[QuickTidal]

Abyss, on 02 May 2017 - 04:34 AM, said:

Tiste Simeon, on 01 May 2017 - 08:09 PM, said:

Yeah OTHERLAND should have been a trilogy. Could have had loads trimmed off it...

Loads. SO SO MUCH LOADS.

This is why I’m SO glad that thus far, the new trilogy for Osten Ard is a TRILOGY…and the extra stuff he’s thought of after the fact has become two novellas (THE HEART OF WHAT WAS LOST being the first, the second coming I THINK after the final trilogy book). It’s possible he learned that he could chop out extraneous plot lines into their own books. Like THOWWL feels like it could very well have acted as a 300pg prologue to The WITCHWOOD CROWN and then time jumped for Chapter 1 and all been in the one book…but I’m so glad he’s split it off into its own narrative. It’s going to make for a cleaner trilogy going forward and no threat of a later game “There will be 4 books” like he did with MS&T, Otherland, AND Shadowmarch.

Macros, on 02 May 2017 - 07:53 AM, said:

Had left shogun at home last week and with the weekend hadn't actually got much reading of it. Like 70pgs or so.
Knocked out about 200 yesterday evening, man the going is SLOW.
Does it pick up or is it methodically paced the whole 1100 pages?

It depends what you are looking for narratively. Clavell is ALL about the table setting. There is lots there to enjoy, but it's paced amongst a lot of "setting the stage" stuff. I'd say that the last few hundred pages pick the pace up a fair amount...but it's still a methodically paced read throughout.

[Macros]

I don't dislike it, but it's just so many pages for so little plot advancement. The setting is excellent, and the characters interesting. It's just so bloody long!
I'm just past the halfway mark here and I just want Lujan or papeweao to burst through a wall with Kevin at their back and start butchering assassins or something for a few pages

[End of Disc One]

acesn8s, on 17 April 2017 - 03:31 PM, said:

End of Disc One, on 17 April 2017 - 02:05 PM, said:

Started my first GGK with Fionavar. I know people don't recommend this, but whatever. Based on comments I've read, I expected this to be dry and boring, but I'm surprised at how easy it is to read. I'm also emerging from my reading slump, so I'm really enjoying this.

Kay's prose is always excellent. I think a lot of the Fionavar criticism is more trope based than anything (I think he was heavily influenced after working on the Silmarillion).

I really enjoyed the Fionavar Tapestry, of course I read it in the late 80s when I was still a teenager. Like the Belgariad, I still enjoy Fionavar due to nostalgia. Yes it is flawed, but I don't care.

I look forward to reading about your impression.

I'm bad about following up with my opinions once I finish a book. Finished the first book over the weekend and really liked it. Part of that is probably low expectations, and part is that it was the right thing to read at the right time. The best part was definitely the prose and the way GGK can paint a scene. For example the part in the middle when Kevin plays the song in the inn, and Paul hears it and how he reacts. It didn't make a lot of sense at the time, but for some reason it really moved me.

At this point I'll plan on reading all GGK novels in publication order. I may or may not skip Ysabel, but I'll decide when I get closer.

[Slow Ben]

I've got Otherland in my trp. For someone with incredibly limited reading time, you're not making me too excited to pick it up.


FYI, Deadhouse Gates is still amazing.

[QuickTidal]

Slow Ben, on 02 May 2017 - 04:39 PM, said:

I've got Otherland in my trp. For someone with incredibly limited reading time, you're not making me too excited to pick it up.

Abyss: OTHERLAND is a great trilogy. There is no fourth book. What are you talking about, fourth book? No such thing. Three books and done.

[Macros]

Onto book 4 here now, think that's about 3/4 (page 775/1100)
The plots finally moving to a place where I can see the convergence starting to emerge.

I've reconsidered my position on the pace, I think it's partially deliberate to help convey the idea of patience that seems so prevalent in the samurais mindset, and it hasn't frustrated me as much as I thought it would.
One clever touch I think is a change in syntax and grammatical layout when they switch from Japanese to Portuguese or to Latin. Instead of just saying 'oh hello there' Blackthorn said, in Latin, the conversation is structured in a way you know that they've flicked language and therefore it's a conversation that only a few aremeant to understand.
I'm glad I picked it up, Japanese culture has always vaguely fascinated me (especially ever since I read fiests empire trilogy (based on Korean culture I know but, in my head that kind of family honour and clan stuff always tied with my time playing shogun))
Now I'm curious to delve properly into the history of the nation, if for nothing else than to see how accurate Clavell got it, or if Shoguns portrayal is way ott to the pastiche level.

Cheers for the Record guys, looking forward to the conclusion (although if it sticks anyway to history I have a rough idea how the big guns pan out)

[polishgenius]

I read Borne, the new one by Jeff VanderMeer. Much more satisfying conclusion than the Area X trilogy, although it's a very different work (though you still find a lot of VanderMeer's fascinations present and correct).

[Abyss]

Briar King, on 03 May 2017 - 12:22 AM, said:

Just finished Gardens. I now face a dilemma, focus solely on Safehold 8 or pull out Deadhouse and continue to tackle 2 books at once as I wait for my Tigana to come in the mail. I hate these hard choices in life.

Depends. Do you hate yourself enough to delay enjoying something else while you wait for Tigana? ....because that's like putting off a back rub because you're waiting to be kicked in the nuts.

[worry]

I would personally love it if -- after all this -- you stalled in the middle of Safehold 8 and never finished the series.

[End of Disc One]

BK I've never seen you read that fast

[Tiste Simeon]

Slow Ben, on 02 May 2017 - 04:39 PM, said:

I've got Otherland in my trp. For someone with incredibly limited reading time, you're not making me too excited to pick it up.


FYI, Deadhouse Gates is still amazing.

I mean it's very good, and it does have a well thought out ending, it just takes a long and convoluted route to get there...

[Andorion]

Reading Senlin Ascends, and this book really gets better and more interesting as it progresses.

[Kruppe of Darujhistan]

Briar King, on 03 May 2017 - 02:36 AM, said:

End of Disc One, on 03 May 2017 - 02:12 AM, said:

BK I've never seen you read that fast

No shit. I said I'd knock the Earth off its axis.

You must have! Scorpius seemed at least 10-15 degrees further north last night than it did a week or two ago when last I looked!

[polle]

Finally finished The Great Ordeal. Nomen proved to be omen as it was a real ordeal for me to get through it. Didn't much enjoy it, yet still curious to see where it goes in the next installment.

Also, the editor who thought it would be a good idea to print every other word in italics should be shot.

This post has been edited by polle: 04 May 2017 - 08:02 AM

[QuickTidal]

I'm about 200 pages into Wilbur Smith's RIVER GOD (Book #1 of his Ancient Egypt series), and it's absolutely wonderful! Giving me vibes of enjoyment on par with Gemmel's TROY series, or Whyte's Camelot series. I'm enjoying it so much that I'm in for the whole series at this point.

I also started 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY by Arthur C. Clarke...which I've never read (nor have I ever seen the movie because I LOATHE Stanley Kubrick's films.....yes, I know) and it's pretty awesome too so far...though I'm only 40 pages into it. I hear tell this story is very cool.

[Kruppe of Darujhistan]

QuickTidal, on 04 May 2017 - 12:45 PM, said:

I hear tell this story is very cool.

As is the Kubrick film.

[QuickTidal]

Kruppe of Darujhistan, on 04 May 2017 - 05:03 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 04 May 2017 - 12:45 PM, said:

I hear tell this story is very cool.

As is the Kubrick film.

I've been burned enough times (my film school friends all think Kubrick is the best)...and after having seen 3 of his other films...I decided to steer clear of this one.

[Salt-Man Z]

Honestly never really dug the 2001 film. Loved 2010, though. (I do own all of the books, but I haven't read any of them yet.)

[worry]

Finished The Magician's Land. Thought it was a pretty good ending to the series. Lots of neat Fillory stuff, actually more than I expected given Grossman's seeming disinclination to scratch that itch...turns out he was just saving it up. The Rupert's Journal chapters in particular were great reads. I watched a couple episodes of the show and so far I think it's on the right track. Actually feels closer to one of those British urban fantasy series than it does most American ones. And who know SyFy would ever get on the "hey, we remembered we're a cable network, so we should start cursing a bunch" train?

Now onto Citadel of the Autarch.

[polishgenius]

I read All Systems Red, the first in a series of SF novellas by Martha Wells. Good fun, though slight, story about an AI security robot that's hacked itself and uses its secret freedom to watch television on the sly (among other things, of course). Nothing groundbreaking, but Wells can write, so...


I immediately followed it up by starting another book with a similar theme and quite a similar tone, A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers. I like it immediately. This is just one of the most flat-out charming series on the market.