What did you just read?

khorum · May 30, 2019

I mean... did it precede all the anime that were based on playing/living/based on RPG gaming?

I don't doubt that the Russians are all over litrpg stuff, but it seems like manga and anime have been doing the same themes since the mid-90's.

Ukerric · May 30, 2019

Now, as an aside, since it's not pure SF (for which there's the other thread), I've finished Theater of Spies. It's the 2nd book in Stirling's new series now that he's finally decided to end the Emberverse series (for which I am simultaneously grateful and slightly disappointed).

It's basically the adventure of James Bond, if James Bond was a bisexual latina superspy fighting the Germans during WW1 in an alternate history dominated by ... what would you call it? zep-punk? And with Tesla himself as Q. In the hands of anyone else, it would probably be a disaster, but Stirling can do the ludicrous premise justice.

The Theater of Spies brings back mostly the same cast of characters from book 1, namely Luz O'Malley, her GF technological wizard Ciara Whelan, arch-Nemesis Horst and a good supporting cast. Set in a WW1 setting, with Germany the technological wizard with WMD and radar and all that vs the the USA economical giant, it has his capers, hot dirigible pursuits, daring rescues, and even a Sergeant Schultz that you can very obviously picture as That Sergeant Schultz (probably not a coincidence). Plus bonus gifts (seriously, how would you behave if Nicholas Tesla himself sent you a slide rule as an appreciation gift).

It's a bit less of a wonder than the first novel, since most of the surprise and discovery of the setting is now gone, but it remains a good read. And, of course, we're going to see more of the clashing between Luz and Imperial Germany's spies.

PS: There's a point where you realize exactly how alt-America is slowly shaping... not spoiling. But that's where you get the difference between Stirling's subtlety and Turtledove when it comes to alt-history.

Void · Jun 3, 2019

I'm halfway through book 3 of Divine Dungeon, and I never thought I'd say it, but I am totally enthralled with a book series about a living freaking dungeon! It is exceptionally well done, considering the subject matter. The dungeon itself is a great character, easy to like and root for, even while he's plotting to kill people because that's what dungeons do! There's a little bit of suspension of disbelief that has to go on with the conversations that the dungeon has with its wisp, because they are phrases and expressions that we, the human readers, would recognize, but there's no logical reason for a dungeon in a fantasy world to know them. That's obviously just the author interjecting their own way of speaking, and none of it is as blatant as The Land where he talks about movies and TV shows, nor does the dungeon say anything blatantly pop culture, but still. Anyway, it isn't bad or anything, and often it is kind of funny, but I do find myself fairly frequently thinking about how unlikely it is that the same phrase would mean the same thing in this other world. To a dungeon that doesn't get out much.

I forget who recommended all the DungeonCore books, probably

Ukerric , so thank you. Loving this series. I can whole-heartedly second his choice.

TJT · Jun 3, 2019

I'll have to check that one out.

Ukerric · Jun 6, 2019

Void said:
I forget who recommended all the DungeonCore books, probably Ukerric , so thank you. Loving this series. I can whole-heartedly second his choice.

It's good enough that the author transitioned from being a self-published indy to running a small book imprint dedicated to LitRPG (Mountaindale Press).

Book 5 (Dungeon Eternium) and ending of the series came out last week. The only thing regrettable about it is that Krout jumps straight into old author syndrome in trying to tie its various (two) series into the same universe.

Ah, and he changed all of his covers, so the fifth book has a completely different cover from the rest of the series, and that's an affront! (as you can see on the link which shows the old covers for the series)

TJT · Jun 7, 2019

Ukerric said:
It's good enough that the author transitioned from being a self-published indy to running a small book imprint dedicated to LitRPG (Mountaindale Press).

Book 5 (Dungeon Eternium) and ending of the series came out last week. The only thing regrettable about it is that Krout jumps straight into old author syndrome in trying to tie its various (two) series into the same universe.

Ah, and he changed all of his covers, so the fifth book has a completely different cover from the rest of the series, and that's an affront! (as you can see on the link which shows the old covers for the series)

Read the World Tree. Good shit. I liked the setup but I disliked the huge timescale. Human beings grinding and power leveling for 47 year subjective stretches at a fucking time? That kind of thing just takes me out of all of it.

Rogosh · Jun 7, 2019

Anyone have or know where to get Fayroll (andrey vasilyev) series books 6 to 11. I dont really feel like spending 45 bucks on amazon. I usually use libgen sky piratebay or kickass but havent had any luck finding the last 6 books. Pm me if you have or know here I should look to get these. Thanks. Really a great series, good pacing and story, ill probably end up forking more cash up for it if I cant find them anywhere.

Nevermind found them all on irc.

Ukerric · Jun 7, 2019

TJT said:
Read the World Tree. Good shit. I liked the setup but I disliked the huge timescale. Human beings grinding and power leveling for 47 year subjective stretches at a fucking time? That kind of thing just takes me out of all of it.

There's a few places where the author suggests in various ways how the "real" time sense is all fucked up inside the game (one of them is the teenage girl whose emotional baseline shifts only very slowly over years, because her physical brain can't change that fast). I wouldn't be surprised if 50 years of repetition would be as boring as 5mn of repetitive tasks.

Faith · Jun 9, 2019

Drachenfels, Warhammer (old world) horror story. Was ok, I liked the new edition.

Campbell1oo4 · Jun 17, 2019

Half a War by Joe Abercrombie

I think I can safely say, with these books, that Joe Abercrombie has mastered the themes that he outlined in the First Law Trilogy. In both you have people torn about by conflict, a maniacal wizard pulling the strings, a powerful person who cannot be with the one they love, and a blood-thirsty barbarian who wants to stop being a blood-thirsty barbarian.

That being said, this is still an enjoyable book. The entire trilogy leads up to the third book, where we follow a princess named Skara and a warrior named Raith. Skara has lost her home and her family, and sets out to gain it all back. Raith is the cup-bearer to a powerful warlord, but he is starting to have second thoughts about it all. Their character interactions carry the book, but the plot is back up by the slow burn of the trilogy. It feels as though the first two books were build up for the two of these two.

And it's a blast.

The only downsides are the novel are some of the other characters. Koll is a clone of another Abercrombie character - the accountant from Red Country. I found myself liking him in the beginning, but getting annoyed by his shenanigans by the end of the story. SPOILERS - I was cheering for Raith to get the happy ending, not this whining clown.

Still 7/10 recommend for any fan of Joe Abercrombie or Bernard Cornwell.

TJT · Jun 18, 2019

Ukerric said:
It's good enough that the author transitioned from being a self-published indy to running a small book imprint dedicated to LitRPG (Mountaindale Press).

Book 5 (Dungeon Eternium) and ending of the series came out last week. The only thing regrettable about it is that Krout jumps straight into old author syndrome in trying to tie its various (two) series into the same universe.

Ah, and he changed all of his covers, so the fifth book has a completely different cover from the rest of the series, and that's an affront! (as you can see on the link which shows the old covers for the series)

Read that Dungeoncore series. I liked a lot of it. But I feel he shit the bed on The Master and Xenocide. Despite being the embodiment of madness nothing about Xenocide is really that insane. He methodically schemed over millenia. The only good villain was Barry and even his motivations didn't really make any sense. Especially considering how the series was ending. The Master being a Che Guevera kind of guy or something is fine. You can even get behind his, "freedom for the oppressed!" shtick. However for someone who was more for the oppressed than anything else why did he decide to go by The Master and live in a creepy dungeon and have diabolical plans like that? Just felt so out of place for all of that. Introducing a Deus Ex Dungeon was bleh too.

That and none of it was cleared up in the end.

TJT · Jun 19, 2019

Started Saga Online, The Occultist. Definitely pretty funny. I like how it introduces the streaming element. When it puts in, "streamer chat" feeds from time to time it is genuinely hilarious. LitRPG authors also seem to have an obsession with pet classes.

Void · Jun 24, 2019

TJT said:
Read that Dungeoncore series. I liked a lot of it. But I feel he shit the bed on The Master and Xenocide. Despite being the embodiment of madness nothing about Xenocide is really that insane. He methodically schemed over millenia. The only good villain was Barry and even his motivations didn't really make any sense. Especially considering how the series was ending. The Master being a Che Guevera kind of guy or something is fine. You can even get behind his, "freedom for the oppressed!" shtick. However for someone who was more for the oppressed than anything else why did he decide to go by The Master and live in a creepy dungeon and have diabolical plans like that? Just felt so out of place for all of that. Introducing a Deus Ex Dungeon was bleh too.

That and none of it was cleared up in the end.

I just caught up to where you were, and then started that author's next series, The Completionist I think?

That series is, apparently, what happened to everything at the end of the Divine Dungeon series. There's something that is obviously the Dungeon Core at the beginning, that even has a name that CAL is an acronym for, so it appears that the game world in this next series is the result of the end of the last series. I have no idea if we'll ever find out any more than that, but it is quite obvious when you start reading this one that that's what it is.

orcmauler · Jun 26, 2019

I was pleasantly surprised by John Conroe's Demon Accords series on kindle

1 it is cheap
2 it is rather good with some typical kindle ebook caveats (editing plot etc.)
3 he continuously improves through the process
And his new series Zone War is a step further. So, for about 4 bucks a pop you have a good couple of series.

TJT · Jun 26, 2019

Void said:
I just caught up to where you were, and then started that author's next series, The Completionist I think?

That series is, apparently, what happened to everything at the end of the Divine Dungeon series. There's something that is obviously the Dungeon Core at the beginning, that even has a name that CAL is an acronym for, so it appears that the game world in this next series is the result of the end of the last series. I have no idea if we'll ever find out any more than that, but it is quite obvious when you start reading this one that that's what it is.

The Completionist is good. Just started it. I like the kind of class the guy has. I also read this last week and I do recommend it. I am a big fan of inventive applications of seemingly useless, "powers" and abilities in media.

Amazon product ASIN B07RNNJB8K

Void · Jun 26, 2019

TJT said:
The Completionist is good. Just started it. I like the kind of class the guy has. I also read this last week and I do recommend it. I am a big fan of inventive applications of seemingly useless, "powers" and abilities in media.

Amazon product ASIN B07RNNJB8K

I do like the fact that he isn't a tough guy, he's actually super-weak, which is a nice change. However, after reading The Land series, this is my shocked face when confronted with yet another character that can learn every skill in a game and fully intends to do so.

I do like the "It actually hurts when you get hit in combat" thing, and I actually felt bad for the guy that unwillingly got pushed into the role of tank. We rarely ever see anything about that aspect of "videogames made real" and even then, it usually isn't delved into much.

TJT · Jun 26, 2019

Void said:
I do like the fact that he isn't a tough guy, he's actually super-weak, which is a nice change. However, after reading The Land series, this is my shocked face when confronted with yet another character that can learn every skill in a game and fully intends to do so.

I do like the "It actually hurts when you get hit in combat" thing, and I actually felt bad for the guy that unwillingly got pushed into the role of tank. We rarely ever see anything about that aspect of "videogames made real" and even then, it usually isn't delved into much.

I actually didn't mind Richter after it became apparent (via Heman) that all the Chaos Seeds seem to have two random abilities of varying power and usefulness. Richter just got a legendary chaos power for being the first. The Reborn one is good in that you have limited resources to get various abilities so you need to think about how they can work together or you risk being fucked. Which is what makes it interesting. Lots of people mess up with their choices and gimp themselves in a life or death game.

Randin · Jun 26, 2019

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell By Susanna Clarke. This is another one of those books that I kept seeing pop up on the internet, and looked interesting enough to check out. It's a historical fantasy novel set in the 19th century (authors seem to really like the Napoleonic Wars for their historical fantasy settings). Magic hasn't been seen in England for centuries, having seemingly died out some time in the 15th century. Nowadays the study of magic is the domain of historians and "theoretical magicians", who study books on magic, but don't actually perform any. This all gets upended when a reclusive gentleman named Mr Norrell comes forward and proves himself to have cracked the puzzle and to be a practicing magician. Norrell sets out on his goal of resurrecting English magic, eventually joined by a protege, Jonathan Strange.

I really liked this book. Then again, I like history, and I like magic (I'm the type of person whose first character in every RPG is some sort of mage), so that's perhaps not too surprising. It doesn't have a particularly (or remotely, really) Hard Magic style to it, like Sanderson, but pretty much all the magic has a more subtle and unexpected style to it than standard stuff you find in fantasy. No fireballs or lightning bolts here, but lots of warping perceptions, and warping the world. The book is written in the style of a Regency or Victorian novel (I could pick up some of the Dickens in the writing style), which means that it can feel a little dry or old fashioned, which can be a bit of an acquired taste. Happily, I've had to read enough of that in the past that it didn't bother me.

So yeah, assuming that the Victorian writing style isn't a barrier to you, I'd recommend it.

Ukerric · Jun 27, 2019

TJT said:
Amazon product ASIN B07RNNJB8K

As an aside, if you like the Reborn series, the 2nd book is ongoing on Royalroad (until it goes on Kindle Unlimited, which require the authors to limit "free content" to 10% of the book max).

Ukerric · Jun 27, 2019

Randin said:
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell By Susanna Clarke.
....
I really liked this book. Then again, I like history, and I like magic (I'm the type of person whose first character in every RPG is some sort of mage), so that's perhaps not too surprising. It doesn't have a particularly (or remotely, really) Hard Magic style to it, like Sanderson, but pretty much all the magic has a more subtle and unexpected style to it than standard stuff you find in fantasy. No fireballs or lightning bolts here, but lots of warping perceptions, and warping the world. The book is written in the style of a Regency or Victorian novel (I could pick up some of the Dickens in the writing style), which means that it can feel a little dry or old fashioned, which can be a bit of an acquired taste. Happily, I've had to read enough of that in the past that it didn't bother me.

So yeah, assuming that the Victorian writing style isn't a barrier to you, I'd recommend it.

The TV mini series adaptation of it is good as well.

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