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Khizan posted:I'm in the middle of it and I like it so far. As far as it goes, it's a standard Richard K Morgan book. Over the top alpha-male protagonist, dystopian setting, needlessly graphic sex scenes, well done action scenes. It's on Mars in the same setting as Thirteen, with COLIN and the lottery for passage back to Earth and such, but it's not actually related to Thirteen storywise and doesn't seem to share any characters. Aren't Morgan's books all set in pretty much the same universe? Market Forces saw economic collapse, UN struggled to enforce anything and the US fell apart (and first mention of Mars) --> rise of genexperementation and thus Jacobson, COLIN established and Mars with its tech seen in Thirteen --> Marstech leads to stacks and needlecast tech, humanity seeds the stars with its colony ships and so Altered Carbon. Nevermind all the Land Fit For Heroes Dakovash/Kovacs and computer stuff. P.S i'm only 11% into Thin Air so might be completely wrong!
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Oct 26, 2018 12:43
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minema posted:And the hard copy can be pre-ordered but it says it won't be delivered for a month I've had mine preordered a few months and it turned up today! I also recieved the email from Amazon saying it would be delayed a month. It's not the usual amazon packaging though so might be some third party actually distributing it for some reason but hey, got mine. Just finished Morgan's Thin Air, usual strong stuff from him. I thought his concept of the colonisation mars was great and a little different from other authors ideas. I've seen before the usual criticism of his novels as "all the same", but he always manages to make the same archetype of a protagonist have a good reason for being an elite hardcore psychopath that ties into the underlying themes. Excited for Baru now. Remember to leave Goodreads/Amazon reviews lads.
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Oct 30, 2018 16:08
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Just finished Baru 2 myself. Love the depiction of the morrow ministry station and the marines, especially the 'tactical clerks' who swing in to make notes about enemy weapons and technology with the single use clocks to verify timestamps. The Masquerade is such a great concept. Mbo as well is a great counterweight to the Empire. Series definitely went in a direction I wasn't really expecting, and that's not a negative. I'd expected Baru to return to the capital and start scheming ala book 1. Was a nice nod to it when they first landed and she caused the run on fiat notes. My only real frustration with the novel is that after everything in book 1 and becoming a cryptarch, she just seemed to get pulled along with events rather than being the prodigal genius she was, and I get that is down to the fallout of Tain Hu's death, and the Qualm. I'm still hoping to see her actually function develop her own network and take advantage of the polestar mark she and her general earned.
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Nov 4, 2018 22:43
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uberkeyzer posted:This was my major problem with the book and, along with the fact that (unlike Baru 1) everyone seemed constantly depressed and in pain and no one could seemed to be able to form any real connections with one another and those that did have real connections had them forcibly removed/destroyed , made me genuinely concerned for GB’s emotional well-being. Yeah, and for context I gave it 4 stars on Amazon/Goodreads and will preorder again. The prose is fantastic (I absolutely chomped through the first half), the new characters that were introduced I really enjoyed, and thought the new POVs were something necessary now the plot isn't as self contained as Traitor. The Masquerade is one of my favourite fantasy empires along with the Malazans. The Elided Keep and the tidbits we had there about previous cryptarchs were great. Mbo and the tales of Farrier/Hayschest were also really nice insight. I think my own expectations (based on the letter Baru penned at the end of Traitor are just contrasting a bit with Monster I recall GB saying in an interview or somewhere that at some point he had to chop the novel and move some parts around as it was a little long for a relatively new author. Have a feeling this is why it didn't quite scratch all my Baru itches. Will be interesting to see how my opinion forms once I've read the next one!
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Nov 4, 2018 23:17
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Chairchucker posted:LotR has many pages of superfluous crap that could be torn out of the book and nothing of value would be missed. Like every time someone sings. It's like the last few series of the US Office where Andy sings a song for no reason. Bushmeat defence is brutal.
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Nov 5, 2018 11:00
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Fart of Presto posted:This month's free Tor.com eBook of the Month is Luna: New Moon by Ian McDonald If you haven't read this before, I can't recommend it enough. I know it's a loving tired phrase but it's ASOIAF in space. It's up there with KSR or Stephen Baxter's stuff.
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Dec 11, 2018 19:12
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Cardiac posted:Morgan’s plots have always been threadbare and are mainly there to string together a bunch of action and sex scenes along with his utter cynicism at society. I think the protagonist should be dead at least two times in Thin Air but magic healing apparently happened.I Honestly my favourite part of any Morgan book is the part where he justifies the protagonist as the hard-boiled gently caress-anything-up sex lord. Elite raised from birth one-man-armies who at all costs must save the ship, from engineering issues to murdering a full crew mutiny? Cool. Gay war hero knight-graduate who killed a dragon and saved the city he despises, awarded a Kirath blade for his actions with allies in the empire? Cool. Genetically engineered alpha male bounty hunter who's ancestors mere presence inspired their extinction milennia ago, bought back to become special forces with a training montage in a new world? Cool. Corporate killer for contract tenders/promotions who's father was killed by the very capitalist society he is climbing with a special car from a sexy mechanic that gives him the edge? Cool. United Nation's interstellar special forces, who at the touch of a button transfer into new bodies on different planets to deal with anything from political uprisings, undercover jobs, or full military engagements. Trained to walk into any situation and build an almost instant picture of the scenario, apply context and develop a response. It's all so stereotypical in a sense, and it could be argued the novels are airport fiction at worst. But the problem I have is I find them all just great loving reads. The prose is great, the worlds he builds are fantastic, the concepts, technology, politics and societies all engaging. Am I just a big primitive dumb man with power fantasies? Probably, but i'll keep reading them.
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Jan 4, 2019 13:54
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Captain_Person posted:The Poppy War was really good. I was expecting it to be a reasonably cliched and tired story but I tore through it in a day. I was really excited about The Poppy War when it was first announced, I ended up giving up on it about 65% in. Felt really YA/immature to me, and the writing a little bland and lacking in depth, but twitter (especially women) seemed to love it, a lot of posts about trigger warnings and how people really connected to it about how dark it was. I think its just because i'm a big dumb bloke and not 'getting it' rather than it being bad if i'm honest with myself. ed balls balls man fucked around with this message at 13:44 on Feb 22, 2019 |
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Feb 22, 2019 13:41
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coffeetable posted:Popping in again to say I've tripped over a gem in my Kindle sample slush pile: The Gutter Prayer. It's historical-urban-fantasy a la Locke Lamora/Perdido Street/City of Stairs/Three Parts. Like those it's reasonably well written, with an unusual universe and a plot full of factions and schemes, but unlike those it's recently published and seemingly beneath everyone's radar still. 4.2 on Goodreads, 4.4 on Amazon, and I've just burnt through it in two successive evenings. Just picked this up, will roast if bad. ShutteredIn posted:Blackfish City and Trail of Lightning should have been short stories not novels. Poppy War was YA garbage. What a sad Novels slate that is. I'm glad it's not just me who thought this about The Poppy War.
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Feb 23, 2019 21:05
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Cicero posted:Was it here that someone linked to a hilarious Goodreads review of Abercrombie's books aping his style? I can't find it anymore. This is amazing and everyone should read it. Incredible.
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Apr 11, 2019 12:15
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Gluten Freeman posted:Has anyone in here read the Poppy War? I just finished it and I think I didn't like it very much, but I'm not sure how to put my feelings into words overall. It felt very... rote? And obviously trying to do complex grey morality, but it came off as an extremely simplistic view of the world. It was brought up very briefly a few weeks ago but yeah my take was pretty much the same. ed balls balls man posted:I was really excited about The Poppy War when it was first announced, I ended up giving up on it about 65% in. Felt really YA/immature to me, and the writing a little bland and lacking in depth, but twitter (especially women) seemed to love it, a lot of posts about trigger warnings and how people really connected to it about how dark it was.
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Jun 3, 2019 09:46
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Affi posted:Pierce Brown good or bad? 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. Only thing I really dislike about the Red Rising series is is the loving name Mustang. It's so out of place. Reminds me when Ian Cameron Esselmont started writing Malazan novels and had a character named Kyle. Compared to people like Anomander Rake and Dassem Ultor it's just really jarring. I know it's a bit of a pathetic thing to moan about but it just erks me.
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Jul 30, 2019 14:15
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I thought Empire of Silence and sequel were great. Yeah there are a lot of obvious homages in it but where aren't there in sci-fi/fantasy.
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Aug 13, 2019 23:19
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Dark Forge is ace. I was a little worried the novels would be too like the Red Knight series, but Miles Cameron is ace. I have some of his histoical stuff on my to read list next.
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Sep 17, 2019 10:24
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