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VagueRant posted:I'm just past the first (long) chapter in The Black Company and it's written really weirdly. I still don't know what the hell is going on or what anything is. It constantly feels like there's missing information, like I'm only getting part of the story. The worst part is there are little individual lines that are interesting but I find myself going "but where's the rest?" I had the same problem you have and I gave up and returned the book, I didn't have the patience to go on to see if it got any better. Here's my thoughts about it from earlier in this thread: PlushCow posted:It's the way it's written. The first-person narration was really stilted and slightly jarring. The novel skips scenes it shouldn't, such as "Ok we need to go kidnap this important guy and ask him some tough questions" immediately followed by in the text "that was a tough kidnapping and he's answered some of our questions after we worked him," glossing over events that really should be shown, and Cook does this over and over again. It's nothing but lulls; reaction scenes that are telling me what's going to happen, what has happened, but never showing it happening, which is really boring! PlushCow posted:...like it's a novel of bullet-points for the plot, never expanded upon; a good outline of a novel but not fleshed out. That blurb sounds exciting, but when Cook only devotes a couple paragraphs to a couple pages to each of those plot points it feels hollow and not compelling at all to me. EDIT: It can take a while to get into any book, but for me there's always more to read and never enough time, so I won't keep reading a book if I'm not enjoying it after a while. I was a bit over 10% through The Chronicles of the Black Company, an omnibus of the first 3 novels before I stopped. I gave it a fair chance but it didn't click for me. PlushCow fucked around with this message at 17:27 on May 21, 2014 |
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May 21, 2014 17:17
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GrandpaPants posted:I would definitely not say that io9 is "high quality." Their tastes aren't very discerning and come off as incredibly suspect most of the time, probably because they write in the tone of a fanboy/girl who is a bit too into their geek identity, so it comes off as very shallow. They do, however, cover a LOT of stuff. I'm just not convinced they cover it well, albeit for reasons that are ill-defined at best. io9 is okay. They post a lot of poo poo about DR WHO and really boring and lovely movies/tv shows. They cover scifi/fantasy EVERYTHING; not just books. They will randomly feature Clarke's World short stories, or sometimes short stories they think are especially good that end up winning awards later. I don't know a lot about Analee Newitz, but she seems pretty knowledgeable about scifi writing and most of the contributions she makes to io9 are fairly solid. io9 is probably the best of the gawker sites as far as unique content. They commonly have quality unique content, but it is buried between a lot of recaps of lovely tv shows and other clickbaity type things.
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May 21, 2014 17:25
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VagueRant posted:I'm just past the first (long) chapter in The Black Company and it's written really weirdly. I still don't know what the hell is going on or what anything is. It constantly feels like there's missing information, like I'm only getting part of the story. The worst part is there are little individual lines that are interesting but I find myself going "but where's the rest?" As someone who has read a lot of Glen Cook, it's not really going to get better. The central conceit of The Black Company, especially the first few books, is that you don't anything that the Narrator doesn't know, and there are a lot of things Croaker does not and will never know. I really like The Black Company but a lot of stuff happens off-screen and it helps to embrace that, rather than be frustrated by it. Patrick Spens fucked around with this message at 03:58 on May 22, 2014 |
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May 21, 2014 17:39
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Patrick Spens posted:As someone who has read a lot of Glen Cook, it's not really going to get better. The central conceit of The Black Company especially the first few books, is that you don't anything that the Narrator doesn't know, and there are a lot of things Croaker does not and will never know. I really like The Black Company but a lot of stuff happens off-screen and it helps to embrace that, rather than be frustrated by it. Also, as someone who read and liked every book in the series, the quality does drop with each book, so if you go past the first trilogy, which stands alone well, know that if you pass the point where you consider the quality unacceptable, it will not get better. For me, he had just enough of that magic to keep me going, but I understand that a lot of people feel the quality drops too far.
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May 21, 2014 17:53
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Hedrigall posted:Here's an interesting-looking new book by the way: Dammit, why can't cover artists not be lazy with gun design? It's either a nerf gun or a modded star wars gun on 95% of the covers.
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May 21, 2014 22:49
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Hedrigall posted:Aw thanks Thanks for all those!
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May 22, 2014 01:29
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but my blog is pretty niche, as I mainly post about China Miéville's stuff. (I have a few more general SF posts, such as one about the "books like Mass Effect" question, and another reviewing 5 recent "space horror" books)
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systran posted:io9 is okay. They post a lot of poo poo about DR WHO and really boring and lovely movies/tv shows. They cover scifi/fantasy EVERYTHING; not just books. They will randomly feature Clarke's World short stories, or sometimes short stories they think are especially good that end up winning awards later. I don't know a lot about Analee Newitz, but she seems pretty knowledgeable about scifi writing and most of the contributions she makes to io9 are fairly solid. io9 is probably the best of the gawker sites as far as unique content. They commonly have quality unique content, but it is buried between a lot of recaps of lovely tv shows and other clickbaity type things. Just saw this on io9 and it confirmed the post I am quoting above (this book sounds interesting btw, anyone familiar with the author?): http://io9.com/in-my-real-children-we-explore-the-double-life-of-the-1579835875
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May 22, 2014 01:48
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coyo7e posted:What could possibly go wrong in a book with a synopsis that contains "mankind-exploring-space-for-the-good-of-all-species-but-trashing-stuff-with-a-lot-of-hi-tech-kit-along-the-way type over-blown"? At least Erikson can write fun characters. He has already written at least one Scifi-novel (The Devil Delivered) which was kinda enjoyable. But yeah, I'm not having my hopes up on this one. Also, I want him to finish of what he started in Forge of Darkness.
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May 22, 2014 09:44
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savinhill posted:People should read TC McCarthy's The Subterrene War series if they wanna read well written military scifi that has a very large focus on the moral and ethical implications of war, with it taking a very heavy toll on the characters' psyches and lives. Man, THANKS a lot for this suggestion. I finished Germline yesterday, and it has been one of my greatest reads in the last years. Not an easy one (the writing is heavy in slang and it is sometimes difficult to follow for a non-english speaker), but both the battle/war descriptions and the inner world of the character are well developed and written. It is quite predictable sometimes, but great anyway. Now I will get the rest of the series, for sure, but not immediately. Those are not light books, and I need to read a pair of more refreshing things before going back into that universe.
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May 22, 2014 11:37
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Bringing this over from the Dresden Files thread since it fits better hereTornhelm posted:You do realise that the entire reason he suports them is to annoy the far-left? I mean gently caress, his fans got John Ringo a Fan's Choice Romance Award for Ghost. Which is equally amusing/horrifying and is something that GBS/Reddit would do out of boredom. Hey Tornhelm it's not cool to support racist and sexist pieces of poo poo like Vox Day, even if it's just to annoy "the far-left!" You don't have to be far-left to think Vox Day should be repudiated by literally everyone. Piell fucked around with this message at 13:56 on May 22, 2014 |
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May 22, 2014 13:54
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I find it even more reprehensible to lash out at someone just for association. Sure he's a conservative and he loves his guns, but literally all of the crap that Fried Chicken threw his way in the Dresden Files thread is because he's associated with Vox Day. Both of the posts you linked from his blog are playing up to his primary readership, and nowhere near as bad as you made them out to be (on a scale of 1-10 where 10 is Vox Day, he'd be maybe a 3 at worst). It's pretty much on the same level as saying that if you associate with a convicted felon it makes you one too.
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May 22, 2014 14:26
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When the guy that Correria is championing is saying stuff like this, you don't get to claim that he's not racist/homophobic.Vox Day posted:Further evidence in support of my time-to-civilization hypothesis. At this point, the debate competitions may as well bring in gorillas from the zoo and distribute the "debate" awards on the basis of which primate was able to throw the most fecal matter. That "alternative-style" of debate is no less dialectically legitimate than hip-hop, spoken-word poetry, and appeals to “nigga authenticity”. You don't get to hang out in the KKK and watch as other people are burning crosses and then claim you're not racist just because you didn't actually set it on fire yourself.
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May 22, 2014 14:31
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Tornhelm posted:I find it even more reprehensible to lash out at someone just for association. Sure he's a conservative and he loves his guns, but literally all of the crap that Fried Chicken threw his way in the Dresden Files thread is because he's associated with Vox Day. Both of the posts you linked from his blog are playing up to his primary readership, and nowhere near as bad as you made them out to be (on a scale of 1-10 where 10 is Vox Day, he'd be maybe a 3 at worst). If you assist that felon in robbing banks, yes, you are a felon as well. The dude is part of the group cheering this on. He promoted the worse stuff you think I am unfairly smearing him for by pointing out he promoted. Yes, when you fully back a movement it is completely fair to point out you are endorsing the precepts of that movement. Even if you have more nuance in your views, the fact that you will disregard that nuance to wave the flag of the more extremes fully justifies in pointing out you wave the flag of the more extreme.
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May 22, 2014 14:34
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Yes, Vox Day comes off as a piece of poo poo. You don't see my denying it. Painting Larry Correia with the same brush though, simply because he got Vox nominated is loving stupid. Here's a long post from Larry discussing it which is worth a read, though you can skip to the "The Controversial Slate" section if you really need to. Here's one of the relevant quotes as to why he nominated Vox: quote:So when I was putting together my slate and looking for ideas, I remembered his novelette that I read earlier that year. I was surprised by how good it was. I found it to be a really good story (it is actually about love and friendship, with a moral philosophy based on Thomas Aquinas, so not really what you’d expect from such a supposed hatemonger of hatey-hate). I plugged it to my fans earlier this year, which meant that a lot of them had read it as well. To be fair, it was only my second favorite work I read of that size this year, but that’s a tough one because I believe that Brad Torgersen is the best new sci-fi writer around. So I threw them both on the slate.
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May 22, 2014 15:20
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The important part of the quote is :Correia posted:The thing is, even if what these people say about Vox is true,(and I personally think it is as grossly exaggerated as anything else these people decide to attack) He thinks Vox Day is being exaggerated out of proportion, and therefore he is saying what Vox Day is saying isn't really that bad. But it is! It's some hateful vile homophobic racist poo poo, which I literally showed a few posts up. Vox Day is a sexist racist homophobic rear end in a top hat, and so is anyone who goes out of their way (as Correia did) to support him. Nobody is saying that Vox Day shouldn't be allowed to write books. Nobody is suggesting that his books be censored or taken off the shelves and burnt. What people are suggesting is that if you don't want to support racist homophobic sexists, don't buy Vox Day's books or the books of anyone who goes out of their way to support huge racist sexist homophobes like Vox Day. See, here's the thing about those political claims. Those against racism, sexism, and homophobia are both more often left-wing and are also actually correct. Those who openly support racism, sexism, and homophobia are more likely to be right-wingers, and are also factually wrong and human garbage. Piell fucked around with this message at 15:31 on May 22, 2014 |
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May 22, 2014 15:25
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Piell posted:Nobody is saying that Vox Day shouldn't be allowed to write books. Nobody is suggesting that his books be censored or taken off the shelves and burnt.
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May 22, 2014 15:30
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he's a shitheel
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May 22, 2014 15:31
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Just like the last time this came up, I'll say that it's okay to read books by people with terrible views but heck, you can feel better about it if you just buy it used, get it from the library, or with other dubious methods that won't give the author your money.
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May 22, 2014 15:40
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Piell posted:The important part of the quote is : Do you know why he thinks that? Or did you take that one line out of context and base your argument off of it? Try actually reading the article (or even the section) I mentioned before starting to spew your verbal garbage. Edit: Seeing as you decided to tack on some extra, I will too. Yes Vox Day is poo poo, but your crusade against others just because they aren't actively vilifying him is pure bigotry of the same level as Vox himself. Tornhelm fucked around with this message at 15:45 on May 22, 2014 |
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May 22, 2014 15:42
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'grossly exaggerated' lol The man was thrown out of the SFWA for targeting other members with racist abuse through official channels. Unless he's being accused of physical assault I'm not sure what people are supposed to be exaggerating? The Vox Day affair is actually incredibly entertaining since you get to see all these authors & etc. trying the usual 'he's not that bad, no witch hunts, stop oppressing us' whining with an actual virulent all-but-open racist misogynist prick, or thinking that he's a good choice to 'troll the far left' with. Which does actually tell you a lot about their own political compass, if they managed to get all the way to deciding to do that without some part of their brain begging them to stop.
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May 22, 2014 15:44
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Srice posted:Just like the last time this came up, I'll say that it's okay to read books by people with terrible views but heck, you can feel better about it if you just buy it used, get it from the library, or with other dubious methods that won't give the author your money. And this is what I said in the Dresden thread. You want to read it despite him being a terrible person because you like the work, fine. I get that. I like the X-men movies despite Singer being an accused pedophile. But it is 2014. You can consume the art without supporting the artist.
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May 22, 2014 15:45
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Vaz posted:Redshirts plot synopsis got me excited until I read it. It's dreadful and awful book. I'm not sure if I want to read Old Man's War if the writing and.plot style is similar? It's more serious and better plotted and has a different feeling to it, but if you found Redshirts "dreadful and awful", even accounting for Internet hyperbole, where everything is either the work of a genius or the worst garbage ever committed to paper, you very likely won't like the Old Man's War series either.
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May 22, 2014 15:51
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Fried Chicken posted:And this is what I said in the Dresden thread. You want to read it despite him being a terrible person because you like the work, fine. I get that. I like the X-men movies despite Singer being an accused pedophile. But it is 2014. You can consume the art without supporting the artist. Guilt by association is loving retarded, and getting his novelette nominated doesn't mean he agrees with Vox's beliefs (in fact he states he disagrees with Vox about a lot of things in that blog post you still haven't bothered to read).
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May 22, 2014 15:57
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Tornhelm posted:Do you know why he thinks that? Or did you take that one line out of context and base your argument off of it? Try actually reading the article (or even the section) I mentioned before starting to spew your verbal garbage. Context? You mean like the bit where he describes Vox Day's description of Jemisin as 'an ignorant half-savage' as 'a bit over the line... but tolerance is a one way streat with them (SJWs)'? Or the bit where he defends Vox's desire to cure homosexuality as 'more moderate than the average European villager'? I'm from a village in a funny little European country called England. We legalised gay marriage this year. I'm pretty happy about it. Sorry, dude, the author you like is defending a literal Nazi's opinions as 'not that bad'. Deal with it.
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May 22, 2014 15:58
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Tornhelm posted:Do you know why he thinks that? Or did you take that one line out of context and base your argument off of it? Try actually reading the article (or even the section) I mentioned before starting to spew your verbal garbage. Lol. I'm not a bigot for publicly supporting someone who thinks
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May 22, 2014 16:05
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Hm yeah I think Vox Day is really being unfairly maligned here:quote:…it is not that I, and others, do not view [Jemisin] as human, (although genetic science presently suggests that we are not equally homo sapiens sapiens), it is that we simply do not view her as being fully civilized for the obvious historical reason that she is not. Definitely sounds just like an average guy to me! It would be a constitutional violation of all the amendments + like double bad than actual slavery if you criticized him or anyone who thinks he's being unfairly criticized in any way.
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May 22, 2014 16:06
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 The Last Witchking consists of three stories set in the epic fantasy world of A THRONE OF BONES. The title story concerns the hidden heir to a fallen race of gay jews who learns his father's gypsie magic as he pursues vengeance against those who destroyed his inferior race of people. The second story, "The Hoblets of Wiccam Fensboro", is a tale of overcoming twisted zionist plots and the triumph of white cis male strength in the face of homosexuality and Jewry. The third story, the Hugo-nominated "Opera Vita Aeterna", tells the story of a tragically gay sorcerer and a religious monk, and how they discover that the transformational power of becoming heterosexual can be the highest and most potent magic of all.
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May 22, 2014 16:09
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Fried Chicken posted:And this is what I said in the Dresden thread. You want to read it despite him being a terrible person because you like the work, fine. I get that. I like the X-men movies despite Singer being an accused pedophile. But it is 2014. You can consume the art without supporting the artist. That's.....that's *literally* what I said. Like, literally literally. There is no other way to interpret what I said except in a way that agrees with you. Ease up on the pitchforks!
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May 22, 2014 16:09
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fookolt posted:Hm yeah I think Vox Day is really being unfairly maligned here: No, we all agree Vox Day is bad. But publicly supporting and recommending someone with those views is actually good. You actually are literally Vox Day if you don't think people should support Vox Day. It's simple really. Unless you're a bigot like Vox Day.
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May 22, 2014 16:11
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That's the general urban fantasy thread, not Dresden-specific, so no, it doesn't fit better here! systran posted:Just saw this on io9 and it confirmed the post I am quoting above (this book sounds interesting btw, anyone familiar with the author?): Jo Walton used to write really interesting reviews on Tor.com; her big series of posts were about reading Hugo winners and nominees and the Vorkosigian series. The fact that she left is one of the reasons Tor.com is now much duller than it was. Her fantasy novel Tooth and Claw is a Victorian novel about dragons - I think it's based on a particular Trollope book - I remember it as being "Good but World Fantasy Award surely not". Her last novel Amongst Others was really big and won the Hugo and Nebula and now I feel bad for not having read it. I think you'd like her.
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May 22, 2014 16:12
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RVProfootballer posted:No, we all agree Vox Day is bad. But publicly supporting and recommending someone with those views is actually good. You actually are literally Vox Day if you don't think people should support Vox Day. It's simple really. Unless you're a bigot like Vox Day. Thank you for setting the record straight. It all makes sense now!
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May 22, 2014 16:16
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Darth Walrus posted:Context? You mean like the bit where he describes Vox Day's description of Jemisin as 'an ignorant half-savage' as 'a bit over the line... but tolerance is a one way streat with them (SJWs)'? Or the bit where he defends Vox's desire to cure homosexuality as 'more moderate than the average European villager'? I'm from a village in a funny little European country called England. We legalised gay marriage this year. I'm pretty happy about it. You mean these quotes? quote:Basically, he called Nora Jesmin an “ignorant half-savage” and that pissed everybody off. See, Nora, is a beloved libprog activist and Social Justice Warrior, and all the reports of her victimization at the hands of the villainous Vox usually leave out the parts where she’d been hurling personal insults at him for years. Myself? I thought that comment might be a bit over the line, but then again, Google search my name and see what the SJW’s have been calling me for the last few days. quote:We disagree about a lot. I disagree with him on some fundamental philosophy. His “rabid hateful” views on homosexuality match about a third of America, most staunch Catholics, and he’s far more moderate on the issue than any devout Muslim or average European villager. So I disagree with him, but he’s not the out there whackadoo his detractors make him out to be, but then again, these same people say I want to drag gays to death behind my truck, so take the hate with a grain of salt. Tornhelm fucked around with this message at 16:18 on May 22, 2014 |
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May 22, 2014 16:16
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Tornhelm posted:You mean these quotes? Those quotes are actually making him look way worse. Guilt by association really does work in this case.
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May 22, 2014 16:20
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No thanks!
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May 22, 2014 16:25
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I can't say that I'm totally surprised that a gun-fetishist who believes that teachers ought to be armed in order to create human speed bumps for mass shooters http://www.mikehuckabee.com/2013/1/an-opinion-on-gun-control is going to climb up on a soapbox and cry foul when someone points out that he maybe, just maybe, is supporting someone with lovely beliefs. After reading this I learned a bunch of interesting stuff. Such as Larry Correia really, really, REALLY likes to talk about himself, and will gleefully do so at length, setting himself up on so high a pedestal that nobody with opposing viewpoints can possibly climb to the summit of his intellect and thus finally be taken seriously. Or that there are three types of people in Correia's world. Himself and other good red-blooded Americans, well-meaning but woefully (offten laughably) ignorant liberals, and then there are the liberals who consciously pursue agendas which harm America. Teachers should be used as human speed bumps. That people who do not know fundamental gun terminology ("if you call a 'cartridge' a 'clip,' you are not entitled to an opinion", anyone?) are not to be taken seriously - yet Correia admits to knowing no more about priminal psychology than "understanding the methods of killers enough to fight them better" (not really sure how much that is, but I suspect it mostly comes from episodes of COPS or Deadliest Serial Killers on TDC). A ban on the sale of extra-size magazines is pointless because "they're cheap and plastic," and of course such a move is a slippery slope. This entire write-up is startlingly near to Clint Eastwood's argument with an empty chair, frankly. He works himself up into a lather and then sets up strawmen and nonsensical ramblings as the "liberal side's arguments". So yeah when a dude like this steps in and starts defending his buddy who equates black people with zoo animals, I'm just going to go on a limb and say that he, too, is probably a sack of crap with a tinfoil hat, who fantasizes about people breaking into his house so he can shoot them, rather than shipping those people back to Africa or whateverthefuck racists think is the solution to their problem these days. coyo7e fucked around with this message at 16:30 on May 22, 2014 |
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May 22, 2014 16:25
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Wow that nasty SJW hurling personal insults at a neonazi, what a monster. Totally deserved what she got.
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May 22, 2014 16:26
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After reading the article, I think it's more the case he thinks Vox was provoked after a series of insults on to the first one,and for the second is he's just as homophobic as the other groups of people he mentioned. Neither of which are truly reprehensible opinions, just misguided.
Tornhelm fucked around with this message at 16:32 on May 22, 2014 |
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May 22, 2014 16:29
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Tornhelm posted:Yes Vox Day is poo poo, but your crusade against others just because they aren't actively vilifying him is pure bigotry of the same level as Vox himself.
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May 22, 2014 16:31
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Tornhelm posted:After reading the article, I think it's more the case he thinks Vox was provoked after a series of insults on to the first one,and for the second is he's just as homophobic as the other people he mentioned. Neither of which are truly reprehensible opinions, just misguided.
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May 22, 2014 16:32
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You keep yapping about "guilt by association", but what actually happened was that Correria gleefully smeared himself all over with Vox's poo poo, and you've rubbed Correria's all over yourself. What I'm saying is that you loving stink.
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May 22, 2014 16:34
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