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Yes - Goodreads is pretty awful when it could be so much better. The searching is awful, the comment UI is grim and the suggested books lists are poor. The most
by xioxox 7y ago
Yes - Goodreads is pretty awful when it could be so much better. The searching is awful, the comment UI is grim and the suggested books lists are poor. The most useful tool I've found for finding new authors is this: https://www.literature-map.com/ https://www.literature-map.com/
I only use it for keeping track of what I've read and to look up negative reviews to see whether a book is likely to be one I won't like.
The scoring system is almost useless, as certain categories of books just get endless 5 star reviews from fans.
- b0rsuk 7y agoI'm not impressed. Philip K. Dick next to Stanisław Lem. The two lived in the same period, and there's a funny anecdote about them (Philip believed Stanisław was invented by communists to trick him, because no single person could be so resourceful. Consequently, Philip K. Dick refused to communicate with Stanisław Lem). But their literature is very different. Dick's stories are typically short and easy to digest, with fast action. Lem's is ponderous, filled with long sentences and complex ideas. Little is happening.
- jml7c5 7y agoThe proximity is not based on similar style or content, but based on how many people like author B if they like author A.
- javajosh 7y agoLem and Dick shared a penchant for framing abstract, deeply profound questions about society in the form of concrete science fiction stories. This is not common. Space opera has always dominated the genre, but neither of them spent time writing "bildungsromans with lasers". So, I'd call the connection is quite valid, having read both of them widely.
- bobcostas55 7y agoI like literature-map, but I wish it contained more obscure names. The recs are good, but none of them are new to me...