I read the first couple of books of Abercrombie's series a while ago and got quite bored. Can't remember what exactly bothered me but it lacked something.
Would be nice to hear what you're thinking about it.
I read just a few pages but I'm curious to see what will happen! I'll write surely some opinion!I read the first couple of books of Abercrombie's series a while ago and got quite bored. Can't remember what exactly bothered me but it lacked something.
Would be nice to hear what you're thinking about it.
Just finished the final entry in The Witcher series, Lady of the Lake. There's too much damned dust in this room... emotions are a mess. I'll try and phrase something coherent.
Wow.
The first half of the book was pretty slow. But maybe it didn't mesmerize me as much because I didn't realize until after finishing the book (!) and reading through Wikis, that Eredin is actually the King of the Wild Hunt. That was completely lost on me during the read. Suddenly everything takes a completely new perspective... especially in anticipation of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. After reading the books, I realize that this game's title alone hints at a story that has so much more at stake than what I could possibly imagine, before. This is truly a different emotional experience for those who read the books, and those who haven't. I'm still trying to digest this revelation.
There were 3 main events I was looking forward to. Geralt's final confrontation with Vilgefortz, and having played the first game, the battle of Brenna and Rivia's pogrom. And each one of those events left me breathless. I've been trying a few times to properly put my feelings into words here, and failed. Each one of these three events were as emotional and sad as they were well-written. This was the book where Sapkowski's grim reality was at its "finest", or most terrible more-like.
To begin with - I honestly wasn't expecting so many characters to die. Not to mention how they died. When Milva went down, it hurt, but I kind of thought it would end there. Cahir really caught me off guard. Maybe it had to do with me seeing fanart of Cahir and Ciri in the same picture, and coupled with the feelings towards her that he confessed to Geralt, I was expecting something more cheerful. And then he just... goes down. Like that. Without having a chance to really, properly talk with the girl that he had become obsessed with. They finally meet - and Bonhart kills him a few moments later, without much difficulty. Nothing epic. Nothing fancy. Just death. Angouleme didn't hurt as much (even though it was still hard), but Regis was another unpleasant surprise.
It's partly the thought of how their deeds won't be remembered and that if they will be remembered at all (say, Cahir), it will be in a bad way, and partly how unceremonious the deaths were, that make it so painful. That goes for the deaths of the 'heroes' of the battle at Brenna too, whether it was Marti dying to a jealous officer just a few weeks after the battle, or Rusty and Iola by a plague, or Aubry, just like that, without any decorative details, while trying to escape. It's so different from everything else - the heroes don't check out with some big bang. There's no Red Wedding to echo throughout the kingdoms and fill you with rage of treachery, no William Wallace dying for an ideal and screaming it on his lips in his last moments to fill you with new fire and hope. Just a pitchfork to the heart during a riot that the hero had nothing to do with. The wrong place at the wrong time, as simple and grey as that. Geralt accomplished his quest - but won't get to enjoy the achievement. Nor Yennefer, nor Ciri, with the Lodge on her heels.
Right now I can't phrase anything proper about the blind hatred and cruelty emphasized in the pogrom of the last 15 pages.
The emotions would have been very different if not for the games, since I know that Geralt is definitely alive, and Yennefer will also probably appear in W3. I can't imagine how this would have felt for people who read it in 1999 when it was published, believing this is how the journey ends. In a way, the games take away quite a bit of the emotional impact of the ending. But maybe they could match and recreate the tumult in their last installment. And now I'm going to rediscover W1, with the complete experience, picking up all the references to the books, and afterwards - finally, for the first time - play W2.
Basing games on a series of books allows for the most emotionally powerful experience in the gaming industry, that no other IP can achieve.
The first half of the book was pretty slow. But maybe it didn't mesmerize me as much because I didn't realize until after finishing the book (!) and reading through Wikis, that Eredin is actually the King of the Wild Hunt. That was completely lost on me during the read. Suddenly everything takes a completely new perspective... especially in anticipation of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. After reading the books, I realize that this game's title alone hints at a story that has so much more at stake than what I could possibly imagine, before. This is truly a different emotional experience for those who read the books, and those who haven't. I'm still trying to digest this revelation.
There were 3 main events I was looking forward to. Geralt's final confrontation with Vilgefortz, and having played the first game, the battle of Brenna and Rivia's pogrom. And each one of those events left me breathless. I've been trying a few times to properly put my feelings into words here, and failed. Each one of these three events were as emotional and sad as they were well-written. This was the book where Sapkowski's grim reality was at its "finest", or most terrible more-like.
To begin with - I honestly wasn't expecting so many characters to die. Not to mention how they died. When Milva went down, it hurt, but I kind of thought it would end there. Cahir really caught me off guard. Maybe it had to do with me seeing fanart of Cahir and Ciri in the same picture, and coupled with the feelings towards her that he confessed to Geralt, I was expecting something more cheerful. And then he just... goes down. Like that. Without having a chance to really, properly talk with the girl that he had become obsessed with. They finally meet - and Bonhart kills him a few moments later, without much difficulty. Nothing epic. Nothing fancy. Just death. Angouleme didn't hurt as much (even though it was still hard), but Regis was another unpleasant surprise.
It's partly the thought of how their deeds won't be remembered and that if they will be remembered at all (say, Cahir), it will be in a bad way, and partly how unceremonious the deaths were, that make it so painful. That goes for the deaths of the 'heroes' of the battle at Brenna too, whether it was Marti dying to a jealous officer just a few weeks after the battle, or Rusty and Iola by a plague, or Aubry, just like that, without any decorative details, while trying to escape. It's so different from everything else - the heroes don't check out with some big bang. There's no Red Wedding to echo throughout the kingdoms and fill you with rage of treachery, no William Wallace dying for an ideal and screaming it on his lips in his last moments to fill you with new fire and hope. Just a pitchfork to the heart during a riot that the hero had nothing to do with. The wrong place at the wrong time, as simple and grey as that. Geralt accomplished his quest - but won't get to enjoy the achievement. Nor Yennefer, nor Ciri, with the Lodge on her heels.
Right now I can't phrase anything proper about the blind hatred and cruelty emphasized in the pogrom of the last 15 pages.
The emotions would have been very different if not for the games, since I know that Geralt is definitely alive, and Yennefer will also probably appear in W3. I can't imagine how this would have felt for people who read it in 1999 when it was published, believing this is how the journey ends. In a way, the games take away quite a bit of the emotional impact of the ending. But maybe they could match and recreate the tumult in their last installment. And now I'm going to rediscover W1, with the complete experience, picking up all the references to the books, and afterwards - finally, for the first time - play W2.
Basing games on a series of books allows for the most emotionally powerful experience in the gaming industry, that no other IP can achieve.
Yeah, welcome, friend. I quote everything. That's a lot of feels, a lot.
My hype for The Witcher 3 has increased after I finished reading the 7th book.
I read all Witcher books 8 years ago () and now, I decided to refresh my memory. I was 15 years old back then, and I think that now I can look at some things differently.
And also, I'm preparing for threesome as Bloth would say.
) and now, I decided to refresh my memory. I was 15 years old back then, and I think that now I can look at some things differently.And also, I'm preparing for threesome as Bloth would say.
Reading the Chung Kuo books by David Wingrove, not sure whether these are Cyberpunk or Sci-Fi, good though.
R. I. P. Gabriel ("Gabo") García Márquez. One of the greatest tellers of tall tales, of these or any centuries, is now silent.
"Fiction was invented the day Jonas arrived home and told his wife that he was three days late because he had been swallowed by a whale."
My favorite Marquez is Love in the Time of Cholera
Cover (not published) by Amanda Cuenca
"Fiction was invented the day Jonas arrived home and told his wife that he was three days late because he had been swallowed by a whale."
My favorite Marquez is Love in the Time of Cholera
Cover (not published) by Amanda Cuenca
Thanks @Guy N'wah.
I saw on the news a few days ago he was sick but haven't followed anything since. It always makes me feel so sad when a great person dies. Each day many die and many more are born, but what are we doing to preserve the cultural and intellectual legacy of those who die, and what are we doing to contribute to it? The saddest part is not that all good writers will die, but that, the way things are heading, no one might be able to succeed them.
I saw on the news a few days ago he was sick but haven't followed anything since. It always makes me feel so sad when a great person dies. Each day many die and many more are born, but what are we doing to preserve the cultural and intellectual legacy of those who die, and what are we doing to contribute to it? The saddest part is not that all good writers will die, but that, the way things are heading, no one might be able to succeed them.
QFT.
Gabo was the greatest among the Latinamerican writers that "exploded" into our counsciousness during the ´60s "Boom" (others were the mexican carlos Fuentes and the Argentinian Cortázar).
My favourite of all his works is "100 years of solitude".
Some of the good movies that were made of his novels are "El coronel no tiene quien le escriba"(México) and "La cándida Eréndira"(Brazil).
Every time i start writing for this man, i change my mind and delete everything. What can i say, except "thank you" ?R. I. P. Gabriel ("Gabo") García Márquez. One of the greatest tellers of tall tales, of these or any centuries, is now silent.
"Fiction was invented the day Jonas arrived home and told his wife that he was three days late because he had been swallowed by a whale."
My favorite Marquez is Love in the Time of Cholera
Cover (not published) by Amanda Cuenca
Don't quite know why (because I usually don't really get into his prose) but lately i'm reading an awful lot of Lord Dunsany. Seems to fit my current mood.
Just started Dave Eggers, The Circle. Has a "Brave New World brought to you by Page and Zuckerberg" vibe to it. It's on my daughter's required reading list for university. Tech exposition bores her, not to tears but to loud, eloquent anger.
SECRETS ARE LIES
SHARING IS CARING
PRIVACY IS THEFT
SECRETS ARE LIES
SHARING IS CARING
PRIVACY IS THEFT
I don't know how many of you know this author but I feel I have to make a post about that...
Today italian culture has lost an important figure, Giorgio Faletti, a good person first and an artist then. Writer, actor, singer, lyricist, composer, painter and comedian.
Still, I can't believe it, totally unexpected.
Goodbye Giorgio.
Today italian culture has lost an important figure, Giorgio Faletti, a good person first and an artist then. Writer, actor, singer, lyricist, composer, painter and comedian.
Still, I can't believe it, totally unexpected.
Goodbye Giorgio.
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Finished The Given Day by Dennis Lehane, a solid read about 1918th's Boston.
I liked both protagonists quite a lot, Danny's struggle with family loyalties and being a good guy while everyone else in the corporate world just shits on him constantly and Luther's ability to always screw everything up no matter how hard he tries. Most of the side characters are also good in general, especially Eddie McKenna, a fat, Irish, borderline evil cop. It mostly focuses on three different subject matters from the time period, the Spanish influenza to start with, after that it goes into different political philosophies like Marxism, communism, anarchism and revolting groups trying to overthrow the ruling classes, and lastly, it goes into unionized labor and labor strikes, with some casual racism in between there. The transition between the themes are very smoothly done and you barely notice the shift. The environmental writing and dialogue is solid and usually has a good flow to it, there's a lot of emotional and 'FUCK YES!'-type scenes, and even though I'm pretty ignorant of the historical events, I feel he managed to paint a vivid and convincing image of the time period.
And now, to the bad.
Well, the pace doesn't really keep up toward the last 200 pages as Dennis starts to focus more on the minor characters on the corporate side of things, which makes sense since you can't have the protagonist see everything, but they weren't established well enough to be interesting, they felt more like cameras flying around so you could see all the corporate schemes, and I think the book is too long for it's own good. His style of writing simply does not fit with a 700 page brick, which is why it suffers from a few "dead spots" where very little happens. And Babe Ruth was the most boring character ever, no one cares about a dumb baseball player struggling to read his newspapers.
Ah well, all in all I thought it was a pretty good book, though I liked the sequel, Live By Night, better. (Which I read before the prequel, shame on me.)
Next on the list will probably be something from James Ellroy or to start the Wheel of Time series as my friend can't stop screaming about it, though I'm very reluctant to do it since I heard from a lot of people (plenty from here) that it just gets slower and more pointless in its progression.
I liked both protagonists quite a lot, Danny's struggle with family loyalties and being a good guy while everyone else in the corporate world just shits on him constantly and Luther's ability to always screw everything up no matter how hard he tries. Most of the side characters are also good in general, especially Eddie McKenna, a fat, Irish, borderline evil cop. It mostly focuses on three different subject matters from the time period, the Spanish influenza to start with, after that it goes into different political philosophies like Marxism, communism, anarchism and revolting groups trying to overthrow the ruling classes, and lastly, it goes into unionized labor and labor strikes, with some casual racism in between there. The transition between the themes are very smoothly done and you barely notice the shift. The environmental writing and dialogue is solid and usually has a good flow to it, there's a lot of emotional and 'FUCK YES!'-type scenes, and even though I'm pretty ignorant of the historical events, I feel he managed to paint a vivid and convincing image of the time period.
And now, to the bad.
Well, the pace doesn't really keep up toward the last 200 pages as Dennis starts to focus more on the minor characters on the corporate side of things, which makes sense since you can't have the protagonist see everything, but they weren't established well enough to be interesting, they felt more like cameras flying around so you could see all the corporate schemes, and I think the book is too long for it's own good. His style of writing simply does not fit with a 700 page brick, which is why it suffers from a few "dead spots" where very little happens. And Babe Ruth was the most boring character ever, no one cares about a dumb baseball player struggling to read his newspapers.
Ah well, all in all I thought it was a pretty good book, though I liked the sequel, Live By Night, better. (Which I read before the prequel, shame on me.)
Next on the list will probably be something from James Ellroy or to start the Wheel of Time series as my friend can't stop screaming about it, though I'm very reluctant to do it since I heard from a lot of people (plenty from here) that it just gets slower and more pointless in its progression.
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Fantasy, science fiction and other literature
For discussing various books and other related subjects.
For discussing various books and other related subjects.