|
pentyne posted:Just look up any recent poll over Americans who think the Rapture is coming any day now. I love this entire terrible, ignorant blanket statement, but the fact you included Dallas as a cultural island really puts it over the top. 
|
#
?
Sep 3, 2014 14:25
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 10, 2024 15:19 |
|
|
The Rat posted:I really enjoyed his Warlord trilogy. Exceptionally well done. I'm going to look into some of his other stuff when I get the time. Sharpe is his first and most famous series and, given the place of the Napoleonic Wars in wargaming and in British culture, obviously exerts a large influence on 40k overall, particularly the Gaunt's Ghosts series which owes quite a bit to it. Sharpe's Rifles, for instance, is basically a prototypical 40k story. I'd also recommend reading them in the order they were written, not chronological order, but that's just me (the first in the series is Sharpe's Eagle (1981) which was surprisingly Cornwell's first novel). I also didn't really like the movies that much. OXBALLS DOT COM fucked around with this message at 15:20 on Sep 3, 2014 |
|
#
?
Sep 3, 2014 15:15
|
|
|
EyeRChris posted:Part of me thinks back to how the virus worked in Istavan III. Wouldn't he just be generating large amounts of explosive gas and a single Salamander with a flamer would just blow him and everything away in a 5k radius. Sure. 5k of planet is decimated in rot and incinerated in a giant fireball, but the virus would be destroyed until it finds another large enough source to come back. Not familiar with the particular story, but the other possibility is that the virus survives (they can be quite resilient) and is instead spread around the planet by a massive explosive shockwave.
|
|
#
?
Sep 3, 2014 16:46
|
|
|
EyeRChris posted:Part of me thinks back to how the virus worked in Istavan III. Wouldn't he just be generating large amounts of explosive gas and a single Salamander with a flamer would just blow him and everything away in a 5k radius. Sure. 5k of planet is decimated in rot and incinerated in a giant fireball, but the virus would be destroyed until it finds another large enough source to come back. This it does, but the rate of decomposition is so quick, that you would need to immediately incinerate the area. Hell, the closest sci-fi concept to the world-eater is grey goo, which as it is described the world-eater is more akin to nano-machines that breakdown all organic material at an alarming rate, which they apparently do through their replication process. The leftovers of this process is semi-organic sludge that is highly flammable, which pretty much means it turns you into oil for the most part...considering oil is essentially the leftovers of organic material through geographic pressure and time, just pretend the world-eater is this cranked up to an instant in time as opposed to millions of years. In 40K pretty much everyone fears this weapon, and one character even wonders what enemies mankind faced in its distant past would warrant the creation of something so horrible. Now we have a Demon Prince who can literally control it, and a Primarch drinking it. The whole portion of the book just comes off as silly. It ends up getting used as kind of a side-show for Mortarian's support of Horus's overall strategy, which along with the parts about House Devine just made me want to fall asleep.
|
|
#
?
Sep 3, 2014 21:14
|
|
|
So I am currently reading Death of Integrity and I have to say that I am really enjoying Guy Haley's writing style. So far he has turned the Novamarines from a chapter that I didn't really care much about to a chapter that has some pretty awesome flavor to it. I do agree though that the two companion short stories to Baneblade, though well written, were kind of forgettable. In sort of not really BL news though, if you haven't read Abnett's non 40k book, Embedded, it is actually pretty good. There are some parts that are a bit odd, and it has a typical Abnett "everything falls into place almost immediately" ending, but it was definitely enjoyable.
|
|
#
?
Sep 3, 2014 21:52
|
|
|
jadebullet posted:In sort of not really BL news though, if you haven't read Abnett's non 40k book, Embedded, it is actually pretty good. There are some parts that are a bit odd, and it has a typical Abnett "everything falls into place almost immediately" ending, but it was definitely enjoyable. I read it, and I agree it was a worthy read. Then again I am a huge fanboy at this point, and the man could give me napkin writing, and I would likely pay money for it. Embedded it is a neat idea, which is kind of held down by how boring the setting is. Pretty much your typical Sci-Fi future where the THE WEST is at war with THE EAST with the East being your typical Communist knock-off thugs, and the West being your corrupt crony-Capitalists with a light coat of patriotism. Pretty much any depiction of the future United States as done by James Cameron really sums up who the protagonist is fighting for.
|
|
#
?
Sep 4, 2014 18:57
|
|
|
Uroboros posted:I read it, and I agree it was a worthy read. Then again I am a huge fanboy at this point, and the man could give me napkin writing, and I would likely pay money for it. Embedded it is a neat idea, which is kind of held down by how boring the setting is. Pretty much your typical Sci-Fi future where the THE WEST is at war with THE EAST with the East being your typical Communist knock-off thugs, and the West being your corrupt crony-Capitalists with a light coat of patriotism. Pretty much any depiction of the future United States as done by James Cameron really sums up who the protagonist is fighting for.  THE NEAR FUTURE!!!11! for which the core idea to be examined within. Basically it's about wikileaks.
|
|
#
?
Sep 4, 2014 19:13
|
|
|
Also I love the way he works the book's title into the story. He also has a pretty stereotypical Mexican character, but that is just me speaking from a Latin american perspective. 
|
|
#
?
Sep 4, 2014 19:42
|
|
|
Abnett's outside work is really consistently awesome, I'd recommend picking up his Triumpff book just to see him have some more freedom with his settings. I did want to bring something BL related up, and I don't want this to devolve into a "GW sucks" screaming match, if possible: Earlier, I was thinking of re-purchasing some older novels on the BL site. In order to keep clutter down, I decided eBooks would be a good way of keeping stuff, but I'm kind of confused on their new pricing on ebooks. Prospero Burns and A Thousand Sons were release around the same time, have similar lengths, but are $11.99 and $13.99 respectively. Is there any borderline legitimate justification for this, beyond "make more money"? Have they figured out they can charge more money for the more popular releases? Why would Legion, which was released years before the other two be $15.99? What I'm asking really is whether or not they've added stuff to these books to be able to reasonably ask for almost 150% of the original paperback pricing years after release. If there are things like additional content or commentary in the books, I guess I'll be ok with the one-time cost, but if it's just more of the same, why would I bother? edit: PupsOfWar posted:nobody understands Black Library ebook pricing policies Thanks Immanentized fucked around with this message at 01:01 on Sep 5, 2014 |
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2014 00:49
|
|
|
nobody understands Black Library ebook pricing policies
|
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2014 00:54
|
|
|
PupsOfWar posted:nobody understands Black Library ebook pricing policies I dunno, I understand the GW decision-making strategy as "wild inconsistency," and I feel that applies equally well here.
|
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2014 01:00
|
|
|
I just thought that the single sentence that shows that it is an alternative timeline where the USSR got to the moon first was pretty interesting. As for Death of Integrity, I take back what I said about liking the Novamarines. They are well written in the book so far, but the main characters constant love of the Codex and every chapter needing to adhere to the codex makes me kind of hope he gets killed by a genestealer. That being said, it is in character with them being an Ultramarines successor. It works well though because so far they seem to be contrasting very nicely with the Blood Drinkers chapter.
|
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2014 02:10
|
|
|
Is Dan Abnett also as well liked as ADB? What is his strengths and weaknesses in his writing style? Because he will be writing a comic book and might get if his writing is good. Who is overall a better writer, ADB or Abnett?
|
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2014 03:25
|
|
|
He has written many comic books. They are a very different medium and TBH I can't even tell the difference between most writers. ETA: this is probably due to a lack of familiarity with the medium on my part rather than a function of the medium itself.
|
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2014 03:27
|
|
|
Dan Abnett had one of the big, well-recieved Guardians of the Galaxy runs that the recent movie drew from.
|
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2014 03:38
|
|
|
Sramaker posted:Is Dan Abnett also as well liked as ADB? What is his strengths and weaknesses in his writing style? Because he will be writing a comic book and might get if his writing is good. Strengths: He's very versatile and has written a lot of varied stuff throughout the years. His books are fun and he usually goes the extra mile to make things really good (i.e. Prospero Burns bleeds of atmosphere and research on Viking sagas). Weaknesses: Rushed endings. His denouements are sheer falls from the climax. Little room for epilogues, too. I like Abnett more, if only for the sheer volume of his work. I've been reading his Guardians of the Galaxy run (which he co-wrote with Andy Lanning), and it's real good.
|
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2014 03:53
|
|
|
Abnett at his best is the best author at BL. ADB is more consistent, but as good as the Night Lords trilogy is, it can't really touch Eisenhorn.
|
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2014 04:07
|
|
|
VanSandman posted:Dan Abnett had one of the big, well-recieved Guardians of the Galaxy runs that the recent movie drew from. Too bad Brian Bendis took his place as writer of Guardian of the Galaxy because oh boy Bendis suck and here's an example of Bendis writing style: http://www.google.ca/url?q=http://s...JqyBD3KVU2a3nkA Here you see the Tony Stark (Iron Man), Professor X (Founder of the X-Men the, strongest telepath), Doctor Strange (THE #1 wizard of the main Marvel Universe), Reed Richards (The most smart man in their world), Blackbolt (ruler of his race) and Namor (Ruler of the oceans (70% of Earth) and king of Atlantis) talk about their relationship with their wives or significant others but it's the way he wrote it that is truly awful: He write EVERY character like that. Warhammer related: I read ADB's Cadian Blood and found it okay. Is Redemption Corps by Rob Sanders okay? Sramaker fucked around with this message at 04:54 on Sep 5, 2014 |
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2014 04:50
|
|
|
Mechafunkzilla posted:Abnett at his best is the best author at BL. ADB is more consistent, but as good as the Night Lords trilogy is, it can't really touch Eisenhorn. I'd also have to go with Abnett here; Eisenhorn is the best thing to come out of the Black Library. It just drips with atmosphere. I'd also argue that while ADB is more consistent, a lot of Abnett's lesser books are books that seem like he was given a turd and told to put a polish on it. The Alpha Legion and the Cabal are some pretty hard topics to write about and unfortunately canon. Unremembered Empire is Abnett's weakest book, and that ends with a note that's several pages long and which basically says "This was a loving impossible book to write because they gave me a dozen or so storylines and told me to tie them all up in one book". I don't see ADB handling those situations any better than Abnett did, honestly.
|
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2014 05:03
|
|
|
Sramaker posted:Warhammer related: I read ADB's Cadian Blood and found it okay. Is Redemption Corps by Rob Sanders okay? Cadian Blood is ADB's first novel. Every one he's written after it has been way better, but I still enjoy Cadian Blood for being above average bolter/lasgun porn.
|
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2014 05:04
|
|
|
Sramaker posted:Too bad Brian Bendis took his place as writer of Guardian of the Galaxy because oh boy Bendis suck and here's an example of Bendis writing style:
|
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2014 05:05
|
|
|
I have read 2/3rds of the Talon of Horus, and its good. But... I just can't bring myself to care about the characters in the same way i cared about First Claw, or Kharne and Argel Tal. Khayon is a neat character, he just feels so human like that i keep forgetting he is an astartes, which makes some of the scenes just feel off.
|
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2014 05:15
|
|
|
pentyne posted:More like 1/3 out of 2. GW has fallen pretty far since their heyday. I was being immensely facetious.
|
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2014 06:11
|
|
|
Abnett has issues with rushed endings like many mentioned but he also likes to toy with language a lot which I personally enjoy. Isn't he the reason radio was canonically renamed vox or something like that? On the language front I found the Emperor's Gift inquisitor to be pretty silly. Jarlsdottyr is her surname and even then the book keeps mentioning she is a chieftain's daughter over and over. I got that and I am a native spanish speaker.
|
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2014 10:18
|
|
|
Schneider Heim posted:Weaknesses: Rushed endings. His denouements are sheer falls from the climax. Little room for epilogues, too. Honour Guard has a literal deus-ex-machina ending which really threw me the first time I read it. I thought for a moment that I'd accidently skipped a chapter somewhere, but nope! Great book up til that point though.
|
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2014 10:33
|
|
|
To be fair to Honour Guard, that's kinda the buildup for the whole Martyr piece - The Saint is actually real, and yes, she is a super-powered badass. It's not propaganda.
|
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2014 10:54
|
|
|
Shockeh posted:To be fair to Honour Guard, that's kinda the buildup for the whole Martyr piece - The Saint is actually real, and yes, she is a super-powered badass. It's not propaganda. Sort of, but they try to have it both ways. Gaunt specifically says that it wasn't a miracle, and that the mechanicum(?) built a giant psychic mechanism under the tomb that called to the faithful, which is.. weird. Why not have it literally be a miracle? It comes across as one anyway. Things sort of just happen, all the Infardi die, happy end. It's definitely the worst case of sudden-ending in Abnett's books.
|
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2014 11:30
|
|
|
My view? Gaunt is wrong, and trying to be a scientific person in an distinctly unscientific universe. This parallels the early Horus Heresy books, which is basically the same concept.
|
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2014 11:50
|
|
|
Sramaker posted:Too bad Brian Bendis took his place as writer of Guardian of the Galaxy because oh boy Bendis suck and here's an example of Bendis writing style: Sramaker posted:Warhammer related: I read ADB's Cadian Blood and found it okay. Is Redemption Corps by Rob Sanders okay? berzerkmonkey fucked around with this message at 13:25 on Sep 5, 2014 |
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2014 13:22
|
|
|
Sramaker posted:Is Redemption Corps by Rob Sanders okay? It was an ok book, and it does bounce between different periods of the main character's life, so be ready to have to flip back and forth a bit. Other than that, it has a decent story and shows off a part of the guard that isn't often looked at so, might as well.
|
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2014 13:37
|
|
|
Speaking of Abnett as his non-40k material, today I learned he wrote a Tomb Raider book based on the newest game alongside Nik Vincent.
|
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2014 14:16
|
|
|
I finally got around to finish reading the Book of the Long sun. I need some recent relatively brainless bolter action, so any recommendations?
|
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2014 14:32
|
|
|
I finally got around to finish reading the Book of the Long Sun. I need some recent relatively brainless bolter action, so any recommendations?
|
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2014 14:40
|
|
|
amuayse posted:I finally got around to finish reading the Book of the Long Sun. Helsreach, or the battle of the fang are quite good.
|
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2014 15:04
|
|
|
I finished Blood of Asaheim last night and quite liked it--it was more battle-y then I generally like, but in general it was a totally positive experience. I have Battle for the Fang on deck, and I'll keep my eyes open for Stormcaller. Also, is Scars any good? I've heard mixed reviews.
|
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2014 15:14
|
|
|
Scars is quite good. If you like Space Wolves definitely read Battle of the Fang. Other recommendations - Helsreach, Legion of the Damned, Emperor's Gift.
|
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2014 15:27
|
|
|
Shockeh posted:My view? Gaunt is wrong, and trying to be a scientific person in an distinctly unscientific universe. My view is that the book exists to introduce fething Cuu (  ) and leave him fester for a while before he starts to be actively psycho.
|
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2014 16:39
|
|
|
Arquinsiel posted:My view is that the book exists to introduce fething Cuu ( Sure as sure. 
|
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2014 17:18
|
|
|
Cooked Auto posted:Speaking of Abnett as his non-40k material, today I learned he wrote a Tomb Raider book based on the newest game alongside Nik Vincent. He also wrote a Doctor Who book. it's really good
|
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2014 23:52
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 10, 2024 15:19 |
|
|
Olanphonia posted:He also wrote a Doctor Who book. And he's got some book titled Fiefdom related to the Kingdom comic from 2000 AD. Also written together with Nik Vincent apparently. Still, did not expect him to actually write a Tomb Raider book though of all things.
|
|
#
?
Sep 6, 2014 01:57
|
|