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[Book]: Rhymes With

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Posts

  • BrodyBrody The Watch The First ShoreRegistered User regular
    Kaputa wrote: »
    I read the second Malazan book (Deadhouse Gates). Definitely a major improvement on the first. The prose itself was kinda weak in the first novel in my opinion, but improved noticeably for the second. And my other major gripe with the first - the jarring frequency with which it switched from character to character - was also ameliorated. It still followed several arcs simultaneously, but spent a bit more time in each before moving to another viewpoint, which allowed me to get into each sub-story and setting more.

    Erickson really does need to stop overusing a few specific phrases and words, though. Everybody "hisses through their teeth" when they're surprised or experiencing a sudden negative reaction to something. They always "hug themselves" when they're sad or scared or what have you. He thankfully toned down the grunting a bit from the absurd grunt levels in the first book, though it was still frequent enough. Scowling also seems to be the most frequent expression on people's faces in this universe. A minor complaint overall, but it's the biggest or at least most blatant flaw with otherwise decent prose.

    On the plot (spoilered on the offchance that someone else hasn't read the series and someday might) :
    Coltaine's Chain of Dogs was by far the highlight of the story. Duiker is a great character and I enjoyed his internal monologues, the Wickans and the 7th were badass, the horror of the long march is conveyed well, and the battles are suitably epic and fun to read.

    Felisin and Heboric's long and arduous journey was also great. Both characters were well written, in my opinion, and their interaction was darkly entertaining.

    Fiddler/Mappo/Icarium/etc.'s quest into Tremorlor was a bit less interesting for me, though still enjoyable enough to read. I found the Mappo/Icarium pity party to grow a bit tiresome after a while. Iskaral Pust was amusing, but as far as comic relief goes is far outdone by Kruppe (absent from this book). Fiddler is alright but sort of a generic cynical soldier. And something about their journey through Raraku and Tremorlor felt a bit too much like part of one of Erickson's RPG campaigns to make for great reading.

    Lastly, the assassin Kalam is the most boring character ever and his chapters were a chore to get through. Maybe his lack of personality is to some degree intentional, but at no point was I at all interested in reading his thoughts on his situation, and by the end I was just hoping the guy's boat would sink and I'd be done with him.

    About 1/4th into the third book (Memories of Ice) now. It's quite different in pacing than the previous two. While Gardens opened with an over the top sorcery battle and Deadhouse Gates throws you into the adventures right off the bat, MoI's beginning is basically a 150 page info-dump without a lot of actual plot progression happening. I've enjoyed reading it nonetheless, but it sort of feels like the author felt like he had to jam a lot of set-up into the beginning of this book in order to make events fit his developing grand narrative.

    Man, just wait until you get to Midnight Tides. I still feel like this is one of my most favorite series, but the last time I tried rereading it I had a really hard time getting through basically anything to do with Mappo.

    "I will write your name in the ruin of them. I will paint you across history in the color of their blood."

    The Monster Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson

    Steam: Korvalain
  • SyphonBlueSyphonBlue The studying beaver That beaver sure loves studying!Registered User regular
    Binti is next from her on my reading list. Got very good reviews.

    Binti is....very weird. I'm not sure I liked it, but I'm not upset that I read it.

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    PSN/Steam/NNID: SyphonBlue | BNet: SyphonBlue#1126
  • Solomaxwell6Solomaxwell6 Registered User regular
    Kaputa wrote: »
    I read the second Malazan book (Deadhouse Gates). Definitely a major improvement on the first. The prose itself was kinda weak in the first novel in my opinion, but improved noticeably for the second. And my other major gripe with the first - the jarring frequency with which it switched from character to character - was also ameliorated. It still followed several arcs simultaneously, but spent a bit more time in each before moving to another viewpoint, which allowed me to get into each sub-story and setting more.

    Erickson really does need to stop overusing a few specific phrases and words, though. Everybody "hisses through their teeth" when they're surprised or experiencing a sudden negative reaction to something. They always "hug themselves" when they're sad or scared or what have you. He thankfully toned down the grunting a bit from the absurd grunt levels in the first book, though it was still frequent enough. Scowling also seems to be the most frequent expression on people's faces in this universe. A minor complaint overall, but it's the biggest or at least most blatant flaw with otherwise decent prose.

    On the plot (spoilered on the offchance that someone else hasn't read the series and someday might) :
    Coltaine's Chain of Dogs was by far the highlight of the story. Duiker is a great character and I enjoyed his internal monologues, the Wickans and the 7th were badass, the horror of the long march is conveyed well, and the battles are suitably epic and fun to read.

    Felisin and Heboric's long and arduous journey was also great. Both characters were well written, in my opinion, and their interaction was darkly entertaining.

    Fiddler/Mappo/Icarium/etc.'s quest into Tremorlor was a bit less interesting for me, though still enjoyable enough to read. I found the Mappo/Icarium pity party to grow a bit tiresome after a while. Iskaral Pust was amusing, but as far as comic relief goes is far outdone by Kruppe (absent from this book). Fiddler is alright but sort of a generic cynical soldier. And something about their journey through Raraku and Tremorlor felt a bit too much like part of one of Erickson's RPG campaigns to make for great reading.

    Lastly, the assassin Kalam is the most boring character ever and his chapters were a chore to get through. Maybe his lack of personality is to some degree intentional, but at no point was I at all interested in reading his thoughts on his situation, and by the end I was just hoping the guy's boat would sink and I'd be done with him.

    About 1/4th into the third book (Memories of Ice) now. It's quite different in pacing than the previous two. While Gardens opened with an over the top sorcery battle and Deadhouse Gates throws you into the adventures right off the bat, MoI's beginning is basically a 150 page info-dump without a lot of actual plot progression happening. I've enjoyed reading it nonetheless, but it sort of feels like the author felt like he had to jam a lot of set-up into the beginning of this book in order to make events fit his developing grand narrative.

    Every time someone mentions Deadhouse Gates, I have to bring up that I think the Chain of Dogs subplot would be a fantastic standalone war miniseries. Gardens of the Moon was originally supposed to be a screenplay, but going for the Chain of Dogs would've been a much better option.
    That scene with the Burned Tears was a highlight, "The answer this day... the Wickans" would be such a great moment. And imagine seeing Coltaine's death in a big budget HBO show, with the horde of crows descending on the mound.

  • ReznikReznik Registered User regular
    edited December 2020
    So I got through Hardwired. A+, fantastic book, excellent cyberpunk that didn't just feel like someone cribbing straight from Neuromancer. I really enjoyed Walter Jon Williams' writing style too. Does he have any more cyberpunk? I did a quick search on the Indigo site and saw mostly what looked like straight sci-fi under his name and some licensed Star Wars stuff. Suggestions on what else of his to check out would be appreciated.

    Reznik on
    Do... Re.... Mi... Ti... La...
    Do... Re... Mi... So... Fa.... Do... Re.... Do...
    Forget it...
  • PhillisherePhillishere Registered User regular
    Reznik wrote: »
    So I got through Hardwired. A+, fantastic book, excellent cyberpunk that didn't just feel like someone cribbing straight from Neuromancer. I really enjoyed Walter Jon Williams' writing style too. Does he have any more cyberpunk? I did a quick search on the Indigo site and saw mostly what looked like straight sci-fi under his name and some licensed Star Wars stuff. Suggestions on what else of his to check out would be appreciated.

    I really liked his Dread Empires Fall - humanity gets subsumed in an evil intergalactic empire, and the highly flawed main characters have to figure out how to survive its collapse.

  • JacobkoshJacobkosh Gamble a stamp. I can show you how to be a real man!Moderator mod
    Yeah, Dread Empire's Fall is a terrific modern space opera that uses a couple of clever conceits to enable a bit of retro, pulpy space laser a ton without being full-on science fantasy.

    I think he's also written at least one sequel to Hardwired, though I haven't read it yet (it was out of print when I was looking for it) so can't vouch for its quality.

    rRwz9.gif
  • BrodyBrody The Watch The First ShoreRegistered User regular
    Well, finished The Tyrant Baru Cormorant yesterday. Holy shit that was a ride. It took me bit to really get back into it, I think because I finished the last one right after a week long vacation, and my brain was just sort of on autopilot, and it wasn't quite as engaging. I'm really glad Seth moved away from the depressed, drink myself into oblivion angle, as it has to be one of my least favorite things to read. I foresaw one twist, only to get completely dropped by the counter twist. Good read, much enjoyed. Also, it took me way longer to read than anticipated. A full two weeks.

    "I will write your name in the ruin of them. I will paint you across history in the color of their blood."

    The Monster Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson

    Steam: Korvalain
  • PhillisherePhillishere Registered User regular
    Jacobkosh wrote: »
    Yeah, Dread Empire's Fall is a terrific modern space opera that uses a couple of clever conceits to enable a bit of retro, pulpy space laser a ton without being full-on science fantasy.

    I think he's also written at least one sequel to Hardwired, though I haven't read it yet (it was out of print when I was looking for it) so can't vouch for its quality.

    The most recent reprints pack in the original, the sequel, and the short stories in one edition that's just titled Hardwired.

  • KanaKana Registered User regular
    Reznik wrote: »
    So I got through Hardwired. A+, fantastic book, excellent cyberpunk that didn't just feel like someone cribbing straight from Neuromancer. I really enjoyed Walter Jon Williams' writing style too. Does he have any more cyberpunk? I did a quick search on the Indigo site and saw mostly what looked like straight sci-fi under his name and some licensed Star Wars stuff. Suggestions on what else of his to check out would be appreciated.

    Walter Jon Williams is one of the more consistent sci-fi authors out there, really. The worst his books tend to get is "still pretty good."

    I'd also point specifically to Ten Points for Style, which is an omnibus of space opera/comedy of manners/crime heists which are a lot of fun

    He's also got quite a lot of short stories, which iirc he's said is basically his preferred format. Any of his short story collections are well worth 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.
  • DevoutlyApatheticDevoutlyApathetic Registered User regular
    Brody wrote: »
    Well, finished The Tyrant Baru Cormorant yesterday. Holy shit that was a ride. It took me bit to really get back into it, I think because I finished the last one right after a week long vacation, and my brain was just sort of on autopilot, and it wasn't quite as engaging. I'm really glad Seth moved away from the depressed, drink myself into oblivion angle, as it has to be one of my least favorite things to read. I foresaw one twist, only to get completely dropped by the counter twist. Good read, much enjoyed. Also, it took me way longer to read than anticipated. A full two weeks.

    I like Tyrant but I feel like it really should have ended up as a single book with Monster, albeit with some heavy editing. Depressed Baru, while entirely justified, make them a very unpleasant story for a very long time.

    Nod. Get treat. PSN: Quippish
  • BrodyBrody The Watch The First ShoreRegistered User regular
    Brody wrote: »
    Well, finished The Tyrant Baru Cormorant yesterday. Holy shit that was a ride. It took me bit to really get back into it, I think because I finished the last one right after a week long vacation, and my brain was just sort of on autopilot, and it wasn't quite as engaging. I'm really glad Seth moved away from the depressed, drink myself into oblivion angle, as it has to be one of my least favorite things to read. I foresaw one twist, only to get completely dropped by the counter twist. Good read, much enjoyed. Also, it took me way longer to read than anticipated. A full two weeks.

    I like Tyrant but I feel like it really should have ended up as a single book with Monster, albeit with some heavy editing. Depressed Baru, while entirely justified, make them a very unpleasant story for a very long time.

    Yeah, I don't know that Tyrant recovered the high of Traitor, and Monster was definitely the weakest of the three, but I enjoyed his writing itself for all three, and I don't mind some slightly less enjoyable story to get an extra couple of books of his prose.

    Certainly nothing topped "I will write your name in the ruin of them. I will paint you across history in the color of their blood." for me.

    "I will write your name in the ruin of them. I will paint you across history in the color of their blood."

    The Monster Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson

    Steam: Korvalain
  • pyromaniac221pyromaniac221 this just might be an interestin YTRegistered User regular
    It felt to me like Monster and Tyrant were originally intended to be a single volume that got split in two due to length (wasn't the first book marketed as the first installment of a trilogy?). I liked Monster a lot more on a second readthrough, but Tyrant does get the benefit of paying off the stuff it sets up and leaves dangling.

    psn tooaware, friend code SW-4760-0062-3248 it me
  • LoserForHireXLoserForHireX Philosopher King The AcademyRegistered User regular
    I simply devoured Muir's Gideon and Harrow over the last little bit.

    Simply wonderful writing and a really compelling view of relationships. Really enjoyed them. Started A Memory Called Empire the other day and I'm barely into it but it already seems pretty rad.

    "The only way to get rid of a temptation is to give into it." - Oscar Wilde
    "We believe in the people and their 'wisdom' as if there was some special secret entrance to knowledge that barred to anyone who had ever learned anything." - Friedrich Nietzsche
  • webguy20webguy20 I spend too much time on the Internet Registered User regular
    I simply devoured Muir's Gideon and Harrow over the last little bit.

    Simply wonderful writing and a really compelling view of relationships. Really enjoyed them. Started A Memory Called Empire the other day and I'm barely into it but it already seems pretty rad.

    All three books have been some of my top reads this year. All are excellent. I was really bummed when I found out Memory's sequel was pushed back into 2021.

    Steam ID: Webguy20
    Origin ID: Discgolfer27
    Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
  • DevoutlyApatheticDevoutlyApathetic Registered User regular
    webguy20 wrote: »
    I simply devoured Muir's Gideon and Harrow over the last little bit.

    Simply wonderful writing and a really compelling view of relationships. Really enjoyed them. Started A Memory Called Empire the other day and I'm barely into it but it already seems pretty rad.

    All three books have been some of my top reads this year. All are excellent. I was really bummed when I found out Memory's sequel was pushed back into 2021.

    I'm hoping it means Harrow takes the Hugo. I think Gideon arguably deserved it but Memory is like some sort of gene-tailored monster created especially to prey upon Hugo voters sensibilities. (Don't get me wrong, it is a lovely book.)

    Nod. Get treat. PSN: Quippish
  • webguy20webguy20 I spend too much time on the Internet Registered User regular
    webguy20 wrote: »
    I simply devoured Muir's Gideon and Harrow over the last little bit.

    Simply wonderful writing and a really compelling view of relationships. Really enjoyed them. Started A Memory Called Empire the other day and I'm barely into it but it already seems pretty rad.

    All three books have been some of my top reads this year. All are excellent. I was really bummed when I found out Memory's sequel was pushed back into 2021.

    I'm hoping it means Harrow takes the Hugo. I think Gideon arguably deserved it but Memory is like some sort of gene-tailored monster created especially to prey upon Hugo voters sensibilities. (Don't get me wrong, it is a lovely book.)

    Between Gideon and Memory yea, thats a tough call. I think I would give it to Gideon though, just by a nose hair though. They are both excellent.

    Steam ID: Webguy20
    Origin ID: Discgolfer27
    Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
  • AntoshkaAntoshka Miauen Oil Change LazarusRegistered User regular
    webguy20 wrote: »
    webguy20 wrote: »
    I simply devoured Muir's Gideon and Harrow over the last little bit.

    Simply wonderful writing and a really compelling view of relationships. Really enjoyed them. Started A Memory Called Empire the other day and I'm barely into it but it already seems pretty rad.

    All three books have been some of my top reads this year. All are excellent. I was really bummed when I found out Memory's sequel was pushed back into 2021.

    I'm hoping it means Harrow takes the Hugo. I think Gideon arguably deserved it but Memory is like some sort of gene-tailored monster created especially to prey upon Hugo voters sensibilities. (Don't get me wrong, it is a lovely book.)

    Between Gideon and Memory yea, thats a tough call. I think I would give it to Gideon though, just by a nose hair though. They are both excellent.

    I gave my vote to Gideon, but apparently there were more who didn't. They were wrong, but Memory is also very good. I've given out 5 copies of Gideon now (the bookseller has started to notice) and I'm happy to report that every one of my recipients has then gone on to... purchase and give a copy of Gideon to someone else.

    n57PM0C.jpg
  • nexuscrawlernexuscrawler Registered User regular
    I loved both but Harrow is a much more ambitious story and she mostly pulls it off.

  • ShadowhopeShadowhope Baa. Registered User regular

    A Christmas Carol is an incredibly timeless book. It's been adapted numerous times obviously, but the original story remains well worth the read. Dickens wrote specifically to bring attention to the plight of the poor, needy and uneducated in England at the time, and though that message has been somewhat diluted it hits pretty strongly in the original text.
    “Forgive me if I am not justified in what I ask,” said Scrooge, looking intently at the Spirit’s robe, “but I see something strange, and not belonging to yourself, protruding from your skirts. Is it a foot or a claw?”

    “It might be a claw, for the flesh there is upon it,” was the Spirit’s sorrowful reply. “Look here.”

    From the foldings of its robe, it brought two children; wretched, abject, frightful, hideous, miserable. They knelt down at its feet, and clung upon the outside of its garment.

    “Oh, Man! look here. Look, look, down here!” exclaimed the Ghost.

    They were a boy and girl. Yellow, meagre, ragged, scowling, wolfish; but prostrate, too, in their humility. Where graceful youth should have filled their features out, and touched them with its freshest tints, a stale and shrivelled hand, like that of age, had pinched, and twisted them, and pulled them into shreds. Where angels might have sat enthroned, devils lurked, and glared out menacing. No change, no degradation, no perversion of humanity, in any grade, through all the mysteries of wonderful creation, has monsters half so horrible and dread.

    Scrooge started back, appalled. Having them shown to him in this way, he tried to say they were fine children, but the words choked themselves, rather than be parties to a lie of such enormous magnitude.

    “Spirit! are they yours?” Scrooge could say no more.

    “They are Man’s,” said the Spirit, looking down upon them. “And they cling to me, appealing from their fathers. This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased. Deny it!” cried the Spirit, stretching out its hand towards the city. “Slander those who tell it ye! Admit it for your factious purposes, and make it worse. And bide the end!”

    “Have they no refuge or resource?” cried Scrooge.

    “Are there no prisons?” said the Spirit, turning on him for the last time with his own words. “Are there no workhouses?”

    The bell struck twelve.

    The emphasis there is mine. It was a stark political statement then, and it remains so now.

    Civics is not a consumer product that you can ignore because you don’t like the options presented.
  • initiatefailureinitiatefailure Registered User regular
    are you trying to tell me the spirit wasn't really a giant muppet.

    This is...

    ... I'll have to think about this

  • SyphonBlueSyphonBlue The studying beaver That beaver sure loves studying!Registered User regular
    Just finished Rhythm of War.

    That was 1500 pages of table setting for the finale.

    LxX6eco.jpg
    PSN/Steam/NNID: SyphonBlue | BNet: SyphonBlue#1126
  • EchoEcho ski-bap ba-dapModerator mod
    Reznik wrote: »
    So I got through Hardwired. A+, fantastic book, excellent cyberpunk that didn't just feel like someone cribbing straight from Neuromancer. I really enjoyed Walter Jon Williams' writing style too. Does he have any more cyberpunk? I did a quick search on the Indigo site and saw mostly what looked like straight sci-fi under his name and some licensed Star Wars stuff. Suggestions on what else of his to check out would be appreciated.

    Dread Empire's Fall was already mentioned, but I can also highly recommend Aristoi and Implied Spaces. They're both singularity-adjacent scifi.

  • Mojo_JojoMojo_Jojo We are only now beginning to understand the full power and ramifications of sexual intercourse Registered User regular
    I finished Robin Hobb's Rain Wild Series which is not her best work at all. It's fine but they don't really capture the wonder of this ancient magical city or manage any character driven plots as every knotty problem is usually solved with the least likeable person being eaten by a dragon or do anything around a new settlement forming which rejects the founding country.

    It plods along with a fairly defined end goal and reaches it without any significant deviation which is deeply undramatic

    Seldin's plotline is strangely without context, but maybe there was a short story there or something I missed. It could have been cut entirely.

    There were hints of interesting ideas occasionally but they kept getting parked
    The keeper who wants to reject society's rules and start again which could have been a Lord of the Flies or Fantasy Red Mars
    The dragons having some lasting effects from their stunted birth
    The dragons being changed by too much human contact
    Why dragons are heat powered
    Elderlings storing memories and building meta-personalities from over generations that prevent any new personalities persisting
    Every Elderling city has a purpose, mostly related to dragon tending, so why did they build the stone pillars across the six duchies?
    The cause of the toxic flow of the rain wild
    Etc

    I enjoyed the b-story of the bird keeper guild though.

    I'm not sure what happened to make it four books long either. It doesn't justify that and really the first two should have been combined. Probably a series best skipped.

    Also unless it hid things very well it didn't have the Fool adopt a new personality and get involved

    So imagine my surprise when I found that despite how The Tawny Manended with "and they all lives happily ever after" there's actually another Fitz and Fool series. A few chapters in and it's excellent. Hobb is just much better doing Fitz first person stuff for some reason

    Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
  • redxredx I(x)=2(x)+1 whole numbersRegistered User regular
    webguy20 wrote: »
    I simply devoured Muir's Gideon and Harrow over the last little bit.

    Simply wonderful writing and a really compelling view of relationships. Really enjoyed them. Started A Memory Called Empire the other day and I'm barely into it but it already seems pretty rad.

    All three books have been some of my top reads this year. All are excellent. I was really bummed when I found out Memory's sequel was pushed back into 2021.

    I'm hoping it means Harrow takes the Hugo. I think Gideon arguably deserved it but Memory is like some sort of gene-tailored monster created especially to prey upon Hugo voters sensibilities. (Don't get me wrong, it is a lovely book.)

    I kinda like that Memory feels like less of a setup for a trilogy, and I tend to not get all that excited by combat driven narratives.

    Memory does sorta seem like the love child of Ninefox Gambit and the Ancillary books, and kinda doing a thing where literature is a focus of the culture(sorta LaLa Landish) which... yeah... I could see that as Hugo bait.

    They moistly come out at night, moistly.
  • initiatefailureinitiatefailure Registered User regular
    I did it! I read all of the animorphs in a year!

    While scientists are still unsure why I did it, they can not question these results.

    I can answer all questions relating to animal morphers and also that birds do indeed like to get fucked up on some thermals.

  • credeikicredeiki Registered User regular
    I did it! I read all of the animorphs in a year!

    While scientists are still unsure why I did it, they can not question these results.

    I can answer all questions relating to animal morphers and also that birds do indeed like to get fucked up on some thermals.

    It's been a very long time since I read these, and I don't think I finished the series. But the question that occurs to me is: did Marco ever have a girlfriend? Like I remember Jake and Cassie were together, and Rachel and Tobias were together, so was Marco 5th wheeling it all the time?

    I guess at some point they acquired Ax(?), the blue deer? But I am certain he was not dating Marco.

    Steam, LoL: credeiki
  • BogartBogart Streetwise Hercules Registered User, Moderator mod
    Anthony Beevor's Arnhem, which will no doubt be as magisterial as his histories usually are.

  • JacobkoshJacobkosh Gamble a stamp. I can show you how to be a real man!Moderator mod
    edited January 2021
    I haven't been mainlining anything lately but I've been dipping into and out of some of my favorite Sherlock Holmes short stories over the holidays. It's perfect bite-sized reading for those lazy hours where you're sprawled on the couch patting your belly with a warm drink nearby.

    I think one of the elements of the Holmes stories that I wish was more common in crime fiction is that they don't always revolve around murder - or when a murder does happen, it's in the course of the plot rather than the inciting incident. Oftentimes they're about what we'd now call cons or grifts, with an ordinary, befuddled person coming to Holmes and recounting a bizarre tale - a relative acting strangely, a new employer who pays handsomely but makes strange demands - and it invariably leads to some kind of conspiracy.

    This stuff is honestly a lot more fun than the umpteenth novel about finding a dead girl in the rain, although I'm not going to say that those don't have their place. I just wish I knew where to find more modern crime with a similar focus on the unusual and outre.

    Jacobkosh on
    rRwz9.gif
  • KanaKana Registered User regular
    I'm almost done with Ancillary Justice, and I really like it but I don't think I love it, in the way that say I loved Murderbot Diaries.

    The main problem is just that the main character isn't all that engaging. Very interesting, but most of the book has her as a sort of narrator to another human character's story.

    By the end those humans stories have mostly ended and our protagonist is still around, and still an interesting character, but I'm not really desperate to spend more time with 'em, either.

    But like I said I'm not done yet and my opinion could definitely change

    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.
  • QuidQuid Definitely not a banana Registered User regular
    credeiki wrote: »
    I did it! I read all of the animorphs in a year!

    While scientists are still unsure why I did it, they can not question these results.

    I can answer all questions relating to animal morphers and also that birds do indeed like to get fucked up on some thermals.

    It's been a very long time since I read these, and I don't think I finished the series. But the question that occurs to me is: did Marco ever have a girlfriend? Like I remember Jake and Cassie were together, and Rachel and Tobias were together, so was Marco 5th wheeling it all the time?

    I guess at some point they acquired Ax(?), the blue deer? But I am certain he was not dating Marco.

    I remember post war during his lavish lifestyle he did the new money thing and dated a model. Can’t remember any before that.

  • ShadowhopeShadowhope Baa. Registered User regular
    Bogart wrote: »
    Anthony Beevor's Arnhem, which will no doubt be as magisterial as his histories usually are.

    I heard that his editor made a lot more cuts than were really necessary.

    It’s abridged too far.

    Civics is not a consumer product that you can ignore because you don’t like the options presented.
  • BogartBogart Streetwise Hercules Registered User, Moderator mod
    Shadowhope wrote: »
    Bogart wrote: »
    Anthony Beevor's Arnhem, which will no doubt be as magisterial as his histories usually are.

    I heard that his editor made a lot more cuts than were really necessary.

    It’s abridged too far.

    x8fi84try0u9.jpg

  • skippydumptruckskippydumptruck begin again Registered User regular
    I finished _When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities_ by Chen Chen as my first book of the year and it was excellent

    I got gut punched by one of the poems early on, but many of them resonated with me at least in part

    ty to @eddy for telling me about it, highly recommend to others

  • initiatefailureinitiatefailure Registered User regular
    Quid wrote: »
    credeiki wrote: »
    I did it! I read all of the animorphs in a year!

    While scientists are still unsure why I did it, they can not question these results.

    I can answer all questions relating to animal morphers and also that birds do indeed like to get fucked up on some thermals.

    It's been a very long time since I read these, and I don't think I finished the series. But the question that occurs to me is: did Marco ever have a girlfriend? Like I remember Jake and Cassie were together, and Rachel and Tobias were together, so was Marco 5th wheeling it all the time?

    I guess at some point they acquired Ax(?), the blue deer? But I am certain he was not dating Marco.

    I remember post war during his lavish lifestyle he did the new money thing and dated a model. Can’t remember any before that.

    Can confirm. Though there was an alternate history book where the kids skip the construction site that fateful night and marco and Rachel date until the plot unravels because
    one of the manipulations from the elemist is that in getting the members of the group together the reason he included cassie is as a wild card because of a genetic abnormality that is referred to only as her being "unstuck in time" so she starts to see though the fake reality

  • QuidQuid Definitely not a banana Registered User regular
    Quid wrote: »
    credeiki wrote: »
    I did it! I read all of the animorphs in a year!

    While scientists are still unsure why I did it, they can not question these results.

    I can answer all questions relating to animal morphers and also that birds do indeed like to get fucked up on some thermals.

    It's been a very long time since I read these, and I don't think I finished the series. But the question that occurs to me is: did Marco ever have a girlfriend? Like I remember Jake and Cassie were together, and Rachel and Tobias were together, so was Marco 5th wheeling it all the time?

    I guess at some point they acquired Ax(?), the blue deer? But I am certain he was not dating Marco.

    I remember post war during his lavish lifestyle he did the new money thing and dated a model. Can’t remember any before that.

    Can confirm. Though there was an alternate history book where the kids skip the construction site that fateful night and marco and Rachel date until the plot unravels because
    one of the manipulations from the elemist is that in getting the members of the group together the reason he included cassie is as a wild card because of a genetic abnormality that is referred to only as her being "unstuck in time" so she starts to see though the fake reality

    Damn I’d forgotten all about that. Was that part of the main series or the Ellimist origin book?

  • initiatefailureinitiatefailure Registered User regular
    edited January 2021
    Quid wrote: »
    Quid wrote: »
    credeiki wrote: »
    I did it! I read all of the animorphs in a year!

    While scientists are still unsure why I did it, they can not question these results.

    I can answer all questions relating to animal morphers and also that birds do indeed like to get fucked up on some thermals.

    It's been a very long time since I read these, and I don't think I finished the series. But the question that occurs to me is: did Marco ever have a girlfriend? Like I remember Jake and Cassie were together, and Rachel and Tobias were together, so was Marco 5th wheeling it all the time?

    I guess at some point they acquired Ax(?), the blue deer? But I am certain he was not dating Marco.

    I remember post war during his lavish lifestyle he did the new money thing and dated a model. Can’t remember any before that.

    Can confirm. Though there was an alternate history book where the kids skip the construction site that fateful night and marco and Rachel date until the plot unravels because
    one of the manipulations from the elemist is that in getting the members of the group together the reason he included cassie is as a wild card because of a genetic abnormality that is referred to only as her being "unstuck in time" so she starts to see though the fake reality

    Damn I’d forgotten all about that. Was that part of the main series or the Ellimist origin book?

    I believe it was the 4th megamorphs but it might have been a regular jake book. Even fresh, the number of these things just blurs together slightly

    The ellimist origin book is significantly wierder

    initiatefailure on
  • credeikicredeiki Registered User regular
    Kana wrote: »
    I'm almost done with Ancillary Justice, and I really like it but I don't think I love it, in the way that say I loved Murderbot Diaries.

    The main problem is just that the main character isn't all that engaging. Very interesting, but most of the book has her as a sort of narrator to another human character's story.

    By the end those humans stories have mostly ended and our protagonist is still around, and still an interesting character, but I'm not really desperate to spend more time with 'em, either.

    But like I said I'm not done yet and my opinion could definitely change

    I agree with you on this! I don’t really have any particular fondness or attachment for anyone I this books except for Seivarden, who I do love and who goes through a lot over the trilogy. Breq is interesting but I don’t particularly care about her.

    But somehow the books are so so so interesting and engaging that it didn’t really matter that no one individual person sparked joy (well yeah except for Seivarden,but even without that I still would have been entirely taken by the book)

    Man I gotta read the Murderbot Diaries; people keep talking about how good they are! I have a whole stack of other books I bought a couple weeks ago though so those first.

    Steam, LoL: credeiki
  • KanaKana Registered User regular
    credeiki wrote: »
    Kana wrote: »
    I'm almost done with Ancillary Justice, and I really like it but I don't think I love it, in the way that say I loved Murderbot Diaries.

    The main problem is just that the main character isn't all that engaging. Very interesting, but most of the book has her as a sort of narrator to another human character's story.

    By the end those humans stories have mostly ended and our protagonist is still around, and still an interesting character, but I'm not really desperate to spend more time with 'em, either.

    But like I said I'm not done yet and my opinion could definitely change

    I agree with you on this! I don’t really have any particular fondness or attachment for anyone I this books except for Seivarden, who I do love and who goes through a lot over the trilogy. Breq is interesting but I don’t particularly care about her.

    But somehow the books are so so so interesting and engaging that it didn’t really matter that no one individual person sparked joy (well yeah except for Seivarden,but even without that I still would have been entirely taken by the book)

    Man I gotta read the Murderbot Diaries; people keep talking about how good they are! I have a whole stack of other books I bought a couple weeks ago though so those first.

    cred you should definitely read the murderbot diaries they are right up your alley

    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.
  • webguy20webguy20 I spend too much time on the Internet Registered User regular
    The Murderbot Diaries are like 2 books as well, in total length. The first four are novellas. Try to get them from a Library if you can, or used. Places like Amazon are charging full book prices for them. Murderbot book 5 is full length though.

    Steam ID: Webguy20
    Origin ID: Discgolfer27
    Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
  • QuidQuid Definitely not a banana Registered User regular
    Quid wrote: »
    Quid wrote: »
    credeiki wrote: »
    I did it! I read all of the animorphs in a year!

    While scientists are still unsure why I did it, they can not question these results.

    I can answer all questions relating to animal morphers and also that birds do indeed like to get fucked up on some thermals.

    It's been a very long time since I read these, and I don't think I finished the series. But the question that occurs to me is: did Marco ever have a girlfriend? Like I remember Jake and Cassie were together, and Rachel and Tobias were together, so was Marco 5th wheeling it all the time?

    I guess at some point they acquired Ax(?), the blue deer? But I am certain he was not dating Marco.

    I remember post war during his lavish lifestyle he did the new money thing and dated a model. Can’t remember any before that.

    Can confirm. Though there was an alternate history book where the kids skip the construction site that fateful night and marco and Rachel date until the plot unravels because
    one of the manipulations from the elemist is that in getting the members of the group together the reason he included cassie is as a wild card because of a genetic abnormality that is referred to only as her being "unstuck in time" so she starts to see though the fake reality

    Damn I’d forgotten all about that. Was that part of the main series or the Ellimist origin book?

    I believe it was the 4th megamorphs but it might have been a regular jake book. Even fresh, the number of these things just blurs together slightly

    The ellimist origin book is significantly wierder

    I remember loving it back in the day. I think it was the first time I’d read a book about insane transhumanism. Or whatever the alien equivalent of that is.

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