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From: Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: Finding new (to you) SFF to read
Date: Fri, 22 Nov 2024 15:04:20 -0600
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On 11/22/2024 2:51 PM, Tony Nance wrote:
> On 11/17/24 6:54 PM, Ahasuerus wrote:
>> On 11/13/2024 9:10 PM, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>> On 11/13/2024 7:18 PM, Tony Nance wrote:
>>>> On 11/11/24 6:16 PM, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>>>> On 11/11/2024 10:00 AM, Tony Nance wrote:
>>>>>> [snip-snip]
>>>>>> Where do you go to help you find new things to read?
>>>>>
>>>>> https://www.reddit.com/r/printSF/
>>>>
>>>> Excellent - thanks!
>>>
>>> There are about 10 or 20 SF (speculative fiction) groups on reddit 
>>> BTW. I have already gotten thrown out of one of them (wormfanfic). 
>>> Here is another one:
>>>
>>>     https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/
>>
>> Both /r/printSF and /r/Fantasy are worth a look. /r/PrintSF is a 
>> moderate-volume low-drama subreddit with a decent number of 
>> knowledgeable contributors who have different tastes. Some like Watts 
>> and Egan, others like Le Guin, Banks, Butler, Pratchett, etc. In 
>> theory, it covers all types of *published* speculative books/ 
>> magazines, but most discussions are about science fiction.
>>
>> /r/Fantasy is a high-volume subreddit. Like /r/PrintSF, it covers all 
>> kinds of speculative fiction plus SF games, movies, etc. In reality, 
>> however, it's mostly about fantasy, especially books. Contributors 
>> vary greatly, from very new to the genre to experienced SF authors. 
>> Also, it is more likely to contain threads like "A fantasy series that 
>> will make me cry and obliterate me" and "Am I the only one crying with 
>> [author name's] books?".
>>
> 
> Excellent - many thanks. Seems like both will be very helpful.
> 
> Also thanks for the info about Worm (below). I'm not big on fanfiction, 
> but I fully expect to give Worm itself a try some time.
> 
> Tony
> 
> 
>> /r/WormFanfic is for discussions of fanfiction based on the work of 
>> John C. "Wildbow" McCrae, especially his first Web serial _Worm_ 
>> (2011-2013, 1.67 million words). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ 
>> Worm_(web_serial) has a plot outline, which includes massive spoilers. 
>> (Note that _Worm_ spoilers are a very big deal because the serial is 
>> one huge secret history, which we learn about one layer at a time.)
>>
>> Since _Worm_ is so long and covers so many things -- interesting 
>> superpowers, trauma, world-building, clever subplots which you don't 
>> even recognize as such until the end of the serial, etc -- Worm-based 
>> fanfics tend to concentrate on a subset of the issues explored in the 
>> _Worm_ canon. Some authors are interested in character trauma. Some 
>> are after "cool powers". Some like to write "fix fics". At this point 
>> more than 15,000 Worm fics have been posted.
>>
>> The result is that different types of fics tend to be published on 
>> different Web sites with different reader expectations and different 
>> moderation rules. /r/WormFanfic covers all of them (with limits 
>> imposed on discussions of NSFW fics), although their heterogeneity 
>> occasionally makes it a challenge.

I found Worm ( https://parahumans.wordpress.com/ ) to be too dark for me 
even though I did eventually finish it.  I actually got lost near the 
end of Worm due to all of the threads crashing at the same time.

I vastly prefer Taylor Varga ( 
https://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/taylor-varga-worm-luna-varga.32119/ 
).  A serious look at "cool powers".

I am reading "Callsign: Owl" ( 
https://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/callsign-owl.87596/#post-19481594 
) at the moment.  To say that it is crazy is an understatement.

Lynn