Binti by Nnedi Okorafor, the 2016 hugo and nebula winner for best novella, is not good. It's sf not fantasy but the protagonist is basically magical, she has a mysterious artefact which is a pure deus ex machina, and the mud she uses for tribal body painting turns out to be magically beneficial to the alien antagonists. To have one magical plot resolving device in a 100 page novella might be regarded as misfortune, but to have three...
― ledge, Friday, 26 May 2017 08:07 (seven years ago) link
so this Paul Park book is p incredible, you guys should get on this
― Οὖτις, Friday, 26 May 2017 15:42 (seven years ago) link
Thanks, will have a look see.
Lafferty a trinity unto himself
― The Pickety 33⅓ Policeman (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 26 May 2017 16:10 (seven years ago) link
also taking my first dip into James Blish's short fiction. Seems to have a tendency toward glib or facile "twist" endings but there's great ideas and writing along the way. The collection I'm currently reading ("Galactic Cluster") is mostly early 50s stuff. Have yet to come across anything on the same level as "Surface Tension".
― Οὖτις, Friday, 26 May 2017 16:16 (seven years ago) link
"Common Time"!
― The Pickety 33⅓ Policeman (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 26 May 2017 18:31 (seven years ago) link
you read the cities in flight books already? everyone needs spindizzy in their life.
― scott seward, Friday, 26 May 2017 18:44 (seven years ago) link
ha yeah I just finished "Common Time", which I really enjoyed apart from some of the psychobabble wrap-up at the end. haven't read any of his novels yet
― Οὖτις, Friday, 26 May 2017 19:09 (seven years ago) link
don't know if you really need to read all four CiF books but the first two are very cool.
― scott seward, Friday, 26 May 2017 19:49 (seven years ago) link
my wife used to have a bunch of his Star Trek novels. idk for some reason I just never felt compelled to investigate, just assumed he was kinda a mainstream hack-y writer/decent editor until I read "Surface Tension".
― Οὖτις, Friday, 26 May 2017 19:50 (seven years ago) link
cities in flight one of the biggies of sf. and influential.
― scott seward, Friday, 26 May 2017 20:54 (seven years ago) link
What about "A Work of Art"?
― The Pickety 33⅓ Policeman (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 27 May 2017 01:05 (seven years ago) link
Found a rave review by Crowley of the Paul Park book Shakey is reading, as well as various used/antiquarian bookstores selling Tom Disch's personal, inscribed copies of Park's books, some with Disch's letter of blurbage inside, in his own hand or from his own typewriter.
― Guidonian Handsworth Revolution (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 29 May 2017 14:58 (seven years ago) link
Actually I remember trying to read a YA book he wrote that came with a lot of stellar recommendations and being underwhelmed by the writing.
― Guidonian Handsworth Revolution (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 29 May 2017 17:02 (seven years ago) link
enjoying Gridlinked by Neal Asher. his first book from 2001 and he's written a novel a year since then. and they are all mostly set in the same universe with some of the same characters/worlds popping up. would definitely read more. his wiki describes his stuff as post-cyberpunk space opera and that about sums it up. gritty and violent and vast. he's inventive too. lots of cool science stuff.
― scott seward, Tuesday, 30 May 2017 01:53 (seven years ago) link
Omg @ Blish's "Work of Art", what a story. A bit of Flowers for Algernon now that I think about it.
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 30 May 2017 02:24 (seven years ago) link
Hadn't seen this Sheckley collection before----part of NYRB Father's Day sale:
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0726/9203/products/store-of-the-worlds_1024x1024.jpg?v=1428420074
Also wondering about these Priest and Wyndham books at bottom of same page:https://www.nyrb.com/collections/fathers-day-sale/products/store-of-the-worlds?variant=1094931409
― dow, Wednesday, 7 June 2017 01:11 (seven years ago) link
Have you read Priest's 'Inverted World'? It's brilliant, and mind-boggling in the best way.― James Morrison, Monday, January 26, 2009 5:47 PM (eight years ago) Bookmark Flag Post PermalinkIs there anyone left on this borad who hasn't read Inverted World?― Jesperson, I think we're lost (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, March 10, 2016 10:34 PM (one year ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― James Morrison, Monday, January 26, 2009 5:47 PM (eight years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Is there anyone left on this borad who hasn't read Inverted World?
― Jesperson, I think we're lost (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, March 10, 2016 10:34 PM (one year ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― mookieproof, Wednesday, 7 June 2017 01:45 (seven years ago) link
Inverted World is a masterpiece, I should really own a copy
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 7 June 2017 01:47 (seven years ago) link
Chocky isnt bad
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 7 June 2017 01:48 (seven years ago) link
Wyndham?
― Guidonian Handsworth Revolution (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 7 June 2017 01:57 (seven years ago) link
Oh, sorry just scrolled up. Get the Sheckley too, Don.
― Guidonian Handsworth Revolution (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 7 June 2017 01:58 (seven years ago) link
Unless you have already read all the stories in it
― Guidonian Handsworth Revolution (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 7 June 2017 01:59 (seven years ago) link
anyone read Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky? it's the only vaguely sf thing that i haven't read in this month's cheap amazon monthly list.
― koogs, Wednesday, 7 June 2017 08:17 (seven years ago) link
I've been curious about him for awhile because of stuff ilxor lamp has posted about him
― or at night (Jon not Jon), Wednesday, 7 June 2017 13:34 (seven years ago) link
i enjoyed children of time. some interesting ideas that are maybe 70% thought through within the framework of an entertaining narrative. i remember the politics struck me as a lil suspect but possibly unintentionally so.
― Roberto Spiralli, Wednesday, 7 June 2017 14:47 (seven years ago) link
It's 99p, I'm not sure why I'm worried. (600pp though)
― koogs, Wednesday, 7 June 2017 18:03 (seven years ago) link
Is it me or is it remarkable that this blish story ("this earth of ours") from 1959 mentions "lysergic acid grenades"? Who was hip to LSD back then?
― Οὖτις, Saturday, 10 June 2017 03:29 (seven years ago) link
Also features an open and explicitly gay character, which also seems unusual
― Οὖτις, Saturday, 10 June 2017 03:36 (seven years ago) link
On both counts, maybe he was thinking of Allen Ginsberg? It was legal then and used in psychotherapy sometimes----Cary Grant said it really helped---Henry and Clair Booth Luce took it, dunno if it helped them, but Roger Sterling and one of his wives took it in marriage counseling, realized it was time to part amicably (although that was in the 60s, but it wasn't a Controlled Substance 'til 1965, I think?)---Ken Kesey volunteered to take part in a sanctioned experiment while working at the hospital which inspired One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest and well you know---also:https://erowid.org/chemicals/lsd/lsd_timeline.php
― dow, Saturday, 10 June 2017 03:50 (seven years ago) link
Is the open and explicitly gay character also evil? Otherwise, this was pretty unusual too!Sturgeon wrote many stories during the Golden Age of Science Fiction that emphasised the importance of love, regardless of the current social norms. In his short story "The World Well Lost" (1953), first published in Universe magazine, homosexual alien fugitives and unrequited (and taboo) human homosexual love are portrayed. The tagline for the Universe cover was "His most daring story";[30] its sensitive treatment of homosexuality was unusual for science fiction published at that time, and it is now regarded as a milestone in science fiction's portrayal of homosexuality.[31] According to an anecdote related by Samuel R. Delany, when Sturgeon first submitted the story, the editor (John W. Campbell) not only rejected it but phoned every other editor he knew and urged them to reject it as well.[32][33] Sturgeon would later write Affair with a Green Monkey, which examined social stereotyping of homosexuals, and in 1960 published Venus Plus X, in which a single-gender society is depicted and the protagonist's homophobia portrayed unfavourably.[22] from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_themes_in_speculative_fictionWonder how he got Campbell to accept it after all? Universe was a pretty interesting mag, but didn't know about that story.
― dow, Saturday, 10 June 2017 04:02 (seven years ago) link
Blish's character is def a stereotype (a pouty, effeminate poet) but no he is not evil, he fits more of an "unexpectedly resourceful sidekick" role
― Οὖτις, Saturday, 10 June 2017 13:24 (seven years ago) link
The LSD ref is a one line throwaway that has no bearing on the plot, which makes it even more strange to me - like its just a ref to contemporary science stuff added for color.
― Οὖτις, Saturday, 10 June 2017 13:26 (seven years ago) link
He must have picked it up from some research paper or scientific journal
― Οὖτις, Saturday, 10 June 2017 13:27 (seven years ago) link
Best of Subterranean: will prob check out a used copy (pre-order for trade pb is $45, ouch)
http://subterraneanpress.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/b/e/best_of_sub_press-cvr_names.jpg
― dow, Monday, 12 June 2017 16:24 (seven years ago) link
is it pretty fat?
― or at night (Jon not Jon), Monday, 12 June 2017 17:28 (seven years ago) link
30 stories, 700 pages. Oh wow, Amazon's takig pre-orders of the *hardback* for $27.21, free shipping (but still I'll prob wait for a nice used copy). More info here: https://www.amazon.com/Best-Subterranean-William-Schafer/dp/159606837Xand on the publisher's site ("not signing" refers to the autographed edition, I take it):
From Kirkus (Starred Review):
“Vampires and wizards and aliens, oh my! A splendid gathering, from the late lamented magazine, of modern science fiction and fantasy. Like the best of the 1950s pulps, Subterranean magazine did not cavil much about genre distinctions: if a sci-fi story strayed into horror or swords and sorcery, that was fine, so long as the story in question was good… Fans of every stripe of speculative fiction will want this on their shelves.”
Table of Contents:
Perfidia—Lewis ShinerGame—Maria Dahvana HeadleyThe Last Log of the Lachrimosa—Alastair ReynoldsThe Seventeenth Kind—Michael Marshall SmithDispersed by the Sun, Melting in the Wind—Rachel SwirskyThe Pile—Michael BishopThe Bohemian Astrobleme—Kage Baker (not signing)Tanglefoot—Cherie PriestHide and Horns—Joe R. LansdaleBalfour and Meriwether in the Vampire of Kabul—Daniel AbrahamLast Breath—Joe HillYounger Women—Karen Joy FowlerWhite Lines on a Green Field—Catherynne M. ValenteThe Least of the Deathly Arts—Kat HowardWater Can’t be Nervous—Jonathan CarrollValley of the Girls—Kelly LinkSic Him, Hellhound! Kill! Kill!—Hal DuncanTroublesolving—Tim PrattThe Indelible Dark—William Browning SpencerThe Prayer of Ninety Cats—Caitlín R. KiernanThe Crane Method—Ian R. MacLeodThe Tomb of the Pontifex Dvorn—Robert Silverberg (not signing)The Toys of Caliban (script)—George R. R. MartinThe Secret History of the Lost Colony—John ScalziThe Screams of Dragons—Kelley ArmstrongThe Dry Spell—James P. BlaylockHe Who Grew Up Reading Sherlock Holmes—Harlan Ellison® (not signing)A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong—K. J. ParkerThe Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling—Ted ChiangA Long Walk Home—Jay Lake (not signing)
― dow, Monday, 12 June 2017 20:00 (seven years ago) link
that's a p impressive list of authors
― Οὖτις, Monday, 12 June 2017 20:01 (seven years ago) link
Would recommend Simn Morden: At the Speed of Light to anyone here like James Redd who enjoyed Carter Scholz, Ian Sales, etc
― Mince Pramthwart (James Morrison), Tuesday, 13 June 2017 02:48 (seven years ago) link
Will check out, thanks
― Guidonian Handsworth Revolution (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 13 June 2017 03:00 (seven years ago) link
Also he's Simon and i cannot type
― Mince Pramthwart (James Morrison), Tuesday, 13 June 2017 08:09 (seven years ago) link
Figured that out.
― Guidonian Handsworth Revolution (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 13 June 2017 11:19 (seven years ago) link
Started reading Jack McDevitt's Deepsix. McDevitt is apparently the heir to Asimov, Clarke, Anderson, Simak, AND Pohl. Hey, blurbs don't lie.
― scott seward, Tuesday, 13 June 2017 17:14 (seven years ago) link
Is there a realist oil painting of a spaceship on the cover
― or at night (Jon not Jon), Tuesday, 13 June 2017 18:03 (seven years ago) link
it's actually not too realist. i like his covers. they make me want to read them.
http://www.sfreviews.com/graphics/Jack%20McDevitt_2001_Deepsix.jpg
― scott seward, Wednesday, 14 June 2017 04:17 (seven years ago) link
i like the font on a lot of his paperbacks...
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/514mc6OXDTL._SX308_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg
― scott seward, Wednesday, 14 June 2017 04:21 (seven years ago) link
Reading Ubik, my first PDK. It's good so far! Read eight pages. The writing is *way* more graceful than High Castle, which I found almost unreadable.
― Chuck_Tatum, Wednesday, 14 June 2017 13:12 (seven years ago) link
I mean, actually unreadable, because I couldn't finish it.
Ubik is amazing. Definitely in the top 5 of the 15 or so pkd i have read
― or at night (Jon not Jon), Wednesday, 14 June 2017 14:54 (seven years ago) link
yeah it's peak PKD
High Castle is overrated imo
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 14 June 2017 15:00 (seven years ago) link
Yeah, feel like there is too much, um, naturalism and not enough paranoia.
― Guidonian Handsworth Revolution (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 14 June 2017 15:12 (seven years ago) link