Looking for a new author

[mysgydid]

I read a LOT of sci-fi/fantasy and I'm looking for a new amazing author. I started with the likes of Heinlein, Niven, and Card and have only expanded since then. In the last 10 years or so I've been reading a lot of paranormal sci-fi, and I enjoy it, I'm just looking for someone fresh, that maybe isn't quite as mainstream.

Any ideas?

[Jaimie Vandenbergh]

On Sun, 16 Sep 2012 23:30:38 -0700 (PDT), mysgydid
<mysg...@gmail.com> wrote:

>I read a LOT of sci-fi/fantasy and I'm looking for a new amazing author. I started with the likes of Heinlein, Niven, and Card and have only expanded since then. In the last 10 years or so I've been reading a lot of paranormal sci-fi, and I enjoy it, I'm just looking for someone fresh, that maybe isn't quite as mainstream.

Charlie Stross (Laundry series, Glasshouse, Saturn's Children, Halting
State if that looks interesting - he's very varied)

China Mieville (Perdido St Station, Un Lun Dun for starters)

Lois Bujold (Vorkosigan series for intensely fun SF, Chalion/Sharing
Knife series are fantasy/indistinguishable-from-magic in turn)

Greg Egan (hard as Hal Clement SF, start off with his collection
Axiomatic)

Alastair Reynolds (Revelation Space series, or Blue Remembered Earth
for a starter - solid space opera)

Cheers - Jaimie
--
"A debugged program is one for which you have not yet found
the conditions that make it fail." - Jerry Ogdin

[Raymond Daley]

"mysgydid" <mysg...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:a257d603-39ff-4770...@googlegroups.com...

Cory Doctorow. Start with Little Brother. It's excellent.
http://craphound.com/littlebrother/download/

Or Roo'd by Joshua Klein.
http://manybooks.net/titles/kleinjother07rood.html

Oh, and both free. Which is even more amazing considering what very good
reads both of them are.

[Lynn McGuire]

On 9/17/2012 1:30 AM, mysgydid wrote:
> I read a LOT of sci-fi/fantasy and I'm looking for a new amazing author. I started with the likes of Heinlein, Niven, and Card and have only expanded since then. In the last 10 years or so I've been reading a lot of paranormal sci-fi, and I enjoy it, I'm just looking for someone fresh, that maybe isn't quite as mainstream.
>
> Any ideas?

I assume that you have tried:
1. Carrie Vaughn
2. Kim Harrison
3. Kelley Armstrong
4. Sarah Hoyt
5. Seanan McGuire
6. Julie Kenner
7. Wen Spencer
8. Laurell Hamilton

Whoa, there are no guys on that list.
SciFI is a definitely changing.

If looking for space opera, try:
1. David Weber
2. John Ringo
3. Allen Steele
4. S. M. Stirling
5. Jon Varley
6. John Scalzi
7. Jack McDevitt
8. Vernor Vinge

And there are no ladies on that list.

Lynn

[Lynn McGuire]

5. Jon Varley is John Varley

Lynn

[Scott Lurndal]

Lynn McGuire <l...@winsim.com> writes:
>On 9/17/2012 1:30 AM, mysgydid wrote:
>> I read a LOT of sci-fi/fantasy and I'm looking for a new amazing author. I started with the likes of Heinlein, Niven, and Card and have only expanded since then. In the last 10 years or so I've been reading a lot of paranormal sci-fi, and I enjoy it, I'm just looking for someone fresh, that maybe isn't quite as mainstream.
>>
>> Any ideas?
>
>I assume that you have tried:
>1. Carrie Vaughn
>2. Kim Harrison
>3. Kelley Armstrong
>4. Sarah Hoyt
>5. Seanan McGuire
>6. Julie Kenner
>7. Wen Spencer
>8. Laurell Hamilton

9. Katherine Kurtz & Deborah Turner Harris, _Adept_ series (good stuff).
10. Patricia Briggs, _Mercy Thompson_ series.

scott

[Michael Stemper]

In article <a257d603-39ff-4770...@googlegroups.com>, mysgydid <mysg...@gmail.com> writes:

>I read a LOT of sci-fi/fantasy and I'm looking for a new amazing author. I
>started with the likes of Heinlein, Niven, and Card and have only expanded
>since then.

>Any ideas?

This list is only science fiction, as I read almost no fantasy.

Lois McMaster Bujold has a nice space opera/milsf series called, variously,
the "Wormhole Nexus" or the "Vorkosiverse". They include space mercenaries,
politics (both democratic and imperial), very interesting people (some
sympathetic, some not), a lot about the impact of biotech developments,
some torture, true love, honor, and trust.

Greg Egan, an Australian mathematician, has written a number of good
stand-alone novels, most of which involve speculation on computation
or quantum mechanics.

Alastair Reynolds writes dense doorstops set in a universe with
interstellar travel, but only STL. I didn't actually care for my
first encounter with him (_Revelation Space_), but all of his
subsequent works have been rewarding (if difficult).

My introduction to John Scalzi was _The Android's Dream_, which is a
comedic near-future look at implications of some advances in bio-tech.
Hello, Dolly! He also has a (non-comedic) series called "The Old Man's
War", which is quite good.

Neal Stephenson writes (or has written) cyberpunk for people who don't
like cyberpunk. His writing style drags the reader along, whether or
not they'r ready. He's also written a massive historical novel/series,
which I've never looked at. Don't confuse one for the other.

Charles Stross is a former denizen of this newsgroup. He has written books
in a wide variety of styles: cyberpunk, parallel worlds intrigue, space
opera (more or less), Cthulu meets James Bond, uploading and the Singularity.

Vernor Vinge is possibly the guy who came up with the concept of the
"Singularity" -- in the 1960s. Much of his work attempts to portray how
society will look after technology has changed it so much that it's
incomprehensible. (This is, of course, not possible, so there are
compromises.) He also has a strong libertarian bent.


(Since this is about the third time this question has come up since spring,
I'm going to save a copy this time, instead of recreating it de novo when
it comes up a fourth time.)

--
Michael F. Stemper
#include <Standard_Disclaimer>
Life's too important to take seriously.

[Ted Nolan <tednolan>]

In article <k37kll$ikv$1...@dont-email.me>, Lynn McGuire <l...@winsim.com> wrote:
>On 9/17/2012 1:30 AM, mysgydid wrote:
>> I read a LOT of sci-fi/fantasy and I'm looking for a new amazing
>author. I started with the likes of Heinlein, Niven, and Card and have
>only expanded since then. In the last 10 years or so I've been reading a
>lot of paranormal sci-fi, and I enjoy it, I'm just looking for someone
>fresh, that maybe isn't quite as mainstream.
>>
>> Any ideas?
>
>I assume that you have tried:
>1. Carrie Vaughn
>2. Kim Harrison
>3. Kelley Armstrong
>4. Sarah Hoyt
>5. Seanan McGuire
>6. Julie Kenner
>7. Wen Spencer
>8. Laurell Hamilton
>
>Whoa, there are no guys on that list.
>SciFI is a definitely changing.

*cough* Jim Butcher *cough*

--
------
columbiaclosings.com
What's not in Columbia anymore..

[Jaimie Vandenbergh]

On Mon, 17 Sep 2012 17:13:49 +0000 (UTC),
mste...@walkabout.empros.com (Michael Stemper) wrote:

>In article <a257d603-39ff-4770...@googlegroups.com>, mysgydid <mysg...@gmail.com> writes:
>
>>I read a LOT of sci-fi/fantasy and I'm looking for a new amazing author. I
>>started with the likes of Heinlein, Niven, and Card and have only expanded
>>since then.
>
>>Any ideas?
>
>This list is only science fiction, as I read almost no fantasy.
>

>Lois McMaster Bujold ...
>Greg Egan ...
>Alastair Reynolds...
>My introduction to John Scalzi...
>Neal Stephenson...
>Charles Stross...
>Vernor Vinge...
(edited!)

Given our overlaps, I really need to read some Scalzi. Perhaps after
this Stross/Doctorow collab I have by my elbow, which I'll start into
once I've finished this Alastair Reynolds.

Cheers - Jaimie
--
"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him to use
the Net, and he won't bother you for weeks." - Phil Proctor

[lal_truckee]

If you're looking for a Jon add walter jon williams but definitely
retain John Varley. In fact pop him to the top of the list at 1a right
next to 1b Joe Haldeman.

and don't forget Iain M. Banks.

[Lynn McGuire]

I blame B&N cutting their book, including SF books,
inventory by 2/3 in the last two years. Unless you
are David Weber, Laurell Hamilton or a few others,
B&N no longer carries books older than 3 or 4 years.

Of course, there is the ever present rumor that
B&N will shut down their brick and mortar stores
and go virtual.

Lynn

[Lynn McGuire]

How did I forget Briggs ?

Lynn

[Robert Carnegie]

On Monday, September 17, 2012 8:59:06 PM UTC+1, Lynn McGuire wrote:
> I blame B&N cutting their book, including SF books, inventory
> by 2/3 in the last two years. Unless you are David Weber,
> Laurell Hamilton or a few others, B&N no longer carries books
> older than 3 or 4 years. Of course, there is the ever present
> rumor that B&N will shut down their brick and mortar stores
> and go virtual.

I'm not sure what you're blaming B&N for - is it the difficulty
for a reader of finding an amazing new author?

Books go "out of print" from the publisher, even while a series
is incomplete. Are you complaining that B&N drops 'em sooner,
and doesn't bring 'em back again if the publisher does?

I guess J.R.R. Tolkien may be also on the list of tolerated
authors from antiquity? After all, they're doing his stuff in
movies. Of course the movie makers have to do a lot of work to
improve the stories.

Is B&N more tolerant of old material in its cyberbook business?

[Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)]

On 9/18/12 6:06 AM, Robert Carnegie wrote:
> On Monday, September 17, 2012 8:59:06 PM UTC+1, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>> I blame B&N cutting their book, including SF books, inventory
>> by 2/3 in the last two years. Unless you are David Weber,
>> Laurell Hamilton or a few others, B&N no longer carries books
>> older than 3 or 4 years. Of course, there is the ever present
>> rumor that B&N will shut down their brick and mortar stores
>> and go virtual.
>
> I'm not sure what you're blaming B&N for - is it the difficulty
> for a reader of finding an amazing new author?
>
> Books go "out of print" from the publisher, even while a series
> is incomplete. Are you complaining that B&N drops 'em sooner,
> and doesn't bring 'em back again if the publisher does?
>

No, that B&N literally cut the space for the section in half or more,
and therefore, assuming similar layout of the section, only half as many
books will be in the section, which means half as many authors displayed.

> I guess J.R.R. Tolkien may be also on the list of tolerated
> authors from antiquity?

No, it's on the list of "has been selling well for decades, sold even
better after the movies, guaranteed income".

> Is B&N more tolerant of old material in its cyberbook business?
>

eBooks cost effectively nothing to maintain in stock, so yes, of
course. The only possible limit is storage space and that's been getting
cheaper and cheaper.


--
Sea Wasp
/^\
;;;
Website: http://www.grandcentralarena.com Blog:
http://seawasp.livejournal.com

[Michael Stemper]

In article <oaoe581mtobscuaf6...@4ax.com>, Jaimie Vandenbergh <jai...@sometimes.sessile.org> writes:
>On Mon, 17 Sep 2012 17:13:49 +0000 (UTC), mste...@walkabout.empros.com (Michael Stemper) wrote:
>>In article <a257d603-39ff-4770...@googlegroups.com>, mysgydid <mysg...@gmail.com> writes:

>>>I read a LOT of sci-fi/fantasy and I'm looking for a new amazing author. I
>>>started with the likes of Heinlein, Niven, and Card and have only expanded
>>>since then.
>>
>>>Any ideas?

>>Lois McMaster Bujold ...
>>Greg Egan ...
>>Alastair Reynolds...
>>My introduction to John Scalzi...
>>Neal Stephenson...
>>Charles Stross...
>>Vernor Vinge...

>Given our overlaps, I really need to read some Scalzi. Perhaps after
>this Stross/Doctorow collab I have by my elbow, which I'll start into
>once I've finished this Alastair Reynolds.

Which Reynolds are you on at the moment?

Like I said, they're a slog for me, but a good slog. So, I've read about
one a year.

[Jaimie Vandenbergh]

On Tue, 18 Sep 2012 12:37:18 +0000 (UTC),

mste...@walkabout.empros.com (Michael Stemper) wrote:

>In article <oaoe581mtobscuaf6...@4ax.com>, Jaimie Vandenbergh <jai...@sometimes.sessile.org> writes:
>>On Mon, 17 Sep 2012 17:13:49 +0000 (UTC), mste...@walkabout.empros.com (Michael Stemper) wrote:
>>>In article <a257d603-39ff-4770...@googlegroups.com>, mysgydid <mysg...@gmail.com> writes:
>
>>>>I read a LOT of sci-fi/fantasy and I'm looking for a new amazing author. I
>>>>started with the likes of Heinlein, Niven, and Card and have only expanded
>>>>since then.
>>>
>>>>Any ideas?
>
>>>Lois McMaster Bujold ...
>>>Greg Egan ...
>>>Alastair Reynolds...
>>>My introduction to John Scalzi...
>>>Neal Stephenson...
>>>Charles Stross...
>>>Vernor Vinge...
>
>>Given our overlaps, I really need to read some Scalzi. Perhaps after
>>this Stross/Doctorow collab I have by my elbow, which I'll start into
>>once I've finished this Alastair Reynolds.
>
>Which Reynolds are you on at the moment?

_Terminal World_, but I don't recommend it much.

>Like I said, they're a slog for me, but a good slog. So, I've read about
>one a year.

Usually they're not a slog at all for me, I race through them with
great enjoyment. Some of his imagery and short stories have stayed
nailed in my head for years now. This is the first novel of his I've
not actively liked, having read through all his others pre-2009.

_TW_ started well with an /in media res/ where you had to work out
what's going on, but about a quarter of the way in fell flat on its
face with way too much "As you know, Bob" stuff going on, terrible
dialogue, inappropriate motivations/lousy characterisation (the kindly
mobster who'll do anything to help, being rescued rather than captured
due to authorial fiat, the kindly dictator who makes the rescuees his
best friends and tries to teach them about this thing called "science"
when the protag is a doctor who does everything evidence based,
changing motivations on a dime for no apparent reason, that sort of
thing), and just generally feels all Brain Eater. One out of five,
don't bother.

Anyone else get that with this book?

Cheers - Jaimie
--
"The polar opposite of cinnamon is frogs." -- Mandy, in "Mandy the Merciless"

[Stephen Allcroft]

On 17 Sep, 20:25, lal_truckee <lal_truc...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> On 9/17/12 9:56 AM, Lynn McGuire wrote:

> and don't forget Iain M. Banks.- Hide quoted text -

Nor Ken Macleod

[Michael Stemper]

In article <99sg585rjrhnbtlno...@4ax.com>, Jaimie Vandenbergh <jai...@sometimes.sessile.org> writes:
>On Tue, 18 Sep 2012 12:37:18 +0000 (UTC), mste...@walkabout.empros.com (Michael Stemper) wrote:
>>In article <oaoe581mtobscuaf6...@4ax.com>, Jaimie Vandenbergh <jai...@sometimes.sessile.org> writes:

>>>Given our overlaps, I really need to read some Scalzi. Perhaps after
>>>this Stross/Doctorow collab I have by my elbow, which I'll start into
>>>once I've finished this Alastair Reynolds.
>>
>>Which Reynolds are you on at the moment?
>
>_Terminal World_, but I don't recommend it much.

Okay, thanks for the warning. It doesn't appear to be part of the
Inhibitors series, so avoiding it shouldn't be too tough.

[Jaimie Vandenbergh]

On Tue, 18 Sep 2012 17:01:19 +0000 (UTC),

mste...@walkabout.empros.com (Michael Stemper) wrote:

>In article <99sg585rjrhnbtlno...@4ax.com>, Jaimie Vandenbergh <jai...@sometimes.sessile.org> writes:
>>On Tue, 18 Sep 2012 12:37:18 +0000 (UTC), mste...@walkabout.empros.com (Michael Stemper) wrote:
>>>In article <oaoe581mtobscuaf6...@4ax.com>, Jaimie Vandenbergh <jai...@sometimes.sessile.org> writes:
>
>>>>Given our overlaps, I really need to read some Scalzi. Perhaps after
>>>>this Stross/Doctorow collab I have by my elbow, which I'll start into
>>>>once I've finished this Alastair Reynolds.
>>>
>>>Which Reynolds are you on at the moment?
>>
>>_Terminal World_, but I don't recommend it much.
>
>Okay, thanks for the warning. It doesn't appear to be part of the
>Inhibitors series, so avoiding it shouldn't be too tough.

Yep - it's a standalone, no loss skipping it.

Cheer - Jaimie
--
A: Think about it. Come on, you can figure it out.
A:>> When half the group posts top and the other half posts bottom.
Q:>>> What's even more annoying than topposting?
Q:> Why would that be annoying?

[Rod Speed]

"Robert Carnegie" <rja.ca...@excite.com> wrote in message
news:83a0e3c0-0b9d-4d6f...@googlegroups.com...

They certainly have some terminal stupiditys in their system.

They wont accept orders unless you have a US address credit card.

And even with the free ebooks, you STILL have
to have a US address credit card to get them.

[Howard Brazee]

On Tue, 18 Sep 2012 07:44:50 -0400, "Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)"
<sea...@sgeinc.invalid.com> wrote:

> eBooks cost effectively nothing to maintain in stock, so yes, of
>course. The only possible limit is storage space and that's been getting
>cheaper and cheaper.

But they do cost something to buy, edit, & sell.

--
"In no part of the constitution is more wisdom to be found,
than in the clause which confides the question of war or peace
to the legislature, and not to the executive department."

- James Madison

[Rod Speed]

Howard Brazee <how...@brazee.net> wrote

> Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor) <sea...@sgeinc.invalid.com> wrote

>> eBooks cost effectively nothing to maintain in stock,
>> so yes, of course. The only possible limit is storage
>> space and that's been getting cheaper and cheaper.

> But they do cost something to buy, edit, & sell.

Yes, but the point is that once you have done that,
there isnt the same incentive to flush them from
the inventory to make space for new ones etc.

Its less clear how much damage the current approach
of free ebooks does to the sales of other ebooks, just
because some like me can find enough of the free ones
worth reading so we don't bother to pay for the non
free ones as often as we would otherwise do.

[Kurt Busiek]

On 2012-09-18 20:52:56 +0000, Howard Brazee <how...@brazee.net> said:

> On Tue, 18 Sep 2012 07:44:50 -0400, "Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)"
> <sea...@sgeinc.invalid.com> wrote:
>
>> eBooks cost effectively nothing to maintain in stock, so yes, of
>> course. The only possible limit is storage space and that's been getting
>> cheaper and cheaper.
>
> But they do cost something to buy, edit, & sell.

Since the question at hand wasn't about how much they cost to buy, edit
or sell, but about whether older e-books -- stuff that's already been
bought and edited -- will stay on the e-book "shelves," rather than
being cut like books are cut from bookstores racks for space reasons,
this is a non sequitor.

The cost of buying, editing and selling them doesn't affect their
likelihood to be maintained "in stock" once they've already been made
available.

kdb
--
Visit http://www.busiek.com -- for all your Busiek needs!

[Jacey Bedford]

In message <abs66v...@mid.individual.net>, Rod Speed
<rod.sp...@gmail.com> writes

I must admit I'm picky about what I pay for in terms of ebooks. I
blog/review via netgalley (which is an appallingly slow site) so I get a
lot of free copies from certain publishers, but there's only a small
percentage of those that I would have paid for regardless. It does,
however, introduce me to authors I might never otherwise have tried. I
still pay for Kindle editions from my favourite authors - even over the
odds in terms of getting the e-arc of the last two Bujolds.

Jacey
--
Jacey Bedford

[Rod Speed]

"Jacey Bedford" <look...@nospam.invalid> wrote in message
news:OV2aFT6A...@parkhead.demon.co.uk...

> In message <abs66v...@mid.individual.net>, Rod Speed
> <rod.sp...@gmail.com> writes
>>Howard Brazee <how...@brazee.net> wrote
>>> Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor) <sea...@sgeinc.invalid.com> wrote
>>
>>>> eBooks cost effectively nothing to maintain in stock, so yes, of
>>>> course. The only possible limit is storage space and that's been
>>>> getting cheaper and cheaper.
>>
>>> But they do cost something to buy, edit, & sell.
>>
>>Yes, but the point is that once you have done that, there isnt the same
>>incentive to flush them from the inventory to make space for new ones etc.
>>Its less clear how much damage the current approach
>>of free ebooks does to the sales of other ebooks, just
>>because some like me can find enough of the free ones
>>worth reading so we don't bother to pay for the non
>>free ones as often as we would otherwise do.

> I must admit I'm picky about what I pay for in terms of ebooks.

Yeah, me too. But in my case that's because I get so many of the
sort of books I want to read very cheaply from garage/yard sales.
And I read very little fiction at all.

> I blog/review via netgalley (which is an appallingly slow site) so I get a
> lot of free copies from certain publishers, but there's only a small
> percentage of those that I would have paid for regardless.

Yeah, I do buy what I am unlikely to ever find used, but its damned
hard to predict what will turn up locally. I found it very difficult to find
replacements for Churchill's History of the English Speaking People
that I managed to lose some of the original paperbacks I had, and
then the damned things turned up at a school car boot sale in a
tiny little rural town in the wilds of Australia, better than any I
could find available worldwide online.

> It does, however, introduce me to authors I might never otherwise have
> tried. I still pay for Kindle editions from my favourite authors - even
> over the odds in terms of getting the e-arc of the last two Bujolds.

Yeah, I do buy what I am confident that I will read when its unlikely
to turn up as a used book and I much prefer ebooks to real books now.

[Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)]

On 9/18/12 4:52 PM, Howard Brazee wrote:
> On Tue, 18 Sep 2012 07:44:50 -0400, "Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)"
> <sea...@sgeinc.invalid.com> wrote:
>
>> eBooks cost effectively nothing to maintain in stock, so yes, of
>> course. The only possible limit is storage space and that's been getting
>> cheaper and cheaper.
>
> But they do cost something to buy, edit, & sell.
>

Buy and edit, yes. Sell, not really once you've set it up.

And since we were talking about back catalog, that's all paid-for setup
costs. The only costs associated with maintaining it are utterly trivial
since you already have to maintain a database and an electronic
storefront; you simply have to have enough space to store the back
catalog, which is almost free these days.

[Howard Brazee]

On Wed, 19 Sep 2012 07:08:12 +1000, "Rod Speed"
<rod.sp...@gmail.com> wrote:

>> But they do cost something to buy, edit, & sell.
>
>Yes, but the point is that once you have done that,
>there isnt the same incentive to flush them from
>the inventory to make space for new ones etc.
>
>Its less clear how much damage the current approach
>of free ebooks does to the sales of other ebooks, just
>because some like me can find enough of the free ones
>worth reading so we don't bother to pay for the non
>free ones as often as we would otherwise do.

How much damage do libraries do to the sales of books?

[Rod Speed]

Howard Brazee <how...@brazee.net> wrote

> Rod Speed <rod.sp...@gmail.com> wrote

>>> But they do cost something to buy, edit, & sell.

>> Yes, but the point is that once you have done that,
>> there isnt the same incentive to flush them from
>> the inventory to make space for new ones etc.

>> Its less clear how much damage the current approach
>> of free ebooks does to the sales of other ebooks, just
>> because some like me can find enough of the free ones
>> worth reading so we don't bother to pay for the non
>> free ones as often as we would otherwise do.

> How much damage do libraries do to the sales of books?

Who knows. Impossible to quantify, particularly when you
include the propensity of librarys to encourage people to
read books and so buy their own, and the problem that
plenty of librarys only have a small subset of what plenty
want to read.

[David Mitchell]

On 18/09/12 18:01, Michael Stemper wrote:
> In article<99sg585rjrhnbtlno...@4ax.com>, Jaimie Vandenbergh<jai...@sometimes.sessile.org> writes:
>> On Tue, 18 Sep 2012 12:37:18 +0000 (UTC), mste...@walkabout.empros.com (Michael Stemper) wrote:
>>> In article<oaoe581mtobscuaf6...@4ax.com>, Jaimie Vandenbergh<jai...@sometimes.sessile.org> writes:
>
>>>> Given our overlaps, I really need to read some Scalzi. Perhaps after
>>>> this Stross/Doctorow collab I have by my elbow, which I'll start into
>>>> once I've finished this Alastair Reynolds.
>>>
>>> Which Reynolds are you on at the moment?
>>
>> _Terminal World_, but I don't recommend it much.
>
> Okay, thanks for the warning. It doesn't appear to be part of the
> Inhibitors series, so avoiding it shouldn't be too tough.

I've always had trouble with the Inhibitors' motivation.
(and I have a vague memory of posting this before, in which case,
apologies).

spoilers ho!
























As I understand it, they are annihilating any sentient race they find
capable of spaceflight, because they might be destroyed when our galaxy
collides with the Andromeda galaxy in ten billion years.

There are some fairly obvious questions:
- how many races alive now will survive until then anyway?
- how much trouble would a species ten billion years old have during
such an encounter?
- what could be worse than being annihilated now?

I appreciate that he's made the effort to assign motives to an alien
species; but I've never found them even remotely convincing.

--
David Mitchell
No, not that one.

[Jaimie Vandenbergh]

On Wed, 19 Sep 2012 11:16:46 +0100, David Mitchell
<david.robo...@gmail.com> wrote:

>On 18/09/12 18:01, Michael Stemper wrote:
>> In article<99sg585rjrhnbtlno...@4ax.com>, Jaimie Vandenbergh<jai...@sometimes.sessile.org> writes:
>>> On Tue, 18 Sep 2012 12:37:18 +0000 (UTC), mste...@walkabout.empros.com (Michael Stemper) wrote:
>>>> In article<oaoe581mtobscuaf6...@4ax.com>, Jaimie Vandenbergh<jai...@sometimes.sessile.org> writes:
>>
>>>>> Given our overlaps, I really need to read some Scalzi. Perhaps after
>>>>> this Stross/Doctorow collab I have by my elbow, which I'll start into
>>>>> once I've finished this Alastair Reynolds.
>>>>
>>>> Which Reynolds are you on at the moment?
>>>
>>> _Terminal World_, but I don't recommend it much.
>>
>> Okay, thanks for the warning. It doesn't appear to be part of the
>> Inhibitors series, so avoiding it shouldn't be too tough.
>
>I've always had trouble with the Inhibitors' motivation.
>(and I have a vague memory of posting this before, in which case,
>apologies).
>
>spoilers ho!
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>As I understand it, they are annihilating any sentient race they find
>capable of spaceflight, because they might be destroyed when our galaxy
>collides with the Andromeda galaxy in ten billion years.

Is the reason known, or merely guessed at by the humans? I can't quite
recall. There was some communication through the black cube
infestation, wasn't there...

>I appreciate that he's made the effort to assign motives to an alien
>species; but I've never found them even remotely convincing.

Cheers - Jaimie
--
Actually, the Singularity seems rather useful in the entire work avoidance
field. "I _could_ write up that report now but if I put it off, I may well
become a weakly godlike entity, at which point not only will I be able to
type faster but my comments will be more on-target." - James Nicoll

[Robert Carnegie]

On Tuesday, September 18, 2012 7:58:49 PM UTC+1, Rod Speed wrote:
> "Robert Carnegie" <rja.ca...@excite.com> wrote in message
> news:83a0e3c0-0b9d-4d6f...@googlegroups.com...

> > Is B&N more tolerant of old material in its cyberbook business?
>
> They certainly have some terminal stupiditys in their system.
> They wont accept orders unless you have a US address credit card.
> And even with the free ebooks, you STILL have to have a US address
> credit card to get them.

They may only have U.S. rights to books: arguably that /is/ stupid
in 2012, but it tends to be how the world still works. So they can
only supply to U.S. customers. And that may also apply to "free"
books, either because of the terms of the deal with the author, or
because different countries have different copyright laws;
the U.S.-based Project Gutenberg web site - and also the Australian
site - are giving away some books that are still copyrighted in the
United Kingdom, where rights last seventy years after the author's
death. Whereas some U.S. rights lapsed because an author didn't pay
a renewal fee, or lapsed after the renewed term passed.

For instance, the early works by E. E. "Doc" Smith. Or, still alive
and still writing, Herman Wouk's earliest works are either dropped
out of U.S. copyright or about to: I think I mentioned that here
a while ago. ...no, I see I'm not remembering exactly right there;
/this/ is what I wrote in April: "He starts going out of copyright
at the end of 2042, living or dead, as U.S. law stands presently."
So, not /just/ yet.

It's older stuff than that - maybe by writers older than that,
although not necessarily - whose owners may have lived to see the work
pass out of their control. For comparison, Jack Vance, if I rely on
Wikipedia, was born a little after Wouk, and was first published
after Wouk - so we probably need to find someone (else) older than
Vance. And this may be already known to be impossible.

By the way, it was mentioned in one previous discussion that Wouk's
_The Lomokome Papers_ (1947) is science fiction, about an astronaut
on the moon and what he found there, and how sore he is at not
being brought back to the Earth.

[Lawrence Watt-Evans]

On 2012-09-19 09:17:35 -0400, Robert Carnegie said:

> On Tuesday, September 18, 2012 7:58:49 PM UTC+1, Rod Speed wrote:
>> "Robert Carnegie" <rja.ca...@excite.com> wrote in message
>> news:83a0e3c0-0b9d-4d6f...@googlegroups.com...
>>> Is B&N more tolerant of old material in its cyberbook business?
>>
>> They certainly have some terminal stupiditys in their system.
>> They wont accept orders unless you have a US address credit card.
>> And even with the free ebooks, you STILL have to have a US address
>> credit card to get them.
>
> They may only have U.S. rights to books: arguably that /is/ stupid
> in 2012, but it tends to be how the world still works.

Often because there are old, pre-Web contracts still in effect.



--
Now available on Amazon or B&N: One-Eyed Jack.
Greg Kraft could see ghosts. That didn't mean he could stop them...

[Rod Speed]

Robert Carnegie <rja.ca...@excite.com> wrote

> Rod Speed wrote
>> Robert Carnegie <rja.ca...@excite.com> wrote

>>> Is B&N more tolerant of old material in its cyberbook business?

>> They certainly have some terminal stupiditys in their system.
>> They wont accept orders unless you have a US address credit
>> card. And even with the free ebooks, you STILL have to have
>> a US address credit card to get them.

> They may only have U.S. rights to books: arguably that
> /is/ stupid in 2012, but it tends to be how the world
> still works. So they can only supply to U.S. customers.

Doesn't explain why Amazon can handle that fine. They
can and do make a distinction between who they can
and cannot sell stuff to, based on where the customer is.

And quite a bit of the free stuff on B&N isnt even
in copyright anymore so that line can't fly anyway.

> And that may also apply to "free" books, either because
> of the terms of the deal with the author, or because
> different countries have different copyright laws;

Yes, but there is no need to just proclaim that they can only
sell or give anything to those with a US address credit card.

> the U.S.-based Project Gutenberg web site - and also the Australian
> site - are giving away some books that are still copyrighted in the
> United Kingdom, where rights last seventy years after the author's
> death. Whereas some U.S. rights lapsed because an author didn't
> pay a renewal fee, or lapsed after the renewed term passed.

Sure, but Amazon has enough of a clue to make
a distinction on that stuff with the particular book.

> For instance, the early works by E. E. "Doc" Smith. Or, still alive
> and still writing, Herman Wouk's earliest works are either dropped
> out of U.S. copyright or about to: I think I mentioned that here
> a while ago. ...no, I see I'm not remembering exactly right there;
> /this/ is what I wrote in April: "He starts going out of copyright
> at the end of 2042, living or dead, as U.S. law stands presently."
> So, not /just/ yet.

Sure, but Amazon has enough of a clue to make a
distinction on that stuff with the particular book/author.

[Ted Nolan <tednolan>]

In article <k3d2h8$ltv$1...@dont-email.me>,

Lawrence Watt-Evans <l...@sff.net> wrote:
>On 2012-09-19 09:17:35 -0400, Robert Carnegie said:
>
>> On Tuesday, September 18, 2012 7:58:49 PM UTC+1, Rod Speed wrote:
>>> "Robert Carnegie" <rja.ca...@excite.com> wrote in message
>>> news:83a0e3c0-0b9d-4d6f...@googlegroups.com...
>>>> Is B&N more tolerant of old material in its cyberbook business?
>>>
>>> They certainly have some terminal stupiditys in their system.
>>> They wont accept orders unless you have a US address credit card.
>>> And even with the free ebooks, you STILL have to have a US address
>>> credit card to get them.
>>
>> They may only have U.S. rights to books: arguably that /is/ stupid
>> in 2012, but it tends to be how the world still works.
>
>Often because there are old, pre-Web contracts still in effect.
>

Hmm. It doesn't work the other way. I have often bought books and CDs
from amazon.co.uk with my US credit card. Apart from the higher shipping
cost, there's been no problem. Same for amazon.jp. I presume there
exists in both countries something similar to our right of first sale
wherein if you buy an object you can re-sell it.

Of course for e-books, there is no physical object, so different legal
theories may apply. (Ie: Netflix can rent you any physical DVD it can
get its hand on, but can only stream you what others are willing to sell
it rights to)
--
------
columbiaclosings.com
What's not in Columbia anymore..

[Chris]

On Tuesday, September 18, 2012 7:44:52 AM UTC-4, Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor) wrote:
> On 9/18/12 6:06 AM, Robert Carnegie wrote:
>
> > On Monday, September 17, 2012 8:59:06 PM UTC+1, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>
> >> I blame B&N cutting their book, including SF books, inventory
>
> >> by 2/3 in the last two years. Unless you are David Weber,
>
> >> Laurell Hamilton or a few others, B&N no longer carries books
>
> >> older than 3 or 4 years. Of course, there is the ever present
>
> >> rumor that B&N will shut down their brick and mortar stores
>
> >> and go virtual.
>
> >
>
> > I'm not sure what you're blaming B&N for - is it the difficulty
>
> > for a reader of finding an amazing new author?
>
> >
>
> > Books go "out of print" from the publisher, even while a series
>
> > is incomplete. Are you complaining that B&N drops 'em sooner,
>
> > and doesn't bring 'em back again if the publisher does?
>
> >
>
>
>
> No, that B&N literally cut the space for the section in half or more,
>
> and therefore, assuming similar layout of the section, only half as many
>
> books will be in the section, which means half as many authors displayed.
>

It's worse than that. While they cut the shelf space by 50% (an arbitrary figure, but a good estimate) they expanded the shelf space for a few authors at the expense of relative "unknowns".

(snip)

Chris

[Robert Carnegie]

On Tuesday, September 18, 2012 7:58:49 PM UTC+1, Rod Speed wrote:

> "Robert Carnegie" <rja.ca...@excite.com> wrote in message
>
> news:83a0e3c0-0b9d-4d6f...@googlegroups.com...
>

> > Is B&N more tolerant of old material in its cyberbook business?
>
> They certainly have some terminal stupiditys in their system.
>
> They wont accept orders unless you have a US address credit card.
>
> And even with the free ebooks, you STILL have
> to have a US address credit card to get them.

Looking at this again: you're Australian; they're a U.S. business;
dealing with you is probably complicated or maybe illegal for them
in many ways that you don't know about or understand, and so they
simply would rather not. Is my guess.

[Rod Speed]

Robert Carnegie <rja.ca...@excite.com> wrote

> Rod Speed wrote
>> Robert Carnegie <rja.ca...@excite.com> wrote

>>> Is B&N more tolerant of old material in its cyberbook business?

>> They certainly have some terminal stupiditys in their system.

>> They wont accept orders unless you have a US address credit card.

>> And even with the free ebooks, you STILL have
>> to have a US address credit card to get them.

> Looking at this again: you're Australian; they're a U.S. business;

It applys to ALL of those who don't have a US address credit card.

> dealing with you is probably complicated or maybe illegal for
> them in many ways that you don't know about or understand,

That's just plain wrong. I know what their law requires
of them with books and I know that Amazon and a raft
of others, including many small booksellers, handle that fine.

Not just booksellers either, I have bought a raft of stuff from
all sorts of operations there without needing a US address
credit card.

And plenty of places won't export out of the US, they just
say that explicitly. What is the point of allowing exports, but
requiring a US address credit card if you want to do that, legally.

> and so they simply would rather not. Is my guess.

They just don't have a fucking clue about how to do business.

[Michael Stemper]

In article <Ybednc1LfaoTBsTN...@brightview.co.uk>, David Mitchell <david.robo...@gmail.com> writes:
>On 18/09/12 18:01, Michael Stemper wrote:

>> Okay, thanks for the warning. It doesn't appear to be part of the
>> Inhibitors series, so avoiding it shouldn't be too tough.
>
>I've always had trouble with the Inhibitors' motivation.
>(and I have a vague memory of posting this before, in which case,
>apologies).
>
>spoilers ho!
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>As I understand it, they are annihilating any sentient race they find
>capable of spaceflight, because they might be destroyed when our galaxy
>collides with the Andromeda galaxy in ten billion years.

I can't remember if the reason came out in _Redemption Ark_ or not,
but their existence and targets became very clear.

>There are some fairly obvious questions:
>- how many races alive now will survive until then anyway?
>- how much trouble would a species ten billion years old have during
>such an encounter?
>- what could be worse than being annihilated now?

- Why would they be at more risk from the collision if they were
limited to a single system?

>I appreciate that he's made the effort to assign motives to an alien
>species; but I've never found them even remotely convincing.

Well, fortunately, there's enough other stuff going on in his works
that the motiviation of the Inhibitors is a side-issue. (At least,
as far as I've gotten. If it becomes important later, let's let that
be a surprise to me.)

[mysgydid]

Wow!!!! I never expected so many responses! Saving this entire thread to a file so I can save them for next time I go to the used book store. Thank you!

On Sunday, September 16, 2012 10:30:39 PM UTC-8, mysgydid wrote:
> I read a LOT of sci-fi/fantasy and I'm looking for a new amazing author. I started with the likes of Heinlein, Niven, and Card and have only expanded since then. In the last 10 years or so I've been reading a lot of paranormal sci-fi, and I enjoy it, I'm just looking for someone fresh, that maybe isn't quite as mainstream.
>
>
>
> Any ideas?

[Greg Goss]

Howard Brazee <how...@brazee.net> wrote:

>On Wed, 19 Sep 2012 07:08:12 +1000, "Rod Speed"
><rod.sp...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>> But they do cost something to buy, edit, & sell.
>>
>>Yes, but the point is that once you have done that,
>>there isnt the same incentive to flush them from
>>the inventory to make space for new ones etc.
>>
>>Its less clear how much damage the current approach
>>of free ebooks does to the sales of other ebooks, just
>>because some like me can find enough of the free ones
>>worth reading so we don't bother to pay for the non
>>free ones as often as we would otherwise do.
>
>How much damage do libraries do to the sales of books?

Of the thirty or so books I read this year, about seven have been paid
Baen books, three were other paid books, and the rest were Baen
freebies. So the company handing out the freebies has been dominating
my buying, but it's taking a LOT of freebies to get my next six bucks.
--
I used to own a mind like a steel trap.
Perhaps if I'd specified a brass one, it
wouldn't have rusted like this.

[John Park]

mysgydid (mysg...@gmail.com) writes:
> I read a LOT of sci-fi/fantasy and I'm looking for a new amazing author. I =
> started with the likes of Heinlein, Niven, and Card and have only expanded =
> since then. In the last 10 years or so I've been reading a lot of paranorma=
> l sci-fi, and I enjoy it, I'm just looking for someone fresh, that maybe is=

> n't quite as mainstream.
>
> Any ideas?

If you're drifting towards the paranormal &c, you find find China Mieville
interesting (there's an acute accent over the first e, but I'm not going
to attempt it). His first novels (e.g. Paradiso Street Station) are built
on a weird but wholly convincing mixture of science and magic and set in a
city reminiscent of Dickens' London.

Best,

John Park

---------------------------
Janus, a novel
http://chizinepub.com/books/janus.php

[Gohar Khan]

The Do's & Don'ts of an Engineering student.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-MweIUKAig&list=UUmhLtTCHD3S6Asrfi2zSJ2A&index=5&feature=plpp_video


Subscribe for more footage.

[Steve Coltrin]

begin fnord

David Mitchell <david.robo...@gmail.com> writes:

> I've always had trouble with the Inhibitors' motivation.
> (and I have a vague memory of posting this before, in which case,
> apologies).
>
> spoilers ho!
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> As I understand it, they are annihilating any sentient race they find
> capable of spaceflight, because they might be destroyed when our
> galaxy collides with the Andromeda galaxy in ten billion years.

No, because any spacefaring civilization that's around when the
collision happens will engineer the collision to not turn each
galaxy into a sterile elliptical - and if there's more than one
such civilization they'll step on each other's toes and botch the
job. So the Inhibitors are going to make sure they're the only one
around then.

And they're not _monsters_, you know. Via the Pattern Jugglers they're
taking samples of the cultures they're sadly forced to destroy, and
in some way they'll reconstitute them later.

--
Steve Coltrin spco...@omcl.org Google Groups killfiled here
"A group known as the League of Human Dignity helped arrange for Deuel
to be driven to a local livestock scale, where he could be weighed."
- Associated Press

[Lawrence Watt-Evans]

On 2012-09-26 02:57:20 -0400, John Park said:

> If you're drifting towards the paranormal &c, you find find China Mieville
> interesting (there's an acute accent over the first e, but I'm not going
> to attempt it). His first novels (e.g. Paradiso Street Station) are built
> on a weird but wholly convincing mixture of science and magic and set in a
> city reminiscent of Dickens' London.

That would be Perdido Street Station, not Paradiso.

[John Park]

Lawrence Watt-Evans (l...@sff.net) writes:
> On 2012-09-26 02:57:20 -0400, John Park said:
>
>> If you're drifting towards the paranormal &c, you find find China Mieville
>> interesting (there's an acute accent over the first e, but I'm not going
>> to attempt it). His first novels (e.g. Paradiso Street Station) are built
>> on a weird but wholly convincing mixture of science and magic and set in a
>> city reminiscent of Dickens' London.
>
> That would be Perdido Street Station, not Paradiso.
>

Yes it would. Posting too early in the day or too late. I think the rest
of what I wrote is reasonable, though.

--John Park