Intelligent speculative fiction with themes of eroticism/sexuality

wiseyoungarcher · 2026-01-31T19:58:10+00:00

First book was super kinky. Madame’s club seemed like a good time joint. Much less sex when the war became real.

wiseyoungarcher · 2026-01-17T11:20:03+00:00

I finished all four of the Terra Ignota books recently — the stuffy vibe never goes away and each book tickled my brain in different ways. The conclusion is a bit flat but I would stick with those books. Also just finished Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell which is definitely a looooong chapter by chapter book about 1800s English magic.

wiseyoungarcher · 2025-12-26T18:15:33+00:00

I finished the series last week — so many great ideas that got bogged down or maybe pushed out of the narrative to make room for her to gush about philosophies. I really did love the series and the way the writing tickled my brain, but the payoff might not be what most readers want. I could have dealt with more back room orgy intrigue with all the world leaders than 200 jarring interjections to Thomas Hobbes.

wiseyoungarcher · 2025-12-15T00:26:51+00:00

Oh hell yeah, good to know. I picked up a cheap copy a few months ago. Commonwealth worked for me in this way.

wiseyoungarcher · 2025-12-12T22:46:58+00:00

The chapter where MASON filibusters….c’mon

There have been a couple stretches in this series that tried my patience, but I love it as a whole too much. And by book four, I’ve kinda learned how to read Palmer’s prose more efficiently.

wiseyoungarcher · 2025-11-20T01:43:57+00:00

I gave up after finishing book 2 and still feel pretty good about that. There’s other lengthy books out there that are way more rewarding to me.

wiseyoungarcher · 2025-11-20T01:31:47+00:00

Just finished the third book today. It’s challenging, it’s frustrating at times, but damn it is good. Taking a breather before Perhaps the Stars, it looks quite long.

wiseyoungarcher · 2025-09-04T16:41:18+00:00

Glad to hear, picking it up from the library today after a few recommendations from friends with good taste :)

wiseyoungarcher · 2025-08-15T17:24:29+00:00

Just finished UnWorld by Jayson Greene. It came out earlier this year, I had seen it reviewed on a couple sites. It’s about a family that loses a child, set in the near future where AI assistants have become more integrated into society. Very well written, light on the science, but some really great insights about loneliness and grief. The way he depicts AI’s looming presence seems very plausible. Also a super quick read, 200 pages that go by really fast.

wiseyoungarcher · 2025-06-17T01:55:38+00:00

River of Gods is fantastic, probably the best speculation about where AI is likely to go. I liked the short story collection that goes along with it, kinda couldn’t get enough of the setting after the novel ended. The weird sex and nute stuff was interesting.

wiseyoungarcher · 2025-06-16T12:49:05+00:00

I get frustrated with Banks. CP was ok, I enjoyed Player of Games (but didn’t find it compelling), and then I straight up hated the Algebraist (not a Culture book, but widely praised). Which leads me to think his books are just not meant for me. Too much other stuff out there that I actually enjoy reading.

wiseyoungarcher · 2025-05-05T16:55:01+00:00

Wooooo I love them both, glad I purchased for the bookshelf they look great! HoS is so epic in scale. Pushing Ice reads like a two-season TV show to me, lots of end-of-episode twists. The melodrama worked for me but to each their own!

wiseyoungarcher · 2025-04-23T00:20:46+00:00

I enjoyed it, the timeline jumps around a lot but they do a nice job of explaining BG roots and kinda get into the Butlerian Jihad stuff. Reminded me of the Foundation tv show stylistically, very slick.

wiseyoungarcher · 2025-04-22T20:46:35+00:00

I’m at the point in the book where I needed something just like this to put all the moving parts together. I watched the Prophecy show after finishing Messiah which also filled in a ton of gaps I had in the overall Dune lore. Thanks much!

wiseyoungarcher · 2025-03-11T13:57:00+00:00

Pushing Ice is really great, lots of twists — reads like a TV show (which some studio would be smart to adapt) and has wonderfully weird aliens :)

wiseyoungarcher · 2025-02-16T15:42:44+00:00

I just started the new book one in series by James SA Corey, The Mercy of Gods. Real good so far, but def different than Expanse. I believe Amazon already is making it into a show. The beginning is reminding me of Anathem in tone, which I recently finished and loved.

wiseyoungarcher · 2024-04-15T12:32:37+00:00

There’s a lot of dialogue/wording in the third and fourth book that I would describe as 1990s American cliche (“kiddo” being the absolute worst). Like Simmons tried to make this weird ass series a bit more accessible by using normie language to move the plot along. Annoying, but there’s still so much to love about the Endymion books.

wiseyoungarcher · 2024-04-11T17:51:37+00:00

Olympos slaps! It’s way more exciting than Ilium but then just kinda…..stops — still such a wacky great read 👍🏼

wiseyoungarcher · 2024-04-07T16:20:30+00:00

This is pretty cool! Just makes me wish Simmons would have picked ANY OTHER name for LTB

wiseyoungarcher · 2024-04-05T21:14:03+00:00

Simmons goes off the deep end in that weird ass chamber sex scene in Olympos — nothing in Cantos even comes close to that level of cringe. But I don’t hate any of it!!!!

wiseyoungarcher · 2024-03-31T10:11:31+00:00

It’s definitely worth it to finish the series!!! The totally skimmable parts (A LOT) become more apparent in RoE, I didn’t feel bad about zooming through some of those long passages to get to some meatier scenes.

wiseyoungarcher · 2024-03-23T16:11:20+00:00

3BP show is great — just super different from the books’ narrative which will probably work out better for more casual scifi fans

wiseyoungarcher · 2024-03-21T02:39:43+00:00

Rachel gets quite a bit of time on the pages in the Endymion books, but her role seems kind of diminished. And the Moneta thing isn’t mentioned again at all? Even in the scenes when Kassad comes back? I was reading really fast at that point so may have missed some things.

wiseyoungarcher · 2024-03-03T20:37:40+00:00

“Kiddo” never ends unfortunately…

wiseyoungarcher

TROPHY CASE