|
I'll admit I've got pretty basic taste in books. I enjoy Sanderson though his prose bland but everybody knows it, including him. But his plotting and planning are strong. He's really good at laying down foreshadowing and world building and bringing it all together, even years down the line. And he's also prolific and consistent, across decades. In this way his cosmere stuff kinda reminds me of One Piece.
|
#
?
Feb 23, 2023 23:08
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 10, 2024 17:06 |
|
|
MarcusSA posted:You joke never.
|
|
#
?
Feb 23, 2023 23:18
|
|
|
 I can't tell if this description in Tyranny is meant to be funny or not.
|
|
#
?
Feb 23, 2023 23:52
|
|
|
Leraika posted:it is extremely YA fiction, with all that implies, but I'm a big fan of recommending The Ear, The Eye, and The Arm as one of my favorite sci-fi books This book rocks or at least my memory of it does. Anyone have opinions on Neal Stephenson's Anathem? My friend gave me a copy but it looks like a real door stopper. I've never read him before and have heard mixed things.
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2023 03:26
|
|
|
Reading is loving cool. Read whatever stuff you like imo. It's embarrassing to re-read Harry Potter or whatever nonstop as an adult but there are way worse things. I honestly think it better for you in general than watching a movie or something. Like the physical process of reading a book is just healthy and good imo.
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2023 03:31
|
|
|
BrownPepper posted:Anyone have opinions on Neal Stephenson's Anathem? My friend gave me a copy but it looks like a real door stopper. I've never read him before and have heard mixed things. It’s… fine. It held my attention the whole way through. I wouldn’t call it “great”, but I did find it enjoyable. I don’t remember any weird horny digressions in that particular book, but it’s been a long time. Stephenson has a distinctly longwinded style, but his prose is readable, even when he will not shut up about whatever technology he just made up. If you start the book and come to a point where you’re not enjoying it, just quit right there, because it ain’t getting better.
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2023 03:49
|
|
|
BrownPepper posted:This book rocks or at least my memory of it does. I've always struggled with Stephenson cuz he gets deep in the weeds. Cryptonomicon was a huge book with multiple storylines across two different time periods and made my head spin
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2023 03:50
|
|
|
Feels Villeneuve posted:i got into classical when everything was closed for lockdown and it hasnt stopped rip Nice. Who you into? Rachmaninoff is my fav
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2023 03:59
|
|
|
BrownPepper posted:Anyone have opinions on Neal Stephenson's Anathem? My friend gave me a copy but it looks like a real door stopper. I've never read him before and have heard mixed things. I loving loved it, though I don't know if I would recommend it. I loved Stephenson's Snow Crash, Cryptonomicon, uhhh that one about nanobots eating books, and Anathem. I couldn't get through any of his Baroque Cycle books... I put in like 400 pages but god drat I would say he started to get, for some, unbearably wordy around Anathem. I loved its pacing, though. Which is to say, slow. My boyfriend at the time once asked what it was about, and all I could say is "alternate dimension math-monks." He read it later and enjoyed it quite a bit. e: haha he and I are in touch and we still call our smartphones Jeejaws credburn has a new favorite as of 04:41 on Feb 24, 2023 |
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2023 04:39
|
|
|
Professor Latency posted:Nice. Who you into? Rachmaninoff is my fav Mahler and Berlioz currently OP. Schnittke and Rzewski for post-war stuff
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2023 04:53
|
|
|
BrownPepper posted:This book rocks or at least my memory of it does. i thought it was great but stephenson is very polarizing so if you start reading it and dont like it, it's probably not going to get any better for you if you stick with it
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2023 04:57
|
|
|
shelley posted:It’s… fine. It held my attention the whole way through. I wouldn’t call it “great”, but I did find it enjoyable. I don’t remember any weird horny digressions in that particular book, but it’s been a long time. Stephenson has a distinctly longwinded style, but his prose is readable, even when he will not shut up about whatever technology he just made up. yeah, stephenson is kind just... there. creepy weird sex stuff in snow crash aside, it's a mediocre novel with a few decent hooks, nothing too bad, cool ideas, and a bunch of super cringe nerd culture stuff that didn't age well. that's pretty much how every one of his novels goes. they're fine, have a few objectionable parts, and then every thing is tied up with a deus ex machina at the end.
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2023 09:04
|
|
|
Runa posted:I'll admit I've got pretty basic taste in books. Yeah and there's a lot of it and he publishes a new book every five minutes so there's always something to read even if it's not high art or whatever. He's also one of the few fantasy writers I've read who can actually write an satisfying ending that actually wraps things up
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2023 09:19
|
|
|
i realize stephenson is the same guy who wrote the diamond age which started off strong but it just ends abruptly when the main character rescues her surrogate mother from being sacrificed in a orgy that is also some sort of computer wetware thing i had a lot of questions at the end that didn’t get answered because there’s no “and this is what happened after the climax” wrapping things up. i read it in high school and i’m still wondering wtf was it about 15+ years later lol
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2023 09:44
|
|
|
Splash Attack posted:i realize stephenson is the same guy who wrote the diamond age which started off strong but it just ends abruptly when the main character rescues her surrogate mother from being sacrificed in a orgy that is also some sort of computer wetware thing lmao this was exactly what I was thinking of when I talked about fantasy authors not having good endings that book just loving stops. it's like he just got bored
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2023 09:47
|
|
|
he really does like to leave you to figure out what happens at the end of his books anathem is a fun intro to various philosophy 101 concepts imo, and it does the "opaque vocabulary" thing reasonably well. it's long but it's not challenging or brutal
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2023 09:50
|
|
|
CountryMatters posted:lmao this was exactly what I was thinking of when I talked about fantasy authors not having good endings to be fair, i did too.
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2023 09:51
|
|
|
Feels Villeneuve posted:Mahler and Berlioz currently OP. Schnittke and Rzewski for post-war stuff one of my new jobs is like 15 minutes away from one of mahler's houses at every time i pass it, i kind of lol.
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2023 09:54
|
|
|
BrownPepper posted:Reading is loving cool. Read whatever stuff you like imo. It's embarrassing to re-read Harry Potter or whatever nonstop as an adult but there are way worse things. I honestly think it better for you in general than watching a movie or something. Like the physical process of reading a book is just healthy and good imo. I used to read voraciously as a kid. I even did the whole cliched thing where you read under your covers with a flashlight until 3am. Gradually I moved onto video games, which was like reading a book that I could see and control But when I entered my 30s and started having kids and less time I rediscovered reading as if it were a long lost love. There's something about reading that feels like it's engaging your brain at the exact right speed - not too much stimulation, yet not too little. Hours can go by in a blur, yet it's super easy to just take a quick break whenever you want Plus I've sort of wrapped back around on the whole video game thing. I've always valued narrative and character writing over every other element in a game, even actual gameplay, so it's supremely embarrassingly to "rediscover" that books are nothing but that and are, generally, far superior to games or movies at delivering story and characters so yeah, reading is loving cool I'm currently reading book 1 of The Scholomance, A Deadly Education. It's firmly YA, and not in that wishy-washy way that female authors are often incorrectly pegged - it has all the tropes, all the hallmarks. It's good, not great, but I grabbed it on the promise that it was a different and more nuanced take on the Harry Potter formula, and yeah, it delivers on that.
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2023 10:05
|
|
|
CountryMatters posted:Yeah and there's a lot of it and he publishes a new book every five minutes so there's always something to read even if it's not high art or whatever. He's also one of the few fantasy writers I've read who can actually write an satisfying ending that actually wraps things up Sanderson is such an anomaly because his strengths are with areas that are very common weaknesses with other authors. Nobody could ever accuse him of flying by the seat of his pants, or fumbling an ending, or inconsistent worldbuilding. But his prose is just so workman-like, and the fact he's so prolific and all his stuff is connected has given him an almost MCU-esque reputation, with all that implies. I just really appreciate that he seems self aware of his own weaknesses and is genuinely improving with every new book, including in some very tangible ways, like with relationships and sex in general. He's iterative in a way that most authors aren't, and as such I'm always interested in the next thing he's writing because there's a chance it's even better
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2023 10:14
|
|
|
i thought he was too mormon to have sex in his books
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2023 10:17
|
|
|
WarpDogs posted:Sanderson is such an anomaly because his strengths are with areas that are very common weaknesses with other authors. Nobody could ever accuse him of flying by the seat of his pants, or fumbling an ending, or inconsistent worldbuilding. I could happily live without ever seeing him write a "funny" "precocious" child character ever again though tbh. His books are improving in some ways but he keeps trying to put comedy in them and he's so so loving bad at it. I literally had to put down the new wax and wayne and haven't started it up again because of the opening chapters with the ~~so wacky~~ young wayne and his silly hats. It's reddit-tier
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2023 10:19
|
|
|
if you thought book of the new sun was fun and not painful to read i suggest getting on Google play books and reading the march north by Grayson saunders. this man does not hold your hand at all. very little is ever explained explicitly. The characters all know this stuff, and they don't explain for the reader. Your thrust into this utterly alien society and world and have to figure out everything from context, it's amazing.
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2023 10:39
|
|
|
Larry Parrish posted:if you thought book of the new sun was fun and not painful to read i suggest getting on Google play books and reading the march north by Grayson saunders. this man does not hold your hand at all. very little is ever explained explicitly. The characters all know this stuff, and they don't explain for the reader. Your thrust into this utterly alien society and world and have to figure out everything from context, it's amazing. that definitely sounds like the sort of thing I'd be into; thanks for the rec
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2023 14:38
|
|
|
WarpDogs posted:I used to read voraciously as a kid. I even did the whole cliched thing where you read under your covers with a flashlight until 3am. Gradually I moved onto video games, which was like reading a book that I could see and control Same here! Once I started taking my kid to the library to maintain a tradition my parents had with me, I realized I should set an example by also getting books and reading during "quiet" times instead of scrolling my phone. It's been amazing to get back into it and rediscover how fun it is. Bonus side effect, my kid now pretends to read our big chapter books when we are all doing quiet time.
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2023 16:44
|
|
|
Larry Parrish posted:if you thought book of the new sun was fun and not painful to read i suggest getting on Google play books and reading the march north by Grayson saunders. this man does not hold your hand at all. very little is ever explained explicitly. The characters all know this stuff, and they don't explain for the reader. Your thrust into this utterly alien society and world and have to figure out everything from context, it's amazing. ooh, this sounds good, thanks larry!
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2023 16:45
|
|
|
If anyone is interested in the retro consoles the Miyoo Mini + just went up for pre order on https://www.keepretro.com/products/miyoo-mini-plus You are paying just a few $ extra to get it from this site but you won’t have to F5 the Miyoo AliExpress page when it goes live in March. Here’s a review video of it, https://youtu.be/PfclsJzeyr0 It’s a very portable / pocketable device.
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2023 18:53
|
|
|
Someone help me, I've been driving for 6.5 hours and still have 6 more to go
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2023 21:28
|
|
|
have you tried driving less
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2023 21:37
|
|
|
a fun reading experience is sinclair lewis, who is very funny and an interesting writer. but! he had a severe alcohol problem, would get sober before starting a book, but relapse at some point in the writing process and you can usually identify how far he got into the book before that happened. anyway, elmer gantry is hilarious.
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2023 21:37
|
|
|
Skypie posted:Someone help me, I've been driving for 6.5 hours and still have 6 more to go Sending my spirit energy HTH
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2023 21:38
|
|
|
https://twitter.com/B0xxmann/status/1622459999279624192
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2023 00:49
|
|
|
They played Twinsitters bout a month ago on the RLM thread movie night and it's a godamn masterpiece of charismatic himbo nonsense and worth a watch
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2023 00:55
|
|
|
Sounds like it's time for a watch party https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUWGwKMvxjE
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2023 00:59
|
|
|
oh hey, the Barbarian brothers 
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2023 01:19
|
|
|
They really loved oiled up men in the 80s didn't they.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2023 01:35
|
|
|
Larry Parrish posted:They really loved oiled up men in the 80s didn't they. every 80s action movie has a secret or not-so-secret gay subplot. Bennet is John Matrix's spurned lover in Commando.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2023 01:40
|
|
|
Larry Parrish posted:They really loved oiled up men in the 80s didn't they. football players were wearing crop tops. it was a different time.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2023 01:46
|
|
|
currently trying to get a successful run of the last boss of mega man zx advent that's to my satisfaction just upfront this is a shitload of words just about mega man minutiae so you already know whether to scroll past or not im kind of nostalgic for when i had the free time to dedicate arbitrary hours to self-imposed challenges with the franchise but at the moment i barely have time for regular gaming either so it's weirdly an ideal time to get back into it since i can just take whatever caustic amount of free time i have to game to theorize or experiment or put in attempts at whatever. it's entire for my own sake because ive always wanted to do something unique with this series in particular and it's pretty untouched in my history compared to the others in the franchise my obsession which ive posted about a few times in sagas and here has been doing what's in a nutshell mega man zero series style hard mode fights with the major bosses in the zx series, so im using model zx and im restricted to a very select few moves. no triple slashing, no rolling slash, no charged slash, etc. and im not using the buster. you can demolish bosses in microseconds in these games, even more extremely than in the mmz games, which is rewarding to maximize but it leaves kind of a gap in what people have popularly done with them even in challenges. my biggest drive beyond just getting to let the bosses properly sing is finding out if it's even possible which i still don't actually know lol stuff like the fire pillars in the prometheus and pandora fight in advent or the ice beam that lurrere uses in zx are intended to be worn down by rapidfire and it's earnestly surprised me there are hyper-specific avenues to avoid needing to do that. i posted a gif of it but the fire pillars have a weird rotating hitbox that you can stand in a magic handful of pixels between and do a standing turn at the right moment to avoid all contact with, and the ice bream has a few-frame window where a full jump will just barely avoid contacting it before it disippates. albert also has an attack meant to be repelled in his second form that's the apex right now though, it took hours across a week to even brainstorm a method to handle it and i was resigned to just having to get lucky enough to not see it at first. it's just on the cusp of possibility though and it loving murders my hands. there's a legal attack in my moveset that keeps a constant hitbox out and as long as that hitbox leaves and reenters an enemy's hitbox itll register a new hit provided they have no invincibility frames. you trigger it by holding down on the d-pad and holding the saber button after a midair slash. so where im at now is if i weave between left and right on the d-pad like a motherfucker while still keeping down held, i can get enough hits in on the attack fast and early enough to overcome it, but the input maneuver is so chaotic it's a crapshoot whether i'll both get enough hits when i need them but also trace a path of movement where i don't just faceplant the attack. i still haven't had all my ducks line up with the unreliable dodge and everything else that needs to go right in the fight. look at this, it's so absurd lol https://i.imgur.com/J8fh8rm.mp4 the reason this project has become such a rabbit hole is because i specifically want to orchestrate cinematic fights where everything lines up just so. like i wind up trying to work up a narrative flow with each boss i start learning and it winds up becoming exponentially difficult or unlikely to hit every element i want, like every boss attack and a counter to that attack for bosses that have a billion abilities or who normally only use some when they're guaranteed to connect or whatever, or an opportunity for unique combos which are few and far between on hard mode since your options for a proper attack order are so convoluted and limited. i like getting recorded battles that evoke like, old newgrounds sprite animations or that wuxia-inspired stick figure battle flash stuff but that actually worked out that way in-game. loving ridiculous sentence LMAO i still have no idea if the challenge is possible because of fights like fistleo or omega in zx who have really aggressive healing that's meant to be worn down quickly with high damage output and straightforward combos like the triple slash. im really looking forward to seeing if there's a way to work those out. mega man
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2023 05:54
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 10, 2024 17:06 |
|
|
Violen posted:
Is awesome
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2023 06:00
|
|