Miscellany...

[elfs]

I've been re-reading the Honor Harrington series and I have to say: what the hell happened to David Weber? On the one hand, he got much better; in the first book, he gets away twice with writing, "As you know..." and one of his villians actually twirls his mustache! On other hand, in his youth his plots were tight, his dialogue precise, his politics mostly out of sight. I can't think of a sadder book than War of Honor, a bloated exercise in author-imposed worldviews and digressions. At least he's not Stephenson, but he's trying.

---

I woke up this morning with not just a song stuck in my head, but an entire album. An album I pray does not exist: Real Tough Cookie: Death Metal's Tribute to Pat Benetar. When you start dreaming of unlikely mashups, it's time to lay off the late-night anime.

---

An anagram of "Britney Spears" is... "Presbyterians!" Thanks to Jim Hightower for that laugh.

---

This seems right:
You're an elk skin flogger. You're not all about
looks, you're about utility. You like to get
down to business, and make an impact, but you
also have a soft side.

What Type of Flogger Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Comments

[antonia-tiger.livejournal.com]

Rumour has it that David Weber has worse in the works. His early Path of the Fury is a tight, fast moving, and thoughtful space opera. I'm not sure whether the new book is a prequel, a sequel, or both, but I really don't want to know how he ruins his character.

Actually...

[norikos-author.livejournal.com]

In Fury Born is fairly nice. It's half-way a prequel; the first half of the book is Alicia's story up to Shallingsport and its aftermath. The second half is Path of The Fury.

I don't really mind; the first half is easily enough for a book on its own. On the other hand, I wish I'd known that before I bought the eARC.

On the gripping hand, it wouldn't have mattered.

Re: Actually...

[antonia-tiger.livejournal.com]

I've just been looking at the sample chapters.

That's the first seven chapters, and it's shaping up as a standard Baen military wank-fic. It's not as extreme as Johnny Ringo puts out, but...

And it doesn't really fit. The initial family setup doesn't seem to fit with the opening of Path of the Fury. I'm not even sure that she looks the same.

Re: Actually...

[norikos-author.livejournal.com]

Um. We don't _see_ her family in PotF; they're all dead by the opening scene, so I'm not sure how you can say that...

Re: Actually...

[antonia-tiger.livejournal.com]

It seems to be a shift from, roughly, the administrative centre of the Empire to a low-population frontier world that's vulnerable to raiding. It sort of makes sense that Alicia could be out there; PotF is light on the details, but it doesn't seem to be a family acquired through marriage, and there's no mention of parents elsewhere. That doesn't match very well with what her parents seem to be doing, and where, at the start of this book.

Re: Actually...

[norikos-author.livejournal.com]

That's actually covered in PotF -- Keita tells the O Branch Inspector that Alicia's family emigrated to the frontier world, and that she chose to join them. At the time IFB opens, they haven't emigrated yet; ISTR that happens sometime around SHallingsport, I think.

I'm not really sure...

[norikos-author.livejournal.com]

that his politics aren't out of sight. Having actually _met_ SM Stirling has brought home the fact that you can't assume you know an author's politics from their books (and having read Stirling's _Island in the Stream of Time_ _really_ drove it home).

And I _really_ liked _At All Costs_.

Re: I'm not really sure...

[fallenpegasus]

Stirling wears his politics on his sleeve when he posts to rec.arts.sf.written

He's a violent thug (he's admitted to taking a machete to a man), a monarchist, and he gets off on fantasies of prison rape inflicted on copyright violators.

Re: I'm not really sure...

[norikos-author.livejournal.com]

Really? That's not at all the impression I got when I met him...

Re: I'm not really sure...

[(Anonymous)]

"He's a violent thug (he's admitted to taking a machete to a man)"

-- you got that a little confused. _He_ tried to take a machete to _me_.

I do think there's something to be said for constitutional monarchy, and I don't like people who try to steal the fruits of my labor.

Yers,
S.M. Stirling

Re: I'm not really sure...

[fallenpegasus]

"He tried to take a machete to me."

You said that you didn't know if he was still alive when you beat your retreat.

"I do think there's something to be said for constitutional monarchy, and I don't like people who try to steal the fruits of my labor."

I do see you have copped to being a monarchist

And that you're admitting to fondling the mental image of prison rape. I truely and sincerely you someday get to experience one yourself, as the "guest of honor", I really do.

[atheorist.livejournal.com]

In Godel, Escher, Bach, one of the characters worries that the number of pages remaining in a mystery novel gives away the plot. They suggest that the author add padding to the story; padding that to casual inspection looks like the story, but careful readers can discern where the story "actually" ends.

Weber's HH series is 7 or 8 books long (I debate whether to include Ashes of Victory). The rest is sell-out.

[fallenpegasus]

I'd love to listen to that album... if just for combination shock and nostalgia...

[lucky-otter.livejournal.com]

Stephenson makes me sad. I liked his earlier stuff quite a bit - Snow Crash, Diamond Age, Crytonomicon - but the Baroque Cycle, ugh. I tried to like Quicksilver, I really did. I even read about 2/3 of it. It really just falls apart under its own weight, though.

[edichka2.livejournal.com]

I actually finished _The Baroque Cycle_. As far as I'm aware, no one else has ever done this. (Noted the huge stack of volume three copies marked down at Powell's.) I really enjoyed it, in fact. _Quicksilver_ does read like quicksand, most of it, and virtually all the Stephenson fans I know suffocated in it, but the series does get coherent and rolling at some point, and of course it's mentally enganging and funny as hell, being Stephenson. I felt well rewarded for my perseverance.

- Eddie

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

If you're having issues with Weber, you might try Elizabeth Moon... the Heris Serrano and related books, good space opera without all the political digressions. There are politics, but they're pretty straightforward, except when they twist, but the twists are lean and not fluffy...

And the heroes AREN'T perfect.

[yesthattom.livejournal.com]

> An anagram of "Britney Spears" is... "Presbyterians!"

And an anagram of "pepsi cola" is "episcopal".