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battlecruisers are fast and have good guns but don't have the armour of the heavier ships
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Nov 12, 2019 22:29
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90s Cringe Rock posted:battlecruisers are fast and have good guns but don't have the armour of the heavier ships how can you be sure
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Nov 12, 2019 22:31
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Apparatchik Magnet posted:how can you be sure battlecruisers go fast and shoot pretty good but explode easy this is why the brave dashing bold best captains in the fleet drive them
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Nov 12, 2019 22:33
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MockingQuantum posted:Anybody have strong opinions on Jack Campbell's Lost Fleet series? A very light sci-fi/fantasy book club that I might be joining is doing it for their next book and I'm trying to decide if I'll join or tell them I'll wait until the new year (which I might do anyway, given my schedule). I like space opera but have always kind of given "big space battles, also some story" kind of books a pass, I can't tell if this falls in that category or not though. The books are very repetitious, the characterization is weak and the romance subplot is spectacularly dumb and gets worse as the series continues. I'd rank it above Weber but below, say, Glynn Stewart.
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Nov 12, 2019 22:34
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 The mail is here!!
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Nov 12, 2019 22:41
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ToxicFrog posted:The books are very repetitious, the characterization is weak and the romance subplot is spectacularly dumb and gets worse as the series continues. Okay this (and the posts above...) lead me to believe that it's probably not my cup of tea for a variety of reasons, I think I'm gonna pass on this one.
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Nov 12, 2019 22:44
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MockingQuantum posted:Okay this (and the posts above...) lead me to believe that it's probably not my cup of tea for a variety of reasons, I think I'm gonna pass on this one. But we haven't even explained about how battlecruisers go fast and shoot good but also explode goodfast yet! Ceebees fucked around with this message at 23:22 on Nov 12, 2019 |
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Nov 12, 2019 23:09
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MockingQuantum posted:Okay this (and the posts above...) lead me to believe that it's probably not my cup of tea for a variety of reasons, I think I'm gonna pass on this one. A good choice. I enjoyed the series but it isn't something I can recommend unless you want that niche. Meanwhile, goddd it's hard figuring out which books to start in my new pile. Dawnhounds and Drowning Girl are staring at me...
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Nov 12, 2019 23:15
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I read the first one and kinda like it, but it also remains the only paperback book I own that the cat specifically went out of his way to poo poo on, so YMMV.
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Nov 12, 2019 23:41
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Evil Fluffy posted:What's the timeline of that series in conjunction with the first? Runs mostly parallel? Mostly parallel, he encounters Jorg & Company a couple of times or the aftermath of Jorg & Company and is also loving terrified of them.
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Nov 13, 2019 04:25
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MockingQuantum posted:I'm looking to start a long(er) fantasy series for the holiday season because that's when I'm simultaneously my most mentally taxed at work and have the most free time. ... Echoing that any of the big Brandon Sanderson series pretty much fit this. Max Gladstone’s craft sequence is decently long urban fantasy (not *really* modern) at this point, thought depending on what your work is it might be too real. It’s also more interconnected books instead of one continuous plot. https://www.maxgladstone.com/series/the-craft-sequence/ NK Jemisin’s Broken Earth is incredibly good but maybe not the chill out and don’t think too much style of fantasy series, and not anywhere near as long as those examples.
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Nov 13, 2019 05:09
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tildes posted:NK Jemisin’s Broken Earth is incredibly good but maybe not the chill out and don’t think too much style of fantasy series, and not anywhere near as long as those examples. I am currently reading this and it is excellent. I didn't like The Obelisk Gate as much as The Fifth Season, but it wasn't bad. It seemed to have middle book syndrome, though it was still interesting and a good read. I just started The Stone Sky and am enjoying the POV chapters from Houwha. Jemisin's dry humor is great.
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Nov 13, 2019 06:10
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You should really read Malazan. Except for the first book, maybe. But if you don’t like the second book, it’s probably not going to click. Witness.
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Nov 13, 2019 06:11
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gvibes posted:You should really read Malazan. Except for the first book, maybe. But if you don’t like the second book, it’s probably not going to click. Why not the first book?
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Nov 13, 2019 06:21
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MockingQuantum posted:Why not the first book? First author’s book syndrome. Perfectly ok to pick it up later.
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Nov 13, 2019 06:23
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The first book was written several years before the others and you can tell that Erikson improved a lot during those years when you read the following books. That aside, it's still good and readable. The thing about it is that he just drops you into the middle of the story and starts and expects you to just pick it up as you go along. The books also skip around a bit in the chronology. There's a big thread about it here in TBB and the first post explains things pretty well.
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Nov 13, 2019 07:54
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I read Gardens of the Moon recently and it took me like 2-3 tries to actually finish it. IMO the main problem is that you have multiple prequel sections/opening acts introducing everybody before the story actually gets moving. It felt like the book didn't really "start" until after Crokus and company show up.
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Nov 13, 2019 08:15
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C.M. Kruger posted:I read Gardens of the Moon recently and it took me like 2-3 tries to actually finish it. IMO the main problem is that you have multiple prequel sections/opening acts introducing everybody before the story actually gets moving. It felt like the book didn't really "start" until after Crokus and company show up. Much as I love Malazan I'm always reticent to recommend it because, you know, aside from the baby eating and the rape and the mass murder and all that fun epic fantasy stuff, you also have to read three whole very long, very dense, completely unconnected (at the time) books before you get into the meat of the story. Sure, I think it's probably worth it but woof.
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Nov 13, 2019 09:06
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C.M. Kruger posted:I read Gardens of the Moon recently and it took me like 2-3 tries to actually finish it. IMO the main problem is that you have multiple prequel sections/opening acts introducing everybody before the story actually gets moving. It felt like the book didn't really "start" until after Crokus and company show up. This, and also the climax is ludicrous. I've not read another one since, but there's absolutely enough promise that I'd be willing to give it another go, But there are definite flaws.
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Nov 13, 2019 09:07
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This is not really a spoiler but I just finished Planetfall and my semi spoiler recommendation is to only read the first 50% of the book and then stop. Don’t read anymore. Just continue to imagine it could end any way you want. E: that’s probably too harsh but wow the book’s pacing is just not good. The start is fine, but then the middle section drags on way too long without much plot happening, leaving way too little time for the ending. It is very well written from a prose sense though, and the characters are good. The ending wouldn’t be so disappointing if the rest of the book didn’t raise expectations so high by being good.
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Nov 13, 2019 09:20
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Orv posted:Much as I love Malazan I'm always reticent to recommend it because, you know, aside from the baby eating and the rape and the mass murder and all that fun epic fantasy stuff, you also have to read three whole very long, very dense, completely unconnected (at the time) books before you get into the meat of the story. Sure, I think it's probably worth it but woof. I dunno, I think Deadhouse Gates is a good enough standalone novel that even though it doesn't really connect to the meat of the story until much later, it's hardly a chore. That said, if you finish DG and aren't won over, Malazan probably isn't for you.
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Nov 13, 2019 09:31
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cptn_dr posted:I dunno, I think Deadhouse Gates is a good enough standalone novel that even though it doesn't really connect to the meat of the story until much later, it's hardly a chore. I meant Ice and Chains. Deadhouse is a quality follow-up to Gardens and is maybe (I'd have to do some real thinking about it but I think I'm right) the only Malazan book I have zero complaints with. E: Also turns out I'm dumb and meant Ice and Tides but completely forgot about Chains actual story re Karsa. Guess it's time to reread! 
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Nov 13, 2019 09:33
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Was anybody else frustrated by the Broken Earth trilogy? It's probably  to complain about a magic system, and I'm not saying every story has to have strict, Sanderson-style rules, but the magic in Broken Earth piles so many different, weird things on top of one another that the whole thing falls apart under its own weight.So much of the narrative relies on the different supernatural elements interacting, but the systems are never explained in a way that makes intuitive sense, and I got 1/4th through the 3rd book before I just gave up. Does it get any better in the last half of the last book? I want to give it another go, because I like Jemisin's prose and the macro-level plot is really interesting, but the moment-to-moment stuff just became exhausting to read.
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Nov 13, 2019 16:53
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Lester Shy posted:Was anybody else frustrated by the Broken Earth trilogy? It's probably It's honestly one of the most consistent magic systems I've read in years.
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Nov 13, 2019 19:35
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I guess by "magic system" I mean all of the other-worldly/supernatural stuff in the story: orogeny, the stone eaters, the guardians, the gates, etc. We understand orogeny because several of the viewpoint characters are orogenes, but how the other stuff works is pretty mysterious IIRC. Which would be fine, but so much of the story revolves around it. I read it about six months ago, so maybe I've just forgotten about it.
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Nov 13, 2019 20:11
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I was very impressed how everything came together at the end of the trilogy. That said, the ending is mostly magic poo poo, so I guess I'd avoid it if you're not a fan.
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Nov 13, 2019 20:12
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Lester Shy posted:Was anybody else frustrated by the Broken Earth trilogy? It's probably Honestly, I see it as one of the really good things in the series. Don’t bring reality into my fantasy.
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Nov 13, 2019 20:23
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Lester Shy posted:I guess by "magic system" I mean all of the other-worldly/supernatural stuff in the story: orogeny, the stone eaters, the guardians, the gates, etc. We understand orogeny because several of the viewpoint characters are orogenes, but how the other stuff works is pretty mysterious IIRC. Which would be fine, but so much of the story revolves around it. I read it about six months ago, so maybe I've just forgotten about it. You gave up right before all this was explained.
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Nov 13, 2019 20:25
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Lester Shy posted:Was anybody else frustrated by the Broken Earth trilogy? anilEhilated fucked around with this message at 20:34 on Nov 13, 2019 |
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Nov 13, 2019 20:31
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Look to Windward had this as the premise and did some interesting things with it
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Nov 13, 2019 20:37
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Over the last few years I've been slowly making my way through the Savage Sword of Conan comics from the 70s and I really enjoy them. I've never really read any sword-and-sandal novels but I'd be curious which ones you guys recommend. Preferably recent books but I'm open to reading the 'classics' if they're really good (and not too rapey, like some of the Conan comics unfortunately are). Edit: I suppose it's relevant to this thread to mention that I read Gideon the Ninth after seeing all the hype in the last thread. I enjoyed the magic system and I'm curious to learn more of the backstory but was I the only one that didn't buy how quickly Gideon and Harrow go from being hostile to eachother to being incredibly sentimental and sappy? The whole "I can't go on without you" part just didn't feel earned, yet, although I could see the characters eventually getting there...you know, if it wasn't for Gideon dying. bowser fucked around with this message at 23:35 on Nov 13, 2019 |
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Nov 13, 2019 23:22
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Lester Shy posted:Was anybody else frustrated by the Broken Earth trilogy? It's probably I didn't really get that at all. Some people can do earth magic. Some people can do earth magic better than other by thinking super hard about rocks or whatevs. There are statue people that can do earthagic. There are a few macguffins that interact with earth magic and do special stuff. If anything I really liked the bit where some knowledgeable character was set up to reveal the secret behind how all this actually works and basically just goes "It's fuckin' magic".
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Nov 13, 2019 23:38
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MockingQuantum posted:Anybody have strong opinions on Jack Campbell's Lost Fleet series? A very light sci-fi/fantasy book club that I might be joining is doing it for their next book and I'm trying to decide if I'll join or tell them I'll wait until the new year (which I might do anyway, given my schedule). I like space opera but have always kind of given "big space battles, also some story" kind of books a pass, I can't tell if this falls in that category or not though. There's some mildly innovative stuff in the way they fight space battles in The Lost Fleet books, which is kind of neat, but the main hero is a serious Marty Stu. The author even says in his notes at one point that he designed Geary to be "the perfect naval officer" and that's borne out throughout the series where he's essentially infallible. His only "flaw" is that he's worried that he's so adored that it'll go to his head and he'll be tempted to become a military dictator.  But at least he isn't Honor Harrington. He's perfect in his field, but never turns out to be a master swordsman, perfect shot with a pistol, or win the love of a telepathic treecat who gives him psychic powers. He's "just" a perfect space admiral. 
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Nov 14, 2019 03:11
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anilEhilated posted:I'm just going to say that giving your oppressed minority mass murdering superpowers is a completely idiotic idea no matter what statement you are trying to make. Do you think mass murder of a people is justified because of their military capabilities? At any point? Because that is what the big empire in Broken Earth did. And continued, after the incident. The point is that treating minorities wrongly because you fear them is wrong, no matter what, and you seem to have missed that lesson.
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Nov 14, 2019 03:42
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Lost Fleet is cool because it does relativistic space combat which as far as I know is pretty rare but everything in between those is aggressively same-y and quickly rides into the badlands.
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Nov 14, 2019 04:57
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bowser posted:Over the last few years I've been slowly making my way through the Savage Sword of Conan comics from the 70s and I really enjoy them. I've never really read any sword-and-sandal novels but I'd be curious which ones you guys recommend. Preferably recent books but I'm open to reading the 'classics' if they're really good (and not too rapey, like some of the Conan comics unfortunately are). You're not the only one I know who's said that, but here's my take: You're not wrong, it did seem kind of abrupt. I just kinda read it as Gideon always thought Harrow was her best friend as a kid, up until Harrow's parents died, and Harrow always used Gideon as an outlet for her own problems. So when Harrow admits it and apologizes, it's like a relief valve on their relationship.
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Nov 14, 2019 06:41
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I didn't think it was too abrupt. As Le Carre put it, anyone who hates For real though, they had both turned their whole lives into such a performative game of loathing each other how could they be anything other than obsessed?
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Nov 14, 2019 08:30
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Good point.
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Nov 14, 2019 09:39
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occamsnailfile posted:Do you think mass murder of a people is justified because of their military capabilities? At any point? Because that is what the big empire in Broken Earth did. And continued, after the incident. The point is that treating minorities wrongly because you fear them is wrong, no matter what, and you seem to have missed that lesson. 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? The_White_Crane fucked around with this message at 12:42 on Nov 14, 2019 |
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Nov 14, 2019 12:37
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I also really appreciate you telling me what I missed and insinuating I agree with mass murder; real classy, that. The trouble with the metaphor isn't just the power dynamics - it is that she has written a literal master race kept down by the non-gifted masses. I don't know what she was trying to say, but it ended up being loving Ayn Rand.
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Nov 14, 2019 17:39
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