Books, Books?, Books!, Books...What are YOU reading? aka the WoT, GoT, Orson Scott Card thread

[Souj]

[QUOTE=Tyrath;7560121]Finished the Expanse. Heavy spoilers obviously

Spoiler: show

So Holden did a Mass Effect destroy ending? lol

At least he didn’t EMP the universe?


Was very hyped for the Miller return at the end
Was definitely good to have him back.

Wish we had gotten to see Alex's reunion with his kid and meeting his grandkid for the first time. I feel like the whole purpose of the Kit chapters was to force a separation between Alex and the crew at the end. They should've just stayed in Sol

I feel like they were there for the sole purpose of having the scene where they get dusted for maximum empathy points, so of course they had to build them up a little and then they couldn’t just drop the story line immediately. As far as not getting closure on that end, no one did. No one except Amos lol.

Surprised Filip was never brought back again and Naomi didn't learn about him surviving
I didn’t mind. I hated the character. Kinda really didn’t like that whole book he was in.

I wish we hard learned a bit more about the dark gods instead of just "creatures from another universe that don't like Builder's artifacts leeching energy from them"
I think it was for the best. Anything else would likely have been disappointment.


Someone in one of the 1300 colonies figured out galactic teleportation a 1000 years from the ending? Felt like kind of a cheap "oh they'll all find their way back together again" ending that I feel like the book didn't really earn.
It had the feeling of it being added on at the very last minute because the publisher didn’t like the complete cold ending.

Overall I liked it, didn't love it. But it was a decent ending.
Yeah. There’s a book that’s similar called Revelation Space by Alistair Reynolds. It’s three books (apparently 4 according to wiki with a book coming out this year) The first book is really great. But it declines with the next two. First one might be worth checking out if you’re looking to scratch a similar itch, and the second isn’t bad, but I don’t think I finished the third.

Maybe more thoughts later about Expanse, but I really need to sleep.

The biggest problem I have with this book is it seems to have forgotten how it got to this point.
Kinda odd how it seemed everyone forgot Earth had nearly been destroyed. And that I think the only time the word Belter was used was at the very end. Laconia also seemed like an extremely neutered threat, with a few characters saying they’re still a threat, but with the book itself undermining that idea constantly. Nagata, also, ended up lackluster. She needed at least one victory early on, but she didn’t even get that. Xan and Cara also went nowhere along with the ethical ramifications they kept trying to build up. There seemed to be a lot of that in this book. They’d set something up, but then either go nowhere with it or let it wither and die or just instantly drop it (granted I’d stop too, if Amos showed up and told me to). I wonder if they were trying very hard to end it with book 9 or they just couldn’t stretch the material out enough to make a more compelling book 9/10. This should have been the book to build up the things on the other side. Show how much they’re fucking up everything. SHOW, not be told offhandedly by a character. Show us how desperate Laconia has become. The extant in which they are willing to push to hold onto power. Build Tanaka into a ruthless killer willing to do anything to succeed in her mission. Then book 10 actually put more focus on Duarte trying to take control of the situation. Show us how he came to his conclusion. Build him up as it seeming like he may really be the only answer to the problem and then have him slowly take control of people and give us better parallels of him being no better than the protomolecule itself as it echoes what happened on Eros, but on a much grander scale. Instead it just turns out Duarte was just being controlled the whole time by the protomolecule itself doing what it always was trying to do. (I think?)
Still, honestly a better ending than I had expected and none of these things I listed really seeemd like a problem as I read. Only after I started to digest it and think about it.

[Andalusian girls]

lawlz shit didn't see these and was like man Tyr is really taking his time with it but turns out i was the fool taking his time with it

Spoiler: show

solid enough ending, Holden's coda was fitting for him and basically perfect. saying goodbye to Naomi and her asking him to do whatever he's going to do after she goes to sleep. well-done 3-book arc as the torture on Laconia near breaks him, but he dies as the man he always was. pushing every button he comes across, and never being able to walk away from a situation where he can save someone.

Alex likewise gets a nice finale, finally embracing the family he so missed. Naomi gets an ok semi-ironic ending as her tenure of the overarching leader of the resistance comes to an end (something Marco so desperately wanted she was forced into). no closure on Filip was a lil strange but hey at least they're in the same solar system.

Amos ending is eh. didn't much explore what being rebuilt did to him or his immortality, being a kind of welcoming delegate on earth / one of its principle leaders did indeed feel a little cheap. a defining core of his character was always that his innate sociopathy was held in check by loyalty towards Holden and Naomi and adopting their moral compasses. that though he could never be a good person he was aware enough to seek them out and follow their leads (which of course makes him kind of a good person). would need a lot more development to see him in a leadership role that violates this central tenet of his character and feels rule of cool.

otherwise was annoyed so much time was spent with Tanaka and Kit. common failure of ending long narrative epics is spending too much time on new characters, especially adversaries thrown in at the last minute (looking at you Kai Leng). they weren't really bad characters in and of themselves but got far more screen time than Alex or Amos, Tanaka might've even gotten more than Holden or Naomi. the Expanse is an, expansive, universe but these are the core four since day 1 and the narrative ought to have been more tightly focused on them.

that said, Tanaka's murder of Duarte was brutal af and awesome.

leaving the mystery a mystery was ok i suppose. reveals are almost never as good as the mystery but to have them so easily resolved in a little thirty-page post-Duarte struggle also felt extremely underwhelming. 9 books of build-up to these cunts and all Holden gotta do is take control of the ring structure and blow it up, eh.

Miller return was neat but also suggests the protomolecule kept his consciousness even after Holden tried to give him the release of death at the end of 4. post-factoly cheapens one of the more heartfelt beats in the series.

VERDICT: P GOOD COULDA BEEN BETTER

hell of a sci-fi series tho

[Souj]

Spoiler: show

My biggest beef with Tanaka was that she wasn’t out in this role sooner. They coulda done so much more with her. And I feel like Amos the sociopath kinda got reigned in when he was killed. Not a leap that it evened him out a little, but it’s likely (and shown) he can still access that part of him when he needs to, much like the protomolecule accessing Miller.
And as far as Kit, it kinda feels like he was added in at the end, just to give Alex his ending. I’m still torn on the epilogue though, because it’s like Everyone is now separated! (1 page later) Everyone is back together! The only reason I’m thinking about it not negatively, is that it was never a choice for Holden. It wasn’t some decision he was fretting over. He knew people would die, he knew people would go through hard times, but it was better than the alternative. It was the decision he was going to make from the first second the choice came up. If anything it just lets Holden have that much of a happier ending. And also, Amos could still be following Holden. Either guided by his memory and urge to do right by humanity, or some kind of actual link between him and the protomolecule.

[-Zer0-]

Patrick Rothfuss reads Doors of Stone Prologue

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1233421294?t=0h48m45s

[Tyrath]

I hope to read those one day, but I refuse until the last book comes out. Not getting burned again like GRRM

[Buffy]

That book is never coming out.

[Andalusian girls]

hey man it's only taken him 11 years to write the prologue

[Tyrath]

That book is never coming out.

That's why I ain't doing the first two for now

[Souj]

Rothfus read the prologue of Stone of Doors.
https://www.reddit.com/r/KingkillerC...oors_of_stone/

Erikson announced a new Malazan book.
https://twitter.com/erikson_steven/s...551902220?s=20

WoT Amazon's highest rated season 1 premier.

that and more I'm regurgitating from;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfhfDXQCg18

Also, hey, my Ebook's currently $3 for a few days (because that's the lowest I could set it) If you'd like to at least buy a pity copy, that'd be great! But also reading it would be cool too, if not more preferable. Link in my sig cough cough.

[Byrthnoth]

Finished "Klara and the Sun" by Kazuo Ishiguro.

It was a very humanizing look at what the inner life of an AI might look like. Interesting as both Sci Fi and commentary.

[Andalusian girls]

you think that sunlight actually saved her tho

[Byrthnoth]

Spoiler: show

No more than I believe in other faith-based healing.

However, the exploration of how programmed systems might evolve a faith and humans might come to accept it as they believe other black box AI predictions was interesting.

No one in the story dismisses Klara's faith out of hand because AFs doing things that seem impossible is the norm. However, we have access to her internal life as readers and know it is sort of a primative sun-seeking mythology possibly designed to keep her charged. What else might they have accepted from her?

[Mayareira]

Food can fix it by Dr. Oz, solid nutrition information presented in an easy to understand language. Also has plenty of good recipes.

[Tyrath]

I can't tell if you're joking or not because fuck Dr Oz.

[Andalusian girls]

Spoiler: show

No more than I believe in other faith-based healing.

However, the exploration of how programmed systems might evolve a faith and humans might come to accept it as they believe other black box AI predictions was interesting.

No one in the story dismisses Klara's faith out of hand because AFs doing things that seem impossible is the norm. However, we have access to her internal life as readers and know it is sort of a primative sun-seeking mythology possibly designed to keep her charged. What else might they have accepted from her?

well said, it is amusing to see the regression to atavistic belief systems stemming from an excessive confidence in technology. the irony had largely escaped me. crafty Kazuo.

[Tyrath]

Finished The Bonehunters. Love that all the storylines are finally coming together.

Spoiler: show

Was nice to finally get a look at Icarium's berserk mode. Can't wait to see what happens when both him and Karsa meet Rhulad

My boy Kalam better be okay

Getting started on Reaper's Gale already. Seems focused on

Spoiler: show

Silchas Ruin? Hell yeah let's see what Anomander's albino bro is all about

[Andalusian girls]

Spoiler: show

BUT MY BOY TRULL HELD OFF THE LIFESTEALER FOR MULTIPLE SECONDS

also man i was kinda bummed by Apsalar going torture mode on Pearl. know he took the deal with the devil Kalam refused but him and Lostara Yil deserved better.

and Ganoes won my heart killing Poliel (i think) and getting his own army. two strongest armies in the Empire are now owned by the siblings with a dead Felisin between them, wonder how it's gonna shake out.

[Ayn]

You're in for some good times. I love it when the storylines start to converge.

[Tyrath]

Spoiler: show

BUT MY BOY TRULL HELD OFF THE LIFESTEALER FOR MULTIPLE SECONDS

also man i was kinda bummed by Apsalar going torture mode on Pearl. know he took the deal with the devil Kalam refused but him and Lostara Yil deserved better.

Spoiler: show

Tragic that both him and Yostara were present there but neither knew about it.

But I lost any and all sympathy once he shot Kalam in the back with that poison. Even a regular Claw was like wtf, fuck this shit

Oh and yeah Trull is way more badass than his introduction in House of Chains led me to believe lol

[Andalusian girls]

Spoiler: show

Tragic that both him and Yostara were present there but neither knew about it.

But I lost any and all sympathy once he shot Kalam in the back with that poison. Even a regular Claw was like wtf, fuck this shit

Oh and yeah Trull is way more badass than his introduction in House of Chains led me to believe lol

Spoiler: show

fair nuff Kalam ain't deserve to die like that (even if he prolly didn't gg Shadowthrone). like Grub said Pearl was a broken, empty man and there was nothing left there but vengeance at that point.

speaking of what the fuck is the deal with Grub. guess T'amber's mystery was that fuckin Elder God angel thingamajig was possessing her. wonder if Grub has a traveler too or he's just got mage autism