|
freebooter posted:It bugs me that these are such cult classics and yet nobody seems to have done a long, deep dive recap/discussion podcast about them. Jo Walton did a re-read on Tor.com, it's words you have to read yourself, but it was both entertaining and informative. I went through it in parallel with my first read of the series. Look, it's a 20-volume SF series that doesn't crawl up it's own rear end, become insufferably pleased with itself, be unrecognizeable, or tiresomely similar by the end of the series. That's a goddamn literary miracle. Here's a simulation of a frigate with a good model for wind and wave, https://thapen.itch.io/painted-ocean
|
#
¿
Dec 4, 2019 04:57
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 9, 2024 20:56 |
|
|
Patrick Spens posted:The Ancillary series is the only trilogy I've ever read where the third book had middle book syndrome. I accidentally started the third book after finishing the first. I got about a quarter of the way into it before the piling up of references to things that had happened that I thought should have been shown instead of skipped over tipped me to check. I spent a long time thinking this was just a typical "six months later..." sequel.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 7, 2019 23:26
|
|
|
Cythereal posted:The Skystone by Jack Whyte I liked that series. It had some rather bizarre plot decisions, but in ways that actually worked for me. One thing I particularly respect is his open admission in about the fourth book that "all my friends called me out on how terrible my female characterizations are, and they're right and I'll fix that". The apocalyptic theme really works for me, as does the doomed rebuilding of civilization from Camulod. They aren't the best books, but for airport style "Roman stuff is badass" novels they're thoroughly entertaining, and they get much better as the series goes along.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 15, 2019 04:45
|
|
|
pradmer posted:A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K Le Guin - $2.99 Earthsea is a classic, read it if you haven't. I really liked TBTIF. It's not in her main series, it's a novella about people exploring another star system. As usual with Chambers, it's very character driven with little actual conflict, just challenges for the characters to overcome. Read this one too.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 15, 2019 20:02
|
|
|
90s Cringe Rock posted:It's definitely YA, but pretty rad YA. Spaceships and ghosts and poo poo. Second this, Dragon Pearl is good and I'm eagerly awaiting more. e. The best fight scene ever was Death vs the Buddha in Lords of Light.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 22, 2019 01:54
|
|
|
Kefahuchi_son!!! posted:Hi all!! I haven't really followed fantasy ouside the more famous stuff these past few years but i was looking for recommendations on books/series. While i normally like smaller scale and/or weirdeir stuff i'm in the mood for something epic. Coming in from Malazan and with those tastes ? You want Glen Cook. Either the Black Company series or Dread Empire should fit your bill. Both of them have epic scale events going on, but your perspective is that of a single person on the ground caught up in some major poo poo. Dread Empire rotates POV characters within novels, Black Company has one POV per book styled as whoever is keeping the annals for the company at the time. Black Company follows a storied mercenary company in and out of service to the lesser evil, and then in pursuit of its own founding myths. Dread Empire is Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser get caught up in events way over their heads (par for the course for them) and oh yes, Fafhrd becomes a king and has to actually do the job for real. Black Company, first three books omnibus edition: https://smile.amazon.com/Chronicles-Black-Company-Book-ebook/dp/B009WUG56M/ref=sr_1_1 Dread Empire starting point.This is the prequel duology. It's the start of all the main character's stories and tells the story of some seriously pivotal events for the main trilogy (which is collected in A Cruel Wind, read that next). This is my recommended starting point, for publishing order start with A Cruel Wind https://smile.amazon.com/Fortress-Shadow-Dread-Empire-ebook/dp/B07H47XK68/ref=pd_sim_351_1/142-8429177-2327838
|
|
#
¿
Dec 23, 2019 08:40
|
|
|
General Battuta posted:'Pandora's Star' by Peter F. Hamilton has one of the creepiest and most, uh, aggressive hiveminds I've encountered in fiction. That series is a fun read. He's airport fiction in space, but at the highest tier of that kind of book. And the hivemind is a good antagonist, I was going to suggest it myself.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 10, 2020 01:27
|
|
|
quantumfoam posted:If you go way back in time, AE Van Vogt's "Voyage of the Space Beagle" has two separate encounters/short stories with hive-mind entities. Read it anyway, there's some great encounters on that trip.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 11, 2020 02:34
|
|
|
StrixNebulosa posted:Do NOT read Fool Moon by Butcher it's so bad in an infuriating way and I regret reading it Do Read Matter and The City and the City.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 13, 2020 02:43
|
|
|
ed balls balls man posted:Solidarity to the General. We stand for Battuta. pmchem posted:Neuromancer, overall, was probably his best work. Extremely creative and stylish. A few warts but whatever, it was great. It's really hard to convey to those who came to the book later, just how much impact Neuromancer had. Cyberpunk went from almost zero to a major scene instantly. The book itself, the actual prose, was electric by current standards. Mirrorshades, razor blade fingernails, and glittering cityscapes of data sprang into existence like Athena from Zeus' forehead. Literature changed, the future changed. There was a before Neuromancer and an after. The most famous line in the book, the very first one in the book, is "The sky was the color of a television tuned to a dead channel." Thanks to the march of time and technology, that is now a cloudless-sky blue. Neuromancer is now a message of hope. Enjoy this link to someone writing 15 years after the book Not Getting It. https://ianhamet.wordpress.com/2006/03/17/first-lines-neuromancer/
|
|
#
¿
Jan 16, 2020 04:55
|
|
|
avoraciopoctules posted:I'd like to read a fantasy novel with a wizard protagonist. Flashy magic, hopefully something they had to work for rather than being born with. At least a little smug and self-absorbed, but not a total jerk. I would rather avoid stuff with torture or sexual violence. I'm going to throw out a weird one, Glen Cook's Darkwar. The protagonist starts as a barbarian out on the outer fringes of society with a natural talent for what passes as magic locally. She survives disasters and gets taken in by an organized group of practitioners. This gives her the opportunity of formal training, but learning some things requires a political struggle to even gain access. It ends up as Marika versus the world, with the whole world as the underdog. It's Glen Cook's deconstruction of the world-wrecking evil wizard. Poor Marika just wants to save the world from ecological catastrophe and learn to fly, she didn't want the body count she tallied up or to re-shape a global civilization. And then it turns into a science fiction story in the third book.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 21, 2020 09:48
|
|
|
pradmer posted:All Systems Red (Murderbot! book 1) by Martha Wells - $1.99 Sale on Becky Chambers' books, The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet - $7.99 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ZP64F28?notRedirectToSDP=1&ref_=dbs_mng_calw_0&storeType=ebooks
|
|
#
¿
Jan 27, 2020 23:20
|
|
|
ToxicFrog posted:Sounds like you haven't read the Chanur books or Serpent's Reach. Cherryh does a lot of aliens, just not in the main A-U books. Speaking of which, I read and liked Alliance Rising. It has some traces of the outline-itis you get when a big name writer and a relative newcomer collaborate on a book, but not as bad as some I've read. This book covers the founding of the Merchanter's Alliance and the last gasp of Earth Corp to maintain power before the FTL route to Sol is opened up. Good plot, solid characters. Apparatchik Magnet posted:Donaldson's Gap series? Which is both literally and figuratively space opera; the genesis of the series was the character name "Angus Thermopyle" and "The Ring Cycle" by Wagner. They're outstanding books, easily his best, most polished works, but do not stint on the content warnings.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 7, 2020 22:08
|
|
|
Hobnob posted:It's more biased towards engineering than pure science, but George O. Smiths The Complete Venus Equilateral is a collection of stories mostly about exploring new technologies, and really goes places considering it was written in the 40s. There is some pure science in Venus Equilateral to go along with all the engineering stories. Smith actually did a really good job on exploring the changes in society forced by the invention of a true replicator. They're a little dated, but they still hold up. I've had a machine named Venus Equilateral on my home network since 1991; they come highly recommended by me.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 9, 2020 21:48
|
|
|
biracial bear for uncut posted:I keep meaning to read this but I hate the feeling when I've read everything an author has done so far and it's like "That's it? Now I have to find something else to read. Read iiiiiiiiiiit, it's goooooooooood.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 11, 2020 15:47
|
|
"
|
PupsOfWar posted:also it is the type of bathroom that is in your house Ooooh ! I'm gonna remember that one.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 15, 2020 18:41
|
|
|
Black Griffon posted:This looks neat, but I think the only Robinson I've read is Red Mars many many years ago, and I might even be wrong about that. Is 2312 good? And for those who haven't, Red Mars is also $2.99.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 17, 2020 00:44
|
|
|
Junkenstein posted:Worth it for the third book's POV. The third book is solid gold. I'd say he improved a lot over the course of writing the trilogy. The POV changes probably helped with that, since they break up the project into discrete pieces that have to be treated separately. A lot of trilogies are just one continuous thing cut into thirds at convenient points, these three books are each their own thing.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 17, 2020 22:51
|
|
|
I've read a couple of good books recently. One Man by Harry Connolly. This is my first by him, I got linked to a preview of the first two chapters from somewhere and decided it had potential. A man broken by the spectacular failure of his first real responsibility as heir to a noble house is living poor in his home city. He's befriended a street kid who gets caught up in gangland shenanigans and winds up having to murder a shitload of gangsters. It's a pretty solid read and I'm going to check out the rest of the City of Fallen Gods books. The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal. The first of the two Lady Astronaut novels. This is set in an alternate timeline where Dewey did beat Truman. Oh, and a meteorite wipes out the eastern seaboard of the US in 1952 and threatens a runaway greenhouse effect. The protagonist is a former WASP pilot from WW2 with a dual doctorate in math and physics. Elma could be a Mary Sue, but while she's usually right about things, she's handicapped by being a Jewish woman in the 50s and an upbringing as a female math prodigy. The space program kicks into high gear because, well, the oceans will be boiling in 50 years. She plays a key part, vainly fighting to get women into the program. There's lots of good poo poo in an 'early days of space' way. Medium-high recommendation on this one, I liked it, I bought the sequel as soon as I finished the first one, but I'm calling these really good, not great. Still, it's an interesting story well told on a subject we should all love: the dream of space.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 21, 2020 04:32
|
|
|
PawParole posted:give me a book about either first contact, or generation ships. Colony Fleet by Susan R. Matthews. This one puts a lot of focus on class issues within a generation ship(s). TheAardvark posted:To turn it around, who other than Bujold has done romance well in SF/F? Any good love stories? Book 4 of The Dark Tower comes to mind. Julie Czerneda. I picked up her first few books and bounced off with a "not for me" due to heavy romance stylings, not at all a quality issue. No particular recommendations, but if you want alien princes falling in love with human woman, check her backlist out. Sarah Zettel. I picked her up about the same time as Czerneda. She's done SF romance, portal fantasies, and standing very well clear of the rest of her stuff, Fool's War. That's a hard SF novel about AIs with a lot of good character development. Its also a good "ideas" book.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 25, 2020 06:17
|
|
|
So I finished the second Lady Astronaut novel, and read a couple of Kowal's short stories. The Fated Sky is a considerable improvement over the first book; they have a really rough trip to Mars. And that's the whole novel, one three-year bad trip. I'm giving the series a thumbs up and recommending it to anyone who likes retro space (the Mars missions launches in 1962). Of the shorts, Articulated Restraints is a LA spinoff. It's pretty good. First Flight is a time travel story with a lot of heart and charm. I'll recommend grabbing this if you're in the mood for a little time travel. It's got a pretty clever time travel system; you can't go back before you were born, and the future is always different.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 28, 2020 05:56
|
|
|
StrixNebulosa posted:Here's the question: who writes the best Tolkien-esque fantasy? Please do not say Robert Jordan, he doesn't. Zelazny and Gene Wolfe also do not count. Is there anyone, or do I need to go back pre-Tolkien and read Eddison again? Watch Babylon 5. it's not fantasy, but it's an incredibly sincere homage to LotR. It's also chock full of all the stuff the creator thought was cool about LotR. Rangers. Their B5 equivalent is central to the story.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 7, 2020 07:54
|
|
|
pradmer posted:Forward (individual novellas collection) by NK Jemisin, Blake Crouch, Andy Weir, etc. - $0.99 each or $2.94 for all six I've read the N.K. Jemisin one, it's good.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 16, 2020 05:18
|
|
|
pradmer posted:How Long 'til Black Future Month by NK Jemisin - $3.99 Buy this book ! Buy this book ! There are some amazing short stories in this collection, both magical reality and science fiction. Jemisin's novels earned her her reputation, the shorts solidify it.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 18, 2020 01:14
|
|
|
Black Griffon posted:oh poo poo, I don't get the deal in Norway, but that made me think of a question for all of you; what's some good industrial rivalry sci-fi in general? How about Lem's The Cyberiad ? A lot of the stories are about the rivalry between two inventors. And I'll second Ash as being a superb book that starts more than a little rough.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 23, 2020 18:24
|
|
|
Book #1 of CJ Cherryh's Foreigner series is $2.99 on Kindle, https://www.amazon.com/Foreigner-10th-Anniversary-Book-ebook/dp/B006JHXPDW/ I've been reading her Gene Wars series, and all I can say is give it amiss unless you're a completionist. It's good, I like the characters, and a few interesting things are going on, but it's loving interminable. Book 1 just went on and on about nomads in a desert, book 2 looks like Alliance-Union but a millenia in the future, after a nanotech/genetic engineering war with a mysterious alien species. And it's not nearly as entertaining as that premise sounds. I'll finish book 2, but I just want it to be over.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 30, 2020 09:16
|
|
|
City of Bones by Martha Wells is $2.99 right now, https://smile.amazon.com/City-Bones-Martha-Wells-ebook/dp/B002DPV4JG/
|
|
#
¿
Apr 1, 2020 00:24
|
|
|
buffalo all day posted:"City of Stairs" by Robert Jackson Bennett would also fit the bill. Good catch, lots of covert stuff in that trilogy. It's also a really good trilogy in general.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 1, 2020 20:06
|
|
|
withak posted:NK Jemisin Her. Definitely the most influential black woman writing fantasy (or SF) these days.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 3, 2020 08:22
|
|
|
cptn_dr posted:Going up against Ted Chiang will be hard, but I reckon This Is How You Lose The Time War has a fighting chance. Pretty strong novella lineup in general though. Chambers has a good shot too. To Be Taught, If Fortunate is a great story that hit me hard, and she's got good buzz from her early novels. It's got astronauts, exobiology, and space-related feels, how can it lose ?
|
|
#
¿
Apr 8, 2020 02:21
|
|
|
pseudanonymous posted:Anyway, the Voidship series is a different, better take on the same idea, so if you like Dune you might also check out The Jesus Incident. Voidship series is better than Dune, change my mind. But start with Destination: Void.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 11, 2020 22:22
|
|
|
High Warlord Zog posted:Robin Hobb would like a word Glen Cook says hi !
|
|
#
¿
Apr 12, 2020 02:24
|
|
|
Grunts by Mary Gentle is exactly this, played for humor.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 12, 2020 22:19
|
|
|
pradmer posted:To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers - $1.99 That's a, pardon the pun, stellar novella about planetary exploration.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 14, 2020 00:39
|
|
|
TheAardvark posted:I have never in my life been able to read 2 books at once, but honestly I haven't tried in at least a decade. It feels off in a weird way. My usual routine involves on book I'm reading during my commute, usually a novel, and then something bulky and non-fiction I read at home if the mood strikes me. More than one novel at once would be hard.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 17, 2020 02:35
|
|
|
Margaret Atwood ? B. 1939.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 21, 2020 01:01
|
|
|
quantumfoam posted:Ehhhh.....lots of scifi authors who grew up reading Heinlein have done authorized (and many more unauthorized) rewrites of Heinleins stories, Spider Robinson, John Scalzi, Charles Stross, John Barnes, etc. For scifi authors/scifi fans of Heinlein of a certain age, rewriting Heinlein is catnip similar to how Xenophon & Belisarius are catnip to mil-scifi /mil-fiction writers of all ages. And David Gerrold, who has published takes on Starship Troopers, The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, and the Heinlein Juveniles in general.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 22, 2020 07:12
|
|
|
StrixNebulosa posted:That's...frustrating, but thank you for the info. I wish authors didn't get old like that. He did put out an anthology recently that has some new Black Company shorts. If you haven't read any of his short stories, there's some treats for you. https://smile.amazon.com/Best-Glen-Cook/dp/1949102173/
|
|
#
¿
Apr 23, 2020 18:04
|
|
|
The Calculating Stars is a good novel with an interesting premise and lots of cool stuff about the early days of space flight. Also, The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress may be Heinlein's best non-Juvenile novel. It's one of the ones I point to when people try to claim he's pro-fascism.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 28, 2020 02:48
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 9, 2024 20:56 |
|
|
AlternateNu posted:Any other New Wave or Post-New Wave recommendations that try to peer into our current era/near future? Seconding Shockwave Rider, also by Brunner. It's almost scarily prescient about a few things.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 28, 2020 20:07
|
|