Daniel Abraham's second thread

[red snow]

Wow, I just checked TPoS on Amazon. The cheapest copy is over $100.00. It can go for over a thousand. I didn't realize I owned such a hot commodity.

You get it for cheaper off the author, apparently ;) Maybe he should start puttin signed copies on ebay?

[PaulineMRoss]

For fans of Daniel Abraham, or anyone who's interested in his writing process, he's currently engaged in one of those 'writing in public' projects. He's writing a short story and posting it, scene by scene, along with his thoughts as he goes along, on his blog. It starts here:

http://www.danielabraham.com/2012/02/01/the-dogs-project-introduction/

[wolverine]

Wow, I just checked TPoS on Amazon. The cheapest copy is over $100.00. It can go for over a thousand. I didn't realize I owned such a hot commodity.

What the F! I have the second one on my shelf at home waiting to be read. What am I supposed to do when I get to the end? Were the first two and second two condensed into single volumes? I love the cover art of these books but for a 100 bucks I will take something else.

[aidan]

What the F! I have the second one on my shelf at home waiting to be read. What am I supposed to do when I get to the end? Were the first two and second two condensed into single volumes? I love the cover art of these books but for a 100 bucks I will take something else.

Yes. Already published by Orbit in the UK. Coming sometime later this year from Tor in NA.

[DanielAbraham]

The omnibus with books 3 & 4 should be out later this year, and the ebooks are available now for significantly less that a grand.

It's gratifying to see those book prices, but I remain unconvinced that anyone actually bought one.

[Werthead]

Somewhat harsh review of Leviathan Wakes by SF critic Ian Sales.

[Guest]

I just finished The Price of Spring. I started it this morning. It's very unusual for me to read that much in one day. This book was fucking great.

I may have more thoughts later, but it was not only superior to the previous books in the series, but it enhanced them all and gave them greater meaning.

The andat are a fascinating concept. I don't mean so much in the poet relationship (though that's cool too), but in the philosophic questions that they raise:

-Who should be able to do this?

-Should anyone be able to do this?

-What is price worth paying to preserve this knowledge?

-What is the price worth paying to destroy or obfuscate this knowledge?

I still, at least to some degree, stand by my earlier comment that the characterization wasn't great after two books, but only up to that point. The characterization, I thought, improved dramatically as time went on.

I think part of my thing is that when I focus on characterization, I tend to look at the things people say as a huge factor. For example, if you were to pull a random line from ASOIAF, I might very well be able to say "Oh, that must be Tyrion," or "Oh, that must be Robert," or "Oh, that must be Arya."

But that's just one aspect of characterization. I think that in TLPQ, it's more about their actions and their life experiences than the specificity of their diction, so maybe it's natural that it would look better and better the more story you have?

At any rate, I absolutely loved the final book of this series.

Bravo

[Diziet]

Only two threads? Kinda sad.

[red snow]

Only two threads? Kinda sad.

Not really there's definitely a couple of threads dedicated to different series by Daniel eg "The long price" and "the dagger and the coin". Pretty sure there's also one or two on "the expanse" series as well. He's pretty popular here :)

[Rhom]

Only two threads? Kinda sad.

Not really there's definitely a couple of threads dedicated to different series by Daniel eg "The long price" and "the dagger and the coin". Pretty sure there's also one or two on "the expanse" series as well. He's pretty popular here :)

Yeah, a couple of the individual books had threads too I think. When I finished reading The Tyrant's Law and wanted to talk Dagger and Coin, the thread was bizarre because it didn't have any discussion on The King's Blood... and then I discovered that it had its own topic.

I am eternally grateful to posters here that recommended TLPQ.

[WrathOfTinyKittens]

I am rereading the Expanse along with the two short stories while waiting for Cibola Burn. Very excited - easily my favorite SF series.

[Rhom]

I am rereading the Expanse along with the two short stories while waiting for Cibola Burn. Very excited - easily my favorite SF series.

I'm halfway through Abaddons Gate. Enjoying every word of it.

Where can I find the short stories?

[shortstark]

I really liked TLPQ from the first read.. but each reread has made me appreciate them even more..fantastic books,

[Jussi]

http://www.danielabraham.com/2014/05/06/los-angeles-signing-and-the-prix-imaginales-for-daniel-hanover/

My first fantasy series — The Long Price Quartet — did not, perhaps light the world of commercial fantasy on fire. The folks who read it tended to love it, but publishing is a casino. They were good books, they are books that I continue to be quite proud of, and they didn’t sell much. And in Europe, they didn’t just sell poorly. They tanked.

I didn't know that TLPQ tanked in Europe. I thought Europeans might have enjoyed it more than Americans.

[red snow]

I'm halfway through Abaddons Gate. Enjoying every word of it.

Where can I find the short stories?

Amazon definitely has them as that's where I got them. Not sure about them in print format though,

I think the expanse books are going to bloom when the TV show finally happens (it seems to be looking promising at the moment).

http://www.danielabraham.com/2014/05/06/los-angeles-signing-and-the-prix-imaginales-for-daniel-hanover/

I didn't know that TLPQ tanked in Europe. I thought Europeans might have enjoyed it more than Americans.

Well they weren't even released in the UK until after the series was completed and even then they were released as two omnibuses with some of the most misleading covers you could imagine. I think it's a series that would have sold better after he was a known name but that'll come back around eventually. Then he can joke about it being an overnight success 2 decades in the making :)

[Frank Fitzpatrick]

Finished A Shadow in Summer a few days ago (my first Abraham's book) and I thought it was very enjoyable. I really like his prose. So crisp and precise. Currently about one hundred pages into A Betrayal in Winter and so far so good.

[Jussi]

Interesting Expanse description from the publisher:

SCI-FI FOR A NEW GENERATION.

Like Halo, Gears of War, and District 9, this is science fiction that doesn't require a degree in astrophysics to understand. Space battles, creepy monsters, evil corporations -- perfect for fans of big, exciting SF -- from Arthur C. Clarke to Alastair Reynolds to Avatar.

Apparently the old generation of SF readers needed degrees in astrophysics.

[Sir Thursday]

I'm halfway through Abaddons Gate. Enjoying every word of it.

Where can I find the short stories?

I got them off Amazon:

- The Butcher of Anderson Station - Goes into a bit more detail about what happened at Anderson Station to give Fred Johnson his reputation. OK, but not too much there that you don't already know if you read the main novels.

- The Churn - Interesting glimpse into what life on a small corner of Earth looks like, plus some nice character backstory. Probably my favourite of the three.

- Gods of Risk - Similar to the above but on Mars. Some of the characters re-occur briefly in Cibola Burn.

They're OK if you're salivating for more Expanse stuff, but they're very much tiny morsels as opposed to the wholesome chunks of the main novels. I get the impression they're designed to be read between books (eg. Leviathan-Butcher-Caliban-Churn-Abaddon-Risk-Cibola), so if you're going to read them I'd suggest trying them to whet your appetite before diving into Cibola Burn proper.

On that note, I finished Cibola Burn last night. I wasn't as enthralled by Abaddon's Gate as I was with the previous installments, but this one was definitely a return to form. Gripping all the way through and I couldn't put it down. Loved the exploration of factionalism and the inertia of conflict - it did what good SF does and uses its outlandish setting to discuss issues that are very relevant to modern society.

ST

[Rhom]

I got them off Amazon:

- The Butcher of Anderson Station - Goes into a bit more detail about what happened at Anderson Station to give Fred Johnson his reputation. OK, but not too much there that you don't already know if you read the main novels.

- The Churn - Interesting glimpse into what life on a small corner of Earth looks like, plus some nice character backstory. Probably my favourite of the three.

- Gods of Risk - Similar to the above but on Mars. Some of the characters re-occur briefly in Cibola Burn.

They're OK if you're salivating for more Expanse stuff, but they're very much tiny morsels as opposed to the wholesome chunks of the main novels. I get the impression they're designed to be read between books (eg. Leviathan-Butcher-Caliban-Churn-Abaddon-Risk-Cibola), so if you're going to read them I'd suggest trying them to whet your appetite before diving into Cibola Burn proper.

On that note, I finished Cibola Burn last night. I wasn't as enthralled by Abaddon's Gate as I was with the previous installments, but this one was definitely a return to form. Gripping all the way through and I couldn't put it down. Loved the exploration of factionalism and the inertia of conflict - it did what good SF does and uses its outlandish setting to discuss issues that are very relevant to modern society.

ST

ST

You had me abundantly confused. I just checked Amazon and saw that release date isn't until the 17th. Did you get an ARC?

ETA: speaking of Cibola Burn

[Sir Thursday]

You had me abundantly confused. I just checked Amazon and saw that release date isn't until the 17th. Did you get an ARC?

ETA: speaking of Cibola Burn

Release date in the UK for the Kindle version was 5th June. No idea whether Amazon does regional protection on its eBooks - you may be able to pick up a copy from here if you're interested.

There was one gripe I had about the book, and that was (spoilers for Cibola Burn):

Amos should have stayed dead. The fake-out death was annoying and it severely diminished the impact of the whole affair on Holden. There was a lot of death all around, but somehow all of the characters you ended up caring for in the story survive and the bad guy (Murtry) gets vanquished. That just felt a bit too unlikely given how cataclysmic the events in the story are (and how effective the book is at conveying the danger the characters are in).

ST