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Just to give another view on The Rook, I thought it was amateur-hour babby's-first-novel NaNoWriMo bullshit. I thought it was written terribly, not actually edited at all, and everything else about it was pretty bad too. It's like that kindle favourite 'the many lives of tao' in that I wasn't sure the book I was reading was the same one people recommended. I am enjoying the felix castor books, and the Alex Verus books are decent too, in the spirit of positivity  .
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Aug 2, 2014 22:06
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Ornamented Death posted:Stiletto: A Novel by Daniel O'Malley This is a really good example of what I was saying. If the writing style of that blurb annoys you, do not read this book.
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Aug 9, 2014 03:41
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LoG posted:Yeah, I'd heard about the bet and think it's awesome. It's not great imo. It's okay, but nothing special. There's much much worse out there. It's a 40-degree day.
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Dec 10, 2014 03:37
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Mortanis posted:Well, that'll teach me to pop into the Dresden Files thread and negligently flick a mouse over spoilers without fully reading they were for Libriomancer book 3 that I'm a third of the way through, rather than continued discussion on the Peter Grant stuff I gave up on and has filled the thread for so long. Just caught one sentence but there's enough regrets packed into it. This is what happens to people who don't like the peter grant books.
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Jan 8, 2015 00:15
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Benny the Snake posted:"Sexist" would be a bit strong because that would imply intentionality. Like I said, Dresden (and by extension Butcher) is just thoughtless.
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Jan 30, 2015 02:15
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ImpAtom posted:Leslie is a much better character then Peter, yeah. The unreliable narrator thing is cute but it doesn't endear me to Peter any more. Hey, nightingale is even better at things than leslie! why isn't he the protagonist?
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Mar 1, 2015 08:06
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Mars4523 posted:Nightingale the veteran who has done it all before. He's the mentor, which is a vital role. But the series starts with introducing us to two rookies, where one is a good copper and the other is Peter. I think he literally ruminates on how easy the circumstances could have been flipped if he was the one to get coffee instead of her. So, why's he the lead? Because stories about the specialest dude ever born fulfilling his/her destiny to be #1 are boring as poo poo
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Mar 1, 2015 08:26
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Benny the Snake posted:If each river in London has an associated diety, wouldn't their health be dependant on their respective river?
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Mar 30, 2015 06:07
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Wheat Loaf posted:I took another quick flick through Broken Homes and I think if you pay attention to how Lesley is written you can guess at the twist that's coming at the end. I suppose the big question is whether she allied with the Faceless Man between the last book and this one, or if there's a moment in this book where she decides to go over to his side. It's hard to tell, but I suppose that could be a question for Foxglove Summer, which I'm looking forward to. I don't have the book to check with, but I read it as faceless dude using the dead woman at the start of the book as a bait for lesley in the same way team police was trying to use the staff making to bait him out
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May 14, 2015 09:42
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ImpAtom posted:Peter is absolutely incompetent. He is straight-up bad at being a cop and would have been shifted off to a location where he can't do serious damage except he got lucky. He isn't a blithering idiot but he absolutely lucked into a job that happens to work in his favor and even then he slacks off and gets distracted way more than he reasonably should for someone in his job. I think it hurts more because Leslie is there and is basically a more interesting character than Peter in every way. it causes me physical pain every time you conflate 'being great and amazing at things and everyone's favourite' with 'being an interesting character'
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May 26, 2015 04:20
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ImpAtom posted:That's sure putting words in my mouth.
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May 26, 2015 04:43
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Or even stop talking about boring war poo poo in the urban fantasy thread, that's an option too
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May 28, 2015 04:08
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The Fool posted:The thousands of man baby's that haven't matured out of it? He said, in the thread about a wizard who is also a detective
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Jun 30, 2015 08:13
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what is the age of consent for a tentacle?
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Jul 22, 2015 00:40
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Wheat Loaf posted:I have to decide whether to read The Rook next or start the Laundry Files. Which one would the thread recommend first? What's your tolerance for "babbys first novel/edited by the writer's mum" books? if you don't like them, stay away from the rook. Although thinking on it, I've never actually *wanted* to read a laundry files book - they're the sort of thing I read if I'm killing time and I've read everything else on the kindle. I sort of enjoy some of the episodes, but they do the opposite of grip me. So um, I guess I kind of vote for neither?
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Aug 14, 2015 01:21
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thrawn527 posted:Just a guy. Who an Outsider called out, naming him a "Watcher". I don't know what Mac is. But he's not "just" anything.
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Aug 21, 2015 04:14
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Yikes
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Aug 28, 2015 01:09
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builds character posted:You're all going to buy it anyway. Not based on that I won't
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Aug 28, 2015 01:44
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Wittgen posted:This point of view relies almost entirely on seeing humans as helplessly passive. A better analogy would be an insanely oppressive government being taken out overnight. Yes, other dangerous elements would move in and things would be less stable. But unstable is much better than stably awful. tell that to syria, pretty much
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Sep 9, 2015 09:12
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Aerdan posted:e: Also, it seems to me that Winter's Sex'n'Violence instincts are intended to be overcome if the mantle-wearer is going to be at all effective; if the bearer can't, they're not fit for the job and need to be replaced. probably, but it makes for pretty crappy reading anyway
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Jan 15, 2017 21:21
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Ghetto Prince posted:Just dropping back in to say that the American Gods TV adaptation is the best urban fantasy I've seen in years.
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May 8, 2017 06:36
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IMO rook sucked, laundry files is okay, rivers is great, alex verus is pretty good. But I think the thing you can take away from this is that all of those are worth reading to see if you like em.
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May 10, 2017 01:23
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:Finally got around to catching up on the genre and burned through all of Alex Verus over the weekend, now on to Daniel Faust. I find (spoiler for late-ish Verus) how completely hosed verus is, being so completely outclassed and powerless, really compelling reading. I hope the author has a plan for the series. e: imo it's tied with rivers for best of the genre, especially since dresden now spends half the books talking about harry's winter boners
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May 30, 2017 05:07
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:Thanks, I'll check these out and October Daye. The first pax arcana book is a bit "THE FULL MOON WAS HERE...AND I HAD TO STRUGGLE TO CONTROL MY URGES" but it more or less drops that in the later books. They're...not bad.
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Jun 9, 2017 14:11
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Mars4523 posted:The first book (and the second) are about him integrating with the werewolf side of his nature, and then other werewolves socially, after suppressing those instincts for the better part of 50 years. It works, IMO, but mileage varies as always. Yeah I understand and didn't mind it TOO much, but if someone tells you "nah this series is fine even if you're tired of werewolves" you're gonna be  during the first book
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Jun 10, 2017 02:51
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Old Kentucky Shark posted:It's not even that i want them to gently caress, it's that I want them to behave like normal, casual human beings and acknowledge that loving is a possibility that exists. e: I don't mean to say that it's not annoying to read, I'm just pointing out that it doesn't seem to be an oversight. awesmoe fucked around with this message at 02:15 on Jun 13, 2017 |
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Jun 13, 2017 02:11
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:Oh, and the other author people should read is Tim Powers, specifically Declare. i dont care if its UF or not but declare is the poo poo (and I remain impressed by how well he jacked le'carre's style) Hm, thinking about it I haven't read Tim Powers' fisher king stuff. Is it good compared to the rest?
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Jun 13, 2017 06:33
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The Puppy Bowl posted:I picked up the audiobook on the strength of this recommendation. Since I'm flying across country in a few days I though a 16 hour listen would be perfect for the plane ride there and back. Sadly, I made the mistake of playing the book a little bit just to make sure I wasn't setting myself up for a miserable flight. This in turn led to me finishing the book in 3 days of near non stop listening. Really engrossing, interesting prose, and though the ending was weaker than the narrative preceding it I thought the story came to a thoughtful and earned conclusion. Hell of debut for Scott Hawkins. I'll definitely be checking out his future work. American gods, but you've probably already read it
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Jun 21, 2017 01:50
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ShinsoBEAM! posted:He's a bit of a oval office, but in a way that feels realistic and formed life experiences. Yeah I totally agree with this assessment. He's also less aware of it than the people around him are (as is often the case) which rubs some readers the wrong way.
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Aug 29, 2017 20:34
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I'm reading the October Daye books! they're....they're okay! They're written well enough, I've never cringed but I've never been impressed by a phrase. The imagination and the world is kinda cool, but also kind of arbitrary and things just happen or dont happen to suit the plot. If you like UF as a genre, from the top to the bottom, they're well worth checking out. If you only like the cream of the crop, ehh, maybe pass
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Nov 16, 2017 23:04
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SirSamVimes posted:So if I enjoyed the Dresden Files books a lot and loved Tad Williams' Bobby Dollar books, where would I go for more urban fantasy with a film noir tone? sandman slim series (meh), daniel faust series (ok), felix castor series (fairly decent), maybe alex verus series (great but maybe not what you're looking for) for scale I would rate the first bobby dollar book as not bad and the second one as sub-meh.
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Nov 18, 2017 08:41
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NerdyMcNerdNerd posted:Yes and no. what you're talking about is awfully-written power fantasy. dresden is power fantasy with a fig leaf - "he's not ugly but he's not good looking" i think the only two women in the books who don't want to jump his dick are charity carpenter and that widow who joins the witch coven thing "he's physically average" he's like 18 feet tall and he doesnt *need* super strength, he's a wizard (but he has it anyway) "there's a lot he cannot do" there's a lot he can't do the first time he tries it then he uses his super resourcefulness to find a way. etc etc etc. The series has moments when it achieves something better, but at it's core, it's about someone who's flawed just like you or me, but AWESOMELY BADASS WITH FUCKEN WIZARD POWERS!!1 it's power fantasy with a veneer of respectability. Which is fine, I'm not judging and I'll still read the next one assuming he ever writes it, but yeah.
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Feb 7, 2018 10:23
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biracial bear for uncut posted:If you count the Craft series as UF, you should really check out the Broken Earth Trilogy because holy poo poo it blows pretty much all of the other books we talk about out of the loving water. FINE! I will then!
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Feb 9, 2018 21:21
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biracial bear for uncut posted:If you count the Craft series as UF, you should really check out the Broken Earth Trilogy because holy poo poo it blows pretty much all of the other books we talk about out of the loving water. these were pretty good. great characters and interesting conflict. In some ways i felt it suffered for being fantasy/scifi - the magic bits almost distracted from the interesting bits, the conflict within and between groups and the effects of oppression and dehumanisation. but I've guess you've gotta have a plot to hang your story on. Worth reading fo sho. Absolutely not UF in any way but who gives a poo poo. General Emergency posted:There's nothing wrong with power fantasy and why pretend there is?
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Feb 18, 2018 05:22
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navyjack posted:It’s a nice change from Dresden, I guess, who will do bad poo poo but just feel awful about it. And often as not come up with some bullshit justification for why it was actually a good and right thing. and then his friends will tell him 'hey its okay you did what needed to be done', and then occasionally yahweh himself will descend from the heavens to tell him "ya dun good, kid, attaboy"
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Apr 13, 2018 07:30
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Xtanstic posted:Honestly that book annoyed me because it seemed inevitable it would end up that way but whyyyy did it take so long for him to deal with the annoying little shits for some reason most people try to avoid killing children
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Apr 15, 2018 04:40
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darthbob88 posted:And also because Verus was moral enough to admit that they had a point, he was terribly guilty, and he was IIRC extremely interested in making penance by some way other than his death. Shame the teenagers were less interested in settling things peacefully. yeah this is why I like the books and that his supporting cast have their own directions to their lives, and their own values/frames of reference to judge his actions against Syzygy Stardust posted:They weren’t kids and they were attempting to murder him. you're right, it was this simple all along. thanks for clarifying.
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Apr 15, 2018 20:31
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biracial bear for uncut posted:Is that the one that takes place between Ghost Story and Skin Game? The Rack like he knew her before she needed to wear a bra, or a different one?
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Jun 12, 2018 19:40
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The good guys is one of the first books in a while that I'm not going to finish. It's like every character is Jack Reacher, in their own way, but without a hint of irony or self-awareness. Not my thing.
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Jul 7, 2018 22:24
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Srachne's response to verus asking was sad. Guessing some stuff was set in motion, there. I'm looking forward to re-reading that book (MAYBE THE WHOLE SERIES??????? will keep you posted!!)
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Jul 9, 2018 21:39
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