|
Lead out in cuffs posted: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. Good news is it's a standalone! Unrelated to that, I just started reading Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner and I'm digging it a lot already. It looks like there's a series but they're also all sort of stand alone? Anyone read any of the rest of them? How are they?
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2022 02:08
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 20, 2024 11:46 |
|
|
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. Hieronymous Alloy posted: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." I'm pretty much okay with foreplay-fadeout. We all know how sex works and if you absolutely, positively want to see explicit sex between women, men, groups, etc, porn on the internet is right the gently caress there. Doktor Avalanche posted:she also wrote 7 or 8 stories in the same universe and they're all great Are they collected anywhere? I'll have to check them out after I finish the book.
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2022 02:28
|
|
|
Man I remember the dumbest I felt was when I had a moment of clarity at the Superman/wonder woman sex scene in the kingdom come novelization. It didn't click for like 3 solid minutes of rereading, I was mostly going "why is green lantern loving with the dials?".....  oh.Completely flew over my head at the time. It was like a complicated fade to black scenario I guess but it just took a while to parse the meaning.
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2022 02:38
|
|
|
You don't even need a drat hint and fadeout, if a couple spends a night in a room together it's obvious what's going to happen
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2022 02:52
|
|
|
Stuporstar posted: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 Yeah it actually kind of fits Zhu's character to be like that all of a sudden. I just found it amusing that the book largely didn't get into details of either sex or gore, except for two scenes that pop out because of the detail in contrast
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2022 02:59
|
|
|
DurianGray posted:Unrelated to that, I just started reading Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner and I'm digging it a lot already. It looks like there's a series but they're also all sort of stand alone? Anyone read any of the rest of them? How are they? Consensus seems to be Swordspoint is the best, but I accidentally read Fall of the Kings first and I still prefer it. The protagonist is a historian and iirc the early plot hinges on an academic dispute as to the accuracy of a particular legend, complete with lectures in auditoria and academic debates in student bars. I loved that about it. Everyone posted:I'm pretty much okay with foreplay-fadeout. We all know how sex works and if you absolutely, positively want to see explicit sex between women, men, groups, etc, porn on the internet is right the gently caress there. I don't want to do this discourse again, can we skip it this time
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2022 03:08
|
|
|
tiniestacorn posted:Consensus seems to be Swordspoint is the best, but I accidentally read Fall of the Kings first and I still prefer it. The protagonist is a historian and iirc the early plot hinges on an academic dispute as to the accuracy of a particular legend, complete with lectures in auditoria and academic debates in student bars. I loved that about it. Oh that sounds like it's right up my alley, thank you! I also agree that nothing seems to have ever really been gained here by the "some people hate sex scenes in fiction, some people don't" discourse. Maybe it's time to just fade to black on that conversation.
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2022 03:15
|
|
|
The Pastel City is really not putting it's best foot forward. Whole lot of telling not showing and it feels rather mundane for a dying earth story as well. I heard some peeps talking Virconium up as Botns level weird poo poo and so far it isn't matching that expectation.
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2022 03:18
|
|
|
DurianGray posted:Good news is it's a standalone! I'm pretty sure I checked the author's website and there were at least one, maybe two sequels listed. Oh for gently caress's sake I read The Raven Tower by Emma Miles, not the one by Ann Leckie which is presumably the one you're all talking about. I feel like I even got it cheap from one of the links in this thread. Yeah it was pretty generic pablum. Lol I guess I'd better read the correct Raven Tower then.
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2022 04:26
|
|
|
Lead out in cuffs posted:I'm pretty sure I checked the author's website and there were at least one, maybe two sequels listed. 
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2022 04:44
|
|
|
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". Alright I started this today. We wake up at an oasis in the desert by Chapter 3 and we're off on our journey by the end of the chapter. Let's see how much angsting I can put up with! Lead out in cuffs posted:Lol I guess I'd better read the correct Raven Tower then. Do!
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2022 04:52
|
|
|
Lead out in cuffs posted:Lol I guess I'd better read the correct Raven Tower then. The Two Towers strikes again
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2022 05:08
|
|
|
tiniestacorn posted:mmm if i recall there was also explicit fisting in that one I read this while out of my mind on COVID but I'm sure I would have remembered this are you sure
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2022 05:57
|
|
|
sebmojo posted:I read this while out of my mind on COVID but I'm sure I would have remembered this are you sure my bad, Mahit only references it after she wakes up from the fade to black (page 341 if you have the hardcover handy)
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2022 06:44
|
|
|
He whisked off her shoes and panties in one movement, wild like an enraged shark, his bulky totem beating a seductive rhythm. Mary's body felt like it was burning, even though the room was properly air-conditioned. They tried all the positions: on top, doggy, and normal. Exhausted, they collapsed onto the recently extended sofa-bed. Then a hell beast ate them.
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2022 08:01
|
|
|
Please refrain from hacking my unpublished novel in google docs.
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2022 08:11
|
|
|
Semi related, I remember a piece of comic romance* writing from years ago which included “he wrapped his arms around her tightly, twice (his arms were very long)” and I was trying to remember where it was from. Does anyone have any idea? *Also works as horror, I guess!
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2022 09:26
|
|
|
Just finished the Broken Room. Very entertaining but written in a way that is clearly begging for it to be filmed. Only bit that made my eyes roll hard was the appearance of a crazy assassin that disguises herself as a schoolgirl, like dude come the gently caress on this is the very opposite of original Ending made me grin tho and certainly made the airport more bearable
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2022 10:16
|
|
|
Everyone posted:Are they collected anywhere? I'll have to check them out after I finish the book. not as far as I know, but check your PMs
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2022 10:17
|
|
|
Everyone posted:I'm pretty much okay with foreplay-fadeout. We all know how sex works and if you absolutely, positively want to see explicit sex between women, men, groups, etc, porn on the internet is right the gently caress there. If you want to read several pages of enormous pricks being stuck up twats, just come to this thread and start criticising Alfred Bester.  Seriously though: there's a reason why there's a Bad Sex In Literature Award. Before sex can be interesting, after sex can be interesting, but the part in between is like reading an IKEA manual. "Insert Tab A into Slot B and rotate 90 degrees clockwise".
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2022 11:21
|
|
|
Jedit posted:If you want to read several pages of enormous pricks being stuck up twats, just come to this thread and start criticising Alfred Bester. Yeah, like, even when I was a hormonal yet inexperienced teenager and really interested in reading about shall we say the finer points of adult activities... it was a pretty rare occasion that I found such a scene in an otherwise non-erotica book to be anything other than awkward and wasteful. Basically, it seems to be pretty difficult to write a good and memorable sex scene, usually you're better off just dealing with the implications and consequences, where they matter for plot or character development.
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2022 11:30
|
|
|
Gaius Marius posted:The Pastel City is really not putting it's best foot forward. Whole lot of telling not showing and it feels rather mundane for a dying earth story as well. I heard some peeps talking Virconium up as Botns level weird poo poo and so far it isn't matching that expectation.
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2022 13:30
|
|
|
Kesper North posted:The Two Towers strikes again A second tower has struck the title.
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2022 14:51
|
|
|
Groke posted:Yeah, like, even when I was a hormonal yet inexperienced teenager and really interested in reading about shall we say the finer points of adult activities... it was a pretty rare occasion that I found such a scene in an otherwise non-erotica book to be anything other than awkward and wasteful. Basically, it seems to be pretty difficult to write a good and memorable sex scene, usually you're better off just dealing with the implications and consequences, where they matter for plot or character development. I find it’s probably cuz non-erotica/romance authors seem to think writing a sex scene involves all that insert tab a into slot b poo poo, when a good erotica author understands its the character’s emotions and reactions that matter and the mechanics can be glossed over, focusing on just the highlights, because describing it with as much detail as an instruction manual is loving boring, like an action scene that describes every single punch rather than sticking to the only moves that matter And I guess I’m a lot more tolerant of genre blending than some people, but if there’s a really good romance inside a good sff novel, I’m there for it. I get some people really don’t like those two things touching Stuporstar fucked around with this message at 14:56 on Nov 14, 2022 |
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2022 14:51
|
|
|
Jedit posted:Seriously though: there's a reason why there's a Bad Sex In Literature Award. Before sex can be interesting, after sex can be interesting, but the part in between is like reading an IKEA manual. "Insert Tab A into Slot B and rotate 90 degrees clockwise". Nah but we're not gonna get anywhere interesting in this conversation.
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2022 14:53
|
|
|
There's a "horrotica" section at the back of Garth Marenghi's TerrorTome if you'd like some real writing.
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2022 15:15
|
|
|
Groke posted:Yeah, like, even when I was a hormonal yet inexperienced teenager and really interested in reading about shall we say the finer points of adult activities... it was a pretty rare occasion that I found such a scene in an otherwise non-erotica book to be anything other than awkward and wasteful. Basically, it seems to be pretty difficult to write a good and memorable sex scene, usually you're better off just dealing with the implications and consequences, where they matter for plot or character development. There's a reason "boring as gently caress(ing)" is a thing.
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2022 15:41
|
|
|
Lead out in cuffs posted:I'm pretty sure I checked the author's website and there were at least one, maybe two sequels listed. Lmfao I was pretty confused by your description of why you disliked it but I was willing to just accept your opinion. I can see how someone would dislike it but I figured, you know, it'd be because it's half in second person
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2022 15:47
|
|
|
General Battuta posted:Nah but we're not gonna get anywhere interesting in this conversation. My god - you mean we're having sex?
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2022 16:30
|
|
|
Tor has $2.99 November Sale across all online shops. You can find direct links to wherever you prefer to buy your ebooks here: https://www.torforgeblog.com/2022/11/01/2-99-ebook-sale-november-2022 Books included: Redshirts by John Scalzi Gil's All Fright Diner by A. Lee Martinez Everfair by Nisi Shawl The Beautiful Ones by Sylvia Moreno-Garcia Invisible Planets edited by Ken Liu Trouble the Saints by Alaya Dawn Johnson Sweep of Stars by Maurice Broaddus The Library of the Dead by T. L. Huchu Willful Child by Steven Erikson Ball Lightning by Cixin Liu At Amazon Kindle Daily Deals, the only one that caught my eye was American Science Fiction: Four Classic Novels 1968-1969 (LOA #322) (Library of America) - $2.99 Past Master by R. A. Lafferty Picnic on Paradise by Joanna Russ Nova by Samuel R. Delany Emphyrio by Jack Vance https://www.amazon.com/American-Science-Fiction-Classic-1968-1969-ebook/dp/B07M6D2FVT and on my own wish list, it's the first time I've this one with a 50% discount: Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky - $4.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07H29P76R
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2022 18:57
|
|
|
Best sex scene in fantasy fiction is in Harrow the Ninth where Harrow regrows Ianthe's arm bones and I don't care that there's no sex in it, it's absolutely a sex scene.
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2022 19:07
|
|
|
<sarcasm> Nah. If you want to read several pages of enormous pricks being stuck up twats, just come to this thread and start criticising M John Harrison's Pastel City: Pastel City takes awhile to get interesting. Before the interesting bits in Pastel City happen, it's more like a homage to Alexandre Dumas's "Twenty Years After" with mild Michael Moorcock/Jack Vance elements rather than a identi-kit clone of a Michael Moorcock fantasy story or a Jack Vance fantasy story. The next two Viriconium books get weirder and more interesting in no small part because they build off the framework of ideas setup in Pastel City. sex scene chat: Not everyone in this thread wants to read about sex scenes in fantasy/scifi stories or how well the sex scenes in certain fantasy/scifi stories are integrated into the plot and ongoing motivations of the characters getting banged. I sure do not. Maybe do a dedicated spinoff thread, or discuss it on one of the official Book Barn discord server channels?
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2022 19:16
|
|
|
The best sex scenes in fantasy fiction are the password-protected posts for the Glamourist Histories on Marie Robinette Kowal's blog.
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2022 19:16
|
|
|
AARD VARKMAN posted:Lmfao I was pretty confused by your description of why you disliked it but I was willing to just accept your opinion. I can see how someone would dislike it but I figured, you know, it'd be because it's half in second person I kept wondering why everyone was going on about second-person narration. Like, I was two-thirds of the way through, and it hadn't appeared yet. Also why everyone kept saying the book was so great when it clearly wasn't. Welp.
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2022 19:26
|
|
|
quantumfoam posted:Not everyone in this thread wants to read about sex scenes in fantasy/scifi stories or how well the sex scenes in certain fantasy/scifi stories are integrated into the plot and ongoing motivations of the characters getting banged. I sure do not. Maybe do a dedicated spinoff thread, or discuss it on one of the official Book Barn discord server channels? Not everyone in this thread wants to read about everything in this thread. It's fine if it comes up now and then as long as it doesn't become everything in the thread.
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2022 19:31
|
|
|
I'm on book 3 of Marko Kloos's Frontlines series now and still enjoying it quite a bit. Straightforward mil-SF but competently done. The earlier books are all on KU, not sure about the later ones (book #8 came out this year). The aliens are 80 feet tall. Not sure that's really a spoiler but it comes up kinda late in book 1.
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2022 19:47
|
|
|
quantumfoam posted:sex scene chat: Says the one who came to this thread with a book report about Jack Chalker, but lesbian sex is too much? 
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2022 20:06
|
|
|
I've hit a point where I'd like more sci-fi/fantasy novels to have sex in them not for horny reasons but for the emotional reasons. I want more romance in genre fic, damnit. I want the knight to romance the princess. I want starship pilots to kiss before the big battle. I want more complicated relationship drama for characters to sort through while they're trying to sell magic potions! Or, I've been reading so much romance lately that I wade into genre fic and immediately beeline to people like Bujold because they know what I want.
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2022 20:19
|
|
|
AARD VARKMAN posted:I'm on book 3 of Marko Kloos's Frontlines series now and still enjoying it quite a bit. At what point do the protagonists defeat them with the combined powers of love and music?
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2022 20:54
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 20, 2024 11:46 |
|
|
AARD VARKMAN posted:I'm on book 3 of Marko Kloos's Frontlines series now and still enjoying it quite a bit. I really like these books but I just finished #8 and can't help but feel like the author ended it abruptly because he felt done. I can see a path to a conclusion for the conflict from here but it was disappointing to see the main character pull an "aight imma head out" and then fin Edit: I got around to looking it up on Reddit and I guess the answer from the author is that the series will continue, just with a different main character. Which is probably the right move. Tiny Timbs fucked around with this message at 21:14 on Nov 14, 2022 |
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2022 21:04
|
|
