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OT: Sci-Fi and Fantasy Thread - SPOILERS Part Three

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I really like Scalzi's stuff. Redshirts was a blast, Old Man's War was super cool and the sequels were also great (although I need to read the last two at some point), and I really enjoyed The Collapsing Empire too (still need to read the sequels for that too lol. My backlog of books is immense.)

I read Ringworld a few years back and did not enjoy it that much. I finished it, but have no desire to read the sequels.
 
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Surrounded By Ahos said:
I really like Scalzi's stuff. Redshirts was a blast, Old Man's War was super cool and the sequels were also great (although I need to read the last two at some point), and I really enjoyed The Collapsing Empire too (still need to read the sequels for that too lol. My backlog of books is immense.)
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The Old Man's War series is on my re-read list. I can't remember how many of them I actually read.

Surrounded By Ahos said:
I read Ringworld a few years back and did not enjoy it that much. I finished it, but have no desire to read the sequels.
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I thought it was fine? Nothing that made me think, "That's really cool," but interesting concepts.
 
I finished Last Argument of Kings just now.


Jesus, that was bleak. I think I need a hug.

Half A Song of Ice and Fire and half Lord of the Rings, but Gandalf turns out to be Saruman in disguise and sets off a fantasy nuke in the middle of Minas Tirith. Most of the POV characters seem to want to do better, but are dragged back down by the past, their circumstances, or their own nature.



That being said, all three books are low-key funny as hell. I guess they need to be to balance out .... all that....
 
Surrounded By Ahos said:
So, like I mentioned, I'm pretty close to finishing Discworld, and I'm pretty undecided on what I should read next. I've narrowed it down to the following choices:

The Black Company
A Wizard of Earthsea
Before They Are Hanged (I read The Blade Itself recently and enjoyed it, but that was in the midst of my Discworld binge and I had bigger fish to fry)
The Brandon Sanderson secret projects
Cloud Cuckoo Land
The Lies of Locke Lamora
Consider Phlebas (I've read a couple other of the Culture novels and thought they were fantastic)



Thoughts/input? Should I just draw a name out of a hat?
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A Wizard of Earthsea itself is aimed at younger readers. But it commences a trilogy series (followed by a second trilogy written some 20-30 years later) that is sort of canon-y for the entire fantasy genre? And pretty beloved....so try it sometime.
 
eramosat said:
A Wizard of Earthsea itself is aimed at younger readers. But it commences a trilogy series (followed by a second trilogy written some 20-30 years later) that is sort of canon-y for the entire fantasy genre? And pretty beloved....so try it sometime.
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There's nothing wrong with YA books, and I've really enjoyed the Le Guin I've read so far (The Dispossessed and The Lathe of Heaven), and I could use a break from 'heavier' stuff after reading Before They Are Hanged and Last Argument of Kings in the span of a month.
 
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Surrounded By Ahos said:
There's nothing wrong with YA books, and I've really enjoyed the Le Guin I've read so far (The Dispossessed and The Lathe of Heaven), and I could use a break from 'heavier' stuff after reading Before They Are Hanged and Last Argument of Kings in the span of a month.
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Brian Jacques got me into fantasy. Rest his soul but I wouldn't be an fantasy reader if I never picked up Redwall from my school library in middle school.
 
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Surrounded By Ahos said:
There's nothing wrong with YA books, and I've really enjoyed the Le Guin I've read so far (The Dispossessed and The Lathe of Heaven), and I could use a break from 'heavier' stuff after reading Before They Are Hanged and Last Argument of Kings in the span of a month.
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as soon as i get through Redshirts and a few other of his books I may finally get on to Percy Jackson..i also may not lol
 
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ajgoal said:
I thought it was fine? Nothing that made me think, "That's really cool," but interesting concepts.
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It just felt a bit dated to me. Maybe it suffered a bit from the 'Seinfeld Isn't Funny' effect where a lot the stuff that followed it covered the same ground so the original lost a bit of its luster.

Chinatown88 said:
Brian Jacques got me into fantasy. Rest his soul but I wouldn't be an fantasy reader if I never picked up Redwall from my school library in middle school.
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I cannot properly express how much I adored those books growing up. Them and the Chronicles of Narnia were what really got me reading as a kid.
 
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BackToTheBrierePatch said:
We finished off For All Mankind yesterday. 4 seasons. Not sure if there will be more. Started off strong, thought the last season plus were kind of up and down. Last episode was good though
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I'm always a fan of alternate history stuff, and combined with NASA/space this was right up my alley.

I feel like it was really good until it got too soap-opera at times
With the whole Danny/Karen Baldwin stuff. UGH. Then the whole plot-line with his brother was annoying as well, although the pay-off with the explosion at the end was at least good.

Some of the Mars stuff was good, but then Danny was back again and self-destructing and sabotaging things. The idea that two North Koreans could be stuffed into a Russian satellite and have the food/water/air to make it to Mars and actually land was massively ridiculous though.

S4 was better at times than S3 IMO... although I'm not sure the ending was as big of a pay-off and the flash-forward felt weaker than previous seasons.
 
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Surrounded By Ahos said:
There's nothing wrong with YA books, and I've really enjoyed the Le Guin I've read so far (The Dispossessed and The Lathe of Heaven), and I could use a break from 'heavier' stuff after reading Before They Are Hanged and Last Argument of Kings in the span of a month.
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Well, you won't regret picking it up, and following thru. I re-read the 2nd book Tombs of Atuan regularly, just such a compelling combo of character and perspective and setting.

p.s. Tombs of Atuan also skews YA because the PoV is that of a child. But quite a child.
 
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eramosat said:
A Wizard of Earthsea itself is aimed at younger readers. But it commences a trilogy series (followed by a second trilogy written some 20-30 years later) that is sort of canon-y for the entire fantasy genre? And pretty beloved....so try it sometime.
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Wizard of earthsea is kinda weird for me. Ursula le guin is such a fantastic writer in her adult stuff, and I realize wizard of earthsea is written for YA but it's like she completely dumbs down her writing too. Found the first two books pretty bland and boring. I'm sure I'll get to the rest just for the sake of it, but the quality to me is far below her other stuff.

It's kind of like cs lewis where I don't get the big deal with lion witch and wardrobe. It's okay. I guess it's more famous than it should be because it's elevated by the Christian community? Cs lewis is a much better writer In his other works, imo. Although he always seems to lose the thread on stories haha.
 
EXTRAS said:
Wizard of earthsea is kinda weird for me. Ursula le guin is such a fantastic writer in her adult stuff, and I realize wizard of earthsea is written for YA but it's like she completely dumbs down her writing too. Found the first two books pretty bland and boring. I'm sure I'll get to the rest just for the sake of it, but the quality to me is far below her other stuff.

It's kind of like cs lewis where I don't get the big deal with lion witch and wardrobe. It's okay. I guess it's more famous than it should be because it's elevated by the Christian community? Cs lewis is a much better writer In his other works, imo. Although he always seems to lose the thread on stories haha.
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no disagreement...it was YA aimed. I read them as a YA, and enjoyed them a lot, definitely before I read LOTR or any other fantasy...and you know how it is with childhood favorites, they can endure.

similar response re: the Narnia books...it's (primarily) for children.
 
I just finished A Wizard of Earthsea. That was a wonderful book and anybody who skips it because it’s for ‘young adults’ is doing themselves a disservice. It took me a while to get used to the prose and lack of exposition, but once I did I was hooked. I think I read the back half in one sitting. Man I wish I had read it 20 years ago.
 
Flybynite said:
I'm always a fan of alternate history stuff, and combined with NASA/space this was right up my alley.

I feel like it was really good until it got too soap-opera at times
With the whole Danny/Karen Baldwin stuff. UGH. Then the whole plot-line with his brother was annoying as well, although the pay-off with the explosion at the end was at least good.

Some of the Mars stuff was good, but then Danny was back again and self-destructing and sabotaging things. The idea that two North Koreans could be stuffed into a Russian satellite and have the food/water/air to make it to Mars and actually land was massively ridiculous though.

S4 was better at times than S3 IMO... although I'm not sure the ending was as big of a pay-off and the flash-forward felt weaker than previous seasons.
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Yeah that was ridiculous.
 
Surrounded By Ahos said:
I just finished A Wizard of Earthsea. That was a wonderful book and anybody who skips it because it’s for ‘young adults’ is doing themselves a disservice. It took me a while to get used to the prose and lack of exposition, but once I did I was hooked. I think I read the back half in one sitting. Man I wish I had read it 20 years ago.
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I am very glad to hear you enjoyed it so much! LeGuin is a precious treasure. And you have a few books to look forward to now...spread them out if you can.

The next one...Tombs of Atuan...has been on my re-read for enjoyment list for a long time. Very satisfying.
 
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eramosat said:
I am very glad to hear you enjoyed it so much! LeGuin is a precious treasure. And you have a few books to look forward to now...spread them out if you can.

The next one...Tombs of Atuan...has been on my re-read for enjoyment list for a long time. Very satisfying.
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I wouldn't say I enjoyed it. I absorbed it. A Wizard of Earthsea is a part of me now, in a way that few other novels are. I've only read a couple of other works by Le Guin (The Dispossesed and The Lathe of Heaven) but her worldview has become a significant part of mine.

Ged talking with Murre near the climax is a dialogue that will stick with me forever.


Staying his knife on the carved wood, Murre asked, "What of death?"
The girl listened, her shining black head bent down.
"For a word to be spoken," Ged answered slowly, "there must be silence. Before and after."
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Somehow simultaneously terrifying and comforting.



Tombs of Atuan is probably next on my list of books to read. I started The Traitor Baru Cormorant today, but once I finish that I think I'll have to return to Earthsea.
 
BackToTheBrierePatch said:
We finished off For All Mankind yesterday. 4 seasons. Not sure if there will be more. Started off strong, thought the last season plus were kind of up and down. Last episode was good though
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The Spot series and dr Seuss got me into reading.

The sequel to mongol moon,
dance with Devils came out about a month ago. Life kept me from it, but I’m halfway through now.
Damn good book, the author really does a good job with a near future alternative present day type almost Tom Clancy-esq novel.
 
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