Fuck Netflix. I am so tired of their stupid shenanigans. S&B only had one season left to be complete.
So this thought came from Harry Potter and the enslavement of House Elves first. It is weird that slavery was introduced. A slave was freed. And then the whole thing was just swept under the rug again and the slavery status quo remains. It was like there started to be a theme and then it just … died.
And then I thought about the Greenbone Saga, where jade gives you power, gives you magic, but is also addictive and I kinda feel that that theme was also swept under the rug a little.
So here’s my question to you, what books / series do you feel like they introduced a heavy theme and then just … ignored it?
So recently, I’ve made a conscious effort to dive into the old days of fantasy. Stuff from Lord Dunsany and the like. And I’ve noticed that, pre-Tolkien, fantasy was something entirely different. It was more magical, and evoked some sort of weird wonder about reality, whereas these days, it’s all about magic systems and worldbuilding. Why was it, and can you recommend me some novels like those (ala Mckillip’s novels)?
People say that most male authors can’t write women well. What do they mean?
Apart from obvious stereotypes and being a generic love interest with no depth, what makes a woman well or poorly written?
Edit: I’m mostly curious about female POVs. Is there a difference between how male and female characters should think and process events? Because it feels like people sometimes mean unrealistic emotions/thoughts/motivations that don’t fit a woman. But I feel like such things depend solely on the individual. So is there a deeper mental aspect to it?
For me it’s time-travel and multiverse.
I generally dislike time-travel stories with the exception of comedies like Back to the Future and serious psychological sci-fi movies like Primer. Time travel just usually brings up way too many plot holes and is an excuse for heroes to get a “do over”.
I intensely dislike the multiverse trope because it allows anything to happen because there’s a universe somewhere where XYZ happened. Because of this it makes most drama seem meaningless to me - if a character gets killed, he can come back from another universe. If the bad guys win, we can just go to another universe. Also, stories rarely explore the implication of this trope - ie what does it mean for choice and free will if there is another version of you somewhere in another universe that made the opposite choice?
What tropes do you dislike and why?
At first I thought it would be a difficult read for me because the narrative jumps from the present to the past, or to random memories and thoughts, but I gradually got used to it and really enjoyed the book. It was something new for me.
I finished the book today and I can’t stop thinking about it. I’m pretty creeped out.
Despite the fact that the book was published in 1985, it seems very up-to-date. The idea that such a regime was created (among other reasons) because >!“men could no longer control women” seems too real. I believe that there are men who would like to have women fully in their power. To control what they can wear, what they can do and especially what they must do.!<
In many countries, the government tries to control birth rate by banning abortions. Ideas against the freedom of women similar to those in the book can actually be seen in today’s society.
I can’t formulate it well, but the emergence of similar restrictions for …
My pick would have to be the A Whole Nother Story trilogy, in which (spoiler warning) you can only travel back in time. But because time is in a loop of sorts, if you go before the beginning of time, you will be at the end of time. From there you can go back to any time you want to. And time paradoxes cannot be produced. Plus, your memories from the previous timeline exist as well as the memories from the new one.
I love to read but feel like I have to pretty much be in peak mental condition to fully appreciate a novel, which is pretty rarely. Meanwhile I will waste hours on reddit no matter how tired, sick, or sad I am. I wonder why because they’re both reading. Maybe because looking at reddit is more skimming? It does feel like the brain processes it differently. I wonder if other people here feel the same.
Things are a little rough for me right now. Combined with current world events, I could really use some positivity right now. Could anyone help with some recommendations? Thank you in advance.
Love all the books. Just finished Memory today. I have not read anything else by Tchaikovsky but I totally would.
Have been seeing people saying on reddit that they wanted the book to be more like the first two. Hard disagree. To me, while Time is the best, and Memory is the second best because it’s so different. I liked Ruin but I thought it kinda dragged. Octopi are super cool tho
Any ideas for what a fourth book would be like?
I’m looking for more epic sci-fi sagas out there with deeply layered and immersive worlds like the aforementioned titles. I already for one have the Ringworld / Known Space universe at the top of my list, I’m really excited to get into it!!
Hey everyone.
Being a total fanboy of Peter Watts, I decided to make a compilation of every bit of information currently known (that I am aware of) regarding the upcoming conclusion to the Firefall universe that began with PrintSF Darling Blindsight and was continued with the slightly controversial sequel Echopraxia. I wanted there to be a place where all the info we have been drip fed could be collated, in order to stave off my own desperation that the series is finished before the author turns 100 (this must be how GRRM fans feel). All in all there is a decent amount.
I just finished Translation State by Anne Leckie. Through the course of the novel, the author describes basically nothing except in the most hand-wave terms. Not the numerous space stations, not the numerous spaceships. It feels very empty.
After reading it struck me that John Scalzi does the same thing in his Collapsing Empire series. We get shuffled from room to room, snarky conversation to snarky conversation, with the minimum of set in the way.
Is this lack of descriptives a school or movement or whatever in American writing?
Hi guys! Do you have any recommendations regarding works where the Earth has been conquered by aliens and now humanity has to learn to live under alien rule? My only caveat is that they can be benevolent or evil, but humanity has to be able to actually survive under their occupation.
I finally got around to watching The Social Network and was really impressed by just how grimy and sleazy Timberlake is in this movie. The fact that he basically shows up halfway through the movie and essentially weasels his way into the company just feels gross but man was he so good in it. The way it all unravels for him by doing coke with underage girls at the end just makes him even worse but feels great how it ruins him. I don’t know how his performance was received when it first came out because I found it really impressive. Almost felt like watching Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler, but less unhinged