The Book Thread - fiction, nonfiction, reference, etc

[the-pi-guy]

I haven't been buying as many books, instead I've moved on to tv shows/movies.  

[Legend]

I haven't been buying as many books, instead I've moved on to tv shows/movies. 

Hadn't noticed

I mostly just use the library.

2024:
Bought clockwork rocket
Rented eternal flame, arrows of time, expedition (didn't finish)
2025:
Bought yaetuan saga
Will rent rendevous, embessy, and maybe some more

Wow old dog thread. Heh

I recently just finished the entire Red Rising saga(still one book left to release). It's incredible.

On book 2 of the expanse now

Clicked on book ot and expected my thread, had no clue we had one from 2019.

So far I'm only 30 pages into my first 2025 book. The yaetuan saga.



Books any better than the show?

[nnodley]

Books any better than the show?

Yeah they actually are very similar. I'm kinda surprised how well the show seemed to follow the books.  Characters they introduce in season 1 like Avasarala only come into the books in book 2. 

They did change up the protomolecule a bit. It's a lot nastier in the books than the shows. They describe people it takes over as vomit zombies in the books 

[Legend]

vomit zombies

Lovely

[kitler53]

since this thread is in my face,.. anyone read dune?

I like the movies a lot.  would consider reading. 

[nnodley]

Have the first two Dune novels but have yet to read

[nnodley]

Pretty sure I've got about 40 to 50 unread books in my office 

[Legend]

Pretty sure I've got about 40 to 50 unread books in my office

Just for that zoom background to look smart

[the-pi-guy]

Combined this thread with that other Book thread. 

[Legend]

I rented my first audiobook. The library only had that or an ebook and I don't like ebooks, so I guess I'm trying this.

Loaded up just fine on xbox though so that is nice. I'll try having it on my surround sound speakers while working on my laptop.

edt: embassytown

[Legend]

I finished embassytown.

First half was great. Second half kinda sucked.



I think the issues were two fold. First, the first half was all about worldbuilding and setting up mysteries. The answers would only lead to bigger mysteries. While the second half only had really underwhelming answers, and it felt padded with a lot of filler and basic storytelling.

Secondly, the main character was just one person in a much bigger world in the first half. Yet in the second she came to be smug and just so condescending as she became the most important person in the world. Could have worked if that was meta about how everyone gets corrupted by power and she was no exception, but nope. It was just the dumb trope that I hate. I have no idea why people near the end were just so angry at each other. It wasn't presented as juvenile anger, it was presented as righteous anger so it was just weird to not have a solid foundation.


The biggest frustration is just how lame the book handled language. Alien language is the core concept in it and it starts really intriguing, but by the end it sure felt like the author just made it up cause he wanted a certain ending.

Spoiler for Full Spoilers:

The main alien race in the book cannot lie. Their brains just do not allow it. They even have fun listening to humans make trivial lies like &quot;the ball is red&quot; when describing a green ball. They find it hilarious/exhilarating since it&#39;s such an impossible thought for them.<br><br>And then the only way to save the world is to teach them to lie. Right near the end the main character succeeds by just getting frustrated and repeating the same thing over and over to them. This suddenly breaks their brains and the aliens are reborn, as if they were just automatons previously. And they just start speaking in English too, cause why not.<br><br>Just. So. Stupid.<br>

[Legend]

Blindsight
Rendezvous With Rama
The Embedding
Dragon's Egg
The God's Themselves

I guess this is my reading list now.

[Legend]

A third of the way through Rendezvous with Rama.

It's really interesting, and really similar to Hapax in many ways, but it's also interesting how it has the same problem that almost every alien sci fi has.



It's afraid of having answers.

Spoiler for up to page 100:

The astronauts are exploring a massive alien craft. Like 40 km long I think. Yet it&#39;s all just smooth on the inside and only has like ten unique features. And each of those so far is just very basic like a light, a stairway, a few cubes with no other features.

There are a bunch of sequels but I have no clue if they are about this or are generic follow ups in the same universe. And I have heard they aren't as good, but maybe I might have to add them to my list too.

[Legend]

Finished Rendezvous with Rama.

Ok. Some interesting ideas, but mostly really empty. Really funny coming in as such a harsh critic of all these highly regarded books. I guess I've been spoiled by all the higher quality sci fi elsewhere.

Orthogonal Series: 9/10
Rendezvous with Rama: 7/10
EmbassyTown: 7/10

Ranking so far. Embassytown really overstayed its welcome and would have been an 8 or 9 out of ten if the second half was more like the first. Meanwhile rendezvous with Rama could have been an 8 or 9 if it was only the first half and the second really explored things.





It's still just weird how empty Rama is. Like I guess my previous post needs slight refinement. It's not that Rama is afraid of having answers, I don't need or necessarily want the book to tell me things. It's that Rama is afraid of having clues.

edt: I think a big thing is that Rama released in 1973. It was groundbreaking at the time for more than just the alien angle. Living on the inside of a spinning cylinder was completely novel back then, while nowadays it's everywhere. So of course when the majority of the book is focused on the experience of that spinning cylinder, it doesn't hit the same anymore.

[Legend]

I guess this is just my book thread

About to start Blindsight by Peter Watts. Lots of people have hyped this book up as some next level hard sci fi, so hopefully it is.

All I know is alien invasion story.