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UltimoDragonQuest posted:Children of Time is great. The alien POV chapters are incredible and the rest doesn't drag. GIANT loving SPIDERS, man! I loved that book.
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Feb 1, 2018 14:18
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apophenium posted:What are the best spider aliens in all of scifi? I need to read more books with spider aliens. The best unstoppable galaxy invading murder-spider aliens off-hand are in James Gunn's Transcendental. The best friendly helpful spider aliens I can remember off hand are the spider-monkey aliens from Ken MacLeod's Engines of Light series.
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Feb 1, 2018 15:47
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PlushCow posted:Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky was a good read that I think was recommended from here, here's a blurb:
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Feb 1, 2018 17:49
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NoNostalgia4Grover posted:The best unstoppable galaxy invading murder-spider aliens off-hand are in James Gunn's Transcendental. Those are good too,but yeah,the spiders from a deepness in the sky are the best.
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Feb 1, 2018 18:54
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Microcline posted:It felt like someone narrating a game of Civilization at me while occasionally mentioning that everyone is a spider. I kinda felt like this in A Fire Upon the Deep the Tines were like way too human and familiar to be interesting to me I don't like that book
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Feb 1, 2018 19:07
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Can anyone recommend me a good Sci fi book that deals heavily with religion? The example bring Dune, but I've read it.
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Feb 1, 2018 20:04
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Hiro Protagonist posted:Can anyone recommend me a good Sci fi book that deals heavily with religion? The example bring Dune, but I've read it. If you don't mind some romance, I found Archangel Protocol by Lyda Morehouse to be pretty fun.
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Feb 1, 2018 20:07
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Hiro Protagonist posted:Can anyone recommend me a good Sci fi book that deals heavily with religion? The example bring Dune, but I've read it. Almost anything by Roger Zelazny, but especially A Rose for Ecclesiastes, Isle of the Dead, and Lord of Light. http://lib.ru/ZELQZNY/ARoseforEcclesiastes.txt
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Feb 1, 2018 20:12
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Hiro Protagonist posted:Can anyone recommend me a good Sci fi book that deals heavily with religion? The example bring Dune, but I've read it. Canticle for Leibowitz is a classic.
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Feb 1, 2018 20:22
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I don't know how they hold up, but Frank Herbert did a bunch of other stuff that could qualify as Sci fi that deals heavily with religion. The Godmakers is a stand alone and the Pandora Sequence (destination void, Jesus incident, The Lazarus Effect, The Ascension Factor) series come to mind also.
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Feb 1, 2018 20:31
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Sibling of TB posted:I don't know how they hold up, but Frank Herbert did a bunch of other stuff that could qualify as Sci fi that deals heavily with religion. The Godmakers is a stand alone and the Pandora Sequence (destination void, Jesus incident, The Lazarus Effect, The Ascension Factor) series come to mind also. Arthur C. Clarke's The Nine Billion Names of God is a weird little classic
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Feb 1, 2018 20:46
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Hiro Protagonist posted:Can anyone recommend me a good Sci fi book that deals heavily with religion? The example bring Dune, but I've read it. The Sparrow, you'll never look at Big Bird the same way again
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Feb 1, 2018 21:31
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Harlan Ellison's Deathbird Stories.
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Feb 1, 2018 21:51
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Not gonna lie, that anime novel where the male lead has to become Princess Holy Aura sounds hilarious. Just finished up The Last Man on Earth Club by Paul Hardy. Pretty good. It's going to stick with me for a while.
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Feb 1, 2018 23:12
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Hiro Protagonist posted:Can anyone recommend me a good Sci fi book that deals heavily with religion? The example bring Dune, but I've read it. Dan Simmons Hyperion Cantos. The religious aspects get stronger in the 3rd and 4th books, which some people don't like as much. I enjoyed the whole series and re-read it once every few years. Deals a lot with Catholicism in the distant future. Peter F Hamilton The Nights Dawn Trilogy and The Void Trilogy. Nights Dawn has religious themes, particularly dealing with the afterlife, but doesn't deal explicitly with religious organisations very much. Void deals with a minority religion based around beliefs about what is inside an event horizon at the centre of the galaxy having their beliefs challenged when events give people a chance to take a look. There are references to the earlier Commonwealth books in Void, but you can probably get away with skipping them if you want.
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Feb 1, 2018 23:49
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Hiro Protagonist posted:Can anyone recommend me a good Sci fi book that deals heavily with religion? The example bring Dune, but I've read it. Too Like The Lightning... sort of. I mean, religion and God is definitely a big deal. Peter Watts' Echopraxia.  He also has a couple free shorts on the topic:- A Word For Heathens - Hillcrest v Velikovsky I actually thought I had more on my kindle to jog my memory, but the other religion-adjacent stuff is fantasy-ish. Son of the Morning is fantastic, the Hundred Years War if, you know, medieval Christian theology was more-or-less accurate* and Heaven and Hell were directly involved. * - for gnostic values of accurate 
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Feb 2, 2018 00:07
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Okay, thanks for all the suggestions!
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Feb 2, 2018 00:11
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I wonder why people don't pitch Too Like The Lightning as (I refuse to spoiler tag this, it's like the first chapter) "In a ~utopian post-state society of voluntary citizenship and Enlightenment ideals, a world-famous criminal tries to protect the secret of a child who may be capable of genuine miracles." That's a lot more compelling than the vague 'enlightenment utopia or is it gender ra ra' description I absorbed. And don't tell me if that all turns out to be false, I don't care, it's just the hook!
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Feb 2, 2018 00:48
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C.M. Kruger posted:I see Baen is jumping on the anime bandwagon. I remember Ryk Spoor posting on usenet back 25 years ago and his anime levels were already pretty high.
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Feb 2, 2018 00:52
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Hiro Protagonist posted:Can anyone recommend me a good Sci fi book that deals heavily with religion? The example bring Dune, but I've read it.
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Feb 2, 2018 00:58
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GreyjoyBastard posted:Too Like The Lightning... sort of. I mean, religion and God is definitely a big deal. Son of the Night is good, too. I thought it was more tonally consistent while still being very fun. Really looking forward to the third, when that drops in however many years
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Feb 2, 2018 01:56
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People were talking about Children of Time and bumped it up my list a bit, so I went to check prices and found it's .99 on US Kindle at the moment.
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Feb 2, 2018 02:05
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fritz posted:I remember Ryk Spoor posting on usenet back 25 years ago and his anime levels were already pretty high. I mean, the Grand Central Arena series did feature Sun Wukong teaming up with Frieza in a major setpiece.
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Feb 2, 2018 02:17
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General Battuta posted:I wonder why people don't pitch Too Like The Lightning as (I refuse to spoiler tag this, it's like the first chapter) "In a ~utopian post-state society of voluntary citizenship and Enlightenment ideals, a world-famous criminal tries to protect the secret of a child who may be capable of genuine miracles." That is a pretty great hook, but on the other hand if that's how the book had been pitched to me I probably would have been even more disappointed and bailed on it even earlier than I did. 
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Feb 2, 2018 02:28
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Hiro Protagonist posted:Can anyone recommend me a good Sci fi book that deals heavily with religion? The example bring Dune, but I've read it. Book of the New Sun is about a man on a far future Earth whose narration is due to various factors limited to perceiving the world through myths and religious teaching which have undergone hundreds of thousands of years of cultural drift.
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Feb 2, 2018 04:12
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occamsnailfile posted:People were talking about Children of Time and bumped it up my list a bit, so I went to check prices and found it's .99 on US Kindle at the moment.
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Feb 2, 2018 05:58
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The Book of New Sun by Gene Wolfe, definitely deals with religion.
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Feb 2, 2018 08:56
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Neurosis posted:Son of the Night is good, too. I thought it was more tonally consistent while still being very fun. Really looking forward to the third, when that drops in however many years Anyhow, Richard Paul Russo's Unto Leviathan/Ship of Fools has a lot of religious subtext, as well as being a really good space opera horror thingy. And from the completely opposite side of the spectrum, how about Small Gods by Terry Pratchett?
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Feb 2, 2018 10:45
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Religion in older scifi/fantasy books tends to be the holdout fortresses of advanced or forgotten technologies. These advanced technologies/forgotten technologies, suitably disguised, are how the quasi-religous entity enforces their true mission of being: (select at least one, multiple choices are allowed....civilization stasis & civilization up-lifters are mutually exclusive and cannot be selected by the same group) .......(unless there is a secret faction within the parent entity working against the goals of the parent entity). -secret benevolent guardians -evil overlords -civilization up-lifters from outer space/the old times -pawns of re-awakening evil powers/robofiends/insectile hordes -technology maintenance procedures -civilization stasis (this is a favorite go2 one for generation spaceship stories) -Wizards! aka Mary Sue Wildcard option Go to the scifi/fantasy paperbacks section of a decently sized used bookstore. Randomly grab 10 paperbacks out of the scifi/fantasy paperbacks section. At least 4 of the 10 randomly selected scifi paperbacks will be about religion in alt-scifi setting. Granted most of those randomly selected books won't be good, but hey it's like fishing. Just make sure to do this experiment at a used bookstore that sells paperbacks for $1.50 and under.
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Feb 2, 2018 16:06
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NoNostalgia4Grover posted:Just make sure to do this experiment at a used bookstore that sells paperbacks for $1.50 and under. Oh man, if you're buying used sci-fi/fantasy from the 1.50$ and cheaper section you're guaranteed to get the trash. In the two used bookstores I've frequented all the good stuff was 4$ or higher depending on quality and condition.
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Feb 2, 2018 16:51
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gotta find that used book shop owned by a crank who never discovered price checking online. small towns and aged populations.
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Feb 2, 2018 16:56
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StrixNebulosa posted:Oh man, if you're buying used sci-fi/fantasy from the 1.50$ and cheaper section you're guaranteed to get the trash. In the two used bookstores I've frequented all the good stuff was 4$ or higher depending on quality and condition. Find better high-throughput used bookstores my friend(hint: they tend to set universal prices on books). Once you find a good high-throughput used bookstore you'll be scoffing at paying $4. Book Barn Niantic CT 4 physical sites spread out over 3/4 of a mile(8 buildings + various sheds/tents/carts) -all crammed with books. Any paperback $1 Tradepaperbacks $4 Hardcovers $4 & up Signed & first edition mint books are priced higher, usually. Sometimes you get lucky. Like mint first edition paperback war of the newts for $1 lucky. No computerized inventory system in place there(the computer system & internet hookups would cost more than some of the buildings-seriously), but do have a goat petting farm. Very busy place, they finished borg-consuming the 4th store location late last year. quantumfoam fucked around with this message at 17:53 on Feb 2, 2018 |
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Feb 2, 2018 17:32
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Some people have said Book of the New Sun but I would say Wolfe's series that's even more about religion is Book of the Long Sun It is explicitly about "a good man in a bad religion"
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Feb 2, 2018 18:59
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C.M. Kruger posted:I see Baen is jumping on the anime bandwagon. "What Is! Going On!" the CO shouted, waving his arms in the air dramatically. He was wearing a purple and orange jumpsuit that was skin tight and revealed that he'd apparently gained about thirty percent in body mass, was now about seven feet tall and looked like the Terminator, complete with one eye that had been replaced by a red-glowing laser emitter. "This is! Unacceptable! Completely unacceptable! This cannot be accepted!" The wardroom now had orange walls and a screen on the back bulkhead that showed a mass of trajectories that appeared to have nothing to do with anything. "As I was (puff, puff) saying," Weaver replied, calmly, leaning one patch-covered elbow on the edge of the table. "The first theory (puff, puff) that must be entertained (puff, pause, ponder, puff) is that we are experiencing a mass hallucination . . ." "All I want to know!" the CO barked, his laser emitter shining in Weaver's eyes, "Is How! We Are Going! To Stop this!" "I would recommend," (puff, puff . . . pause . . . ruminate . . . puff . . .) "that we extract the ship from the field (puff, puff) and investigate the results . . . (puff.)" "Well, do it fast!" Miriam snapped from the hatch. "I can't find anything to wear but these stupid school-girl outfits!" The linguist was astride what looked like a white saber-toothed tiger. She was wearing a complete school-girl outfit from the saddle-loafer flats to the plain blue tie. If anything, compared to most of her wardrobe it was muted. The worst part, though, were her . . . "What has occurred to your eyes, Miss Moon?" Bill asked, puffing politely. "I don't know!" Miriam shrilled, rolling eyes that took up most of her face around the room. "The weird part is, I can't get contacts in them but I still can see normally! I should be blind as a bat. Tee-hee!" she added, clapping her hands over her mouth. "Oh, God, did I just giggle?" "And now the effect is explained . . ." Weaver said, leaning one elbow on his station chair and taking a puff off his pipe while rotating his whole body to look at the overhead. "We have entered . . . the anime zone!" (then they defeat the bad aliens with the power of rock) edit to add baen authors' favourite band: "What the hell?" Prael said as the Blade screamed in at almost four thousand times the speed of light. "What in the hell is that noise?" "That would be the song 'Return' by the band Crüxshadows, sir," the COB said. "A Goth band based in Tallahassee, Florida, it first hit the major charts with the song 'Sophia' in—" "Okay, COB, if you're so smart," the CO snapped. "Explain to me how we're hearing it in space!" 90s Cringe Rock fucked around with this message at 19:49 on Feb 2, 2018 |
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Feb 2, 2018 19:46
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my bony fealty posted:Some people have said Book of the New Sun but I would say Wolfe's series that's even more about religion is Book of the Long Sun To be fair you can find some religion in most of Wolfe. Wizard Knight has the dynamic of denizes on worlds above being gods for the worlds below, for example, and uses it to sort of tie Nordic myth and Christianity into a rather messy knot. anilEhilated fucked around with this message at 20:49 on Feb 2, 2018 |
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Feb 2, 2018 20:47
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papa horny michael posted:gotta find that used book shop owned by a crank who never discovered price checking online.
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Feb 2, 2018 21:05
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Cruxshadows? I don't even have to look it up to know it's a Ringo book
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Feb 2, 2018 23:02
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Internet Wizard posted:Cruxshadows? I don't even have to look it up to know it's a Ringo book Oh. John Ringo? No. 
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Feb 3, 2018 00:14
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Anyone have a hot take on Tanith Lee? Someone just described Death’s Master to me in a way that makes it sound totally rockin’anilEhilated posted:It is nowhere near as enjoyable, though; and most of it is setup for Book of the Short Sun which ties them all together so it might be better to start at the beginning. Latro books are where to go if you want Wolfe + religion
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Feb 3, 2018 00:15
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For anybody wondering about the changes made for the Altered Carbon show, it sticks pretty close to the book for the first 5 episodes, makes some divergences in episode 6, and then episode 7 it just throws the book out the window and does some really stupid changes. The action scenes are pretty rad throughout, though so it's got that going for it.
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Feb 3, 2018 02:30
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