Heard GRRM say ‘Dothraki’ and it’s nothing like the popular pronunciation of the word. He says it like ‘Doth-ra-KAI’ instead of ‘Doth-ra-KEE’.
Fantasy maps are cool and all but I find correct pronunciation of the main characters, places, entities even more important. Surely the publishers can spare a couple of pages to ensure that the author and the readers say things the same way?
Today is the anniversary of the end of this famous fantasy series. What do you guys think of this series and book?
“There are no endings, and never will be endings, to the turning of the Wheel of Time.
But it was an ending.”
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Publisher: Tor Books; 1st edition (March 15, 2002) Page count: 928
Literary awards: Locus Award for Best First Novel (2002), Gaylactic Spectrum Award Nominee for Best Novel (2002), Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award (RT Award) for Best Fantasy Novel (2001)
Bingo squares: No ifs, and, or buts; Award Finalist
REVIEW
Kushiel’s Dart is a fascinating opening to the Kushiel’s Legacy series. An interesting narrative and distinct voice immersed me from the start. Many readers come with certain preconceptions and expectations when they hear about all the sex and the protagonist’s profession (courtesan). Kushiel’s Dart thrills the most when it defies these expectations, and it does it all the time.
The book follows the life of Phèdre nó Delaunay. Born with a scarlet mote in the eye (so-called Kushiel’s Dart), she …
Many of you might know Laird Barron as one of - if not the - greatest living authors in the horror genre. Some of you might not know of him, if so congratulations, you have some great reading ahead.
But Laird is very sick, and with healthcare being what it is in the USA even a somewhat accomplished writer can’t afford healthcare. He’s now in the ER, in need of assistance.
“revealing admirable breasts”, “the only clue I had that it was a woman was her generous breasts” and “holding books against her tender breasts”. This is from a book meant to be a ‘fairy tale’ - there are no other sexually charged moments or even any romance yet. There are no descriptions of males in such a reductive way. It just feels jarring and unnecessary?
Like, dude come on, women can be described or written as more than just barely sentient tits. 3 out of 4 women characters so far in the story and their biggest character trait is their boobs. This is from a writer who I know has been criticized in the past for writing in this style in the past so I guess I was hoping he might have grown past it but I guess old habits die hard…
I just started God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater. Not sure why it took me so long to try it out, first chapter
Honest, industrious, peaceful citizens were classed as bloodsuckers, if they asked to be paid a living wage. And they saw that praise was reserved henceforth for those who devised means of getting paid enormously for committing crimes against which no laws had been passed. Thus the American dream turned belly up, turned green, bobbed to the scummy surface of cupidity unlimited, filled with gas, went bang in the noonday sun.”
And this book is from 1965, not like he wrote it during the 80s or 90s. Im sure there was some income inequality then, but its only gotten worse, at least in the US
And not far after that quote I came across this gem
Samuel thundered that no American factory hand was worth more than eighty cents a day. And yet he could be thankful for the opportunity to pay a hundred thousand dollars or more for a painting by an Italian three centuries dead. And he …
I will be completely honest, I have not read a graphic novel since I was in elementary school. I have heard about Maus and it’s praise for years, but I was hesitant to read it because it was a graphic novel. The book was put back onto my radar when schools around the country started to ban it last year. After being on my reading list for about a year, I finally read Maus and now I wish I had gotten to it sooner.
Before reading Maus, I was vaguely familiar with it’s premise. All I knew was that it was about the Holocaust and the characters were mice. The story is about the experience of Art Spiegelman’s father as a Jew in occupied Poland and his time at Auschwitz. I have read other first-hand accounts of the Holocaust, but Maus resonated differently with me than the others. The story is absolutely heart-wrenching and will put you on the verge of tears. That being said, it’s just one of those books that should be read by everyone to truly learn about the atrocities that happened in …
This week: pics of people kayaking down California city streets during massive floods, and Jerome Powell (US Fed Chair) pronouncing that climate change is not the concern of the central banks LOL. Spoiler tag because I guess these are very minor spoilers.
The news I hope to hear but doesn’t seem to be happening is the resurgence of airships & ocean transit.
Tuf Voyaging by George R. R. Martin is a sci-fi space opera with elements of dark comedy and horror. If you’re familiar with GRRM’s other works, this book is no different in terms of GRRM’s incredible world building and character writing skills. I would hesitate to call this novel “hard” sci-fi as it doesn’t get too much into the technical jargon of what makes everything work, but make no mistake folks, this is definitely sci-fi and not fantasy - although at times it almost feels fantastical.
The setting of the novel takes place in the distant future thousands of years after a once powerful Earth Empire has been long defunct. Humanity has spread across the galaxy and inhabits many dozens of worlds. The protagonist, Haviland Tuf, is a rather unsuccessful interstellar merchant who happens to be hired by an odd group consisting of some scholars, some mercenaries, and a cybernetic android in order to transport them to a distant planet whereupon they …
I’m curious if anyone out there has any suggestions for military scifi with a Soviet/CCP aesthetic. I’m looking for like, Stalingrad in space, if there’s a critique of Communism in the writing that’s fine, if there’s not that’s also fine. I just want some military scifi where the space marines scream, “For the Revolution!” instead of “For the Emprah!” If I can’t find it I might just have to write it myself. If I find it and don’t like it I’ll definitely have to write it myself.
As per title I recently finished The Expanse series and I feel like there is a black hole in my life now. Start to finish it had me hooked on every page. Honestly the best series I’ve ever read. Loved the characters, the plot, the horror elements, the realistic science. God damn it was good.
Looking for something to read now and I’ve been struggling to get into anything new. I want more like The Expanse. Hard sci-fi, horror, for adults,(creative swearing in the Expanse really helped sell it) with compelling characters.
I tried reading Dead Silence and The Gone World but couldn’t connect with any of the characters. Any recommendations would be amazing :)
Having read all the “classics”, I was wondering if there are any more recent books in the style of Neuromancer? Earth setting, nearish future.
The only one I’ve read that sort of fits is The Windup Girl. Can’t seem to find any others.
EDIT: Thank you for all the replies! I said “cyberpunk” because I don’t really know a better term. For me the appeal is the near future setting, the speculations on the future of technology and mankind, while limiting more speculative subjects such as aliens, space exploration or the far future (those subjects can be interesting but not what I’m looking for right now).
Of the books mentioned (after year 2000), I’ve read Altered Carbon (good) and Void Star (not a fan, which surprised me, it should be something I would like).
EDIT 2: List of books I’ll read next (not exhaustive, thanks for all suggestions!):
Daemon, Daniel Suarez
Noor, Nnedi Okorafor
Pattern Recognition, William Gibson …
I am looking for science fiction or fantasy stories where the ruins and artifacts of ancient civilizations play a large role, and with a focus on the mystery and wonder of it.
The core thing I am fishing for is the atmosphere of being surrounded by the enigmatic remnants of a bygone and more advanced civilization - remnants that can perhaps be useful and valuable but also dangerous. The ruins must be not merely tragic and romantic but also scary.
Bonus points for cosmic horror, though it is not mandatory.
The best examples I can name are At the Mountains of Madness by H. P. Lovecraft and the 2022 video game Scorn. (I cite Scorn as an example of the worldbuilding and atmosphere I want, but I am looking for literature or perhaps comics, not video games.)
Thanks in advance!
I watched Palm Spring today
I absolutely loved it
For those of you who haven’t seen it I won’t ruin it beyond telling you that it has a Groundhog/Happy Death Day element, and as always, Andy kills it
But that got me thinking.
Popstar flopped, I’ve never even heard of Palm Spring until I watched it today, but had I known anything about it I would have gone to see it
I know he’s done some animated stuff that’s made money but his live action stuff never seems to take off.
What do you attribute that to? Do people see him as just a TV guy because of SNL and his TV show.
Is there still some stigma to a TV star trying to transition to the big screen?
Are you one of the people who see an Andy Samberg movie playing and don’t go see it?
If so, what us it that you don’t like about him, or what is your reason for not checking him out in the theater?