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Gertrude Perkins posted:Following a RandomWaffle image led a friend to enlighten me with this collection of SF cover art by French imprint Chute Libre in the 70s. These are incredible
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Dec 4, 2023 20:02
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for illustrated nudity/sex/gore. Some very cool images here, I'd love to get a blown-up poster of the Atrocity Exhibition one. 
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Gnoman posted:That was a lot more "start in very familiar territory to help the reader ground themselves" than anything else. It differs from Shannara and such in kind, not just in degree, from the very beginning. Eh, I don't mind not being completely original, that's fine. It's just that sometimes you can go too far in 'starting in in familiar territory', as the aforementioned Sword of Shannara. It's just really silly that they were Mat and Perrin instead of Merry and Pippin.
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Dec 4, 2023 20:28
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pradmer posted:
What's the consensus on Adrian Tchaikovsky's non Children of X books? I wasn't really aware he had other series and I really rate the sci-fi books of his.
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Dec 4, 2023 22:41
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mitochondritom posted:What's the consensus on Adrian Tchaikovsky's non Children of X books? I wasn't really aware he had other series and I really rate the sci-fi books of his. He has an absolutely staggering amount of non Children of Time books actually, Shadows of the Apt is something like 10 books, there are a few other trilogies/duologies, and a handful of standalone books. I've only read one of the shorter standalones but it was good, I know people here have recommended his Final Architecture books. I can't say I've heard anything about Echoes of the Fall though. edit: I should say, the thing that makes me say "staggering amount" is not sheer numbers so much as the fact that he's published somewhere upwards of 20 books since 2015 alone, and I don't think that includes any of the Shadows of the Apt series or a bunch of novellas, amazingly MockingQuantum fucked around with this message at 22:49 on Dec 4, 2023 |
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Dec 4, 2023 22:47
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mitochondritom posted:What's the consensus on Adrian Tchaikovsky's non Children of X books? I wasn't really aware he had other series and I really rate the sci-fi books of his.
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Dec 4, 2023 22:57
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Gertrude Perkins posted:Following a RandomWaffle image led a friend to enlighten me with this collection of SF cover art by French imprint Chute Libre in the 70s. Lol that half of that is straight up "sci-fi porn".
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Dec 5, 2023 00:16
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MockingQuantum posted:He has an absolutely staggering amount of non Children of Time books actually, Shadows of the Apt is something like 10 books, there are a few other trilogies/duologies, and a handful of standalone books. I've only read one of the shorter standalones but it was good, I know people here have recommended his Final Architecture books. I can't say I've heard anything about Echoes of the Fall though. And it looks like he's got three full novels coming out between March and August next year, Jesus.
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Dec 5, 2023 00:23
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mitochondritom posted:What's the consensus on Adrian Tchaikovsky's non Children of X books? I wasn't really aware he had other series and I really rate the sci-fi books of his. Final architecture gets discussed in this thread fairly regularly. I just finished the trilogy and thought it was great. I’ve bounced off a couple of his other books: Cage of Souls and the Tiger and the Wolf. I enjoyed his contribution to the Black Library, Day of Ascension. I think the last time I mentioned his 40k link someone dropped in another short story he did but I lost it  .
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Dec 5, 2023 00:54
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Junkenstein posted:And it looks like he's got three full novels coming out between March and August next year, Jesus. How does he do it I know many of these are "briefcase" novels but even so. It's alarming. Someone should check on him.
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Dec 5, 2023 01:07
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Jedit posted:Moebius sure did love him a bit of hentai, didn't he? You expect a French artist working in the 70s to NOT be staggeringly horny?
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Dec 5, 2023 02:14
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Gertrude Perkins posted:You expect a French
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Dec 5, 2023 02:17
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mitochondritom posted:What's the consensus on Adrian Tchaikovsky's non Children of X books? I wasn't really aware he had other series and I really rate the sci-fi books of his. I thought Shadows of the Apt had a neat premise but took too long to get anywhere, and tapped out halfway through. Didn't hate it, but 10-book doorstopper fantasy epics are a hard sell for me these days. On the other hand, I quite enjoyed Cage of Souls, Dogs of War, Spiderlight, and the Final Architecture trilogy, so overall I'd say yes, his non-Children books are well worth a look. mdemone posted:How does he do it It's probably easier to have multiple books on the go when you're thousands of spiders in a human suit, right?
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Dec 5, 2023 03:19
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ToxicFrog posted:It's probably easier to have multiple books on the go when you're thousands of spiders in a human suit, right? somebody on this board once said that he was asked that question in an interview and his answer was something like "how ridiculous! a human suit would be far too cumbersome, it would have to be some kind of hologram."
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Dec 5, 2023 04:38
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whatever he may be, anything his palps type out is at the top of my to-read list
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Dec 5, 2023 04:40
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pradmer posted:City of Stairs (Divine Cities #1) by Robert Jackson Bennett - $1.99 This trilogy was really good, and it got better as it went along which I really appreciated. e. It's got a lot of interesting worldbuilding, mysterious characters that develop not quite how they're telegraphed to, and a backstory of divine imperialism and godslaying. I'm keen on all that. mllaneza fucked around with this message at 04:45 on Dec 5, 2023 |
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Dec 5, 2023 04:43
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MockingQuantum posted:He has an absolutely staggering amount of non Children of Time books actually, Shadows of the Apt is something like 10 books, there are a few other trilogies/duologies, and a handful of standalone books. I've only read one of the shorter standalones but it was good, I know people here have recommended his Final Architecture books. I can't say I've heard anything about Echoes of the Fall though. He's been writing a long time, I figure a fair amount is stuff he'd worked on before taking up writing full time.
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Dec 5, 2023 05:10
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I really like Ironclads by AT, it's only a novella but it's one I really enjoyed. Europe is split between warring corporations, and the war tourism of the scions of the corporations who wear giant mecha suits. it's told from the perspective of a grizzled noncom who has to go behind enemy lines to rescue one.
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Dec 5, 2023 08:37
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ToxicFrog posted:I quite enjoyed Cage of Souls, Dogs of War, Spiderlight Ditto (plus the second Dogs of War book), and I haven't even read any Children of X books. Cage of Souls was maybe too long for its own good but if you want something with a Heart of Darkness vibe, you may not mind.
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Dec 5, 2023 09:16
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I added them up and it turns out that Robin Hobb's Realm of the Elderlings extends to 11,000 pages excluding shorts. I'm not entirely unwilling to read that much, but man is that a tall order.
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Dec 5, 2023 10:37
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dang, it's a shame that the fred the vampire accountant series is kindle-exclusive starting at book 5. books being e-reader exclusive is dumb as gently caress and gently caress amazon for making that a thing.
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Dec 5, 2023 10:44
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Danhenge posted:He's been writing a long time, I figure a fair amount is stuff he'd worked on before taking up writing full time. This makes a lot of sense. I know from my RPG design work that if I were to quit my day job and work on writing games full time, and if I had an editor and publisher helping me, I could get a lot of games out very fast because I have so many projects outlined and mostly-written in Google docs. I'm sure a lot of writers are like that, too.
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Dec 5, 2023 18:53
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ToxicFrog posted:I thought Shadows of the Apt had a neat premise but took too long to get anywhere, and tapped out halfway through. Didn't hate it, but 10-book doorstopper fantasy epics are a hard sell for me these days. On the other hand, I quite enjoyed Cage of Souls, Dogs of War, Spiderlight, and the Final Architecture trilogy, so overall I'd say yes, his non-Children books are well worth a look. Maybe it's too late for you now, but I highly recommend the audiobook of Shadows of the Apt. One of the things I enjoyed about ths books was how he kept coming up with yet more insane kinden (like races based loosely on insects). The narrator then manages to apply a new accent to each kinden, and he really nails Irish, Welsh, various regions of northern England. It's relly entertaining.
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Dec 5, 2023 19:41
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FPyat posted:I added them up and it turns out that Robin Hobb's Realm of the Elderlings extends to 11,000 pages excluding shorts. I'm not entirely unwilling to read that much, but man is that a tall order. I think it's probably a mistake to look at that and think of it as a single indivisible block you need to consume holistically. There's five different series under that label and they each have more-or-less self-contained narrative arcs. It would be weird to read the Tawny Man trilogy before the Farseer one, but if you read Farseer and decided to just stop at the end of Assassin's Quest you wouldn't feel like there was a big part of it you were missing. Likewise, very easy to read Liveship Traders in complete isolation. I say this with confidence because I was there reading them as they were published, and that was how I felt at the time. Honestly, every time Hobb decides to start a new Fitz trilogy my response is "oh God, what is she going to do to our boy this time  "e: secular woods sex posted:I read the first of Hobb’s Farseer books and have a general question: How often do dogs die because of their association with Fitz? The deaths of Smithy and Nosy broke me in a way that had me crying over my own dog, who looked at me with some concern. I’m not sure if I can handle the rest of the books if it’s a common occurrence. Hel posted:It's been a while so I might be wrong, but way less than you think IIRC I think there's just one more, in the first book of the second Fitz trilogy and that's it Since I am here and posting on this, I will confirm that Fitz loses no more dogs in the first trilogy. Book 3 spoilers I think there might be a Bad Dog that eats poo poo when Fitz gets shot on his way into the mountains but it's not one of his. KOGAHAZAN!! fucked around with this message at 20:00 on Dec 5, 2023 |
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Dec 5, 2023 19:57
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KOGAHAZAN!! posted:
You said it! I loved all the Fitz books on first read but have reread zero of them because I just can't read him going through it all again.
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Dec 5, 2023 21:08
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Against a Dark Background by Iain M Banks - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002CT0TXK/ The Sword Defiant (Lands of the Firstborn #1) by Gareth Hanrahan - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BD4HJCPZ/ Prince of Fools (Red Queen's War #1) by Mark Lawrence - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00G3L1338/ Thief's Magic (Millennium's Rule #1) by Trudi Canavan - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EXTQV2A/
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Dec 5, 2023 23:27
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pradmer posted:Against a Dark Background by Iain M Banks - $2.99 Not a Culture book, but one of my favorite Banks Books. Probably based on a role playing game.
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Dec 6, 2023 02:55
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crazyvanman posted:Maybe it's too late for you now, but I highly recommend the audiobook of Shadows of the Apt. One of the things I enjoyed about ths books was how he kept coming up with yet more insane kinden (like races based loosely on insects). The narrator then manages to apply a new accent to each kinden, and he really nails Irish, Welsh, various regions of northern England. It's relly entertaining. I don't audiobook, but maybe someone else here will find the recommendation helpful!
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Dec 6, 2023 03:17
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For the folks who've read Malazan, should I try to get back into it if I stopped during or just after Memories of Ice? I remember finding Gardens of the Moon in the early 2000s, devouring it, and I can still remember a lot of it clearly - but I cannot remember a single thing about Deadhouse Gates or Memories of Ice other than some fairly miserable scenes in a slave mine. I'm not sure whether I DNF'd Memories, or finished it and just didn't feel like continuing, or simply took a break after three straight Malazan books and never got around to it again. It feels like a thing that should be up my alley as a Black Company / anthropology / tabletop RPGs nerd, but the fact that I didn't keep going has me worried about spending a couple thousand pages reading something I'll ultimately DNF a second time, especially since I've grown less tolerant of doorstopper books over time. I know ultimately I'll have to make this choice for myself, but I'm curious whether this might be something that happens to people who read Malazan, the way certain books in other series are known for winnowing out readers, but get good again if you can carry on past the doldrums. (Malazan thread, I know you're over there and I appreciate you, but I'm asking here because I suspect people who DNF'd / are more critical of Malazan aren't posting there) ***** Speaking of audiobooks, I know this thread appreciates All the Horses of Iceland, so I want to put this out there: the audiobook is excellent. Getting that story narrated by someone named Ulf Bjorklund was probably a good call.
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Dec 6, 2023 04:28
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Sarern posted:You said it! I loved all the Fitz books on first read but have reread zero of them because I just can't read him going through it all again. I hear you. It was those books that taught me to love reading books on my phone after somebody randomly bought me 'Fitz and the book that makes no sense unless you have read ten others'. They are a singular, glorious achievement but I won't revisit. If Ms Hobb drops a Bee book, however, I'll be up until three am finishing it on day 1 Fumblemouse fucked around with this message at 06:19 on Dec 6, 2023 |
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Dec 6, 2023 04:51
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Kestral posted:For the folks who've read Malazan, should I try to get back into it if I stopped during or just after Memories of Ice? I remember finding Gardens of the Moon in the early 2000s, devouring it, and I can still remember a lot of it clearly - but I cannot remember a single thing about Deadhouse Gates or Memories of Ice other than some fairly miserable scenes in a slave mine. I'm not sure whether I DNF'd Memories, or finished it and just didn't feel like continuing, or simply took a break after three straight Malazan books and never got around to it again. It feels like a thing that should be up my alley as a Black Company / anthropology / tabletop RPGs nerd, but the fact that I didn't keep going has me worried about spending a couple thousand pages reading something I'll ultimately DNF a second time, especially since I've grown less tolerant of doorstopper books over time. I read Gardens of the Moon, didn't enjoy it enough to go on to the next one. Tried again a few years later, same thing. A few years after that I gave it another go on audiobook. Still nope. As much as it seems like it should be my sort of thing, I'm just not into it. Not sure why: probably the prose played a part; also the characters just didn't quite have the memorable quality that the Black Company did. As someone who doesn't re-read often, I think it's funny that I've read a book I don't really like 3 times. Even most of my favourites I've only read once or twice.
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Dec 6, 2023 05:09
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Kestral posted:For the folks who've read Malazan, should I try to get back into it if I stopped during or just after Memories of Ice? I remember finding Gardens of the Moon in the early 2000s, devouring it, and I can still remember a lot of it clearly - but I cannot remember a single thing about Deadhouse Gates or Memories of Ice other than some fairly miserable scenes in a slave mine. I'm not sure whether I DNF'd Memories, or finished it and just didn't feel like continuing, or simply took a break after three straight Malazan books and never got around to it again. It feels like a thing that should be up my alley as a Black Company / anthropology / tabletop RPGs nerd, but the fact that I didn't keep going has me worried about spending a couple thousand pages reading something I'll ultimately DNF a second time, especially since I've grown less tolerant of doorstopper books over time. I read the first 3 books and liked them but took a break, then started over about a year later and read the ten main books straight through. I think part of it was that the series feels so daunting - which it is. Along the way I roped in 2 friends who also finished the series. I personally loved it all and think it kind of ruined fantasy for me. Other than rereads of LOTR and a few one offs like Between Two Fires I haven’t really enjoyed fantasy so much since finishing those books. I pivoted to mostly sci-fi when it comes to genre fiction. This is because Malazan was near perfect fantasy for me. I’d say if you recall liking the first book just go for it.
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Dec 6, 2023 06:06
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My Malazan advice is to give the second one a shot if you even kind of liked the first, but if the second doesn't sell you on it then it's probably not worth pushing on. It's a massive step up in terms of writing quality, but if it's not doing anything for you then the next 10,000 pages probably won't either.
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Dec 6, 2023 06:14
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StumblyWumbly posted:Not a Culture book, but one of my favorite Banks Books. Probably based on a role playing game. This book is so deliciously bleak. It's just loaded with amazing set pieces, even more so than Consider Phlebas. There's a reference to a lazy gun in one of the Culture novels, so it's the same setting, but nobody wants to make the trip out to visit them. A worse deal than we got. Kestral posted:For the folks who've read Malazan, should I try to get back into it if I stopped during or just after Memories of Ice? I'm the thread's biggest Glen Cook fan, and I bounced off Malazan after 2 or 3 books. The rule for most series is, stop when you lose interest. I did, and I don't think you should feel bad about that.
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Dec 6, 2023 06:32
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If you start a series you are legally obligated to finish it, the whole thing no exceptions
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Dec 6, 2023 06:36
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cptn_dr posted:My Malazan advice is to give the second one a shot if you even kind of liked the first, but if the second doesn't sell you on it then it's probably not worth pushing on. It's a massive step up in terms of writing quality, but if it's not doing anything for you then the next 10,000 pages probably won't either.
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Dec 6, 2023 06:46
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Kestral posted:For the folks who've read Malazan, should I try to get back into it if I stopped during or just after Memories of Ice? I remember finding Gardens of the Moon in the early 2000s, devouring it, and I can still remember a lot of it clearly - but I cannot remember a single thing about Deadhouse Gates or Memories of Ice other than some fairly miserable scenes in a slave mine. I'm not sure whether I DNF'd Memories, or finished it and just didn't feel like continuing, or simply took a break after three straight Malazan books and never got around to it again. It feels like a thing that should be up my alley as a Black Company / anthropology / tabletop RPGs nerd, but the fact that I didn't keep going has me worried about spending a couple thousand pages reading something I'll ultimately DNF a second time, especially since I've grown less tolerant of doorstopper books over time. As somebody who loves that series, I feel comfortable saying that if you weren't into it after Deadhouse Gates and Memories of Ice, then you can go ahead and skip the rest of it guilt-free. If the Chain of Dogs didn't get you hooked on the series, it probably just isn't for you.
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Dec 6, 2023 06:47
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Ditto what everyone what is saying about Malazan, with the additional heads up that there's a sudden jump in Midnight Tides which threw me for a massive loop but ultimately the way it all comes together is extremely satisfying. Malazan also made me hyper sensitive to info dumping, or hell, even just normal exposition.
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Dec 6, 2023 07:27
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Don't bother with Malazan. Like someone said above, if Deadhouse Gates didn't grab you, don't bother with the rest of the series. The first handful of books are interesting, but once it jumps continents, each book gets progressively worse, with the last 2 being awful slogs. The hobbling was also some of the grossest sexual violence I've had the displeasure of reading.
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Dec 6, 2023 08:09
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gvibes posted:Kind of feel the same way about Deadhouse. But Karsa is pretty compelling in book 4. Weirdly I loved Malazan but hated Karsa on my first read through. That said as everyone else said, if you aren't feeling it, Malazan may not be for you. It's a weird rear end series with a bunch of problematic content, and it's ok to read other stuff instead.
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Dec 6, 2023 08:16
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Glen Cook's Dread Empire series is right there if you want some fantasy that scales from Fritz Leiber-like small stakes adventures to a years long wizard war.
mllaneza fucked around with this message at 08:56 on Dec 6, 2023 |
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Dec 6, 2023 08:38
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