Happy Ent Posted July 7, 2017 Share Posted July 7, 2017 And it is everything that was promised. Just when I thought there were no more depravities that Bakker could visit upon his Host, he makes this happen, in Chapter V. Sin and degradation, indeed. Makes complete sense, narratively and thematically, of course. Holy shit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calibandar Posted July 7, 2017 Share Posted July 7, 2017 You finished it? Non-spoiler review? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Ent Posted July 7, 2017 Share Posted July 7, 2017 1 minute ago, Calibandar said: You finished it? Non-spoiler review? No, just finished Chapter V. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalbear Posted July 7, 2017 Share Posted July 7, 2017 "Holy shit" is a good way to describe the first part of the book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hello World Posted July 7, 2017 Share Posted July 7, 2017 Spoiler up to chapter 3, Spoiler Just finished chapter 3. God, I feel like this chapter could have been condensed into 5 pages instead of 20. Bakker made the point about the ordealmen "becoming Sranc" in the first 3-4 pages and then spent the rest of the chapter hammering in the same point over and over. This might seem like an overreaction to others but I don't I just can't stand this... already starting fast reading/skimming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhom Posted July 7, 2017 Share Posted July 7, 2017 I was so excited thinking that it was coming out this week and then saw that my US pre-order doesn't go out until the end of the month. You want an atrocity tale? That's an atrocity I tell you!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Richard II Posted July 7, 2017 Share Posted July 7, 2017 Nah, it's coming out the week I won't be able to read AT ALL due to double cataract surgery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhom Posted July 7, 2017 Share Posted July 7, 2017 1 hour ago, Darth Richard II said: Nah, it's coming out the week I won't be able to read AT ALL due to double cataract surgery. Get someone who has never read any Bakker to sit next to you and read it to you... The reactions should be well worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hello World Posted July 7, 2017 Share Posted July 7, 2017 6 hours ago, Hello World said: Spoiler up to chapter 3, Reveal hidden contents Just finished chapter 3. God, I feel like this chapter could have been condensed into 5 pages instead of 20. Bakker made the point about the ordealmen "becoming Sranc" in the first 3-4 pages and then spent the rest of the chapter hammering in the same point over and over. This might seem like an overreaction to others but I don't I just can't stand this... already starting fast reading/skimming. I spoke too soon... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalbear Posted July 7, 2017 Share Posted July 7, 2017 8 minutes ago, Hello World said: I spoke too soon... What I especially love about this is that this is precisely the same stuff @Happy Ent is reading and going completely gaga for, and I almost certainly understand why he's doing that, and I also understand why you're just going zzzzzz about it all. This part was one of the reasons that I said that this book is the most Bakkery Bakker book yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Richard II Posted July 7, 2017 Share Posted July 7, 2017 Reactions certainly seem to be extremely divisive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalbear Posted July 8, 2017 Share Posted July 8, 2017 4 minutes ago, Darth Richard II said: Reactions certainly seem to be extremely divisive. Dunno. I don't think there are going to be a lot of people that hate it or think it's a bad book. My suspicion is that there will be people who think it's OMG amazing and there are people who are going to be disappointed, and much of that falls on spectrum of how much you care or enjoy the philosophical underpinnings vs. the character and story arcs. There's quite a bit of good in the book pretty much however you look at it, and then there's a whole lot that could be good depending on what happens later, and then there's a few parts (like the parts that apparently only Happy Ent enjoys) where pretty much everyone's like 'come on, man' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Ent Posted July 8, 2017 Share Posted July 8, 2017 9 hours ago, Kalbear said: (like the parts that apparently only Happy Ent enjoys) “enjoys” is an imprecise term here. I find these passages very harrowing. I “enjoy” them in the same way as enjoying Blood Meridian, Kafka, the darker passages of Russian modernists. The satisfaction derived from such works is moral, aesthetic, political, and intellectual. But I don’t find it particularly pleasant, and would not use “enjoyment” to describe the wages of such toils. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalbear Posted July 8, 2017 Share Posted July 8, 2017 Fair enough, and yes that was what I meant when I said that you'd enjoy them. I figure you would especially appreciate the honesty and vigor of what was on display. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castel Posted July 8, 2017 Share Posted July 8, 2017 16 hours ago, Kalbear said: Dunno. I don't think there are going to be a lot of people that hate it or think it's a bad book. My suspicion is that there will be people who think it's OMG amazing and there are people who are going to be disappointed, and much of that falls on spectrum of how much you care or enjoy the philosophical underpinnings vs. the character and story arcs. There's quite a bit of good in the book pretty much however you look at it, and then there's a whole lot that could be good depending on what happens later, and then there's a few parts (like the parts that apparently only Happy Ent enjoys) where pretty much everyone's like 'come on, man' Having finished it in a (admittedly hazy) blitz, I'm not even sure the dichotomy between "philosophical underpinnings" and characters holds. Spoiler What sort of new philosophical insights did we get, really? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalbear Posted July 8, 2017 Share Posted July 8, 2017 2 hours ago, Castel said: Having finished it in a (admittedly hazy) blitz, I'm not even sure the dichotomy between "philosophical underpinnings" and characters holds. Reveal hidden contents What sort of new philosophical insights did we get, really? Not really. Spoiler There isn't much of anything special in the philosophy, nothing that was introduced, but if you like that philosophy there is more confirmation of that bias in this. It's like Ayn Rand; if you've read Atlas Shrugged, nothing in the Fountainhead will surprise you, but it'll make you happy to read it as another thing that gets your viewpoint. Similarly, if you believe that humans are simply meat and driven entirely by base urges that they don't get, this book will make you super happy to showcase this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caligula_K3 Posted July 9, 2017 Share Posted July 9, 2017 I'll be interested to read it. I expect to like it more than the Great Ordeal, since things will actually presumably happen in it, but I'm expecting the same masturbatory tendencies, pretentiousness and dead-horse philosophical digressions that mainly turned me off that book. If the book is like that, I think I'll be happy to make this my last Bakker book, even if it ends in a mass of cliffhangers. I'm hoping that it at least provides some closure, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mazzitos Posted July 9, 2017 Share Posted July 9, 2017 I really liked TWP and TTT (they aren't perfect, but still a great read), but TUC is not TTT - way-way weaker book (in my opinion). So many unresolved mysteries, plots that go from nowhere to nowhere, bad composition or lack of good editing, hilarious dialogues, building tension for many books and creating expectations that aren't resolved or the resolution is disappointing. It is sad - Bakker can still write beatiful passages, but purple prose can't compensate anymore the unclear writing, cliffhangers, hundreds of pages with nothing interesting and all the emotionally damaged "idiots". In my eyes the whole series devolved to just another late Dune, WOT, Malazan, Dark tower. (He knows how to write a decent synopsis; the previous Aspect-Emperor books feel almost unnesessary when a synopsis and the ending of TUC could have been good enough for continuation of the Second apocalypse storyline.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lies And Perfidy Posted July 10, 2017 Share Posted July 10, 2017 For other US folks who haven't gotten their hands on a copy yet, Book Depository is shipping the UK paperback at a very affordable price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghjhero Posted July 10, 2017 Share Posted July 10, 2017 1 hour ago, Lies And Perfidy said: For other US folks who haven't gotten their hands on a copy yet, Book Depository is shipping the UK paperback at a very affordable price. Wow! I jumped all over that! By far the best price I've seen anywhere! Can't wait for it to arrive! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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