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House Louse posted:Did you mean Glen Cook or Hugh Cook btw, because both are doing similar-sounding stuff about the same time. Glen. Hugh really didn't have the market presence or readership to affect anyone (especially in America. WIZARD WAR.) Glen Cook is the earliest writer I can think of who took Heroic Fantasy and put in that grit. I didn't get around to Black Company until a year or so ago and I was surprised at how contemporary a read it was. It doesn't sit with anything else published in the early 80s. It really is way ahead of its time. Wheel of Time's lasting legacy, I think, is it showed how sellable a long series could be. I mean, book 9 was a best seller and that's way into the wheel-spinning, plot stalled, 100-veiwpoint character era. And it was consistently best selling for the better part of a decade. As a publisher you couldn't wish for anything more. It was WoT that made us all think of Heroic Fantasy as not just doorstops, but doorstops that take up a whole bookshelf.
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Aug 20, 2014 16:57
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Knowing the state of fantasy/scifi in the 80's, Book of the New Sun is even more impressive now
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Aug 20, 2014 16:59
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Well it was a 70s work mainly. But yes!Hieronymous Alloy posted:It could be this is hitting me in a blind spot since I've always ignored the Shannara books Sounds like a plan. quote:I honestly always thought the D&D books had been the ones that really opened up the market, along with stuff like Xanth, and some of the better 1970's pulp like the Deryni books and so forth. Late 80's fantasy really was a horrible wasteland though; the decade has a few bright spots like Misenchanted Sword but so much of it is so bad. Even good authors like Guy Gavriel Kay and Roger Zelazny were writing relatively bad stuff like Fionavar and the latter Amber books. Well D&D has done very well for itself - I read somewhere in TG that R. A. Salvatore is one of the two best-paid people working in D&D - but it came along quite a bit later than Shannara; the first Dragonlance trilogy was published in 1984, which is seven years after. Also the Eighties wasn't quite that bad, there was Crowley and The Dragon Waiting and lots of Diana Wynne Jones' best books... perhaps the interesting stuff going on in sf and the horror boom attracted writers' attention away from it? And frankly since the 70s secondary-world fantasy has seemed like the lowest sort of fantasy, which had only begun changing in the last few years. Compare to space opera, with a similarly central position in its genre but which has always been more impressive. Bear Sleuth posted:Glen. Hugh really didn't have the market presence or readership to affect anyone (especially in America. WIZARD WAR.) Glen Cook is the earliest writer I can think of who took Heroic Fantasy and put in that grit. I didn't get around to Black Company until a year or so ago and I was surprised at how contemporary a read it was. It doesn't sit with anything else published in the early 80s. It really is way ahead of its time. Hugh Cook's the only writer I know to have had a third of a novel published and then the rest dropped by the publisher. RVProfootballer posted:I don't think he's a big idiot or makes bad posts Well you're wrong
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Aug 20, 2014 18:09
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It's not actually the new Stupid Newbie av I've just been on a big buying spree.
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Aug 20, 2014 18:26
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The guy who wrote the Prince of Thorns series is having an AMA on reddit if you wanna check it out in r/fantasy.
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Aug 20, 2014 19:30
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http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MN1R0J8 Go forth and get some free Ice T reading Drizzt stories.
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Aug 20, 2014 20:29
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This talk of 80s fantasy reminded me of the Thieves World anthologies. I loved them when I was young but never reread them as an adult. I thought they wouldn't hold up so I've been hesitant to read em again, but now that I check out their Wikipedia page they did have some good authors involved.
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Aug 20, 2014 20:43
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I read the first anthology or two, but the library I hung out at after school was missing the third so I think I started on the Wild Card books instead.
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Aug 20, 2014 21:31
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savinhill posted:This talk of 80s fantasy reminded me of the Thieves World anthologies. I loved them when I was young but never reread them as an adult. I thought they wouldn't hold up so I've been hesitant to read em again, but now that I check out their Wikipedia page they did have some good authors involved. Didn't all the good authors stop after the first couple books?
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Aug 20, 2014 21:49
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Swearsalot McSpacegrandma in the Leviathan Wakes TV show has been cast: Shohreh Aghdashloo. She looks younger than I pictured. Also Holden has been cast; to be played by Steven Strait whoever that is. Hedrigall fucked around with this message at 03:14 on Aug 21, 2014 |
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Aug 21, 2014 03:12
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Shed doesn't look all that grandmaish to me.
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Aug 21, 2014 03:14
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She has a really cool voice so I'm excited to hear her say gently caress a lot.
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Aug 21, 2014 03:20
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I'm (pleasantly) astounded that they cast a race-appropriate actress in the role. I think she'll grandma up just fine.
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Aug 21, 2014 03:42
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General Battuta posted:She has a really cool voice so I'm excited to hear her say gently caress a lot. Will she be allowed to say "gently caress" on a Syfy show?
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Aug 21, 2014 03:43
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McCoy Pauley posted:Will she be allowed to say "gently caress" on a Syfy show? gently caress
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Aug 21, 2014 03:44
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owned
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Aug 21, 2014 04:26
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General Battuta posted:gently caress You mean FRACK
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Aug 21, 2014 04:34
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General Battuta posted:She has a really cool voice so I'm excited to hear her say gently caress a lot. Get your fetish out of my thread <  >
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Aug 21, 2014 04:52
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fritz posted:Didn't all the good authors stop after the first couple books? From what I dimly remember the bigger problem is that later authors pretty consistently gently caress up prior author's characters and concepts and eventually it becomes less of a shared universe and more of an ongoing tug of war. Been decades since I read them though.
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Aug 21, 2014 05:15
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Hedrigall posted:Swearsalot McSpacegrandma in the Leviathan Wakes TV show has been cast: Aghdashloo is a really good actress. I reckon it doesn't matter much which bland white guy they get to play Holden. It will work the same regardless.
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Aug 21, 2014 05:16
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The new Humble Book Bundle has Bujold's Curse of Chalion and Gaiman's American Gods, both of which are really awesome and you should get them if you haven't read them already!
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Aug 21, 2014 06:06
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I bought the Bundle. Awesome to finally read American Gods and I'll check out Chalion too. Are any of the other ones worth a read? The descriptions don't really sell me on any of them. I have a pretty thick skin when it comes to silly/cliche fantasy/scifi stuff but come on... By the Blood of Heroes posted:Germany has developed a new, terrible chemical weapon. A chemical weapon that makes ZOMBIES! A thrilling, urban fantasy epic that combines the history of World War One with the drama of a Zombie epic. At least the setting isn't WW2...
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Aug 21, 2014 06:44
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Hedrigall posted:Swearsalot McSpacegrandma in the Leviathan Wakes TV show has been cast: So they are casting people for Caliban's War? I understand this actress will play Avasarala, so they are either thinking about a miniseries, or they are already casting for a second season (assuming Leviathan will fill a full first season, of course).
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Aug 21, 2014 11:40
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Probably more like they're taking liberties, and doing a wider-scope storyline that incorporates more of the war etc, from the start.
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Aug 21, 2014 12:11
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Hedrigall posted:Probably more like they're taking liberties, and doing a wider-scope storyline that incorporates more of the war etc, from the start. I've just checked the syfy website. They plan 10 episodes, so you are probably right and they will do a mix of (at least) the first two novels. Because I don't think there is a way to cover reasonably well Leviathan, Caliban's War and Abbadon's Gate in 10 1-hour episodes. Heck, I think it will be complicated to stuff the two novels in that time frame... They will probably leave the door open to do a second season.
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Aug 21, 2014 12:15
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General Emergency posted:I bought the Bundle. Awesome to finally read American Gods and I'll check out Chalion too. Are any of the other ones worth a read? The descriptions don't really sell me on any of them. I have a pretty thick skin when it comes to silly/cliche fantasy/scifi stuff but come on... Actually, the sort of ooh-rah military cheerleading that title and blurb imply are even dodgier in the context of World War One.
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Aug 21, 2014 12:22
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Darth Walrus posted:Actually, the sort of ooh-rah military cheerleading that title and blurb imply are even dodgier in the context of World War One. Is the author... let me check... Yup, American. How do you guys think about WW1 over there anyway?
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Aug 21, 2014 13:34
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Darth Walrus posted:Actually, the sort of ooh-rah military cheerleading that title and blurb imply are even dodgier in the context of World War One. I get what you mean though just comparing the horrors of WW1 and WW2 makes my stomach churn. Then when there are supposed to be the "good guys" and the "bad guys"... Ugh... I just meant Nazi Zombies and all sorts of Nazi superscience are a pretty big cliche. WW1 isn't a common setting for that kind of fiction so the setting is somewhat interesting.
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Aug 21, 2014 13:47
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Peel posted:Is the author... let me check... We don't, generally. High school students, when their American history courses even get to the 20th century, typically go straight from Reconstruction to the Depression. They're lucky if someone so much as says the words "League of Nations" at them. If you asked a typical university senior to describe the general flow of WWI, the resulting answer would be hilarious and horrible.
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Aug 21, 2014 14:49
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Peel posted:Is the author... let me check... "Hey Europe, YOU'RE WELCOME for rescuing you from whatever  "
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Aug 21, 2014 17:52
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Peel posted:Is the author... let me check... Was that when cute baby Nazis tried to take over Europe? 
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Aug 21, 2014 17:58
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Piell posted:The new Humble Book Bundle has Bujold's Curse of Chalion and Gaiman's American Gods, both of which are really awesome and you should get them if you haven't read them already! The Chalion series is really, really good. I'm particularly impressed by how she took the mad aunt in the attic from the first book and made her the protagonist in the second
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Aug 21, 2014 17:58
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mllaneza posted:The Chalion series is really, really good. I'm particularly impressed by how she took the mad aunt in the attic from the first book and made her the protagonist in the second The Sharing Knife, on the other hand, I couldn't read past the first 40 or so pages.
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Aug 21, 2014 22:40
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Barbe Rouge posted:I agree. They're tied with the Vorkosigan series to me. I thought the Sharing Knife books were ok but dang the last Vorkosigan book was disappointing.
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Aug 22, 2014 03:01
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fritz posted:I thought the Sharing Knife books were ok but dang the last Vorkosigan book was disappointing. Do you mean Cryowossname or the Ivan one? I agree about Cryowossname but liked the Ivan one.
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Aug 22, 2014 03:30
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eriktown posted:Do you mean Cryowossname or the Ivan one? I agree about Cryowossname but liked the Ivan one. Total opposite here, I liked Cryoburn and was glad to see Miles being Miles but I could barely finish the Ivan one.
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Aug 22, 2014 03:49
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savinhill posted:Shed doesn't look all that grandmaish to me. In her sixties according to Wikipedia. Pretty well-preserved, then, by nature or by art, no matter. I know she only stars in the second book but if I were making an adaptation of these books I'd be sure to use her a lot more since she's the best character of the lot. Foul-mouthed UN grandma or get out.
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Aug 22, 2014 11:53
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Groke posted:In her sixties according to Wikipedia. Pretty well-preserved, then, by nature or by art, no matter. She and Bobbie are the best ones. Its a shame the main characters are sooo bland (perhaps excepting Amos).
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Aug 22, 2014 12:00
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To be fair, the Expanse main cast are pretty much a store brand analogue of the Firefly crew.
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Aug 22, 2014 12:16
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The guy they cast for Holden really looks the part (though he is a little too young). And by "looks the part" I mean he really looks like an annoying idealistic prick that everybody will want to punch: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1711829/
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Aug 22, 2014 13:55
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