Calibandar

Same here. There is other anime out there that are much better than this show and its predictable hype.

1Q84 I still not read yes, most interested in that, plus his new one releasing this year, and some of the mainstream ones like Norwegian Wood. The rest is a bit too surreal for my taste.

Became interested in some of his works the last few days and wondered what you guys have read of his, and what you thought? I think I like his more "realistic" books more, such as "Colorless" which appeals to me a bit and Norwegian Wood, South of the Border, but I am also quite fascinated by 1Q84 and its premise, and it being seen as his magnum opus, so would love thoughts on that trilogy-in-1 in particular. He has a new book coming out in a few months as well which looks interesting, first novel of his in 6 years.

I think the author quite deliberately leaves that up to the reader's perception or imagination. As a male reader I picture it as a "him" but I also see review from female readers refer to it as a "her". For me the Skarsgaard casting works very well because he is tall and can look forceful but he is not huge, either in height or build, which I think is fitting for the Murderbot.

I liked that casting actually. Fits my image and I think he is generally a good actor with lots of presence too.

That Service Model book he has coming out in June looks interesting.

Her old blog at jvj.com was fun to read as well, I know I checked it weekly for years.

Does anybody have any 2024 releases they are looking forward to? Locusmag has an overview as usual, but there is a ton of stuff on it ( as usual).

Indeed. Dont think people saw this coming at all. The trade was completely reviled. First rumblings were in the summer when we heard that the Nuggets actually found the T-Wolves a tough opponent in their first round series. Now, they have somehow become very hard to beat.

Djokovic still finishes as world number 1 after yet another incredible year for him but....Sinner and Alcaraz are close.

That sounds interesting , hadnt heard of it yet.

I'm not likely to root for Evenepoel. Kinda hoping for a dark horse performance from young Ayuso here. Seems a bit unlikely that Vingegaard would be awesome here again but with him you just dont know. Roglic definitely in tiptop shape.

Its funny how the echo chamber effect only is an echo chamber when it disagrees with your premise. Classic example of "everybody is a hero in their own movie" theory Anyways, when Dune 1 came out in 2021 there were definitely still covid effects taking place in society and in moviegoing attendance. Certainly here in Europe, there's no question that it affected the sales of Dune and other films. For that alone I would expect higher numbers next time, but also I think anticipation and interest for the film will be high anyway based on what I see and hear, and that this is a huge property being well marketed.

Well I already got Blood of Elves and the other novels so I'd better enjoy it

Yes I think the second film will be a massive success. I see no fallacy there, just your opinion that the first one didnt do well enough to meet your standards, and personally, having seen how highly anticipated this film is among many I know and a generally captivated audience after the first one, I do think the second film be huge sales wise as well. We shall have tot wait ( a long while thanks to Warner Bros) and find out. And yes you did come across as though you weren't really keen on seeing it anyway.

It depends on how much you look forward to this film how much it bothers you I think. I see from your reaction you didnt really care for, whereas for me this is the most anticipated film in... I guess the last 2 years.

Personally much more excited for the live action reboot than I am for the animated film, though I will watch that soon as well.

Dune Sisterhood is filming btw, so we're due that next year as well it looks like.

Sure, you can argue that the sales success will be even greater with the actors doing interviews. It just seemed unlikely that they would still pull this movie so close to its release date and having promised it to their audience as a November release for so long. And obviously this is a film that would sell in massive numbers even without that promotion. This is a move that hurts everybody except Warner Bros, especially the theaters who need a big tentpole release towards the end of the year and the audience that's been waiting 2 years already. As for the strike, from what I have been reading on it and listening to some podcasts, the demands are fair and the studio's didnt want to give them anything worthwhile. They are ruthless. And these kind of shit moves show that they really care about nothing except the dollar income.

Its a total dick move by the studio of course. Over the past few weeks as this was speculated about, many good reasons have been given for why delaying the movie is a terrible idea. It seemed that with the release of a new trailer and no word on this, we were safe from their shenanigans. But nope, here we are, 2 months before the release they still pull it. This week there was even an interview with the director of IMAX who said that this movie was very unlikely to be pulled because "it was out of the gate already" As usual they dont give a shit about the fans, or the audience in general. Their reasons are twofold, first they claim it has to do with the actors strike, so that there is no actor promotion, which as has been pointed out by PG, is very dodgy. Secondly I think they do this to raise the public's sentiment against the actor's striking, making it out to be their fault that this very highly anticipated film is not coming out. It does look like these Hollywood studio's are every bit as nasty as the guild has claimed. Very disappointing.

Well I have The Last Wish but didnt find it very interesting , would only consider Sword of Destiny if its a step up.

I still ordered Time of Contempt, Baptism of Fire and Lady of the Lake in some lovely new Orbit hardbacks, excited to get started on this ( already have Blood of Elves).

What about Merlin or Arthur, do they appear in some guise, either as an obvious character or as then pretending to be someone?

Question for those who read it, it seems the later volumes start digging into Arthurian Legend a lot more, with Lady of the Lake, Nimue a significant character. Does this happen in Tower of Swallows as well? Anyways my main question is if he introduces Merlin or Arthur into the story? I know the first chapter features Galahad.

No that doesnt mean anything, it just means that Amazon is aware of 7 volumes and that this the last of those