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Oh. My. Zeus. posted:It seems to be both an indictment of that particular part of the book, but also a tongue-in-cheek endorsement of it overall. Either way, it sucks as a joke. It's a webcomic about a book about a magic sex wizard with no set up or punch line. Rothfuss and the PA guys seem to be friends: They regularly play D&D together. They might be friends.
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Sep 1, 2016 01:41
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The moment I became aware of Rothfuss being so far up his own rear end he can see daylight past his teeth was when in the second book , after SO MUCH BITCHING that loving sweet all had happened in the first book, there's a part where PIRATES ATTACK and he literally uses 2 sentences to just handwave it as nothing big and let's move on. He writes well, the words flow well. The problem is, he can't tell a story for poo poo.
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Sep 1, 2016 01:44
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Please forgive me. 
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Sep 1, 2016 01:47
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:The moment I became aware of Rothfuss being so far up his own rear end he can see daylight past his teeth was when in the second book , after SO MUCH BITCHING that loving sweet all had happened in the first book, there's a part where PIRATES ATTACK and he literally uses 2 sentences to just handwave it as nothing big and let's move on. poo poo, I forgot about that. I remember hitting that point and wondering if the editor had made a mistake or something and accidentally cut text.
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Sep 1, 2016 01:47
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i read the chuck tingle Reamed by my Reaction to the Title of this Book and other than the gratuitous gay sex scene, it is surprisingly not awful
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Sep 1, 2016 03:43
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Stuporstar posted:A couple cyberpunk-era authors have attempted pop music centered novels that I know of, but whether or not they're complete pieces of poo poo is up for debate. I read Norman Spinrad's Little Heroes over a decade ago, and the only thing I remember apart from him predicting computer-generated pop stars was that it was mostly a vehicle for Boomer nostalgia about the good old days of rock and roll vs. them damned kids and their MTVees. There was just enough self-aware comedy in it that I'd have to reread it to determine how bad it really is. I really enjoyed Little Heroes when I read it and still think it's a good book, and might be worth rereading. There is a boomer protagonist in the middle of the cyberpunk music industry, but hers isn't the only opinion on computer-generated popstars; I don't think it's presented as crabby complaints that condemn the whole idea of pop stardom, but show that it has a lot of marketing-driven downsides to go with the positive qualities that a lot of the other characters work with as part of their character arcs. I kind of feel that what keeps it from being just boomer glorification, is that the boomer characters are often demonstratably wrong and short-sighted about issues and consequences that the younger characters of the novels spot coming and work together to fix. The bad parts of that book and of Spinrad's other cyberpunk novel, Bug Jack Barron, are probably the tone deaf racial stereotypes in my opinion. Paco Monaco was a very interesting character when I first read the book - completely broke, hispanic, and a criminal - but is, overall, kind of hamstrung by the stereotypical latino character spackle that make up the gaps in their characterization.
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Sep 2, 2016 03:17
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Mildly Amusing posted:Just want to point out the little girl's reflection doesn't match up. Her dress is a different color and the hairclip is nowhere to be seen. When i saw that I assumed that the book was going to be about the little girl having a separate personality, but nope. It's a silent nod to the unacknowledged long term psychological and developmental damage that Laurie will have to deal with later in life. Who she really is won't be what others see for a long time, if ever.
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Sep 4, 2016 19:35
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My latest epistle: The Hugos, the Sad Puppies and 1970s science fiction paperback covers, which were ridiculous - a cleaned up version of my earlier Tumblr rant on the subject, now with pictures! This one's taken off 'cos Scalzi tweeted it. Top image: Andrew Martin having a very bad day. Best discovery: that the guy who did all those paperback covers for Panther in the '70s has a name, he's Chris Foss, and you can buy prints of the book covers.
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Sep 5, 2016 00:20
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divabot posted:Best discovery: that the guy who did all those paperback covers for Panther in the '70s has a name, he's Chris Foss, and you can buy prints of the book covers. If you see a spaceship painted in the 70s or early 80s, it could be Chris Foss, it could be Angus McKie, or Peter Elson, or Tony Roberts. All British, all sci-fi illustrators specializing in spaceships, with varying degrees of skill (Foss is probably the best) and very similar styles. No idea who copied whom or if it was a case of parallel evolution, but there used to be 4 guys, all from the same country, all painting spaceships for a living, and you couldn't tell them apart at a glance
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Sep 5, 2016 01:40
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hackbunny posted:If you see a spaceship painted in the 70s or early 80s, it could be Chris Foss, it could be Angus McKie, or Peter Elson, or Tony Roberts. All British, all sci-fi illustrators specializing in spaceships, with varying degrees of skill (Foss is probably the best) and very similar styles. No idea who copied whom or if it was a case of parallel evolution, but there used to be 4 guys, all from the same country, all painting spaceships for a living, and you couldn't tell them apart at a glance
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Sep 5, 2016 03:59
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I'm about to read a book about exploding teenagers who are about to graduate high school and how they deal with the fact that they are now randomly exploding. I don't expect it to be great, but there's every chance it'll be amazing.
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Sep 5, 2016 05:57
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:I'm about to read a book about exploding teenagers who are about to graduate high school and how they deal with the fact that they are now randomly exploding. This sounds like one of those ideas you wake up at three AM to scribble down because it's genius, and then read it in the morning like, "'Prom queen detonates'? What the gently caress?"
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Sep 5, 2016 08:02
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:I'm about to read a book about exploding teenagers who are about to graduate high school and how they deal with the fact that they are now randomly exploding. That sounds like the plot of a decent indie movie I'd find in the back end of Netflix
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Sep 5, 2016 08:19
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Sham bam bamina! posted:You forgot John Berkey, who pretty clearly inspired all of them. I want a print of every piece that guy has done. I don't know what it is about his works, but he manages to take a subject that's otherwise inherently goofy, and makes it beautiful.
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Sep 5, 2016 18:32
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:I'm about to read a book about exploding teenagers who are about to graduate high school and how they deal with the fact that they are now randomly exploding. There's no such thing as a bad premise, only bad execution.
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Sep 5, 2016 19:17
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divabot posted:Best discovery: that the guy who did all those paperback covers for Panther in the '70s has a name, he's Chris Foss, and you can buy prints of the book covers.
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Sep 5, 2016 21:19
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Maxwell Lord posted:There's no such thing as a bad premise, only bad execution.
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Sep 6, 2016 02:39
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Sham bam bamina! posted:I dunno, the "mystery novel with a clairvoyant protagonist" idea earlier in the thread seems inherently self-defeating. Maybe you could do some kind of post-modern comedy with that, but I think that would end up counting as a substantially different premise anyway.  To describe this comic as 'loving bonkers' does it a disservice.
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Sep 6, 2016 02:57
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Sham bam bamina! posted:I dunno, the "mystery novel with a clairvoyant protagonist" idea earlier in the thread seems inherently self-defeating. Maybe you could do some kind of post-modern comedy with that, but I think that would end up counting as a substantially different premise anyway; you certainly wouldn't see it on the same shelf as Agatha Christie.
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Sep 6, 2016 03:57
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Squidster posted:Weirdly, this can actually be done. There's a manga called Haha.
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Sep 6, 2016 03:59
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:I'm about to read a book about exploding teenagers who are about to graduate high school and how they deal with the fact that they are now randomly exploding. I once had to read some YA book about how depression was made illegal and if you became depressed you got sent to The Facility. Teens dealing with the existential threat of spontaneous explosion sounds a million times more interesting.
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Sep 6, 2016 05:12
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It's written from the perspective of a teenage girl (of which I am completely unfamiliar as a middle aged man), but the book is surprisingly good/interesting/humorous. I thought it'd be some YA yank fest about some special unique snowflake who has two dreamy hunks fighting over her FEELS and then also she's gotta deal with people exploding and ONLY SHE CAN SAVE THE WORLD yet she just wants to chill and paint but THE PEOPLE EXPLODE AND SHE CAN SACRIFICE something and blah blah also she's gorgeous and never has a bad hair day and is possibly a half elf succubus fairy or some poo poo like that, but it's actually a legit mystery of "Why the gently caress are these kids exploding?". It's called Spontaneous by Aaron Starmer. I feel kinda bad mentioning it in the thread and thinking it was gonna be a train wreck. Some of the writing is a bit weird, but so far it's actually fun.
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Sep 6, 2016 07:29
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Squidster posted:Weirdly, this can actually be done. There's a manga called Qualia the Purple, in which the protagonist has literally omnipotent power, but is still challenged. She can replay every choice in her life to try every possible outcome in pursuit of her goals, and when killed just uses quantum immortality to try again. But she's limited by her own mind - she can only make choices she can imagine. Even as an immortal multidimensional god-thing, she's only as smart as a gifted teenager. The only limit in her universe is her. Welp, found something new to read.
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Sep 6, 2016 08:13
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Go read the Forrest of Hands and Teeth next.
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Sep 6, 2016 09:45
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:He writes well, the words flow well. The protaginist saves a woman from harassment: quote:Ambrose stiffened and his arm slid off the back of the chair to fall at his side. His expression was pure venom. “When you’re older, E’lir, you’ll understand that what a man and a woman do together—” BravestOfTheLamps has a new favorite as of 09:22 on Sep 8, 2016 |
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Sep 8, 2016 08:36
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So I found this in the free book share near my apartment. I think it might be the most Boston thing ever:  I'll post some quotes from it when I get home.
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Sep 8, 2016 14:54
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PYF Terrible book: A Gronking to Remember
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Sep 8, 2016 15:26
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Side Effects posted:So I found this in the free book share near my apartment. I think it might be the most Boston thing ever: That's not a real book. The author's name is supposedly Lacey Noonan but on the back cover it says "Lazy Noonerz", and that same italicised sentence contains the word "sex" four times. I mean, "watch Gronk do his thang-thang in the zone place"? If it's not a photoshop it's a parody. Tiggum has a new favorite as of 17:12 on Sep 8, 2016 |
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Sep 8, 2016 16:52
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"a The Dishes Are Done, Man! book" Almost certainly fake, but I want to believe.
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Sep 8, 2016 17:11
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BravestOfTheLamps posted:The protaginist saves a woman from harassment: Honestly none of this bothers me, and I really liked how the lovely-to-women as a defining villain trait covers a range of behaviors that all boil down to 'takes advantage of people with less power' instead of just rapes and beatings. I think a lot of the division over Kovothe and name of the wind is because he's basically a classical hero. He's got a hidden noble heritage, preternatural gifts, magical accessories, interactions with spirits and higher powers, he even brings in a bit of the tragic by chasing down a mystery that all but screams DOOM every time he gets closer to it. There is no real way to ground that poo poo, to make it relatable to a modern audience, without squashing the entire hero fantasy element. I think Rothfuss succeeds more than he fails, but a lot of that is probably tied into my own personal tolerance level for heroic fantasy bullshit which is high to begin with and expands with any hint of an unreliable narrator. And now I feel like I'm just derailing, so some actual content to make up for it. I mentioned Forrest of Hands and Teeth Post-apocalyptic zombie story meets a The Villiage sort of mystery. Our lead protagonist lives in a fenced-off village under the constant threat of zombie attack, and although there are fenced off roads, no one ever comes or leaves; the community is very isolated and conservative. She's doing some scut work for the nuns who are obviously hiding some big secret about the village/the world outside, when she comes across a stranger. Next time she sees the stranger, she's a zombie outside the fence and a really fast one. Nuns lie about there always having been fast zombies and it's no big deal. Of course it is because fast-zombie leads to the village falling, and the four survivors must journey down the fenced-off roads to see what else is out there. Feeling invested in the mystery of the nuns, the isolated village, and what the rest of the world might be like? Too loving bad because this is a YA book and all teens care about are love triangles. There village had an arranged marriage custom, and the night of the fall the lead and her best friend were married to the only two boys in their podunk town. The lead will spend 90% of the book agonizing over how she loves one brother but is married to the other one, and banged him on their wedding night so maybe she doesn't hate him and he loves her but she loves his brother who loves her but let his brother have her because his brother loved her... None of the mysteries presented in the first half of the book ever get resolved in the least bit; it's all just window dressing for a whiny, tepid romance between boring people who can't wrap their heads around the idea that with their families dead and their village gone, there is nothing and no one standing in the way of them just dropping the marriage thing. Who loving cares at this point!? loving Twilight is a better book than this! At least the girl chooses her guy and they get together, at least you have an idea of how vampires and werewolves work, at least the big conflict with the evil vampires happens and is resolved!
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Sep 8, 2016 17:25
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there wolf posted:Honestly none of this bothers me, and I really liked how the lovely-to-women as a defining villain trait covers a range of behaviors that all boil down to 'takes advantage of people with less power' instead of just rapes and beatings.
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Sep 8, 2016 17:52
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Tiggum posted:That's not a real book. The author's name is supposedly Lacey Noonan but on the back cover it says "Lazy Noonerz", and that same italicised sentence contains the word "sex" four times. I mean, "watch Gronk do his thang-thang in the zone place"? If it's not a photoshop it's a parody. It's a real book. Here's the Amazon link if you want your own copy. The woman who wrote the book got sued over the cover and had to change it into what you see there because she used photos for the cover without permission. Here's a link to the court case. It's also a badly written attempt at parody. The author is trying way to hard to be funny and winds up being both irritating and boring at the same time. Imagine that one friend who, every time you talk about baseball/football/etc., just has to interject with "Sports ball! Its when you bring the hand egg to the end place!!!!! Sports!!!!!" except it's EVERY conversation. That's where the 'zone-place' part of the back cover comes from. There are some nuggets of brilliance in there though. Apparently the original cover looked like this: 
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Sep 8, 2016 17:55
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Side Effects posted:It's also a badly written attempt at parody. The author is trying way to hard to be funny and winds up being both irritating and boring at the same time. Reading Chuck Tingle and thinking "that's surreal genius" and "I could do that", without realising that Chuck is legit schizophrenic, and his work is only as readable as it is because his son Jon edits it into shape. (I still want to know who does Tingle's graphic design though, it's frankly genius and shows the power of a cover to sell a book.)
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Sep 8, 2016 18:23
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divabot posted:Reading Chuck Tingle and thinking "that's surreal genius" and "I could do that", without realising that Chuck is legit schizophrenic, and his work is only as readable as it is because his son Jon edits it into shape. I'm almost entirely certain the reddit AMA that his "son" did was a giant joke on people taking his poo poo too seriously.
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Sep 8, 2016 18:50
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divabot posted:Reading Chuck Tingle and thinking "that's surreal genius" and "I could do that", without realising that Chuck is legit schizophrenic, and his work is only as readable as it is because his son Jon edits it into shape.
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Sep 8, 2016 19:22
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[Never mind.]
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Sep 8, 2016 19:28
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pookel posted:How about lovely-to-women as a protagonist trait? "If you’re going to force yourself on a woman, have the decency to do it in an alleyway. At least that way she’ll feel justified screaming about it.” Is this a joke? Kovoth isn't literally telling Ambrose to go rape a woman. He's pointing out that what Ambrose is doing is forcing himself on a woman, and he's deliberately doing it where his victim is discouraged or unable to defend herself by making a scene. It's the way actual sexual predators act and it's loving refreshing to see any novel, much less a fantasy one, call that poo poo out.
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Sep 8, 2016 20:20
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"Heh, why don't you go rape a woman instead of just harassing one  "
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Sep 8, 2016 20:39
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BravestOfTheLamps posted:"Heh, why don't you go rape a woman instead of just harassing one
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Sep 8, 2016 20:46
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Yeah, that's just... really not a great argument against the protagonist and book being insufferable. Christ, the smarm.
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Sep 8, 2016 21:22
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