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gninjagnome posted:The only thing I really didn't like about the end of Heroes was Bayaz's "this was my plan all along!!" with getting Calder in power. I thought that was dumb. I don't mind Bayaz getting what he wants, but I would have preferred if he just made use of the situation at hand rather then having orchestrated any part of it. "Good planning allows for accidents, it makes sure all accidents are happy ones." I took that to mean Bayaz was hoping to use Calder, but had some other alternatives. Shivers stepping in during the circle was totally unplanned, and if not for that Calder's plot line would have had a much different ending. Given that Scale was still alive and in Bayaz's hands, Bayaz likely would have just stuck Scale on the throne after getting Tenways or Stranger to off Dow.
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Feb 9, 2011 23:31
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Clinton1011 posted:Same issue here, they told me none of the stores in the district received any. I just placed the order on their site since I had a gift card I wanted to use it. I wonder if they're just bullshitting you because they sold out. Abercrombie just posted on Facebook that Heroes is #4 on the fiction hardcover list this week. I've had crappy retail employees tell me they never got something/had no idea when they actually just sold out.
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Feb 9, 2011 23:52
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A Nice Boy posted:I wonder if they're just bullshitting you because they sold out. Abercrombie just posted on Facebook that Heroes is #4 on the fiction hardcover list this week. I've had crappy retail employees tell me they never got something/had no idea when they actually just sold out. Not sure they way she said it was "No one in the district has it" She went on to say that she thinks they did not ship it to our district yet. On a different topic does anyone know when the auidobook will be released? All I could find online was January. They have the audio book on disc for like $120 at boarders but I wanted to buy it from Audible.com and they normally have the audio books on the release date for the hardcover.
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Feb 10, 2011 00:07
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Diver Dick posted:A whole bookcase of Halo universe spinoffs are available, but not one copy of The Heroes is in stock at Borders. Kindle, bitch 
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Feb 10, 2011 01:01
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Destro posted:
Gorst Didn't he get drugged by Murcatto's people? I need to reread the trilogy and BSC again I think. Also I kind of liked how it tied in the trilogy a little more by point out that Nine-fingers rise through the trilogy was mostly because Bayaz was pissed at Bethod, and then that the only reason the Union was at war with the North again was Dow wouldn't bend the knee to Bayaz, and then that now he was setting sights on Murcatto, drawing that into his realm of influence as well. It really put more of the whole Bayaz is the puppet master thing into it. Don't know that his fictional world needed more of that, but it's nice to see he's really sticking with it, as it does all make sense. I'm with someone who earlier said it'd be awesome if the upcoming trilogy comes from the Southern POV.
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Feb 10, 2011 01:07
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Khatib posted:I'm with someone who earlier said it'd be awesome if the upcoming trilogy comes from the Southern POV. I want to see it from their view with Ferro terrorizing their troops, with what happened at the end of The First Law I want to see what happens with her.
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Feb 10, 2011 01:41
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Bizob posted:"Good planning allows for accidents, it makes sure all accidents are happy ones." I took that to mean Bayaz was hoping to use Calder, but had some other alternatives. Shivers stepping in during the circle was totally unplanned, and if not for that Calder's plot line would have had a much different ending. Given that Scale was still alive and in Bayaz's hands, Bayaz likely would have just stuck Scale on the throne after getting Tenways or Stranger to off Dow. I got that too, I just thought it seemed really tacked on at the end. If it had been foreshadowed a little or if Bayaz had just forced Calder into being his pawn after the fact it would have sat better with me. It's really a minor complaint though, I liked the book overall. I'm especially digging the world building that's going on. I really like that Abercrombie is flushing out the world with these stand alone stories. The world really feels alive and people's actions really have consequences because of it. Ditching the main characters from book to book helps to - you feel like your reading more about the world then a couple characters.
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Feb 10, 2011 01:41
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There was some foreshadowing, such as Stranger Who Comes supporting Calder for no good reason, Bayaz sending his his assistant out for mysterious purposes during the battle, and during one of the Union meetings Bayaz's assistant whispering to him and Bayaz being happy about what he said.
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Feb 10, 2011 02:05
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savinhill posted:There was some foreshadowing, such as Stranger Who Comes supporting Calder for no good reason, Bayaz sending his his assistant out for mysterious purposes during the battle, and during one of the Union meetings Bayaz's assistant whispering to him and Bayaz being happy about what he said. Also the frequent instances where Calder thought he just got lucky throughout the three days. Calder was just one contingency plan, I'm sure Bayaz would have preferred an outright victory of the Union, but it worked out well enough for him. And yeah, I'm also sure he would have had a few other irons in the fire if Calder would have been killed, but Calder - at least outwardly - was the easiest to bend to his wishes.
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Feb 10, 2011 07:30
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Decius posted:Also the frequent instances where Calder thought he just got lucky throughout the three days. Calder was just one contingency plan, I'm sure Bayaz would have preferred an outright victory of the Union, but it worked out well enough for him. And yeah, I'm also sure he would have had a few other irons in the fire if Calder would have been killed, but Calder - at least outwardly - was the easiest to bend to his wishes. Yeah, I get the impression that Bayaz had contingency on top of contingency to make sure that whatever happened, he could benefit from it in some respect. All he has to do then is simply say "I planned it all along", and people tend to believe that and poo poo themselves accordingly just through the sheer force of his personality (and, you know, the death threats). Anyway, just finished The Heroes last night and absolutely loved it. I wasn't particularly looking forward to it because I felt that Best Served Cold was a very weak book. I felt it was badly paced and, a couple of obvious exceptions aside, I didn't really care for the characters the way I did in The First Law. However, The Heroes just clicked with me. With ensemble books like this there's usually at least one character whose sections I just don't look forward to reading. Not so here, I thought all the characters were brilliantly realised (Corporal Tunny is a new favourite) and each of them had a conclusion that just felt right. Aside from Cracknut Whirrun, I really wish he hadn't gone back to the mud, the mad bastard. I'm also usually averse to excessive battle scenes but Abercrombie absolutely shines with the descriptions of the fights. All-in-all, great stuff and it more than makes up for my disappointment with BSC.
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Feb 10, 2011 12:32
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Shameless posted:Aside from Cracknut Whirrun, I really wish he hadn't gone back to the mud, the mad bastard. I think that death struck completely the wrong tone- I still don't understand why he wanted the sword (obviously one of the Maker's) to be buried. It seemed so completely out of character.
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Feb 10, 2011 13:29
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Plucky Brit posted:I think that death struck completely the wrong tone- I still don't understand why he wanted the sword (obviously one of the Maker's) to be buried. It seemed so completely out of character. The way I read it, as he lay dying Whirrun realised that he was completely mental and utterly deluded with all his talk of destiny and whatnot. He regained sanity (or dropped the act) in his last moments and believed that possession of the sword was a curse (not necessarily a literal curse, just the fact he felt he had to "live up" to the swords supposed legacy) and he didn't want anyone else to have to live through that. Shameless fucked around with this message at 14:04 on Feb 10, 2011 |
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Feb 10, 2011 14:00
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Bummey posted:Kindle, bitch Amazon regular book, bitch; I had my copy like two weeks before you and your fancy Kindle version 
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Feb 10, 2011 18:21
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Ornamented Death posted:Amazon regular book, bitch; I had my copy like two weeks before you and your fancy Kindle version Whatever grandpa, you gonna do some cave paintings of your latest mammoth hunt next? Paper books. 
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Feb 10, 2011 18:27
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IRQ posted:Whatever grandpa, you gonna do some cave paintings of your latest mammoth hunt next? Paper books. A Kindle does not allow me to stand back and bask in the glow of my shelf full of signed and limited edition books 
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Feb 10, 2011 19:56
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Plucky Brit posted:I think that death struck completely the wrong tone- I still don't understand why he wanted the sword (obviously one of the Maker's) to be buried. It seemed so completely out of character. Because the blade itself incites to deeds of violence
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Feb 10, 2011 20:17
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I think I'm going to play a NWN2 campaign as a male fighter named Bremer dan Gorst, but switch some data files so I can pick a female voice for him.
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Feb 10, 2011 23:04
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Picked it up for £6.99 on Waterstones online store, advise any UK goons to take advantage of this. Very good price for a newly released, fairly long hardback book. Also thoroughly enjoyed it.
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Feb 11, 2011 00:30
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Ornamented Death posted:A Kindle does not allow me to stand back and bask in the glow of my shelf full of signed and limited edition books I agreed with this until the last time I moved and had to carry all those loving books.
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Feb 11, 2011 06:03
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IRQ posted:I agreed with this until the last time I moved and had to carry all those loving books. Barring some unforeseen circumstances, I don't plan on moving out of my house for at least 10 more years, and there's always the option of paying someone to move your poo poo.
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Feb 11, 2011 15:12
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Ornamented Death posted:A Kindle does not allow me to stand back and bask in the glow of my shelf full of signed and limited edition books A Kindle doesn't mean you can't still buy first editions, and such. But, do you get -every- book you read signed, or buy them as firsts? I totally get the appeal of -books- as physical objects, but unless everything you get is going to be hardcover, paperless is awesome. And, on actual topic...I was -really- impressed with the way he wrote the battle...not the action scenes, themselves(which were great), but it is rare that I read a novel about a fictional event of this scale, and feel like it could be something written about a well-documented historical battle from the fictionalized narratives of 'real' individuals.(does that make -any- sense?) Whomever mentioned Killer Angels, had it right...for a novel focused exclusively on a single battle, Abercrombie knocked it out of the park.
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Feb 11, 2011 16:41
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ganthony posted:A Kindle doesn't mean you can't still buy first editions, and such. But, do you get -every- book you read signed, or buy them as firsts? I totally get the appeal of -books- as physical objects, but unless everything you get is going to be hardcover, paperless is awesome. Yeah I buy hardcovers except in circumstances where they simply don't exist for a given book, and I aim to get as many signed as I can (I usually spring for the signed/limited stuff when it is available and not retardedly expensive). My wife had a Kindle, though, and it's certainly convenient for stuff I'm reasonably sure I'll never get a first edition of, like classic literature.
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Feb 11, 2011 17:00
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IRQ posted:I agreed with this until the last time I moved and had to carry all those loving books. Which is exactly why I paid a removal firm to do that poo poo for me!
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Feb 11, 2011 21:46
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Hughmoris posted:I finished The Heroes about a week ago but looking back now, was there ever any mention of Glokta? Nope. And I can't say I'm all that disappointed; dude had enough attention in BSC. He ain't the real puppetmaster.
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Feb 12, 2011 02:35
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I picked up The Heroes in Edinburgh on Thursday, at Abercrombie's own book signing. Got the chance to talk to him a bit, and he's a genuinely nice man. The kind of guy you're glad is successful, very self-deprecating. We talked briefly about the process of writing/getting published ("It's easy to get published if you're good; I suppose that's why I had so much trouble") and about the influences on The Heroes and the general appeal of tragic, futile military fiascos. Got a bit of a personalised message on my copy, too, which I was well chuffed with. Just finished reading The Heroes right now. And, well. A fantastic book. Exhausting, but as powerful an anti-war statement as any book I've read, and utterly convincing. Abercrombie could be writing about an actual medieval battle (with a dash of Napoleonic warfare), and the course of events is spellbinding throughout. Some chapters in particular - such as 'Casualties' - are just dizzying, and I'm envious as hell that he wrote that sort of thing first. The genius of the book, like Len Deighton's Bomber, is that it makes you care about numerous characters on both sides of a conflict. And then takes great delight in killing them off, of course, highlighting the futility and waste of the whole thing. Complaints about lack of overall Bayaz-versus-Khalul plot advancement don't seem to make much sense, to me. This is a book about war and suffering and doing the right thing. The themes are what matter, not some grand story arc. Some things that stood out for me, then: Calder was instantly sympathetic, which surprised me greatly. The scenes with Seff early on seemed to be drawing greatly from Abercrombie's own experiences (his wife's pregnant again, I believe) and were genuinely sweet, which is maybe a first in his books. The aforementioned 'Casualties' chapter. Stunningly constructed. Particularly Rose's 'friendly fire'. The later 'Chains of Command' chapter, which had a similar structure but followed Kroy's order to Vallimir, was also great. Red Beck. That was a hell of a gutwrenching punchline to that black business. Finree's various travails were excellent. I expected to dislike her at first, as the slightly false relationship with her husband rubbed me the wrong way a bit somehow, but she's one of the most sympathetic in the book. Bremer dan Gorst is the biggest poo poo of the lot of them. Despicable man. And yet I still had some sympathy for him, as he was just that pathetic. Black Dow apprenticed as a potter. Surprisingly moving. There were two things that were very predictable - the nature of Bayaz' experiment (I guessed it after seeing it on the cover) and the 'scarecrow spears' that Calder used to deter the First Cavalry. Didn't really mind either of them though. I was plenty surprised by the rest of what went on. Stranger-Come-Knocking and his weird obsession with civilisation... amazing.
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Feb 13, 2011 03:55
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Just finished it. A general thought about these books: Bayaz is fantasy Francis Urquhart. We need a book entirely from his POV.
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Feb 13, 2011 16:46
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Barbe Rouge posted:a review from amazon:... Also, that review's amazing.
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Feb 13, 2011 16:49
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An odd request but could someone spoil the major events that happened at the end of BSC? I never finished the book and left it back home but I've been holding off Heroes because of this.
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Feb 13, 2011 18:44
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Kneel Before Zog posted:An odd request but could someone spoil the major events that happened at the end of BSC? I never finished the book and left it back home but I've been holding off Heroes because of this. Where did you leave off? Was it before or after Shivers gets his eye burned out by torturers?
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Feb 13, 2011 18:52
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Kneel Before Zog posted:An odd request but could someone spoil the major events that happened at the end of BSC? I never finished the book and left it back home but I've been holding off Heroes because of this. You really don't need to have finished BSC to get into Heroes. Their plotlines are almost unrelated.
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Feb 13, 2011 19:52
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Grand Prize Winner posted:You really don't need to have finished BSC to get into Heroes. Their plotlines are almost unrelated. Yeah, the only major plot points that are relevant are: Shivers gets his eye burned out (now replaced with a metal eye), decides trying to be a better man isn't worth it, and accepts that being a killer is his lot in life. Brenner dan Gorst was guarding the king, but was drunk and passed out in when Monza and Co. attacked a brothel they were partying at. Ramifications for that are in Heroes. Monza is in charge of Styria, and is now a third faction that's independant of the Prophet or Bayaz. She is being supported by Shenkt who it turns out is a former student of Bayaz. Not really relevant to Heroes, but it's mentioned a couple times. This will probably be important in the future. Can't think of anything else off the top of my head. gninjagnome fucked around with this message at 22:03 on Feb 13, 2011 |
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Feb 13, 2011 21:47
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So, our friend Abercrombie gets a mention in this blog by scared old people as a fallen, bankrupt nihilist. He's got a point or two (in that Abercrombie tends to be needlessly negative at points) that are quickly overwhelmed by various old school fanboy wank. The comments are pretty golden, though. See how long it takes you to find the Islamophobe and the conversation praising Gor for its "unabashed political incorrectness" and "turning Women's Suffrage on its head."
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Feb 13, 2011 22:50
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anathenema posted:So, our friend Abercrombie gets a mention in this blog by scared old people as a fallen, bankrupt nihilist. The simple fact that "Heros Die" is cited along with the First Law and Malazan in that article is almost enough to get me to overcome the shame that would come with buying something with that awful cover. Can anyone tell me if its any good?
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Feb 13, 2011 23:07
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Bizob posted:The simple fact that "Heros Die" is cited along with the First Law and Malazan in that article is almost enough to get me to overcome the shame that would come with buying something with that awful cover. Can anyone tell me if its any good? I've heard that it is but haven't read it myself. It's been out for a while too, so you can probably find an edition that has a better cover if you check used book stores or amazon.
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Feb 13, 2011 23:13
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anathenema posted:So, our friend Abercrombie gets a mention in this blog by scared old people as a fallen, bankrupt nihilist. I like that he put's Conan up on a pedastal, as some sort of mythic hero of good in line with the heroes of LOTR. If I recall correctly, Howard let Conan sleep around, leave friends to die, backstab people for money, etc.. many of the things the that guy is ragging on modern fantasy for. Edit: The comments are great. I didn't realize that the problem was that the books are being written by godless college-educated liberals as an attack on the conservative values of hope and tolerance. gninjagnome fucked around with this message at 00:28 on Feb 14, 2011 |
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Feb 14, 2011 00:12
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gninjagnome posted:I like that he put's Conan up on a pedastal, as some sort of mythic hero of good in line with the heroes of LOTR. If I recall correctly, Howard let Conan sleep around, leave friends to die, backstab people for money, etc.. many of the things the that guy is ragging on modern fantasy for.
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Feb 14, 2011 00:35
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Bizob posted:The simple fact that "Heros Die" is cited along with the First Law and Malazan in that article is almost enough to get me to overcome the shame that would come with buying something with that awful cover. Can anyone tell me if its any good? I've not read it but one of my friends - whose opinion on books I trust completely, and hasn't steered me wrong yet - read it due to all the praise it was getting and completely loathed it. Said it was one of the worst-written books he'd read, bankrupt of any virtues.
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Feb 14, 2011 01:00
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gninjagnome posted:I like that he put's Conan up on a pedastal, as some sort of mythic hero of good in line with the heroes of LOTR. If I recall correctly, Howard let Conan sleep around, leave friends to die, backstab people for money, etc.. many of the things the that guy is ragging on modern fantasy for. I'm reading one of Howard's Conan stories on the project gutenberg website right now, and it is hilariously racist and sexist. Prose so purple that it might as well be black except Conan doesn't like things that are black
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Feb 14, 2011 01:28
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I enjoyed the comment extolling the Randian virtues of Goodkind's books.
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Feb 14, 2011 01:49
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John Charity Spring posted:I enjoyed the comment extolling the Randian virtues of Goodkind's books. I missed that. The comments section is a rabbit hole of conservative extremist wank resembling an overlong rant from a crotchety old man, going from "kids these days" to "women tryin' to take away my freedom."
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Feb 14, 2011 01:55
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