271–280 of 287 posts
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This is on my audible queue. I bought it after a fire upon the deep. Great reader.
So far its more interesting than fire. Really recommend it
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Dude! Thank you. But slow down for me will you? Do you mean to say The Stormlight Archive are better in your opinion than the Malazan book of the Fallen series? And KKC is the best of those three series? Sidenote: Reading about KKC from other comments, seems like I might drop the idea of reading it for reason you too highlighted. I also checked out the Malazan Book for Fallen series properly, I was aware it was a ser…
Stormlight is significantly easier to read than Malazan and, at least in my opinion, significantly simpler in almost every way. Malazan is really a narrative tour-de-force with an extremely satisfying way of bringing a number of storylines together and to conclusion in each book. It's also an interesting meditation on history, regret, and the arc of empires over time. The complexity and in media res nature of the beg…
But I guess I will consider starting with Stormlight then, I haven't read epic fantasy in a while.
Interesting, I read that Sanderson's book are more like each book is concluded by the end like you described for the Eriksons'.
Would I be at a disadvantage of not knowing anything about Malazan world or its tabletop RPG?
I bought a copy of Ben Hur in a second hand store for 3 dollars. The book was printed in 1887 and you can se it has been read by a lot of people and has been repaired at least once. I am hoping I can stick with it and finish it. Wish me luck.
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Stormlight is significantly easier to read than Malazan and, at least in my opinion, significantly simpler in almost every way. Malazan is really a narrative tour-de-force with an extremely satisfying way of bringing a number of storylines together and to conclusion in each book. It's also an interesting meditation on history, regret, and the arc of empires over time. The complexity and in media res nature of the beg…
Thank you. I think I am getting the clear picture of what to expect from Malazan. But I guess I will consider starting with Stormlight then, I haven't read epic fantasy in a while. Interesting, I read that Sanderson's book are more like each book is concluded by the end like you described for the Eriksons'. Would I be at a disadvantage of not knowing anything about Malazan world or its tabletop RPG?
No. My understanding is the RPG world was entirely private and there is no published campaign or book about the specific RPG world at all. It was just what Erikson made before he started the Malazan series. It's not required at all.
Malazan is decidedly more demanding as a reader though than Stormlight. I would say if you find Stormlight complicated or demanding then you might not enjoy Malazan, which is operating on a fundamentally more complex (on sheer number of characters, for an example) and mature level than Stormlight on almost every level. There is a reason Malazan is often brought up when discussing the greatest fantasy series of all time.
(I still would put neither Malazan or Stormlight as really complex books though. They're fairly straightforward compared to more creative and formally interesting books like Ulysses or Finnegan's Wake, for instance. In general people who read fantasy tend to be rather hyperbolic when it comes to how complex the books are.)
Randomly heard about it on a podcast. Just started reading, not sure if I'll like it or not
_Regenesis_, by George Monbiot. About how we can realistically feed everyone on the planet long term, in a way that doesn't destroy nature, keeps soil healthy and more able to deal with climate change, and is also affordable. Very good. Very well sourced, sceptical of romantic ideas that just don't scale. Given that we currently use 60% of our agricultural land to feed livestock, that we then use to produce 12% of ou…
I really don’t understand how so many smart people don’t understand this and continue to consume animal products regularly.
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You're describing an integrated food system that, for permaculture practitioners, is considered a mostly solved problem. There's probably lots of examples of people who don't self-label as permaculturists -- Joel Salatin's springs to mind -- who would also assert this is something we demonstrably know how to solve.
Permaculture is a piece of the puzzle but I'm not convinced it is cheap enough to be affordable for the poor globally, nor have I seen it work at scale for staple cereals.
Some of the biggest success stories have been implementations in $-poor environments.
There's nothing inherently expensive about the principles of permaculture.
As to 'work at scale for staple cereals' I think you are perhaps misunderstanding what permaculture advocates - broadacre cereal crops are definitely NOT on the menu.
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So far its more interesting than fire. Really recommend it
Haven't read deepness. Is it similar to Fire? Read Fire and rainbows end and I think Vinge has the largest 'interesting ideas per chapter' ratio, but not too keen on the presentation (too much random weirdness).
The difference is that this one takes place in a more realistic universe and has a deeper focus on the role of human culture.
Thats not to say its an entirely intellectual book, it is inface much more exciting than Fire
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Permaculture is a piece of the puzzle but I'm not convinced it is cheap enough to be affordable for the poor globally, nor have I seen it work at scale for staple cereals.
Cheap enough? Some of the biggest success stories have been implementations in $-poor environments. There's nothing inherently expensive about the principles of permaculture. As to 'work at scale for staple cereals' I think you are perhaps misunderstanding what permaculture advocates - broadacre cereal crops are definitely NOT on the menu.
> Some of the biggest success stories have been implementations in $-poor environments.
So why is it not the dominant method of agriculture yet?
> broadacre cereal crops are definitely NOT on the menu.
And yet, they're a basic part of most humans' diet. How many people actually get _all_ their food from permaculture?
Anyway one of the things Monbiot talks about in his book are new perennial versions of wheat and rice that have decent yields, so maybe they can become part of permaculture.