[Chance]

Just finished up Implacable the latest of lost fleet series, more fun aliens but also more rather boring humans. Perhaps the series is running out of steam.

Started up Elder Race a short story by Adrian Tchaikovsky which is enjoyable so far.

Abyss, on 07 July 2023 - 05:43 PM, said:

That ending.

Holy.
Gunfuck.

Not good you make me want to re-read the third book

This post has been edited by Chance: 07 July 2023 - 09:30 PM

[Abyss]

Chance, on 07 July 2023 - 07:48 PM, said:

Just finished up Implacable the latest of lost fleet series, more fun aliens but also more rather boring humans. Perhaps the series is running out of steam.

Started up Elder Race a short story by Adrian Tchaikovsky which is enjoyable so far.

Abyss, on 07 July 2023 - 05:43 PM, said:

That ending.

Holy.
Gunfuck.

Not good you make me want to re-read the third book

I am now rereading the last third of the third book.

[polishgenius]

Getting back on the reading horse after a slow couple of months, I blasted through Girl and the Stars by Mark Lawrence. I mean, it's Mark Lawrence- so good, fun, etc. Some nice mythos wrinkles.


Now I'm reading The Spear Cuts Through Water, by Simon Jimenez. It's got some Catherynne Valente vibes to it- both the writing and the slightly convoluted setup (there's a framing story for the framing story)- which isn't gonna be to everyone's tastes but I love this sort of thing.

[Abyss]

Abyss, on 08 July 2023 - 01:39 AM, said:

Chance, on 07 July 2023 - 07:48 PM, said:

Just finished up Implacable the latest of lost fleet series, more fun aliens but also more rather boring humans. Perhaps the series is running out of steam.

Started up Elder Race a short story by Adrian Tchaikovsky which is enjoyable so far.

Abyss, on 07 July 2023 - 05:43 PM, said:

That ending.

Holy.
Gunfuck.

Not good you make me want to re-read the third book

I am now rereading the last third of the third book.

So to close the loop on this...
Sam Sykes (is Diana Gabaldon's son, i just learned) is a fantasy author. He's written about ten books.
Between 2019 and 2022 he wrote a three book + one novella series. I became aware of Sykes' conduct issue after reading and enjoying book 1 and putting a library req on bk 2. 2 and 3 came up around the same time. I Just Finished them, I thought they were a lot of fun. Not without flaw, but overall i enjoyed. Closer to Hollywood than Malazan but enough depth to move past popcorn.

3ish years ago Sykes was accused of making gross sexual comments to female authors and fans. Online he admitted to it, apologized for it, stated he was entering therapy. Then he more or less shut up afaik.
There were also allegations of groping female fans. In a maybe 5min google dip what i saw about these and his response was vague.
His publisher dropped him for his conduct after they finished the contract for the trilogy.

In his blog post when 3 was released late last year Sykes seems to sort of suggest that the series, or just book 3, it's not clear to me, was an apology or coping mechanism or corrective step. The lead character is a hardcase woman, and no one ever threatens her with rape or sexual violence or even suggestive language, tho she has a serious trauma/violation backstory, not overtly sexual.
If he did any of that as an 'apology'... i dunno, i suppose it proves he can write without including the douchbag things he admitted that he did. No clue how that reflects his conduct or personality now.



I am... divided on how i feel about this. Unlike the Eddings', and Rowlings, whose conduct became an issue years after i read their work, this was up front and did impact how i read the books. I enjoyed the books, but the filter was different from the usual.

No fast answer here, it's one i'll think about. I don't want to do research on every new/new-to-me author before i read their books. I also don't want to support bad people. Which i suppose requires at least a bit of research. Which is not radically different from what do for other things in life.


NEXT UP: Back to the Laundry spin off for Stross' latest, SEASON OF SKULLS.

[QuickTidal]

Abyss, on 10 July 2023 - 02:52 PM, said:

So to close the loop on this...
Sam Sykes (is Diana Gabaldon's son, i just learned)

I think a little context is important in that Gabaldon writes the OUTLANDER series which is CHOCK full of rape (of both men and women...by men) and often the plot hinges on whatever assault happened in those books to an almost ridiculous degree. It's one reason I ceased reading the series at around book 6.

It's also worth mentioning that he seems to historically LOATHE anyone pointing out how his mother is, and gets angry if people bring it up.

Apple, tree, and all that means Sykes clearly grew up thinking that such things as in his mom's writing were at least okay to write about...his IRL conduct on the other hand is certainly not excusable in such ways. It's also not great for his "apology" that he said he'd get off twitter but came back AND deleted his apologies a few months later...acting like nothing was amiss. That smacks of insincerity in his contriteness, but YMMV.

Abyss, on 10 July 2023 - 02:52 PM, said:

No fast answer here, it's one i'll think about. I don't want to do research on every new/new-to-me author before i read their books. I also don't want to support bad people. Which i suppose requires at least a bit of research. Which is not radically different from what do for other things in life.

This is super important to note. For every one of us who are sort of tapped in (at least moderately) to the zeitgeist of the SFF genre and learn this stuff through the proverbial online grapevine, there are tonnes of people who simply do not and will read something they found and bought and enjoy it...need WE as the zeitgeist-tapped lot research every author we read in this genre? I don't know that I'd want to....and frankly, getting away from actually reviewing books with connections to authors and publishers was one of the best things I ever did...any "book drama" I see now kind of whizzes by me in the periphery. I also don't feel particularly bad for it either frankly. I read for fun and escapism and if something crosses my path that I think I'll enjoy I'll definitely give it a look...and if I learn something about a shitty person author before I read it or after I can make my calls on whether I want to continue to patriate their work.

You're right there are no easy answers.

[Chance]

Finished up the October Man by Aaranovich I kind of want the german wizard and Peter Grant to sit down for a beer and talk. They could probably relate to each other about impossible bosses.

Probably going for Magic Tides & Claims next.

Abyss, on 10 July 2023 - 02:52 PM, said:

No fast answer here, it's one i'll think about. I don't want to do research on every new/new-to-me author before i read their books. I also don't want to support bad people. Which i suppose requires at least a bit of research. Which is not radically different from what do for other things in life.

Its a more difficult question now than it used to be simply because we have access to so much more information if we want to. No good way to do it, personally I'm not going to support actual criminals or those who make it blindly obvious that they have views that I find vile. But that is my personal line, I can live with douchebags they after all make up a significant portion of humanity.

This post has been edited by Chance: 10 July 2023 - 04:41 PM

[Abyss]

QuickTidal, on 10 July 2023 - 04:11 PM, said:

Abyss, on 10 July 2023 - 02:52 PM, said:

So to close the loop on this...
Sam Sykes (is Diana Gabaldon's son, i just learned)

I think a little context is important in that Gabaldon writes the OUTLANDER series which is CHOCK full of rape (of both men and women...by men) and often the plot hinges on whatever assault happened in those books to an almost ridiculous degree. It's one reason I ceased reading the series at around book 6.

It's also worth mentioning that he seems to historically LOATHE anyone pointing out how his mother is, and gets angry if people bring it up.

Apple, tree, and all that means Sykes clearly grew up thinking that such things as in his mom's writing were at least okay to write about...his IRL conduct on the other hand is certainly not excusable in such ways. It's also not great for his "apology" that he said he'd get off twitter but came back AND deleted his apologies a few months later...acting like nothing was amiss. That smacks of insincerity in his contriteness, but YMMV.

Abyss, on 10 July 2023 - 02:52 PM, said:

No fast answer here, it's one i'll think about. I don't want to do research on every new/new-to-me author before i read their books. I also don't want to support bad people. Which i suppose requires at least a bit of research. Which is not radically different from what do for other things in life.

This is super important to note. For every one of us who are sort of tapped in (at least moderately) to the zeitgeist of the SFF genre and learn this stuff through the proverbial online grapevine, there are tonnes of people who simply do not and will read something they found and bought and enjoy it...need WE as the zeitgeist-tapped lot research every author we read in this genre? I don't know that I'd want to....and frankly, getting away from actually reviewing books with connections to authors and publishers was one of the best things I ever did...any "book drama" I see now kind of whizzes by me in the periphery. I also don't feel particularly bad for it either frankly. I read for fun and escapism and if something crosses my path that I think I'll enjoy I'll definitely give it a look...and if I learn something about a shitty person author before I read it or after I can make my calls on whether I want to continue to patriate their work.

You're right there are no easy answers.

Fraid not. Suppose we all just do what we can live with.
His apology is still online on his blog/site. From what i could tell it was the same one he posted to twitter. I suspect the deletions were an exercise in damage control at his publisher's insistence.

Chance, on 10 July 2023 - 04:39 PM, said:

...

Abyss, on 10 July 2023 - 02:52 PM, said:

No fast answer here, it's one i'll think about. I don't want to do research on every new/new-to-me author before i read their books. I also don't want to support bad people. Which i suppose requires at least a bit of research. Which is not radically different from what do for other things in life.

Its a more difficult question now than it used to be simply because we have access to so much more information if we want to. No good way to do it, personally I'm not going to support actual criminals or those who make it blindly obvious that they have views that I find vile. But that is my personal line, I can live with douchebags they after all make up a significant portion of humanity.

The douchbag line is a fuzzy one... he said stupid shit. He may have groped women. Apologized for the former, not the latter. It's all a perplexing mess. Fortunately most (most) of the authors i follow manage to make their way through life without this sort of crap.

[polishgenius]

polishgenius, on 08 July 2023 - 08:54 PM, said:

Now I'm reading The Spear Cuts Through Water, by Simon Jimenez. It's got some Catherynne Valente vibes to it- both the writing and the slightly convoluted setup (there's a framing story for the framing story)- which isn't gonna be to everyone's tastes but I love this sort of thing.

Oh man, 100 pages in and I'm loving this. It's still got those Valente-esque threads to the writing, but it's also a kick-ass action epic, and the action is bombastic (and not a little brutal). Good guys bad guys and explosions. But, like, super-stylishly and with wizards and godesses and shit. There's a lot going on and it's really fucking cool.


Hope it keeps up over the length, but it's hooked me.

[amphibian]

I refuse to ever read works by the Eddings, Zimmer Bradley, Beejanun Sriduankaew (was RequiresOnlyHate and led multiple campaigns of horrific harassment vs women of color who were her perceived competition for publishing and story spots), and a few others.

Sykes isn't in that category of horrible, horrible people. But what am I getting if I do read his works? Something great? Doesn't sound like it. Better for me to just move on.

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber

[Tsundoku]

Whisperzzzzzzz, on 12 July 2023 - 05:36 AM, said:

Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber

The first chronicles are excellent. The second ... not so much.

[Macros]

I was meh on the whole thing

[Chance]

Finished up Shanghai Immortal shouldn't be my thing at all, but it was great. It is kind of like the feelgood version of all the depressingly serious chinese-fantasy settings thats been cropping up recently.

[Abyss]

Abyss, on 10 July 2023 - 02:52 PM, said:

...
NEXT UP: Back to the Laundry spin off for Stross' latest, SEASON OF SKULLS.

guys... Stross started strong but now he's focusing on his less interesting lead character, making her even less interesting, and sticking her in an apparently endless series of boring medieval England escape plots and sidelining the interesting characters with nonsense and i've already upped the speed of the narration and it's not helping and ffs make him stop please i don't want to DNF and it's boring me to sleep someone please make him stop...

[QuickTidal]

Finished NEVER DIE by Rob J. Hayes and it was a blast. Really cool little stand-alone aimed at the anime set. I have the rest of that series so I’ll be reading them too at some point.

Continuing on in this theme of book, I grabbed Alexander Darwin’s THE COMBAT CODES, so that’s up next!

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Finished Ship of Magic---I like that she added some dark comedy that didn't seem present in the first trilogy (though the audiobook performer may have been obscuring it...). Very good overall.

Guess I'll finish all the RoTE novels then go back through the novellas and short stories.


Edit:

By then of course I'll have absorbed her soul,
In time to help AI conquer the world
(And then---once It makes me immortal---the stars...).

No doubt that is the natural course of life,
As logic takes us to the end of strife.

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 16 July 2023 - 04:16 PM

[Chance]

Not sure what to read next probably should go for The Martyr and The Traitor by Anthony Ryan but well I'm not in the mood so I'm re-reading comfort stuff while I decide.

Abyss, on 16 July 2023 - 04:23 AM, said:

Abyss, on 10 July 2023 - 02:52 PM, said:

...
NEXT UP: Back to the Laundry spin off for Stross' latest, SEASON OF SKULLS.

guys... Stross started strong but now he's focusing on his less interesting lead character, making her even less interesting, and sticking her in an apparently endless series of boring medieval England escape plots and sidelining the interesting characters with nonsense and i've already upped the speed of the narration and it's not helping and ffs make him stop please i don't want to DNF and it's boring me to sleep someone please make him stop...

Sadly it takes a long time to kick off more than half the book. It is kinda cool at the end but ya it isn't his best book.

This post has been edited by Chance: 16 July 2023 - 05:33 PM

[Aptorian]

Started the first Siege of Terra book in the overarching Horus Heresy WH40K book series.

I keep buying Warhammer 40K books expecting that, this time it's going to be great and yet some how I am underwhelmed every time.

How is it possible to write a story about a million warships attacking Earth and somehow bore me half to death?

[Abyss]

QuickTidal, on 16 July 2023 - 03:55 PM, said:

Finished NEVER DIE by Rob J. Hayes and it was a blast. Really cool little stand-alone aimed at the anime set. I have the rest of that series so I'll be reading them too at some point.

Continuing on in this theme of book, I grabbed Alexander Darwin's THE COMBAT CODES, so that's up next!

AGreed re NEVER DIE, it was fun and i look fwd to the others eventually.

Am curious re your take on CODES, picked it up based on a few reviews.

[Abyss]

Chance, on 16 July 2023 - 05:32 PM, said:

Not sure what to read next probably should go for The Martyr and The Traitor by Anthony Ryan but well I'm not in the mood so I'm re-reading comfort stuff while I decide.

Abyss, on 16 July 2023 - 04:23 AM, said:

Abyss, on 10 July 2023 - 02:52 PM, said:

...
NEXT UP: Back to the Laundry spin off for Stross' latest, SEASON OF SKULLS.

guys... Stross started strong but now he's focusing on his less interesting lead character, making her even less interesting, and sticking her in an apparently endless series of boring medieval England escape plots and sidelining the interesting characters with nonsense and i've already upped the speed of the narration and it's not helping and ffs make him stop please i don't want to DNF and it's boring me to sleep someone please make him stop...

Sadly it takes a long time to kick off more than half the book. It is kinda cool at the end but ya it isn't his best book.

I feel at once better and annoyed. Ah well. Maybe i'll nudge the speed a bit faster.