[Abyss]

 Salt-Man Z, on 13 March 2012 - 10:16 PM, said:

Yeah, the Look Inside feature generally lets you preview the majority of the book, with the occasional section of chapter left FUCKING missing, and usually the ending is omitted too. I read the Caine's Law "prologue" (I guess you would call it) but as soon as I saw the "pages 10-12 are not included in this preview" I was content to stop. FUCK.

Three weeks from today; I can hardly FUCKING wait.

Fucking fixed. We have fucking standards in this thread, y'know.

[QuickTidal]

I'm in the middle of fucking BoT and goddamn is this bleak.

LOL

I have to read another lighter book on the side just to make it through. It's like just when I think things might get better for our heroes, they get fucking worse.

I'm hoping the payoff is worth all the Angela's Ashes-style depression.

[Abyss]

 QuickTidal, on 14 March 2012 - 02:44 PM, said:

I'm in the middle of fucking BoT and goddamn is this bleak.
... It's like just when I think things might get better for our heroes, they get fucking worse.

Oh yes, BoT is dark dark fucking dark indeed. It's kinda of shocking after HEROES DIE which is more or less a straightforward heroes vs villians story.
Part of the genius of BoT is just how thoroughly Stover grinds down the characters from HD, but it verges on offputting at times.
But...

Quote

I'm hoping the payoff is worth all the Angela's Ashes-style depression.

It is. It so very fucking is.

And then there's CAINE BLACK KNIFE...

[Salt-Man Z]

 Abyss, on 14 March 2012 - 02:57 PM, said:

It is. It so very fucking is.

"Knock fucking knock."

[Tapper]

 QuickTidal, on 14 March 2012 - 02:44 PM, said:

I'm in the middle of fucking BoT and goddamn is this bleak.

LOL

I have to read another lighter book on the side just to make it through. It's like just when I think things might get better for our heroes, they get fucking worse.

I'm hoping the payoff is worth all the Angela's Ashes-style depression.

I fucking told you . (BTW, the Stover thread alone is a reason why Grief's fix never ought to have stood... Can you imagine anyone credibly saying Buggering Blade of Buggering Tyshalle? Fuck no).

As for pay-off: oh, it is there. It so fucking is there. And Caine Black Knife is just the fucking icing on the cake with a ton of violence and story and fucking awesomeness. And regular fucking, too. Although not in a totally pleasant way, either.

This post has been edited by Tapper: 14 March 2012 - 03:47 PM

[Abyss]

 Tapper, on 14 March 2012 - 03:47 PM, said:

...As for pay-off: oh, it is there. It so fucking is there. And Caine Black Knife is just the fucking icing on the cake with a ton of violence and story and fucking awesomeness. And regular fucking, too. Although not in a totally pleasant way, either.

yah the fucking in CBK is pretty fucked.

Altho it leads directly to one of the all time greatest scenes in fantasy lit ever not written.

[Otataral Toblakai]

Does the main character, Caine, indulge in acts such as rape? Or does he have that whole 'male supremacy' 'sado-masochist' viewpoint? Because that I can't bear and that is what will decide for me wether to read it or not. I don't mind gore/grit.

[amphibian]

 Otataral Toblakai, on 14 March 2012 - 04:29 PM, said:

Does the main character, Caine, indulge in acts such as rape? Or does he have that whole 'male supremacy' 'sado-masochist' viewpoint? Because that I can't bear and that is what will decide for me wether to read it or not. I don't mind gore/grit.

No rape. He's just a mean a-hole who never, ever, ever gives up despite insurmountable odds in the pursuit of protecting his loved ones. There's no woman-hating or any of that.

Also, he's somewhat addicted to being a badass and doing things the hard way to showcase himself or to piss others off.

[Abyss]

 amphibian, on 14 March 2012 - 05:01 PM, said:

 Otataral Toblakai, on 14 March 2012 - 04:29 PM, said:

Does the main character, Caine, indulge in acts such as rape? Or does he have that whole 'male supremacy' 'sado-masochist' viewpoint? Because that I can't bear and that is what will decide for me wether to read it or not. I don't mind gore/grit.

No rape. He's just a mean a-hole who never, ever, ever gives up despite insurmountable odds in the pursuit of protecting his loved ones. There's no woman-hating or any of that.

Also, he's somewhat addicted to being a badass and doing things the hard way to showcase himself or to piss others off.

What Amphi said.
To be clear, there are instances of rape in the series, at times viscerally uncomfortable, but i'm not spoiling anything by saying it's not Caine doing it.
As for male supremacy.... nah, it's more like Caine Supremacy With Good Fucking Reason.

But i think i understand your question and no, that's not a major element in these books.

[Otataral Toblakai]

 amphibian, on 14 March 2012 - 05:01 PM, said:

 Otataral Toblakai, on 14 March 2012 - 04:29 PM, said:

Does the main character, Caine, indulge in acts such as rape? Or does he have that whole 'male supremacy' 'sado-masochist' viewpoint? Because that I can't bear and that is what will decide for me wether to read it or not. I don't mind gore/grit.

No rape. He's just a mean a-hole who never, ever, ever gives up despite insurmountable odds in the pursuit of protecting his loved ones. There's no woman-hating or any of that.

Also, he's somewhat addicted to being a badass and doing things the hard way to showcase himself or to piss others off.

Thanks for the clarification! I personally prefer antihero-ish mean a-holes. Going to jump into the series in the summer, then.

[Otataral Toblakai]

 Abyss, on 14 March 2012 - 06:41 PM, said:

 amphibian, on 14 March 2012 - 05:01 PM, said:

 Otataral Toblakai, on 14 March 2012 - 04:29 PM, said:

Does the main character, Caine, indulge in acts such as rape? Or does he have that whole 'male supremacy' 'sado-masochist' viewpoint? Because that I can't bear and that is what will decide for me wether to read it or not. I don't mind gore/grit.

No rape. He's just a mean a-hole who never, ever, ever gives up despite insurmountable odds in the pursuit of protecting his loved ones. There's no woman-hating or any of that.

Also, he's somewhat addicted to being a badass and doing things the hard way to showcase himself or to piss others off.

What Amphi said.
To be clear, there are instances of rape in the series, at times viscerally uncomfortable, but i'm not spoiling anything by saying it's not Caine doing it.
As for male supremacy.... nah, it's more like Caine Supremacy With Good Fucking Reason.

But i think i understand your question and no, that's not a major element in these books.

Thanks, again, for the clarification. I will definitely read the series now.

[acesn8s]

Rally the fucking troops. Caine is currently losing his cage match against Zaphod.

http://sf-fantasy.su...beeblebrox.html

[QuickTidal]

Holy Fucksticks!

Spoilers for BoT:

Spoiler

So just read the section where Shanks finds out about Faith, has her taken away, Hari arrested and after the bail out there is that amazing section where he speaks with Duncan and reads a physical copy of TALES OF THE FIRST FOLK, finding out the Blind God is humanity and its voracious nature, and the Quiet Land is earth, which naturally fits in with the whole "moving on to swarm Overworld"....I LOVED the references that Overworld is actually the classic Medieval realm of "Faerie". Man, this book has started to ramp shit back up, and is it wrong to be amused when Faith tells Shanks that Hari is going to "Fuck her up" for taking her? Also, am I right in thinking that the BOG somehow is "embodying" Kollberg now and is the reason he is even more sick and twisted and rapes that Artisan woman? That was....weird. Oh, and Tan'elkoth may as well have been holding a sign that said "I'm still a bad guy", but I am wondering how that slipped past Caine...

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 15 March 2012 - 01:19 PM

[Tapper]

 QuickTidal, on 15 March 2012 - 01:06 PM, said:

Holy Fucksticks!

Spoilers for BoT:

Spoiler

So just read the section where Shanks finds out about Faith, has her taken away, Hari arrested and after the bail out there is that amazing section where he speaks with Duncan and reads a physical copy of TALES OF THE FIRST FOLK, finding out the Blind God is humanity and its voracious nature, and the Quiet Land is earth, which naturally fits in with the whole "moving on to swarm Overworld"....I LOVED the references that Overworld is actually the classic Medieval realm of "Faerie". Man, this book has started to ramp shit back up, and is it wrong to be amused when Faith tells Shanks that Hari is going to "Fuck her up" for taking her? Also, am I right in thinking that the BOG somehow is "embodying" Kollberg now and is the reason he is even more sick and twisted and rapes that Artisan woman? That was....weird. Oh, and Tan'elkoth may as well have been holding a sign that said "I'm still a bad guy", but I am wondering how that slipped past Caine...

Spoiler

The way I get it, Kollberg starts off as an agent of the BOG. However, rather than embodying the BOG, instead he is more the personification of the Blind God and its desires. He twists and turns until he is at the very least a free agent and more likely, has the BOG in the palm of his hand.

As for Tan'elkoth... not bad guy per sé, "just" Hari's nemesis and a fucking huge smart imperialistic god-bastard who craves a return to Overworld by any means - who also has a fairly human-centric agenda that at times seem to point towards an Endlösung of every non-human species, if I read Heroes Die correctly. Kierendal would never have become a regular bona fide citizen if Ma'elkoth still sat the throne.

Anyhow, later on in the book, you get some serious philosophing by Hari regarding his relation with Ma'elkoth/ Tan'elkoth, which is very much worthwhile.

[Salt-Man Z]

Dang, Scott, I thought you'd said you'd already gotten to the bleak, depressing part. But you're only what? a third of the way through?

[QuickTidal]

 Salt-Man Z, on 15 March 2012 - 02:19 PM, said:

Dang, Scott, I thought you'd said you'd already gotten to the bleak, depressing part. But you're only what? a third of the way through?

I'm about 40% according to my Kindle.

What the beginning stuff wasn't the depressing part?

Awww crap.

It's going to get MORE depressing?

If I didn't love the book so much I'd be annoyed, but Stover is just so damned good. I have utter faith that the payoff will be worth it. I have to hurry since I still have CBF to go before CAINE'S LAW...

and doesn't Stover's OVERWORLD comic go live in April as well?

[Abyss]

 QuickTidal, on 15 March 2012 - 02:35 PM, said:

...It's going to get MORE depressing?

Nobody answer him.
I want to watch him squirm.

Quote

If I didn't love the book so much I'd be annoyed, but Stover is just so damned good. I have utter faith that the payoff will be worth it.

...so worth it. So very fucking worth it.

Quote

I have to hurry since I still have CBF to go before CAINE'S LAW...

If you play this right you'll go straight thru CBK to CL and spare yourself the three years of anticipation some of the rest of us have had to deal with.

[QuickTidal]

 Abyss, on 15 March 2012 - 03:12 PM, said:

If you play this right you'll go straight thru CBK to CL and spare yourself the three years of anticipation some of the rest of us have had to deal with.

That's the fucking plan stan!

[Abyss]

And i say 'three' but CBK was a 2008 release so fuck me in the ear sideways with a dead rat on a stick but it's been more like five fucking years....

[Salt-Man Z]

 Abyss, on 15 March 2012 - 04:21 PM, said:

And i say 'three' but CBK was a 2008 release so fuck me in the ear sideways with a dead rat on a stick but it's been more like five fucking years....

Fall 2008 to Spring 2012 comes out to 3.5 fucking years, silly cat.

This post has been edited by Salt-Man Z: 15 March 2012 - 04:52 PM