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ShutteredIn posted:How is this series? I dug the Children of books but holy hell there’s a lot of these. They're decently neat but his more recent stuff makes it look amateurish by comparison. Big "first novel d&d campaign" energy but you can see the potential.
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Jan 15, 2023 18:36
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It's one of my favorite series ever but I read the first book while tripping balls and that gave me a lot of positive emotional attachments agreed that his more recent stuff is better.
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Jan 15, 2023 18:52
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ShutteredIn posted:How is this series? I dug the Children of books but holy hell there’s a lot of these. i love it, but your mileage may vary
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Jan 15, 2023 19:00
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Honestly surprised they don’t permanently price the first book of long series at $3 or $5. If you hook people, you sell them the other books at $10.
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Jan 15, 2023 19:04
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I bought Europe's Tragedy because of you people and it's really good so thanks!
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Jan 15, 2023 19:05
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HopperUK posted:I bought Europe's Tragedy because of you people and it's really good so thanks! At one point I asked the milhist folks what the best 30 years war book was, mostly because of the boardgame Westphalia, and that was where they pointed, yeah.
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Jan 15, 2023 19:07
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HopperUK posted:I bought Europe's Tragedy because of you people and it's really good so thanks! I also ordered a copy Literally spent the past month playing Pentiment and then playing Darklands and writing a guide for it. I guess my "turn middle aged and get into a historical war, pick one" phase is gonna be about medieval Germany Hieronymous Alloy fucked around with this message at 19:16 on Jan 15, 2023 |
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Jan 15, 2023 19:13
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So I'm maybe an eighth or maybe a tenth of the way through [i[Son of the Poison Rose[/i], Maberry's follow-up to Kagen the Damned. And I think I've identified the basic problem with this book and series. It's not the references to rape or child murder (they're still there, and still gross and certainly don't help matters, but I think Maberry put them in hoping to use the GrimDark to disguise that this book, is... kinda dull. So far I've counted three separate conversations on the subject of "Since the Witch King has magic, we should totally try to figure out how to do magic. Anyone have any ideas how to do that?" "Uh, nope."
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Jan 15, 2023 21:37
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Zorak of Michigan posted:Sunshine can be a master class in world-building without exposition. We get straight exposition of the stuff that matters right then, like vampires not being able to tolerate sunlight, but only for that stuff. Everything else is inferential, and we're given only the contextually relevant facts, but it still adds up to a comprehensible picture. There isn't a single scene where an inexplicably ignorant character has to everything explained to them. It's also a good lesson in just the right amount of explanation about how magic works. It's got some reasonable rules that are understandable but also remains "magical" because it's not Dungeons and Dragons. There's also the thing we never really learn the answer to: Is she actually a demon/magician cross and that's why she's so powerful or is it just some unusual Blaise-family magic? Who knows!? Isn't consequential except to explain why everyone is so worried about her and is interesting to think about.
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Jan 15, 2023 22:18
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:I also ordered a copy Oh is that a phase people have? Because I got really into the Battle of Trafalgar and the associated naval wars a few years ago. I am, though, just a *tremendous* loving nerd who cannot be interested in something a normal amount.
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Jan 15, 2023 23:46
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Olga Tokarczuk posted:It’s hard work talking to some people, most often males. I have a Theory about it. With age, many men come down with testosterone autism, the symptoms of which are a gradual decline in social intelligence and capacity for interpersonal communication, as well as a reduced ability to formulate thoughts. The Person beset by this Ailment becomes taciturn and appears to be lost in contemplation. He develops an interest in various Tools and machinery, and he’s drawn to the Second World War and the biographies of famous people, mainly politicians and villains. His capacity to read novels almost entirely vanishes; testosterone autism disturbs the character’s psychological understanding.
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Jan 16, 2023 00:00
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Well that doesn't work out. I am no man!
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Jan 16, 2023 00:01
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In seriousness, though, I have a general inability to become obsessed with a single topic. Several times in the last year, I devised a list of books about a historical event or period, read one or two, and felt my desire to learn more drain away as the books repeated more and more information. My mind is blown by people who are able to maintain a desire to read many, many books about the Battle of Gettysburg. Glad I didn't try to pursue any kind of humanities degree, because the reading would have killed me. Edit: I did read enough World War I books for it to become my personal specialty, I guess. FPyat fucked around with this message at 00:09 on Jan 16, 2023 |
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Jan 16, 2023 00:05
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They have to keep learning about Gettysburg so they don't Forgettysburg
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Jan 16, 2023 00:15
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General Battuta posted:They have to keep learning about Gettysburg so they don't Forgettysburg
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Jan 16, 2023 00:24
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General Battuta posted:They have to keep learning about Gettysburg so they don't Forgettysburg
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Jan 16, 2023 00:44
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We get one (1) full page of bad Baru jokes in recompense for that one.
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Jan 16, 2023 00:53
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Kestral posted:We get one (1) full page of bad Baru jokes in recompense for that one. I am not too proud to admit that I was already trying to figure out one based on Pickett's Charge or Buford or somesuch
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Jan 16, 2023 01:00
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The Traitor Flag Baru Cormorant
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Jan 16, 2023 03:15
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ShutteredIn posted:How is this series? I dug the Children of books but holy hell there’s a lot of these. great concept, as said earlier, very this is my rpg campaign but still pretty fun. diminishing returns by the later books and short story collections but never unreadable. i think the idea of hominid insects, who can either parse magic or technology but not both, and inherit characteristics from the real world insects just really grabbed me at the time.
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Jan 16, 2023 03:30
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The Defenestration of Baru Cormorant
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Jan 16, 2023 03:47
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"Xate stood against me when I was drunk and I stood against her when she was crazy, and now, sir, we stand by each other always"
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Jan 16, 2023 04:02
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Wasn't sure if The Power That Preserves would nail the landing, but it did. I can enthusiastically recommend the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. It's worth sticking with, even when it sucks; it's a powerful, unique, and beautiful series of books I really should take a break and read something else, probably something not-fantasy, but I'm chasing my emotions and diving headfirst into The Wounded Land
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Jan 16, 2023 08:11
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Sequels are actually p deece, and if you like tc cutting loose with the old white gold, hoo boy
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Jan 16, 2023 08:23
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sebmojo posted:Sequels are actually p deece, and if you like tc cutting loose with the old white gold, hoo boy hell yes, that bodes well Donaldson's prose is tough to wade through at times, but his ability to paint pictures of the otherwise indescribable is astonishing. Every paragraph about power, raw emotions, vitality, corruption, inner turmoil, they all feel so palpable, easier to envision than even the characters. Every scene with magic, especially all the white gold nonsense at the end, absolutely ruled. "I don't believe this is real, therefore I don't acknowledge you as an unstoppable force, thus I am the only one that can stop you" should be so corny, but god, it gave me actual goosebumps in the middle of all that white gold majesty
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Jan 16, 2023 09:18
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The Good Ol' Baru Cormorant
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Jan 16, 2023 10:42
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smackfu posted:Honestly surprised they don’t permanently price the first book of long series at $3 or $5. If you hook people, you sell them the other books at $10. This is how Eric Flint sold Baen on the Free Library. He had an established series or two, and he put up the first couple of volumes for free and got a few other authors to try the experiment. Their royalty checks went up. People who hadn't gotten in on the ground floor could now try out a series for free. If they liked it, they bought books and author and publisher made money. If they didn't, it didn't cost anyone any more than the website and the download costs, aka nothing. That's how Eric Flint, RIP, proved that giving away books makes you money.
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Jan 16, 2023 11:05
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Fellas...first off I wanna apologize for the pretentiousness here. But I'm looking for fantasy that's more literary, at least to the extent that either leaves you with a sense of better understanding of the world or with a deeper conviction/love for life; in other words, fantasy that deals with the "human condition". It doesn't have to be allegorical or anything, and it can still have all those pulpy tropes, but I need something isn't just a bunch of stock (or flawless) characters carrying out a plot. I'm talking characters who change, and not just adhering to their world's rules but ours as well. I also like books with strong imagery and motifs throughout. Again, sorry if this is pretentious, but I'm so tired of reading books where all the stakes apply only the world the author imagined.
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Jan 16, 2023 18:25
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caspergers posted:Fellas...first off I wanna apologize for the pretentiousness here. But I'm looking for fantasy that's more literary, at least to the extent that either leaves you with a sense of better understanding of the world or with a deeper conviction/love for life; in other words, fantasy that deals with the "human condition". I'm not entirely sure how to address your last point with a novel of any kind, but I'd recommend Delilah Waan's (AKA our very own Leng's) Petition. It's a cool fantasy world with fun characters, but one thing about it is how much Rahelu has to struggle with her and her family just being really gently caress-off poor and her and her family's struggle to get lifted out of that awful poverty while being stuck in a class system biased very much against them. Yeah, it's a fantasy but it's also really loving relevant to the actual world in which we live.
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Jan 16, 2023 18:36
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The Way of Kings (Stormlight Archive #1) by Brandon Sanderson - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003P2WO5E/ The Dragonriders of Pern: Dragonflight, Dragonquest, and The White Dragon by Anne McCaffrey - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000RH0E70/ The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003WUYPTC/ American Elsewhere by Robert Jackson Bennett - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008AS84PM/ Heroes Die (Acts of Caine #1) by Matthew Woodring Stover - $4.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001MYA38W/ Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A Heinlein - $4.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000TO0TDK/
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Jan 16, 2023 18:58
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caspergers posted:Fellas...first off I wanna apologize for the pretentiousness here. But I'm looking for fantasy that's more literary, at least to the extent that either leaves you with a sense of better understanding of the world or with a deeper conviction/love for life; in other words, fantasy that deals with the "human condition". Currently reading "The Years of Rice and Salt" by KSR which seems to be extremely concerned with "what does it mean to be alive, what is the point". It's more historical fiction than fantasy but, IDK, maybe that's fine? The "magic" is mostly (so far) "what if Buddhism was literally real". Only about a quarter in but enjoying the hell out of it. No need to apologize for being pretentious. GoodluckJonathan fucked around with this message at 19:15 on Jan 16, 2023 |
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Jan 16, 2023 19:12
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caspergers posted:Fellas...first off I wanna apologize for the pretentiousness here. But I'm looking for fantasy that's more literary, at least to the extent that either leaves you with a sense of better understanding of the world or with a deeper conviction/love for life; in other words, fantasy that deals with the "human condition". Try Susannah Clarke's Piranesi, Roger Zelazny's Isle of the Dead. The Lord of the Rings. _Bridge of Birds_ by Barry Hughart. I don't know if they're exactly what you're asking for but they're the closest things I can think of.
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Jan 16, 2023 19:47
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:Try Susannah Clarke's Piranesi, Roger Zelazny's Isle of the Dead. The Lord of the Rings. _Bridge of Birds_ by Barry Hughart. Maybe Gene Wolfe? Book of the New Sun and the followup works in particular could fit, although they could also not because it absolutely isn't leaving you with a deeper understanding, rather with more questions and a desire to reread.
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Jan 16, 2023 20:04
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Gormenghast?
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Jan 16, 2023 20:14
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I'm too dumb to understand literature really and I guess I struggle to understand the definition sometimes. What about something like, this short story by Peter Watts which is from the point of view of the creature from The Thing? It's about what it is to be a human, analysed through the sensory appendages of a creature that finds us monstrous and disgusting. Is that about the human condition? Or does it not count? But if so, it means a whole lot of things are literature now. https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/watts_01_10/
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Jan 16, 2023 20:28
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caspergers posted:Again, sorry if this is pretentious, but I'm so tired of reading books where all the stakes apply only the world the author imagined.
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Jan 16, 2023 21:03
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M John Harrison, the viriconium books. Also zindells neverness books, which are utterly bonkers but rather beautifully written
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Jan 16, 2023 21:19
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rohan posted:I think you’d enjoy The Spear Cuts Through Water. Seconded!
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Jan 16, 2023 21:25
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Any recommendations for robot/mecha related books/series? I've done a significant portion of the Battletech books but would like to expand my giant stompy robot reportoire!
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Jan 16, 2023 21:34
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Steelframe is pretty good.
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Jan 16, 2023 21:43
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