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Krinkle posted:The ending of Look to Windward is weird. What was the point of sending the T-fur-thousand after the conspirators, torturing the ever loving poo poo out of them, then destroying their soulkeepers so that they are lost and can't even tell those dicks in the afterlife "whoa maybe you don't want to mess with the culture."? It was mentioned that the surveillance and evidence and remains were very deliberately left in place, if I recall correctly. They got the message. If they'd let them reach their heaven afterwards it wouldn't have been as effective. Krinkle posted:And was there an error in my kindle with a doubled-up epilogue or was that intentional because the man got twinned? And to clarify, his twin wasn't the kitty man dying in the brain-tube meat-hell interior of the behemothsaur? That was an error. MikeJF fucked around with this message at 07:09 on Aug 13, 2012 |
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Aug 12, 2012 20:00
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Cardiovorax posted:Just finished Use of Weapons. I already found Player of Games pretty harsh in the emotional impact, but this is something else. I don't think I've ever felt this awful over a book before. Yeah, when I hit certain points in the book of which I'm sure you know what I mean I had to put it down, I felt like I'd been physically punched in the gut.
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Aug 15, 2012 00:05
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Gravitas Shortfall posted:The best part of that story is the bit that's quoted on its wiki page. The Arbitrary is by far my favourite Culture ship. quote:It complained about being restricted to one word, then pretended to think for a long time, and finally came up with 'gullible'. Didn't the appendicies of Consider Phlebas clarify Earth was Contacted about 2150? Or was that an interview or am I making it all up. I do remember that the Consider Phlebas appendicies were supposedly extracts of an Idiran War summary written for post-contact Earth humanity, in English. MikeJF fucked around with this message at 06:14 on Aug 23, 2012 |
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Aug 23, 2012 06:10
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andrew smash posted:are they? I was always under the impression that galactic pan humanity was more of a handwavy concession to story than something banks tried to explain. It's been mentioned that The Culture originates from a half a dozen races that tinkered so much with their genetics over time, through the various eras where there was optimum humanoid designs, through the crazy physical form trends, through all their history, that they've eventually globbed into one mostly artificially designed species.
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Sep 13, 2012 06:01
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Basically, the term 'human' in the Culture books means what 'humanoid' means in most other sci-fi.
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Sep 13, 2012 10:57
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pseudorandom name posted:That's because they don't Pithy. Banks has a tendency to make huge narrative sacrifices towards points like that, though, and it can be frustrating.
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Sep 14, 2012 04:53
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Strom Cuzewon posted:I'd worry about the (small m) mind that wants to inhabit a skin tight space suit though To be fair, they probably spend most of their time hanging around the Either that or they're just weird. Maybe it's a type of mind that can't get bored. I wouldn't be surprised if it's a 'be a suit/module/missile for a few years, then go Drone' thing pretty commonly.
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Sep 14, 2012 12:30
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I just finished The Hydrogen Sonata. I have to say, I was losing interest and ended up leaving it for a day or two at about the time they were swimming up through the water at the end, but then the anticlimax came and went and I actually quite liked the peaceful nothing that came afterwards. It felt quiet and natural. That said, I really can't see myself ever bothering to read this one again.
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Nov 2, 2012 13:36
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The ironic thing is in The Culture they'd probably just have it as a book just because it feels nicer to them and takes zero effort. They'd be all 'Hub, give me a book copy of Consider Phlebas' and bam.
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Nov 5, 2012 14:44
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Dunno, but I'm pretty sure the guy who made those (unofficial) covers posts in this thread, so you might get lucky. EDIT: Yeah, it's BastardySkull. MikeJF fucked around with this message at 16:36 on Nov 6, 2012 |
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Nov 6, 2012 16:32
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Avulsion posted:The "insurance" is the anti-matter bombs she uses to signal the ship. She actually deploys two different things - one's a tiny coin-like object that flies off into the air, the other's a snakey tube that wiggles off into the ice. One is the antimatter charges, the other isn't ever clarified. Probably backing up.
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Nov 12, 2012 01:25
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I think it'd be pretty amazing if you showed it from seemingly-real space; warping effects as ships and warheads flitted around and displaced themselves, jumping around the engagement area and materialising behind the targets spectacularly. It'd be a very hard effect to pull off, though. I just hope that if they ever did create it, they wouldn't be tempted to try and make it more conventional.
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Nov 19, 2012 07:20
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BastardySkull posted:I've not really thought of what I'd put on a cover for the Hydrogen Sonata actually, front or back. Personally the things that spring to mind as appropriate for your covers are either The Presence, or something with the equatorial world-spanning city (exterior, or inside the giant tunnel the final battle happens in)
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Feb 5, 2013 03:08
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Red Crown posted:Actually, this is one where putting the climax wouldn't be a problem, seeing as it's only about one second long (if I recall correctly). It has a climax? As I recall it was building to one and then pulled it out from under you.
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Feb 5, 2013 17:17
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Mister Sinewave posted:I just finished Against a Dark Background which I enjoyed and found interesting. As I always bring up again when someone mentions reading the book: if you're not aware, there's an online-only epilogue.
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Feb 24, 2013 10:07
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Goddamnit.
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Apr 3, 2013 12:06
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I love the Arbitrary.quote:Later, Li had us all play another game; guess the generalization. We each had to think of one word to describe humanity; Man, the species. Some people thought it was silly, just on principle, but the majority joined in. There were suggestions like 'precocious', 'doomed', 'murderous', 'inhuman', and 'frightening'. Most of us who'd been on-planet must have been falling under the spell of humanity's own propaganda, because we tended to come up with words like 'inquisitive', 'ambitious', 'aggressive', or 'quick'. Li's own suggestion to describe humanity was 'MINE!', but then somebody thought to ask the ship. It complained about being restricted to one word, then pretended to think for a long time, and finally came up with 'gullible'.
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Apr 4, 2013 18:58
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The Culture universe is fantastic, but I don't think I've ever encountered another author who'd be able to pull off the feel of the thing, let alone the creative, impossibly imaginative application of post-scarcity.
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May 9, 2013 17:46
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Plus for sufficiently advanced races shape is pretty much a choice, anyway. It's been mentioned there's been fad periods of history where much of the Culture was non-humanoid, but that during the time of the books a form that's somewhat resembling their pre-space ancestors is in fashion. It's all artificial, which is why the fact that the Culture was formed originally from a bunch of different species' is irrelevant these days. But there's plenty of other evolved shapes around. There's a kind of parallel-Culture-equivalent that's formed from waterbound species, for example.
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May 21, 2013 14:50
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pseudorandom name posted:They used to be, but now the canonical explanation of Mind-to-Mind communication is them wearing humanoid avatars and sitting around chatting in a virtual reality simulation of a gentleman's club mapping of the galaxy. I'm sure their 'speech' is still something beyond human intelligence or comprehension, even in that virtual environment.
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May 28, 2013 06:41
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The literary world is a much lesser place today.
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Jun 9, 2013 17:40
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In terms of names, I quite like the Transient Atmospheric Phenomenon as a Contact unit. (Transient Atmospheric Phenomenon is one of the things blamed for UFOs). Also Just the Washing Instruction Chip in Life's Rich Tapestry. Also, a couple of my favourite ships. (And a Gravitas thrown in for good measure) MikeJF fucked around with this message at 09:17 on Jun 11, 2013 |
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Jun 11, 2013 09:11
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Perdido Street Station and the rest of Bas-Lag I would actually count as a magical steampunk setting, but I generally avoid using that word for them because it'll tend to put people off or make them think they're lower quality than they actually are.
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Jun 25, 2013 08:07
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sebmojo posted:I feel this way about Matter, tbh. The 'Matter' of the story really doesn't... but nothing does, to people who are not on the same level as the thing that is happening. Matter feels kinda like he's taking the idea of the pointless story and using it to make a point.
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Jun 26, 2013 13:33
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I love it. If you look at a shot of the road and rail bridges next to each other... you've got the road bridge on the left, a typical airy light floaty almost-not-there modern bridge... and then on the right the rail bridge is just like some kind of monstrous construction going gently caress IT. BAM. THERE. STEEL. MORE STEEL. MORE GIRDERS. gently caress YOU.
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Jul 5, 2013 13:16
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Lasting Damage posted:edit: I mean, never forget who actually started the Idiran War. How many billions died for just the Culture's peace of mind? Not just peace of mind. The simulations showed that the galaxy would be a clearly better place and more lives would be saved in the long run by engaging in war when they did, and the sims were high enough degree of probability to act on The Culture is of the stance that allowing nature to run its course when you could change it leaves you just as morally culpable for inaction as you are for action. What happens, happens, and they do their best to ensure that in the end it's the best thing that does.
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Jul 19, 2013 05:06
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Argas posted:I don't think citizens are conscientious of overpopulation. The biological modifications Culture citizens are born with mean they don't even get pregnant unless they want to. The state of their society and culture means that for most people, having children is an ends, so most people just have a kid or two just to experience it. Bam, done. A "that was neat now let's do something else" sort of thing. There's that one minor character from Player of Games that just kept having children and they're seen as kind of odd for it. Why would you deliberately subject yourself to that sort of experience again when you can go do new things? 'That sort of experience' being quite different for Culture members, though; no pain, no worry, the kid can even be incubated externally if you want. And after it's born they're raised in estates populated by a lot of extended family with no real other responsibilities and Hub or Ship as an ever-present watcher.
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Jul 25, 2013 03:57
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BoneMonkey posted:I just finished up Player of games and I really enjoyed it. I think I'm going to power though the Culture series now and I would like leave the best for last. I like Look to Windward best, though it's quite a quiet, contemplative book. I think most goons generally tend towards Use of Weapons in this category, though. That said, neither are really a finishing book. There's no specific order to Culture books, but generally you should read Excession before Windward or Matter and Weapons before Surface Detail, and as a rule it just kind of feels best if you don't shift things too far from publication position. Hydrogen Sonata isn't the best of the Culture books, in my opinion, but in many ways it forms a fairly suitable closure. Matter is my favourite of the late books, but only on the second reading. This post is a mess. MikeJF fucked around with this message at 23:27 on Aug 6, 2013 |
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Aug 6, 2013 23:21
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And even that had a purpose: it was made sure that it was all recorded on Chelgrian camera. They were playing the torture to an audience.
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Aug 17, 2013 15:40
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They know they gently caress up, but they know that their success rate is high enough that if they didn't do what they do, the galaxy and the lives of people would be, on the whole, a much worse place. The occasional gently caress up is to them more than counterbalaced out.
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Aug 18, 2013 04:22
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Zalakwe posted:The Crow Road also has the best opening line of any novel ever. What's that?
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Aug 26, 2013 22:15
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Those On My Left posted:"It was the day my grandmother exploded." Well, I'm sold.
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Aug 26, 2013 23:24
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John Charity Spring posted:The titular novella is also excellent and is possibly my favourite Culture thing. Plus the Arbitrary is probably my favourite Culture ship.
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Aug 31, 2013 00:56
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If you liked the contemplative tones of State of the Art, absolutely definitely totally Look to Windward.
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Sep 6, 2013 14:43
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Barry Foster posted:Half true. Personally speaking, the most interesting character in the Culture series is the Masaq' Hub (formerly Lasting Damage). Agreed, and my favourite character; and notably not really wittily violent, war duty notwithstanding.
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Sep 9, 2013 04:23
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wins32767 posted:Wasn't that explained as there being limited bandwidth between minds that are far away? We're still seeing very dumbed-down interpretations of complex high-level communication states.
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Sep 17, 2013 01:43
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Base Emitter posted:It's reassuring to know that even among godlike AI starships, there are still bad posters. Better not be talking about Woetra.
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Sep 17, 2013 04:08
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Honestly, I prefer drones or god-voice to Avatars.
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Sep 24, 2013 02:16
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Barry Foster posted:Sadly, both The Algebraist and The State of the Art make mention of Earth, so they're pretty explicitly different fictional universes What do you mean fictional. 
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Sep 24, 2013 14:06
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Munkeymon posted:Oh come one - Xenophobe's avatar(s) were hilarious. Also, so was Masaq's, IIRC, but only because it was a stereotypical 'grey' alien as tinfoil nutjobs here on Earth would see them, so it's extra meta hilarious - as long as my memory isn't total poo poo. Oh, they're fine, I meant the Avatars where they have their own names and semi-personalities and are only partially being controlled by the ship.
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Sep 25, 2013 12:50
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