|
So that thing is still down there then? They didn't make that poo poo go away in any way shape or form?
|
#
?
Mar 27, 2017 18:36
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 13, 2024 09:47 |
|
|
Correct. Scientist lady survived walking through it. And nothing else happened. 
|
|
#
?
Mar 27, 2017 18:43
|
|
|
Book 3 preview Finally finished Calibans War. Not as good Leviathan imo But poo poo the teaser for book 3....Maneo being turned into a paste after a 90g decel...I felt more emotional reading that than Calibans War
|
|
#
?
Mar 29, 2017 02:21
|
|
|
So discussion in the TV thread has me wondering again, how bad is living on Basic? I get that no one wants to do it, but I always assumed it was fairly comfortable, but last time it came up in the TV thread people said that it was more slums and squalor. Can anyone remind me of times the quality of life on basic was referenced in the books? I know Holden's parents seemed well off thanks to their tax shenanigans, and the Churn was mainly about people outside the system and all the shittiness there wasn't about Basic at all. Did Cortazar have a particularly lovely upbringing? He grew up on basic, right? Was there anything else that gave us an insight into what it was like? I always thought Basic was more an issue for people's mental well being, rather than having them suffer materially, but no one else seemed to think that way last time it came up.
|
|
#
?
Mar 29, 2017 03:09
|
|
|
IIRC from the mainline books, we really only know that it's viewed as a terrible punishment for someone who has an interest in being a working professional (see how Chrissie uses it as a threat to UN employees,) and I believe that Amos has a line to his old Baltimore contact in book 5 that's something along the lines of "anything's better than Basic" so it may depend on the local administration, or may just reflect a cultural attitude to how living on basic is seen by society. It certainly isn't painted as some wonderful socialistic utopian life though.
|
|
#
?
Mar 29, 2017 03:41
|
|
|
Eiba posted:So discussion in the TV thread has me wondering again, how bad is living on Basic? I get that no one wants to do it, but I always assumed it was fairly comfortable, but last time it came up in the TV thread people said that it was more slums and squalor. I don't get the impression that Basic means squalor, just a maddening level of tedium for anyone who's remotely ambitious. In terms of necessities, the biggest drawbacks seem to be long waitlists for medical care, fertility restriction, and somewhat cramped housing. I don't think the housing is as small as the closets that pass for quarters on ships and stations, though; "freshman dorm" was a comparison someone made earlier in one of the threads, and it sounds about right in terms of size and quality. Edit: if I recall correctly, people on Basic are also subject to relocation if their household size changes, e.g. Cortazar getting moved to a smaller apartment after his mom dies. I don't remember how far they moved him, though. Toast Museum fucked around with this message at 03:45 on Mar 29, 2017 |
|
#
?
Mar 29, 2017 03:42
|
|
|
Rereading bits of Caliban's War thanks to the season finale. drat, the prose for Avarsala and Bobbie's points of view are really well written. Following Avarsala as she Does Her Thing is sublime.
Mars4523 fucked around with this message at 08:39 on Apr 20, 2017 |
|
#
?
Apr 20, 2017 08:35
|
|
|
Mars4523 posted:Rereading bits of Caliban's War thanks to the season finale. drat, the prose for Avarsala and Bobbie's points of view are really well written. Following Avarsala as she Does Her Thing is sublime. Doing the same, and this is true. However, there are two things that are garbage that keep annoying me. The most egregious is the constant confusion between weight and mass. Bobby is frequently described as massing a certain number of kilograms at various g forces. No, dumbasses, she always masses the same. I'm also highly annoyed that everything in the space future uses nautical terminology and metaphors when there are straightforward space terms available.
|
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2017 17:34
|
|
|
I'd have to go back and check, but I could've sworn they tend to talk about things weighing X kilograms in this or that gravity. Wrong either way, of course.
|
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2017 18:01
|
|
|
Toast Museum posted:I'd have to go back and check, but I could've sworn they tend to talk about things weighing X kilograms in this or that gravity. Wrong either way, of course. Holden is talking to Bobbie and trying not to stare at her tits: Page 460 posted:She pushed herself to her feet without touching the arms of the chair. She’d grown up in Martian gravity. She had to mass a hundred kilos at one g, easy. She masses the same at every g! If this is a clumsy way of saying "she masses at least 100 kg, and it's also 1g, making her physical action impressive" then, well, it's clumsy.
|
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2017 18:16
|
|
|
Anyone else notice that something like 70% of the population of side characters is either gay or in some sort of non-traditional or plural marriage?
|
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2017 18:21
|
|
|
AlternateAccount posted:Anyone else notice that something like 70% of the population of side characters is either gay or in some sort of non-traditional or plural marriage? Everyone being brown and gay rules, but Holden being raised by polys definitely explains why he's so stupid.
|
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2017 18:39
|
|
|
AlternateAccount posted:Anyone else notice that something like 70% of the population of side characters is either gay or in some sort of non-traditional or plural marriage? It was their penance for having the hero and the most significant historical figure (Epstein) be the expected white guys.
|
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2017 19:15
|
|
|
Number Ten Cocks posted:Doing the same, and this is true. There's actually a trope for Sci fi writers screwing up units of measurement. The writers are generally pretty good with those details, so I'm guessing those bits just slipped by editing.
|
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2017 20:11
|
|
|
AlternateAccount posted:Anyone else notice that something like 70% of the population of side characters is either gay or in some sort of non-traditional or plural marriage? Yup! It's awesome. Still waiting for (most of) the rest of the genre to catch up.
|
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2017 21:17
|
|
|
Mars4523 posted:Also, the numbers given for Bobbie's armor's main gun would make it laughably weak. 1000 m/s muzzle velocity for a mini gun would be shooting rounds that are under half the diameter of an M16's 5.56mm at an only slightly higher muzzle velocity. I'm genuinely glad I'm too dumb to notice stuff like this because I feel like it lets me enjoy the books even more. bitprophet posted:Yup! It's awesome. Still waiting for (most of) the rest of the genre to catch up. I appreciated that there was a trans character whose pronoun was "they" and at no point was it brought up as a Thing in the text that needed to be addressed, they were just treated as any other character. I cannot remember the character's name or what their role in the story was but that's on me, probably
|
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2017 21:24
|
|
|
Oh neat, I didn't know this thread existed. I'm 150 pages into Nemesis Games. I'm curious if I'm going to learn much more about what happens with protomolecule Miller or Elvi after the events at the end of Cibola Burn?
|
|
#
?
May 1, 2017 22:52
|
|
|
We haven't heard anything about Elvi since CB. Miller seems to have been entirely deleted/killed by the alien weapon shard thing.
|
|
#
?
May 1, 2017 23:20
|
|
|
Aw, butts 
|
|
#
?
May 1, 2017 23:39
|
|
|
There's still three books yet to be released, and I bet we'll see plenty of weird protomolecule shenanigans by the end of it. I'm hoping for more inexplicable Clarketech and weird beetle robots, myself.
|
|
#
?
May 2, 2017 17:32
|
|
|
Calling it: turns out the aliens were those poison death worms the whole time
|
|
#
?
May 2, 2017 17:35
|
|
|
Man if you like yourself some robotic beetles I suggest a little thing called The Long Earth books.
|
|
#
?
May 3, 2017 02:26
|
|
|
Why don't they shut down their fusion reactors during combat? Seems like batteries would be more than enough to run the panels, computers, thrusters and PDCs for the duration of a battle with no fear of turning into a small sun.
|
|
#
?
May 6, 2017 16:59
|
|
|
AlternateAccount posted:Why don't they shut down their fusion reactors during combat? Seems like batteries would be more than enough to run the panels, computers, thrusters and PDCs for the duration of a battle with no fear of turning into a small sun. main engine is prob their best way to maneuver
|
|
#
?
May 6, 2017 17:00
|
|
|
Doing a series reread, and Abaddon's Gate is a much better book when you know what it's about in the context of the series. The first time you think it's going to be about learning deep protomolecule secrets and lots of Miller time, but instead it's about what every other book is about in a new context and with new characters - civil and intercultural war between and inside all of the factions with the protomolecule serving as a catalyst that you always mistakenly think is going to serve a more direct role than it does. Trading Bobby, Prax, and Avasarala for Anna, Clarissa, and Bull is a tough sell in isolation, but in the context of the series, knowing you'll get them back and that this book's hope and redemption theme continues with the adventures of Amos n' Peaches later on (and the small Anna bit), it's a lot more palatable. The never ending clusterfuck of events on Behemoth are also easier to appreciate when you realize that's the heart and (very long roller coaster) climax of the story, not just some random chaos that happens after a long frustrating build up towards protomolecule stuff that is never is and never is going to be revealed. So the book on loving up and maintaining hope and seeking redemption is redeemed in my eyes. But gently caress me if I can see much hope for Cibola Burn take 2, death slug boogaloo. Number Ten Cocks fucked around with this message at 17:43 on May 6, 2017 |
|
#
?
May 6, 2017 17:29
|
|
|
I liked Cibola Burn on reread (and, to be fair, the first time too), though I think the disaster movie it switches to halfway through unfortunately cuts off the much more interesting Belters vs. Inners plot in the colony. It's all about the cyclical nature of violence, a theme running through the series, and I think does a great job of creating a conflict where both sides have legitimate points, but also assholes among them interested only in keeping the conflict going. The second half, while a step back on that front, has a nice little medical mystery, some fun space action, and a bunch of crazy alien poo poo. But yeah, AG improved by far the most on rereading for all the reasons you said.
|
|
#
?
May 6, 2017 18:03
|
|
|
Eiba posted:So discussion in the TV thread has me wondering again, how bad is living on Basic? I get that no one wants to do it, but I always assumed it was fairly comfortable, but last time it came up in the TV thread people said that it was more slums and squalor. In the books it seems more mixed than this. Some people on basic live at the bottom; however, the fact that people who want to go to college have to work for a year to see if "working is really their thing," tells me that some people decide it isn't. And I'm guessing not very many college bound kids would decide "gently caress it, I hate working!" If being on basic meant you have to live in squalor. ZombieLenin fucked around with this message at 22:12 on May 7, 2017 |
|
#
?
May 6, 2017 20:32
|
|
|
Pastor Anna is the best point of view character.
|
|
#
?
May 8, 2017 14:16
|
|
|
The Muffinlord posted:Pastor Anna on drugs is the best point of view character.
|
|
#
?
May 8, 2017 14:44
|
|
|
I doubt Basic will come up again in the novels, but I presume that it is a reasonably comfortable if monotonous life. The whole point would be to keep the massive populace placated and docile. So free drugs, free entertainment and a decent standard of living.
|
|
#
?
May 9, 2017 20:42
|
|
|
Chef Boyardeez Nuts posted:I doubt Basic will come up again in the novels, but I presume that it is a reasonably comfortable if monotonous life. The whole point would be to keep the massive populace placated and docile. So free drugs, free entertainment and a decent standard of living. The authors talk about it a little in an episode of the Churn podcast. I don't remember all the details, but Basic is definitely at least kind of lovely. "Freshman dorm" is probably at the high end of what it might be like. I think it's the podcast for the episode where Bobbie goes to the water, if anyone's curious.
|
|
#
?
May 9, 2017 20:48
|
|
|
Finished a second read of Cibola Burn. It's still not a good book, but it's much less aggravating knowing that the bad parts are going to last a given duration. Part of the frustration the first time was thinking a particular POV was going to finally tie up one of the lamer subplots or issues and then it not happening, twice, and your growing fear that the latest problem is going to drag on forever. The biggest problem, which familiarity can't fix in the slightest, is the awfulness of the villains. Murtry is a (rationally) crazed psycho, the ship engineers are racist incompetents, and the planetary terrorists are one-dimensional blood thirsty semi-competents (Murtry did nothing wrong in shooting Coop in the face, tbh, horrible character). The new POVs are real bad, too. Havelock just flips a switch from blinkered yes-man to fighting for the good guys, the horny doctor is all kinds of awful, Basia is just sort of there. It's also kind of an inversion of what they did with POVs in Nemesis Games. Here some losers are stand ins so that we can see what's going on in space involving the Rocinante, in Nemesis Games the Rocinante crew POVs exist in large part to observe the bigger events going on around them (Amos watching Earth getting blown up, Naomi watching Marcos' plans, Alex watching and helping Bobbie do cool poo poo as they uncover the Mars end of the plot, etc.). But the Rocinante characters are cool, so this works. I think something like Cibola Burn needed to happen to show a snapshot of the colonization effort ahead of the book 5/6 complete dissolution of the existing power balance and society, but this was a poor way to do it. Chef Boyardeez Nuts posted:I doubt Basic will come up again in the novels, but I presume that it is a reasonably comfortable if monotonous life. The whole point would be to keep the massive populace placated and docile. So free drugs, free entertainment and a decent standard of living. I'd say there is no possibility whatsoever of Basic actually existing in the future of the books. Long term it's going to be: have a job, go to a new planet, or die waiting for relief supplies.
|
|
#
?
May 9, 2017 21:12
|
|
|
Chef Boyardeez Nuts posted:I doubt Basic will come up again in the novels, but I presume that it is a reasonably comfortable if monotonous life. The whole point would be to keep the massive populace placated and docile. So free drugs, free entertainment and a decent standard of living. Actually, I thought the justification was that one main functions of the modern state is to ensure everyone had the right to not starve to death; die from lack of healthcare, or live in abject miserable conditions. In a way you're right, if you approach the problem from a very rational choice model (I wouldn't, but you could) because, especially since we are the talking about a global scale, if you let all the wealth to gravitate to the hands of the few in an economic system that cannot come close to achieving the kind of employment levels necessary to keep people out of abject poverty, eventually you will have a problem. The vast majority of people will be coming to redistribute both the wealth and the blood of the people in charge. ZombieLenin fucked around with this message at 14:28 on May 12, 2017 |
|
#
?
May 10, 2017 18:54
|
|
|
Just finished Cibola Burn. I quite enjoyed it despite its flaws. I'm not sure Murtry was a bad villain, it's more that there's a massive switch on him in the writing. It's worth comparing to Claire - Murtry enacts arbitrary justice (possibly justified) and Holden hates on him and he becomes Villain #1. Claire murders a whole bunch and her actions lead to mass murder, but yeah she's OK. No excuse for horny doctor though.
|
|
#
?
May 11, 2017 21:34
|
|
|
If you hate Cibola Burn you hate fun.
|
|
#
?
May 12, 2017 00:40
|
|
|
It was definitely funny, but mostly because all the characters were silly.
|
|
#
?
May 12, 2017 19:57
|
|
|
It's like the authors tried to see how hosed up and evil they could make both sides without making it completely unrealistic. I had the same feeling about the bad dudes in abbadons gate too.
|
|
#
?
May 14, 2017 01:55
|
|
|
Number Ten Cocks posted:
I just finished Babylon's Ashes ten minutes ago and I feel like this is a pretty accurate description of each of the last 4 books, substitute Miller Time with whatever happened to the planet(ProtoMiller?) at the end of Cibola Burn, or the epilogue of Nemesis Games.
|
|
#
?
May 14, 2017 09:41
|
|
|
Antiprotomolecule
|
|
#
?
May 14, 2017 14:44
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 13, 2024 09:47 |
|
|
Half way through book 5 and it's definitely an improvement, mostly because the POVs are the crew for a change. Would love it though if a plot twist was Holden being spaced and coming back with Miller as a protomolecule double act.
|
|
#
?
May 14, 2017 18:01
|
|