Genre fiction discussion (SF/Horror/Fantasy etc)

I’ve read The Gone Away World and Tigerman and both were amazing. I’ve got Gnomon and Angelmaker on the shelf too - both a bit long and intimidating for me at the moment.

The new one is a bit more fleet isn’t it? Sounds good

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I’ve been a big Stephenson fan in the past, but I feel that Iain Banks’ Culture novels are a more interesting take on artificial life. Or Greg Egan if you want to dial up the math to 11.

I’ve re-read most of Stephenson’s work multiple times and now am doing the same for Banks.

Also, if anything Gibson’s works other than Neuromancer are underrated. Be sure to read the whole Sprawl trilogy, but also everything else.

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I’ve managed to start about 4 M. Banks novels and not got very far with any. Weird, as I love 4 or 5 of his ‘normal’ fiction…

I loved Player of Games, but bounced off of Use of Weapons for whatever reason. I should give that another go.

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Hydrogen Sonata is what I’d recommend for Elektronauts as a starting point. The main character is a musician whose life project is to play a piece of music that was intended to be both unplayable and unlistenable.

The actual plot is a fairly conventional adventure-whodunnit story that serves as a scaffolding for extended discussions about what it means to have friendly godlike-AIs, why they are friendly, and the perils of interactions between galactic civilizations at different development levels.

Good intuition, perhaps. UoW is dark AF and is the only one that I’m not eager to re-read. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone but the most intense Culture fan with a cast iron stomach.

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I read this quote on another thread yesterday, was wondering if the book is worth reading? I’ve never read any of his stuff.

@muied_lumens

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If you like Gene Wolfe you can’t die before reading the Jack Vance dying earth series.

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The Postmortal
Reincarnation Blues

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Umberto Eco’s Foucault’s Pendulum is the thinking person’s da Vinci Code, and Prague Cemetery is an expansion of the negative dynamic of conspiracy theories thread, with some horror elements. Interestingly, Dan Brown is a synth nerd that first tried making modular synth albums for kids before marrying a literary agent who convinced him to write instead. :rofl:

I haven’t read From Hell, but if you like Alan Moore, you will probably like more Moore. Also, Voice of the Fire is fantastic textual psycho horror (not a graphic novel), with some well executed avant-garde literary techniques thrown in.

You might like Charles Stross’ Laundry series if you are interested in a modern riff on the Cthulhu mythos.

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I’ve tried getting through it a couple of times, but haven’t succeeded. I really want to like it. Lol. Perhaps I should try again!

More Moore is also good advice. :slight_smile:

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Gaiman’s American Gods is really good, with some horror elements and conspiracy-adjacent plots. (I’ve read the book, haven’t seen the TV series).

Club Dumas is also good occulty-conspriacy. Polanski’s Ninth Gate is based on it. While P is a gifted director, he is a terrible human being so please only watch Ninth Gate if you pirate it.

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Thank you, I opened this thread hoping to find someone mentioning Bester. His first two novels are hands down these are two of the most astounding, insightful, clever, funny, and fun novels I have read.

The Stars My Destination along with his first, “The Demolished Man”, affected me deeply and were instrumental in my coming to understand myself and my pain. These two novels are still soothing and teaching me every day. It’s a not perfect novel and a few small elements can feel clumsy, but it’s awesome. The Man With No Face and I get along now.

I would recommend these two books to anybody who hurts. I would recommend it to any Elektronaut because Bester has a deep understanding of music and his sardonic psychological insight on the topic is worth the price of admission alone. My partner and I are reading The Stars My Destination out loud to one another right now and it’s the most fun we’ve had. They are short, fun, and action packed and if you (anyone) are remotely interested give it a shot and get back to me.

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Not sure if I really want to recommend any of his books to be honest… I haven’t read any of his work at all. From what I understand his writings are not exactly in tune with modern views on many things so he comes across as a relic of the past. Only one way to find out for yourself though.

I liked that quote which I found elsewhere, even though it’s actually a slight misquote. The original reads: “A man should be able to…” etc.

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Jenny Finn - I really love it, Mignola-y and in the occult/elder gods vein. There was an abbreviated version of the novel and an updated one with color plates and including all issues, beautiful ugly.

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@Eak
Nice ! I think i will read “The Stars My Destination” again soon.
Haven’t read “The Demolished Man” yet but i will, definitely.

I wasn’t prepared by the crazyness and adventure levels in “TSMD”.
One other similar experience i had in SF was “John Carter From Mars” the movie :
Once again, went in it out of curiousity, with absolutely none expectations and then quickly understood that i was in for quite the ride.

Guess I must read it also !

Alister Reynolds, its hard /dark sci fi, i can recommend his revelation space mythos he created, very worth the time to read his books. They are demanding and complex,but if you keep on it regularly not to bad, not good if you read multiple books at the same time.
He inspired also a Mass Effect story, at least i saw some influence there.

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I usually lean more towards fantasy than scifi. I like that fantasy being far more removed from reality than science fiction. I also haven’t read a whole lot of either of these genres. I am huge Tolkien fan, and I adore Le Guin. The last science fiction anything that I have read and truly enjoyed was the Binti trilogy.

I don’t seek classics, but I also feel that I enjoy not too modern books more than modern ones. A huge part of that is that I find some modern prose and voice in a lot of these newer stories to be distracting and a bit annoying. I was really excited for the chance to read N. K. Jemisin stuff, but I stopped reading the first book I got fairly quickly because of that - the writing style. I know that’s on me, and it is what it is unless I do something about it, haha.

Seems to be a few different “John Carter” movies. Which are you referring to specifically?

Back in the day, Tom gifted me “The Crying of Lot 49”. If you’ve read or any Pynchon, the Demolished Man feels similar in a way: a zipping held-breath sprint into madness.

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The most recent attempt was John Carter (2012), I think?

Wasn’t aware of other adaptations. The movie i’m referring to is the “infamous” Disney one that bombed in 2012 with Taylor kitsch.

Never read Pynchon but i’ll take note , thanks !