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D-Pad posted:I wish the new Bobiverse book would hurry up and come out already. Does anybody have any recommendations for dumb fun "daydream" sci-fi? Like it's fun because its the exact type of dumb scenario I would daydream about while trying to fall asleep. The web serial Time to Orbit: Unknown scratches a kind of similar itch. Man wakes up from deep sleep, and there are space problems. More survival focused and grounded than Bobiverse, but better world building. Alternatively, the Uplift series might fit the bill.
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Jul 20, 2023 12:27
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Haystack posted:The web serial Time to Orbit: Unknown scratches a kind of similar itch. Man wakes up from deep sleep, and there are space problems. More survival focused and grounded than Bobiverse, but better world building. I'd kill to be able to just put these sorts of things on my kindle app.
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Jul 20, 2023 13:48
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D-Pad posted:I wish the new Bobiverse book would hurry up and come out already. Does anybody have any recommendations for dumb fun "daydream" sci-fi? Like it's fun because its the exact type of dumb scenario I would daydream about while trying to fall asleep. I think I was looking for something like this when I started Beware of Chicken, it's kind of what you describe, but fantasy. Pretty much like, yea if I got sucked into some fantasy world full of super-powerful super-assholes I don't think I could be a super-rear end in a top hat too, I'd go do my own thing and still end up more powerful anyway.
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Jul 20, 2023 14:17
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e: nm
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Jul 20, 2023 16:00
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A Proper Uppercut posted:super-assholes New Jack Martingale prompt
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Jul 20, 2023 16:21
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Fiasco by Stanislaw Lem - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008R2J70M/ Peace on Earth (From the Memoirs of Ijon Tichy #4) by Stanislaw Lem - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008533DBW/
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Jul 20, 2023 16:46
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Just finished Count Zero. Which was pretty good, not as good as Neuromancer and a couple of bits were definitely a bit cringe, but still good. I think I understood most of the plot even though it was pretty complex, but what I missed was, why did Maas want Marly's ex to sell her the location of the Boxmaker? And why did they not act on their knowledge of the Boxmaker themselves?
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Jul 20, 2023 17:43
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Awkward Davies posted:Really enjoying Fine Structure by qntm. I picked it up bc it was mentioned in this thread recently, but I’m not sure by who. Thank you, whoever that was. Yeah! Glad to be of service. qntm reminds me a little of early Greg Egan. This is strong praise.
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Jul 20, 2023 23:06
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Anyone here a fan of the Amber Series by Zelazny? Finished the first half of the series, books 1-5, and I can't say a loved it. The first was actually really cool, I started it right after seeing Bourne so the parallels were palatable and having such a cool concept and pairing it with an amnesiac protagonist stuck right in the spiderweb of intrigue worked pretty drat well. It even ended well with Corwin failing, but pulling off an unlikely escape that introduces a bunch more mysteries that he should be pursuing but doesn't because of his sole fixation on dethroning Eric. Starting with the second though it feels like each novel lost a little bit of that magic. Zelazny seems to have ran out of ideas for interesting locations as time went on so we go from Amber, Earth, Rebma, and various stopovers in the first novel to just Amber, Earth, and Chaos for the last two. The more we learn about The Pattern, Corwin's accident, and Oberon's dissaperance the less interesting any of it is, eventually getting to the point where half the novels feel like one character postulating something and the other half confirming half and denying the other. Brand and Chaos never manage to be interesting as villains, Brand is resentful and jealous of his siblings and father, and the long digressions Corwin goes let us know that he himself could feel more than a little like Brand at times and it's only his long exile and return that managed to change his perspective. But daddy issues an interesting villain does not make, nor does the blank slate of Chaos whose representation in Dara is absent for most of the novels and when she returns it's not in their host and with Merlin the representation is even more lacking, almost a second for Random's son, which makes me wonder why he needs to exist aside from serving as future protagonist. The worst annoyance though is the lack of use of the actual mechanics of the series. You've got a family battling in the most underhanded ways through an entire cosmos of reflections and yet we see so very little of the universe, and what we do see is largely a passing flash from horseback. Would it have killed Zelazny to have a few less "Hellrides" and a few more actual adventures like we had in Lorraine, Earth, and Avalon? More weird episodes like Corwin stopping off at the Leperchaun den and less endless pages about how tired his horse is. Large stretches of the final two novels felt like nothing but horse rides and tired philosophical babble. Also, perhaps it's just my perspective lacking, but Chaos/Amber felt like a meterstick with one at each end, when logically shouldn't it be more Miltonian in cosmology with Amber as the firmament of order, from which all ordered and proper structure emanates from, hanging in precarious void between endless Chaos. A chaos that would forever be apart from order except the very fringes if not for the destruction of the true symbol of order allowing the chaos to mar it. It felt polar and that doesn't sit right with me. Then again Chaos having a court is also very confusing to me. I don't know, they were enjoyable enough at the start and less and less so as the series went on. I'll probably still finish the series given how short they are in all.
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Jul 21, 2023 00:54
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Haystack posted:The web serial Time to Orbit: Unknown scratches a kind of similar itch. Man wakes up from deep sleep, and there are space problems. More survival focused and grounded than Bobiverse, but better world building. Thanks for this. Loving this I'm already halfway through. You completely hosed my day. Any more recommendations along these lines would be appreciated
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Jul 21, 2023 00:57
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Gaius Marius posted:Anyone here a fan of the Amber Series by Zelazny? Finished the first half of the series, books 1-5, and I can't say a loved it. Zelazny is probably my favorite fantasy author but the Amber books were quite explicitly written because he was broke and needed cash; he just sat down, thought "what's the best pageturner I can write? Amnesia opening GO" and starting puttin out pages. It's a fun light read because Zelazny is Zelazny, especially as a sort of academic exercise in watching a master just writing by the seat of his pants, but I'd recommend almost any other Zelazny over it. My favorites are Isle of the Dead, Lord of Light, and A Night in the Lonesome October (to the point that I named one of my dogs Snuff).
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Jul 21, 2023 01:00
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:Zelazny is probably my favorite fantasy author but the Amber books were quite explicitly written because he was broke and needed cash; he just sat down, thought "what's the best pageturner I can write? Amnesia opening GO" and starting puttin out pages. seconding this, Zelanzy wrote some absolute schlock to pay the bills and some of the greatest SciFi ever written, Lord of Light being one of my favourite books ever. Amber is set over two arcs, 1-5 then 6-10, the first arc, Corwin is the better one imo but the other is pretty readable too. From 'To Die In ITALBA' (1) to 'Lord of Light' (10) with 'Roger Zelanzy's Alien Speedway*' (5) i'd give Amber overall a six. *cool name, cool premiss, very average writing
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Jul 21, 2023 01:41
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Groke posted:Yeah! Glad to be of service. Just finished it. God that was wild. Really really enjoyed it. Slightly dragged in the late middle and the abrupt changes in every chapter were tough, but bearable. I read a review that said something like “a few chapters in I decided this was a book of short stories. It isn’t”. I had the same experience. So interesting and imaginative. Thanks for recommending.
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Jul 21, 2023 03:38
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Awkward Davies posted:Just finished it. God that was wild. Really really enjoyed it. Slightly dragged in the late middle and the abrupt changes in every chapter were tough, but bearable. I read a review that said something like “a few chapters in I decided this was a book of short stories. It isn’t”. I had the same experience. A common experience, that. Especially since I'd recently read Valuable Humans in Transit, which is a bunch of wild-rear end short stories.
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Jul 21, 2023 10:11
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:Zelazny is probably my favorite fantasy author but the Amber books were quite explicitly written because he was broke and needed cash; he just sat down, thought "what's the best pageturner I can write? Amnesia opening GO" and starting puttin out pages. I've advocated for them before in this thread but if your local library has a copy of 'Bring Me the Head of Prince Charming' and the sequel 'If at Faust You Don't Succeed' give them a borrow. (I don't think they've ever released as an ebook) Very fun fantasy farce, kind of like Pratchett but skewing more to traditional folk and fairy tales rather than contemporary fantasy. If you do hit up a library see if they have The Doors of his Face, the Lamps of his Mouth. It's a collection of his earliest writings that he made his name with. I love Zelazny, when I was kid I had finished all 10 Amber books before I ever touched Tolkein and it's probably why I have such an affinity for Trickster and noir style Detective stories. Macdeo Lurjtux fucked around with this message at 20:40 on Jul 21, 2023 |
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Jul 21, 2023 20:35
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Macdeo Lurjtux posted:I've advocated for them before in this thread but if your local library has a copy of 'Bring Me the Head of Prince Charming' and the sequel 'If at Faust You Don't Succeed' give them a borrow. (I don't think they've ever released as an ebook) Same. 9 Princes in Amber might have been the first Fantasy book I ever read. Certainly the first big series.
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Jul 21, 2023 23:04
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Whenever talk of Roger Zelazny crops up, I gotta recommend Doorways in the Sand and Eye of Cat.
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Jul 22, 2023 04:14
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My Zelazny reading is far from comprehensive but I really enjoyed The Changing Land. Just wall to wall wiz biz
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Jul 22, 2023 04:52
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I haven't read anything in a while, but I just finished The Lattice Trilogy by Erik E. Hanberg and I enjoyed it. Set in a future with widespread mind reading technology and perfect vision of the past there is no privacy. I liked the fast pace of the story and it felt pretty grounded. I recommend it if you're looking for Sci-fi that's a quick read and not too heavy or silly.
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Jul 22, 2023 07:05
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Currently in the middle of a re-read of The Traitor Baru Cormorant, while also being neck deep in my second go-round of Aubrey-Maturin. Question for General Battuta, have you read A-M and did it influence any of the naval combat scenes? Maybe it's just the stuff I'm normally into doesn't involve sailing navy ships, but the first time I'd ever heard of terms like weather gage was in the A-M books.
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Jul 22, 2023 12:52
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I hadn’t read Aubrey Maturin at the time, I am actually listening to them right now as audiobooks. Currently on book 3 and just hit “Jack, you have debauched my sloth”
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Jul 22, 2023 13:09
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General Battuta posted:just hit “Jack, you have debauched my sloth” I am so envious of anyone getting to read those books for the first time
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Jul 22, 2023 13:16
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General Battuta posted:I hadn’t read Aubrey Maturin at the time, I am actually listening to them right now as audiobooks. Currently on book 3 and just hit “Jack, you have debauched my sloth” Oh that's great. I think audiobook is great for these because the voice acting gives more context for a lot of stuff people would normally have a tough time understanding.
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Jul 22, 2023 13:21
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General Battuta posted:I hadn’t read Aubrey Maturin at the time, I am actually listening to them right now as audiobooks. Currently on book 3 and just hit “Jack, you have debauched my sloth” Lol sick. The run from book 1 through desolation island is unmatched
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Jul 22, 2023 13:28
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navyjack posted:Same. 9 Princes in Amber might have been the first Fantasy book I ever read. Certainly the first big series. Zelazny was also by a fairly long stretch the best writer in the Wild Cards Collective, and certainly the best of the original 1980s crew. The only others who even come close are Walter Jon Williams, Pat Cadigan and GRRM himself in his prime.
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Jul 22, 2023 13:37
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The second Temeraire book became available on Libby. Seems pretty clear that Novik has read Aubrey-Maturin so I googled it and found this NPR article. “Not to mention her not-so-secret love of Patrick O'Brien's Aubrey-Maturin series, whose profound bond between its main characters, Captain Jack Aubrey and his ship's surgeon Stephen Maturin, bears a reverential resemblance to the friendship of Laurence and Temeraire.” https://www.npr.org/2016/06/14/481391755/temeraire-and-laurence-at-peace-at-last-in-league-of-dragons Traveling to china with the Chinese prince reminded me strongly of traveling with Fox to Pulo Prabang in the 13 gun salute. Though they haven’t left harbor yet so I don’t know how things turn out
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Jul 22, 2023 13:48
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Awkward Davies posted:The second Temeraire book became available on Libby. Seems pretty clear that Novik has read Aubrey-Maturin so I googled it and found this NPR article. Yeah AFAIK she started those books essentially as fanfic, and good for her
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Jul 22, 2023 14:40
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Temeraire is essentially Aubrey maturin famfic yeah. The first few books are quite good but it has the Dune problem: if you ever get to a point where you think "this sucks now, when will it get good again?" That's never gonna happen it will only become more and more itself and never return to what it was.
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Jul 22, 2023 14:48
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:Temeraire is essentially Aubrey maturin famfic yeah. The first few books are quite good but it has the Dune problem: if you ever get to a point where you think "this sucks now, when will it get good again?" That's never gonna happen it will only become more and more itself and never return to what it was. Yeah, I dipped out in the South America book I think, and I don't feel upset with it. What a good time. I'm reading Dune now finally! It slaps.
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Jul 22, 2023 14:52
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Awkward Davies posted:Really enjoying Fine Structure by qntm. I picked it up bc it was mentioned in this thread recently, but I’m not sure by who. Thank you, whoever that was. Same. I read both Fine Structure and the There Is No Antimemetics Division in the last few days. Was pleasantly surprised - both of them were a super fun ride. If anyone has recommendations for more books like this, I'd be all over it.
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Jul 22, 2023 16:25
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Finished The Gone World and really enjoyed that one, although I'm not sure I "got" the epilogue - is the implication that the father of her child will go to space and discover the planet anyway? Also, how's Tomorrow and Tomorrow?
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Jul 22, 2023 16:30
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:I am so envious of anyone getting to read those books for the first time Hey, I'm on Book 2 right now! The series was recommended to me by a friend who is REALLY into the British Empire, so I was putting it off because....I don't care. I'm glad I picked these up, the series is not the love letter to British Expansionism that I thought it would be. I can really only describe it as O'Brian is fascinated by the Age of Sail but would certainly never want to go there.
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Jul 22, 2023 16:34
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gently caress, I don't have time for an A-M re-read. 
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Jul 22, 2023 17:04
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withak posted:gently caress, I don't have time for an A-M re-read. There's an excellent series of book by book read-along posts by Jo Walton over on Tor.com here: https://www.tor.com/2010/10/04/not-a-moment-to-be-lost-patrick-obrians-aubrey-maturin-series/ Spoilers though so for a re-read not a first read.
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Jul 22, 2023 17:07
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[whispering throatily through glorybreach] Besz blowjob you’ve ever had. Ul Qoma so hard you’ll faint
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Jul 22, 2023 18:36
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Dreamed that they made a second series for the adaptation of City and thr City but then woke up and realized that they wouldn't do a second season of a miniseries of a book that they already finished. Except that's exactly what they're doing with Good Omens so...
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Jul 22, 2023 18:51
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Sibling of TB posted:Dreamed that they made a second series for the adaptation of City and thr City but then woke up and realized that they wouldn't do a second season of a miniseries of a book that they already finished. I didn't know there was a first series. Was it any good?
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Jul 22, 2023 19:36
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Poldarn posted:Hey, I'm on Book 2 right now! The series was recommended to me by a friend who is REALLY into the British Empire, so I was putting it off because....I don't care. I'm glad I picked these up, the series is not the love letter to British Expansionism that I thought it would be. Re: his interests and knowledge I’ve always thought the description of him on Wikipedia was amusing: quote:He is polite, formal, and erudite in conversation, an erudition that Horowitz said could be intimidating. He learned from those who worked with O'Brian that the erudition did not go unnoticed, while they remained friends.
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Jul 22, 2023 19:40
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A Proper Uppercut posted:I didn't know there was a first series. Was it any good? Yea it was brilliant. It's got David Morrissey as Borlu and they used Liverpool and Manchester for parts of Ul-Qoma and Bezel, respectively. Perhaps because I'm from Northern England and familiar with both cities, it really worked because they feel similar but I knew they were different. They really adapted the two cities as one thing well. Worth watching.
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Jul 22, 2023 19:49
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Awkward Davies posted:Re: his interests and knowledge I’ve always thought the description of him on Wikipedia was amusing: And then tragically struck down by an early case of the marthambles. 
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Jul 22, 2023 19:56
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