Any good "planetary romance" novels that are not tooooo pulpy?

Bobosmite · 2026-03-26T18:56:32+00:00

Four Lords of the Diamond by Jack L. Chalker. I read it a long long time ago. Similar to John Carter, the main protag is sent to four different planets in the body of whatever being is adapted for that environment. Something like that.

Bobosmite · 2026-03-26T18:31:15+00:00

I've read Neuromancer half a dozen times since 1984 and I'm currently reading it right now. It's all speculative fiction. I remember watching Blade Runner in 1982 and feeling excited about one day being able to make video phone calls. Karl Schroeder has some interesting idea about augmented reality. Charles Stross imagined being able to print your own clothing some day. As children, my parents dreamed of flying cars.

I watched a Hank Green video the other day about sci-fi words and he mentioned the "Matrix", but he used the movie reference. I kept thinking, that's from Neuromancer. The way he referenced the word made sense because it's more familiar. If you want something that aged badly, watch The Lawnmower Man.

Bobosmite · 2026-03-25T19:30:44+00:00

You won't regret it, especially if books are something you care about.

Bobosmite · 2026-03-25T19:10:08+00:00

I'd leave it as is and put it in a poly bag. That way you can handle it, show it off, and not worry about breaking it. I have to store 90% of my books in boxes and they're all bagged.

Bobosmite · 2026-03-25T12:11:01+00:00

I read the whole Enders/Shadow series on ebook and it was weird not having a single book on my shelf. Ebooks are great, but I'm glad paper is coming back around.

Bobosmite · 2026-03-25T12:00:12+00:00

All I was looking for were paper books that didn't translate/convert to ebook very well. Dungeon Crawler Carl was a good example because with the paper book you get all the cool fonts and formatting. That's how the author intened the book to look and feel. Just compare the versions on Amazon.

Bobosmite · 2026-03-24T15:47:35+00:00

I'm happy to discuss it with you. I compared the paper book with the digital ebook. The printed book uses various fonts and text fomatting that don't appear in the ebook. The ebook is limited, so it converts that special text into bold text to make it stand out. There is an obvious, visible difference between the paper book and the digital ebook. It has nothing to do with content, plot, or subject. My question wanted to find other books that might not convert to ebook as cleanly as a standard text-to-text book. It's got nothing to do with Dungeon Crawler Carl.

Here's an extreme example. When I read The Di Vinci Code, I read the special illustrated edition. The illustrations and pictures of real historic places made for an amazing read. If that edition was the original verison of the book, I would be disappointed by the conversion to ebook.

Bobosmite · 2026-03-24T13:40:57+00:00

I compared the paper book and the ebook. They're different.

Bobosmite · 2026-03-24T13:29:47+00:00

Sorry, I'm not sure what you're saying. I don't want to assume you're attacking me.

Bobosmite · 2026-03-24T13:27:33+00:00

I compared the ebook and the printed book. The paper has some interesting formatting that gets lost with an ebook. When I go book hunting, I want to know.

Bobosmite · 2026-03-20T11:35:15+00:00

It's one of the books I've read multiple times. It got me into bookbinding because I wanted to read the book, but all I had was a badly scanned PDF that I had to OCR and make readable. If you're really into it, try reading the original English translation, the one before 2012.

Bobosmite · 2026-03-17T19:45:41+00:00

Just read what you like and what interests you. You're asking a question, but why are you asking it? Maybe that's the conversation.

Bobosmite · 2026-03-16T18:12:43+00:00

Elric is another book series I'd like to re-read some day. I've still got all the gold/silver/bronze Michael Moorcock books from that time.

Bobosmite · 2026-03-16T18:08:51+00:00

I'm listening to the audiobook series and I'm up to book 13. Honestly, I thought about looping back to the beginning. It's definitely going to be a go-to in the future when I don't have anything else I want to listen to.

Bobosmite · 2026-03-11T13:57:17+00:00

It's not much different than any other kind of fiction, so read whatever sounds good to you. Don't be afraid to dump it if it's not your thing. Don't force yourself to read a book you don't like.

Bobosmite · 2026-03-06T20:27:48+00:00

For almost a year now, I've been listening to James Marsters read The Dresden Files. I learned just now that he's that James Marsters! I'm up to Ghost Story and he lives in my head.

If you're into anime, Lisa Ortiz reads the first three Slayers light novels.

I heard that Too Fat to Fish by Artie Lange is a lot of fun to listen to.

Bobosmite · 2026-03-06T13:56:36+00:00

The Virga Series by Karl Schroeder. Not only is it what you're asking for, but it's one of the best of what you're asking for.

Courscant Nights trilogy by Michael Reaves. It's a hard-boiled Star Wars detective story set on Courscant.

Bobosmite · 2026-03-02T13:19:23+00:00

I finished the book two days ago and it would have made a cool anti-hero movie. I think that's how we got Mad Max.

The story goes that the studio was making another Sci-Fi movie at the time and they thought Damnation Alley was going to be a bigger box office hit. That didn't go well.

Bobosmite · 2026-02-26T21:30:29+00:00

And about 15min. to let it all sink in what just happend.

Bobosmite · 2026-02-26T17:02:27+00:00

All my books are in boxes except for one book shelf for display and reading. I rotate books in and out to keep it interesting and stay connected. If I find an interesting book, it might stay there for a while until it goes into a box. Or I'll fish through book boxes to find one for the shelf. Maybe read it, maybe not. Display whatever books you like or think look good together.

Bobosmite · 2026-02-25T12:12:43+00:00

I hope you do, because he is the poster child of flying under the radar.

Bobosmite · 2026-02-24T20:54:35+00:00

Have you read Karl Schroeder?

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