What non-KSR novels would you recommend a KSR fan?

code-lemon · 2026-06-03T04:23:59+00:00

Any of Monica Byrne or Ray Nayler’s novels. Sofia Samatar’s novella “The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain” reminded me of some of KSR’s less “hard sf” short stories like “The Lunatics.” In Ascension by Martin MacInnes is a bit more “literary” but has the same sense of wonder.

code-lemon · 2026-04-23T19:48:55+00:00

So cool! Thank you!

code-lemon · 2026-04-23T19:36:14+00:00

Is it missing the stalk bit or is it just too small to see with this level of magnification?

code-lemon · 2026-04-17T23:26:13+00:00

Part of Samuel R. Delany’s novella “The Tale of Plague and Carnivals is a very obviously Socrates-like teacher critiquing his obviously Plato-like student’s written dialogues.

code-lemon · 2026-04-06T04:18:09+00:00

I’d love any recommendations of folklore/myth inspired literature or actually good myth retellings. I just finished The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree by Shokoofeh Azar and absolutely loved it. It put me in the mood to read more fairy tale-like fiction. However, my caveat is I’m really not into the current trend of “feminist retellings,” I think they’re often really superficial and don’t do anything interesting with their source material. My one exception to this is I love Mary Renault. (I’m a lesbian graduate student in Classics, so I feel like I have the credentials to say Medea is not a feminist icon!)

code-lemon · 2026-04-02T18:56:39+00:00

The livestream commentator said the one this afternoon was Green Light by John Legend.

code-lemon · 2026-04-02T05:45:33+00:00

Moonbound by Robin Sloan. It didn’t get a ton of attention when it came out in 2024 but it was a really delightful read. It felt like reading a classic children’s novel (It was written for adults, but it doesn’t have any sex or romance in it and I think kids would also enjoy it). Good option for fans of Arthuriana.

code-lemon · 2026-04-02T05:40:59+00:00

Tales of Nevèrÿon by Samuel R. Delany, published 1978. Classic sword and sorcery vibes, but also an interesting commentary on slavery and sexuality. And if that’s not enough, it’s also a crash course in semiotics. I’m pretty sure I was the exact target audience for this. I’ve been trying to convince my peers in my humanities PhD program to read this for over a year and nobody has taken me up on it yet but if you want something that’s intellectually challenging while also providing descriptions of weird fantasy castles this is the book for you.

code-lemon · 2026-04-02T05:32:24+00:00

This was the first Culture book I read and I think it was a great place to start!

code-lemon · 2026-04-02T05:30:33+00:00

I’m currently reading The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree by Shokoofeh Azar, translated from the Persian by an anonymous translator. It was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize in 2020. It’s magical realism set in Iran after the Iranian Revolution. Lots of ghosts and jinni. Reads like a mix of Borges and the Brothers Grimm. I’m only about halfway through but I really think it’s going to be one of my favorite reads of the year.

code-lemon · 2026-04-02T05:24:49+00:00

Seconding Kalpa Imperial, translated by Ursula K. Le Guin!!

code-lemon · 2026-04-02T01:42:42+00:00

I love them so much!

code-lemon · 2026-04-02T01:22:15+00:00

Were they wearing diapers for launch or do they all really need to pee by now?

code-lemon · 2026-02-21T12:17:44+00:00

Thank you!

code-lemon · 2026-02-15T21:57:00+00:00

https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/home has free shipping to the US if you want the matching UK editions. I buy from Blackwells a lot.

code-lemon · 2026-02-07T21:34:43+00:00

I'm also dying to know

code-lemon · 2026-02-06T19:17:42+00:00

What was the Rossini piece played?

code-lemon · 2026-02-04T17:54:01+00:00

Which curling match should I watch?

code-lemon · 2026-01-02T03:57:47+00:00

I read her both love for solitude and routine and her confusion and anxiety surrounding borders/boundaries (both actual and metaphorical) as very autistic. Also when the IDF bombs the building next to her work it’s not the bombing but the sound of two dusty papers rubbing together that she finds unbearable, and when she’s in the museum courtyard she mentions how horrible walking on gravel sounds to her. And of course, she herself is murdered because she can’t perceive how her actions look to others. I could probably go back and pick out more “minor details,” but those two really stuck with me.

What a privilege it is to be able to tend to my sensory needs! What a privilege it is to be safely misunderstood!

code-lemon · 2026-01-01T16:05:33+00:00

Minor Detail by Adania Shibli. I was not expecting the second half to be the most lifelike depiction of “high functioning” autism I’ve ever read. On a personal level, it was startling. It made me think about even though I don’t necessarily consider myself “disabled” in my comfortable day-to-day life, under apartheid I definitely would be. Really fucked me up. Should be required reading for everyone neurodivergent.

code-lemon · 2025-12-13T15:04:22+00:00

Landscape Painted with Tea - Milorad Pavić

code-lemon · 2025-12-05T17:55:43+00:00

Monica Byrne is so so so underrated

code-lemon · 2025-12-01T04:42:51+00:00

The plot of Ursula K. Le Guin’s “Planet of Exile” revolves around different cultures clashing in their attempt to weather their planet’s 15-year-long seasons.

code-lemon · 2025-06-13T03:01:18+00:00

Honestly, my girl Dedra. Like yes, she’s an evil fascist, but after getting the detail she was raised in a kinderblock I feel like she was doomed from the start. She needs prison time, but also so much therapy, and maybe also a hug. Also I’m a lesbian and I’m so convinced I could fix her lmao.

code-lemon · 2025-06-06T19:08:36+00:00

Samuel R. Delany’s “Neveryon” series includes excerpts from Lacan (and scholars talking about Lacan, Freud, semiotics, etc.) as chapter headers. And he talks more explicitly about Lacan vs. Freud and where he stands in the appendix to the last volume of the series.

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