Sci-Fi and Fantasy Thread - SPOILERS Part Two

[trostol]

finally getting around to Castlevania..kind of a good thing since i can watch it ..like all at one shot..so far(S1) Trevor is amazing

 

[Surrounded By Ahos]

I started the first book yesterday, I'm about halfway through now, and I'm really not enjoying it very much. It doesn't help that I typically don't enjoy books in first person, anyway, but it's just such a mishmash of so much things we've already seen elsewhere. Between Harry Potter, The Hunger Games/Battle Royale, Ender's Game, Divergent, or even older stuff like The White Mountains. So far there's been several twists and they were all pretty predictable, or at the very least not very surprising.

It's not awful, but it's just very blah. If it was a meal, it would be buttered noodles. Decent on it's own, but it's been done before. The prose is fine, I guess, although the author using the phrase "if 'a' is 'b', then 'x' is 'y" twice within about three chapters, just filling in different words for the variables. He also fell into the annoying habit of using capitalized in-universe lingo to show off how Cool and Unique his world is. Every person is assigned to a certain caste based on their birth and there is alllll sorts of eugenics going on there (similar to Brave New World, sort of), and every caste is assigned a Color. The Golds are the aristocrats and leaders, Tin serve as police, Obsidian are military, Red are the miners (and so blatantly Irish it's nearly offensive, what with their love of drinkin and dancin and singin, all they want to do is work hard and go home to their families, but they neglected and misled by the English Golds). You also have stuff like the Conquering when the colonies on the Moon rebelled and took control of the solar system. It's just so Old and Tired and I am very much Over It.

There's also a good bit of rape so far in the middle third, so that's fun. I'll probably finish it, but unless it gets drastically better over the last half, I won't bother reading the rest of the trilogy.

Trucked through the back half, and really didn't enjoy it. It's the Hunger Games on Mars. If you've read more than five books in your lifetime, you'll see most of the twists coming. Example: the main character is a miner on Mars. Ostensibly, he's there to help mine helium-3 in order to terraform the planet. Actually, the planet has been fully terraformed for many years, and the aristocracy has been lying to the miners in order to keep them under control. Not an awful idea, but it's given away by the inciting incident, where the main character and his wife sneak to the surface and bang in a copse of trees. ALSO THE f***ING MAP IN THE FRONT OF THE BOOK INCLUDES FORESTS, RIVERS, AND A BIGASS LAKE. It's played up like some big revelation when the main character is taken to the surface later, but it just comes across as a "well, no shit" moment.

My big gripe, though, is the 'futuristic' lingo the author came up with. Literally all he does is smash together two words, and capitalize the second word. As a made up example, in the future, hockey will be played with a hockeyStick. You use your hockeyStick to shoot the hockeyPuck into the hockeyGoal. Then if you win enough games you win the stanleyCup. After a while it just gets f***ingAnnoying. Oh, and speaking of swearing, the different castes have different terms. The low caste Reds say 'bloodydamn' (GET IT THEY'RE IRISH) and the high caste Golds say 'gorydamn'. Wow what a cool and unique way of denoting social class via language. Right up there with Tolkien.


Man, what an annoying book. It had the potential to be great. The concept is very cool, what with the solar system being colonized and an oppressive upper class abusing and misleading the rest, but it just feels like the author was too busy coming up with cleverWords to actually bother coming up with a good story to put into his admittedly interesting world.

 

[Rebels57]

Why do you people continue to read books you arent enjoying?

 

[Tripod]

Why do you people continue to read books you arent enjoying?

Flyers fans.

Enough said.

 

[Rebels57]

Flyers fans.

Enough said.

 

[Lord Defect]

I just finished The Forever War by Joe Haldeman. Fantastic book. Easily the best sci-fi I’ve ever read.
@Surrounded By Ahos this dude wrote the book after Vietnam, and it felt like every other page he organically weaves in new words and creates believable new technologies.

 

[Surrounded By Ahos]

Why do you people continue to read books you arent enjoying?

In this specific case, several reasons.

1) Like I said, the setting was interesting, and I was hoping to get more on it, but unfortunately the last 2/3 of the book is spent in the hungerGames on Mars.

2) It wasn't awful, I just didn't enjoy it. Books I actively hate I drop very quickly.

3) In order to legitimately complain about something, you need to finish it. I wouldn't feel right ranting about a book I had only half read.

I just finished The Forever War by Joe Haldeman. Fantastic book. Easily the best sci-fi I’ve ever read.
@Surrounded By Ahos this dude wrote the book after Vietnam, and it felt like every other page he organically weaves in new words and creates believable new technologies.

FANTASTIC book. One of my favorites as well. Seeing how society kept changing as the main character returned from the war was very interesting. I actually read the sequel recently, but it doesn't quite stack up.

 

[Lord Defect]

In this specific case, several reasons.

1) Like I said, the setting was interesting, and I was hoping to get more on it, but unfortunately the last 2/3 of the book is spent in the hungerGames on Mars.

2) It wasn't awful, I just didn't enjoy it. Books I actively hate I drop very quickly.

3) In order to legitimately complain about something, you need to finish it. I wouldn't feel right ranting about a book I had only half read.



FANTASTIC book. One of my favorites as well. Seeing how society kept changing as the main character returned from the war was very interesting. I actually read the sequel recently, but it doesn't quite stack up.

I’ve heard most of his other work doesn’t stack up to it. I’d say it’d be hard pressed to. I’m going to have to read a few of his others when I clear my backlog.
I’m currently reading Mongol Moon by Mark Sibley. It’s not sci-fi but it’s excellent so far.

 

[wankstifier]

Been watching The Dragon Prince. It’s definitely childish, but it also handles some issues and themes more maturely than most “adult” shows

 

[trostol]

Just started reading Monster Hunter International

 

[wankstifier]

Sweet Tooth is terrible

 

[Young Sandwich]

Sweet Tooth is terrible

I watched the first episode with my wife and immediately gave up. Someone tell me if I'm missing anything please.

 

[wankstifier]

I watched the first episode with my wife and immediately gave up. Someone tell me if I'm missing anything please.

Furry propaganda

 

[Surrounded By Ahos]

Furry propaganda

 

[wankstifier]

Anyway, time to watch some Beastars.

Gotta bend to our furry overlords

 

[Surrounded By Ahos]

I just finished reading Heretics of Dune for the first time.

I'm still digesting things, so I'm not sure where I would rate it among the rest of the books, but it was definitely easier to read than God Emperor. Things actually happened in this book, versus several hundred pages of a worm man waxing philosophical.

 

[sa cyred]

Im on book 2 of The Licanius Trilogy & I am such a fan. I am a Brendan Sanderson fan so to find another high fantasy series (looking at you Malazan Book of the Fallen) that wasn't paint dry was nice.

Highly recommend if you are into high fantasy books.

 

[trostol]

i need better friends and acquentences

 

[wankstifier]

Tomorrow War is a real expensive B movie.

 

[Chinatown88]

Im on book 2 of The Licanius Trilogy & I am such a fan. I am a Brendan Sanderson fan so to find another high fantasy series (looking at you Malazan Book of the Fallen) that wasn't paint dry was nice.

Highly recommend if you are into high fantasy books.

Islington was awesome with his debut trilogy. I was enthralled with all the books.

 

[Rebels57]

Tomorrow War is a real expensive B movie.

A Quiet Place Part II, on the other hand, was fantastic.

 

[Captain Dave Poulin]

Tomorrow War is a real expensive B movie.

It looks terrible in the preview.

 

[wankstifier]

A Quiet Place Part II, on the other hand, was fantastic.

Saw Part I, which I liked. The premise is dumb when I sit to think about it, but it’s suspenseful and entertaining in the moment of viewing.

Tomorrow War is dumb and not entertaining. Chris Pratt should retire

 

[The Madrigal]

Masters of the Universe trailer looks pretty encouraging.

 

[Captain Dave Poulin]

"The Force Awakens" is actually worse the 23rd time you see it.