61–70 of 88 posts
Mars Trilogy changed how I look at the world, nation states and the future. Love KSR!
> Mars Trilogy changed how I look at the world, nation states and the future. In what way? (if that's practical/possible to answer)
Earlier quoted context omitted.
* Seveneves (I haven't read much else from Neal Stephenson, but I've heard good things) * Children of Time / Children of Ruin (both really good) * Remembrance of Earth's Past (even the fan fiction one is good) * A lot of stuff from Alastair Reynolds (House of Suns being my favorite) * Classics like Tau Zero, The Forever War etc. * A Deepness in the Sky / A Fire Upon the Deep Although not all of these are strictly con…
I hated Seveneves. The first part was grim and unremitting and almost everyone died. It left me feeling kind of depressed, and unwilling to put up with what seemed to be a self-indulgent second part. Plus the premise was so unlikely and the ending felt unsatisfactory. I should have known: Stephenson doesn't really do endings.
Really loved the Mars trilogy when I was a teenager. The clunky character development and invented politics haven't aged super well, but the stories are still interesting. I also enjoyed The Memory of Whiteness and The Years of Rice and Salt. More recently I tried reading Aurora (2015), but the book is a downer and a slog. Not recommended. Didn't finish it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora_(novel)
Currently reading Ministry for the Future, which in some ways is a very optimistic book, but is still quite grim. Also, I'm thinking perhaps next time I'm tempted to read a book with climate change as the subject, I'll wait until winter to do it, rather than in the summer when the described scenes are a bit too easy to imagine by simply stepping outside. Read the mars trilogy and Rice and Salt as well. I like his opt…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
* Seveneves (I haven't read much else from Neal Stephenson, but I've heard good things) * Children of Time / Children of Ruin (both really good) * Remembrance of Earth's Past (even the fan fiction one is good) * A lot of stuff from Alastair Reynolds (House of Suns being my favorite) * Classics like Tau Zero, The Forever War etc. * A Deepness in the Sky / A Fire Upon the Deep Although not all of these are strictly con…
Neal Stephenson's earlier work has "more soul" - Snow Crash / Diamond Age actually has characters you care about and like, his later novels get increasingly more abstract, though even better in the technical sense. I think the only character I remember from Seveneves is the cannibal leader, that's it. "A Deepness in the Sky" was REALLY good. The Forever War was good for the concept. In short, yours looks like a great…
Jack Shaftoe is one of my favourite fictional characters!
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Neal Stephenson's earlier work has "more soul" - Snow Crash / Diamond Age actually has characters you care about and like, his later novels get increasingly more abstract, though even better in the technical sense. I think the only character I remember from Seveneves is the cannibal leader, that's it. "A Deepness in the Sky" was REALLY good. The Forever War was good for the concept. In short, yours looks like a great…
I really couldn't get into Snow Crash and I didn't finish Diamond Age but I love everything from Cryptonomicon forward. Jack Shaftoe is one of my favourite fictional characters!
I couldn't even get through Cryptonomicon, and Jack Shaftoe did not strike me as a believable genius, nor his story. Anathem kind of strafed the line - it had SOME character development, and SOME action, but was mainly world-building / intellectual exploration. Stephenson's other books fall too far on that spectrum for me.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I really couldn't get into Snow Crash and I didn't finish Diamond Age but I love everything from Cryptonomicon forward. Jack Shaftoe is one of my favourite fictional characters!
I know what you are talking about, despite being on the opposite end of that spectrum. Snow Crash / Diamond Age are cyberpunk/post-cyberpunk ala Gibson and completely different from Stephenson's other books. I couldn't even get through Cryptonomicon, and Jack Shaftoe did not strike me as a believable genius, nor his story. Anathem kind of strafed the line - it had SOME character development, and SOME action, but was…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Hard sci fi is hard to define for me personally. But, Children of Time by Adrian Czajkowski is worth a look, and maybe Saturn Run by Ctein and John Sanford.
Just out of curiosity where are you located? Here in the UK his name is spelled “Adrian Tchaikovsky”, as well as his account on Twitter (@aptshadow), where aside from writing novels he’s insanely productive creating digital artwork (often including insect characters).
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I hated Seveneves. The first part was grim and unremitting and almost everyone died. It left me feeling kind of depressed, and unwilling to put up with what seemed to be a self-indulgent second part. Plus the premise was so unlikely and the ending felt unsatisfactory. I should have known: Stephenson doesn't really do endings.
The "Stephenson doesn't do endings" meme again. Sigh. Yes, the novel ends and it's obvious that the characters' lives keep going. Lots of authors do that. Real life often doesn't have endings or clear resolutions.
> Yes, the novel ends and it's obvious that the characters' lives keep going. Lots of authors do that. Real life often doesn't have endings or clear resolutions.
The characters lives do end with the end of the book (unless there's a sequel). You can certainly imagine how their lives might proceed, but a satisfactory ending doesn't preclude that either. Drawing together the elements of a story, completing the arcs, creating some kind of resolution: these are part of the storytellers craft.
With Seveneves I thought he just ran out of steam. It felt like leaving a film ten minutes before the end and stumbling out into the daylight. Pretty dissatisfying at the end of a long book.
Really loved the Mars trilogy when I was a teenager. The clunky character development and invented politics haven't aged super well, but the stories are still interesting. I also enjoyed The Memory of Whiteness and The Years of Rice and Salt. More recently I tried reading Aurora (2015), but the book is a downer and a slog. Not recommended. Didn't finish it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora_(novel)
Really loved the Mars trilogy when I was a teenager. The clunky character development and invented politics haven't aged super well, but the stories are still interesting. I also enjoyed The Memory of Whiteness and The Years of Rice and Salt. More recently I tried reading Aurora (2015), but the book is a downer and a slog. Not recommended. Didn't finish it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora_(novel)
Isn't the narrative of Aurora slightly odd (at least at first) because of who the narrator is and how the narrator develops over time? I really liked it.