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NeilNjae
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- NeilNjae
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You could easily read Haimey's final transformation as being an allegory for trans "awakening": she consciously decided the person she would be, going beyond the social role she was groomed for (by her clade and then by the court). But wid…
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(Quote) I think Bear likes 19C novels, and has enough love of good literature to want to draw on them. Perhaps that was a goal she set herself in writing? And just because she's taking care to ensure the book is commercially successful, it still nee…
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I think it's a reflection on the commercial side of genre publishing. There's not much money in any one book, so authors have to keep churning them out, and making sure they sell in large-enough numbers, to pay the bills. Some authors (e.g. Charles …
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We both missed rightminding, psychological alteration of people to make them more social. Or, from the perspective of the Synarche, make people sufficiently social that they can get along, without freeloaders or worse.
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Looking at Bear's bibliography, she's got a varied output. She doesn't have a single, hugely successful series to build a career around. Instead, she seems to spend her time writing books in the currently-fashionable style.
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I think there was plenty gameable in the book. The Synarche would make a good setting: enough control to make a base, and enough freedom on the fringes for adventure. The notion of having to justify the use of additional resources with the communist…
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I'm not too sure any of them were mentally or culturally different from the humans, except perhaps the Ativahika. (I think Cherryh's Chanur books have some of the best space-opera aliens). Then again, we didn't really spend much time with them, apar…
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I think the only "alternative" group was the clade, and that was presented as a constricting cult, as you say. Were there other family structures?
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I liked the description of Singer, but I did wonder a bit about how the three of them managed to get along so well in such a small space over a long time. Perhaps there was some mental adjustment going on? The stations were well-described, with the …
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I'd have liked a bit less explanation of things, or at least more artful explanations. I've already said that I glazed over at some of the wodges of exposition. Saying that, I don't think there was much I was really confused about in the book. Not …
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It was fine! It made the book personal and immediate. IIRC, Karen Memory (by the same author) was also first-person. I think the first-person narration helped when it came to Haimey uncovering her past. When we had those revelations I, as a reader, …
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I think that's accurate. There's some great world-building behind the setting and events in the book, and I'm glad we had some of that explained. On the other hand, more than once I skipped over yet another block of exposition. I think that ideally …
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I've previously read Karen Memory and really enjoyed that (a cracking good steampunk adventure romp). I liked this book! She's taken inspiration from the "hopepunk" style of Long Way to a Small Lonely Planet and similar. In this one, we ha…
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I started late, but catching up fast!
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(Quote) What things from the book are informing the game? Anything you'd like to share?
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Were the Freaks born into the martial arts world? I didn't get that impression. I thought they still worked hard to develop their skills, but it's a more "folk hero" style than the formal, high-class teaching of the monks. If you will, it'…
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(Quote) I suspect the names are made up. Even if they weren't, I'm not sure readers would be expected to know all those moves, across many different styles, by name. And I think the names are rather too flowery to be "real". Back when I di…
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I think the idea of winning fights, and having that reputation, is part of how martial artists earn prestige. If they can demonstrate that their fighting style is superior (by defeating other masters) they can attract students, both for profit and i…
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Guo Jing's unusual flaw is that he's not very bright. Ignorant POV characters are needed so that people can explain things to them. But often POV characters are somewhat aspirational, and I'm not sure how many people will aspire to being a bit thick…
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(Quote) I think my original point wasn't clear, as your "objection" seem to be in agreement with my point! In Europe, blood-family obligations often overrode all others. The book presents a setting where non-blood obligations are at least …
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(Quote) I don't know for sure, but I believe the serialisation was by chapters, and the division into volumes now is a somewhat arbitrary split for publishing logisitics. Saying that, I think the end of this book was pretty thrilling and a decent pl…
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(Quote) What about Qin do you think supports the wuxia style of play?
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(Quote) Or scripted combat in Burning Wheel / Mouse Guard. (Oh, the debates the players had when choosing actions in Mouse Guard...)
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Yes, there was a distinction drawn between righteous people and the corrupt government, and a strong flavour that "a fish rots from the head." If the emperor is unfit or illegitimate, all levels of the state end up self-serving. The other…
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I've posted some questions about A Hero Born over in that category. I'm looking foward to your thoughts!
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(Quote) Couldn't you say the same about almost anyone? People rarely have just one goal, one agendum, one desire. People are multi-faceted, as was Whatsitsname. It's easy to project your own feelings and desires onto someone as an explanation of the…
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Thanks for the review!
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(Quote) That's sort of my understanding as well. I think of "natural justice" as a combination of both: the expectation of a fair, unbiased assessment of the facts, and everyone getting their "just rewards", whether positive or n…
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(Quote) That's one reason why I like playing "story games" rather than "trad" ones. The focus is more on interesting characters, and the character-defining choices they make, rather than effectiveness and "winning".
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(Quote) I agree that "vengance" was more central to the book than "justice", as there's more to justice than retribution and punishment. What do you mean by "natural justice"? I think it's a term that gets used in diff…