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Is "The Prydian Chronicles" chronicles classified as YA? Because I liked that, although I was YA at the time.
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Feb 16, 2015 00:46
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Barbe Rouge posted:I had a feeling it was. Are the "ancient elves" the pre-apoc humans then? And magic is the technology that survived? None of the survivors remember the names of the old cities so it was a long while in the past, the rules for the radiation are pretty fantastic/more magical realism than real, and the one time we see a character use a gun she has *very* strange beliefs about how it works. That doesn't mean Abercrombie didn't just change how radiation works. It does seem to be post apocalyptic, but you wouldn't get the confusion that the characters have about the past over a few hundred years. Maybe they wouldn't remember the names of major cities, but an oral tradition wouldn't have mutated as fast as the traditions seem to. The confusion going on with the One God coming up from the South for instance, that to me indicates that it's pretty long time since anyone has been able to read a Bible. On the other hand, we've seen no evidence that the Elves aren't human.
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Feb 16, 2015 03:21
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ZombieLenin posted:Oh, a new novel comes out next week. I'm excited.
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Feb 16, 2015 14:57
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Is there a recap of Half a King anywhere?
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Feb 16, 2015 18:16
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Ravenfood posted:His first "YA" book was really quite good, so this one should be as well. Koburn posted:Is there a recap of Half a King anywhere? poo poo. I avoided Half a King precisely for its YA labeling. I've been loving dying for more Abercrombie so maybe I will read it. Though I have to say two purposefully written YA novels is concerning. I hope Joe Abercrombie doesn't become the next Johnny Depp and only do things that are marketed at kids.
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Feb 16, 2015 22:54
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ZombieLenin posted:poo poo. I avoided Half a King precisely for its YA labeling. I've been loving dying for more Abercrombie so maybe I will read it.
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Feb 16, 2015 23:09
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Yeah's he gonna draft out (at least outline? I forget his words) the next trilogy afterward before he releases anything, so it will be awhile before any first law stuff comes out.
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Feb 16, 2015 23:50
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"A while" by Abercrombie standards seems to be like 2 years instead of one. I've said it before but the consistent pace at which he writes is astounding to me
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Feb 17, 2015 00:04
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I just finished Half a King and I'm working on Half the World right now and they're pretty good. You still have Abercrombie's prose, violence, and talk about erections and dongs and menstruation and the such. I suppose it's YA in the sense that our protagonists are teenagers so they're figuring out where they fit in the world etc. but it isn't like that wasn't Jezel and Lamb's themes either.
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Feb 17, 2015 03:43
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"Deader than gently caress. Yeah Monza, kind of like EVERYONE WHO WENT TO THAT loving PARTY JESUS CHRIST 
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Feb 17, 2015 15:16
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  I love reading these kinds of reactions.
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Feb 17, 2015 19:30
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I bit the bullet and bought Half A King. Way, way better than I feared and about 20x better than Patrick Rothfuss. I'd recommend it to anyone who was worried about the YA genre label like I was. That isn't to say I wouldn't have preferred a novel in the First Law universe. ZombieLenin fucked around with this message at 23:56 on Feb 17, 2015 |
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Feb 17, 2015 22:36
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ZombieLenin posted:I bit the bullet and bought Half A King. Way, way better than I feared and about 20x better than Patrick Rothfuss.
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Feb 17, 2015 22:54
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anilEhilated posted:Let's face it, that isn't that much of an achievement. That's a good loving point. Still, I'd say it's high quality fantasy literature--Half a King not Rothfuss--despite the YA label. Edit In fact, I don't think the King Slayer books are labeled YA, but they really should be.
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Feb 18, 2015 00:08
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anilEhilated posted:Let's face it, that isn't that much of an achievement. I think Thorn and (to a lesser extent) Brand are stronger in the "richly defined character arc" sense than Yarvi is.
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Feb 18, 2015 00:13
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Alright the prose from Monza's perspective is very clearly indicating her and Benna were boning. 
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Feb 18, 2015 12:18
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loving hell, Best Served Cold is good. My only complaint is that the group makeup is a little bit too formulaic from the trilogy: Hard as nails female, hoity Magician/scientist with lackey, Looking to Change his ways northman. Friendly is a nice addition though!
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Feb 18, 2015 14:42
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I'm probably the only one here but I really didn't like Best Served Cold. The above was one of my complaints, another was that I just couldn't bring myself to empathise with Monza. And there wasn't anywhere near enough of the best characters, Morveer and Cosca. I mean, the plot is good. the action scenes are amazingly well done but that's about it. Hell, Shivers'...everything... feels really tacked on until you read the next book. It's a good book, but Abercrombie's weakest, in my opinion. That's having never read the YA stuff, mind you.
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Feb 18, 2015 14:59
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Al Cu Ad Solte posted:Alright the prose from Monza's perspective is very clearly indicating her and Benna were boning. I don't think they actually were, though I get the idea Benna would have totally been down for it.
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Feb 18, 2015 19:14
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They definitely were.
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Feb 18, 2015 19:17
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Rhymenoserous posted:I don't think they actually were, though I get the idea Benna would have totally been down for it. They absolutely were. Don't you remember the mercenaries joking to Shivers when he visited Faithful?
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Feb 18, 2015 19:43
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Yeah they definitely were. Joe Abercrombie being Joe Abercrombie, the incestuous mercenary captain with a bloody past is the good guy.
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Feb 18, 2015 21:29
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Mars4523 posted:Yeah they definitely were. Joe Abercrombie being Joe Abercrombie, the incestuous mercenary captain with a bloody past is the good guy. Don't say "good guy." Say "point of view character." It's much more accurate for Abercrombie.
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Feb 18, 2015 22:12
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anilEhilated posted:I'm probably the only one here but I really didn't like Best Served Cold. The above was one of my complaints, another was that I just couldn't bring myself to empathise with Monza. And there wasn't anywhere near enough of the best characters, Morveer and Cosca. I mean, the plot is good. the action scenes are amazingly well done but that's about it. Hell, Shivers'...everything... feels really tacked on until you read the next book. Shivers was a weak point to me in this book. Reading it right after TFL he just seemed like Logen Lite. I liked all the other characters though.
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Feb 19, 2015 04:19
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So the Half King universe: I'm getting the impression that the "Elves" might be yet another fantasy author's allusion the the magical people of the past, which are really contemporary humans. I hope I'm wrong here though.
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Feb 19, 2015 04:42
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That's exactly what they are. I'm pretty sure that the events of the book are happening somewhere in the Baltic. But they're never really a major element of the story.
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Feb 19, 2015 04:45
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ZombieLenin posted:So the Half King universe: I'm getting the impression that the "Elves" might be yet another fantasy author's allusion the the magical people of the past, which are really contemporary humans.
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Feb 19, 2015 04:46
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Grand Prize Winner posted:That's exactly what they are. I'm pretty sure that the events of the book are happening somewhere in the Baltic. But they're never really a major element of the story. If you look at the map it's pretty obvious it's the Baltic sea and Scandinavia. Though it seems like nuclear war/climate change/whatever changed geography a bit. Elf ruins like Strokom and Lanangrad located where Stockholm and Leningrad/ St Petersburg are now. It's a post apocalyptic Viking age basically. With "Vikings" in and around the Baltic sea sailing down eastern European rivers to "Kiev" inhabited by steppe people and Slavs before reaching ERE and Constantinople
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Feb 19, 2015 05:04
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The relic in book 2 is a fancy wristwatch, right? The fact that the colors change all the time was throwing me off but I can't think of anything else you'd wear on your wrist that spins.
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Feb 19, 2015 05:08
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Mars4523 posted:I think they're technically near future humans, since the Elf metal and an artifact in the second book don't really match to any contemporary objects. Still, it's implied that the "shattering of the one god" was nuclear holocaust. Isn't the artifact just a watch? fake edit: Yeah, same as what Timett thought.
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Feb 19, 2015 05:09
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Fader Movitz posted:If you look at the map it's pretty obvious it's the Baltic sea and Scandinavia. Though it seems like nuclear war/climate change/whatever changed geography a bit. Yeah, listening to the audio books so haven't seen the map yet. My only critique is that it is a very well warn device, which I suppose Abercrombie does enjoy playing with, and usually does so well. ZombieLenin fucked around with this message at 05:13 on Feb 19, 2015 |
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Feb 19, 2015 05:11
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dongsbot 9000 posted:Isn't the artifact just a watch? I don't know that it's such a well worn device, because the only other case that comes to mind is the X of Thorns series, and that one has actual magic while the Shattered Seas remain grounded (and also with less rape).
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Feb 19, 2015 05:23
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Timett posted:The relic in book 2 is a fancy wristwatch, right? The fact that the colors change all the time was throwing me off but I can't think of anything else you'd wear on your wrist that spins. IIRC, it is also said that she can't remove it once it is fastened, and it glowed brightly enough that you could see Gorm-gil-Grom's bones through his hand when he was grabbing her wrist. It might be a REALLY high-tech future wristwatch, but I'm iffy on it. Khizan fucked around with this message at 05:52 on Feb 19, 2015 |
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Feb 19, 2015 05:47
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Mars4523 posted:I might need to read again, but I thought it was a watch that's also a mood ring of sorts, and one that is actually pretty sensitive instead of just being a cheap nickknack. Also, our current materials science isn't good enough to make a watch and a battery that would last through the centuries. I can think of lots of examples, starting with Terry Brooks. Scott Lynch is another contemporary "fantasy" author who uses it, and even Robert Jordan alludes to it--at least thematically. I mean, that's just off the top of my head; however, I'm pretty sure I've encountered the "Fantasy World that is really our future" a dozen times in the 25 years I've been reading fantasy literature. Edit And this isn't even counting entire genres defined by this precept, like Post Apocalyptic Fantasy or Dying Earth fiction. Double Edit Matt Stover, who writes Star Wars novels has a book series that has an interesting take on the whole melding of future earth/fantasy. I really recommend his Kaine chronicle books. They're really loving good, and really loving smart. Cannot say the same for his Star Wars novels; however he is one of the only Star Wars novelists I bother to read. In this case though, the man is really limited by the IP. It makes me sad that his Star Wars novels are what he's known for. ZombieLenin fucked around with this message at 18:37 on Feb 19, 2015 |
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Feb 19, 2015 17:18
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Obligatory warning about Caine: They're very Abercrombie and I definitely rank them pretty high up there, it gets pretty uh, weird in the latter books and I'm fairly certain that Stover is a lunatic. Of course, he balances it out with some of the best written combat ever, soooo.
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Feb 20, 2015 07:09
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Wait Scott Lynch books are set in a future earth? Where is that revealed?
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Feb 20, 2015 07:15
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On Caine: Heroe's Die is more or less what the blurb on the cover says. It is an awesome action movie in a rigid post zombie apocalypse distopian future / traditional fantasy in book form. It's just fun. Blade of Tyshalle gets a little weird, and a little preachy, but it still is a fun read. The last two get fairly strange, and Stover might be crazy, and it is somewhat pulpy, but like, really good pulp.ZombieLenin posted:even Robert Jordan alludes to it--at least thematically. Jordan does more than allude to it. It never becomes relevant in any way, but our current reality is just another Age in the Wheel of Time. Blind Melon fucked around with this message at 07:35 on Feb 20, 2015 |
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Feb 20, 2015 07:31
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Blind Melon posted:On Caine: Heroe's Die is more or less what the blurb on the cover says. It is an awesome action movie in a rigid post zombie apocalypse distopian future / traditional fantasy in book form. It's just fun. Blade of Tyshalle gets a little weird, and a little preachy, but it still is a fun read. The last two get fairly strange, and Stover might be crazy, and it is somewhat pulpy, but like, really good pulp. Oh, definitely. The last two are the most nuts - though Caine Black Knife has Young Caine, which are some of my favorite chapters ever. Caine's Law is good, but also nuts, but also super enjoyable.
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Feb 20, 2015 07:39
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Blind Melon posted:Jordan does more than allude to it. It never becomes relevant in any way, but our current reality is just another Age in the Wheel of Time. Isn't the 1st Age our current time and the Age of Legends the future?
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Feb 20, 2015 11:31
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Having finished the First Law trilogy last year I'm onto Best Served Cold now. Not really sure I'm digging it - the plot is very by-the-numbers and the characters haven't gripped me the way they did in the First Law. Is this supposed to be the best book? Admittedly the First Law only grew on me after a while, when I got to know the characters and got a feel for the general shape of the plot, but BSC seems a little limp and pointless for the time being. High point so far though is that scene where Morveer is trying to poison the banker, and going through the list of dozens of poisons that he has on his person but he can't actually get to the guy because he won't shake his hand or look away or give him anything to sign.
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Feb 20, 2015 11:50
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