I guess this is a recs entry, on both sides

[ultranos]

1) neboat got me addicted to Two Steps from Hell last week. I've been pretty much listening to them and only them since. It has the interesting property of making absolutely anything you do Epic. Highly recommend it for music while writing. (Two Steps from Hell is a group that writes original music for movie and game trailers. Brushing your teeth has never felt this badass.)

Current favorites are "Heart of Courage", "Black Blade", "Protectors of Earth", "After the Fall".

2) I seem to be writing an original fic. What is this I don't even

3) Finishing the Mass Effect series flipped something in my brain, and I seem to be desperately craving gritty space opera. Possibly, more accurately, a reconstructed space opera ('ware, TVTropes). Or sci-fi assassin/spycraft stories. I dunno. My brain is demanding something to chew on like those two (I've been reading a bunch of spycraft and information handling lately), or else I'm going to lose the battle against replaying the damn series.

This is slightly annoying because I have a giant pile of games right now, and other than Bastion, I haven't been able to convince myself to play any of them. Bastion, by the way, is excellent, and is currently the bonus game in the Humble Indie Bundle V. All the games in the bundle are excellent, available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, and proceeds go to the developers and charity (Child's Plan and the EFF), depending on how you want the split. In any case, if you're interested or curious, check it out. Or ask me if I think you'd like it if you're not sure. It's for an excellent cause.

Comments

[synecdochic]

Have you read the Liaden novels by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller? Space opera comedy-of-manners in awesome fashion. (If you enjoy Lullabye for the New World Order, I think you will like the Liaden Universe -- Rufus and Tseng are both heavily influenced by Clan Korval.) You can find 'em through the Baen ebook library; the older books that were the original cycle are in Korval's Legacy and Phase Change as omnibus collections (or in Dragon Variation/Agent Gambit/Korval's Game, but the first two also include some of the prequel books) and then there's the newer works: Fledgling/Saltation/Ghost Ship, Mouse and Dragon (sequel to one of the the earlier books), and soon-to-be-released Dragon Ship.

[ultranos]

Ooh, no, I haven't. Checking out the links, and yeah, this sounds like something I'd like. (And that's kind of a ringing endorsement if ever I heard one, because I really do have a special fondness for clan politics and backup plans that have backup plans, and characters who know Things Will Happen Around Them and just deal.) For some reason, I forget that Baen sells ebooks directly.

(I've got at least 12 hours on an Amtrak train in my future. I might be planning.)

[synecdochic]

Yeah, I think you'll really love the Liaden books. Clan Korval is the Highest of the High Houses in a world where manners, pride, and face are everything ("of the High Houses, there are fifty; and then there is Korval"), and yet they are, like, total misfits: forward-thinking in a world where stagnation is the name of the game. Rufus in Lullabye is born Korval -- line yos'Phelium through and through. Keep that in mind while you read and be amused. :)