also i really like things like larry niven's "known space". these reusable worlds that get many stories set in them, and build up a rich lore of their own.

if i could get past tolkien's ponderous writing style i would probably be super into lord of the rings too

maybe my tastes are unduly influenced by having read mainly 70s sci-fi books and magazines my dad had in the attic.

@KitRedgrave Oh hey, my main diet too (except they're mostly my books; the few books I got from my dad came from the 1950s and early 1960s).

Asimov, Clarke, Niven, Pohl, Heinlein...

@woozle yeah. there's a few things in there that are signs of the time they're from and not great, but there are other things that are surprisingly forward-thinking.

i don't think it's too much of a stretch to say that science fiction made me queer :p

@KitRedgrave On the subject of universe-building, maybe I should consolidate my "open-source universes" ideas into a readable form somewhere.

@KitRedgrave i like the hainish cycle

a shared universe where the stories don't have to be taken in any particular order, but as you read more of them, things from ones you read before will click into place a little better

@cascode yes!! that sounds like a great thing

@KitRedgrave Doris Lessing's Canopus in Argos

@amphetamine looking at the wiki page, this is stuff i gotta find and read :D

@KitRedgrave unicorn jelly?

@a_breakin_glass a webcomic out there, with kind of a history and reputation behind it. it's, um, quite a trek

@KitRedgrave I have a Special Place in my Heart for Unicorn Jelly because It was my First Introduction to "Magic" that make Sense. The Universe had Consistent Rules.

@House_of_Pears same, everything is consistent and one could really spend a lot of time thinking about ways to cheese those rules.

i feel like there could have been more of that in there.

this is my complain with hpmor, there was a subplot about figuring out magic that got dropped in favor of mindgames and i-think-you-think that i wasn't as great a fan of

@KitRedgrave Yeah, the actual Figuring-Stuff-Out Part seemed to become secondary to the Plot which was Disappointing.

@mhu2141ai maybe I'm missing out on the things you like, too ^^;