[polishgenius]

You should, it's got a lot of good things about it (and although I liked Darker Shade I'm pretty sure you're enjoying it more than I did so you might like Vicious more too). Just be prepared for what it is, it totally lives up to its title.

[JPK]

Alright guys, I just finished Crossroads of Twilight by Jordan on audiobook. I don't think I hated this book the way long term fans did but it was still extremely underwhelming. It had a few moments that I really enjoyed:

Spoiler

Mat and Toun are fucking awesome. Mat is at his best when dealing with overpowering women, mostly because he doesn't really know what to do with them so he's on his toes and improvising a lot. I also loved the pair of chapters with both versions of the tower coming to the conclusion that they have to approach the black tower for support. Sheriam absolutely losing it was fantastic.

I feel like I missed something huge though, and maybe one of you can help me figure it out:

Spoiler

when did it really come out that Sheriam is Black Ajah? I know that she is at this point, but I really missed it earlier. I've seen clues through the last couple books like the mysterious beatings and such, but when was it that I should have realized she was a traitor?

Beyond that little bit that I mentioned everyone was right, this could really have been cut to about 100 pages of actual story.

The next story that is going to be forced into my earholes is Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson as a palette cleanser before I jump back into WoT.

[Morgoth]

polishgenius, on 25 April 2015 - 05:30 AM, said:

Larry Correia is one of the Sad Puppy guys and although he's not one of the really objectionable ones, his recent arguments with GRRM on the subject make him look like a bit of a clown. Enough that I'm not really interested in reading his books.

I discovered this piece of drama last evening, and I must say the whole thing is deeply embarassing for the Sad Puppies people. Though, people who actively use "SJW" as a slur have shown themselves incapable of rational behaviour to beging with, so it's not all that surprising.

This post has been edited by Morgoth: 27 April 2015 - 06:06 AM

[acesn8s]

The Incredible Kitsu, on 26 April 2015 - 11:30 PM, said:

Alright guys, I just finished Crossroads of Twilight by Jordan on audiobook. I don't think I hated this book the way long term fans did but it was still extremely underwhelming. It had a few moments that I really enjoyed:

Spoiler

Mat and Toun are fucking awesome. Mat is at his best when dealing with overpowering women, mostly because he doesn't really know what to do with them so he's on his toes and improvising a lot. I also loved the pair of chapters with both versions of the tower coming to the conclusion that they have to approach the black tower for support. Sheriam absolutely losing it was fantastic.

I feel like I missed something huge though, and maybe one of you can help me figure it out:

Spoiler

when did it really come out that Sheriam is Black Ajah? I know that she is at this point, but I really missed it earlier. I've seen clues through the last couple books like the mysterious beatings and such, but when was it that I should have realized she was a traitor?

Beyond that little bit that I mentioned everyone was right, this could really have been cut to about 100 pages of actual story.

The next story that is going to be forced into my earholes is Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson as a palette cleanser before I jump back into WoT.

Spoiler

The Great Hunt had some clues: How she quickly disposed of the Gray Man's body and told the girls to never speak of it.
When the bubble of evil grabs Egwene, Sheriam, and a few others. The living nightmare of being cooked and eaten by Trollacs came from Sheriam.

[JPK]

acesn8s, on 27 April 2015 - 12:15 PM, said:

The Incredible Kitsu, on 26 April 2015 - 11:30 PM, said:

Alright guys, I just finished Crossroads of Twilight by Jordan on audiobook. I don't think I hated this book the way long term fans did but it was still extremely underwhelming. It had a few moments that I really enjoyed:

Spoiler

Mat and Toun are fucking awesome. Mat is at his best when dealing with overpowering women, mostly because he doesn't really know what to do with them so he's on his toes and improvising a lot. I also loved the pair of chapters with both versions of the tower coming to the conclusion that they have to approach the black tower for support. Sheriam absolutely losing it was fantastic.

I feel like I missed something huge though, and maybe one of you can help me figure it out:

Spoiler

when did it really come out that Sheriam is Black Ajah? I know that she is at this point, but I really missed it earlier. I've seen clues through the last couple books like the mysterious beatings and such, but when was it that I should have realized she was a traitor?

Beyond that little bit that I mentioned everyone was right, this could really have been cut to about 100 pages of actual story.

The next story that is going to be forced into my earholes is Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson as a palette cleanser before I jump back into WoT.

Spoiler

The Great Hunt had some clues: How she quickly disposed of the Gray Man's body and told the girls to never speak of it.
When the bubble of evil grabs Egwene, Sheriam, and a few others. The living nightmare of being cooked and eaten by Trollacs came from Sheriam.

Ok, yeah that helps. The first one I'd completely forgotten, and the second never struck me that was what was going on.

[Dolmen 2.0]

Abyss, on 24 April 2015 - 10:23 PM, said:

Dolmen 2.0, on 22 April 2015 - 11:00 AM, said:

I'm reading monster hunters international by Larry Correia, on book 2: Vendetta. Thanks Abyss on the Recco.

It's fun to read, high fantasy meets modern warfare by a true gunning enthuthiast.

I'm not a gun nut. I've never really fired anything weapon related. maybe a bow and the odd pellet rifle. I do enjoy the odd Fps but I suck at it.
I admittedly don't much like the fact we use guns as much as we do. Still... there's an real appeal to this book.

Master Vampire versus mortar fire? I can appreciate that.

Pretty sure that's not my reco, but now I may try it, so thank you!

Ah, well this is awkward.

Morgoth, on 27 April 2015 - 06:05 AM, said:

polishgenius, on 25 April 2015 - 05:30 AM, said:

Larry Correia is one of the Sad Puppy guys and although he's not one of the really objectionable ones, his recent arguments with GRRM on the subject make him look like a bit of a clown. Enough that I'm not really interested in reading his books.

I discovered this piece of drama last evening, and I must say the whole thing is deeply embarassing for the Sad Puppies people. Though, people who actively use "SJW" as a slur have shown themselves incapable of rational behaviour to beging with, so it's not all that surprising.

Reading through the whole sad puppy debacle and I guess hindsight is 20/20. I can see the conservative mind set in the writing style, always could, just ignored it for the gun-running fun. Summer popcorn on paper.

Looking at it in the context of the authors attitude and mindset kinda ruins the books for me tho.

They were fun but no mind sandwich.


The ideology attached makes me wanna take a few steps back on the series.

Guess I'm going back to Tad Willy and his Bobby Doller series, which has its own minor controversies... but still an interesting read.

I've been trying to get Jokers Wild by GRRM, the third installment of the wildcards series but there are non in stock at the local bookstores so Happy hour in Hell will have to do.

[Serenity]

All the Gemmell talk up-thread has got me wanting to read the few I have left unread. Waylander was the book that really got me into Gemmell (even though I read Legend before it, and Wolf in Shadow before that) but I do agree, it doesn't quite work in some ways. I loved the Skilgannon books but his Rigante series is my favourite, especially Sword in the Storm and Ravenheart.


I'm still working my way through Patrick O'Brian's 'Aubrey/Maturin' series - just finished book #16 The Wine Dark Sea. Now I'm reading Alastair Reynolds' The Prefect (figured it was time to finish his RS books so I can move on to the 'Poseidon's Children' books).

[Maark Abbott]

Can someone summarise this whole Sad Puppies thing into a sentence? Is it sort of like an authorial Crips vs Bloods?

[QuickTidal]

Maark, on 28 April 2015 - 12:49 PM, said:

Can someone summarise this whole Sad Puppies thing into a sentence? Is it sort of like an authorial Crips vs Bloods?

Right wing conservative Authors (of varying levels of distaste and mania) figured out how to "game/rig" the nominations for the Hugo Award writing categories as a result of how the Hugo's have always been organized, and have filled the ballots with their own right wing conservative authors (of varying levels of distaste and mania).

Sidebar: The Puppies claim is that this was done to exploit the flaw in the system for all to see. Which whether or not one buys as their reason...they certainly appeared to show. I don't know what good it will do to be honest. It just makes the Hugos matter even less to me.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 28 April 2015 - 01:55 PM

[QuickTidal]

A DARKER SHADE OF MAGIC by V.E. Schwab (which I'm midway through) is very likely to be my Best Read of 2015 so far. It's absolutely wonderful.

[amphibian]

Really pushy white people attempt to push their preferred politically simpatico authors to Hugo awards by gaming voting system.

It was then hijacked by an even worse group of pushy white people who call themselves Rabid Puppies and are nasty people focused on gaming the system and driving others out and away.

[McLovin]

Loving SWORD FROM RED ICE, but it's kind of a slog because it's so bleak. I guess you could say that of the entire series really.

[Abyss]

Maark, on 28 April 2015 - 12:49 PM, said:

Can someone summarise this whole Sad Puppies thing into a sentence? Is it sort of like an authorial Crips vs Bloods?

It's about ethics in crowd-sourced awards for genre writing!

[Abyss]

McLovin, on 28 April 2015 - 03:09 PM, said:

Loving SWORD FROM RED ICE, but it's kind of a slog because it's so bleak. I guess you could say that of the entire series really.

Neat setting, potentially fascinating world, decent if unoriginal characters... but wow... SO MUCH WALKING.
I bailed after two books.

[polishgenius]

I'm reading City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett. So far it has been an absolute joy.

[firvulag]

Just finished reading the Sundering duology by Jacqueline Carey. She's been on my radar for a while with her Kushiel books but I decided to read the Sundering since it's only two. I thought they were absolutely fantastic and recommend them to everyone. I'm now about 2/3 through the first of the Inheritance trilogy by N.K. Jemisin. Not read any of her stuff before but I'm really liking this, hope the rest of the series is as good.

[JPK]

firvulag, on 28 April 2015 - 06:53 PM, said:

Just finished reading the Sundering duology by Jacqueline Carey. She's been on my radar for a while with her Kushiel books but I decided to read the Sundering since it's only two. I thought they were absolutely fantastic and recommend them to everyone. I'm now about 2/3 through the first of the Inheritance trilogy by N.K. Jemisin. Not read any of her stuff before but I'm really liking this, hope the rest of the series is as good.

The Sundering was better than Kushiel imho. If you do decide to tackle Kushiel expect a lot more sex. The main character (of the first trilogy at least) is an extremely masochistic courtesan. It has some great political intrigue, but it's basically erotica.

[Tiste Simeon]

Not to go all Ron Swanson but award ceremonies seem to be fairly pointless anyway. They just go with whatever popular view or biggest money making thing is going. Oscars? Couldn't care less who wins!

That said, when Mark Lawrence asked I happily voted for him cos he's a cool guy who actually interacts with fans etc. If the award meant him getting more exposure I'm glad to do it.

These Sad Puppies and their opponents need to grow up and take stock of what's actually important in life.

Maybe I'm tired right now...

[amphibian]

Tiste Simeon, on 28 April 2015 - 09:07 PM, said:

Not to go all Ron Swanson but award ceremonies seem to be fairly pointless anyway. They just go with whatever popular view or biggest money making thing is going. Oscars? Couldn't care less who wins!

That said, when Mark Lawrence asked I happily voted for him cos he's a cool guy who actually interacts with fans etc. If the award meant him getting more exposure I'm glad to do it.

These Sad Puppies and their opponents need to grow up and take stock of what's actually important in life.

Maybe I'm tired right now...

The Hugos tend to be viewed as relatively prestigious and the bump can be significant to those who aren't already the behemoth best-sellers. That bump can be the difference between paying some bills, no bills or all the bills that month.

However, the Hugos have only recently (in the last twenty years or so) tried to be more inclusive and actually aim towards awarding the best works. Most of the Hugo awarding participants really do read each book and vote as they will - which is a somewhat flawed system in part because the total number of participants is low enough that it can be bumrushed by the Sad/Rabid Puppies with a fair amount of success.

This post has been edited by amphibian: 28 April 2015 - 09:30 PM

[firvulag]

The Incredible Kitsu, on 28 April 2015 - 09:04 PM, said:

firvulag, on 28 April 2015 - 06:53 PM, said:

Just finished reading the Sundering duology by Jacqueline Carey. She's been on my radar for a while with her Kushiel books but I decided to read the Sundering since it's only two. I thought they were absolutely fantastic and recommend them to everyone. I'm now about 2/3 through the first of the Inheritance trilogy by N.K. Jemisin. Not read any of her stuff before but I'm really liking this, hope the rest of the series is as good.

The Sundering was better than Kushiel imho. If you do decide to tackle Kushiel expect a lot more sex. The main character (of the first trilogy at least) is an extremely masochistic courtesan. It has some great political intrigue, but it's basically erotica.

I was aware of the erotic aspect of the Kushiel series, and how it seemed to put a lot of people off it. It's another reason why I chose to read the Sundering instead; basically just dipping my toes in the water