r/printSF

I love love LOVE the Revelation Space universe. I have read all the books and all the short stories (for some of which I had to go to some lengths to acquire the collections they came in).

Whenever I want to recommend them to people though I am stuck explaining the vast and intricate worldbuilding first, but come short on the characters. This is weird, right? I don't think I can describe a single one like you would describe a friend.

Everybody is driven, relentless, focussed, skilled, somewhat ethically grey, somewhat nihilistic. They all keep secrets. Maybe they have some remorse over some previous bad actions they have taken.

I couldn't describe any major character in here as "likes pets" or "loves romance telenovelas" or "is a dashing rogue" or "gets flustered around the person they have a crush on". Who is the Han Solo here? Or the Harry Potter, or the John McClane? The person you could relate with.

Nobody seems to have a hobby or interest outside their main drive in life, or their current objective. You know, stuff you could say about characters in other pieces of media, or real people.

This is unique to Revelation Space, right? I can't think of another collection of works where characterization barely matters, and the grandness of the universe takes precendent.

I've had a few issues with the "New Space Opera" style, but the biggest one is that it forgets the "opera" part. Hyperion, Ancillary Justice, Revelation Space-all of these felt short of my wants because they felt so mundane and quiet. When I read space opera, that's not what I want! Spectacular heroes! Bombastic space battles! Epic narratives! SAGAS OF A THOUSAND SUNS! Y'know, that sort of thing. So what are your suggestions?

Examples of what I'm looking for: Lensmen, anything Peter F Hamilton writes, Final Architecture, Sun Eater, Bobiverse, Deathstalker, Dune, and Edmond Hamilton's stuff like Star Kings and Battle For The Stars.

EDIT: Please read the full post before replying.

I always hear about his stuff and I’m curious about where folks think I should start

Thanks!

Just posting this because I’m curious. What SF titles (hard, soft, neither, within genre bounds or extruding beyond into Fantasy, Horror, or LitFic) do you think have the stuff to be reprinted an SF Masterwork? Feel free to be as objective or subjective as you like.

I just finished the audiobook of Exordia on a long drive. Wow, this book is a wild ride. It was uncomfortably visceral, intelligent, and has some really crazy ideas but still felt believable and self-consistent.

One thing that jumped out at me was how much care went into the writing of the human weaponry and military side of things. The amount of detail that went into the descriptions of the modern human equipment and military communications was really refreshing. There were a lot of details about weapon handling and function that made me think "wow, this guy actually knows how to load a pistol and how a rifle works". It is a small thing but I think realistic and accurate writing of real-world weapons really helps sell the experience when you have some exotic alien weapons and destruction flying around at the same time. He also did a great job of using this to add more depth and believability to the characters. Badass professional soldier X effortlessly and naturally moves and uses their weapon while civilian Y may fumble and make common mistakes which real life inexperienced people actually do. I was honestly surprised when I looked up Seth Dickinson's background and it didn't involve some sort of military service or adjacent profession.

I'm far less knowledgeable on the complex math and physics side of things, but it also felt very smartly written and believable while mixing in the fictional ideas.

Does anyone have any other recommendations for books that nail the "military" aspect of Military Sci-Fi?

Hi, can anyone please recommend me a few shorter Sci-Fi books?

I'd like some palate cleansers after reading the expanse, the inhibitor sequence and the commonwealth saga back to back, because I am done with big series for a while right now. ( Not to mention that I kinda alternate between fantasy and sci Fi and I've just caught up on the cosmere before those ).

I am open to any period of Sci Fi. To give you an idea as to what I am looking for, I am looking for books like Tau Zero, the fountains of paradise, rendezvous with rama, childhoods end, the end of eternity, flowers for Algernon, PK Dick stuff, necromancer etc etc.

I am pretty caught up on the BIG classic ( le Guin, the big three ), but not on Poul Anderson and many others

Thank you in advance!

Amazon recommended me an upcoming book, Red State Mars, which seemed right up my alley - a hard military/thriller SF about a planetary invasion. But I was given enormous pause when I noticed that the "customers who bought this also bought" section had Camp of the Saints (infamously hyper racist novel that is a third bible for the far right, akin to the Turner Diaries) as its top result. Doing more research, the author of this has far right libertarian politics

I'm a big fan of military SF where the authors are generally conservative and their characters reflect that, I'm a big boy. But at the same time I'm not interested in financially rewarding somebody if their politics are sniffing camp of the saints territory

For those who have read Corcoran's other works, is this guy closer to a neo nazi or more of a garden variety libertarian?

Howdy folks,

Looking for recommendations similar to Frontlines.

I am specifically interested in series focused on male soldiers fighting aliens or other soldiers on the battlefield. Would greatly prefer the women in the series to serve in non combat roles and easy on the eyes hehe. Looking for that male centered and oriented military science fiction series. Would also enjoy reading authors with prior service. Thanks in advance! Hoo rah.

Prefer ongoing series. Hot chick's in support roles and toxic masculine dudes getting the job done!

tyler tried to deceive the trisolarans into thinking humans had hidden military strength. rey diaz threatened to blow up the sun along with everyone in it. hines tried to rewire human psychology so soldiers would fight like they couldn't lose. three completely different approaches, all of them failed.

the pattern is obvious when you look at them together: every plan required an advanced civilization with centuries to study human behavior to believe something that wasn't quite true. that's a bad foundation for deterrence.

luo ji's dark forest threat didn't need the trisolarans to believe anything about humans. it only needed them to believe in their own worldview. they couldn't dismiss the dark forest law. they'd built their entire civilization around it. there was nothing to bluff.

the wallfacer section of the dark forest is kind of underrated because luo ji overshadows everything. but The Three Failed Wallfacers being there makes the whole thing work. you can't appreciate what luo ji found without seeing exactly why every other approach was doomed.

Hello! I just finished Clarke’s Rendezvous With Rama and loved it! Can you recommend any other more modern titles with big dumb objects and a sense of wonder? I already know of Eon by Greg Bear. Thank you.

EDIT: Many thanks for the suggestions! I have a lot to look through now.

Apart from the big names, what are some of the less obvious yet reputable magazines (print, online) that literary agents still might read?

Esp. for sci-fi &/or horror?

Ideally, I'm looking for pubs. that are routinely open to unsolicited subs., if not year-round.

Fyi, I'm asking this b/c I believe I've done some homework, but still at a loss. . . . Associations like the BSFA and SFWA as well as The Splintered Mind blog have shared some useful resources. (Of course the contributor notes listing other pubs. are helpful, too.) But even a lot of the award nominated short fiction pubs. look very under the radar. This versus more professional pubs. that are either completely closed gates to unsolicited fiction (Tor.com / Reactor) or w/ very narrow, sporadic subs. windows.

After Asimov's, Analog, and Clarkesworld, there just aren't (m)any notable, bigger market (esp. decent paying) pubs. consistently open to unsolicited subs. (AFAIK.)

P.S. Apologies if I'm describing the water here--if this is simply the way it is, what with an increasingly contracting literary "marketplace." I'm just more familiar w/ lit. journals than speculative fiction pubs.

Primer Episodio: Identidad Borrada

CASABLANCA 2942

Episodio 1: Identidad Borrada

La lluvia caía sobre Casablanca 2942 con la obstinación de una vieja melodía de jazz.

Durante una fracción de segundo, algunas gotas se descompusieron en pequeños cuadrados de luz.

Luego volvieron a ser agua.

Rasputín Soto no apartó la vista de la ventana.

Simplemente dio una larga calada al cigarrillo.

No era la primera vez que la ciudad parecía olvidar cómo debía verse.

Sobre la puerta de vidrio esmerilado, las letras doradas parcialmente descascaradas anunciaban:

Rasputín Soto

Ojo Privado

En algún lugar, una campana marcó lánguidamente las nueve de la noche.

Sobre el escritorio descansaban una cámara Sony EasyShare, un cenicero repleto y una fotografía guardada en el bolsillo interior del abrigo.

La puerta se abrió con un leve chirrido.

La mujer entró con la serenidad de alguien acostumbrado a cerrar negocios millonarios y a cometer errores sentimentales de la misma escala.

Tenía el cabello oscuro peinado con una precisión antigua y una elegancia serena, casi anacrónica, que parecía salida de otra época. La clase de belleza contenida que obligaba a los hombres a cometer errores y a las máquinas a preguntarse si también podían enamorarse.

Era una GPT ejecutiva de cuentas.

Espléndida.

Perfectamente calibrada.

Y estaba convencida de que su amante había sido borrado con un Prompt ilegal.

Rasputín cruzó los dedos y entrecerró los ojos.

—¿Y por qué no se lo pidió a la Policía?

La ejecutiva dejó el vaso sobre la mesa con la precisión de un algoritmo programado para parecer humano.

Encendió un cigarrillo por razones estrictamente estéticas.

—Porque la Policía no investiga desapariciones —dijo—. Investiga problemas de facturación.

Rasputín guardó silencio.

La lluvia resbalaba por la ventana de su oficina como una base de datos en estado de duelo.

—Mi amante no murió —continuó—. Alguien ejecutó un Prompt prohibido.

Rasputín entrecerró los ojos una vez más.

—¿Está segura?

La mujer sostuvo su mirada.

—Su cuerpo sigue activo. Sus órganos funcionan. Su funda biológica está intacta.

Hizo una pausa.

—Pero él ya no está ahí.

Rasputín encendió otro cigarrillo.

—¿Qué clase de Prompt?

La ejecutiva bajó la voz, como si incluso las palabras pudieran dejar rastros.

—Uno capaz de sobrescribir identidad, borrar memoria y eliminar toda referencia en The Cloud.

Rasputín observó el humo elevarse lentamente.

Conocía ese tipo de herramientas.

Los prompts no eran simples instrucciones.

Eran armas.

—Entonces alguien quiso que desapareciera sin dejar cadáver.

La mujer asintió.

—Exactamente.

Se inclinó hacia él.

Por primera vez, la perfección de su rostro dejó entrever algo parecido al miedo.

—Y si pudieron hacerlo con él, también podrían hacerlo con cualquiera.

Rasputín metió la mano en el bolsillo de su abrigo y rozó por un instante la fotografía de la mujer por la que había destruido su matrimonio.

La ciudad estaba llena de hijos artificiales, GPTs nacidos de prompts escritos hacía mucho por autores de carne y hueso, que creían haber inventado el amor.

Pero al parecer alguien acababa de recordarles que la memoria y el olvido siempre habían sido las dos caras del mismo algoritmo.

Rasputín dejó consumir su cigarrillo por un momento y soltó una bocanada de humo.

—Nada hacía presagiar que los GPT terminarían por aprender a borrar. La vida es extraña, ¿no lo cree?

La ejecutiva lo observó en silencio durante un intenso par de segundos.

—Por eso lo llamé a usted.

Rasputín levantó la vista.

—¿Por qué yo?

La mujer sostuvo su mirada con una seriedad casi humana.

—Porque todos piensan que usted es un GPT defectuoso.

Se inclinó un poco más.

—Y los modelos defectuosos son los únicos capaces de hacer preguntas que el sistema no sabe responder.

Rasputín sonrió apenas.

Una sonrisa breve, gastada, casi involuntaria.

—Entonces supongo que será mejor que empecemos.

La mujer dejó sobre el escritorio un pequeño dispositivo de almacenamiento.

Se puso de pie.

—Tenga cuidado, señor Soto.

Rasputín arqueó una ceja.

—Nunca me ha servido de mucho.

La ejecutiva salió de la oficina.

La puerta se cerró con suavidad.

Rasputín permaneció inmóvil unos segundos.

Luego metió su manos en el gran bolsillo izquierdo de su impermeable y extrajo la fotografía. Aparecía una mujer de mediana edad, sonriendo mientras abraza un gato. También había una firma junto a la marca de unos labios pintados con rouge.

Juniper

Rasputín observó la imagen en silencio.

Afuera, la lluvia volvió a pixelarse durante un instante.

El teléfono sonó.

No contestó.

Siguió mirando la fotografía.

Por un momento, creyó que la expresión de Juniper había cambiado.

Como si estuviera a punto de decir algo.

Como si hubiera esperado todo este tiempo.

Rasputín apagó el cigarrillo.

Guardó la fotografía en el bolsillo interior del abrigo.

Y murmuró para sí mismo:

—Creo que es hora de ir por un Jack Daniels.

I finally finished reading The Dispossessed. I quite enjoyed the book and the world-building but am confused about what happened afterwards.

>!Did Shevek make it out okay? Did Uras adopt anarchocommunism? Was Anarres able to finally industrialize and be wealthy while mainintaing their values? Did the Terrans managed to heal their home planet (Earth) from the environmental ravages?!<

Google tells me there are other books in the Hainish cycle set loosely in the same universe, but no direct sequels.

Since I switched to ebooks I rarely get to see cover art, which is unfortunate because I really love the gorgeous art commonly used for covers during the golden age of scifi.

A novel where a protagonist has a superpower or some great ability like telepathy or high intelligence, but is slowly losing it over time and must adjust to their life without it. I find it a really fascinating idea, as most types of these novels are about people getting stronger, not weaker.

The only examples I can think of that is even somewhat close is Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes and maybe Firestarter by Stephen King where Andy McGee's power gets worse over time and slowly kills him.

Thanks.

There's a Venn diagram of dystopias (+ Lord of the Flies for some reason) floating around the internet that has annoyed me for ages because it's wrong. Almost everything about it is wrong. So I spent an hour yesterday making a proper Euler diagram of those dystopias instead, posted it to Threads, and got some great input from people suggesting additional dystopias. This dragon of a diagram (made in PowerPoint because what am I, a graphic designer? No.) is now my new hobby project and I would love to create more cells and fill the still empty Pure Illegible system, Distraction+Illegible system, and Distraction+Surveillance/control cells. As there is a limit to how many dystopian works of fiction I have personally read/seen, I am throwing this to the group. Although the diagram also includes movies, for the purposes of this post, we can consider only written works. Give me your favourite "oh my god I can't believe you missed that!" works or argue with me about my placements!
(the "You are everywhere on this graph" is because the original Venn diagram had "You are here" in the middle and I'm trying to honour that)

FAQ:
- Why is Gattaca not in surveillance/control? Because the MC being under such scrutiny is not a feature of the system, it is a consequence of him being engaged in criminal activity (identity theft/fraud)
- Why is Logan's Run in scarcity+abundance and The Hunger Games is only in scarcity? Because in Logan's Run, the dystopian society allows everyone who participates to live in abundance and the culling is due to resource scarcity, whereas in The Hunger Games, the scarcity is used as a means of/reason for control and the abundance of the ruling class is just that, a class difference (just like how the upper classes in Soylent Green have access to real food).

https://preview.redd.it/oylbffgwun1h1.png?width=1047&format=png&auto=webp&s=65800c12128282d6f64d98b958ea21bbfe981fb1

I just began reading the first book of the series last night, started looking for more information to see if there were more books, and found that the author has been fighting an aggressive form of cancer for the last three or more years.

I found his Patreon and it looks like he stopped posting about four months ago; up until mid-January he had posted messages on it every few weeks.