|
Slo-Tek posted:There is another along the same lines. drat, this is extraordinary! After all this talk of batshit crazy rear end in a top hat sci-fi writers, along comes this fine loving gentleman. Now you will all probably find some article about heinlein that he serially raped and killed little orphan girls or some poo poo...
|
#
¿
Jul 8, 2013 11:44
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 2, 2024 08:48 |
|
|
Word of warning, while the main character of 2312, Swan, is a self indulgent little spoiled poo poo (at 130 odd years old!) don't let it turn you off the book. It has a great and actually plausible solar system that is just lovely to get lost in. Also, Swan can be seen as a warning of dangers of a post-scarcity hedonist lifestyle. Earth is hosed though.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 3, 2013 06:40
|
|
|
Which books that you read while a teen hold up well after 15 years? Dune might be one of them. I read tons of sci-fi, but for world-building there is not much out there that comes close to it.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 10, 2014 11:17
|
|
|
Cpt. Mahatma Gandhi posted:I first read Fahrenheit 451 when I was 13 or so, and while I didn't entirely grasp all the nuances of the story at the time, I quite enjoyed it. Fast forward 15 years and I've now read it at least 10 times (helps that it's short enough to read in a weekend), and it's still one of my favorite sci-fi novels ever. I think this will be my next book to re-read, I have really vague memories about it.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 12, 2014 11:06
|
|
|
Ceebees posted:I've had The Golem and The Jinni on my kindle account since it was on sale several months ago, but i feel like i keep putting it off because i don't quite know what to expect from it. (Aside from, obviously, a golem and a djinni.) Mystery with a dash of romance and a weird bildungsroman. Just read it!
|
|
#
¿
Oct 3, 2014 10:47
|
|
|
Azathoth posted:The issue with Stross (Scalzi too for that matter) isn't the writing itself, it's the association with a particularly annoying strain of nerd culture that writes endless wish fulfillment stories about the smug and arrogant nerd, who saves the day and gets the girl because of some particular aspect of his nerdiness. The love life of the protoganist of laundry files is absolutely not the stuff of any sane wish. That loving violin.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 25, 2014 22:49
|
|
|
The Ninth Layer posted:There's no huge mythical payoff at the end of Malazan and anyone who claims otherwise has misled you. If you're not enjoying the journey then the destination isn't going to blow you away either. I think the big appeal of the series is the feeling of exploration and unexpected events that come up, setting the books apart from more standard "there's a Big Bad Guy and we're going to set up to fight him" fantasy stories. Deadhouse gates and the march of chain of dogs was the best thing in all 10 books. Ever body should at least read until that.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 3, 2014 09:31
|
|
|
I just finished Liminal states by our very own Zack Parsons. I am ashamed to say I came to it somewhat wary, goons recommending another goon writer? Now I am a full convert. Apart from some slight purple prose and use of overly literary words (a first book misstep), what a great ride! I was put off a little bit by the prologue, written like a stream of consciousness of an alien mind. Very hard to grasp what the hell was going on there, easier of course after reading the book but this is sci-fi novel writing 101, hook em by the very first sentence and after you earn it, then you can dump the whole alien mind on us. Those are my only criticisms of otherwise a truly great book. Most impressive for me the utter dedication to completely examining the central concept of the story and its possible consequences from the level of the individual to the whole world over a century of time. It could have been left as a nice and competent short story but no, Zack impressively examines every angle and delivers a great finish. Also the blend of western, noir, sci fi and cosmic horrors keeps everything fresh. Grimwall fucked around with this message at 21:01 on Dec 12, 2014 |
|
#
¿
Dec 12, 2014 20:59
|
|
|
Nevvy Z posted:I remember buying that for my Kindle, never realized City of Stairs was by the same guy. Didn't hate it, but it was largely boring. Everyone here loves this book.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 23, 2014 15:09
|
|
|
I bought the recent humble bundle with barry hughart and jack vance and read those. Master Li and number ten ox was pretty amazing, jack vance short stories are kinda uneven but the craft is solid. Any of the remaining stuff worth reading?
|
|
#
¿
Apr 12, 2015 14:56
|
|
|
Megazver posted:The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate, Academic Exercises and The Top of the Volcano. Thanks! I forgot to mention that I love Ted Chiang and his short story collection was jawdropping. I hope he writes something in the next decade but I'd be petrified with performance anxiety after such an insane first book.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 12, 2015 15:24
|
|
|
Megazver posted:I mean, he wrote a bunch of stuff since then. The Alchemist, Exhalation, The Lifecycle of Software Objects, The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling and some story for Jeff VanderMeer's short story collection. These combined are already long enough for another collection. Oh poo poo
|
|
#
¿
Apr 12, 2015 15:58
|
|
|
ravenkult posted:Is there anything out there remotely like the Fallout and Wasteland games? I just read the Harlan Ellison short story "A boy and his dog", which apparently inspired a great deal of post-apoc fiction (fallout included).
|
|
#
¿
Apr 21, 2015 07:48
|
|
|
Rabbit Hill posted:I keep a list of nuclear apocalypse literature in my professional life Ah! The Road by Cormac McCArthy. All this KJParker chat had me interested, any suggestions for a nice first novel to get lost in?
|
|
#
¿
Apr 22, 2015 11:56
|
|
|
General Battuta posted:The Library at Mount Char is real good. If you've ever wanted to read a book about posthuman Elder Gods dropping the hammer and going to war over the universe while tiny humans scramble around underfoot, this is for you. It's rough around the edges (mostly pacing wise) but the sense of escalation is awesome. It was unlike anything I ever read and is probably my favorite book this year. Thanks for the great suggestion, thread. Also, it's a debut novel?!
|
|
#
¿
Aug 16, 2015 15:56
|
|
|
So what about other rewards picking up the slack. Would nebulas get more impact? Edit: ı just checked them out and yes, much more meaningful awards there this year.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 24, 2015 14:58
|
|
|
Baru Cormorant is really good. I felt like someone read guns germ and steel and thought "gently caress, this would make a really great story" and wrote a kick rear end one. On the other hand, Student berserkers! 
|
|
#
¿
Sep 26, 2015 15:47
|
|
|
Red rising / golden son are excellent page turners. Someone crossed hunger games with Warhammer 40K and it is delicious.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 10, 2015 10:14
|
|
|
Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:In the latest episode of "gently caress this dude writes fast", book 3 of the Revanche series by Craig Schaefer is available now on kindle! What the hell book 2 was just out?!
|
|
#
¿
Nov 13, 2015 12:26
|
|
|
I decided to check out SAGA after seeing it in Goodreads choice awards and WOW it is fun! Just devoured all 5 volumes on my tablet in 2 days. A space opera/hard-romance(?)/soft sci-fi and some Shakespeare in for good measure with gorgeous art is just what I needed apparently.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 19, 2015 08:09
|
|
|
I just saw The Traitor in the Best Books of 2015 list of Amazon! Really happy that such a good book is getting its due. Congrats , general.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 4, 2015 08:57
|
|
|
Khizan posted:I read that as "loving everything up and creating chaos" is a libertarian thing, which is pretty much true. I am curious to as how did you reach the idea of "the Liberal Agenda" from reading the same book I read. You must be an Olympian mental gymnast.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 6, 2015 03:30
|
|
|
WarLocke posted:God drat Please Undo This Pain hit me right in the gut. Please Undo This Hurt? The short story?
|
|
#
¿
Apr 1, 2016 09:26
|
|
|
Biplane posted:MAN I just started the Malazan series and I'm up to book five now but seriously, none of the books I've read so far have come close to the dizzying heights of the Chain of Dogs (book 2?), and in fact they're kinda starting to bore me now... Does it pick up later in the series or what, I have seen goons raving about these books for years and years. Chain of Dogs was the series high-point for me. After that, the scalpel of the editor got progressively duller, prose more overblown and plot even more over-complicated.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 30, 2017 13:49
|
|
|
Grimson posted:Yeah, when I read the preview chapter I had assumed that some time had passed between TLtL and Surrenders but Surrenders takes off literally the moment TLtL ends. It is one of those sequels that improves upon the original. Anybody wanna start a goon bash? That would be a terrible idea please don't do it.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 17, 2017 11:01
|
|
|
So I just finished Raven Stratagem and enjoyed it a lot. Go read it if you liked the first one. Except the part with the the groan inducing incest. Why is that necessary to include in a high concept / hardish sci-fi novel? To demonstrate that this culture is so outside our sexual norms? Ritual torture enabling FTL travel sufficiently emphasizes this point already, didn't need that...
|
|
#
¿
Jun 20, 2017 14:37
|
|
|
So I am gonna post my slight problem with Raven Stratagem again here:Grimwall posted:So I just finished Raven Stratagem and enjoyed it a lot. Go read it if you liked the first one. Kinda reminds me of Hannu Rajaniemi's output with throwing the reader into a completely new and alien universe and trusting s/he to learn to swim nearly unaided. Like learning by new language, concepts grow in the mind organically, pretty cool.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 28, 2017 20:37
|
|
|
Internet Wizard posted:The hard drive that was holding a bunch of unfinished Prachett books was steam-rolled so they would never be published. Good man even beyond the grave.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 31, 2017 07:51
|
|
|
USMC_Karl posted:Help me, thread. I bought C.J. Cherryh's Foreigner because it seems to be recommended quite a lot and... I just can't get into it. I've tried reading it twice now, got up to around the 100 page mark, and just can't bring myself to read anymore. I think it's mostly to do with the writing style, but also the story just doesn't seem that interesting. The first two "books" (the ship getting lost and first contact) were interesting enough for me to try and plow through the writing, but the third book seems to turn into a dreadful slog. Should I stick with it? 100 pages is only about a quarter of the book, so maybe it takes a bit to really get into the story. You are not alone, I had nearly the exact same experience whenver I tried to read any C.J. Cherryh, I bounced right off. I have read and liked stuff like Infinite Jest and Gormenghast but for some reason C.J. Cherryh is a literary wall for me.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 22, 2017 18:12
|
|
|
Xtanstic posted:Does anyone have a book recommendation that deals with monkey's paw-like consequences? Maybe something like a society unearths ancient technology and thinks it's a boon but spends an entire book dealing with unforeseen consequences? The Expanse is pretty much composed of a series of unforeseen consequences.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 27, 2017 12:19
|
|
|
Cardiac posted:She was born in 29 and have led a full life to the age of 88 years old. Let us mourn the fact that Humans are mortal, and sometimes that sucks? She was my first really challenging sci-fi read in my teenage years, Left Hand of Darkness was really eye opening and did what good sci-fi should always aspire to.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 24, 2018 08:37
|
|
|
branedotorg posted:read everything but market forces Market forces is not bad, it just shows a world where capitalism is taken to absurd levels.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 30, 2018 14:32
|
|
|
Hobnob posted:The only problem I have with Kindle (like everyone else 99% of my recent reading is on Kindle) is that for some reason I can never remember author names anymore. Something about not seeing the cover of a book except as a thumbnail image, perhaps? It's very strange. There was a study about this, anything other than a physical book has a lower "permanence" in mind. Certainly matches my anecdotal experience. Best way to manage epubs? Calibre with its library in google drive, synched across your devices.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 11, 2018 21:09
|
|
|
occamsnailfile posted:Physical books definitely have more permanence for me--I have a lot of my shelves double-stacked at the moment because I am out of space but I can still tell you roughly where any specific title is and remember what they look like despite having no organization at all, whereas fairly often I'll be notified of an ebook on sale and go to the Amazon page only to be notified I already bought it the last time it was on sale. I wasn't clear about what I meant by permanence, sorry about that. I actually meant retention of information read is higher in paper books. However, I agree with the point I accidentally made and you clarified  .
|
|
#
¿
Feb 12, 2018 07:43
|
|
|
I hope there is a nice summary because I forgot... everything
|
|
#
¿
Apr 25, 2018 21:14
|
|
|
pospysyl posted:The Clarke Award shortlist was just released, and it's actually good! The books definitely slot into familiar award archetypes, but unlike previous years none of them are bad. Oooh, more books to read, thanks! In other news, check this cover out: 
|
|
#
¿
May 3, 2018 07:32
|
|
|
Nice, The Good Place got the Best Dramatic Presentation! I thought the novels were kinda weak this year. How is Monstress?
|
|
#
¿
Aug 20, 2018 14:37
|
|
|
I just realized what a great pleasure is to have a highly anticipated book actually living up to your expectations, truly a solid point in favor of having an immortal life span. In other news, Goodreads reader's choice awards are up, cast your vote! Sci-fi Fantasy
|
|
#
¿
Nov 1, 2018 09:47
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 2, 2024 08:48 |
|
|
Hungry posted:Thanks, I'll try to make this as clear as I can. House of suns by Alastair Reynolds The Freeze-Frame Revolution by Peter Watts (and all of the related short stories)
|
|
#
¿
Nov 26, 2018 09:50
|
|