I'm not surprised to hear those thoughts on altered carbon. I would have read the book except the 1st season of the netflix show was just bad. it's like they took a concept custom built for me and told the worst possible story they could imagine in that world.
So, a couple of chapters in, Harrow the Ninth is very different
Very interestingly so, but there are a lot of shoes that i am waiting on dropping, and wondering if they even will drop
But i'm very invested in it. Probably enough to want to cut myself off from people talking about the book, because even people talking around spoilers will reveal stuff i can't wait to experience on the book's own terms
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.
+7
Brovid Hasselsmof[Growling historic on the fury road]Registered Userregular
I'm on chapter 5 of Gideon and am enjoying it so far. The setting is taking a bit to get my head around, my mind-visuals keep flipping between medieval-style-fantasy and sci-fi and then the way people speak make me occasionally picture everyone in regular clothes.
+5
knitdanIn ur baseKillin ur guysRegistered Userregular
Yes.
“I was quick when I came in here, I’m twice as quick now”
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
Been slowly working through The Knight, by Gene Wolfe.
- much more readable than Shadow and Claw
- also much more recent than I expected
- I do not trust Able
- - he is the definition of an unreliable narrator, whether or not he is actually unreliable.
- - - I do not particularly like Able, either. There's a lot of him threatening people for no real reason.
- Not super fond of
- - him magically becoming a man, regardless of whether Disiri lifted an enchantment or transformed him.
- - The fire Aelf girls are also kinda creepy and rapey
- I do like
- - the nested worlds and time dilation
- - shape-shifting
- - the superficial Connecticut Yankee vibe
I'm on chapter 5 of Gideon and am enjoying it so far. The setting is taking a bit to get my head around, my mind-visuals keep flipping between medieval-style-fantasy and sci-fi and then the way people speak make me occasionally picture everyone in regular clothes.
So, i reached the line right near the end of harrow the ninth
that made me punch my bed a bunch and shout God Damnit
God damn you Tamsyn Muir
God damn you
Hi,
I reached the line right near the end of harrow the ninth that made me punch my bed a bunch and shout God Damnit God damn you Tamsyn Muir God damn you.
it was pretty cruel, after Tamsym made us spend so much time getting to know and love Gideon in the first book, that she's just Gone. Forgotten.
Even Harrow is barely the Harrow we thought we knew from the first book. And yeah, maybe in retrospect some of the answers to those questions are a little obvious, but only a little obvious in some ways, and I was really happy to get caught up in the mysteries and wait for the book to unfold them at its own pace
there's great payoff to it all, and god damn was it exciting the first time the second person narrative finally switched to first person. And then when Gideon showed up i was so happy.
I really enjoyed God's characterisation (i enjoyed what little of it I saw at the end of Gideon the Ninth as well(including the two preview chapters that came in my copy)). The other characters were great and shitty in fun ways.
I haven't read The Deep, but their previous novel, The Hunger was really good.
I have loved everything Grady Hendrix does.
The Hollow Places is quite good, it overstays it's welcome just barely a tad, but it's ideas and world building is first class.
The Only Good Indians us fantastic, full stop.
Survivor Song is quite good.
Haven't read the others
The Hollow Places is one of those books that was ruined for me by a bad audiobook narrator. I should give it another shot in print, since I did like some of what it was doing.
0
Raijin QuickfootI'm your Huckleberry YOU'RE NO DAISYRegistered User, ClubPAregular
I’m 28% into The Southern Book Club and so far it’s my favorite Grady Hendrix.
+1
Raijin QuickfootI'm your Huckleberry YOU'RE NO DAISYRegistered User, ClubPAregular
Finished.
That was really good. Definitely my favorite Hendrix. For the first time it felt like he managed a complete book from beginning to end.
Finishing up Cetaganda this evening, and next in the queue is The Traitor Baru Cormorant
Neat! Are you reading the Vorkosigan Saga in chronological order? Because if so, you are one book away from the series going from a very good space opera to my favorite sci-fi series ever, and from there on out it's just club bangers all the way.
JedocIn the scupperswith the staggers and jagsRegistered Userregular
edited January 2021
Yup! It's a weird one, and kind of a tangent, but pretty solid overall.
Jedoc on
+1
Brovid Hasselsmof[Growling historic on the fury road]Registered Userregular
edited January 2021
Gideon the Ninth so far - I'm enjoying it a lot. The writing's very good and I really like Gideon. The setting continues to largely bemuse me
Like this is a world where necromancy is entirely a normal thing (though I'm not clear yet on whether lots of people are necromancers or just one per house). And yet the one group of people who look and behave like the classical D&D-type necromancers, just like turbo-goth, are seen as weird and spooky by the rest. Because it's possible to be a sparkly sunshine kind of necromancer.
I'm not really clear on what they use necromancy for yet, unless it's just making skele-servants. There's been mention of a war or something but I don't know who the belligerents are. There's apparently an emperor so I guess there's an empire, so are there people outside of the empire, and are they also necromancers?
Brovid you shouldn't read this yet because the book will explain the various flavors a bit more. Short answer is just that Muir like sat down and listed out every variety of fantasy necromancy she could think of, and every house gets a different version
The various flavors of necro:
The first house: God-Emperor and his servants the lyctors. Their particular specialty is the lyctor magic stuff, but also have specialties from whatever house they came from originally. Basically good at everything.
The 2nd: Not all soldiers, but primarily the soldiers house. They can suck in soul energy from those dying in battle and then output it into their cavalier, turning the cavalier into a hyper badass.
The 3rd: They do flesh manipulation. Sorta similar to the ninth, but squishier and grosser and apparently a good bit more utility. Also stuff like living body modification.
The 4th: Uhh do we ever find out what the 4th can do? Maybe I'm forgetting and actually they're the battle trance folks. At any rate they're also very tied to the military.
The 5th: Spirit necromancy. Speaking to the dead, binding souls, all that kind of fancy stuff. Extremely powerful but not very direct
The 6th: Medicine, as well as like research and science-y sort of necromancy. Still the same magic BS as everyone else, but more thoroughly documented.
The 7th: Harnessing the life power of the almost dead to work extra powerful spells.
The 8th: Taking a persons soul out of their body and then harnessing the dread power that comes swooping in looking to fill the vacuum. Real jerks.
The 9th: Bones and bone accessories.
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.
Posts
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
Quietly adding to my will,"please refer to me as turgid on obituary"
Very interestingly so, but there are a lot of shoes that i am waiting on dropping, and wondering if they even will drop
But i'm very invested in it. Probably enough to want to cut myself off from people talking about the book, because even people talking around spoilers will reveal stuff i can't wait to experience on the book's own terms
Real cool stuff
Steam // Secret Satan
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
- much more readable than Shadow and Claw
- also much more recent than I expected
- I do not trust Able
- - - I do not particularly like Able, either. There's a lot of him threatening people for no real reason.
- - The fire Aelf girls are also kinda creepy and rapey
- - shape-shifting
- - the superficial Connecticut Yankee vibe
It's um, yep, still devastating to read no matter the format.
The art style isn't very comic booky but it's incredibly evocative and emotional and reminds me a lot of comix
Popcorn.gif
God damn you Tamsyn Muir
God damn you
Steam // Secret Satan
Hi,
I'm dad.
and then Ortus buttting in to say that it's just a drawing of the cool S
Steam // Secret Satan
Steam profile.
Getting started with BATTLETECH: Part 1 / Part 2
I'm enjoying Gravity's Rainbow, although I couldn't tell you why
great time
Even Harrow is barely the Harrow we thought we knew from the first book. And yeah, maybe in retrospect some of the answers to those questions are a little obvious, but only a little obvious in some ways, and I was really happy to get caught up in the mysteries and wait for the book to unfold them at its own pace
there's great payoff to it all, and god damn was it exciting the first time the second person narrative finally switched to first person. And then when Gideon showed up i was so happy.
I really enjoyed God's characterisation (i enjoyed what little of it I saw at the end of Gideon the Ninth as well(including the two preview chapters that came in my copy)). The other characters were great and shitty in fun ways.
Steam // Secret Satan
Steam profile.
Getting started with BATTLETECH: Part 1 / Part 2
I think i missed this line
Steam // Secret Satan
The Deep - Alma Katsu
Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires - Grady Hendrix
The Only Good Indian - Stephen Jones
Ring Shout - P. Djeli Clark
Mexican Gothic - Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Survivor Song - Paul Tremblay
The Hollow Places - Kingfisher
Wonderland - Zoje Stage
Plain Bad Heroines - Emily Danforth
There’s 2011 more but I didn’t want to make a long post.
I have loved everything Grady Hendrix does.
The Hollow Places is quite good, it overstays it's welcome just barely a tad, but it's ideas and world building is first class.
The Only Good Indians us fantastic, full stop.
Survivor Song is quite good.
Haven't read the others
Steam - Talon Valdez :Blizz - Talonious#1860 : Xbox Live & LoL - Talonious Monk @TaloniousMonk Hail Satan
He's always right on the cusp of something I like a lot, but never quite there
Yeah, I always enjoy his books but they also always leave me wanting a little more. They’re so close to being great
The Hollow Places is one of those books that was ruined for me by a bad audiobook narrator. I should give it another shot in print, since I did like some of what it was doing.
That was really good. Definitely my favorite Hendrix. For the first time it felt like he managed a complete book from beginning to end.
Neat! Are you reading the Vorkosigan Saga in chronological order? Because if so, you are one book away from the series going from a very good space opera to my favorite sci-fi series ever, and from there on out it's just club bangers all the way.
I'm not really clear on what they use necromancy for yet, unless it's just making skele-servants. There's been mention of a war or something but I don't know who the belligerents are. There's apparently an emperor so I guess there's an empire, so are there people outside of the empire, and are they also necromancers?
Very curious.
The various flavors of necro:
The 2nd: Not all soldiers, but primarily the soldiers house. They can suck in soul energy from those dying in battle and then output it into their cavalier, turning the cavalier into a hyper badass.
The 3rd: They do flesh manipulation. Sorta similar to the ninth, but squishier and grosser and apparently a good bit more utility. Also stuff like living body modification.
The 4th: Uhh do we ever find out what the 4th can do? Maybe I'm forgetting and actually they're the battle trance folks. At any rate they're also very tied to the military.
The 5th: Spirit necromancy. Speaking to the dead, binding souls, all that kind of fancy stuff. Extremely powerful but not very direct
The 6th: Medicine, as well as like research and science-y sort of necromancy. Still the same magic BS as everyone else, but more thoroughly documented.
The 7th: Harnessing the life power of the almost dead to work extra powerful spells.
The 8th: Taking a persons soul out of their body and then harnessing the dread power that comes swooping in looking to fill the vacuum. Real jerks.
The 9th: Bones and bone accessories.
It is pretty ----ing good