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NeilNjae
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(Quote) Very true. I think the only time he really takes initiative is when he realises there's a mole in his investigating team. His handling of the conflict between the Thameses happens mostly off-screen.
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I agree with @Apocryphal 's point. I think the setting would have been stronger with a tighter focus on spirits & possession and sympathetic/ritual magic. But then again, the whole book is an exercise in nerd-troping a standard genre (much like …
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The "supernatural police procedural" genre is one that could be interesting, but I'm not sure how well police procedurals translate into RPG terms. There's a lot of knowledge required about what police procedures are in order for the games…
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I also liked the writing style and how Grant seemed to be a contemporary person. He came across as a person you'd probably like to have as a friend. I think that was deliberate. One thing I've heard is that first-person narrators shouldn't have str…
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I liked the concept, and I liked the execution of it. I thought it was interesting that the river spirits were eternal, but their human shells were temporary. It mirrored how the spirit of Punch took over human victims. I also liked how the human v…
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From what I know of UK police procedure, it seemed plausible for its time (the current state of the UK police is much more cash-strapped and underfunded than what was portrayed). The bureaucracy and interactions between the characters seemed believa…
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One observation about the police characters. They were universally competent and serving the public good. Where they had disagreements and rivalries, they were still able to work together, and respected each others' directives. For example, Seawoll …
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Plus a minor side-quest to destroy a nest of vampires, plus the turf war between Tyburn and the Folly. Yes, I think there was too much for one book. Some of it was laying pipe for later books in the series (which I've not read). Grant's magical dev…
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I've spent some time in and around London, but not a lot and not widely. But I have bought a coffee from a place just outside Covent Garden, and wandered through there despairing at the overpriced tat. I think that knowledge helped. The book draws o…
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I've already got a soft copy from Amazon. Looking forward to it!
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There have been expressions of solidarity, which is gratifying. "Enthusiasm" is less clear cut. I'll aim to post some questions on the first bit of The Obelisk Gate next week, unless people say otherwise.
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So. The Obelisk Gate read is due to start tomorrow. Is the slow read continuing or not?
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Aside from the "do we continue" question, I have one other question. I don't understand the "it's like a graphic novel" criticism. As in, I don't really understand what people are trying to communicate by drawing that analogy. I…
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(Quote) I agree with this sentiment. Everyone's comments have been sincerely offered and intended to move discussion forward; I think they've been universally taken in that spirit too. (Quote) I think "fanboi" is the word you're looking f…
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I've been really enjoying the discussions around the book, and (to reiterate an earlier comment) everyone is engaging with the discussions sincerely and in good faith. I have no problems with people not enjoying the book. It's not my book, and I'm n…
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I've finished it, so post when you're ready.
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These comments raise the question: should we continue with the Broken Earth slow read? It seems few, if any, have really enjoyed the book. From what I remember, the other books are more of the same. Is it time to stop?
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Replies to multiple posts: (Quote) If the story were Lovecraft-influenced, what would you expect to see? (Quote) Was it that Innon didn't want the blood on his hands, or that he wasn't capable of the orogeny needed? (Quote) In case you don't know…
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Another thing I forgot to mention: why had Fulcrum left active the Allia volcano? They could easily monitor it, and Syenite had no trouble capping it. Why risk another Season?
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(Quote) Volcanoes aren't simple pipes to the mantle. There's hotspots and bubbles and magma chambers and dykes and all sorts. I'd expect the channel at Allia to fail quite quickly as magma comes up, cools and depressurises, and then clogs the hole. …
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(Quote) What meaning to people here-and-now derive from game playing and winning? Once basic material needs are met, what's the point in anything? I think that's one of the issues brought up by the book, about what people could or should do to make …
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(Quote) It was a follow-up on Innon's statement that Syenite was stronger than Alabaster, as Alabaster was fragile and only just holding together. I think it was more a reference to Syenite's greater resilience. (Quote) I'm enjoying all the specula…
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(Quote) They're the things that occur to me, as an attempt to start conversations. They're not meant to be in any way proscriptive. If you have your own thoughts, please come up with them! I'm aware that me posting questions may restrict the discuss…
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(Quote) Good analysis! The issues of frames around knowledge, and alternatives to them, is something to look forward in the next chapters. I think it's clear that the several strands in the book are there to give different perspectives on ... whate…
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(Quote) I've been reading this and thinking it's quite British, but not that bad, surely. Then I came to the chapter entitled "The Jackanory Version". Oh, you poor yanks. You won't have a clue.
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(Quote) Chance, unpredictability, and free will are all strong themes of the book. I don't think anything is certain in the outcome of the fall of the Azad empire.
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(Quote) Perhaps I'm reading too much into it, but isn't it a happy coincidence that Gurgeh's ennui comes to a head just in time for the grand Azad tournament? Just how long ago did Contact start playing this game?
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Still catching up with the book, but I'm somewhat surprised that no-one's mentioned the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. Several times, the game of Azad is described as a language, with Gurgeh communicating with other players through it. The most striking ex…
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(Quote) Another point from my delayed read. While touring the city, Flere-Imsaho says that Contact hasn't already intervened in Azad because all the interventions it's modelled have resulted in more suffering than letting Azad continue as it is. Us …
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Still churning my way through my re-read, and something I'd not noticed before, and may add to the symbolism of the game playing... Gurgeh is dark-skinned. The Azadians are light-skinned and racist, to the extent that the expectation is that any dar…