The Locked Tomb Series (open spoilers for Gideon and Harrow! Nona the Ninth is out!)

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  • MegaMan001MegaMan001 CRNA Rochester, MNRegistered User regular
    Jedoc wrote: »
    tynic wrote: »
    fuckin' ripped and like 16, basically impossible casting.

    Goddammit, I used to run around at 4-H conferences with a girl who was a drama nerd and a football player, and she'd have been perfect for the role.

    So I guess send talent scouts to the Mormon towns in southern New Mexico for a start.

    Send talent scouts anywhere other than the coasts! Or at least it feels that way.

    I am in the business of saving lives.
  • nightmarennynightmarenny Registered User regular
    Inquisitor wrote: »
    I’m sorry what there is a Mistborn skin in fortnite?

    What?!?

    People thought it was a sign they were about to announce a movie.

    And then they didn't.

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  • initiatefailureinitiatefailure Registered User regular
    I got an email from illumicrate that they’re selling signed special editions of all three books with these kind of like bone pile sprayed edge designs.

    Unless I’m really bad a conversion math, the price seems to basically just be retail on 3 hard covers so I’m tempted but overseas shipping probably hits that hard.

    It’s like, I certainly don’t need to buy 3rd copies of all of these books. But I’m intrigued!

  • webguy20webguy20 I spend too much time on the Internet Registered User regular
    I got an email from illumicrate that they’re selling signed special editions of all three books with these kind of like bone pile sprayed edge designs.

    Unless I’m really bad a conversion math, the price seems to basically just be retail on 3 hard covers so I’m tempted but overseas shipping probably hits that hard.

    It’s like, I certainly don’t need to buy 3rd copies of all of these books. But I’m intrigued!

    The question is though, will they do the 4th book? Ide hate to get these three then the 4th not matching.

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  • initiatefailureinitiatefailure Registered User regular
    Yeah that would be annoying for sure. Seems like they’re only selling as a set too, so even if they do a repeat for the last book, they would need to add a “just the last one” option for previous buyers.

  • MalReynoldsMalReynolds The Hunter S Thompson of incredibly mild medicines Registered User regular
    Inquisitor wrote: »
    I’m sorry what there is a Mistborn skin in fortnite?

    What?!?

    People thought it was a sign they were about to announce a movie.

    And then they didn't.

    The skin is Kelsier with a mistcloak and also glass daggers.

    Did I redownload fortnite, buy the skin, and uninstall again? Maybe!

    Also Sanderson wrote the Infinity Blade novelizations so he's got some industry contacts at Epic, I think.

    "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
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  • initiatefailureinitiatefailure Registered User regular
    I have started my reread a bit later than I planned but I read to the end of part 1 tonight and actually I’m kind of mindblown how much they just directly state from the beginning about what is happening.

    Like, among a bunch of those moments, I actually cant believe that Teacher literally just tells them all plainly what the end result will be.
    but I see no reason not to hope that I may behold eight new lyctors by the end of this, joined together with their cavaliers…

  • nightmarennynightmarenny Registered User regular
    I have started my reread a bit later than I planned but I read to the end of part 1 tonight and actually I’m kind of mindblown how much they just directly state from the beginning about what is happening.

    Like, among a bunch of those moments, I actually cant believe that Teacher literally just tells them all plainly what the end result will be.
    but I see no reason not to hope that I may behold eight new lyctors by the end of this, joined together with their cavaliers…

    The most impressive thing about the book is how much Gideon reframes, references, and exists in conversation with stuff that you can only notice upon rereading not only itself but also Harrow. This fucking book full to the brim with stuff that only makes sense once you've read Harrow. It does all that and yet it doesn't spoil anything.

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  • pookapooka Registered User regular
    edited September 2022
    Just finished Gideon. Glad to infer that the breadcrumbs dropped in this book might have follow-up!

    But oh man, I am not a fan of the modern tone.
    I summed it to my partner as "very online" and illustrated my distaste with, "Gideon had spent too long in the depths of Drearburh not to know when to, put scientifically, get outie." Nope, no thank you; even forewarned, that flavor of cheeky self aware meta humor is grating for what I expected, apparently. (Unless there's shenanigans to be discovered, it feels... unpleasantly anachronistic, yeah. It's too of this zeitgeist, too cutely deliberate in its slang, actively countering suspension of disbelief & engagement in a distant future or place. It undermines or fights what is different about the setting, a distraction from observing and internalizing those things as such, rather than grounding or amusing me with something familiar.) Don't mistake me; I recognize the sample is fairly mild, as it goes, but I'd just read it.
    That diction may be less irritating over time or exposure, but on a first pass, the deployment tended to jar me out of the flow of reading more often than not.

    But the plot, and the general descriptiveness, yes'm. I like a mystery, and pulp, and peeking into alien cultures with foreign politicking and practices. I didn't love the book, but it was interesting, and I did like many of the supporting characters. So I'll continue on, at some point.

    Second-person ought to be interesting, and I wonder if different viewpoint characters will sufficiently change the diction & tone for me to find the read easier/less of a stumbling block.

    pooka on
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  • tynictynic PICNIC BADASS Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited September 2022
    The only one that really yanked me out of time and space was the Kate Beaton reference. But I have a high tolerance for overly cute bullshit.

    tynic on
  • PeenPeen Registered User regular
    I had a lot of trouble with the tone in my first read because I didn't think it landed firmly enough in a place, was it supposed to be funny or was it supposed to be serious, and I didn't think the blend worked. I was in the minority at the time and probably still am but I'm glad you felt the way you did pooka, I'm not totally crazy!

  • SeptusSeptus Registered User regular
    I came to enjoy many of the jokes, but they're actually not that frequent, though perhaps more frequent and still jarring is the overall modern slang Gideon uses even when she's being serious. The second book has a notable drop in the vernacular though.

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  • SporkAndrewSporkAndrew Registered User, ClubPA regular
    I just got a notification on my Kindle that my pre-order of Nona was available.

    35 minutes of work before I can check for sure

    The one about the fucking space hairdresser and the cowboy. He's got a tinfoil pal and a pedal bin
  • A Dabble Of TheloniusA Dabble Of Thelonius It has been a doozy of a dayRegistered User regular
    tynic wrote: »
    The only one that really yanked me out of time and space was the Kate Beaton reference. But I have a high tolerance for overly cute bullshit.

    Wait, which one was that?

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  • tynictynic PICNIC BADASS Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited September 2022
    tynic wrote: »
    The only one that really yanked me out of time and space was the Kate Beaton reference. But I have a high tolerance for overly cute bullshit.

    Wait, which one was that?

    "Old. Old as balls." It's pretty early on.

    Edit (harrow spoilers)
    I think after I settled in to “that’s just Gideons voice”, I had zero issues with the meme slang in Gideon. If anything, it felt more out of place in Harrow, partly because she’s so self serious that the jokes are few and far between, and partly because they often came out of God, which is conceptually jarring.

    But makes sense that the apple wouldn’t fall far, etc

    tynic on
  • webguy20webguy20 I spend too much time on the Internet Registered User regular
    Septus wrote: »
    I came to enjoy many of the jokes, but they're actually not that frequent, though perhaps more frequent and still jarring is the overall modern slang Gideon uses even when she's being serious. The second book has a notable drop in the vernacular though.

    Theres less, but whats there goes straight for the heart with a rusty blade.

    Spoilers obviously for harrow.
    The goddamn dad joke, and to a lesser extent the none pizza joke. Holy fuck.

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  • Grey GhostGrey Ghost Registered User regular
    webguy20 wrote: »
    Septus wrote: »
    I came to enjoy many of the jokes, but they're actually not that frequent, though perhaps more frequent and still jarring is the overall modern slang Gideon uses even when she's being serious. The second book has a notable drop in the vernacular though.

    Theres less, but whats there goes straight for the heart with a rusty blade.

    Spoilers obviously for harrow.
    The goddamn dad joke, and to a lesser extent the none pizza joke. Holy fuck.

    That's a case that I think is justified and subsequently almost tragic
    because the emperor is the last surviving millennial and he's just sadly making these Earth pop culture and meme references that nobody has understood for ten thousand years

    That is to say it would be tragic if he didn't suck so much, but it can still be sad in another sense

  • AiouaAioua Ora Occidens Ora OptimaRegistered User regular
    edited September 2022
    re: jokes
    My theory is that the entire universe we've seen so far (except for maybe the river) is something John created out of nothing.
    Partially fleshed out world building by a millennial memelord who became a god, somehow. The given stories about the war and thanergy etc are just set dressing. That is, lies.
    Abd you have these interjections of very out of context humor (or things like the harrow fanfic sequences because you're at the edges of things John has created, his characters just gaining sentience.

    Aioua on
    life's a game that you're bound to lose / like using a hammer to pound in screws
    fuck up once and you break your thumb / if you're happy at all then you're god damn dumb
    that's right we're on a fucked up cruise / God is dead but at least we have booze
    bad things happen, no one knows why / the sun burns out and everyone dies
  • initiatefailureinitiatefailure Registered User regular
    edited September 2022
    Just finished my gids reread and damn does it just work for me.

    Just spoilers for long
    I don’t mean this to be a response to the last few comments but I honestly don’t get the “it’s internet speak” critiques. Like it’s not reference humor just jammed out of place for the lols. It’s not family guy saying “remember this meme?” The writing feels natural in a way that makes me think of modern cultural mythology. The writing would also seem totally in place to people unfamiliar with the things being referenced.

    Like one example which I missed on my first read, about glaurica they say “she died on the way back to her home planet.” I missed that on my first read and I literally remember simpsons quotes I haven’t watched in almost 20 years, including everything about the dang poochie episode! When he’s not on screen people should be asking “where’s poochie!”

    I think Gideon was such a good pov character. I loved that being ordered to be silent and also being out of her depth on the nonsense happening in Canaan house have the same practical effect, culminating in just her pure essential “what the fuck” while they’re watching the lyctors fight. I think the breaking point to her “vow of silence” was incredibly poignant and the offhand “oh I had heard you were talking now” just used as a dagger to really turn you against the eighth.

    I think ianthe’s plot line might be the most obviously telegraphed thing ever, though I don’t think muir trying to hide it. Very much a “no one saw because no one thought to look” kind of thing, which honestly can be expanded to the whole plot.

    And again I come back to the thing where teacher never lies and dulcinea claims to never lie. Like dang they really just gave us all the pieces and we were like “these are nice pieces”

    I had to double check if there was any additional bits in the paperback like what was added to harrow. Is it just the 2nd intelligence reports? Before I jump into harrow

    initiatefailure on
  • SeptusSeptus Registered User regular
    Hmm, I don't know how
    none houses, hi not fucking dead
    are not perfect examples of speech that doesn't flow and is just a big wink to the reader. For sure, your example above is a better and more subtle insert, though I still think the glaring examples are quite few.

    PSN: Kurahoshi1
  • TofystedethTofystedeth Registered User regular
    Just finished my gids reread and damn does it just work for me.

    Just spoilers for long
    I don’t mean this to be a response to the last few comments but I honestly don’t get the “it’s internet speak” critiques. Like it’s not reference humor just jammed out of place for the lols. It’s not family guy saying “remember this meme?” The writing feels natural in a way that makes me think of modern cultural mythology. The writing would also seem totally in place to people unfamiliar with the things being referenced.

    Like one example which I missed on my first read, about glaurica they say “she died on the way back to her home planet.” I missed that on my first read and I literally remember simpsons quotes I haven’t watched in almost 20 years, including everything about the dang poochie episode! When he’s not on screen people should be asking “where’s poochie!”

    I think Gideon was such a good pov character. I loved that being ordered to be silent and also being out of her depth on the nonsense happening in Canaan house have the same practical effect, culminating in just her pure essential “what the fuck” while they’re watching the lyctors fight. I think the breaking point to her “vow of silence” was incredibly poignant and the offhand “oh I had heard you were talking now” just used as a dagger to really turn you against the eighth.

    I think ianthe’s plot line might be the most obviously telegraphed thing ever, though I don’t think muir trying to hide it. Very much a “no one saw because no one thought to look” kind of thing, which honestly can be expanded to the whole plot.

    And again I come back to the thing where teacher never lies and dulcinea claims to never lie. Like dang they really just gave us all the pieces and we were like “these are nice pieces”

    I had to double check if there was any additional bits in the paperback like what was added to harrow. Is it just the 2nd intelligence reports? Before I jump into harrow

    Re the stuff added to the paperback. Not sure if you're counting among the intelligence report stuff, but the paperback I just got had a fun bit in it
    "A Sermon On Cavaliers and Necromancers" which is a long-winded thing about how great and wonderful the whole cav and necro relationship is and how symbolic and so on and so forth.

    Which is followed by like a 2 sentence note from one of the original lyctors, found in the secret files kept preserved in the 6th house library, complaining about the One Flesh, One End phrase saying they need to find a different one because that one sounds like instructions for a sex toy and they hope it doesn't stick around.

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  • initiatefailureinitiatefailure Registered User regular
    Harrow prologue update

    Oh cool, this ties into a deeper in the book mystery
    Ortus gives her the idea to sub in Gideon! but the reader doesn't see that because the name got replaced by ORTUS NIGENAD and our only hint to things going on so far is in the personae dramatis at the start of the book with gideon being horror show scratched out. and then the body enters to proclaim that it's all wrong.

  • RoyceSraphimRoyceSraphim Registered User regular
    Harrow prologue update

    Oh cool, this ties into a deeper in the book mystery
    Ortus gives her the idea to sub in Gideon! but the reader doesn't see that because the name got replaced by ORTUS NIGENAD and our only hint to things going on so far is in the personae dramatis at the start of the book with gideon being horror show scratched out. and then the body enters to proclaim that it's all wrong.

    Wait..... what?

  • initiatefailureinitiatefailure Registered User regular
    edited September 2022
    Harrow prologue update

    Oh cool, this ties into a deeper in the book mystery
    Ortus gives her the idea to sub in Gideon! but the reader doesn't see that because the name got replaced by ORTUS NIGENAD and our only hint to things going on so far is in the personae dramatis at the start of the book with gideon being horror show scratched out. and then the body enters to proclaim that it's all wrong.

    Wait..... what?

    It's a scene of harrow and ortus having just received the summons to Canaan house, he goes down a list of the reasons he was unfit to serve the task, then they have this exchange
    "lady," ventured Ortus, voice deepening with timidity, "I would not venture it-but if a cavalier's duty is to hold the sword-if a cavalier's duty is to protect with the sword-if a cavalier's duty is to die by the sword-have you never considered ORTUS NIGENAD?"

    emphasis is in the text. then they have the exact same exchange from just before that like the scene skips/deja vu and the body enters

    initiatefailure on
  • webguy20webguy20 I spend too much time on the Internet Registered User regular
    Harrow prologue update

    Oh cool, this ties into a deeper in the book mystery
    Ortus gives her the idea to sub in Gideon! but the reader doesn't see that because the name got replaced by ORTUS NIGENAD and our only hint to things going on so far is in the personae dramatis at the start of the book with gideon being horror show scratched out. and then the body enters to proclaim that it's all wrong.

    Wait..... what?

    It's a scene of harrow and ortus having just received the summons to Canaan house, he goes down a list of the reasons he was unfit to serve the task, then they have this exchange
    "lady," ventured Ortus, voice deepening with timidity, "I would not venture it-but if a cavalier's duty is to hold the sword-if a cavalier's duty is to protect with the sword-if a cavalier's duty is to die by the sword-have you never considered ORTUS NIGENAD?"

    emphasis is in the text. then they have the exact same exchange from just before that like the scene skips/deja vu and the body enters

    Fuuuuuuuck

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  • 3cl1ps33cl1ps3 I will build a labyrinth to house the cheese Registered User regular
    The goth lesbian scifi books turned out to be fuckin' Secret Dune.

  • KanaKana Registered User regular
    edited September 2022
    I'm a little mixed on ortus giving her that idea
    cuz in Gideon even though its presented to us by Gideon as Harrow fucking with her, it really is a big statement that Harrow planned everything out so that she could bring Gideon with her, even while continuing to proclaim her total disdain for her, of course. Its an early hint (though probably only noticeable on reread) that Harrow really does have respect for Gideon / needs her around, if at least in a toxically dysfunctional way.

    Actually yeah I don't think Ortus inspiring the Gideon pick is true IRL, just in Harrow's dreamscape narrative. Cuz Ortus only finds out about the mission when everyone else does, and then immediately flees on the shuttle. Harrow sets him up to get him out of the way for Gideon to serve as cavalier.

    Kana on
    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.
  • nightmarennynightmarenny Registered User regular
    I love the way Gideon is written so I'm probably not the best person to answer but I do think that
    Grey Ghost wrote: »
    webguy20 wrote: »
    Septus wrote: »
    I came to enjoy many of the jokes, but they're actually not that frequent, though perhaps more frequent and still jarring is the overall modern slang Gideon uses even when she's being serious. The second book has a notable drop in the vernacular though.

    Theres less, but whats there goes straight for the heart with a rusty blade.

    Spoilers obviously for harrow.
    The goddamn dad joke, and to a lesser extent the none pizza joke. Holy fuck.

    That's a case that I think is justified and subsequently almost tragic
    because the emperor is the last surviving millennial and he's just sadly making these Earth pop culture and meme references that nobody has understood for ten thousand years

    That is to say it would be tragic if he didn't suck so much, but it can still be sad in another sense

    This conversation has got me thinking
    If Gideon's meme-speak might have something to do with being God's daughter. I have a secret theory that Gids survived and Harrow ended up such a super special necromancer because of that connection.

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  • TaminTamin Registered User regular
    edited September 2022
    It's not just Gideon, though

    An early chapter has Harrow say, "While we were developing common sense, she studied the blade."

    edit: I suppose you could argue that Harrow is subconsciously borrowing the style of speech from Gideon; I'd have to check who else talks like that.

    Tamin on
  • webguy20webguy20 I spend too much time on the Internet Registered User regular
    I love how dense the books are with little treasures to examine. What new light is Nona going to shine on the stuff we already know?

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  • KanaKana Registered User regular
    I think the difference is that the other characters drop memes sometimes but it's just a little easter egg for readers, the characters don't KNOW they're droppin' memes.

    With the exception of God, who is totally aware that he's dropping millennia old memes on an audience who totally don't get his references. He makes references just to amuse himself.

    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.
  • TofystedethTofystedeth Registered User regular
    Tamin wrote: »
    It's not just Gideon, though

    An early chapter has Harrow say, "While we were developing common sense, she studied the blade."

    edit: I suppose you could argue that Harrow is subconsciously borrowing the style of speech from Gideon; I'd have to check who else talks like that.

    That's one I missed on my first read through. I didn't realize it was a meme because it was also literally true.

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  • nightmarennynightmarenny Registered User regular
    Kana wrote: »
    I think the difference is that the other characters drop memes sometimes but it's just a little easter egg for readers, the characters don't KNOW they're droppin' memes.

    With the exception of God, who is totally aware that he's dropping millennia old memes on an audience who totally don't get his references. He makes references just to amuse himself.

    Yeah. Like, in the context of the characters talking Harrow could reasonably say "we studied the blade" without it being a reference Gids and God however totally drop intentional groaners that people don't know how to respond to.

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  • schussschuss Registered User regular
    Tamin wrote: »
    It's not just Gideon, though

    An early chapter has Harrow say, "While we were developing common sense, she studied the blade."

    edit: I suppose you could argue that Harrow is subconsciously borrowing the style of speech from Gideon; I'd have to check who else talks like that.

    That's one I missed on my first read through. I didn't realize it was a meme because it was also literally true.

    Yeah, they aren't that disruptive to me as I didn't recognize most of them. It's Tamsyn's work, she can write it however she wants is kinda my stance.

  • MegaMan001MegaMan001 CRNA Rochester, MNRegistered User regular
    schuss wrote: »
    Tamin wrote: »
    It's not just Gideon, though

    An early chapter has Harrow say, "While we were developing common sense, she studied the blade."

    edit: I suppose you could argue that Harrow is subconsciously borrowing the style of speech from Gideon; I'd have to check who else talks like that.

    That's one I missed on my first read through. I didn't realize it was a meme because it was also literally true.

    Yeah, they aren't that disruptive to me as I didn't recognize most of them. It's Tamsyn's work, she can write it however she wants is kinda my stance.

    Muir is a talented and unique writer who's done some frankly amazing work right out of the gate. I'm only online here, but her writing made me Google some of the things that sounded memey which just led to even more groaned laughter.

    She gets a pass from me too, excited to see where her work goes.

    I am in the business of saving lives.
  • webguy20webguy20 I spend too much time on the Internet Registered User regular
    Nona the ninth today! I should have taken the day off. Gonna be hard to work knowing the book is waiting for me.

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  • Grey GhostGrey Ghost Registered User regular
    Punching out of this thread til I finish Nona. Happy reading everyone!

  • MegaMan001MegaMan001 CRNA Rochester, MNRegistered User regular
    I like those Illuminicrate editions, but I'm not buying anything until the series is done cause oh my god I hate mismatched series.

    I am in the business of saving lives.
  • 3cl1ps33cl1ps3 I will build a labyrinth to house the cheese Registered User regular
    I don't know why I thought this was next month. I still need to reread Gideon and Harrow, RIP.

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