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Masonity posted:Laundry Files is explicitly showing power creep and for good in universe reasons at that. And wasn't The Rhesus Chart last of the Bob Howard books? He got promoted into an NPC and rest of the books will have different POV-characters.
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Sep 19, 2014 10:55
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Apoffys posted:He's just better at getting paid and making friends than Dresden. Nearly everyone in fiction and real life is better at making friends and getting paid than Dresden. Avoiding arson too.
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Sep 19, 2014 13:52
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Dr. MonkeyThunder posted:Nearly everyone in fiction and real life is better at making friends and getting paid than Dresden. Avoiding arson too. I don't know, having every doorway I pass through have its doors explode off due to the sheer awesomeness of my presence would be pretty cool~
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Sep 19, 2014 16:28
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I, too, have this problem with buildings.
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Sep 19, 2014 17:24
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adhuin posted:And wasn't The Rhesus Chart last of the Bob Howard books? He got promoted into an NPC and rest of the books will have different POV-characters.
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Sep 19, 2014 17:27
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In the vaguely-Urban Fantasy vein, read The Paper Magician after seeing it advertised on my Kindle. It's set roughly pre-industrial revolution London, in a world with easy access to Magic. The magic system is explained pretty well in a natural way, without needing huge exposition dumps. The characters are fairly likable, if cliche. Same with the plot. I'd recommend picking it up for a quick read (it's in the Kindle library thing so you can get it free with Prime). It is VERY short, and the pacing isn't great, but it's at least free of most of the terrible cliches of Urban Fantasy (awkward sex, terrible pop culture references, lovely writing) and pretty fun.
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Sep 20, 2014 18:39
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I just finished reading Codex Born, the second Libriomancer title. It's still fun enough to read, but it has to start exploring the cool places of the world it has built so far fast, hopefully book 3 will be that. Anyone else reading it? It's very Dresden-ish, especially in its pacing. I think book 2 takes place over about 36 hours. The systems are so intriguing, but Hines labors them a bit to the point of annoyance. It's like, I get it, nerd wizards who pull fictional objects from books, it's a cool as hell idea, quit over explaining it. Both book 1 and 2 are backloaded with cool poo poo. The whole lead up is just kinda "interesting, but eh" and then the last chapter and a half finishes really strong. Loving Life Partner fucked around with this message at 04:46 on Sep 21, 2014 |
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Sep 21, 2014 04:42
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I got the audiobook and hated it so much I actually returned it after two chapters. The narrators voice made me want to claw my ears out. I don't do the whole returning books thing often.
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Sep 21, 2014 05:30
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Honestly, I found Libriomancer to be annoying as poo poo. Maybe I'm just picky, but I found that the whole thing was like a race. I just don't like it when a character is faced with a major event or trauma and they're over it as if it never happened within a paragraph or two. That, and the chubby polygamist love slave element was awful.
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Sep 21, 2014 10:15
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darth cookie posted:Honestly, I found Libriomancer to be annoying as poo poo. Maybe I'm just picky, but I found that the whole thing was like a race. I just don't like it when a character is faced with a major event or trauma and they're over it as if it never happened within a paragraph or two. I quit libriomancer about two minutes in cause I hated the narrator. Maybe I'll pick it up on eBook someday but there's so many other books on my list right now who knows
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Sep 21, 2014 13:58
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I like Jim Hines, but I can't get into the libriomancer. The system strikes me as a great, cool sounding idea that he'll have to keep explaining why you can't do something grossly overpowered.
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Sep 21, 2014 14:26
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torgeaux posted:The system strikes me as a great, cool sounding idea that he'll have to keep explaining why you can't do something grossly overpowered. He pretty much gets this out of the way in the first book. Either 1) The book is locked, or 2) The book isn't widely read enough, so it doesn't have enough power for you to pull X busted-rear end thing out.
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Sep 21, 2014 18:25
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NinjaDebugger posted:He pretty much gets this out of the way in the first book. Either 1) The book is locked, or 2) The book isn't widely read enough, so it doesn't have enough power for you to pull X busted-rear end thing out. Or 3) You pull out a sonic screwdriver and can't figure out how to get it to work.
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Sep 21, 2014 18:47
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NinjaDebugger posted:He pretty much gets this out of the way in the first book. Either 1) The book is locked, or 2) The book isn't widely read enough, so it doesn't have enough power for you to pull X busted-rear end thing out. Sure. And I expect similar issues to keep happening. I don't think its a workable system for the books. I prefer his goblin series.
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Sep 21, 2014 20:33
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That system would be great if the protagonist wasn't unlocking things. Also if literally every limit except the bit about not being trained to use a given weapon being thrown out the window whenever said limit would kill the protagonist.
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Sep 22, 2014 02:38
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Alright guys. It's official. It's going on the list of recommended books. The Alex Verus series is quite good. He's like Dresden's long-lost brother, raised by wolves in the wild untamed jungles of England.
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Sep 23, 2014 06:17
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ConfusedUs posted:Alright guys. Also Dresden is referenced in the first book.
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Sep 23, 2014 07:37
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ConfusedUs posted:Alright guys. He's basically the complete opposite of Dresden, which is part of what makes him interesting. He has a versatile and incredibly useful power, but it's really bad at direct confrontation and he -can't- just sling explosions around. What he CAN do is literally brute force a conversation tree, if given enough time, which is just goddamn fantastic to see in action.
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Sep 23, 2014 11:04
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NinjaDebugger posted:He's basically the complete opposite of Dresden, which is part of what makes him interesting. He has a versatile and incredibly useful power, but it's really bad at direct confrontation and he -can't- just sling explosions around. Plus he has a sidekick that can literally invoke Final Destination accidents on enemies. That's always fun.
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Sep 23, 2014 12:57
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What, like an entropy curse?
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Sep 23, 2014 17:58
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NinjaDebugger posted:He's basically the complete opposite of Dresden, which is part of what makes him interesting. He has a versatile and incredibly useful power, but it's really bad at direct confrontation and he -can't- just sling explosions around. Agreed. Basically he's awful in any 1on1 confrontation and hell on wheels when he can get his enemies to hurt each other.
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Sep 23, 2014 18:00
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Inspector 34 posted:What, like an entropy curse? That's how it looks. Some rear end in a top hat witch cursed her entire family line with a permanent luck-draining spell that acts like an entropy curse on everybody and everything around her, especially anybody she likes. Basically the closer you get to her, both physically and emotionally, the more hosed you are.
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Sep 23, 2014 18:36
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I also like the way she's been learning how to control it.
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Sep 23, 2014 23:30
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I recently signed up for Amazon prime and was going browsing through their instant video selection. I came across the Dresden Files TV series and figured, why not? ...To anybody reading this post who has not seen the show, please, don't make the same mistake I made.
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Sep 24, 2014 13:36
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Renegret posted:I recently signed up for Amazon prime and was going browsing through their instant video selection. I came across the Dresden Files TV series and figured, why not? It's terrible in pretty much every way with the exception of casting Paul Blackthorne as Harry.
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Sep 24, 2014 14:40
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OptimusWang posted:It's terrible in pretty much every way with the exception of casting Paul Blackthorne as Harry. Their interpretation of Bob was pretty interesting, given that they had to have a face onscreen for Blackthorne to interact with.
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Sep 24, 2014 15:52
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OptimusWang posted:It's terrible in pretty much every way with the exception of casting Paul Blackthorne as Harry. You forgot Bob! And the hockey stick staff.
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Sep 24, 2014 16:11
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Picked up the first Alex Verus book based on the constant recommendations here. Finished it in one sitting. I really liked it! Going to read the rest of these. It reminds me of earlier Dresden in all the good ways, where the lead is basically in way over his head and has to play the few cards he has very carefully if he wants to survive. Mostly I just love the way he describes the future-sight power.
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Sep 24, 2014 16:37
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Are we certain that the man Harry calls Dad is really his father, biologically speaking? His dad has been established as a good man, and the only picture of his dad and mom together has her already pregnant. There's also the strong possibility that Harry, per a comment from Kincaid, is not wholly human. What if Harry's mom was already pregnant when she met Dad? When Maggie died, he was a good and kind enough man to raise and love Harry as if he were his own.
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Sep 24, 2014 22:49
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That would be a little played, but I can almost see the book now. Harry meets his father who is [evil thing] and struggles with this fact for the entire book before coming to terms with the whole deal, complete with some kind of 'My dad was my dad, regardless of my blood' sort of wrap up at the end.
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Sep 24, 2014 22:53
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 There is no escape! Don't make me destroy you. Harry, you do not yet realize your importance. You've only begun to discover your power! Join me, and I will complete your training! With our combined strength, we can end this destructive conflict, and bring order to the universe. [angrily] I'll never join you! If only you knew the power of Nemesis. Nobody ever told you what happened to your father. They told me enough! They told me he was good people! No, I am your father. [shocked] No. No! That's not true! That's impossible! Search your feelings; you know it to be true! NOOOOOOO! NOOOOOOOO!!! It is your destiny! Join me, and together, we can rule the galaxy as father and son! Come with me. It is the only way.
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Sep 25, 2014 00:39
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I think it'd be far, far better if Harry's dad was just a really cool dude, with nothing to do with the supernatural.
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Sep 25, 2014 01:00
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Illuyankas posted:I think it'd be far, far better if Harry's dad was just a really cool dude, with nothing to do with the supernatural. I agree, but it also wouldn't be an awful thing if Harry's dad was exactly that but his father was something terrible. I mean, when he realises his dad's his dad and it doesn't matter what his father is like, that'd be well within the tone of the series.
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Sep 25, 2014 02:47
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I think there's already enough Mythic Significance to Harry's birth without having his father be some as-yet-unrevealed horror. Like, I think it would probably work, and it's well in keeping with the tone of the series, but I don't think we need it. Although it'd certainly explain Kincaid's offhand comment that he's just as human as Harry is. ('Kincaid was lying through his teeth' would explain that too.) I'm convinced that Malcolm Dresden's spirit is working for Uriel these days, but yeah, I'm kind of happy with the "he was just a decent person who came into Margaret's life at just the right time". (Though I never could quite shake the idea that there's a specific group of people in the books who make a thing of Being Decent People With A Talent For Showing Up At Just The Right Time, and I've occasionally wondered if maybe Malcolm didn't have a sword at one point. Biggest problem with that is there's no obvious reason Harry wouldn't know, given his closeness with the current Knights of the Cross.)
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Sep 25, 2014 03:19
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I think having yet another aspect of Dresden's past turn out to be a Big Important Magic Thing would be pretty boring and lazy to be honest.
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Sep 25, 2014 03:29
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Yeah, the normality of Dresden's dad is the saving heart of Dresden's background. All this BIG EPIC DRAMA AND PLOTTING and THE STARS WERE RIGHT and what turns it around was his mom happening to fall in love with a decent, good-hearted man. Without that touchstone the series is a lot schlockier (and let's be fair it's pretty schlocky already).
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Sep 25, 2014 03:34
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So, I started Urban Shaman on recommendation from a friend.quote:"The Hunt took Cernunnos away," Marie said. "I'm not sure anyone's ever hurt him like that before." I think this is going to be a fun urban fantasy read. Apparently the series finished this year too. Please don't turn to poo poo book, I need more good urban fantasy. 
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Sep 25, 2014 07:07
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SystemLogoff posted:So, I started Urban Shaman on recommendation from a friend. It gets samey, but it was ok. I hope you like car metaphors though, there are a lot of those.
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Sep 25, 2014 09:37
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SystemLogoff posted:So, I started Urban Shaman on recommendation from a friend. It lost me at the second book, which backpedals a lot on stuff that happened in the first one.
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Sep 25, 2014 10:20
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Grundulum posted:
Fixed.
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Sep 25, 2014 15:47
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