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Notes -
Guess I don't really know the guy but didn't think I've ever see Madoka Magica in the same sentence with Yudkowsky and drone warfare. I think the issue with these longer works is you have to ask yourself would you be willing to reread the entire thing from the start when the next part is out? There's a lot of good ideas in these longer webnovels but the length is definitely an issue for a lot of people, which is why having a good editor is crucial if you ever want to get it to print. But then you get fans of the webnovel complaining how X and Y were edited and on and on it goes.
I've been binge-watching Roman history videos on YouTube and saw a comment that I should read Colleen McCullough's Masters of Rome series. It chronicles the last days of the Roman Republic. There's seven books in the series and approximately 568,230 words in total. Apparently the author collected and researched thousands of books and material on the history of Rome while writing the series so it should be fairly historically accurate, although since it is historic fiction there will be made up parts. I barely started the first book so I don't have much thoughts on it yet, but I'm excited to dive into the series.
Please do. I somehow acquired a copy of the second book in my adolescence in a used book store, right on the heels of a Roma-boo phase that's never ended (playing Rome: Total War does things to an impressionable lad), and I absolutely adored it and read it multiple times. It was only relatively recently that I managed to find the first novel on libgen, and no surprise, it was great, and somehow I've never had the time to read the third one. Good thing you've mentioned the series, that'll give me something to read on a 14 hour flight.
They're really good. She humanizes Romans, having no qualms about showing how alien some aspects of their culture are to modern sensibilities, while leaving clear how much we've embraced and endorsed. The way she writes characters brings tears to your eyes, while occasionally being so hilarious your sides will ache from laughter.
#IStanSulla, and you likely will too once you're done with the series. He's a Chad and a half.
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Curious to hear if you like it. I've been trying to get a better understanding of history but have been struggling to get through most of the books I've tried.
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