r/printSF:

u/DirectorBiggs

I agree on all of that, Banks has better prose and Reynolds world-building is top shelf. I honestly couldn’t push through Pushing Ice, lol. I’ll have to give a go another time, I kept yawning and putting it down and eventually dnf’d with my tbr pile literally figuratively taunting / tempting me.
u/DirectorBiggs

Alright, yeah 13 years isn’t the same time period. It’s close but not the same, for some reason that scenario got stuck in my head. Reynolds likely read Banks years before writing RS, good point.
u/DirectorBiggs

RS is one of my favorites and in my head I compare the universe Reynold’s establishes as much more realistic and believable than the contemporary Iain Banks. They’re both British and their first books came out around the same time and the dark, dirty, slow burn of RS appeals to my sense of futurism and humanity much more so than the post-scarcity, clean and shiny Utopic universe of the Culture. I still much prefer Reynolds to Banks. I like them both folks, don’t get me wrong. Reynolds is easier for me to lose my sense of being here than Banks. Enjoy Chasm City op, it’s truly one of the best in the series and my personal favorite Reynolds.
u/DirectorBiggs

I edited it, I did not delete or run away. And I left the correction there very clearly to demonstrate that TIL, talk about hostile.
u/DirectorBiggs

The Expanse
u/DirectorBiggs

I also love both authors and I cringe at the Banks diehard fanboys who put his vanilla biscuits on a pedestal. I’m about to go pick up Algebraist, maybe he’ll surprise me. The Culture is fun I like it, not the best or end all though. I prefer JSAC’s prose and plot lines and Reynold’s concepts far more than Banks, which again I do enjoy. Just not my fav. To each their own and I do take offense at the silly comparison NoNo above, that’s just dumb. And nowhere close to accurate, IMO.
u/DirectorBiggs

If you’re talking prose, you’re wrong. If you’re talking content, plot and story, you’re so fucking wrong. Banks is good, great writer, basic af plot lines and story concepts.
u/DirectorBiggs

Gotcha, and I totally understand the annoyance of fanboys. Still the comparison was a bit too extreme. And yes, Algebraist so far is fantastic. As of now my favorite I’ve read of his, the dark dreadful start of it is enthralling, atypical Banks in my experience. Really enjoying it. I checked out both Algebraist and Seveneves yesterday, read a few chapters of Seveneves and then a chapter of Algebraist and put Seveneves on the backburner.
u/DirectorBiggs

Revelation Space comes to mind..
u/DirectorBiggs

Almost everything by Adrian Tchaikovsky, specifically the trilogies Children of Time, Dogs of War, Final Architecture; stand alone novels Shroud, Cage of Souls and Alien Clay and the novellas Ogres, Elder Race and Saturation Point. The man is prolific af and his concepts are absolutely original, sometimes mind-blowing, always thought-provoking. Since we’re dating 2012 The Expanse is top tier, bar none and their new series The Captives War is awesome as well.