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I finally read House of Suns after hearing nothing but glowing reviews, and I was not disappointed. Really, really good book.
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May 20, 2010 06:37
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I just finished Pushing Ice by Alistair Reynolds, and I have to say it's my least favorite of his books by far. The main plot is great, but the two main characters are both massively unlikeable and constantly bicker like middle school girls.
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Jun 3, 2010 23:12
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Sombrerotron posted:gently caress those books forever. Well maybe not Rama II, which was still pretty interesting I thought, but turning the series into a ham-fisted anthropological essay 'livened up' with episodes of underage sex and finally ending by saying God probably did it?? was just insulting. It's been so long since I read those books that I only vaguely recall them, but my vague recollection is of frustration and disappointment.
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Jul 30, 2010 13:09
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coyo7e posted:...To wound the autumnal city. The Door Into Summer as well. I liked it anyway.
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Aug 22, 2010 15:07
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fritz posted:Classic Heinlein. Although actually I think his best time travel story was probably the short story "By His Bootstraps". Come to think of it, The Stars My Destination by Bester was sort of a time travel book in a way, and I thought that was pretty good. Trig Discipline fucked around with this message at 00:41 on Aug 23, 2010 |
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Aug 23, 2010 00:37
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fritz posted:I got linked to some Heinlein drama on a few other sites recently and I just want to post two posts from a Heinlein forum (they were in different threads by different posters but) : I honestly haven't read any Heinlein in probably fifteen years, but when I think back to his books I think "holy crap, that was a weird old dude". In fact I was joking about his weird incest/pedo tendencies in the Charles Stross thread just earlier today. I do remember liking The Door Into Summer anyway, though.
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Aug 23, 2010 02:14
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ThaGhettoJew posted:His young adult books are his best material, probably precisely because he ignores his bizarre theories on marriage and sexuality to better cover the action and some light and silly political stuff. Space Cadet, Citizen of the Galaxy, maybe Farmer/Tunnel in the Sky, etc. They're dated and not a little sexist, but they remain fun to read once you break through the 50's-era stylistic background. Oh I know, when I was a teenager I read everything he ever wrote. Became largely disenchanted with him later on both for his politics and for some of the things being discussed here. I thing when I was younger I just looked past a lot of the perverted old-man-loving because I was more interested in rockets and time travel.
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Aug 23, 2010 13:01
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Pyroclastic posted:I just finished two worth Space Opera books in the past couple weeks. I just read this one a few months ago, and I loved it.
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Aug 28, 2010 22:03
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Strange Matter posted:Based on the recommendations of this thread I just finished A Fire Upon the Deep. Now I'm really disappointed that Vinge follow up is a prequel. I feel like I know everything I need to know about the history of the setting, and what's really interesting to me is seeing how things progress from the game changing ending of Fire. Is the follow-up worth it? Well it's a prequel in one sense, but Deepness in the Sky is mostly unrelated to Fire Upon the Deep. They basically share one character. I really liked Deepness in the Sky, though. Just go into it as though it were a separate thing entirely, because for all practical purposes it is.
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Sep 9, 2010 17:25
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dethblud posted:I read Deepness first based on a friend's suggestion and will be starting Fire soon. They're disconnected enough that the order I'm reading in doesn't matter much right? Hardly matters at all.
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Sep 12, 2010 14:49
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Ebethron posted:I read 'House of Suns' over the summer. Fantastic, unapologetic, intelligent hard space-opera. I really liked the art-deco aesthetic and the awesome sense of deep time the story imparted. The rise and fall of galactic civilisations harked back nicely to Aasimov and, outside of sf, the historical accounts of Toynbee and Ibn Khaldun. It was dark but humanistic. Yeah, I just read it for the second time this year. It's my favorite of his by a long shot.
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Nov 3, 2010 03:19
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Magnificent Quiver posted:There's something that bugged me about House of Suns - Because wizards.
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Nov 3, 2010 20:07
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I'm getting either a dragonfly or a dick. Or maybe a dragonfly dick.
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Nov 18, 2010 21:25
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annatar posted:I'm having real trouble reading outside of Banks, Reynolds & MacLeod (and occasionally Stross), I just feel like theres a huge gap for me between them and the rest of the active field. Vinge?
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Nov 21, 2010 17:53
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Why do you say it's not fascist? And why do you think he couldn't have a negative, even traumatic experience of fascism before he was six? Paul Verhoeven posted:"When we were working on the [Robert] Heinlein book, we felt like we had something that was pretty militaristic, pretty right-wing, and you could even say had a tendency to be fascist. " quote:"When we came on our promotion tour to these countries that had been fascist, notably Germany and Italy, and France to a certain degree, it was a continuous fight with the journalists, explaining to them that the movie basically used fascist imagery, and was using images of Leni Riefenstahl to point out a fascist situation."
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Dec 2, 2010 23:17
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Oh I don't think Heinlein meant for it to have any particular relevance to fascism, but Verhoeven is another story.
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Dec 3, 2010 00:06
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Ah, all right.
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Dec 3, 2010 00:30
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:The important thing to recognize about Heinlein's fiction is that it was aimed at 12 year old boys. I don't mean that as an attack or slur --- Heinlein was a masterful writer -- but a lot of what he was trying to do, especially with MIAHM, Starship Troopers, SiaSL, etc., was to give 12 year old boys poo poo to think about and challenge their assumptions. Starship Troopers especially is meant to be more a fun thought experiment than a serious proposal. That's true of his early stuff, for sure. Definitely not his later work, though. He actually wrote for Boys' Life for a long time IIRC.
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Dec 7, 2010 17:25
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HeroOfTheRevolution posted:Yeah. I really liked Starship Troopers when I was a pre-teen (and into Dragonlance and Drizzt like every other remotely nerdy pre-teen) and asked my father for another Robert Heinlein novel thinking I'd get more of the same. What I got was The Cat Who Walks Through Walls. Holy poo poo. Yeah, pretty much. My school librarian got me interested in some of his stuff for younger kids but they also had the more adult stuff and there was no obvious way to distinguish between the two without reading them. It sort of went from "yay space and rocket ships!" to "come over here and gently caress your grandpa!" without any warning.
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Dec 7, 2010 21:49
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Mr.48 posted:Alastair Reynolds usually has that kind of post-singularity mega-engineering. Yeah, Pushing Ice and House of Suns were the first things that came to my mind. There's also one of the Culture books that takes place inside of a hollow world and is pretty cool. Can't remember which one it is though.
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Dec 22, 2010 16:14
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WINTER IS COMING posted:I am wanting to start on Alistair Reynolds - is Revelation Space the best place to start? Revelation Space is a great universe, although it's frequently said that the ending of the third book is a bit weak. House of Suns is a standalone and it is absolutely excellent, seriously one of my all time favorite sci fi books.
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Oct 6, 2011 14:41
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MikeJF posted:Really? I thought Pushing Ice was his weakest book. It just felt... pointless and aimless. Same here, with the additional problem that I felt that most of the conflict between the two female leads was based on them acting childish and stupid despite supposedly being smart, capable leaders. Even though the overarching plot was cool, it was a very frustrating read just because the characters were acting like idiots. It was the only book of Reynolds' that I flat out would not read again for fun. House of Suns is freakin' amazing, though.
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Nov 28, 2011 04:29
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WMain00 posted:On the subject of Culture novels, can I put in a wholehearted recommendation to Surface Detail, which has been a really good story so far. Just started this one, glad to hear it stays good.
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Dec 10, 2011 16:21
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I started Ship of Fools based on some of the recommendations in this thread, and drat, Russo is not a good writer. It probably didn't help that I just finished Canticle for Leibowitz, which is amazingly well-written, but I just find Russo to be incredibly clumsy and heavy-handed. The main story still hasn't really kicked up yet, though, so I guess it may prove worth the trip anyway.
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Jan 25, 2012 16:15
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y_y posted:This post made me realize that Vinge's new book has already come out. Unfortunately, most reviews seem really, really unimpressed. And I really enjoyed "A Fire Upon the Deep" and "A Deepness in the Sky", too. It's not terrible, it's just not as good as the first two. It seemed to me like Vinge mainly just wanted to spend more time exploring Tines World, and playing with what that sort of society would look like. As such, the plot is pretty much just a contrivance to scatter several of the main characters around the globe and make them walk back home. If you go into it with that knowledge, it's still fun. Just don't expect it to advance the main storyline much, because it doesn't.
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Jan 26, 2012 14:47
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Hedrigall posted:Here's a list with lots of space opera series. I suggest the Revelation Space series by Reynolds, Fire Upon The Deep/Deepness In The Sky by Vinge, Seeds Of Earth by Michael Cobley. I'd also suggest Hamilton's Commonwealth Saga and the Void Trilogy.
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Mar 17, 2012 14:11
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Kerbtree posted:Isn't the ending to the Void stuff complete deus-ex bollocks? It could have been better, but I didn't think it was totally horrible. The series as a whole rates a solid B imo.
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Mar 18, 2012 02:54
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notaspy posted:I've read through this threat to find a book or series I'm pretty sure doesn't exist. I'm wanting something with the following plot devices: I think the Commonwealth Saga and the Void Trilogy (same universe, some of the same characters but a mostly unconnected story that happens a thousand-odd years later) fit every single one of these requirements. Plus they're pretty drat good. e: I just realized this is the second time I've recommended the series on this page. I'm re-reading it right now, so I guess it's just kinda at the top of my mind. Trig Discipline fucked around with this message at 15:58 on Apr 30, 2012 |
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Apr 30, 2012 15:36
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mcustic posted:A loving KID of the worst variety is a major character and POV in Commonwealth saga, though. Wait, who on earth are you talking about? The only character I remember who's not at least in their twenties is Orion, and he was never a POV character. He doesn't even feature in the story very much. Are you sure you're thinking of the right books? edit: I just went down the list of characters here: http://theunisphere.com/pfhwiki/index.php?title=CS_Characters NOTE: IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE BOOKS DON'T READ THIS - SPOILERS!!! The only non-adult character there is Orion, so if you really are talking about the Commonwealth Saga I assume you must be talking about him. If that's the case, I honestly have no idea what you're talking about. He really isn't ever a POV character, doesn't feature much in the plot, and primarily just sits in the background in Ozzie's story thinking about how to get laid. That is not at all what people typically mean when they complain about A loving KID in sci fi. Trig Discipline fucked around with this message at 19:34 on Apr 30, 2012 |
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Apr 30, 2012 19:25
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Bass Concert Hall posted:Well that would explain that then. Mellanie? So we're interpreting A loving KID to mean a promiscuous adult female news reporter who is the tool of a hyperintelligent AI? Because that doesn't make even the slightest bit of sense.
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Apr 30, 2012 19:38
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True, but didn't we all at that age? Anyway, I'm not saying she was the best character - she was in fact not one of my favorites from those books. I just didn't think the description really fit, as you say.
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Apr 30, 2012 19:58
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I am a huge Alistair Reynolds fan, and I found Blue Remembered Earth to be mostly boring as poo poo. It seems like it might be the setup for an interesting series, but as a standalone book I don't think I would recommend it.
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Jul 18, 2012 15:15
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It's not spaceshippy at all, but from this:Khaba posted:Bonus, I love the sense of wonder you get from Alastair Reynold's writing. The incomprehensibly tiny feeling that you get from realising just how small you are, and how little we know. Not a requirement, just an addendum. You might like the Spin trilogy. I just finished book two and started book three, and I'm loving it. The series is dominated by a really palpable feeling of mankind being a small and ephemeral phenomenon in a universe that is predominantly occupied by a completely different kind of life, which just pushes my buttons in all the right ways. It seems like some people didn't like book 2 because it didn't really answer any major questions, but that's less of an issue now that the third book is out. I still liked book 2 on its own anyway.
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Jul 26, 2012 15:27
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Yeah you can't really go wrong. And those are two of my favorite sci fi books ever.
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Jul 26, 2012 20:20
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Humbug Scoolbus posted:Star Smashers of the Galaxy Rangers If you're saying there are literally spaceships that are powered by cheese in this book I am suddenly glad Harry Harrison is dead.
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Aug 17, 2012 03:07
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Neurosis posted:Please, don't let it put you off House of Suns. It is one of the best space opera novels out there. The sheer scale of the first half really impressed me. House of Suns is easily one of my favorite sci fi books. Just fantastic.
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Dec 31, 2012 05:28
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Steakandchips posted:Iain Banks just passed away. Nooooooooo god dammit.
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Jun 9, 2013 23:45
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General Battuta posted:Uh I just want to caveat this with the general opinion that these are two of his worst books. Which is good, I guess, because it means you've got nowhere to go but up! I personally found some stuff to like in Century Rain, but I'm afraid Terminal World is totally unsalvageable. I liked Century Rain quite a bit and thought Terminal World was okay, but Pushing Ice just drove me loving nuts. It had a cool plot, but the two female leads were just unbearably, cartoonishly stubborn with each other. These were supposed to be smart, responsible, capable people, and yet they spend decades bickering like spiteful children to the detriment of their entire society. I don't expect characters in novels not to have flaws, as that would be boring. In Pushing Ice, though, the two leads behave in ways that I have never seen an adult human being behave.
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Nov 6, 2013 07:08
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gohmak posted:Pushing Ice is my favorite from Alastair Reynolds Funny, it's actually my least favorite of his. By a pretty substantial margin.
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Apr 3, 2014 07:23
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I actually liked the overarching concept, but the main characters were just absolutely horrible. It's like Reynolds sat down and thought "Well I've got this interesting story arc, but I really need some more personal angle to the drama...That's it! I'll make the two lead female characters absolutely loving insane and unfit to lead, and have them bicker at each other like children for literally decades!" I literally don't know a single person who's as lovely and irresponsible as the leads in Pushing Ice, and I absolutely don't get why a group of supposedly hardheaded and practical minors would consent to let themselves be governed by irresponsible morons. And to make things worse, people sometimes hold that story up as an example of strong female leads in science fiction, when they are anything but. And even that lack of character realism would be forgivable if it resulted in a more interesting story, but it had exactly the opposite effect.
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Apr 3, 2014 09:28
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