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Deptfordx posted:13 and The Fold are good fun. I wouldn't bother reading the 2 semi-sequels of Dead Moon and Terminus however. I haven't read Terminus yet, but I thought Dead Moon was a ton of fun.
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Jul 16, 2021 13:21
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Deptfordx posted:14 and The Fold are good fun. I wouldn't bother reading the 2 semi-sequels of Dead Moon and Terminus however. Fixed. I actually enjoyed Terminus because it highlighted how much of an rear end in a top hat Aleksander Koturovich was (also I liked Tim in 14, and Veek was right that it was good to have a replacement for him by the end of that book). Haven't read Dead Moon yet because I missed it being part of the series. Paradox Bound was also pretty good, though it was yet another universe. Guess I better backtrack and read his superheroes vs. zombies series to see if it's any good.
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Jul 16, 2021 13:58
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Everyone posted:I'm not sure what thread to post this in but the the new Joe Ledger book is goooooooood.
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Jul 16, 2021 15:30
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biracial bear for uncut posted:
They're also pretty good if you're in the mood. Definitely follows the "Read them till you stop enjoying them" rule, and I maybe wouldn't read the whole series back to back in one hit.
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Jul 16, 2021 18:15
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anilEhilated posted:How is it compared to Rage? That felt really, really derivative; I think it comes with being a comics writer but Maberry sure loves recycling villains. I liked it. Of course, I also liked Rage. One thing I enjoyed is that the first third or so of the book took a break from the usual Joe Ledger first person perspective even in his scenes, so that was cool. Plus we got a bit more "Toys" in this one and I like that character a lot.
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Jul 17, 2021 01:32
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Favours, short story in Alex Verus universe came out recently. It is Sonder PoV, and set between books 7 and 8. I was totally unimpressed, and felt that this was unnecessary. Added no real insight.
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Jul 18, 2021 14:32
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Dang too bad. I always kinda felt like his characters were very flat except for Alex. If they actually had a bit more substance to them you'd hope it would come out in a story with a different POV. Great magic and interesting plotting made a lot of the books fun but I'll probably not end up re-reading that series.
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Jul 18, 2021 16:28
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On the other hand, Sonder is a shallow piece of poo poo. Expecting any pov story for him to be better than that is setting yourself up for disappointment.
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Jul 18, 2021 22:13
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I could not imagine reading a Sonder book, he sucks enough as a side character.
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Jul 18, 2021 22:18
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biracial bear for uncut posted:On the other hand, Sonder is a shallow piece of poo poo. Expecting any pov story for him to be better than that is setting yourself up for disappointment. Darkrenown posted:I could not imagine reading a Sonder book, he sucks enough as a side character. So I was just about to do a "WTF is wrong with you?" post. But then I realized that you were talking about Sonder, who is, yeah, kind of a weak-willed dweeb and not Cinder, badass Dark Fire McDonalds Mage. Because I would read the poo poo out of a Cinder POV story. And would have trouble getting through a Sonder POV paragraph.
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Jul 19, 2021 00:49
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It feels like a lot of people look down on Alex for being "bad" and making the choices he did, but stan Cinder, a literal mass murdering sociopath. I've never really understood this.
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Jul 19, 2021 01:03
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Cinder never lied about who he is. Alex lies to everyone, including himself, about who he is.
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Jul 19, 2021 01:49
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Bhodi posted:It feels like a lot of people look down on Alex for being "bad" and making the choices he did, but stan Cinder, a literal mass murdering sociopath. I've never really understood this. In addition to what biracial bear said, in the Verus universe magical society light and dark is entirely composed of manipulative and / or violent sociopaths; that’s not really a distinguishing feature.
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Jul 19, 2021 07:33
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Cinder feels like a manifestation of the old Pratchett line about not having morals but having standards.
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Jul 19, 2021 13:58
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docbeard posted:Cinder feels like a manifestation of the old Pratchett line about not having morals but having standards. Which puts him a couple of cuts above many of the characters. In some ways including Alex.
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Jul 20, 2021 02:00
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So you would have respected Alex more if he was upfront and honest about being ruthless to protect things he cares about, and that lying is worse than violence?
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Jul 20, 2021 02:06
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Violence is the universal art, lying is just a dick move. (and lying just makes violence more likely)
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Jul 20, 2021 02:44
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Bhodi posted:So you would have respected Alex more if he was upfront and honest about being ruthless to protect things he cares about, and that lying is worse than violence? I'd have respected Alex more if he hadn't given up.
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Jul 20, 2021 03:02
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Bhodi posted:So you would have respected Alex more if he was upfront and honest about being ruthless to protect things he cares about, and that lying is worse than violence? I think I'd respect Alex more if he'd been upfront and honest with the readers and himself. He's more ruthless now because he has the Fateweaver so he won't suffer any negative consequences (aside from those stemming from using the Fateweaver) from being ruthless because he's got a lot of power now. I'd have preferred to have Alex just say "I can't afford to be too mean or play too rough because I'm a Diviner and if I do, the Light Council will nail my dick to the floor" instead of "I don't want to play too rough because I want to try to be a good person." Everyone fucked around with this message at 04:48 on Jul 20, 2021 |
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Jul 20, 2021 04:45
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Anybody else interested in the totally different Urban Fantasy series Benedict Jacka is writing now that Verus is wrapping up?
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Aug 4, 2021 13:53
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biracial bear for uncut posted:Anybody else interested in the totally different Urban Fantasy series Benedict Jacka is writing now that Verus is wrapping up? Interested but it's realistically 18-24 months out so not excited yet. Jacka blog posted:If all goes perfectly, I’ll finish the book by the end of the year, about a month after Alex Verus #12 comes out. Though even if I do, the most likely release date is going to be somewhere in late 2022 or early 2023.
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Aug 7, 2021 02:04
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Cinder and Alex are both terrible people. Cinder however has never denied he is a terrible person and has actually proven to be fairly forward and unfront with his attitudes. He's a terrible person but he is also probably the most trustworthy person in the series in a very weird way because he's pretty upfront and faithful. He's just the kind of faithful that means he'll immolate someone but he won't pretend he is someone who won't immolate someone. Alex is a bad person who spent a good chunk of the series doing everything he could to take a position of "I'm not ACTUALLY a bad person, you force me to do this stuff" and while that is unarguably true it was also born from an attitude of "I shouldn't have to have consequences for my actions and behaviors" and the reason poo poo kept biting him in the rear end wasn't just because the plot hates him (though it does) but that he was desperate to cling to his vision of who he was even when he acted directly against it. Thus it's way easier to criticize Alex because the character by definition spent a lot of time lying to himself and justifying some pretty awful behaviors. This doesn't mean Alex is iredeemable wizard hitler or anything, he's just kind of a selfish rear end in a top hat who takes a bit too much satisfaction in hurting and killing people while also not wanting to actually suffer consequences for that. And he's in the kind of book series where that behavior doesn't get shrugged off or ignored but has actual consequences more or less. Alex also can show empathy and kindness and genuine signs of goodness because he isn't one-dimensional in that particular way but at the end of the day he's capable of being immensely cruel and ruthless on a level beyond just "protecting others." Both characters had a terrifying bodycount and have done a lot of terrible things, but for most of the series Alex would insist it was someone else's fault he did those terrible things and Cinder would say it is his own fault. (It also makes Cinder more interesting as a dark mage than the vast majority who are just cartoonishly evil terror monsters or the majority of Light Mages who boil down to "we are literally incapable of deviating from our thought processes.") ImpAtom fucked around with this message at 02:27 on Aug 7, 2021 |
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Aug 7, 2021 02:22
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I just finished Leigh Bardugo's Ninth House which features a very different (and considerably more interesting) Alex, Galaxy "Alex" Sterns, a 20 year old high school dropout, ex-girlfriend (and subordinate) to a failed drug dealer and survivors of a really nasty drug-related mass murder who gets an offer to attend Yale University - because she can see ghosts.
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Aug 12, 2021 00:34
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Everyone posted:I just finished Leigh Bardugo's Ninth House which features a very different (and considerably more interesting) Alex, Galaxy "Alex" Sterns, a 20 year old high school dropout, ex-girlfriend (and subordinate) to a failed drug dealer and survivors of a really nasty drug-related mass murder who gets an offer to attend Yale University - because she can see ghosts. Good, bad, indifferent?
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Aug 12, 2021 01:28
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torgeaux posted:Good, bad, indifferent? Really, really good in "Gods-dammit when does the next one come out?!" way. I very much liked Galaxy (called Alex through most of the book) and the way she approached things. She's not a nice person, maybe not even a "good" person. She's manipulative and somewhat ruthless because that's what she had to be to survive what she's survived. As an example (spoilers follow): At one point Alex has been badly hurt and her police contact has gone to get some supplies for a "healing" spell. Alex and another woman, Pam Dawes and are going up some stairs. [i]"You should have let him carry you," Dawes grunted as they made their slow way up the stairs. Alex's body was fighting every step. "Right now he feels guilty for not listening to me. I can't let him make up for it just yet." "Why" "Because the worse he feels, the more he'll do for us..." That seems like the kind exploitation of a basic human insight that would probably be beyond Harry Dresden or even Alex Verus.
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Aug 12, 2021 23:46
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I just finished Between Two Fires. I'm kinda ruined for another book for a while.
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Aug 15, 2021 20:53
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Good news, that same author wrote a bunch of stuff that could fit into this thread. Those Across The River The Necromancer's House The Lesser Dead The Suicide Motor Club Edit: They are all standalone, but there are some character ties between The Lesser Dead and The Suicide Motor Club. secular woods sex fucked around with this message at 21:27 on Aug 15, 2021 |
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Aug 15, 2021 21:23
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ClydeFrog posted:I just finished Between Two Fires. Oh I've been meaning to read this one for a while now.
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Aug 15, 2021 21:54
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docbeard posted:Oh I've been meaning to read this one for a while now. It’s real good. It’s very intense though.
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Aug 16, 2021 01:06
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ClydeFrog posted:I just finished Between Two Fires. Chris is a good dude, go buy and read The Blacktongue Thief if you like fantasy, and also so he can afford to quit touring so hard. Unrelated: New (final?) Sandman Slim on Tuesday. I had a vague memory that I series I loved had a next book in August and did a loving happy dance when I just looked it up. I'm excited. I also think I'm going to read Verus, because I want to be able to chat in this thread and can't stand Dresden.
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Aug 16, 2021 04:28
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I've read the Suicide Motor Club, liked it very much. Just wasn't prepared for the sheer haunting lyricism of Between Two Fires. Not often a book makes me sniffle. I like the look of Black Tongued Thief- will read that next, thanks.
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Aug 16, 2021 11:42
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Btw is it just me who sees Alex Verus as Jeffrey Donovan?
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Aug 20, 2021 06:54
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His Divine Shadow posted:Btw is it just me who sees Alex Verus as Jeffrey Donovan? Nope. I see Gildart Jackson (because that's the VA from the audiobooks).
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Aug 20, 2021 10:31
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Is it recommended to skip the first two Dresden Files books still? Since the new one came out I've been meaning to do a reread but I know both of those were the weakest.
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Aug 20, 2021 10:59
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His Divine Shadow posted:Btw is it just me who sees Alex Verus as Jeffrey Donovan? Now.
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Aug 20, 2021 12:11
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OscarDiggs posted:Is it recommended to skip the first two Dresden Files books still? Since the new one came out I've been meaning to do a reread but I know both of those were the weakest. I don't recommend new readers skip them because even as weak as they are, they are foundational. But if you've already read them once and still remember the plot then go for it. I generally read book one and skip book two because the FBI wolves are a little much for me in places.
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Aug 20, 2021 12:52
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OscarDiggs posted:Is it recommended to skip the first two Dresden Files books still? Since the new one came out I've been meaning to do a reread but I know both of those were the weakest. They're definitely the weakest in the series, and if you've read them before you certainly know whether you need to read them again.
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Aug 20, 2021 13:11
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OscarDiggs posted:Is it recommended to skip the first two Dresden Files books still? Since the new one came out I've been meaning to do a reread but I know both of those were the weakest. I recommend you skip Dresden altogether unless you like the idea of supporting a COVID-denier/truther. Check out the other stuff recommended in the OP: quote:The good stuff!
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Aug 20, 2021 13:30
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Mike/M. R. Carey is a recommendation whatever genre/medium he's working in. I haven't read his Felix Castor series but everything else has been very good.
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Aug 20, 2021 17:17
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Doctor Jeep posted:Mike/M. R. Carey is a recommendation whatever genre/medium he's working in. I haven't read his Felix Castor series but everything else has been very good. Yeah, he was the guy that wrote the Lucifer comics everyone loves when that character got his own series separate from Gaiman's Sandman, right? Also The Girl With All The Gifts (yeah, the one that was made into a movie) and some post-apocalyptic London series called the Rampart Trilogy that had it's first book published this year.
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Aug 20, 2021 19:59
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