News:

Rings of Reznor!

Main Menu

Not-comic book reading

Started by HarryTrotter, May 20, 2021, 06:32:11 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

BentonGrey

In terms of America, the horse certainly made a big difference, but there's tons of examples of the same kind of thing from the ancient world too.  The Anabasis has stories of a few encounters with such peoples. 

And yeah, the Freeman are sort of crazy hardy.
God Bless
"If God came down upon me and gave me a wish again, I'd wish to be like Aquaman, 'cause Aquaman can take the pain..." -Ballad of Aquaman
Check out mymods and blog!
https://bentongrey.wordpress.com/

HarryTrotter

From Scythians to Mongols,true. The Comanche example is kinda random,but I guess as good as any. Basically,everyone would rather live near arable land and buffalo herds,if you are on some arid mountain,you got chased up there sometime in the past.
''Even our origin stories have gone sour.''
Jon Farmer

BentonGrey

True, but the wheel of fate turns.  The people on the mountain grow hardy, and the people in the valley grow soft.  Ha.
God Bless
"If God came down upon me and gave me a wish again, I'd wish to be like Aquaman, 'cause Aquaman can take the pain..." -Ballad of Aquaman
Check out mymods and blog!
https://bentongrey.wordpress.com/

HarryTrotter

Quote from: BentonGrey on July 05, 2021, 02:01:52 PM
True, but the wheel of fate turns.  The people on the mountain grow hardy, and the people in the valley grow soft.  Ha.
You're not wrong there. That's another SF trope,btw. Where the guys exiled beyond known space/galaxy/whatever are coming back for revenge. I think even Dune did it later on.
''Even our origin stories have gone sour.''
Jon Farmer

BentonGrey

More proof that sci-fi and fantasy are two sides of the same coin, as that's certainly a fantasy trope too.
God Bless
"If God came down upon me and gave me a wish again, I'd wish to be like Aquaman, 'cause Aquaman can take the pain..." -Ballad of Aquaman
Check out mymods and blog!
https://bentongrey.wordpress.com/

HarryTrotter

Those 2 genres are not that separate,nor is combining them all that new. Conan encounters an alien at one point.
Can't really remember a lot of fantasy examples of that (Wheel of time,IIRC) ...but to be honest,I don't really read a lot of fantasy (only recently gotten into Black Company, which is great). Most of "modern" fantasy feels bloated and derivative.
''Even our origin stories have gone sour.''
Jon Farmer

BentonGrey

It tends to be more of a feature of low fantasy than high fantasy, I'd say.  You see it in, fittingly enough, Conan-type Barbarian stories, especially during that initial era.  The whole concept of the enervating nature of civilization was part of the ethos that created those characters/settings.  But you also see it in authors like David Gemmel.  It's one of his major themes.
God Bless
"If God came down upon me and gave me a wish again, I'd wish to be like Aquaman, 'cause Aquaman can take the pain..." -Ballad of Aquaman
Check out mymods and blog!
https://bentongrey.wordpress.com/

HarryTrotter

Well, that's kinda the cycle of civilization. You could say SF is very Spenglerian in that regard.
''Even our origin stories have gone sour.''
Jon Farmer

BentonGrey

Yep, fiction emulating fact.
God Bless
"If God came down upon me and gave me a wish again, I'd wish to be like Aquaman, 'cause Aquaman can take the pain..." -Ballad of Aquaman
Check out mymods and blog!
https://bentongrey.wordpress.com/

HarryTrotter

Back to Lovecraft...are his twist endings even intended to be twists? With "Pickman's model", it's right up there in the title. Outsider also makes it obvious that the narrator is not human from the start.
Call of Cthulhu and Dunwich horror were good. So is Beneath the pyramids. During that one,the narrator (Harry Houdini, actually) faints 3 times. Or was it 4?
I assume there was an epidemic of low blood sugar in the 20's and 30's.
''Even our origin stories have gone sour.''
Jon Farmer

BentonGrey

God Bless
"If God came down upon me and gave me a wish again, I'd wish to be like Aquaman, 'cause Aquaman can take the pain..." -Ballad of Aquaman
Check out mymods and blog!
https://bentongrey.wordpress.com/

HarryTrotter

#41
I finished Twist of Faith. It was great. Even the new characters are fleshed out and interesting. For me,the highpoint of four books was a Jem'Hadar taking on a Hirogen.
Im getting into Hyperion again. It's like Canterbury tales in space. It does take a while to get started.
''Even our origin stories have gone sour.''
Jon Farmer

HarryTrotter

Battletech Ideal War. It's the Vietnam war. With mechs. It's pretty good. And accessible, probably. I managed to keep up despite knowing nothing about the setting.

Star Trek One Small Step. It's the first part of the Gateways crossover. The bad guys of the crossover try to trick Kirk into giving them Kaladan portal technology. By disguising themselves as several Losiras. It's pretty short and feels like a sequel to that episode of TOS.
''Even our origin stories have gone sour.''
Jon Farmer

GhostMachine

Quote from: HarryTrotter on July 13, 2021, 03:18:53 PM
Back to Lovecraft...are his twist endings even intended to be twists? With "Pickman's model", it's right up there in the title. Outsider also makes it obvious that the narrator is not human from the start.
Call of Cthulhu and Dunwich horror were good. So is Beneath the pyramids. During that one,the narrator (Harry Houdini, actually) faints 3 times. Or was it 4?
I assume there was an epidemic of low blood sugar in the 20's and 30's.

Please tell me you've read "Cool Air". If not, you should really go seek it out.

HarryTrotter

Quote from: GhostMachine on August 07, 2021, 07:44:11 PM
Quote from: HarryTrotter on July 13, 2021, 03:18:53 PM
Back to Lovecraft...are his twist endings even intended to be twists? With "Pickman's model", it's right up there in the title. Outsider also makes it obvious that the narrator is not human from the start.
Call of Cthulhu and Dunwich horror were good. So is Beneath the pyramids. During that one,the narrator (Harry Houdini, actually) faints 3 times. Or was it 4?
I assume there was an epidemic of low blood sugar in the 20's and 30's.

Please tell me you've read "Cool Air". If not, you should really go seek it out.
Again,not sure if that was meant to be a twist. Guy's dead. Its obvious from very early on.
''Even our origin stories have gone sour.''
Jon Farmer

GhostMachine

Quote from: HarryTrotter on August 07, 2021, 08:30:13 PM
Quote from: GhostMachine on August 07, 2021, 07:44:11 PM
Quote from: HarryTrotter on July 13, 2021, 03:18:53 PM
Back to Lovecraft...are his twist endings even intended to be twists? With "Pickman's model", it's right up there in the title. Outsider also makes it obvious that the narrator is not human from the start.
Call of Cthulhu and Dunwich horror were good. So is Beneath the pyramids. During that one,the narrator (Harry Houdini, actually) faints 3 times. Or was it 4?
I assume there was an epidemic of low blood sugar in the 20's and 30's.

Please tell me you've read "Cool Air". If not, you should really go seek it out.
Again,not sure if that was meant to be a twist. Guy's dead. Its obvious from very early on.

Oh, I know its not a twist. Its just a darn good story.

HarryTrotter

Finished Hyperion. I really wanted to like this,I really did. But it's just so boring. I liked 2 of the stories here. Technically 2.5 since the final one kinda wraps it all together. Not that we really get any answers in the end.
Otherwise, it's like talking to a stoner.
Man, wouldn't it be cool if there is this AI,and it like cloned John Keats?
So...what happened then?
I don't know man,but it would be cool.
''Even our origin stories have gone sour.''
Jon Farmer

HarryTrotter

DS9 Twilight. It's a good book,but kinda feels like 2 shorter books combined. We switch between Defiant on its mission in the now open Gamma quadrant and the happenings on DS9. Where we have the big diplomatic meeting about Bajor joining the Federation and a whole bunch of continuing subplots. Quark and Ro romance...kinda works, actually.
''Even our origin stories have gone sour.''
Jon Farmer

Silver Shocker

Now that sounds like an interesting DS9 continuation. Gotta admit, I kinda wanna read those books.

Quark and Ro Lauren romance? Ok, that does make me wanna read the book.
"Now you know what you're worth? Then go out and get what you're worth, but you gotta be willing to take the hits. And not pointing fingers, saying you're not where you want to be because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that, and THAT AIN'T YOU. YOU'RE BETTER THAN THAT!"
~Rocky Balboa

HarryTrotter

Thou Bajor joining the Federation in six weeks leads me to think it won't be that easy.
Voyager: Mosaic. It's Janeways backstory. Which we only got small parts of in the show. It's actually good.

''Even our origin stories have gone sour.''
Jon Farmer

HarryTrotter

So I finished the Gateways crossover. Not the worst crossover I read,but I wish there was more crossing over. Basically there is a Starfleet briefing about the situation and then everyone goes off to do their own thing. Except the TOS and Voyager parts. For obvious reasons. Then the big finale in the TNG part of the epilogue. Picard meets the Iconians and becomes a Young God (not sure what that is),goes on a quest to find the keys and closes all the gateways. In the Voyager part,we also learned that it was Q who gave the Iconians the gateway technology. And the DS9 part  shows they know the Prophets. So we learned a lot about them,while still keeping some of the mystery.
''Even our origin stories have gone sour.''
Jon Farmer

HarryTrotter

DS9 This Gray Spirit. Again,the DS9 part is actually interesting. Cardassians want a normalization of relations with Bajor,but Shaakar is having none of that. So we get a bit of a reverse,with Kira now having to advocate for the Cardassians. In the Defiant part,they find some fish dudes with a caste system and it's really boring. Like,how many times have we seen that setup in Star Trek. There is also a whole subplot about them needing parts,going to the black market,Nog tries to sell the stealth tech to the bad guys,but it was actually all part of a plan...that whole thing could have been cut out.
Quark is still worried that Federation and it's almost moneyless system will ruin his bar. Seriously,how? We saw Starfleet personel in his bar, so they had to pay him in some currency. So more people would be better for business,I assume.
''Even our origin stories have gone sour.''
Jon Farmer

Silver Shocker

QuoteSo we get a bit of a reverse,with Kira now having to advocate for the Cardassians.

Now that does sound like a interesting premise.

QuoteIn the Defiant part,they find some fish dudes with a caste system and it's really boring. Like,how many times have we seen that setup in Star Trek. There is also a whole subplot about them needing parts,going to the black market,Nog tries to sell the stealth tech to the bad guys,but it was actually all part of a plan...that whole thing could have been cut out.

Doesn't sound very interesting, and sounds like kinda a crappy use of Nog compared to the later storylines of the show.

QuoteQuark is still worried that Federation and it's almost moneyless system will ruin his bar. Seriously,how? We saw Starfleet personel in his bar, so they had to pay him in some currency. So more people would be better for business,I assume.

That part has always kind of confused me, and apparently even in the books they don't explain it.
"Now you know what you're worth? Then go out and get what you're worth, but you gotta be willing to take the hits. And not pointing fingers, saying you're not where you want to be because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that, and THAT AIN'T YOU. YOU'RE BETTER THAN THAT!"
~Rocky Balboa

HarryTrotter

Yeah,I feel like the whole black market subplot is there to give Vaughn and Nog something to do,and give us a bit of ship action, while Ezri and Shar are dealing with the main plot. Which does play into the Andorian Reproductive Crisis story. They are really laying the pipes for that one.
I don't remember anyone ever mentioning "Federation credits" or something like that, but some currency has to exist. Like,there are restaurants on Earth,that would imply people are paying for the food. Maybe everyone is carrying gold pressed latinum around. So I don't really see how DS9 being under Federation control would be a bad thing for Quark's Bar.
''Even our origin stories have gone sour.''
Jon Farmer

HarryTrotter

DS9 Cathedral. This time,the Gamma quadrant part of the story was actually interesting. Back in the Alpha quadrant,Bajorans had a religious schism over the prophecies Kira posted online back in Avatar. Vedek Yevir,Macet and Garak meet with the Cardassian clerics and get back four Orbs. So the negotiations can begin again. Bajor is about to join the Federation,but then Shaakar gets assasinated by the Trill security advisor. I knew that wasn't going to be so easy. And Joseph Sisko died. So that certainly had a lot going on.
''Even our origin stories have gone sour.''
Jon Farmer

HarryTrotter

New history of the Peloponnesian war
Now more relevant then ever. Even Kagan points out the similarities with the modern world. To his credit,he was fairly realistic for a neocon.
''Even our origin stories have gone sour.''
Jon Farmer

Epimethee

Interested in the period, adding it to my Scribd reading list, thanks!
FFX add-on for FFvsTTR at ffx.freedomforceforever.com

HarryTrotter

Red Plenty It's a semi fictional look at the planned economy of the Soviet Union. (Planned economy being a reason why some people will still say "REAL socialism has never been tried,it was state capitalism) Funny thing being this actually worked in the 50's and 60's... I would have personally liked a more technical look,but this does a great job of explaining how planned economy worked. Or didn't in the end.
''Even our origin stories have gone sour.''
Jon Farmer

HarryTrotter

Snow Crash I would have liked it if I read it when I was 12,but now... cyberpunk (and it's parodies) has been done to death...
''Even our origin stories have gone sour.''
Jon Farmer

HarryTrotter

#59
Time to list my whole recent Kindle list for fun

- The Blood Angels omnibus by James Swallow
- The Coming of the Third Reich by Richard Evans
- ST TNG Immortal Coil by Jeffrey Lang
- Songs of Valor (anthology)
-ST Titan Fallen Gods by Michael A Martin
-Peoples history of the United States by Howard Zinn
-The Battle for the Falklands by Max Hastings
-The Party by Richard McGregor
-Archeofuturism by Guillaume Faye
-The dinosaur heresies by Robert T Bakker
-A new history of the Peloponnesian war by Donald Kagan
-Fall of Macharius by William King
''Even our origin stories have gone sour.''
Jon Farmer