https://bookwyrm.social/

I'm new to Lemmy but I like the idea, so I went looking for other platforms using the "fediverse" and found this Goodreads replacement.

Are any of you using it? Do you have any tips or tricks? I noticed there are a lot of "duplicate" books that seem tied to different editions and ISBNs, and while the site gives me the ability to edit, I've mostly only been adding the occasional cover, since I don't want to mess up entries people have already put reviews on. There doesn't seem to be any "master" entry for the book in general, with the different ISBNs and editions being linked to that central entry.

(But the book nerd in me wants to totally get publishing date/cover it was published with/publisher each edition was published with/etc. updated.)

Most nominations are expected, as they follow the trend from the last decade. I'll be skipping the voting this year, but I think I'll still pick up some of the more interesting sounding titles, especially from people I don't see too often on the Hugo ballots.

I am thoroughly sick and tired of zombies. And while this isn't a book, I watched and enjoyed The Last of Us recently and enjoyed it a lot.

Scratching my head, I eventually realized that the little human stories, the rich characterization and complex human relationships, were what overcome my resistance this particular rendition of the zombie apocalypse. So while the stories are set in a zombie apocalypse, the storytelling wasn't all about zombies and whether the zombies were cool or gross or super-powered or whatever.

It was about the people--all sorts of people. Not just the cool people, not just the ones that died in gruesome ways. Joel is basically the daddest of dads, and Ellie is a smart-mouthed kid scared to be abandoned yet again.

I still won't pick up other zombie media by choice. But I do respect a story with strong characters. And I respect a premise that can get out of its own way to instead provide a framework where stories about people can be told.

Have you guys run into books like that? Were the premise or big idea behind it really put you off, but something about the execution of the idea drew you in regardless?

This is open to indie too--there's a lot more great indie work out there than people talk about.

I think for me, I've really loved Gideon the Ninth. It's such a FUN book, and I think it's the first science fiction book I've encountered that's also fantasy but also set in "our future".

(Star Wars doesn't count. It's in a galaxy far, far away after all.)

The two sequels are great too. The most recent one, Nona the Ninth, kinda put to rest my fears that the author couldn't write a gentler, kinder viewpoint or world. (The first two books are kinda grimdark in some ways. Like--everything's shit then we all die, then our corpses get raised from the dead and used in necromancer fights. Nona shows us a more hopeful world.)

Just finished reading this novel and I want to recommend it. No big spoilers.

Here's the blurb:

On a warm March night in 2083, Judy Wallach-Stevens wakes to a warning of unknown pollutants in the Chesapeake Bay. She heads out to check what she expects to be a false alarm--and stumbles upon the first alien visitors to Earth. These aliens have crossed the galaxy to save humanity, convinced that the people of Earth must leave their ecologically-ravaged planet behind and join them among the stars. And if humanity doesn't agree, they may need to be saved by force.

The watershed networks aren't ready to give up on Earth. Decades ago, they rose up to exile the last corporations to a few artificial islands, escape the dominance of nation-states, and reorganize humanity around the hope of keeping their world liveable. By sharing the burden of decision-making, they've started to heal the wounded planet.

But now corporations, nation-states, and networks all vie to represent humanity to these powerful new beings, and if any one accepts the aliens' offer, Earth may be lost. With everyone’s eyes turned skyward, everything hinges on the success of Judy's effort to create understanding, both within and beyond her own species.>

First off, if you're bothered by "woke" ideas of gender, this is not the book for you. The gender stuff is a bit much, but it's all relevant. Animal genders/sexes work differently than humans, so it's to be expected that aliens would. Add culture into the mix (both the aliens and humans) and gender expression is a big issue to explore.

As first contact stories go, this one is pretty low-effort These aliens arrive already speaking english and understanding a lot about humans from watching our media. The difficulty for them is in separating reality from fiction; they might make breezy references to Faye Wray in King Kong, but believe frogs are mythical. Their values differ from the humans, but there are no issues with the groups communicating.

The human society is so different from ours, its as interesting as the aliens. Basically these socialist communes sprang up, shut down capitalism, and built a culture focused on the environment and one another. I love the idea of their technology: like a cross between reddit and Next Door. All problems are discussed and solutions decided on democratically. Discussions are weighted based not on heirarchy or popularity, but on values agreed upon by the community.

The book would have benefitted by being shorter. Judy is obstinate and anxious. She spends a lot of time ruminating, and that can get tedious. This is not a fast-paced novel, by any means. The gender stuff was also focused on way too often. But I still found it worth the read.

For novels with similar human societies, I recommend The Fifth Sacred Thing by Starhawk and Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy. For a similar alien contact story, I recommend the Lilith's Brood trillogy by Octavia Butler.

Has anyone read The Wandering Inn? I keep reading good things but I've never read a web serial and the length seems daunting. If I commit to this series I feel like I won't be able to read anything else for years.

https://wanderinginn.com/

I am a fan of Arthurian legend and was about to start Taliesin, the first book of the Pendragon series by Steven Lawhead. But then I was reading some background and sounds like he recast a lot of the Arthur/Merlin legend in a Christian light? I'm atheist but not opposed to reading CS Lewis-style Christian allegory if it's still interesting in a literary way. But not interested in backdoor Christian proselytizing. What do you all think? Worth a try or not?

I'm about a third of the way through this book and loving it. First time reading Tchaikovsky and he's now one of my new favorites (along with Alastair Reynolds). Do the other books in the the Children of Time series hold up as well?

I just finished reading this series by Fonda Lee. I really liked the generation aspect to this story, it really feels like you travelled a lifetime with these characters (it's a bit like Realm of the Elderlings in that way).

Overall I really liked it, the only thing that I found disappointing were the Fantasy elements. Besides the Jade abilities there wasn't really much to it, and the setting mainly seemed to be "generic Asian", without much fantastical elements.

Recommended!

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