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It might be my favorite Gibson, it’s so good. The reveal of the origin of the Footage is spooky and incredibly satisfying.
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May 17, 2020 18:23
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Let me just repeat this: I read Pattern Recognition back in 2006, and those were my impressions from reading it back then, way back in 2006. Electro magnetic frequency sensitivity is a real thing some people suffer from, and that sucks. Literal radio quiet zones are a cool thing though. I vaguely remember reading something about one retired large mobile satellite dish with a giant smiley face painted on it being tasked to point directly at any "foreign national" satellites passing overhead in one of those National Radio Quiet Zones.
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May 17, 2020 18:35
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I think it was someone in this thread who mentioned Engine Summer, and I want to thank them because I just finished it and it was excellent. Dreamy and confusing and not much happens in it, but I loved it.
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May 17, 2020 19:08
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HopperUK posted:I think it was someone in this thread who mentioned Engine Summer, and I want to thank them because I just finished it and it was excellent. Dreamy and confusing and not much happens in it, but I loved it. anilEhilated fucked around with this message at 19:17 on May 17, 2020 |
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May 17, 2020 19:13
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A Little Hatred (Age of Madness #1) by Joe Abercrombie - $3.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MJ656W9/ The Poppy War by RF Kuang - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072L58JW6/ Basically a fantasy Chinese-Japanese war with magic told from the Chinese side. Warning: pretty explicit rape of Nanjing descriptions. Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00338QF1E/ Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DN8BQMD/ Human generational ark ship and uplifted spider planet. The Color of Magic (Discworld #1) by Terry Pratchett - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000W9399S/
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May 17, 2020 19:19
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Fart of Presto posted:Also, wtf is up with the non-spoiler postings about the ending of Gibson's Agency? Sorry about that. FWIW, I went back and tagged my posts. General Battuta posted:It might be my favorite Gibson, it’s so good. The reveal of the origin of the Footage is spooky and incredibly satisfying. Yeah, it's aged in light of what social media and web video have become over the years, but it's set in 2002, so it's not an entirely inaccurate picture of internet communities of its time, and the reveal about the footage is fantastic.
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May 17, 2020 19:55
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HopperUK posted:I think it was someone in this thread who mentioned Engine Summer, and I want to thank them because I just finished it and it was excellent. Dreamy and confusing and not much happens in it, but I loved it. If you liked it, you really need to try Little, Big. I also enjoyed Crowley's Aegypt novels.
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May 17, 2020 20:06
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Selachian posted:If you liked it, you really need to try Little, Big. I also enjoyed Crowley's Aegypt novels. Noted, thank you!
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May 17, 2020 20:16
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freebooter posted:I'm tempted to read this more now, out of morbid fascination, because Gibson is a writer I genuinely admire but also somebody I eventually had to unfollow on Twitter because he was constantly tweeting and retweeting extremely tedious blue-tick Resistance and I'm With Her crap. Like, I'm fine with somebody having different politics to me, but please don't be boring about it, especially when you wrote loving Neuromancer. William Gibson's Agency plot discussion: Act 1 is the interesting part focusing on Verity Jane's interactions with Eunice, act 2 is nothing but driving around California, act 3 is an art show where Eunice announces her web site. That's it. There's a scene where the characters talk about how She's Got This, there's another scene where the characters basically say "It's a good thing we have a functioning State Department!" "Yes, it is a good thing we have a functioning State Department.", and there's the previously mentioned scene at the end where everybody talks about how Eunice's intervention wasn't necessary after all because the President fixed everything and then everybody Eunice averting the nuclear war isn't supported by the text at all -- the aunties think nuclear war is going to happen but they don't know for sure because 2017 is too technologically primitive for them to do their universal surveillance thing, which is why they're pushing Eunice to bootstrap herself into full agency, but Eunice spends most of the book decapitated and rebuilding herself. So unless we're supposed to read between the lines and assume there are branch plants off influencing the State Department and NATO and the Syrian & Russian & Turkish governments (which is never remotely hinted at), then Eunice didn't have anything to do with Hillary's diplomatic triumph. The actual details of the Qamishli incident are barely mentioned at all. At least Rejoice, a Knife to the Heart was upfront and honest about what it was about. It was terrible, but it didn't lead you along with any kind of false pretenses of quality.
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May 17, 2020 20:53
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Cayce's fear of the Michelin Man is a plot point, the brand phobia isn't just mentioned and then dropped.
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May 17, 2020 21:27
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pseudorandom name posted:William Gibson's Agency plot discussion: Yeah, I reread the last few chapters and you're right. Eunice even says so herself.
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May 17, 2020 23:13
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freebooter posted:I'm tempted to read this more now, out of morbid fascination, because Gibson is a writer I genuinely admire but also somebody I eventually had to unfollow on Twitter because he was constantly tweeting and retweeting extremely tedious blue-tick Resistance and I'm With Her crap. Like, I'm fine with somebody having different politics to me, but please don't be boring about it, especially when you wrote loving Neuromancer. I feel this. How goddamn disappointing it is that writers I like are such loving boring PMC libs. You’d think that at least ONE would be a bomb-thrower, but no, they all think that “Drumpf” and “Cheeto Benito” and pointing out that if Obama did something Trump did that Republicans would lose their minds is the absolute PINNACLE of political commentary. At least my musicians are cool.
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May 18, 2020 02:23
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navyjack posted:I feel this. How goddamn disappointing it is that writers I like are such loving boring PMC libs. You’d think that at least ONE would be a bomb-thrower, but no, they all think that “Drumpf” and “Cheeto Benito” and pointing out that if Obama did something Trump did that Republicans would lose their minds is the absolute PINNACLE of political commentary. At least my musicians are cool. If you want to read an author go full left, as far left as possible, read Ken Macleod. His stuff is fascinatingly political, and I really enjoyed his Corp Wars trilogy. I don't necessarily agree with all of his conclusions but I do love that he will happily dunk on fascists. e: oh and a helpful capsule summary of the Corp Wars plot: in the far future, several corporations are repped by their AIs in a distant part of space. They're dickering over mining rights to a system, and when several of their mining robots go rogue and form a union, they grab a bunch of human personalities, upload them into robot bodies, and make them war upon the robots. Inbetween wars the humans get uploaded into a holodeck. Politics and conspiracy and space war ensue.
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May 18, 2020 02:45
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I found The Corp Wars unreadably bad, you should read The Fall Revolution instead -- it features anarcho-communists defending humanity against post-Singularity monsters and then libertarians from the libertarian planet decide to negotiate trade deals with the monsters.
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May 18, 2020 03:22
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StrixNebulosa posted:Hardwired by Walter Jon Williams is weird 80s cyberpunk by a really fascinating author (that I want to read) Hardwired is a good, quick read and has some neat concepts. There is a sequel, Voice of the Whirlwind which is kind of a proto-Takashi Kovacz book where backing up your personality is the norm and when you flatline they spin up your clone. Only in Whirlwind, the backup data is 15 years old. Always keep backups, people. Shockwave Rider I am just starting now after finishing Stand on Zanzibar, it is...depressing. It's an ecological disaster but hey, the Corporation still made a profit. Regarding Ian McDonald I would recommend either Brasyl or The Dervish House if you bounced off of River of the Gods. The former is in Brazil and is essentially 3 short stories, the latter is in Istanbul and bounces between 6 different characters during a heat wave. I preferred Dervish House but Brasyl literally starts with a Reality Show pitch featuring a car robbery because it's a pimped out C-Class Mercedes with a CD changer and MP3 player.
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May 18, 2020 05:53
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Bless my uncle, may he rest in peace. I've been reading James Whites' Sector General series, which consists of 12 novels. The omnibuses only contain 1-11. Guess which volume I just found in my uncle's collection. It's the only book by James White in there.
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May 18, 2020 12:15
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General Battuta posted:It might be my favorite Gibson, it’s so good. The reveal of the origin of the Footage is spooky and incredibly satisfying. I've read it three (?) times and that bit was really good but as a book and trilogy I found it average. I found the 9/11 stuff really shoehorned in for example. On the other hand the passion here and the fact I haven't looked at it for probably 15 years means I'll probably give it another go.
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May 18, 2020 12:19
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StrixNebulosa posted:Bless my uncle, may he rest in peace. I've been reading James Whites' Sector General series, which consists of 12 novels. The omnibuses only contain 1-11. A second copy of volume 3?
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May 18, 2020 12:36
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Jedit posted:A second copy of volume 3?
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May 18, 2020 16:45
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Just finished The Word For World Is Forest and it was what Avatar should've been like.
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May 18, 2020 17:10
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navyjack posted:I feel this. How goddamn disappointing it is that writers I like are such loving boring PMC libs. You’d think that at least ONE would be a bomb-thrower, but no, they all think that “Drumpf” and “Cheeto Benito” and pointing out that if Obama did something Trump did that Republicans would lose their minds is the absolute PINNACLE of political commentary. At least my musicians are cool. I can't believe this 72 year old man isn't the 24 year old shitposting poli sci grad student I envisioned.
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May 18, 2020 18:57
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freebooter posted:I'm tempted to read this more now, out of morbid fascination, because Gibson is a writer I genuinely admire but also somebody I eventually had to unfollow on Twitter because he was constantly tweeting and retweeting extremely tedious blue-tick Resistance and I'm With Her crap. Like, I'm fine with somebody having different politics to me, but please don't be boring about it, especially when you wrote loving Neuromancer. Twitter makes a lot of people boring, while also generating misunderstandings and grudges between them. It's a combination of the character limit, the interface, the (lack of) moderation, and being effectively mandatory for people with certain kinds of jobs. Don't follow people on Twitter unless it's specifically because you like their Twitter posts. Silver2195 fucked around with this message at 19:11 on May 18, 2020 |
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May 18, 2020 19:08
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Twelve pages into the Centauri Device by M John Harrison: drat, the quality of the prose here is excellent. It's like I'm reading poetry, but it has a rough noir-type edge to it that keeps it grounded. Good stuf.
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May 18, 2020 21:11
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Neuromancer (Sprawl #1) by William Gibson - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000O76ON6/ Apropos to discussion. Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson - $3.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FBJCJE/ Midnight Riot (Rivers of London #1) by Ben Aaronovitch - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004C43F70/ Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrel by Susanna Clark - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003RRXXMA/ His Dark Materials (Golden Compass #1) by Philip Pullman - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FC1ICM/ A Game of Thrones (Song of Ice and Fire #1) by George RR Martin - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000QCS8TW/ Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FC1BNI/ The Caves of Steel (Robot #1) by Isaac Asimov - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004JHYRAO/
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May 18, 2020 22:00
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pradmer posted:Neuromancer (Sprawl #1) by William Gibson - $2.99 drat, that's some really loving good SF on sale today. Incidentally, thanks for keeping the thread updated with these sales. I'm not motivated enough to go looking all the time for what's on sale, so you posting them is really helpful.
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May 18, 2020 23:11
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Hobnob posted:drat, that's some really loving good SF on sale today. Same. I subbed to BookBub because of this thread, but only have it on weekly so sometimes I miss the really good deals that are available for a short amount of time only.
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May 18, 2020 23:18
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Baru 2 is on sale on the evil website for who knows how long, just $2.99 e: also on every other ebook distributor I am told! General Battuta fucked around with this message at 03:06 on May 19, 2020 |
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May 19, 2020 02:30
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Hobnob posted:drat, that's some really loving good SF on sale today. Xtanstic posted:Same. I subbed to BookBub because of this thread, but only have it on weekly so sometimes I miss the really good deals that are available for a short amount of time only. Thanks. The way I'm wired I always wonder if I'm posting too much. I try to keep it curated to not spam people with garbage. I'm sure I miss stuff like Baru above cause there's just no up to date tracker that catches everything.
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May 19, 2020 04:48
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No posting is great, keep it up!
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May 19, 2020 07:54
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General Battuta posted:Baru 2 is on sale on the evil website for who knows how long, just $2.99 GOD that cover art is AWESOME.
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May 19, 2020 08:03
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Some 60s sci-fi has aged... interestingly“Cordwainer Smith” posted:The human female could do what the animal female could not. She could turn male. With the help of equipment from the ship, tremendous quantities of testosterone were manufactured, and every single girl and woman still surviving was turned into a man. Massive injections were administered to all of them. Their faces grew heavy, they all returned to growing a little bit, their chests flattened out, their muscles grew stronger, and in less than three months they were indeed men. Yearghh!! Look out! The trans homosexuals are coming to kill your family... from space! (I still really like Cordwainer Smith stories though)
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May 19, 2020 08:09
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General Battuta posted:Baru 2 is on sale on the evil website for who knows how long, just $2.99 He tells me, just as my dead tree copy arrives. Ah, well, I'll live. (I actually prefer dead tree to Kindle, I just don't have enough space for books.)
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May 19, 2020 10:04
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Prism Mirror Lens posted:Some 60s sci-fi has aged... interestingly the bit before that is every single woman dying of cancer and then everyone being saved by cats in spaceships which is p metal iirc
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May 19, 2020 10:37
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Prism Mirror Lens posted:Some 60s sci-fi has aged... interestingly While it's not to that extent, I'm having the same problem with James White - in his space hospital series doctors get medical knowledge of aliens by basically downloading a copy of an alien brain into their minds. Cool concept right? Well women can't handle that because it's the 1960s damnit.
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May 19, 2020 11:04
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sebmojo posted:the bit before that is every single woman dying of cancer and then everyone being saved by cats in spaceships which is p metal iirc Yeah he sends genetically modified cats back in time to save himself, it’s pretty neat. He really likes cats. And cat-girls. I’m sure some of this counts as the first furry literature to be published. quote:“She is a cat,” he thought. “That’s all she is—a cat!” But that was not how his mind saw her—quick beyond all dreams of speed, sharp, clever, unbelievably graceful, beautiful, wordless and undemanding.
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May 19, 2020 11:15
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Prism Mirror Lens posted:Some 60s sci-fi has aged... interestingly I recently read the rediscovery of man (the masterworks version, not the complete one as i sadly learned after) and this struck me as so out of place. I can see a conservative slant and a clear bias of young and/or daring women falling in love with older establishment man in the stories, but the sheer hatred that comes across in the depiction of the same-sex society is so odd, even more considering the threats to humanity and horrors that appear throughout the whole book and are never treated with this revulsion. Shame, because i really like the whole universe, and most of the stories are pretty neat, among the most interesting sf i read from that period, and as mentioned the cat bit of the story is really awesome.
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May 19, 2020 12:19
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https://www.tor.com/2020/05/19/download-a-free-ebook-of-tooth-and-claw-by-jo-walton-before-may-23/
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May 19, 2020 14:38
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I have repeatedly stated in this thread and the last SF&F thread that Cordwainer Smith aka Paul Linebarger was the god-father of the furry movement. His cat obsession and really wanting to gently caress cats, more specifically one pet cat he owned became more and more overt as he wrote. The story his entire "rediscovery of man" cycle is based on is actually super creepy. It is 3 literal nazi child-brides from the past getting chain-married to the same immortal guy bored with utopian life that gets woke with German In real life, Paul Linebarger aka Cordwainer Smith worked for the US Government during the peak white-washing Nazi's via Paperclips anti-communism years & also authored a book on disinformation called Psychological Warfare.....so it is possible that the creepiness in Cordwainer Smith's stories just got semi-explained.
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May 19, 2020 15:27
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He was also Sun Yat-sen's godson, and iirc his dinner party trick was downing glasses of hydrochloric acid (he had digestive trouble).Hieronymous Alloy posted:https://www.tor.com/2020/05/19/download-a-free-ebook-of-tooth-and-claw-by-jo-walton-before-may-23/ This is a fun little book, I remember enjoying it; should be a good quarantine read. Her columns were also interesting.
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May 19, 2020 16:22
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quantumfoam posted:I have repeatedly stated in this thread and the last SF&F thread that Cordwainer Smith aka Paul Linebarger was the god-father of the furry movement. His cat obsession and really wanting to gently caress cats, more specifically one pet cat he owned became more and more overt as he wrote. Talking about cool writers being extremely shady people.This is very informative and explains a lot, i was dimly aware of his professional career, but such proclivities are often left out of summarized biographies (shame!!). As far as i know there are just the short stories and the novella( Nostrillia, i think?), is there other source where i can read more about that bonkers story of the cycle?
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May 19, 2020 17:50
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