[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Abyss, on 31 May 2019 - 02:46 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 31 May 2019 - 02:09 PM, said:

... Red Queens War is Lawrence's greatest work. I could re-read that series a bunch of times. BK, get on that!

Seconded in strongest possible terms. BK, as much as you love and need to reread TIGANA for the sixth time, put it down and read RED QUEEN'S WAR instead.
Or grab the earbooks, the narrator is incredible.

On a first listening I thought the first book was just okay, but the second and third were excellent.

The audiobook performer is okay. He sounds like a New Yorker lazily putting on a bad English RP accent (and often drifting back to New York---though he uses RP vowels for words like 'fast' and so forth), but when he gets particularly emotional or dramatic he starts talking with an Irish accent. The actor did in fact grow up in Dublin and has lived in New York for the last few decades. Of course his pseudo-Viking accent is laughable, though enjoyable (I'll grant that I have little cultural connection with my Norse ancestors).

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 31 May 2019 - 03:19 PM

[Aptorian]

champ, on 31 May 2019 - 01:49 PM, said:

Macros, on 30 May 2019 - 12:55 PM, said:

Limited Wish arrives with me tomorrow, so will be waiting for me when I get home from London this weekend.

woo hoo!

BUT I shan't (Dudley style) be reading it immediately as I have Blackdog to finish and Calgars seige to read first

I'm in the same boat, I have Memories of Ice reread to finish first before I can tackle this...

You heard it here first - the Impossible Times trilogy is a prequel to the Broken Empire / Red Queens War series where they fuck up the world...

Maybe not... but fun to think!

Lackluster Bachelorette, on 30 May 2019 - 05:06 PM, said:

One day very far into the future I will begin to catch up past og 3.

BK - what are you thinking?! I love the Broken Empire series but Red Queens War tops it. You are missing out!

Like BK I dropped off after the original 3.

I was pretty disappointed by the way Jorge's past was slowly retconned from being horrific acts of brutalitty and war crimes, to somehow being sorta justified or regrettable acts. Like the priest with the nails.

I preferred when Jorge was just an aristocratic child soldier turned ruthless warleader.

But I think I've had enough water under the bridge to jump back in... Soon ish

This post has been edited by Aptorian: 31 May 2019 - 03:27 PM

[QuickTidal]

Red Queens War is like a buddy cop (note: NOT cops) action flick that features a huge, good natured, but morose viking and a spoiled rich kid coward from (what is essentially) the Broken Empire version of the French Riviera. Hilarity and Excellence ensues.

No seriously, it's about WAY more than that, but that's the basics.

Jalan > Jorg

Yeah, I said it!

[champ]

QuickTidal, on 31 May 2019 - 04:36 PM, said:

Jalan > Jorg

Yeah, I said it!

I have to say that I do agree with that...

When I first finished the Broken Empire trilogy I thought that it would be a while before I came across another character that I would enjoy reading about as much as I did with Jorg...

I just loved his character/personality and his take no shit attitude...

But then along comes Prince Jalan - serious props to Mark here - and he feels so real, he's such a cowardly weasel but he is so fun to read and you can connect with him on certain aspects... I went from thinking of him as Prince Jalan to more thinking of him as good ole friend Jal that I knew well... absolute top characterisation...

And then you get the interactions between him and Snorri... it makes the 2nd trilogy a special series indeed...

This post has been edited by champ: 31 May 2019 - 05:08 PM

[Abyss]

champ, on 31 May 2019 - 05:06 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 31 May 2019 - 04:36 PM, said:

Jalan > Jorg

Yeah, I said it!

I have to say that I do agree with that...

When I first finished the Broken Empire trilogy I thought that it would be a while before I came across another character that I would enjoy reading about as much as I did with Jorg...

I just loved his character/personality and his take no shit attitude...

But then along comes Prince Jalan - serious props to Mark here - and he feels so real, he's such a cowardly weasel but he is so fun to read and you can connect with him on certain aspects... I went from thinking of him as Prince Jalan to more thinking of him as good ole friend Jal that I knew well... absolute top characterisation...

And then you get the interactions between him and Snorri... it makes the 2nd trilogy a special series indeed...

Thirded. Jalan is a great great character, Snorri is epic, their interaction is glorious.

[Macros]

Fourthed

I really enjoy the thorns trilo but Infeel Mark really found his writing voice in the prince trilo, that and Jalan is ace.

Outside of that. Mark won't admit it, but all four trilogies happen in the same place, inside Pamela's head, the ending of the last book will be her waking up to Bobby in the shower.

Admit it now Mark, the jig is up

[pat5150]

Fifthed!

Just started Limited Wish, by the way. Looks good so far. . .

[Mark Lawrence]

pat5150, on 01 June 2019 - 02:20 AM, said:

Fifthed!

Just started Limited Wish, by the way. Looks good so far. . .

Thanks for giving it a spot on your half way point best of 2019.
It's the UK kindle daily deal today. 99p!

[Aptorian]

Mark Lawrence, on 09 July 2019 - 07:00 PM, said:

pat5150, on 01 June 2019 - 02:20 AM, said:

Fifthed!

Just started Limited Wish, by the way. Looks good so far. . .

Thanks for giving it a spot on your half way point best of 2019.
It's the UK kindle daily deal today. 99p!

Would you care (dare?) to comment on that discount? I'm always appalled at the idea of a relatively new book being sold so cheaply.

I know that Amazon deals in bulk sales and can move a lot of books but how much profit do you see if your books are sold at so low a price?

[Abyss]

Aptorian, on 09 July 2019 - 07:07 PM, said:

Mark Lawrence, on 09 July 2019 - 07:00 PM, said:

pat5150, on 01 June 2019 - 02:20 AM, said:

Fifthed!

Just started Limited Wish, by the way. Looks good so far. . .

Thanks for giving it a spot on your half way point best of 2019.
It's the UK kindle daily deal today. 99p!

Would you care (dare?) to comment on that discount? I'm always appalled at the idea of a relatively new book being sold so cheaply.

I know that Amazon deals in bulk sales and can move a lot of books but how much profit do you see if your books are sold at so low a price?

I'm not Mark Lawrence, nor have i eaten of his brainzez, however i understand that when a book is part of a series they frequently do a sale like that to prompt purchases of the other books which, conveniently, are still full price. LIMITED has been out over a month. The pre-orders are fulfilled, the fans have theirs, the social media prompted early impulse buyers are likely come n gone. You say relatively new, but i suspect it's actually far down a declining cycle and If anything, this will prompt sales of bks 1 and 2.

Relatedly, if you buy either book on amazon.com for $4.99, the earbook is just $1.99.

[Aptorian]

Hmm. Good point about one book in a series driving up sales for the rest. I know I've bought a whole series at once when I find one book at a discount.

Still there's something about the signal the price sends. Like, this product is "worth" x amount of credits, thus expensive book good! Cheap book bad! Recently released product is now cheap, must be bad book not selling well!

Of course the book business is a bit different in that people are thrifty because they buy dozens of books a year or more. I know I'm unlikely to pay more than 5-8 USD for an ebook unless it's from an author/series I'm invested in.

And of course, assuming Amazon, the publisher, agents, etc., all get a cut, then how much is the author earning when a book is sold for a dollar?

This post has been edited by Aptorian: 11 July 2019 - 06:52 PM

[worry]

Possible they buy a certain amount of digital copies from the publisher that they then have 'in stock' -- the same way they would a physical copy -- and when a book is discounted amazon actually eats that? And when they run out of digital licenses they restock, again like with any physical book? I know libraries, at least, kinda work that way (buying a certain amount of digital 'copies' via licenses they are allowed to lend at one time).

I'm just guessing. But the Microsoft ebook store just shut down, and they are literally removing all digital content from people's devices, essentially bricking their ereaders (which suggests the 'license' model).

[Salt-Man Z]

Aptorian, on 11 July 2019 - 06:49 PM, said:

Still there's something about the signal the price sends. Like, this product is "worth" x amount of credits, thus expensive book good! Cheap book bad! Recently released product is now cheap, must be bad book not selling well!

Why would you think this, though? Stuff goes on sale everywhere all the time (not just digital or online), and you don't suddenly go, "Well, it's cheap now, so it must be a piece of crap." No, you think, "Dang, I need to buy this while the price stays low."

[Aptorian]

Not quite. This of course varies from business to business but price points are important for brands and the perception of quality or success. With a higher price comes the idea of premiumization.

An expensive brand will seem better than a cheap one to even an educated consumer. Thus certain products, like beer, clothing, headphones, etc. will attempt to target different demographics. Just look at the "Supreme" craze for an extreme example.

I certainly know I think twice about buying a heavily discounted product unless I know what I'm getting into.

This post has been edited by Aptorian: 11 July 2019 - 07:41 PM

[Mark Lawrence]

Aptorian, on 09 July 2019 - 07:07 PM, said:

Mark Lawrence, on 09 July 2019 - 07:00 PM, said:

pat5150, on 01 June 2019 - 02:20 AM, said:

Fifthed!

Just started Limited Wish, by the way. Looks good so far. . .

Thanks for giving it a spot on your half way point best of 2019.
It's the UK kindle daily deal today. 99p!

Would you care (dare?) to comment on that discount? I'm always appalled at the idea of a relatively new book being sold so cheaply.

I know that Amazon deals in bulk sales and can move a lot of books but how much profit do you see if your books are sold at so low a price?

47North give a good advance payment and compensate their authors better than the price (free on Kindle Unlimited) suggests. I've no complaints or I wouldn't have signed with them.

[Mark Lawrence]

Aptorian, on 11 July 2019 - 07:38 PM, said:

Not quite. This of course varies from business to business but price points are important for brands and the perception of quality or success. With a higher price comes the idea of premiumization.

An expensive brand will seem better than a cheap one to even an educated consumer. Thus certain products, like beer, clothing, headphones, etc. will attempt to target different demographics. Just look at the "Supreme" craze for an extreme example.

I certainly know I think twice about buying a heavily discounted product unless I know what I'm getting into.

One Word Kill is actually my fastest selling book ever. It was #1 in all books on Amazon.com for most of a week - which made it basically the best selling book on the planet. It sold cheap and it sold lots. 7,000+ ratings on Goodreads in 3 months. It's beating Holy Sister, the final volume in a successful trilogy.

Quality and price are not strongly related.

[champ]

I finally found some time to read Limited Wish and finished it the same day, another solid, fun and easy to read entry into the collection. More popcorn than heavy going.

Recommend.

[Mark Lawrence]

champ, on 19 July 2019 - 02:39 PM, said:

I finally found some time to read Limited Wish and finished it the same day, another solid, fun and easy to read entry into the collection. More popcorn than heavy going.

Recommend.

Good to hear!

The final book, Dispel Illusion, will be with you in November.

[champ]

Mark Lawrence, on 31 July 2019 - 09:59 PM, said:

champ, on 19 July 2019 - 02:39 PM, said:

I finally found some time to read Limited Wish and finished it the same day, another solid, fun and easy to read entry into the collection. More popcorn than heavy going.

Recommend.

Good to hear!

The final book, Dispel Illusion, will be with you in November.

Aye, I've been keeping an eye on the book as wanting to know what the synopsis has to say about it.

Still secretly hoping that they end up at CERN but either way, really looking forward to the release.

I have to admit though that I am more looking forward to The Girl and the Stars, I cannot wait to get back to Abeth!

This post has been edited by champ: 02 August 2019 - 09:46 AM

[Mark Lawrence]

champ, on 02 August 2019 - 09:44 AM, said:

Mark Lawrence, on 31 July 2019 - 09:59 PM, said:

champ, on 19 July 2019 - 02:39 PM, said:

I finally found some time to read Limited Wish and finished it the same day, another solid, fun and easy to read entry into the collection. More popcorn than heavy going.

Recommend.

Good to hear!

The final book, Dispel Illusion, will be with you in November.

Aye, I've been keeping an eye on the book as wanting to know what the synopsis has to say about it.

Still secretly hoping that they end up at CERN but either way, really looking forward to the release.

I have to admit though that I am more looking forward to The Girl and the Stars, I cannot wait to get back to Abeth!

The ARCs are done!