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my bony fealty posted:triggered much I wonder if they'll mention her post-Potter career of revising her shoddy legendarium via Twitter. It became clear on a reread how much she was winging it from book to book, and now, now she's tweeting about wizards making GBS threads in the halls and using magic to clean it up instead of, I don't know, magical chamber pots or outhouses or something. As far as 2 minutes of googling can tell me, flush toilets go back at least as far as the Indus Valley civilization. And she already mentioned chamber pots in the text itself. nice meltdown
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Feb 13, 2019 19:00
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Sarern posted:I wonder if they'll mention her post-Potter career of revising her shoddy legendarium via Twitter. Wasn't there a ghost haunting a toilet in the second book?
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Feb 13, 2019 19:09
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J.K. Rowling's Twitter retcons are the best thing to come out of the official Harry Potter franchise.
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Feb 13, 2019 19:09
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JK Rowling is launching a noble battle against the premise of canon and I applaud her for it
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Feb 13, 2019 19:13
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things like harry potter and star wars that were obviously made up as they went along are only made worse by their creators trying to pretend that they weren't after the fact and the fans that believe them. like say what you will about doctor who but at least the people who make it had the balls to say "we don't give a poo poo about 'canon' and never have"
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Feb 13, 2019 19:21
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Yeah Star Wars is the ultimate argument against world building as a concept because the only reason the story works is because it leaves anything not immediately essential to the plot as ambiguous. The prequels were fundamentally a failure because they tried to make a deliberately obscure world suddenly coherent
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Feb 13, 2019 19:23
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The prequels are without flaw
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Feb 13, 2019 19:24
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Look botl sometimes nerds can be right
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Feb 13, 2019 19:27
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Mel Mudkiper posted:The prequels were fundamentally a failure because they tried to make a deliberately obscure world suddenly coherent I tend to disagree. The prequels were a failure because none of the characters ever acted in a way that seemed like a normal human* would have acted in their place, in addition to adding setting details that make no sense. I mean, the core story - character rises to prominence, makes questionable deals, and is brought down as a result - seems like it could be done well (Julius Ceasar and Macbeth are both nodding along at this point); that was just a matter of execution at all levels (the entire very young Anakin arc was completely superfluous). *Or being of an unknown species, whatever.
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Feb 13, 2019 19:31
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They never acted human because they were vessels in which events were meant to be caused so as to fill in the blanks on a loosely defined history
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Feb 13, 2019 19:37
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ulmont posted:I tend to disagree. The prequels were a failure because none of the characters ever acted in a way that seemed like a normal human* would have acted in their place, in addition to adding setting details that make no sense. In my experience, the prequel characters are all too accurate for people. One time in another thread happened to stumble into star wars chat, and one goon stated that Anakin Skywalker obviously didn't have it bad as a slave because Qui-Gon Jinn didn't much care about it. After all, it was not "American chattel slavery," so t really can't have been that bad. Otherwise Qui-Gon Jinn would have immediately liberated him. The reality is just that all the heroes of Star Wars are slaveowners and don't care that much about slavery. So what happened is that they identified with a prequel character so deeply that they genuinely thought that slavery isn't that bad.
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Feb 13, 2019 19:39
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The prequel movies followed the by then decades-long exercise of adding useless backstory to the Star Wars universe, it was just giving fans what they wanted (garbage) Disney throwing out the entire Stars Wars EU from 'canon' is the best thing any major corporation has done in the 21st century
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Feb 13, 2019 19:44
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my bony fealty posted:The prequel movies followed the by then decades-long exercise of adding useless backstory to the Star Wars universe, it was just giving fans what they wanted (garbage) False. The old 'canon' had Han Solo punching an otter, a feat of imagination next to which all new installments, whether cinematic or otherwise, pale in comparison.
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Feb 13, 2019 19:46
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don't forget the Horse pilot! lamborari
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Feb 13, 2019 19:48
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Agreed Also slavery in star wars was a great example of how it all falls apart if you think about it at all This is a universe that regularly manufactures sapient beings explicitly as property
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Feb 13, 2019 19:49
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Sarern posted:I wonder if they'll mention her post-Potter career of revising her shoddy legendarium via Twitter. You'd be surprised at how filthy Europe was until recently. People were making GBS threads and pissing in every corner of the Versailles for example.
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Feb 13, 2019 20:00
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i'm making GBS threads and pissing in every corner of the Versailles right now
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Feb 13, 2019 20:01
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I wouldn’t compare this thread to Versailles...
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Feb 13, 2019 20:22
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It's more Tuileries in your opinion?
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Feb 13, 2019 20:26
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It is the Hôtel de Ville and BotL is our Robespierre
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Feb 13, 2019 20:44
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For fun I thought I'd do a line edit of the first page or so of Jenn Lyons's The Ruin of Kings, which, I remind the reader, has already made its author tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars. The Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyon quote:"Tell me a story." quote:The monster slouched down by the iron bars of Khirin's jail cell. She set a small, plain stone down on the ground between them and pushed it forward. There's also that movie sensibility I mentioned above--we're never going get a sense of the space they occupy, or the feeling of being in that space. Instead we're concerned with stage direction and physical descriptions of characters. Also if you've already guessed that the "monster" here, in a shocking twist, doesn't look like a monster, a gold star for you. quote:She didn't look like a monster. Talon looked like a girl in her twenties, with wheat-gold skin and soft brown hair. The succubus's name is Talon. She has talons. She's a League of Legends character. It's stupid. Also, presuming we're in some kind of pseudo-medieval, or at least pseudo-premodern setting, why are we describing a woman in twenties as a girl? Maybe Khirin is simply reflecting the prejudices of his culture. I also wonder what it means to have perfect skin and conditioned hair in this world; are these markers of aristocracy? Does she seem like a courtesan to him? We don't find out. quote:Most men would give their eye-teeth to spend an evening with someone so beautiful. Most men didn’t know of her talent for shaping her body into forms crafted from pure terror. She mocked her victims with the forms of murdered loved ones, before they too became her next meal. Here we get our first real clunkers, and I don't think it's a coincidence that they appear as soon as we try to get at the magical. As has been observed repeatedly in this thread, many modern fantasy novels, which ostensibly feature the fantastic, the magical, and the phantasmagorical, are written in a prosaic realist mode. Transparent third or first person narrators rigorously relating what they see and here. This is, a priori, going to cause tremendous problems when trying to describe something that pushes at the boundaries of everyday understanding. So we are told about this character whose "talent" (like computer programming or playing the piano?) is to "[shape] her body" (what?) "into forms crafted from pure terror" (the language here breaks down completely because we're so broad we're not saying anything at all; might as well just write, "The monster could look really scary instead of hot.") The following sentence isn't any better. The word "form" gets repeated (again we're really abusing the limits of where this style of writing can get us), and the last clause is genuinely awful; "became" is a disaster. quote:That she was Kihrin’s jailer was like leaving a shark to guard a fish tank. Also, again assuming the premodern setting, do they have fishtanks? Magical fishtanks I guess? This is taking longer than I anticipated--part 2 later today.
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Feb 13, 2019 21:07
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BravestOfTheLamps posted:False. The old 'canon' had Han Solo punching an otter, a feat of imagination next to which all new installments, whether cinematic or otherwise, pale in comparison. I've always been partial to the giant sentient divine force-sensitive meat cube covered in golden scales that Luke has to enter
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Feb 13, 2019 21:16
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waru, yes
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Feb 13, 2019 21:26
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quote:forms crafted from pure terror The ability to put this down on a page should preclude you from writing another word. And anyone involved in the publishing process that allowed this in should be relieved of their positions.
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Feb 13, 2019 21:29
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Lex Neville posted:The ability to put this down on a page should preclude you from writing another word. And anyone involved in the publishing process that allowed this in should be relieved of their positions. Part of me wonders if the writing gets better or worse further in as the author proceeds more quickly and with less care. But I'll never know.
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Feb 13, 2019 21:32
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Well first twenty some odd chapters are free to read. Behold the epitome of modern fantasy fiction: https://www.tor.com/series/the-ruin-of-kings-by-jenn-lyons/
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Feb 13, 2019 21:41
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like leaving a penis to guard a pussy tank
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Feb 13, 2019 21:42
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I'm just picturing the saddest guard-shark in its own tank, disconsolately bumping its nose on the glass as its competing urges to fulfill its duty and eat its charges war within it It's a stupid mental image but it's still better than Sexy Scary Succubus up there
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Feb 13, 2019 21:56
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Lyons' shelf-bending fantasy debut novel is an epic, breakneck-paced adventure structured largely as a dialogue between a jailer and her prisoner, a thief and musician who is much more than he appears to be. The story begins in a jail cell with a young man named Kihrin being guarded by Talon, a beautiful and monstrous shape-shifting assassin. Kihrin, awaiting what will surely be his death, begins telling her his life story. Talon complements Kihrin’s tale with her own memories of the past few years, and, together, they weave a jaw-dropping, action-packed story of betrayal, greed, and grand-scale conspiracy. It all begins when Kihrin—a thief who has been raised in the slums by a compassionate blind musician—witnesses a horrific murder while robbing a house. The sudden target of a group of morally bankrupt, and terrifyingly powerful sorcerers, Kihrin finds himself on the run. During his flight, he discovers that he may be the son of a depraved prince—and that the necklace he wears around his neck may be much more than a sentimental object from his long-dead mother. While the comparisons to Patrick Rothfuss’ The Kingkiller Chronicle will be unavoidable—in terms of story structure and general narrative content—the potential of this projected five-book saga may be even greater. Although a cast of well-developed characters and an impressively intricate storyline power this novel, it’s Lyons’ audacious worldbuilding that makes for such an unforgettable read. In a sprawling, magic-filled world populated by gods, dragons, krakens, witches, demons, ghosts, shape-shifters, zombies, and so much more, Lyons ties it all together seamlessly to create literary magic. Epic fantasy fans looking for a virtually un-put-down-able read should look no further.
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Feb 14, 2019 01:12
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It's very telling that Kirkus reviews for real books are actual reviews while genre fiction gets a basic summary and some regurgitated copy from the publisher.
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Feb 14, 2019 01:14
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quote:While the comparisons to Patrick Rothfuss’ The Kingkiller Chronicle will be unavoidable—in terms of story structure and general narrative content—the potential of this projected five-book saga may be even greater. kill me "projected five book saga" is the worst combination of words ive heard in the English language clicked on a random chapter and omg a literal "as you know" quote:As you know, his real name was Kihrin , but he liked the name Rook because it was both his aspiration and occupation.
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Feb 14, 2019 01:17
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Let's see the, uh, publisher's review. "There is also a fae species, the vané, which are somewhat reminiscent of Tolkien-style elves but also remind me a lot of the Gems in Steven Universe."
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Feb 14, 2019 01:20
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Sham bam bamina! posted:worldbuilding   
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Feb 14, 2019 01:22
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 un-put-down-able
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Feb 14, 2019 01:23
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ahem audacious worldbuilding
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Feb 14, 2019 01:24
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quote:13: The Determined Wizard
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Feb 14, 2019 01:26
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'Nothing but several dozen sixty-foot-long limbless blue elephants' is the name of my new math-rock band.
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Feb 14, 2019 01:26
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oh my lord
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Feb 14, 2019 01:27
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a fantasy world full of demons, vampires, fae, zombies, and also
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Feb 14, 2019 01:29
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quote:The whorehouse madam smiled. “I brought a little of all the day’s specials from the kitchen.” She waved her hand over the tray of food like a waiter presenting the meal. “We have hot peppered goat with strips of fresh voracress, mutton with leado sauce wrapped and grilled in the traditional banana leaf, nakari marinated yellow fish with mango, fried bezevo root fingers, coconut rice, heart of palm, and pieces of bitter melon with chocolate.” Then, as if she’d forgotten, she added, “And some of my Kirpis grape wine. It will relax you.” Sham bam bamina! fucked around with this message at 01:34 on Feb 14, 2019 |
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Feb 14, 2019 01:31
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