[JPK]

Abyss, on 28 September 2021 - 06:52 PM, said:

JPK, on 28 September 2021 - 06:41 PM, said:

Abyss, on 28 September 2021 - 04:01 AM, said:

JPK, on 27 September 2021 - 08:30 PM, said:

Alright Abyss, I'm starting THE SANDMAN ACT 1 due to your pushing. I just reread ABSOLUTE SANDMAN Volumes 1 & 2 earlier this year, so it's pretty fresh in my memory. I'm hoping this is half as good as you have lead me to believe.

I hope so too. I've read the graphics multiple times, the last being a few years ago. This is adapting the story for a different medium. The same but different, so to speak. I'm curious what you think with the comics reasonably recent in your brainz.
For me, it's like experiencing the story again like it's new.


....relatedly, if the Netflix series can generate half this level of feels it will be a glorious thing.

Just finished the Diner. That was suitably horrifying. I think the horror aspects really shine though in the audio drama.

I did not think they could pull that off, and if anything they improved on that aspect of the floppies.
Seriously, Act 2 just freaked me right out ....and i KNEW what was going to happen.

Would I be correct to guess it's involving the A GAME OF YOU arc?

[Tsundoku]

Dadding, on 28 September 2021 - 03:28 PM, said:

Tsundoku, on 28 September 2021 - 07:53 AM, said:

Am I the only person who reads Ben Aaronovitch with a Google map of London at the ready? I quite like maps and it's quite fun to check it zooming in and out, even street view or just the images of the address.

I think somewhere in my recent travels I found a map where someone had handily placed pins for all the locations mentioned in the books, not that I can find it again ...

I'm on Book 3! Is this the map you were talking about?

The one I saw was more like a Google map, but that's pretty handy, thanks.

[Abyss]

JPK, on 28 September 2021 - 07:26 PM, said:

Abyss, on 28 September 2021 - 06:52 PM, said:

JPK, on 28 September 2021 - 06:41 PM, said:

Abyss, on 28 September 2021 - 04:01 AM, said:

JPK, on 27 September 2021 - 08:30 PM, said:

Alright Abyss, I'm starting THE SANDMAN ACT 1 due to your pushing. I just reread ABSOLUTE SANDMAN Volumes 1 & 2 earlier this year, so it's pretty fresh in my memory. I'm hoping this is half as good as you have lead me to believe.

I hope so too. I've read the graphics multiple times, the last being a few years ago. This is adapting the story for a different medium. The same but different, so to speak. I'm curious what you think with the comics reasonably recent in your brainz.
For me, it's like experiencing the story again like it's new.


....relatedly, if the Netflix series can generate half this level of feels it will be a glorious thing.

Just finished the Diner. That was suitably horrifying. I think the horror aspects really shine though in the audio drama.

I did not think they could pull that off, and if anything they improved on that aspect of the floppies.
Seriously, Act 2 just freaked me right out ....and i KNEW what was going to happen.

Would I be correct to guess it's involving the A GAME OF YOU arc?

SEASON OF MISTS. The boarding school interlude.

[amphibian]

The Diner is the worst Sandman story arc and I think all future adaptations should skip it and move straight into the other stuff.

Simplify things by having freed Morpheus put back his realm together again.

[JPK]

I halfway agree with you, but I think instead of completely axing it I'd rather see adaptations skip The Diner specifically but leave the rest of Doctor D's arc intact.

Spoiler

I think it serves a purpose in showing that humanity cannot handle the power of The Dreaming without Dream's moderating intervention and gives us our first true taste of Dream's power in his own realm during the duel.

That said, I do believe that The Diner does a good job setting up the reader in preparation for some of the horror arcs in the future.

Edit: Listened to a bit more on my lunch and I completely agree about Kat Dennings working surprisingly well as Death.

This post has been edited by JPK: 28 September 2021 - 09:26 PM

[Stalker]

I just finished Victoria Goddard's Hands of the Emperor, which certainly could be considered a tome at 970ish pages. This was a library ebook pick as the description sounded interesting , but I wasn't expecting to love it and the characters. Googling it after the fact, I found this twitter thread by an author / podcaster who I've never heard of, but who is also super enthusiastic about the book. "Like take THE GOBLIN EMPEROR, make it from the POV of one of Maia's servants, and then make it 900 pages long, all cozy and slow, and have the big event of the first 25% be the emperor going on vacation".

A good description. The rest of the thread expands on the book beyond that. Definitely one of my favorite reads of the year (of 90ish books so far). Already placing holds on a bunch of other stuff by the author.

This post has been edited by Stalker: 29 September 2021 - 11:19 AM

[Morgoth]

Someone described Hands of the Emperor as competency porn, and I think that fits pretty well. Very competent people doing very competent things. I liked it a great deal, there was something refreshing about a story where no one is evil, but there is plenty of conflict all the same.

I would recommend reading The Tower at the End of the World first if you're able though, it's a short story taking place at some point before Hands of the Emperor.

This post has been edited by Morgoth: 29 September 2021 - 06:59 AM

[Maark Abbott]

Morgoth, on 29 September 2021 - 06:57 AM, said:

Someone described Hands of the Emperor as competency porn, and I think that fits pretty well. Very competent people doing very competent things. I liked it a great deal, there was something refreshing about a story where no one is evil, but there is plenty of conflict all the same.

I would recommend reading The Tower at the End of the World first if you're able though, it's a short story taking place at some point before Hands of the Emperor.

In these dark times I can see why competency would be pornographic to many.

Although I gotta confess. Given Stalker's pfp and the fact that the word Emperor is in there, I was thinking of DA EMPRAH instantly.

[Stalker]

Morgoth, on 29 September 2021 - 06:57 AM, said:

Someone described Hands of the Emperor as competency porn, and I think that fits pretty well. Very competent people doing very competent things. I liked it a great deal, there was something refreshing about a story where no one is evil, but there is plenty of conflict all the same.

I would recommend reading The Tower at the End of the World first if you're able though, it's a short story taking place at some point before Hands of the Emperor.

I think competency porn is a great description for the half of the book dealing with affairs of state and politics. These are middle aged characters who are well established in their roles and are effectively governing the world.

I’ll check out that short story. Thanks.

[Abyss]

amphibian, on 28 September 2021 - 08:21 PM, said:

The Diner is the worst Sandman story arc and I think all future adaptations should skip it and move straight into the other stuff.

Simplify things by having freed Morpheus put back his realm together again.

JPK, on 28 September 2021 - 08:48 PM, said:

I halfway agree with you, but I think instead of completely axing it I'd rather see adaptations skip The Diner specifically but leave the rest of Doctor D's arc intact.

Spoiler

I think it serves a purpose in showing that humanity cannot handle the power of The Dreaming without Dream's moderating intervention and gives us our first true taste of Dream's power in his own realm during the duel.

That said, I do believe that The Diner does a good job setting up the reader in preparation for some of the horror arcs in the future.

Edit: Listened to a bit more on my lunch and I completely agree about Kat Dennings working surprisingly well as Death.

The Diner captures a thing that arises later in the series... how do you depict events that are world if not universe-wide without a twelve part maxi crossover that derails the series?
Some authors resort to a few panels of the Justice League rescuing people from a burning building while a news overlay read 'world wide chaos as people freak the fnck out'. Gaiman doesn't do that. He takes a small story and uses it to tell the bigger one. The interlude that i ref'd upthread is another example.
There are elements to The Diner specifically that are rooted in its late 80s/early 90s origins. I suspect if Gaiman wrote it today he would do it different, i also suspect Netflix will skip or revise it completely.
I can't think of another story arc in the original Sandman series that is 'worse', but i don't dislike it. Desire does a number of things that bother me more because they are explained away as it being in their nature, which is in essence the explanation for The Diner and less difficult to accept as a rationale for what happens.

[JPK]

Abyss, on 29 September 2021 - 03:31 PM, said:

amphibian, on 28 September 2021 - 08:21 PM, said:

The Diner is the worst Sandman story arc and I think all future adaptations should skip it and move straight into the other stuff.

Simplify things by having freed Morpheus put back his realm together again.

JPK, on 28 September 2021 - 08:48 PM, said:

I halfway agree with you, but I think instead of completely axing it I'd rather see adaptations skip The Diner specifically but leave the rest of Doctor D's arc intact.

Spoiler

I think it serves a purpose in showing that humanity cannot handle the power of The Dreaming without Dream's moderating intervention and gives us our first true taste of Dream's power in his own realm during the duel.

That said, I do believe that The Diner does a good job setting up the reader in preparation for some of the horror arcs in the future.

Edit: Listened to a bit more on my lunch and I completely agree about Kat Dennings working surprisingly well as Death.

The Diner captures a thing that arises later in the series... how do you depict events that are world if not universe-wide without a twelve part maxi crossover that derails the series?
Some authors resort to a few panels of the Justice League rescuing people from a burning building while a news overlay read 'world wide chaos as people freak the fnck out'. Gaiman doesn't do that. He takes a small story and uses it to tell the bigger one. The interlude that i ref'd upthread is another example.

I think this is a really good point. It's so easy to completely focus on the sheer horror of what's happening inside the diner itself that it's surpringly easy to overlook the stuff happening on the TV that that shows that it's not limited to just the diner.

[Cyphon]

Sandman has been on my radar for a long while but never got it and ereader preference means I'm less likely to pick up a paper copy. Maybe I'll have to wait for the ear book to come to Kobo or for the TV series.

[Abyss]

Cyphon, on 29 September 2021 - 04:55 PM, said:

Sandman has been on my radar for a long while but never got it and ereader preference means I'm less likely to pick up a paper copy. Maybe I'll have to wait for the ear book to come to Kobo or for the TV series.

The audio presentation is an adaptation of the floppies, done by and for Audible (amazon) so i wouldn't expect to see it elsewhere for a long time. I do not know anyone listening to it who did not read the floppies and i would be very curious to know what such a person thought.

The tv series is of course Netflix.

All that aside, the series is on comixology. The 'original' ten tpbs would run you about $10 each. Printed would cost a little more unless you go for a deluxe edition which are pricey but beautiful. I will say the art in the series is stunning and if you were ever inclined to make an exception and buy dead tree format, this one if worth it.

[Tiste Simeon]

Started Sandman Act II on Audible today. Man it's so good. Constantly surprised by how well they use the source material.

[Imperial Historian]

Stalker, on 29 September 2021 - 11:32 AM, said:

Morgoth, on 29 September 2021 - 06:57 AM, said:

Someone described Hands of the Emperor as competency porn, and I think that fits pretty well. Very competent people doing very competent things. I liked it a great deal, there was something refreshing about a story where no one is evil, but there is plenty of conflict all the same.

I would recommend reading The Tower at the End of the World first if you're able though, it's a short story taking place at some point before Hands of the Emperor.

I think competency porn is a great description for the half of the book dealing with affairs of state and politics. These are middle aged characters who are well established in their roles and are effectively governing the world.

I’ll check out that short story. Thanks.

I've picked up hands of the emperor and it's delightful so far

[worry]

Aside from the short story, is Hands of the Emperor one-and-done?

[Stalker]

Nope. I just finished a follow-up book and apparently there are several more books planned to follow the same characters.

[worry]

Ah, that's how they getcha.

[JPK]

Briar King, on 29 September 2021 - 07:41 PM, said:

Still going on the WoT rereread with The Great Hunt.

I ll never finish Gaunt at this rate.

Do you need me to start the next arc to put some gas back in your tank?

[Morgoth]

worry, on 29 September 2021 - 10:14 PM, said:

Aside from the short story, is Hands of the Emperor one-and-done?

Yes and no. I'd say it's a stand alone, but the author is writing more stories in that same world.