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Apocryphal
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- Apocryphal
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I think Story of Your Life could easily have been a novel, as there's a lot more to explore here (as they did in the film). The story barely touches on the theme if what happens when you learn an alien language, let alone explore the implications of…
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The international stand-off was probably necessary to ground to film and make it accessible. I think that if the film had stuck strictly to the story, it would have been too esoteric - maybe straying too far into 2001 Space Odyssey territory. Becaus…
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The aliens were definitely not humans in funny dress. They were very alien. It helped that we never really meet them, and that they remain enigmatic right to the end of the story. That worked better for me than in the film, where the aliens had come…
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I found the idea to be more clearly developed in the film. It was really only hinted at in the story. In fact, in the story, one really has to work to imagine the link between the mother's... letters?... to her daughter and the first contact scenari…
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OK, so - counting everything people said 'yes' or 'ok' to above, we end up with a 3-way tie (6 votes each) between A: Dune (+ Dune Messiah, sounds like) B: The Islanders / Dream Archipelago / The Evidence C: Dangerous Visions / Again Dangerous Visi…
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@Ray_Otus FYI the first 71 books are listed here: https://www.ttrpbc.com/discussion/12/the-first-seven-years#latest
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(Quote) Not yet, but feel free to start one. I mentioned my favourites in my 'report on reading' thread posted a few days ago. @dr_mitch updated also updated his reading list, but I don't think he indicated his favourite for the year.
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I think I need to form a parallel book club with @Ray_Otus and @Michael_S_Miller ’s wife and maybe @BarnerCobblewood to read number 9.
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There were lots of books we all liked - The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, The Goblin Tower, The Golem and the Jinni, The Girl With All the Gifts, The Day of the Triffids, Watership Down... to name but a few.
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I'm ready.
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Now there's a TOS episode I never saw - didn't think that was possible.
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MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: THE TO-READ SHELF REDUCTION Reading at least 50 books is only one of my annual reading goals. So far, I've never had trouble meeting it. My other goal is, I think, a more difficult one: Reduce the size of my 'To-Read' shelf by m…
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ROLEPLAYING GAMES Vimary: A Tribe 8 Sourcebook, by Joshua Mosqueira Asheim This is a setting book to the core setting of the Tribe 8 roleplaying game, the island of Vimary. The setting, one of the most creative ever made for an RPG, is that of a po…
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HISTORICAL AND ADVENTURE FICTION @# Gone to Sea in a Bucket, by David Black Our first book club selection from last year, a WW2 submarine story that was quite well received by everyone. Solid historical naval war fiction, and the first in a series …
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FANTASY NOVELS # The Fifth Season # The Obelisk Gate # The Stone Sky The Broken Earth Trilogy, by N.K. Jemisin, historic 3-time running Hugo winner. This was our slow read selection for 2020, and effort we aborted after the second book, though I di…
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When writing fiction, I suppose the needs of the story should come first. If the social issues being addressed become too blatant, one wonders why not just write an essay instead. But I see this as a question of deftness of hand, rather than one of …
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I agree that these things should be in the toolbox for both fiction and roleplay, since both are great vehicles for exploring the issues of the world. However, when it comes to gaming, I think you need to know who you’re playing with, and these days…
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I was going to read Story last, so it’s freshest in my mind. Why read it first? Btw, I dipped into Babylon and happy to say it sounds reasonably authentic in its setting.
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✔️
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Story of Your Life / Arrival is number 95. https://www.ttrpbc.com/categories/official-selections. Yours will be 96. Let's see how people respond to the suggestion.
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We did Sleep Donation once, though I think only @Ray_Otus , @clash_bowley , and myself read it, along with one other (no longer with the club). It was one of the first books we did after moving to G+ and the conversation is now lost. We have a whol…
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@NeilNjae Yes, I meant to mention Amber, actually.
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Could also be interesting if the characters are each building part of the world, and as characters you might explore sections created by characters ther characters - and I mean ‘characters’ specifically, not ‘players’. Shared worlds built by players…
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I have no objection to diary entries, though in my case listening to the audio book the dates just became a blur, so if there was any meaning in them other than to break the book up, that would have been lost on me. I mean, for example, if the dates…
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I liked him as well - kind and curious and responsible all wrapped up in one.
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I didn’t get a loneliness or isolation vibe, but one of retreat, like when one seeks shelter for a tone in a monastery.
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Hey, I also played Gris this year. My first theory was that Piranesi was a person in the middle of a psychotic break who had retreated into a mental world of their own making. The statues represented people or events from their past. The Other was t…
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I think the key with this one is in the social interaction between players. The setting offers very little. There’s a mystery to solve, but the means to solving its is either interacting the the GM as voice of the NPC, or with the GM as described of…
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The unfolding mystery was definitely part of the appeal. I had to throw my first guesses out about halfway though. I wonder, though, if there was a little too much mystery to unfold. It felt rather contrived to me in the final analysis. Echoes of Da…
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Well, gaming is ultimately an exercise in competitive problem-solving. You can apply those skills to anything.