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PaperclipPerfector  3mo ago (text post)   3068 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for July 24, 2026

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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What’s everyone reading? (Sorry guy who usually makes this one)

I’m 1/3rd through a reread of The Player of Games by Iain M Banks.

I’ve been rereading a lot of Banks this year since I’ve finished most of the sci fi author i think I would like. Before this, I went to reread Use of Weapons and quickly realized I had not in fact read it before! I had always put off reading it for some reason but I ended up really liking it

One of my favorite qualities of banks is that everything is so low stakes, but memorable and satisfying all the same. The plot is at best, a neat device. But there are so many memorable and creative vignettes in his books that it makes him one of my favorites

Speaking of The Culture series, I’m saving the Consider Phelbas reread for last. It was my first culture book and quite contrary to public opinion, one of my favorites. Perhaps because the MC is so disgusted with the Culture. Ever since I read that, I can’t help but notice even in the later book the undercurrent of critique of the Culture. It’s puzzling to me because Banks wrote an essay where he swears up and down that he earnestly believes The Culture is the best possible outcome for humanity and his preferred societal structure. Even after reading that, I can’t help but believe he’s still just yanking everyone’s chain.

Also, I find it very odd how many smart people I know don’t reread good books or rewatch good films or tv shows. Anything that is good or enjoyable the first time around is often just as good or better when revisited. Particularly if what you think of as good includes some decently complex theme or subtext that’s impossible to fully appreciate without knowing where the characters or story is going.

Looking for something new to read. Big fan of military scifi/thrillers and near future stuff, huge fan of Tom Clancy's Red Storm Rising and Team Yankee among others. The genre seems to have fallen off, the more recent ghost authored Clancy stuff is fine but the thriller aspects make it take so long to get to the action. I've read all of FX Halden's books and James Rosone's Monroe Doctrine as well as quite a few others, unfortunately the part of the genre Kindle recommends me is increasingly filled with ai slop. Anybody have any recs?

On a separate topic. Does anyone know anything about Larry Niven’s Known Space book series? I’m at the end of my Culture reread and need something new.

One reason I reread so many books is that any fiction written after 2016 is completely pozzed. I’ve been through all the often recommended sci fi authors like Peter Hamilton and Alaister Reynold and Simmons. No one ever mentions Known Space. I only just now read about it while searching for the longest sci fi book/series ever written. There was a stay comment of someone saying they like Niven, with the caveat they they know it hasn’t aged well. That piqued my interest.

Turns out he’s some dude from the 1960 who’s written some beloved sci fi books - however he’s a massive misogynist.

Check out this gem of a comment from Reddit:

I don't say this to be rude, I say this with honesty so you have a starting point to gain awareness if you'd genuinely like to do that: if you can't tell Niven is a rank misogynist, you're likely pretty blind to the treatment and presentation of women in fiction. Sometimes when there's observable misogyny in writing, it's part of the universe or a characterization choice. Sometimes, however, it's pretty clearly a general miasma coming from the writer which underlies the way they build worlds and characters. Niven is very much the latter. Ringworld has two sentient female characters. One is too stupid to live, and is basically a sexy baby that the main character is using as a dick warmer in between scolding her, and the other is a manipulative hooker who, like all women according to the text, "enslaves men" with the "tasp between her legs." The other females mentioned in the book are literally non-sentient and used for breeding by sentient males. This is not one but THREE species. It's REALLY blatant.

These Reddit people are so embarrassing. A bunch of dorky guys all patting each other on the back for spotting the misogyny. Fuck these people for ruining the whole genre.

Does anyone know anything about Larry Niven’s Known Space book series?

I consider Niven to be peak sci-fi. Not the best sci-fi. Like Commando is peak Schwarzenegger, not the best move with Arnold.

That is to say, his books are a firehose of "cool stuff in space", with everything else subordinated to the hose.

Games/weapons/phelbas are by far the best 3.

I think he's genuine and correct. The culture is by far the best outcome for humanity and also sucks for its own reasons.

But those reasons are literally just the human condition at the end of the day "wahhh I fuck 10/10 models constantly and go lava surfing so much it's boring. What does it all meannnnn."

> inb4 "but the AI runs everything and we have no power/are basically glorified pets"

You have essentially 0 power ovwr the institutions that run your life today. The government of your respective locality could largely be replaced by a benevolent AI and you'd have no idea, in fact your government would probably get much more competent. I don't really see how it's different. If the CIA wanted to fuck my shit up tomorrow they could. Hell, a few years ago all it took was an angry mob on Twitter.

Ugh, this reminds me to post my review that compares the Golden Oecumene against the Culture. My backlog is getting out of hand.

I am done with The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann. My main advice for those who find themselves shipwrecked while in the 18thc. Royal Navy:

  • Do not sink off of Western Patagonia. It's cold, rocky, the weather sucks, and you'll be praying for random birds to kill in order to stay alive. Shackleton and his crew shipwrecked in Antarctica, admittedly with smaller crew and more modern supplies, but they basically could live indefinitely off of seals while floating on big blocks of ice. Sail South, crash there.
  • What are you doing? Immediately salvage anything useful on the ship as soon as possible. Salvage the ship. Take every board and every canvas.
  • Do not scare or aggravate any natives who show up no matter how savage they appear.
  • Do keep meticulous logs of your voyage and any subsequent shipwreck no matter rank or position. This will help legitimize unforeseen but necessary actions in the future up to and including marooning your former captain.
  • Do not surrender yourself to the Spanish if you are free black man. They will enslave you.

Also, I find it very odd how many smart people I know don’t reread good books or rewatch good films or tv shows.

There are lots of books I want to reread because it has been long enough to justify it and there are all the books I haven't read yet. I try to balance it.

Also, I find it very odd how many smart people I know don’t reread good books or rewatch good films or tv shows.

I don't have the time to read and watch all the things I'm interested in once.

I just finished Consider Phelbas and was underwhelmed enough to not continue the series. It gets better you say?

Banks is very much hit or miss in terms of tone and story. The only book he's done that I really enjoy and will re-read from time to time is Excession, and that's predominately because the focus is almost 80% on the Minds.

Maybe I'm just being sensitive or cranky, but I can't help but think that Banks falls into the same trap that a few number of sci-fi authors do by making all their human characters be insufferable assholes.

Most people find it to be the worst the series. I’d try player of games and if you get a good bit in and still hate it. Call it quits. Player of games is a better book

Phelbas might be my favorite and I've genuinely read all of them. Games/weapons other two favs. Found the rest interesting but not inspired to read again unlike the prior 3 which I've read a few times each

What are your favorite culture books?

I loved Surface Detail (the one with the tattoo girl and bunny hell).

Matter. An odd choice I know as it usually ranks low. I think I just like different things about Banks work. I remember the MC in that was such a boob. I was always amused with his antics. And very cool setting.

Phlebas is a decent but underwhelming book. The rest of the series is great. The only other one I was somewhat disappointed by was the Hydrogen Sonata. Lovely name, but a disjointed, unsatisfying mess by Banks standards.

It's very much different from the other novels. The Player of Games is often considered the better way to start

I have only read the first two, but yeah I'd say so. Consider Phlebas was so boring I struggled to finish it, while Player of Games was genuinely quite interesting and fun to read.

Finished reading Bagration 1944: The Great Soviet Offensive by Prit Buttar. I've read through most of his Eastern Front histories now because they feature lots of primary sources. Knew most of the subject matter already but an interesting element that this book brought which many others do not was an expanded emphasis on partisan infighting, especially the conflict between Polish, Jewish, and Soviet (and Soviet-aligned) groups and how the various governments interacted with them. Buttar is also generally much more skeptical about received wisdom and is quick to point out possible inconsistencies/misleading elements in testimony.

Started reading Suttree by Cormac McCarthy. I don't know exactly where this one falls in his authorial timeline but the prose is noticeably more purple in this one than in others I've read of him.

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