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Good reading for EP

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Tue, 2010-12-28 00:33

It that must no... It that must not be named's picture

Good reading for EP

I recently made the acquaintance of the works of Alastair Reynolds, who wrote the "revelation space" series along with some damn good standalone novels. I wanted to recommend his works to all EP fans, it's got some great stuff that could enrich an EP campaign. In the revelation space series, I recommend the original RS trilogy, but be forewarned that the third book in the trilogy of "revelation space", "Redemption ark" and "absolution gap" is a bit of a disappointment. The first 2 are solid awesome, though. Also in the RS series, "the prefect" and "Chasm city" are absolutely awesome works that stand alone despite being part of the RS series. "The prefect" is a great inspiration for EP stories, Chasm city is also quite good. Outside his RS works Reynolds has produced some great standalone novels. Pushing Ice and House of Suns are very good if not exactly EP source material, but both could be used to create settings in the far future of the SP universe.

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"I learned the hard way that if you take a stand on any issue, no matter how insignificant, people will line up around the block to kick your ass over it." -Jesse "the mind" Ventura.

Tue, 2010-12-28 12:18

nezumi.hebereke nezumi.hebereke's picture

Re: Good reading for EP

Whenever I go to the book store I pick up one of his books, realize he has 7 more on the shelf, get frustrated I don't know which one to start with, put it back, and go visit the Physics section. So which book is the one book I should be actively looking for?

Tue, 2010-12-28 12:34

Camillus

Re: Good reading for EP

I'd start with either [i]Revelation Space[/i] or [i]Prefect[/i] (although it's the latest book it's set before the events of [i]Revelation Space[/i]) then [i]Chasm City[/i] or [i]Redemption Ark[/i]. The book that ends the RS series, [i]Absolution Gap[/i] is not, IMHO, as good as the others. The short stories I'd read after that.

Tue, 2010-12-28 16:48

It that must no... It that must not be named's picture

Re: Good reading for EP

Personally I believe "the prefect" is his best work so far, so start with that. BTW, in the RS universe there are a couple factions that would fit right in with EP. There are the conjoined, who have a lot of cyber upgrades and who share a collective conscious. The extreme form of the conjoined are the Ultras, who are the deep spacers that pilot lighthugger starships.

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"I learned the hard way that if you take a stand on any issue, no matter how insignificant, people will line up around the block to kick your ass over it." -Jesse "the mind" Ventura.

Tue, 2010-12-28 16:59

evapor8

Re: Good reading for EP

I read House of Suns first and I am looking forward to digging deeper into Reynolds' work. As noted, House of Suns has some interesting ideas, certainly things that could work in a campaign as transhumans move further into the universe. Encountering the "Universal Actuary", or perhaps the Machine People (leading to many interesting situations perhaps). Time and abeyance devices for interstellar travel would also bend a game in all manner of different directions.

Tue, 2010-12-28 21:33

icekatze

Re: Good reading for EP

hi hi Thomas Harlan's [i]Wasteland of Flint[/i] inspired me to make a gatecrashing adventure. While the technology used by the protagonist is sub-transhuman and not really a good match for EP in the solar system, it has a similar semi-hard scifi feel and it has a good flavor for exoplanets, X-threats and to a lesser extent the conflict between progressive and conservative ideas. I still haven't gotten around to reading Charles Stross' [i]Accelerando[/i], but I hear it is very good, as is supposedly most of his work.

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Tue, 2010-12-28 21:56

fellowhoodlum fellowhoodlum's picture

Re: Good reading for EP

I find Reynolds much better as a short story writer than a novelist. Find most of his characters a bit dry, and they seem to sound the same. There are exceptions, like the protagonists in Pushing Ice or the pig uplift in the RS series. As with most authors, I would recommend reading in order of publication. But if you want a quick easy access to his works, the short story collection Zima Blue and Other Stories will give a wide range of interesting/weird sci-fi to sample.

Tue, 2010-12-28 22:47

It that must no... It that must not be named's picture

Re: Good reading for EP

evapor8 wrote:
I read House of Suns first and I am looking forward to digging deeper into Reynolds' work. As noted, House of Suns has some interesting ideas, certainly things that could work in a campaign as transhumans move further into the universe. Encountering the "Universal Actuary", or perhaps the Machine People (leading to many interesting situations perhaps). Time and abeyance devices for interstellar travel would also bend a game in all manner of different directions.

Whilst trying not to spoil things, I will say I too liked the machine people in "House of Suns" and recommend it as a good read, and an alternative look at machine cultures.

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"I learned the hard way that if you take a stand on any issue, no matter how insignificant, people will line up around the block to kick your ass over it." -Jesse "the mind" Ventura.

Fri, 2010-12-31 13:13

theshadow99 theshadow99's picture

Re: Good reading for EP

While not a book, the http://lawandthemultiverse.com/ blog is an interesting read and relates to EP as it talks about a modern legal take on things like immortality, 'returning from legal defined death', and the legal status of life other than what we specifically consider 'men'. It's run by a small team including actual lawyers.

Fri, 2010-12-31 16:41

#10

Quincey Forder Quincey Forder's picture

Re: Good reading for EP

Richard Morgan's Kovacs trilogy is pretty much a given. David Brin's Sundiver is perfect for solarians and uplifts John Scalzi's Old Man's War (+Ghost Squad, Last Colony and Zoe's Story) for Direct Action and the Muse (called BrainPals in the books) Mass Effect Redemption + Retribution great ideas for the Futura project, Locus and the Scum and Firewall Halo: Fall of Reach for a good view of the Fall

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