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BurnAfterRunning
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Comments
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One thing that did jump out at me was how the wordplay / jokes / clever bits were presented in a very understated way. The author never writes with any pomposity about his clever ideas - it's all delivered with a straight bat, a clear explanation, a…
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All the threads are up, hopefully in the right place.
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How's everyone getting on? I was planning on posting questions at the weekend, to give everyone (including me) time to finish reading it.
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I struggled a bit with this week's, and in the spirit of the book I'll give my problems as a list - which address some of the points raised * Whether it is or isn't scientifically organised, I keep worrying I'm going to forget what previous islands…
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I'm going to be completely honest in that I'm a week late to this, and I've reached my 'number of posts I can catch up on' limit, so apologies if I don't give anything other than my first thoughts here, and again if I've reiterated stuff that's alre…
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It did make me think a lot of Don't Rest Your Head, which is sort of occult insomniac superhero urban fantasy game that I've never quite got my head around. It's very different to Sleep Donation, but I think that I might be able to 'get it' now that…
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I found the world believable, and I loved the touches about the consequences of such a widespread problem. I wasn't that keen on it as a metaphor for anything specific, just sort of "modern day ennui" - and on another level, the bringing h…
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As posted in Q1, I thought the film didn't really do the story justice. In particular the daughter's death undermined the whole point of it I thought - in the story it's (at least potentially) preventable - making her decision to still follow the co…
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In the short story, yes - I really liked both the scientists as strong characters at the top of their field, and the tight focus on their work (and the plot). In the film.... not really. I suspect Amy Adams and Hawkeye might be the worst possible co…
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I'd like to do 1, 2, or 3 - and 4 and 5 really intrigue me enough to want to read them even if we don't pick them! 6- Foundation - I remember reading as a younger man and finding it utterly terrible, and I'm not sure if I have enough in me to overc…
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Glad there's still time to read/watch this! FWIW, I read the first story in the book (Tower of Babylon) and thought it was brilliant, so I've got high hopes)
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This may not be answering the right question, but it reminded me a lot of Gris, a video game I played right at the start of lockdown - it's a platformer representing dealing with grief, and is similarly filled with vast statues and floods of water. …
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Yes - and I wasn't keen when I'd heard it was diary entries - but they worked for the book. I also like that it tripped along at a fair pace, giving very evocative descriptions without using too many words.
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I really liked the protagonist, and that went a long way to my enjoying the book as a whole. Despite the innocence and naivety, I had a lot of faith in them - they had a lot of inner strength - while he was an unreliable narrator he wasn't unreliabl…
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I don't know, I think you could, as suggested above, run it as Bluebeards Bride or Burning Wheel. But I'm not sure if it would be... much fun? I think it's a very tricky one to take into the RPG medium; in the book the self-discovery / exploration r…
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Yes - I loved it. There were just enough clues that there was clearly more going on, and it didn't have lots of the annoyances that an unreliable narrator sometimes brings - I think a stylistic achievement.
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Really interesting. I've recently tried to read more, and my methods have involved A) joining this forum - social contract makes me more likely to stick to a plan, and certainly the last 2 books I probably wouldn't have finished without knowing I co…
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I quite liked the cultures - it felt like just enough depth for a mini-campaign, and (although there's another thread on gaming use) I felt like a it demonstrated how you can have a cliched group of factions (merchant culture, warlike culture, scien…
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I didn't really get it, I'm afraid. I felt like there was a really interesting bit where Palafox explained the three languages and their introduction, and then... it just happened. We have a violation of Chekhov's Secret Identity, where Beran is dis…
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I like the term 'fridged,' and it sums up exactly what happens to her. I felt genuine annoyance at her appearance and departure - I expected her story to be much more interesting, as a counterpoint to Beran's development (or even a love interest - e…
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Yeah, the whole thing is treated far too ambivalently by Vance for me to be comfortable with it - as previously said, our protagonist avails himself of it, can't quite stop himself being complicit in it (boys will be boys, apparently), and only seem…
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For me, comedy in games relies upon shared narrative control. The GM's jokes will always fall flat. The player's, however... I've GMed Uranium Chef (Fate World based on an intergalactic cookery contest) and it was funny. It was funny because the pl…
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I'm not sure the book makes the case as arts as an alternative to fascism/violence at all. If your alternative to galactic war is a singing contest, but the losers get obliterated from the galaxy, it's not really an improvement. The time period was…
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I could have put up with the paper-thin plot if the bizarre situations had a bit more oomph. The one time they did- the elimate-a-competitor - well, like other commentators this seemed a bit slow. I didn't find myself itching to find out more about …
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I struggled with the humour - I found myself rolling my eyes at it more than laughing. I did like the multiple-possibilities-koala alien, but maybe because he only arrived after some plot had landed. I'm not sure if I got used to it, or the sentence…
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I'm not put off by the description, but more by the ease of getting a print copy in the UK - Amazon has paperbacks at £49.75 and hardbacks at £348 - any leads on any cheaper options?
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Thanks for the warm welcome. I'm getting cracking on Space Opera - am I right that we'll only start discussing it when we've finished it, ie in October? Have I got that right?
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Hi everyone. I met a few folks down the Mitchester. I play RPGs and read books, and I blog about one-shot RPGs at Burn After Running. Looking forward to some forthright literature debate.