's hot omg he's angry omg he's hot". Larry Parrish posted:She Who Became The Sun was alright but yeah it totally should have been an actual wuxia novel. RDM fucked around with this message at 02:55 on Nov 13, 2022 |
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Nov 13, 2022 02:53
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Maybe once it goes off the rails more it'll end up being like that but right now it's kind of like... Historical fanfiction. Lol. Idk how to describe it. It feels weird in a way historical fiction normally doesn't to me.
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Nov 13, 2022 04:41
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Haha, historical fanfiction is actually not a bad description, tho I'd clarify that i think it's enjoyable & well written. i might've been wrong to bring wuxia into it but the latter half of the book does feel very Romance of the Three Kingdoms/musou game-ish; bloody soap opera stuff with heroes charging around with their thundering herds edit: i think the historical fiction vs fan fiction thing is that the story has these grimdark trappings but there's actually a decent amount of tropey silliness going on, too, that you get from "historical" k-dramas and Chinese kung fu/wuxia stuff. It turned it into a really fun book for me but you do kinda have to just embrace that vibe and go with it and that might not be everyone's cup of tea. idiotsavant fucked around with this message at 07:05 on Nov 13, 2022 |
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Nov 13, 2022 06:54
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I finished reading Iron Widow and in the end it turned out to be... not really that great. After a really fast-paced opening, the middle was bogged down with a lot of low-stakes drama and a rather unconvincing romance. It was interesting to see polyamory represented (I think this might be the first novel I've ever read with poly characters?) but I didn't feel the chemistry between any of the characters in the triangle. The pace did pick up again toward the end and it was pretty great that it actually followed through on the protagonist going Full Fascist and squishing her entire family.
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Nov 13, 2022 08:07
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Currently reading The Raven Tower and it's pretty good. The protagonist is apparently trans, though it's hard to tell because the narration is split between second person for the protagonist and first person for the narrator, who seems to be some kind of really old god/monster/alien or something. I like the "gods can't lie" in the sense they if they say something definitive it has to either be true or they risk using up their life/power to make it true.
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Nov 13, 2022 12:17
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idiotsavant posted:Haha, historical fanfiction is actually not a bad description, tho I'd clarify that i think it's enjoyable & well written. i might've been wrong to bring wuxia into it but the latter half of the book does feel very Romance of the Three Kingdoms/musou game-ish; bloody soap opera stuff with heroes charging around with their thundering herds It's not a problem that it's like that, exactly, and to be clear I did think the book was enjoyable. It's maybe a 7 for me. But I just think it's in an awkward place straddling the two genres of historical fiction and fantasy lol. Like if it had no supernatural elements or w.e. at all, I wouldn't have noticed. If it went whole hog wuxia on it and everyone powers up like Goku before a fight i also wouldn't have noticed.
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Nov 13, 2022 15:13
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also it's kind of hilarious that the book was largely not terribly explicit/gory pretty much the whole way through, until that one governor gets burned alive in horrific detail and then there's a lesbian fisting scene that's also in sudden expanded detail. something about the two big scenes like that is funny to me
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Nov 13, 2022 15:14
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Steel Beach (Eight Worlds #2) by John Varley - $4.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AFX4EFY/
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Nov 13, 2022 16:54
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Everyone posted:Currently reading The Raven Tower and it's pretty good. The protagonist is apparently trans, though it's hard to tell because the narration is split between second person for the protagonist and first person for the narrator, who seems to be some kind of really old god/monster/alien or something. I like the "gods can't lie" in the sense they if they say something definitive it has to either be true or they risk using up their life/power to make it true.
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Nov 13, 2022 16:57
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I was gonna say, Raven Tower is like Ann decided to write a book narrated by a rock, but not as a joke. It's really good.
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Nov 13, 2022 17:00
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Raven Tower is probably my single favorite fantasy novel. Definitely my favorite stand-alone one.
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Nov 13, 2022 17:42
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Larry Parrish posted:also it's kind of hilarious that the book was largely not terribly explicit/gory pretty much the whole way through, until that one governor gets burned alive in horrific detail and then there's a lesbian fisting scene that's also in sudden expanded detail. something about the two big scenes like that is funny to me lol yeah she goes from "little bit of titillating detail then fade out" sex straight to hardcore horny poo poo, it was definitely hilarious. And I see what you're saying with the fantasy thing. I don't really mind all the stuff about fate since it all can scan as Zhu's own megalomaniac interpretation of her reality, but the divine power & ghost stuff is just kinda window dressing so far
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Nov 13, 2022 19:27
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AARD VARKMAN posted:Raven Tower is probably my single favorite fantasy novel. Definitely my favorite stand-alone one. Even though its a stand-alone, it feels like it's a really distant prequel to Robert Jackson Bennet's Divine Cities trilogy. This is not a bad thing by any means.
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Nov 13, 2022 19:31
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idiotsavant posted:lol yeah she goes from "little bit of titillating detail then fade out" sex straight to hardcore horny poo poo, it was definitely hilarious. And I see what you're saying with the fantasy thing. I don't really mind all the stuff about fate since it all can scan as Zhu's own megalomaniac interpretation of her reality, but the divine power & ghost stuff is just kinda window dressing so far I took the progression of fade-out sex to hardcore sex as just part of the whole novel ramping up as the character grew more confident (and controlling). Like there’s definitely a “gently caress this, I’m going all the way” quality to the lesbian fisting scene that makes it part of their character development, and I was fine with it Though I do seek out LGBT sff erotica I dunno, dudes have been shoving sex poo poo into sff for so long, I think sff lesbians can have a lil bit of explicit sex on the side
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Nov 13, 2022 19:56
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Yeah I have had complaints from my queer women about fading out sex scenes. Which given all the pretty explicit violence is probably fair. So I tried doing more, I dunno, artfully indirect but narrated stuff. To what success I don’t know but it hasn’t made anyone particularly mad yet, unlike the characters thinking about sex when not actively having it, which seems to annoy some people, like brains need to stay in their lane more.
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Nov 13, 2022 20:47
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General Battuta posted:Yeah I have had complaints from my queer women about fading out sex scenes. Which given all the pretty explicit violence is probably fair. So I tried doing more, I dunno, artfully indirect but narrated stuff. To what success I don’t know but it hasn’t made anyone particularly mad yet, unlike the characters thinking about sex when not actively having it, which seems to annoy some people, like brains need to stay in their lane more. My favoritest example of sex brain is in Snow Falling on Cedars when the widow is daydreaming about how she'll never get hosed in the shower by her dead big-dicked husband again during the trial of his accused murderer. like i get that the brain does weird things, but really? and sure, people think about sex all the time but people do a lot of poo poo in their head all the time that doesn't necessarily need to be conveyed in writing. Chekov's sex brain? lol
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Nov 13, 2022 22:18
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Everyone posted:Even though its a stand-alone, it feels like it's a really distant prequel to Robert Jackson Bennet's Divine Cities trilogy. This is not a bad thing by any means. she also wrote 7 or 8 stories in the same universe and they're all great
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Nov 13, 2022 22:20
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idiotsavant posted:My favoritest example of sex brain is in Snow Falling on Cedars when the widow is daydreaming about how she'll never get hosed in the shower by her dead big-dicked husband again during the trial of his accused murderer. like i get that the brain does weird things, but really? and sure, people think about sex all the time but people do a lot of poo poo in their head all the time that doesn't necessarily need to be conveyed in writing. Chekov's sex brain? lol There's a definite human thing where grief, death or near-death experiences can turn your thoughts to sex, but I don't think I've ever seen a writer capture it in a way that feels believable and not goofy as hell on the other end of the spectrum you have Stephen King who makes sure no sex gun goes unfired, often culminating into extremely uncomfortable and very detailed sex scenes that everyone hates yet can never forget
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Nov 13, 2022 22:48
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WarpDogs posted:There's a definite human thing where grief, death or near-death experiences can turn your thoughts to sex, but I don't think I've ever seen a writer capture it in a way that feels believable and not goofy as hell That's the thing. Sometimes a writer pulls it off and it is both well-executed and serves a narrative purpose, but all else being equal, I *generally* find it works better if they just draw a line of asterisks across the page and move on, mostly because the reward of a well done scene is usually just "oh my" while the risk is "welp, that just turned into either porn, parody, or both." Hieronymous Alloy fucked around with this message at 23:22 on Nov 13, 2022 |
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Nov 13, 2022 23:06
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I really liked the scenes in A Desolation Called Peace - they had just enough "action" before the courtesy fade-out, and then had like.. real consequences for scenes either side of them.
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Nov 13, 2022 23:34
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idiotsavant posted:My favoritest example of sex brain is in Snow Falling on Cedars when the widow is daydreaming about how she'll never get hosed in the shower by her dead big-dicked husband again during the trial of his accused murderer. like i get that the brain does weird things, but really? and sure, people think about sex all the time but people do a lot of poo poo in their head all the time that doesn't necessarily need to be conveyed in writing. Chekov's sex brain? lol Well clearly the author is just establishing the, uh, the girth of her loss. The heft of it. The, um, the void left in her by his absence. The empty space he used to fill.
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Nov 13, 2022 23:48
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the gaping wound it left her with
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Nov 14, 2022 00:52
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Lord Bob posted:I really liked the scenes in A Desolation Called Peace - they had just enough "action" before the courtesy fade-out, and then had like.. real consequences for scenes either side of them. mmm if i recall there was also explicit fisting in that one
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Nov 14, 2022 00:52
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General Battuta posted:Well clearly the author is just establishing the, uh, the girth of her loss. The heft of it. The, um, the void left in her by his absence. The empty space he used to fill. Stop beating around the bush and come up with a firm point.
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Nov 14, 2022 01:05
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AARD VARKMAN posted:Raven Tower is probably my single favorite fantasy novel. Definitely my favorite stand-alone one. I read this on the thread's recommendation, and it didn't really click with me. Like I appreciated the themes and so on, but it felt a bit clunky. The pacing was felt off, the prose really needed some polish, and the plot felt contrived. I don't entirely regret reading it, but am not excited to read more in the series.
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Nov 14, 2022 01:21
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