Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:

I think Glen Cook wrote a fantasy detective series as well, can't recall it offhand, had metal in the names of the book like cold copper tears or something like that.

Orv posted:

I like Garrett a lot but the books are aggressively formulaic

StrixNebulosa posted:

You're all describing Garrett PI and making me hungry for Nero Wolfe so thanks!

BlackIronHeart posted:

Yeesh, I gotta read this book now.

Cythereal posted:

So, disappointing but still basically enjoyable. That fits the other Modesitt book I've read, a sci-fi book called The Eternity Artifact, and I'm not sure if I want to read more Recluce stuff after this. Anyone familiar with the series who can tell me whether this book was representative of the series?

Cythereal posted:

The big divide seems to be between order and chaos. Fair enough.

Chaos magic can throw fireballs, cause volcanic eruptions, scry on distant events, and create illusions.

Order magic can heal injuries and sickness, manipulate the weather, enchant objects (especially iron), mind control people, turn you invisible, help grow plants, and defeat Chaos magic.

Erm, what? The ruminations on the mechanics of the magic were interesting, but both forms of magic seem to be rather odd grab bags of various stuff that didn't seem at all connected by ideas of order or chaos.

mewse posted:

The weird thing about Jorg is the author goes hard on the antihero thing in the first book and then can’t really sustain it and Jorg ends up as sort of a generic tortured protagonist.

The other two books are worth reading tho, I enjoyed them. The Jorg plotting stuff generally pays off

The_White_Crane posted:

I think there's a difference between "military capabilities" and "children can accidentally level a city if they lose their temper" which undermines the metaphor.

Let me turn that around; do you think you'd feel comfortable living in a world where random people -- who you can't necessarily spot by eye -- could explode like nuclear bombs if you cut them up in traffic?

Cythereal posted:

Knocked out another Modesitt book from the library, Timediver's Dawn. In which a succession of events happen to a young man of no discernable personality or motivation who is possessed of unique superpowers for no particular reason or explanation and ends up saving the day from a variety of villains possessed of no discernable motive for their actions and the story loudly talks at length about how important strong-willed, independent, capable women are while presenting no female character who fits that description as a figure in the story.

Cythereal posted:

You did, but I thought The Magic Engineer was a brisk, decently entertaining read as long as I didn't think about it too much. Timediver's Dawn is part of a duology in one volume I got from the library, and I think it showed - I don't know whether this or the second, The Timegod, came first, but Timediver's Dawn smacked of a prequel no one asked for.

GreyjoyBastard posted:

anne leckie should just write nothing except raven tower verse books

grassy gnoll posted:

Is the Alchemy Wars series worth picking up?

Cardiac posted:

Prose is average, first book is basically black company analogue.
Second and third is Harry Potter meets Minecraft in the most boring way.
Oh, and Saunders is self published.

quote:

The March North is set in a world where the written word has been around for perhaps a hundred thousand years, or perhaps even longer. Where magic has incessantly shaped and reshaped the environment (geological and biological). Where you cannot understand this world without knowing of magic and its history; it would be like trying to make sense of our world while ignoring the existence of grasses.


For the various intelligent species (both evolved and created), this is a world where outbreaks of dark and malevolent magical overlords are as common as century droughts.

But not in the Commonweal, an enclave of thinking beings, many of whom (but not all) are human (or mostly so). The Commonweal has worked out a way for the little folk and the great masters of magic to coexist, without requiring the little folk to become the slaves or worse of the mages, or for the mages to be overthrown and brutally killed as often as it took to actually kill them [2]. The Commonweal’s way makes great demands on its citizens, but what its people get in return is an existence that isn’t an endless parade of chaos, brutal exploitation, and violent collapse.

The Commonweal is an island of not-suckery in a vast sea of violent chaos. Much of its energies are devoted to deterring incursions from ambitious or desperate neighbors. Due to the …. limited might be being too generous… political skills of the Commonweal’s neighboring communities, the Commonweal doesn’t need to worry about foreign subversion, but it does have to keep an eye out for invasions. Which brings us to the plot of this novel.

90s Cringe Rock posted:

Black Company's a pretty great trilogy about weird fantasy poker, although later trilogies may be hit-or-miss depending on what you liked about the first one.

Jedit posted:

Turtledove wrote a seven book series that was basically "what if both World Wars, but we're the Nazis and we're exterminating blacks?" He doesn't do nuance.

StrixNebulosa posted:

Prosper's Demon by KJ Parker arrived in the mail! It's a slim little volume, one of the smallest novellas I've picked up yet - starts on page 11, ends on 101.

biracial bear for uncut posted:

Having a bit of trouble imagining a not hilariously insane sci-fi explanation for vampires that isn't either MGS-style nanomachines or "exotic alien virus/parasite/symbiotic lifeform".

Groke posted:

Below average depressing, I'd say.

anilEhilated posted:

Not unless you're a massive fan. The first two books are basically just parodies of fantasy conventions and other books; most of the jokes are dated and unlike his later books the stories don't really stand on their own.

freebooter posted:

I actually ordered The Stand just the other day because of all this plus I haven't read it in fifteen years. I remember the first third of it (all the stuff actually relating to the pandemic) being really, really great.

freebooter posted:

That's weird! Because I think the unabridged version was what I started reading as, like, a 12-year-old or something, and was full of all the parts I found totally fascinating. Then I think I read the whole book in full in the original version a few years later and thought it was missing some stuff, especially with the CO of the military base the virus escapes from.

BaldDwarfOnPCP posted:

And this is the part people like about the stand.

Dying in church for maximum irony.

Cardiac posted:

Asher's latest The Human is out.
It is (sofar) exactly what you would expect.

Safety Biscuits posted:

Yes, Gunn was published earlier, but Bova's had a more recent publication (a novel in 2019), so I'm awarding him the arbitrary wreath for now. Congrats Jedit.

Ornamented Death posted:

You can also just buy ARCs if you really want to. It's not a whole lot better than piracy as neither the author nor the publisher see anything from such sales

StrixNebulosa posted:

Glen Cook: is he still writing? From my googling it looks like his Instrumentalities series was left permanently unfinished(?) due to low sales.

Drone Jett posted:

I associate it as female leaning because of the desire to just sit around and watch soap operas all day.

PeterWeller posted:

Sadly, I found this to just be schlocky and bland scifi action. I'd only recommend it if you wanna dig into the origins of CP2020 and CP2077's setting.

quantumfoam posted:

Simon R. Greene's Deathstalker books are alot like the naval mil-scifi Lost Fleet series in that they repeat the same plot beats over and over and over, etc.
If you're read one Deathstalker/Lost Fleet book, you've read all of the Deathstalker/Lost Fleet books.

PawParole posted:

Anyone know of a story where humans are conquered by aliens and it’s set in the aftermath? ( no ai, vampires or weird poo poo).

I just want to read about humanity crushed by aliens and quislings and all that

General Battuta posted:

I finished Jade War. It was definitely slower than the first one but I liked it a fair bit.

Major Ryan posted:

OK, well I can put some of the others on the list then and see if I get on any better with them than Consider Phlebas. I do like the idea of the series from what I've read about it, so it's worth another shot if this book is somewhat different from the others.

mllaneza posted:

Feersum Endjinn is just Neuromancer with less neon n' chrome and more phonetic spelling. And no Molly.

mllaneza posted:

Now if you want to see some really out there phonetic spelling, there's a chapter early in The Bridge that's the phonetic transcript of the thickest fookin' Scottish brogue that ever was. It took me three tries to 'get it', but I burst out laughing when I finally did. It's a true linguistic accomplishment and a treat to read.

EdBlackadder posted:

Yeah, there's probably a discussion about death of the author someone cleverer than I could make. My context is I live in a part of the UK that swings very much to the political right. The National Front have been elected to Parish Councils and to be frank the Committee is how the current EU is explicitly and vocally seen by this group. I don't want to poo poo up the thread with politics but it's pretty troubling and it's far too close from what I hear on the streets for comfort.

Teddybear posted:

I mean, yeah. I ended up zoning out for most of GRRM's rambles and I was cooking dinner during the guy I think that was also a dick, but I very much noticed GRRM ham-fisting a shitload of names, including calling "FIYAH" "fee-yuh" instead of "fie-yah." I can't really argue with that review.

General Battuta posted:

Early reviews of Tyrant Baru Cormorant are starting up, it's out next week. Get those preorders in! I'm coming to be pushing it pretty hard here, sorry in advance.

Khizan posted:

Also KJ Parker books tend to be... bleak. It can make them a little hard to recommend to some people.

Poldarn posted:

Brutal twist and an arts and crafts project you can make with your kid!

Khizan posted:

awesmoe posted:

yeah exactly, which...whatever, quippy dialog is fine i guess - except the whole thing is that they're meant to be old people! but they're old people who dont talk like old people, or think like old people, or act like old people, so whats the point?

DurianGray posted:

I really dug Raven Tower and it's definitely a lot different from Leckie's other stuff if you've read any of that (Ancillary Justice, etc.). But, I also think that if you've liked her other stuff, it's worth checking out. I definitely agree that the second person works well, and I really enjoyed how the various magic/deities worked.

quantumfoam posted:

-A Heinlein Defense Squad member dismissively recommended John Steakley's ARMOR if RAH's view of interstellar warfare grated on you. This counts as one of the first mentions of John Steakley's ARMOR in the SFL Archives.

StrixNebulosa posted:

I re-read Mercedes Lackey's Arrows of the Queen, the first of the Valdemar saga, and here's my revised review:
...
Arrows of the Queen is not a perfect novel, and I cannot give it five stars thanks to its uneven pacing - but it is an indulgent one, a sweet one, and a book I would happily give to anyone who needs a pick-me-up. See, it's a book about a young girl who flees an abusive home, is rescued by a magical horse, and spends the rest of the novel growing up at a magical college. The end of the novel is her finally accepting that she's home, she has friends, and she's happy.

StrixNebulosa posted:

I finished Arrow's Flight (Valdemar #2) and oh man I love this book:

A fascinating exploration of mental health, the ethics of being a magical empath, and a disaster survival novel all in one. What a book!