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Has anyone else read this? It's a disgustingly dark book, but is also one of my favorites, and would like to find more people who have read it to help me pick it apart.
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Nov 16, 2017 17:27
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It pops up in the genre threads from time to time. I liked it overall, but some parts really could have used editing and while I figure there's a narrative reason for Erwin to be as annoying as he is, there's gotta be better ways to convey that they just rewinded time again and again to find the SO PERFECT hero. Or maybe I'm giving the author too much credit and he's just a natural Mary Sue.
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Nov 16, 2017 18:56
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Erwin hawking up phlegm and spitting into the official paraphernalia of the US president and the president being so impressed he invited Erwin around to play poker
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Nov 17, 2017 05:48
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This book that has the phrases "Path of Tacos" and "Ahhh, crap" on the first page sounds riveting
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Nov 17, 2017 07:46
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anilEhilated posted:It pops up in the genre threads from time to time. I liked it overall, but some parts really could have used editing and while I figure there's a narrative reason for Erwin to be as annoying as he is, there's gotta be better ways to convey that they just rewinded time again and again to find the SO PERFECT hero. I don't remember the spoiled bit at all but I loved the over all story and mythos of the book. It definitely reads like the authors first novel, but it is and that's fine.
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Nov 17, 2017 15:38
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It's just me inferring how the gently caress did such a horribly written character got into a book that usually provides you with flawed human beings. I have no idea whether it's what the author intended, hence "giving too much credit" part, but it could work as an explanation and it's what I thought after finishing the book.
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Nov 17, 2017 15:44
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I think Erwin was meant to be the old wise, experienced man trope in it, and it kinda backfired. But again, some slack is necessary, it was his first book.
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Nov 17, 2017 17:16
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I read this after having it warmly recommended and hated it. Can someone who did like it talk a little about what they found enjoyable?
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Nov 17, 2017 17:35
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I like dark stories, and this was exceptionally dark. It brought a highly enjoyable mythos along with it. Erwin could be annoying, but the rest of the characters tended to be well written, though some of the plans she came up with didn't make a ton of sense. Honestly, it was enjoyable because it was enjoyable. I don't need a story to be the best written thing to like. Hell, one of my favorite movies ever is The Chronicles of Riddick, and from a technical standpoint, it's a garbage fire that is about to have babies thrown on it. My ex, who recommended it to me, absolutely hates it. Like, nightmares about the stuff. How hosed up am I?
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Nov 17, 2017 19:12
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Yeah but what is "dark" though? Lots of bad stuff happened all the time sure, but having finished it I was just thinking so what? What makes a fictional event horrifying or not is gonna be all about presentation, right? And if the prose is dull and there's no resonant message or conclusion...
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Nov 17, 2017 19:50
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Crimpolioni posted:Yeah but what is "dark" though? Lots of bad stuff happened all the time sure, but having finished it I was just thinking so what? What makes a fictional event horrifying or not is gonna be all about presentation, right? And if the prose is dull and there's no resonant message or conclusion... Library at Mount Char for me was like a punk band's first album. It was all energy and enthusiasm for the genre, drawing from its influences (Lovecraft, Marvel Comics, horror) while trying to build its own mythos. It didn't completely succeed, but it came close enough for me. Sometimes I don't mind if the lead guitarist misses a few chord changes if my ears are still ringing.
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Nov 18, 2017 01:48
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Robot Wendigo posted:Library at Mount Char for me was like a punk band's first album. It was all energy and enthusiasm for the genre, drawing from its influences (Lovecraft, Marvel Comics, horror) while trying to build its own mythos. It didn't completely succeed, but it came close enough for me. Sometimes I don't mind if the lead guitarist misses a few chord changes if my ears are still ringing. That's a good analogy. There was a lot to pick apart from a technical standpoint, and obviously Erwin was a super-trope, but the mythos is fresh and has some depth. As many interesting characters as uninteresting ones, so overall I found it worthwhile. I'll reread it in a few years, which is pretty solid praise from me for a novel of this type. Do we know if the author is continuing in this universe? The ending could go either way.
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Nov 18, 2017 15:44
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mdemone posted:Do we know if the author is continuing in this universe? The ending could go either way. Hawkins mentions a free short story set after Mount Char to be available on his website but it's currently listed as Coming Soonish. I've read his next novel will involve talking dogs.
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Nov 19, 2017 00:38
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i read this and it was bad. to expand on this, the characters were annoying and one-note (and not just erwin, the dude who seems to be pieced together from email fw: fw:s where a liberal professor is shut down), the plot relied on characters' ability to do "i knew that he knew that they knew" recursive super-planning that is only normally tolerated in anime about precocious magical teenagers. it seems to be that the praise here is that the setting is interesting, and the themes are mature. i think the setting has an interesting hook (in that i am positively predisposed to fictional libraries and humanity existing by dint of cosmic forces beyond our ken), but in practice this just boiled down to "a group of people get super powers related to specific areas" aka "captain planet but they swear sometimes." the darkness and maturity seems to be mostly that horrible things happen to the characters as a substitute for giving them actual depth or complexity or motivations. a recent debut novel by a new author that i thought ticked some similar boxes (fantastic elements, characters dealing with loss and failure, our relationships with books and knowledge) was jääskeläinen's rabbit back literature society. however, on reflection, i have decided that the only good fantasy novels about fictional librarians are eco's the name of the rose, and the enchanted forest chronicles by patricia c wrede that i read when i was like 8 but remember as being mostly about cats.
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Nov 19, 2017 19:13
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I kinda enjoyed it but felt like it was stuck with a stubborn refusal show us cool things to do with its premise/setting. Like, I get that sometimes things are left to the imagination. But apparently with cool things happening all around the world, 60% of the book is set in either regular-suburbs or zombie-suburbs. And also we have no real clue what the capabilities of the other library sections are to any large degree, just language, combat, death, animals and medicine. I'm not sure I get all the 'dark' comments either. Some bad things happen to people in the book. Child-murder is mentioned a couple of times and in one case gets a whole chapter. But it was honestly comparatively lighthearted. Even ends on a hopeful note.
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Nov 20, 2017 01:18
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Crimpolioni posted:I read this after having it warmly recommended and hated it. Can someone who did like it talk a little about what they found enjoyable? It's been a while since I read it, but I remember liking the way that the author managed to keep the feeling of cosmic horror - the idea of super-powerful beings with powers beyond human understanding existing just behind the 'real world' - while telling a story from those characters' point of view without it devolving into superhero wankery. Like, I remember feeling like their abilities & the setting left enough vague to still feel Lovecraftian and the story revolved around a challenge to them that wasn't just them waving a magic wand and fixing stuff. It was definitely unpolished but the core of the setting and how it was handled was interesting to me.
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Nov 21, 2017 00:39
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bewilderment posted:I'm not sure I get all the 'dark' comments either. Some bad things happen to people in the book. Child-murder is mentioned a couple of times and in one case gets a whole chapter. But it was honestly comparatively lighthearted. Even ends on a hopeful note. Father abused and tortured his son into being a psychopathic murderer rapist savage through physically impossible means to create the right circumstances for him to quit his job
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Nov 21, 2017 06:27
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Neurosis posted:Father abused and tortured his son into being a psychopathic murderer rapist savage through physically impossible means to create the right circumstances for him to quit his job Yeah, the whole "God is a dick, and wants to nope out of Creation and leave us to our own devices" isn't exactly a new concept, either.
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Nov 21, 2017 13:29
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biracial bear for uncut posted:Yeah, the whole "God is a dick, and wants to nope out of Creation and leave us to our own devices" isn't exactly a new concept, either. i wasn't commenting on the novelty of the concepts so this post bemuses me
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Nov 21, 2017 14:30
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I quite liked it, though the part with the lions seemed to drag on forever. I did like that the book had another act after the point most books like it would have ended. Gave Caroline's fuckedupness an extra level of depth and cluelessness.
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Nov 24, 2017 05:54
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Tree Goat posted:the enchanted forest chronicles by patricia c wrede that i read when i was like 8 but remember as being mostly about cats
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Nov 26, 2017 12:49
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