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RichardAbbott
About
- Username
- RichardAbbott
- Joined
- Visits
- 6,082
- Last Active
- Roles
- Member, Administrator, Moderator
- Games I like
- Sundry, mostly board
- Books I like
- Science fiction, fantasy, some historical fiction
Comments
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The weirdest one for me was the end of Mission of Gravity. There was the hugely long chapter "Under", which to my eyes just ended on another cliffhanger... except that then there was a lecture (clearly removed from the actual story univers…
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Not a lot to add here to what's already been said by @dr_mitch and @Apocryphal
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Generally yes, but the problem with hard sf is that it encourages you to check it out, so you'd better be right. I went down something of a rabbit hole about gravity on the surface of oblate spheroids, and think that Clement vastly overstated the ra…
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I might read another story, and being by another author would attract me more than another one by Clement (sad to say). My version of Heavy Planet included both Mission of Gravity and Starlight - I read the second because I wasn't sure that MoG had …
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I think both your summaries are very fair :smile: It is odd, though probably a good assessment of human character, that clients go to the brothel to fulfil a fantasy of sex with one of the nobility, and how appropriate that Severian, who has actuall…
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(Quote) I don't think we can answer that just now - certainly what you say is right for the solar system, but we have xero information about satellite size for Earth-sized planets in other solar systems. If current solar system formation models are …
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Ready when you are
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(Quote) I kind of felt the same. Yes, there's loads of world-building going on, but some of the episodes seem to be blind alleys and I wasn't sure if I needed to keep track of the things in them or not. Take for example the dog - is this a Chekhov d…
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> @Ray_Otus said: > OK. I just found the path again. Slow Reads in left column, then the Book of the New Sun, then the right week. Not really that difficult. I just don't get a ping to remind me to go look. I think that if you find the rig…
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> @Apocryphal said: > Its pretty hard to predict when the last post will be. Queue bugle music stage left...
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> @Ray_Otus said: > Is there a post for the next section? https://www.ttrpbc.com/discussion/214/shadow-of-the-torturer-chapters-five-to-eight#latest
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Right! Caught up now. What did I think? I liked the way that Gene Wolfe does not feel compelled to explain loads of stuff up front, but just lets you work it out as you go along. And that while he as author has a good grasp of what's where, none of …
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Oooo
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Exciting news today... "Dear Richard Abbott, We thought you would like to know that your Lulu order was shipped on 21/03/19 19:31 via Standard Royal Mail"
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> @dr_mitch said: > There has to be something in Plato's theory of forms for an RPG magic system. Coming soon...clash bowley's "Plato was right." :) "Bless me, what do they teach them in these schools nowadays?"
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I've only just got hold of this so will be a bit behind... will catch up over the weekend hopefully
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(Quote) Yes! That totally captures a lot of this - it's not a 'portable' religion but bound to the physicality of that part of the land. From memory that also holds true of other significant places for the Old Ones. The stone at Osskil was the same …
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(Quote) Not at all frustrated - it's great to be dealing with a book that encourages all of us to see multiple sides of the issue.
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@Ray_Otus I agree (though had not done the statistical analysis that you did :smile: ) - I think Ursula LeGuin was deliberately avoiding the possibility of people saying "aha, the Old Ones are _really _XYZ religion and the wizards are _really _…
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I think there are several approaches to religious thought and feeling. The idea that it might be provable is, IMHO, very much a Protestant / nonConformist one, and is the basis behind a lot of contemporary missionary and such like work. But other b…
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> @Ray_Otus said: > > (And yes. I just found this section of the forum. How am I so bad at navigating this site? Is it just me?) So far as I can tell you have to update your notifications every time someone adds a new discussion are…
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Your lack of faith disturbs me...
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Ordered mine from the UK and shipping was an entirely reasonable amount. Dragon hordes were not involved. Now the wait for it to be printed and dispatched...
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(Quote) I've often wanted to create a game of some kind where the terrain changes in various ways through the course of action. My original thought was that the setting would be a tidal coast or estuary, where particular routes might be traversable …
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Finally got around to a review of this one - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2747404847 - but I haven't posted it in its entirety as we all read it together :smile:
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Ouch... that would have been painful
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> @rossum said: > I'm also reminded of a pull quote from a cyberpunk/psionic favorite of mine, Catspaw by Joan Vinge: "In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is stoned to death." I've never known where that one originated :…
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(Quote) Along these same lines, one of the features of the advanced wizard is that they learn the value of ordinary things - rabbit here, and stone ("tolk") in Wizard of Earthsea. The novice wants to do flashy things and impress, while the…
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(Quote) That's a really helpful piece of terminology, thanks!
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(Quote) That's a splendid observation!