Now Reading

  On 12/19/2023 at 4:54 AM, baph said:

Can someone get China Mieville to write a new novel? 

Man, I loved Embassytown and The City and The City. So when I saw a gigantic one by him in a charity shop I grabbed it.

I didn't realise Perdido Street Station was published 10+ years before those other books, when he was just starting out writing. He was clearly some kinda fantasy RPG type nerd back then. That book has the stink of single boy bedroom and steampunk all over it. If I start a book I will always finish it (only one exception to this in my life so far) but jfc that was a slog.

Im not to keen on Perdido myself, but I thought Iron council was really good.

TBH, I think his shorts 'Last days of new Paris' was my favourite of his, very Ballardian in places. Quite liked the Census taker, and his book on the October revolution is pretty good as well. Generally find his long fiction a bit too kitsch, I think I liked Iron Council cos it was basically built around ideas from revolutionary politics.

There was some minor scandal around him a few years back IIRC, I think he's become pretty reclusive since.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/jan/27/advice-from-30-people-who-really-started-living-when-they-found-out-they-were-dying

  On 2/4/2024 at 12:59 AM, zazen said:

I liked those books.

They do what they do very well. Its like the authors are winking at us saying "OK we know its corny that historic events keep hinging on the actions of these same five characters but keeping the same characters going is what makes this whole 'book' thing interesting so just go with it ok?"

Plus points of the Expanse books:

- actually quite realistic depiction of what a colonised solar system might be like. e.g. people spending a fuck of a lot of time speedng up and slowing down on spaceships, a lot of time living in tunnels.

- actually quite well thought through depiction of what politics would be like in that situation. Also what space combat would be like.

- into that fairly realistic setup they throw a completely mental alien artifact which (as I read someone say somewhere) is actually one of the best sci-fi antagonists ever

- I thought Holden was well written - heroic without being too badass

- Good balance between each book being a book in itself while also moving the series along. You can see that they planned the whole thing out well in advance and it really pays off.

- Same level of quality pretty much all the way through the series.

Minus points:

- For the expanse universe to work, you have to pretend that people would like the endless boring life-or-death maintenance that would be needed to keep the ships and habitats working. Several characters find out to their surprise that that endless maintenance is their life's calling and get really into it.

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So I just finished the whole main series and yes, the setting is believable, the characters are charming the story is engaging but boy is the latter half of the story a drag, did not enjoy as much. Feels like the authors wanted to up put on big boy writer pants and made everything bleak. It'd be better off if it continued being a fun light space adventure. I wanted to dig in more into the short stories but im burned out for now.

「STICKERS」The exhibition book 

  On 9/30/2023 at 12:29 AM, o00o said:

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We are legion keeps getting recommended to me....tell me more

The last four I've read are the 3 Body Problem, Children of Time, Hyperion and The Dispossessed. 

All amazing. 

Considering Nettle and Bone but kind of looks a bit fantasy which I'm not a fan of....I guess I like 'hard sci-fi' if that's actually a thing.

A Memory Called Empire, Consider Phlebas and Childhood's End are all on my list

  On 3/12/2024 at 9:56 AM, aderei said:

We are legion keeps getting recommended to me....tell me more

its nice. Would make a fun movie but don't expect anything too fancy. I did not finish it yet as it got a bit stale during the 2nd part. still a fun read 

I'm rereading some Lovecraft while waiting for a Thomas Ligotti anthology to arrive.

just got this one. I was pretty sceptic at first due to the big font size and the abstract writing but I like it a lot actually. 

  On 3/12/2024 at 10:53 AM, o00o said:

just got this one. I was pretty sceptic at first due to the big font size and the abstract writing but I like it a lot actually. 

I'm also a fan. I like reading a few "chapters" every so often in between other things I'm reading. he's great at pointing out really obvious stuff most of us probably have a good idea of, but have difficulty articulating about the creative process. it actually inspired me to start recording music again, as opposed to constantly noodling about.

  On 3/12/2024 at 9:56 AM, aderei said:

Children of Time

Fuck me that was a solid read. Have you read the other two? Really hope Tchaikovsky keeps things going in that series, though I understand it runs the risk of turning into a "hyperintelligent creepy crawly of the week" thing

  On 10/24/2023 at 12:15 AM, zazen said:

"Children of Time" ...

Yep can't recommend Children of Time enough. Glad you enjoyed it @aderei and @Walter Ostanek

@Walter Ostanek The other two in that series are also solid, but different, as a trilogy should be. Perhaps not as stellar as the first but taking the theme and going different places with it. The second book is fairly horrific in parts. The third book goes in a somewhat fantasy direction, but still rooted in the same universe.

Adrian Tchaikovsky's architect series (starts with Shards of Earth) is also good - like big space opera with a band of misfits getting caught up in the enormous action. Its like 'ok this is a big space opera with a band of misfits' but he executes it VERY well.

@aderei I read We Are Legion, its kindof got some nice ideas and the first few chapters are strong but then the second two thirds become like a cartoon, like contrived situations, weak characers, and telling you whats happening instead of showing you whats happening. Like the author is a coder originally so its kindof like you would imagine sci-fi written by a coder to be like. Its not crap but its not in the same league as "proper" writers.

  On 3/13/2024 at 3:03 PM, zazen said:

@Walter Ostanek The other two in that series are also solid, but different, as a trilogy should be. Perhaps not as stellar as the first but taking the theme and going different places with it. The second book is fairly horrific in parts. The third book goes in a somewhat fantasy direction, but still rooted in the same universe.

Adrian Tchaikovsky's architect series (starts with Shards of Earth) is also good - like big space opera with a band of misfits getting caught up in the enormous action. Its like 'ok this is a big space opera with a band of misfits' but he executes it VERY well.

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I thought the 2nd and 3rd both had some fantastic ideas in them. Detailed dives into drastically different forms of intelligence. I found the end of the 3rd one crushingly depressing though and, well, almost pointless, after seeing how much the Enkidu crew suffered, only for it to turn out that *spoilers*.

Ditto the deference to some kind of Prime Directive ethic in parts of the 3rd book just seemed weird, given that the first two books were about as antithetical to that as possible. I get that the "we're going on an adventure" fellas didn't want to homogenise cultures/civilisations out of existence, but I struggled with the leap from that to "let's just watch them die"

Not read any of his other series, it's kinda daunting seeing how many books he pumps out. Feel like I'd enjoy the Tyrant Philosophers, though.

Oh right when you wrote "Really hope Tchaikovsky keeps things going in that series" I took it to mean you hadn't read 2 and 3. But what you're saying is, you hope there's a 4 and 5 etc...

  On 3/12/2024 at 11:52 PM, zero said:

I'm also a fan. I like reading a few "chapters" every so often in between other things I'm reading. he's great at pointing out really obvious stuff most of us probably have a good idea of, but have difficulty articulating about the creative process. it actually inspired me to start recording music again, as opposed to constantly noodling about.

Yeah exactly he really points to these core issues you get stuck during the creative process and how to change your mindset about it. I don’t know any book that does it in a similar way

I read Kazuo Ishiguro's The Unconsoled without having any kind of prior knowledge about what kind of book it is and was very confused At about page 200 I started to realize that this isn't just a preface to the actual plot but there is no conventional plot at all. If you've ever had a nightmare where you need to do something important but all kinds of small obstacles just fall into your path to distract you then this is pretty much that in a book form.

  On 3/31/2024 at 8:24 PM, milkface said:

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How is it? BJM is great and Joel always comes across as a funny and humble dude. Hopefully the stories contained within won’t incite another of Anton’s violent temper tantrums. 

  On 4/3/2024 at 11:41 AM, Hail Sagan said:

How is it? BJM is great and Joel always comes across as a funny and humble dude. Hopefully the stories contained within won’t incite another of Anton’s violent temper tantrums. 

It's so good! Love the way in which he describes places and anecdotes it's as if you're remembering with him. It's well written and is a really fun insight into the band's early days.

Hahahh good point! I think Anton's okay with it because I think some editions come with a foreword by him - I would definitely recommend reading

  On 3/12/2024 at 10:37 AM, thejewk said:

I'm rereading some Lovecraft while waiting for a Thomas Ligotti anthology to arrive.

I'm about halfway through Songs + Grimscribe

It's ok. A little goes a long way. I find if I binge too many of them at once it gets a bit samey and meh. I do enjoy the very fiddly/intricate prose though.

I've seen both dune films 

Books still worth it?

  On 3/13/2024 at 2:39 PM, Walter Ostanek said:

Fuck me that was a solid read. Have you read the other two? Really hope Tchaikovsky keeps things going in that series, though I understand it runs the risk of turning into a "hyperintelligent creepy crawly of the week" thing

Loved it. Got the other two planned.