Post APdKQkD3wxPd1Aer2m by tacoman_x86@freeradical.zone
(DIR) More posts by tacoman_x86@freeradical.zone
(DIR) Post #APdKIBUl8N3b2HqzPE by tek@freeradical.zone
2022-11-15T16:26:19Z
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I’m almost to the end of “Seveneves”. It’s great world building in dire need of an editor.
(DIR) Post #APdKQkD3wxPd1Aer2m by tacoman_x86@freeradical.zone
2022-11-15T16:27:53Z
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@tek that’s every Stephenson novel after The Diamond Age. There’s some amazing worlds buried in his inability to hide his research.
(DIR) Post #APdKuXCurBkZNZnJk8 by szakib@freeradical.zone
2022-11-15T16:29:48Z
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@tacoman_x86 @tek So true! The Diamond Age was brilliant, though.
(DIR) Post #APdKuXiSxszGxQYVv6 by tek@freeradical.zone
2022-11-15T16:33:16Z
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@szakib @tacoman_x86 Nailed it. It annoyed me so much in Seveneves that I started taking notes on what pulled me out of the book because it was so bad.Cryptonomicon: You could replace a whole chapter with “…so he invented a way to encrypt messages with a pack of cards.”His universes are second to none, and I read his stuff because I love the worlds he makes. I don’t know if this book actually has a plot though.
(DIR) Post #APdL1yBQxVTz4Te8w4 by tacoman_x86@freeradical.zone
2022-11-15T16:34:39Z
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@tek @szakib the Baroque Cycle trilogy actually has appendices because of this issue. It’s still all over the place.
(DIR) Post #APdL82tkLILDQnGqCu by szakib@freeradical.zone
2022-11-15T16:35:42Z
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@tek @tacoman_x86 BTW spare yuorself the pain of Fall, or Dodge in Hell if yu ohave not read it yet.
(DIR) Post #APdL9npbKcn7HVAZNY by tek@freeradical.zone
2022-11-15T16:35:56Z
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@tacoman_x86 @szakib How’s Reamde?
(DIR) Post #APdLCiCAk5nafd78YC by tacoman_x86@freeradical.zone
2022-11-15T16:36:35Z
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@tek @szakib terrible. I can find great things in many of his books, but Reamde never gets good. Skip, skip, skip.
(DIR) Post #APdLITgJcL29OUxkbA by tek@freeradical.zone
2022-11-15T16:37:31Z
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@tacoman_x86 @szakib Dangit! Thanks for the warning.
(DIR) Post #APdLMg2Hct5qrvExw8 by szakib@freeradical.zone
2022-11-15T16:38:22Z
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@tek @tacoman_x86 Honestly I don't remember. Which probably means that it was unremarkable, but not annoying enough. Or that I was not sober enough for most of it. :D
(DIR) Post #APdLPJAl5ViypPSXHE by tacoman_x86@freeradical.zone
2022-11-15T16:37:03Z
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@tek @szakib i have not! DO read Rise and Fall of DODO though. His co-author is wonderful.
(DIR) Post #APdLPJcPQhqIDAOcNM by tek@freeradical.zone
2022-11-15T16:38:48Z
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@tacoman_x86 @szakib I could see that making a difference, if only for having a second person telling him “no, Neal, we’re not spending a whole chapter on the naming conventions of robots you’ll never care about.”
(DIR) Post #APdLSW7RPSJTqkRCEa by tek@freeradical.zone
2022-11-15T16:39:25Z
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@tacoman_x86 @szakib That says all I need to know. 😀
(DIR) Post #APdLfNcWJpjlFw6lpQ by tacoman_x86@freeradical.zone
2022-11-15T16:39:11Z
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@tek @szakib I distinctly remember being mad at myself for getting through it and little else.
(DIR) Post #APdLfOE647nL8TgmOm by tek@freeradical.zone
2022-11-15T16:41:42Z
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@szakib @tacoman_x86 Sigh. Well, I’m at 87% through this book. If I don’t see some payoffs soon, I might feel the same.It was fun to read, except after large blocks of it, I look back and wonder why I was made to read it.
(DIR) Post #APdLjZsofTGARljSKG by szakib@freeradical.zone
2022-11-15T16:42:31Z
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@tek @tacoman_x86 But hey, since we are talking about books, I do have a positive recommendation: Hannu Rajaniemi's "The Quantum Thief" trilogy. Absolutely mind-blowingly amazing stuff. Very different and complex, though. The first 50 or so pages are hard to understand, but once you grasps the concepts he invented and the words he uses, it's incredible.
(DIR) Post #APdLsYvvZJhy6iTJ0S by tek@freeradical.zone
2022-11-15T16:44:04Z
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@szakib @tacoman_x86 I haven’t heard of that. I’ll check it out, thanks!
(DIR) Post #APdMZG9FHsA8IY3olE by fubar@freeradical.zone
2022-11-15T16:51:52Z
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@tek I actually liked that one. Quicksilver I didn't even finish. Like pulling teeth that one.
(DIR) Post #APdO2irFiwNXgyG1Y0 by tek@freeradical.zone
2022-11-15T17:08:24Z
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@fubar I've liked it so far, but it has a few things that pester the back of my brain so badly that I suddenly remember I'm reading a book. I liked Quicksilver (baroque indeed!), but I never bothered with the sequels.
(DIR) Post #APdPl6FODxJsvdGvHk by mrcranky@hostux.social
2022-11-15T17:27:17Z
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@tek I liked it too, and felt the same way after finishing it. I needed a break from reading just to purge the huge number of words from my brain.
(DIR) Post #APdRq7lCE4cyyefltw by tek@freeradical.zone
2022-11-15T17:50:54Z
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@mrcranky Thank you! Yes! That’s exactly how I’m feeling right now.
(DIR) Post #APdS53VGKs5y7OL7cu by cinja@ioc.exchange
2022-11-15T17:53:38Z
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@tek @tacoman_x86 @szakib I actually liked Reamde, but I couldn't even finish it's sequel, Dodge in Hell... I like Stephenson, but boy does he get lost in the minutia.. sometimes he reminds me of Kubrick...where it's actually two unrelated stories crammed into one title.
(DIR) Post #APdWAgupd14HcOF59s by fubar@freeradical.zone
2022-11-15T18:39:29Z
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@tek I just didn't realize it was possible to write in that much detail but still have characters that lack depth.. Although Asimov has the same problem (I also gave up on his work), so I should not be surprised.
(DIR) Post #APdWX1kQr4gybD1pjc by tek@freeradical.zone
2022-11-15T18:43:27Z
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@fubar Great way to put it!
(DIR) Post #APeGosKjC0cMVKSEBU by Montag@linuxrocks.online
2022-11-15T21:23:33Z
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@tek @tacoman_x86 @szakib there may be a good seed in there but he threw too many plotlines together.There was the MMORPG company, the MMORPG world, the kidnapping, the Russian criminals, the terrorists, the Chinese hackers, the Hungarian's love life, the Christian isolationists, etc. On the other hand, the sequel (Fall; or, Dodge in Hell) stuck to one or two stories and was the worse Stephenson book I've read.His latest, Termination Shock, was good except that it didn't really have an ending.