Rob’s Comments (group member since Jul 06, 2012)

Rob’s comments from the The Sword and Laser group.

I went 4-0 in voting this round, but 3-1 in my bracket (https://challonge.com/tournaments/108...).

Project Hail Mary breaks my bracket as I had it winning it all.

There are 3 brackets that got the final 4 right (and 0 perfect brackets). 2 have picked Rivers of London, 1 has picked A Psalm for the Wild-Built to win it all.

* Just Another John - https://challonge.com/tournaments/108...
* A Monk for the Win! - https://challonge.com/tournaments/108...
* Untitled (One of many) - https://challonge.com/tournaments/108...

2/3 of the 3 pick Rivers/Psalm final, but the other has Rivers/Children.

Round 2 result breakdown

Results from Round 2:

View the full bracket: https://challonge.com/swordandlaser2022


Tournament Statistics
Total Votes Cast: 3,146
Average Votes Cast: 261
Book With Most Votes:The Library at Mount Char - (195 Votes) (Round 1)
Match-up With Most Votes:Rivers of London vs. The Girl with All the Gifts (284 Votes) (Round 1)
Largest Win: The Library at Mount Char (122 Votes) (Round 1)
Smallest Win:Way Station - (4 Votes) (Round 1)
Average Win: 55 votes

Round 2 Statistics
Total Votes Cast: 1,023
Average Votes Cast: 256
Book With Most Votes: A Master of Djinn - (161 Votes)
Match-up With Most Votes: A Psalm for the Wild-Built vs. - Project Hail Mary (259 Votes)
Largest Win: A Master of Djinn - (71 Votes)
Smallest Win: Rivers of London - (27 Votes)
Average Win: 46 votes

Sword Bracket
---------------------------------

Match 1:

(1) Rivers of London / Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch - 141 Votes

vs.

(9) The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins - 114 Votes


Winner: Rivers of London
Total Votes: 255
Margin of Victory: 27

Match 2:

(13) The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri - 90 Votes

vs.

(5) A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark - 161 Votes


Winner: A Master of Djinn
Total Votes: 251
Margin of Victory: 71

---------------------------------

Laser Bracket
---------------------------------

Match 1:

(2) A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers - 146 Votes

vs.

(10) Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir - 113 Votes


Winner: A Psalm for the Wild-Built
Total Votes: 259
Margin of Victory: 33

Match 2:

(3) Way Station by Clifford D. Simak - 103 Votes

vs.

(6) Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky - 155 Votes

Winner: Children of Time
Total Votes: 258
Margin of Victory: 52

Round 3 has begun!

Round 2 has concluded! You can check out the results here

Bracket: https://challonge.com/swordandlaser2022

Round 3 will be March 9th - March 15th 11:59PM EST

Sword Bracket
---------------------------------

Match 1:

(1) Rivers of London / Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch

vs.

(5) A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark

Vote Here


---------------------------------

Laser Bracket
---------------------------------

Match 1:

(2) A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

vs.

(6) Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Vote Here

Just a few hours left to vote in round 2

Just a few hours left to vote in round 2

Welcome Peter

Next Meetup

Date: Saturday March 26th
When: 12PM ET
Where: Discord or maybe McGinty's?

RSVP: https://discord.gg/NHj43w262v?event=9...

William wrote: "Rob wrote: "Round 2 has begun!"

For Round 2 I seem to be able to see everyone's votes down the right hand side of each poll. I'm pretty sure that's not meant to happen."

I just noticed that myself and fixed it.

Yeah. There are some similarities to Diablo. It's kind of part action rpg and part mmo, but ive been playing the game entirely single player thus far.

I've been meaning to read Library on Mount Char since the last time it was in the tournament. But I definitely was voting against Lord Foul's Bane no matter who it was up against.

Personally, I want to read Mount Char more than Rivers of London, but I still want the group to do Rivers, so that's what I voted for.

I've been playing Lost Ark (albeit very slowly). It's free to play but I haven't gotten to the tedious endgame grind yet, so it's been a fun diversion.

Scalzi has some interesting thoughts on the whole thing: https://whatever.scalzi.com/2022/03/0...

Trike wrote: "I’m puzzled that people don’t vote in every match-up. I wonder if it’s a case of not having strong feelings for either book?"

I've asked that question before. I've gotten answers of "I don't like either book" and "I don't care which wins"

That's always been the case though, we never get the same number in any vote/round.

Some years I've seen like round 1 get a lot of votes per poll, but round 2 has far less, only to see the participation in round 3 or 4 spike back up.

People may forget to vote in a certain round, or be disappointed their pick lost in a previous round.

I just always vote for every poll, but to each their own.

Jen wrote: "Chambers v. Weir - really tough choice!"

I think Weir was vastly under-seeded. It should have probably been the 3 seed. Then that would have been the semi-final most likely.

I went 5-3 with my voting preferences, but 7-1 with tournament predictions: https://challonge.com/tournaments/108...

I have no idea why I thought Becky Chambers would lose in the first round. I think I was just trying to avoid picking pure chalk.

Round 1 result breakdown

Results from Round 1:

View the full bracket: https://challonge.com/swordandlaser2022


Round 1 Statistics
Total Votes Cast: 2,123
Average Votes Cast: 265
Book With Most Votes: The Library at Mount Char - (195 Votes)
Match-up With Most Votes: Rivers of London vs. The Girl with All the Gifts (284 Votes)
Largest Win: The Library at Mount Char (122 Votes)
Smallest Win: Way Station - (4 Votes)
Average Win: 63 votes

Sword Bracket
---------------------------------

Match 1:

(1) Rivers of London / Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch - 179 Votes

vs.

(16) The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey (Wild Card) - 105 Votes


Winner: Rivers of London
Total Votes: 284
Margin of Victory: 74

Match 2:

(8) Lord Foul's Bane by Stephen R. Donaldson - 73 Votes

vs.

(9) The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins - 195 Votes


Winner: The Library at Mount Char
Total Votes: 268
Margin of Victory: 122

Match 3:

(4) Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor - 100 Votes

vs.

(13) The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri - 150 Votes


Winner: The Jasmine Throne
Total Votes: 250
Margin of Victory: 50

Match 4:

(5) A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark - 161 Votes

vs.

(12) A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik - 116 Votes


Winner: A Master of Djinn
Total Votes: 277
Margin of Victory: 45

---------------------------------

Laser Bracket
---------------------------------

Match 1:

(2) A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers - 155 Votes

vs.

(15) Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde (Wild Card) - 105 Votes


Winner: A Psalm for the Wild-Built
Total Votes: 260
Margin of Victory: 50

Match 2:

(7) The Carpet Makers by Andreas Eschbach - 91 Votes

vs.

(10) Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir - 174 Votes


Winner: Project Hail Mary
Total Votes: 265
Margin of Victory: 83

Match 3:

(3) Way Station by Clifford D. Simak - 129 Votes

vs.

(14) Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro - 125 Votes


Winner: Way Station
Total Votes: 254
Margin of Victory: 4

Match 4:

(6) Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky - 172 Votes

vs.

(11) Axiom's End by Lindsay Ellis - 93 Votes


Winner: Children of Time
Total Votes: 265
Margin of Victory: 79

Round 2 has begun!