This may be an unpopular opinion, but I’ll be honest, I actually have a bit of a soft spot for Sauron. That’s not to say he’s in any way a good guy, but I do really enjoy his character, and I’d consider him (possibly) the most interesting villain in the Legendarium. Which is pretty nuts when we consider that he only has the most limited appearance on the pages of The Lord of the Rings, despite the fact that he is the titular Lord of said rings. The problem is that by the Third Age, Sauron was just a (metaphorical) shadow of his former self, and by the time of the more recognisable elements in the Legendarium such as Gondor, Hobbits, and the Wizards, Sauron’s most interesting days are behind him. So today I want to chronicle the Ages of Arda from the perspective of Sauron, and try to explain what makes The Deceiver such a great character.
Now Sauron is a being with many many names, and way back in the beginning, no one would have thought to call him …
Edit: THANK YOU for all of the recommendations, and for the awards. I’ll pass on your generosity whenever I can!
Looking to get one or two books for my dad for Christmas. He has excellent taste in fantasy books and particularly loves when magic/power/skills can be earned by superhuman effort or perseverance. A couple examples of his preferred reads: -The cradle series by Will Wight -The rage of dragons by Evan Winters -Iron Prince by Bryce O’Connor & Luke Chmilenko
My initial reaction was to attribute it to the pernicious impact of digitalization and how it’s basically eradicated my attention span (which I’m desperately attempting to rebuild by reading and reducing my time imbibing immediately gratifying content online) - however the more I think about it - it’s probably also my mild OCD, anxiety, ADHD etc doing it’s thing.
Very rarely can I actually get immersed in a book, oftentimes I feel like Ron Burgundy who spoils humorous moments by bluntly remarking ‘we are laughing!’ - but in the context of reading I’m sitting there scanning the words thinking ‘wow would you look at me reading Dostoevsky. Quite the learned individual aren’t I.’ and I sometimes go into a fuckin weird inner monologue that ends with a David Mitchel rant ‘words don’t really exist do they, they’re just a collection of squiggly lines that someone gave meaning to…look at how stupid that one …
I’m a gay guy, just wanted to express frustration with the state of gay fiction, especially romantic gay fiction. There was a post about this a month ago, but bringing it up again.
On the one hand, I’m grateful that many women have written gay fiction that I enjoy. A lot of these works have changed the way I relate to my own sexuality in a very positive way.
On the other hand, I think many women write gay men just as poorly as the stereotype of men writing women poorly, and it’s frustrating to read. Sometimes gay men are written as an expression of how some women wish straight men would act. Stereotypically soft, not status driven, not very sexually active, surrounded by supportive and protective women (often self-inserts). The villains are traditionally masculine characters.
There are some dick-brained, stupid ass gay guys out there. There are hyper-masculine gays and stereotypically feminine gays straight out of anime or something. I have personally behaved in …
Stop. Take a deep breath. Ask yourself, “Does recommending Hyperion actually make sense given what the original poster has asked for?”
I know, Hyperion is pretty good, no doubt. But no matter what people are asking for - weird sci-fi, hard sci-fi, 19th century sci-fi, accountant sci-fi, ‘90s swing revival sci fi - at least 12 people rush into the comments to say “Hyperion! Hyperion!”
Pause. Collect yourself. Think about if Hyperion really is the right thing to recommend in this particular case.
Thanks!
Thanks for all here who recommended Blindsight in my search for “anti-human” stories. We need more of this…just wow.
I am exceedingly glad I have cell bio and a medical doctorate, have read a ton of physics/astrophysics and history. And vocabulary. And still…reread a lot of paragraphs. And may reread the entire damn thing again.
Anyone up for a chat about this book have at it!
I like novels where something strange and large-scale suddenly happens and the story either follows the world reacting to it or at least has it as a major background element.
I was wondering if anyone here had any recommendations.
Examples:
The Chronoliths (Massive artifacts from the future suddenly appear around the world) Spin (Earth is covered by a time-warping membrane) and Darwinia (Europe is suddenly replaced by an otherworldly continent) by Robert Charles Wilson.
Flashforward (Every human being on the planet has a simultaneous vision of the future) by Robert J Sawyer.
Without Warning (everyone in the US, Mexico and Canada is vaporized by a mysterious energy bubble) by John Birmingham.
I’m just reading through these books, and damn, they are incredible! Such an awesome blend of fantasy and sf that really just sweeps you away into another world. It honestly feels like Game of Thrones but with aliens and set in Earth’s past. The character development is great, the way psionic powers are portrayed is awesome and I loved the interlacing of cultural myths and folklore into the story.
I’m surprised Netflix or HBO hasn’t jumped on getting the rights to these books because they’re just crying out for a grand cinematic adaptation.
I’m looking for something rather specific, and it hasn’t been easy finding many recommendation sources.
I want to gift this book to an adult (in their 50s) who loves reading about space exploration, but is not a scientist or engineer themselves. I’m looking to satisfy both the awe of space and space exploration as well as give them actual real knowledge about space structures and physics.
It’d be optimal if the book was released fairly recently to account for new discoveries and progress in engineering/space tech, although I’m open for suggestions.
All sub-genres would be fine, except for horror.
I’m looking for some Weird Fiction that leans more into sci-fi than fantasy. I love Ambergris and New Crobuzon, but I’m curious about what’s out there about space or really advanced technology…plus the weird. Can dip into horror (Lovecraftian or otherwise) but it doesn’t have to.
I’ve also already read several Dying Earth works that may count (Wolfe, Vance, Harrison) where the tech is advanced…but usually ancient by the time the story is set, and they tend to feel more like fantasy.
Thank you in advance!
Edit: I wanted to come back and say thank you again for all of the recommendations made. I certainly have a lot to read now.
I thought I’d highlight a few that were mentioned more than once:
Diaspora by Greg Egan; Hannu Rajaniemi’s Jean le Flambeur series; Rudy Rucker’s Wetware series; Max Gladstone’s Craft series; Outside by Ada Hoffman; Ship of Fools by Richard Paul Russo; Borne by Jeff VanderMeer; Ilium and …