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asiperi posted:Sorry, I saw the rec in the OP but I guess I must have missed the in-thread discussion. I think Verus is going to scale similarly to how Dresden scaled in terms of power/importance to the world around him, especially since Richard just returned and the Verus version of the White Council is going to start making GBS threads bricks. He'll have to in order to survive. EDIT: I mean, he'll probably find something like the Fateweaver (but less malicious) to use to augment his abilities again.
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May 18, 2015 20:25
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I don't actually see Verus scaling up in power much. Verus is already absurdly powerful and his challenge is very rarely winning fights. I suspect with Verus the challenge is going to be more "I have a power that is absurdly powerful but when used improperly is utterly horrifying, can I use this power without becoming a monster?" It's sort of the reverse of Dresden in that he isn't offered more power that will make him a monster, it's that he already has that power and has been willing to use it. I must just as-written Alex is absurdly strong power-wise. Just completely bonkers. Stuff like his improved armor are more the things I'd expect in terms of upgrades for him. Diviners in general are just sort of bonkers in that setting and it seems like people underestimating them is the only reason they're not considered top-grade threats. You can't even depend on killing Alex with a sniper rifle or car bomb like you could Harry Dresden. ImpAtom fucked around with this message at 20:31 on May 18, 2015 |
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May 18, 2015 20:28
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ImpAtom posted:You can't even depend on killing Alex with a sniper rifle or car bomb like you could Harry Dresden. you can't really rely on a sniper rifle to kill Harry either.
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May 18, 2015 20:42
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The Fool posted:you can't really rely on a sniper rifle to kill Harry either. It would have worked if not for the intervention of two absurdly powerful near-godlike beings and a parasitic spirit of intellect!
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May 18, 2015 20:47
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Just actually finished all 5 Alex Verus novels. Thus far his powering up has been a flat plane, which has honestly been refreshing. Power creep isn't terribly enjoyable unless done right. Alex is routinely surrounded by more "powerful" people anyway, and the series is more about the questions it raised - I really liked where things went in terms of moral shades with the last two, even if if was a tad on the nose with Ann. Also, given Alex's ability to see the future and how he's said it's given him a moderate skill at throwing things, I'd have expected him to invent Gun Kata and go all Grammaton Cleric, Equilibrium-style. Being able to predict exactly where someone will be and how to dodge an attack should make him deadly with pistols. He has one, but inexplicably isn't godlike with it. If you're on the fence about the series it does even out about book 3 when the cast starts to expand. It doesn't get the huge jump in quality like Dresden does, but it finds its feet. It's more of the same, but it refines it rather than simply "gets better" like Grave Peril and Summer Knight did for Dresden.
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May 18, 2015 20:52
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Mortanis posted:Being able to predict exactly where someone will be and how to dodge an attack should make him deadly with pistols. The only time I remember him actually using his pistol, he was shooting at the super-speed kid and the problem was that the kid could practically dodge bullets. He did the whole 'deadly with a gun' thing back in the end of book 2, though. ImpAtom posted:It would have worked if not for the intervention of two absurdly powerful near-godlike beings and a parasitic spirit of intellect!
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May 18, 2015 21:10
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Mortanis posted:If you're on the fence about the series it does even out about book 3 when the cast starts to expand. It doesn't get the huge jump in quality like Dresden does, but it finds its feet. It's more of the same, but it refines it rather than simply "gets better" like Grave Peril and Summer Knight did for Dresden. I would say that the most critical thing is that Book 1 is not at all a clear idea of what the series is like and a huge chunk of it is eventually thrown out or altered by the subsequent books. A lot of the little things from it either gets downplayed or soft-retconned into something else. Book 1 sets up the powers and introduces a few of the basic characters but it's clearly going in a different direction than the series ends up going.
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May 18, 2015 21:19
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This kinda got lost in the shuffle, but I'd really like to know where "Bless Me, Ultima" would fall in the Urban Fantasy and Magical Realism spectrum.
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May 18, 2015 21:29
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Do you even need to ask? The author has a latin-y name!
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May 18, 2015 21:42
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If anyone preordered Paranet Papers, they have been shipped and I got mine today!
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May 18, 2015 22:10
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I just got the shipped notice for it. Read the majority on PDF already but it'll be nice to have the book.  RE: Alex Verus, I really love it because Alex's problems are more that he IS a bad wizard who was raised by a worse wizard and he's trying not to be but he doesn't always succeed and he backslides sometimes. Alex knows he's not a good guy, and tries to settle for being a neutral party but that doesn't really work out for him either. It's pretty much the only story I've ever read where self-defense doesn't justify the protagonists' violence.
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May 18, 2015 22:47
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mistaya posted:I just got the shipped notice for it. Read the majority on PDF already but it'll be nice to have the book. Just checked my e-mail...my shipping notice got to me about 45 minutes after I got home today and grabbed the parcel off my front doorstep. Wizardry.
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May 18, 2015 22:56
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I like Alex Verus, but the thing that annoys me is that the character is so powerful, that the author has to invent reasons for him to not completely avoid any and all conflict. You have a character that can know exactly where someone is going to be, so you could just pick the future where your bullet hits where they're going to be and that's that. It makes for a really boring and short book, though, but it just feels like he the author really has to work his rear end off to get around the issue that without rules lawyering around his abilities, Alex automatically wins. It's sort of like how in Libriomancer, Isaac's weakness is any degree of a lack of imagination, though that series gets better as the author gets more used to the rules he has to work around. Just my observations, still enjoy both series.
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May 19, 2015 17:08
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Verus kind of explains that with the whole "can't predict something that hasn't been decided yet" clause. Like, you can't predict someone being at a particular place if they haven't decided they will go there yet.
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May 19, 2015 19:49
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Just read London Falling and Severed Streets. I really enjoyed the first one, but the second is... Not as good.
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May 19, 2015 20:59
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Wade Wilson posted:Verus kind of explains that with the whole "can't predict something that hasn't been decided yet" clause. As well, he can't predict the outcome of something like rolling dice because there's so many potential factors and outcomes that he can't isolate any particular future until the die is thrown. And hell, in the book where he fights the vigilante adepts there's a point just before he gets stabbed where he looks into the future and goes "Yep, all possible futures result in me getting stabbed" because knowing what would happen didn't mean that there was a way to avoid it. The diviners mentioned that manage to avoid all conflict do so by basically being hermits out in the middle of nowhere that have no contact with anybody to reduce the amount of variables they have to deal with, and who have no ties/attachments to anything so that they can run from any problems. That's really effective at avoiding troubles, but also a really miserable way to live.
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May 19, 2015 21:39
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I"m kinda wondering when Verus will square off against another diviner. I'm not sure if it would be really interesting or really absurd, but it's been overdue, especially since Jacka hung a lampshade on there being a bunch of other ones around that all took off during the events of the first book. Surely they didn't just leave forever.
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May 19, 2015 21:51
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The Fool posted:Just read London Falling and Severed Streets. I really enjoyed the first one, but the second is... Not as good. On the other hand, I got a laugh out of Neil Gaiman making a deal with the Devil in order to stay alive and keep writing books.
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May 19, 2015 21:55
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Wade Wilson posted:On the other hand, I got a laugh out of Neil Gaiman making a deal with the Devil in order to stay alive and keep writing books. the gaiman sections just annoyed me, it seemed like "hey guys I just put this well known author in the genre in my book I'm so cool" Also, his deal was to get a group of other people out of hell, had nothing to do with his own mortality
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May 19, 2015 22:08
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Mortanis posted:I"m kinda wondering when Verus will square off against another diviner. I'm not sure if it would be really interesting or really absurd, but it's been overdue, especially since Jacka hung a lampshade on there being a bunch of other ones around that all took off during the events of the first book. Surely they didn't just leave forever. Have you read the Mistborn trilogy by Brandon Sanderson? It's straight fantasy rather than urban fantasy, though the second trilogy is Western fantasy so we're building towards UF (supposedly the third trilogy will be set in modern times, and the fourth trilogy in the increasingly inaccurately named trilogy-of-trilogies will be space opera fantasy). There is a material in that universe that you can burn to see the future movements of your opponents, and in either the first or second book (forget which) there is a fight between two users of said material. I recall it being pretty entertaining.
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May 20, 2015 03:50
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Unfortunately, the ending is absolute rear end (for the first Mistborn trilogy). Pretty much every series or book I've read by Sanderson has had a garbage ending (though I'll give him a pass on the Wheel of Time since apparently that was already mapped out by Robert Jordan before he died) which is a real shame since I actually quite like the ride while it's going. It just seems like the train leaves the tracks in a fart smelling fireball at the end.
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May 20, 2015 03:58
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darth cookie posted:Unfortunately, the ending is absolute rear end (for the first Mistborn trilogy). That's the first time I've heard that about BranSan...he's kind of known for having crazy avalanche endings.
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May 20, 2015 04:29
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ConfusedUs posted:That's the first time I've heard that about BranSan...he's kind of known for having crazy avalanche endings. Yeah that's what I meant. Hectic and ultimately unsatisfying (to me).
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May 20, 2015 04:31
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Grundulum posted:Have you read the Mistborn trilogy by Brandon Sanderson? It's straight fantasy rather than urban fantasy, though the second trilogy is Western fantasy so we're building towards UF (supposedly the third trilogy will be set in modern times, and the fourth trilogy in the increasingly inaccurately named trilogy-of-trilogies will be space opera fantasy). There is a material in that universe that you can burn to see the future movements of your opponents, and in either the first or second book (forget which) there is a fight between two users of said material. I recall it being pretty entertaining. Yeah, read his stuff and went to a writing retreat with him last fall, and Vin's method of getting around Atium once she ran out ties in pretty well with Alex's talk of braching futures beyond decisions. I expect that a fight between two diviners will be them thinking really hard about not committing to thinking and will likely be kinda boring, but it's an elephant in the room for me given he's gone up against just about everything else except a carbon copy of himself.
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May 20, 2015 04:42
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I'm really, really hoping that in the next Wax and Wayne Mistborn book we get some Atium, and instead of it being them both thinking really hard about not doing anything, we just get someone reflexively putting a couple bullets in the other's chest.
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May 20, 2015 07:44
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I thought the Mistborn trilogy ended aright. Wonky, but serviceable. Some of Sandersons other works (Warbreaker, Elantris) end on "So much more to see!" points, which I actually liked. Not so much a cliffhanger because the current plot is put to rest, but highlightning that the mystery is yet unsolved and the world is far bigger then our protagonists imagined. I assume its a byproduct of 3rd person by perspective storytelling mixing with having the wiggle room for squeals without sacrificing the plot in the process. SavTargaryen posted:I'm really, really hoping that in the next Wax and Wayne Mistborn book we get some Atium, and instead of it being them both thinking really hard about not doing anything, we just get someone reflexively putting a couple bullets in the other's chest. I misread this as them reflexively shooting each other!  Serious, ontopic question: Whats the word on the next Dresden files anyway?
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May 20, 2015 13:38
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Thyrork posted:Some of Sandersons other works (Warbreaker, Elantris) end on "So much more to see!" points, which I actually liked. Not so much a cliffhanger because the current plot is put to rest, but highlightning that the mystery is yet unsolved and the world is far bigger then our protagonists imagined. Warbreaker frustrated me. It was enjoyable novel, but it was a bit of a, "Wait, what?" moment when I realised that the main character at the end was completely different from the main character at the start. Perhaps that was the idea. I'm not sure. I believe it's the one he published on his website as he was writing it, so I suppose that approach might have influenced its structure.
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May 20, 2015 13:53
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Thyrork posted:
Titled "Peace Talks", apparently it's about the supernatural community discussing the fallout of the death of the Red Court ( http://www.reddit.com/r/dresdenfiles/comments/27fyki/peace_talks_butcher_confirms_the_plot/ ), date is TBA right now but I think 2016 is possible. It was partially delayed because of the new series that he's writing but also because it's been 15 books.
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May 20, 2015 14:19
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computer parts posted:Titled "Peace Talks", apparently it's about the supernatural community discussing the fallout of the death of the Red Court ( http://www.reddit.com/r/dresdenfiles/comments/27fyki/peace_talks_butcher_confirms_the_plot/ ), date is TBA right now but I think 2016 is possible. Is it just me or do other people resent an author for writing something else instead of the good stuff? I hate and find stupid the steam punk genre, so I really hate the waste of time here. I love Christopher Moore (a name not mentioned much in urban fantasy, but he has some really good ones), but his historical stuff does nothing for me,and I hate every book that isn't his " normal" stuff. I know it's irrational, but still.
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May 20, 2015 14:57
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torgeaux posted:Is it just me or do other people resent an author for writing something else instead of the good stuff? I hate and find stupid the steam punk genre, so I really hate the waste of time here. I love Christopher Moore (a name not mentioned much in urban fantasy, but he has some really good ones), but his historical stuff does nothing for me,and I hate every book that isn't his " normal" stuff. I know it's irrational, but still. Okay. The thing that writers thrive on energy and interest. Doing the same thing over and over and over becomes tiresome and repetitive. Writing the same characters, in the same world, with the same plot leads to a loss of interest even for a world they're devoted to. Many writers find that their energy levels (and thus productivity) increase when they diversify and work on what interests them. What you are asking is not just irrational, it's straight-up stupid, because it leads to a writer who is disinterested and putting out a worksman product because you want them to, instead of one who feels charged and invested in his work. Butcher flat-out said that working on Codex A helped him get back into writing Dresden too. I presume his steampunk novel is the same.
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May 20, 2015 15:10
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I'm fine with that as long as nobody expects me to buy a copy or care about the different series (just as I'm fine with an author writing different stuff from a series I want to read, so long as they *do* come back to it eventually).
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May 20, 2015 15:15
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Wade Wilson posted:I'm fine with that as long as nobody expects me to buy a copy or care about the different series (just as I'm fine with an author writing different stuff from a series I want to read, so long as they *do* come back to it eventually). Oh, you say you like an author? Then you're contractually obligated to purchase every single thing they ever write, forever. 
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May 20, 2015 15:34
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I've tried to read and bounced off Butchers 'Codex Alera' stuff on 2 seperate occasions. Just can't get into them.
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May 20, 2015 15:36
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ImpAtom posted:Okay. Yes, irrational things are stupid. Thanks for going out of your way to be insulting, though. However, unless you are a writer, I'm not sure I value your opinion that much on how writers work. Many of my favorites write great books in a series, and only in a series. Some write other stuff, and when it's stuff I'm interested in, I'm less irritated. Irrational, I know, as noted, but the question was, do others feel the same. Rose Spirit posted:Oh, you say you like an author? Then you're contractually obligated to purchase every single thing they ever write, forever. You kid, but man, that's not an unusual opinion. torgeaux fucked around with this message at 16:16 on May 20, 2015 |
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May 20, 2015 16:12
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torgeaux posted:Yes, irrational things are stupid. Thanks for going out of your way to be insulting, though. However, unless you are a writer, I'm not sure I value your opinion that much on how writers work. Many of my favorites write great books in a series, and only in a series. Some write other stuff, and when it's stuff I'm interested in, I'm less irritated. Irrational, I know, as noted, but the question was, do others feel the same. Well, I've literally been published so clearly my opinion is now utterly unarguable and you should listen to me. v  vHowever, sarcasm aside, that isn't actually a controversial opinion. Again, this is literally something Jim Butcher said about his own writing and something a lot of writers have said. You admit you're being irrational so why do you want people to prop up your irrationality? ImpAtom fucked around with this message at 16:18 on May 20, 2015 |
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May 20, 2015 16:15
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ImpAtom posted:Well, I've literally been published so clearly my opinion is now utterly unarguable and you should listen to me. v No, I don't dispute that Butcher said that. Or that some authors feel that way, but it's not "it's straight-up stupid, because it leads to a writer who is disinterested and putting out a worksman product," since not all authors feel that way. Speaking of writers, I don't know why Christopher Moore isn't mentioned much in here. He has a couple of good vampire books, and his book on Death, "A Dirty Job," is really excellent. It's irrational for me to want an author to bend to my will, it's not, however, irrational to differ with your opinion, if you see the difference. torgeaux fucked around with this message at 16:19 on May 20, 2015 |
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May 20, 2015 16:17
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torgeaux posted:No, I don't dispute that Butcher said that. Or that some authors feel that way, but it's not "it's straight-up stupid, because it leads to a writer who is disinterested and putting out a worksman product," since not all authors feel that way. There are very few prolific long-term writers who have only written for a single series so unless your favorites are relatively young authors with few books under their belts I'm not sure who you're talking about. I don't know if you've ever attended a writing class but diversifying is a thing they actually recommend, if just because doing other things can help improve your writing and help you learn new things. The idea that great writers only ever write a single thing feels odd to me because I can't think of any great writers who are like that.
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May 20, 2015 16:19
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ImpAtom posted:There are very few prolific long-term writers who have only written for a single series so unless your favorites are relatively young authors with few books under their belts I'm not sure who you're talking about. Mystery authors, the Harry Potter series, there are others but you get the drift. Sorry, playing games online, and just hitting here occasionally as we go.
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May 20, 2015 16:20
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torgeaux posted:Mystery authors, the Harry Potter series, there are others but you get the drift. JK Rowling wrote non-Potter books you know. "Mystery Authors" is an extremely broad classification but a lot of respected mystery writers have other fiction or even if they're doing mysteries they do them in other genres.
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May 20, 2015 16:21
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ImpAtom posted:JK Rowling wrote non-Potter books you know. When? The mystery she wrote was at least published after. I'm also thinking of those that write a series, then write something outside the series, but same universe. Think Robert Crais. 8 books in series, then books not in series in name only. Fits your idea of a break, sort of. Rowling's other books appear to be after she completed Harry Potter. torgeaux fucked around with this message at 16:28 on May 20, 2015 |
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May 20, 2015 16:22
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