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ed balls balls man posted:I'd put them on the tier above airplane fiction. Fun reads but don't take it too seriously. That being said i've also preordered every release. seconding this post. Didn't enjoy the most recent one as much as the first few.
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Jul 31, 2019 01:07
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Affi posted:Pierce Brown good or bad? Depends on whether you like Hunger Games.
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Jul 31, 2019 01:15
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General Battuta posted:I’m in final substantive edits on Baru 3, there’s a lot left to do and it’s way too long but I think I’m gonna be happy with it in a way I really wasn’t with the second I had a very hard time reading the second because I couldn't keep the names straight or remember who everyone was and what their motives were. I ended up bouncing off a third of the way through. I'm thinking maybe if I reread 1 and then 2 immediately after I might be able to follow along.
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Jul 31, 2019 23:29
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The Chad Jihad posted:If I wanted a book or series that was as close to the Dominions computer game series as possible, if not in content then aesthetic/feel, would there be any good options My man, probably not what you are looking for, but https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3550307 A CYOA six years on the making, with an entire world either simulated on Dominion or some other arcane technology. Muscle wizards fighting against hordes of evil while trying to save mankind from divinities that just don't care. I know, forum CYOA, But its way better than it has any right to be
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Aug 1, 2019 02:51
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Mr. Nemo posted:My man, probably not what you are looking for, but The link in the first post to a recap, doesn't lead to a recap.
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Aug 1, 2019 03:05
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Kestral posted:The Raven Tower gave me a strong Dominions feel. The gods of that setting are very much in the Pretenders vein, and the chapters revolving around them are, at least IMO, the best part of the book. That's actually an excellent recommendation, yeah.
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Aug 1, 2019 04:03
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Godstalk by P C Hodgell might fit the bill. I only started reading it before getting distracted but iirc it was about a city teaming with entities that are would-be gods.
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Aug 1, 2019 06:26
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The Gutter Prayer is v. dominions, now that I think about it.
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Aug 1, 2019 06:35
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The Chad Jihad posted:If I wanted a book or series that was as close to the Dominions computer game series as possible, if not in content then aesthetic/feel, would there be any good options The guy that writes all the nation backstories and so on for that game is an actual academic of mythology and folklore and most of it it is based very directly on real myth and folklore. so you should be looking at actual premodern texts, like the Norse sagas and the eddas, the Tain, the Popul Vuh, collections of folktales, epic poems like Homer, the Upanishads, all that kind of stuff. no modern fantasy writer is going to do stuff with a similar feel and you should ignore the utter clownshoes recommendations you were given(david eddings lol, this forum is incredible).
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Aug 1, 2019 13:29
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Affi posted:Pierce Brown good or bad? I find his books the most addictive not very good books I have ever read. The first one starts off kind of rough, the second I really liked a lot, the third was a notch below the second. One thing that does become apparent though is that the writing and presentation of the world in the first trilogy is absolutely biased around the perspective of the viewpoint character who in the first book is like, eighteen? There were things I thought 'well this seems a bit dumb' in the first book that by book three were obviously the viewpoint character being dumb and ignorant as to the implications of things. I am on the new book right now but I really liked Iron Gold for having the aftermath of the glorious revolution being... hosed up, partial, complicated and riddled with compromises, with idealistic characters shown as flawed in their own ways. So not high literature but something that once you get past the beginning is prone to grabbing the mind and not letting go until you finish. Also the ending of book two was just unfair when you had to wait a year for book three.
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Aug 1, 2019 20:42
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I play a lot of Dominions myself, and I've found the feel of Late Era Dominions games is represented very well by the Black Company series. The Company effectively works for an Enchantress pretender and her awful undead wizard-generals for the first several books, and even beyond those the series keeps the flavor of 'basically ordinary people caught between the ambitions of stupendously powerful sorcerers and worse things' that Late Era games so often invoke. e: I'd also recommend the Malazan Book of the Fallen series for a comparable but more Middle Era feel
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Aug 1, 2019 21:23
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I've never played Dominions but it's the rare fantasy strategy game that doesn't have some Black Company inspiration in it.
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Aug 2, 2019 03:37
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FuzzySlippers posted:I've never played Dominions but it's the rare fantasy strategy game that doesn't have some Black Company inspiration in it. The Myth series, especially the first game, is probably the most extreme example. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7-5smq807k
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Aug 2, 2019 07:19
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Myth 1 and 2 are sick military fantasy and good real time tactics. There was some other recent game that obviously took a lot from Black Company but details are slipping my mind right now
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Aug 2, 2019 08:02
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Neurosis posted:Myth 1 and 2 are sick military fantasy and good real time tactics. There was some other recent game that obviously took a lot from Black Company but details are slipping my mind right now Tyranny by Obsidian maybe? Does the same "working for the evil empire" thing where you're a agent of the Dark Lord tasked with crushing the last remnants of rebellion and dealing with bickering generals
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Aug 2, 2019 08:40
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Since there's so much Black Company / Malazan / Myth love in this thread, I have to do my TradGames duty and mention Band of Blades, a new tabletop RPG that does an excellent job of giving you the feel of a Black Company novel. On topic, has anyone here read Urth of the New Sun? I'm in the mood for something in that vein, but it's been a few years since I read Book of the New Sun, and I'm wondering how necessary it is to read it immediately after Book.
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Aug 2, 2019 09:12
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Some treat it as a coda but it always just feels like novel 5 of 5 (or 5 of 12 to be exact) to me. It’s fully part of the series and a great, beautiful novel in and of itself. I read it straight after Citadel and it felt like coming full circle.
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Aug 2, 2019 09:21
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I would definitely advise reading Urth of the New Sun only when the four books of Book of the New Sun are fresh in your mind since there's lots of callbacks and even explicit commentary by the narrator about the earlier parts of the story.
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Aug 2, 2019 13:26
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Urth is kind of jarring to read right after the first four as the writing is very different but after a few chapters it feels very much a continuation. I love it, its half rip roaring sci fi adventure and half pseudo religious text. Fills in a lot of detail about the world of the New Sun books in subtle ways.
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Aug 2, 2019 15:19
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SM Stirling's Dies the Fire sets up such an interesting premise then fumbles the delivery so tragically
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Aug 3, 2019 06:54
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https://twitter.com/BancroftJosiah/status/1157283324731252736
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Aug 3, 2019 13:22
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Grandma’s right
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Aug 3, 2019 16:53
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Still reading The Reality Dysfunction. It's still bad. But now I'm 300 pages in and I don't think I can stop. Why do I keep hurting myself like this? Well, the Lalonde parts so far are alright. Every time it goes back to Joshua Calvert's story I want to die though. He just sucks so much rear end. Also, to whoever mentioned book of the new sun: it good. I have read the first two books of it, and recently picked up the second two at a bookstore, so I'll probably get to them soon. Well, after I read China Mieville's The Scar. Lots on my plate right now.
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Aug 3, 2019 20:08
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Megafonzie posted:Still reading The Reality Dysfunction. It's still bad. But now I'm 300 pages in and I don't think I can stop. Why do I keep hurting myself like this? I have bad news for you. He is the typical Hamilton protagonist and one of the constant lows of the series. Fortunately the space marine action makes up for it.
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Aug 3, 2019 20:48
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Finished Chasm City. I did enjoy it a lot but not as much as Revelation Space. The worldbuilding continues to be great but I think I found the plot kind of fell apart for me a bit when all the threads started coming together. In particular, I think the whole Tanner = Cahuella = Sky Haussmann thing seemed a bit ridiculous and honestly I feel like I've seen that sort of plot so many places now, and never done as well as Use of Weapons . Will probably still read Redemption Ark next though!
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Aug 3, 2019 20:52
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I hadn't heard of Revelation Space and just looked it up. It's going on my list for sure. Maybe I'll even read it next instead of those other things I mentioned...
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Aug 3, 2019 21:04
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Carrier posted:Finished Chasm City. I did enjoy it a lot but not as much as Revelation Space. The worldbuilding continues to be great but I think I found the plot kind of fell apart for me a bit when all the threads started coming together. In particular, I think the whole Tanner = Cahuella = Sky Haussmann thing seemed a bit ridiculous and honestly I feel like I've seen that sort of plot so many places now, and never done as well as Use of Weapons . Will probably still read Redemption Ark next though! Damnit, I should have known better than to click on that second spoiler since I haven't read that one yet.
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Aug 3, 2019 21:46
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DeadFatDuckFat posted:Damnit, I should have known better than to click on that second spoiler since I haven't read that one yet. Yeah sorry about that one, I couldn't really figure out a way of saying what the spoiler was without giving away the spoiler :/
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Aug 3, 2019 21:48
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Carrier posted:In particular, I think the whole Tanner = Cahuella = Sky Haussmann thing seemed a bit ridiculous Reynolds does that plot again and again and again.
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Aug 3, 2019 22:32
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Carrier posted:Yeah sorry about that one, I couldn't really figure out a way of saying what the spoiler was without giving away the spoiler :/ Maybe if you said Ian M Banks novel Use of Weapons that's what I would do.
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Aug 3, 2019 22:50
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Carrier posted:Yeah sorry about that one, I couldn't really figure out a way of saying what the spoiler was without giving away the spoiler :/ Nah I just had a failure of the brain. I've already read Chasm City so I guess I just wanted to REVEAL EVERYTHING
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Aug 3, 2019 23:18
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Man murderbot diaries were amazing (thanks for the rec) but soooooo short.
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Aug 4, 2019 00:02
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an excellent grandmother
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Aug 4, 2019 04:00
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I enjoyed this book and its sequel but now I enjoy this grandma more.
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Aug 4, 2019 04:09
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Do I Bother You At Night was a damned good read. Great mix of Lovecraft, King, and 80s slasher vibe. Also might be the single best description/writing of depression I have ever read. Troy Aaron Ratliff is the author, and it's on KU. Sci fi/thriller about a farmer in Kansas who gets a new neighbor and poo poo gets weird.
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Aug 4, 2019 05:20
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Depressing to read about Eddings, I liked his stuff as a teen and it always seemed very innocent, standard fantasy stuff. I really like stories with tons of practical detail. Does anyone have any recommendations similar to Nathan Lowell’s Ravenwood, in which a small group set up a tiny settlement and there’s a lot of discussion of the steps involved in doing so? The grandest thing that happens is building an inn.
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Aug 4, 2019 17:58
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Beefeater1980 posted:Depressing to read about Eddings, I liked his stuff as a teen and it always seemed very innocent, standard fantasy stuff. You might want to look into LE Modesitt Jr's Recluce series, there's a ton of small detail into slice of life stuff and woodworking. Really slow books though.
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Aug 4, 2019 18:06
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Beefeater1980 posted:Depressing to read about Eddings, I liked his stuff as a teen and it always seemed very innocent, standard fantasy stuff. Jules Verne's Mysterious Island?
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Aug 4, 2019 18:34
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C.M. Kruger posted:Tyranny by Obsidian maybe? Does the same "working for the evil empire" thing where you're a agent of the Dark Lord tasked with crushing the last remnants of rebellion and dealing with bickering generals Yeah that's it. Good game in many ways, but a little underdeveloped.
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Aug 5, 2019 04:16
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Neat, new Craig Schaefer book out in October, 5th book in the Harmony Black series called A Time To Kill. He just had one come out a few days ago, or last week maybe? that was a crime thriller.
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Aug 5, 2019 04:18
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