[Tiste Simeon]

Oh you're back.

[End of Disc One]

carjug, on 16 November 2018 - 09:02 PM, said:

Wretched Readers,
Pierce Brown has written some books that will make you people happy. They contain extended sessions of torture, senseless violence female fighters who regularly suffer dismemberment and military style banter. You want a Harry Potter book where Dumbledore doesn't have to wait till the last chapter to get blasted into the vacuum of deep space? Damn right you do, or your keister wouldn't be here! Get your bad self to your local public library and demand that they shelve the Red Rising series. (Earbook if you can make the morons understand.)
(seriously, it's great Laser-Blaster stuff, Not Erikson, but more fun than Jim Butcher on Crack. )

Are you sure you didn't mean to recommend Robert Stanek? The Red Rising trilogy is great.

[worry]

I'm gonna read those.

[Abyss]

Now i really want to smoke some crack with Jim Butcher.

[polishgenius]

worry, on 15 November 2018 - 08:52 PM, said:

As hellish as this series has been -- and I mean that, it's not just 'grimdark' or whatever, it really feels like I'm reading the Necronomicon sometimes, it feels that tainted and sullied -- I have to believe that to some degree Bakker is also a profoundly silly man.

Bakker watched Alien (and more generally the work of HR Giger), and read Tolkien, and decided to write a book based on the premise 'what would happen if the one invaded the other'? Of course he is a silly man. In a good way.


Vile Angel is the best example of the 'epic name delivery' thing, I reckon.



Anyway, I finished Lies Sleeping. It woz good. I'll wait till some more people have read it before passing proper comment though. Then I carried on my sporadic journey back through Gemmel with Hero in the Shadows, which I think might actually be one of his novels that I missed reading in my formational days...

[HoosierDaddy]

Finished Library at Mt Char.....

I. Loved. It.

Fantastically brutal, horrifying, amusing, and innovative.

[Andorion]

HoosierDaddy, on 16 November 2018 - 11:19 PM, said:

Finished Library at Mt Char.....

I. Loved. It.

Fantastically brutal, horrifying, amusing, and innovative.

This is probably one of the most unique books published in the last decade or so. It kept me guessing till the end, and even the ending was so unsettling.

[worry]

Yah Mt. Char is pretty top notch.
Finished The Unholy Consult, including the appendices, and I thought that was the end of everything but apparently there's gonna be a third series. Anyway, I think a lot of the philosophical stuff went over my head, I don't have the framework or probably even the capacity to get it all, but I still enjoyed this series quite a lot. And like I said before, I had issues with the first trilogy, but not so much with the Aspect Emperor which tackles a lot more straight on. On top of ramping up all the fantasy elements that were backgrounded in Prince of Nothing, it had interesting things to say about religious literalism, caste systems, the value of human life, and -- yes -- patriarchy (though his method is to take a deep ugly dive into its bowels, rather than create a fantasy world void of it, and it doesn't really get going until the second series, but I found that to be true of many of his themes).

Next I'm reading Rejoice! A Knife to the Heart.

[Imperial Historian]

Why mount char hasn't been properly published in the UK is a mystery to me. It's a real pain to get hold of a copy. I keep importing it for people. Is it widely available elsewhere?

[Macros]

Brexit

[Andorion]

Imperial Historian, on 17 November 2018 - 09:04 AM, said:

Why mount char hasn't been properly published in the UK is a mystery to me. It's a real pain to get hold of a copy. I keep importing it for people. Is it widely available elsewhere?

Its available in Kindle and paperback in India. More or less standard prices. Hardback is extremely expensive though.

[Zetubal]

After a stressful week, I finally have the chance to sleep in, and what do I do instead? Right, I get up early to finish Captain's Fury (aka Alera 4). Spoilers below.

Interesting entry in the series. Some of what I've criticized about every Alera novel so far still holds true, but other things are also different. Refreshingly so, in fact.

Things I disliked
First off, something I have to get off my chest: I think the lack of charismatic, credible antagonists is really starting to drag down my enjoyment. Arnos and Navaris make for yet another laughably cartoonish duo of villains whose personalities can quite easily be summarized in terms of one of two tropes. It's hard to take them serious when they get bested at pretty much every occasion. Arnos is a self-centered fool who is roughly driven by the most basic villainous motivations.At every turn he is outsmarted, outmaneuvered, intimidated or someone pulls rank on him. He seems to be an average military commander at best, and is hopelessly outclassed by the likes of Tavi, Marcus, and Nasaug. His schemes are shallow plans that would only ever work on the stupidest of enemies. Nothing about him is relatable in the slightest. Navaris is arguably worse as she is merely a one note henchmen with daddy issues. Her character reads like bad fan fiction.
There are so many occasions where these two fail to stand up to Tavi and his friends, that it comes off as a really anti-climactic finale when in the end Tavi duels Navaris and Arnos is mercy-killed by Marcus. On a "meta level" I also strongly dislike the use of a duel to the death as a plot device for the finale of this novel. Tavi is the main character of a series that I know has two more parts. Of course he isn't going to die. Things like these may not be fair to the novel as a self-contained story, however, I can't help but feel my personal excitement suffer in situations like these.
Possibly the worst thing about Arnos' role in this novel though is the way it reflects back on Lady Aquitaine and/or the way she is involved in this mess. Up until this point she was the sole beacon of hope in my search for a passable, somewhat interesting opponent. In Alera 4, however, she acts like a total idiot. All she does is talk shit to Arnos and relay orders to Marcus that the latter never bothers to act upon. The fact that she ostensibly spends the better part of a season disguised as a washerwoman is also hard to believe. If she's this important public figure personally involved in scheming to topple the ruler of Alera...how can she afford to go undercover for months on end? And more importantly: why does she do it? Since she never takes any action, I'm left to wonder why she didn't just install a spy or use some of her long range watercrafting communication that she had previously employed to get in contact with Fidelias and others. Also, the fact that she thinks Arnos is the guy to liberate Alera from the Canim is utterly ridiculous. From the get go, it is established that the Canim have between two to five times as many troops as the combined two Senatorial Guard plus First Aleran. Additionally, the Canim have had time to fortify their positions, lay traps, raise a full legion of former slaves as auxiliaries, and they are led by a very capable commander. Why the Alerans outside of Tavi's inner circle ever believe they can just march to Mastings and slaughter the Canim remains a mystery till the end. With Arnos (at least in the way I've described him), the explanation is fairly simple, albeit unsatisfying: the guy is a moron and too stupid to see what's right in front of him. But what about Lady Aquitaine? It is explicitly stated that she sees this campaign as a means to gain prestige for her minion, Arnos, and thereby to secure the support of the Senatorial Guard as a military asset. Why does she think that would ever work? Even if Arnos turned out to be a total military genius (keep in mind that before that campaign he had never even led troops in the field), it's hard to envision his two legions coming out of this unscathed. Even if they miraculously managed to defeat the Canim, they would have lost thousands of troops - veterans of two entire legions that are effectively already subservient to the Aquitaines. All of this for what exactly? A campaign against an enemy on the other side of the continent against a foe who at worst could mount an attack on the lands of High Lords that oppose the Aquitaines like Ceres, Placida, and Antillus.
This shit is giving me a headache.


Now, as negative as this sounds, there's much to like about Alera 4 as well. Although the plot makes no sense at closer inspection, the action is once again greatly captured. Marcus/Fidelias becomes something of a secret antihero who, at this point, is easily my favorite character in the series. Once again, the chemistry between the band of heroes is fantastic. Between Ehren, Tavi, Isana, Araris, and Kitai, we get everything from thrilling action, to decent comedy, and even a few melancholic touching moments. Butcher's skill at describing action scenes is as impressive as ever. Something I also really liked was the subtle background information on the magic/fury system of the world. The worldbuilding in Alera is top notch. Other things I appreciated included Tavi's repeated displays of actual cleverness, the background on his father Septimus, and Gaius' ambigious moments.

One thing I am not quite certain how I feel about is the pace of this novel. While Alera 1 to 3 where all kind of fast-paced already, they at least tended to be confined, or rather: contained, in terms the location(s). Alera 4 sets an even faster pace, wherein characters constantly go from place to place, to partake in smaller "sub-quests", rather than one large task. On the one hand, this is exactly what I meant when I previously said that the constant repetition of military defenses had gotten stale. Alera 4 offers much more variety, naval skirmishes, encounters with sea monsters, heists, etc. On the other hand, individual events in Alera 4 lack the crazy scope or gravitas of things that happened in Alera 3. Even when big epic shit happens, it feels a little rushed because there is just so much going on at all times. This is a bit of a pity. Alera 3's epicness may have been silly, but it was also really damn fun to read. Butcher, you spoiled us.

Ah, one final thing: remember when in my previous post I ranted about how Bernard and Amara's constant urge to fuck got on my nerves? Guess how their part of the story ends...Though, this time, it's also kind of in bad taste because it comes right after a talk about how Amara is shaken by watching Gaius effectively use a weapon of mass destruction to destroy Kalare and its surroundings. Ending that chapter with Bernard calming her down and then proceeding to shag her is actually a little disturbing.

Overall, decent entry in the series. Not as memorable or fun as Alera 3, but still very enjoyable.
On to Alera 5.

Imperial Historian, on 17 November 2018 - 09:04 AM, said:

Why mount char hasn't been properly published in the UK is a mystery to me. It's a real pain to get hold of a copy. I keep importing it for people. Is it widely available elsewhere?

German amazon sells the English paperback version for € 11,99.

This post has been edited by Zetubal: 19 November 2018 - 04:00 PM

[worry]

What happened to Malazan?

[Chance]

Enjoyed Thin Air a fair bit but for the first time I can join the those who find Morgans sexual scenes nearly uncomfortable. Haven't bothered me before but this did at least a little.

On to Lies Sleeping which will likely be just as good as expected of Aaranovitch.

This post has been edited by Chance: 18 November 2018 - 04:37 PM

[TheRetiredBridgeburner]

I'm reading Pride and Prejudice for the first time. It's one of those classics I never studied or ever got round to reading. I'm about half way through and it's reasonably enjoyable so far.

This post has been edited by TheRetiredBridgeburner: 19 November 2018 - 02:15 PM

[QuickTidal]

TheRetiredBridgeburner, on 19 November 2018 - 02:15 PM, said:

I'm reading Pride and Prejudice for the first time. It's one of those classics I never studied or ever got round to reading. I'm about half way through and it's reasonably enjoyable so far.

I like Jane Austen's stuff. I think PERSUASION is my favourite though. PRIDE & PREJUDICE is still really decent though.

[Tattersail_]

TheRetiredBridgeburner, on 19 November 2018 - 02:15 PM, said:

I'm reading Pride and Prejudice for the first time. It's one of those classics I never studied or ever got round to reading. I'm about half way through and it's reasonably enjoyable so far.

It's tolerable, I suppose, but not handsome enough to tempt me.

[Andorion]

QuickTidal, on 19 November 2018 - 02:22 PM, said:

TheRetiredBridgeburner, on 19 November 2018 - 02:15 PM, said:

I'm reading Pride and Prejudice for the first time. It's one of those classics I never studied or ever got round to reading. I'm about half way through and it's reasonably enjoyable so far.

I like Jane Austen's stuff. I think PERSUASION is my favourite though. PRIDE & PREJUDICE is still really decent though.

Tattersail_, on 19 November 2018 - 02:40 PM, said:

TheRetiredBridgeburner, on 19 November 2018 - 02:15 PM, said:

I'm reading Pride and Prejudice for the first time. It's one of those classics I never studied or ever got round to reading. I'm about half way through and it's reasonably enjoyable so far.

It's tolerable, I suppose, but not handsome enough to tempt me.

Eh, I prefer the dark Wuthering Heights to Austen.


Currently rereading Bonehunters. Its just as good as ever, if not better

[QuickTidal]

Andorion, on 19 November 2018 - 03:26 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 19 November 2018 - 02:22 PM, said:

TheRetiredBridgeburner, on 19 November 2018 - 02:15 PM, said:

I'm reading Pride and Prejudice for the first time. It's one of those classics I never studied or ever got round to reading. I'm about half way through and it's reasonably enjoyable so far.

I like Jane Austen's stuff. I think PERSUASION is my favourite though. PRIDE & PREJUDICE is still really decent though.

Tattersail_, on 19 November 2018 - 02:40 PM, said:

TheRetiredBridgeburner, on 19 November 2018 - 02:15 PM, said:

I'm reading Pride and Prejudice for the first time. It's one of those classics I never studied or ever got round to reading. I'm about half way through and it's reasonably enjoyable so far.

It's tolerable, I suppose, but not handsome enough to tempt me.

Eh, I prefer the dark Wuthering Heights to Austen.

Oh if we're allowed to talk about other authors of the century in which Austen published, then Thomas Hardy's FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD is the unequivocal winner, no question, hands down. I adore that book.

[TheRetiredBridgeburner]

I've got Wuthering Heights to re-read. Tried it a few years back and wasn't keen at all, but that was met with enough surprise from people whose opinions I trust that I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt as possibly not being in the mood and see what I think now. Picked them both up recently so it's high up the TRP.

Haven't read any Thomas Hardy though, so I will also look that one up - thanks QT.

This post has been edited by TheRetiredBridgeburner: 19 November 2018 - 05:13 PM