To be honest I don't think there's much difference in accessibility between those books, but the first three are a great introduction to his themes, the way his books work and the fantastically down at heel, everyday, flawed schlubs who populate his best stories. With Dick more than any other writer I've read I do not know what is coming next.
ChaosHatHop, hop, hop, HA!Trick of the lightRegistered Userregular
Books thread! I have just discovered you. I have read some things lately. So far this has been kind of a sub par year for book reading for me, both in quantity and quality.
Number one: Thrawn.
People might be familiar with my thoughts on this in the Star Wars thread, but I didn't care for this very much. Thrawn feels like an unstoppable machine who is just always smarter, better, and without flaws. I mean he has a flaw "I'm bad a politics!" but since he's just SO DAMN GOOD it doesn't impede his inexorable progress. The side lady character didn't really do much for me, her plot seems completely tangential to the main thrust of the story. Could have just cut it.
Number two: Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach.
This book was a bit of a let down which was very disappointing. For those unfamiliar, it's about a post climate change future in which people live underground and are just starting to venture back out onto the surface and live in habs. Further, time travel has also been invented, so there's a radical new proposal to visit 2500 BCE Mesopotamia to study the ecosystem to help terraforming efforts. The main character has no legs but a prosthesis for six tentacles which is pretty dope. Also, time travel is paradox free, when you return to the present that time line closes. So basically it's a read only copy of the past.
I thought this was a cool fucking premise. It didn't really work for me since it felt like the first half of the book was essentially just a team of researchers working on a grant proposal so they can be chosen to go to the past, and the back half is kind of like a drier Timeline where they just do research before they get too arrogant thinking they can't be defeated by savages and then bad stuff ensues.
Number three: Why Democracies Die.
Technically I'm still reading this one but I don't think I'll finish. I thought this would be a more interesting nonfiction but maybe I'm too well kept up with liberal podcasts so it seems like all the information in here I've already heard from people postulating about our current president and the anti-democratic steps he's taken.
I've also started reading Luna: New Moon but I'm about 15% in and it hasn't really grabbed me.
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jakobaggerLO THY DREAD EMPIRE CHAOS IS RESTOREDRegistered Userregular
I don't enjoy over-expository RPG sourcebook f/sf most of the time but boy is the Quantum Thief series just in the complete opposite direction
the world seems to be mostly that Clarke quote about advanced tech being indistinguishable from magic, but with a bunch of new words and old words used in new ways on top, and very little of it explained in a structured way, just gotta figure it out from context
even when I have no idea what's going on it's very pretty though! like, I don't know what an alinen is or how you can sing a spider-ship from it, but that's some nice poetry there, regardless
also helps that the plot is very recognizable intrigue/crime/heists even if the stuff getting stolen is weirder than regular jewels and paintings
Alinen is Finnish for under, underlying. Something something quantum foam.
Lots of stuff like that. Especially with Russian cosmism namedropping.
So, yesterday I finished Ninefox Gambit and that sure was weird.
So as far as I can tell it's not actually magic, but science rooted in belief that makes certain exotic effects possible? And things like the "amputation gun" created a zone where people's limbs fall off because that's how the local reality works in that zone?
Technically I'm still reading this one but I don't think I'll finish. I thought this would be a more interesting nonfiction but maybe I'm too well kept up with liberal podcasts so it seems like all the information in here I've already heard from people postulating about our current president and the anti-democratic steps he's taken.
Part of that is because at least some of us are basically pulling things from the book when speaking.
In general if you are really politically aware and in tune with what is currently going on it's not gonna throw anything hugely novel at you, it's more just "It's probably worse then you think, this is how bad it is and could get, now in a well researched format instead of a post on a forum".
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jakobaggerLO THY DREAD EMPIRE CHAOS IS RESTOREDRegistered Userregular
Alinen is Finnish for under, underlying. Something something quantum foam.
Lots of stuff like that. Especially with Russian cosmism namedropping.
So, yesterday I finished Ninefox Gambit and that sure was weird.
So as far as I can tell it's not actually magic, but science rooted in belief that makes certain exotic effects possible? And things like the "amputation gun" created a zone where people's limbs fall off because that's how the local reality works in that zone?
Oh yeah I read Ninefox Gambit after Quantum Thief and am now reading Causal Angle so I'm very all in on SF where the the science is suspiciously magic-y
So, yesterday I finished Ninefox Gambit and that sure was weird.
So as far as I can tell it's not actually magic, but science rooted in belief that makes certain exotic effects possible? And things like the "amputation gun" created a zone where people's limbs fall off because that's how the local reality works in that zone?
Magic System Talk
Yes, basically.
Though it sort of does raise the question of what is magic. Is a sufficiently understood magic distinguishable from science? Normally you could fall back on is it a materialistic system, but given the requirements for rituals and sacrifices and belief in Ninefox it may well be better described as magic.
Though, it is a very... egalitarian? magic system equally available to all and there is nothing occult (think 'hidden') about it.
The character in the book treat it like science, anyway.
I don't enjoy over-expository RPG sourcebook f/sf most of the time but boy is the Quantum Thief series just in the complete opposite direction
the world seems to be mostly that Clarke quote about advanced tech being indistinguishable from magic, but with a bunch of new words and old words used in new ways on top, and very little of it explained in a structured way, just gotta figure it out from context
even when I have no idea what's going on it's very pretty though! like, I don't know what an alinen is or how you can sing a spider-ship from it, but that's some nice poetry there, regardless
also helps that the plot is very recognizable intrigue/crime/heists even if the stuff getting stolen is weirder than regular jewels and paintings
The big thing that stuck with me was Gevulot. I love the entire concept.
+2
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BrodyThe WatchThe First ShoreRegistered Userregular
I don't enjoy over-expository RPG sourcebook f/sf most of the time but boy is the Quantum Thief series just in the complete opposite direction
the world seems to be mostly that Clarke quote about advanced tech being indistinguishable from magic, but with a bunch of new words and old words used in new ways on top, and very little of it explained in a structured way, just gotta figure it out from context
even when I have no idea what's going on it's very pretty though! like, I don't know what an alinen is or how you can sing a spider-ship from it, but that's some nice poetry there, regardless
also helps that the plot is very recognizable intrigue/crime/heists even if the stuff getting stolen is weirder than regular jewels and paintings
The big thing that stuck with me was Gevulot. I love the entire concept.
It took a long time for Gevulot to click with me, but when it did, it gave me a tiny bit of hope for what social media could eventually become.
"I will write your name in the ruin of them. I will paint you across history in the color of their blood."
Technically I'm still reading this one but I don't think I'll finish. I thought this would be a more interesting nonfiction but maybe I'm too well kept up with liberal podcasts so it seems like all the information in here I've already heard from people postulating about our current president and the anti-democratic steps he's taken.
Part of that is because at least some of us are basically pulling things from the book when speaking.
In general if you are really politically aware and in tune with what is currently going on it's not gonna throw anything hugely novel at you, it's more just "It's probably worse then you think, this is how bad it is and could get, now in a well researched format instead of a post on a forum".
Yeah. I think the new Ronan Farrow book is going to be my next nonfiction.
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jakobaggerLO THY DREAD EMPIRE CHAOS IS RESTOREDRegistered Userregular
I don't enjoy over-expository RPG sourcebook f/sf most of the time but boy is the Quantum Thief series just in the complete opposite direction
the world seems to be mostly that Clarke quote about advanced tech being indistinguishable from magic, but with a bunch of new words and old words used in new ways on top, and very little of it explained in a structured way, just gotta figure it out from context
even when I have no idea what's going on it's very pretty though! like, I don't know what an alinen is or how you can sing a spider-ship from it, but that's some nice poetry there, regardless
also helps that the plot is very recognizable intrigue/crime/heists even if the stuff getting stolen is weirder than regular jewels and paintings
The big thing that stuck with me was Gevulot. I love the entire concept.
Yeah that was super neat. Also one of the ways Mars seemed like a bit of a central Europe analogue - obsessed with privacy and memory, lots of craftsmen and artisanal chocolate. Apparently the series is, apart from all the quantum weirdness, inspired a lot by some French crime/adventure novels from around the turn of the 19th century, which made some things make more sense to me when I found out.
I don't enjoy over-expository RPG sourcebook f/sf most of the time but boy is the Quantum Thief series just in the complete opposite direction
the world seems to be mostly that Clarke quote about advanced tech being indistinguishable from magic, but with a bunch of new words and old words used in new ways on top, and very little of it explained in a structured way, just gotta figure it out from context
even when I have no idea what's going on it's very pretty though! like, I don't know what an alinen is or how you can sing a spider-ship from it, but that's some nice poetry there, regardless
also helps that the plot is very recognizable intrigue/crime/heists even if the stuff getting stolen is weirder than regular jewels and paintings
The big thing that stuck with me was Gevulot. I love the entire concept.
Yeah that was super neat. Also one of the ways Mars seemed like a bit of a central Europe analogue - obsessed with privacy and memory, lots of craftsmen and artisanal chocolate. Apparently the series is, apart from all the quantum weirdness, inspired a lot by some French crime/adventure novels from around the turn of the 19th century, which made some things make more sense to me when I found out.
Man, now I'm trying to remember the plot with the king, and it's fuzzy, and I think I'm going to have to reread the whole damn thing, and it's you people's fault.
The king was an alternate Jean? Was it a clone? Do they ever cover where/how the split occurred?
"I will write your name in the ruin of them. I will paint you across history in the color of their blood."
HHhH, by Laurent Binet. It’s a combination of the story of Operation Anthropoid, the plot to kill Heydrich, and a meditation on the impossibility of writing something truly accurate about historical events. Very good.
I don't enjoy over-expository RPG sourcebook f/sf most of the time but boy is the Quantum Thief series just in the complete opposite direction
the world seems to be mostly that Clarke quote about advanced tech being indistinguishable from magic, but with a bunch of new words and old words used in new ways on top, and very little of it explained in a structured way, just gotta figure it out from context
even when I have no idea what's going on it's very pretty though! like, I don't know what an alinen is or how you can sing a spider-ship from it, but that's some nice poetry there, regardless
also helps that the plot is very recognizable intrigue/crime/heists even if the stuff getting stolen is weirder than regular jewels and paintings
The big thing that stuck with me was Gevulot. I love the entire concept.
Yeah that was super neat. Also one of the ways Mars seemed like a bit of a central Europe analogue - obsessed with privacy and memory, lots of craftsmen and artisanal chocolate. Apparently the series is, apart from all the quantum weirdness, inspired a lot by some French crime/adventure novels from around the turn of the 19th century, which made some things make more sense to me when I found out.
Man, now I'm trying to remember the plot with the king, and it's fuzzy, and I think I'm going to have to reread the whole damn thing, and it's you people's fault.
The king was an alternate Jean? Was it a clone? Do they ever cover where/how the split occurred?
I think that there just always were a few of Jeans running around the galaxy, commiting crimes, and King of Mars was the only one that managed to survive, not counting Jeans copied in the prison at the start of the book.
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SummaryJudgmentGrab the hottest iron you can find, stride in the Tower’s front doorRegistered Userregular
Hmmm
I finished Bank's Matter and it never really went anywhere?
To be fair I guess it's more of the micro-level look at characters instead of civilisational players, but it's like, Ferbin grows up, okay, fin.
Some days Blue wonders why anyone ever bothered making numbers so small; other days she supposes even infinity needs to start somewhere.
I finished Bank's Matter and it never really went anywhere?
To be fair I guess it's more of the micro-level look at characters instead of civilisational players, but it's like, Ferbin grows up, okay, fin.
According to Banks himself the whole point of that entire book was that sometimes horrible shit happens to good people and they don't always win and ride into the sunset.
I finished Revenant Gun and it made me cry at the end. I'd like to see a couple short stories or further scenes that deal with a couple of events that we didn't get to see, mostly
Brezan's upcoming wedding
I loved this book and it was a great conclusion to a great trilogy.
I finished(listening to) The Library at Mount Char. I'm pretty pleased with the choice. I'm not the first to make the comparison to American Gods and not the last I'm sure, but I think it's at least a plausible comparison in that it sets up a mythology/cosmology existing and wrapping around the modern world. The main difference is that this isn't at all about belief.
I think it's pretty solid. The cast is quite small, with a reasonably compelling main character who has a very solid motivation, and a pretty quick-paced plot helped along by workmanlike prose. Extra bonus points for being sci fi/fantasy that completes within a single book.
PSN: Kurahoshi1
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Powerpuppiesdrinking coffee in themountain cabinRegistered Userregular
Dhanneth turning out to be the former head commander of the ship (this was obvious to me)
Also what did you think about the moths in general (I loved that aspect)
1. vaguely interesting and weird detail but didn't add too much
2. not obvious to me (I never see any sort of plot reveal coming in any book; in general just very moving
3. very intriguing!
Steam, LoL: credeiki
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BrodyThe WatchThe First ShoreRegistered Userregular
Revenant Gun spoilers.
The part where you realize Kujen psycosurgeied himself to not care about hurting other people so he could make the best things for the most people was amazing to me. Especially the way it was revealed, and the fact that its never actually used for anything. I was worried when we found that out, that it was going to be used later as Cheris trying to "save" him from what he had made himself (which can be a good plot, but I feel like it gets used a lot), and instead just letting the reader know that even though Kujen was a truly awful person, he did it for "the good of humanity".
Also, I feel like the tech aspects of this were handled really well. It was given just enough meat that I felt like it was a stable, well thought out system, but Yoon Ha Lee never tried to actually describe the mechanism, which I feel like probably would have failed.
I still really want to read more from this universe. Who are the Hafn, and why do they have all the animals in those pods. Stuff like that.
"I will write your name in the ruin of them. I will paint you across history in the color of their blood."
The part where you realize Kujen psycosurgeied himself to not care about hurting other people so he could make the best things for the most people was amazing to me. Especially the way it was revealed, and the fact that its never actually used for anything. I was worried when we found that out, that it was going to be used later as Cheris trying to "save" him from what he had made himself (which can be a good plot, but I feel like it gets used a lot), and instead just letting the reader know that even though Kujen was a truly awful person, he did it for "the good of humanity".
Also, I feel like the tech aspects of this were handled really well. It was given just enough meat that I felt like it was a stable, well thought out system, but Yoon Ha Lee never tried to actually describe the mechanism, which I feel like probably would have failed.
I still really want to read more from this universe. Who are the Hafn, and why do they have all the animals in those pods. Stuff like that.
I mean, it's only a morsel, but there's Extracurricular Activities, a Jedao prologue story.
I'm sure there's another one somewhere in a magazine online but I couldn't relocate it with a cursory google.
Mojo_JojoWe are only now beginning to understand the full power and ramifications of sexual intercourseRegistered Userregular
I finished off a really poorly put together detective novel (vanishing girls - I assume it didn't have an editor as it was crying out for some red pen) so I thought after that standards reset I'd move on to The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet
So far it's not super my kind of thing but it's inoffensive enough
Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
The part where you realize Kujen psycosurgeied himself to not care about hurting other people so he could make the best things for the most people was amazing to me. Especially the way it was revealed, and the fact that its never actually used for anything. I was worried when we found that out, that it was going to be used later as Cheris trying to "save" him from what he had made himself (which can be a good plot, but I feel like it gets used a lot), and instead just letting the reader know that even though Kujen was a truly awful person, he did it for "the good of humanity".
Also, I feel like the tech aspects of this were handled really well. It was given just enough meat that I felt like it was a stable, well thought out system, but Yoon Ha Lee never tried to actually describe the mechanism, which I feel like probably would have failed.
I still really want to read more from this universe. Who are the Hafn, and why do they have all the animals in those pods. Stuff like that.
I mean, it's only a morsel, but there's Extracurricular Activities, a Jedao prologue story.
I'm sure there's another one somewhere in a magazine online but I couldn't relocate it with a cursory google.
Wanted to say thanks for pointing that out. That's a fun story of a Jedao we don't really see anything of elsewhere.
The part where you realize Kujen psycosurgeied himself to not care about hurting other people so he could make the best things for the most people was amazing to me. Especially the way it was revealed, and the fact that its never actually used for anything. I was worried when we found that out, that it was going to be used later as Cheris trying to "save" him from what he had made himself (which can be a good plot, but I feel like it gets used a lot), and instead just letting the reader know that even though Kujen was a truly awful person, he did it for "the good of humanity".
Also, I feel like the tech aspects of this were handled really well. It was given just enough meat that I felt like it was a stable, well thought out system, but Yoon Ha Lee never tried to actually describe the mechanism, which I feel like probably would have failed.
I still really want to read more from this universe. Who are the Hafn, and why do they have all the animals in those pods. Stuff like that.
I mean, it's only a morsel, but there's Extracurricular Activities, a Jedao prologue story.
I'm sure there's another one somewhere in a magazine online but I couldn't relocate it with a cursory google.
Wanted to say thanks for pointing that out. That's a fun story of a Jedao we don't really see anything of elsewhere.
Turns out there were a couple more I was thinking of, and also a bunch more I didn't know existed, and they're all linked off the front page of the author's website, so hey, go nuts.
BrodyThe WatchThe First ShoreRegistered Userregular
Authority was... interesting? I'm still not sure how I feel about it. Partly because I just finished it. I wish I had known it would end on such a clifhanger, I would have requested the next book, and not lined up The Dispossessed so soon after.
"I will write your name in the ruin of them. I will paint you across history in the color of their blood."
Posts
Choose Your Own Chat 1 Choose Your Own Chat 2 Choose Your Own Chat 3
Number one: Thrawn.
People might be familiar with my thoughts on this in the Star Wars thread, but I didn't care for this very much. Thrawn feels like an unstoppable machine who is just always smarter, better, and without flaws. I mean he has a flaw "I'm bad a politics!" but since he's just SO DAMN GOOD it doesn't impede his inexorable progress. The side lady character didn't really do much for me, her plot seems completely tangential to the main thrust of the story. Could have just cut it.
Number two: Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach.
This book was a bit of a let down which was very disappointing. For those unfamiliar, it's about a post climate change future in which people live underground and are just starting to venture back out onto the surface and live in habs. Further, time travel has also been invented, so there's a radical new proposal to visit 2500 BCE Mesopotamia to study the ecosystem to help terraforming efforts. The main character has no legs but a prosthesis for six tentacles which is pretty dope. Also, time travel is paradox free, when you return to the present that time line closes. So basically it's a read only copy of the past.
I thought this was a cool fucking premise. It didn't really work for me since it felt like the first half of the book was essentially just a team of researchers working on a grant proposal so they can be chosen to go to the past, and the back half is kind of like a drier Timeline where they just do research before they get too arrogant thinking they can't be defeated by savages and then bad stuff ensues.
Number three: Why Democracies Die.
Technically I'm still reading this one but I don't think I'll finish. I thought this would be a more interesting nonfiction but maybe I'm too well kept up with liberal podcasts so it seems like all the information in here I've already heard from people postulating about our current president and the anti-democratic steps he's taken.
I've also started reading Luna: New Moon but I'm about 15% in and it hasn't really grabbed me.
the world seems to be mostly that Clarke quote about advanced tech being indistinguishable from magic, but with a bunch of new words and old words used in new ways on top, and very little of it explained in a structured way, just gotta figure it out from context
even when I have no idea what's going on it's very pretty though! like, I don't know what an alinen is or how you can sing a spider-ship from it, but that's some nice poetry there, regardless
also helps that the plot is very recognizable intrigue/crime/heists even if the stuff getting stolen is weirder than regular jewels and paintings
Lots of stuff like that. Especially with Russian cosmism namedropping.
So, yesterday I finished Ninefox Gambit and that sure was weird.
Part of that is because at least some of us are basically pulling things from the book when speaking.
In general if you are really politically aware and in tune with what is currently going on it's not gonna throw anything hugely novel at you, it's more just "It's probably worse then you think, this is how bad it is and could get, now in a well researched format instead of a post on a forum".
Oh yeah I read Ninefox Gambit after Quantum Thief and am now reading Causal Angle so I'm very all in on SF where the the science is suspiciously magic-y
Magic System Talk
Though it sort of does raise the question of what is magic. Is a sufficiently understood magic distinguishable from science? Normally you could fall back on is it a materialistic system, but given the requirements for rituals and sacrifices and belief in Ninefox it may well be better described as magic.
Though, it is a very... egalitarian? magic system equally available to all and there is nothing occult (think 'hidden') about it.
The character in the book treat it like science, anyway.
It took a long time for Gevulot to click with me, but when it did, it gave me a tiny bit of hope for what social media could eventually become.
The Monster Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson
Steam: Korvalain
Yeah. I think the new Ronan Farrow book is going to be my next nonfiction.
Yeah that was super neat. Also one of the ways Mars seemed like a bit of a central Europe analogue - obsessed with privacy and memory, lots of craftsmen and artisanal chocolate. Apparently the series is, apart from all the quantum weirdness, inspired a lot by some French crime/adventure novels from around the turn of the 19th century, which made some things make more sense to me when I found out.
Man, now I'm trying to remember the plot with the king, and it's fuzzy, and I think I'm going to have to reread the whole damn thing, and it's you people's fault.
The Monster Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson
Steam: Korvalain
Choose Your Own Chat 1 Choose Your Own Chat 2 Choose Your Own Chat 3
Looking forward to diving in while a pot of bolognese reduces later
I finished Bank's Matter and it never really went anywhere?
like Use of Weapons by the time all the plotlines come together the book is over
Although I think my favorite so far is Excession.
The Monster Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson
Steam: Korvalain
The Monster Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson
Steam: Korvalain
Give it a minute
Get this book
wish list
Steam wishlist
Etsy wishlist
Been wanting to read this ever since I found out Seth Dickinson was a big contributor to a lot of the better written bits of Destiny's lore stuff.
Bah, deal not available in Swedistan.
Nintendo ID: Incindium
PSN: IncindiumX
I loved this book and it was a great conclusion to a great trilogy.
Jedao's body being a moth hybrid
Dhanneth turning out to be the former head commander of the ship (this was obvious to me)
Also what did you think about the moths in general (I loved that aspect)
I think it's pretty solid. The cast is quite small, with a reasonably compelling main character who has a very solid motivation, and a pretty quick-paced plot helped along by workmanlike prose. Extra bonus points for being sci fi/fantasy that completes within a single book.
Yes
Yes but I didn't think about it or care really beforehand so only in hindsight
Yes So good
1. vaguely interesting and weird detail but didn't add too much
2. not obvious to me (I never see any sort of plot reveal coming in any book; in general just very moving
3. very intriguing!
Also, I feel like the tech aspects of this were handled really well. It was given just enough meat that I felt like it was a stable, well thought out system, but Yoon Ha Lee never tried to actually describe the mechanism, which I feel like probably would have failed.
I still really want to read more from this universe. Who are the Hafn, and why do they have all the animals in those pods. Stuff like that.
The Monster Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson
Steam: Korvalain
I mean, it's only a morsel, but there's Extracurricular Activities, a Jedao prologue story.
I'm sure there's another one somewhere in a magazine online but I couldn't relocate it with a cursory google.
Goodreads
SF&F Reviews blog
So far it's not super my kind of thing but it's inoffensive enough
Wanted to say thanks for pointing that out. That's a fun story of a Jedao we don't really see anything of elsewhere.
Turns out there were a couple more I was thinking of, and also a bunch more I didn't know existed, and they're all linked off the front page of the author's website, so hey, go nuts.
Goodreads
SF&F Reviews blog
The Monster Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson
Steam: Korvalain
I think the only italian author I've read maybe is umberto eco (_name of the rose_)
so um, any recommendations welcome for books by italian authors or set in italy
right now my two possibles are _the talented mr ripley_ by patricia highsmith or _the land where lemons grow_ by helena attlee