Terra Ignota

~ Brin ~ Leave a comment

transgenderer:

I wonder if Ada Palmer has a fundamentally different reaction to really hot people than I do. Cuz like..I’ve seen really hot people, and like, there’s definitely a wow factor but it caps out pretty low I think. I think that “so hot it’s literally awe-inspiring” is not a reaction im capable of having, which makes all the scenes where the characters marvel at ganymede and sniper and danae feel really weird and cheesy. Maybe I just haven’t met hot enough people?

 

transgenderer:

@typicalacademic said:

I think everyone in TI is in general much more aesthetically sensitive. people can be mind-warpingly beautiful, but also so clever they can make you have a mental breakdown or so impressive you become completely convinced they’re a god. everything is turned up to 11 and no one is inured to anything

i like this way of thinking about it. TI is like, an epic or like a poem or something, or like everyone in the TI universe is this hyper-sentimental poet. you could come up with a watsonian explanation that its basically a side effect of 300 years of utopia, that the extent of human emotion expands to fill the situation, so in a world with like, mass death and poverty and stuff things like “that guy is really hot” get shrunk down but in a genuine utopia everyone’s calibrated to a much smaller variation, so seeing a really hot guy has the same effect as like, winning the lottery

I have had almost the exact thought process described in the first post, except instead of “really hot people” it was “really tasty food”. [link to an example of Ada Palmer waxing lyrical about food]

Maybe Ada Palmer has a very strong capacity for awe?

Tags:

#reply via reblog #is the blue I see the same as the blue you see #Terra Ignota

~ Brin ~ Leave a comment

drethelin:

‪“April the twelfth is a High Holiday, the highest, Yuri’s Night, the day mankind first broke Earth’s eggshell and touched our rightful Space— a day for hope, for thanks, for recommitment to the Great Project.”

The Will to Battle, by Ada Palmer

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#Terra Ignota #space #proud citizen of The Future #Tumblr traditions

~ Brin ~ Leave a comment

dataandphilosophy:

Too Like the Lightning is now out free as an ebook for the next three days (ends midnight, March 23rd) through Tor! So if you’re curious what all this is about, (like me) picked up a physical copy but would still like to have an ebook, or for any other reason want a free ebook, check it out!

Edit: link.

Tags:

#oooooh #I have no idea when (if ever) I will be in an appropriate frame of mind to read this #but it would be good to have the option stashed away in my ebook hoard #requires a couple of newsletter signups but I’m used to that and have a dedicated newsletter email #(and yes I *do* actually check my messages on that account) #(and only *mostly* to see if they’ve brought me any more stuff) #Terra Ignota #PSA

Recommendation Spotlight: Too Like the Lightning

Link ~ ~ Brin ~ Leave a comment

{{Title link: https://parhelioncomic.com/2017/04/17/recommendation-spotlight-too-like-the-lightning/}}

orbispelagium:

parhelioncomic:

Wrote up a recommendation of Too Like the Lightning!

If you like Parhelion, then please, by Christ, read this. (It’s not a webcomic, it’s a book that costs money and stuff, but holy shit.)

Here’s an overview that doubles as a capsule review of the thing I need to make fanart for.

Tags:

#I’ve been wanting to read this but haha what is free time #(hell I’m supposed to be working on my term paper right now) #(sometimes I hate when my brain is like ”no we have to write This Specific Thing Right Now”) #(anyway) #I binged the author’s entire blog archive a little while ago and it was fantastic #(though I feel a little…I don’t know if ”unnerved” is the right word) #(about how she is clearly capable of extracting much more pleasure from food than I can) #(I *can* enjoy food but I can’t get *fifty euros worth* of enjoyment out of a meal) #(but I mean that’s also interesting in itself) #(she’s got all this great history-blogging and scattered through) #(are also these occasional hints of different qualia) #basically what I’m saying is that ”written by the same person who writes Ex Urbe” #is enough on its own to make me want to read this series #the OP is just ganache on the cake #(I do not like icing) #tag rambles #Terra Ignota #recs #is the blue I see the same as the blue you see