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Peztopiary posted:They wouldn't work without the trilogy though. None of his Circle of the World books are actually self-contained. You don't have to read all of them, but if you haven't read the trilogy parts of BSC and Heroes don't make sense. The only reason that whole scene with Bayaz and the corpse pit works as well as it does is because of how well established Bayaz has been by the trilogy. Yeah, that's a great shame of it. I would love to recommend BSC to people as a first book because it's such a good self contained story, but the Shenkt stuff really ruins that, and it becomes significant right at the climax. Heroes is similar, it's such an amazing story, and it's so concisely written compared to TFL, but it'd suck without knowing the backstory. FordPRefectLL posted:I was rereading Red Country and man it really illustrates how much it sucks to be on the receiving end of Cosca's bullshit. You know how Red Country is just kind of a big mishmash of references to other westerns? I always thought Cosca was supposed to be The Judge from Blood Meridian, which is so weird.
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Jan 26, 2015 03:36
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Blind Melon posted:How many people refer to the president as "Barak", or Barak Obama? Tons and tons of people speak of Barack Obama.
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Jan 26, 2015 08:00
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It's not like anyone suggested be referred to as "Sand".
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Jan 26, 2015 08:26
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02-6611-0142-1 posted:You know how Red Country is just kind of a big mishmash of references to other westerns? I always thought Cosca was supposed to be The Judge from Blood Meridian, which is so weird. Now that you mention it, that isn't all that crazy. They both don't care one iota about human life, and have a pattern of instigating violence that they don't take part in for their own amusement / profit. Neurosis posted:Tons and tons of people speak of Barack Obama. Yes, but mostly people grant him title, and he doesn't openly run the secret torture police. Aaaaaand I have soundly destroyed my own argument.... I kid. Sorta. I think modern media is responsible for that. And generally half the country openly dislikes a president. Kings are a little different situation and while im no historian, I don't see them commonly referred to by full name. People being afraid to say Glotka's name just makes sense. I don't know so much about the other two. Blind Melon fucked around with this message at 17:29 on Jan 26, 2015 |
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Jan 26, 2015 17:23
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I read BSC before the trilogy, it worked decently enough. I didn't get the Shenkt parts at all so I just skimmed past them. The character interaction was still really affecting and the setting is vague enough that my lack of knowledge from the trilogy didn't really impact my enjoyment. And knowing the fate of Logen and the Named Men going into the trilogy was interesting.
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Jan 26, 2015 20:40
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I'm 60 pages into Best Served Cold and in love. I hope Monza and Shivers shove swords right up the shitters of these back stabbing bastards.
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Feb 9, 2015 22:05
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Please post your reactions as you read the book.
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Feb 9, 2015 22:25
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FordPRefectLL posted:Please post your reactions as you read the book. Will do. Haven't been this disgusted at a character getting annihilated since the gangsters shooting up Murphy scene in Robocop.
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Feb 9, 2015 22:29
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I love watching someone read BSC. I got to see a coworker get through it over the course of a week, he kept coming in more sleep-deprived and frazzled every day until it was over.
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Feb 9, 2015 23:46
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You already said you would, but count me as another person wanting to hear your reactions as you read. BSC is probably my favorite work of Abercrombie. Red Country did nothing for me, and while I love the narrative structure and climax of The Heroes, it felt a little too narrow in its scope.
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Feb 10, 2015 01:33
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Castor Morveer is the best.
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Feb 10, 2015 01:39
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I liked Red Country as well as BSC, but I can be a sappy fool sometimes. And Glama Golden realizing just who he was fighting was perfect. Red Country doesn't have the same kind of setpieces that BSC has, however.
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Feb 10, 2015 01:46
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Me when they captured Gobba:  Me after Monza killed him:   Jesus. This is only 70 pages in! What even is this book?!
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Feb 10, 2015 02:03
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We can talk about that later, for now just keep posting reactions please.
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Feb 10, 2015 02:13
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Mars4523 posted:I liked Red Country as well as BSC, but I can be a sappy fool sometimes. And Glama Golden realizing just who he was fighting was perfect. I dont remember, but was Glama a giant rear end in a top hat or something in The Heroes? Becasue I felt pretty bad for him in Red Country.
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Feb 10, 2015 13:44
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Mr.48 posted:I dont remember, but was Glama a giant rear end in a top hat or something in The Heroes? Becasue I felt pretty bad for him in Red Country. He was one the Northmen equivalents of Poulder and Kroy. I'm pretty sure he was the one that sat on his horse and watched Calder nearly get killed instead of reinforcing him like Dow had ordered.
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Feb 10, 2015 15:45
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Nevvy Z posted:He was one the Northmen equivalents of Poulder and Kroy. I'm pretty sure he was the one that sat on his horse and watched Calder nearly get killed instead of reinforcing him like Dow had ordered. nah that was tenways, who was in bayaz's employ golden got his face smashed in by gorst
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Feb 10, 2015 15:58
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Mr.48 posted:I dont remember, but was Glama a giant rear end in a top hat or something in The Heroes? Becasue I felt pretty bad for him in Red Country. He's not described real positively. "Glama Golden – one of Dow’s five War Chiefs, intolerably vain, locked in a feud with Cairm Ironhead." "Glama Golden looked the hero from his scalp to his toes, big-knuckle brawny and heavy-jaw handsome, his long hair, his bristling moustache, his eyelashes to their tips all the colour of pale gold. He wore more yellow metal than a princess on her wedding day – golden torc around his thick neck, bracelets at his thick wrists and fistfuls of rings on his thick fingers, every part of him buffed to a pretty shine with bluster and self-love." And here's why he's no longer in the North by Red Country: "Hardbread took a breath. “Because mighty Scale Ironhand, King of the Northmen, has gone to war with Glama Golden.” Craw snorted. “Black Calder has, you mean. Why?” “Golden killed Caul Reachey.” “Reachey’s dead?” “Poisoned. And Golden did the deed.” Craw narrowed his eyes. “That a fact?” “Calder says it is, so Scale says it is, so it’s close to a fact as anyone’s going to get. All the North’s lining up behind Bethod’s sons, and I’ve come to see if you want to line up too.”"
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Feb 10, 2015 16:00
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ulmont posted:He's not described real positively. To be fair, being vain and maybe poisoning some chieftain is practically sainthood in Abercrombie's world.
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Feb 10, 2015 22:15
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Mr.48 posted:To be fair, being vain and maybe poisoning some chieftain is practically sainthood in Abercrombie's world. Shivers did it on Calder's order, made it look like Golden's fault. I love these loving books. Preview chapter for Half the World was pretty good, looking forward to that next week.
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Feb 10, 2015 22:30
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Morveer you sly motherfucker.  Okay, Friendly's...thing with numbers is weird.  I hope that's not going in the direction I think it is. "So you'llkill a man for money, but you won't suck a oval office for it? There's morals for you. You want my advice? Take the five and stick to killing in future. That you've got a talent for."  Every line of dialogue has put a big stupid grin on my face. Abercrombie, you had my curiosity. Now you have my attention.
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Feb 11, 2015 12:20
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Yeah, the part where Friendly becomes an engineer and builds a working ornithopter overnight seemed a little silly, but it made sense in context.
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Feb 11, 2015 20:50
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Grand Prize Winner posted:Yeah, the part where Friendly becomes an engineer and builds a working ornithopter overnight seemed a little silly, but it made sense in context.  Nah I meant him getting aroused when Day was counting. I'd like to read some adult fantasy that didn't include rape for once.
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Feb 11, 2015 23:03
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Spoiler directly related to your question: Friendly is not a rapist.
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Feb 12, 2015 07:38
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Gotta say, I really love the names in this. Monza, Shylo Vitarri, Morveer. They all scratch that weird fantasy name itch without veering into eyerollingly stupid territory, like every loving name in The Wheel of Time.
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Feb 12, 2015 16:32
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Half The World. It's very good and I'm pumped that the conclusion will be out later this year. It's definitely another step more YA than Half a King but it's mostly non offensive. I won't talk specifically about it until it's actually out. Edit: Jeez fine I thought as long as I'm not pointing to actual sources it was pretty much okay. Tree Dude fucked around with this message at 18:47 on Feb 12, 2015 |
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Feb 12, 2015 16:39
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Timett posted:Half The World. It's very good and I'm pumped that the conclusion will be out later this year. It's definitely another step more YA than Half a King but it's mostly non offensive. You should edit your post to say ONLY this. It's basically a long standing rule that's not really written anywhere.
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Feb 12, 2015 18:04
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Nevvy Z posted:You should edit your post to say ONLY this. It's basically a long standing rule that's not really written anywhere. It's written in the Book Barn rules and the main SA forums rules...
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Feb 12, 2015 18:25
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Yep, it's sort of an unwritten rule around here.
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Feb 12, 2015 18:47
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One thing I liked about Half a King is that it's the Queen, not the King, who made Gettland powerful and led to all of the machinations against the nation.
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Feb 12, 2015 19:30
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Are the Half a X books set in the TFL world?
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Feb 13, 2015 18:53
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Ross posted:Are the Half a X books set in the TFL world? They are not.
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Feb 13, 2015 18:56
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Timett posted:They are not. The final part of the trilogy has The Union invading this backwater part of the world. Lots of torture and rape follows.
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Feb 14, 2015 12:48
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Affi posted:The final part of the trilogy has The Union invading this backwater part of the world. Lots of torture and rape follows.
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Feb 15, 2015 10:51
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Ravenfood posted:Half a World is set in a post-apoc version of our world. Or at least, a world that had skyscrapers and computers. I had a feeling it was. Are the "ancient elves" the pre-apoc humans then? And magic is the technology that survived?
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Feb 15, 2015 11:26
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Oh, a new novel comes out next week. I'm excited. Wait. Please don't tell me it a foray into YA books. If it is I give up on reading genre literature.
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Feb 15, 2015 21:47
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ZombieLenin posted:Oh, a new novel comes out next week. I'm excited.
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Feb 15, 2015 21:53
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Mars4523 posted:It's nominally YA, which just means that there's no swearing and little sex. From reviews it's very good. Ugh. Not that those things are important necessarily, I just don't see how you do Joe Abercrombie without them--or at least without brutalitic realism of his violence. Edit And if it's another coming of age story about a 15 to 17 year old girl written by a man, I think I will cry.
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Feb 15, 2015 22:31
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It's a direct sequel to Half a King which was also meant to be for a slightly younger audience than Abercrombie's other books. If you were fine with that you'll be fine with this one. The only reason I say it's a bit more YA than HaK is because *the slightest of spoilers that nobody here will likely care about* the book is from the perspective of two characters this time and they spend a good portion of the page count into each other but afraid to say anything
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Feb 15, 2015 22:55
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The prologue of half a king ends with a child getting shanked tbf
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Feb 15, 2015 23:47
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