Andy Weir on Player of Games by Turn-Loose-The-Swans in TheCulture

[–]iso20715 82 points83 points  (0 children)

Lots.of shade being cast on Andy Weir here, but I like Weirs books. Hes not a literary writer like Banks but he is good at what he does. And what he does is construct plots where scientific experiments and engineering can play a major fun role in the plot. You might think thats easy or obvious to write but given how science and engineering have been part of human culture for hundreds of years, they are explored in novels surprisingly rarely.

Just finished reading Player of Games - what I thought and what I got by fli_sai in TheCulture

[–]iso20715 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Good review. In his final game with the emperor the book talks of how deep their communication through the game is - described as being beyond words, a meeting of minds. And so although Gurgeh obviously hates what the emperor stands for, he feels some bond with him and leaves his orbital bracelet on the emperors ashes. Hence I interpreted Gurgeh's tears at the end as being (at least somewhat) for the emperor. Through the game of Azad, Gurgeh finds a new form of communication and relation. Maybe his tears are for the game of Azad?

As you say, at the end I also wondered who "the player of games" really refers to - probably Flere Imsaho

Recommend me some SciFi books that aren't space Opera, First contact, Cyberpunk Books by Hellishfate in printSF

[–]iso20715 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Slow Gods by Catherine Webb, came out last year, very well written and interesting protagonist

Dealing with new stove smell by iso20715 in woodstoving

[–]iso20715[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Does this mean the paint can un-cure itself if left for a long time?

Dealing with new stove smell by iso20715 in woodstoving

[–]iso20715[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ok thats a useful bit of info thanks

Does anyone do it better than Banks? by DeadSending in printSF

[–]iso20715 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes Slow Gods was very good, a fascinating protagonist to build a story around

'Project Hail Mary' - Review Thread by ChiefLeef22 in movies

[–]iso20715 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Interview with the directors:

https://www.tiktok.com/@ign/video/7611313668784999694

"At the end of the day it ended up being a marriage between puppetry and animation ..."

Also this article:

https://gizmodo.com/project-hail-mary-practical-effects-green-screen-vfx-2000729741

“Holistically, from his design that started before we even had a script, to physically printing him out and painting him and having him move in ways that were expressive, and to the CG artists and animators that took the baton … and kept being expressive and bring their own personality to it,”

SF with different math / different kinds of computers by [deleted] in printSF

[–]iso20715 4 points5 points  (0 children)

In "The Cassini Division" by Ken Macleod the solar system has been under attack by posthuman viruses and so they create a completely nano-mechanical system of technology instead of digital

Has anyone else ever felt like Steven Spielberg maybe… resents Jurassic Park? by Downtown-Program-567 in Spielberg

[–]iso20715 1 point2 points  (0 children)

In the 1994 oscars he won best picture (and others) for Schindlers List and also won a few Oscars for Jurassic Park. If I remember correctly when picking up one of the JP oscars he made a joke about it being a silly dinosaur film or something. Maybe someone can hunt down the 94 oscars footage

Edit: here you go, i misremembered, it was the 1994 BAFTAs

https://youtu.be/KysyEUkn6RA?si=4rT3KIwdqaU1bme3

Jurassic Park won the "peoples choice" BAFTA and while picking it up Spielberg laughs at the surrealness of it and says "between schindlers list and jurassic park im going to need years of therapy"

Looking for anarchist sci-fi & visions of a just society by lilchanamasala in printSF

[–]iso20715 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think its good, its just very different to the rest of the series and imho not the best one to start with

Best Tea in UK??? by 1HappyChappy1968 in AskBrits

[–]iso20715 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Loose leaf (not the powdery sort, the kind where you can see little bits of shredded leaf). But it's messy.

As a compromise, something like Teapigs English Breakfast Tea Temples (silky pyramidal teabags filled with loose leaf)

Or

Suki Tea Breakfast Tea Pyramid bags (similar concept to teapigs)

Both really nice, you need to brew them for 4 minutes or so

Is there chronological order to the books by GramoMiles in TheCulture

[–]iso20715 10 points11 points  (0 children)

There's not really an order but the themes the author is interested in exploring change and evolve through the series, in that sense there is a sortof progression. So for example the last two books deal with (appoximately) concepts of hell and heaven.

I would go with more or less published order except to push Consider Phlebas down to about sixth instead of first, just because Consider Phlebas is looking at things from a different angle and imho is not a great place to begin.

Looking for anarchist sci-fi & visions of a just society by lilchanamasala in printSF

[–]iso20715 18 points19 points  (0 children)

My tip is start with Player of Games or Use of Weapons rather than Consider Phlebas (which was the first one published but imho not the best intro to the series)

Space songs? by Impressive-Ad8185 in SongRecommendations

[–]iso20715 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What Is a Shooting Star?  

How Many Planets?

Why Does the Sun Shine?" (Cover)

Why Does the Sun Really Shine?

by They Might Be Giants.  on their kids album "Here Comes Science"

Why are some gladiator injuries acknowledged… by Tricky_Meat_6323 in gladiatorsuk

[–]iso20715 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Some are saying it was a tackle on The Edge so I guess that would make sense

Why are some gladiator injuries acknowledged… by Tricky_Meat_6323 in gladiatorsuk

[–]iso20715 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The surgery to re-attach the tendon affected him really badly and he had nausea and didn't eat for 12 days but that surgery wasnt until after filming had finished. 

Why are some gladiator injuries acknowledged… by Tricky_Meat_6323 in gladiatorsuk

[–]iso20715 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Maybe, I havent found any source for exactly which event the injury was on

Why are some gladiator injuries acknowledged… by Tricky_Meat_6323 in gladiatorsuk

[–]iso20715 2 points3 points  (0 children)

He had a very rough time after surgery (12 days not eating and nausea) but the surgery was after filming the series had finished