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Digital weapons are guns integrated into rings or other finger-wear. Miniturizing weapons that much is super tech humans have lost the ability to replicate, but they have idiot savant orangutans (the aforementioned jokaeros) who can do it for them.
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Dec 29, 2023 04:26
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sebmojo posted:My pick of those books is the grey king and greenwitch, they're both kind of weird and dark, but if you're not digging it as an adult that's fine too. The Grey King was the first book I read in the series and I loved it, mainly because I, too, was a kid who had been shipped off from "where I live" to "my homeland" during the school holidays to live with relatives and I was boooooooooooooooored and totally down for an atmospheric fantasy adventure in the misty mountains of Wales.
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Dec 29, 2023 05:49
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ToxicFrog posted:I'm guessing "digital" in the "pertaining to the fingers" sense, so probably miniature weapons worn on (or built into?) the fingers. Yep, built into rings by semi-sentient orangutan like aliens called jokaeros that can create custom technology
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Dec 29, 2023 05:55
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NoneMoreNegative posted:I read prolific thread favourite Adrian Tchaikovsky's CITY OF LAST CHANCES a couple months back - it was an enjoyable fantasy novel, maybe the story was a little scattered following several different characters, but the vibe of Les Miserables in Ankh Morpork, only somewhat grittier had me invested. Good enough for me to preorder HOUSE OF OPEN WOUNDS, which dropped not long back and I just finished. I'm at about 40% on City of Last Chances, so thanks for the tip on the sequel!
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Dec 29, 2023 05:57
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Guards! Guards! (Discworld #8) by Terry Pratchett - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000UVBT7M/ The Silo Series Collection: Wool, Shift, Dust, and Silo Stories by Hugh Howey - $4.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B088BBLMGS/
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Dec 29, 2023 18:17
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pradmer posted:Guards! Guards! (Discworld #8) by Terry Pratchett - $1.99 If for some reason you haven't read Pratchett, Guards! Guards! is acknowledged as one of his best.
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Dec 29, 2023 18:23
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Arsenic Lupin posted:If for some reason you haven't read Pratchett, Guards! Guards! is acknowledged as one of his best.
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Dec 29, 2023 21:04
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Arsenic Lupin posted:If for some reason you haven't read Pratchett, Guards! Guards! is acknowledged as one of his best. If for some reason you haven’t read Pratchett then what the gently caress.
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Dec 29, 2023 21:21
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withak posted:If for some reason you haven’t read Pratchett then what the gently caress.
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Dec 29, 2023 21:41
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I’ve finally picked up the traitor baru cormorant and I’m thoroughly enjoying it, the first few chapters gave me a feeling that there was some gene wolfery afoot, but it seems not to be the case? Anyway you can’t help but root for her, even if she’s just a horrible person who lies to everybody including herself, I feel. I love that there’s always something waiting to happen, there’s always tension in the plot,even when she’s a drunken wreck wallowing in failure/sucess. It’s pretty great.
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Dec 29, 2023 21:51
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Antifa Poltergeist posted:I’ve finally picked up the traitor baru cormorant and I’m thoroughly enjoying it, the first few chapters gave me a feeling that there was some gene wolfery afoot, but it seems not to be the case? Anyway you can’t help but root for her, even if she’s just a horrible person who lies to everybody including herself, I feel. I love that there’s always something waiting to happen, there’s always tension in the plot,even when she’s a drunken wreck wallowing in failure/sucess. It’s pretty great. there's a little gene wolfe (in terms of the prose disguising something that you might not pick up if you're not reading very closely) that goes on in The Traitor but nothing that's super important to understanding the text and if I recall correctly you're straight up told what it is at the end.
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Dec 29, 2023 23:45
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NoneMoreNegative posted:I read prolific thread favourite Adrian Tchaikovsky's CITY OF LAST CHANCES a couple months back - it was an enjoyable fantasy novel, maybe the story was a little scattered following several different characters, but the vibe of Les Miserables in Ankh Morpork, only somewhat grittier This description made me look it up and as it was only Ł1.99 I’ve snaffled it. Thanks
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Dec 30, 2023 01:40
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Looking back over my year, other than some paranormal romance stuff: 1. The Spear Cuts Through Water I think everyone's already said it, this was a standout. Just gorgeous. 2. Saint Death's Daughter I'm a locked tomb fan, and this was brought up as a recommendation. Very fun, very different take on necromancers, but it made the role feel interesting and thoughtful. 3. The Saint of Bright Doors I thought the start was better than most of the rest of it, but still, I quite liked this one. I don't know if I've read anything else by a Sri Lankan author, and I'm glad I did. Kind of a "how would modern day south asia look in an alternate world where someone is nearly omnipotent" 4. The Library at Mount Char Hoo wow this was a trip. Gruesome at times, but really up my alley. The worst kind of magic school. 5. Amberlough Is this even genre? It's like an alternate world Weimar era spies and glitz and stuff. I still need to read the sequels. 6. Eversion Never read any Alastair Reynolds before but it was solid, I like time loop weird stuff and this had that in spades. 7. Light from Uncommon Stars Very much a trans story, with some extremely weird alien poo poo going on. Strange but fun. 8. Mammoths at the Gates Lovely little short one, I think I've read the first but not the second or third singing hills and obviously need to get to them. 9. The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet Didn't gel as much with this. Slice of life Becky Chambers, again my first entry into her work, and I just don't know if that's my jam. Enjoyable for all that. 10. The Hunger Games trilogy I was not reading YA when this came out, and only read it because Wheel Takes was doing a first reader read through switching the usual host positions. I can see why this was very popular, and I think it's quite good. On the other hand, the first book gave me literal nightmares as a parent of young kids, it's one of the most upsetting books I've ever read.
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Dec 30, 2023 01:44
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Some new-to-me genre stuff I've enjoyed this year: - Black Leopard, Red Wolf - the Lady Astronaut books - The Boy on the Bridge - A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet - Railsea - Holly Black's Elfhame series (The Cruel Prince et al) - Aspects - The God Is Not Willing - The Gutter Prayer - Space Opera and Radiance - Traitor's Blade and Spellslinger
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Dec 30, 2023 02:37
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Selachian posted:Some new-to-me genre stuff I've enjoyed this year: Was any of it good?
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Dec 30, 2023 02:47
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I won a kindle at work back in early November so the last two months of this year have basically been me jamming as many ebooks as I can get my hands on into it to catch up on the past 6-7 years of stuff I've missed, so I don't really have a lot that I've already read this year, but I did recently loving devour the Scholomance trilogy which I enjoyed, as well as the first three books from the Astra Academy series. I also read WarForged, which was basically junk food, but I still probably will read the next book so I guess the joke's on me.  I'll probably have a more coherent list next year.
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Dec 30, 2023 02:48
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Emily Tesh's Some Desperate Glory really impressed me. I'd read the opening chapter when Tor released it as a preview, and so I was sort of expecting either tales of over-the-top action daring-do, or a main character losing her religion. It's a lot more than that. There's a certain authorial ruthlessness in giving a bloodthirsty character more blood than even she can handle, and asking what she's going to do next.
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Dec 30, 2023 02:53
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Finished The Saga of Pliocene Exile, and boy was that a ride. I'm not really sure what to think of that last book: I'm sure May had a reason for structuring it that way, but the titular Adversary having most of his plans undone by characters we barely know, mostly off-screen, kind of waffles around not really pursuing the agenda we've been told repeatedly is an all-consuming drive, then deciding to throw all his ambitions away because he met a woman was... Eh. Why build this conflict up for two books and then deliberately make it an anticlimax? In the end I'm mostly glad I read it, but will never read it again, and I'd have a hard time recommending it to others. I suspect there's a reason why that series has remained obscure. Commencing a reread of The Once and Future King, and it's shocking how much the tone changes between parts one and two. Funtime Magical Animal Adventures and Goofy Anachronistic Merlin goes straight into "Here's The Backstory, It's Rape" plus the truly awful unicorn butchery, yikes. I remembered the transition being more gradual, but no, White goes zero to sixty and makes it work.
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Dec 30, 2023 10:00
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Kestral posted:Finished The Saga of Pliocene Exile, and boy was that a ride. I'm not really sure what to think of that last book: I'm sure May had a reason for structuring it that way, but the titular Adversary having most of his plans undone by characters we barely know, mostly off-screen, kind of waffles around not really pursuing the agenda we've been told repeatedly is an all-consuming drive, then deciding to throw all his ambitions away because he met a woman was... Eh. Why build this conflict up for two books and then deliberately make it an anticlimax? Interesting perspective. I felt more like his original plan was kind of dumb but he felt obliged to continue with it because of sunk costs and general grandiosity, and he was secretly kind of hoping for someone to give him another option that was appropriately grand and made sure he could be the Most Important Person in the Universe, which Elizabeth's plan explicitly did. I think theres plenty of foreshadowing to the end from Brede etc (like she tacitly explains the plan to elizabeth in an earlier book) and didnt find it anti climactic at all. The prequel series is a time loop, with Marc coming back as an immortal alien and effectively jump starting humanity into the galaxy, its ok but i wouldnt recommend it given you arent a huge fan.
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Dec 30, 2023 10:17
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silvergoose posted:9. The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet I had mixed feelings about this book too, mostly in the way the plot trickles slowly as tensions and conflicts are defused with minimal effort and some minor emotional toil. I'd say that's even more true of To Be Taught, If Fortunate, which is at least shorter and has a more focused plot but minimal character development and even less tension. You could level similar criticisms at the Monk and Robot books but for whatever reasons I enjoyed them more. Partly it's because the titular characters are charming, but mostly I think it's because the world is built to largely be safe and so any expectations for grand conflicts are minimized early on, with less suspension of disbelief required.
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Dec 30, 2023 10:34
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fez_machine posted:there's a little gene wolfe (in terms of the prose disguising something that you might not pick up if you're not reading very closely) that goes on in The Traitor but nothing that's super important to understanding the text I’m quite dumb and hate feeling like I missed things, can you say what this is? In spoiler tags ofc.
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Dec 30, 2023 14:20
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StrixNebulosa posted:Was any of it good? Sure, those are just the ones that come to mind most readily.
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Dec 30, 2023 14:50
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Arsenic Lupin posted:If for some reason you haven't read Pratchett, Guards! Guards! is acknowledged as one of his best. More importantly, it's one of the best places to jump in. It requires no knowledge of past books, and is a fully functioning story in its own right.
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Dec 30, 2023 15:23
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The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DHJT92Q/
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Dec 30, 2023 18:51
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I have to confess: I've never read any Pratchett
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Dec 30, 2023 19:24
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Awkward Davies posted:I have to confess: I've never read any Pratchett Oh! I'm jealous! Give Guards Guards a shot - if you like it, there's a lot more! If you hate it, you can stop there.
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Dec 30, 2023 19:34
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Yeah guards,guards is like a ideal entry point to discworld, along with reaper man. Maybe mort if you want to start at the first “proper” discworld novel. God, I wish I could read him for the first time again.
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Dec 30, 2023 19:53
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Antifa Poltergeist posted:God, I wish I could read him for the first time again.
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Dec 30, 2023 20:34
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Arsenic Lupin posted:It took me a couple of years to read The Shepherd's Crown, even though I owned it. I didn't want to reach the moment where there was no more new Pratchett to read. Then Arsenic wept, for there were no new Stibbons to ponder. I got A Stroke of the Pen for Christmas, and I haven't read it yet. Haven't got round to it.
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Dec 30, 2023 20:51
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occluded posted:I’m quite dumb and hate feeling like I missed things, can you say what this is? In spoiler tags ofc. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemispatial_neglect
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Dec 30, 2023 21:05
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In general i think Baru gets fun in another way if you’ve taken neuro 101 (on up). It’s almost like sci fi, insofar as some of the fantastical elements are sort of plausible kind of like how hard sci fi is. Just instead of physics being the sci part of sci fi it’s neuroscience. Not with this, which is just real, but later on w the cancer tumor stuff for example
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Dec 30, 2023 23:29
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mystes posted:They were written in 1965 to 1977, so they started even before e.g. the John Bellairs YA series John Bellairs was the poo poo. I wonder if those books hold up for an adult reader decades later.
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Dec 30, 2023 23:41
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withak posted:If for some reason you haven’t read Pratchett then what the gently caress. I've intentionally pushed all the remaining Discworld I haven't read into the indeterminate future. I don't want to reach that day when there is no more left.
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Dec 30, 2023 23:42
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mdemone posted:I've intentionally pushed all the remaining Discworld I haven't read into the indeterminate future. I don't want to reach that day when there is no more left. The solution is simple: when you reach the end, turn around and head back the other way.
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Dec 30, 2023 23:50
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Antifa Poltergeist posted:Yeah guards,guards is like a ideal entry point to discworld, along with reaper man. Maybe mort if you want to start at the first “proper” discworld novel. I read them all in publication order because I MUST approach any series that way, and "Guards!" was the point where I went "I like this series" to "I REALLY like this series".
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Dec 31, 2023 00:06
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StrixNebulosa posted:Oh! I'm jealous! Give Guards Guards a shot - if you like it, there's a lot more! If you hate it, you can stop there. Okay, adding it to the Libby queue.
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Dec 31, 2023 01:11
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tildes posted:In general i think Baru gets fun in another way if you’ve taken neuro 101 (on up). It’s almost like sci fi, insofar as some of the fantastical elements are sort of plausible kind of like how hard sci fi is. Just instead of physics being the sci part of sci fi it’s neuroscience. Not with this, which is just real, but later on w the cancer tumor stuff for example Having only read the first one (so far) I feel like it's also social Sci Fi. What if all the tools of imperialism were used in concert by people who understood them, rather than failsons who lucked into a few of them at any one time through the process of elimination and the British public school system?
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Dec 31, 2023 01:47
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By some coincidence I had read The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat shortly before I first read Baru. Just about died laughing/shuddering in horror.
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Dec 31, 2023 01:53
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mdemone posted:John Bellairs was the poo poo. I wonder if those books hold up for an adult reader decades later. The Face In The Frost is another "there's nothing like it" fantasy book, like Lud-in-the-Mist. Poldarn posted:I read them all in publication order because I MUST approach any series that way, and "Guards!" was the point where I went "I like this series" to "I REALLY like this series". For me, that was Mort. Arsenic Lupin fucked around with this message at 02:06 on Dec 31, 2023 |
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Dec 31, 2023 02:04
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e: I am a dumbass
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Dec 31, 2023 02:05
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