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I read a sample of a book that sounded interesting but just, no. The synopsis basically says this guy can dimension hop because of an Aboriginal fertility deity doll. He met his dream girl at a bar where he was a bartender so naturally she's perfect, she's tattooed, she's skinny she's into and all the same stuff he is total fantasy girl, and literally has a best friend who turns out to be a hot lesbian pornstar. The thing that really killed it for me was as nice as the relationship talk in the book was, and there wasn't any? explicit sex, it was mainly that they threw in a moment where the main character's girlfriend asks him not to watch her best friend's porn videos that she's famous for, while said friend is sitting with them at the bar. He agrees, and they go on with their lives... OR DO THEY? So naturally she catches him watching said porn videos and is way over the top upset for some reason and they argue and she runs out of the house, she runs down the street, she runs out in the road and gets hit by a car and dies. To make this extra sad he doesn't find out until the next day so he feels extra guilty for his baitin' habit. So now this schmuck has to go from dimension to dimension trying to find this perfect girlfriend again because of porn. It was the dumbest loving setup I have ever heard for any kind of a book regarding dimensions and alternate worlds.
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Apr 2, 2023 08:06
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Funny that this thread should be revived now. I Don't Even Own A Television just released their final episode today. I haven't listened to it yet, but it seems like they ended the podcast on good terms with each other. Not a surprise since they only released one ep this year, but still a little sad. http://www.idontevenownatelevision.com/2023/04/01/174-so-long-and-thanks-for-all-the-fun/
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Apr 2, 2023 08:40
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:I read a sample of a book that sounded interesting but just, no. The synopsis basically says this guy can dimension hop because of an Aboriginal fertility deity doll. He met his dream girl at a bar where he was a bartender so naturally she's perfect, she's tattooed, she's skinny she's into and all the same stuff he is total fantasy girl, and literally has a best friend who turns out to be a hot lesbian pornstar. This sounds so weirdly specific that I kinda suspect it might be partly autobiographical. Some guy hosed up his relationship by watching porn of his partner's friends, and now copes by writing a weird rambling story about how he could totally have fixed it in another world.
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Apr 2, 2023 08:44
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Perestroika posted:This sounds so weirdly specific that I kinda suspect it might be partly autobiographical. Some guy hosed up his relationship by watching porn of his partner's friends, and now copes by writing a weird rambling story about how he could totally have fixed it in another world. Even odds on whether the happy ending is he finds her identical copy whose only difference is she's cool with friend porn or that he gets with alternate lesbian porn star who's not lesbian in that reality.
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Apr 2, 2023 10:20
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:I read a sample of a book that sounded interesting but just, no. The synopsis basically says this guy can dimension hop because of an Aboriginal fertility deity doll. He met his dream girl at a bar where he was a bartender so naturally she's perfect, she's tattooed, she's skinny she's into and all the same stuff he is total fantasy girl, and literally has a best friend who turns out to be a hot lesbian pornstar. It's always gotta be cars, doesn't it? and also I saw this episode of Voyager it was one of the few great episodes
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Apr 2, 2023 10:35
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:I read a sample of a book that sounded interesting but just, no. The synopsis basically says this guy can dimension hop because of an Aboriginal fertility deity doll. He met his dream girl at a bar where he was a bartender so naturally she's perfect, she's tattooed, she's skinny she's into and all the same stuff he is total fantasy girl, and literally has a best friend who turns out to be a hot lesbian pornstar. This sounds like the most self-indulgent Sliders fanfic.
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Apr 2, 2023 10:36
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The most interesting take on supernatural mystery that I read was this neat mystery novel called The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton, where the protagonist finds himself at a party that he doesn't remember being invited to or attending, and in a body that is not his own. He is tasked by an entity to solve the death of the titular character, who is also the party's hostess, and as the book goes on he learns more and more rules about what plays out as a bizarre supernatural game that he's having to play. The rules were interesting and consistent from what I remember and how the mystery plays out is fairly satisfying as the protagonist learns the rules and grows better and better and using his resources effectively.
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Apr 2, 2023 10:51
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Might be the wrong thread dude. I agree with the sliders fanfic comment on mine though, I was thinking quantum leap but will he ever find his girl and leap back home? The answer is : no one cares. this book loving sucks.
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Apr 2, 2023 14:10
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BioEnchanted posted:The most interesting take on supernatural mystery that I read was this neat mystery novel called The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton, where the protagonist finds himself at a party that he doesn't remember being invited to or attending, and in a body that is not his own. He is tasked by an entity to solve the death of the titular character, who is also the party's hostess, and as the book goes on he learns more and more rules about what plays out as a bizarre supernatural game that he's having to play. The rules were interesting and consistent from what I remember and how the mystery plays out is fairly satisfying as the protagonist learns the rules and grows better and better and using his resources effectively. I tried reading that book but had to dip out when the main character, who body hops whenever time resets, is in the body of an overweight guy and the whole thing becomes just about how gross the fat guy is and how awful it is to be fat and just goes way over the top.
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Apr 2, 2023 19:06
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muscles like this! posted:I tried reading that book but had to dip out when the main character, who body hops whenever time resets, is in the body of an overweight guy and the whole thing becomes just about how gross the fat guy is and how awful it is to be fat and just goes way over the top. Lol, somehow this was the comment that made me remember that I actually had read that book. Not the neat overall premise, just a fat guy being fat. Back in bad books land, another thing that's been entertaining me through multiple authors is nonsensical geography. I read one story about aliens stalking people trapped in a snowstorm. The funny part was that the book was set in Indiana, and this crippling snowstorm (specifically the worst Indiana had seen in centuries) was supposed to amount to...six to eight inches. AKA a normal snowstorm you could see there in any given winter. And some of the characters were also in the area to stay at a cabin in the mountains for their yearly ski trip. Indiana has hills, not mountains. They're nice, but the author treated this like it was way up somewhere in the Rockies instead of the corn belt. It really made me think they had somewhere else in mind, and just put Indiana in instead for some unknown reason. Another one I read after that involved the characters needing to drive from Montana to Illinois for some deadline. Somehow, without any reason given, they wound up in Texas along the way. You know, just a day-long detour for no particular reason? The story eventually turned out to be about the characters being dead all along and journeying to their final resting place or something, I was sure there was going to be a plot point about the geography going all surreal because of that. But nope, it was never relevant to anything at all. The author just put Texas in there as if it were somewhere you'd naturally arrive at between Montana and Illinois, without any mention of detours or extra travel time. I love it.
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Apr 2, 2023 20:03
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Were these written by Britons, because I am getting some strong "British people who have heard of certain US states" vibes
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Apr 2, 2023 22:57
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grittyreboot posted:Funny that this thread should be revived now. I Don't Even Own A Television just released their final episode today. I haven't listened to it yet, but it seems like they ended the podcast on good terms with each other. Not a surprise since they only released one ep this year, but still a little sad. http://www.idontevenownatelevision.com/2023/04/01/174-so-long-and-thanks-for-all-the-fun/ I could never get into IDEOAT, their style of humor just hit me wrong. Still sad to see them go, even if it was inevitable I'd definitely recommend 372 Pages We'll Never Get Back, though. It's a slightly different premise - they look at bad books, but in book club format - but it's very funny and well done. I don't even read the books and still find a ton of enjoyment listening to the RiffTrax guys make jokes and get exasperated at bad prose and absurd dialogue
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Apr 3, 2023 00:45
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Antivehicular posted:Were these written by Britons, because I am getting some strong "British people who have heard of certain US states" vibes Interesting, the first author isn't from the US but moved here at some point, so who knows what their actual experience is. The other one I lost track of the title, so no idea where the author's from.
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Apr 3, 2023 02:13
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Antivehicular posted:Were these written by Britons, because I am getting some strong "British people who have heard of certain US states" vibes Oh boy, the comic I've been translating has had a lot of that problem. My personal favourite being a prisoner who is to be taken by train from Alabama to Texas - sure, that's ok. But he's told to break out halfway there and hide himself in the Rockies. Oh, and before they reach the train station, they're leaving Alabama by wagon and going first to Topeka, Kansas.
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Apr 3, 2023 13:42
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Code Kansas!
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Apr 3, 2023 13:48
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Now take that, spell it backwards, drop the S.
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Apr 3, 2023 16:27
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Antivehicular posted:Were these written by Britons, because I am getting some strong "British people who have heard of certain US states" vibes As a Londoner I get that so often with urban fantasy writers who set stuff in London but who've very obviously never been closer than a quick glance at Google Maps. The Alex Verus books, for example, give the very strong impression of a writer who's picking random London locations because they sound cool (as well as being tedious and crap in other ways).
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Apr 3, 2023 16:48
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That's funny, and I was just thinking about it after my US examples. I've read tons of books set in the UK too and just assumed the author knew what they were doing, but they're probably slipping dumb stuff by me left and right.
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Apr 3, 2023 17:02
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Captain Hygiene posted:That's funny, and I was just thinking about it after my US examples. I've read tons of books set in the UK too and just assumed the author knew what they were doing, but they're probably slipping dumb stuff by me left and right. Films are good for that too - you can "enjoy" visualising the route the taxi's taking in so many London-set movies.... (And some make jokes of it - Paddington, for example.)
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Apr 3, 2023 18:11
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My favorite of those is in A Study In Scarlet, the first Sherlock Holmes story. The killer they just caught tells his story, set in America. After barely surviving the trek through the burning desert of Wyoming, the settlers reached the glorious oasis that is the Great Salt Lake. When I read that as a kid, it nearly broke my brain, cuz I'm from Wyoming and I kept trying to find the horrible desert that doesn't exist. GoodyTwoShoes has a new favorite as of 20:14 on Apr 3, 2023 |
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Apr 3, 2023 20:11
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Runcible Cat posted:As a Londoner I get that so often with urban fantasy writers who set stuff in London but who've very obviously never been closer than a quick glance at Google Maps. William Gibson's Zero History is set in London and has a series of slightly strange descriptions like "then we came to LANDMARK" which don't quite feel like their real-world counterparts. For example, there's a long section of a character being driven through the Hangar Lane Gyratory and being in awe of it and ... it's just an intersection. In the afterword, Gibson thanks London friends for giving him local details he could use. Think they might have phoned it in. Conversely, Ben Aaronvitchs Rivers of London series are amazingly true to the real world detail. In one passage, he describes a rough track running down to the river from a side street and I realized that I'd been there.
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Apr 3, 2023 20:29
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GoodyTwoShoes posted:My favorite of those is in A Study In Scarlet, the first Sherlock Holmes story. The killer they just caught tells his story, set in America. After barely surviving the trek through the burning desert of Wyoming, the settlers reached the glorious oasis that is the Great Salt Lake. Not a bad book, it's great, but Dracula contains the most American man to ever exist, Quincy Morris. You can tell he's American because of all the American things he says and does.
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Apr 3, 2023 20:32
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HopperUK posted:Not a bad book, it's great, but Dracula contains the most American man to ever exist, Quincy Morris. You can tell he's American because of all the American things he says and does. Also the cowboy hat. People always seem to forget that Dracula ends with Dracula literally being stabbed to death with a bowie knife by a Texan in a loving Cowboy Hat
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Apr 3, 2023 21:46
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Asterite34 posted:Also the cowboy hat. Yee-fuckin'-haw.
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Apr 4, 2023 00:12
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I'm starting to realise there's a reason so many writers set their stories in and around where they live. Either that or a fictional place that's often obviously a stand-in for a real one but with plausible deniability, see Gotham City and Springfield.
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Apr 4, 2023 07:42
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Ghost Leviathan posted:I'm starting to realise there's a reason so many writers set their stories in and around where they live. Either that or a fictional place that's often obviously a stand-in for a real one but with plausible deniability, see Gotham City and Springfield. And Bangor Maine.
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Apr 4, 2023 08:01
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50 Shades of Gray begins with Ana Steele driving into Seattle in the opposite direction.
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Apr 4, 2023 13:27
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SUPERMAN'S GAL PAL posted:50 Shades of Gray begins with Ana Steele driving into Seattle in the opposite direction. That's what happens when hitting copy + Paste on your Twilight fanfiction.
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Apr 4, 2023 14:41
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I mean it was still wrong in the fanfic, fanfiction.net just has lower editorial standards so it's not as wild.
Djeser has a new favorite as of 04:37 on Apr 5, 2023 |
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Apr 5, 2023 04:34
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Djeser posted:I mean it was still wrong in the fanfic, fanfiction.net just has lower editorial standards so it's not as wild. I was suggesting that it was correct to Twilight since it takes place in a different town and changing it to Seattle caused issues, but I am happy to be corrected.
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Apr 5, 2023 06:11
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The original fanfic is also set in Seattle, because that is the nearest big city to where Twilight is set. Master of the Universe isn't about Edward Cullen being the biggest sexiest billionaire in Forks, Washington.
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Apr 5, 2023 07:04
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I can't believe E.L. James is a bad writer who makes gigantic errors.
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Apr 5, 2023 07:08
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Vincent Van Goatse posted:I can't believe E.L. James is a bad writer who makes gigantic errors. Her inner goddess didn't extend to good editing.
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Apr 5, 2023 08:02
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Antivehicular posted:Were these written by Britons, because I am getting some strong "British people who have heard of certain US states" vibes There's a terrible Jack Reacher book (which one you may ask???) written once he ran out of ideas and just started churning out whatever where Reacher goes to England and it has this whole section of terrible stereotypes and weird attempts at writing accents from ye olde times and it's just terrible but Lee Child is actually British so all I can assume is that he deliberately wrote it as if he was an American trying to guess at it.
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Apr 5, 2023 13:03
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IamnotJoe posted:So picked up Good Intentions by Elliot Kay. …Turns out it wasn't horror its author insert smut, about a nerdy nice guy who rescues a succubus and an angel who then become his sex slaves…. When I was reading it I was trying to figure out why someone would do an adaptation of Good Omens in the style of a 90’s Penthouse pictorial.
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May 24, 2023 19:58
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Remulak posted:Above post is from 2016; strangely enough I had copy/pasted the name & author in my 2023 “books to read from SA” file along with the intro/disclaimer/trigger warning, which was actually amusing. I have search but can’t find whatever post I noted it from, oh well. I clicked on that quote and stumbled upon this post on the same page: wheatpuppy posted:My 8th-grade lit teacher once told me that David Eddings had done time in jail and/or prison for child abuse, and that's where he started to write the Belgariad. My mom, who had lived in the same town as the teacher at that time, said this was true. But I have never found any evidence to back up their story. This didn't become public knowledge until much later: https://thewertzone.blogspot.com/2020/05/it-has-been-revealed-that-fantasy.html Weird that it was kept secret for so long when it was apparently common knowledge in the local community.
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May 24, 2023 20:19
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SimonChris posted:I clicked on that quote and stumbled upon this post on the same page: I tried looking it up in the local newspaper archives when I was in middle school but found nothing. Back in the late 80s that was all just getting copied onto microfiche and it was a huge pain to go through. I eventually gave up and then, color me surprised to find out decades later that it's all on Wikipedia. I got the impression from my English teacher that Eddings distanced himself hard from any indication that he ever even lived in South Dakota. I would imagine that when he was a big name author, his publisher might have also had some vested interest in deflecting any inquiries along those lines.
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May 24, 2023 21:05
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For a while there was someone repeatedly removing it from Wikipedia because "those newspaper articles and court cases could be about any number of David and Leigh Eddings' living in South Dakota in 1970!"
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May 28, 2023 11:46
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I was a massive Eddings hatefan for decades before I learned about all that poo poo, because I'm not from anywhere near him and never thought to look up details of his life; I've read basically everything he's written and despise most of it for the repetitive characters and weird romance stuff and absolute genericism of it all but I read Redemption of Althalus like twelve times and there's bits of the Elenium I genuinely like and aaaaaahhhh I hate him so much
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May 28, 2023 13:48
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TheKennedys posted:but I read Redemption of Althalus like twelve times Why? --------- This thread has been great to me, and also a minor curse. I recently knuckled down and decided to finish a couple of sci-fi "classics" I've been missing, starting with the Foundation series by Asimov. It was like reading some ancient tablet, a true progenitor of men-writing-women, The Bechdel Test, whatever the hell you want to call it, ugh. It's just... the man married and had children! He's clearly seen women before, what the christ?!
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May 28, 2023 13:56
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