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In I think the last thread someone was asking about 'The Dragon Waiting' and that got me to re-read it. On the one hand I'm still totally down with '15th century Europe with severely alternate history, wizards, and vampires, but still the same major players as in this timeline'. On the other hand it was a lot more violent and gory and such than I had remembered, and I would have liked a lot more Byzantium and a lot less Britain, but oh well.
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Oct 19, 2019 01:15
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anilEhilated posted:I want you to know I am holding you personally responsible for my fantasy backlog. First Gideon, then Sagara and now this. You're not alone. I picked up Gideon and Sagara as well, but am teetering on the fence about this one.
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Oct 19, 2019 02:34
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anilEhilated posted:I want you to know I am holding you personally responsible for my fantasy backlog. First Gideon, then Sagara and now this. Robot Wendigo posted:You're not alone. I picked up Gideon and Sagara as well, but am teetering on the fence about this one. I hope y'all enjoy those books as much as I did!
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Oct 19, 2019 02:37
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I'm still reading Revenant Gun (almost done, extremely good) but they're all sitting in my rapidly ballooning backlog. This thread is dangerous to my ever finding peace of mind in my reading time ever again.
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Oct 19, 2019 06:25
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How do people keep track of the books they want to read?
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Oct 19, 2019 12:06
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Goodreads.com → My Books → Want to Read
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Oct 19, 2019 12:11
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A Proper Uppercut posted:How do people keep track of the books they want to read? A giant text file for "might want to read this". Once I decide I definitely want to read it and get the book, it goes into my (custom) book journaling software and into Calibre with an "unread" status.
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Oct 19, 2019 12:16
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Amazon "save for later" section.
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Oct 19, 2019 12:19
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I buy everything I think I'm going to want to read, and then it sits in my giant to be read pile inside the nook app, staring at me sadly.
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Oct 19, 2019 14:18
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Downloading samples on the kindle for me to baffle over years later. I wish Amazon did the Steam "this item on your wishlist is on sale" thing.
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Oct 19, 2019 15:12
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I put them on hold on my library app and then flail about helplessly when they all arrive at once.
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Oct 19, 2019 16:06
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Here is my review of the Blind Worm by Brian Stableford: How do you review something so foreign to your own experiences that you don't have anything to compare it to? The Blind Worm is a novella, 150 pages that present a story in three acts, centered around the character of the Blind Worm and the Black King. There are other characters - Sum, the hivemind, Concuma the man who hates, Shadow, Swallow, Zea, Ocean - In a post-post-post-post- apocalyptic world, plants have gently taken over the world and become the Wildlands, a hive entity of semi-sentient plants with the name of Sum. In the Wildlands humans live, mutated over time to be different colors and wilder than they used to be. Outside the Wildland there are decaying cities, where city men live, but not in abundance. Sum wants the Quadrilateral completed, and if it can be done it will do anything for those who help it. To this end the Black King has gathered an entourage and set out to complete it, and the Blind Worm, a machine-man joins this quest. The Blind Worm was created by an immortal man, Dragon, who hated humanity and wanted it gone so he helped the plants take over by making the Blind Worm: an immortal war-machine. Except that there was no war and in the end Dragon didn't need to help at all. The strangest procession of events follows. Every character is examined, discarded, picked back up. There is a sequence where an army of shuffling zombies advances against an army of wild-men and unicorns, and bloody battle commences. There are other universes, and musings on the nature of identity, death, destruction, and what it means to be a hive mind. This is the strangest book I have ever read, and the only things that have come close to its intensity are the other things Brian Stableford has written. There are, naturally, lots of descriptions of plant life and the organisms that live with them. I have no idea if you should read this book.
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Oct 19, 2019 16:23
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NinjaDebugger posted:I buy everything I think I'm going to want to read, and then it sits in my giant to be read pile inside the nook app, staring at me sadly. This. I did almost no reading for like three years about a decade ago but kept accumulating backlog and finally cleared that up just before reading Gideon the Ninth. I've now accumulated like another two years of books to read already, if I read at the rate I used to when I was younger. It is a problem.
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Oct 19, 2019 17:27
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Orv posted:This. I did almost no reading for like three years about a decade ago but kept accumulating backlog and finally cleared that up just before reading Gideon the Ninth. I've now accumulated like another two years of books to read already, if I read at the rate I used to when I was younger. I don’t see it as a backlog but rather a repository where I can pick the book I feel like reading at that time. Also, does Too like the lightning actually speed up, cause for now it reads more like a costume drama?
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Oct 19, 2019 17:30
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A Proper Uppercut posted:How do people keep track of the books they want to read? Piles of stuff here and there. But then, I still mostly read physical books.
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Oct 19, 2019 17:40
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A Proper Uppercut posted:How do people keep track of the books they want to read? I bookmark them in my browser. If I really want to read them, I bookmark them again with a number of `s at the front of the bookmark name depending on how much I want to read them. I may create a new folder for something that sounds extremely cool. I also email them to myself, using ALL CAPS and ``````` in subject lines, and then tagging them in my inbox as important. Sometimes I forward older emails to myself if I stumble across them and decide I really want to read that book. I also screenshot messages in this thread when I'm on my phone, and sometimes email the screenshots to myself. Sometimes I screenshot emails or bookmarks too. Then I read something entirely unrelated and drop it 10% in. edit: read ````````````the blind worm when you see this message you idiot it sounds cool e2: STEEL RFRAME Anserew skinmer 90s Cringe Rock fucked around with this message at 17:54 on Oct 19, 2019 |
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Oct 19, 2019 17:48
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A Proper Uppercut posted:How do people keep track of the books they want to read? on that note, if the first or second post in this thread could carry a running list of books highly recommended IN THIS THREAD (not the old scifi threads), that would be pretty awesome (thanks!)
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Oct 19, 2019 18:14
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StrixNebulosa posted:Here is my review of the Blind Worm by Brian Stableford: this sounds good and more creative than 99% of SFF. I think i will read it!
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Oct 19, 2019 18:36
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my bony fealty posted:this sounds good and more creative than 99% of SFF. I think i will read it! Brian Stableford is one of the most creative sci-fi authors I have ever read, but not necessarily always a good author. He can't really do character work (he can try!) but his visuals are always striking and he's clearly put a lot of thought into where humanity is and where it's going. He started writing in the 70s, and hasn't stopped, only moved to smaller and smaller indie presses while also translating works into and out of French. My favorite work by him is his Genesys trilogy, which takes the standard "party of adventurers going on a quest" idea as a framework but makes it completely bonkers, by the end one of the characters has made peace with becoming a tree, for example.
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Oct 19, 2019 18:49
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Time to add a new author to the laughable pile and see what the library has from him I suppose. You make Stableford (what a wonderful name) sounds almost like zelazny
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Oct 19, 2019 19:13
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StrixNebulosa posted:by the end one of the characters has made peace with becoming a tree, for example. This sounds tight as hell. Adding Stableford to my to-read ASAP.
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Oct 19, 2019 19:27
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Don't know about Stableford, the only thing of his was a bog-standard alternate history of Europe except everyone is vampires and I don't think I even finished that. e: Pretty telling I remember the name of the author and not the book. Something of fear or horror or something like that.
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Oct 19, 2019 20:27
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Rereading Gideon the Ninth, and I wonder how far to take the symbolism of the names (largely Biblical with some classical influences) and Foucalt's Pendulum-style numerology. Is it, for example, a coincidence that the house necromancers with the most on the ball are multiples of three, and the two who succeed are from houses that are powers of three? That the bad guy is lucky number 7? If one assumes this is a future earth and these names are deliberate carry overs by the Emperor from the lost past, then probably not a coincidence that we have some trinity stuff going on. It's also interesting to see this story unfold when you already understand the players and their personalities. There are plenty of hints at the right times (houses three and seven get held up in orbit over irregularities, but only three's oddity is immediately explained, Teacher and another priest have a side bar conversation about the implied failure of having two necromancers but only one cavalier, etc.) to guess at least some of what is going on. Apparatchik Magnet fucked around with this message at 02:06 on Oct 20, 2019 |
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Oct 19, 2019 22:06
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I would suggest spoilering at least some of that, it's a pretty new book and the mystery is a big part of it.
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Oct 19, 2019 23:54
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Yeah I just started Gideon the Ninth and I just got spoilered pretty hard!
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Oct 20, 2019 00:47
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For UK goons or (UK Amazon users in general), Gollancz have their festival tie-in sale, some great stuff on offer for either £1 or £1.99 with most of it being the first books in a series. Couple of gems you guys probably know about but i've read and enjoyed including: Revenger - Alastair Reynolds Luna: New Moon - Ian McDonald Empire of Silence - Christopher Ruocchio The Blade Itself - Joe Abercrombie Blackwing - Ed Mcdonald Cold Iron - Miles Cameron The Cold Iron series just had its last book released and is one of my favorite series in the past few years. Byzantine-style city political intrigue with an overarching evil enemy with large scale conflict looming. Cameron also writes some of the best historical fiction out there. Luna - New Moon suffers with the generic recommendation of ASOIAF in space but it's fantastic. Empire of Silence had a few negative recommendations from guys in here but with the short stories just released and sequel out over summer it's one of my favorites. Again a generic comparison is Dune MK.2 but I think it's a bit more than that. Post-interstellar collapse with the rise of a new techno-Roman/Holy Roman empire vs barbaric hordes. Then a couple of bits i've picked up on recommendations: We Are the Dead - Mike Shackle Master of Sorrows - Justin Call Planetfall - Emma Newman The Girl King - Mimi Yu
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Oct 20, 2019 11:58
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I really liked the first book of that new Cameron series but the second one has kind of just been sitting on my phone. I guess I just dont really like Saudi Afghanistan as a setting.
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Oct 20, 2019 12:16
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ed balls balls man posted:Luna - New Moon suffers with the generic recommendation of ASOIAF in space but it's fantastic. I personally found book 3 in this trilogy to be really, disappointingly underwhelming but that's only because the first two are so awesome. He creates this fully realised world in the first book and then tears it apart in a sort of civil war/revolution/apocalyptic event in the second. Some absolutely brilliant setpieces throughout and he's definitely the most talented prose stylist working in modern science fiction. Hugely recommended even though I thought the end of the trilogy kind of sputtered out, and hey, that's just my opinion.
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Oct 20, 2019 12:19
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freebooter posted:I personally found book 3 in this trilogy to be really, disappointingly underwhelming but that's only because the first two are so awesome. He creates this fully realised world in the first book and then tears it apart in a sort of civil war/revolution/apocalyptic event in the second. Some absolutely brilliant setpieces throughout and he's definitely the most talented prose stylist working in modern science fiction. Hugely recommended even though I thought the end of the trilogy kind of sputtered out, and hey, that's just my opinion. Nah, i second this opinion. Clearly worth it and McDonald is always good.
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Oct 20, 2019 12:27
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freebooter posted:I personally found book 3 in this trilogy to be really, disappointingly underwhelming but that's only because the first two are so awesome. He creates this fully realised world in the first book and then tears it apart in a sort of civil war/revolution/apocalyptic event in the second. Some absolutely brilliant setpieces throughout and he's definitely the most talented prose stylist working in modern science fiction. Hugely recommended even though I thought the end of the trilogy kind of sputtered out, and hey, that's just my opinion. I have it sitting on my kindle but haven't actually read it yet! Agree about the setpieces bit especially. quote:I really liked the first book of that new Cameron series but the second one has kind of just been sitting on my phone. I guess I just dont really like Saudi Afghanistan as a setting. Took me a little more brainpower to get through this one with the various different factions i'll be honest. The parts with the black pyramid I struggled with a bit, but with Aranthur and co, I absolutely lapped up. I think I had the same feeling as you describe when I got to the 5th book in the Red Knight series. This feels a little more self contained and polished. Been reading a little bit too much 40K recently.
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Oct 20, 2019 12:30
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ed balls balls man posted:I have it sitting on my kindle but haven't actually read it yet! Agree about the setpieces bit especially. The best by far is the second half of the second book, with Lucasinho trying to get his little cousin to safety trekking across the surface with limited supplies, limited know-how and no real knowledge of exactly what's going on during this crazy uprising. But in terms of visual image, and being foreshadowed from literally the very first scene in the book, I loved Lucas making the ten metre dash from rover to airlock across the surface in his expensive suit and loafers.
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Oct 20, 2019 20:45
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ed balls balls man posted:Luna - New Moon suffers with the generic recommendation of ASOIAF in space but it's fantastic. It actually reminds me more of Dune than ASOIAF. The Mackenzies are basically just the Harkonnens, for example. And some basic setting elements, like a libertarian society on the Moon, come from The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. It also has a lot of weird sex stuff, as you would expect from the fusion of Martin, Herbert, and Heinlein. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but I'm surprised goons don't obsessively complain about it the way they usually do about weird sex stuff in genre fiction.
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Oct 20, 2019 21:08
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A Proper Uppercut posted:How do people keep track of the books they want to read? I pretty much don't. Instead I just wander around libraries, grabbing whatever looks interesting/sounds interesting in the non-fiction + fiction areas. Have experienced lots of disappointment with this method while also discovering some hidden gems. Tend to read a 70/30 non-fiction and fiction split. pmchem posted:on that note, if the first or second post in this thread could carry a running list of books highly recommended IN THIS THREAD (not the old scifi threads), that would be pretty awesome (thanks!) That's probably not going to happen, unless I get PM'ed listicles (complete with SA vBulletin formatting) to blindly copy/paste into the 2nd post. As the thread OP, I won't actively poo poo on authors I think are bad/godawful in this thread, however I would 1000% omit recommending them if forced to do anything more than blindly copy/paste properly formatted listicles into the 2nd post of the thread.
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Oct 20, 2019 21:47
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Silver2195 posted:It actually reminds me more of Dune than ASOIAF. The Mackenzies are basically just the Harkonnens, for example. And some basic setting elements, like a libertarian society on the Moon, come from The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. its been a while since i read the first book (like, before the second book was even announced) but as i recall it wasn't 5 pages or so on the sexual dynamics of a group marriage. which moon is a harsh mistress does have.
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Oct 21, 2019 11:20
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Larry Parrish posted:its been a while since i read the first book (like, before the second book was even announced) but as i recall it wasn't 5 pages or so on the sexual dynamics of a group marriage. which moon is a harsh mistress does have. Nah, as far as I can remember it just went right into using an arranged contract-based marriage between two dudes as a plot point, clearly showing that this particular instance was bad and probably coerced/abusive but also implying that this was probably an abnormal case. Without lecturing the reader any about the subject.
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Oct 21, 2019 12:26
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I finished The Forbidden Stars by Tim Pratt and I'm not sure what to feel. He wrapped up a lot of loose ends nicely, but I want to hear more about the Liars and the Axiom and fun poo poo blowing up in fun ways by fun characters.
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Oct 21, 2019 14:15
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A Proper Uppercut posted:How do people keep track of the books they want to read? Library website. I can log in and add a book to "My list" if the library has it. Then when I want them I just put them on hold and unless they're checked out, it's an easy pickup the next day. Then I wind up checking out something that looks cool from the new book display up front and it all gets out of whack and the backlog just keeps growing. Still, it's nice and easy.
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Oct 21, 2019 17:01
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Minor Gideon the Ninth issue on the reread, but I wonder how water is going to interact with necromancy/Emperor-vision as a plot point. Teacher hates water, Harrow was taught only to discuss super secrets when surrounded by salt water, and the Fifth House are "Watchers over the River" which seems to be a metaphor for the division between the living and the spirit world. Water seems to definitely be doing something to counteract some First House/Emperor-derived powers, even if a general anti-necromancy effect is less likely since no one other than Teacher remarked upon it and Harrow doesn't seem to know any practical reason for the superstition she inherited from her parents. Edit: And the Locked Tomb is surrounded by salt water that moves with an unexplainable current. Apparatchik Magnet fucked around with this message at 00:08 on Oct 22, 2019 |
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Oct 21, 2019 18:44
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A Proper Uppercut posted:How do people keep track of the books they want to read? less laughter posted:Goodreads.com → My Books → Want to Read I've been doing this for ages and haven't looked back.
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Oct 21, 2019 23:57
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less laughter posted:Goodreads.com → My Books → Want to Read I have 544 books on my list, which should take me about 12 years to get through.
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Oct 22, 2019 00:04
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