OT: Sci-Fi and Fantasy Thread - SPOILERS Part Three

[freakydallas13]

I just finished Memories of Ice, and I'd like to add Itkovian, Gruntle, Paran, and the twin marines who looked after Silverfox to my previous list.


Hood's marble balls on an anvil that was a book. But now... I am done.

First in, last out.

 

[Surrounded By Ahos]

Started up House of Chains. Karsa is a f***ing psycho lol.

 

[Captain Dave Poulin]

I didn't know that Noah Hawley ("Fargo") was involved in the new "Alien" series. Very f***ing interesting. This could be way better than I expected.

 

[Surrounded By Ahos]

Ok, the first book in House of Chains was a f***ing trip. Karsa is indeed a psycho, and I can't wait to see what he does next.

Spoiler

I was starting to wonder how ANY of it was relevant to anything else when he and Torvald got sucked into a weird flooded warren and bumped into a very familiar ship. Then, eventually, he finds Leoman and is now making his way to the Whirlwind. I particularly liked his treatment of Silgar (especially cutting off his hands and feet after Silgar tried to do the same to him), although I could have done with a bit less rape. Blood Oil being otataral or something extremely similar could be a big revelation.

Also, him and his companions rolling up into Silver Lake expecting a couple farms and finding an actual city was hilarious. Peak black comedy there.


I started the first part of the second book. Tavore is getting her army in order, which looks to be a tall order given it's nearly all green recruits with a handful of veterans sprinkled in. She's also sending Pearl out to find Felisin. I absolutely cannot wait to see her reaction when she learns that Felisin is Sha'ik Reborn. It's gonna be biblical.

 

[freakydallas13]

Ok, the first book in House of Chains was a f***ing trip. Karsa is indeed a psycho, and I can't wait to see what he does next.

Spoiler

I was starting to wonder how ANY of it was relevant to anything else when he and Torvald got sucked into a weird flooded warren and bumped into a very familiar ship. Then, eventually, he finds Leoman and is now making his way to the Whirlwind. I particularly liked his treatment of Silgar (especially cutting off his hands and feet after Silgar tried to do the same to him), although I could have done with a bit less rape. Blood Oil being otataral or something extremely similar could be a big revelation.

Also, him and his companions rolling up into Silver Lake expecting a couple farms and finding an actual city was hilarious. Peak black comedy there.


I started the first part of the second book. Tavore is getting her army in order, which looks to be a tall order given it's nearly all green recruits with a handful of veterans sprinkled in. She's also sending Pearl out to find Felisin. I absolutely cannot wait to see her reaction when she learns that Felisin is Sha'ik Reborn. It's gonna be biblical.

That first book is a pretty wild ride.

Spoiler: HoC Spoilers

I loved the slow build up to the realization that Karsa and the Teblor are giants. All the talk of "Children" at silver Lake, only to find out later those are regular humans? Great writing.

I also didn't get an inkling that Karsa was the Toblakai until he was already en route to 7 cities, super cool back story.

Apparantly Erikson wrote the entire Karsa stuff as a response to some guy online who posted after MoI that Steve was incapable of writing single PoVs for an extended length of time. Love the spite writing, that part of the book was an interesting read.

You're right though, the rape stuff was hard to read. Definitely a character who isn't "good", but still interesting to read about.

Also love Torvald, was wild seeing another Nom. And that lighthouse keeper section was also interesting af.

 

[Surrounded By Ahos]

That first book is a pretty wild ride.

Spoiler: HoC Spoilers

I loved the slow build up to the realization that Karsa and the Teblor are giants. All the talk of "Children" at silver Lake, only to find out later those are regular humans? Great writing.

I also didn't get an inkling that Karsa was the Toblakai until he was already en route to 7 cities, super cool back story.

Apparantly Erikson wrote the entire Karsa stuff as a response to some guy online who posted after MoI that Steve was incapable of writing single PoVs for an extended length of time. Love the spite writing, that part of the book was an interesting read.

You're right though, the rape stuff was hard to read. Definitely a character who isn't "good", but still interesting to read about.

Also love Torvald, was wild seeing another Nom. And that lighthouse keeper section was also interesting af.

Spoiler: House of Chains

The Teblor being giants was a great reveal. Like I said before, Erikson is a master of third person limited. You're really seeing things through the PoV characters eyes, it's up to you to put the pieces together, if you can. A smarter reader than me could have probably have figured out the Karsa/Leoman team up sooner than I did.


Following Karsa for that long was a welcome change of place, honestly. That dude went on a freaking JOURNEY, and it tied in so well with the previous books. Great stuff.


Keeper was hilarious. In a series with all these people and ascendants and gods plotting plots within plots within plots, you get a dude who just wants to reassemble a whale skeleton inside a giant tower. Oh, and he's the strongest person on the planet that we've met (so far, I imagine).




I read a couple more chapters today, mostly just recapping what went on in previous books, and refreshing the reader to where some characters are. I'm ticked about Rellock dying immediately after getting home. I just wanted him to be able to spend some time with Apsalar, although she's changed enough, the time they may have spent together may not have been enjoyable as I imagined. Now she and Crokus/Cutter are getting back on a boat and doing an unspecified task for Cotillion.

More importantly, Sh'aik/Felisin just learned that her brother is alive, and she suddenly became a traumatized teenage girl again. I'm calling it there for the night, but man, I absolutely cannot wait to see where this stuff goes.

 

[CanadianFlyer88]

Was waiting for your Karsa summary. Really enjoyed that writing and how Karsa connected to the wider story.

 

[Surrounded By Ahos]

@Beef Invictus trigger warning

Spoiler: Mild Malazan Spoilers

f*** me, I just today picked up on the Dancer/Cotillion hint. For those of you not from the American south, a cotillion was a popular dance in France/America in the 18th century, is the precursor the the modern square dance, and is still inflicted upon rural middle school children to this day. After ~900,000 words, I managed to sniff out that totally obvious clue. Stay tuned for more brilliant SBA revelations.

 

[Rebels57]

I didn't know that Noah Hawley ("Fargo") was involved in the new "Alien" series. Very f***ing interesting. This could be way better than I expected.

Did you see Alien Romulus? That shit ruled. Way better than that POS Alien Covenant.

 

[Beef Invictus]

@Beef Invictus trigger warning

Spoiler: Mild Malazan Spoilers

f*** me, I just today picked up on the Dancer/Cotillion hint. For those of you not from the American south, a cotillion was a popular dance in France/America in the 18th century, is the precursor the the modern square dance, and is still inflicted upon rural middle school children to this day. After ~900,000 words, I managed to sniff out that totally obvious clue. Stay tuned for more brilliant SBA revelations.

Cotillion is hell.

 

[Captain Dave Poulin]

Did you see Alien Romulus? That shit ruled. Way better than that POS Alien Covenant.

I don't think so - I would have to re-watch them all from 3 to whatever to even piece together the mythology now.

 

[freakydallas13]

@Beef Invictus trigger warning

Spoiler: Mild Malazan Spoilers

f*** me, I just today picked up on the Dancer/Cotillion hint. For those of you not from the American south, a cotillion was a popular dance in France/America in the 18th century, is the precursor the the modern square dance, and is still inflicted upon rural middle school children to this day. After ~900,000 words, I managed to sniff out that totally obvious clue. Stay tuned for more brilliant SBA revelations.

Mate I had no idea about that connection, so you're still doing better than I am.

Also, if you haven't already, go back and read the prologue poem at the very start of Gardens of the Moon Ch.1 now that you know.....things. I guarantee it will hit different.

 

[Rebels57]

I don't think so - I would have to re-watch them all from 3 to whatever to even piece together the mythology now.

Skip 3 and just watch Resurrection, Prometheus and Romulus.

 

[Beef Invictus]

Skip 3 and just watch Resurrection, Prometheus and Romulus.

This is the ideal method

 

[BackToTheBrierePatch]

Or don’t watch the Alien movies. That’s the better option

 

[Surrounded By Ahos]

Mate I had no idea about that connection, so you're still doing better than I am.

Also, if you haven't already, go back and read the prologue poem at the very start of Gardens of the Moon Ch.1 now that you know.....things. I guarantee it will hit different.

Just did. It puts things into a totally different context. I don't experience if I'll ever have the energy to re-read the series, but if I do it'll be a very different expereince from the first time.

 

[Beef Invictus]

Or don’t watch the Alien movies. That’s the better option

This is akin to fornicating with fungus.

 

[trostol]

 

[bauer]

so Spaceballs 2 is in the works. they're even bringing back Rick Moranis and Mel Brooks. i'm hoping for the best but i fear we're gonna get something really shitty like Bill & Ted 3.

 

[Lord Defect]

This is the ideal method

Nah. Watch 1,2 skip three and follow the rest of what whatshisface said.

 

[Magua]

Watch Alien, Aliens, then Mac and Me.

 

[bauer]

Watch Alien, Aliens, then Mac and Me.

 

[Captain Dave Poulin]

so Spaceballs 2 is in the works. they're even bringing back Rick Moranis and Mel Brooks. i'm hoping for the best but i fear we're gonna get something really shitty like Bill & Ted 3.

The original was terrible, and I think I know why. Mel Brooks understood Westerns, horror films, Hitchcock thrillers and historical epics - that's why he was able to satirize them successfully with Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, High Anxiety and History of the World - he took our expectations and subverted them. He didn't understand Star Wars at all, and because of that, his satire was too broad and unfocused. Like "Pizza Face" and "Barf" just had nothing to do with anything, so they came off as lame gross-outs. The space camper had no tie-in to anything either - it was just a random vehicle switch. There was room for funny Jewish jokes about the princess and Yoda, but because he didn't tie them back in any way to the actual Star Wars characters (i.e., by goofing on the way Yoda speaks instead of just his appearance), they just sat there. It failed massively, especially when you consider that (most of) the rest of his work is some of the best comedy we have ever seen.

 

[DownieFaceSoftener]

If I'm watching Mac and Me, I'm watching MST3K's version. "Pretty nice!" is still a comment thrown around this house.

 

[DeKos]

The original was terrible, and I think I know why. Mel Brooks understood Westerns, horror films, Hitchcock thrillers and historical epics - that's why he was able to satirize them successfully with Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, High Anxiety and History of the World - he took our expectations and subverted them. He didn't understand Star Wars at all, and because of that, his satire was too broad and unfocused. Like "Pizza Face" and "Barf" just had nothing to do with anything, so they came off as lame gross-outs. The space camper had no tie-in to anything either - it was just a random vehicle switch. There was room for funny Jewish jokes about the princess and Yoda, but because he didn't tie them back in any way to the actual Star Wars characters (i.e., by goofing on the way Yoda speaks instead of just his appearance), they just sat there. It failed massively, especially when you consider that (most of) the rest of his work is some of the best comedy we have ever seen.

I’m a big Mel Brooks fan. I met my wife at a Mel Brooks movie marathon in college. The Producers, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, High Anxiety are genius. Spaceballs is terrible. Robin Hood Men in Tights is unwatchable. It’s the only movie I ever walked out of a movie theater on.