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Katreus posted:Um. Noted. I won't rush to it then. Looks like I have The God Stalker Chronicles, which is apparently the first 2 books in one fat paperback. Back on the Web Serial topic, Twig is kind of wearing me down. Part of me hopes he will wrap it up soon. That's probably an issue with me because I prefer to binge completed works and know how much I'm in for, versus reading an unknown week to week. That said it looks like this arc is wearing on the characters too so I'll see what comes of it.
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Oct 5, 2016 19:13
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Thoughts on the latest Conspiracy conclusion and the latest Chapter for Practical Guide: Conspiracy - Hooo boy. Scribe is scary and ruthless. Not that it was not unexpected, but it really is the quiet ones who are the scariest. Also, it's a little clearer just how / why Hakram gained his reverence from the other orc troops. Latest Chapter - So, not unexpected but Catherine's got a fairly short time limit (else Bad Things) so that she can't just siege them out. Are we sure the angels are the good guys? They're pretty scary! What makes one side 'Good' anyway? Aren't both sides just basically treating the world as pawns for their overall game? Of note, Bard mentioned earlier that stories about Choir of Contrition heroes are mostly tragedies, and William certainly made a deal that *feels* like a deal with the devil (and is quite cavalier in its treatment to everyone within range).
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Oct 5, 2016 19:21
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bagrada posted:Back on the Web Serial topic, Twig is kind of wearing me down. Part of me hopes he will wrap it up soon. The way it's going, he won't have much choice.  Pact went up to 16.13 so I guess we're getting close to that.
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Oct 5, 2016 20:08
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The Shortest Path posted:Yeah there's a massive drop in quality around then, it kinda sucks for a while. I would say that it started to go downhill (though I was still enjoying it) post-Leviathan. It just seemed to get a little too grimdark and depressing for my tastes, and the negative tone seemed to sort of clash with the fact that you know Skitter will find some way out of every tense situation she finds herself in (I found myself just skipping chapters during the part where Dragon sent a bunch of suits after the Undersiders, because I knew it was a foregone conclusion that they'd win somehow and just wanted to find out what happened next plot-wise). It briefly got more interesting again when she decided to surrender and become a Hero, but then she just stayed sorta moody and weird (not that she didn't have some good reasons, but it still wasn't fun to read).
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Oct 10, 2016 22:48
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Ytlaya posted:I would say that it started to go downhill (though I was still enjoying it) post-Leviathan. It just seemed to get a little too grimdark and depressing for my tastes, and the negative tone seemed to sort of clash with the fact that you know Skitter will find some way out of every tense situation she finds herself in (I found myself just skipping chapters during the part where Dragon sent a bunch of suits after the Undersiders, because I knew it was a foregone conclusion that they'd win somehow and just wanted to find out what happened next plot-wise). Skitter never really loses. It's one of the more grating parts of Worm. I'd say almost any other character in Worm is more interesting than she is.
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Oct 11, 2016 00:00
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Milky Moor posted:Skitter
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Oct 11, 2016 00:40
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Milky Moor posted:Skitter never really loses. It's one of the more grating parts of Worm. I'd say almost any other character in Worm is more interesting than she is. yes. There should be more circumstances in which she's just outmatched and can't deal with. It would not only improve the story but also be very cathartic.
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Oct 11, 2016 04:17
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IMO she loses, but she always needs to control the situation such that she doesn't see it that way, like it's part of a bigger game. Fighting Lung: saved the Undersiders, gained rep as a villain Tried to infiltrate the Undersiders: got screwed into villainy by Armsmaster Fought the S9: Brian got scarred for life Attacking Mayor Christner - saddled with guilt Coil arc: Loses her innocence completely Surrendering to the PRT - loses control / kills even more / is actually kinda villainous as she flips to heroism. Arguably Taylor 'dies' metaphorically, and Skitter is all that's left. Like, she has an angle in all of those, but she takes her losses and adapts with whatever resources and opportunities she has on hand, because that's what the QA shard does.
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Oct 11, 2016 05:00
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So I've been wanting to write a big post about this one for a week or two but haven't been able to find the time. Has anyone else checked out The Gods are Bastards? It was recommended by the author of A Practical Guide not that long ago, so I'm going to guess I'm not the only one. If you haven't, the main thrust of this post is: do so, because it's actually not half bad. It's a Wild West/Magitech/DnD mash-up- and when I say DnD, I mean DnD. Trissiny isn't just "a paladin", she's a level 5 Half-Elf Paladin with Favoured Enemy: Outsider (Evil). At one point she levels up and gains a mount as a class feature. There are gnomes*. If this was an RPG, it'd be a fantasy heartbreaker of the old school. It's also, at least nominally, set at a magical university. I swear to Christ, JK Rowling has poisoned the imagination of an entire generation. Now, normally this is a combination that would send me screaming for the hills, but Gods has a couple of things going for it. First, it regularly produces sentences- sometimes even entire paragraphs!- that don't make me want to gouge my own eyes out and pour concentrated acid into the bloody sockets. At no point while I was reading it did I think, "I hate myself for carrying on but I really want to know how this ends". This is high praise. Second, it doesn't spend all that much time in the university. Large swathes of the story focus on people that have nothing to do with the place, and even the characters that are actually students spend more time off campus than on. Third, it has the somewhat dubious distinction of having a thesis. I have to, grudgingly, admit that there's a point to an academic setting when the narrative is so relentlessly paedagogical. I know I seem a little down on this, and honestly I feel like I'm enjoying it in spite of myself, but I am a finicky rear end in a top hat with a tendency to look down my nose at everything. Don't be me, guys. Check it out, it's worth your time. *Good God do I hate gnomes.
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Nov 15, 2016 23:02
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Autonomous Monster posted:So I've been wanting to write a big post about this one for a week or two but haven't been able to find the time. Sounds pretty cool. Seems like it is worth giving it a go. Is there an ebook epub/mobi version somewhere? I really hate reading on a browser. I have such a hard time reading pages upon pages on my desktop.  The epub version of Wildbow's Skitter book was literally one of the best things ever.
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Nov 16, 2016 00:39
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I have this niggling feeling that an epub version was mentioned somewhere, at some point, but I can't find it signposted anywhere on the site, sorry. You might be able to auto-generate one yourself; I think there was a script or something that did that for Worm? What was so good about the Skitter book?
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Nov 16, 2016 00:51
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I binged through The Gods are Bastards recently too, also from Practical Evil. It's an interesting take on the setting and well written for the most part. It drags a lot at times though, and has some serious character bloat. I'm still enjoying it though. I actually bailed on Twig a while back myself, I just couldn't get into it the same way I did worm.
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Nov 16, 2016 01:23
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Autonomous Monster posted:I have this niggling feeling that an epub version was mentioned somewhere, at some point, but I can't find it signposted anywhere on the site, sorry. Thanks, but I went and made an epub myself of it. If I like what I read after a little bit I'll think about putting together a cover. As far as Worm goes, it's very character driven, and they're all interesting, and the superpowers are used pretty intelligently, and worldbuilding is really good. Superhero books are a guilty pleasure of mine and this one is not only a really goddamn good superhero book, but it's just a really good book in general. Imagine something like Wildcards, but better in every way and not embarrassing to read. The only other superhero book that I can always name isDevil's Cape, by Rob Rogers.
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Nov 16, 2016 08:59
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Autonomous Monster posted:I have this niggling feeling that an epub version was mentioned somewhere, at some point, but I can't find it signposted anywhere on the site, sorry. Autonomous Monster posted:You might be able to auto-generate one yourself; I think there was a script or something that did that for Worm?
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Nov 16, 2016 09:03
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Doctor w-rw-rw- posted:Only in the context of Wildbow asking that people please do not do this. Noted, but we were talking about The Gods are Bastards  Drifter posted:As far as Worm goes, it's very character driven, and they're all interesting, and the superpowers are used pretty intelligently, and worldbuilding is really good. Superhero books are a guilty pleasure of mine and this one is not only a really goddamn good superhero book, but it's just a really good book in general. Oh, I've read Worm. When you mentioned the epub specifically I thought you meant a spin off or that there was something typographically interesting about it. New Gods: So Triss is Herschel's half-sister. Saw that one coming a mile off.  I am surprised that Book 11 is ending here, though. I would have sworn blind we were building to Basra finally getting her just desserts in this book. In fact, this means there's no resolution to Covrin's plot arc at all. New Practical Guide: I honestly thought this was going to fall out the way Katreus thought upthread. That was some drat fine speculation. Cat could still lose her name to the goblin, I guess. I any case, I am amused that they both concocted elaborate schemes to get out of dying by dying. I like this story best when it's running on fairytale logic.
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Nov 16, 2016 16:36
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The Gods are Bastards is really, really good so far, I'm mostly done with the first book. Tellwyrn had me at "catapult". The worldbuilding is better than pretty much anything I've read since my first go at Worm. Thanks for the recommendation!
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Nov 18, 2016 16:29
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Catching up on Twig, I think I'm almost there. I'm very very worried though that my main man Mauer is going to buy it soon. Not sure how I could handle losing him so soon after Sy finally getting a talking to about how hosed up his views on relationships are. drat that 'interrogation' scene was uncomfortable to read. And the payoff for those months of "Sy doesn't get innuendo jokes. Poor Jaime[s]. On the plus side, Sy's descent into insanity is if nothing else entertaining. I really loved that his figment of Duncan wants to kill him. Poor Duncan, I do like him. And Gordon gets to hang around a while longer.
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Nov 19, 2016 19:40
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Autonomous Monster posted:
I know we're supposed to hate this, but magical schools are a guilty pleasure of mine for probably exactly this reason. A lot of them are really badly written or boring though.
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Nov 20, 2016 00:00
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Wolpertinger posted:I know we're supposed to hate this, but magical schools are a guilty pleasure of mine for probably exactly this reason. A lot of them are really badly written or boring though. Well, I won't begrudge you your preferences. They drive me nuts, though. All too often it adds nothing to the story, and places far too many restrictions on its structure, and the characters' actions. And it tends to funnel authors into the same, very narrow set of plot beats and tropes. All these stories end up blurring together, after a while. There's also a problem that, well, a lot of the elder educational institutions in Britain are basically antediluvian fossils with customs and traditions to match, and both Hogwarts and Pratchett's Unseen University get a lot of mileage out of playing that up. They're already deeply weird at their root; the addition of magic plays off of that. With these derivative stories, though, a lot of the time it seems the authors are drawing on their own experiences in much more modern institutions and layering the magic over that. The result is... banal. Like tofu with sprinkles on. The Shortest Path posted:The Gods are Bastards is really, really good so far, I'm mostly done with the first book. Tellwyrn had me at "catapult". 
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Nov 20, 2016 02:32
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The Shortest Path posted:The Gods are Bastards is really, really good so far, I'm mostly done with the first book. Tellwyrn had me at "catapult". I've been meaning to recommend this for a while but never actually had the energy to write a post on why, so I'm glad other people are reading it anyway
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Nov 20, 2016 02:39
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Just finished volume one. What a loving ride. A few moments have had me close to tears, including several of the scenes with Sweet and the sisters (my favorite characters) and most of the v1 epilogues. Quite a few more have had me out of my seat laughing or silently screaming at things. I'm in deep, and apparently this isn't even a quarter of the way through, so I'm pretty drat happy to have found it.
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Nov 22, 2016 06:55
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The Shortest Path posted:Sweet and the sisters (my favorite characters)  Superlative taste.
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Nov 22, 2016 15:41
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Autonomous Monster posted:
By the point in the story Shortest Path is at I agree, but my overall favorite is definitely Prin
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Nov 22, 2016 16:29
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Autonomous Monster posted:New Practical Guide: I honestly thought this was going to fall out the way Katreus thought upthread. That was some drat fine speculation. I could still be right in the broader strokes! You could too! Given the latest chapter anyway. Foundling having to play off her clumsier than usual instincts as drama was pretty amusing, especially the catch an arrow with her hand. Heh. Katreus fucked around with this message at 16:16 on Nov 23, 2016 |
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Nov 23, 2016 16:13
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I just finished the first volume of The Gods are Bastards, and I was not prepared for how quickly Prin became the best character. I also can't help comparing it to another magic university web serial and being glad the author doesn't seem to have a fetish for being eaten, despite Juniper being... Juniper, and eating people occasionally.
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Nov 23, 2016 18:50
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Katreus posted:I could still be right in the broader strokes! You could too! Given the latest chapter anyway. Foundling having to play off her clumsier than usual instincts as drama was pretty amusing, especially the catch an arrow with her hand. Heh. FYI, the author confirmed that as of now she is not the Squire.
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Nov 24, 2016 08:11
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90s Cringe Rock posted:I just finished the first volume of The Gods are Bastards, and I was not prepared for how quickly Prin became the best character. I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I do. Better than Pact for sure. It manages to handle the fundamental schlock of a very obvious D&D setting quite well.
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Nov 24, 2016 09:01
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90s Cringe Rock posted:I also can't help comparing it to another magic university web serial and being glad the author doesn't seem to have a fetish for being eaten, despite Juniper being... Juniper, and eating people occasionally. ...is there really someone writing Harry Potter and the Eroticism of Vore out there? 
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Nov 24, 2016 11:37
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GreyjoyBastard posted:I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I do. Better than Pact for sure. It manages to handle the fundamental schlock of a very obvious D&D setting quite well. Yeah this is a lot of what does it for me. I played a lot of D&D in my nerd formative years, so it hits many many buttons. Tellwyrn and Sweet and Prin being such forces of personality and general mayhem add so much to that, too. I think I'm finally gonna replace this lovely D&D redtext av with some TGaB fanart if I can find any.
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Nov 24, 2016 15:45
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Autonomous Monster posted:...is there really someone writing Harry Potter and the Eroticism of Vore out there? MU was OK when I was reading it, although it has on-screen sex scenes rather than fading to black as Bastards does, is generally not as well-written, and... just doesn't have the charm.
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Nov 24, 2016 16:51
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Doctor w-rw-rw- posted:FYI, the author confirmed that as of now she is not the Squire. Awesome. Squire was a dead end for Catherine given that she's plumbed all the possible Aspects and there are no open promotion spots for her. No one knows where the White Knight is - other than it's confirmed to be occupied by someone - and it doesn't seem likely that Catherine would go after Black to open up that. And anyway, even if she wanted to, it would take too long for the current situation. It has to be Warlord, right? The only other one we've seen Callow-related is Commander (IIRC), but it does not appear to have the same resonance with Catherine's own story. I guess there could be a completely new Name somewhere, but that seems a waste of foreshadowing. Also, I'm curious if this: 1) resets the Ro3 with Hieress, 2) transfers the Ro3 to Childer as Squire, or 3) continues the Ro3 with Catherine.
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Nov 24, 2016 16:55
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Katreus posted:It has to be Warlord, right? The only other one we've seen Callow-related is Commander (IIRC), but it does not appear to have the same resonance with Catherine's own story. I guess there could be a completely new Name somewhere, but that seems a waste of foreshadowing. I think an entirely new name not of Callow or Praes but both is most likely. It would be the culmination of everything Black has been trying to do with Cat. So there's a question: what sort of name falls into that conceptual space, isn't covered already, and is epitomised by Catherine? I don't think it's going to be anything to do with generalship, she pawns that poo poo off to Juniper. Given that she's all about destroying the Callow vs Praes narrative it might be some spin on "the Revolutionary"... but she's doing it on behalf of the current hegemonic power.
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Nov 24, 2016 17:19
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You're assuming that Catherine still even has a Name. This author is almost as unkind as Wildbow when it comes to making things worse for protagonists.
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Nov 24, 2016 18:53
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blastron posted:You're assuming that Catherine still even has a Name. This author is almost as unkind as Wildbow when it comes to making things worse for protagonists. I don't think she's got a name right now. I do think she's going to pick on up at the end of this arc. I have no idea where the story even goes after this if she's permanently Nameless.
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Nov 24, 2016 19:05
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blastron posted:You're assuming that Catherine still even has a Name. This author is almost as unkind as Wildbow when it comes to making things worse for protagonists. But what of the lampshading re: it's almost as if creation wanted Masego to get to her? The story is, in a manner of speaking, about Catherine making a name for herself, no? Also, Heiress has been annoying for a long enough time that I wonder if her Name is in play. She does want to rule Callow, after all, doesn't she?
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Nov 24, 2016 21:35
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Autonomous Monster posted:I think an entirely new name not of Callow or Praes but both is most likely. It would be the culmination of everything Black has been trying to do with Cat. Champion?
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Nov 25, 2016 04:29
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Autonomous Monster posted:
I just read through this in the last day, and it is fun, once you get used to the style. I've caught up with everything translated so far, and started looking at other translations to see if they're any good. They are, as you said, hot garbage.
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Nov 29, 2016 21:33
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boxen posted:I just read through this in the last day, and it is fun, once you get used to the style. I've caught up with everything translated so far, and started looking at other translations to see if they're any good. They are, as you said, hot garbage. Glad to hear you're enjoying it! You might want to check out Ascendance of a Bookworm, the other series I'm translating; it's a resurrected-in-another-world story that has likable characters, a believable plot, and plenty of real challenges for the main character. A Practical Guide to Evil: I take back what I said about how things keep constantly getting worse for Catherine. A power-level reset and the defeat of the last remaining Claimant are both unequivocally positive things. The un-defining of her Aspects is really interesting, though, I wonder if those are going to be redefined in some sort of convention-defying way, or if she's going to end up with variations on Struggle and Seek again.
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Dec 1, 2016 05:39
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blastron posted:A Practical Guide to Evil: I take back what I said about how things keep constantly getting worse for Catherine. A power-level reset and the defeat of the last remaining Claimant are both unequivocally positive things. The un-defining of her Aspects is really interesting, though, I wonder if those are going to be redefined in some sort of convention-defying way, or if she's going to end up with variations on Struggle and Seek again. Heiress: I have contracted with dread fiends and conjured ancient magics to rip the strength from your very soul, Catherine Foundling! Thy doom is upon thee! Founding: Ha ha ha, nah. *rips Chider's spine out*
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Dec 1, 2016 23:56
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Two new chapters released for Practical Guide, one the side-story and one for the main story. Side-Story: Apparently, every Calamity came by their name honestly. Wow, Sabah messed up a god. It's a nice tie-in to Catherine telling the gods where to stick it too. Main: ... Bye-bye William. Catherine twisting it to make it the sword in the stone story was fantastic and Heiress' 'oh shoot, she's an orphan too' reaction made it even sweeter. I'm a little confused if this means she's now The Lone Swordsman or she took another Name entirely.
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Dec 7, 2016 07:09
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