From his notablog.
“I am a fantasy fan, and I want more fantasy on television, and nothing would accomplish that more than a couple of big hits. THE WITCHER, SHADOW & BONE, WHEEL OF TIME… and THE SANDMAN, a glorious adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s groundbreaking comic series… those are a good start, but I want more. I want Tad Williams, I want Joe Abercrombie, I want Patrick Rothfuss, I want a good adaptation of Le Guin’s Earthsea books, I want Alan Garner, I want Robin Hobb… oh, the list is long, I could go on and on… and would if I did not have a zillion other things to do. Most of all, I want Roger Zelazny’s NINE PRINCES IN AMBER. I will never understand why Corwin and his siblings are not starring in their own show. And hey, if epic fantasy continues to do well, maybe we will finally get that. A boy can dream.”
So what about you?
What is for you the one fantasy saga big TV networks needs to get their hands on asap?
My personal answer would be Robin Hobb. …
And in retrospect I realize I did not really even enjoy the serious books that much, I just read them since I disliked the too cliche fantasy books with dragons and orcs and whatnot. So since I disliked the other end of the spectrum, I jumped to the other end. But now days I like something that is in the middle, and more towards the lighter side.
The lightweight banter between friends, the humor that carries the light tone through the book even if there are bad things happening is what keeps me interested. When the book is all depression and grim and dark it does not keep me interested. I want the main character to succeed, I want them to be someone I like, I want to empathize with them but also I want them to be someone I would actually like to be friends with, someone who I can root for. It just creates a better connection, makes me care about the main character. Makes me invested in what happens to them.
And mythical and folk lore style fantasy elements in the story create this …
In the beginning I thought it was cool, made me giggle a bit. But then it became more and more of someone desperately trying to show how their opinions are the right opinions. Trying to show how cool, unoffended, not-like-the-other-girls they are. I found myself wanting to ask if the author was okay.
It reminds me of talking to someone who hasn’t had anyone to talk to in ages. At first you’re like, “a little weird but it’s cute,” then suddenly they just start bombarding you with every random thought and their opinions about everything. Going on and on and on trying to show how much better and special than others they, and their “unique” opinions, are. I found myself with pity…and exhaustion.
Idk why he was so pressed about everything and gave so much fuck to the point of ruining a book by the need to insert his opinions about even things he sounds so clueless about. I really tried but I couldn’t find enough fucks to finish it (or …
There’s so many people online saying how they don’t understand what things like this mean. Like “i just imagine him growling like a dog.” I don’t get it. Never as a reader have i been confused by this? It’s a speech tag or it’s figurative.
“He growled:” he said angrily, in a gravely voice.
“He barked:” he snapped, yelled.
“She hissed:” she spit it out, said harshly.
“Her eyes darkened:” her pupils dilated, she glowered, generally meaning her expression darkened.
“His jaw clenched:” this one is just literal, have people never seen this?
Obviously they don’t actually hiss or growl or bark. Just like the speech tag “snap” doesn’t mean they…actually snap? I understand some of them are overused but i don’t understand the hate and confusion.
I read 1984 and Brave New World as a teenager and recently reread them.
I found it interesting that in these two different dystopian worlds, sex is treated entirely differently.
In 1984, the government encourages minimizing sexual activities to procreation among party members, which the author implies is a mechanism to oppress the people.
In Brave New World, the government encourages wide spread sexual activity and discourages monogamy, which the author implies a mechanism to oppress the people.
Has anyone thought much about why these two authors took a completely different approach on the topic of sexuality?
[Edit: discourages monogomy, not oppression*]
He kicked down the wall of the Achaeans as easily as a child who, playing on the sea-shore, has built a house of sand and then kicks it down again and destroys it.
Can’t blame them. Healthy outdoor fun AND an always handy metaphor for the transience of earthly things.
But father Zeus, when he saw Athena and Hera, was very angry… …’I will hurl them from their chariot, and will break it in pieces. It will take them all ten years to heal the wounds my lightning shall inflict upon them; my grey-eyed daughter will then learn what quarrelling with her father means. I am less surprised and angry with Hera, for whatever I say she always contradicts me.’
…like …
So the other week I was at a used bookstore with my buddy and his Dad. They were helping me look for books real quick before the store closed and would ask me for the last name of an author so they could look for them. We were nearing the end of the selection of books and came across the Sci-fi/Fantasy section. So when my friend’s dad came up to me to ask for an author to look for him I naturally told him without a hint of irony that I was looking for Dick & Moorcock( Philip K. Dick and Michael Moorcock). This caused the three of us to burst out laughing and it took some convincing on my part to explain that both Dick & Moorcock were both real names and authors I was interested in.
Figured some of you would get a chuckle out of this.
P.S.- Nothing too great on the Moorcock side of things but I did find a used copy of Dick’s “Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said”. That was my first proper foray into Dick’s work and I was completely blown away by it. …
This book (by Peter Watts) will make you question fundamental things about the nature of consciousness, reconsider what first contact with aliens could mean, and is an incredible journey into the dark between the stars to get to that big reveal as well!
No spoilers in this post. In general I’d strongly encourage you to avoid learning about the ending if you haven’t read it yet! That said, here’s the spoiler-free setup:
Aliens have taken a snapshot of the entire earth, down to 1 meter of resolution - we know because they lit the entire sky on fire to do it.
Then, we detected something out at the very edge of the solar system sending a signal - but not to us. The signal is being sent out, into deep space, to another planet, or to something already on the way to Earth.
A ship is dispatched with a crew of five - including two technical specialists who have been deeply biologically and technologically enhanced, a soldier, a resurrected Vampire who interfaces with the …
Imho, he has excelled himself. I just couldn’t put it down. I won’t get into the whys and wherefores of it as I don’t want to make even the tiniest spoiler slip but, SF lovers everywhere should read it.
As the title says, is there anything like this?
After the fall, everything has collapsed, the lengths people will go to survive etc.
No happy ending (or beginning or middle for that matter) and you know things look bleak with the ending you get.
I’ve been thinking about how many gems there must be out there that never quite made it to big sales.
Does anyone else have some favourites that are otherwise relatively obscure?
Starhammer by Christopher Rowley is my nomination to open the conversation - I’ve read it endless times as a kid.
It has a feel that definitely ages it - a hero rising from the lowest of the low and the scale and scope of the book rising rapidly.
It had a little bit of recognition when it was acknowledged as one of the influences behind Halo (you’ll understand where the Flood were copied from) but afaik never reprinted.
One of my favourite books of all time (but the others in the semi series were nowhere near the same quality and had none of the magic. I spent a great deal of times tracking them down years ago and it wasn’t worth it).
(Edit - I’m slowly working my way through everyone else’s recommendations, please keep them coming. Some might not be my thing, some are …
Hey everybody!
I’ve been getting deep into reading Sci-Fi recently and have been wanting some suggestions. Recently I read ‘This is How You Lose the Time War’, which I found very fascinating for its unique format and poetic style.
Today, I just finished ‘Several People Are Typing’, a book I also thoroughly enjoyed particularly because of the unique format of a chat log and lovecraftian tones mixed with comedy.
I was wondering if anybody had some good recommendations for books or novellas with more out there formats or ideas that you haven’t really seen elsewhere. Thanks in advance!