Chompa’s Comments (group member since Feb 16, 2015)

Chompa’s comments from the Grimdark Fantasy group.

Yeah, that was a good short story.

I do not believe I've ever finished an audio book. I was listening to one recently while doing yard work and on my drive to and from work. The guy reading was awesome, but I didn't care for the story after a while. Too Mary Sue for my taste. I've got another one I'm going to try next. The unabridged audio books are just a lot slower for me than actually reading.

The scene and the earlier one where Sansa confronted Ramsey's old girlfriend during the bath make me wonder. Maybe this is part of Sansa's turning into a true Stark. Trial by fire, etc. Her response from the bath was awesome and showed a backbone I'd not seen before.

So - if Ramsey's crude actions drive her character to become someone strong - ok. If it was just to be rapey for publicity - not ok.

Welcome to the Grimdarks, Bunny.

I read The Name of the Wind by Rothfuss when it first came out. He's a wonderful writer. It has been long enough that I probably need to re-read it in order to continue the series.

I put his writing along the lines of Scott Lynch. It is nearly poetic in how good it is.

Welcome Ron. I like a mix of things myself. And honestly a good anti-hero (or even villain) is the mark of a good book/movie/story in my mind.

I fear being politically incorrect and/or insensitive, but after watching the episode, I found it not that shocking or abhorrent. Yes, it was wrong and Ramsey is a bastard (literal and figurative), but I do not see why all uproar.

Perhaps this is me being desensitized? Or maybe I've watched and read MUCH worse.

When I was young I would often read books several times. In the last decade the Lies of Locke Lamora is one of two books I've reread. I'm totally good with that being the next book.

I read the initial Riyria series by Sullivan. It's not really grimdark, but was very enjoyable.

This is what's cool about these discussions. I get to see viewpoints and thoughts that I'd not likely have myself. And it is cool for people to have different opinions, views and ideas.

I totally understand getting derailed by a description coming in late in the book after I've already "cast" the character in my mind.

Deborah, I'm also an odd man out as I personally like how Abercrombie handles descriptions. Then again - I'm also old.

I'll have to ponder the question of who I think does a good job with character descriptions. A lot of my favorite authors write in first person (especially) in detective novels and I find that the good ones are very subtle about character descriptions.

In the Grimdark realm, The Black Company is written in first person and I honestly don't have a clue about Croaker's appearance (the narrator). His companion's descriptions are sparse at best, but it really works in these books.

A quote from college comes to mind. Can't recall who wrote it, but it was along the lines of "People do not change, they only stand more revealed." Those are some words that stuck with me and help me understand/deal with others in life, but also truly apply to Abercrombie's characters.

One of the things I ended up really liking about Abercrombie is that he doesn't push things. He shows you what is there and lets you put it together yourself. I guess it could apply to appearance of the characters, but it also applies to certain personality traits.

Spoiler coming and I'm lousy with HTML....







My favorite example of this is when Logen gets into the battle where he's losing and suddenly changes personalities. He becomes "the Bloody Nine" instead of Logen and proceeds to demolish his opponents. Abercrombie doesn't say, "Good-natured Logen actually has a split personality, the other which is a crazed maniac." Nope he just lets the scene unfold and you end up thinking "What the hell was that?". But then it all ties back to his reputation and things click into place.

I've often wondered if I went back and read Lord Foul's Bane now if I'd feel the same. I'm guessing not, but I'm not sure I'll ever pick it up again.

You are absolutely right. Glokta is right up there with Logen.

Brittany wrote: I invited a few friends who introduced me to books in the genre. That's allowed right? :)

Absolutely!

Deborah, I've read all three of the published "Gentleman Bastard" series and loved them all. I hope you enjoy it.

I'm happy to see this group is growing quite well. Thanks to Brenno for getting the discussion going on The Blade Itself.

The Warded Man was quite good. I need to get onto the rest of that series. And for my money, The Lies of Locke Lamora may be one of the best written books ever. Scott Lynch is a brilliant writer.

I'm looking forward to people's impressions of the characters as they go through the book. I think Logen is probably a favorite of most people (I know he's mine), but at the same time none of the characters are heroes by any means.