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Anyway, to return to the topic of ancient slavery, working on The Economy of Prostitution in the Roman World: Social History and the Brothel by Thomas McGinn.
Also recently read Slaves and Masters in the Roman Empire: A Study in Social Control by Keith Bradley, and finished a reread of Finley's classic Ancient Slavery and Modern Ideology.
Perdido Street Station is a really good book, but yeah, unlike Mièville's later ones it suffers a bit from "look at my great big vocabulary" syndrome.Have you ever read any of Stephen Donaldson's Thomas Covenant books? Very much the same thing. Which makes me curious about reading Perdido Street Station...
No. I got into fantasy in the late 90:s, and Donaldson never sounded interesting to me.
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No. I got into fantasy in the late 90:s, and Donaldson never sounded interesting to me.
Have you ever read any of Stephen Donaldson's Thomas Covenant books? Very much the same thing. Which makes me curious about reading Perdido Street Station...
I haven't tried to reread them lately; I think they've been visited by the Suck Fairy since I first read them.
I just finished The Obelisk Gate, the second volume of Nora Jemisin's Broken Earth trilogy. It was very good, though it suffered a bit from middle volume syndrome compared to The Fifth Season.
I just finished "A Vintage from Atlantis", which is I think the third in the complete works of Clark Ashton Smith (CAS), having read the two (?) previous volumes
As mentioned previously these worked, from the very beginning of volume one, are presented in rough order of story completion, although some works took a few years to actually make it into print. It's been providing a really fascinating read. Earlier volumes...were troubled in various ways. First, CAS was generally pretty horrible when he tried his hands at pulp science fiction; most of these works were pretty cliche and formulaic, exposition heavy, and just in general have not aged well. CAS was far more effective when penning horror and fantasy.
It's to my great relief than to report that the 3rd volume is mostly free of pulpy sci-fi tales of adventure. Their IS still quite a decent spread of science fiction, but almost all of these have dark endings. Most interestingly however (IMHO), at least one story "The Plutonium Drug" represents CAS dabbling in a more straightforward science fiction writing, and this story seems like something more from the 50's than the 1930s.
The horror is wide and varied, and we get our first introduction to Zothique, a fantasy setting that would be a major inspiration for The Dying Earth series. We get martian parasites, ghoul-halfbreeds, killer plants, decadent necromancers, and undead colossi. So no shortages of monsters and interesting plots to read about.
I don't know how much of this was improvement in craftmanship or recognition of where his strengths lay, but this was a great volume that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend.
Finished up Reading the Man and I hate Lee a bit more now. Brown didn't have much to tell me that I didn't already know the broad strokes of, but the details reflect even worse on him. I wish she'd spent a bit more time engaging with the historiography, though. She takes the correct swipes at Douglas Southall Freeman (who we know believed he was lying to improve Lee's reputation) and the Marble Man legend in general, but I feel like she could have done more.
Now I'll be starting up Michael Morrison's Slavery and the American West: The Eclipse of Manifest Destiny. I suspect it might also be old news, but it's short and I've mostly dealt with the territorial question from Washington.
Ray Bradbury's The Illustrated Man. It was one of my favorites when I was maybe 12, but I'm not sure I have the same opinion now. Some of the stories ("The Rocket Man") I'm finding quite moving now that I'm an adult with a kid of my own; others ("The Man") I'm finding overly-preachy to the point of being obnoxiously grating. My favorite as a kid ("The Veldt") just seems not to have stood up very well.
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Finished "White Night" (Dresden Files #9) and am going to try to finish "Guns Of Avalon" (Amber #2) over the weekend. Other than that, I may pick up The Forever War, as my current mood is very much anti-military and that book can hum a pretty tune to this kind of vibe, or so I hear. Meanwhile, I continue to drill through Proxima on Audio, which in the past month vexed me by staying just interesting enough to keep me going with it.
On many fronts, this is a standard-issue Dresden Files book. The mix of action, investigation, humor and intrigue that are the main attraction to the series are all present. All the quirks of the series are here too - Harry being a shade sexist (his increasing self awareness of the fact does little to deter him), vampires again being he main bad guys, and a crew of the usual characters who fade in and out of events.
In many other ways, White Night is a revolutionary entry into this sequence. It manages to beautifully build upon the mythology and history of the setting to tell a compelling story much greater than the sum of its individual parts. What seemingly starts out as a standard looking murder mystery is woven seamlessly into the larger series narrative, and as the plot moves on the stakes become higher and higher as it becomes clear that Harry is again standing smack in the middle of events that may shape the outcome of the war between the White Council and the Red Court, even as the shadowy Black Council (led by the fearsome Darth Bathrobe, to use Harry's own words) pulls the strings behind the curtain. We even get some long awaited snippets of information about the special nature of Harry's Birth and his role in combating the machinations of... well, whoever the bad guys are.
As I've said before, DF has earned the deep and meaningful relationships between its characters rightfully. There are many touching moments - as Harry interacts with Murphy, Elain, Molly, Thomas, Mouse-hack, even Lasciel and Marcone, you can feel the bonds he has with them, the respect. You can see how much they all matured as they work well with each other and risk themselves for one another's safety. They have quite moments, intimate moments, and a shared past. This book doesn't really push any relationship anywhere new, but it picks up the strands that previous books left and thickens them with moire substance.
I was even sad when Lash died -although I' m about 90% sure that her behaving as if Harry was getting to her and turning her good was all part of her act, her ruthless, calculating patience leading her to believe this is the weakness in his character that she can exploit to make him trust her.
All in all, while I prefer the bigger Dresden Files stories, the kind that shake up the status Quo and move the bigger plot big steps forward, this book was still wonderful. Packed with great action, great humor and great emotional resonance and character development, White Night was a quickread that I enjoyed thoroughly and made me fall in love with the series even more.
After I don't even know how many months (three? four? five?), a dozen or so reader's circle meetings and 300ish or so pages, I finally finished Chapter 10 of Capital.
Shiznit finally got good.
All the earlier stuff was fine, but, seriously, up to here I was of the opinion that I'd tell new recruits "Really, all you need to read is Value, Price and Profit and Mandel's An Introduction to Marxist Economics and you'll be good."
This, though, I like.
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Ray Bradbury's The Illustrated Man. It was one of my favorites when I was maybe 12, but I'm not sure I have the same opinion now. Some of the stories ("The Rocket Man") I'm finding quite moving now that I'm an adult with a kid of my own; others ("The Man") I'm finding overly-preachy to the point of being obnoxiously grating. My favorite as a kid ("The Veldt") just seems not to have stood up very well.
Is The Man the one where Jesus is hopping around the planets and this one guy is trying to catch up and see him? I think it's one of the most anti-religious things I've ever read, though it was clear to me even at age fourteen that Bradbury thought just the opposite.
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Ray Bradbury's The Illustrated Man. It was one of my favorites when I was maybe 12, but I'm not sure I have the same opinion now. Some of the stories ("The Rocket Man") I'm finding quite moving now that I'm an adult with a kid of my own; others ("The Man") I'm finding overly-preachy to the point of being obnoxiously grating. My favorite as a kid ("The Veldt") just seems not to have stood up very well.Is The Man the one where Jesus is hopping around the planets and this one guy is trying to catch up and see him? I think it's one of the most anti-religious things I've ever read, though it was clear to me even at age fourteen that Bradbury thought just the opposite.
I thought the point of that one was that Catch-Up Guy was trying to get to a planet before the crucifixion-analog event happened, and when he missed that he moved on to the next planet right away and didn't stick around for the resurrection.
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Finally finished The Dark Defiles by Richard K. Morgan. What a weak ending for such a great trilogy! It was maybe 100 pages too long, and instead of finishing strongly, left a bunch of loose threads dangling.
Sorry for the long necro, but I agree completely. Completely awful ending that basically ruined the entire trilogy. Although I should be used to weak endings from Richard K Morgan after Woken Furies, but at least there it was a victory.
Sorry for the long necro, but I agree completely. Completely awful ending that basically ruined the entire trilogy. Although I should be used to weak endings from Richard K Morgan after Woken Furies, but at least there it was a victory.Finally finished The Dark Defiles by Richard K. Morgan. What a weak ending for such a great trilogy! It was maybe 100 pages too long, and instead of finishing strongly, left a bunch of loose threads dangling.
Does anyone know if he did that because he plans on writing a sequel trilogy or something?
Although, to be honest, I don't even really remember how it ended. That last 100 pages really were that weak!
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Sorry for the long necro, but I agree completely. Completely awful ending that basically ruined the entire trilogy. Although I should be used to weak endings from Richard K Morgan after Woken Furies, but at least there it was a victory.Finally finished The Dark Defiles by Richard K. Morgan. What a weak ending for such a great trilogy! It was maybe 100 pages too long, and instead of finishing strongly, left a bunch of loose threads dangling.
Does anyone know if he did that because he plans on writing a sequel trilogy or something?
Although, to be honest, I don't even really remember how it ended. That last 100 pages really were that weak!
The thing I really hated is that the two most likable and well defined characters Egar and Ringil end up dying meaningless deaths just to make way for a drugged out whiny alien to takeover the world.
Waiting to be killed? I just read something where they also only implied the ending, instead of showing the ending. It's very frustrating!
Is The Man the one where Jesus is hopping around the planets and this one guy is trying to catch up and see him?
That very one.
I think it's one of the most anti-religious things I've ever read, though it was clear to me even at age fourteen that Bradbury thought just the opposite.
Very nicely put.
Most recently:
'Slaves of the Cool Mountains' by Alan Winnington, which was very good
Another biography of Stalin, which was a waste of time
'Enchantress of World's End' by Lin Carter; I liked it, but it did read a lot like a Carter-ised 'Tales of the Dying Earth', as the title suggests, I suppose.
Next, I will re-read 'Situationism: A Reader', ed. Stuart Home. I suspect that it'll be a load of gassy old balls, but we'll see.
Currently 'Crown of Slaves' by David Weber & Eric Flint.
Also 'The Dragonbone Chair' by Tad Williams.
Well, I should say I am reading all the none Simon parts of the book. Simon has got to be the dullest main protagonist I have ever read. So far I am trying to find why he is of any importance, because as a POV character nothing he has done seem to be related to the story.
The scenes with out him are great and hold my interest. So there is a story but I want to know WHEN it really gets going!
Back at Bread and Roses I purchased a little pamphlet from a group called the World Socialist Party. It is a reprint of a 1920s pamphlet by one John Keracher entitled How the Gods Were Made (A Study in Historical Materialism) and it was okay, if pretty simple.
Only glaring mistake that I noticed was that he claimed the ancient Greeks believed they went to Olympus after death, instead of Hades.
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Just realized that I actually finished Prince Of Thorns and forgot to let this venerated forum know of it. The shame gnaws at me,yet the best I can do is just post my thoughts now.
Of course, Jorg never really slows down, and I did find myself shaking my head in disbelief at what he does. He might easily be one of the more outlandish characters I've ever encountered - scaring ghosts away, eating the hearts of slain necromancers, killing and ravaging in brutal and unexpected times and ways. Finding out that at least part of his apparent insanity is due to a supernatural cause - the compelling spell of a sorcerer - was an interesting twist on things, as it had the reader doubting with the character about just how much of his behavior was his own free will and how much was the twisted shadow of the influence placed upon him.
So, kodus for a compelling main character.
The setting was also not bad, if a little difficult for me to fully understand. It appears to be some far future dystopia of our own world, one where a lot of our culture and knowledge was preserved, and mixed up with some genuine supernatural forces, and yet somehow the remains of humanity chose to revert back to the technology and way of life of the middle ages. I can't quite wrap my head around the how and why of such a turn of events (if they have 20th century philosophy books in their library, do they not also have some knowledge of physics? Why are these people not engineering more complex technology? Did they so accurately recreate Dark Age Europe on purpose, or was that a conscience choice they made?
If I give the author the benefit of a doubt and assume that somewhere down the line there will be satisfying answers to at least some of those questions, then I'll say the setting is rather fun and intriguing, and utilized really well as part of the story and not just background as Jorg encounters AIs and detonates advanced weapons. The mystery of the death of out modern civilization along with the emergence of genuine magic is deepened as it is revealed that an old military secret base is also the nexus of necromantic power, and that mutations caused by the radiation from superweapons also grants magical powers.
Where the book suffers is in the story and the writing. It is very clearly a first book - the author is struggling a bit with the more technical aspect of the craft, and things such as pacing and tone and setup-payoff structures are all a bit shaky. The story relies on some annoying lucky breaks for Jorg, especially as he wins an absurd battle by having the thickest plot armor at the very apex of the book.
All in all, I will continue reading the series, as I did enjoy Prince Of Thorns, but I had too many quibbles to consider it the transcendent experience that would justify the hype. It was not at all bad, but to me it also failed to be genuinely good.
Hey Lord Snow: They do explain a bit more in the later books. The main character is like an evil version of my nephew, who was over 6 feet tall at 13 years, is very athletic, smart in many fields, and has good people skills. So it was kind of weird and creepy for me. But I like it and its sequel series so far.
So ok, Slavery in the American West was...a thing. It's not bad exactly, but there's some grating posturing that gets in the way of the argument. Particularly as Morrison usually couches it in terms of historians being in the tank for the abolitionists which is both not remotely true and calls a bit of attention to how he's very much in the tank for the prewar Democracy. It's really a book about the party and how slavery in the territories wrecks it. There are some valuable insights, but he's basically not interested in the Whigs at all even when the same issue is cooking them. He doesn't go blundering generation, but I smell a bit of subtext and the Michael Holt citations at the back don't help. Sure Morrison wrote in the 90s before Holt really let fly, but I've read Holt calling himself a member of the school back in the Seventies.
Which is a shame because Holt's a badass historian and major figure in the Whig reassessment that's been ongoing for about twenty years. It's not just that he wrote the book on the party, though he did, and thus everyone's got to cite him. I've never heard a bad word about that book, except that Holt's a dry writer and it's really, really, really long. His Civil War causation argument is just s&+! and everybody knows it except him. Frankly, there's a nasty undertone to the whole thing.
Naturally, Holt's been on my list for a while but I've only ever read excerpts. Not looking forward to The Rise and Fall of the American Whig Party. More than nine hundred pages of tiny text, before the endnotes.
Anyway, a while back I was complaining that there are no good books about the Caning of Charles Sumner. I'm sure it's treated well in his biographies, but I try to stay away from biography for the most part and the Sumner biography is apparently quite hostile to him. I picked up Stephen Puleo's book and put it right back down because he doesn't even do minimal scholarly due diligence. Ordered up a collection of primary sources that's often cited. I'm sure that's fine, but it's not what I picked up next. I grabbed Williamjames Hoffer's The Caning of Charles Sumner based on the one academic review it had, which was mixed.
It's not bad? There are no citations except for direct quotes, which is tremendously unhelpful. It's also pitched clearly at the APUSH/US History survey supplemental reading market. It engages with scholarship it doesn't cite, which is just annoying. It also leans on some creaky arguments in older scholarship despite being written in the Obama years, though not critically so. But there's not a lot of there there. It might be a good first book on some of the things it touches, particularly honor culture, but I feel like I could have just read the sources and gotten all that.
From there I decided it was time to hit some of the books I see a lot in Early Republic footnotes. First up is Kaminksi's A Necessary Evil? Slavery and the Debate Over the Constitution. It's a collection of source documents with brief editorial introductions. I'm about a third of the way through and I have a few complaints:
1) The documents are incredibly dry. Not his fault, but damn.
2) The selections are frequently repetitive. The introduction summarizes the argument and then the docs state it. Can't help that. But do we need four or five letters making identical points?
3) If the goal of having many letters is to show the extent to which ideas were held, then the selection of documents undermines it. A large section of one chapter is just a series of letters from the Quaker brother of a Rhode Island slave trader. (Moses Brown, of the Brown University Browns.)
But I'll manage. I may demote this to reading five or ten pages a day and pick up another book for my proper reading.
On tap:
Finkelman's Slavery and the Founders: Race and Liberty in the Age of Jefferson. When it came out in the 90s, reviews were very mixed but its star has risen considerably since. To give you an idea, negative reviewers usually included lines to the effect of "At least he didn't bring that Sally Hemings nonsense into it!"
Cooper's Liberty and Slavery: Southern Politics to 1860, which looks heavily concentrated on the beginning of that span but maybe he'll prove me wrong. Cooper is cited a lot, so I wonder what he'll have to offer that Freehling didn't. I suspect I probably want his The South and the Politics of Slavery 1828-1856 more. I'll get there eventually.
I just finished Cold Fire by Kate Elliot.
It ends on a big cliff-hanger, but I'm not sure I care enough to read the third volume. It's not like the characters are boring, it's just that they're all conveniently lucky or unlucky, depending on what the story needs, it leads to lots of weird inconsistencies, like some of the characters are supposed to be extremely poor, but they live in a mansion with servants. And others are supposedly super rich, but are practically slaves and do lots of manual labor.
Also, the magic systems aren't exploited enough. I think I've noticed that non-gamers don't try to game the system enough with their different types of magic, and that can make their magic systems seem too "plot magical" or "author-fiat."
I think there are lots of neat ideas, but the final product is just meh.
I'm about to start Ancillary Justice by Ann Lecke.
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Finished listening to Proxima (Proxima #1 by Stephen Baxter), and moved on to The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (Inheritance #1 by N.K Jemisin).
Sure, I can point out it's various and myriad flaws - the mediocre writing, the flat characters who all seem incredibly unmotivated and bored by the events unfolding around them, the problematic structure of the story that appears to give us small snippets of stories rather than an actual understanding of the lives of the characters... but none of them, nor even their sum, is the primary thing.
Primarily, this book was just flat out boring to me. I was never engaged by what I was hearing. That the narrator had a somewhat obnoxious passive reading voice did little to alleviate the problem, and his ability to act a large number of distinct voices very well was still not enough to compensate for that.
I cannot question Baxter's imagination, as the ecosystem on Per Ardua was cool and unique, and the solar system he imagines is rather intriguing. I just... couldn't get into it.
I honestly can't say much more than that I didn't like this one, that I barely finished it, and have no intention of continuing to the next one and finish the story.
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@Lord Snow--I really enjoyed The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, and pretty much everything else I've read by Jemisin.
The few chapters I've had the time to listen to so far were not bad at all. I previously read The Killing Moon, which was a touching and special book, although it never really reached the greatness that it could have. The Fifth Season sounds very interesting and promising, but second person is a deal breaker for me.
100K K was pretty good. The sequel didn't grab me, so I only read about 100 pages of it. I'm probably going to wait until her next trilogy is complete before reading it.
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Just read The Aeronaut's Windlass, by Jim Butcher, and it was kind of awesome.
I've read up to Changes in the Dresden Files books (it definitely gets better, although he's got some serious repetitive issues, Harry gets badly hurt early on and spends the entire book running around wounded and / or distracted in every other book, it seems). I've read the Codex Alera, and still want to stat up that fascinating magic system. But Aeronaut's Windlass takes it to a new level of fun and weird, with a steampunk-y vibe wrapped around a core of 'new strange' in the vein of China Mieville.
Took a break from A Necessary Evil? to read The Nebraska-Kansas Act of 1854. It was nice to have any modern scholarship on it, but nothing too earth-shattering. Went fast, though. The one on the Appeal of the Independent Democrats is an interesting departure and maybe a necessary revision, but I feel like it was focused a bit too much on the conspiracy argument.
100K K was pretty good. The sequel didn't grab me, so I only read about 100 pages of it. I'm probably going to wait until her next trilogy is complete before reading it.I've read the first two as they came out, and they're IMHO as good as or better than 100K K.
Cool. I'm definitely going to check them out once the whole trilogy is available.
Just read The Aeronaut's Windlass, by Jim Butcher, and it was kind of awesome.
I've read up to Changes in the Dresden Files books (it definitely gets better, although he's got some serious repetitive issues, Harry gets badly hurt early on and spends the entire book running around wounded and / or distracted in every other book, it seems). I've read the Codex Alera, and still want to stat up that fascinating magic system. But Aeronaut's Windlass takes it to a new level of fun and weird, with a steampunk-y vibe wrapped around a core of 'new strange' in the vein of China Mieville.
I really like the Dresden series, but I've been reading it on and off pretty much since it came out. I tried the Codex Alera series, but it just didn't grab me. Maybe I'll try it again in the future. The Aeronaut's Windlass reminded me more of a less Firefly-esque version of Retribution Falls by Chris Gooding than anything by China Mieville. But I'm re-reading Perdido Street Station next (after Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie), I'll be able to compare it to The Aeronaut's Windlass then.
Re-reading Jack Vance's "Durdane" trilogy.
Vance! Woot!
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But I'm re-reading Perdido Street Station next (after Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie), I'll be able to compare it to The Aeronaut's Windlass then.
Perdido Street Station was a little wordy for me, but Embassytown, the only other book I've read by him so far, was pretty amazing and much more straight sci-fi (reminding me a little bit of David Brin, in that the aliens were pretty distinctly alien, and not just in physiology).
I love me some good alien aliens.
But I'm re-reading Perdido Street Station next (after Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie), I'll be able to compare it to The Aeronaut's Windlass then.Perdido Street Station was a little wordy for me, but Embassytown, the only other book I've read by him so far, was pretty amazing and much more straight sci-fi (reminding me a little bit of David Brin, in that the aliens were pretty distinctly alien, and not just in physiology).
I love me some good alien aliens.
See, Embassytown reminded me of CJ Cherryh's SF. She's a linguist and archaeologist, her specialty is crafting truly alien psychologies and cultures (her stuff is often called anthropological science fiction), and even some of the place names and characters reminded me of her stuff, particularly Bren/Dan. She's very prolific, and I've read 50 or 60 of her novels, so I'm a little obsessed, and might be reading into things that aren't really there.
Polished off A Necessary Evil? and started Finkelstein's Slavery and the Founders: Race and Liberty in the Age of Jefferson, which is kicking ass so far. Even showed me how I was wrong about some stuff. Short version: I was too kind to the founders. :)
But I'm re-reading Perdido Street Station next (after Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie), I'll be able to compare it to The Aeronaut's Windlass then.Perdido Street Station was a little wordy for me, but Embassytown, the only other book I've read by him so far, was pretty amazing and much more straight sci-fi (reminding me a little bit of David Brin, in that the aliens were pretty distinctly alien, and not just in physiology).
I love me some good alien aliens.
See, Embassytown reminded me of CJ Cherryh's SF. She's a linguist and archaeologist, her specialty is crafting truly alien psychologies and cultures (her stuff is often called anthropological science fiction), and even some of the place names and characters reminded me of her stuff, particularly Bren/Dan. She's very prolific, and I've read 50 or 60 of her novels, so I'm a little obsessed, and might be reading into things that aren't really there.
I haven't read Embassytown, but I loved The City & The City. I spent the entire book thinking, "It can't be a coincidence, this dude's read Wave Without a Shore." So, who knows.
I haven't read Embassytown, but I loved The City & The City. I spent the entire book thinking, "It can't be a coincidence, this dude's read Wave Without a Shore." So, who knows.But I'm re-reading Perdido Street Station next (after Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie), I'll be able to compare it to The Aeronaut's Windlass then.Perdido Street Station was a little wordy for me, but Embassytown, the only other book I've read by him so far, was pretty amazing and much more straight sci-fi (reminding me a little bit of David Brin, in that the aliens were pretty distinctly alien, and not just in physiology).
I love me some good alien aliens.
See, Embassytown reminded me of CJ Cherryh's SF. She's a linguist and archaeologist, her specialty is crafting truly alien psychologies and cultures (her stuff is often called anthropological science fiction), and even some of the place names and characters reminded me of her stuff, particularly Bren/Dan. She's very prolific, and I've read 50 or 60 of her novels, so I'm a little obsessed, and might be reading into things that aren't really there.
You know that's right! :-D
To tie in with a recent lecture that we hosted, re-read The Communist Manifesto.
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But I'm re-reading Perdido Street Station next (after Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie), I'll be able to compare it to The Aeronaut's Windlass then.Perdido Street Station was a little wordy for me, but Embassytown, the only other book I've read by him so far, was pretty amazing and much more straight sci-fi (reminding me a little bit of David Brin, in that the aliens were pretty distinctly alien, and not just in physiology).
I love me some good alien aliens.
See, Embassytown reminded me of CJ Cherryh's SF. She's a linguist and archaeologist, her specialty is crafting truly alien psychologies and cultures (her stuff is often called anthropological science fiction), and even some of the place names and characters reminded me of her stuff, particularly Bren/Dan. She's very prolific, and I've read 50 or 60 of her novels, so I'm a little obsessed, and might be reading into things that aren't really there.
Read Embassytown a few months ago and reading Downbelow Station right now. This one doesn't really have a lot of Aliens in to but the ones that are there are considerably more comprehensible than the Arieki.
What other Cherryh books would you most strongly recommend? Sounds as if you've read most or all of them...
I've read many of them. Not sure most. :-P
I particularly like the Chanur series, Foreigner series, Rider at the Gate, and Cyteen and Regenesis. I'm a huge fan of her SF, but I find her fantasy stuff a little "vague."
Just read The Aeronaut's Windlass, by Jim Butcher, and it was kind of awesome.
I've read up to Changes in the Dresden Files books (it definitely gets better, although he's got some serious repetitive issues, Harry gets badly hurt early on and spends the entire book running around wounded and / or distracted in every other book, it seems). I've read the Codex Alera, and still want to stat up that fascinating magic system. But Aeronaut's Windlass takes it to a new level of fun and weird, with a steampunk-y vibe wrapped around a core of 'new strange' in the vein of China Mieville.
The Codex Alera is THE reason why the kineticist is my favorite Pathfinder class. I'm thinking about homebrewing an archetype to better fit the Codex Alera style (so maybe skill bonuses from using specific elements, and as you level up you gain more elements but more frequently, going from commoner to count, to lord, to high lord, then first lord, or something). I haven't read any of Butcher's other work but I've been meaning to give The Dresden files a try.
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See, Embassytown reminded me of CJ Cherryh's SF. She's a linguist and archaeologist, her specialty is crafting truly alien psychologies and cultures (her stuff is often called anthropological science fiction), and even some of the place names and characters reminded me of her stuff, particularly Bren/Dan. She's very prolific, and I've read 50 or 60 of her novels, so I'm a little obsessed, and might be reading into things that aren't really there.Read Embassytown a few months ago and reading Downbelow Station right now. This one doesn't really have a lot of Aliens in to but the ones that are there are considerably more comprehensible than the Arieki.
What other Cherryh books would you most strongly recommend? Sounds as if you've read most or all of them...
Chanur's my favorite for aliens. They're not all the least comprehensible, but the Hani are the viewpoint characters so you get really deep into their view, including how they see the other, stranger, aliens.
Personally, I couldn't really get into Foreigner, but a lot of people like it.
If you like Downbelow Station, there are both loose sequels and prequels. Not a lot of aliens, though the azi, as cloned and programmed humans get pretty close.
Downbelow Station was written first, though right? The prequels are retroactive?
Chanur has the most aliens. 4 or 5 oxy breathers, 3 methane, and all sorts of cultures, ecologies, psychologies, and physiologies.
Foreigner has the most detailed aliens. (It's mostly diplomacy, linguistics, politics, and xeno-anthropology)
Cyteen is about cloning. The main story is about a society trying to recreate a scientific genius by cloning her and raising her clone in a reconstruction of the original's life. Semi-concurrent with that is the story a guy who wanted a son w/o the romantic hang ups so, so he just cloned himself. They all work at a biotech firm that produces genetically engineered workers that are trained by "tape," so it's a big treatise on nature v. nurture.
Rider at the Gate is about a human settlement on a planet where all the native wildlife are telepathic. Still animal-level intelligence, just able to project their thoughts and read the thoughts of others. The humans have 1930s tech, and ride "nighthorses" to protect caravans from psychic dangers from the wildlife. Very cool.
The Grand Situationist Re-Read Marathon has reached a frenzied conclusion; 'The Society of the Spectacle' was pretty good, as was 'The Situationist Reader', whereas 'The Revolution of Everyday Life' was mainly wind & piss.
Now reading 'The 100,000 Kingdoms' by N K Jemsin, which is smashing.
About a year too late, because Bokus failed to deliver it first time round, I started in on The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison today.
About a year too late, because Bokus failed to deliver it first time round, I started in on The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison today.
Let us know how you like it. I heard some mixed things about, but I find the idea of it intriguing.
A few times, earlier in this thread (like here for instance) I mentioned my re-reading of the Conquerors trilogy by Timothy Zahn. I mentioned reading the first book, Conquerors' Pride, three times, or four if you count listening to an unabridged audio book.
Now I'm reading Conquerors' Pride yet again. Of course, the more times you read a story, the more aware you become of its flaws. And this trilogy does have some gaping plot holes that can become hard to ignore after a while.
But one of the (admittedly smaller) flaws involved Holloway. Almost from the first time I read the book, I thought it weird that for a guy in charge of defending a planet from a hostile alien invasion, he paid an inordinate amount of attention to Melinda. Didn't he have a million other things to occupy his time?
For some reason, it wasn't until my current reading that I realized one incredibly obvious explanation: He LIKED her! He had the hots for her... although he might not have been conscious of it.
That idea gave me my laugh for the day.