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Apocryphal
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Comments
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I’ve already picked my next book (after Ridley Walker, that is) 😁
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Out of curiosity, why did you pick this from all the wide world of possibilities? Did someone recommend it, or were you researching a concept, or just like the sound of it?
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Ah, interesting, thanks. I’ve heard of Retief, but possibly only because I saw the titles on store shelves.
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I’ve seen a lot of Keith Laumer books in the used bookstores, but never heard anyone talk about his work before now. If you don’t mind the aside, can you put say a bit more about him?
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> @RichardAbbott said: > Interesting to hear about the audio experience - I've been thinking a lot recently about narration. Firstly about how a bad narrator can ruin the experience of a perfectly good book. But also about how even a good nar…
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Yeah, maybe. I’d want diversified characters (not just brains or brawn) and a more plausible scenario like tge one I mentioned in another thread, but it could totally work for a filler or one-shot. I might use the HEX (Hollow Earth Expedition) rules…
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Yes, as I said elsewhere, he’s actually a pretty good writer of action. I liked the read. It’s probably not the kind of thing I’d read a lot of, but it was fun and effective, for me and I’d be willing to have another go. But this clear and easy writ…
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Make sense? Nope, not really LOL. It probably would have made more sense if it was a team to scientists and engineers evolving their new tech by sending rich MMA clients on death defying adventures!
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Meh. I hardly noticed. Somehow the violence in the Orenda was worse.
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As I mentioned in my reactions answer, this was the least plausible part of the book. However, the set up as is works quite well for session-based adventure. The more changes I would make to reflect reality would probably lower the adventure potenti…
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I didn’t have a strong feeling about characters. Infinity was really the only developed character, and I found her relatable enough (even if a familiar trope - Vasquez from Aliens much?). The rest were ok. I never understood why they needed call sig…
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So, I didn’t mind the length. It was pretty short, and I thought the main mission was the warm-up to a real mission until I got to the end. Whatever. Clearly there’s more to explore here if one want to continue reading. As for liking it, this boo…
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I'm leaning toward Riddley Walker, by Russel Hoban. Let me know if that appeals.
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That’s consistent with what I read about Djinni, that they can be of several faiths. They’re more or less like humans, but magical because they have a different origin story. On the matter of Egyptian priests being against Islam, that doesn’t sur…
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I also thought female was likely, but didn’t want to jump to conclusions. But that is interesting - for a while now I’ve been thinking that male authors with European names are going to start using ambiguous pen names to make them seem more ethnic a…
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> @clash_bowley said: > Any and all *punk is welcome! Well, I can’t agree with this sentiment. There’s so much punk these days that the only way to really be punk in an environment crowded with punks is to be old school mainstream 😂
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Yes, that’s actually pretty interesting. I had never considered how the various clothing norms in the near east might influence how you read other people, but that’s cool. Makes me wonder what they look for in more fundamentalist societies. Gait? Sm…
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It’s not about pigeon-holes, so much as about verisimilitude. There’s barely any steampunk content apart from a few mentions ‘boiler plate eunuchs’ and a few other things. But what purpose do these serve in the story? None that I could tell. So why …
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Probably the only thing I’d use is the setting of Cairo. I would definitely use Djinn, but I’d turn instead to the study of them that I read. I might crib some of the magic/spells from this book. I would not do any kind of hipster-magic-police-proce…
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Meh. Boiler Plate. Whatever that means. I don’t think the magic was ever meant to be systematized. I’m ok with that - with magic being magic, rather than a science. Though, now that I think about it, it does kind of work against the rise of magic be…
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Yes. I think there’s this propensity for westerners these days to assume that discrimination and bigotry is a one way street perpetuated by whites against everyone else (to the point where I often see the term ‘reverse-racism’ used, like there’s onl…
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Generally good. Not every character was memorable, of course, and some were rather cookie-cutter, but I overall liked the main characters. I think having a lot is probably suitable to a large, cosmopolitan city environment. However, the big evil was…
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Was it early 20th or late 19th? I couldn’t tell. The dialogue was thoroughly modern, there was ancient magic, hipster Egyptian priests, what I assume were steampunk eunuchs. It was all a bit jumbled. But I loved the Egyptian setting. I don’t know *t…
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I liked the story well enough, and I thought the writing was generally quite good (though once again, it did absolutely nothing to transport me to an imaginary 19th C.). Also, I was thought that the Egyptian aspects of the setting were quite good, i…
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I’m ready.
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Great stuff, Richard. I managed 86, setting a new record for me, and also a new record for total number of pages. Now, some of those books were actually audio books, which some people might choose not to count, and some of the audio books were actua…
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I ordered my copy of Infinity and started in on Djinn. Still thinking about the March pick.
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Reviews seem to suggest you can read in any order.
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It’s available here as well.
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Seriously? We just read that in the Ancient History group on Goodreads. I wish I’d known you were interested - would have invited you! (Spoiler warning if you read too far into this link) https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/22348161-1177-b…