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Bakker XLIV: The Goddess of Negative Theology


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56 minutes ago, bakkerfans said:

Two months until The Great Ordeal!  Overlook press again confirmed that July 5th is the anointed day!

Re-reading is helping with the anticipation.

I will say, I wish we'd just gotten the complete text without the glossary, and had that as a separate piece either published online or perhaps as a supplement to the Atrocity Tales. I've been flipping through the glossary of the TTT, and as revelatory as it is, it's also a bit of a pain. I'd prefer a series of historical essays coupled with glossary entries, which would put things in perspective better (of course, the wiki's timeline does help streamline, but more details on stuff like the relationship of the nations of the three seas / ancient north, the cultural developments, wars, etc. Oftentimes it comes across like a expunging of names).

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8 hours ago, kuenjato said:

I've been flipping through the glossary of the TTT, and as revelatory as it is, it's also a bit of a pain. I'd prefer a series of historical essays coupled with glossary entries, which would put things in perspective better (of course, the wiki's timeline does help streamline, but more details on stuff like the relationship of the nations of the three seas / ancient north, the cultural developments, wars, etc. Oftentimes it comes across like a expunging of names).

I dislike the whole idea of revealing important info in a glossary to be honest.

Most of it was just repeating stuff already mentioned in PoN anyway, so I would have preferred if Bakker did what someone suggested once: scrap it and add footnotes for the most important info that he had no way of revealing within the actual text, which is a small portion of the glossary anyway. And then you end up with the usual characters and factions at the end.

The fact that TUC was split for a glossary though is a travesty.

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I got the impression that the book is being split in two for sales reasoning not really because it's too big? They maybe feel it wasn't worth the expenditure for the predicted sales but reckon if they can effectively double the cost. Granted there's the extra overhead for making another book but I'm guessing/hoping the publishers think the book over two parts with the existing audience is such they still make a profit.

If the series was doing ASOIAF or Abercrombie/Lawrence numbers I'd be more outraged but considering it was touch and go we'd get this book at all I'm willing to swallow the bitter pill.

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4 hours ago, Darth Richard II said:

I always thought it was because as a small publisher they cant print books that big.

I heard that but am not sure if truth to it. Do small publishers have small book making book-making machines? What is it about a large book that a small publisher can't make it. Doesn't make sense at first blush but maybe there's something to it. 

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When you're a midlist fantasy author with modest sales to your name, and you haven't published a book in the last 4 years, and you have been dropped by your Canadian publisher, and you're published by a smaller press not known for speculative fiction titles, and that North American publisher is not widely distributed to boot, splitting what was meant to be a single novel into two installments and hoping that fans will nevertheless be willing to fork out a good chunk of money to buy two hardcovers or two ebooks at higher prices than the market average. . .

Well, that can be risky. . .

The interview contains a question regarding whether or not TUC got too big because of the glossary, or if the actual story grew in the telling and would have been split up in any case. I'm curious to see what Scott will have to say about this. But considering that he's been extremely perplexed and frustrated throughout the entire process of splitting this novel into two, he might not be allowed to shed some light on this. :unsure:

Patrick

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So back when Madness first read the book he said that he advised Bakker not to release the rest of the Achamian/Mimara at Ishuäl chapter because it was too spoilerish for the reader. Do you agree with that, Pat? And is Bakker still committed to releasing the second half of that chapter early this month as you said?

And yeah I think Bakker has said his two biggest influences were Dune and LotR.

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45 minutes ago, Darth Richard II said:

I'm not complete sure but I thought I remember him saying it might have to be split when he was writing it.

Also off topic sorta kinda, was Bakker influenced a lot by Dune? I'm reading it for the first time and its pretty much Bakker In Space.

The first book of Dune had an enormous influence. The others, apparently, not so much. I also recall Bakker speaking of a split when the first draft was completed.

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I disagree that it's too spoilerish for readers. There is a big surprise at the end of the chapter, yes. But nothing that will spoil the plotline or the book for anyone. If anything, it will probably excite readers even more than they are now! :)

Scott told me that I'd get the extract this month. But come to think of it, there was no mention whether or not if it would be the second half of that Achamian/Mimara chapter. Or if it is, if it would be the entire portion that is missing.

Patrick

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1 hour ago, Lord Patrek said:

Regarding sales, the high prices of both the hardcover (33.76$) and the ebook (19.24$) on amazon.ca and the big lack of distribution in bookstores up here will probably have a negative impact in Canada.

Now that you've had a couple days away from it, any particular impressions / revisions of opinions standing out? You know it's like morsels for those of us starving these past five years ... :)

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