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I agree with the airport thriller take because I thought Leviathan Wakes was a genuinely good page turner, but I also find anything that mashes together sci-fi and noir to be catnip and I thought it did a pretty good job of it with the Miller character. I remember not liking the second book nearly as much, and I think I lost interest halfway through the third. Felt like the TV show made the story a fair bit leaner and more focused, even if they leaned pretty heavily into the cheese at times.
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Jul 19, 2023 11:32
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Around the 3rd or 4th book I started to feel like maybe the problem was Holden. Like, you can just go home my dude, how do you keep getting involved in this poo poo.
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Jul 19, 2023 12:17
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This site sure is a stark contrast to the circles where the Coreys are invoked in the same sentence as Asimov, Herbert, and Le Guin.
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Jul 19, 2023 12:25
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Really? Jesus. There is/was a let's read where every post is like "yeah this bit is a little crap, too"
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Jul 19, 2023 12:44
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https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3917540&pagenumber=11&perpage=40 Aha! Milkfred is the op, should have guessed.
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Jul 19, 2023 12:45
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FPyat posted:This site sure is a stark contrast to the circles where the Coreys are invoked in the same sentence as Asimov, Herbert, and Le Guin.
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Jul 19, 2023 13:12
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DACK FAYDEN posted:Characters like Asimov, book quality trends like Herbert... and LeGuin is flawless so I got nothing. Didn’t write enough doorstoppers? 
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Jul 19, 2023 13:46
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I may be in the tiny minority here but I think the closest the Expanse books got to greatness was the Dead Space poo poo. I'm a sucker for space horror and I think they should've leaned into "the gods died but they left behind their plague-instrument." Instead they get embarrassed by people making fun of 'vomit zombies' and the horror element pretty much all vanishes after book 2.
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Jul 19, 2023 14:20
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I didn't have anything against the presence of vomit zombies, just that the protag would use that exact terminology the moment he saw them, as if he had some kind of video game HUD identifying the enemy type. When I would write something like "some ragged people with glazed eyes, awkwardly loping around and vomiting profusely" or whatever.
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Jul 19, 2023 14:52
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Awkward Davies posted:Around the 3rd or 4th book I started to feel like maybe the problem was Holden. Like, you can just go home my dude, how do you keep getting involved in this poo poo. I think it'd be really cool if Holden was never a perspective character. He just shows up and you see him from the outside. The first book is just Miller trying to figure out this missing girl case, who bumps into the guy who set off the Earth-Mars war in some dingy bar, and it turns out he is also looking for Julie Mao, for example. Who is this guy? Miller thinks he's an idealistic doofus, Prax thinks he's a hero, Clarissa thinks he's a monster, Avasarala thinks he's a useful idiot, etc. The thing that probably upsets me most about The Expanse as a series is that it's actually pretty good/fun when the Coreys are under pressure. Like, when they only have one chapter to get a character somewhere or have something happen. Amos going to Earth in Nemesis Games is a good example. And I think overall the novels often have a hook that sounds interesting and decent enough opening chapters. It's just somewhere around the 15-25% mark where they start stalling out.
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Jul 19, 2023 15:27
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FBH991 posted:So, I'm looking for some cyberpunk novels with female protagonists that aren't ones I've read before. So not Gibson, Trouble and her friends, or the like. Does anyone have any ideas? The City Inside probably counts. Also Indofuturism.
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Jul 19, 2023 15:55
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General Battuta posted:I may be in the tiny minority here but I think the closest the Expanse books got to greatness was the Dead Space poo poo. I'm a sucker for space horror and I think they should've leaned into "the gods died but they left behind their plague-instrument." Instead they get embarrassed by people making fun of 'vomit zombies' and the horror element pretty much all vanishes after book 2.
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Jul 19, 2023 16:03
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General Battuta posted:I may be in the tiny minority here but I think the closest the Expanse books got to greatness was the Dead Space poo poo. I'm a sucker for space horror and I think they should've leaned into "the gods died but they left behind their plague-instrument." Instead they get embarrassed by people making fun of 'vomit zombies' and the horror element pretty much all vanishes after book 2. No I agree. I read to book 3 or 4 with the slug planet and they didn't even do much interesting with the death slugs. Anyone got any recs for good Dead Space stuff? I've read a lot of what I know exists but I'm always after more.
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Jul 19, 2023 16:13
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Bilirubin posted:wondering the same myself. Have the first on my shelf and have half a mind to make it my scifi contribution to THE YEAR OF THE BRICK. I'm going to break with the consensus here and say don't read Lies of Locke Lamora either. It's overlong and not worth it; the main plot stuff is rushed and not developed enough. It makes sense but doesn't resonate. Should have stuck with the conman stuff. Fridging Nezca was a waste; Locke figuring out how to get ahead without marrying the capo's daughter would have been a much more fun plot.
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Jul 19, 2023 16:23
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The Book of Koli (Rampart #1) by MR Carey - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07W54MPDZ/ The Red Knight (Traitor Son #1) by Miles Cameron - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007ZFPUL2/ The Girl and the Moon (Book of the Ice #3) by Mark Lawrence - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09983C73R/
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Jul 19, 2023 16:39
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I say don't read Lies because it's a great book and then you'll read two less good books and then you'll be sad there's nothing else
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Jul 19, 2023 16:59
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You can just read the one great book and then move on. It's fine. I didn't bother reading the third one tbh.
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Jul 19, 2023 17:00
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Dungeon Crawler Carl isn't the most literary book series out there but the series is worth a read for just how much fun the author is having with it. Even the actor reading for the audio books is having fun. It reminds me of one of my other favorite books, John Dies at the End. It's not literary and needs editing but the highs are really high and the lows pretty frequent. But you could tell that the author was having a blast.
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Jul 19, 2023 18:02
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G-Mawwwwwww posted:It reminds me of one of my other favorite books, John Dies at the End. I really need to reread that book, it was a lot of fun. I just finished Rivers of London and really enjoyed it, but I hear the rest of the series can be hit or miss.
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Jul 19, 2023 18:07
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Just finished Jade Legacy and wow, I enjoyed the first two books bit this one had the definite feel of an author learning and growing. Really satisfying change to the format of the first two and a great conclusion to the story.
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Jul 19, 2023 18:32
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Captain Monkey posted:Anyone got any recs for good Dead Space stuff? I've read a lot of what I know exists but I'm always after more. If you don't mind literal Dead Space stuff, Brian Evenson wrote a tie-in novel for the series. I haven't read it, but it's Brian Evenson, so how bad can it be? e: lol nevermind it's only available in paperback and it's out of print so used copies are $70
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Jul 19, 2023 20:50
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That is as perfect a match between IP and author as you’re likely to get. Loves his amputations.
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Jul 19, 2023 22:44
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Nuclear Tourist posted:I agree with the airport thriller take because I thought Leviathan Wakes was a genuinely good page turner, but I also find anything that mashes together sci-fi and noir to be catnip and I thought it did a pretty good job of it with the Miller character. I remember not liking the second book nearly as much, and I think I lost interest halfway through the third. Felt like the TV show made the story a fair bit leaner and more focused, even if they leaned pretty heavily into the cheese at times. me too, didn't mind the first one, second one dragged, don't think i ever started the 3rd but this was when there were only three books so i may have started it
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Jul 19, 2023 23:41
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The new system shock remake is just incredible levels of dead space, though that's a video game not a book.
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Jul 19, 2023 23:49
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FBH991 posted:So, I'm looking for some cyberpunk novels with female protagonists that aren't ones I've read before. So not Gibson, Trouble and her friends, or the like. Does anyone have any ideas? Crash course, Clipjoint and PsyKosis by Wilhelmina Baird
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Jul 20, 2023 00:34
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The first Red Rising book is the only one I'd call YA, the rest don't have quite the same tropes and trappings of YA, and I think are more correctly a space opera. Very enjoyable space opera.
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Jul 20, 2023 00:42
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sebmojo posted:https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3917540&pagenumber=11&perpage=40 Ah yes, the Lets Read OP who thought Amos was asexual for like 2 books. Given how much of the thread was MM and co-writer making GBS threads on the authors and their work, I'm not shocked people didn't get a good impression of the books. But hey, tastes differ. I certainly don't think they're great literature. But it was generally fun and they stuck the landing on the finale. YMMV.
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Jul 20, 2023 00:51
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Captain Monkey posted:No I agree. I read to book 3 or 4 with the slug planet and they didn't even do much interesting with the death slugs. Like literally Dead space or that kind of space horror? Paradise 1 brought those vibes.
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Jul 20, 2023 00:55
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sebmojo posted:The new system shock remake is just incredible levels of dead space, though that's a video game not a book. Sir I am posting on something awful in 2023. Obviously I like video games. zoux posted:Like literally Dead space or that kind of space horror? Paradise 1 brought those vibes. Just the vibe. Space horror of any sort really, even BDO weirdness, though I've mined that vein pretty deeply. I'll check out Paradise 1.
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Jul 20, 2023 03:06
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Really enjoying Fine Structure by qntm. I picked it up bc it was mentioned in this thread recently, but I’m not sure by who. Thank you, whoever that was.
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Jul 20, 2023 03:28
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big mean giraffe posted:I really need to reread that book, it was a lot of fun. There are definitely parts of it you can tell he was up late on cocaine and FEELIN IT. Some parts aged poorly. But still a fun ride.
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Jul 20, 2023 03:34
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The New Yorker’s new article on Samuel R. Delany is pretty great. I’m more interested in reading the Neveryon books knowing that a later entry explores how AIDS would affect a fantasy city.
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Jul 20, 2023 03:44
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I wish the new Bobiverse book would hurry up and come out already. Does anybody have any recommendations for dumb fun "daydream" sci-fi? Like it's fun because its the exact type of dumb scenario I would daydream about while trying to fall asleep.
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Jul 20, 2023 03:59
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buffalo all day posted:The Fortunate Fall is the best one. I posted about it a while back, if you search for it. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fortunate-...xt%2C677&sr=1-2 This? General Battuta posted:I may be in the tiny minority here but I think the closest the Expanse books got to greatness was the Dead Space poo poo. I'm a sucker for space horror and I think they should've leaned into "the gods died but they left behind their plague-instrument." Instead they get embarrassed by people making fun of 'vomit zombies' and the horror element pretty much all vanishes after book 2. It's actually a shame because while "vomit zombies" is definately a slightly silly way of phrasing it, the absolutely matter of fact way it presents them and the whole incident in question is great. We know they're zombies. The characters know they're zombies, but it does nothing to make what they're doing less hideous. FBH991 fucked around with this message at 04:19 on Jul 20, 2023 |
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Jul 20, 2023 04:16
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Picked up Tchaikovsky's shards of earth and it's a good cosy traveller campaign of a book so far. E: like I can almost hear the dice rolling for initiative in this fight
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Jul 20, 2023 05:48
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habeasdorkus posted:Ah yes, the Lets Read OP who thought Amos was asexual for like 2 books. Given how much of the thread was MM and co-writer making GBS threads on the authors and their work, I'm not shocked people didn't get a good impression of the books. But hey, tastes differ. I certainly don't think they're great literature. But it was generally fun and they stuck the landing on the finale. YMMV. MM never said that. The co-writer was the one who said anything like that and it was, uh, not what he said. Omi no Kami posted:I read the first 4 all in a row recently, and my theory is that they didn't really start planning out the characters until book 4. One of the early running themes you're going to see in our writeups is that book 1 Amos, in particular, sounds like a completely different character. (Later book spoilers) What's particularly weird is how he constantly makes crude sex/dick/prostitute jokes. We later learn that he grew up in a crime brothel and is a mostly-asexual/chemically castrated crime genius who acts like a big, dumb guy because it disarms people. A lot of his lines in LW are either cruder or more emotional and aggressive than the guy who hangs out with Holden in books 3 & 4 and casually goes "Yeah I'd be okay with murdering everything I see, except that wouldn't get me anything I want." sebmojo posted:The new system shock remake is just incredible levels of dead space, though that's a video game not a book. Dead Space was just incredibly System Shock, really.
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Jul 20, 2023 10:19
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Ah, my apologies to MM. And I must have mentally blocked out that second part.
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Jul 20, 2023 10:21
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This one https://amzn.eu/d/e8I7siy
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Jul 20, 2023 11:20
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Kchama posted:MM never said that. The co-writer was the one who said anything like that and it was, uh, not what he said. habeasdorkus posted:Ah, my apologies to MM. And I must have mentally blocked out that second part. I think it's some wires being crossed, actually, because I did make one gaffe with Amos that is rather embarrassing. I'm fairly sure I thought Amos had chemically castrated himself as a consequence of his youth, when he'd actually just had a vasectomy (which I mixed up with a joke Amos makes about all Martian marines being chemically castrated.) This is also why I'm no longer allowed to perform urological surgery. That said, I don't think the Amos of the first few books who is cracking jokes and having such wild sex that Naomi and Holden make jokes about it really meshes with the Amos of the later novels who sees it as a need that he's basically dissociated from, or potentially even tied up with violence (the comment he makes about not having sex with people he likes, for example.) In one of his Babylon's Ashes chapters, his opening paragraph where he basically says the way people talk about sex doesn't mesh up with how he feels about it and it feels like people making poo poo up and so he makes poo poo up to fit in, could be read as asexual, but also potentially just in that sense that sex and violence are inextricably linked. Anyway, no harm no foul.
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Jul 20, 2023 11:56
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Milkfred E. Moore posted:I think it's some wires being crossed, actually, because I did make one gaffe with Amos that is rather embarrassing. I'm fairly sure I thought Amos had chemically castrated himself as a consequence of his youth, when he'd actually just had a vasectomy (which I mixed up with a joke Amos makes about all Martian marines being chemically castrated.) This is also why I'm no longer allowed to perform urological surgery. That said, I don't think the Amos of the first few books who is cracking jokes and having such wild sex that Naomi and Holden make jokes about it really meshes with the Amos of the later novels who sees it as a need that he's basically dissociated from, or potentially even tied up with violence (the comment he makes about not having sex with people he likes, for example.) In one of his Babylon's Ashes chapters, his opening paragraph where he basically says the way people talk about sex doesn't mesh up with how he feels about it and it feels like people making poo poo up and so he makes poo poo up to fit in, could be read as asexual, but also potentially just in that sense that sex and violence are inextricably linked. Anyway, no harm no foul. habeasdorkus posted:Ah, my apologies to MM. And I must have mentally blocked out that second part. Sorry if it came off as if I was trying to be a jerk to you, fyi. I'm just snarky by default. And good for MM to clarify.
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Jul 20, 2023 12:25
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