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I didn't like Kraken either, it seems to be his most divisive work.
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May 30, 2018 14:25
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Tall Tale Teller posted:I wasn’t really a fan of Kraken. I mean, it wasn’t bad, but it didn’t really bring anything new to the table like a lot of his other works did for me. Nah both Croup and Vandemar had personalities
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May 30, 2018 17:31
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Yeah, Goss and Subby never really got to anything interesting; they're the weakest part of Kraken in my opinion. I liked the rest a lot, though.
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May 30, 2018 18:34
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Goss was a big bad and a vehicle for some bad cockney-like dialogue. Smoked occasionally. Everyone was afeared of him. That's what I got mostly
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May 31, 2018 01:03
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Goss' line about Happy Kites always makes me giggle though. Anyway, I've caught the first episode of TC&TC. The palette differences between the two cities are really pleasing. (And apparently I've been pronouncing Beszel incorrectly this whole time...)
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Jun 4, 2018 05:38
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Kraken really dragged through the middle for me, there’s a point in the storyline where the plot isn’t really going anywhere and the book just brings out more and more elements about occult London without really explaining those elements. There is more or less an exposition dump by the end but this was one of the few of his books which I really struggled to get through.
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Jun 4, 2018 13:48
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Bilirubin posted:some bad cockney-like dialogue. This was most definitely on purpose, since China itself is a cockney slang word.
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Jun 10, 2018 19:08
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Yeah but his name is unrelated. Double checked it on wikipedia (it was picked purely because of how it sounds), and it turns out his mom is from New York. Didn’t expect that.
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Jun 11, 2018 00:11
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Just got a copy of This Census Taker on the cheap. How disappointing will this decision prove to be?
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Jun 23, 2018 17:27
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That is the only one of his books that haven’t done anything for me, i would be prepared for disappointment.
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Jun 24, 2018 09:12
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Oasx posted:That is the only one of his books that haven’t done anything for me, i would be prepared for disappointment.  I would not say it was bad but I think that’s a good way to put it, it just didn’t do anything for me. It’s kind of inscrutable. There are fan theories that it is set in Bas-Lag.
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Jun 24, 2018 15:24
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Bilirubin posted:Just got a copy of This Census Taker on the cheap. How disappointing will this decision prove to be? It's really good
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Jun 24, 2018 15:28
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Bilirubin posted:Just got a copy of This Census Taker on the cheap. How disappointing will this decision prove to be?
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Jun 24, 2018 20:04
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Bold Robot posted:There are fan theories that it is set in Bas-Lag. The hints about that lean much more towards blatant, in my opinion.
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Jun 25, 2018 01:19
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Hedrigall posted:The hints about that lean much more towards blatant, in my opinion. But there's also hints that contradicts this, like the fact that the technology seems way too advanced.
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Jun 25, 2018 19:28
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Alhazred posted:But there's also hints that contradicts this, like the fact that the technology seems way too advanced.
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Jun 25, 2018 19:58
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Oasx posted:I didn't like Kraken either, it seems to be his most divisive work. I can't stand Kraken because it triggers my compulsive and uncontrollable need to assert that a teleporter is not, under any sane conception of a physical universe, a suicide machine. LOOK ITS JUST HAPPENED AGAINM akgrgjlgfd 
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Jun 25, 2018 20:06
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General Battuta posted:I can't stand Kraken because it triggers my compulsive and uncontrollable need to assert that a teleporter is not, under any sane conception of a physical universe, a suicide machine. LOOK ITS JUST HAPPENED AGAINM akgrgjlgfd But Kraken is not a physical universe, there are demonstrably souls of some sort connected to physical bodies.
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Jun 25, 2018 21:14
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The teleporter guy is probably the best joke in kraken.
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Jun 25, 2018 21:19
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Yeah I have to admit as a joke/clever construct in an urban fantasy book it's pretty good, and it jives with the book's overriding theme about different modes of embodiment.
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Jun 25, 2018 21:53
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General Battuta posted:I can't stand Kraken because it triggers my compulsive and uncontrollable need to assert that a teleporter is not, under any sane conception of a physical universe, a suicide machine. LOOK ITS JUST HAPPENED AGAINM akgrgjlgfd In the sense that you can transmit the actual matter of a person from point A to point B in theory? Or, in the sense that disintegration and reproduction of you on the atomic level shouldn't be considered murder?
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Jun 25, 2018 22:25
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Back, devil! Get thee behind me! I won't be seduced!
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Jun 25, 2018 22:25
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General Battuta posted:Back, devil! Get thee behind me! I won't be seduced! How do you square these teleporter ethics with the quantum state of the mind?
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Jun 25, 2018 22:52
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General Battuta posted:Back, devil! Get thee behind me! I won't be seduced! I think some posters from the Altered Carbon TVIV thread could really elevate this discussion.
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Jun 25, 2018 22:57
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Much as I love arguing about teleporters, I have some more serious bad news: http://bidisha-online.blogspot.com/2012/12/emotional-violence-and-social-power.html The author doesn't mention Mieville by name but by all accounts, that's who she's talking about. I also just found out that he co-authored a book with Zak Smith, who is notorious in the tabletop gaming community for being a serial harasser and all-around piece of poo poo. I'm actually kind of broken up about this because Mieville is one of the relatively few artists who I respected for their views and personal character. It's not new information, either, that post is from 2012, I'm just only hearing of it now.
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Jun 28, 2018 15:50
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Tuxedo Catfish posted:Much as I love arguing about teleporters, I have some more serious bad news: Jesus that's a long post. Am I correct that the gist of it is he has a history of: 1) saying romantic poo poo to women to get them in bed, 2) cheat on women by repeating step 1 with other women, 3) playing semantics games once caught cheating in an attempt to absolve himself, and then 4) threaten legal action if they publicly accuse him of being a cheater?
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Jun 28, 2018 16:14
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Dienes posted:Jesus that's a long post. Am I correct that the gist of it is he has a history of: 1) saying romantic poo poo to women to get them in bed, 2) cheat on women by repeating step 1 with other women, 3) playing semantics games once caught cheating in an attempt to absolve himself, and then 4) threaten legal action if they publicly accuse him of being a cheater? Not just cheating but emotional abuse generally, but otherwise yeah, that's the gist of it.
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Jun 28, 2018 16:16
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I read that a while ago and didn't really know what to make of it. I don't want to dismiss it but it's so vague it's hard to go on, so I've kept an eye out for anything else about it and have never seen anything  I mean if he's a lovely serial cheater that sucks but I genuinely can't work out what the claim of emotional abuse is referring to. What did he do?The legal threats are probably the most troubling and weird part of the whole thing even if the rest isn't true. I dunno.
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Jun 28, 2018 16:41
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Hot news from 2012.
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Jun 28, 2018 16:49
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Wxhode posted:Hot news from 2012. It does say updated June 2018 at the top there
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Jun 28, 2018 17:01
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Lunchmeat Larry posted:I read that a while ago and didn't really know what to make of it. I don't want to dismiss it but it's so vague it's hard to go on, so I've kept an eye out for anything else about it and have never seen anything Every time I read that article it seems more like a terrible break up than an abusive relationship. I agree though that it's a little too vague to draw any real conclusions- especially legal ones.
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Jun 28, 2018 22:27
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Wayback Machined the Publisher's Weekly blog post with his response.China Miéville posted:When I met the writer several years ago, I liked and respected her greatly, and we were very briefly involved. I was in an open relationship with my partner, of which I made the writer fully aware. I quickly came to understand that I’d made wrong assumptions and errors of emotional responsibility. I regretted and apologized for these at the time, and subsequently. Much of what’s said in the piece, however, is simply untrue, and my interpretation of the events is very different. He could be a monster or a garden-variety cad, or this could be a standard-issue bad breakup with someone who wasn't cut out for being a side piece. Still giving me a serious case of the icks.
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Jun 29, 2018 06:02
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spite house posted:Wayback Machined the Publisher's Weekly blog post with his response. I know enough open relationship/poly people for this drama to be tale as old as time.
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Jun 29, 2018 13:43
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What did Mieville work on with Zak S?
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Jun 29, 2018 16:58
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WrightOfWay posted:What did Mieville work on with Zak S? A children's book called The Worst Breakfast.
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Jun 29, 2018 16:58
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Dienes posted:I know enough open relationship/poly people for this drama to be tale as old as time. Doubly so for people that enjoy power exchange in that sort of setup. Some people use all that as an excuse or cover for poo poo behaviour, though. Point being, talk with everyone involved, constantly, about what is going on and expectations. *the more you know*
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Jun 30, 2018 01:12
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Per the author's blog, I'm willing to bet that the recent legal threats were related to a short film she currently has on the festival circuit, which is 1. uh, quite something and 2. very clearly about whatever this was. Nine years later. If nothing else, the homie's shot selection is loving terrible.
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Jun 30, 2018 04:48
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This Census-Taker was really good.
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Aug 1, 2018 04:40
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Just finished The City and The City The way Bowden exploited the unseeing and how Dhatt and Corwi was completely paralyzed by it was fun. And that Mahalia was murdered because she realized that there wasn't some big conspiracy was a neat twist
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Aug 12, 2018 20:41
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General Battuta posted:Back, devil! Get thee behind me! I won't be seduced! What if you teleported the person one cell at a time over a period of years, like replacing the individual boards that comprise a ship?
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Aug 28, 2018 00:01
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