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PaperclipPerfector  10mo ago (text post)   3519 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for January 19, 2024

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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So, I finished the first three books of Blaine Lee Pardoe's Land&Sea series. It's... profoundly mediocre. All the same I can't stop.

It's just frustrating. I want to enjoy these books more than I am. The characters all overwhelmingly speak with the same voice. Nearly all the POV characters are straight forward, no nonsense pragmatist, or rapidly converge on turning into them. Almost all their dialog is completely devoid of any distinguishing characteristics, such that the majority of it could easy have been spoken by any other character.

There are numerous plot points which just sort of get forgotten? Or which have almost zero payoff what so ever? There is a distinct lack of heroism or daring-do present what so ever. Which is remarkable because it's full of relentless combat scenes, and yet it all feels so... conservative? I just never feel any actual stakes.

I just can't help judge these books against the legacy of Battletech. And a reoccurring motif that goes all the way back to the Grey Death legion is a small mercenary force strategically punching above it's weight and overcoming outstanding odds. Or when it comes to the great houses, intrigue and internal schisms that confound any straightforward hot conflict. And these books lack everything that made Battletech interesting beyond the giant robots.

I wasn't expecting high art. But I was at least expecting something as fun and interesting as the worst Battletech novels, or perhaps the Monster Hunter novels. These just miss the mark in such unspectacular, boring fashion. Oh well.

I started reading Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire again after getting a nice hardcover copy versus my shitty, horribly formatted free ebook copy. God damned is that a fucking joy to experience again. I always wonder how much it's been superseded or contradicted by more recent scholarship. But it's just such a pleasure.

I should have asked you this in a previous thread - if I were looking to get into the BT books, what are the first 4-5 you'd suggest?

I got extremely similar "guilty pleasure" feelings from the Terminal List. At least there was some differentiation between characters there, the writing and gunplay wasn't totally fucking idiotic, but it was still very paint-by-number.

The first three Grey Death Legion are great. As is the Warrior trilogy. I have a soft spot for Victor Milan's novels too, but they are deep into the Battletech classic period where as Grey Death Legion and Warrior novels are far more accessible.

I have two recommendations for fantasy that I just found recently but vividly enjoyed for the writing voice: Between Two Fires, and The Blacktongue Thief.

It’s astonishing how stuff can check all the boxes and then just…not do anything else. Writing really is a skill.

I’m reminded of reading the original Elric stories. They’re formulaic, and schlocky as hell. You can be reading along and think, ah yes, this is the part where the breasts are going to heave. But despite knowing the notes it’s going to hit—villains die, Elric angsts, Stormbringer ganks an ally—they’re still fun. You still get that thrill of “what a cool image” or “wait, was this the first example of…”. It’s what made for good pulp.

When I encounter something profoundly meh, I try to remind myself there’s so much better material out there. Nothing wrong with shelving it.

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