[End of Disc One]

My dad started Grace of Kings and he’s loving it. Makes me happy since our tastes have been diverging lately.

I plan to start Wall of Storms soon once I finish the awesome Deadhouse Landing.

[polishgenius]

I finished Space Opera. It was a blast, though while I understand the megahype it's currently getting I do think it's just a little below that and Valente's written better (especially Radiance).



Now I'm on to Dust of Dreams in the big re-read. Even though it hasn't properly started yet, I'm already reminded of how horrendously bad, and just horrendous, Hetan's plotline is in this.

[Chance]

Finished up the last pages of Blood and Bone and while it had some nifty revelations it is likely the weakest Esslemont I've read so far. Started up Assail and initiailly it seems promising.

Puck, on 15 April 2018 - 12:48 PM, said:

Yeah. I'm not a fan of calling books 'mediocre at best' because I think that when a book reaches a certain quality it's only up to personal tastes whether it hits home or not. For which this here is a great example as I'm a quarter into Godblind now and while it may not be a masterpiece or particularly original, I'm very much enjoying it for what it is and what it's not trying to be A solid story is a solid story. I would compare it to Abercrombie's first trilogy so far. Heaps and bounds more my thing than Broken Knives. No accounting for taste, right?

Of course its more or less only about personal taste but that book has some pretty serious flaws. People and place name stood out for most of it. Also closer to the ending the solid story is no longer a solid story i think but it would be spoilery to go into details.

I'm kind of judgemental when a book proves a disappointment half way in, if its crap from start I can live with it.

This post has been edited by Chance: 15 April 2018 - 04:23 PM

[Puck]

Chance, on 15 April 2018 - 04:22 PM, said:

People and place name stood out for most of it.

Funnily, I had that exact problem with Broken Knives. Again, it's a subjective thing and I don't fault a book for that because people live in different places. To someone the name Tobias might sound unusual, but where I live that name is so freaking common it's hard not to think of middle school and lanky IT guys when seeing it instead of a hardened mercenary (never mind that I think that biblical names have no place in fantasy books). Same goes for Orhan. Such a standard Turkish name, and apparently means 'city official'. I mean, yeah, sure, but come on. My former boss used to be named Orhan. But I, personally, almost never like the names of characters in fantasy series' (most authors don't know how to pick names which invoke the culture they're trying to invoke, so they just go with either real names found on popular name lists or scrabble together name which are supposed to sound fantastic but end up using English phonetics, and when they do manage to do it right, people complain aka exactly what happened in regards to Bakker's actually accurately done names), so I've kind of grown used to it and it doesn't figure in whether I enjoy a book or not. To each their own.

Thus, again, you are making blanket statements about quality where it's a matter of opinion. I keep forgetting whom it was I've had this conversation before about FoL somewhere on here, it was either you or nevyn. We'll just have to agree to have wastly differing tastes.

This post has been edited by Puck: 15 April 2018 - 07:13 PM

[Chance]

Puck, on 15 April 2018 - 07:04 PM, said:

Thus, again, you are making blanket statements about quality where it's a matter of opinion. I keep forgetting whom it was I've had this conversation before about FoL somewhere on here, it was either you or nevyn. We'll just have to agree to have wastly differing tastes.

Not me you had the discussion with but you probably could have had it with me, since the differences between us are likely to be more profound then taste and I'm pretty sure we can't have much of a productive discussion about this.

But I will be interested to see if you find Godblind at the end to be more then mediocre

This post has been edited by Chance: 15 April 2018 - 08:37 PM

[Macros]

Started The Silver Eagle, book 2 in the Lost Legion trilogy by Ben Kane. About 100 pages in and I'm loth to put it down to go to bed

[Andorion]

Reading Mistress of the Empire by Feist and Wurts and it is just as good as the other two.

Also started Bookburners, V 1, by Max Gladstone and its peculiarly entertaining.

[Abyss]

Briar King, on 15 April 2018 - 08:25 PM, said:

Abyss how are you finding the style of Grace in this I'm assuming still early stage?

Only four chapters in. No strong feelings at this point. Is there something in particular?

[polishgenius]

Yeah, Grace of King's style is divisive- I know lots of you who love the book and also several including myself who never got past 50 pages.

[Andorion]

polishgenius, on 16 April 2018 - 05:26 AM, said:

Yeah, Grace of King's style is divisive- I know lots of you who love the book and also several including myself who never got past 50 pages.

The pseudo-history chronicle style is certainly not for everyone. I found myself quite liking it though.

[Yllana]

I'm thinking about not finishing Stranger in a Strange Land. I know it's supposed to be a classic, but the preachy speeches and the dull superhuman main character were really getting on my nerves. And then I stumbled upon this nice little line: "Nine times out of ten, if a girl gets raped, it's partly her fault." I know this book was written ages ago, but here's a heartfelt f*ck you to Robert Heinlein.

This post has been edited by Yllana: 16 April 2018 - 12:08 PM

[QuickTidal]

Yllana, on 16 April 2018 - 12:08 PM, said:

I'm thinking about not finishing Stranger in a Strange Land. I know it's supposed to be a classic, but the preachy speeches and the dull superhuman main character were really getting on my nerves. And then I stumbled upon this nice little line: "Nine times out of ten, if a girl gets raped, it's partly her fault." I know this book was written ages ago, but here's a heartfelt f*ck you to Robert Heinlein.

Heinlen was a complete D-Bag from what I understand (in all arenas). Not that I've ever read his work, and his reputation has given me enough to never bother.

It's probably good to stop and not finish. Don't give the (deceased) bastard the time of day.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 16 April 2018 - 12:56 PM

[Yllana]

The thing is that I really liked his the Moon is a Harsh Mistress (Starship Troopers was weird. Basically a 300 page wank about how only military service makes you a proper human being). The Moon is a Harsh Mistress was fast paced, funny, included a lot of interesting ideas about how society in an ex penal colony might work and evolve, and the preaching was kept to a minimum.
But Stranger in a Strange Land is filled with dull or preachy male characters with strange opinions on everything ranging from politics to sex and pseudo-emancipated female characters. And the plot crawls along at the pace of a fat snail. I really don't understand why the hippies allegedly liked this book so much back in the 60s.

[Andorion]

Yllana, on 16 April 2018 - 12:08 PM, said:

I'm thinking about not finishing Stranger in a Strange Land. I know it's supposed to be a classic, but the preachy speeches and the dull superhuman main character were really getting on my nerves. And then I stumbled upon this nice little line: "Nine times out of ten, if a girl gets raped, it's partly her fault." I know this book was written ages ago, but here's a heartfelt f*ck you to Robert Heinlein.

QuickTidal, on 16 April 2018 - 12:56 PM, said:

Yllana, on 16 April 2018 - 12:08 PM, said:

I'm thinking about not finishing Stranger in a Strange Land. I know it's supposed to be a classic, but the preachy speeches and the dull superhuman main character were really getting on my nerves. And then I stumbled upon this nice little line: "Nine times out of ten, if a girl gets raped, it's partly her fault." I know this book was written ages ago, but here's a heartfelt f*ck you to Robert Heinlein.

Heinlen was a complete D-Bag from what I understand (in all arenas). Not that I've ever read his work, and his reputation has given me enough to never bother.

It's probably good to stop and not finish. Don't give the (deceased) bastard the time of day.

I never finished Stranger in a Strange Land. Apart from the rampant sexism and the really ridiculous male characters it was pretty weak in terms of plot.

[Abyss]

Had to read STRANGER for a class once. Didn’t enjoy, found the characters whiny, the plot thin, even if you acknowledged it’s a product of when it was written, the gender themes are offside.

[stone monkey]

Heinkein went a bit bonkers in his later years; as can be seen from his completely mental last few books. By all accounts he was a very nice man in person - he allegedly helped to financially support Philip K. Dick when he fell on hard times.

His politics, however, give me the creeps....

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

I don't have much to say other than Vlad Taltos rocks, Brust's worldbuilding is fascinating, and I already ordered the second omnibus edition. About halfway through Yendi now.

[Maark Abbott]

Maybe 100 pages into Kings of the Wyld. It's decent so far and has some nice referential touches but I'm yet to get to one of the full-blown comedy moments people have talked about.

[acesn8s]

Whisperzzzzzzz, on 16 April 2018 - 10:07 PM, said:

I don't have much to say other than Vlad Taltos rocks, Brust's worldbuilding is fascinating, and I already ordered the second omnibus edition. About halfway through Yendi now.

I need to do a Vlad reread.

[TheRetiredBridgeburner]

Macros, on 15 April 2018 - 09:53 PM, said:

Started The Silver Eagle, book 2 in the Lost Legion trilogy by Ben Kane. About 100 pages in and I'm loth to put it down to go to bed

I enjoyed that one

Starting a Malazan re-read. Had a pretty rough start to the year with various things, and I've been wanting to re-read but haven't had the concentration and then didn't think I could take the emotional hit. Now it's feeling like a good move for some catharsis and solace.

Expect me back here in a few weeks balling like a baby at the end of TCG