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JedocIn the scupperswith the staggers and jagsRegistered Userregular
edited October 2020
Isn't that just horrifying? The idea that every other Discworld novel ever written depended on some publisher reading The Color Of Magic and saying "The guy who wrote Strata? Yeah, that book sucked out loud but fuck it, we'll give him another shot. Crude fantasy pastiche is definitely a growth sector. Run like 500 copies and we'll see what happens."
My first experience with Discworld was Colour of Magic. The second, many years later, was Reaper Man. The third and final, years after that, was one with intelligent rats? I didn't read much of it before becoming disinterested and setting it down.
I've idly tried it a couple times in past years and always quit after about 4 days, but for a while now I have actually been wanting to buckle down and write a book and I think this would be a good experience for it
I've tried three or four times and never gotten past the pitch. So that's fine. hahaha
In less "why I haven't written a best-selling novel" tidbits, I finished reading Dan Simmons's Hyperion today, and I really liked it. The reason I had added it to my too-read list ages ago was the frame-tale, Chaucer-esque conceit, and I thought it worked really well. I felt like the characters had enough of their own voices to sell the concept, and I particularly liked how they
end up all pulling together to the moment of knowledge culminating with the Consul's admission that he started the device.
I'm torn now because I would like to know what happens next, but on the other hand, the ending was a beautiful moment. So.
It just occurred to me how much of exo squad lined up with what I've heard about the expanse, and part of me giggles at the thought of a dark grown up remake
I think most people agree that stopping at Hyperion is the right move.
Not really? Fall of Hyperion is still pretty great. Its after that that quality of the series really goes downhill.
Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion were written as one book and split up at publication because of length. The sequels are really lame.
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JacobkoshGamble a stamp.I can show you how to be a real man!Moderatormod
Fall of Hyperion loses a little something compared to Hyperion because the Chaucerian conceit is finished, meaning Simmons reverts to a plain-Jane "just the facts, ma'am" prose style instead of flexing his (ample, glistening) stylistic muscles the way he did in the first book. There's a new POV character who narrates segments of the book in first person that could have been a vehicle for more stylistic experimentation, but...isn't, really.
The book also suffers from the fact that it felt like the story was approaching its climax at the end of Hyperion, so many of the twists and turns feel (at the time) like aimless running-around to stall having to write the end, like a movie with a very protracted third act.
On the plus side, however, Fall of Hyperion drastically expands the scope of the story and gives us lots and lots more of Simmons' genuinely interesting and inventive worldbuilding. It lays out the stakes of the central conflicts more clearly, and preserves and develops the interesting relationships and rivalries among the core cast that are the heart of the book. All (or at least most) of what at first feels like seemingly aimless running-around does end up having a point as the various threads get drawn together for a climax that matches the heights of the first book for trippy, apocalyptic imagery and incandescent action and which is, I am happy to say, ultimately pretty satisfying.
The two subsequent books are pretty lame, but they take place hundreds of years in the future and mainly address a few lingering questions about the world (badly). You're not missing anything by skipping them.
Yeah my only problem with Fall of Hyperion was how disappointed I initially was to find out it existed, not having any further books would have made Hyperion's ending just perfect. But it wasn't bad at all once I got over that and actually read it.
I would say you’re missing one thing by skipping the endymion books. The single most horrifying take on high speed space travel I’ve ever seen described.
Travelling so fast it pulps the human body, from which they are regenerated on arrival.
Hm. Well what I may do is just put Fall of Hyperion off for a bit so it won’t tarnish the shine of that lovely Chaucerian conceit, and hit it later with a bit of freshness. I will skip the other two for sure.
I walked past a second hand bookstore and *five minutes of static* suddenly I was holding a book of Camus' essays, something by michael Lewis, and a travel memoir from a guy who spent two decades wandering around the Congo
Sanderson just finished Dawnshard, couple of days for proof reading, copy editing etc, then it'll be ready, seems like they're expecting sometime next week to send the ebook out to kickstarter folks
Sanderson just finished Dawnshard, couple of days for proof reading, copy editing etc, then it'll be ready, seems like they're expecting sometime next week to send the ebook out to kickstarter folks
Woop!
On the sad side, I got my Bridge 4 poster from the Kickstarter, immediately turned around and mailed it to Zoe and the post office promptly lost it. Or perhaps it's on a magical whirlwind journey around the nation.
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MalReynoldsThe Hunter S Thompson of incredibly mild medicinesRegistered Userregular
I read the Stormlight books via audiobook format and they're the absolute best. I've been on a Sanderson kick since I read Elantris last year and have read all three Stormlight books (I haven't gotten Arcanum Unbounded yet) but I have a signed first edition of Oathbringer.
I went on to read the first two Mistborn books (starting Hero of Ages tonight), Skyward and Starsight.
Anyways, big fan and I'm 90% sure my friend regrets recommending Elantris because he hasn't read any other Sanderson and I talk about it.
In between I read the Broken Earth trilogy, Dark Matter by Blake Crouch (imagine string theory explained to you by a frat guy and you're halfway there; beachread. Crichton without a floor) and I've been keeping up with King, outside of If It Bleeds.
"A new take on the epic fantasy genre... Darkly comic, relatable characters... twisted storyline."
"Readers who prefer tension and romance, Maledictions: The Offering, delivers... As serious YA fiction, I’ll give it five stars out of five. As a novel? Four and a half." - Liz Ellor My new novel: Maledictions: The Offering. Now in Paperback!
The audiobooks are super great, I don't know if you're into pre-reading some, but Tor has actually been uploading chapters of Rhythm of War each week and Brandon started uploading audiobook versions of those released chapters on his YouTube channel. There's some really interesting stuff in the released chapters so far, especially if you're fully on board the Cosmere.
Oh, also absolutely fast track Warbreaker, its already important for Stormlight and Rhythm of War seems to be just ratcheting that up more and more.
Kanden on
+1
Bloods EndBlade of TyshallePunch dimensionRegistered Userregular
Rereading the Acts of Caine books by Matthew Stover for October.
It is kinda insane how different all the books are from one another, not just in content but also in style. Book one is a hyperviolence reality show fantasy entertainment, but also about a man desperately trying to save what he loves and be a better person, centered around that character. Book two is a huge multiple character jumping adventure, about manifest destiny, capitalism, cost of vengeance, and exactly how much you can take from a person to break him. Caine Black Knife is a straight bone crunching first person adventure. And then Caine's Law. Man, I don't even have the words to describe Caine's Law. Its about horses, love, loss, time travel, and spitting in the eye of god, all going maximum bad.
Forgiveness and Permission.
I loved Heroes Die, glad to hear the rest of the series maintains the quality. I’m gonna have to get to that soon.
+1
Bloods EndBlade of TyshallePunch dimensionRegistered Userregular
edited October 2020
Oh Gods you have no idea.
Blade of Tyshalle is a masterclass on how to break down your protagonist until there is nothing left in him.
And Caines Law is one of the few "grimdark" fantasy novels that I've encountered that has a rape that is handled both as tastefully as possible, is absolutely heart rending, and manages to keep the entire focal point on the survivor rather than anyone else.
I must say Stephen King coming out to say that he's prolifoc because he is shameless is like George Lucas coming out to say he kept fiddling with Star Wars because he's neurotic, like, yeah? We can tell! You're an open book buddy! As it were!
Do you like my photos? The stupid things I say? The way I am alive? You can contribute to that staying the same through the following link
JacobkoshGamble a stamp.I can show you how to be a real man!Moderatormod
that was a clickhole article
I mean, it's true, and also I think King himself would be the first to agree with it because he seems like a genuinely cool dude who's pretty in touch with his own motives and limitations, but
I burned through Harrow the Ninth over the weekend and I haven't been that irritated with a book in a long time. It's my own fault for not doing a quick review of Gideon the Ninth before I started it and she hella sticks the landing and it's a great last hundred pages but boy I spent the first long bit just annoyed and confused.
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3cl1ps3I will build a labyrinth to house the cheeseRegistered Userregular
Yeah, I ended up really liking Harrow the Ninth but it takes way too long to actually get going. I respect that she was willing to take such a risk but I don't think it works in that case.
Posts
Oh no, it is a good one. But colour of magic is a -3
Well you'll certainly beat GRRM at least
Or is that stuff all shunted to the writers forum now
This is a pretty good idea...
And I failed every year because Nov 1st happens to be the morning after Halloween and I was always too hungover to start writing anything.
In less "why I haven't written a best-selling novel" tidbits, I finished reading Dan Simmons's Hyperion today, and I really liked it. The reason I had added it to my too-read list ages ago was the frame-tale, Chaucer-esque conceit, and I thought it worked really well. I felt like the characters had enough of their own voices to sell the concept, and I particularly liked how they
I'm torn now because I would like to know what happens next, but on the other hand, the ending was a beautiful moment. So.
wish list
Steam wishlist
Etsy wishlist
Not really? Fall of Hyperion is still pretty great. Its after that that quality of the series really goes downhill.
Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion were written as one book and split up at publication because of length. The sequels are really lame.
The book also suffers from the fact that it felt like the story was approaching its climax at the end of Hyperion, so many of the twists and turns feel (at the time) like aimless running-around to stall having to write the end, like a movie with a very protracted third act.
On the plus side, however, Fall of Hyperion drastically expands the scope of the story and gives us lots and lots more of Simmons' genuinely interesting and inventive worldbuilding. It lays out the stakes of the central conflicts more clearly, and preserves and develops the interesting relationships and rivalries among the core cast that are the heart of the book. All (or at least most) of what at first feels like seemingly aimless running-around does end up having a point as the various threads get drawn together for a climax that matches the heights of the first book for trippy, apocalyptic imagery and incandescent action and which is, I am happy to say, ultimately pretty satisfying.
The two subsequent books are pretty lame, but they take place hundreds of years in the future and mainly address a few lingering questions about the world (badly). You're not missing anything by skipping them.
Thanks!
wish list
Steam wishlist
Etsy wishlist
Raul is a pretty shit character and there are questionable authorial decisions everywhere you look...but I still love them anyway.
There's just too much cool shit in those second two books for me to hate them. Nostalgia probably helps, I read them pretty young.
So I guess my book pile just got bigger.
It's true
Woop!
On the sad side, I got my Bridge 4 poster from the Kickstarter, immediately turned around and mailed it to Zoe and the post office promptly lost it. Or perhaps it's on a magical whirlwind journey around the nation.
I went on to read the first two Mistborn books (starting Hero of Ages tonight), Skyward and Starsight.
Anyways, big fan and I'm 90% sure my friend regrets recommending Elantris because he hasn't read any other Sanderson and I talk about it.
In between I read the Broken Earth trilogy, Dark Matter by Blake Crouch (imagine string theory explained to you by a frat guy and you're halfway there; beachread. Crichton without a floor) and I've been keeping up with King, outside of If It Bleeds.
"Readers who prefer tension and romance, Maledictions: The Offering, delivers... As serious YA fiction, I’ll give it five stars out of five. As a novel? Four and a half." - Liz Ellor
My new novel: Maledictions: The Offering. Now in Paperback!
Oh, also absolutely fast track Warbreaker, its already important for Stormlight and Rhythm of War seems to be just ratcheting that up more and more.
It is kinda insane how different all the books are from one another, not just in content but also in style. Book one is a hyperviolence reality show fantasy entertainment, but also about a man desperately trying to save what he loves and be a better person, centered around that character. Book two is a huge multiple character jumping adventure, about manifest destiny, capitalism, cost of vengeance, and exactly how much you can take from a person to break him. Caine Black Knife is a straight bone crunching first person adventure. And then Caine's Law. Man, I don't even have the words to describe Caine's Law. Its about horses, love, loss, time travel, and spitting in the eye of god, all going maximum bad.
Forgiveness and Permission.
Blade of Tyshalle is a masterclass on how to break down your protagonist until there is nothing left in him.
And Caines Law is one of the few "grimdark" fantasy novels that I've encountered that has a rape that is handled both as tastefully as possible, is absolutely heart rending, and manages to keep the entire focal point on the survivor rather than anyone else.
I will never stop hating this cruel world for the fact that Stover is not as popular as he deserves.
I've been saying that his books are RIPE for a new streaming fantasy series.
https://www.paypal.me/hobnailtaylor
I mean, it's true, and also I think King himself would be the first to agree with it because he seems like a genuinely cool dude who's pretty in touch with his own motives and limitations, but