F O U R T H E Y E

Let's get this thing going again. What are you fools reading at the moment?

I am finishing up the Expanse Series by James S.A. Corey. Fantastic series interesting take on Space Opera. Extremely well written. Dialogue in particular is excellent. Great pacing and plot development. James S.A. Corey is the pen name for the two authors that co-wrote the series, Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. One of the things they did with this series that I have really enjoyed and appreciated is how much time they spent trying to get the science right. The concepts they put forth here are all firmly planted in actual real science and while the technology is still quite far away, the science itself is about as solid as you will find in a work of Science Fiction. Edit on this one I thought the series only had seven books but I was wrong. Book eight, Tiamats Wrath is out early next year with one final book to end the series due out at the end of 2019 or early 2020.

Recently finished Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan. The Netflix adaption was excellent, but as usual, the book is much better. I didn't realize there were two additional Takeshi Kovacs Novels so I plan on reading them next. Broken Angels and Woken Furies.

Tad Williams has also returned to Osten Ard with The Witchwood Crown. For those of you that haven't read William's first trilogy in this world, Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, I HIGHLY recommend it. Martin mentions it as being hugely influential to him writing ASOIAF. Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn is one of the best works of fantasy fiction ever written. It is a big trilogy, in particular the last book, To Green Angel Tower, which is over 1100 pages. Not even sure you can get it in one installment at this point, even digitally. At least not from any of the larger distributors. It has been years since I read MS&T, so a re-read before diving back into Osten Ard is in order.

A final recommendation for fans of Dune and the Name of the Wind, check out Christopher Ruocchio's Empire of Silence. It is the first book in a planned two book series called the Sun Eater Series. It is written in first person and is very much an autobiographical sort of tale in a similar fashion to The Name of the Wind. The telling of the actual story of the most influential person in the deeply detailed world Ruochhio has created. It is fantasy level world building in a Science Fiction setting. Dune absolutely comes to mind in terms of structure and scale. There are even a few obvious nods to Dune in there, although at no point do I think Ruochhio is ripping off Herbert. Absolutely worth a read. Book two in the Series, Howling Dark, is due out in July next year.

227 Views and no replies do you fuckers not read? Oh well fuck it I have plenty of recommendations gonna pull a Raven and keep this thread alive by myself

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MOG demands a response! We're taking too long to present our reading materials!! Typical MOG.

I thought you were looking for recommendations of fiction such as what you seem to like.

My last few books are titled... Psychedelic Medicine: New Evidence for Hallucinogenic Substances as Treatments - 2 vols

Introvert Advantage: How to thrive in an extrovert world

Type T - Outside the comfort Zone - Autobiography

As well as various books on law and Trust.
Yeah that's what I figured... you're not interested! Haha.

PS - you don't need to post to keep this thread alive. Thats only in 'Infinity' I believe.

basejumper wrote: ↑Fri Nov 30, 2018 4:51 pm --

MOG demands a response! We're taking too long to present our reading materials!! Typical MOG.

I thought you were looking for recommendations of fiction such as what you seem to like.

My last few books are titled... Psychedelic Medicine: New Evidence for Hallucinogenic Substances as Treatments - 2 vols

Introvert Advantage: How to thrive in an extrovert world

Type T - Outside the comfort Zone - Autobiography

As well as various books on law and Trust.
Yeah that's what I figured... you're not interested! Haha.

PS - you don't need to post to keep this thread alive. Thats only in 'Infinity' I believe.

I am down for anything mang. Curious what people were reading, figured we could resurrect this topic. Psychedelic Medicine is an interesting topic. DMT in particular seems promising for things like PTSD. I have read some interesting articles on the potential of psychedelics playing a role in treating mental health issues.

Here's what I've read lately:

Lion of Macedon and Dark Prince by David Gemmell. Gemmell is one of my favorite authors, his style of smooth, easy reading fantasy works pretty well for me. These particular novels are adaptions of Greek history around the time of Phillip of Macedon and Alexander the Great.

Autonomous by Annalee Newitz. A science fiction novel set in the near future where big pharma, robotoics and AI are the focus. The story itself isn't super compelling, but the science, ethics and other ideas promoted within the novel are quite though provoking.

Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel. Science fiction where mankind starts to discover parts of giant robots laid around the planet. The way the book is written - as a series of reports and interviews - makes it quite an interesting read

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie. A book set far in the future, where huge multi-segmented AIs run large slabs of society. I can't say much without spoiling the plot, but the focus is on one particular AI which is cut off from the core.

M0G wrote: ↑Fri Nov 30, 2018 5:11 pm

basejumper wrote: ↑Fri Nov 30, 2018 4:51 pm --


My last few books are titled... Psychedelic Medicine: New Evidence for Hallucinogenic Substances as Treatments - 2 vols

I am down for anything mang. Curious what people were reading, figured we could resurrect this topic. Psychedelic Medicine is an interesting topic. DMT in particular seems promising for things like PTSD. I have read some interesting articles on the potential of psychedelics playing a role in treating mental health issues.

I bought these books when they came out about 10 years ago. I had a friend who was addicted to alcohol and opiates and I was researching ways to help. I recently pulled it back out to maybe help a different friend who is having some mental issues/blockages.

I'm an advocate for plant medicine. After doing a bunch of research I took my friend for help with his addictions. I can unequivocally state that addictions can be cured quickly and without any withdrawal by utilizing psychedelics. Ibogaine/Iboga to be exact. Unfortunately most of the world looks at these things as a threat to what is the money making machine of todays society. Healthcare.
This simple African shrub cured my friend of addiction overnight and he had zero withdrawals. This was the case for over a month until he relapsed. He didn;t really want to stop drinking and fell back into it. This is especially easy if you go back into the same routine with the same influences. He did get off the opiates though. I think with a mindset that you really do want to get off whatever drugs you are addicted to and with the help of ongoing psychotherapy and possible other psychedelics people can break free from addiction without months in rehab suffering horrible withdrawals and costing tens of thousands of dollars.

I've read research on PTSD being helped with the use of MDMA. I think a drug like that is perfect because of the way it helps people open up and talk about touchy subjects with empathy, care and understanding. In my mind DMT might be a little to much of a punch to the face, but some people might respond to that better. Everyone is different.

Small Victories - Faith No More biography.

Well worth the read for anyone into the band. Covers alot of stuff completely new to me. I guess they've never been an overly heavy publicised band compared to other biographies I've read over the years

Been meaning to check that FNM book out - thanks for the reminder

Currently I'm re-reading the Discworld series again.

Yeah I'd forgotten all about it and popped in my head randomly the other week. Fan bloody tastic read

Tiamat's Wrath, Book 8 of the Expanse series, came out recently and so far it has been excellent. If you haven't read the Expanse series go do it. Right now. Go read. Now. Do it. It is fucking brilliant. Better than the tv series, which is also fucking brilliant. This is Space Opera at it's absolute finest.

Call me strange but I just can't seem to get into either the books or TV shows. There's not really anything original or compelling about them

hellboy wrote: ↑Wed Mar 27, 2019 10:45 pm Call me strange but I just can't seem to get into either the books or TV shows. There's not really anything original or compelling about them

I couldn't disagree more. In terms of space opera it is as close to hard science as you are going to find outside of a few niche authors. Also it is rare to find a space opera where the story mainly takes place within the solar system. Most of these kinds of stories are large galaxy spanning conflicts. The Belters in particular are incredibly well thought out. All the back story and cultural development allows for fantastic story telling.

Now if you actually prefer more of the galaxy spanning conflict thing I can say this story does move in that direction to an extent as time goes on but it does so in an incredibly unique way without the typical genre tropes and trappings.

Ultimately it is all about what works for you and this story might not be your cup of tea. If you only read the first book or two I would give it another go as the story really builds out in some fascinating directions. As for the TV series I suppose if you don't like the books at all it would be hard to connect to the show. But in terms of production value, writing, directing and acting it is as good as any sci fi series since the Battlestar Galatica reboot.