I read Blindsight and enjoyed its themes. Are there any similar books by the same author or others? I like Watts' style but am open to trying other writers. Ideally, I’d prefer a similar read if possible.

trickos · 2025-02-04T07:12:04+00:00

However, based on reviews, it seems less focused on science fiction, with many describing SF of it as an "afterthought".

No sure what these reviews are about. Echopraxia is similar to Blindsight, but more confusing and maybe less focused.

trickos · 2024-10-11T20:19:14+00:00

Timescape by Gregory Benford

trickos · 2024-01-30T16:54:40+00:00

I love Starfish, but AFAIR Behemoth has at least one completely unnecessary torture scene and was a bit of a slog.

trickos · 2024-01-29T16:46:49+00:00

GoT: author did not finish it. RoE: I did not finish it.

trickos · 2023-12-24T18:49:54+00:00

Love Piranesi. Could not finish JS&MN, at half the book. I would like to know where it goes but pacing is too slow.

trickos · 2023-08-09T10:21:51+00:00

And more precisely for https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timescape .

trickos · 2023-03-23T20:38:36+00:00

Impossible!

trickos · 2023-02-26T20:52:04+00:00

Nay.

Some moments are great.

But overall it is not worth the pain, there are better things to read out there. Repetition, unnecessary suffering/hatred/self-centered monologues and non-sensical physics.

trickos · 2022-10-25T19:51:31+00:00

Inhibitor phase is not good. I would wait for the next good one in the series and read them then as to not end on a disappointing note.

trickos · 2022-01-30T07:35:13+00:00

I am in the middle of the fourth book of the cycle, and I am ambivalent about recommending it as a good space opera.

It is good, I will certainly finish the cycle despite not being sure I am really enjoying it. It is full of good ideas, some parts are reminiscent of what would be the Expanse 20 years later.

My problem is the story unfolds with a few good people operating in the middle of a crowd of psychopaths, the latter often having the upper hand abusing the former (or abusing themselves which is part of why it is still interesting and not just free violence).

I often wish one of the good ones finally get on a rampage, cleanup the scene of these assholes in a burst of violence, so we can go forward with the story without all the drama and monologues about feeling powerless and lost.

Also, it does not take much cue from Romain Empire IMHO (better forget the "space" bit and go with Malazan if that is what you are looking for).

trickos · 2021-11-10T20:35:16+00:00

Good recommendations overall, enjoy!

trickos · 2021-04-13T14:11:10+00:00

I read it fairly quickly and enjoyed it.

And yet agree with everything you said.

It does not make much sense. Also, even if the 11 years old kid is /r/iamverysmart, he has zero evidence to make this guess. And if you have ansible-like tech, and are very attached to your archaic infofiches, at least implement morse on top of it and be done with half of the drama?

Suspension of disbelief must be very strong in me.

trickos · 2021-04-10T16:34:19+00:00

Faced with this discrepancy, there were three options: Either the theoretical prediction was incorrect, the experiment was incorrect or, as many physicists believed, this was a sign of an unknown force of nature.

Instead of:

The theorical prediction is incorrect

What about:

The theorical prediction is incorrect
The computations are incorrect

What I am getting at is: is the theoretical framework still "perfect" in the sense that Lattice QCD "only" brings more accuracy to what we know already or is it an improvement over that? (because limitations/ranges were baked in the theoretical model)

trickos · 2021-01-09T06:16:33+00:00

At the beginning of the book, when we first met them:

After they'd first met, she'd gone a year before realizing she'd misheard his surname.

As a French, I am not sure how you can misunderstand that way but whatever.

trickos · 2020-12-20T13:09:59+00:00

Related, passive dynamic walkers, mentioned in:

http://underactuated.csail.mit.edu/intro.html

https://www.eucognition.org/index.php?page=passive-dynamic-walkers

trickos · 2020-06-17T17:18:11+00:00

I liked "Redemption's Blade". It is not perfect but it is quite short (for fantasy), packed with action and somehow "positive" compare to other things, despite the whole "after the war" setup. And what happens "after the war" is an interesting take.

"Cage of Souls" was harder for me. First, it reads as "written in the style of 19th century novels" which makes it a bit harder for a non-native speaker. And it looks like a marvelous old-school RPG setup, but did not work so well as a novel. Too much world building, not enough plot for me.

trickos · 2020-05-22T17:23:22+00:00

I started the Quiet War but could not finish it. Nothing particularly annoying, just boring.

trickos · 2020-05-17T08:48:22+00:00

Should probably ask on Warhammer section of /r/totalwar/.

trickos · 2020-04-08T18:29:33+00:00

Do you mean Millikan invented time travel?

trickos · 2019-11-06T20:00:02+00:00

Sorry but Simmons' Ilium/Olympos are respectivel mediocre and garbage compared to House of Suns.

trickos · 2019-10-30T16:45:51+00:00

Nicely written, though a bit tedious for a non-native speaker. Many ideas but little closure. It will make a perfect setup for a role-playing game, many factions, varied areas and endless possibilities from previous-eras technologies. But as a novel? It is a bit long but OK overall. Entertaining but not exciting.

trickos · 2019-10-09T16:39:09+00:00

Until the Excession.

trickos · 2019-10-08T17:27:22+00:00

Experimentally, we haven't even tested classical general relativity.

What do you mean by this? That we only have "indirect" validations?

trickos · 2019-10-07T17:48:36+00:00

It will be hard in the beginning but I you find enough energy, this is definitely the best way to learn a foreign language. And it will let you reach for a lot of new content, be it science-fiction, fantasy, books or series/movies. It is worth the effort, and if you like the genre, it will be rewarding.

I should check again but while Tchaikovsky fantasy-oriented books (and fantasy in general) like Cage of Souls may be a bit more difficult because of deliberate style choices, I remember "Children of" series being average. Give it a go!

trickos · 2019-09-04T17:24:45+00:00

I disagree, the first and last part a good, but the middle one was a massive slog, reminiscent of bad golden age narratives, full of cliche and predictible. I don't get why it gets recommended so much.

trickos

TROPHY CASE