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Apocryphal
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- Apocryphal
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Comments
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I’m finished.
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I caught the last part of an interview with RF Kuang on the radio. It was mostly about writers and critiques/reviews and interaction with the community. And how does an author parse all that stuff being written about them. I assume the earlier part…
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I’m confused. Does she like the Habs or the Bruins?
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Maybe it was the best - we didn’t read the contenders afterall…
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Michener’s books are famous for their epic sweep and length. I’ve never read one, but admit to being curious. I suppose we can deal with the length by giving extra time? The other book I’ve never heard of. Seems generally well reviewed, and one a…
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Yeah, why not marriage to other ships, instead of captains? As I think we’re learning with AI, a single AI can seem like a different person to different individuals, so why even have monogamy?
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I think there’s huge scope to explore. I’m pretty curious about the ship beings, for example. Are they GM Humans? How are they modified? Why? How are they raised? Trained? How does this affect their ability to relate to people? How are they conjoine…
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> @clash_bowley said: > I suppose I am a simple, ignorant man and am too easily pleased. Sounds like I am very alone in my opinions. No, we share that opinion! 😁 (Sorry, I couldn’t resist the quip!) You are quite the opposite of thi…
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Another factor here is that this novel isn’t her first in this setting, so quite possibly much more is revealed in other works. But of course we only have this one to judge by.
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As I may have hinted in my other replies, I don’t think it’s really very different than ‘standard’ SF in its tropes. Using Vietnamese culturally overlay or making 80% of the characters female gender doesn’t really matter very much. These things are …
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The one interesting thing I think she did explore was the use of family pronouns, so I’d be intrigued to develop that in a setting. The basic plot is usable, too, though it really needs dressing up in terms of setting, characters, and backstory to m…
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I think it actually is a bad thing. This is a book that uses SF tropes to tell a basically boring story about succession in a group of people. But the group of people have no depth so they aren’t convincing. The SF tropes similarly have no depth. Is…
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I don’t think I ever really found the characters believable or interesting. In theory, a being that is really a ship (basically like a ship AI, though in this case the ship actually has a non-functional organic body) ought to be pretty cool. But it’…
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I finished the book, and normally I’d say a simple plot is enough to drive a book if you have other things to help carry the interest. This book, sadly, didn’t really have much else going for it, so it was really quite boring. The so called ‘roma…
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Personally, I found the setting to be too lightly described to be remarkable. That said, I did find the use of pronouns to be interesting and I’d like to have seen that explored more. It reminded me of how ancient near eastern kings referred to one …
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Well, that's two recent novels that hinged around a painting - this one, and the painting of Icarus in The Man Who Fell to Earth. In both cases, it really seems to help to have an idea of the image as you read, or as you later think about, the novel…
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That’s too bad, though perfectly understandable. My next pick will be much more accessible! 😁 I’m tempted to try reading this book again, but fore-arming myself first about what’s what. And with the picture handy. And I might mark the commas in m…
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Since there was some effort to develop gunpowder and as soon as it was, the mixer blew himself up. So I figured there was a comment here about the perennial nature destruction - as if today ‘it will happen again’. Canticle for Liebowitz had the same…
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When I started the novel, I figured the 1Big1 and the Littl shyning Man were the two bombs dropped on Japan by USA (Eusa). I only later realized Eusa was Eustace, and I didn’t (and still don’t) know much about St Eustace. I never knew about the pain…
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Added to list! Sounds up my alley.
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I also found it quite difficult going. There were several things at play here - dialect, spelling, grammar, and punctuation. I had no issue with the dialect. We get enough British TV here that I'm used to it, and the place I grew up had a lot of Eng…
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That’s pretty cool. Great share!
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Faux Scottish fantasy? Sure, why not. Cool cover (if I may so judge a book 😁)
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I'm open to either, but if I had to pick one it would be the first one.
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I’ve already picked my next book (after Ridley Walker, that is) 😁
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Out of curiosity, why did you pick this from all the wide world of possibilities? Did someone recommend it, or were you researching a concept, or just like the sound of it?
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Ah, interesting, thanks. I’ve heard of Retief, but possibly only because I saw the titles on store shelves.
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I’ve seen a lot of Keith Laumer books in the used bookstores, but never heard anyone talk about his work before now. If you don’t mind the aside, can you put say a bit more about him?
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> @RichardAbbott said: > Interesting to hear about the audio experience - I've been thinking a lot recently about narration. Firstly about how a bad narrator can ruin the experience of a perfectly good book. But also about how even a good nar…
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Yeah, maybe. I’d want diversified characters (not just brains or brawn) and a more plausible scenario like tge one I mentioned in another thread, but it could totally work for a filler or one-shot. I might use the HEX (Hollow Earth Expedition) rules…