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quantumfoam posted:the details finally leaking out of how Jerry Pournelle lost his ARPANET access forever. http://www.stormtiger.org/bob/humor/pournell/list.html Christ, what an rear end in a top hat.
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Dec 29, 2020 02:14
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Oh man I’m on a KJ Parker roll now. Finished Academic Exercises overnight and am halfway though 16 Ways to Defend a Walled City. Both in the same fun tone, reminds me of a cross between Cudgel’s Saga, Eric Frank Russell, and the good parts of Stephenson (the joyous nerditry).
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Jan 2, 2021 20:50
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PeterWeller posted:Yeah, good point. But think of the Hammer books as less "noir" and more "hard boiled" or "pulp detective".
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Jan 15, 2021 18:38
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ed balls balls man posted:I bounced straight off Nophek Gloss. It went from 0 to 60 with all the character descriptions/backgrounds into the first planet and more cultural/race descriptions I just immediately forgot everything that had happened and lost all interest. Worth another try? Disagree, above average, good try. A great editor could’ve made it a great book. It was such a near miss that it was almost painful.
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Feb 24, 2021 03:58
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ed balls balls man posted:agreed Bought then wondered why. Read Cry Pilot instead.
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Feb 24, 2021 04:00
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a foolish pianist posted:So I read Hurley's The Stars Are Legion after seeing it recommended in this thread, and I'm a bit confused about it (maybe because I've binged it while doped up on cold medicine). First, the first few sentences of the amazon blurb: Book owns, I’d pay full price again 3 times for something this weird and awesome. You are kidding yourself if you think the future will not be weird.
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Feb 24, 2021 04:04
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poo poo Borne is $2.99 now on us kindle.
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Mar 23, 2021 17:02
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Ccs posted:Haha it’s organized differently than the cryptarchs who actually have an incentive for remaining part... Also, it’s the closest I’ve ever found to an anti-war fantasy novel series.
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Mar 31, 2021 03:27
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Happiness Commando posted:I'm sure this has been talked about before, but I'm curious where people place Baru on the speculative fiction axes. I've only read Traitor so far, and to me it seems like alt-historical-dystopian fiction with no (?) fantastical elements whatsoever, but I'm pretty certain I found it under the fantasy heading. Yeah they are perfectly under the ‘grim dark’ aka somewhat real KJ Parker / Abercrombie axis. This is a genre that’s new to me but is resonating hard due to the ‘alt-historical’ aspect, I mean for crissake cocaine as magic powder and banking or coal-powered factories as satanic nightmare fuel both ring pretty true. As does my favorite non-Gibson/Pynchon opening line: quote:“To Saevus Andrapodiza, all human life had value. This revelation came to him in a moment of transcendent clarity as he looked out from the summit of Mount Doson over the fertile arable plains of Cors Shenei in central Permia. Every man, woman and child, regardless of age, ability, nationality, religion, sexual orientation or social class was valuable and must be treated as such. His task, he realised, was finding someone to buy them all.”
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Mar 31, 2021 05:02
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Ccs posted:I was actually wondering how much economic vetting went into the Baru Cormorant books... Lemniscate Blue posted:My dad was a super Heinlein fan and looking back I wonder what the gently caress he was thinking letting me read some of that poo poo at that age. Edit: Battuta you’re cool.
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Mar 31, 2021 05:24
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Doctor Jeep posted:there's even a happy ending
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Apr 3, 2021 14:24
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FPyat posted:I've read eight out of nine stories in Exhalation, Ted Chiang's second story collection. I'm coming out of these stories a lot more impressed than I was with Stories of Your Life, which had well-constructed stories that felt a bit lifeless in the final accounting. Anything that guy does is worthwhile, but I have noticed the stories I think about are from Exhalation. Except for the ones that are by George Saunders.
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Apr 5, 2021 18:58
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eke out posted:feels like the rarity lately is queer male protagonists Very true that there’s potential for this, but mainly IMO it’s the explosion of female characters and queer acceptability. I do note though that there was one now forgotten KU book written first person from a female POV so well that I assumed the writer was a woman. Then the sex started, and it made me check the cover to see “Oh, writer is fat middle-aged white guy with a beard (that’s isn’t me)”.
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Apr 11, 2021 20:00
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General Battuta posted:I think it's very often taken as implied that any man writing about lesbians is a cishet straight guy, certainly. That's a mental default that does need to change. Your work is not like this for what it’s worth.
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Apr 11, 2021 21:35
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Apparently I bought blacktongue thief already, but not sure if I like that dude or wanna hit him with a 2x4. Prolly both.
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May 30, 2021 06:02
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I’ve spent months frantically reading to catch up with this thread, and the (surprise-new-author - not- murderbot) winners are Brothers Grossbart, Gunmetal Gods, and Theory of Bastards. It’s really astonishing how much great writing is out there, both Gunmetal Gods and Theory of Bastards are on KU:
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Jun 13, 2021 04:54
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High fantasy: only the king and his heirs matter. Low fantasy: who is the king this year?
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Jun 17, 2021 21:54
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Armauk posted:I'm in the mood for some fantasy. Help me decide... The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie Do it, I bounced off some random Abercrombie a couple years ago, then picked this up when I read it was gonna be Sam Raimi’s post-Spider-Man series movie. That didn’t happen but now I’ve ripped through all of his books since quarantine.
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Jun 26, 2021 20:12
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Ccs posted:Cool stuff
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Jun 26, 2021 22:12
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Wandering down the Pournelle rat hole turned up a great parody of his Chaos Manor series that ran in Byte. I have a vague recollection of reading this at my dads house when I was probably 12 or so. http://www.netfunny.com/rhf/jokes/95q1/jpreviews.html
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Jul 24, 2021 05:36
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quantumfoam posted:least effort expended John Scalzi happened around that time, and least effort expended John Scalzi is never ever leaving.
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Jul 25, 2021 06:28
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SimonChris posted:If we are talking self-published SF, I would like to recommend goon-written Hard Luck Hank, which is the best kind of self-published fiction: A pile of crazy ideas thrown haphazardly together in ways that would never make it past an editor but is extremely entertaining to read. This reminds me of the novels in the 50’s & 60’s that were a buncha short stories crammed into a novel via hook or crook. Read the first 3.5 then got bored, but it was fun for a while.
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Aug 13, 2021 02:01
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Partial to Crash since I think about it a lot more but there aren’t really any wrong answers, Empire is amazing but I suspect I missed a lot. Dolan talked about it in a recent Radio War Nerd so I might pick it up again, something about the protofascist in young men that I don’t recall - or didn’t get.
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Aug 30, 2021 14:14
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Take the plunge! Okay! posted:It’s just their free ebook of the month program 
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Oct 19, 2021 23:34
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Vance's Cudgel/Dying Earth is fantastic, and seems incredibly contemporary, I was shocked to find it dated back to the 50's. Finally reading the only virgin trilogy left from thread fave JK Parker, the Scavenger series, and it's frigging awesome and and a radical step forward. First novel reminds me a lot of the Wolfe The Book of the New Sun, second book is like one of those Wolfe or Vance books where they design a new society wholesale, plus the New Sun stuff continued from the first book and a little Parker blacksmithing thrown in for luck. Just started #3, so really curious where this goes.
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Nov 9, 2021 02:26
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General Battuta posted:Yeah, if you're lucky. If you're unlucky it gets noticed. Also, can you please cancel my comedy act so I get famous? Thx.
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Dec 5, 2021 02:46
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I needed to learn to read for detail, and slowly, in college. Reading plot-driven fiction is early different than reading Kierkegaard. Very often , most recently with Harrow the Ninth, if I find myself barreling forwards, I back up and reread pages slowly, luxuriant in the language.
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Dec 18, 2021 18:13
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Looks like first RCN book is free today, and a bunch of Mary Gentle stuff is on sale: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B4HAI2I?ref_=dbs_m_mng_rwt_calw_tkin_0&storeType=ebooks Complete Ash? https://www.amazon.com/Ash-Secret-H...xt%2C104&sr=1-2
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Jan 1, 2022 19:06
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Selachian posted:I wonder how they chose the books for that collection. Elric of Melniboné, The Sailor on the Seas of Fate, and The Weird of the White Wolf were all written in the 60s/70s, and The Fortress of the Pearl was written almost 25 years later.
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Feb 15, 2022 00:45
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NoneMoreNegative posted:Well that sounds like a hoot & a holler https://www.amazon.com/84K-Claire-N...ps%2C311&sr=8-2
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Feb 17, 2022 23:19
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General Battuta posted:in the same week a big corporate entity makes hundreds of millions off your work without paying you a cent.
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Mar 2, 2022 14:40
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General Battuta posted:e: much like the way corporations treat the writers they crunch to death and discard
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Mar 2, 2022 20:16
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From Wikipedia, I learned that during (some of) my time at U of C Jones and Seropian were in this frat: I had unpleasant conversations with members a couple of times.
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Mar 2, 2022 20:37
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Ccs posted:I always get this and the 7 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle confused. Anyway I picked this one up. If I don't like it maybe I'll try the other one.
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Mar 7, 2022 23:23
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On the other hand, Chengdu is probably the coolest big city in China.
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Mar 17, 2022 22:50
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pradmer posted:Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots - $1.99
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Apr 25, 2022 19:58
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pradmer posted:Artifact Space by Miles Cameron - $1.99 Contemplating skipping an hour of work to get through another week's episode (kinda feels a TV show with an overarching plot yet with monsters-of-the-week).
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May 2, 2022 19:14
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On the second page owns. Edit: 5 stars. Remulak fucked around with this message at 04:35 on May 9, 2022 |
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May 9, 2022 03:31
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mllaneza posted:Just... Don't let that direction be Ash: A Secret History, which is notably worse than the Paks books. Goddamn just paid full price for these in a whim. Based on comments on this thread and wanting some KU crap I’ve been reading Cassandra Kresnov series and it’s above average, with the second book having some really nice paragraphs. With stuff like this, as opposed to, say, Baru or Gideon, the good writing stands out, it’s only expected to move the plot along. Halfway through the third with the second a highlight.
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May 15, 2022 00:15
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Nigmaetcetera posted:I’m looking for a book like Imajica by Clive Barker. Maybe something in between Imajica and you know, “normal” fantasy Books of Blood. There also an early Landsdale collection I can’t find online at the moment. Remulak fucked around with this message at 00:20 on May 15, 2022 |
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May 15, 2022 00:16
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