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Neurosis posted:
The Archeth and Egar journey was probably my favorite part of the book. I thought they had some excellent chemistry and both characters' plots for the whole novel worked really well. All that happened after Egar's monumentally epic death made sense to me in that Morgan most likely knew that Archeth's story would have a huge gap to fill with her buddy's loss, so why not try to strike up some of that same type of chemistry with his tribesmen? Archeth also got to finish Egar's leadership bootcamp amongst his old tribe and use those same tribesmen that rejected Egar in the beginning to hone herself into someone fit to rule the empire at the end. quote:. The time they spent with the Helmsman didn't really amount to much, either. You could take that bit out and it wouldn't really affect the rest of the book in any substantial way. The Helmsmen have some kind of malevolent plans if Archeth doesn't perform as desired, okay, cool, that's interesting - but it didn't lead anywhere. Aww man, I loved that part. That Helmsman's interactions with Egar were hilarious and his base was a great setpiece that was one of the more interesting places visited throughout the series imo.
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Jan 14, 2015 04:59
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Ornamented Death posted:Well...no. Earlier in the book, one of Hjel's people tells Gil the story of how Hjel was saved by Dakovash as an infant. That's what we're seeing at the end, and it's pretty clear it's Gil, not Dakovash, that saves baby Hjel (notice how he's carrying around Ravensfriend?). For your theory to work, Gil was literally loving himself through three books. Plus we've seen Gil's family and there was never any hint of a doubt that they were his real family. Gil committed suicide by Dwenda. His soul was stored in the Ravensfriend in the same way the Illwrack Changeling's had been stored. Why would Gil tell Hjel's parents to call their baby Gil? Obviously Gil's family were his real family. Hjel's parents were left with a dead infant which Dakovash magicked alive with Gil's consciousness in it from the Ravensfriend, sans some memories which didn't make it over.
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Jan 14, 2015 07:41
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savinhill posted:Aww man, I loved that part. That Helmsman's interactions with Egar were hilarious and his base was a great setpiece that was one of the more interesting places visited throughout the series imo. I liked that part, too, but I thought it wasn't carried through to the rest of the book particularly well.
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Jan 14, 2015 07:43
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Neurosis posted:It felt like a very messy ending without many satisfactory answers. We have an ending for Gil, which concluded his arc but was just kind of odd. So Hjel is Gil? Okay... Why would Dakovash do that? What were the Dark Court really about overall? Who knows! But we'll have a neat little circular time loop anyway involving them just 'cos. I also wanted some vindication for the Dakovash = Kovacs theory since it seemed too appealing to me for it not to be true. Yeah, pretty much my opinion as well. The Kovacs series was more consistent, even it went a little weird in the end with the alien space ship. I could have taken more gay sex if it just meant a more stringent story. It felt like Morgan had all these admittedly nice ideas, but couldn't really put them together. The Kiriath could easily have been one book, whereas the Dwenda were pretty meh. Also, Neal Ashers Dark Intelligence is apparently out. Penny Royal is apparently the focus this time.
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Jan 14, 2015 07:53
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So I don't know if this is the right thread for this, since it's more horror than sci-fi, but I started reading The Strain. I'm about halfway through, and it's kind of fatiguing reading over and over about how people keep being eaten by vampires that we already knew were going to become vampires. Does the book ever pick up pace, or develop much? I'm already pretty late in the book, and it kind of feels like it's stalling for time to pad out the trilogy.
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Jan 14, 2015 08:08
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MockingQuantum posted:So I don't know if this is the right thread for this, since it's more horror than sci-fi, but I started reading The Strain. I'm about halfway through, and it's kind of fatiguing reading over and over about how people keep being eaten by vampires that we already knew were going to become vampires. Does the book ever pick up pace, or develop much? I'm already pretty late in the book, and it kind of feels like it's stalling for time to pad out the trilogy. I read the first one, and have no inclination to read the rest of the series. The Strain started out good, but it becomes kinda weird in the end. Also, the descriptions of the latter books in the series are just  .
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Jan 14, 2015 08:14
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Neurosis posted:Gil committed suicide by Dwenda. His soul was stored in the Ravensfriend in the same way the Illwrack Changeling's had been stored. Why would Gil tell Hjel's parents to call their baby Gil? Obviously Gil's family were his real family. Hjel's parents were left with a dead infant which Dakovash magicked alive with Gil's consciousness in it from the Ravensfriend, sans some memories which didn't make it over. Your theory keeps the door open for the whole "Dakovash = Takeshi Kovacs" thing. On the other hand, it's disgusting (Gil loving himself).
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Jan 14, 2015 09:11
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MockingQuantum posted:So I don't know if this is the right thread for this, since it's more horror than sci-fi, but I started reading The Strain. I'm about halfway through, and it's kind of fatiguing reading over and over about how people keep being eaten by vampires that we already knew were going to become vampires. Does the book ever pick up pace, or develop much? I'm already pretty late in the book, and it kind of feels like it's stalling for time to pad out the trilogy. That is not a good book. Read Robert McCammon's They Thirst instead.
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Jan 14, 2015 12:52
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Barbe Rouge posted:Your theory keeps the door open for the whole "Dakovash = Takeshi Kovacs" thing. On the other hand, it's disgusting (Gil loving himself). I don't think something being sexually disgusting is ever a reason to believe it wouldn't be included in a sci fi or fantasy book.
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Jan 14, 2015 14:26
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Barbe Rouge posted:Your theory keeps the door open for the whole "Dakovash = Takeshi Kovacs" thing. On the other hand, it's disgusting (Gil loving himself). Think of it as putting way too much effort into masturbation.
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Jan 14, 2015 14:28
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Neurosis posted:Gil committed suicide by Dwenda. His soul was stored in the Ravensfriend in the same way the Illwrack Changeling's had been stored. Why would Gil tell Hjel's parents to call their baby Gil? Obviously Gil's family were his real family. Hjel's parents were left with a dead infant which Dakovash magicked alive with Gil's consciousness in it from the Ravensfriend, sans some memories which didn't make it over. That's a way crazier explanation than simply Dakovash=Gil, that in that one scene Hjel's parents make a mistake and think that Gil is Dakovash. But luckily the book is ambiguous enough to leave that open to interpretation. I agree that Egar and his tribe weren't the most interesting of characters, but I really loved Archeth's story arc. Talas posted:A few months I read the first book of "The Wheel of Time" and now I'm starting the second in the series. I remember reading in TBB that some of the middle books in this series are insufferable and from that come the question, which ones should I skip or skim? The books get more unfocused in from number 7 to 10. But what happens in them is still relatively important, so just skipping them will just confuse you, you need to read summaries of the books. And you should read the last chapter of Winter's Heart (book 9). I found all the less important stories still quite enjoyable, so I wouldn't recommend skipping these books outright. Start reading book 7, and even if one storyline is boring, you can always look what the other main characters are doing. If you think it's too unfocused, read the summaries and start again with book 11, in which Jordan began to resolve the overall plot. Brandon Sanderson concludes the story in books 12, 13 and 14.
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Jan 14, 2015 14:44
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Torrannor posted:That's a way crazier explanation than simply Dakovash=Gil, that in that one scene Hjel's parents make a mistake and think that Gil is Dakovash. But luckily the book is ambiguous enough to leave that open to interpretation. I agree that Egar and his tribe weren't the most interesting of characters, but I really loved Archeth's story arc. Hjel's parents specifically ask Dakovash what to name the baby, and Dakovash says 'Gil', which they mishear.
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Jan 14, 2015 15:49
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Neurosis posted:Hjel's parents specifically ask Dakovash what to name the baby, and Dakovash says 'Gil', which they mishear. Yes, but that doesn't really have anything to do with what Torrannor said?
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Jan 14, 2015 16:16
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Barbe Rouge posted:Yes, but that doesn't really have anything to do with what Torrannor said? If that was Gil in that scene it makes it seem unlikely to me that he would tell Hjel's parents to name their kid after himself, so, yeah, it is relevant. The idea of consciousness being transferred from the sword to the dead baby also makes sense of what Dakovash does when he arrives at Hjel's parents' - he bites the pommel off the Rasvensfriend and places his mouth over the infant's mouth after forcing it open.
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Jan 14, 2015 16:26
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Cardiac posted:Also, Neal Ashers Dark Intelligence is apparently out. Penny Royal is apparently the focus this time. Amazon.co.uk is showing January 29, Amazon.com is showing February 3. Looks like the Kindle price is better in the UK right now (£7.19 versus $14.99).
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Jan 14, 2015 17:07
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Patrick Spens posted:I guess I missed that, where was it revealed earlier? And Ringil is a half-breed which was first foreshadowed in the first book when they are talking about how you can spot mixed blood descendant women because they're infertile, but men are harder to catch (especially when they're not trying to make babies with women..)
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Jan 14, 2015 18:22
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High Warlord Zog posted:That is not a good book. Read Robert McCammon's They Thirst instead. Yeah alright, I just read a review of the Strain and I'm definitely not finishing it. It's a shame, I love Del Toro's stuff, but the book is just not well written. Also the review reminded me that there was a big deal about an eclipse early in the book that never gets referenced in any way again. Weird.
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Jan 14, 2015 21:25
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Neurosis posted:Gil committed suicide by Dwenda. His soul was stored in the Ravensfriend in the same way the Illwrack Changeling's had been stored. Why would Gil tell Hjel's parents to call their baby Gil? Obviously Gil's family were his real family. Hjel's parents were left with a dead infant which Dakovash magicked alive with Gil's consciousness in it from the Ravensfriend, sans some memories which didn't make it over. I reread the last few scenes last night and definitely see where you're coming from. There's still some ambiguity in a few things that makes me question your interpretation, but by my reading it's as well supported as my own conclusions. I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree  .
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Jan 15, 2015 04:30
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ulmont posted:Amazon.co.uk is showing January 29, Amazon.com is showing February 3. Looks like the Kindle price is better in the UK right now (£7.19 versus $14.99). My package was sent yesterday, but it is in physical format. For some reason, my scifi-book store is typically very early in getting in new books.
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Jan 15, 2015 08:16
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Talas posted:A few months I read the first book of "The Wheel of Time" and now I'm starting the second in the series. I remember reading in TBB that some of the middle books in this series are insufferable and from that come the question, which ones should I skip or skim? If you can read the books in any kind of reasonably quick succession, I honestly don't think they're as awful as they are made out to be. Don't get me wrong, they're not great books or anything; I just think that much of the hatred for them comes from waiting 1-2 years between books only to find that not much has happened. On a re-read a year back or so I was surprised to find that I didn't really mind them now that I wasn't waiting years for them. I'd at least try them.
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Jan 15, 2015 08:22
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I read the whole WoT series last year and had a good time. Having the audiobooks along with physical copies helped; I mostly listened through 7-10 while falling asleep or writing papers or whatever. They're definitely weaker books compared to the first six but not so terrible that I had to stop the series or anything. I knew in advance that they'd be slower than the rest of the series so I took them pretty casually.
The Ninth Layer fucked around with this message at 09:00 on Jan 15, 2015 |
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Jan 15, 2015 08:57
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The Ninth Layer posted:I read the whole WoT series last year and had a good time. Having the audiobooks along with physical copies helped; I mostly listened through 7-10 while falling asleep or writing papers or whatever. They're definitely weaker books compared to the first six but not so terrible that I had to stop the series or anything. I knew in advance that they'd be slower than the rest of the series so I took them pretty casually. The real question should be if you want to spend 4.2 million words of your time on a series that, at best, can be described as "it's alright, but remember,it was a big deal in the 90s" The sane answer is no. You don't eat a mile of poo poo for the inch of meringue in the middle.
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Jan 15, 2015 10:29
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Strom Cuzewon posted:The real question should be if you want to spend 4.2 million words of your time on a series that, at best, can be described as "it's alright, but remember,it was a big deal in the 90s" Except that they are good books and definitely worth reading. I really liked the book where the other characters reacted to what the main protagonist did, even though they massively misunderstood the event. To see these things from an outsider perspective was really interesting for me.
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Jan 15, 2015 12:32
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The Way of Kings: good?
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Jan 15, 2015 13:12
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Hedrigall posted:The Way of Kings: good? Better than other Sanderson books, I think.
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Jan 15, 2015 13:42
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Hedrigall posted:The Way of Kings: good? I think so, but it's the first book of a 10 book series (the third book will be published this year I believe), and it will be at least decade before the last book comes out. Now, Brandon Sanderson is a machine, he pumps out good books at a rate that's just ridiculous, he's like the anti-GRRM. So I'm confident that there won't be anything like WoT, where you had to wait many years for the next books. I think Way of Kings is his third best book yet (after Emperor's Soul and Words of Radiance), but if I were you I would read some of his other books first. The Mistborn trilogy is a good place to start, the first book works well as a standalone novel. You should also know that all his books that don't take place on alternate-Earth are set in the same universe (the Cosmere). It's not necessary to have read all the books in the Cosmere, but they can give you additional insights into what's happening behind the scenes. But each of his series are set on different worlds in the universe (Mistborn on Scadrial, Elantris and Emperor's Soul on Sel, Warbreaker on Nalthis, Way of Kings and Words of Radiance on Roshar), so they are only loosely connected. Even the magic systems are different on each world.
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Jan 15, 2015 13:43
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Torrannor posted:Except that they are good books and definitely worth reading. I really liked the book where the other characters reacted to what the main protagonist did, even though they massively misunderstood the event. To see these things from an outsider perspective was really interesting for me. We must be thinking of different events, because I remember that book following all the characters actions in minute detail UP TO the giant earth shattering event, and then jumping away and barely mentioning their reactions.
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Jan 15, 2015 14:10
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Hedrigall posted:The Way of Kings: good? Decent but nothing amazing, like everything else Sanderson does.
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Jan 15, 2015 15:06
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The Ninth Layer posted:I read the whole WoT series last year and had a good time. Having the audiobooks along with physical copies helped; I mostly listened through 7-10 while falling asleep or writing papers or whatever. They're definitely weaker books compared to the first six but not so terrible that I had to stop the series or anything. I knew in advance that they'd be slower than the rest of the series so I took them pretty casually. You can listen to audiobooks while writing a paper? I try to write an e-mail while listening to a book and I get lost.
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Jan 15, 2015 16:46
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Hedrigall posted:The Way of Kings: good? If you're not familiar with Sanderson I would suggest reading one of his earlier books. The writing is much improved in Way of Kings but the basic format is the same: there's some giant mystery that the protagonists have to figure out and not much happens until the last quarter of the book or so. The only issue with this & Way of Kings is that it's like a thousand pages long.
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Jan 15, 2015 17:13
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Cpt. Mahatma Gandhi posted:You can listen to audiobooks while writing a paper? I try to write an e-mail while listening to a book and I get lost. I listen to audiobooks at work and a lot of my coworkers are super surprised. It's only difficult when I have to read an email, then I have to pause the book becuase I can't take information in from two sources at once.
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Jan 15, 2015 18:00
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Nevvy Z posted:I listen to audiobooks at work and a lot of my coworkers are super surprised. It's only difficult when I have to read an email, then I have to pause the book becuase I can't take information in from two sources at once. The rest of your job doesn't imply taking in information?
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Jan 15, 2015 18:02
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orange sky posted:The rest of your job doesn't imply taking in information? If the job's like mine, it's probably a lot of data entry which can be pretty mindless most of the time. I actually love listening to short story podcasts (Lightspeed, Clarkesworld, etc.) while I work but find whole books exhausting, since I tend to miss much more then when I'm reading off the page.
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Jan 15, 2015 19:06
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Cpt. Mahatma Gandhi posted:You can listen to audiobooks while writing a paper? I try to write an e-mail while listening to a book and I get lost. I mean, it usually comes at the cost of detailed listening, but unless a story is insanely complicated I can usually follow along.
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Jan 15, 2015 19:36
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First "The Expanse" trailer (SyFy TV series based on Leviathan Wakes etc) Miller looks so goddamn loving stupid. Hedrigall fucked around with this message at 22:44 on Jan 15, 2015 |
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Jan 15, 2015 22:42
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Hedrigall posted:First "The Expanse" trailer (SyFy TV series based on Leviathan Wakes etc) his hat his loving hat oh god
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Jan 15, 2015 22:49
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I dunno. I think the hat works on him just fine. I think you're just having a knee-jerk FEDORAS NECKBEARDS CHEETOES LOL reaction.
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Jan 15, 2015 22:52
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Megazver posted:I dunno. I think the hat works on him just fine. No, I'm having a "that actor looks genuinely ridiculous in that hat" reaction.  
Hedrigall fucked around with this message at 23:00 on Jan 15, 2015 |
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Jan 15, 2015 22:54
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Yea I've never read the books and I think the hat looks retarded. Is he a private eye or something? If so, he needs a more Indiana Jones/ 50s style hat. Not that weird tiny thing.
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Jan 15, 2015 22:59
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Cardiac posted:Decent but nothing amazing, like everything else Sanderson does. Basically the best summary.
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Jan 15, 2015 23:07
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