|
The third book in “The Last Binding” series came out and I have to say I’m enjoying it. The whole series is the “English magical society in the vague 19th/early 20th century” thing, but smutty and the protagonists are LGBTQIA. I’ve never been into romance before, let alone Fantasy Romance but these books are light and fun. They seem tailor made for a Netflix adaptation. I like how the magic system is handled. It’s a little vague, but there’s some interesting stuff about the magic of physical locations, houses as powerful, almost sentient magical entities and magic imbued in the land. Awkward Davies fucked around with this message at 01:24 on Nov 9, 2023 |
#
?
Nov 9, 2023 01:22
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 20, 2024 12:15 |
|
|
It's always a bit startling when you suddenly become acutely aware that author's predilections have made their way into the prose. I think it was the third Max Gladstone Craft Sequence book when my brain went 'ping!' and I realized he's got a thing for female authority figures in business wear. The difference in the length of description of those characters clothing compared to everyone else's, the terms used, the consistency of certain elements... I'd place money on it.
|
|
#
?
Nov 9, 2023 01:25
|
|
|
Hieronymous Alloy posted:Or even if Hodgson had just survived ww1. In 1927, Lovecraft wrote a guide what what he considered the best supernatural horror stories written to date, and he has a section on Hodgson in it. It's free to read online, if anyone wants to browse it. For a nonfiction essay it's also notable for opening with one of Lovecraft's most famous passages: https://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/essays/shil.aspx He also wrote a much shorter guide to space opera in 1935, but that sadly doesn't seem to be available online.
|
|
#
?
Nov 9, 2023 04:36
|
|
|
Slyphic posted:It's always a bit startling when you suddenly become acutely aware that author's predilections have made their way into the prose. I think it was the third Max Gladstone Craft Sequence book when my brain went 'ping!' and I realized he's got a thing for female authority figures in business wear. The difference in the length of description of those characters clothing compared to everyone else's, the terms used, the consistency of certain elements... I'd place money on it. I'll let him know  I guess sometimes it's glaringly obvious but in general I'm not a big fan of trying to divine authors' turn-ons from their work. It's just a step or two from that to publicly declaring authors' gender and sexual orientation (and getting it all catastrophically wrong). Maybe he is, for example, asking his lawyer wife what she wears?
|
|
#
?
Nov 9, 2023 04:53
|
|
|
General Battuta posted:Maybe he is, for example, asking his lawyer wife what she wears? It's not something I look for, or particularly care about. Max is just one of the more glaring and non-skeevy instances that I recall, without being quite so blatant as say Ferret Steinmetz .
|
|
#
?
Nov 9, 2023 05:10
|
|
|
GhastlyBizness posted:Fire on the Velvet Horizon is just exceptional. For those condensed high concept ideas, there's not much that can come close but moreover the dude pays attention to language. It can be a bit florid sometimes and I'll admit I'm a sucker for excessive alliteration/assonance/similar bullshit but describing the summoned fire demons, the Flammeous Lads, as "like barbecued boys, or baked apes" has stuck in my mind like a burr. And yeah, Scrap Princess's biro and xerox art rules too. for me it's "these evil pigs will make you poo poo yourself and weep". Can't remember if that's from Velvet Horizon or Veins of the Earth though.
|
|
#
?
Nov 9, 2023 05:32
|
|
|
General Battuta posted:I'll let him know This is a 100% fair thing to say. Even if it's not a thing for her, it seems like an odd preoccupation because it's part of both Earthseed and the Patternist series. Maybe it's more fair to say that the younger woman/older man dynamic is clearly on her mind, but I don't feel like it's really what the book is exploring in those cases. Danhenge fucked around with this message at 21:28 on Nov 9, 2023 |
|
#
?
Nov 9, 2023 05:38
|
|
|
Slyphic posted:That doesn't seem like much of a counterpoint when the assertion is that this author is into forceful women in business attire. I know I made sure to marry someone that does absolutely nothing for me at all, lest I give away my shameful kinks. I think it's creepy to speculate about peoples' sexual predilections, it leads to fan sexual harassment and a lot of boundary crossing.
|
|
#
?
Nov 9, 2023 15:49
|
|
|
Then say that to the people speculating about Butler as well. I'm sorry I said your friend finds his wife sexually attractive? I found it rather humanizing of him. It sucks you've been harassed by people about sex stuff, but this conversation in this thread is not a greasy incline. (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST) (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST) Slyphic fucked around with this message at 16:07 on Nov 9, 2023 |
|
#
?
Nov 9, 2023 16:04
|
|
|
Slyphic posted:Then say that to the people speculating about Butler as well. I'm sorry I said your friend finds his wife sexually attractive? I found it rather humanizing of him. It sucks you've been harassed by people about sex stuff, but this conversation in this thread is not a greasy incline. I'm pretty sure he's saying good or bad don't do it, and with that I agree. John Ajvide Lindqvist also wrote about a centuries old vampire in a child's body - one that lives with a paedophile, no less - but I don't recall anyone speculating about him. Someone mentioned the disreputable acts in the Black Company and we're not rushing to claim that guy is a nonce either. Why? Because not everyone who writes about sex is writing their fetish, and we know that they're not. But it always seems to be used as a stick for beating people when we find a author we don't like, doesn't it? E: sorry for speaking for you there, General B. I have edited.
|
|
#
?
Nov 9, 2023 16:25
|
|
|
I mean, someone earlier called out Croaker's dream of underage girls as problematic. But conveniently left out the part where Croaker said it was a terrible dream and he didn't like it. Context matters and just having "morally adverse" content doesn't make the author anything. I'm not sure how we're supposed to, on one hand, have death of the author, but in the same breath draw conclusions about their core moral compass. By that logic most horror authors should be imprisoned because they all want to engage in snuff? People like to thought police others and I don't get it. It's not like terrible intrusive thoughts are something people happily cultivate. Read the book, discard personal opinions about the authors, if the content is unappealing you can just stop reading the book and not vilify or sanctify the author according to your preference. Also, this all correct, I'm attracted to Amazons so I married a 6ft blonde woman. I no longer need to have physically strong women in my fiction. Thank you, please remove.
|
|
#
?
Nov 9, 2023 16:35
|
|
|
I, for one, prefer that authors not even barely disguise their fetish; kinkshaming is boring *turns to the Wheel of Time thread* EDIT: goddammit I just remembered that piers Anthony exists Still I think that just demonstrates that some authors shouldn't be authors at all Further edit: I want to read authors who are writing about their consensual, consenting adult kinks. Often I haven't even realized such kinks could be until my horizons are expanded! but see the current thread title Hieronymous Alloy fucked around with this message at 16:45 on Nov 9, 2023 |
|
#
?
Nov 9, 2023 16:37
|
|
|
Hieronymous Alloy posted:I, for one, prefer that authors not even barely disguise their fetish; kinkshaming is boring It's alright, nobody expects you to revisit him.
|
|
#
?
Nov 9, 2023 16:43
|
|
|
Jedit posted:I'm pretty sure he's saying good or bad don't do it, and with that I agree. ... not everyone who writes about sex is writing their fetish, and we know that they're not. But it always seems to be used as a stick for beating people when we find a author we don't like, doesn't it? Jedit posted:Because dear god, "paranormal romance" is a genre that would raise no complaints if it showed up at a book burning. It's all terrible and it's incredibly likely to turn into a candid display of the author's personal fetishes. (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)
|
|
#
?
Nov 9, 2023 16:44
|
|
|
Runcible Cat posted:I don't know that "undisciplined" is the word. He's a wonderful corrective to the horrible genre tendency to plot using The Hero's Journey/standard video game Plot Tokens/"The Prophecy States The Chosen One Must" because he's a genius at writing story developed from character interaction and people being washed along by events they can't control but still making their own decisions as far as they're able based on what they know. Not like that. I just meant that the books vary a lot in quality, and also the overall shape of the series is basically incoherent; there's a couple of major plot points bouncing around books 1-5, and Guest Gulkan brings it all together at just about the last moment, but that's all. Cook said that this was because the series was difficult to control. On the other hand, it's why we have a load of picaresques and oddball books in places never mentioned again, and why the books seem so alive, noisy, and messy... and the sense of political anarchy you're talking about here is also a big draw for me.
|
|
#
?
Nov 9, 2023 16:49
|
|
|
Does anyone have recommendations for books by Native American/First Nations authors? It's Native American Heritage month in the US and I wanted to make that a focus in my reading, but realized I've already read all the ones I had on hand. I've already read a good amount of Stephen Graham Jones and Rebecca Roanhorse since those are probably two of the bigger names with genre fiction at least. I just finished Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice, which was a really interesting take on an apocalypse narrative--the setting is a remote Ojibwe community/reservation in Canada, so they don't even realize anything has happened initially. I've also read a couple of short story anthologies that were pretty solid (Love After the End and Taaqtumi -- post-apoc SFF and horror respectively) so I'd love some more of those too if anyone has recommendations.
|
|
#
?
Nov 9, 2023 16:57
|
|
|
General Battuta posted:I think it's creepy to speculate about peoples' sexual predilections, it leads to fan sexual harassment and a lot of boundary crossing. This is the thick end of the wedge, isn't it. Danhenge posted:This is a 100% fair thing to say. Even if it's not a thing for her, it seems like an odd preoccupation because it's part of both Earthseed and the Patternist series. Maybe it's more fair to say that the younger woman/older man dynamic is clearly on her mind, but I don't feel like it's really what the book is exploring in that cases. I still have Lilith's Brood on my bookshelf, but in Mind of My Mind the reason for going with the dynamic is pretty obviously symbolic and to increase tension. Doro represents the entrenched strength of patriarchy (yet is alone); Mary is his opposite. Doro represents the future, Mary the past. Also, a poor young (black, iirc) woman in 70s L. A. is more of an underdog, I think. DurianGray posted:Does anyone have recommendations for books by Native American/First Nations authors? Blue Highways by William Least Heat Moon, a travel book.
|
|
#
?
Nov 9, 2023 17:06
|
|
|
Safety Biscuits posted:Blue Highways by William Least Heat Moon, a travel book. This looks really cool! I haven't read much travel writing at all now that I'm thinking about it, I should definitely check it out more. Thanks!
|
|
#
?
Nov 9, 2023 17:22
|
|
|
Ravus Ursus posted:I'm not sure how we're supposed to, on one hand, have death of the author, but in the same breath draw conclusions about their core moral compass. By that logic most horror authors should be imprisoned because they all want to engage in snuff? Well, I don't think anybody trying to psychoanalyze authors based on their works is promoting the death of the author. But also, since the death of the author is usually used around here as a shorthand for rejecting intentionality, one can easily be arguing that an author is unintentionally expressing their kinks. But also also, this conversation is weird and gross and dumb.
|
|
#
?
Nov 9, 2023 18:47
|
|
|
Jim Butcher clearly has a thing for dimly lit bars wearing trenchcoats
|
|
#
?
Nov 9, 2023 21:11
|
|
|
PeterWeller posted:But also also, this conversation is weird and gross and dumb.
|
|
#
?
Nov 9, 2023 21:17
|
|
|
Safety Biscuits posted:This is the thick end of the wedge, isn't it. That's a fair argument.
|
|
#
?
Nov 9, 2023 21:30
|
|
|
Ancillary Justice (Imperial Radch #1) by Ann Leckie - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BAXFDLM/ Neuromancer (Sprawl #1) by William Gibson - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000O76ON6/ The Illustrated Gormenghast Trilogy by Mervyn Peake - $3.03 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NHZVF5T/
|
|
#
?
Nov 9, 2023 22:51
|
|
|
In the following essay I will speculate wildly about necrophilia thanks to the autobiography I just read titled Gideon the Ninth
|
|
#
?
Nov 9, 2023 23:07
|
|
|
PeterWeller posted:But also also, this conversation is weird and gross and dumb. Yeah, and I expect its finished. RDM posted:In the following essay I will speculate wildly about necrophilia thanks to the autobiography I just read titled Gideon the Ninth 
|
|
#
?
Nov 10, 2023 00:19
|
|
|
New James S.A. Corey title announced, The Mercy of Gods.quote:How humanity came to the planet called Anjiin is lost in the fog of history, but that history is about to end.
|
|
#
?
Nov 10, 2023 01:27
|
|
|
FPyat posted:New James S.A. Corey title announced, The Mercy of Gods. Hmm this David Alcohol guy sounds like he's having a really bad
|
|
#
?
Nov 10, 2023 01:32
|
|
|
pik_d posted:Hmm this David Alcohol guy sounds like he's having a really bad I was thinking of the late and mostly unlamented Dafydd ab Hugh.
|
|
#
?
Nov 10, 2023 04:29
|
|
|
DurianGray posted:Does anyone have recommendations for books by Native American/First Nations authors? It's Native American Heritage month in the US and I wanted to make that a focus in my reading, but realized I've already read all the ones I had on hand. Are you looking for scifi/fiction specifically? I work for a tribe in the US and there's a library near my workplace. I was gonna swing by next week anyway, I'd be happy to see what they're showcasing on the shelves and ask for some recommendations.
|
|
#
?
Nov 10, 2023 06:16
|
|
|
FPyat posted:New James S.A. Corey title announced, The Mercy of Gods. Never been interested in Corey before but this premise sounds great. "What if Hunger Games but with entire species"
|
|
#
?
Nov 10, 2023 06:39
|
|
|
DurianGray posted:Does anyone have recommendations for books by Native American/First Nations authors? It's Native American Heritage month in the US and I wanted to make that a focus in my reading, but realized I've already read all the ones I had on hand. My library had this anthology, and I enjoyed it: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34105770-mit-w-cimowina I actually feel like a lot of the authors were coming from outside of sci fi, but using (and often gently lampooning) sci fi tropes to get their point across. Edit: also, here's the speculative fiction section of an indigenous bookseller. That might be a good place to get a list of books to further research: https://www.strongnations.com/store/item_list.php?it=1&cat=1218 Lead out in cuffs fucked around with this message at 08:42 on Nov 10, 2023 |
|
#
?
Nov 10, 2023 08:30
|
|
|
Sailor Viy posted:Never been interested in Corey before but this premise sounds great. "What if Hunger Games but with entire species" They can write and worldbuild pretty good. Like, nothing terribly revolutionary, but higher-quality airport thriller SF.
|
|
#
?
Nov 10, 2023 09:46
|
|
|
Groke posted:They can write and worldbuild pretty good. Like, nothing terribly revolutionary, but higher-quality airport thriller SF. Eh I think that's underselling competent genre prose a little, the expanse books are fairly rough
|
|
#
?
Nov 10, 2023 09:52
|
|
|
ToxicFrog posted:The Apt books I bounced off of 2-3 books in. I've liked all of his sci-fi that I've read, and Cage of Souls, but Forgotten Realms of the Bug Dudes did nothing for me. i greatly enjoyed the apt books but on the very firm proviso that they were enjoyable workaday slush that i could plow through quickly; i think you are not missing any great literature if you don't read them largely my enjoyment stemmed from the Hey, Cool New Bug element, along with the fact that there was a very rapid industrial revolution taking place.
|
|
#
?
Nov 10, 2023 10:50
|
|
|
Given the really unpleasant reddit nihilism that seeps through the Expanse books I'm not sure how the genocide hunger games are going to go. Like I missed it when I read the books as being just part of the vibe but in the SA let's read going on at the moment, it's like a sledgehammer. Holden looked at space. It wasn't beautiful, not really. It was boring. He wanted to have a coffee or maybe get drunk at the space station. Aren't we all just monkeys when you think about it? On the news, they were still discussing [#Upsetting real life headline from the year of publication, but in space]...
|
|
#
?
Nov 10, 2023 11:29
|
|
|
Selachian posted:I was thinking of the late and mostly unlamented Dafydd ab Hugh. That makes a lot more sense but isn't as funny of a joke
|
|
#
?
Nov 10, 2023 12:32
|
|
|
Pellisworth posted:Are you looking for scifi/fiction specifically? I work for a tribe in the US and there's a library near my workplace. I was gonna swing by next week anyway, I'd be happy to see what they're showcasing on the shelves and ask for some recommendations. Oh that would be awesome! Yeah, I'm definitely most interested in like, sci fi, fantasy, horror. I've been looking up lists of authors/books myself, too, but lot of it seemed to be mostly memoir and 'literary fiction' sort of stuff (or stuff I've already read). Which I'm sure is good! But those don't usually immediately pique my interest as much as genre fiction does, whichever is why I figured I'd ask here too. Lead out in cuffs posted:My library had this anthology, and I enjoyed it: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34105770-mit-w-cimowina Thank you! I will check those out!
|
|
#
?
Nov 10, 2023 13:44
|
|
|
This genre based book club podcast I listen to does a list of BIPOC authors for their different genres. They’ve done a bunch of SF sub genres. They don’t call out which group each author represents though so you’d need a dig a bit. https://bookclub4m.tumblr.com/booklists
|
|
#
?
Nov 10, 2023 15:17
|
|
|
Ravus Ursus posted:I mean, someone earlier called out Croaker's dream of underage girls as problematic. Please don’t misparaphrase me. I used that dream to note that it isn’t that surprising that characters in the series are later shown to have sexual attraction to Darling. Ravus Ursus posted:But conveniently left out the part where Croaker said it was a terrible dream and he didn't like it. t doesn't make the author anything. Please don’t misquote me. I literally included that segment in my blockquote.
|
|
#
?
Nov 10, 2023 15:19
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 20, 2024 12:15 |
|
|
DurianGray posted:Oh that would be awesome! Yeah, I'm definitely most interested in like, sci fi, fantasy, horror. Cherie Dimaline is very good. Just finished Venco and it was quite the grand adventure. Empire of Wild is also good, but in a more contained stakes sort of way. Louise Erdrich is usually the first indigenous author recommended and I've only read Future Home of the Living God which has Handmaid's Tale vibes if reproductive dystopia is interesting to you. Also, they're incredibly not speculative fiction, but I cannot recommend Robin Wall Kimmerer enough. She's an indigenous-poet-biologist and her work is wondrous in so many ways.
|
|
#
?
Nov 10, 2023 15:26
|
|
