Both he and his wife are dead as Dillinger, so you can buy their books safe in the knowledge that they aren’t profiting.
I don’t think they get particularly dark, and would say they’re more aimed at a teenage market than adults. The second series, the first book aside, is entirely skippable. Even characters start commenting on how this is all a bit samey.
Oh, i'm aware, it's just worth letting people know about i think you know? I think the second series is fun, buthey. For my money his & his wife's best work was probably the Tamuli, but none of his work is exactly high literature. His works once his wife died are terrible.
NoneoftheaboveJust a conforming non-conformist.Twilight ZoneRegistered Userregular
edited June 2022
I came across a short story online from 98' reprint on a book publishers site.
The short story is called "Divided by Infinity" by Robert Charles Wilson. It equally impressesed me as it disturbs me. Worth reading if you come across it.
The original poster on this thread should have recommended Richard Matheson on the reading list for also great fiction/horror.
"I Am Legend" or "Hell House" as good reads. And if you want to try a horror/western, Matheson's lessser known "Shadow on the sun" is pretty good too.
Haven't found a good sci-fi horror novel or short yet. Still looking.
But as for modern SF, I do really like Alastair Reynolds and his "Revelation Space" books. However another of his, "Pushing Ice" standalone novel is my favorite.
Noneoftheabove on
0
Options
BrodyThe WatchThe First ShoreRegistered Userregular
I came across a short story online from 98' reprint on a book publishers site.
The short story is called "Divided by Infinity" by Robert Charles Wilson. It equally impressesed me as it disturbs me. Worth reading if you come across it.
The original poster on this thread should have recommended Richard Matheson on the reading list for also great fiction/horror.
"I Am Legend" or "Hell House" as good reads. And if you want to try a horror/western, Matheson's lessser known "Shadow on the sun" is pretty good too.
Haven't found a good sci-fi horror novel or short yet. Still looking.
But as for modern SF, I do really like Alistair Reynolds and his "Revelation Space" books. However another of his, "Pushing Ice" standalone novel is my favorite.
If you want a good scifi horror short (really short), read The Screwfly Solution. It's posted online somewhere, I dont remember where.
"I will write your name in the ruin of them. I will paint you across history in the color of their blood."
Oh hey I literally just bought this at a yard sale in the neighborhood today because I always loved the movie as a kid, but mrs frisby and the rats of nimh could be a good read (there’s a lot of mouse based books to read I’m realizing)
Wow I had no idea. I had all of the books from yard sales because they were always at yard sales as a kid. That's crazy! Although seems to be they were charged and served years before they started writing.
Fuzzy Cumulonimbus Cloud on
0
Options
BrodyThe WatchThe First ShoreRegistered Userregular
I finished Vita Nostra, by Sergey and Marina Dyachenko*.
It is very, very interesting. The blurbs and description do not do it justice. It is sort of a book about a girl who goes to magic school, but that is not quite the way to think of it, necessarily. The magic in the book is less sorcery than occultism or personal transcendence; the (university-aged) students at the institute attend under coercion (explicit threats to their loved ones); there is little overt at all and little explained. Lots of scenes of studying utter gibberish and perhaps getting a glimpse of something more; and very much present is fear in the face of an uncaring post-soviet world where there is no security and no personal agency.
But also, yes, the shitty roommates who won't stop smoking in your room, some interestingly realistic and messy teenage relationships, the redefinition of a 17 year old within their family unit--it's not all this rather abstract and surreal magic.
I loved this book and it was just so interesting to see how skilled writers can create a protagonist with little to no agency. It isn't for everyone, and it certainly makes more sense when you think of it in the post-soviet cultural context. The translation is not great--stiff and unnatural; the translator is not a professional nor a native english speaker (it was her passion project because she loved the book so much). Still--absolutely worth reading. Extremely cool. Belongs on your bookshelf next to kafka rather than harry potter.
*they are married Ukranian authors living in California and writing in Russian. Sergei I think just died very recently, sadly.
It's been interesting so far, but I realize that maybe I know less about Russian/Ukrainian names than I thought? What exactly is the protagonists name?
Also, it's very interesting reading a story of fiction set in an area that I have done a lot of non fictional reading about recently? Do they ever make it clear what cities they are in?
"I will write your name in the ruin of them. I will paint you across history in the color of their blood."
The little tangents of Le Guin had me looking into things she said or wrote outside of her stories; I personally really enjoyed this speech by her and thought I'd share it here.
The Ursula on Ursula section of her website is also an incredibly fun read.
Automautocrates on
The dictum that truth always triumphs over persecution is one of the pleasant falsehoods which men repeat after one another till they pass into commonplaces, but which all experience refutes.
-John Stuart Mill
+2
Options
NoneoftheaboveJust a conforming non-conformist.Twilight ZoneRegistered Userregular
I came across a short story online from 98' reprint on a book publishers site.
The short story is called "Divided by Infinity" by Robert Charles Wilson. It equally impressesed me as it disturbs me. Worth reading if you come across it.
The original poster on this thread should have recommended Richard Matheson on the reading list for also great fiction/horror.
"I Am Legend" or "Hell House" as good reads. And if you want to try a horror/western, Matheson's lessser known "Shadow on the sun" is pretty good too.
Haven't found a good sci-fi horror novel or short yet. Still looking.
But as for modern SF, I do really like Alistair Reynolds and his "Revelation Space" books. However another of his, "Pushing Ice" standalone novel is my favorite.
If you want a good scifi horror short (really short), read The Screwfly Solution. It's posted online somewhere, I dont remember where.
I haven't read this one yet but I have listened to a cool "weird fiction" podcast that narrates segments of this story and gives an overall synopsis with opinions of it too. Everything is a subscription service now, but I support the premium feed of that podcast to explore out of print horror/weird fiction and educate myself as a writer and enthusiast of the genre.
I finished Vita Nostra, by Sergey and Marina Dyachenko*.
It is very, very interesting. The blurbs and description do not do it justice. It is sort of a book about a girl who goes to magic school, but that is not quite the way to think of it, necessarily. The magic in the book is less sorcery than occultism or personal transcendence; the (university-aged) students at the institute attend under coercion (explicit threats to their loved ones); there is little overt at all and little explained. Lots of scenes of studying utter gibberish and perhaps getting a glimpse of something more; and very much present is fear in the face of an uncaring post-soviet world where there is no security and no personal agency.
But also, yes, the shitty roommates who won't stop smoking in your room, some interestingly realistic and messy teenage relationships, the redefinition of a 17 year old within their family unit--it's not all this rather abstract and surreal magic.
I loved this book and it was just so interesting to see how skilled writers can create a protagonist with little to no agency. It isn't for everyone, and it certainly makes more sense when you think of it in the post-soviet cultural context. The translation is not great--stiff and unnatural; the translator is not a professional nor a native english speaker (it was her passion project because she loved the book so much). Still--absolutely worth reading. Extremely cool. Belongs on your bookshelf next to kafka rather than harry potter.
*they are married Ukranian authors living in California and writing in Russian. Sergei I think just died very recently, sadly.
It's been interesting so far, but I realize that maybe I know less about Russian/Ukrainian names than I thought? What exactly is the protagonists name?
Also, it's very interesting reading a story of fiction set in an area that I have done a lot of non fictional reading about recently? Do they ever make it clear what cities they are in?
Her name is Alexandra Samokhina--Sasha is short for Alexandra (can also be short for Alexander). Every person in the book, it should be said, has a very normal name--nothing playful or weird is happening. Only slightly weird name is Farit, which is a persian or arabic name, so you imagine maybe he's from one of the former soviet republics/central asia.
(these are all Russian names with Russian spellings--the authors wrote this in Russian)
It seems to take place in southern Russia, but we never get the name of the beach town they go to, or, I think, the city Sasha is from. The university is in an imaginary provincial town called Torpa.
I really want to talk about the ending with someone so tell me when you're done!
credeiki on
Steam, LoL: credeiki
0
Options
NoneoftheaboveJust a conforming non-conformist.Twilight ZoneRegistered Userregular
Anyone want to talk about "Pushing Ice?" I finished the book and loved it. Would like to hear what others thought favorably or otherwise.
The other day actually got me to decide it’s time I actually read earthsea so I just grabbed the first one, with apologies to my tbr pile.
It had been on my “scope out for at the used bookstores” list for a long time but it’s kinda weird, the most popular names often seem harder to find there either because fewer people sell them or because more people snap them up (why not both).
Anyone want to talk about "Pushing Ice?" I finished the book and loved it. Would like to hear what others thought favorably or otherwise.
I'd love to talk about it after I read it! It sounds like a good time? It's next in the queue.
I just have to finish The Iron Dragons Daughter. Thank you V1m for suggesting it here because it is exactly my alley.
The dictum that truth always triumphs over persecution is one of the pleasant falsehoods which men repeat after one another till they pass into commonplaces, but which all experience refutes.
-John Stuart Mill
Are there good books to replace reading Harry Potter to kids? My daughter is going to be 5 soon, and I can read her The Hobbit again, and I was debating reading the Potter books, but even though I wouldn't be giving that cunt any money, I still don't necessarily build an enjoyment for the Potterverse.
I was thinking mistborn, or maybe like the Redwall series? It's been so long since I've read any books from before the YA money grab market.
Even if a dead (problematic shitbag) author won't profit off new purchases of a book, it's good to warn people before they get emotionally invested in them.
dennis on
0
Options
NoneoftheaboveJust a conforming non-conformist.Twilight ZoneRegistered Userregular
Anyone want to talk about "Pushing Ice?" I finished the book and loved it. Would like to hear what others thought favorably or otherwise.
I'd love to talk about it after I read it! It sounds like a good time? It's next in the queue.
I just have to finish The Iron Dragons Daughter. Thank you V1m for suggesting it here because it is exactly my alley.
Pushing Ice is hard SF. Alastair worked for the European Space Agency, so he writes from an informed perspective for the average reader. Some concepts in the book are really mind blowing and can be a bit tricky at first. This book has really grown on me. I think it deserves all the readers attention because there are so many characters and plot points. It's ment to be a fun page turner, but can be a bit more demanding than an easier read. What I love about the book is that Alastair presents a lot of short mind blowing SF concepts that other writers would make whole other novels out of.
What was initially off putting for me about the book was how far into the future the first chapter of the book threw at me. Names, and concepts seemed a bit mind melting to grasp. But this very quickly changes to something relatable.
Noneoftheabove on
0
Options
BrodyThe WatchThe First ShoreRegistered Userregular
Anyone want to talk about "Pushing Ice?" I finished the book and loved it. Would like to hear what others thought favorably or otherwise.
I'd love to talk about it after I read it! It sounds like a good time? It's next in the queue.
I just have to finish The Iron Dragons Daughter. Thank you V1m for suggesting it here because it is exactly my alley.
Pushing Ice is hard SF. Alastair worked for the European Space Agency, so he writes from an informed perspective for the average reader. Some concepts in the book are really mind blowing and can be a bit tricky at first. This book has really grown on me. I think it deserves all the readers attention because there are so many characters and plot points. It's ment to be a fun page turner, but can be a bit more demanding than an easier read. What I love about the book is that Alastair presents a lot of short mind blowing SF concepts that other writers would make whole other novels out of.
What was initially off putting for me about the book was how far into the future the first chapter of the book threw at me. Names, and concepts seemed a bit mind melting to grasp. But this very quickly changes to something relatable.
Pushing Ice felt like a weird mix of a bunch of concepts that felt like they could have been their own book, or maybe broke into a series, and then at the end it felt like there wasn't enough of any one concept? If that makes any sense? I liked it, and I appreciate that it doesn't do "humans are somehow super unique" garbage trope.
"I will write your name in the ruin of them. I will paint you across history in the color of their blood."
I finished Vita Nostra, by Sergey and Marina Dyachenko*.
It is very, very interesting. The blurbs and description do not do it justice. It is sort of a book about a girl who goes to magic school, but that is not quite the way to think of it, necessarily. The magic in the book is less sorcery than occultism or personal transcendence; the (university-aged) students at the institute attend under coercion (explicit threats to their loved ones); there is little overt at all and little explained. Lots of scenes of studying utter gibberish and perhaps getting a glimpse of something more; and very much present is fear in the face of an uncaring post-soviet world where there is no security and no personal agency.
But also, yes, the shitty roommates who won't stop smoking in your room, some interestingly realistic and messy teenage relationships, the redefinition of a 17 year old within their family unit--it's not all this rather abstract and surreal magic.
I loved this book and it was just so interesting to see how skilled writers can create a protagonist with little to no agency. It isn't for everyone, and it certainly makes more sense when you think of it in the post-soviet cultural context. The translation is not great--stiff and unnatural; the translator is not a professional nor a native english speaker (it was her passion project because she loved the book so much). Still--absolutely worth reading. Extremely cool. Belongs on your bookshelf next to kafka rather than harry potter.
*they are married Ukranian authors living in California and writing in Russian. Sergei I think just died very recently, sadly.
It's been interesting so far, but I realize that maybe I know less about Russian/Ukrainian names than I thought? What exactly is the protagonists name?
Also, it's very interesting reading a story of fiction set in an area that I have done a lot of non fictional reading about recently? Do they ever make it clear what cities they are in?
Her name is Alexandra Samokhina--Sasha is short for Alexandra (can also be short for Alexander). Every person in the book, it should be said, has a very normal name--nothing playful or weird is happening. Only slightly weird name is Farit, which is a persian or arabic name, so you imagine maybe he's from one of the former soviet republics/central asia.
(these are all Russian names with Russian spellings--the authors wrote this in Russian)
It seems to take place in southern Russia, but we never get the name of the beach town they go to, or, I think, the city Sasha is from. The university is in an imaginary provincial town called Torpa.
I really want to talk about the ending with someone so tell me when you're done!
Is the disconnect in English between name/nickname (I know we have some such nicknames in English, but it feels less common to me) because of the change in writing system, or is it just a collection of disconnected cultural nicknames? I remember someone in highschool trying to explain a Russian (or maybe Ukrainian, it's been a long time) that boiled down to kind of a Pete and Repeat joke relying on nicknames that just didn't translate well?
"I will write your name in the ruin of them. I will paint you across history in the color of their blood."
I finished Vita Nostra, by Sergey and Marina Dyachenko*.
It is very, very interesting. The blurbs and description do not do it justice. It is sort of a book about a girl who goes to magic school, but that is not quite the way to think of it, necessarily. The magic in the book is less sorcery than occultism or personal transcendence; the (university-aged) students at the institute attend under coercion (explicit threats to their loved ones); there is little overt at all and little explained. Lots of scenes of studying utter gibberish and perhaps getting a glimpse of something more; and very much present is fear in the face of an uncaring post-soviet world where there is no security and no personal agency.
But also, yes, the shitty roommates who won't stop smoking in your room, some interestingly realistic and messy teenage relationships, the redefinition of a 17 year old within their family unit--it's not all this rather abstract and surreal magic.
I loved this book and it was just so interesting to see how skilled writers can create a protagonist with little to no agency. It isn't for everyone, and it certainly makes more sense when you think of it in the post-soviet cultural context. The translation is not great--stiff and unnatural; the translator is not a professional nor a native english speaker (it was her passion project because she loved the book so much). Still--absolutely worth reading. Extremely cool. Belongs on your bookshelf next to kafka rather than harry potter.
*they are married Ukranian authors living in California and writing in Russian. Sergei I think just died very recently, sadly.
It's been interesting so far, but I realize that maybe I know less about Russian/Ukrainian names than I thought? What exactly is the protagonists name?
Also, it's very interesting reading a story of fiction set in an area that I have done a lot of non fictional reading about recently? Do they ever make it clear what cities they are in?
Her name is Alexandra Samokhina--Sasha is short for Alexandra (can also be short for Alexander). Every person in the book, it should be said, has a very normal name--nothing playful or weird is happening. Only slightly weird name is Farit, which is a persian or arabic name, so you imagine maybe he's from one of the former soviet republics/central asia.
(these are all Russian names with Russian spellings--the authors wrote this in Russian)
It seems to take place in southern Russia, but we never get the name of the beach town they go to, or, I think, the city Sasha is from. The university is in an imaginary provincial town called Torpa.
I really want to talk about the ending with someone so tell me when you're done!
Is the disconnect in English between name/nickname (I know we have some such nicknames in English, but it feels less common to me) because of the change in writing system, or is it just a collection of disconnected cultural nicknames? I remember someone in highschool trying to explain a Russian (or maybe Ukrainian, it's been a long time) that boiled down to kind of a Pete and Repeat joke relying on nicknames that just didn't translate well?
It's just because of how you do nicknames in Russian--nothing special about the cyrillic or aything. There are nicknames like that in English--like Dick for Richard, or Bob for Robert. Sasha for Aleksandr(a) is the one that seems to most confuse english-speakers when looking at Russian, but it's a standard/established nickname, and one of the ones that doesn't necessarily read as cutesy or infantiziling or anything. Sasha, if you think about it, isn't disconnected from AlekSAndra--it's just taking that syllable and turning it into a nickname. Similar to Zandy for Alexander, which is not unheard of. Usually you take a syllable from the name and make it sort of softer--Volodya (Vladimir), Katya (Ekaterina), Sveta (Svetlana), Pasha (Pavel), etc etc etc--there's an established way to do this for all normal names. And then if someone's being extra affectionate or cute they might call Sasha Sashenka, or similar--you would get more elaborate with the diminuitive.
We meet a Kostya (Konstantin) later. I think that the nature of the name Kostya is such that if he were 5-10 years older, he wouldn't be going by Kostya with everyone, just with his close friends, but I'm not totally sure (whereas Sasha I feel like scales into adulthood better--but I'm not a native Russian speaker so again, not sure).
Then it's discussed explicitly how the gym teacher Dima Dimych's actual name is Dmitri Dmitrievich but he's so, like, young and friendly that it's just kind of unthinkable to call him by his full name (but, since he's a teacher, we still have to use name and patronymic), whereas the other teachers are Oleg Borisovitch and Nikolai Valerievich, and you couldn't even dream of calling the latter Kolya, because he's just very much an authority figure. And there isn't a nickname for Oleg, that I know of, and if there were you wouldn't use it either cause he's scary!
Isn’t Oleg not really pronounced like it looks? IIRC its more like ah-lek or even almost like the english name Ollie, with the first O being soft and the last consonant being barely voiced.
Jealous Deva on
+1
Options
NoneoftheaboveJust a conforming non-conformist.Twilight ZoneRegistered Userregular
Anyone want to talk about "Pushing Ice?" I finished the book and loved it. Would like to hear what others thought favorably or otherwise.
I'd love to talk about it after I read it! It sounds like a good time? It's next in the queue.
I just have to finish The Iron Dragons Daughter. Thank you V1m for suggesting it here because it is exactly my alley.
Pushing Ice is hard SF. Alastair worked for the European Space Agency, so he writes from an informed perspective for the average reader. Some concepts in the book are really mind blowing and can be a bit tricky at first. This book has really grown on me. I think it deserves all the readers attention because there are so many characters and plot points. It's ment to be a fun page turner, but can be a bit more demanding than an easier read. What I love about the book is that Alastair presents a lot of short mind blowing SF concepts that other writers would make whole other novels out of.
What was initially off putting for me about the book was how far into the future the first chapter of the book threw at me. Names, and concepts seemed a bit mind melting to grasp. But this very quickly changes to something relatable.
Pushing Ice felt like a weird mix of a bunch of concepts that felt like they could have been their own book, or maybe broke into a series, and then at the end it felt like there wasn't enough of any one concept? If that makes any sense? I liked it, and I appreciate that it doesn't do "humans are somehow super unique" garbage trope.
What I think is great about the book is that it does stand on its own. It has a buildup that teases at a grand space opera storyline, but then uses it to do something surprising and powerful. Many of the ideas and characters are sometimes left inticingly limited in how far the author gives narrative length to them. By writing those ideas and concepts in without several more books deep worth of story keeps those ideas captivating and not over staying their welcome. Reynolds has talked about a sequel and I can see at least two plot scenarios playing out simultaneously with how the book ends.
I've yet to see a film or read another book that captures just how grand and mind numbingly vast the universe is. The way Reynolds depicts the strangeness and almost horror aspect to situations in the back half of the book is chilling. Without spoiling it for new readers I can say that at no point was I ever fully trusting of how things were going for the protagonists. It was just an unrelenting dread for their situation through the whole book.
The Great Sea is proving a bit of a slog. The overall thrust is perfectly reasonable, pushing forward the idea that trade and war between cities around the sea (we're in the early ADs by now), and the cultural ebb and flow thereof, is hugely influential and important but 200 close typed pages of grain shipments and harbour clearings and 400 more to go is a bit dry.
It's certainly a tonic for those dissatisfied with great man accounts of history, but I've always rather enjoyed those.
As a change of pace I also played through House of Hell, one of the very best Fighting Fantasy gamebooks of my youth. Bloody hard, with a very narrow path to victory, but a fun slice of Hammer Horror in a book.
Isn’t Oleg not really pronounced like it looks? IIRC its more like ah-lek or even almost like the english name Ollie, with the first O being soft and the last consonant being barely voiced.
it's pronounced like ah lyek, emphasis on the second syllable. And yeah there's just not a nickname for it, afaik (you might imagine Alyosha would be the nickname, but that's the nickname for Aleksei)
It should be said Oleg is pronounced according to standard rules. When there is an unstressed O in a word, the O converts to an 'ah' sound--that also happens with the name Boris, for example (bah rees, emphasis on the second syllable)
credeiki on
Steam, LoL: credeiki
+1
Options
NoneoftheaboveJust a conforming non-conformist.Twilight ZoneRegistered Userregular
I personally feel Pushing Ice is Alistair Reynold's best work. It doesn't suffer from ... whatever happens when he writes for too long in a series.
I've only read PI and the Revelation Space books. I stopped part way on Absolution Gap. I just got a bit tired of slogging through bits of these books to get to the parts I was interested in. If I do a re-read on them I think they would hold my attention better. The other issue with his series of books are characters I just did not care for. But the concepts and world building are just incredible.
What do think happens when Reynolds writes too long in a series?
I personally feel Pushing Ice is Alistair Reynold's best work. It doesn't suffer from ... whatever happens when he writes for too long in a series.
I've only read PI and the Revelation Space books. I stopped part way on Absolution Gap. I just got a bit tired of slogging through bits of these books to get to the parts I was interested in. If I do a re-read on them I think they would hold my attention better. The other issue with his series of books are characters I just did not care for. But the concepts and world building are just incredible.
Out of curiosity, what do you think of Banks, Asher and Hamilton?
Anyone want to talk about "Pushing Ice?" I finished the book and loved it. Would like to hear what others thought favorably or otherwise.
I'd love to talk about it after I read it! It sounds like a good time? It's next in the queue.
I just have to finish The Iron Dragons Daughter. Thank you V1m for suggesting it here because it is exactly my alley.
Pushing Ice is hard SF. Alastair worked for the European Space Agency, so he writes from an informed perspective for the average reader. Some concepts in the book are really mind blowing and can be a bit tricky at first. This book has really grown on me. I think it deserves all the readers attention because there are so many characters and plot points. It's ment to be a fun page turner, but can be a bit more demanding than an easier read. What I love about the book is that Alastair presents a lot of short mind blowing SF concepts that other writers would make whole other novels out of.
What was initially off putting for me about the book was how far into the future the first chapter of the book threw at me. Names, and concepts seemed a bit mind melting to grasp. But this very quickly changes to something relatable.
Pushing Ice felt like a weird mix of a bunch of concepts that felt like they could have been their own book, or maybe broke into a series, and then at the end it felt like there wasn't enough of any one concept? If that makes any sense? I liked it, and I appreciate that it doesn't do "humans are somehow super unique" garbage trope.
What I think is great about the book is that it does stand on its own. It has a buildup that teases at a grand space opera storyline, but then uses it to do something surprising and powerful. Many of the ideas and characters are sometimes left inticingly limited in how far the author gives narrative length to them. By writing those ideas and concepts in without several more books deep worth of story keeps those ideas captivating and not over staying their welcome. Reynolds has talked about a sequel and I can see at least two plot scenarios playing out simultaneously with how the book ends.
I've yet to see a film or read another book that captures just how grand and mind numbingly vast the universe is. The way Reynolds depicts the strangeness and almost horror aspect to situations in the back half of the book is chilling. Without spoiling it for new readers I can say that at no point was I ever fully trusting of how things were going for the protagonists. It was just an unrelenting dread for their situation through the whole book.
I like it pretty well. It's one of the better recent works in the alien giga-structure sub-genre of hard SF. For me, its big problem is that so much of its drama hinges on the interpersonal conflict between Bella and Svetlana. All that stuff just feels so unnecessary to the story: the Rockhopper crew's struggle vs their circumstances would have been more than enough to make the story interesting. It also doesn't help that Svetlana is unsympathetic well past the point of being badly written. I won't go into spoilers, but she doesn't make a lot of sense in the last section of the book. As I've said before on these forums, I love me some Alastair Reynolds asshole characters, but Svetlana is just a bad character who does things to fuel the plot, without much logic or consistency.
0
Options
BrodyThe WatchThe First ShoreRegistered Userregular
I personally feel Pushing Ice is Alistair Reynold's best work. It doesn't suffer from ... whatever happens when he writes for too long in a series.
I've only read PI and the Revelation Space books. I stopped part way on Absolution Gap. I just got a bit tired of slogging through bits of these books to get to the parts I was interested in. If I do a re-read on them I think they would hold my attention better. The other issue with his series of books are characters I just did not care for. But the concepts and world building are just incredible.
Out of curiosity, what do you think of Banks, Asher and Hamilton?
I love Banks. Asher was ok, but I definitely felt like it was "What if the Culture, but a dystopia," a lot of the Polity books read like they might just be set in a shitty fringe but of the Culture universe (this may be colored by my political opinion). Hamilton was alright? But I feel like he also sort of got caught up in ideas that he felt building as he was writing the books?
"I will write your name in the ruin of them. I will paint you across history in the color of their blood."
I personally feel Pushing Ice is Alistair Reynold's best work. It doesn't suffer from ... whatever happens when he writes for too long in a series.
I've only read PI and the Revelation Space books. I stopped part way on Absolution Gap. I just got a bit tired of slogging through bits of these books to get to the parts I was interested in. If I do a re-read on them I think they would hold my attention better. The other issue with his series of books are characters I just did not care for. But the concepts and world building are just incredible.
Out of curiosity, what do you think of Banks, Asher and Hamilton?
I'm embarrassed to admit I have not read, Banks, Asher or Hamilton.
I know of Banks and Hamilton.
My interest in reading Reynolds is his more scientific approach to SF because for many years I had an intense dislike for SF that was really just Fantasy fiction for young adults. I do know that Banks and Hamilton are among the giants of Sci-fi. So I am not saying their work is anything less than literature. Anyway, I also avoid reading in just one genre exclusively. In my defense I think I am well rounded by the diverse selection of authors I have read in fiction and non-fiction.
Phew, sorry for getting so defensive. But you folks are a smart group here.
+1
Options
NoneoftheaboveJust a conforming non-conformist.Twilight ZoneRegistered Userregular
Anyone want to talk about "Pushing Ice?" I finished the book and loved it. Would like to hear what others thought favorably or otherwise.
I'd love to talk about it after I read it! It sounds like a good time? It's next in the queue.
I just have to finish The Iron Dragons Daughter. Thank you V1m for suggesting it here because it is exactly my alley.
Pushing Ice is hard SF. Alastair worked for the European Space Agency, so he writes from an informed perspective for the average reader. Some concepts in the book are really mind blowing and can be a bit tricky at first. This book has really grown on me. I think it deserves all the readers attention because there are so many characters and plot points. It's ment to be a fun page turner, but can be a bit more demanding than an easier read. What I love about the book is that Alastair presents a lot of short mind blowing SF concepts that other writers would make whole other novels out of.
What was initially off putting for me about the book was how far into the future the first chapter of the book threw at me. Names, and concepts seemed a bit mind melting to grasp. But this very quickly changes to something relatable.
Pushing Ice felt like a weird mix of a bunch of concepts that felt like they could have been their own book, or maybe broke into a series, and then at the end it felt like there wasn't enough of any one concept? If that makes any sense? I liked it, and I appreciate that it doesn't do "humans are somehow super unique" garbage trope.
What I think is great about the book is that it does stand on its own. It has a buildup that teases at a grand space opera storyline, but then uses it to do something surprising and powerful. Many of the ideas and characters are sometimes left inticingly limited in how far the author gives narrative length to them. By writing those ideas and concepts in without several more books deep worth of story keeps those ideas captivating and not over staying their welcome. Reynolds has talked about a sequel and I can see at least two plot scenarios playing out simultaneously with how the book ends.
I've yet to see a film or read another book that captures just how grand and mind numbingly vast the universe is. The way Reynolds depicts the strangeness and almost horror aspect to situations in the back half of the book is chilling. Without spoiling it for new readers I can say that at no point was I ever fully trusting of how things were going for the protagonists. It was just an unrelenting dread for their situation through the whole book.
I like it pretty well. It's one of the better recent works in the alien giga-structure sub-genre of hard SF. For me, its big problem is that so much of its drama hinges on the interpersonal conflict between Bella and Svetlana. All that stuff just feels so unnecessary to the story: the Rockhopper crew's struggle vs their circumstances would have been more than enough to make the story interesting. It also doesn't help that Svetlana is unsympathetic well past the point of being badly written. I won't go into spoilers, but she doesn't make a lot of sense in the last section of the book. As I've said before on these forums, I love me some Alastair Reynolds asshole characters, but Svetlana is just a bad character who does things to fuel the plot, without much logic or consistency.
I can totally see how you would dislike Svetlana and the plot device used around her decisions. But I've actually grown to like how things worked and am willing to believe people being capable of doing stupid, sometimes petty things. They weren't strictly scientists and explorers on Rockhopper. They were just people doing a unique job who just wanted to get home.
I personally feel Pushing Ice is Alistair Reynold's best work. It doesn't suffer from ... whatever happens when he writes for too long in a series.
I've only read PI and the Revelation Space books. I stopped part way on Absolution Gap. I just got a bit tired of slogging through bits of these books to get to the parts I was interested in. If I do a re-read on them I think they would hold my attention better. The other issue with his series of books are characters I just did not care for. But the concepts and world building are just incredible.
What do think happens when Reynolds writes too long in a series?
Oh, Absolution Gap is what happens when Reynolds writes too long in a series!
I have bounced off Hamilton several times because the audiobooks are 40 hours long and usually have several insufferable narrators which isn't his fault. I have a relative who LOVES Hamilton. I should read one of the series (there are way too many) on Kindle and give it a try again.
I remember one with aliens in a jewel that a guy cleaning orbital trash finds. It was not very good. I also remember another with scientists who use portals to travel everywhere. Also not very good...
I personally feel Pushing Ice is Alistair Reynold's best work. It doesn't suffer from ... whatever happens when he writes for too long in a series.
I've only read PI and the Revelation Space books. I stopped part way on Absolution Gap. I just got a bit tired of slogging through bits of these books to get to the parts I was interested in. If I do a re-read on them I think they would hold my attention better. The other issue with his series of books are characters I just did not care for. But the concepts and world building are just incredible.
Out of curiosity, what do you think of Banks, Asher and Hamilton?
I'm embarrassed to admit I have not read, Banks, Asher or Hamilton.
I know of Banks and Hamilton.
My interest in reading Reynolds is his more scientific approach to SF because for many years I had an intense dislike for SF that was really just Fantasy fiction for young adults. I do know that Banks and Hamilton are among the giants of Sci-fi. So I am not saying their work is anything less than literature. Anyway, I also avoid reading in just one genre exclusively. In my defense I think I am well rounded by the diverse selection of authors I have read in fiction and non-fiction.
Phew, sorry for getting so defensive. But you folks are a smart group here.
Banks is a legit titan of literature. Aside from being a brilliant writer, his world building is astonishingly original. If you've ever dreamed of living a blissfully happy life in a distant future in which humanity is governed by benevolent AIs under a system of fully automated luxury gay space communism, then you need to read Banks. If you haven't dreamed of that, then you need to read Banks so that you will. I believe there's a thread somewhere else on these forums just for him.
Asher is a mediocre writer who has a lot of books that share a setting that's sort of a low rent, authoritarian, law-and-order version of Banks' world-building. He lacks all subtlety and has therefore written some gloriously horrific aliens and ecosystems.
Hamilton is a hack who writes paper bricks in which the world-building is probably the most entertaining aspect. Fuck him, though, for writing a supposedly hard sci-fi epic in which one of the antagonists is the space ghost of Al Capone.
I personally feel Pushing Ice is Alistair Reynold's best work. It doesn't suffer from ... whatever happens when he writes for too long in a series.
I like all of his stuff, but yeah, it's really good. I think he shines a lot more in constrained formats like a single novel, or shorter length. Slow Bullets and Permafrost are excellent novellas.
I've only read PI and the Revelation Space books. I stopped part way on Absolution Gap. I just got a bit tired of slogging through bits of these books to get to the parts I was interested in. If I do a re-read on them I think they would hold my attention better. The other issue with his series of books are characters I just did not care for. But the concepts and world building are just incredible.
I can't decide if it's a function of writing a trilogy (with Chasm City as a standalone novel), or if it's just that Ultranauts are just really hard to care for as characters.
Revenger is another trilogy of his, but entirely different style -- it's more "swashbuckling steampunk" but in space, except space got weird. Some characters definitely have the same Ultra vibes though.
As for Asher, if you have Netflix, some of his stuff got adapted for Love, Death & Robots. Season 2 has Snow in the Desert (a short story in his Polity setting) which is very much his overall style. Season 3 that came recently has Bad Travelling, which I think is based on Jable Sharks, an early short story of his.
I've found Reynold's characters to be by far the weakest aspect of his books. His galaxy spanning ideas are interesting but I would be hard pressed to remember a single character from one of his books. I don't think I'd recommend them to anyone who wasn't specifically looking for some hard SF.
Asher I haven't read but his recent remarks on Covid will probably prevent me from ever bothering.
I've read the Reality Dysfunction books and boy howdy that's a writer who thinks length = depth. Again, the characterisation is pretty weak but his ideas aren't much cop either. You'll get far more from, say, a slim one novel story by Adam Roberts than you will from 4000 pages of Hamilton's 'epics'.
Banks is excellent. Interesting, funny, inventive, and his books are almost always about something in a way that plenty of SF doesn't seem to bother with beyond WHAT IF INTERESTING SF IDEA?
I personally feel Pushing Ice is Alistair Reynold's best work. It doesn't suffer from ... whatever happens when he writes for too long in a series.
I've only read PI and the Revelation Space books. I stopped part way on Absolution Gap. I just got a bit tired of slogging through bits of these books to get to the parts I was interested in. If I do a re-read on them I think they would hold my attention better. The other issue with his series of books are characters I just did not care for. But the concepts and world building are just incredible.
Out of curiosity, what do you think of Banks, Asher and Hamilton?
I'm embarrassed to admit I have not read, Banks, Asher or Hamilton.
I know of Banks and Hamilton.
My interest in reading Reynolds is his more scientific approach to SF because for many years I had an intense dislike for SF that was really just Fantasy fiction for young adults. I do know that Banks and Hamilton are among the giants of Sci-fi. So I am not saying their work is anything less than literature. Anyway, I also avoid reading in just one genre exclusively. In my defense I think I am well rounded by the diverse selection of authors I have read in fiction and non-fiction.
Phew, sorry for getting so defensive. But you folks are a smart group here.
Well, we (or at least I) have you completely fucking fooled. I have found I have a very low bar for what I consider good reading. I just asked the question because I'm wondering for people who didn't like Reynolds in long series form if that happens for them with other writers who do the same.
I want to like Hamilton more, and have in his less "epic series" type novels. He can get one doorstopper by me, as long as it's not one in a long line of doorstoppers. And yeah, fuck the space ghost of Al Capone.
This book is weird. I like it. Thanks for the recommendation.
The language has that odd quality where it wants to be a breathless rush of consciousness but it's very obviously meticulously written with great effort. It almost put me off but the weirdness of the story and the fact that I used to know people exactly like several of the characters kept me in until I got used to it.
I feel like I've read another book or story or watched a movie or something with a lot of the same elements as here but damned if I can think of what it is.
In no way would I ever have dreamed of people describing the Reality Dysfunction series as hard sci fi. I like space fantasy sometimes, as mentioned, my biggest problem was how damn long it was, and the mega evil torturer villains.
Posts
It is stunningly beautiful and I think one of the greatest novels I've ever read. I think about it very often.
Oh, i'm aware, it's just worth letting people know about i think you know? I think the second series is fun, buthey. For my money his & his wife's best work was probably the Tamuli, but none of his work is exactly high literature. His works once his wife died are terrible.
Steam: https://steamcommunity.com/id/TheZombiePenguin
Stream: https://www.twitch.tv/thezombiepenguin/
Switch: 0293 6817 9891
The short story is called "Divided by Infinity" by Robert Charles Wilson. It equally impressesed me as it disturbs me. Worth reading if you come across it.
The original poster on this thread should have recommended Richard Matheson on the reading list for also great fiction/horror.
"I Am Legend" or "Hell House" as good reads. And if you want to try a horror/western, Matheson's lessser known "Shadow on the sun" is pretty good too.
Haven't found a good sci-fi horror novel or short yet. Still looking.
But as for modern SF, I do really like Alastair Reynolds and his "Revelation Space" books. However another of his, "Pushing Ice" standalone novel is my favorite.
If you want a good scifi horror short (really short), read The Screwfly Solution. It's posted online somewhere, I dont remember where.
The Monster Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson
Steam: Korvalain
It's been interesting so far, but I realize that maybe I know less about Russian/Ukrainian names than I thought? What exactly is the protagonists name?
Also, it's very interesting reading a story of fiction set in an area that I have done a lot of non fictional reading about recently? Do they ever make it clear what cities they are in?
The Monster Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson
Steam: Korvalain
The Ursula on Ursula section of her website is also an incredibly fun read.
-John Stuart Mill
I haven't read this one yet but I have listened to a cool "weird fiction" podcast that narrates segments of this story and gives an overall synopsis with opinions of it too. Everything is a subscription service now, but I support the premium feed of that podcast to explore out of print horror/weird fiction and educate myself as a writer and enthusiast of the genre.
Her name is Alexandra Samokhina--Sasha is short for Alexandra (can also be short for Alexander). Every person in the book, it should be said, has a very normal name--nothing playful or weird is happening. Only slightly weird name is Farit, which is a persian or arabic name, so you imagine maybe he's from one of the former soviet republics/central asia.
(these are all Russian names with Russian spellings--the authors wrote this in Russian)
It seems to take place in southern Russia, but we never get the name of the beach town they go to, or, I think, the city Sasha is from. The university is in an imaginary provincial town called Torpa.
I really want to talk about the ending with someone so tell me when you're done!
It had been on my “scope out for at the used bookstores” list for a long time but it’s kinda weird, the most popular names often seem harder to find there either because fewer people sell them or because more people snap them up (why not both).
I read it a few years ago and found it interesting. I don't remember loving it but it was a good read.
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
I'd love to talk about it after I read it! It sounds like a good time? It's next in the queue.
I just have to finish The Iron Dragons Daughter. Thank you V1m for suggesting it here because it is exactly my alley.
-John Stuart Mill
Chrestomanci?
Michael Swanwick doesn't get the press he deserves. There's a second book set in the Iron Dragon setting, by the way.
PS those elves are an excellent metaphor for the shareholder class, I thought.
Pushing Ice is hard SF. Alastair worked for the European Space Agency, so he writes from an informed perspective for the average reader. Some concepts in the book are really mind blowing and can be a bit tricky at first. This book has really grown on me. I think it deserves all the readers attention because there are so many characters and plot points. It's ment to be a fun page turner, but can be a bit more demanding than an easier read. What I love about the book is that Alastair presents a lot of short mind blowing SF concepts that other writers would make whole other novels out of.
What was initially off putting for me about the book was how far into the future the first chapter of the book threw at me. Names, and concepts seemed a bit mind melting to grasp. But this very quickly changes to something relatable.
Pushing Ice felt like a weird mix of a bunch of concepts that felt like they could have been their own book, or maybe broke into a series, and then at the end it felt like there wasn't enough of any one concept? If that makes any sense? I liked it, and I appreciate that it doesn't do "humans are somehow super unique" garbage trope.
The Monster Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson
Steam: Korvalain
Is the disconnect in English between name/nickname (I know we have some such nicknames in English, but it feels less common to me) because of the change in writing system, or is it just a collection of disconnected cultural nicknames? I remember someone in highschool trying to explain a Russian (or maybe Ukrainian, it's been a long time) that boiled down to kind of a Pete and Repeat joke relying on nicknames that just didn't translate well?
The Monster Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson
Steam: Korvalain
It's just because of how you do nicknames in Russian--nothing special about the cyrillic or aything. There are nicknames like that in English--like Dick for Richard, or Bob for Robert. Sasha for Aleksandr(a) is the one that seems to most confuse english-speakers when looking at Russian, but it's a standard/established nickname, and one of the ones that doesn't necessarily read as cutesy or infantiziling or anything. Sasha, if you think about it, isn't disconnected from AlekSAndra--it's just taking that syllable and turning it into a nickname. Similar to Zandy for Alexander, which is not unheard of. Usually you take a syllable from the name and make it sort of softer--Volodya (Vladimir), Katya (Ekaterina), Sveta (Svetlana), Pasha (Pavel), etc etc etc--there's an established way to do this for all normal names. And then if someone's being extra affectionate or cute they might call Sasha Sashenka, or similar--you would get more elaborate with the diminuitive.
We meet a Kostya (Konstantin) later. I think that the nature of the name Kostya is such that if he were 5-10 years older, he wouldn't be going by Kostya with everyone, just with his close friends, but I'm not totally sure (whereas Sasha I feel like scales into adulthood better--but I'm not a native Russian speaker so again, not sure).
Then it's discussed explicitly how the gym teacher Dima Dimych's actual name is Dmitri Dmitrievich but he's so, like, young and friendly that it's just kind of unthinkable to call him by his full name (but, since he's a teacher, we still have to use name and patronymic), whereas the other teachers are Oleg Borisovitch and Nikolai Valerievich, and you couldn't even dream of calling the latter Kolya, because he's just very much an authority figure. And there isn't a nickname for Oleg, that I know of, and if there were you wouldn't use it either cause he's scary!
What I think is great about the book is that it does stand on its own. It has a buildup that teases at a grand space opera storyline, but then uses it to do something surprising and powerful. Many of the ideas and characters are sometimes left inticingly limited in how far the author gives narrative length to them. By writing those ideas and concepts in without several more books deep worth of story keeps those ideas captivating and not over staying their welcome. Reynolds has talked about a sequel and I can see at least two plot scenarios playing out simultaneously with how the book ends.
I've yet to see a film or read another book that captures just how grand and mind numbingly vast the universe is. The way Reynolds depicts the strangeness and almost horror aspect to situations in the back half of the book is chilling. Without spoiling it for new readers I can say that at no point was I ever fully trusting of how things were going for the protagonists. It was just an unrelenting dread for their situation through the whole book.
It's certainly a tonic for those dissatisfied with great man accounts of history, but I've always rather enjoyed those.
As a change of pace I also played through House of Hell, one of the very best Fighting Fantasy gamebooks of my youth. Bloody hard, with a very narrow path to victory, but a fun slice of Hammer Horror in a book.
Choose Your Own Chat 1 Choose Your Own Chat 2 Choose Your Own Chat 3
it's pronounced like ah lyek, emphasis on the second syllable. And yeah there's just not a nickname for it, afaik (you might imagine Alyosha would be the nickname, but that's the nickname for Aleksei)
It should be said Oleg is pronounced according to standard rules. When there is an unstressed O in a word, the O converts to an 'ah' sound--that also happens with the name Boris, for example (bah rees, emphasis on the second syllable)
I've only read PI and the Revelation Space books. I stopped part way on Absolution Gap. I just got a bit tired of slogging through bits of these books to get to the parts I was interested in. If I do a re-read on them I think they would hold my attention better. The other issue with his series of books are characters I just did not care for. But the concepts and world building are just incredible.
What do think happens when Reynolds writes too long in a series?
Out of curiosity, what do you think of Banks, Asher and Hamilton?
I like it pretty well. It's one of the better recent works in the alien giga-structure sub-genre of hard SF. For me, its big problem is that so much of its drama hinges on the interpersonal conflict between Bella and Svetlana. All that stuff just feels so unnecessary to the story: the Rockhopper crew's struggle vs their circumstances would have been more than enough to make the story interesting. It also doesn't help that Svetlana is unsympathetic well past the point of being badly written. I won't go into spoilers, but she doesn't make a lot of sense in the last section of the book. As I've said before on these forums, I love me some Alastair Reynolds asshole characters, but Svetlana is just a bad character who does things to fuel the plot, without much logic or consistency.
I love Banks. Asher was ok, but I definitely felt like it was "What if the Culture, but a dystopia," a lot of the Polity books read like they might just be set in a shitty fringe but of the Culture universe (this may be colored by my political opinion). Hamilton was alright? But I feel like he also sort of got caught up in ideas that he felt building as he was writing the books?
The Monster Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson
Steam: Korvalain
I'm embarrassed to admit I have not read, Banks, Asher or Hamilton.
I know of Banks and Hamilton.
My interest in reading Reynolds is his more scientific approach to SF because for many years I had an intense dislike for SF that was really just Fantasy fiction for young adults. I do know that Banks and Hamilton are among the giants of Sci-fi. So I am not saying their work is anything less than literature. Anyway, I also avoid reading in just one genre exclusively. In my defense I think I am well rounded by the diverse selection of authors I have read in fiction and non-fiction.
Phew, sorry for getting so defensive. But you folks are a smart group here.
I can totally see how you would dislike Svetlana and the plot device used around her decisions. But I've actually grown to like how things worked and am willing to believe people being capable of doing stupid, sometimes petty things. They weren't strictly scientists and explorers on Rockhopper. They were just people doing a unique job who just wanted to get home.
I remember one with aliens in a jewel that a guy cleaning orbital trash finds. It was not very good. I also remember another with scientists who use portals to travel everywhere. Also not very good...
Banks is a legit titan of literature. Aside from being a brilliant writer, his world building is astonishingly original. If you've ever dreamed of living a blissfully happy life in a distant future in which humanity is governed by benevolent AIs under a system of fully automated luxury gay space communism, then you need to read Banks. If you haven't dreamed of that, then you need to read Banks so that you will. I believe there's a thread somewhere else on these forums just for him.
Asher is a mediocre writer who has a lot of books that share a setting that's sort of a low rent, authoritarian, law-and-order version of Banks' world-building. He lacks all subtlety and has therefore written some gloriously horrific aliens and ecosystems.
Hamilton is a hack who writes paper bricks in which the world-building is probably the most entertaining aspect. Fuck him, though, for writing a supposedly hard sci-fi epic in which one of the antagonists is the space ghost of Al Capone.
I like all of his stuff, but yeah, it's really good. I think he shines a lot more in constrained formats like a single novel, or shorter length. Slow Bullets and Permafrost are excellent novellas.
I can't decide if it's a function of writing a trilogy (with Chasm City as a standalone novel), or if it's just that Ultranauts are just really hard to care for as characters.
Revenger is another trilogy of his, but entirely different style -- it's more "swashbuckling steampunk" but in space, except space got weird. Some characters definitely have the same Ultra vibes though.
As for Asher, if you have Netflix, some of his stuff got adapted for Love, Death & Robots. Season 2 has Snow in the Desert (a short story in his Polity setting) which is very much his overall style. Season 3 that came recently has Bad Travelling, which I think is based on Jable Sharks, an early short story of his.
Asher I haven't read but his recent remarks on Covid will probably prevent me from ever bothering.
I've read the Reality Dysfunction books and boy howdy that's a writer who thinks length = depth. Again, the characterisation is pretty weak but his ideas aren't much cop either. You'll get far more from, say, a slim one novel story by Adam Roberts than you will from 4000 pages of Hamilton's 'epics'.
Banks is excellent. Interesting, funny, inventive, and his books are almost always about something in a way that plenty of SF doesn't seem to bother with beyond WHAT IF INTERESTING SF IDEA?
Choose Your Own Chat 1 Choose Your Own Chat 2 Choose Your Own Chat 3
Well, we (or at least I) have you completely fucking fooled. I have found I have a very low bar for what I consider good reading. I just asked the question because I'm wondering for people who didn't like Reynolds in long series form if that happens for them with other writers who do the same.
I want to like Hamilton more, and have in his less "epic series" type novels. He can get one doorstopper by me, as long as it's not one in a long line of doorstoppers. And yeah, fuck the space ghost of Al Capone.
This book is weird. I like it. Thanks for the recommendation.
The language has that odd quality where it wants to be a breathless rush of consciousness but it's very obviously meticulously written with great effort. It almost put me off but the weirdness of the story and the fact that I used to know people exactly like several of the characters kept me in until I got used to it.
I feel like I've read another book or story or watched a movie or something with a lot of the same elements as here but damned if I can think of what it is.