Space Opera

5 Pages
« First
←
3
4
5

You cannot start a new topic
You cannot reply to this topic

Space Opera what to read?

#81 Abyss

abyssus abyssum invocat

Group: Administrators
Posts: 21,798
Joined: 22-May 03
Location:The call is coming from inside the house!!!!
Interests:Interesting.

Posted 17 February 2014 - 05:14 PM

Abyss, on 14 February 2014 - 03:34 PM, said:

Imperial Historian, on 13 February 2014 - 10:42 PM, said:

I had an 18 hour bus journey so I picked up the Merrimack series on Abyss's recommendation (this wasn't easy as it isn't available on kindle in the UK, I had to pretend to be American)

Popcorn reads, but fairly entertaining, there is a moment towards the end of the first book which really sold me on the series, puts a whole new perspective on things for the second book. I wouldn't praise them as much as abyss, but I did enjoy. And Augustus is definitely a fun character. Definitely what I needed to distract me from the bus ride though.

Glad you liked. There are definitely popcorn elements, it's not MoI, but there were moments of surprising depth for mil sf and that moment at the end of bk 1 you're referring to definitely has cool effect for bk 2, which is actually where i went from like to love for most of these characters.

3, THE SAGITTARIUS COMMAND, is somewhat slower (if you can call a book that starts with aliens eating a planet 'slower') but appears to be building to something insane, brings back a great character who was mostly missing in bk 2, and has the greatest drinking contest ever.

Finished 3. Good fun.

Meluch shifts focus away from the marines a bit (except for one in particular) to more time on the higher ups, but does a really nice job with the upper ranks. This book wasn't perhaps as tense as the first two, but still a fun fast read. And I have to give Meluch credit, she always manages to end a book with a major shift.

On to 4 shortly.

THIS IS YOUR REMINDER THAT THERE IS A
'VIEW NEW CONTENT' BUTTON THAT
ALLOWS YOU TO VIEW NEW CONTENT

#82 Serenity

Saki!!!!!

Group: Malaz Regular
Posts: 1,710
Joined: 23-June 09
Location:London, UK

Posted 18 February 2014 - 04:48 PM

^^ This all got me looking at Meluch's novels. I've ordered a second-hand copy of War Birds off Amazon Marketplace. If I like that I'll move on to Merrimack. Thanks for the steer, Abyss.

#83 Avatar

High Fist

Group: Malaz Regular
Posts: 455
Joined: 22-February 09

Posted 27 February 2014 - 08:25 PM

Thanks guys (Binder of Demons, Caladanbrood and Quicktidal), for recommending Alastair Reynolds. Just ordered House of Suns and I like it very much, more than I expected. Good SF, fast-paced, and nothing wrong with characterization. Great stuff!

#84 Tiste Simeon

Faith, Heavy Metal & Bacon

Group: Malaz Regular
Posts: 11,979
Joined: 08-October 04
Location:T'North

Posted 28 February 2014 - 11:19 AM

Some absolute hero just sent me the epub versions of all the Merrimack books!

A Haunting Poem
I Scream
You Scream
We all Scream
For I Scream.

#85 Garak

Emperor

Group: Malaz Regular
Posts: 918
Joined: 03-August 09
Interests:40k, Star Wars, Babylon 5, WW2, A Song of Ice and Fire, the Drenai series, the Riftwar and all that followed it, D&D, Vikings, the Malazan Book of the Fallen. I think you get the gist of it.

Posted 28 February 2014 - 12:18 PM

The first two Merrimack books have arrived. I'll get started on them next week probably, I want to finish my current re-read of House of Chains.

The meaning of life is BOOM!!!

#86 Serenity

Saki!!!!!

Group: Malaz Regular
Posts: 1,710
Joined: 23-June 09
Location:London, UK

Posted 05 March 2014 - 10:44 AM

Has anyone here read either of these?

The New Space Opera - "An anthology of epic interstellar adventures from dazzling stars in the SF universe: Kage Baker Stephen Baxter Gregory Benford Tony Daniel Greg Egan Peter F. Hamilton Gwyneth Jones James Patrick Kelly Nancy Kress Ken Macleod Paul J. McAuley Ian McDonald Robert Reed Alastair Reynolds Mary Rosenblum Robert Silverberg Dan Simmons Walter Jon Williams"

The New Space Opera 2 - "Some of the most beloved names in science fiction spin new tales of interstellar adventure and wonder. Neal Asher; John Barnes; Cory Doctorow; John Kessel; Jay Lake; John Meaney; Elizabeth Moon; Garth Nix; Mike Resnick; Justina Robson; Kristine Kathryn Rusch; John Scalzi; Bruce Sterling; Peter Watts; Sean Williams; Tad Williams; Bill Willingham."

I'm tempted to try the first one at least.

#87 Salt-Man Z

My pen halts, though I do not

Group: Malaz Regular
Posts: 4,160
Joined: 07-February 08
Location:Apple Valley, MN

Posted 05 March 2014 - 04:03 PM

Serenity, on 05 March 2014 - 10:44 AM, said:

I own both, but I've only read the second. I enjoyed it, but don't remember much about it. (I have a pretty crappy memory regarding what I've read.) Glancing at the table of contents, I feel like I can safely say the first and last stories were the most memorable.

"Here is light. You will say that it is not a living entity, but you miss the point that it is more, not less. Without occupying space, it fills the universe. It nourishes everything, yet itself feeds upon destruction. We claim to control it, but does it not perhaps cultivate us as a source of food? May it not be that all wood grows so that it can be set ablaze, and that men and women are born to kindle fires?"
―Gene Wolfe, The Citadel of the Autarch

#88 McLovin

Cutlery Enthusiast

Group: Malaz Regular
Posts: 2,828
Joined: 19-March 04
Location:Dallas, Texas, USA
Interests:Knives. Stabbing. Stabbing with knives.

Posted 05 March 2014 - 05:46 PM

Salt-Man Z, on 05 March 2014 - 04:03 PM, said:

Serenity, on 05 March 2014 - 10:44 AM, said:

The first and last of anything is the most memorable. See serial position effect.

OK, I think I got it, but just in case, can you say the whole thing over again? I wasn't really listening.

#89 Serenity

Saki!!!!!

Group: Malaz Regular
Posts: 1,710
Joined: 23-June 09
Location:London, UK

Posted 06 March 2014 - 10:34 AM

Salt-Man Z, on 05 March 2014 - 04:03 PM, said:

Serenity, on 05 March 2014 - 10:44 AM, said:

Okay, thanks. I think I'll give them a go.

#90 Abyss

abyssus abyssum invocat

Group: Administrators
Posts: 21,798
Joined: 22-May 03
Location:The call is coming from inside the house!!!!
Interests:Interesting.

Posted 06 March 2014 - 04:19 PM

Someone whose taste i usually trust gave them to me and said they enjoyed them.
The books rest in the TRPFHAB, but given my usual tepid reaction to anthologies, i'm hardly jumping at them.
If you read them and post agreeing with SMZ i may move them up the ranks.

THIS IS YOUR REMINDER THAT THERE IS A
'VIEW NEW CONTENT' BUTTON THAT
ALLOWS YOU TO VIEW NEW CONTENT

#91 McLovin

Cutlery Enthusiast

Group: Malaz Regular
Posts: 2,828
Joined: 19-March 04
Location:Dallas, Texas, USA
Interests:Knives. Stabbing. Stabbing with knives.

Posted 06 March 2014 - 04:24 PM

Abyss, on 06 March 2014 - 04:19 PM, said:

I would be interested in seeing if you have some algorithm for ranking the books in your TRP. I bet it's complicated as all hell.

OK, I think I got it, but just in case, can you say the whole thing over again? I wasn't really listening.

#92 Salt-Man Z

My pen halts, though I do not

Group: Malaz Regular
Posts: 4,160
Joined: 07-February 08
Location:Apple Valley, MN

Posted 06 March 2014 - 05:29 PM

McLovin, on 05 March 2014 - 05:46 PM, said:

Salt-Man Z, on 05 March 2014 - 04:03 PM, said:

The first and last of anything is the most memorable. See serial position effect.

I didn't actually read them in order, though. Maybe "memorable" was the wrong word, but "Utriusque Cosmi" and "The Far End of History" are both very large-scale stories (think Alastair Reynolds' "Galactic North") that mostly stuck with me because of their sheer scope. I can't give you the details, or even a summary, of either story, but just looking at the titles I can remember them being my favorites.

As an aside, glancing at the Table of Contents again, the name Bill Willingham jumps out at me: I remember nothing of his story, but I do remember thinking, "I've got to read more stuff by this guy." I haven't yet, though...

#93 Abyss

abyssus abyssum invocat

Group: Administrators
Posts: 21,798
Joined: 22-May 03
Location:The call is coming from inside the house!!!!
Interests:Interesting.

Posted 06 March 2014 - 05:33 PM

Salt-Man Z, on 06 March 2014 - 05:29 PM, said:

...the name Bill Willingham jumps out at me: I remember nothing of his story, but I do remember thinking, "I've got to read more stuff by this guy." I haven't yet, though...

He writes the comic series FABLES, the first 75 issues of which are some of the bestest urban fantasy fiction about fiction ever to feature the Cow Who Jumped Over the Moon on a bombing run.

THIS IS YOUR REMINDER THAT THERE IS A
'VIEW NEW CONTENT' BUTTON THAT
ALLOWS YOU TO VIEW NEW CONTENT

#94 Tsundoku

A what?

Group: Malaz Regular
Posts: 4,657
Joined: 06-January 03
Location:Maison de merde

Posted 16 January 2023 - 12:57 PM

Years ago I picked up Mike Resnick's "Starship: Mutiny" in a secondhand store. Noticed it on the shelf the other day so I thought I'd give it a go.

Nice, straightforward light space opera. Nothing deep, but the 260+ pages turn quickly. Will read the next 4 in the series. Apparently it's part of a greater mythos - the "Birthright Universe", with heaps of novels and short stories set over something like 20000 years of humanity's rise and fall. I even have some of them ("Ivory" short story collection and some others in other collections), but didn't know they were part of a greater whole. There you go. Might put them together.

Seven alien arms out of ten.

There was one passage about ... well, it's not spoiling it if I tell you there's a trial for mutiny. Duh. But here's spoiler tags anyway:

Spoiler

Made me think how some things never change. Book was written in 2005, not so long ago. But pretty much it could apply to any time period at all where the masses were (are) manipulated by misinformation.

This post has been edited by Tsundoku: 16 January 2023 - 01:01 PM

"Fortune favors the bold, though statistics favor the cautious." - Indomitable Courteous (Icy) Fist, The Palace Job - Patrick Weekes

"Well well well ... if it ain't The Invisible C**t." - Billy Butcher, The Boys

"I have strong views about not tempting providence and, as a wise man once said, the difference between luck and a wheelbarrow is, luck doesn’t work if you push it." - Colonel Orhan, Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City - KJ Parker

#95 worry

Master of the Deck

Group: Malaz Regular
Posts: 14,577
Joined: 24-February 10
Location:the buried west

Posted 16 January 2023 - 01:03 PM

Tsundoku, on 16 January 2023 - 12:57 PM, said:

humanity's rise and fall.

Spoilers!!

They came with white hands and left with red hands.

#96 Tsundoku

A what?

Group: Malaz Regular
Posts: 4,657
Joined: 06-January 03
Location:Maison de merde

Posted 16 January 2023 - 01:08 PM

Vader is Luke's father and Verbal Kint is Keyser Soze.

Well, you demanded them. That WAS demanding, right?

This post has been edited by Tsundoku: 16 January 2023 - 01:08 PM

#97 worry

Master of the Deck

Group: Malaz Regular
Posts: 14,577
Joined: 24-February 10
Location:the buried west

Posted 16 January 2023 - 01:16 PM

Tsundoku, on 16 January 2023 - 01:08 PM, said:

Verbal Kint is Keyser Soze.

Say that five times fast!

They came with white hands and left with red hands.

#98 Tsundoku

A what?

Group: Malaz Regular
Posts: 4,657
Joined: 06-January 03
Location:Maison de merde

Posted 16 January 2023 - 01:25 PM

I almost made it, but stumbled on the 5th repetition.

#99 Primateus

E Pluribus Anus

Group: Malaz Regular
Posts: 2,322
Joined: 03-July 10
Location:A bigger town, but still small.
Interests:Stuff, lots of stuff!

Posted 16 January 2023 - 04:26 PM

Tsundoku, on 16 January 2023 - 01:08 PM, said:

Vader is Luke's father and Verbal Kint is Keyser Soze.

Well, you demanded them. That WAS demanding, right?

Also, I'm told that, at the end of the movie, the ship does indeed actually sink.

Screw you all, and have a nice day!

#100 QuickTidal

Frog

Group: Team Quick Ben
Posts: 21,339
Joined: 05-November 05
Location:Nowhere Specific
Interests:Nothing, just sitting. Quietly.

Posted 16 January 2023 - 05:37 PM

Primateus, on 16 January 2023 - 04:26 PM, said:

Tsundoku, on 16 January 2023 - 01:08 PM, said:

Vader is Luke's father and Verbal Kint is Keyser Soze.

Well, you demanded them. That WAS demanding, right?

Also, I'm told that, at the end of the movie, the ship does indeed actually sink.

But Jack becomes part of the world Tree. EYWA HAS HEARD YOU JACK DAWSON....also good news, that girl you loved? She's in the reef tribe Metkayina, so you're good to go....you like fish-tailed blue catwomen women yeah?

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 16 January 2023 - 05:38 PM

"When the last tree has fallen, and the rivers are poisoned, you cannot eat money, oh no." ~Aurora

“Someone will always try to sell you despair, just so they don't feel alone.” ~Ursula Vernon