[Reading Suggestion] Amnesty By Octavia Butler

Quote from Kataphract

YESSSSS!!! (although for me, my kneejerk reaction that it's somewhat unlike most scifi partially because I've usually read exclusively action sci-fi or similar ones involving fighting in space :D)

Do you mean Kindred or Amnesty?

I generally don't read scifi often, I used to like it a lot more when I was a teenager and went through a phase of loving Star Wars Or I read "soft" scifi, with e.g. time travelling.

But I don't mind reading it once in a while, especially if someone recommends something good.

Quote from Kataphract

Amnesty haha. I really need to get around to reading kindred (and the rest of Butler's works for that matter!)

Ahh! haha I tended towards things like WH40k (dubiously sci fi though) or games like fallout heh. My scifi tends to be... rather specifically oriented heh. (leviathan trilogy by scott westerfield is a really good... diesel/biopunk? that's alternate history sci fi so it's not traditionally scientific like Martian heh)

I guess the follow up would be: are you amenable to alternate science fictions? (atompunk, solarpunk, steampunk, dieselpunk, etc.)

I understand it. I read a lot of fantasy and also prefer specific books with what I like the most. (funny thing - I actually didn't particularly like the Martian Even though I know it's super popular)

I checked and I have Leviathan on my tbr list. I've read a few steampunk novels and quite enjoyed them! Also some that were a mixture of steampunk and fantasy.

I've heard of a solarpunk subgenre, but haven't had a chance to read anything yet. Do you have any recommendations? If atompunk is what I imagine, it might not be for me, as I don't really enjoy readin about wars and dystopian lit anymore.

I don't know if this will be your cup of tea, but a scifi book I've read and enjoyed a few years ago was Good morning, Midnight by Lily-Brooks Dalton.

I also think you might really enjoy some short stories on tor website! They have a mixure of scifi, fantasy and horror and they're available there for free. I found some really good gems. Here's the link to the tag for their short stories: https://reactormag.com/fictions/original-fiction/

And there's also a list on goodreads, if you'd like to see the synopses for them: https://www.goodreads.com/list…_Short_Fiction_of_tor_com

Quote from Kataphract

Amnesty haha. I really need to get around to reading kindred (and the rest of Butler's works for that matter!)

Ahh! haha I tended towards things like WH40k (dubiously sci fi though) or games like fallout heh. My scifi tends to be... rather specifically oriented heh. (leviathan trilogy by scott westerfield is a really good... diesel/biopunk? that's alternate history sci fi so it's not traditionally scientific like Martian heh)

I guess the follow up would be: are you amenable to alternate science fictions? (atompunk, solarpunk, steampunk, dieselpunk, etc.)

Wait, I was completely wrong about atompunk! That's what I get for assuming something insteady of doing a research, sorry. It actually sounds really interesting from what I've seen, I will have to look up some books from this subgenre that will sound interesting to me.

And dieselpunk seams a bit similar to steampunk, only more specific?

Quote from Kataphract

As i understand it, Martian really isn't for everyone - it tends towards examining the experience and the tedium of the situation with accurate scientific flair.

Solarpunk is quite elusive for me (maybe coz im broke and can't afford books KEK) but if you'd like a movie instead, my shiniest example of solarpunk is actually Treasure Planet by Disney. I personally need to catch up better with the genre too heh.

Ooh this one is quite good - at least the synopsis is anyway! that'd be next on my priority list! I love the sort of "broken contact" concepts but the uncertainty of the war turns it up a notch (compared to the martian lol).

omg thank you so much for that short stories link! (didn't know about it, thank you so so much!

As for atompunk, Its been years so I'm fuzzy, but the flavor I like is a sort of atompunk aesthetic or neutral atompunk that doesn't focus on atomic dystopia (apocalypse, etc) but rather something that has another genre tied in, like romance, or spy thriller. I need to read back on novels I got (hopefully I still have them) but yeah I like another story happening in a world in which "anything that can be nuclear is nuclear" but not in a bad way.

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I actually have never fully watched Treasure Planet but I will try to watch it soon, thank you for the rec! And I know what you mean, I also wish I had more money to buy all the books I'm interested in. *sigh*

I hope that you will enjoy it, if you have a chance to read it! It's been about 4 years since I've read it and so I don't remember all the details, but I know it left an impression on me and I read it super quickly, as I couldn't wait to see how everything will unfold.

No problem, I'm glad I could share it with you! I love reading and if I can find anything for free, I'm always really grateful. There's at least a couple of hundreds stories there, so definitely something to choose from! And I think they share new ones every year. I hope you'll find something you'll like!

Now that I looked it up, it sounds really interesting, I've never heard about atompunk before. I used to like dystopian novels, but not so much anymore, so I'm gla it's not what I thought. When I saw atompunk, it reminded me of nuclear bombs and nuclear power plants, haha. I see that some books by Ray Bradbury are considered atompunk and I meant to try something from him for a while.

Quote from Kataphract

Hmm. I'd say dieselpunk is grungier than steampunk, in a way. Dieselpunk is often associated with the soot and fumes of diesel engines, as well as the "mechanic's life" whereas steampunk is often set in "the underbelly of a city of industry" or more loosely, things that are mechanically driven by steam reminiscent to the turn of the century. I feel, if you want a good counterpart to compare, The Inventor's secret series is somewhat more steam/clockpunk, The Leviathan is more Dieselpunk oriented. (with definite biopunk lol)

I think this comes as steam engines were often crewed machines, whether it be for a ship, train, or industrial plant, whereas diesel tended to be more up front, personal machines, with its benefits and hinderances integral to the personal experience working with and around diesel engines. Diesel engines tended to be personal items more often than steam did. or often required little crew otherwise.

I agree. the are very similar in many aspects, and often down to personal interpretation. As a personal rule of thumb, Steampunk optionally refers to the victorian era (steam optimism often stemmed from high class experiences, and steam pessimism from the low class experiences) but diesel tended towards more recent things like the world wars, and all the way up until electronic control systems ( carburetors, not electric injectors, etc).

Thank you so much for explaining it to me so well! I only knew the characteristics of steampunk, as I enjoy historical books from time to time. So I've read a few steampunk books that where a mix of historical and speculative (scifi and fantasy). That's really interesting, especially to someone like me, who doesn't know much about mechanics and machines.

Now you piqued my interest. I have my reading planned for the end of this year, but I'll pick up some scifi books next year, as soon as I see which ones I can borrow.

Quote from Kataphract

Hehe A little extra tidbit on atompunk is that, to me at least, it is fueled by nuclear-optimism that the nuclear age had. I like that sort of optimistic viewpoint on tech, but the genre doesn't claim everything to be perfect either, exploring conflicts with the associated gender roles (1950's, etc) the nuclearization of things that shouldn't be nuclear, and many other things, without breaking into dystopia.

Heheheheheh welcome to the sci-fi cult!!! Im joking haha I'm just a really huge fan of sci fi (sank a lot of hours into those books :D). I really like dieselpunk in that it is more flexible in terms societies presented because it does span a lot of time (1900's to now) so it gets anywhere from victorian, to roaring 20's to 1940-50s GI bill era, to even 1970's car consumerism with hints of Reaganomics!

Oh absolutely I will definitely enjoy it, simply based off the synopsis already! (idk why but you talking about it gets me rly hyped up about it haha)

Sorry these replies are almost like the goodbyes that never end haha. I have much too much to say about my favs of steam/dieselpunk heh

I have to say, I actually don't know much about the nuclear age, so it's going to be something new for me. I'm from Poland and that time in history for us was pretty much focused on rebuilding our country and getting back to "normal" after surviving the two world wars and getting our country back. So when we study that period of time here, there's barely any mention of the nuclear age. I kind of remember it being mentioned in some American movies though, so it will be interesting to read a book set around it.

And don't worry, I love chatting about books and can get passionate about it too! I love reading and it's my second biggest hobby together with music :D

Who knows, maybe thanks to you I'll pick up scifi books more often I just need to find some good ones for me, because everything you said sounds really cool and interesting.

Quote from Kataphract

I was born and raised in the US heh sorry! The best way I can describe it is something like this: America was flush with cash, lending and leasing military equipment to allied nations during ww2 and it so turns out that nuclear power was really clean (when done right) leading to rosy outlooks of when nuclear powers everything -- and the massive amounts of power that come with it means perpetual economic upturn. With an urge for nuclear power and the money to back it up, it seemed the US was set for greatness (nuclear optimism) - that is until the cold war showed up and overshadowed everything(nuclear scare/pessimism). The US wanted to put nuclear reactors in everything - trains, planes, ships, you name it. Fiction from the time (im actually unfamiliar heh) tended to take it further, putting it in cars, motorcycles, houses, robotic assistants, etc.

That's really interesting. Thank you for the explanation. It must be cultural differences but for me, the word nuclear only has bad connotations, even now. So it would be interesting to see what it was like back then. I mean, I know that it can be a powerful source if use safely, but I still also remember learning about the Chernobyl disaster and we were also affected by it here. So your pov is completely different and I am intrigued to read a book set in that time, to see what it was like.