I view it as the worst of the originals... find reading it even more of a chore than book 1 reading a detailed description of a desert
301 2020-06-18 19:45:39
Re: As Darkness Gathers (the Connor series) - Dirk B. (1,438 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
302 2020-06-16 10:14:51
Re: As Darkness Gathers (the Connor series) - Dirk B. (1,438 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
Emperor's return kinda follows the books tho
303 2020-06-15 21:34:44
Re: As Darkness Gathers (the Connor series) - Dirk B. (1,438 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
Yes distancing from "it may be supernatural" to "It almost certainly is"
304 2020-06-15 18:10:15
Re: As Darkness Gathers (the Connor series) - Dirk B. (1,438 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
Checked it... don't have enough to get points off a review because my brain's too crusty for me to be sure of differences (I was "did she have a cat? I'm not sure??") but it looked like a significant distancing from the original "it may be supernatural" premise
305 2020-06-12 08:20:48
Re: As Darkness Gathers (the Connor series) - Dirk B. (1,438 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
I vaguely a (windsurfing?) scene in the /other/ books and recall thinking to myself how little I could imagine the original cast having a relaxing windsurf. Really stood out to me - can't even remember which book it was but it stood out that much.
Vaguely recalls of Star Wars where we take 15 minutes off the action to show Anakin riding buffalo-like creatures while he falls in love, and I was thinking aw geez, Luke never got a vacation amounting to 10% of the show time to ride a buffalo
306 2020-06-07 16:21:23
Re: As Darkness Gathers (the Connor series) - Dirk B. (1,438 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
...need to be murders before Connor leaves ... so that Connor can be fully ruled out as a suspect.
>As stated elsewhere, Connor can be in two places at once (via miracles he's capable of)
Four total seemed like a reasonable number.
>Honestly, one is enough
>He may be ruled out anyway since he's only 175 cm tall while the killer is 185 cm.
>Same problem. What's to keep him from growing 10cm when he's in a bloodlust?
some mystery about how the Antichrist is able to kill in Rome and the Holy Land at virtually the same time
>some mystery about how [Connor] is able to kill in Rome and the Holy Land at virtually the same time
(I fixed your text for you)
307 2020-06-07 13:45:58
Re: As Darkness Gathers (the Connor series) - Dirk B. (1,438 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
Q: Do you /have/ to kill 3 cardinals?
I mean, could it be one cardinal, then a high-speed chase complete with Fast-and-Furious vehicular stunts, then a 2nd cardinal? Why specifically cardinals?
I mean, if it were say 1 bishop, 5 lay-betheren, 1 poor altar boy and a cheerleader, maybe all of Rome doesn't have to know because there's a holy day coming up and the church is fighting media speculation that the Vatican is unsafe. By choosing so high up the ladder, have you built yourself a bed of nail to sleep on?
308 2020-06-01 03:53:12
Re: As Darkness Gathers (the Connor series) - Dirk B. (1,438 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
re because Herbert needed her for story purposes
Herbert would probably agree with you, but I' debate this point if I could. I'd suggest he feed her to the sandworms. For funner that way
309 2020-06-01 03:13:21
Re: As Darkness Gathers (the Connor series) - Dirk B. (1,438 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
Reminds me that it's been so long since I last read it cover-to-cover that I don't remember why the Emperor even brought Irulan with him (allowing her to get claimed as spoil)
310 2020-05-29 01:59:46
Re: As Darkness Gathers (the Connor series) - Dirk B. (1,438 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
instead of Martin Luther, perhaps "Batman". Less political
311 2020-05-25 16:58:16
Re: Subjective point of view (17 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
What Mlle Gacèlle said above. Narrator must establish himself as subjective. The earlier the better.
Adding. CJ's story can get away with this easier than yours because your genre requires your narrator to stay objective. Imagine a CSI: NY story:
Mary looked guilty.
or
Mary gave a guilty look.
or
Mary fingered her purse guiltily.
Right here, even if Mary is not guilty of the crime at hand, she is assuredly guilty of something because the narrator asserts certainity. This is extremely important because if we find out Mary is not guilty (not even of cheating on her taxes or double-dipping at last night's work party), the writer has cheated us. I dare say, it is required of the writer to reveal at some point "Mary is innocent of the crime at hand, but here's why she was acting guilty" -OR- work really hard on a judgemental-subjective narrator who the reader is convinced may be wrong on several points. In so doing, Mary's innocence causes the reader to go "aha, I knew the narrator was wrong"
Again, my example with Mary is significant in a crime story where tiny clues are meant to help the reader ascertain fact. In another genre, it would probably matter less.
312 2020-05-25 08:54:07
Re: As Darkness Gathers (the Connor series) - Dirk B. (1,438 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
You assume that was Alia talking (and not, say, the Baron, as we know from Book III)
313 2020-05-24 19:22:11
Re: As Darkness Gathers (the Connor series) - Dirk B. (1,438 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
Absolutely can be made to work, but not every narrator can pull it off. You'll want to use a highly subjective one to achieve this without getting called on for animate/conscious smiles.
314 2020-05-21 16:56:18
Re: As Darkness Gathers (the Connor series) - Dirk B. (1,438 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
I wore myself out trying to figure out how best to solve the repetitive references to dark figure. Finally decided to just delete roughly half the references to dark. Lots of references to figure, but I don't know of a better solution.
You're tackling it too soon. Give it a few weeks (months?) to bake. After a few sleeps, you'll have it. Ugly fact: the human brain continues to work on real world problems during REM sleep instead of... you know... relaxing. Impossible tasks surprisingly have solutions after some time has elapsed.
315 2020-05-19 11:09:51
Re: As Darkness Gathers (the Connor series) - Dirk B. (1,438 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
hat will be ruled out in my next chapter. The dark figure is 185 cm and Connor is 175 cm. I set that up in earlier chapters, but the Pope's Council will discuss it as they try to figure out who Connor really is.
Height difference doesn't rule it out (Connor from the future grew 10cm). Gender difference doesn't rule it out (Campanella's real form is a male). Being dead (run over while fleeing an ex-lover) doesn't rule it out. There is no proof of anything yet.
316 2020-05-19 10:08:44
Re: As Darkness Gathers (the Connor series) - Dirk B. (1,438 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
Impressions: It's trying too hard to conceal the identity. Is it worth the effort? There is no one in the story it could be that would carry any shock value-- not even the detectives or the pope (though the latter would be humourous given the level of physical activity). The reason for this lack-of-shock factor is the story hasn't "sold" us that it isn't any given person. If this was a movie, I'd suggest the dark figure was Connor from the future, but yes, it could be anyone even one of the victims.
Maybe take another swing at it?
317 2020-05-17 15:05:10
Re: Is my head on straight? (11 replies, posted in Close friends)
Means your computer is a Mac
318 2020-05-15 19:33:19
Re: As Darkness Gathers (the Connor series) - Dirk B. (1,438 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
Both styles work for me
3rd option: They get a clear view and ID someone who is out of the country at the time.
319 2020-05-10 01:24:53
Re: As Darkness Gathers (the Connor series) - Dirk B. (1,438 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
"Brian Herbert has completely misunderstood his fathers work- I have to assume that he's actually read it. Unfortunately , as there are several prequels and side stories of equal incompetence" yowza
320 2020-05-10 01:24:10
Re: As Darkness Gathers (the Connor series) - Dirk B. (1,438 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
haha I just checked out the reviews. so vicious lol
321 2020-05-10 00:36:19
Re: As Darkness Gathers (the Connor series) - Dirk B. (1,438 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
I own hunters in hard cover. They were on sale for $4 in a bin in Coles. Haven't read ... was lost by chapter 3 not enjoyable at all
Plus many of the characters in Hunters I was emotionally done with. Actually not "many"... "all".
The prequels were abit rough, but I did like Butlerian Jihad. The book 3 "twist that everyone saw coming because otherwise the later books would never have occurred" was kinda contrived/forced but there's only so much material a prequel can invent. I felt Darth Vader's crossover was equally forced in the SW prequels.
322 2020-05-06 04:29:24
Re: As Darkness Gathers (the Connor series) - Dirk B. (1,438 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
I was poking around Dune the other day. Lamenting the effort it would take to read through until the series gets good (circa book 5)
323 2020-04-30 20:45:50
Re: New Members (14 replies, posted in Close friends)
I definitely have to go back and change terminology now.
Bobbie
Eh... you're ok as is IMO. I was just commenting "should you change/add more common terms"
324 2020-04-28 19:17:56
Re: New Members (14 replies, posted in Close friends)
CJ: It's sci-fi short-hand. Same as "hyperdrive"... if you said "mass driver" you have to go back and waste time explaining this term
325 2020-04-28 17:15:13
Re: New Members (14 replies, posted in Close friends)
Here's a complicated answer.
a:
Your book strikes closer to Star Trek in tech and terminology (eg tractor beams, shields, beaming (which you renamed but follow the same rules), food dispensers (which you also renamed but are similarly infinite)). Do i recall correctly that Tlaan even has a positronic brain?. As such, you can benefit from renaming to help you escape established principles. The more "Common" your terms, the closer you will land to Star Trek, and once you land there, you won't be able to escape.
b:
In Rachel's stories I would suggest the opposite. She has so much meta-data within her stories (eg Goblin Fire) that maybe a tractor beam really is just a tractor beam so that there's more room for other terms to shine. In my own stories, I'm careful to avoid common terms like "mind trick" or "lightsword" for the same reasons I suggest to Bobbie.
c:
I'm halfway through book 2 and can confidently say you 100% do not need tractor beams. You could just have the aggressor ship disable the weaker ship and space-dock it for a boarding party. Remember Star Wars I (or IV or whatever number it is now) when Vader does this and capture Leia? This scene is just as cool as a tractor beam and a lot of fun