this post was submitted on 13 Jan 2025
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Science Fiction

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Lemmy World Rules

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In the mood for engineering / competence porn. What are your favourite novels / series? (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by AwesomeLowlander@sh.itjust.works to c/sciencefiction@lemmy.world
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As an example, I love the Martian, and I think a lot of older books from authors like Asimov are heavily into engineering / competence porn. Other favs in this category include the standalone novel Rendezvous with Rama to leave you wishing for more, most of the Culture series for happy utopian vibes, Schlock Mercenary for humor, Dahak series for fun mindless popcorn.

Edit: I'm so happy to have found a replacement for r/books and the rest of them.

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[–] Subverb@lemmy.world 7 points 22 hours ago (3 children)

The Three Body Problem is bad. The hype for the book is a good example of "The Emporer's New Clothes".

[–] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 2 points 11 hours ago

It’s a little bit of a slog. There are a lot of cultural references, plot devices, characters, and ways of moving through the story that are literally foreign to the western mind. Odd injections of what feels like philosophy. At least the version I read. Once you get used to it it gets better.

[–] damnthefilibuster@lemmy.world 1 points 14 hours ago (2 children)

I have finished the series and absolutely loved it.

Could you please explain why you consider it bad?

[–] AwesomeLowlander@sh.itjust.works 1 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago)

I loved it for the game theory, ideas, and what-if aspects. The characters however, were flat 2D cutouts. I can't say how much of that was due to translation issues, if any.

[–] Semjaza@lemmynsfw.com 2 points 12 hours ago

I found the third book very weak, albiet with some interesting ideas.

Also, made it clear that he can't write women at all.

I found them overall fine to good, except the main character's chapters in the final 2/3rd of Book 3 which were just kinda bleh by the end.

Book 1 was strong idea explored well.

Book 2 felt good at the time, but I think feels weaker in hindsight but was some more interesting ideas.

[–] AFKBRBChocolate@lemmy.world 2 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

I was surprised at how little I liked it given the hype.

[–] Subverb@lemmy.world 6 points 21 hours ago

I did enjoy the parts about the Cultural Revolution and some of the dialog from Da Shi. That's about it.