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Hieronymous Alloy posted:William Hope Hodgsons' The Night Land (actually you might not like this one, the writing style is a bit outdated) The writing style was completely made up. Hodgson tried to emulate the prose of an earlier time period without having ever read a single thing from that time period - essentially he thought people should have written and talked like that so that's what he went with. That said, it's an amazing story if you can work through the language.
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| # ¿ Sep 7, 2010 18:50 |
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| # ¿ May 23, 2013 00:33 |
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For all the people recommending Orson Scott Card, are you differentiating between an author and his work, or are you just not aware of what a massive piece of poo poo he is? I loved Ender's Game but I can't in good conscience recommend it to anyone because I don't want them to in any way support Card.
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| # ¿ Jan 21, 2011 15:11 |
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coyo7e posted:My 12 year old nephew asked for "Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card" on his Christmas wishlist, and I made a point to make sure his parents knew what kind of things Card stands for and believes. They didn't buy it for him. What the hell, man? You went out of your way to inform the parents that Card is a douche so that they could decide if his books are something they want their kid reading, yet when they decided that no, they don't want their son reading the works of a disgusting human being, you ignored that and bought the books yourself. Why did you even tell them since ultimately it didn't matter and your nephew got the books anyhow? Are you just a contrary dick or what?
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| # ¿ Jan 22, 2011 02:21 |
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Ither posted:I'm looking for an action urban fantasy (regular fantasy is fine too) book that stars a magic user. Any suggestions? I'm already reading the Dresden files. The Sandman Slim books by Richard Kadrey are pretty good.
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| # ¿ Jan 31, 2011 00:49 |
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Iacen posted:Is there any books out there that has the same kind of magic or tech as China Mieville's Perdido Street Station or The Scar? I briefly read about CthulhuTech, which seemed to have that "Humans using arcane science to enhance themselves", hopefully with ill results, monsters and/or aliens. Check out Jeffrey Thomas' Punktown stuff. It would fall under the New Weird heading Hieronymous Alloy mentioned - it's a mix of sci-fi and Cthulhu-type stuff.
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| # ¿ Mar 15, 2011 18:30 |
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The Deadly Hume posted:EDIT: Wait did Peter Watts actually write a Crysis 2 tie-in? Critically-acclaimed sci-fi doesn't always pay the bills.
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| # ¿ May 5, 2011 13:24 |
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KingEup posted:I'm reading Dune for the first time (really loving it) and about to put in an order for the rest of the series. Now I find out his son kept writing them - are they worth ordering too? There's a single post on page 10 that suggests they aren't. So should I just stick to Frank's works? There's actually a whole thread on this. But to summarize, no, don't read the poo poo Brian Herbert tries to pass off as Dune.
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| # ¿ May 26, 2011 13:34 |
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Anyone here snag an ARC of Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence? It seems to be getting a lot of buzz and I'm wondering if that's just the PR machine working or if it's worth looking in to.
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| # ¿ Jun 1, 2011 02:17 |
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Doniazade posted:I'm now about one fourth of the way through Xenocide(Orson Scott Card) and it's not really that great compared to the previous two books. Does it get better? I have Terminal World and Revelation Space(both Reynolds) lined up. It doesn't; you're essentially done with anything of Card's worth reading. Move on to Reynolds, he is a far superior writer.
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| # ¿ Jun 3, 2011 17:23 |
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Yeah, whatever you do, don't buy Card's books new; you'd be supporting a terrible human being.
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| # ¿ Jun 6, 2011 20:32 |
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Fionavar was neat in a "everything and the kitchen sink" kind of way, but goddamn did it have the weirdest opening I've ever read. I really need to get around to reading The Lions of Al-Rassan.
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| # ¿ Jun 8, 2011 01:17 |
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Yep, those are flying donuts.
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| # ¿ Jun 17, 2011 00:49 |
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Adonis Gunther posted:I'm gonna step in and, regardless of possible flaming for being a fat nerd, recommend Eisenhorn by Dan Abnett. There's no shame in reading the Eisenhorn books. It's the rare story that really transcends the source material (see also: Timothy Zahn's first Star Wars trilogy).
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| # ¿ Jun 20, 2011 00:07 |
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bonds0097 posted:Thanks, they both sound great! I'll definitely pick up Blindsight ASAP. It's free on his website.
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| # ¿ Jun 30, 2011 20:33 |
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shrike82 posted:Review of Dan Simmons' latest book "Flashback" - sounds like he's gone full-blown crazy. This is so far off the deep end that it has to be parody. Please tell me it's parody. The guy that wrote Hyperion can't be this loving crazy.
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| # ¿ Jul 21, 2011 22:06 |
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Blood Oath and The President's Vampire by Christopher Farnsworth are pretty good vampire books. The premise sounds really goofy, but it works.
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| # ¿ Jul 22, 2011 15:20 |
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BuckarooBanzai posted:Can anyone reccomend any good sci-fi/horror? I've been playing Dead Space lately and it's reinvigorated my love of the genre. Ship of Fools/Unto Leviathan - same book, different title (determined by which side of the Atlantic you're on.
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| # ¿ Jul 29, 2011 01:27 |
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Ornamented Death posted:Anyone here snag an ARC of Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence? It seems to be getting a lot of buzz and I'm wondering if that's just the PR machine working or if it's worth looking in to. This book was released earlier this week, and it is worth looking in to.
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| # ¿ Aug 5, 2011 14:54 |
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LukeyBoy posted:Totally agreed on The Steel Remains. I actually enjoyed it way more than any other of Morgan's books. His next book is a sequel to it Hey, I finish this up about an hour ago. I thought it was pretty good overall, though I had a few minor qualms. I think Morgan couldn't decide if he wanted to make a nuanced fantasy or some awesome swords and sorcery poo poo, so we ended up with a mash-up that works surprisingly well.
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| # ¿ Aug 14, 2011 00:30 |
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SilkyP posted:I was wondering what peoples' opinions on the Conan literature is. Any good? Where should one start? Any collections I can scoop up if I enjoy it? I'm not familiar with the volume jammu posted, but I know the Del Rey collections (this, this, and this) have all of the Conan stories in publication order, plus loads of supplemental material. Pretty much everything else Howard wrote has also been collected by Del Rey in volumes with similar covers.
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| # ¿ Sep 28, 2011 12:57 |
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modig posted:Just read The Alchemist by Paolo Bacigalupi, and really enjoyed it. I like the idea of magic as being useful and common, but having general bad side effects in the world. I guess when you say it like that then magic=oil, but I just thought it was a good story. Check out The Executioness by Tobias Bucknell, it's a companion piece set in the same world.
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| # ¿ Sep 29, 2011 03:05 |
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mllaneza posted:Bad news pal, Brust is now skipping all over his timeline with every book. Tiassa starts back when Vlad is still running his territory and finishes late in the walkabout period. Dragon came out after Phoenix, but is set earlier. And Orca is a walkabout novel but one of the very best of the Taltos series (Vlad and Kiera team up to solve a mystery !). This is nothing new, the second book was set before the first one.
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| # ¿ Sep 29, 2011 17:23 |
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BetterWeirdthanDead posted:My first AD&D character was a ranger thanks to Aragorn. This is literally everyone that's played any version of D&D.
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| # ¿ Oct 13, 2011 02:07 |
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zoux posted:Do y'all have any opinions about Connie Willis? I picked up Domesday Book after I saw it shared the Hugo with A Fire Upon the Deep. I'm about 2/3 of the way through and, while I like her writing and her humor, the book is extremely slow paced. She's won a ton of Nebulas and Hugos, including in 2010 for Blackout/All Clear. Can anyone comment on her body of work? She's not nearly as good as she's made out to be. Her "extensive research" is only extensive to ignorant Americans - most British school children can point out the flaws in her "research". I honestly believe she wins so many awards because she's a safe choice for the juries.
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| # ¿ Oct 18, 2011 02:19 |
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Shonagon posted:Anyone else read The Cold Commands by Richard Morgan yet? I really enjoyed it (I loved The Steel Remains but it suffers from pretty major 'middle book in a trilogy' syndrome. It's third or fourth in line on my to-read list. I'm just glad to see a fair number of goons talking about it.
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| # ¿ Oct 25, 2011 18:41 |
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TShields posted:I agree with you about the ending. I kept looking at how thin the remaining pages were getting and thinking that this loving thing better not end on a cliffhanger. Don't pick up the sequel, then.
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| # ¿ Oct 29, 2011 19:35 |
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mystes posted:And it still managed to end with the worst cliffhanger ever. That was my point. I'm not entirely sure what Bizob's problem is (if he's even referring to me).
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| # ¿ Oct 31, 2011 19:57 |
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Bizob posted:Sorry, I don't have a problem, I just really liked that particular line from Lies! Red Seas was ok, I just hope Lynch gets his poo poo together and I can read more Locke Lamora snark. Oh, haha, that went right over my head. Sorry bro!
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| # ¿ Oct 31, 2011 20:39 |
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Miss-Bomarc posted:Was that actually what happened in Frank Herbert's books, or was that something that his kid and Kevin Anderson invented? I was always under the impression that the Butlerian Jihad was just a background event that never got described; it was just alluded to as The Reason We Aren't Using Computers. I believe it was vaguely alluded to as a war to free humanity from the thinking machines, but it was never stated it was a war against thinking machines. I believe that if Frank Herbert had lived long enough to write about it, the Jihad would have been beautiful and subtle and won every award possible. Instead, we got Brian Herbert taking the concept way, way too loving literally.
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| # ¿ Nov 3, 2011 02:19 |
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Neurosis posted:No one who read Dune books 4-6 should believe this. The last few Dune books were definitely different, but they weren't bad.
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| # ¿ Nov 3, 2011 02:26 |
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Neurosis posted:We'll have to agree to disagree on this one. Those books were a chore for me to force my way through and I have no intentions of ever rereading them. Then again, I didn't rate Dune that highly either. Good, yes, but not worthy of hte praise heaped on it. Aw man, and here I was ready to go toe-to-toe over this poo poo  .That's cool, man. To each their own and all that  .
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| # ¿ Nov 3, 2011 02:34 |
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tirinal posted:Regarding Herbert, I think the best commentary about books 4-6 is that they weren't bad so much as they were tainted by his sudden affliction with Creepy Old Man Syndrome(COMS), possibly contracted from a chance encounter with Heinlein. If you read Dreamer of Dune it does seem to coincide with some pretty wonky things going on in his personal life. I've always found people's reactions to the last three books somewhat amusing. A lot of people balk at how weird some of Herbert's ideas got...while reading a series where one of the primary conceits is that people eat magic worm poo poo that makes them live for centuries (amongst other things). The entire series is full of really, really weird poo poo, but people seem to have an easier time swallowing an idea like the Spice (no pun intended) over all the weird sex stuff.
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| # ¿ Nov 5, 2011 15:55 |
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Whoops, there's already a thread about it.
Ornamented Death fucked around with this message at Nov 23, 2011 around 01:36 |
| # ¿ Nov 23, 2011 01:32 |
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Maytag posted:People don't like Feist because they read too many books. Stop after the fourth book. I wouldn't necessarily stop there - I read through the end of the Serpent War stuff, and that wasn't bad. But from what I understand, the books eventually become everyone waiting around for Pug to do something awesome and save the day.
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| # ¿ Dec 1, 2011 03:29 |
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Clinton1011 posted:While we are somewhat in the neighborhood, does anyone have the guilty pleasure of enjoying the Nightside series. I feel I really shouldn't like these books but for some reason I really do. This series owns. I'm kind of sad that the next book (out in a few weeks) is the last one.
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| # ¿ Dec 22, 2011 20:36 |
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Yeah it's pretty mindless, but in a fun way. And the books are pretty short, so it's not really a huge time investment to read them all. Edit: There are a lot of phrases Green likes to reuse. It is really noticeable if you read a bunch of the books back-to-back. Character introductions, for example, are pretty literally copied/pasted to each new book.
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| # ¿ Dec 22, 2011 22:27 |
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:Just found out there's a new Harry Connelly book out that's a prequel to the series he has going on now. (Twenty Palaces) The series isn't "going on now", it's dead  . The prequel is really just a "thank you" to the fans.
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| # ¿ Dec 23, 2011 17:13 |
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Miss-Bomarc posted:Isn't Night Shade out of business? What? No, they aren't.
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| # ¿ Jan 11, 2012 01:20 |
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Alaan posted:
You know if it'll help you out, I'll buy those Garret, P.I., SFBC collections off of you  .
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| # ¿ Jan 12, 2012 14:39 |
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| # ¿ May 23, 2013 00:33 |
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Ogmius815 posted:How do we feel about Stephen R. Donaldson? The guy who recommended them to me went to Yale and has a PhD from Notre Dame so I assumed they were good (because I am an elitist). I'm about half way through the first Thomas Covenant book and outside of the impressive first few chapters I'm not really feeling it. He tends to be incredibly polarizing, especially the Thomas Covenant series.
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| # ¿ Jan 13, 2012 18:41 |
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