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PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   2884 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for December 19, 2025

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Great haul from a nearby half-price books today.

  • Absolution, Jeff Vandermeer. I adored the original trilogy for reasons touched on here, and while I was colder on the third book, I still absolutely endorse it. When I saw a new book with sweet cover art, I had to try it.
  • Triplanetary, Edward E. Smith, Ph.D. That's how he's billed on the cover. I've never read a Lensman book, but it's well-known enough to have gotten a reprint listing all sorts of awards. Said reprint is still endearingly retro.
  • Red Mars, K.S. Robinson. I was sure this came up on the Motte recently; all I can find is discussion of Years of Rice and Salt. Ah well.
  • The Road, Cormac McCarthy. I have it on good authority that this is an unpleasant read. That doesn't actually tell me what to expect. Perhaps it will be improving literature in some way. Regardless, it's influential apocalyptica, so I feel the need to try.
  • Co. Aytch, Sam Watkins. A Confederate memoir. Picked up on the recommendation of a random Reddit thread.
  • The Killer Angels, Michael Shaera. Also Civil War, but historical fiction.
  • A sweet cutaway book about armored vehicles. What more can I say?

I was very meh on Absolution. Don't know why, but it just didn't do much for me.

I loved the Lensmen books as a kid. May have to give them a reread one of these days.

I did not much like Red Mars. I find KSR dry as dust.

Cormac McCarthy is very hit-or-miss for me. No Country For Old Men is fantastic, and Blood Meridian is one of my favorite books ever. But I have not much liked any of his other books, and I really disliked The Road. It was written like "Literary author thinks he's invented the post-apocalyptic novel."

Literary author thinks he's invented the post-apocalyptic novel.

Kek, that’s how I felt about Phillip Roth’s The Plot Against America but for alt-history. I did like it a lot though.

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