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Boing posted:Is this supposed to be the best book? There's no universally agreed best book for Abercrombie, really. All of them have their fans and their detractors. BSC probably just isn't for you in the same way as TFL.
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Feb 20, 2015 13:28
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ZombieLenin posted:...Scott Lynch is another contemporary "fantasy" author who uses it. Nah. There is no indication that the elves aren't actually ya know elves in the Gentleman Bastards series.
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Feb 20, 2015 13:34
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Jeffrey of YOSPOS posted:Wait Scott Lynch books are set in a future earth? Where is that revealed? It's not revealed anywhere. Just hinted at. Peztopiary posted:Nah. There is no indication that the elves aren't actually ya know elves in the Gentleman Bastards series. Maybe you're right. That just to show you though, it's a device used so much that any time I see fantastically advanced buildings/ruins of an unknown origin in a fantasy series, "future earth" is where my mind immediately goes. ZombieLenin fucked around with this message at 16:10 on Feb 20, 2015 |
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Feb 20, 2015 14:58
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Al Cu Ad Solte posted:Isn't the 1st Age our current time and the Age of Legends the future? Maybe. Jordan never stated definitively. However, the portal stones came before the Age of Legends, and so did Wolfbrothers, so maybe not. We could be Age 7. You go a little crazy starting to think about it because then you need to work in dinosaurs and stuff too. I think we are age 6. Age 7 is dinosaurs following an apocalypse. Age 1 is early humans and primitive type magic. Age 2 is Age of Legends, and so on. It's really just speculation though. You also have to consider that the whole 7 age concept is a human and not a divine concept.
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Feb 20, 2015 19:56
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Fire Safety Doug posted:There's no universally agreed best book for Abercrombie, really. All of them have their fans and their detractors. BSC probably just isn't for you in the same way as TFL. Yeah BSC is some people's favourite but not mine for sure.
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Feb 21, 2015 02:50
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The heroes is probably my favourite.
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Feb 21, 2015 15:39
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The Heroes is obviously superior as a book, but BSC has such satisfying payoffs to everything that it's more fun to read.
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Feb 21, 2015 15:45
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Red Country was my least favorite of his so far. BSC wasn't that great on the first read, if only because there's so much going on with so many characters. The second time I read it, I enjoyed it a whole lot more.
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Feb 21, 2015 16:14
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Just got to that scene with Shivers.
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Feb 21, 2015 22:04
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It should have been you.
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Feb 21, 2015 23:34
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Boing posted:Is this supposed to be the best book? The Heroes is absolutely his best book. All the best humor and action scenes with POV characters you love to hate.
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Feb 22, 2015 06:29
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Just finished a second readthrough of Half the World. It still holds up. Vastly superior to the first one, and on par with some of his adult works. There are better characters this time around, although I liked seeing the returning ones. Ruthlessly cunning Father Yarvi is much, much better than YA protagonist Yarvi.
Mars4523 fucked around with this message at 07:34 on Feb 22, 2015 |
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Feb 22, 2015 07:30
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Suxpool posted:The Heroes is absolutely his best book. All the best humor and action scenes with POV characters you love to hate. The Heroes also has Whirrun, who is objectively the best.
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Feb 22, 2015 07:49
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SavTargaryen posted:The Heroes also has Whirrun, who is objectively the best. Shoglig was talking poo poo.
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Feb 22, 2015 15:26
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drat, you guys are getting me psyched up. I'm planning a reread of the First Law sometime later this year, and I'll probably reread all of the standalones as well. Abercrombie is drat good.
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Feb 22, 2015 19:02
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I just finished Half the World, jesus, I can't wait for the next book.  Really loving the Bayaz vibes from Father Yarvi.
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Feb 23, 2015 04:12
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Best book is The Heroes by a lot imo. I enjoyed BSC a lot the first time through but found it weaker on a reread; imo The Heroes holds up even a second time around.
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Feb 23, 2015 04:41
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Chamberk posted:drat, you guys are getting me psyched up. I'm planning a reread of the First Law sometime later this year, and I'll probably reread all of the standalones as well. Abercrombie is drat good. Also BSC is so much better second time around.
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Feb 23, 2015 17:30
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I can't emphasize enough how great the audiobooks as ready by Stephen Pacey are. If you have read the books and not listened to these yet, do it.
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Feb 23, 2015 18:41
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Nevvy Z posted:I can't emphasize enough how great the audiobooks as ready by Stephen Pacey are. If you have read the books and not listened to these yet, do it. He does a really good job with BSC, The Heroes & Red Country as well but they are only available in the UK. Michael Page does the US version & while I love him in a lot of other books he just can't match the amazing job Steven Pacey does on these audiobooks.
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Feb 23, 2015 19:04
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Was anybody else way into the part in Half the World where Brand lifts the ship? I had a big smile on my face reading that and the next couple chapters and I don't usually get that emotionally into the things I'm reading.
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Feb 23, 2015 19:19
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Timett posted:Was anybody else way into the part in Half the World where Brand lifts the ship? I'm not a huge fan of Uthil (or Nothing), but I liked near the end when Thorn corrects him that she only killed five men while unarmed to save the empress instead of seven, and he just kind of laughs it off. And he actually seems to respect her as a warrior, which is nice.
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Feb 23, 2015 20:30
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Clinton1011 posted:He does a really good job with BSC, The Heroes & Red Country as well but they are only available in the UK. Michael Page does the US version & while I love him in a lot of other books he just can't match the amazing job Steven Pacey does on these audiobooks. Yeah, I decided I wanted to buy the audiobooks legit, but after listening to a trilogy of Pacey's amazing voice, I broke down and pirated those three. The difference is astounding, and it blows my mind that they're unavailable outside the UK.
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Feb 23, 2015 21:31
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Fly Molo posted:Yeah, I decided I wanted to buy the audiobooks legit, but after listening to a trilogy of Pacey's amazing voice, I broke down and pirated those three. The difference is astounding, and it blows my mind that they're unavailable outside the UK. I was able to buy Pacey's reading of the First Law trilogy from iTunes, but that was years ago. Fake edit I do, indeed, live in the United States.
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Feb 24, 2015 02:48
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ZombieLenin posted:I was able to buy Pacey's reading of the First Law trilogy from iTunes, but that was years ago. They appear to still be on the US iTunes Store, I looked just now.
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Feb 24, 2015 03:42
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Ross posted:They appear to still be on the US iTunes Store, I looked just now. I had already bought the Page versions, so I didn't feel too guilty about pirating the Pacey versions later. One think that I did like better in his BSC reading was Cosca's "A drink, a drink, a drink". His performance of that had this mournful longing that I could identify with. That being said, I can't imagine anyone but Page reading Lies of Locke Lamora.
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Feb 24, 2015 15:18
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Shivers you gently caress!  I get why though. Boy do I understand.Day you idiot! Morveer you...magnificent bastard  Calling it now: Shenkt is protecting Monza. There's no way she'd still be alive at this point if this fuckin' dude was REALLY after her.
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Feb 25, 2015 13:31
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Al Cu Ad Solte posted:Calling it now: Shenkt is protecting Monza. There's no way she'd still be alive at this point if this fuckin' dude was REALLY after her. Shenkt has a few secrets that get revealed.
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Feb 25, 2015 17:52
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Just finished "Half the World". Loved it. After the rest of Abercrombie's work, it's pretty nice to have things not turn out terrible for everyone. And it's only half a year (  ) to the next one!
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Feb 27, 2015 08:45
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I've been reading the first book (I'm about 3/4 of the way through) and while I'm in love with everything so far, I have to say I can't stand Ferro. It got to the point that I literally put the book down in the middle of one of her sections and I just can't bring myself to read it any more. Does she ever get any more character than just hating and wanting to fight everything? It was fine for a while but if she stays a POV character and stays the same I might have to pass on this series.
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Feb 28, 2015 02:09
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She'll get slightly more human. Still hates everything, though. But there definitely is development.
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Feb 28, 2015 07:55
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Half a World is a really fun story, goddamn.
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Feb 28, 2015 16:03
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How's Red Country?
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Feb 28, 2015 16:47
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Al Cu Ad Solte posted:How's Red Country? It's pretty much a western set in the TFL world. There's good stuff, but to me the shift from a typical pseudo-medieval fantasy era to a "how the West was won" frontier setting didn't fully work. Some of the genre tropes felt shoehorned in and didn't fit what we've learned from earlier books.
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Feb 28, 2015 17:22
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DiscreteContinuum posted:I've been reading the first book (I'm about 3/4 of the way through) and while I'm in love with everything so far, I have to say I can't stand Ferro. It got to the point that I literally put the book down in the middle of one of her sections and I just can't bring myself to read it any more. Does she ever get any more character than just hating and wanting to fight everything? It was fine for a while but if she stays a POV character and stays the same I might have to pass on this series. Yeah this was me too, I never got to the point where I stopped reading out of irritation or skipped over her parts but she's not one of the stronger or more memorable characters for sure.
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Mar 1, 2015 02:29
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A bit of an odd request, but anyone have a copy of the ARC for Half the World they'd be willing to part with? US or UK, doesn't matter (though be aware that I can't pay as much for a UK version since I have to factor in shipping).
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Mar 2, 2015 06:08
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DiscreteContinuum posted:I've been reading the first book (I'm about 3/4 of the way through) and while I'm in love with everything so far, I have to say I can't stand Ferro. It got to the point that I literally put the book down in the middle of one of her sections and I just can't bring myself to read it any more. Does she ever get any more character than just hating and wanting to fight everything? It was fine for a while but if she stays a POV character and stays the same I might have to pass on this series. Ferro kinda breaks the "This character is an irredeemable fuckhead yet written to be likable" mold set for most of the characters. Fortunately she makes no appearances past the first trilogy.
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Mar 2, 2015 20:58
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Rhymenoserous posted:Ferro kinda breaks the "This character is an irredeemable fuckhead yet written to be likable" mold set for most of the characters. Fortunately she makes no appearances past the first trilogy. BSC: Ishri mentions a woman seeking vengeance just killed her brother, it's totally Ferro
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Mar 2, 2015 21:04
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Well, I did enjoy Ferro's point of view chapters more than, say, Logen, who is pretty boring, and Jezal, who only gets by because interesting stuff happens around him since he starts an idiot and grows into a different kind of idiot. Abecrombie needs to bring back Glokta is what I'm saying. Or Gorst, his chapters in Heroes were some of the best.
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Mar 2, 2015 23:05
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Almost done with BSC. While I've been incredibly entertained most of the way through, I think I might hold off on any more Abercrombie after this for a while. "Hard" fantasy (adult fantasy? What are we calling this now?) usually isn't my thing, and there's only so much....awfulness that I can take. Still leagues, LEEEEAGUES better than loving GRRM. I bet if Monza just loving APOLOGIZED to Shivers ONCE that wouldn't have turned out quite the same way. I'm kind of annoyed, Monza was pretty much the only reason why I picked up the book in the first place and she turned out to be the least interesting character. Seems more like a vehicle to introduce all these other weirdos.
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Mar 4, 2015 01:16
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