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GreyjoyBastard posted:I just read one of the more recent Charles Strosses - the one with a grocery store - and it does a good job of a moderately amusing horror dystopia grocery store. What was the name of it? As someone who used to work in a horror dystopia grocery store, I'd like to check it for accuracy.
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Nov 1, 2022 00:43
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Everyone posted:What was the name of it? As someone who used to work in a horror dystopia grocery store, I'd like to check it for accuracy. Quantum of Nightmares . The realistic grocery store horror doesn't extend much beyond management, the rest of the dystopia is stuff that companies wish they could get away with, and misuse of a meat 3D printer.
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Nov 1, 2022 03:35
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So I'm about a tenth of the way through the book. My short and sweet review currently is: "I see the Jim Butcher DNA all over it, but it has much more interesting and better execution of ideas and general writing."
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Nov 1, 2022 17:56
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My urban fantasy adjacent (maybe urban science fantasy?) book is free for the next few days on Amazon. The Night City Check it out and collect another free book. Or maybe leave a review if you feel like it. Thanks! newts fucked around with this message at 01:16 on Nov 2, 2022 |
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Nov 2, 2022 01:14
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Kchama posted:So I'm about a tenth of the way through the book. My short and sweet review currently is: "I see the Jim Butcher DNA all over it, but it has much more interesting and better execution of ideas and general writing." Oh? That seems like quite a turnaround from your previous posts.
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Nov 2, 2022 11:48
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Darth Walrus posted:Oh? That seems like quite a turnaround from your previous posts. Don't judge a book by its cover/back-blurb/author's father? Meanwhile, overall, does it have more necromancy or group sex?
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Nov 2, 2022 12:26
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Darth Walrus posted:Oh? That seems like quite a turnaround from your previous posts. It's not really. I have an extremely low opinion of the Dresden Files. Like, rock-bottom 'I utterly loathe these books' low opinion. James Butcher is far superior than his father, but a smelly turd can do better than him. James Butcher seems decent so far, at least. Everyone posted:Don't judge a book by its cover/back-blurb/author's father? It so far has none. While I may make fun of his "retail service written by someone who has zero experience in it" part, Grimsby is by far a much less loathsome main character, and really so far is the underdog that Harry Dresden kept being treated as. I had to literally force myself through the Dresden Files kicking and screaming, whereas I actually do not regret spending 14 bux on this book. Kchama fucked around with this message at 12:47 on Nov 2, 2022 |
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Nov 2, 2022 12:40
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Kchama posted:It's not really. I have an extremely low opinion of the Dresden Files. Like, rock-bottom 'I utterly loathe these books' low opinion. James Butcher is far superior than his father, but a smelly turd can do better than him. Part of it might be that James Butcher is 20+? years younger than his dad so he's grown up in a more modern/woke culture, which is all to the good. I'm a 54 year old white dude, so I'm maybe a little more willing to endure "My apprentice's Molly's breasts are the most bodacious ta-tas in all of Boobopolis" because I also sometimes get Dresden riding an undead tyrannosaurus rex through the streets if Chicago. I will say that over time I've grown more annoyed with the idea that in a series that's mostly set in the city of Chicago, one of the only black people with a speaking part comes from Russia. Like, really Jim? No other black people closer to home? Maybe in, I dunno, the southern side of the city? Jesus gently caress, they set Candyman there for a reason, you oblivious twit. Bottom-lining it, I used to be really eager for the next Dresden Files or other Butcher book to come out, but after that 5-year hiatus and not-so-great editing of what we did get, I'm giving serious consideration to just donating my whole DF collection (including the graphic novels) to the public library to make room for the better stuff that I'm constantly discovering in these book threads.
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Nov 2, 2022 13:39
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Jim is the grrm of urban fantasy. All he needs to do is get really fat and have hbo writers finish his story for him.
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Nov 2, 2022 14:06
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Azuth0667 posted:Jim is the grrm of urban fantasy. All he needs to do is get really fat and have hbo writers finish his story for him. I don't think that used to be true. He was dropping DF book at about one a year or so up to 2015 - and he did Codex Alera while doing it. That contracting disaster and his divorce/remarriage through him for a hell of a loop. It might be that he's just become kind of sick of the world and the character or just in a really different headspace. Either way, I'll admit that I'm no longer in a rush to get the next Dresden Files thing.
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Nov 2, 2022 18:37
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My guess is that his new wife probably isn't as good an editor as his actual writer ex wife. That said the arc of Dresden Files up through Changes is great, it just sortof comes to a natural stop at the end of Changes and everything since then has had the "this concept is played out past its natural length" problem. If he'd had the balls to let Dresden die, book over, at the end of Changes, we'd be pointing to the series still as a flawed masterpiece.
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Nov 2, 2022 18:45
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:My guess is that his new wife probably isn't as good an editor as his actual writer ex wife. At this point I agree with this assessment. I haven't exactly hated any of the books since Changes, but I admit that I really wished we'd ended the series at Book 12 and the next book had been Book 1 of the Murphy Files. Or at least the Butters Files. I'm not super-confident in Butcher's ability to write a female protagonist. He has done it and done it pretty well for short stories, but I don't know if he could pull it off over the course of a novel, much less a series.
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Nov 2, 2022 19:16
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I'm less down on Dresden than most in the thread, and even I agree that everything since Changes has been a step down, except Cold Days, which is the only post-Changes novel to feel like the pre-changes novels.
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Nov 2, 2022 20:20
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Everyone posted:I don't think that used to be true. He was dropping DF book at about one a year or so up to 2015 - and he did Codex Alera while doing it. That contracting disaster and his divorce/remarriage through him for a hell of a loop. It might be that he's just become kind of sick of the world and the character or just in a really different headspace. Either way, I'll admit that I'm no longer in a rush to get the next Dresden Files thing. It definitely wasn't and he also wasn't as successful at the time as well. From what I can recall the reason proven guilty has so many loose threads is because he was worried about some kind of contract deal with a publisher. He needed to justify writing more books and having another lucrative deal. I don't know if that's still the case but he got some kind of deal and has been writing books since. I can't seem to find the interview where he talks about that anymore. I would like him to finish the series already or outright state he's done with it. Is anyone else getting less tolerant of these sorts of hiatuses from authors? It feels like I've become far less tolerant of them as I've grown older. I know its the author's work and they owe readers nothing but I feel like someone needs to tell Jim to knuckle down and finish his loving projects.
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Nov 2, 2022 20:35
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Azuth0667 posted:It definitely wasn't and he also wasn't as successful at the time as well. From what I can recall the reason proven guilty has so many loose threads is because he was worried about some kind of contract deal with a publisher. He needed to justify writing more books and having another lucrative deal. I don't know if that's still the case but he got some kind of deal and has been writing books since. I can't seem to find the interview where he talks about that anymore. The I always understood it was that Dresden Files was going to be a 20 book series with book 20 leading into some bigass final trilogy that wrapped everything up. As far as I know, the only real change from that would be that it would be a 21 book series because of Peace Talks/Battle Ground.
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Nov 2, 2022 22:07
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:My guess is that his new wife probably isn't as good an editor as his actual writer ex wife. I liked Ghost Story more than most people (in this thread) (and in general) but otherwise I'm generally in agreement. Do we know if his current wife is actually doing the editing? Because I am not convinced, based on Peace Talks and Whatever The One After Peace Talks Is Called that he actually has an editor any more. Honestly, a 13-book run where probably 10 of them were 'pretty good' or better is a hell of an achievement even if the later books have not kept up the pace.
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Nov 3, 2022 03:52
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Successful authors are notorious for book bloat as the power dynamic between writer and editor shifts. I used to call it 'Tom Clancy syndrome', but you could substitue any number of big name writers who really need a ruthless editor but are now the goose that laid the golden egg who publishers either don't want or don't dare to reign in. I suspect the only reason the Dresden Files stayed as tight as they did was because it's hard to overrule your editor when that editors your wife. I would be utterly unsurprised if ever sprawling and more meandering books became the norm going forward.
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Nov 3, 2022 10:12
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Anne Rice. https://www.angelfire.com/ri/cerat/AnneOnEditing.html
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Nov 3, 2022 12:52
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The Flood Circle is out, newest 20 Palaces book by Harry Connolly. It ends on a cliffhanger that really makes me hope we're not going to have to wait 5+ years for another in the same series. Still baffled that a series that good didn't find enough readers to avoid being dropped by the publisher
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Nov 3, 2022 16:13
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Benedict Jacka dropped another Verus novella, Gardens. Longer than the last novella ( Favors ). Adds a bit more to the end of the series. Haven't read it yet, probably will on Saturday. I can pick at the stories and the ending of the series, but I still enjoyed it and go back from time to time. Edit: Feels different than Verus, in a good way. Similar, but slightly better? I've read about 10%. Focus is on a small group of adepts a few months after the finale. There's some degree of tension to be had in the fact that they discuss and dismiss some things as false that people who've read Verus know to be real dangers. If I had one critique it would be that of the two female characters introduced so far, one is an enchantress and the other is a friend who is being teed up as a love interest and it reminded me instantly how every non-crone woman in Dresden slots into some kinda fuckability scale and how irritating that is. As an aside, this enchantress isn't Meredith and isn't doing a Crystal so I don't mind her as much. Edit 2: I rescind my previous criticism. Story isn't high art, but it's got it's moments. Plenty of fun in a horror movie kinda way. Read it. NerdyMcNerdNerd fucked around with this message at 12:11 on Nov 5, 2022 |
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Nov 4, 2022 01:53
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Woah, an urban fantasy series that I thought was dead and unfinished actually isn't, and the final book is dropping tomorrow https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25545301-rise-of-the-demon I haven't read it yet, but I love how the covers shift from naked women to this:
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Nov 14, 2022 17:01
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StrixNebulosa posted:Woah, an urban fantasy series that I thought was dead and unfinished actually isn't, and the final book is dropping tomorrow Oh nice, I enjoyed the other series the author did and didn't realize there was this whole other series. Thanks! I've picked up the first book at least, I'm sure I'll end up reading them all too  Never enough books in the backlog.
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Nov 14, 2022 17:15
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ookiimarukochan posted:The Flood Circle is out, newest 20 Palaces book by Harry Connolly. I firmly believe that if the 20 Palaces prequel had come out as the first book in the series, then the series would still be going strong. The actual first 20P novel is good, but it is very opaque for a very long time. It doesn't do enough to let the reader into the mystery. Instead it leaves them as confused and frustrated as Ray, and that's a huge turnoff to casual readers. Personally I loved it, but I couldn't imagine recommending 20 Palaces to any of my casual reader friends until the prequel came out. The background you get from the prequel adds some much-needed context.
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Nov 14, 2022 17:17
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However, A Key, an Egg, an Unfortunate Remark from the same author? That book I recommend to everyone. It's great. The world needs more somewhat batty, elderly auntie protagonists.
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Nov 14, 2022 17:19
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ConfusedUs posted:However, A Key, an Egg, an Unfortunate Remark from the same author? That book I recommend to everyone. It's great. The world needs more somewhat batty, elderly auntie protagonists. I need to give this one another try. I bounced quite hard off it for some reason, and I don't think it had anything to do with the book itself. I did really like his "The Way Into..." trilogy even if the ending felt a bit "Okay I'm in the last 100 pages of the last book I guess I'd better do something to wrap this up". He's not always the most polished of authors but he's got some real invention in his storytelling and I'll forgive a lot for that.
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Nov 14, 2022 17:23
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ConfusedUs posted:However, A Key, an Egg, an Unfortunate Remark from the same author? That book I recommend to everyone. It's great. The world needs more somewhat batty, elderly auntie protagonists. Seconding this. I finished it a couple weeks ago and thoroughly enjoyed the very different approach to urban fantasy that it takes. I'd love to see more stuff like it.
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Nov 14, 2022 17:47
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docbeard posted:I need to give this one another try. I bounced quite hard off it for some reason, and I don't think it had anything to do with the book itself. His fantasy trilogy was awful. I think the opaqueness is something I appreciated about 20P when I started, it made the world feel big and mysterious. He said in his kickstarter update he’ll come back to 20P after the flood gate, but he wants to write something else first.
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Nov 14, 2022 18:17
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ConfusedUs posted:However, A Key, an Egg, an Unfortunate Remark from the same author? That book I recommend to everyone. It's great. The world needs more somewhat batty, elderly auntie protagonists. The moment when you realize why she's employing her nephew as a driver and bodyguard is delicious: he's literally only there to open doors for her, because opening doors on her own is a very bad idea.
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Nov 14, 2022 20:35
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ConfusedUs posted:I firmly believe that if the 20 Palaces prequel had come out as the first book in the series, then the series would still be going strong. IIRC the publishing order was DAW's idea, not his. And then they dropped him as it had backfired, whoops!
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Nov 14, 2022 22:39
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docbeard posted:I need to give this one another try. I bounced quite hard off it for some reason, and I don't think it had anything to do with the book itself. I unfortunately was lost when the first battle starts with the Big Hero shouting out "Splashtown!" I know towns have weird names, but that took me out of it.
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Nov 16, 2022 07:30
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Ninurta posted:I unfortunately was lost when the first battle starts with the Big Hero shouting out "Splashtown!" I know towns have weird names, but that took me out of it. This makes me want an epic urban fantasy battle set during one of those crazy stunt shows they have at amusement parks.
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Nov 16, 2022 16:12
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xsf421 posted:His fantasy trilogy was awful. I read it. I didn't hate it. I can't remember anything else about it. rndmnmbr posted:The moment when you realize why she's employing her nephew as a driver and bodyguard is delicious: he's literally only there to open doors for her, because opening doors on her own is a very bad idea. Haha yeah. He spends almost the entire book confused or scared and trying to hide it. It's kind of hilarious. docbeard posted:This makes me want an epic urban fantasy battle set during one of those crazy stunt shows they have at amusement parks. An urban fantasy centered around carnies in a traveling fair seems like it would almost write itself.
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Nov 16, 2022 16:52
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ConfusedUs posted:An urban fantasy centered around carnies in a traveling fair seems like it would almost write itself. I remember Seanan McGuire did that for a time in her InCryptid series, during one of the books where the perspective shifted to the youngest daughter Antimony- a traveling carnival was the setting, with monsters hiding in plain sight. Works pretty drat well.
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Nov 16, 2022 18:04
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Rivers of London RPG just came out. https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/417715/Rivers-of-London-The-Roleplaying-Game?language=en It's based on the classic d100 Runequest/Call of Cthulhu system.
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Nov 30, 2022 10:25
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I opened the first of the two new Twenty Palaces novels from the author's kickstarter (The Iron Gate and The Flood Circle), only to realize that I couldn't remember poo poo about the series beyond the most general of basics. So I started back at the beginning, starting with the prequel. I'm halfway through Game of Cages, the third book (chronologically). These are very good books. They're pretty short. They're well-paced. The otherworldly predators are all fascinating, unique, and terrifying. Ray is both competent within his own domain and completely in over his head, which makes him a very compelling protagonist. Also I apparently missed the release of a novella in the series, The Twisted Path.
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Nov 30, 2022 15:09
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ConfusedUs posted:I opened the first of the two new Twenty Palaces novels from the author's kickstarter (The Iron Gate and The Flood Circle), only to realize that I couldn't remember poo poo about the series beyond the most general of basics. Glad you posted this. I just completed my collection of the series, and I'm going to start from the first (chronological) novella and go from there. I remember so little about the stories, but a lot about the universe's mechanics, it's odd.
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Nov 30, 2022 17:36
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StrixNebulosa posted:Woah, an urban fantasy series that I thought was dead and unfinished actually isn't, and the final book is dropping tomorrow I've never even heard of these but they sound like they might be something I'd enjoy, thanks!
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Nov 30, 2022 17:43
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torgeaux posted:Glad you posted this. I just completed my collection of the series, and I'm going to start from the first (chronological) novella and go from there. I remember so little about the stories, but a lot about the universe's mechanics, it's odd. Yeah. The opening to The Iron Gate wasn't confusing. I probably could have just read it. I just got through the first chapter or two, and realized I really wanted to re-read the whole series because I couldn't remember the details of the relationships between characters.
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Nov 30, 2022 17:45
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I just started on the InCryptid audiobooks. I’m like a third of the way into the first one and I adore the mice.
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Dec 1, 2022 00:43
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DreamingofRoses posted:I just started on the InCryptid audiobooks. I’m like a third of the way into the first one and I adore the mice. HAIL!! The mice are the best part of those books.
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Dec 1, 2022 01:12
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