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Karsa Orlong

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  1. Tim, in answer to your question upthread, Bakker's 'Aspect-Emperor' trilogy follows on directly from 'Prince of Nothing'. And apparently it's less heavy on the philosophy . . .
  2. I knew you'd say something like that I actually started it this morning
  3. I blame the authors - sometimes they don't have the ability to carry through on the promise they showed Actually, I think there is some truth in that, plus I do get author burn-out quite quickly, whereas other people seem to be able to read book after book by the same author and really enjoy them
  4. Book #47: The Thousandfold Thought (The Prince of Nothing Trilogy, Book 3) by R. Scott Bakker No blurb this time, it'd be way too spoilery - and I won't go into much detail about it myself, either (everybody's relieved, I can tell ). Just the basics, then: I thought this one was good, but it didn't quite measure up to the promise of the terrific first book or the outstanding second book. There are a couple of reasons for this, I think - the main one being that he jumps into the philosophising with both feet in this one. The main characters are separated from each other for a lot of the time, the result being that it spends a lot of time in their heads, exploring their thoughts. And, in a shock (to me at least) result, it confused the hell out of me at times, which didn't even happen with Erikson when his characters' philosophising went completely OTT (and that was some of the most challenging reading I've ever had to do). So, although the characters continue to develop (one goes insane, another comes to power, another finally sees the truth etc etc) the big climax to the story seemed to get a little lost somewhere. The action is there, for sure, but I felt kind of remote from it. I'm thinking this may yet again be down to me reading the books in too quick succession, and that I burned out on it a little by the end. I should know not to do that by now. But, even if that is the case, this book didn't kick me out of that frame of mind like I think it could - and should - have done. A HUGE plus, though, is that the reasons behind all Esmenet's suffering in the previous books finally seems to have a pay-off here. I was pretty pleased about that, after all my misgivings. So the trilogy has a good ending, nevertheless, I'd just hoped for a bit more. I will most definitely read the follow-up 'Aspect-Emperor' trilogy once it's complete. 7/10 Going to have a bit of a break from fantasy for a while now, starting with some historical fiction
  5. I thought you'd watched Friday Night Lights
  6. Now there's an idea! <<makes note>> The Arnie movies are quite good fun, actually, but they didn't particularly resemble any of the stories I've read so far. I prefer the character in the stories to that on film (although I haven't seen the recent Jason Momoa version yet)
  7. Miles Jupp cracks me up, I may have to have a look at this one Thanks for the review Claire
  8. Got a thing for murderers, have you?
  9. ^^ Great album - although my fave of his isn't on it . . . I saw him back in the 80s. He fell over on stage and couldn't get back up straight away, so he kept playing while he was lying on his back. It was very Spinal Tap
  10. I like the way it's adding a little extra shine with its tail
  11. Book #46: The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian by Robert E. Howard From Amazon: “Between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the gleaming cities . . . there was an Age undreamed of, when shining kingdoms lay spread across the world like blue mantles beneath the stars. . . . Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand . . . to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandalled feet.” Conan is one of the greatest fictional heroes ever created–a swordsman who cuts a swath across the lands of the Hyborian Age, facing powerful sorcerers, deadly creatures, and ruthless armies of thieves and reavers. In a meteoric career that spanned a mere twelve years before his tragic suicide, Robert E. Howard single-handedly invented the genre that came to be called sword and sorcery. Collected in this volume, profusely illustrated by artist Mark Schultz, are Howard’s first thirteen Conan stories, appearing in their original versions–in some cases for the first time in more than seventy years–and in the order Howard wrote them. Along with classics of dark fantasy like “The Tower of the Elephant” and swashbuckling adventure like “Queen of the Black Coast,” The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian contains a wealth of material never before published in the United States, including the first submitted draft of Conan’s debut, “Phoenix on the Sword,” Howard’s synopses for “The Scarlet Citadel” and “Black Colossus,” and a map of Conan’s world drawn by the author himself. Here are timeless tales featuring Conan the raw and dangerous youth, Conan the daring thief, Conan the swashbuckling pirate, and Conan the commander of armies. Here, too, is an unparalleled glimpse into the mind of a genius whose bold storytelling style has been imitated by many, yet equalled by none. Thoughts: I think the blurb says pretty much everything I wanted to say There are thirteen stories included in this first of three volumes in Del Rey's Conan collection: The Phoenix on the Sword The Frost-Giant's Daughter The God in the Bowl The Tower of the Elephant The Scarlet Citadel Queen of the Black Coast Black Colossus Iron Shadows in the Moon (aka Shadows in the Moonlight) Xuthal of the Dusk (aka The Slithering Shadow) The Pool of the Black One Rogues in the House The Vale of Lost Women The Devil in Iron Most of them are very entertaining, some are brilliant, none are outright bad. For the most part, they are pulp fiction at its best, although I feel that does Howard quite a disservice. He was turning these stories out at virtually one per month for the magazine Weird Tales so, at times, it's inevitable that they will follow a pattern. I found this was true of the later ones, where invariably Conan would happen upon a damsel in distress who would naturally end up falling into his arms (kind of like Captain Kirk without the toupee or the corset). At times it's also notable that the attitudes of the time (these stories were written in the early 1930s) sneak through regarding race and gender. Most of the time, though, Howard doesn't play to these tropes. If this really was the beginning of the sword & sorcery genre, he wrote with real verve. The stories always start in mid-flow, throwing you into the adventure and dragging you along, kicking and screaming. His descriptions are so vivid, so full of vitality, and so beautifully written. One aspect I found interesting was that Howard didn't write these tales in any sort of chronological order - he said he envisioned it as if Conan, as an old man, sat before him and related stories in his past, as they came to him. So the timeline flies all over the place. In the first story, Conan is a king, in the next he might be a young thief, the next a corsair etc etc. He's always a barbarian, of course, but he always seems to have a thoughtful and occasionally profound outlook on the world around him - before he kills everything in sight. My particular favourites in this collection were The Phoenix on the Sword, The Tower of the Elephant, The Scarlet Citadel, Queen of the Black Coast, The Pool of the Black One, and The Devil in Iron. In addition, the last third of the book is composed of miscellanea: a first draft of The Phoenix on the Sword, Howard's essay The Hyborean Age, several untitled synopses, fragments and drafts, maps, and an essay on Howard and the genesis of his most famous creation. It's fascinating stuff, especially as a glimpse into how the mind of a writer works, and I'd imagine it's a real treasure trove for long time Conan fans. Coupled to all this, the book is illustrated throughout. All black and white, each chapter has an illustrated heading, and each story has at least one full-page illustration. All of them are detailed and very atmospheric, although I did find that they kind of gave away what was going to happen before it actually did. A minor complaint, in this case. This is a brilliant collection, highly recommended for anyone with a passing interest in the genre and its origins. 9/10
  12. 'The Prince of Nothing Trilogy' is complete, yeah, and his next trilogy, 'The Aspect-Emperor Trilogy', is set in the same world, but whether or not it continues straight on from PoN or tells a completely separate story, I don't know at the moment as I'm trying to stay spoiler-free. I don't want to look at the blurb until after I finish The Thousandfold Thought, which I started this morning, in case it gives anything away. I'll let you know in a few days
  13. They're great books, I think, but I know not everyone likes the style. Give them a go, though, you never know! I prefer to evolve left Cos we're in too much of a hurry to move on to the next one Sometimes I think I don't give books enough time to soak in when I finish them Sad
  14. From the Royal Albert Hall gig I went to a couple of years ago
  15. Oh, thanks for that Yeah, the ending was great. I really enjoyed the last season as a whole, especially Vince's storyline. I'll miss the Taylors, thought they were one of the best screen families I've seen.
  16. . Oh yes "We're gonna need a bigger chopper!"
  17. Book #45: The Warrior-Prophet (The Prince of Nothing Trilogy, Book 2) by R. Scott Bakker From Amazon: Thoughts: Picking up immediately where the first book, The Darkness That Comes Before, left off, it's obviously difficult to discuss the plot of this middle book of the trilogy without massively spoiling its predecessor (which is why I've put the blurb in spoiler tags). I think, for the most part, Bakker has addressed the issues I had with the first book. The Warrior-Prophet is 730 pages long but to me it felt half the length. That's a good sign, I think, cos it indicates that the pacing is good, that the story and characters are intriguing, and that it's easy to read. Even though Bakker's prose is as strong, poetic, and as eloquent as it was in the first book, it was apparent to me that all the groundwork done before really pays off here. As I read the first book I was constantly referring back and forwards to the appendices to get clear in my mind exactly who and what the various factions/religions/races were and what they stood for. I didn't have to do that at all in this one. The pages just flew by. But I still have issues with the female characters, all two of them: Esmenet the harlot and Serwe the slave. Bakker's world is one where the men dominate and the women are subservient. They are often used as pawns in the game of power the men play, resulting in some decidedly icky and disturbing sex scenes. These thankfully rare scenes can be tough to read, or justify, even though the story is effectively a fantasy equivalent of the Crusades and possibly brings the attitudes of the Middle Ages with it as a result. There is much in the way of light in their stories to go with the darkness, but it does leave a rather unpleasant aftertaste. There's an element of 'shock tactics' about it, which seems kind of cheap and unnecessary to me - but then George R.R. Martin is far more guilty of this and very few people seem to blink at it. On the whole, though, I think this is a cracking sequel, which manages to avoid the 'middle book syndrome' in that it genuinely moves the story forward, develops the characters in some quite brilliant and unexpected ways, and has action which spans the epic to the intimate. Aside from the various full-scale cinematic battle scenes, there are some stunning duels and a couple of really thrilling sequences involving sorcery, real edge-of-seat, can't-turn-the-pages-fast-enough stuff. It is also quite scary at times, with the constant lurking presence of the so-called 'skin-spies', and the final pages are quite chilling. If it hadn't been for my one issue, above, I would probably have given this book a 10, but that is holding me back. This is definitely not for the faint of heart, but for anyone wanting to read some genuinely different, hard-hitting, modern fantasy, this is almost as good as it gets, imo. 9/10
  18. The last ever episode of Friday Night Lights. What a perfect ending. I shall miss it ETA: Ooh! Released next Monday . . . might have to be done
  19. You can't write proper English under pressure I like the way it changes the sentences if you get one wrong. Not that I got anything wrong, mind you, so obviously I wouldn't know that it did that . . .
  20. ^^ Crikey, that really is old school - off Whistle Test as well. Love it!
  21. Does it involve an egg whisk and a stick of wet celery?
  22. It's a great film, though - No Country for Old Men, that is. Javier Bardem is seriously scary in it
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