01-18-2015, 11:43 PM | #46 |
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Sounds interesting, Timoleon. Unfortunately, I'm on a tight budget right now, but I will keep an eye out for deals.
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01-18-2015, 11:46 PM | #47 |
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I don't know if they are in ebook format but the Lucky Starr books by Asimov are fun reads.
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01-19-2015, 12:09 AM | #48 |
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01-20-2015, 09:43 PM | #49 |
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01-20-2015, 10:00 PM | #50 |
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I can suggest several:
Dragon's Egg and its sequel Starquake by Robert L. Forward Warp Speed and its sequel The Quantum Connection by Travis S. Taylor (which I mentioned before as I review this thread) The Exiles Trilogy by Ben Bova The Sands of Mars by Arthur C. Clarke The City at Worlds end by Edmund Hamilton Farmer in the Sky by Robert A. Heinlein Not sure all of them are in ebook format but most should be. The Taylor books can be found through Baen. Last edited by crich70; 01-21-2015 at 01:16 AM. |
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01-22-2015, 12:35 AM | #51 | |
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For wacky hijinks the series is awesome. For a deeper take on issues Andre Norton or Elizabeth Moon's Paksenarrion series beats Bujold all hollow. |
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01-22-2015, 12:40 AM | #52 | |
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And then there's the skin color of the cast - mostly various shades of pasty. Coming from mostly European cultures. In a galaxy supposedly colonized by the entire earth, where non-pasty outnumbers pasty by a significant amount? Right. The plot of Cryoburn is 'Space!Asia drowns under the weight of tradition and secret corruption. Rich white hero parachutes into expose the corruption, rescue the damsel in distress and save the day!' And it gets better (or worse) - the whole reason Miles shows up is potentially disruptive trade. I'm not sure if Bujold realized she was hearkening back to British imperialism in Asia, but she sure did. Kind of like Terry Pratchett - he plays up Wiccanism kind of hard in a few of his books and it gets to be a bit much, especially when he runs down organized religion elsewhere. Mercedes Lackey also does something similar - the Heralds are massively creepy but that doesn't fit into the fluffy-light-we're-great image she gives them and it's very jarring. I think Larry Correia does something similar on the opposite side of the political spectrum, although I haven't read any of his books and don't intend too. People do this on all sides of the political spectrum - setting up books as thought experiments and letting the preaching get in the way of consistency - and I find it makes the books worse regardless of which specific ideology is being preached. It's why I view Bujold as a decent adventure midlister but not a great author. EDIT: Basically, I don't get the impression that Bujold thinks people are people. The Vorkosigan series very much gave me the impression that she thinks people who think like her are people. And the others just sort of don't exist. Or are crazy. It's actually a series that pegs a lot of people as 'other' very strongly. Which is fine for wacky fantasy hijinks adventure tales that aren't meant seriously, but does mean that I only recommend the series with caveats. And certainly don't consider it to have 'big ideas' or really deal with outsider characters. Last edited by Rbneader; 01-22-2015 at 09:01 AM. |
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01-23-2015, 02:50 PM | #53 |
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Based on what you listed as all time favorites, of which I've read all - I'd recommend
The Real Story: The Gap Into Conflict - Stephen R. Donaldson Startide Rising (and The Uplift War) - David Brin Downbelow Station - CJ Cherryh (or The Pride of Chanur if you want a different take on "aliens". She does the best aliens in sci-fi) For The Win - Cory Doctorow You read Anathem, didnt like Quicksilver or Snow Crash or Reamde as much? I did. ps: It's not sci-fi/fantasy, but if you want to get tied into a couple things that are complex and long and you might love (since your 4 favorites are in my top 10)... Try Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian (starting a 20 book series) and The Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett. Game of Kings, wow.. you'll hate the main character for 80% of the first book, but .. words fail me, .. Several times in the 6 book series I had to put the book down to think and catch my breath since I may have quit breathing there hehe.. actually threw it across the room, I was so taken by surprise a couple times. Last edited by wayspooled; 01-23-2015 at 03:06 PM. |
01-23-2015, 05:46 PM | #54 |
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The only one I haven't read and enjoyed, wayspooled, is For the Win, for which I must seek now, because I do like Doctorow.
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01-23-2015, 06:21 PM | #55 |
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I had a quick read of the first chapter of The Summer Tree. A shockingly poor first impression, the main characters are so poorly drawn, if at all. It does get better than this right?
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01-23-2015, 06:30 PM | #56 | |
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There are so many things I really enjoy and admire about Malazan but damn Erikson loves repeating his archetypes. If you took Redmasks dialog from book seven so far and replaced Awl with Teblor and his name with Karsa it would fit shockingly well. I think I am finally done with the series. |
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01-23-2015, 08:46 PM | #57 | |
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Oh, and in book 7 I am glad to see Spoiler:
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01-24-2015, 09:27 AM | #58 | |
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As for Hamilton I've read Pandoras Start and Judas Unchanged, both great fun and damn is the man good a titling his novels! I've also read a good chunk of The Reality Disfunction but was completely turned off by what the threat turned out to be. |
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01-24-2015, 09:34 AM | #59 | |
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I'd offer up: The Expanse series by James SA Corey (pseudonym for the writing team of Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck). Four books and counting but the first three represent a relatively complete arc. Paul Kearney's Monarchies of God series. (the omnibus version has a reworked ending that expands on what many thought was a "rushed" ending originally--though I had no beef with the original) Greg Keyes's Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone series. The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon The Spin Trilogy by Chris Moriarty Brian Ruckley's Godless World Charles Stross's Singularity duology Ian Tregillis's Milkweed Triptych The Eternal Sky Trilogy by Elizabeth Bear Last edited by DiapDealer; 01-24-2015 at 10:07 AM. |
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01-24-2015, 09:47 AM | #60 | ||
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