Trivia that I thought folks on r/fantasy would find cool. Here’s my source: https://www.pcgamesn.com/terry-pratchett-oblivion-mods
It drives me crazy [read: mildly annoys me] that authors of medieval fantasy do not understand that a bale of hay is the product of MASSIVE amounts of mechanization, and does not exist, barring failed steam era attempts, before the onset of the internal combustion engine. Yet it is somehow a symbol of rurality. I have lost count, since I started noticing, of just how many ostensibly medieval novels populate their stables with bales of hay.
Prior to mechanization, hay was stored loose, in hay ricks and hay stacks, and was measured by the forkful. There were no hay bales. If I am reading a fantasy novel and the hero interacts with a bale of hay, I am immediately thrown out of the story.
Mine is the climax of Changes in the Dresden Files.
This post will very likely contain spoilers in the comments. Scroll at your own risk.
Hey folks, I used to really like the Percy Jackson books when I was younger but I’m in my 30s now and I was wondering if there are any adult series with that focus on mythological/god figures in the modern world? I really liked the angle of the kids realising they were children of the gods and how that interaction played out. I love Greek and Norse mythology in particular but also happy to read about other pantheons and cultures!
Adult books/series I have read and enjoyed that fit this bill: American Gods and Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman, I Bring the Fire by C. Gockel.
Thanks for any suggestions.
**edited to add: if you clicked on this post looking for this kind of book and haven’t read them I would STRONGLY recommend the I Bring the Fire series by C. Gockel. Amazing characters from Norse myth (and eventually Hinduism…but I wont spoil how) with really thought-provoking plot. Do you want to read something with the speed and brain-grabby-ness of Percy Jackson that …
His name kept popping up everywhere on book tube with massive praise so I decided to go and read mistborn. After 70 pages I just couldn’t keep reading the same phrase “Don’t trust anyone. Your own brother said so, who also betrayed you” among other things. Decided to try a different book written over a decade after mistborn called Skyward and it was actually worse for me. The main character felt like cardboard and the mysterious didn’t draw me in. Also for both novels the dialogue was…it wasn’t good. So am I just picking odd books and his greatness is in another one of the long list of books he’s published?
Edit: so reading the comments I’ve discovered; I’m wrong and dumb. I’m right and brave for saying this. I’m neither right nor wrong.
Interesting, very interesting
I’m not picky. I can totally buy the concept of making a single proton into a supercomputer. Even entire universes living inside a single proton. Hidden dimensions, quantum effects, something something string theory, fine. That’s all completely acceptable. But:
There is absolutely no way life could work in a trisolar system as the book describes it. Even when the planet goes into orbit around 1 star, the odds of it going into a circular orbit are basically zero. Even if it goes into a stable circular orbit, the odds of it being a habitable distance from the star are also very small. Even if it is a habitable distance, the odds of the planet’s rotation giving them a livable day/ night cycle are also very small. The odds of all these things happening enough times for their civilization to rise many times, is just unfathomably small.
If life on the planet is capable of living in all the different types of “stable” orbits they would experience, then they …
I’ve read Becky Chambers’ ‘The Long Way To A Small Angry Planet’ and I really enjoyed it. I got Odyssey One on my list after a rec from a friend, But other than that I’m looking for anything you got.
Basically open for most subgenres as long as it revolves around a crew on a spaceship.
Ringworlds, Dyson Spheres, Mega Earths, etc.. It’s been a topic of interest for me recently and I’d love to read some good stories about them.
What are some sci-fi novel that has great battle of wits?
Additionally, what’s the best battle of wits novel of any genre you’ve read?
Hi all. I’m looking for a good generation ship type of novel to get lost in. I’ve read Heinlein’s classic Orphans of the Sky and that more contemporary Arora by KSR.
Any recommendations are welcome. Thanks!
I’ve just finished Man in the High Castle and did not enjoy it. I get that there was a lot to unpack in it and it had some interesting ideas but I just wasn’t bothered to think about it because the story was hard to follow and the characters were badly written. I read some other stuff from him years ago (some short stories and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep) and I remember being similarly underwhelmed.
So is it just not to my taste, or am I missing something about his work? According to the quote on the front he’s one of the best scifi writers of all time, but either that’s very wrong or I’m very wrong.
If you’re a fan, what do you like about his work?
Little Fockers came out in 2010 and the kids were 5 years old which would make them 17 now. A little time jump (and the fact that the next movie probably wouldn’t come out for a few years) means it is within reason that the kids would be young adults and one of the kids getting engaged could be part of it.
It’s the only logical conclusion the series, to have Greg be in his FIL’s shoes and deal with someone who wants to join his family, except he’ll do it in his Greg Focker way. I’d imagine he’ll try not to be over-bearing like his FIL, but then something will happen and Robert De Niro can say that his methods are best and that Greg needs to have a keener eye.
What would it be called? Big Fockers? Meet the Parents - The Next Generation?
Don’t get me wrong, there’s a ton of dated jokes in the movie. But unlike the “Friedman and seltzer” garbage that it spawned it actually has some good comedy. The “wassup” scene is an example of a scene that should be dated but ends up being timeless. It’s spoofing a commercial that no one remembers, but it still works because everyone knows stoners like that. And ghostface’s mask changing to a smile and then tongue sticking out will always be a good gag. I’d say it is better than Scream at the very least. The convoluted plot of the villain in scream always ruined it for me, so I enjoyed their spoof on it