Kate Elliott rocks and I think she’s really perfecting her craft over time. Excited for the rest of Unconquerable Sun. The Spiritwalkers trilogy was some of the most fun I’ve had all year
Hrmph, of course it's a series though. Can the first book stand alone?
PSN: Kurahoshi1
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JedocIn the scupperswith the staggers and jagsRegistered Userregular
I'm currently reading a book written in the 1980s. One of the plot points involve crimes and shady real estate dealings from the 1950s, and I realized that to these characters, that's like me talking about things that happened in the 1990s.
So i finished the second Locke Lamora book, and yeah, i enjoyed it a bit more than i remember enjoying the first one.
It is really funny that it builds all this tension and intrigue around trying to pull off a grand heist, and the main characters are getting played and getting in over their heads as they they plot in secret and they're feeling the pressure as dangerous peoples' patience runs out and then suddenly they're told "no, it's actually time for you to go on a pirate adventure", to which even the characters say "you what mate"
It's a fun pirate adventure, but everything just kinda gets put on hold.
Re: the grim and gruesome stuff, i guess the world and wildlife is pretty similar to Dishonored, and i don't mind it so much there.
but it still feels a bit like scott lynch really revels in coming up with incredibly cruel and painful ways for people to die. there's only so many descriptions fates worse than death before it starts to get a little much. I guess it gets rubbed into your face a bit more with prose.
I also just finished Annihilation, which is definitely very special
i kinda just want to read all sorts of things about it now. Maybe not so much about answers to what was going on, because that seems very much besides the point, but people's reactions and more emotional and thematic stuff.
I also just finished Annihilation, which is definitely very special
i kinda just want to read all sorts of things about it now. Maybe not so much about answers to what was going on, because that seems very much besides the point, but people's reactions and more emotional and thematic stuff.
this is by no means a unique observation on Gideon, but
god I love how when Gideon shows up everyone's like, "Wow, this mysterious warrior is so dark and stern and mysteriously dangerous!"
And then the eventual payoff as Gideon finally starts talking to people and everyone is uniformly like, "Well this is not what I was expecting."
It makes me laugh every damn time
A trap is for fish: when you've got the fish, you can forget the trap. A snare is for rabbits: when you've got the rabbit, you can forget the snare. Words are for meaning: when you've got the meaning, you can forget the words.
this is by no means a unique observation on Gideon, but
god I love how when Gideon shows up everyone's like, "Wow, this mysterious warrior is so dark and stern and mysteriously dangerous!"
And then the eventual payoff as Gideon finally starts talking to people and everyone is uniformly like, "Well this is not what I was expecting."
It makes me laugh every damn time
It's this over and over
+7
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knitdanIn ur baseKillin ur guysRegistered Userregular
About 2/3 of the way through The Tyrant Baru Cormorant and it’s kind of funny how much more comfortable Seth Dickinson is writing his characters as being very very horny at all times than he was in Traitor, where it was all about furtive glances and (mostly) repressed desires.
“I was quick when I came in here, I’m twice as quick now”
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
oh hey I was bored at a friend's house so I churned through Altered Carbon. No plot spoilers, just vague thoughts
I know there was a lot of disappointment when the author started parroting TERF talking points but having now read his work I'm not remotely surprised. Extremely gender essentialist, and frankly shockingly heteronormative and non-queer for a book set hundreds of years hence. The dude-iest of dude lit. But that's because (as others have noted), it's not cyberpunk at all, it's noir with a techno-fetish.
Considered in that light it was ok-ish - but it did lean unreflexively into all the worst elements of the genre without considering the social conditions and norms that produced the original pulp noir. Not a lot of self-awareness. That said, the central body-hopping conceit and some of the peripheral details were conceptually compelling - I can see why it got picked up for TV.
I'm an hour and 8 chapters in to The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, and I'm forcing myself to stop. because the beau and I are doing our own weekly book club, and having just started this book, I don't know how far he's reading, and I've probably blown past given he is a slower reader. Oops!
Anyway, it's fun so far, but definitely light reading. I see Jedoc didn't like it, and goodreads, hmm, varies, but there's room for me to enjoy what I can before it shits the bed.
I last read a nothing of a book, a cozy (the first Lady Hardcastle book), it was fine.
In a complete coincidence, I also recently read This Is How You Lose the Time War, months on from the other half saying I should read it. I knew nothing going in, saw exactly where it was headed with the first letter, and settled in to enjoy the dreamlike nature and throwback epistolary form. I liked it throughout, and it had some lovely poetic phrases that evoked fond feelings/memories. I've been trying to read Neuromancer every so often the past year, and just cannot get past where they get their first job, so it was nice to read soft sci fi that moved from the jump.
I picked up The Moth: Occasional Magic months ago because.. it was on clearance, i was familiar with the concept, and it was pretty. And the old man who sold it to me literally gave me a book of his paintings, so I felt compelled to buy something. It's nice for a snack! I'm also thinking of picking up Nothing Much Happens for the same kind of ease, but guaranteed bummer free.
I used to read voraciously, and depression/anxiety killed that for a long time, so it's nice to have more ability to sit and calmly read.
oh hey I was bored at a friend's house so I churned through Altered Carbon. No plot spoilers, just vague thoughts
I know there was a lot of disappointment when the author started parroting TERF talking points but having now read his work I'm not remotely surprised. Extremely gender essentialist, and frankly shockingly heteronormative and non-queer for a book set hundreds of years hence. The dude-iest of dude lit. But that's because (as others have noted), it's not cyberpunk at all, it's noir with a techno-fetish.
Considered in that light it was ok-ish - but it did lean unreflexively into all the worst elements of the genre without considering the social conditions and norms that produced the original pulp noir. Not a lot of self-awareness. That said, the central body-hopping conceit and some of the peripheral details were conceptually compelling - I can see why it got picked up for TV.
Reminder that Iain M Banks was writing his "Well obviously people are gonna at least try* out being other genders if they can, I mean only a weirdo wouldn't right?" future society in the eighties.
there was a lot of bits (especially in her notes on the characters' names at the end) where it seems like the author is Extremely Online but in a just subtle and restrained enough way that it hit very hard each time one of those bits came up
and the characters (especially Gideon) feel like the sort of lesbian characters i've seen small little snippets of in fan comics and little snippets of writing that have popped up on tumblr or twitter and it was delightful to spend an entire book with them
i guess i'm gonna head into the city in the next couple of days and buy Harrow
i'll finally be able to click on all those spoilers on the last page
oh hey I was bored at a friend's house so I churned through Altered Carbon. No plot spoilers, just vague thoughts
I know there was a lot of disappointment when the author started parroting TERF talking points but having now read his work I'm not remotely surprised. Extremely gender essentialist, and frankly shockingly heteronormative and non-queer for a book set hundreds of years hence. The dude-iest of dude lit. But that's because (as others have noted), it's not cyberpunk at all, it's noir with a techno-fetish.
Considered in that light it was ok-ish - but it did lean unreflexively into all the worst elements of the genre without considering the social conditions and norms that produced the original pulp noir. Not a lot of self-awareness. That said, the central body-hopping conceit and some of the peripheral details were conceptually compelling - I can see why it got picked up for TV.
I want to enjoy it as brainless noir-in-the-future pulp nonsense but man Dicky Morgan has made that downright impossible and it's super irritating. It's not a good book but it's a book I used to enjoy and now I kinda can't.
there was a lot of bits (especially in her notes on the characters' names at the end) where it seems like the author is Extremely Online but in a just subtle and restrained enough way that it hit very hard each time one of those bits came up
and the characters (especially Gideon) feel like the sort of lesbian characters i've seen small little snippets of in fan comics and little snippets of writing that have popped up on tumblr or twitter and it was delightful to spend an entire book with them
i guess i'm gonna head into the city in the next couple of days and buy Harrow
i'll finally be able to click on all those spoilers on the last page
The reveal about the Teens being child soldiers commanded by the...First House? Were those the Lieutenants? Was a great part of that book.
Tamsyn Muir used to write Homestuck fanfic, and once you know that a lot of her particular style of writing both humor and character relationships really makes sense
Tamsyn Muir used to write Homestuck fanfic, and once you know that a lot of her particular style of writing both humor and character relationships really makes sense
Tamsyn Muir used to write Homestuck fanfic, and once you know that a lot of her particular style of writing both humor and character relationships really makes sense
... Christ this makes me feel old
I'm just glad to have someone I can pin the blame on.
I still haven't gotten over the fact the MSPA forums died more or less unrecoverably.
They got absolutely steamrolled by the Homestuck fandom at some point, but they were a lot more than just a fan forum for a long time and I have fond memories there.
Brovid Hasselsmof[Growling historic on the fury road]Registered Userregular
Finished Season of Storms. Didn't end up liking it as much as I expected at the start, but it was ok.
Now to read something that isn't about Geralt of Rivia. I have Children of Time and Gideon the Ninth on my Kindle, neither of which I actually remember buying. I guess I should read those. Though I have kind of really gone off starting book series' that aren't completed yet.
This is apparently Moby Dick but with dragons and that's enough of an idea for me to give it a shot!
+3
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knitdanIn ur baseKillin ur guysRegistered Userregular
Finished The Tyrant Baru Cormorant
ahahaha suck it Farrier and Corrinde
Seems to be setting up a confrontation with the armored dudes in the very last area with the lightning, which probably means the story will go nowhere near there
Still don’t know who Renascent and Stargazer are, do we? That seems odd. I would think at least one of them might have revealed themselves after Baru pulled her coup off.
I’m also confused about the geography of the last chapter and the limited map doesn’t help
It describes them starting out in the Black Tea Ocean, on one side of the world, then ending up in the Mother of Storms on the other, without really explaining how they got from one place to the other
Unless maybe they sailed so far south they got around the Mbo continent?
Like I said the map doesn’t help much in this case
Will keep an eye out for Book 4 but won’t hold my breath. It could be several years.
“I was quick when I came in here, I’m twice as quick now”
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
I'm not sure if this counts but I've been trying to find a copy of Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith Vol 1 by Charles Soule, Jim Cheung, & Giuseppe Camuncoli which is a graphic novel/comic and I can't find it online to buy anywhere!
What's the deal? Any ideas? Help me thread you are my only hope .
Going to memories of empire from gideon/harrow is a twist let me tell you. Both great (at least so far, I'm still early in memories) but the difference in how serious the book takes itself is huge.
I'm not sure if this counts but I've been trying to find a copy of Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith Vol 1 by Charles Soule, Jim Cheung, & Giuseppe Camuncoli which is a graphic novel/comic and I can't find it online to buy anywhere!
What's the deal? Any ideas? Help me thread you are my only hope .
@Liiya There's some second hand ones you could get in the UK here but I was wrong they're kind of expensive, I'm not giving up though.
I'm not sure if this counts but I've been trying to find a copy of Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith Vol 1 by Charles Soule, Jim Cheung, & Giuseppe Camuncoli which is a graphic novel/comic and I can't find it online to buy anywhere!
What's the deal? Any ideas? Help me thread you are my only hope .
@Liiya There's some second hand ones you could get in the UK here but I was wrong they're kind of expensive, I'm not giving up though.
@Peen thank you so much! I may get it second hand, thank you!
Tamsyn Muir used to write Homestuck fanfic, and once you know that a lot of her particular style of writing both humor and character relationships really makes sense
Finished Season of Storms. Didn't end up liking it as much as I expected at the start, but it was ok.
Now to read something that isn't about Geralt of Rivia. I have Children of Time and Gideon the Ninth on my Kindle, neither of which I actually remember buying. I guess I should read those. Though I have kind of really gone off starting book series' that aren't completed yet.
Tamsyn Muir used to write Homestuck fanfic, and once you know that a lot of her particular style of writing both humor and character relationships really makes sense
Also, in her words, "turgid Animorphs fanfiction"
Put "turgid" in front just about any literary description and I. am. There.
Turgid biography.
Turgid historical fiction.
Turgid haiku.
I am in the business of saving lives.
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3cl1ps3I will build a labyrinth to house the cheeseRegistered Userregular
Posts
Books were a mistake.
It is really funny that it builds all this tension and intrigue around trying to pull off a grand heist, and the main characters are getting played and getting in over their heads as they they plot in secret and they're feeling the pressure as dangerous peoples' patience runs out and then suddenly they're told "no, it's actually time for you to go on a pirate adventure", to which even the characters say "you what mate"
It's a fun pirate adventure, but everything just kinda gets put on hold.
Re: the grim and gruesome stuff, i guess the world and wildlife is pretty similar to Dishonored, and i don't mind it so much there.
but it still feels a bit like scott lynch really revels in coming up with incredibly cruel and painful ways for people to die. there's only so many descriptions fates worse than death before it starts to get a little much. I guess it gets rubbed into your face a bit more with prose.
Steam // Secret Satan
i kinda just want to read all sorts of things about it now. Maybe not so much about answers to what was going on, because that seems very much besides the point, but people's reactions and more emotional and thematic stuff.
Steam // Secret Satan
Well, there are two more books in the trilogy!
I guess probably not
i hadn't realised that she's wearing aviators on the cover
this is even better than i thought
Steam // Secret Satan
And then the eventual payoff as Gideon finally starts talking to people and everyone is uniformly like, "Well this is not what I was expecting."
It makes me laugh every damn time
It's this over and over
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
there was definitely a lot leading up to it that really made me like the book and character, but honestly it was
ok, it was also
Steam // Secret Satan
No spoilers but when things start to unfold in Gideon things REALLY start to unfold
"Sandra has a good solid anti-murderer vibe. My skin felt very secure and sufficiently attached to my body when I met her. Also my organs." HAIL SATAN
Considered in that light it was ok-ish - but it did lean unreflexively into all the worst elements of the genre without considering the social conditions and norms that produced the original pulp noir. Not a lot of self-awareness. That said, the central body-hopping conceit and some of the peripheral details were conceptually compelling - I can see why it got picked up for TV.
Anyway, it's fun so far, but definitely light reading. I see Jedoc didn't like it, and goodreads, hmm, varies, but there's room for me to enjoy what I can before it shits the bed.
I last read a nothing of a book, a cozy (the first Lady Hardcastle book), it was fine.
In a complete coincidence, I also recently read This Is How You Lose the Time War, months on from the other half saying I should read it. I knew nothing going in, saw exactly where it was headed with the first letter, and settled in to enjoy the dreamlike nature and throwback epistolary form. I liked it throughout, and it had some lovely poetic phrases that evoked fond feelings/memories. I've been trying to read Neuromancer every so often the past year, and just cannot get past where they get their first job, so it was nice to read soft sci fi that moved from the jump.
I picked up The Moth: Occasional Magic months ago because.. it was on clearance, i was familiar with the concept, and it was pretty. And the old man who sold it to me literally gave me a book of his paintings, so I felt compelled to buy something. It's nice for a snack! I'm also thinking of picking up Nothing Much Happens for the same kind of ease, but guaranteed bummer free.
I used to read voraciously, and depression/anxiety killed that for a long time, so it's nice to have more ability to sit and calmly read.
Much like the author, apparently. Jeff Vandermeer reckoned he had some kind of minor psychotic break while/as a result of writing the trilogy
Reminder that Iain M Banks was writing his "Well obviously people are gonna at least try* out being other genders if they can, I mean only a weirdo wouldn't right?" future society in the eighties.
No excuses.
there was a lot of bits (especially in her notes on the characters' names at the end) where it seems like the author is Extremely Online but in a just subtle and restrained enough way that it hit very hard each time one of those bits came up
and the characters (especially Gideon) feel like the sort of lesbian characters i've seen small little snippets of in fan comics and little snippets of writing that have popped up on tumblr or twitter and it was delightful to spend an entire book with them
i guess i'm gonna head into the city in the next couple of days and buy Harrow
i'll finally be able to click on all those spoilers on the last page
Steam // Secret Satan
I want to enjoy it as brainless noir-in-the-future pulp nonsense but man Dicky Morgan has made that downright impossible and it's super irritating. It's not a good book but it's a book I used to enjoy and now I kinda can't.
It was very good,
I downloaded a sample of a Arthurian book, the one with Wart and Kay, but I'm not really feeling it
I don't know if I want to smash myself in the head with a Pynchon book again or find something else
Hm
Sorry for not using the spoiler tag
... Christ this makes me feel old
I'm just glad to have someone I can pin the blame on.
Fuckn Tamsyn Muir.
They got absolutely steamrolled by the Homestuck fandom at some point, but they were a lot more than just a fan forum for a long time and I have fond memories there.
Fuck Tamsyn Muir
but maybe that was just the admin/mod perspective.
Now to read something that isn't about Geralt of Rivia. I have Children of Time and Gideon the Ninth on my Kindle, neither of which I actually remember buying. I guess I should read those. Though I have kind of really gone off starting book series' that aren't completed yet.
Seems to be setting up a confrontation with the armored dudes in the very last area with the lightning, which probably means the story will go nowhere near there
Still don’t know who Renascent and Stargazer are, do we? That seems odd. I would think at least one of them might have revealed themselves after Baru pulled her coup off.
I’m also confused about the geography of the last chapter and the limited map doesn’t help
It describes them starting out in the Black Tea Ocean, on one side of the world, then ending up in the Mother of Storms on the other, without really explaining how they got from one place to the other
Unless maybe they sailed so far south they got around the Mbo continent?
Like I said the map doesn’t help much in this case
Will keep an eye out for Book 4 but won’t hold my breath. It could be several years.
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
I'm not sure if this counts but I've been trying to find a copy of Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith Vol 1 by Charles Soule, Jim Cheung, & Giuseppe Camuncoli which is a graphic novel/comic and I can't find it online to buy anywhere!
What's the deal? Any ideas? Help me thread you are my only hope .
@Liiya There's some second hand ones you could get in the UK here but I was wrong they're kind of expensive, I'm not giving up though.
@Peen thank you so much! I may get it second hand, thank you!
Also, in her words, "turgid Animorphs fanfiction"
GIDEON
GIDEON GI-D-EON!!!!
Put "turgid" in front just about any literary description and I. am. There.
Turgid biography.
Turgid historical fiction.
Turgid haiku.