Looking for sci-fi/fantasy recommendations

[taosaur]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

As I whole, I liked the Takes from the Golden Age of the Solar Clipper by Nathan Lowell. I did think that last book went off in a different direction and didn't really care that much for it, but really enjoyed the rest of them.

Fair enough. I still enjoyed it, especially the calmer part where they were just running the cruise ship. I read the second Ishmael Wang series not too long ago, picking up just after the first series, and it was more satisfying nautically themed space opera with minimal (but not entirely absent) pew-pew.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by taosaur

Fair enough. I still enjoyed it, especially the calmer part where they were just running the cruise ship. I read the second Ishmael Wang series not too long ago, picking up just after the first series, and it was more satisfying nautically themed space opera with minimal (but not entirely absent) pew-pew.

Not sure what pew-pew is. I didn't realize there was a second series. I'll have to give it a try.

[ReadingManiac]

Anyone else ever read the Godstalker series by P.C. Hodgell?

[OverHaze]

Originally Posted by taosaur

My fantasy time has been dominated by a first listen of the Wheel of Time series. I'm on the final volume now, on track to finish almost exactly a year from starting book one, with just a couple interludes of other audio (well, a full re-listen/read of the Stormlight Archives so far, finishing with the latest).

Stormlight is outstanding, if you're willing to jump into a series that's likely a decade or two from completion. Greg Bear's lone fantasy work from the '80s, Songs of Earth and Power (first published in two volumes, The Infinity Concerto and The Serpent Mage), is worth a read if you've overlooked it.

In sci-fi, I've dug some good stuff out of Kindle Unlimited on my two trial/sale runs this past year:

Tales from the Golden Age of the Solar Clipper, Nathan Lowell
The Bobiverse Trilogy, Dennis E. Taylor

Currently I'm reading Douglas Phillips' Quantum Void, right on the heels of Quantum Space. The prose and characterization are nothing special, but the hard sci-fi foundation and space-operatic expansion of the premises are satisfying.

I don't go through enough books to make KU worthwhile at the normal pricing, but there is some good stuff in there.

How did you find The Wheel of Time? I've thought about reading it many times but its a heck of a commitment!

[ApK]

Originally Posted by OverHaze

How did you find The Wheel of Time?

Turned left at the W aisle.

[taosaur]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

Not sure what pew-pew is...

Traditional laser noise, used to denote armed conflict, particularly with unconventional weapons (lasers, magic attacks, even bows).

Originally Posted by OverHaze

How did you find The Wheel of Time? I've thought about reading it many times but its a heck of a commitment!

I tried starting it several times and found the prologue so melodramatic and the first chapter so cliche (young man from a farming village heading into town, where a mysterious stranger has arrived) that I couldn't get into it, but once I pushed past that stuff, the setting is actually pretty unique. The overall tone is more in line with the darker Brothers Grimm tales than Tolkien, the monsters fairly simple grotesques with a folk tale feel to them.

At the same time, postmodern influences are obvious. If you're into comparative mythology, Jordan draws on several existing and a few antiquated religions for his world building. He constantly undercuts his characters' perspective on events, giving all of them obvious biases. New book parts frequently start with a catalogue of wildly distorted rumors circulating about the events and political situations up to that point. Everyone is treated as an unreliable narrator, and a number of alternate realities come into play, and of course the refrain that starts every volume reminds us that all of this has happened before in endless repetition with the turning of the Wheel, subtly questioning whether there is any fixed set of events that actually happened.

The cosmological and ontological subtleties are undercut somewhat by Jordan's apparent arrested development: every character, whether 15 or 3000 years old, has the internal life of an adolescent. They're still decently defined, relatable characters, but the whole epic battle of good and evil sometimes feels like a high school lunchroom squabble. Much of the prose has a satirical quality that does lend it interest, but the depth of the satire seems to be, "Everyone is always theorizing about the opposite sex, and often both sides are leveling the same stereotypes at each other." The result is a sometimes tiresome repetition of "Boys be like..." "Girls be like..." in the dialogue and internal monologues. When Sanderson takes over the series, a lot of the subtleties are lost, but it is nice that several of the adult characters are allowed to grow up.

As for the common criticisms, people say the events and conflicts are repetitive, but I didn't find it so. As fantasy series go, I thought Jordan did a good job of maintaining an advancing narrative, events building on each other and political situations unfolding, characters and nations changing in response to events. People also say it bogs down in the middle, and I did hit a wall somewhere around book 5 or 6, but before and after that it kept pulling me along pretty consistently.

ETA: My perspective of the overall pace and narrative is probably quite different, going into the series knowing it's finished and in how many books, and having read a lot of post-WoT epic fantasy, compared to someone reading each volume as it came out.

[GlenBarrington]

Originally Posted by ApK

Turned left at the W aisle.

You can also find it in the aisle that contains series that never end and never advance the plot. I'm pretty sure the Wheel of Time can be found in a hamster cage.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by ReadingManiac

Anyone else ever read the Godstalker series by P.C. Hodgell?

Yep, really liked that series.

[OverHaze]

So I'm just going to ask the. Battlefield Earth... worth reading? It's Hubbard with all the baggage that brings with it but when you see both Neil Gaiman and Brandon Sanderson are fans of the book its hard not the be a bit curious.

[Dngrsone]

In my opinion, BattleField Earth is worth reading. That other series of Hubbards--Mission Earth?--is purely pulp. I got all ten books at $1 a piece back in the day, and discovered that it wasn't worth that.

[gmw]

Originally Posted by Dngrsone

In my opinion, BattleField Earth is worth reading. That other series of Hubbards--Mission Earth?--is purely pulp. I got all ten books at $1 a piece back in the day, and discovered that it wasn't worth that.

This covers my experience too. BattleField Earth was fun (rubbish, but still a fun read). Mission Earth? ... I hear there's a paint drying film on tonight, that sounds exciting!

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by ReadingManiac

Anyone else ever read the Godstalker series by P.C. Hodgell?

Yes, I recommend it. A solid 4/5, and I remember if fondly.

[varlog]

Originally Posted by OverHaze

So I'm just going to ask the. Battlefield Earth... worth reading? It's Hubbard with all the baggage that brings with it but when you see both Neil Gaiman and Brandon Sanderson are fans of the book its hard not the be a bit curious.

I'm a fan of Gaiman, not so much of Sanderson, whose ending of WoT, IMO, was just a fantasy, not quite up to Jordan's uniqueness.
My guess is they have read "Battlefield Earth" in their teens - and never repeated the experience. The adventure part of it could be appealing to a young reader perhaps, but you have to be very young not to notice the shallowness of characters and stupidity of plots.

[gmw]

Originally Posted by varlog

I'm a fan of Gaiman, not so much of Sanderson, whose ending of WoT, IMO, was just a fantasy, not quite up to Jordan's uniqueness.
My guess is they have read "Battlefield Earth" in their teens - and never repeated the experience. The adventure part of it could be appealing to a young reader perhaps, but you have to be very young not to notice the shallowness of characters and stupidity of plots.

Oh my goodness, should I take that to heart? I have no idea what Hubbard intended, but I thought it was fun - once. (Years ago now, but definitely not a teenager. I do admit that I've not been tempted to go back again.) I remember it as being sort of like watching a Terminator movie or something; you're not in it for the deep thoughts, just the amusement.

This reminds me, indirectly, of the movie Broken Arrow. (Mostly because John Travolta was also in a movie version of Battlefield Earth, though I've never watched it - 2.4 stars on IMDB, cout-em', two-point-four! One of the reviews says "true to the book" - maybe I'd like it after all ). Broken Arrow is an appalling movie, so cheesy you could slice it, but it always puts a smile on my face.

[varlog]

Originally Posted by gmw

Oh my goodness, should I take that to heart? ....

Please don't do that...

To give it a new twist: I first saw a film and... rather liked it! Not the Best of ...whatever, but the pace, atmosphere and visuals were ok for me. The magic of good actors?
Then I've read the book and never wanted to read anything of Hubbard again.