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Read a [book].

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    YaYaYaYa Decent. Registered User regular
    3clipse wrote: »
    Wade is also building a secret space ship for him, 50 of his closest friends and a bunch of frozen embryos to go colonize a planet near Proxima Centauri

    I'm sorry what

    it’s a 47 year trip but it’s okay, they’ll just hang out in their own personal OASIS server the whole time

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    MadicanMadican No face Registered User regular
    How does this guy manage to get published

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    A Dabble Of TheloniusA Dabble Of Thelonius It has been a doozy of a dayRegistered User regular
    I've been following a reviewer doing a live tweet read of it and it is

    Wowza.

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    Steam - Talon Valdez :Blizz - Talonious#1860 : Xbox Live & LoL - Talonious Monk @TaloniousMonk Hail Satan
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    3cl1ps33cl1ps3 I will build a labyrinth to house the cheese Registered User regular
    YaYa wrote: »
    3clipse wrote: »
    Wade is also building a secret space ship for him, 50 of his closest friends and a bunch of frozen embryos to go colonize a planet near Proxima Centauri

    I'm sorry what

    it’s a 47 year trip but it’s okay, they’ll just hang out in their own personal OASIS server the whole time

    i

    who

    what

    no

    i'm so mad

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    KandenKanden Registered User regular
    lol, the publisher is apparently starting to DMCA people posting passages of RP2 on twitter

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    3cl1ps33cl1ps3 I will build a labyrinth to house the cheese Registered User regular
    Kanden wrote: »
    lol, the publisher is apparently starting to DMCA people posting passages of RP2 on twitter

    Ah a great PR move for a book with a troubled reception, this will surely make people stop publicly dunking on it

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    RoyceSraphimRoyceSraphim Registered User regular
    I am so writing a book. Cannot do it any worse

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    DouglasDangerDouglasDanger PennsylvaniaRegistered User regular
    Yeah, Ready Player One and then Armada, I think it was called, were both so poorly received and derided... And the 20 pages I read of each were just bad and awful, I thought hey I should give this writing thing a serious try

    I went through a real productive writing period a few times, I could write a chalet or a short story or something, I did that in college almost every week for four years

    But I haven't

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    MegaMan001MegaMan001 CRNA Rochester, MNRegistered User regular
    @YaYa That is fucking amazing

    I am in the business of saving lives.
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    CoinageCoinage Heaviside LayerRegistered User regular
    I remember when people talked about RPO being good so much that it annoyed me without really knowing anything about it. 2011 wasn't even a weird time.

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    CoinageCoinage Heaviside LayerRegistered User regular
    Ernest wrote this section of the RPO wikipedia page right
    In 2018, the book garnered unwanted negative reception from critics who believed it pandered too much on the male demographic, which many online publications later refuted. Writer Chris Isaac of Tor disagreed with the criticisms, stating "So, if you don’t like Ready Player One and have criticisms about it, that’s totally understandable" while adding "I’ll certainly point out the issues I have with his stories, but I’m not going to delight in mocking his work or hoping for his failure like many did with Meyer and Twilight."[26] Constance Grady of Vox defended the novel, saying "For readers in Cline’s target demographic in 2011, that message felt empowering. For readers who weren’t, it felt like a harmless piece of affirmation meant for someone else. Everyone deserves a silly escapist fantasy, right?"

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    PeenPeen Registered User regular
    I mean look, Ready Player One is pretty bad, and maybe this is time and distance talking, but it's nowhere near as bad as Twilight.

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    CoinageCoinage Heaviside LayerRegistered User regular
    Twilight is an actual book.

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    YaYaYaYa Decent. Registered User regular
    Twilight is good, actually

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    A Dabble Of TheloniusA Dabble Of Thelonius It has been a doozy of a dayRegistered User regular
    Coinage wrote: »
    Twilight is an actual book.

    Yes
    YaYa wrote: »
    Twilight is good, actually

    Oh. No. No no no.

    vm8gvf5p7gqi.jpg
    Steam - Talon Valdez :Blizz - Talonious#1860 : Xbox Live & LoL - Talonious Monk @TaloniousMonk Hail Satan
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    MalReynoldsMalReynolds The Hunter S Thompson of incredibly mild medicines Registered User regular
    I was so angry at Twilight I wrote Maledictions, which, while only selling 200 copies, was worse in so many new and different ways

    "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!
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    AntoshkaAntoshka Miauen Oil Change LazarusRegistered User regular
    YaYa wrote: »
    Twilight is good, actually

    It absolutely is not.

    The sequels, it should be noted, are also not good - but they do go places. Incredibly, incredibly weird places.

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    EnigmedicEnigmedic Registered User regular
    I started reading the new brandon sanderson book. Fuck there are too many characters and things to remember. Its been years I think since I read the previous one and I only vaguely remember wtf is going on. And it's not like it's a quick reread to catch up.

    In regard to rpo I thought the movie was at least entertaining. Never read the book though.

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    nightmarennynightmarenny Registered User regular
    Man, Rhythm of War really hits the ground running. That prologue
    The nearly destroyed and cruel relationship between Navani and Gavilar is so intense and real. Not something I'd expected from Sanderson.

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    StraightziStraightzi Here we may reign secure, and in my choice, To reign is worth ambition though in HellRegistered User regular
    The Twilight movies are good but the books are terrible

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    KanaKana Registered User regular
    I read The Deeds of Paksenarrion, which is one of those books that takes a while for it to sneak up on you that this is basically just an unbranded D&D story. It can basically be summed up as "Actually, paladins ARE cool, so there", and it definitely succeeds at that. Only real complaint is that the last adventure is both pretty predictable and also about a character that the writer was plainly more invested in than I was. I did really like that the main character was basically ace.

    And now I finished book 1 of The Black Company books and I'm onto #2. Actually not as much of a tonal shift as you'd think? It's very grimdark and feels very '90s, and as I was going through the free trial portion I kept expecting that I'd drop it, but there's a compelling immediacy to the writing, it keeps up a constant "just one more job" energy and never gets quite too grimdark for me to roll my eyes and abandon it.

    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.
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    nightmarennynightmarenny Registered User regular
    edited November 2020
    Kana wrote: »
    I read The Deeds of Paksenarrion, which is one of those books that takes a while for it to sneak up on you that this is basically just an unbranded D&D story. It can basically be summed up as "Actually, paladins ARE cool, so there", and it definitely succeeds at that. Only real complaint is that the last adventure is both pretty predictable and also about a character that the writer was plainly more invested in than I was. I did really like that the main character was basically ace.

    And now I finished book 1 of The Black Company books and I'm onto #2. Actually not as much of a tonal shift as you'd think? It's very grimdark and feels very '90s, and as I was going through the free trial portion I kept expecting that I'd drop it, but there's a compelling immediacy to the writing, it keeps up a constant "just one more job" energy and never gets quite too grimdark for me to roll my eyes and abandon it.

    I was very off-put by the casual reference to many in the company being rapists. I know that’s an accurate account of how mercenaries(indeed all soldiers) acted but contrasted with Raven’s response to similar disgusting acts and the casualness from which it got brought up it was really shocking. I’m still not sure how I feel about it although I’m still working my way through book two as well.

    nightmarenny on
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    TaminTamin Registered User regular
    had some cash burning a hole in my pocket so I went to hpb yesterday. Almost left without anything, but they had a display of Rhythm of War up and, after wrestling* with it for a minute, I picked it up. Went to check out and randomly asked after Gideon the Ninth; the cashier was "not surprised" I couldn't find any on the shelf. Another employee piped up and said there were definitely copies -- in Teen Fiction, not Sci Fi/Fantasy, where I'd been idly looking for ages.

    I forgot to check for Dawnshard, so I think I'll order that one.

    In the meantime, I've started and am about half-way through Gideon now:
    Abigail and Marcus have died ("oh right," my brain reported, "it's a murder mystery after a bit"); and Gideon has found a note in a room belonging to "G & P" that has her name on it.

    (the gist of) a couple stand-out lines:
    - "He looked like someone fun sought out for death"
    - "there were metal ladders descending into the pit, but why would you though"

    My mental image of Canaan House is Resident Evil by way of Dark Souls.

    To understate it by a couple orders of magnitude, she has quite a way with words.

    * torn between my specific interest in Roshar and my general disinterest in the Cosmere

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    RoyceSraphimRoyceSraphim Registered User regular
    Huh, this kindle version of moving pictures aint broken up into chapters. That is ....frustrating

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    nightmarennynightmarenny Registered User regular
    RoW spoilers about 150 pages in
    Oh wow we really are going full on with Allomancy principles working on other forms of magic huh?

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    EnigmedicEnigmedic Registered User regular
    RoW spoilers about 150 pages in
    Oh wow we really are going full on with Allomancy principles working on other forms of magic huh?
    if you read the little blurbs about fabrials at the beginning of each chapter, the effects of certain metals lines up almost identically to allomancy. I think it was only tin that had the opposite effect.

    im also reading it on kindle because fuck holding a brick the whole time im reading, so no idea how far in 150 pages is lol.

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    nightmarennynightmarenny Registered User regular
    Enigmedic wrote: »
    RoW spoilers about 150 pages in
    Oh wow we really are going full on with Allomancy principles working on other forms of magic huh?
    if you read the little blurbs about fabrials at the beginning of each chapter, the effects of certain metals lines up almost identically to allomancy. I think it was only tin that had the opposite effect.

    im also reading it on kindle because fuck holding a brick the whole time im reading, so no idea how far in 150 pages is lol.

    That’s the chapter I just passed and yeah that was some thing I made note of as well. Presently I’m not sure if it’s significant or just a mistake. These books always seem to have one or two minor mistakes in the first printing. With so much going on who could blame them?

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    KandenKanden Registered User regular
    Dawnshard won't be out physical until sometime next year btw, he kinda wrote the entire thing right before RoW came out and they weren't able to get the printers spun up for a little bit.

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    YaYaYaYa Decent. Registered User regular
    edited November 2020
    RP2
    so, with very little fanfare, the villain of the book has decided to reveal itself

    and it’s...an AI construct of James Halliday that apparently lived in the OASIS the entire time and decided now would be a good time to make itself known, and immediately kidnapped the co-creator of the OASIS and freed the villain from the last book from prison through computer magic before going on a five page monologue about who it is and how it came to be

    I am

    unmoved

    e: AI Halliday has now trapped everyone in the OASIS and is holding them hostage until they complete the Easter Egg hunt for him, which, I guess, will revive the AI construct of his unrequited love when it’s completed, and for some reason Wade is the only person who can directly interface with said Easter Egg

    which isn’t the WORST idea for a retread, but there’s also something grimly funny about a book where everyone is just experiencing the same pop culture they loved previously repeating the plot of the first book with very few changes

    YaYa on
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    David_TDavid_T A fashion yes-man is no good to me. Copenhagen, DenmarkRegistered User regular
    I'm wondering if I should maybe post this in the job/librarian thread, but here goes:

    Anyone know of a book (preferably in Kindle format, I'll be honest) about Tarot and Tarot decks that's about the history of it and such and not about how to do readings?

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    JedocJedoc In the scuppers with the staggers and jagsRegistered User regular
    No. I looked for one pretty hard last time this came up, and was defeated. So much of the...I don't want to say "marketing" because I know some pretty genuine people who use it as a spiritual practice, so I guess "identity" of tarot is wrapped up in ancient wisdom, and it's a pretty old practice all by itself. So the search parameters are poisoned all the hell no matter how I hashed 'em.

    I'd be interested to hear if anyone else has better luck this time around, because I'd really like to read one.

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    PeenPeen Registered User regular
    @David_T This might do the trick. It's a subject I'm utterly unfamiliar with so it might also be bologna but it's my best swing.

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    David_TDavid_T A fashion yes-man is no good to me. Copenhagen, DenmarkRegistered User regular
    @Peen Huh. Thanks. I think between that one, which claims that Tarot's "original roots lie in the Mithraic tradition of the Persian Magi" and this one which purports to "cut through conventional misperceptions to explore the Tarot deck as it really developed in the Middle Ages and Renaissance Europe", I think I might be well-covered all the way around.

    The only thing both agree on is that it certainly didn't originate in Egypt, so I may also pick up Aleister Crowleys book on the Thoth Tarot.

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    EnigmedicEnigmedic Registered User regular
    I know there is a french card game that uses a tarot deck to play it. You might look into that and see if there is some kind of history on that front.

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    HobnailHobnail Registered User regular
    The Twilight novels are bad, the Fifty Shades of Grey novels are very bad, Ready Player One is unspeakable it is a scream your self awake nightmare it is bottomlessly loathesome I would rather read anything else I'd rather read daesh propaganda I'd rather watch that VHS tape of my own death

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    GR_ZombieGR_Zombie Krillin It Registered User regular
    At least Twilight isn’t talking about how great Anne Rice is every paragraph

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    TaminTamin Registered User regular
    Finished up Gideon a couple days ago.

    Fairly happy with the story. Some bits will likely reward re-reading.
    it would probably have felt wrong if Harrow hadn't become a Lyctor; the evidence towards that end kept mounting, but -- especially once it became clear what it entails -- I spent much of the remaining time resisting the outcome.

    ditto with their relationship. It's essentially screamed at the audience from the first page, and so some of the developmental moments had a mechanical quality to them. Or Something™

    I will probably get around to Harrow the Ninth at some point, but Gideon's sacrifice has temporarily depressed that particular urge. There are still two (or three) mysteries regarding Gideon, and it feels a little odd for her to not be 'around' to unravel them.

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    JedocJedoc In the scuppers with the staggers and jagsRegistered User regular
    I'd recommend you get to Harrow as soon as possible. It kind of throws you into the deep end, so the more you remember about the first book the better off you'll be.

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    webguy20webguy20 I spend too much time on the Internet Registered User regular
    Hell I won't lie, I'd recommend re-reading the last 20% or so of Gideon again before going into Harrow. It's worth it to cement how the end plays out in your head. Harrow goes places and its real twisty turny.

    Steam ID: Webguy20
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    TaminTamin Registered User regular
    good to know. Thanks

This discussion has been closed.