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wiegieman posted:There's actually a lot to unpack in Vallista. Like all the good Vlad books (or, "all the Vlad books"), it benefits from careful reading. This is the first one where I need to do a re-read with notes and possibly charts.
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Oct 20, 2017 08:01
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navyjack posted:This is the first one where I need to do a re-read with notes and possibly charts. Like the flashback sequence, where I didn't know but what the hell was going on but it turned out Vlad did.
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Oct 20, 2017 08:38
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wiegieman posted:Like the flashback sequence, where I didn't know but what the hell was going on but it turned out Vlad did. God it's been a while and I can't remember which book, but It is revealed to Vlad that he's the reincarnation of the founder of the House of Jherig and is the brother of Kieron and Aliera in that previous life. Sethra was also involved in some way with Dalinar (Vlad's previous incarnation) back at the beginning of the Empire. So the fact he has memories of being Dalinar in general aren't a shock to him. Proteus Jones fucked around with this message at 14:39 on Oct 20, 2017 |
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Oct 20, 2017 14:35
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Proteus Jones posted:God it's been a while and I can't remember which book, but It is revealed to Vlad that he's the reincarnation of the founder of the House of Jherig and is the brother of Kieron and Aliera in that previous life. Sethra was also involved in some way with Dalinar (Vlad's previous incarnation) back at the beginning of the Empire First book, Aliera and/or Sethra tells him.
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Oct 20, 2017 14:37
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Syzygy Stardust posted:First book, Aliera and/or Sethra tells him. Huh. For some reason I thought it came later than that.
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Oct 20, 2017 14:40
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Julian May has died.
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Oct 20, 2017 15:19
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Jedit posted:Julian May has died. Well, drat. I just finished a Pliocene Cycle re-read.
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Oct 20, 2017 15:33
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Proteus Jones posted:Huh. For some reason I thought it came later than that. It seemed pretty out of place at the time
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Oct 20, 2017 15:53
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No. No more dancing! posted:Ready Player One is a young adult novel written 20 years too late. It'll probably be a big hit as a movie. RPO was a fun little book that has absolutely no value or reread value. Characters were one dimensional and the plot was pretty baseline. 2/10. Would not read again.
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Oct 20, 2017 17:34
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wiegieman posted:Like the flashback sequence, where I didn't know but what the hell was going on but it turned out Vlad did. The lack of an enclouding and mention of moons in the oldest one was interesting. Also that he didn’t recognize silk (or was it machine woven?) and described a huge marble hall as a really big white hut. Syzygy Stardust fucked around with this message at 21:27 on Oct 20, 2017 |
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Oct 20, 2017 21:16
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If anyone had their world rocked by His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman (The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass) when they were growing up, then check out The Book Of Dust. Can’t believe he finally got back to these stories 15 years later, but I am not complaining.
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Oct 20, 2017 23:10
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Syzygy Stardust posted:The lack of an enclouding and mention of moons in the oldest one was interesting. Also that he didn’t recognize silk (or was it machine woven?) and described a huge marble hall as a really big white hut. Just one of many cool incidental moments in Vallista. I particularly liked finding out why Imperial society is changing so quickly post-Interregnum. And I want a glass of the wine Verra broke out to celebrate
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Oct 20, 2017 23:17
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The Dolivar bit was good too, especially when Dolivar looks at Devera and thinks "she's about 9" because Dragaerans didn't always live as long as they do now but I was talking more about the real purpose behind that specific series of memories. They all told him the same thing from different angles and he needed to know it to figure out the big solution. On that note, I find it neat that a Hawk could only find the ring when they were dying. I've always liked that Vlad books are just as much detective or mystery stories as they are stories about Vlad having to kill people.
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Oct 21, 2017 00:08
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The thing I'm still chuckling about is that first loving sentence in the epilogue. For some reason it hit me just the right way and made me for real laugh out loud .
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Oct 21, 2017 00:14
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Goddamnit I've been holding off on Vlad because I want to wait until the whole series is done but you fuckers have done it, I can't wait, time to read Vallista
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Oct 21, 2017 00:40
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ToxicFrog posted:Goddamnit I've been holding off on Vlad because I want to wait until the whole series is done but you fuckers have done it, I can't wait, time to read Vallista What do you mean, "holding off on Vlad"? Have you never read a Vlad Taltos book? Why would you do this to yourself? Plus, you know, there's a legit chance of Steve dying of a combination of poor diet and worker's party anger before the series finishes.
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Oct 21, 2017 03:39
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wiegieman posted:What do you mean, "holding off on Vlad"? Have you never read a Vlad Taltos book? Why would you do this to yourself? Don’t start with Vallista, also. Good news is you have a BUNCH of great adventure books to read to get there!
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Oct 21, 2017 03:50
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I just read Ubik and it was insanely good. That's my story.
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Oct 21, 2017 03:57
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Unormal posted:I just read Ubik and it was insanely good. That's my story. if you like the dark turn ubik takes try a maze of death
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Oct 21, 2017 04:00
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wiegieman posted:I've always liked that Vlad books are just as much detective or mystery stories as they are stories about Vlad having to kill people. That's why Orca is such a favorite of mine. It's also a breath of fresh air after Teckla, Phoenix, and Athyra. Tiassa is also a favorite, it really scratches that true crime procedural itch; never mind putting favorite characters together and letting Paarfi write for Vlad.
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Oct 21, 2017 04:05
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So this Vlad Taltos series is pretty good, I take it? Where would a guy start? I see The Book of Jhereg, which appears to be a collection of three books. Is that a good place to start?
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Oct 21, 2017 05:27
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wiegieman posted:What do you mean, "holding off on Vlad"? Have you never read a Vlad Taltos book? Why would you do this to yourself? navyjack posted:Don’t start with Vallista, also. Good news is you have a BUNCH of great adventure books to read to get there! Earlier in the thread he mentioned he was probably going to hold off until the remainder of books came out so he could binge through to the end.
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Oct 21, 2017 05:44
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USMC_Karl posted:So this Vlad Taltos series is pretty good, I take it? Where would a guy start? I see The Book of Jhereg, which appears to be a collection of three books. Is that a good place to start? Yeah, start with the Book of Jhereg. The series jumps around in chronology but you can't go wrong reading in publication order.
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Oct 21, 2017 05:52
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USMC_Karl posted:So this Vlad Taltos series is pretty good, I take it? Where would a guy start? I see The Book of Jhereg, which appears to be a collection of three books. Is that a good place to start? I'm a big fan of reading publication order. Stephen Brust is a pretty deliberate writer so I think it's better to read that way. Plus, it can add a weird tension when there are things you the reader know from earlier books, that the characters can't due to being earlier in the narrative chronology. There are also tantalizing hints dropped of backstory unexplained, and then they show up 5 books later as part of the main plot it's a really satisfying feeling. You can also read in chronological order as well. You'll have to google for that. I think you can only get the first nine in the 4 omnibuses. The Book of Jherig The Book of Taltos The Book of Athyra The Book of Dragon (recommend reading The Phoenix Guard after this one) Dzur Jheggala Iorich Tiassa Hawk Vallista The Khaavren Romances are part of this world as well. The style is very much Dumas, very much a paid-by-the-word work of patronage, and all a delight. The Phoenix Guards 500 Years After The Viscount Andrilankha (actual 3 book trilogy here)
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Oct 21, 2017 06:07
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The Viscount of Adrilankha contains the books The Lord of Castle Black and Sethra Lavode, and if that doesn't get you stoked then check to see if you have a pulse. Favorite line from Vallista: "Sethra was there, so we ran."
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Oct 21, 2017 07:53
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my bony fealty posted:Finished The Sparrow - dug the plot and the protagonist well-enough, liked the themes and some of the questions raised, did not like the dumb 1-dimensional characters and most of the writing (thought the whole time "this author is either a crime journalist or science academic," the latter of which turns out to be true - so boring and declarative 95% of the time!) - I don't feel much desire to read the sequel anytime soon, but does the writing and/or characterization improve at all? No. And it relies on the rescue mission not checking the access logs and therefore not realising that there's another survivor still using the ship computers, which bugged me as an IT geek. Yeah, I know. You get some story from the POV of Supaari, which sounds like it should be interesting but in practice isn't very unless you feel not knowing his motivation was a big hole in the first book.
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Oct 21, 2017 09:35
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You nerds got me to drop what I was reading and crack open Jhereg. Are you happy now?
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Oct 22, 2017 01:20
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Yeah, me as well. Just bought Book of Jhereg. This thread costs me too much money.
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Oct 22, 2017 01:44
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I hate you all because I loaned my Book of Jhereg to my brother about a month ago and it's not on hand to read now that I'm in the mood to try it! 
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Oct 22, 2017 01:51
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Wildbow just put out the first post in what appears to be Worm 2:Electric Boogaloo! So, if you were into that, then buckle up!
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Oct 22, 2017 03:01
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Just finished Vallista, am considering dropping all other ongoing readings to re-read the whole drat sequence up to and including 'Brokedown Palace.'
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Oct 22, 2017 04:51
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The actual funniest thing in Vallista is that at least three of Vlad’s previous lives involved getting hit in the head because his friend failed to tell him to duck. :911loiosh:
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Oct 22, 2017 18:44
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wiegieman posted:What do you mean, "holding off on Vlad"? Have you never read a Vlad Taltos book? Why would you do this to yourself? I read up through Issola (which you may recall drops seventeen metric shitloads of plot) and then decided to take a break until the series was finished. I didn't get into it until 2008 or so, so I didn't realize how long it'd been running and, by extension, how much longer it would take. I really don't like reading half-finished series, especially when there's a lot of context to keep track of, but I can only go so long without more Vlad and Paarfi can only stave off the craving for a little while. apophenium posted:You nerds got me to drop what I was reading and crack open Jhereg. Are you happy now? Yes.
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Oct 22, 2017 19:49
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why haven't I heard of this jhereg book before seems good
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Oct 22, 2017 19:51
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ToxicFrog posted:I read up through Issola (which you may recall drops seventeen metric shitloads of plot) and then decided to take a break until the series was finished. I didn't get into it until 2008 or so, so I didn't realize how long it'd been running and, by extension, how much longer it would take. Doorknob Slobber posted:why haven't I heard of this jhereg book before seems good
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Oct 22, 2017 20:50
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Doorknob Slobber posted:why haven't I heard of this jhereg book before seems good it was in a penny arcade like a decade ago
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Oct 22, 2017 21:16
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anilEhilated posted:The thing that kept me away from these for a long time is the stupid naming scheme; it's impossible to tell what comes after what just by looking at them. Also the idea of "19 books, one for each wizard house" puts me uncharitably in mind of Sanderson-style tables of magic techniques, instead of actual plot.
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Oct 22, 2017 21:22
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[click] Oh, the Vallista House was the meeting spot at the end of Hawk.
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Oct 22, 2017 22:10
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Doorknob Slobber posted:why haven't I heard of this jhereg book before seems good Maybe your friends all have terrible taste in books.  anilEhilated posted:You started with the worst book in the series. I started with Jhereg. "Read up through Vallista" == "I started at the beginning and kept reading until I finished Vallista". (I liked Teckla least, FWIW, although I'm not sure I'd say it's a worse book; it's just a more unpleasant one.) quote:The thing that kept me away from these for a long time is the stupid naming scheme; it's impossible to tell what comes after what just by looking at them. This is true of basically every fiction series, though? Yeah, you get the occasional outlier like the Stephanie Plum books, but no-one's going to be able to put Vorkosigan or the Fortress series or Aubrey-Maturin in order just by looking at the titles unless they've already read the series.
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Oct 23, 2017 00:21
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Strom Cuzewon posted:Also the idea of "19 books, one for each wizard house" puts me uncharitably in mind of Sanderson-style tables of magic techniques, instead of actual plot. They're not wizard houses, they're subspecies of elf. Except they jhereg, they're the mafia and anybody can buy their way in. And the teckla, they're just the impoverished masses.
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Oct 23, 2017 00:31
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