Thrashy

Thrashy , 6 months ago (edited 6 months ago)

You’ve already had a recommondation for most of what I would suggest to you, but I will happily second the suggestions for the Revelation Space series by Alastair Reynolds, the Teixcalaan series by Arkady Martine, and the Imperial Raadch/Ancillary series by Ann Leckie. All have excellent worldbuilding and tell stories that depend heavily upon how their characters interface with the worlds they inhabit.

A little pulpier in tone, but still very well put together, I’d suggest as well the Wayfarers series by Becky Chambers, and especially the Locked Tomb series by Tamsyn Muir. The latter is a bit more fantastic space opera as opposed to some of the harder sci-fi you’ve mentioned, but Muir knows how to write a setting that is absolutely dripping in gothic horror, and still take you on an emotional roller coaster fully of highs, lows, and humor as you read it. It seems to be a bit of a love-it-or-hate-it series from the other conversations I’ve had about it, but I love it and I’d be remiss not to suggest it.

I’d also suggest, if you’re not averse, dipping your toe into the fantasy genre as well. There’s a broad range of authors there who have done excellent work building fantasy worlds that are structurally deep and compelling, and have many science-fictional qualities. Along these lines I’d suggest Robert Jackson Bennett’s Founders trilogy, or N. K. Jemison’s Broken Earth trilogy – though, fair warning, both of these broke me in the end emotionally. Worth it, though!

Thrashy , 9 months ago (edited 9 months ago)

In Florida, the alternative is a (very expensive) state-funded program that acts as an insurer of last resort. With so many insurance firms cutting their losses and leaving the market, though, I suspect that program is about to be severely overloaded, while many Floridians also find their homes suddenly unaffordable. If there’s going to be a solution, it’s going to have to come from the state, but given that the party in power there is still firmly committed to pretending climate change is a hoax, I wouldn’t hold my breath. My guess is that there’s going to be a lot of migration away from Florida and other Republican-dominated coastal states as issues with cost and availability of insurance force homeowners to make some hard financial decisions.

Thrashy , 11 months ago

Reform-minded legislators have previously floated the idea of rewriting the Farm Bill to favor smaller family operations instead of agri-conglomerates like Con-Agra – to near-universal dissent from farmers. No matter the reality of the situation, conservative media has them convinced that they’re just one good season away from riches, and they don’t want to lose their subsidies when that happens.

Thrashy , 11 months ago

Man, the Puppies’ anti-representation Hugo campaign backfiring into Internet fame for Chuck Tingle was one of the few highlights of 2016. I was at WorldCon that year and the number of people sporting " I Am Chuck Tingle" ribbons on their badges was amazing.

Thrashy , 11 months ago

This hits close to home. My dad grew up in a house about a half-mile from the creek mentioned in the article; my grandparents lived in that house for almost thirty years. That said, I think they were “uphill” in the watershed from the creek, and the only unusual cancer in my family is from my own generation, which was never exposed. Grandma and Grandpa both had cancer in their senior years (brain and colon, respectively) but neither died as a result of it – Grandma’s was so slow moving that they just left it be for fifteen years until she passed from other causes! – and the health problems my dad and his siblings have are mostly hereditary in nature.

Thrashy , 11 months ago

Regardless of the sourcing, it’s important to have open eyes about these things. While don’t think many outside of Lemmygrad would argue that there isn’t a clear moral difference between the defenders and aggressors in this war (and Prigozhin didn’t exactly name his organization the Wagner Group out of a deep artistic appreciation for German opera, either), Ukraine has also been willing to take help from unsavory groups, particularly in the original Azov Brigade and the RVC. I won’t condemn Ukrainian leadership for engaging in realpolitik while fighting for their nation’s right to exist, but they and their Western allies all need to be careful that fascist elements within Ukraine don’t get the opportunity to leverage the war for greater power and influence.