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The entire Magicians trilogy is loving wonderful, albeit with a tiny dip in wonderfulness in the second book. But the third makes up for it. Also, goddamn finally:  I give up on physical bookstores. The release date was on Tuesday and nowhere in Sydney had it until today. What's the point in a release date? Also, the Australian printing is really poo poo. The letters all look fuzzy. Next time I'm importing from the UK again.
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May 2, 2015 03:34
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colonel_korn posted:I just finished reading The Magicians -- are the other two books in the series about the same in terms of quality? Overall I enjoyed it, despite Quentin being cartoonishly unlikeable for most of the book. (I get that that's kind of the point, but drat you still feel like slapping the guy a lot of the time). I really liked the trilogy as a whole. I'd agree that the second wasn't quite as good as the first, but the third does a very nice job of wrapping everything up. It probably helped a lot that I read the first one right out of college when I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life, the second when I was very disenchanted with my life post-college, and the third when I had finally settled into a fulfilling career; it was very easy for me to find parallels between my situation and quentin, including the bits about being an utter prick when you're in college. If you liked the first, and you're interested in where the story goes, read the other two. Quentin gets a lot better.
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May 2, 2015 03:50
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Eliot remains ridiculous, however.
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May 2, 2015 04:32
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If I wanted to read the Empire trilogy from the Riftwar series how the gently caress to I get it in ebook format? Do I need to seriously spoof my IP to the UK or not-America since it's not for sale on US itunes or Amazon, but seems to be sold on others like the UK? It's the only books I haven't read from the Riftwar that I care to (unless Honored Enemy is really good?) and I've been told they're around the quality of the first Serpentwar book.
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May 2, 2015 05:16
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With regards to the second book, I actually forgive it a lot in the light of the third book because only after reading it did it become clear that it's kind of an unsatisfying book about the most unsatisfying time in your life. It seems to me that the books are a lot about the process of growing up in your 20s. Grossman has alluded to the fact that he was only able to write the novel after "growing up." The first book is about early 20s, where you're usually kind of a fuckup in one way or another and have a pretty good chance of loving up at least one of your most important relationships. Fun, but terrible. The second is about your mid-20s where you're still loving up but at least you understand that you're loving up and you're trying to be better. When you're in the middle of all that, it's not really any fun and I think the book kind of reflects that. The third book is about leaving your 20s, maybe owning up to even the lovely parts about yourself and trying to operate in a way that acknowledges your weaknesses, works around them, doesn't let you gently caress up your poo poo. Maybe really try and make up for the things you hosed up because it's the right thing to do, as opposed to just not feeling so bad.
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May 2, 2015 05:27
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Hedrigall posted:Also, goddamn finally: That thing looks gigantic holy poo poo
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May 2, 2015 07:52
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Hedrigall posted:The entire Magicians trilogy is loving wonderful, albeit with a tiny dip in wonderfulness in the second book. But the third makes up for it. Nice, where from? And yeah Australian publishing sucks. Bookstores are great, the publishers suck.
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May 2, 2015 12:29
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So I'm about halfway through The Goblin Emperor, and am really enjoying it. Just wondering if anyone else had a lot of trouble keeping track of all the names and titles? I thought ASOIAF pretty confusing with this sometimes, but I'm finding this a lot more difficult to keep track of.
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May 2, 2015 13:26
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Yeah, she did go overboard with them a bit. Actually creating a conlang for your book is cool and all, but once you do, you have to actually make some concessions to how it'll sound to your reader's ear. It's still a fantastic book, though, and I will never not recommend it.
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May 2, 2015 13:42
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thehomemaster posted:omgomgomgomg my dreams are coming true. And if it has Tatum in it then that means I can drag my gf to see it. I hope Hollywood won't convert it into a bug slashing festival a-la Spaceship Troopers.
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May 2, 2015 14:44
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The movie is the canonical version of Starship Troopers.
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May 2, 2015 15:18
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So what's up with the US release of Poseidon's Wake? Amazon's only selling 3rd party copies and there's no sign of a digital version.
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May 2, 2015 15:34
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Megazver posted:Yeah, she did go overboard with them a bit. Actually creating a conlang for your book is cool and all, but once you do, you have to actually make some concessions to how it'll sound to your reader's ear.
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May 2, 2015 16:09
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Amberskin posted:I hope Hollywood won't convert it into a bug slashing festival a-la Spaceship Troopers. Paul Verhoeven turning it into a satire was genius and I won't hear otherwise.  It's just too bad so few people got that it was a satire, especially everyone involved in trying to make it into a movie/TV franchise.
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May 2, 2015 16:43
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thehomemaster posted:Nice, where from? The Chatswood Dymocks.
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May 2, 2015 16:46
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Isn't KSR writing an interstellar ark novel next? Red Mars and Green Mars are great, Blue Mars is the only uninteresting one to me but worth the read to wrap up the series. 2313 was ok but I just didn't like any of the characters. A Blue Remembered Earth by Reynolds is similar in plot but I enjoyed much better.
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May 2, 2015 16:51
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Stuporstar posted:Paul Verhoeven turning it into a satire was genius and I won't hear otherwise. That was fine with Starship Troopers; I really like that movie, even without the powersuits, but I don't thing it would work with the Forever War.
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May 2, 2015 16:56
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Fried Chicken posted:Channing Tatum got cast to star in the movie version of The Forever War. If any mil-sf book could be made into an anti-war movie, it's Forever War. Fingers crossed.
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May 2, 2015 16:58
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Stuporstar posted:Paul Verhoeven turning it into a satire was genius and I won't hear otherwise. The best thing about Starship Troopers is how it kinda fails as a satire since people still took it as HOORAH type jingoist stuff and call Verhoeven everything short of a nazi. Hearing Verhoeven's commentary on it is funny as hell. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkOqiweYfwQ "If you see a black uniform you should think BAD, BAD, BAD!"
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May 2, 2015 17:56
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I genuinely don't understand how people thought the SST movie was unironic.
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May 2, 2015 18:04
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Peel posted:I genuinely don't understand how people thought the SST movie was unironic. Maybe because the people who want it to be unironic are the people who consider fascism a decent ideology that was somewhat unfairly tainted by historical association? I mean mil sf has a fascist streak a mile wide. Weak willed democratic politicians keeping the hero from
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May 2, 2015 20:40
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Yea it could be fascist conspiracy or it just looked like a dime a dozen terrible sci fi b movie and most people had probably never heard of the book.
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May 2, 2015 21:20
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Seriously look at the cuts and camera movements during the propaganda bits, that's not inspirational, it's farcical.
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May 3, 2015 04:21
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Phobophilia posted:Seriously look at the cuts and camera movements during the propaganda bits, that's not inspirational, it's farcical. Done in exactly the same way as Robocop too. The fact that people did not get that is almost as hilarious as the movies themselves. Also, given how great Robocop is, I was more willing to think of SST as Verhoeven slightly missing the mark with too-(definitely not subtle, but too Poe's law maybe?) satire rather than, "This is a dumb movie for dumb people" like some of my friends were bitching at the time. Stuporstar fucked around with this message at 05:56 on May 3, 2015 |
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May 3, 2015 05:51
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Peel posted:I genuinely don't understand how people thought the SST movie was unironic. I saw it when I was 13 and thought it was bad. "Why are they called the 'mobile infantry' if they can't move themselves anywhere?" young Toph complained. "Why is everyone in this movie such a gently caress up?" It took until re-seeing it in college during the height of the Bush administration, and after having seen some Leni Riefenstahl films, to for it to click, and to understand why it's such a genius piece of work.
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May 3, 2015 06:14
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General Emergency posted:The best thing about Starship Troopers is how it kinda fails as a satire since people still took it as HOORAH type jingoist stuff and call Verhoeven everything short of a nazi. Hearing Verhoeven's commentary on it is funny as hell. The full commentary is on Youtube. Worth a watch.
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May 3, 2015 08:12
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Finished up The Testimony by James Smythe, and it was pretty good. The book is a bit weird though. Basic premise is that people hear a voice saying "My children, Do not be afraid" and people lose their poo poo wondering if it's God or a joke or a weapon or what. Not everyone hears the voice though. So you have a novel that is told through 26! different perspectives for the story. Dude manages to write 26 different first person perspectives like 26 different people. God drat that had to be insane to pull off. The book is pretty gripping but also pretty bleak as well. He writes people as real human beings instead of fantasy trope people so basically poo poo goes badly. Worth a read though. Stupid_Sexy_Flander fucked around with this message at 14:39 on May 3, 2015 |
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May 3, 2015 14:36
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Whoever recommended the Demon Cycle books I hate you. I bought the first book on Friday and I am already almost done with it... I can't seem to put it down.....
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May 3, 2015 16:27
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Don't worry, the second book is pure poo poo and will cure you of that pretty quickly.
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May 3, 2015 18:39
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:It's not grimdark, but it's bleakdark or grimbleak. It's just... wow I haven't ever read a book where no one is happy. It's a huge tonal shift from his regular work on his urban fantasy series. The Owl is pretty happy by the end of book two.  Also, the evil not-Venetian banker. No, the other one.
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May 5, 2015 20:10
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Do we have a Michelle West/Michelle Sagara thread? My search-fu is failing me. Oracle just came out, and is wonderful. It was also too short (by which I mean I ran out of it before I wanted to be done reading). So now I am rereading and taking notes and excited, which naturally makes me want to talk about it and why can't I find a thread? If you have not read any of Michelle West, start with The Hidden City. Her Essalieyan universe is as richly detailed as any, and at the same time remain deeply human while dealing with myth. There are fifteen or so books in this universe, as well as short stories and novellas that other authors would call novellas and novels. She also writes a very successful Police Procedural Fantasy series The Chronicles of Elantra Cast in Shadow. It's on book 11, and it's hard to think of a clear parallel. Perhaps if Harry Dresden was a rookie cop in a more modern worldview Ankh-Morpork, but I digress.
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May 6, 2015 05:00
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Poseidon's Wake isn't being released in the US until February 2016?! gently caress you, publishing industry. Just gently caress you.
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May 6, 2015 16:12
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Kesper North posted:Poseidon's Wake isn't being released in the US until February 2016?! Yup. The publishing industry is a bunch of relics that can't adapt to change, I can't wait for them to go under.
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May 6, 2015 23:30
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Kesper North posted:Poseidon's Wake isn't being released in the US until February 2016?! http://m.bookdepository.com/search?searchTerm=Poseidon%27s+wake Free shipping to the US, enjoy.
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May 6, 2015 23:36
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I like Peter Watts but the last book in the rifters trilogy is kind of a mess and has a bunch of creepy torture rape that comes off as a little strong.
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May 6, 2015 23:55
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Is Revelation Space a trashy bad sci fi series? I just finished the second book and I'm suddenly afraid it might be bad but also that I'm two books in before wondering if it's bad. Will I read any bullshit put in front of me? Someone please tell me if it's bad. Chasm City ends with the main character discovering he has extra snake DNA modified in, unhinging his jaw to show off his venom sacs, and, presumably with his mouth still open like a 2000s era cgi vampire, delivering a quip like 'fangs for the memories' or something which I immediately questioned as probably sounding like someone trying to tell a yo-momma-so-fat burn on their dentist while his fist was in their mouth. I think it might be bad? Maybe I'm bad. I literally only picked up the series in the first place because I wanted to see how shamelessly mass effect ripped off its plot. I found the mass effect stolen plot elements to be extremely background and for all I know only really germane in the first book. The 2nd mentioned them, I guess, also. Sort of. I don't know how I started reading it as a goof but ended up not knowing if I was reading it ironically anymore or if it was bad. Is it bad?
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May 7, 2015 00:13
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Krinkle posted:Is Revelation Space a trashy bad sci fi series? I just finished the second book and I'm suddenly afraid it might be bad but also that I'm two books in before wondering if it's bad. Will I read any bullshit put in front of me? Someone please tell me if it's bad. Chasm City isn't the second book, it's a prequel. The trilogy is Rev Space, Redemption Ark and Absolution Gap. Redemption Ark is definitely the best. I like the books a lot. Ask yourself "Am I enjoying these?". If the answer is yes then isn't that all you need to know to keep reading them?
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May 7, 2015 00:19
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I know chasm city was in universe chronologically before Revelation Space, but, god drat it! The wikipedia pages for these books are hosed. They each claim to be followed by the other book.  I get the feeling it doesn't matter which order you read them in. The main character from one was referenced in the other because of his family. That's basically it. Krinkle fucked around with this message at 00:31 on May 7, 2015 |
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May 7, 2015 00:27
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Krinkle posted:I know chasm city was in universe chronologically before Revelation Space, but, god drat it! The wikipedia pages for these books are hosed. They each claim to be followed by the other book. Wikipedia is dumb. Anyway, Redemption Ark and Absolution Gap follow on from Rev Space. Many characters in common, and an escalation of the threat. Yes, they get more Mass Effect Reaper-y.
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May 7, 2015 00:35
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....I didn't get that Redemption Ark was a pun until just now.
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May 7, 2015 00:44
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