Books we've been reading V2.0

[JFSOCC]

Started reading the Thomas Covenant series. Anyone else read those yet, or even heard of them? I'm into the 2nd book. There's 9 in all afaik.

You don't want to hear what I have to say about those books.

[Shryke]

Started reading the Thomas Covenant series. Anyone else read those yet, or even heard of them? I'm into the 2nd book. There's 9 in all afaik.

 

Read some of the first books. Interesting enough, but too 'slow' paced and too much, not sure what, but the stuff that makes you want to put the protagonist over your knee, spank him and tell him to man himself up a bit. Wielder of the White Gold my butt. Whiny ass emo is what he is

 

I'm getting a similar impression of him. I keep waiting for some revelation to 'wake' him up. I don't know, if this second book doesn't get any better by the end of it I may ditch reading the rest of the series.

 

generally i will continue with a series once i've started it, as i hate leaving things unfinished, but Thomas Covenant was one i just couldn't keep going with

 

just finished reading Weaveworld by Clive Barker

quite different to his typical Hellraisery type stuff but not too bad

[Raithe]

A Memory of Light. The 14th and final book in the Wheel of Time series. 2.5 lbs of hardback, 900+ pages. Arrived about 1pm, and with assorted bits and pieces of real life that interupted or had to be dealt with I basically read through it all and just finished it off about 10 minutes ago (so, just gone 10pm).

 

Not too badly done. Some nice conclusions to events for various characters, some that were surprising. It's interesting to see all the elements of foreshadowing things that did happen were actually in the previous books.

 

Although I'm not quite sure what to make of the epilogue. I'll have to let it simmer and lurk in my brain a bit. Possibly wait until I re-read it.

[WDeranged]

Read a hundred or two pages of Dune last week, probably goes without saying by now but it's very good

['GM']

Started reading the Thomas Covenant series. Anyone else read those yet, or even heard of them? I'm into the 2nd book. There's 9 in all afaik.

You don't want to hear what I have to say about those books.

 

I'm guessing the books don't really get any better... well, *sigh* there's always other series.

 

Okay, don't know if anyone else has read any of the Mortal Instruments series. I've already read the first 5. The 6th isn't scheduled for release until March of next year. Kind of a bummer because I'll probably have to reread the series to get back into the mode before then. But they were rather interesting, imo. Better than the Twilight series.

[melkathi]

Read a hundred or two pages of Dune last week, probably goes without saying by now but it's very good

I loved Dune. The series becomes gradually worse though with each book. The final book, Chapter House, I personally did not enjoy and only read it for completion's sake.

The prequels perpetrated by Brian Herbert are an abomination to literature. They are also the reason why I shall in my will forbid any offspring of continuing any literary work I produce, should I ever become a well know author

[LadyCrimson]

Seems like these days I'm the only one who likes the Covenant series. I read it when I was 13 and it's still one of my favorites.

The fact the protagonist is kind of a self-absorbed, diseased jerk who doesn't know how to handle things half the time is one of the points and it does become important. Plus there's a lot of other characters in the series that are awesome, like the Giants. But I do understand not everyone likes protagonists like that.

[Ywerion]

Finishing David Farland's Runelords saga, Earth King serie was exciting from beginning to end, first two books from Scions of the Earth didn't impresssed me too much at first but now I'm looking forward for final book. Anyway really great series, I'm enjoying it a lot. 

['GM']

Seems like these days I'm the only one who likes the Covenant series. I read it when I was 13 and it's still one of my favorites.

The fact the protagonist is kind of a self-absorbed, diseased jerk who doesn't know how to handle things half the time is one of the points and it does become important. Plus there's a lot of other characters in the series that are awesome, like the Giants. But I do understand not everyone likes protagonists like that.

I haven't actually given up on it quite yet, although I put it aside for the time being. My thoughts keep going back to it thinking that there has to be a reason for him being the way he is. You've given me a bit of encouragement, whether you know it or not, so I will probably take it up again ... after I finish the book I'm reading right now, lol.

[Ywerion]

  Actually I remember reading a part of Covenant book when I was younger (well actually around 12 or 13 like you was)I don't remember much except stumbling on part where he forced himself on some girl and that turned me away.

Some snipet I read somewhere stated that Covenant's author is cruel toward his characters, so if that was only the beginning I can't imagine what other stuff there must be. But actually you incinerated interest in me, maybe I'll give it a try some day.

[JFSOCC]

Seems like these days I'm the only one who likes the Covenant series. I read it when I was 13 and it's still one of my favorites.

The fact the protagonist is kind of a self-absorbed, diseased jerk who doesn't know how to handle things half the time is one of the points and it does become important. Plus there's a lot of other characters in the series that are awesome, like the Giants. But I do understand not everyone likes protagonists like that.

Yeah, I couldn't really identify with him, what with going into a magical realm and raping the first girl he meets and all. But it's the vogon poetry that kills it for me. Random poems which aren't even very good. And I like poetry.

I also didn't like the pacing. within less than a hundred pages he's already deep into this realm (and still in denial about the whole thing) and we barely got to look at the characters or places that he meets and sees. I felled I was ripped from one scene before it was finished and dumped into the next.

That said.

I was young when I picked it up

And I didn't give it much of a chance, putting it down fairly early.

[kirottu]

Final book of Wheel of Time. It was good, but... perhaps not as great it could have been. Everything came together, but not everything "clicked".

 

It's kinda hard to explain. I think I have to re-read the whole series someday.

[Raithe]

Final book of Wheel of Time. It was good, but... perhaps not as great it could have been. Everything came together, but not everything "clicked".

 

It's kinda hard to explain. I think I have to re-read the whole series someday.

 

There were lots of good bits to it, I liked a fair chunk of the "Mat" sections, although apparently Brandon has a hard time writing the Mat parts. But I felt it actually helped show some of Mat's character development and growth with some of that change.

 

Some of the death's almost felt as if they were put in just to say "yeah, even main characters can die" rather then actually needing them to be bumped off as part of the story. Maybe someone attempting to channel their inner "joss whedon"..

 

The whole of the epilogue was apparently written by Jordan before he died, although it had a few bits changed by editing. It's one I think will have to be re-read a couple of times before I can fully decide how I really feel/think about the whole thing.

[NerdBoner]

http://www.amazon.com/Daughters-of-Soria-ebook/dp/B00B14B8NC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1358622051&sr=8-1&keywords=Daughters+of+Soria

 

 

 

made my estrogen levels rise and my daddy issues flare...

[Ywerion]

  Ah yes Wheel of Time, with recent re-release of original trilogy in my country, I can finally start reading it, would you believe that since I got first book of Shadow Rising to my birthday(and after reading through it ), I started to buy rest of the series, book by book, so once I obtain original trilogy I can start reading from the very beginning? Untill now I didn't peek in any of them to avoid spoiling the plot, Im just this sort crazy fella I am  .

  

  On a slightly different note, those of you who know Thorgal series, how did you like it? Aside Jules Verne books, this was one of my childhood favorite reading so I hold Thorgal in great favour. 

Edited January 20, 2013 by Ywerion

[Raithe]

io9 - Scifi Authors Pose Half-Naked on this Genderflipped Book-cover for Charity?

 

 

What possessed four of science fiction and fantasy's superstar authors to strip down to their skivvies and gather around Hugo-award-winning writer Mary Robinette Kowal? It's not just to skewer the skin-baring cover illustration of Poul Anderson's Young Flandry (although that was certainly part of it). It's all part of Jim C. Hines' charity poses drive to support the Aicardi Syndrome Foundation.

 

Aicardi Syndrome is a rare genetic disorder that causes a number of complications, including brain malformation, developmental delays, and seizures. Hines has friends whose children suffer from this condition, including a friend whose daughter recently passed away due to complications from Aicardi Syndrome. The Aicardi Syndrome Foundation funds research into treatment and helps parents of sufferers connect with researchers and with one another at an annual conference. Hines decided to launch a donation drive for the foundation in December, with different rewards for different goals. What, pray-tell, would those rewards be? Hines would duplicate the poses on various scifi, fantasy, and comic book covers.

 

See, about a year ago, Hines posted a series of photographs of himself posed as the women on various book covers as a comment on the way women are frequently depicted in genre fiction. (To contrast the female poses, he also took a series of photos of himself duplicating male cover poses.) As part of this charity drive, he asked donors what covers they would like to see him duplicate. Among the winners were Catwoman Vol. 1, the Esther Friesner-edited Fangs for the Mammaries, and Pip Ballentine and Tee Morris' Phoenix Rising. Occasionally John Scalzi would get in on the fun, challenging Hines to a pose-off. And man, can Scalzi pose.

 

If he raised more than $5,000, Hines vowed to gather John Scalzi, Pat Rothfuss, Charles Stross, and Mary Robinette Kowal at ConFusion to duplicate the cover of Young Flandry, and this weekend he made good on that vow. In total, Hines raised $15,405 for the Aicardi Syndrome Foundation, and he's looking to make a 2014 pose calendar. Of course, even if you missed the donation drive, you can still donate to the foundation.

 

It's nice to see authors poking a bit of fun at sexist cover conventions while raising money for a good cause.

[Raithe]

Another slice of literary news.

Games Workshop is trying to lay claim to all uses of the term "Space Marine"... 

Whatever.Scalzi.Com - Space Marines and teh Battle of Tradem Ark
 

Today’s thing people in e-mail are clamoring for me to comment about: This, in which the sale of a self-published book by M.C.A. Hogarth was blocked from sale on Amazon after Games Workshop complained that it violated its trademark for the term “space marines.” If the linked post above is at all accurate, apparently Games Workshop, which uses the term “space marines” in its Warhammer 40,000 games and has a trademark in that area, has branched out into handling its own ebooks and therefore believes that trademark carries over into the literary world as well.
 
I am not a lawyer, so factor that in here. That said: Games Workshop, really? You know, a simple search on the term “space marines” over at Google Books shows a crapload of prior art for “space marines” in science fiction literature, from the 1936 Amazing Tales novelette “The Space Marines and the Slavers” by Bob Olsen, to Robert Heinlein’s novel Space Cadet, to the very recent use of the term in The Sheriff of Yrnameer by Michael Reubens and So You Created a Wormhole: The Time Traveler’s Guide to Time Travel by Phil Hornshaw and Nick Hurwitch. There is no lack of evidence that the phrase “space marines” has been used rather promiscuously in science fiction literature up to this point.
 
To argue, as Games Workshop must, that the phrase “space marines” has a distinctive character in science fiction literature relating only to their product involves, shall we say, a certain studied ignorance of the field. Table top games? Possibly; I’m not an expert. Science fiction literature? You have got to be kidding. It’s pretty damn generic in this field, and was long before 1987, when Warhammer 40,000 was created in game form . Nor does it seem, as far as I know, that Games Workshop attempted to claim trademark on the phrase “space marine” before, despite a veritable plethora of Warhammer 40K tie-in literature using the phrase.
 
So, yeah, this seems like pretty weak sauce on the part of Games Workshop. If it believes it has a trademark claim it has to defend it, but the fact it believes it has a legitimate trademark claim on “space marine” in the field of science fiction literature is absurd (or, alternately, if it believes it doesn’t have a legitimate trademark claim but is attempting an intellectual rights land grab anyway, it is odious). It’s easy enough to pull this crap on a self-published author who doesn’t have the resources to fight the assertion. I’ll be interested to see what happens if they try to pull it on an actual publisher, with actual lawyers. That should be fun.
(As people will ask what this means in terms of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, of which I am currently president: Well, obviously it’s on my radar. I’m not going to say anything more in that capacity for now.)
 
In the meantime, I don’t know. As apparently Games Workshop is asserting this trademark in the field of science fiction literature through its expansion into ebook distribution, maybe this is a good pro bono case for the EFF. Someone go tell them. Alternately Games Workshop could just stop being jerks and let this writer sell her book. Seems doubtful anyone will be buying it instead of a Warhammer 40k story, or will confuse it for one.

 

 

MCAH Online - In the Future, All Space Marines Will Be Warhammer 40K Space Marines

 

In mid-December, Games Workshop told Amazon that I’d infringed on the trademark they’ve claimed for the term “space marine” by titling my original fiction novel Spots the Space Marine. In response, Amazon blocked the e-book from sale [original post and update]. Since then, I’ve been in discussion with Games Workshop, and following their responses, with several lawyers.

To engage a lawyer to defend me from this spurious claim would cost more money than I have, certainly more than the book has ever earned me. Rather than earning money for my family, I’d be taking money from them, when previously my writing income paid for my daughter’s schooling. And I’d have to use the little time I have to write novels to fight a protracted legal battle instead.

In their last email to me, Games Workshop stated that they believe that their recent entrée into the e-book market gives them the common law trademark for the term “space marine” in all formats. If they choose to proceed on that belief, science fiction will lose a term that’s been a part of its canon since its inception. Space marines were around long before Games Workshop. But if GW has their way, in the future, no one will be able to use the term “space marine” without it referring to the space marines of the Warhammer 40K universe.

I used to own a registered trademark. I understand the legal obligations of trademark holders to protect their IP. A Games Workshop trademark of the term “Adeptus Astartes” is completely understandable. But they’ve chosen instead to co-opt the legacy of science fiction writers who laid the groundwork for their success. Even more than I want to save Spots the Space Marine, I want someone to save all space marines for the genre I grew up reading. I want there to be a world where Heinlein and E.E. Smith’s space marines can live alongside mine and everyone else’s, and no one has the hubris to think that they can own a fundamental genre trope and deny it to everyone else.

At this point I’m not sure what course to take. I interviewed five lawyers and all of them were willing to take the case, but barring the arrival of a lawyer willing to work pro bono, the costs of beginning legal action start at $2000 and climb into the five-figure realm when it becomes a formal lawsuit. Many of you don’t know me, so you don’t know that I write a business column/web comic for artists; wearing my business hat, it’s hard to countenance putting so much time and energy into saving a novel that hasn’t earned enough to justify it. But this isn’t just about Spots. It’s about science fiction’s loss of one of its foundational tropes.

I have very little free time and very little money. But if enough people show up to this fight, I’ll give what I can to serve that trust. And if the response doesn’t equal the level of support I would need, then I still thank you for your help and your well wishes. For now, step one is to talk about this. Pass it on to your favorite news source. Tell your favorite authors or writers’ organizations. To move forward, we need interest. Let’s generate some interest.

[Ywerion]

Just finished Eric Van Lustbader's Floating City which I randomly stumbled upon in Library. I have to say that this author has fairly unique talent, I need to check more of his work, anyone has recommendation?

[melkathi]

Another slice of literary news.

 

Games Workshop is trying to lay claim to all uses of the term "Space Marine"...

 

 

Eeek!

And of course Amazon plays along.

[JFSOCC]

patent trolling is a growing trend, eventually the problem will grow large enough measures will be taken

[Raithe]

A nice little blog entry regarding that Games Workshop thing..
 
Shlock Mercenary - Space Marines, Water War and Uplifted Elephants
 

Last week a story broke in which Games Workshop told Amazon to pull a book by a self-published author because the book violated a Games Workshop trademark.
    The trademark in question? "Space Marine."
    
    Lots of people, myself included, made varying types of social media noise regarding the matter. Amazon has since seen the light, and reinstated M.C.A. Hogarth's book. (I can't vouch for it. I haven't read it.)
    
    I've got lots to say on the matter, but let's begin with the water war.
    
    Tolkien, Heinlein, H.G. Wells, and others are the well-head. They are the font from which much of the terminology of genre fiction derives. That water flows freely downriver, eventually irrigating fields, flooding paddies, moistening whatever metaphor you'd like.
    
Gygax, Arneson, and others drank deeply from that stream, and contributed to the flow by giving us tabletop games in which our own imaginations could run freely.
    
    Games Workshop, located even further downstream, drank even more deeply, taking terms like "elf," and "dwarf," and building an entire gaming universe of war games, skirmish games, role-playing games, and more.
    
    But now they're building a dam. If you're downstream from Games Workshop, they want you to thirst to death unless you pay them money.
    
    What would have happened if Tolkien or Heinlein had built a dam? Games Workshop would not exist. Their entire business model hinges upon the collaborative imaginations of hundreds of thousands of people, all sharing a vernacular in which words like elf, dwarf, ogre, empire, and orc call up instant images. "Eldar" didn't mean "ancient elf" until Tolkien said it did. Games Workshop drank that right up. Bob Olsen and E.E. Smith both used the term "Space Marines" back in the 1930s. Games Workshop sucked on that, too.
    
    I understand the importance of trademarks, which allow Games Workshop to protect their business from copycats and counterfeits, but there isn't much moral high ground to be found when the terms being trademarked are themselves borrowed from others.
    
    The solution, as I see it, is for Games Workshop to rename their generic, bulbously-pauldroned Space Marines to something they CAN trademark. They release codexes often enough, this shouldn't be a problem. Let them screw their customers (again,) instead of putting the screws to the rest of us.
    
    But the rest of us should consider adding to the flow, instead of just drinking.
    
Hogarth could have done better than to call anything in her book a "Space Marine." Sure, the term has been in use since the 1930s, but if we look at modern examples, we find that other terms work better. Master Chief is technically a Space Marine, but we know him as a Spartan (also difficult to trademark, but still much better.) "Space" anything is kind of cliché. Stormtrooper and Spartan are taken (both terms borrowed from history) but should serve as examples of how far afield we can go for meaningful new words.
    
    How about "Magbooter?" Craft the right two sentences of context in your story, and we'll know that a magbooter is an armored soldier on a spaceship who is expected to board other ships, and whose magnetic boots are a signature piece of equipment.
    
    That one's free, folks. Take it! (I Googled it just now, and got jack.)
    
If you're writing about elves, dwarves, and orcs, have you asked yourself why? If your elves are different, could you call them something else? Are the tall, pointy-eared forest-dwellers in your story because you think they're required for it to feel like fantasy? Can't they just as easily be monkey-people, with tails and dextrous feet with reversible thumbs? Or maybe they're an ancient race, elegant and mysterious, and they manifest ethereally, with a mask totem being their only physical element.
    
    Sure, you can't avoid borrowing something from those who have gone before. Just the idea of forest-people has been around since Flash Gordon (at least,) so the concept alone isn't original. But what you do with it SHOULD be. Why bother using the word "elf?"
    
    In my own work I've borrowed heavily. I admit it. "Uplift," for example, comes to me from David Brin, who re-purposed it from its obscenely racist 18th-century African missionary usage. Doctor Brin and I have talked about this. He's happy to pay it forward and contribute to our colloquia, and I'm not going to try to title any of my books with that word because that would confuse the market.
    
    Then there's the term "Annie Plant," which is uniquely my own. It's short for "Annihilation Power Plant" (not "antimatter power plant," as I'm asked to explain a lot) and I like the way it makes my universe feel like MY universe rather than somebody else's. I'm not going to trademark "Annie Plant," but I don't think you should use that word. Come up with your own! Be creative!
    
    Ultimately, our speculations and flights of fancy will have common ground somewhere in the language we use. We should be willing to share that ground, watering it collectively where necessary, but taking care to differentiate.

[Lexx]

I can agree with that pretty much.

[Malcador]

Thought it being in the title was the problem for GW not the fact they use them.  Still, interesting case, even if the author is all on the cross in that blog.

[WDeranged]

I finished Dune this week, it was brilliant but I think I might end up liking the sequels more, I tend to prefer stories that happen in the wake of something epic rather than the actual event itself, I started reading Dune Messiah and so far it's panning out just as I expected...horribly 

[melkathi]

I finished Dune this week, it was brilliant but I think I might end up liking the sequels more, I tend to prefer stories that happen in the wake of something epic rather than the actual event itself, I started reading Dune Messiah and so far it's panning out just as I expected...horribly 

 

Just keep as far away from the prequels as possible. I'd go as far as advising to shoot anyone you remotely suspect could be possibly considering to think about perhaps bringing a copy of any of the prequels near your city.

 

The sequels aren't bad. I enjoyed Messiah quite a bit. It's only Chapter House that I did not really like. Stil I prefer the first book to any of the sequels.

You are in for a few surprises though as the story unfolds in the sequels, I think