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Ghost of Babyhead posted:I've got a question for the thread: Can anyone recommend any books which deal mostly with alien ways of thinking, alien societies, that sort of thing? I've always been interested in stories from alien points of view (especially when humans are examined through alien eyes) and "first contact" stories. I've been especially interested in the possibilities of exotic aliens since reading Peter Watts' Blindsight. One recent recommendation I've had from elsewhere is China Mieville's Embassytown, and I'm looking into getting that, but does anyone here have some thoughts on this topic? Everything by Stanisław Lem? Specifically His Master's Voice, Solaris, Fiasco, and The Invincible. Hughlander fucked around with this message at 19:35 on Dec 31, 2011 |
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Dec 31, 2011 19:29
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Awesome. I'd dimly heard of him before (and Solaris rings a bell), but I'd never read his stuff.
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Dec 31, 2011 20:00
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Bass Concert Hall posted:I don't know if this is out-of-genre, but do you think the Red Mars/Blue Mars/Green Mars series is worth reading? From there it starts to go into Martian geology (actually arieology, of which the book will constantly remind you) with just as much excruciating detail. Although the plot moves on quite a bit (from the very first mission base to a fully populated society with multiple cities) it never really lets up on the arieology details for the rest of the trilogy. I liked the science details quite a bit, but even a nerd like me was really tired of hearing about rock formations by the end of the trilogy. I also felt the story focus of the books (population -> federation -> independance) was really dragging after a while.
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Dec 31, 2011 21:27
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Ghost of Babyhead posted:I've got a question for the thread: Can anyone recommend any books which deal mostly with alien ways of thinking, alien societies, that sort of thing? I've always been interested in stories from alien points of view (especially when humans are examined through alien eyes) and "first contact" stories. I've been especially interested in the possibilities of exotic aliens since reading Peter Watts' Blindsight. One recent recommendation I've had from elsewhere is China Mieville's Embassytown, and I'm looking into getting that, but does anyone here have some thoughts on this topic?
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Dec 31, 2011 22:05
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FuSchnick posted:From there it starts to go into Martian geology (actually arieology, of which the book will constantly remind you) with just as much excruciating detail. That's what made me stop reading in the middle of Green Mars. It was hurting my brain. I kept thinking, JUST GET ON WITH IT! 
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Dec 31, 2011 23:20
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Hi, I'm looking at picking up Vernor Vinge to get my space opera fix, which book would be recommended to start with? The last books I read were Nights Dawn and Commonwealth/Void Trilogies by Hamilton which I really liked (especially the Silfen parts). So I wouldn't mind something of similar ilk. Cheers!
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Jan 1, 2012 03:03
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Ghost of Babyhead posted:Awesome. I'd dimly heard of him before (and Solaris rings a bell), but I'd never read his stuff. Not space opera, but Lem's The Futuralogical Congress and Ms. Found in a Bathtub are both hysterically funny and genuinely thought provoking.
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Jan 1, 2012 03:20
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^^^ And exceptionally depressing. Welcome to the Bureaucracy. We all die here. Try The Cyberiad. It is charming and fun, and is more space opera-ish. The Tales of Prix the Pilot are pretty fun too, in a Space Cadet at Baikanur sort of way.
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Jan 1, 2012 06:11
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Thanks for the recommendations, guys! A lot of Lem's stuff seems to be absurdly expensive on Amazon, but there're a bunch of second-hand places for me to check out locally, so I'll have a go with those! Also I'll look for Cherryh's Chanur books.
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Jan 1, 2012 15:10
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Ghost of Babyhead posted:Thanks for the recommendations, guys! A lot of Lem's stuff seems to be absurdly expensive on Amazon, but there're a bunch of second-hand places for me to check out locally, so I'll have a go with those! Also I'll look for Cherryh's Chanur books. use http://abebooks.com for all your used book hunting. Worldwide used book store searches!
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Jan 1, 2012 18:24
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Humbug Scoolbus posted:use http://abebooks.com for all your used book hunting. Worldwide used book store searches! Oh man, The Invincible starts off at $20 before shipping, what is going on.  (Site owns, thanks for the link)
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Jan 1, 2012 21:09
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Don't you guys have libraries? I think I've bought one book in my lifetime.
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Jan 2, 2012 10:27
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HUMAN FISH posted:Don't you guys have libraries? I think I've bought one book in my lifetime.
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Jan 2, 2012 16:00
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I am definitely a book hoarder. Has anyone read The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi ? I generally like hard SF written by actual scientists but the reviews on this one are mixed..
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Jan 3, 2012 20:00
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The setting and conceits of the novel are inventive and he likes throwing out neologisms without explicitly explaining their meanings, expecting the reader to infer them through context. I liked it but it's also not as heavy on the actual hard science content as books from other scientist authors like Egan et al.
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Jan 3, 2012 20:20
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I just noticed I missed the discussion about it in the SF/F thread too, sorry about that! Are there any space opera blogs out there? I have yet to find one and would love to see a blog of reviews/ listings of just space operas. Also I see a ton of 40k books coming out lately-- are any of them decently written? The 40k universe is one of the coolest space opera concepts but I haven't been able to get through any of the books I've tried, as much as I try to..
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Jan 3, 2012 20:23
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Plus_Infinity posted:I just noticed I missed the discussion about it in the SF/F thread too, sorry about that! It's not specifically about space operas, but I really like SF Signal's (http://www.sfsignal.com/) coverage of science fiction novels. A couple of the contributors are obviously big fans of hard science novels and space operas. http://www.kirkusreviews.com/blog/science-fiction-and-fantasy/sf-signal-lets-talk-space-opera/
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Jan 3, 2012 20:25
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Plus_Infinity posted:Has anyone read The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi ? I generally like hard SF written by actual scientists but the reviews on this one are mixed.. Seeing that he got a three book deal based on one chapter, and that Charlie Stross endorses him I'd read his book. Which I have. And I liked it. Not as hard as I'd expected, but still cool ideas and execution.
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Jan 3, 2012 21:30
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Plus_Infinity posted:I just noticed I missed the discussion about it in the SF/F thread too, sorry about that! Any of the 40k stuff Matt Forbeck writes is terrific.
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Jan 3, 2012 22:41
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Plus_Infinity posted:I am definitely a book hoarder. If you can find it cheap, look for John G Cramer's "Einstein's Bridge", which is a story set at the Superconducting Super Collider in Texas (the one that got cancelled in 1993). I wouldn't say it is a great book at all, more of a giant "gently caress You" revenge book to the politics and media that resulted in the cancellation of that project, which in turn resulted in the LHC construction.
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Jan 4, 2012 03:14
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Plus_Infinity posted:I am definitely a book hoarder. I thought it was OK, but only just. It has a lot of nice ideas and concepts in there but it suffers for having a cast of characters that are just so horribly one-dimensional (expect, maybe, for the detective).
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Jan 4, 2012 14:34
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evilbastard posted:If you can find it cheap, look for John G Cramer's "Einstein's Bridge", which is a story set at the Superconducting Super Collider in Texas (the one that got cancelled in 1993). Hah, I remember that book. I haven't read it in years, literally since I was probably 12 or 13, so I probably am not a good judge of it's quality, but I remember really enjoying it. The thing I remember the most was the parallell insect/nanotech aliens invading and destroying our universe, forcing the protagonists to somewhere jump into another, unaffected parallel universe that was slightly different from ours. I can't remember the name of it (Vortex or something) but he also had another novel that explored similar concepts. In it, a scientist invents a device that will teleport anything within a certain spherical radius into another dimension; or rather, it exchanged with the other universe, so if the spot you were working on happened to correspond with a big tree in the other universe, you'd end up with a giant sphere of solid wood (conversely, the tree in the other universe now has a big spherical bubble/hole in it now). Pretty interesting stuff. The thing that I remember the most was the protagonist fighting off some mook by teleporting chunks of the guy's body away.
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Jan 4, 2012 15:37
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Plus_Infinity posted:Also I see a ton of 40k books coming out lately-- are any of them decently written? The 40k universe is one of the coolest space opera concepts but I haven't been able to get through any of the books I've tried, as much as I try to.. All of it is pretty shite apart from the stuff by Aaron Dembski-Bowden and Dan Abnett
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Jan 4, 2012 23:44
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ed balls balls man posted:All of it is pretty shite apart from the stuff by Aaron Dembski-Bowden and Dan Abnett I like Abnett's stuff too. But like I said, Forbeck is my favorite.
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Jan 4, 2012 23:49
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I think Dan Abnett was the one I tried to read and didn't enjoy.
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Jan 5, 2012 17:28
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Humbug Scoolbus posted:I like Abnett's stuff too. But like I said, Forbeck is my favorite. I haven't read any of his stuff, what's he written?
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Jan 5, 2012 23:52
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ed balls balls man posted:I haven't read any of his stuff, what's he written? Ahhhhh I lost it. I was thinking of Forbeck's Blood Bowl stuff for some unknown reason. Sorry for the misinformation.
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Jan 6, 2012 01:41
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I've read just about everything written by Iain M Banks and Peter F Hamilton, who are both great in different ways. Banks is definitely the better writer but, despite his juvenile tendencies, Hamilton really can spin out some epic blockbuster storytelling. One novel I don't think I've seen mentioned on here is "The Risen Empire" by Scott Westerfield. I rather enjoyed this - it's like if Iain M Banks tried to write a new version of Dune. It's set in a futuristic aristocratic society ruled by the immortal undead - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Risen_Empire It says on that wiki link that he's written a sequel too - but a bit like the Nights Dawn books in the States, the publisher over there decided to split the (large) book into two. So if you buy the UK edition it's a self-contained book. Sadly the last I heard about the author, he'd given up on writing a proper sequel to that book and was instead focusing on YA fiction.
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Jan 6, 2012 02:29
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I really like Peter F Hamilton's space operas, weird sex scenes aside. The problem is he doesn't seem to know how to end his stories with anything other than lame deus ex machina solutions. If someone would take the story out of his hands once he's got it as epic as he can, and write him a better ending, I would enjoy his books so much more.
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Jan 6, 2012 15:39
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megapuppy posted:One novel I don't think I've seen mentioned on here is "The Risen Empire" by Scott Westerfield. I rather enjoyed this - it's like if Iain M Banks tried to write a new version of Dune. It's set in a futuristic aristocratic society ruled by the immortal undead - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Risen_Empire I really liked The Risen Empire! One of the best space opera books I think I've read in a really long time. I liked his other book, "Evolution's Darling" as well, but it's a bit weirder (aka : underaged robo-sex scene in the beginning, and then some brutal bdsm scenes later) -- aside from those bits I really enjoy it a lot. I remember seeing him at a reading and asking him if he would ever return to writing space opera. I think his response was that "young adult books allow me to more closely examine the trauma of growing up", which may or may not also translate to "writing YA is earning me filthy amounts of money"
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Jan 7, 2012 02:40
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megapuppy posted:One novel I don't think I've seen mentioned on here is "The Risen Empire" by Scott Westerfield. I rather enjoyed this - it's like if Iain M Banks tried to write a new version of Dune. It's set in a futuristic aristocratic society ruled by the immortal undead - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Risen_Empire Reserved this at my local library instantly. I'll report back later. Thanks!
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Jan 7, 2012 03:22
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I read Risen Empire (and its sequel, Killing Of Worlds) and they were interesting. I'd say they're very much Space Opera as this thread would define it. It's unfortunate that Westerfield doesn't seem interested in continuing the series, though, because the ending of the second book couldn't get any more "to be continued" if he'd actually written "TO BE CONTINUED".
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Jan 7, 2012 08:09
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Another one I don't think I've seen mentioned yet is Gary Gibson's "Shoal Sequence" (AKA - Dakota Merrick) trilogy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Gibson I've only read the first book "Stealing Light" and thought it was pretty decent with some cool ideas. The only downside - and it is a big downside - is I saw every big plot twist coming a mile off. Despite this, I'd still heartily recommend it to fans of space opera. I might pick up the other two books in the sequence at some point.
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Jan 8, 2012 18:55
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The Risen Empire sounds really good, but I've moved to buying all my fiction in eBook format and it's not available. 
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Jan 8, 2012 20:09
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ed balls balls man posted:The Risen Empire sounds really good, but I've moved to buying all my fiction in eBook format and it's not available.
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Jan 8, 2012 20:12
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Less Fat Luke posted:It's on at least Amazon and Kobo... Not for my region on both sites unfortunately. I guess I could use a VPN though.
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Jan 8, 2012 20:27
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ed balls balls man posted:Not for my region on both sites unfortunately. I guess I could use a VPN though.
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Jan 8, 2012 20:53
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That poo poo pisses me off so badly that whenever I see a title unavailable I go to great lengths to pirate it. Although even those great lengths are more acceptable than a heftier price tag and a 6 week wait while it gets ordered in.
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Jan 8, 2012 21:50
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Neurosis posted:That poo poo pisses me off so badly that whenever I see a title unavailable I go to great lengths to pirate it. Although even those great lengths are more acceptable than a heftier price tag and a 6 week wait while it gets ordered in. I've actually had success in complaining to the publisher. I'm from Denmark, so I'm forced to shop all my Kindle titles at Amazon.com, but as an International customer. I had bought and read part 1 and 2 of the Metrozone trilogy by Simon Morden, when I noticed that I wasn't allowed to buy part 3 ?! At the same time I wanted to buy Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey, and once again this was available to US customers in Amazon US and British customers in Amazon UK, but us International customers were left out. Both books are published by Orbit US/UK (Hachette Digital), so I wrote them a an email, letting them know the absurdity of this and how easy it was to find the same books in shady places. Of course worded very polite and professional. One week later I got an email back where they apologized and let me know that from June 1st or so(can't remember the exact date), both books would be available for International buyers too. They claimed it was due to a mistake at Amazon US. At the same time I had a conversations with several authors about this, and it all boils down to authors having no saying in this. It's 100% publisher controlled if they are published by some of the big publishers. So, send the publisher a polite mail when a title is not available for you as an International customer, and it might just become available. Or in some cases, if you also talk to the author about it, he might send you a copy of the ebook.
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Jan 8, 2012 22:23
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Could anyone recommend me some space opera/hard sci-fi set entirely on a big spaceship/space station? Bonus points if it has horror elements. (I've read Blindsight and Hull Zero Three)
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Jan 16, 2012 12:20
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