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I don't know. I felt the same thing with the time jumps, and I think I know what's happening but it keeps going on and on. Then I put it aside and starting reading other stuff and haven't come back to it yet, and it's been over a year so I don't know if I can. On the other hand, going to reread the entire locked tomb series (4th time, 3rd time, 2nd time) if Alecto ever gets a confirmed date.
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Aug 28, 2023 16:11
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Sibling of TB posted:On the other hand, going to reread the entire locked tomb series (4th time, 3rd time, 2nd time) if Alecto ever gets a confirmed date. I am starting to believe that I am just not smart enough to parse the plots out of the Locked Tomb books. I love the milieu and characters, but most of what was happening in Harrow the Ninth and Nona the Ninth sailed right over my head, even on reread. I got the surface events, but the stuff I was supposed to be intuiting, the stuff that Harrow and Nona didn't themselves understand, didn't register. Last night I was seriously contemplating reading plot summaries so I could go back and read the books. e re Alecto release date May 2023 Reddit comment posted:As a bookseller, and somebody who deals with publishers, Alecto likely isn't coming anytime soon. It is possible they may give us information relatively soon, but there hasn't yet been an ISBN, no cover, there has been no word of review/advance copies going out (which they've been historically stingy with for this series, but they do exist, and months in advance of the publish date), and no catalog entry in Edelweiss+, which is what most book retailers use to order stock, and ordering for fall of this year is already happening for most stores. The publisher has not released a date. Barnes & Noble doesn't have any secret knowledge. As someone with access to book retail ordering catalogs, there is no release date. There's no information at all yet. Arsenic Lupin fucked around with this message at 17:17 on Aug 28, 2023 |
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Aug 28, 2023 17:13
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Arsenic Lupin posted:I am starting to believe that I am just not smart enough to parse the plots out of the Locked Tomb books. I love the milieu and characters, but most of what was happening in Harrow the Ninth and Nona the Ninth sailed right over my head, even on reread. I got the surface events, but the stuff I was supposed to be intuiting, the stuff that Harrow and Nona didn't themselves understand, didn't register. Last night I was seriously contemplating reading plot summaries so I could go back and read the books. Take notes. Each house, who is who, who knows what. I did this on my reread and I got a lot out of it.
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Aug 28, 2023 18:29
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Read The Sheep Look Up after seeing it recommended here a few times. People are not kidding when they say that you'll need a minute after reading that... I don't think I've ever read anything that so neatly encapsulates how utterly disconnected our impact on the planet is from what that actually means for the planet. To think that this is essentially 50 years old now, and full of the same poo poo you see daily on the front page of any newspaper/news site you care to mention. Depressing, infuriating, I dunno man, it's very much a Team Meteor sort of book. So anyway, I need to go touch some grass or something.
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Aug 28, 2023 18:47
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Major Ryan posted:Read The Sheep Look Up after seeing it recommended here a few times. People are not kidding when they say that you'll need a minute after reading that... I just finished this as well. Right before that I read The Water Knife. Quite a one-two punch of misery and terror for the future.
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Aug 28, 2023 19:16
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Jimbozig posted:Take notes. Each house, who is who, who knows what. Excellent idea. I'll try it. Re The Sheep, I've never forgotten the point that, at the climate extreme point, running an air conditioner means that you're cooler and everybody else is hotter.
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Aug 28, 2023 19:25
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In a row, I read The Sheep Look Up, Alas Babylon, the (not very good, but still depressing) nuclear war thriller Down to A Sunless Sea and, of all things, Groening's Life is Hell, and pretty much wanted to end myself. Of them The Sheep Look Up is probably the best/worst, to the extent that I've recommending people not read it since the coming of the plague years.
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Aug 28, 2023 19:45
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DACK FAYDEN posted:we are going on an adventure lol i love how creepy this sounds after you've read the book
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Aug 28, 2023 19:45
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how much of The Wind-Up Girl is centered around climate catastrophe? I've had it and Sheep Look Up on my to-read list for a while now but I don't think I will ever be in the mindset to engage with that type of book, lol. I'm wondering if I should just skip them for the time being.
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Aug 28, 2023 19:58
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Doktor Avalanche posted:lol i love how creepy this sounds after you've read the book weirdly I thought that part was kind of silly while reading it but ngl seeing that spoiler definitely gets a lil visceral reaction from me anyway, it's real creepy
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Aug 28, 2023 19:59
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MockingQuantum posted:how much of The Wind-Up Girl is centered around climate catastrophe? I've had it and Sheep Look Up on my to-read list for a while now but I don't think I will ever be in the mindset to engage with that type of book, lol. I'm wondering if I should just skip them for the time being. pretty much all of it, Paulo don't gently caress around not as grim as the water knife, but still pretty bad
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Aug 28, 2023 20:03
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Hobnob posted:
The start of Station 11 hit me hard in a way I was very aware it would not have five years ago. And that book was generally not all that doom and gloom. The other one that's always stuck with me is On The Beach, which I adore as a book but really doesn't encourage dwelling on. Anyway, I continue onwards with Earthsea, which will do me the world of good.
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Aug 28, 2023 20:04
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It's been awhile, but I remember The Wind-up Girl as being rape-y as well. Have forgotten the details. e: I am currently rereading Georgette Heyer, but stumbling over the anti-Semitism I cheerfully overlooked 30 years ago. Also Michelle Sagara's Elantra series, which I am not sure I recommend, but is very iddy and has fun world-building and lots of emotional complexity. And a long-running romance plot, if you like that sort of thing. Anyway, not diving into anything that advertises itself as "dark" or "bleak" right now. Arsenic Lupin fucked around with this message at 20:11 on Aug 28, 2023 |
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Aug 28, 2023 20:09
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Yeah it is. I have avoided it for that reason.
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Aug 28, 2023 20:11
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Major Ryan posted:The start of Station 11 hit me hard in a way I was very aware it would not have five years ago. And that book was generally not all that doom and gloom. The other one that's always stuck with me is On The Beach, which I adore as a book but really doesn't encourage dwelling on. The parts of Sea of Tranquility that she was clearly writing during the worst of COVID pre-vaccine hit me surprisingly hard. Like "ah yes, I remember those feelings, but I'm not sure I wanted to actually".
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Aug 28, 2023 21:30
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MockingQuantum posted:how much of The Wind-Up Girl is centered around climate catastrophe? I've had it and Sheep Look Up on my to-read list for a while now but I don't think I will ever be in the mindset to engage with that type of book, lol. I'm wondering if I should just skip them for the time being. I found the way that the world had changed in response to the climate crisis to be one of the most interesting aspects of the book: energy "batteries" that are charged up by massive geo engineered elephant creatures turning giant teak trunks, a world in which GMO abuse has led to blights and famines, complete collapse of international trade, etc. The setting of Thailand is also really cool. Is it rapey? Well the titular character is basically an engineered geisha who ends up in a seamy SE Asian expat bar where she is subjected to all kinds of deprivations and violations. It fits within the themes of the books but it's absolutely CW poo poo if that's one of your issues. He also wrote a cool "YA" trilogy that begins with Shipbreaker that also occurs in the post-climate disaster world. I have no idea why it's YA, it's brutal in theme, action, plot, they even say cusses all the time. But it's cool.
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Aug 28, 2023 22:10
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Arsenic Lupin posted:I am starting to believe that I am just not smart enough to parse the plots out of the Locked Tomb books. I love the milieu and characters, but most of what was happening in Harrow the Ninth and Nona the Ninth sailed right over my head, even on reread. I got the surface events, but the stuff I was supposed to be intuiting, the stuff that Harrow and Nona didn't themselves understand, didn't register. Last night I was seriously contemplating reading plot summaries so I could go back and read the books. Ten thousand years ago, earth was dying, and John became an immortal necromancer. A bunch of trillionaires tried to escape so he killed some of them, murdering the entire solar system in the process and creating a set of angry planet ghosts. Over the next myriad John built up a small but dedicated necromantic empire with the aid of his immortal chums, lictors, each of whom he convinced had to murder their closest friend/lover/relative to gain that power, a lie. John spent this time trying to catch and kill the remains of the trillionaires descendants for reasons that are unclear. John's closest friend/lover etc is the ghost of planet earth, Alecto, who is locked sleeping in a tomb on Pluto. The immortal chums, the lictors, who got sick of John's poo poo some thousands of years ago, have been plotting to kill him which is hard bc immortal. After a lot of shenanigans they get John's sperm and with the help of awake*, an anti empire freedom fighter, make a baby which crash lands on Pluto. This is Gideon. Awake* dies*. 17 years later the emperor decides he needs more lictors, and his little empire sends its best and brightest child soldiers. They are mostly murdered by one of his lictors, but ianthe and harrow complete the process. Harrow edits her brain to stop herself from finally eating Gideon's soul, and has a very confusing time as she is haunted by the soul of both awake and alecto. Shenanigans ensue, and the remaining lictors work out that John was lying to them about needing to kill their beloved to be a lictor, and try to kill John, mostly dying in the process. Harrow, pyrhha and Camila escape to a non empire planet with harrow in tow. Harrow is now haunted by the ghost of earth and has made a new personality nona who is a total sweetie. Unfortunately she has also summoned the ghost of Neptune to come say hello, and the city they are in is basically falling apart. The three* of them form a nice family unit under the protection of the freedom fighters from before, blood of Eden. Gideon turns up with ianthe in the body of her dead cousin, and after even more shenanigans they escape to Pluto. It becomes apparent that some kind of horrible Necro demons are invading and John is fighting them off with Gideon and ianthes help. The group enter the locked tomb and awaken Alecto, nona dies, Alecto stabs John who says hello dear nice to see u Here are my cliff notes, spoilers for all to date. Happy to explain anything in there: the biggest thing for me is realizing awake's soul is living in Gideon's sword, which explains a bunch of stuff in harrow.
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Aug 28, 2023 22:25
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a little juvenile and not sure if this is the exact thread but finally around to reading The Last Unicorn mostly because i kept hearing great things and liked the movie from years back. honestly, pretty good book. that being said, i probably wouldnt have appreaciated it at all when i was a teen. I think the first half or so is stronger then the 2nd half. the book kinda starts meandering once they get to the castle and i feel like they never explore the duality of unicorn/lady split as much as i thought they would because the entire first half goes deep into poo poo like that. i honestly kinda love that the book doesnt give a gently caress about "world building" and poo poo and just mostly just spends its time talking about imortality and extisential poo poo and alot of great read between the lines poo poo. its an enjoyable break from the usual stuff i read. i also liked that the ending was this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Voa01r3UOE
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Aug 28, 2023 22:32
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sebmojo posted:Ten thousand years ago, earth was dying, and John became an immortal necromancer. A bunch of trillionaires tried to escape so he killed some of them, murdering the entire solar system in the process and creating a set of angry planet ghosts. A+
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Aug 28, 2023 23:03
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I'm pretty sure that Nona is much more Alecto than she is Harrow, although she's probably some Harrow.
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Aug 29, 2023 00:35
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I think I need to re-read the book because I didn't get about half of that
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Aug 29, 2023 00:46
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(Locked Tomb Spoilers) I didn't think the planet of the 9th house had been identified - we know it's Pluto?
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Aug 29, 2023 00:53
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Not that you must, but there is a nice thread where we discuss everything in great depth, heh https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3937069 (no, we're not 100% sure, there's debate as to whether it's pluto, or a moon of something, or what. clearly pretty far away though, with the sun being a dot, but we simply do not know. I think it's pluto, myself.
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Aug 29, 2023 00:56
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mewse posted:(Locked Tomb Spoilers) Naw just guessing.
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Aug 29, 2023 00:57
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That was an enormous help, sebmojo, thank you so much. I think the short story As Yet Unsent is set after the books we've read so far, in which case Nona is not necessarily dead, because Gideon/Harrow's body isn't decaying. Arsenic Lupin fucked around with this message at 01:02 on Aug 29, 2023 |
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Aug 29, 2023 00:59
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sebmojo posted:Naw just guessing. On second read (third for Gideon) I got everything except sword and neptune. You have this level of confidence for those?
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Aug 29, 2023 01:03
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There are some amazing Ninth House enamel pins (originally kickstarted, now Etsy). Warning: the first one you see is a spoiler for Harrow.
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Aug 29, 2023 01:08
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Arsenic Lupin posted:There are some amazing Ninth House enamel pins (originally kickstarted, now Etsy). Warning: the first one you see is a spoiler for Harrow. I backed the original Kickstarter to get the full set, and they're all incredibly cool and high quality, highly recommended. Edit: I hadn't seen the (Nona spoilers) Paul one before, I'm gonna have to buy that.
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Aug 29, 2023 01:09
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zoux posted:Is it rapey? Well the titular character is basically an engineered geisha who ends up in a seamy SE Asian expat bar where she is subjected to all kinds of deprivations and violations. It fits within the themes of the books but it's absolutely CW poo poo if that's one of your issues. The water knife sucked too.
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Aug 29, 2023 01:12
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Remulak posted:Better be true: that was the only thing I picked up on the first read! 100% on Varun The apocalypse beast is called Varun the eater, and Varun is the vedic word for Neptune. Neptune is blue. On the sword, it explains why Cytherea gets stabbed with it, as that transfers awake's soul into her, and it is a thing that came from the ninth which was the last place she was, but that's more of an extremely plausible theory.
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Aug 29, 2023 01:14
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(spoiler up to and including Nona) OMG, Alecto Barbie.
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Aug 29, 2023 01:19
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Arsenic Lupin posted:There are some amazing Ninth House enamel pins (originally kickstarted, now Etsy). Warning: the first one you see is a spoiler for Harrow. quote:a skull puking another, smaller skull, and other skulls flying all around. But tasteful, you know?
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Aug 29, 2023 01:19
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zoux posted:Is it rapey? Well the titular character is basically an engineered geisha who ends up in a seamy SE Asian expat bar where she is subjected to all kinds of deprivations and violations. It fits within the themes of the books but it's absolutely CW poo poo if that's one of your issues. e: (popping head up from reading multiple tazmuir essays) How did I overlook The Priory of the Orange Tree? Arsenic Lupin fucked around with this message at 02:14 on Aug 29, 2023 |
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Aug 29, 2023 01:24
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Arsenic Lupin posted:I genuinely do not understand how you could not call that "rapey". I'm not going to bat for it but a genetically engineered sex worker might be considered to be a tool with a primary objective, hence not rape. The question of agency, of consent and of awareness of self would be the qualification. It can be gross titillation or an interesting question depending on who handles it - the Swedish tv show Real Humans (and to a lesser extent the British remake) do it pretty well for sci-fi tv.
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Aug 29, 2023 02:17
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branedotorg posted:I'm not going to bat for it but a genetically engineered sex worker might be considered to be a tool with a primary objective, hence not rape. Adding to that there was a similar if differently nuanced podcast called Eliza, done by a UK DV charity that used the questions of agency in robots to address DV, sexual violence and coercive control. https://pod.link/1646599673 I didn't think it was as well done (as a pure sci-fi story) but it certainly I worth a listen if you aren't negatively impacted by explicit content
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Aug 29, 2023 02:34
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it's mostly titillation. there's a pretty ugly rape scene, which is the setup, and the payoff is a couple of chapters later when it looks like the same scene is going to play out all over again but she snaps and murders the loving poo poo out of all the rapists
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Aug 29, 2023 02:40
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Arsenic Lupin posted:
it’s extremely overlookable, op, because it’s boring
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Aug 29, 2023 02:48
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Clark Nova posted:i. there's a pretty ugly rape scene, which is the setup, and the payoff is a couple of chapters later when it looks like the same scene is going to play out all over again but she snaps and murders the loving poo poo out of all the rapists Yeah, it's been a long time since I've read windup girl but but from what I recall everything served the narrative arc. Definite content warnings but it didn't seem gratuitous. I tried to read his other stuff but I got like five pages in and bad things started happening to a dog and welp I was out
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Aug 29, 2023 03:02
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buffalo all day posted:it’s extremely overlookable, op, because it’s boring For a book with a cool dragon on the cover, it did not have nearly enough stuff actually happening with dragons.
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Aug 29, 2023 03:10
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buffalo all day posted:it’s extremely overlookable, op, because it’s boring Yeah, I got halfway through and put it down, it was just generic high fantasy with nothing that really made it stick out (except for being a queer romance but, like there's more good gay fiction out there than I'll ever be able to read, I don't need to waste my time on finishing a boring 800 page doorstopper).
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Aug 29, 2023 03:11
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