Who has read the new Andy Weir novel? I read the synopsis and it's a little different than the last 2.
Who has read the new Andy Weir novel? I read the synopsis and it's a little different than the last 2.
Yes, Project Hail Mary is GREAT. Read it!
Oh yeah, it’s really good. Highly recommend. Another recent read was "Cloud Cuckoo Land," which has elements of sci-fi, historical fiction, little bit of everything in a mashup I'd call literary if it weren't also very accessible and enjoyable. Really, it’s just very good.
Speaking of literary, just finished "Less," which won the Pulitzer Prize but is actually hilarious. Maybe literature is finally getting a sense of humor? I mean, "The Canterbury Tales" does include a lot of fart jokes, so I guess "finally" is the wrong word here and everything comes full circle.
I just downloaded "The Space Between Worlds." Looks good. Anyone read it yet?
Margie
I like my literature with a lower brow. No, still lower. I enjoy Stray Cat Strut by RavensDagger (a RoyalRoad author). Very quality writing, particularly against a backdrop of dystopian sci-fi fluff that crowds, well, everywhere. It's probably not for everyone, I know a fair number of people like their books chewier and factier but it works for me.
I enjoyed The Martian but I've never felt the need to read anything more by Weir.
In reply to Error404 :
I feel Aretmis was actually a better book.
Its very good.
I don't think Artemis is better than his other 2, but I really did enjoy it. Its a good book that I do not think deserves the negative comments toward it.
I loved "Project Hail Mary", almost (or more) than "The Martian". My mom read it an loved it and she's not a sci fi fan and hadn't read "The Martian". I kinda feel if a topic is not what you normally read, but enjoy a book in that genre, it's a decent indication of it's quality.
I struggled with "The Space Between Worlds" a bit. Kinda meandering and hard to follow. Not horrible, but not one I enjoyed enough to search out other books by the author.
I got a kindle recently, so I got prime reading for free. Started reading the "Frontlines" series by Marko Kloos. Heavy on the military process/jargon, but not a bad series.
-Rob
Error404 said:I like my literature with a lower brow. No, still lower.... I know a fair number of people like their books chewier and factier but it works for me.
Oh I get that. I'm an omnivore, so in between some of the books I recommend, I chew my way through a good bit of Kindle Unlimited books--some good, some pure crap. Almost all are enjoyed because even a bad book is still a book.
Margie
Of the Weir three, read in Martian, PHM, and Artemis order, I found PHM the hardest to put down and the most satisfying.
Is 'Project Hail Mary' available in paperback? Or only hardcover?
In reply to bobzilla :
I thought Artemis was OK; but out of the three novels it is my least favorite.
Anyone read The Three Body Problem? (Orbital mechanics, not dead bodies)
I hear it is good, and Netflix is making a series out of it.
aircooled said:Anyone read The Three Body Problem? (Orbital mechanics, not dead bodies)
I hear it is good, and Netflix is making a series out of it.
I read the first book, didn't particularly care much for it.
I thought the view into Chinese culture was fascinating. The book struck me as an almost satyrical critique of Chinese culture and history.
As science fiction, it suffers heavily from the common trap of much "big idea" science fiction of being heavy on trying to communicate ideas, but weak on narrative and character. I thought it further suffered from the author being not nearly as smart as they think they are and not really understanding the big scientific concepts he's trying to play with and then making the mistake of trying to detail the things he doesn't understand.
Like, there's a thing where all the scientists trying to measure something are getting readings that shouldn't be possible, and if they're right than everything they've ever believed is wrong, and it's causing an intellectual crisis. And I'm sitting there with a minimum understanding of science going, "Or your number could be wrong because your equipment is giving you false readings for any number of reasons you don't yet understand, and any scientist or engineer with any experience should know that."
For contrast like 'The Martian' and the Expanse series, the authors genuinely understand the science and mechanics of what they're talking about. The Expanse does the smart thing when it throws imaginary technologies beyond what we could comprehend, that it doesn't ever really try to explain them, and is better for it.
I listened to it on a road trip and it was fantastic, great way to keep attention while driving across the plains.
In reply to Beer Baron :
I haven't read the book under discussion but I know exactly what you're talking about. Back when she was insanely popular, I read one of Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta books, which were about a forensic investigator. The author got so many things flat wrong that I just couldn't pick up another one of her books. And these were books that were absolutely built around the details.
I really enjoyed Project Hail Mary, and I've heard that the audiobook adaptation is even better than reading it on paper. Based on what I think they do there, I'd be tempted to agree.
As far as reading books outside your genre and enjoying them, I read Group (a book about therapy) by Christie Tate last fall and it was fantastic.
Red Rising was fun page-turny pulp distopian science fiction by Pierce Brown, and if that's your kinda jam I would recommend it.
For fantasy and magic and gritty YA fiction, I've really enjoyed A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik.
Beer Baron said:The Expanse does the smart thing when it throws imaginary technologies beyond what we could comprehend, that it doesn't ever really try to explain them, and is better for it.
Yes. The key here though is the # of these introduced to the story must be limited.
Its why I can't stand some other scifi novels where the author just included all the common sci-fi concepts in a single story and its just as mess.
So in a way, I'm ok with this:
On a related note, if you want to read some absolutely killer sci-fi, check out either of Ted Chiang's books. Just incredible.
I'm going to buck the trend and say that I was a little disappointed in Project Hail Mary. I think Weir was trying to recapture the magic of his first novel, but this time instead of having something that's 100% based on real, believable science he's got giant hand-waves and plot holes. Yes, that's normal in a lot of SF (Trek, Star Wars, etc) but it's jarring in a book that gives an initial appearance of being "real". It also shares some of the weaknesses of The Martian, in particular the characterization is not great.
ProDarwin said:Beer Baron said:The Expanse does the smart thing when it throws imaginary technologies beyond what we could comprehend, that it doesn't ever really try to explain them, and is better for it.Yes. The key here though is the # of these introduced to the story must be limited.
Its why I can't stand some other scifi novels where the author just included all the common sci-fi concepts in a single story and its just as mess.
I'd say it's not only that the amount of "any significantly advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" is limited, but that understanding it isn't important to understanding the story. Like, how Star Trek is full of absurd technobabble, because the technology isn't the point. The technology is just a device to put characters into a scenario to explore an idea.
I think The Expanse further succeeds by taking the idea one step farther, and effectively going full on Cosmic Horror that much of the point is that we *can't* understand these things, but powerful people/organizations keep trying to play with these things anyway.
It's like improving on Lovecraftian horror. Why the heck would these cults want to summon up Cthulhu? It doesn't make sense. But in The Expanse, it totally makes sense that the hubris of rich shiny happy people would lead them to think they could get away with playing with a cosmic horror virus that could wipe out all life on earth.
This PHM book - can anyone give me a sentence or two summary?
Like, Im not a sci-fi guy, but I heard about The Martian, a guy stranded on Mars and having to try to adapt and live. I was interested and ended up really loving it. Movie...not quite as much, but havent seen it since it was in theaters.
Can anyone give me a sentence on the premise of PHM?
Marjorie Suddard said:Error404 said:I like my literature with a lower brow. No, still lower.... I know a fair number of people like their books chewier and factier but it works for me.
Oh I get that. I'm an omnivore, so in between some of the books I recommend, I chew my way through a good bit of Kindle Unlimited books--some good, some pure crap. Almost all are enjoyed because even a bad book is still a book.
Margie
I'm the same.
Kindle Unlimited is a great thing really, there are authors on there that would have never been published otherwise and a few that I've found are great, A.G Riddle for one and his The Long Winter books are something everyone who likes sci-fi should read. Others are.....painfully bad or have a great premise that they don't have the skills to flesh out( harsh but true). I read a series about space faring time travelers going back to the Viking era, should be good right? No.....it's somehow very boring
Beer Baron said:I'd say it's not only that the amount of "any significantly advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" is limited, but that understanding it isn't important to understanding the story. Like, how Star Trek is full of absurd technobabble, because the technology isn't the point. The technology is just a device to put characters into a scenario to explore an idea.
I disagree here a bit. I think the technology needs to be important to establishing the environment or story. A lot of the Star Trek stuff does that. Some does not and is distracting.
And compared to some of the books I have read, Star Trek is positively archaic technology.
One (I havent read) story that drove me nuts with all the unnecessary "magic" was Altered Carbon
Side note: Nested quotes on this forum are a berkeleying nightmare.
ProDarwin said:Beer Baron said:I'd say it's not only that the amount of "any significantly advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" is limited, but that understanding it isn't important to understanding the story. Like, how Star Trek is full of absurd technobabble, because the technology isn't the point. The technology is just a device to put characters into a scenario to explore an idea.
I disagree here a bit. I think the technology needs to be important to establishing the environment or story. A lot of the Star Trek stuff does that. Some does not and is distracting.
Some of it does and some doesn't. The Expanse does things right where Epstein drives, travel, life support in space, and how armaments work *is* all explained and it all makes sense. Things like, "who built the protomolecule", how does the ring space work, and what's "in between" the rings isn't explained because it doesn't need to be.
Trying to critique The Three Body Problem without spoiling anything. There are major scenes to explaining certain technologies and the culture and the life and orbital mechanics of this planet that get very explicitly described where it doesn't make sense and arguably isn't really critical to establishing the environment or story.
In my mind, they're really basic and fundamental logical holes, too.
Like the titular "Three Body Problem"... is NOT a three body problem. It's a FOUR body problem, and the movements of the fourth body don't make ANY sense.
ProDarwin said:One (I havent read) story that drove me nuts with all the unnecessary "magic" was Altered Carbon
I read Altered Carbon and loved it. There may have been a bit of hand-waving around the edges, but the core of it was actually well done.
How did the story drive you nuts if you didn't read it? Are you referring to the mini series?
If that is the case, the mini series was not done nearly as well as the book. They took a lot of liberties and made a lot of changes that made things more confusing and less sensical. I believe in the goal of changing up the mystery of whodunnit enough that it wasn't ruined if you read the book.
I hate you guys so much right now. That 10,000huf was supposed to go towards the purchase of a new pneumatic angle grinder...
Also: Hug your local librarian. Libraries are truly a wonderful place and I miss them dearly.
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