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Perfect Balance (lemmy.dbzer0.com)
submitted 10 months ago by to c/rpgmemes@ttrpg.network
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[–] 26 points 10 months ago (18 children)

Ursula le'guinn wrote a novel with this premise!

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  • [–] 3 points 10 months ago

    Semley's Necklace. A lovely entry in a lovely collection.

    One of my favorite things about the Wind's Twelve Quarters are her notes on gender and pronouns regarding the Left Hand of Darkness and Winter's King. The way she has to invent words to describe what's commonplace to us now is fascinating.

    It's similar to this old Macintosh demo I fall asleep to sometimes. Words that are so normal now are foreign and need explaining. I love a good time capsule.

    https://youtu.be/ZmWOtf4Ziso

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  • [–] 3 points 10 months ago (16 children)

    Ursula is okay, but here are a couple of broads who knock her for a loop.

    Joanna Russ was one of the first 'out' science fiction writers. If you want an adventure, try 'Picnic On Paradise.' Or get deeper with 'The Female Man'

    https://bookshop.org/beta-search?keywords=joanna+russ

    Suzy Mckee Charnas. 'Walk To the End of the World' is 'The Handmaid's Tale' raised to an infinite power. After the War, the elites were locked in fallout shelters. Eventually the males decided that it was all the women's fault. Now centuries later, all the women are slaves.

    https://bookshop.org/beta-search?keywords=suzy+mckee+charnas

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  • [–] 2 points 10 months ago (9 children)

    No love for Nancy Kress?

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  • [–] 3 points 10 months ago (8 children)

    Had to look her up. I think I might have started one of her books and noped out. I'll check my library.

    But now I'll throw you two more.

    Robyn Bennis.

    https://bookshop.org/p/books/by-fire-above-robyn-bennis/82ed3b400af9da8e

    Airships fighting in the Napoleonic Era. The only fantasy element is that they have access to helium. She does a magnificent job engineering her armada.

    Tanith Lee.

    https://bookshop.org/beta-search?keywords=tanith+lee

    She basically invented weird fantasy. Neil Gaiman stole all his best stuff from her.

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  • [–] 1 point 10 months ago* (7 children)

    I think I might have started one of her books and noped out. I’ll check my library.

    Beggars in Spain was my first intro to her, and Ej-Es (free to read link) sticks out in my mind.

    She explores ethics/politics in sci-fi along with female sexuality, though more old school. People have said she's got Ayn Rand vibes, but she's not, some of her characters take on those characteristics so that she can tear them down later.

    Also: Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice series is amazing. Gender/politics/individualism/collectivism all mixed together into a plot at breakneck speed where the characters are described more by what they say and do, than how many limbs and genitals they have

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  • [–] 2 points 10 months ago (6 children)

    I got Nancy Kress confused with Ann Leckie. I started Ancillary Justice and wasn't impressed.

    Looks like we don't overlap much, but that's cool.

    Enjoy your holidays

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  • [–] 2 points 10 months ago* (5 children)

    Oh shame. I knew it took me ~10 pages to get into the flow of her writing, and I struggled up til then at which her style suddenly 'clicked' for me and I was hooked

    In terms of interest overlap: tentatively ask, thoughts on Andy Weir?

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  • [–] 2 points 10 months ago (4 children)

    I liked 'The Martian' and 'Project Hail Mary.'

    I think he's a grade A++ plotter and a grade B- writer. On the other hand, 'Project...' was being narrated by the character, so maybe that's the way the character writes?

    Of all the writers I mentioned, I'd put Tanith Lee at the top for her prose. She can create an entire world in a few paragraphs.

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  • [–] 2 points 10 months ago (3 children)

    Ah we are different then. I genuinely do not enjoy his writing, and find his characters all interchangeable and quirky because he says so. The science is tacked on like a chemistry teacher putting their kids to bed.

    I'll check out Tanith Lee, thanks for the recommendation. Please check out the Ej-Es story I linked too

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  • [–] 1 point 10 months ago (3 children)

    The Female Man is hella transphobic.

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  • [–] 1 point 10 months ago (2 children)

    The Female Man was written in 1975.

    Sorry that a book written fifty years ago isn't up to date in its approach.

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