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Would also recommend The Goblin Emperor after that. I happened to read it around the same time and it scratched a similar itch for that kind of lower-stakes fantasy that takes the time to enjoy its surroundings. More recently I read the Bartimaeus books, which are close to that category. Any other good fantasy in that vein, now that I think to ask?
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Aug 21, 2020 04:51
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thumper57 posted:In the earlier fight you mention, Gideon the First could just as easily have been asking Wake "why did you bring the baby [Gideon the Ninth] to Drearburh?" rather than "why did you bring the baby here" or whatever. That's what I was assuming as well. While Gideon and his Cavalier were schtupping Wake there was no indication they were part of or knew of the plot. Augustine and Mercy trying to kill Gideon the First seems to prove that they weren't. As far as the Cavalier knew the child was their kid and didn't know why Wake would bring her on a suicide mission. One thing I'm interested in getting in Alecto is more of the history. It seems Blood of Eden is more than just some terrorist group and probably associated with whomever scoured the 9 worlds of life in the first place that John has spent the last 10,000 years hunting.
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Aug 21, 2020 05:22
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TheAardvark posted:Would also recommend The Goblin Emperor after that. I happened to read it around the same time and it scratched a similar itch for that kind of lower-stakes fantasy that takes the time to enjoy its surroundings. More recently I read the Bartimaeus books, which are close to that category. I loved The Goblin Emperor, I recommend it when I do Readers’ Advisories at my library all the time.
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Aug 21, 2020 06:43
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Stanfield posted:I finished Baru 1 and, uh holy poo poo that ending. I figured something was up but I didn't expect it to be as rough to read as it was. If anything realising what was coming made the book even tenser cause there was this shadow over the whole thing.
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Aug 21, 2020 09:26
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Captain Monkey posted:I really enjoyed the Johnathan Strange and Mr. Norrell miniseries. Is the book as good/better? I haven't seen the miniseries but yes the novel is excellent. Definitely one of the best books I read this year.
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Aug 21, 2020 13:37
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I saw this series on Amazon called the Magitech Chronicles. Seemed like pulpy, fun science fantasy. Has anyone read any of them?
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Aug 21, 2020 13:49
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Hiro Protagonist posted:I saw this series on Amazon called the Magitech Chronicles. Seemed like pulpy, fun science fantasy. Has anyone read any of them? It’s got a very evocative opening scene op: 
buffalo all day fucked around with this message at 14:25 on Aug 21, 2020 |
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Aug 21, 2020 14:13
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Read the four Steerswoman books by Rosemary Kirstein and really liked them. The prose is pretty good, and Rowan as a character is great - she's written so well when falling into analytical mode. The series' treatment of (at first) conan-esque barbarians and different peoples in general is really good and refreshing, and of course there's the magic ("magic"). Really need more of them, or more in a similar vein!
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Aug 21, 2020 15:45
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MeerkatHero posted:There's a new K.J. Parker novel out as of yesterday: How to Rule an Empire & Get Away with It. It's sort of a sequel to Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City. For some reason it's hard to get people interested in Parker, I only discovered his work last winter and have been powering through them since. I wonder if the Tom Holt thing puts people off, the one Tom Holt book I tried to read I put down after about 10 pages. KJ Parker is very different. If anyone has a passing interest some of his short stories are free online, e.g. https://subterraneanpress.com/magazine/winter_2011/fiction_a_small_price_to_pay_for_birdsong_by_k_j_parker https://subterraneanpress.com/magazine/summer_2013/the_sun_and_i_by_k_j_parker
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Aug 21, 2020 16:04
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Sort of cross-posting some of this from the Book Barn Discord server. Was able to get back the kindle device I loaned to a friend and cannibalize the screen on it to get the "suicided on a Spider Robinson hagiography post" kindle device I've been doing the SFL Archives read-through on working. In my free time gave Spider Robinson's work a re-read after dissing him hard last week/in my previous SFL Archives read-through posts, because maybe I'd been too harsh towards Spider Robinson previously? SFL Archives Volume 10 (1985) update 3 of ?? -Lots of David Eddings Belgariad discussion, lots of Piers Anthony story discussion, and lots of Spider Robinson story discussion <Jeopardy buzzer: Alex, what is "Authors whose work aged beyond hyper-badly for $800?" Alex Trebek: "CORRECT." Explainer: Giving Spider Robinson's work a re-read was a big mistake. Repeated instances of outright sexual assault, jailbait, underaged date rape, non-consentual bdsm, date rape, rape, etc in Spider Robinson's short stories & novels. mentioned this on the Book Barn Discord server -Frank Herbert's Dune series continues to be discussed, not so much the Dune 1984 movie. Much SFL internal amusement comes from reposting an old interview excerpt where Frank Herbert says: "I'm still against the idea of sequels in principle, because it's like watering down your wine all the time until you're left with just water." mentioned this on the Book Barn Discord, and is extremely funny given how many Dune sequels/prequels have come out since 1999. -Pier's Anthony had only released 8 Xanth books up to this point in 1985...<shakes head in 2020>...and most of the 1985 SFL readers demand more Piers Anthony stories. More discerning SFL posters noticed that each new Xanth book has upped the perv-factor with female characters in them getting dumber, and younger. mentioned this on the Book Barn Discord server -someone posts about the 1985 convention Boskone 22 being terrible on multiple levels (massively overcharging one-day pass people, overcrowded, terrible panels, worse film schedule, actively hostile venue, etc) with other SFL posters chiming in agreeing. One of the Boskone 22 organizers posts a big-rear end "how loving dare you" crocodile tears effort post that fails to address any of the complaints many SFL people posted about re: Boskone 22. -Robert Forwards Rocheworld gets held up as a model of good hard science fiction writing, which uh as a first time reader of Rocheworld and it's sequel 2 weeks ago in 2020, I can firmly say; HELL NO. Rocheworld was not good or hard science fiction beyond the light-sail setup. -Steven Brust starts posting prolifically in the SFL mailing list about many many things. Direct quote: "If you really want mainstream quality writing in fantasy, I recommend the Gor books of John Norman." Steven Brust, SFL Archives Volume 10 Repeatedly quoted this on the Book Barn Discord server because it's hilarious and lead to my working hypothesis of: .. .. .. If Heinlein inspired a never ending series of libertarian writers, well then John Norman's GOR books inspired and showed that skeevy sex sells in fantasy and scifi. quantumfoam fucked around with this message at 17:15 on Aug 21, 2020 |
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Aug 21, 2020 17:03
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NastyPBears posted:For some reason it's hard to get people interested in Parker, I only discovered his work last winter and have been powering through them since. I wonder if the Tom Holt thing puts people off, the one Tom Holt book I tried to read I put down after about 10 pages. KJ Parker is very different.
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Aug 21, 2020 17:06
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for the opposite of bleakness, can anyone think of any other sci-fi books or series with a utopian (or at least post-scarcity) setting? The only ones I can think of are the Culture and the Commonwealth.
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Aug 21, 2020 17:10
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TheAardvark posted:for the opposite of bleakness, can anyone think of any other sci-fi books or series with a utopian (or at least post-scarcity) setting? The only ones I can think of are the Culture and the Commonwealth. Strugatskys' Noon Universe?
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Aug 21, 2020 17:28
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Greg Egan's Amalgam universe
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Aug 21, 2020 17:31
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Joining in the chorus of people praising Baru 3 - it feels weird to say it stuck the landing when it's not the end of the series but as plenty of others have said it felt like a very natural, end-of-season type of conclusion and a worthy payoff for all the (still very good!) misery of Baru 2. I really hope the series gets more recognition in the years to come, it's got the best worldbuilding and character writing of anything I've read in a long time. I was really struck by the author's note at the end saying how hard it had been to write - it takes a lot of strength to put that out in the open, so on the off-chance you read this Battuta remember you've created something remarkable and you don't owe us a single word more. (now I need to do an Amazon review)
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Aug 21, 2020 18:41
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Sea of Rust by C. Robert Cargill https://www.amazon.com/Sea-Rust-C-Robert-Cargill-ebook/dp/B01MRWLGD9/ref=lp_6165851011_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1598033607&sr=1-3 Off Armageddon Reef by David Weber https://www.amazon.com/Off-Armagedd...98033607&sr=1-8 Twilight Zone: 19 Original Stories on the 50th Anniversary edited by Carol Serling https://www.amazon.com/Twilight-Zon...al-text&sr=1-27 I hesitate to list prices as Amazon deals are just super annoying in Norway (some are discounted, some ain't), but I'm curious to know if anyone's read Sea of Rust or Armageddon Reef. The second seems particularly interesting as I'm a sucker for medieval sci-fi.
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Aug 21, 2020 19:17
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I enjoyed Sea of Rust but my opinions are usually terrible.
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Aug 21, 2020 20:32
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re: Utopian books. Ancestral Night by Elizabeth Bear has a pretty utopian, if perhaps a touch... anarcho-syndacite-ish government? And definitely Becky Chambers.
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Aug 21, 2020 23:14
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Will definitely be checking these out. My two favorite parts in the Culture series are the one where the guy from a pre-space planet spends time adjusting to life on a GSV, and the one where the lady is spending her life hand shaping huge continental tracts of land inside a massive habitat. Just showing how good life is in the Culture 
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Aug 21, 2020 23:18
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Black Griffon posted:I hesitate to list prices as Amazon deals are just super annoying in Norway (some are discounted, some ain't), but I'm curious to know if anyone's read Sea of Rust or Armageddon Reef. The second seems particularly interesting as I'm a sucker for medieval sci-fi. Sea of Rust was mildly interesting. Sentient robots in the post-robot-revolution earth trying to survive the oncoming Singularity. Armageddon Reef is... serviceable airport fiction, but it is the prelude to absolute trash. The rest of the series throws out any interesting idea David Weber accidentally had in the premise of the first one so he can be as royalist and mary-sue as he can possibly get. Read the premise, and then make up your own story while looking at a picture of a british ship of the line. You'll do a better job than he did.
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Aug 21, 2020 23:27
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Ceebees posted:Armageddon Reef is... serviceable airport fiction, but it is the prelude to absolute trash. The rest of the series throws out any interesting idea David Weber accidentally had in the premise of the first one so he can be as royalist and mary-sue as he can possibly get. Read the premise, and then make up your own story while looking at a picture of a british ship of the line. You'll do a better job than he did.
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Aug 22, 2020 00:08
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Well, I'll stay away from Weber, maybe give Sea of Rust a try once I finish up with True Grit.
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Aug 22, 2020 00:31
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The thing that's uniquely bad about the off armageddon's reef series is the degree to which n o t h i n g h a p p e n s. The sequels slow down to a crawl that makes you yearn for the fast-paced action of one of those three-volume histories of a single day in WW2. Please do not read them
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Aug 22, 2020 01:38
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Sea of Rust had a back story where a robot "Robo Parks" refused to sit in the back of a bus. It's incredibly lazy.
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Aug 22, 2020 01:51
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ah jeez, I think I'll save my money for something better today
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Aug 22, 2020 01:53
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Zoracle Zed posted:Sea of Rust had a back story where a robot "Robo Parks" refused to sit in the back of a bus. It's incredibly lazy. I abandoned Sea of Rust a chapter or two in because the worldbuilding was so trash it couldn't maintain WSOD, but LOL. I think the prose may have been bad, too, I can't remember.
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Aug 22, 2020 02:07
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MeerkatHero posted:There's a new K.J. Parker novel out as of yesterday: How to Rule an Empire & Get Away with It. It's sort of a sequel to Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City. I really like K.J. Parker, but I happen to fall into the niche of readers who likes realistic medieval/renaissance slice of life stories set in a recognizable but not-Earth setting with expansive explanations of whatever technology or institution is driving the plot. I don't know many people in real life other than myself who would enjoy reading that, though. Also the character and place names are, uh, unique.
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Aug 22, 2020 02:39
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Gato posted:Joining in the chorus of people praising Baru 3 - it feels weird to say it stuck the landing when it's not the end of the series but as plenty of others have said it felt like a very natural, end-of-season type of conclusion and a worthy payoff for all the (still very good!) misery of Baru 2. I really hope the series gets more recognition in the years to come, it's got the best worldbuilding and character writing of anything I've read in a long time. I think my biggest hope is that it's one day popular enough that they repackage books 2 and 3 as book 3, and book 4 becomes book 3, forever confusing readers like those book repackages from the 70s and 80s
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Aug 22, 2020 03:23
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okay, so book 1 and 2 becomes book 1, part one, 50% of book 3 becomes book 1, book 2 of book one of Baru Cormorant, other 50% becomes book 2, book 4 becomes book 2 of book 2, book one of Baru Cormorant. now we're cooking with fire.
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Aug 22, 2020 03:30
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Poldarn posted:I really like K.J. Parker, but I happen to fall into the niche of readers who likes realistic medieval/renaissance slice of life stories set in a recognizable but not-Earth setting with expansive explanations of whatever technology or institution is driving the plot. I don't know many people in real life other than myself who would enjoy reading that, though. Oh oh oh a random rec for you, I haven't read much of it but it sounds exactly like this, Irenicon by Aidan Harte.
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Aug 22, 2020 03:35
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Poldarn posted:I really like K.J. Parker, but I happen to fall into the niche of readers who likes realistic medieval/renaissance slice of life stories set in a recognizable but not-Earth setting with expansive explanations of whatever technology or institution is driving the plot. I don't know many people in real life other than myself who would enjoy reading that, though. Also KJ Parker books tend to be... bleak. It can make them a little hard to recommend to some people.
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Aug 22, 2020 04:22
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Khizan posted:Also KJ Parker books tend to be... bleak. It can make them a little hard to recommend to some people. It's more that after reading...*checks notes* 16 KJ Parker books and several novellas, while I buy them, read them, and enjoy them, I'm always waiting for the brutal twist.
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Aug 22, 2020 04:37
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TheAardvark posted:for the opposite of bleakness, can anyone think of any other sci-fi books or series with a utopian (or at least post-scarcity) setting? The only ones I can think of are the Culture and the Commonwealth. The Noon Universe stories start off very utopian and happy but get bleaker and more convoluted over time. Stick with Noon: 22nd century at first. If you want something light and amusing in a post-scarcity setting, you absolutely can not go wrong reading Stanislaw Lem's Star Diaries of Ijon Tichy or the Cyberiad. Every short story in the Star Diaries is amazing. quantumfoam fucked around with this message at 04:57 on Aug 22, 2020 |
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Aug 22, 2020 04:54
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StrixNebulosa posted:Oh oh oh a random rec for you, I haven't read much of it but it sounds exactly like this, Irenicon by Aidan Harte. You rec has been added to the list, much obliged  ulmont posted:It's more that after reading...*checks notes* 16 KJ Parker books and several novellas, while I buy them, read them, and enjoy them, I'm always waiting for the brutal twist. Brutal twist and an arts and crafts project you can make with your kid!
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Aug 22, 2020 05:30
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Poldarn posted:Brutal twist and an arts and crafts project you can make with your kid! With doing some extremely heavy lifting in that sentence.
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Aug 22, 2020 05:48
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Poldarn posted:Brutal twist and an arts and crafts project you can make with your kid! 
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Aug 22, 2020 05:49
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anilEhilated posted:That's literally any Weber, though. I mean, yes, but you need some way to describe his crimes against paper to someone who doesn't know who he is yet.
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Aug 22, 2020 07:28
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pseudorandom name posted:I abandoned Sea of Rust a chapter or two in because the worldbuilding was so trash it couldn't maintain WSOD, but LOL. Me too. I wanted to like it but was forcing myself to keep reading. I have read a lot of worse written trash in my time but there was something really unlikable about it.
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Aug 22, 2020 13:40
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TheAardvark posted:for the opposite of bleakness, can anyone think of any other sci-fi books or series with a utopian (or at least post-scarcity) setting? The only ones I can think of are the Culture and the Commonwealth. Which Commonwealth? There's at least two that I can think of.
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Aug 22, 2020 14:59
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Jedit posted:Which Commonwealth? There's at least two that I can think of. Guessing Hamilton. Besides Banks the Culture series, I would say that Asher Polity qualify as post-scarcity.
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Aug 22, 2020 15:06
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