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Bookclub

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Comments

  • MillerCrossMillerCross
    You can change. You can.

    Well, true, and I understand where Alk is coming from. I just think that applying it as a hard and fast rule means that you miss on a lot of cool fiction. 

  • NovaNova
    If you must eat a phoenix, boil it, do not roast it. This only encourages their mischievous habits.

    Something I'm wondering about, with regards to The Stormlight Archives.


    When Szeth kills Gavilar, Gavilar gives him a pendant, which is mentioned as being basically the opposite of gemstones- rather than emanating Stormlight, it is black, as if it's absorbing light.


    Any idea what's up with that?

  • ClockworkUniverseClockworkUniverse
    OOOooooOoOoOOoo, I'm a ghoOooOooOOOost!
    I imagine it will be very important in the sequel.
  • NovaNova
    If you must eat a phoenix, boil it, do not roast it. This only encourages their mischievous habits.

    But which sequel? I don't want to wait nine books for it to be important again :(


    Presumably it will be important for Szeth's viewpoint book, but... :(

  • ClockworkUniverseClockworkUniverse
    OOOooooOoOoOOoo, I'm a ghoOooOooOOOost!
    Given the author's love of explaining magic systems, I think we should at least be able to theorize before then.
  • NovaNova
    If you must eat a phoenix, boil it, do not roast it. This only encourages their mischievous habits.

    Yeah, but... Fucking hell, Sanderson, write faster :(


    I mean, I'm thinking that it might have something to do with Voidbinding, but I really have no idea, considering we don't even know what Voidbinding is.

  • ClockworkUniverseClockworkUniverse
    OOOooooOoOoOOoo, I'm a ghoOooOooOOOost!
    Btw, I ordered Elantris and the first Mistborn book. They should arrive tomorrow ^_^
  • NovaNova
    If you must eat a phoenix, boil it, do not roast it. This only encourages their mischievous habits.

    I have only read the first Mistborn book. None of his other works but his Wheel of Time books.

  • ClockworkUniverseClockworkUniverse
    OOOooooOoOoOOoo, I'm a ghoOooOooOOOost!
    Wheel of Time is one of those things I've been meaning to check out for ages.
  • NovaNova
    If you must eat a phoenix, boil it, do not roast it. This only encourages their mischievous habits.

    It's a series I would recommend, with some heavy caveats.


    The first book is very formulaic, it takes a lot of time to build up to the resolution, it's very very long but without the excuse that Sanderson has (rather than being focused on the world and the character's thoughts, the series describes things way too much), there's some questionable things in the book, and overall it's very flawed.


    I enjoy it, and I believe Forzare does too, but it's not as well-written as Sanderson's works.

  • ClockworkUniverseClockworkUniverse
    OOOooooOoOoOOoo, I'm a ghoOooOooOOOost!
    Good to know. I'll read it after I finish everything Sanderson has written.
  • NovaNova
    If you must eat a phoenix, boil it, do not roast it. This only encourages their mischievous habits.

    But everything he has written includes its later books. :|

  • ClockworkUniverseClockworkUniverse
    OOOooooOoOoOOoo, I'm a ghoOooOooOOOost!
    I guess I'll need to acquire a time machine to make that work then.



    Seriously, though, I mean everything /else/ >.>
  • NovaNova
    If you must eat a phoenix, boil it, do not roast it. This only encourages their mischievous habits.

    Okay, okay, I'll let you off this time.


    Also, this thread has been seeing a lot more activity lately. I like it.

  • ForzareForzare
    edited 2012-09-18 03:30:47
    Till shade is gone, till water is gone, into the Shadow with teeth bared, screaming defiance with the last breath, to spit in Sightblinder’s eye on the last Day.
    Yeah, I'm a big Wheel of Time fan, but I'd also add that for like two three books in the middle it's... not that great. But then Knife of Dreams comes along and makes everything better.



    And nova what the hell are you doing read the rest of the Mistborn books.
  • NovaNova
    If you must eat a phoenix, boil it, do not roast it. This only encourages their mischievous habits.

    I would read them if I could.


    They're $25 each, though, and I have to order them in from overseas. It's expensive, and I don't have that much money to spare.

  • ForzareForzare
    Till shade is gone, till water is gone, into the Shadow with teeth bared, screaming defiance with the last breath, to spit in Sightblinder’s eye on the last Day.
    jesus



    why are they so much
  • NovaNova
    If you must eat a phoenix, boil it, do not roast it. This only encourages their mischievous habits.

    australia

  • ForzareForzare
    Till shade is gone, till water is gone, into the Shadow with teeth bared, screaming defiance with the last breath, to spit in Sightblinder’s eye on the last Day.
    of course
  • KrakenKraken

    So I got Way of Kings too, only this edition was divided in half and I bought that. So I'll have to get the second half somehow.


    I really like it. It's grim, but I warily smile every time someone picks up their feet. And there's Windrunner kung-fu too, so there's that.

  • JHMJHM
    edited 2012-09-18 15:10:42
    Here, There, Everywhere

    You're getting me wrong. I'm not objecting to the inevitability of a sad ending, so much that with Ligotti I know exactly what I will get the second I go in. There is no suspense or interest in that sort of horror where I know that by construction there is no hope for a better ending. I don't need that happy ending, but I want there to be a possibility of one existing.  I'd like the plot to have some bearing on the characters actions and decisions, rather than just a checkmark of tragedies because of the setting.



    Again, you are making inferences and assumptions based on incomplete knowledge and treating them as fact. It's a bit like saying, "I shan't read Lovecraft because he was a racist and everything that he wrote will therefore be highly offensive to me." While the first part of the statement is true—Lovecraft was a racist, and it did affect his writing—that does not make the entirety of the statement true. To the contrary, it's pretty wildly inaccurate.


    Sorry, I think I misread that. It's a fair point, and I understand that cosmic horror isn't everyone's cup of tea. That being said, I would like to point out that the actions of characters in Ligotti's fiction do have a distinct bearing on how the story progresses, and that his endings are very rarely predictable in the way that I think you think that they are. After all, the protagonist doesn't have to suffer or die for a story to be unsettling.


    All I can say is, read some of his fiction and judge for yourself. Don't like it? That's fine. Just please, don't make assumptions.



    Besides man, Ligotti generally sounds like a loathsome and horrible person. Why should I be inclined to give him or his fiction the benefit of the doubt in any way?



    Setting aside the fact that the creator of a work being unpleasant doesn't make their work unpleasant, what gave you that impression in the first place?


    (My statement about "X therefore Y" may have been more appropriate here...)


    P.S. I'm guessing that at least some of your trepidation stems from a certain former member of this board. Am I correct?

  • NyktosNyktos
    a little muffled
    So I'm probably going yo start Changes tonight, and I also have the MTG novel The Purifying Fire which is apparently decent. I think I will read The Alloy of Law after those because this thread makes me want moar Mistborn.
  • AlkthashAlkthash
    I'm a damn twisted person

    JMH you're going off an arguing tactic of well "you don't know it until you've tried it and therefore can't talk about it" Which on its head sounds reasonable, but falls apart when you look at how people actually work. Namely that they can infer if they will like things based on elements of those things, without ever taking part in said things. Lets take marathon running. I know I will never enjoy it personally. I don't like being surrounded by people, possibly caught on film, sweating and competitions I know I have no hope and winning. I've never run a marathon, but the combined elements make it sounds wholly unappealing to me.  I can say the same thing about Ligotti's work. The tick off until the doom style horror, the bitter adolescent mindset of pessimistic fatalism, weird for the sake of weird and short stories are generally not things I like. So I can say I won't like his stuff even if I haven't read it. 


     



    Setting aside the fact that the creator of a work being unpleasant doesn't make their work unpleasant, what gave you that impression in the first place?



    Because even if they don't mean to, a writer is going to put a lot of what they believe and feel passionate about into their work. And if those beliefs and passions are things I find abhorrent, I'm relatively sure the work will expose them to me in such a way that it is actively unpleasant to read. 

  • JHMJHM
    Here, There, Everywhere

    I meant, what do you find abhorrent?


    Also, the reason that I have been asking you to read a story or two before you make judgements is because your current ones—



    The tick off until the doom style horror, the bitter adolescent mindset of pessimistic fatalism, weird for the sake of weird and short stories are generally not things I like.



    —are really, really reductive and inaccurate. Sure, there are individual stories that fit each description in his repertoire, but all in all, you seem to be making assumptions based on really poor information.

  • lrdgcklrdgck
    "you duck spawn, refined creature, you try to be cynical, yokel, but all that comes out of it is that you're a dunce!!!!! you duck plug!"

    I was thinking of a certain issue recently. Any of you guys read Guy Gavriel Kay's novel Tigana? I'd like to hear your opinion, if so, that'd also be the opportunity to mention that issue.

  • JHMJHM
    Here, There, Everywhere

    I have not, although it does look intriguing.

  • NyktosNyktos
    a little muffled
    I read a couple chapters, but never finished or even got very far. All I really remember was that it liked to talk about sex a lot.
  • lrdgcklrdgck
    edited 2012-09-18 18:59:33
    "you duck spawn, refined creature, you try to be cynical, yokel, but all that comes out of it is that you're a dunce!!!!! you duck plug!"

    Oh, sex is sort of a plot point, but... No, hardly. It's there once in a while, to hammer a point rather than for fanservice, and I'm saying that as a person pretty much hostile to erotica.

  • ClockworkUniverseClockworkUniverse
    OOOooooOoOoOOoo, I'm a ghoOooOooOOOost!

    Starting Elantris.


    I think it's worth taking a moment to share the first (not counting a half-page prologue) sentence:



    Prince Raoden of Arelon awoke early that morning, completely unaware that he had been damned for all eternity.


  • KrakenKraken
    edited 2012-09-18 19:17:41
    Clockwork: Haha, glorious.



    I've heard good things about Guy Gavriel Kay. I have a few of his books, but I haven't found time to read them yet.



    That said, there are times when one cannot separate a creator from his creation, when one sighs, shakes their head and says; "I have had enough to last ten thousand lives. I will partake no more in this foolish faggotry."
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