[BOOKS!] The author is dead, and we have killed them

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > C-SPAM > [BOOKS!] The author is dead, and we have killed them

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Doktor Avalanche: Dec 30, 2008

i like her fantasy world better - the raven tower and the short stories

# ? Jun 29, 2021 20:06

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# ? May 5, 2024 15:43

WrightOfWay: Jul 24, 2010

I liked Ancillary Justice well enough, but I fell off the sequel for whatever reason. Maybe I should get back to it sometime.

# ? Jun 30, 2021 00:50

Xaris: Jul 25, 2006; Lucky there's a family guy
Lucky there's a man who positively can do
All the things that make us
Laugh and cry

WrightOfWay posted:

I liked Ancillary Justice well enough, but I fell off the sequel for whatever reason. Maybe I should get back to it sometime.

same for me. Ancillary was pretty good but sequel just wasn't tapping into the same neurons as when reading the first book

# ? Jun 30, 2021 01:50

e-dt: Sep 16, 2019

read Catch-22 recently, it was very good.h ighly recommended

# ? Jun 30, 2021 03:24

Adjectivist Philosophy: Oct 6, 2003; When you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.

StashAugustine posted:

I should check that out, I liked the other stuff I've read- Kindred, Parable of the Sower, and Bloodchild in particular is a short story that really stuck with me- pretty sure it's available online

I tend not to include details because I personally like going into books blind, but on further reflection I feel I should make a note that sexual violence is a significant part of Dawn, and as a whole the book made me very uncomfortable (although not in a cheap way, the discomfort is a central part of what the book is doing). I guess what I'm saying is don't take this recommendation if you're looking for a lighthearted space romp lol.

# ? Jun 30, 2021 14:14

tokin opposition: Apr 8, 2021; The dialectical struggle of history has always, essentially, been a question of how to apply justice to matter. Take away matter and what remains is justice.

I only read boobs not books sorry op

# ? Jun 30, 2021 14:16

tokin opposition: Apr 8, 2021; The dialectical struggle of history has always, essentially, been a question of how to apply justice to matter. Take away matter and what remains is justice.

Doctor Jeep posted:

i like her fantasy world better - the raven tower and the short stories

I bounced off of raven tower immediately, if there's no cyberzombies why bother

# ? Jun 30, 2021 14:17

Larry Parrish: Jul 9, 2012; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

raven tower sucked. well the first book was alright. it just kinda drug on after that.

# ? Jun 30, 2021 14:27

WINNERSH TRIANGLE: Aug 17, 2011

I re-read Isabel Fall's I Sexually Identify As An Attack Helicopter prompted by the interview Fall did recently (which makes me genuinely furious at how awfully she was treated by Book And Queer Twitter), and, gah, it still holds up as fantastic.

A lot of people declared culture war on her for the title, and for her own identity, and I think quite apart from how shoddily she was treated, it's an incredible shame that the story never really got discussed on its own merits. The way it explores militarised inclusion/diversity, pinkwashing, and assimilation is fantastic, especially with those CIA ads a couple of months ago, and the way that we're currently in the midst of a truly awful 'use your neurodiversity to be a better MI6 agent campaign in the UK (https://geekslikeyou.co.uk).

Queer literature has lots of talk about 'validation' and 'visibility' but ISIAAAH is so GOOD at grappling with the politics of LGBT identity and empire.

# ? Jun 30, 2021 14:56

KidDynamite: Feb 11, 2005

last book i read was Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman pretty good medieval fiction. I would highly reccomend.

I've been reading Earthsea and Le Guin is good! I need more fiction like this. Also fiction not afraid to imagine a successful communist society.

I suck at reading non-fiction so I've been reading captial vol 1 since the beginning of the year. only like 150 pages in :negative:

# ? Jun 30, 2021 15:15

the sex ghost: Sep 6, 2009

I read the ministry of fear and despite having a plot that reads like a child made it up on the spot and possibly one of the most unsatisfying endings I've read in ages I enjoyed myself, 3/5 would immerse myself in Greene's atmosphere of suffocatingly British uneasiness and uncertainty again

# ? Jun 30, 2021 15:23

dead gay comedy forums: Oct 21, 2011

A Hundred Years of Solitude is categorically Incredibly Good and you all should read it

# ? Jun 30, 2021 15:51

osprey: Apr 18, 2021

Feed by MT Anderson

it's a YA near-future scifi book. almost didn't make it through the first few chapters, i'm not usually into 1st person and found the narrator rather annoying, but it was a National Book Award finalist and i was curious about what the zoomers might be reading these days. it turned out pretty decent. surprisingly dystopian-horrorish and cspammy for a YA book

# ? Jun 30, 2021 16:13

Ordinaire: Sep 1, 2008; Forks in the road we're not.

Larry Parrish posted:

I didn't like remeberence of earth's past much past the first book tbh. Ancillary whatever is one of my favorite series ever, Ann Leckie pwns. It sucks that people hear about the main culture having a non gendered language and give up on it as some performative SJW bullshit because it gets used a genius way to make the protagonist stand out as non human but whatever.

the use of the non-gendered language is the thing that caught my attention when I first heard about that series. it�s personally interesting to me so I think I�m probably gonna like it.

and I gotta agree about Remembrance, though. It took me forever to get through the second book. Not sure I will ever bother with the third after how the second went.

# ? Jun 30, 2021 16:20

StashAugustine: Mar 24, 2013; Do not trust in hope- it will betray you! Only faith and hatred sustain.

WINNERSH TRIANGLE posted:

I re-read Isabel Fall's I Sexually Identify As An Attack Helicopter prompted by the interview Fall did recently (which makes me genuinely furious at how awfully she was treated by Book And Queer Twitter), and, gah, it still holds up as fantastic.

A lot of people declared culture war on her for the title, and for her own identity, and I think quite apart from how shoddily she was treated, it's an incredible shame that the story never really got discussed on its own merits. The way it explores militarised inclusion/diversity, pinkwashing, and assimilation is fantastic, especially with those CIA ads a couple of months ago, and the way that we're currently in the midst of a truly awful 'use your neurodiversity to be a better MI6 agent campaign in the UK (https://geekslikeyou.co.uk).

Queer literature has lots of talk about 'validation' and 'visibility' but ISIAAAH is so GOOD at grappling with the politics of LGBT identity and empire.

don't really have much to add but seconded on this, very interesting story

Adjectivist Philosophy posted:

I tend not to include details because I personally like going into books blind, but on further reflection I feel I should make a note that sexual violence is a significant part of Dawn, and as a whole the book made me very uncomfortable (although not in a cheap way, the discomfort is a central part of what the book is doing). I guess what I'm saying is don't take this recommendation if you're looking for a lighthearted space romp lol.

thanks, though it's not like kindred, parable, or bloodchild are exactly feel-good romps- since i'm already talking short stories bloodchild in particular is a fantastic little horror story along similar lines

# ? Jun 30, 2021 17:36

AnimeIsTrash: Jun 30, 2018

Everyone should read parenti. All his books are good but blackshirts & reds and inventing reality are must reads.

# ? Jun 30, 2021 17:39

Adjectivist Philosophy: Oct 6, 2003; When you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.

StashAugustine posted:

thanks, though it's not like kindred, parable, or bloodchild are exactly feel-good romps- since i'm already talking short stories bloodchild in particular is a fantastic little horror story along similar lines

I haven't read other books she's written (yet!) so I wasn't sure if that was a common theme for her. I'd still feel terrible if someone who actively avoids those specific subjects took my rec expecting some escapism and getting the opposite.

AnimeIsTrash posted:

Everyone should read parenti. All his books are good but blackshirts & reds and inventing reality are must reads.

I was kind of disappointed with blackshirts and reds. Not sure if I'm just not the intended audience, but it seemed like the whole time I was thinking either "I know this already" or "you can defend communism without completely vindicating Stalin." I see him get recommended a lot and have enjoyed the few talks of his I've watched, but I just didn't get as much out of it as I was expecting. Maybe it works better as a companion to other stuff he's written?

# ? Jun 30, 2021 18:03

In Training: Jun 28, 2008

KidDynamite posted:

last book i read was Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman pretty good medieval fiction. I would highly reccomend.

I've been reading Earthsea and Le Guin is good! I need more fiction like this. Also fiction not afraid to imagine a successful communist society.

I suck at reading non-fiction so I've been reading captial vol 1 since the beginning of the year. only like 150 pages in

try using a companion book or video series for capital idk how else I could get through it otherwise (other than studying it in school which I didn't do). i watched David Harvey's lectures on YouTube and it was good poo poo

# ? Jun 30, 2021 18:29

StashAugustine: Mar 24, 2013; Do not trust in hope- it will betray you! Only faith and hatred sustain.

Adjectivist Philosophy posted:

I haven't read other books she's written (yet!) so I wasn't sure if that was a common theme for her. I'd still feel terrible if someone who actively avoids those specific subjects took my rec expecting some escapism and getting the opposite.

oh sure yeah, her writing is pretty depressing overall- kindred is about a modern woman who slips back in time to a slave plantation, parable of the sower is about a young woman who basically starts a new age religion while a refugee in dystopian america, bloodchild is a fantastically creepy feminist parable

[quote="KidDynamite" post="515876039
I've been reading Earthsea and Le Guin is good! I need more fiction like this. Also fiction not afraid to imagine a successful communist society.
[/quote]

i'm going to assume you've been recommended the dispossessed and i'm still going to recommend it anyway

# ? Jun 30, 2021 18:36

Toph Bei Fong: Feb 29, 2008

WINNERSH TRIANGLE posted:

I re-read Isabel Fall's I Sexually Identify As An Attack Helicopter prompted by the interview Fall did recently (which makes me genuinely furious at how awfully she was treated by Book And Queer Twitter), and, gah, it still holds up as fantastic.

A lot of people declared culture war on her for the title, and for her own identity, and I think quite apart from how shoddily she was treated, it's an incredible shame that the story never really got discussed on its own merits. The way it explores militarised inclusion/diversity, pinkwashing, and assimilation is fantastic, especially with those CIA ads a couple of months ago, and the way that we're currently in the midst of a truly awful 'use your neurodiversity to be a better MI6 agent campaign in the UK (https://geekslikeyou.co.uk).

Queer literature has lots of talk about 'validation' and 'visibility' but ISIAAAH is so GOOD at grappling with the politics of LGBT identity and empire.

Echoing just how good this story is. I can see how it would make some people angry, but it's the right kind of angry, the sort that would hopefully prompt the reader into personal examination and reflection on their own situation. It's scary to see something you find precious and important repurposed into something horrible, and that's one of the points of the story.

quote:

Generations of queer activists fought to make gender a self-determined choice, and to undo the creeping determinism that said the way it is now is the way it always was and always must be. Generations of scientists mapped the neural wiring that motivated and encoded the gender choice.

And the moment their work reached a usable stage�the moment society was ready to accept plastic gender, and scientists were ready to manipulate it�the military found a new resource. Armed with functional connectome mapping and neural plastics, the military can make gender tactical.

If gender has always been a construct, then why not construct new ones?

My gender networks have been reassigned to make me a better AH-70 Apache Mystic pilot. This is better than conventional skill learning. I can show you why.

Look at a diagram of an attack helicopter�s airframe and components. Tell me how much of it you grasp at once.

Now look at a person near you, their clothes, their hair, their makeup and expression, the way they meet or avoid your eyes. Tell me which was richer with information about danger and capability. Tell me which was easier to access and interpret.

The gender networks are old and well-connected. They work.

I remember being a woman. I remember it the way you remember that old, beloved hobby you left behind. Woman felt like my prom dress, polyester satin smoothed between little hand and little hip. Woman felt like a little tic of the lips when I was interrupted, or like teasing out the mood my boyfriend wouldn�t explain. Like remembering his mom�s birthday for him, or giving him a list of things to buy at the store, when he wanted to be better about groceries.

I was always aware of being small: aware that people could hurt me. I spent a lot of time thinking about things that had happened right before something awful. I would look around me and ask myself, are the same things happening now? Women live in cross-reference. It is harder work than we know.

Now I think about being small as an advantage for nape-of-earth maneuvers and pop-up guided missile attacks.

Now I yield to speed walkers in the hall like I need to avoid fouling my rotors.

Now walking beneath high-tension power lines makes me feel the way that a cis man would feel if he strutted down the street in a miniskirt and heels.

I�m comfortable in open spaces but only if there�s terrain to break it up. I hate conversations I haven�t started; I interrupt shamelessly so that I can make my point and leave.

People treat me like I�m dangerous, like I could hurt them if I wanted to. They want me protected and watched over. They bring me water and ask how I�m doing.

People want me on their team. They want what I can do.

quote:

By refusing the United States administration, our superior resources and planning capability, Pear Mesa�s AIs condemned citizens who might otherwise be saved to die�a genocide by neglect. Wasn�t that the unforgivable crime of fossil capitalism? The creation of systems whose failure modes led to mass death?

Didn�t we have a moral imperative to intercede?

Pear Mesa cannot surrender, because the neural nets have a basic imperative to remain online. Pear Mesa�s citizens cannot question the machines� decisions. Everything the machines do is connected in ways no human can comprehend. Disobey one order and you might as well disobey them all.

But none of this is why I kill.

I kill for the same reason men don�t wear short skirts, the same reason I used to pluck my brows, the reason enby people are supposed to be (unfair and stupid, yes, but still) androgynous with short hair. Are those good reasons to do something? If you say no, honestly no�can you tell me you break these rules without fear or cost?

But killing isn�t a gender role, you might tell me. Killing isn�t a decision about how to present your own autonomous self to the world. It is coercive and punitive. Killing is therefore not an act of gender.

I wish that were true. Can you tell me honestly that killing is a genderless act? The method? The motive? The victim?

When you imagine the innocent dead, who do you see?

Those who tried to ruin the author's life based on title alone can gently caress right off.

# ? Jun 30, 2021 19:38

Epic High Five: Jun 5, 2004

Glad to see the Tingler was on the right side of the response apparently, definitely going to check it out, but

quote:

As a result of the contentious debate about her story and the personal attacks made against her, Fall entered a psychiatric hospital because of suicidal ideation,[11] and withdrew other works with similar themes in the process of publication.[11] Being still early in the process of transition, she also decided to renounce her identity as Isabel Fall and reassume her previous male identity.[11] She said that she was particularly struck by comments that she must be a man because "no woman would ever write in the way she did", which she said increased her gender dysphoria.

# ? Jun 30, 2021 19:52

Xaris: Jul 25, 2006; Lucky there's a family guy
Lucky there's a man who positively can do
All the things that make us
Laugh and cry

Epic High Five posted:

Glad to see the Tingler was on the right side of the response apparently, definitely going to check it out, but

libs are the worst

# ? Jun 30, 2021 19:53

Epic High Five: Jun 5, 2004

I wonder how many of the detractors read or claim to enjoy The Left Hand of Darkness

# ? Jun 30, 2021 20:02

oscarthewilde: May 16, 2012; I would often go there
To the tiny church there

Reading Negarestani�s Cyclonopedia. it�s loving amazing and comes with a nick land blurb on the back

# ? Jun 30, 2021 20:27

Toph Bei Fong: Feb 29, 2008

Epic High Five posted:

I wonder how many of the detractors read or claim to enjoy The Left Hand of Darkness

N.K. Jemison claims to be a huge Le Guin fan

N.K. Jemisin posted:

https://theoutline.com/post/8600/isabel-fall-attack-helicopter-moralism

On January 17, commenting on Fall�s decision to withdraw in a now-deleted Twitter thread, the bestselling science fiction and fantasy author N. K. Jemisin said she was �glad� the story was taken down, stating �Not all art is good art. Sometimes art causes harm. And granted that marginalized creators end up held to a higher standard than others, which is poo poo, but� that�s bc we know what that harm feels like, up close and personal. Artists should strive to do no (more of this) harm.� She also noted the author�s extreme stress and its health effects as part of the harm �Attack Helicopter� had caused. In subsequent tweets, however, Jemisin admitted that she hadn�t read the story.

N.K. Jemisin posted:

https://ew.com/books/nk-jemisin-city-we-became-influences/

�Le Guin�s work jarred me out of Tolkienism,� Jemisin says. �As a kid in the �80s, it was all Tolkien all the time, and Tolkien clones trying their best to write like him. I needed to be reminded that fantasy could take other forms. So I loved A Wizard of Earthsea and that whole series, because this is a character who is not a farm boy who gets the girl and a big sword and lays waste to the Dark Lord. His enemy is himself. The idea of fantasy as psychological self-study was something I got from that.�

Arinn Dembo, the acting president of SF Canada, just plain sucks.

Arinn Dembo posted:

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/01/sexually-identify-attack-helicopter/605170/

"I�m going to come right out and say that this story does not feel like it was written by a cis or trans woman. It feels like �Isabel Fall� is a straight cis person � Probably a white dude. Because honestly, this story is just dripping with all the lies that straight men tell themselves about both cis and trans women. They always want to see the female gender role as powerful and fascinating. They never internalize the physical or emotional pain of Femme life."

Later Dembo added a qualification:

"This could have been written by anyone: it�s pure sentimentality to assume a cis woman, a trans person or a queer person couldn�t write a story about gender transformation that handled its themes badly. When I say, �This reads like it was written by a straight white dude who doesn�t really get gender theory or transition & has no right to invoke transphobic dog whistles for profit�, I�ll stand by my critique. Even if �Attack Helicopter� turns out to be an #ownvoices story."

Arinn Dembo posted:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3797377646

Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis
Vance, J.D.
3.91 Stars

Picked this up for research purposes. It was an interesting read. Honestly I don't want to get into the controversy surrounding this book and its truth value. It doesn't particularly reflect my own experience in Appalachia in many ways, but that doesn't matter. Addiction is certainly an issue in Appalachia, and so is violence within the community and within the family, and I think more than anything else, JD Vance is arguing for a change of culture.

I also think that if you forge to the end of the book, he suggests a few policy changes that might have saved him from many additional years of living in an unsafe household, if they were enacted nation-wide in the USA--I would generally summarize the changes he's asking for as "Recognize that the extended family of a child is often more qualified and willing to protect a neglected or abused kid than the foster system would be." And I think he actually has a valid point, which he argues powerfully from his personal experience being largely raised by his grandparents.

# ? Jun 30, 2021 21:06

Epic High Five: Jun 5, 2004

Toph Bei Fong posted:

N.K. Jemison claims to be a huge Le Guin fan

Arinn Dembo, the acting president of SF Canada, just plain sucks.

Extremely loving grim but not terribly surprising, really sucks to think that outside of the actual community creating these works that are the sort of "boundary pushing for the sake of really thinking about what we are doing, right now, and what the things we create are doing" works that define speculative fiction as a thing separate from sci-fi there is as little acceptance now as there has ever been. Condemning it after having not even read it is probably the overwhelming norm

In short, god bless the Tingler

# ? Jun 30, 2021 21:14

Toph Bei Fong: Feb 29, 2008

Epic High Five posted:

Extremely loving grim but not terribly surprising, really sucks to think that outside of the actual community creating these works that are the sort of "boundary pushing for the sake of really thinking about what we are doing, right now, and what the things we create are doing" works that define speculative fiction as a thing separate from sci-fi there is as little acceptance now as there has ever been. Condemning it after having not even read it is probably the overwhelming norm

In short, god bless the Tingler

When Kiwifarms bullies an NB emulation expert into suicide, folks unite against them and launch a DDOS attack on the site and so on. Rightfully so. gently caress Kiwifarms.

When a bunch of successful and well regarded authors with the "correct opinions" almost accomplish the same thing, literally telling a trans person that she must be a straight cis white guy, there's no penalties or consequences, social or otherwise. Because they're the good people, on the right side.

# ? Jun 30, 2021 21:28

WINNERSH TRIANGLE: Aug 17, 2011

Toph Bei Fong posted:

Echoing just how good this story is. I can see how it would make some people angry, but it's the right kind of angry, the sort that would hopefully prompt the reader into personal examination and reflection on their own situation. It's scary to see something you find precious and important repurposed into something horrible, and that's one of the points of the story.

Yeah, this is one of the things that makes me even more furious even beyond the 'mere' fact of a trans woman being bullied into detransition by her award-winning supposed 'allies'; it is a deeply powerful and politically salient piece of writing, that should make people angry because it grapples with the world as it is and will be. but then libs happened.

# ? Jul 1, 2021 09:53

err: Apr 11, 2005; I carry my own weight no matter how heavy this shit gets...

Finished Oryx and Crake. What a weird book, I never thought the author of The Handmaid's Tale would write something so odd. It was good though.

# ? Jul 1, 2021 09:57

Larry Parrish: Jul 9, 2012; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

WINNERSH TRIANGLE posted:

I re-read Isabel Fall's I Sexually Identify As An Attack Helicopter prompted by the interview Fall did recently (which makes me genuinely furious at how awfully she was treated by Book And Queer Twitter), and, gah, it still holds up as fantastic.

A lot of people declared culture war on her for the title, and for her own identity, and I think quite apart from how shoddily she was treated, it's an incredible shame that the story never really got discussed on its own merits. The way it explores militarised inclusion/diversity, pinkwashing, and assimilation is fantastic, especially with those CIA ads a couple of months ago, and the way that we're currently in the midst of a truly awful 'use your neurodiversity to be a better MI6 agent campaign in the UK (https://geekslikeyou.co.uk).

Queer literature has lots of talk about 'validation' and 'visibility' but ISIAAAH is so GOOD at grappling with the politics of LGBT identity and empire.

yeah even in explicitly communist settings it's difficult to even broach the topic of how identity is weaponized lol. the liberals have successfully made it almost impossible to criticize their program without being accused of secretly wanting to do a gay pogrom or something

anyway i should actually read that book, ive only read excepts that make it sound based

Larry Parrish has issued a correction as of 10:06 on Jul 1, 2021

# ? Jul 1, 2021 09:59

the sex ghost: Sep 6, 2009

err posted:

Finished Oryx and Crake. What a weird book, I never thought the author of The Handmaid's Tale would write something so odd. It was good though.

The whole Snowman trilogy is a belter. Have also read the heart goes last which is not to the same standard but still a fun read that I would recommend

# ? Jul 1, 2021 10:01

WINNERSH TRIANGLE: Aug 17, 2011

Larry Parrish posted:

yeah even in explicitly communist settings it's difficult to even broach the topic of how identity is weaponized lol. the liberals have successfully made it almost to criticize their program without being accused of secretly wanting to do a gay pogrom or something

to the point where cis libs will drive a trans woman into detransition, lol, lmao. it shows how shallow liberal commitment to lgbt identity often is - when it comes to 'actual trans people and critiques of imperialism' or 'feeling good all the time and writing queer mcu fanfic' you know which side they'll pick.

# ? Jul 1, 2021 10:13

Filthy Hans: Jun 27, 2008; by Fluffdaddy
(and can't post for 10 years!)

I read The Murderbot Diaries over the last few days, pretty good stuff compared to most of the recent sci-fi crap I've waded through recently

I read The Blacktongue Thief just before and highly recommend that one

# ? Jul 1, 2021 10:18

the sex ghost: Sep 6, 2009

Was rummaging in the back bedroom and found my knackered 70s edition of the web and the rock and all the old emotions came flooding back and I would urge everyone to read it

Thomas Wolfe was by all the usual standards a terrible writer. His books were like the equivalent of Dan aykroyds original script for Ghostbusters where editors would take one look at his drafts and run screaming. The original draft for web and the rock was allegedly 5000 pages long lol

he had no idea how to do plotting or characters (look out for Nebraska Crane the world's coolest kid who turns up once, gets 20 pages worth of backstory and character building then never turns up again) and the whole thing is a barely coherent mess of long-winded indulgent prose. And yet because of its roughness it has this completely genuine heartfelt quality that endears you to it. The protagonist, as a blatant author self-insert, is aware of his many flaws but is totally unguarded. He weeps and swears and laughs and despairs and you're just swept along with him. You don't read it - you can't because it's basically unreadable, it's similar to Ulysses in the sense that you just sort of let it wash over you rather than trying to fight against the current and work out exactly whats going on

There's a lengthy passage where he argues with his Mrs and it's the most accurate depiction of having an argument with someone you love where you know you're in the wrong and just want to say sorry but can't let yourself back down that it's just genuinely heartbreaking. It's very baby's first critical theory but you recognise those same flaws and destructive appetites in yourself and it just sucks you in

I'm aware this is dangerously close to careposting in cspam but I had a passage from it read out at my wedding and found my little train ticket bookmark marking the passage and now I'm feeling all delicate at this stupid lovely book and want someone else to feel the same about it

# ? Jul 1, 2021 11:48

Larry Parrish: Jul 9, 2012; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

Filthy Hans posted:

I read The Murderbot Diaries over the last few days, pretty good stuff compared to most of the recent sci-fi crap I've waded through recently

I read The Blacktongue Thief just before and highly recommend that one

oh, yeah. Idk why I forgot about those. They're great, but really pricy for the length. The novellas are the price of most full novels. So just filez them I guess, but I like them a lot and they're worth the money.

# ? Jul 1, 2021 12:06

Doktor Avalanche: Dec 30, 2008

murderbot is great
her ile-rien stuff is good too
the raksura series didn't really click with me

# ? Jul 1, 2021 13:02

tokin opposition: Apr 8, 2021; The dialectical struggle of history has always, essentially, been a question of how to apply justice to matter. Take away matter and what remains is justice.

I want a peter watts videogame very badly

And more peter watts books

# ? Jul 1, 2021 15:47

StashAugustine: Mar 24, 2013; Do not trust in hope- it will betray you! Only faith and hatred sustain.

tokin opposition posted:

I want a peter watts videogame very badly

And more peter watts books

crysis 2's novelization was written by watts! the story being written by richard k morgan was more of a selling point before he succumbed to the english disease

# ? Jul 1, 2021 16:18

Tzen: Sep 11, 2001

WINNERSH TRIANGLE posted:

I re-read Isabel Fall's I Sexually Identify As An Attack Helicopter prompted by the interview Fall did recently (which makes me genuinely furious at how awfully she was treated by Book And Queer Twitter), and, gah, it still holds up as fantastic.

A lot of people declared culture war on her for the title, and for her own identity, and I think quite apart from how shoddily she was treated, it's an incredible shame that the story never really got discussed on its own merits. The way it explores militarised inclusion/diversity, pinkwashing, and assimilation is fantastic, especially with those CIA ads a couple of months ago, and the way that we're currently in the midst of a truly awful 'use your neurodiversity to be a better MI6 agent campaign in the UK (https://geekslikeyou.co.uk).

Queer literature has lots of talk about 'validation' and 'visibility' but ISIAAAH is so GOOD at grappling with the politics of LGBT identity and empire.

Toph Bei Fong posted:

Echoing just how good this story is. I can see how it would make some people angry, but it's the right kind of angry, the sort that would hopefully prompt the reader into personal examination and reflection on their own situation. It's scary to see something you find precious and important repurposed into something horrible, and that's one of the points of the story.
Those who tried to ruin the author's life based on title alone can gently caress right off.

I meant to read this story because it lade the finalist list on the Hugo Awards but completely forgot about it. Thank you both for your posts, going to add it to the top of my to-read list now

# ? Jul 1, 2021 17:09

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# ? May 5, 2024 15:43

Tzen: Sep 11, 2001

Epic High Five posted:

Glad to see the Tingler was on the right side of the response apparently, definitely going to check it out, but

god damnit people are assholes

# ? Jul 1, 2021 17:10

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > C-SPAM > [BOOKS!] The author is dead, and we have killed them

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