I’m just curious if anyone else associates Harry Potter with Christmas?
I know the story takes place throughout most of a whole year, starts in July etc.
To me, though, I’ve always mentally associated it with Christmas. I don’t know if this is the movies and the way they really focus on the Christmas scenes, the fact that the Christmas season is a break in the normal story, that she seems to really focus on the Christmas wonder, or what.
I just know that I make plans based on the season. During October, I’m watching Hocus Pocus, Beatle Juice, Corpse Bride, etc.
During Christmas, I’m watching the classic claymation movies, Elf, and I always throw Harry Potter on the list of movies to potentially watch.
It just occurred to me the other day that I threw them on the Christmas list without even thinking that they don’t just take place in winter.
Does anyone else feel that way? Are they Christmas/winter movies to you? I just feel like I wanna curl up with cocoa and cookies, wrap up in …
By soft, I mean like… no one is a sexy, brooding, badass. They are a healthy, soft couple who trust each other. I am frankly getting tired of one or both characters being written as badass and/or sexy for the sake of them being badass and/or sexy. Most of the time, it feels like the love interest is one of those qualities more for the readers. There isn’t any ‘spicy’ intimacy between them. Their interactions are soft, physical touch being long hugs, head pats, kisses on the hand, forehead, or nose and if you really want a kiss-kiss, it’s chaste and a bit clumsy and one or both is an embarrassed mess after. But they love each other, and trust each other. And you can tell even if romance isn’t the main genre. They interact well with the plot to the point romance is the sub sub genre, but you can tell they care.
And other than their relationship with their significant other, they are also in tune with their friendships. They have strong platonic love with side characters, but it doesn’t …
I’m 2 chapters into The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman and already feel like I got my money’s worth:
”You can have another slap at me, as far as the Guild’s concerned. Seems a shame you wasted your first one doing so little harm, you fatherless kark.” A kark is a wet fart, by the way, if you’ve never been to Galtia or Norholt. The kind you think will be one thing but turns out to be the other, to your shame and sorrow. It’s why a Galt says, “Close the whiskey jug,” not cork it. We say cork and kark almost the same, and most of us don’t hate whiskey so much we’d go putting a kark in it.
Edit: Wow, this sub really has such a good community. I was expecting maybe 2 or 3 responses but this has been a little overwhelming haha
I did a little math. George R. R. Martin is 73 years old. His a song of ice and fire books were realeased from 1996 until today. His longest time to release a book was book 5 (I haven’t taken book 6 because it is not released). If we take distance of time the book we waited for longest (because series ending books need to connect loose ends they tend to take longer) and apply that time to now he would be 78.
This is the most Conservative estimate of at what age the 7th book were to be released. And this calculation disregards the fact that book 6 was not released.
I get it. I wouldn’t want to write a book at 78 either. I am happy Martin gets to enjoy his old age.
I saw a bunch of people raving about this book in a book suggestion thread so I got the audio book from my library.
My God…. it’s like Eric Cartman dropped out freshman year, pounded out an incel manifesto and drowned it in Deus ex machina.
How is every female character a manic pixie dream girl? Every female character only exists for tension. He actually refers to women as females.
Why would the entire world be obsessed with John Hughes movies in 2045? Wouldn’t maybe trying to figure out the famine crises be a better use of time? A main plot point in the book is about major corporations producing new media and entertainment so its definitely not a universe where things stopped being made in the 80’s. So why not just have a small group of folks in a club be into this stuff? Why does it have to be the whole planet? Damn y’all, move on.
Japanese culture fetish. Yeah just complete that circle.
In halfway through it. This book just came to life too day …
I feel like the Dark Tower series should be known by all and I feel like if it came out later with the internet in every house and better effects for the movies to be made earlier it might have but you never know. It’s big in its own right but not like Harry Potter. What series do you think should be bigger?
“There are just some kind of men who—who’re so busy worrying about the next world they’ve never learned to live in this one, and you can look down the street and see the results.”
After reading this line, it’s easily been my favorite book. What’s that specific line or quote that made you say, “Yup. This is the one”?
I love massive book series, especially sci-fi/fantasy. I really wish I could forget about and read The Wheel Of Time again for the first time. A few others would be Harry Potter, Runelords, The Culture series, chronicles of Thomas covenant or the Discworld books.
I want to hear which books made you so emotionally invested in the characters lives that you were genuinely sad and upset to say goodbye to them at the end. You patiently waited for every next book in the series and raced through only to be disappointed again when they had to leave until the next instalment. What are the books that when the story ends for good, it’s heartwrenching that they have to go forever but you’re glad they were part of your life and you feel like you learned great life lessons from their stories.
Edit: thank you for all the amazing recommendations for new books and reminders of awesome books I had forgotten.
Just finished Hyperion, great book absolutely loved it. But it fits into a lot of sci-fi I read of just having a bunch of weirdly place descriptions of women’s bodies. Made doubley hilarious since its a story of people telling their stories to each other, the image of Kassad going into deep breast and nipple descriptions while his 6 companions awkwardly avert their eyes makes me giggle.
What are the great sci-fi books written by women? Or at least great print sci-if that doesn’t give me creepy vibes?
Edit: By creepy vibes I mean, “author being a bit to into his own fictional character’s tits” creepy. I totally love actual narrative or thematic creepy.
edit 2: Wow gang, all these recommendations look great! I have filled up my amazon Wishlist and limited myself to only actually buying one or two, otherwise my To Read pile would be a bit excessive!
I’m watching Dr. Stone right now. Excellent show, by the way. If you haven’t watched it, a large part of the show is centered on re-developing technological civilization from nothing.
I’m looking for books with that same concept. Starting with nothing but raw natural resources, and progressively developing technology. Starting with, like, primitive hand tools, and working up to advanced metallurgy, electronics, aerospace, etc.
There is something really inspiring and satisfying about observing characters innovate and improvise in that manner.
I think it’s been around 10 years since his last book.
I know he’s never been the most prolific authors, but I was hoping for at least another book before retirement?
With the recent discovery of a ‘real’ OnOff star, I’ve been thinking about his work again. Wasn’t a huge fan of Rainbows End originally but I re-read it recently and re-evaluated it a lot more positively. Children of the Sky seemed to promise a lot in terms of a sequel but we never got one…
I have read a decent amount of sci-fi. One of my favourite books are Hyperion 1 & 2, Three Body Problem Trilogy, Dune, Book of the new sun and Diaspora by Greg Egan. Read some classics, too. I was never lost or really confused in these books.
Blindsight? I am at complete loss. I have no idea what’s going on. Is it me or is it the book? If someone could explain the 1⁄3 of the book I would really appreciate it. There is no chapter summary online anywhere. I am around page 80. And I am about to drop it. I rarely drop books.
Some aliens fell from the sky, some folks going to a beacon in space. That’s all I got … Nothing in between makes sense. The dialogues just feel random. Vampires? Nothing is explained. Who are all these people in space? What are all these weird terminologies? I don’t get it…
Sorry for the rant.
Edit: You folks are awesome! Thank you all for the prompt replies!
I’ve read a fair bit, mostly of very well-known authors (Asimov, Heinlein, Vinge, Niven, etc) but I don’t recall this having come up. Curious if anyone knows of a story that predicted this or something like it.
Hi everyone, over the last few years I’ve been reading lots of sci-fi. I keep a running list of my favorite books to recommend to the unfortunate friends of mine who haven’t read much sci-fi. Given this list, do you all have any recommendations??
Dune
Rendezvous with Rama
Stranger in a Strange Land
Foundation (series)
Martian Chronicles
Three-Body Problem (series)
Hyperion 1⁄2
City and the Stars
Wool/Silo (series)
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
House of Suns
EDIT: Wow, so many amazing recommendations, please keep them coming. I’d like to add to the conversation and add the Bobiverse series to this list since it hasn’t been mentioned.
This is sorta low hanging fruit because all biopics tend to curate and embellish historical figures, but which ones take the cake?
My pick would be P.T Barnum in The Great Showman, in the movie he is a wholesome and tolerant guy who loves his freaks- while in real life he was basically a slave driver.