Kadrey, Richard--Sandman Slim informal buddy read starts August 19, 2018

[Moderators of NBRC, Challenger-in-Chief]

This thread is open to discuss Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey



Synopsis
Supernatural fantasy has a new antihero in Sandman Slim, star of this gripping, gritty new series by Richard Kadrey.

Life sucks and then you die. Or, if you’re James Stark, you spend eleven years in Hell as a hitman before finally escaping, only to land back in the hell-on-earth that is Los Angeles.

Now Stark’s back, and ready for revenge. And absolution, and maybe even love. But when his first stop saddles him with an abusive talking head, Stark discovers that the road to absolution and revenge is much longer than you’d expect, and both Heaven and Hell have their own ideas for his future.

Resurrection sucks. Saving the world is worse.

Darkly twisted, irreverent, and completely hilarious, Sandman Slim is the breakthrough novel by an acclaimed author.

[Moderators of NBRC, Challenger-in-Chief]

      ~ Buddy Style Reads ~
    Three Ways to Enjoy a Book!

At NRBC we use three styles of buddy reads. These will be indicated in the thread title as “Buddy Read”, “Relaxed Buddy Read” or “Informal Buddy Read”.

A “Buddy Read” has a discussion leader and a reading date is set to start the book. A reading schedule is posted prior to the start date and discussion questions are posted each day regarding that section of the book. More information about these types of reads is below. An example is here, showing a reading schedule here.

A “Relaxed Buddy Read” is similar to our usual “buddy reads” except there are less questions and break points. For example, a book may be split into three sections and those reading the book should pause at the end of the section to answer some discussion questions, make comments, or ask their own questions to other readers. An example is here.

An “Informal Buddy Read” doesn’t have a discussion leader and participants are asked to consider some generic questions when making comments about the book. An example is here.

A “Read and Watch Buddy Read” may be set up as any of the above, but we will also watch the movie or T.V. series - or even go to a play! - and make comparisons, discussing what has been left out or changed as well as the actors and actresses. There is a long debate of what one should do first: read the books or watch the movie? We usually read first, but it isn’t essential. Also, if you would like to join in, but don’t want to watch the movie, show, or play, but only read the books, that is fine, too. An example is here.


MORE UNDER SPOILER
(view spoiler)[

“Buddy Reads” (“BRs”) include:

• A reading schedule which can range from 50, 75, to 100 or so pages a day.

• Discussion questions posted daily by moderators and occasionally group members
   who help one of us out. If you want to be a Discussion Leader, let us know.

• If the book is really long, we'll plan a break day.

• Members do NOT have to answer every question, they are meant to stimulate
   conversations about the books AND allow us to glance back upon them when the
   sequels come out. This helps us to remember what exactly happened in the previous
   book.

• We find the buddy style of reading to be more fun than just posting one or two
   sentences about a book. We feel this is what distinguishes us as being a ‘book club’
   rather than just another GoodReads ‘group.’

• If you can NOT start the book on time, feel free to join in at a later date. They are
   set up to make it easy to do so.

• Moderators are people too, so occasionally we get sick, have to work late at our real
   jobs, or have something that keeps us from writing the questions. Please forgive us;
   we're only human and we don't get any compensation for what we do--not even
   free books!

• Discussions and questions are set up to make you think, analyze, and see things you,
   or even we, may have missed. Feel free to add your own thoughts at any time, if you
   think we've missed something.

• If you've read the book, feel free to let us know what you thought about the book.
   You can do so at the end of the buddy read, or, if you can't wait, add spoiler tags
   before you comment like:

   **************BEWARE! SPOILER FOR THE END OF THE BOOK**************

   Or insert a (view spoiler)[spoiler (hide spoiler)]. If you do NOT know how to do so, just check out our
   GoodReads 101 explanation on how to Insert a Spoiler.

• If you are looking for a reading buddy, post an inquiry in our Buddy read requests thread. Use that thread, if you want to have a repeat read of a BOM
    or buddy read, too.

• Have fun! We always do when more than one person joins in. And we look less silly
   if someone else discusses a book with us. (hide spoiler)]

[Moderators of NBRC, Challenger-in-Chief]

res

[Lexi]

I decided I like BR so I'm still in. (I changed my mind).

[Devann]

i think i'm gonna start this tomorrow if anyone is still in

[Deanna]

I'm still in. I'm looking forward to having a couple of books to read through at a slower pace. I'll start this afternoon and come back with thoughts.

[Lexi]

Deanna wrote: "I'm still in. I'm looking forward to having a couple of books to read through at a slower pace. I'll start this afternoon and come back with thoughts."

Sounds like a good plan. I'm in too.

[Deanna]

Finished 82 pages in my copy which is about 20%.

Stark - (view spoiler)[He's definitely a survivor. Otherwise, I'm not quite sure what to make of him. The getting stronger every time someone hurts you is weird. I was really surprised when he didn't kill Kasabian, and even more surprised when he felt sorry for him. Honestly the rest of the circle sounds like they deserve to be killed. (hide spoiler)]

Vidocq - (view spoiler)[Vidocq's character intrigues me. I am glad that Stark seems to have one person that he can trust, but I don't really have a good handle on what kind of person he is yet. I'm looking forward to learning more about him. (hide spoiler)]

Azazel - (view spoiler)[I know even demon generals have limitations, but I'm surprised that he didn't prevent Alice's death since her life was his most effective leverage against Stark. I was a little surprised that he seemed to expect Stark would be able to return to the regular world at some point and went so far as to mention it. I get the feeling their might be some larger plan being worked out behind the scenes here. Maybe the demons want Stark to take down Mason? I'm also a bit surprised that he killed a demon general, and no one seems to be coming after him yet. It must be a really big war in hell. (hide spoiler)]

The world - (view spoiler)[I'm curious about Sub Rosa and exactly what they can do and how they fit into the world. I hope there will be more information as the story goes along to develop the world. (hide spoiler)]

[Lexi]

I am in about the same place (view spoiler)[ So far, it seems to be pretty standard urban fantasy and I am not that attached to any of the characters. The coin is funny and I will continue to see how they develop. Though, I find the trope of killing girlfriends for character development as lazy writing. (hide spoiler)]

[Devann]

i read up to about 32%, i hate that it doesn't have actual chapters lol

@Deanna i agree that there has to be something more going on re: Azazel and Alice and the key and everything, it's just not really adding up currently

@Lexi i had pretty much the exact same thought as soon as the dead girlfriend thing was brought up. i mean it's a decent enough story so far but it's incredibly standard for urban fantasy and the whole 'oh i have so much manpain because of my murdered girlfriend so now i'm gonna go on a grimdark macho killing rampage' thing is just so tired. so far i'm able to kind of look past that and just enjoy it at a superficial level but it's definitely toeing the line.

[Devann]

i read up to about 67% today and i still don't really have much else to say about it. i mean ...it's not awful but it's still not particularly inspired either. it's definitely a 3 star book for me at this point and i'm not sure if i would want to bother with the rest of the series or not.

[Lexi]

Devann wrote: "i read up to about 67% today and i still don't really have much else to say about it. i mean ...it's not awful but it's still not particularly inspired either. it's definitely a 3 star book for me ..."

You and I seem to be specializing in meh books right now for BRs

[Devann]

haha i knoooow. although honestly this seems waaaaay better than the monstrous gentlewoman one just because it's about half the length ;) [and doesn't have annoying asides]

[Deanna]

Finished to about 40% now and did a happy dance because I can use this for the exclusive club task. I'll try to double up tomorrow and catch up.

Stark - (view spoiler)[He seems kind of directionless at the moment. He may want to kill the Circle, but he clearly has no idea how to find them. He does seem to still have some basically decent instincts. Helping the bar guy and taking care of Allegra have improved my impression of his character. I did have to laugh when he complained of being stiff after sleeping in the beanbag chair. (hide spoiler)]

Muninn - (view spoiler)[I'm not really sure what to make of him. The trapped fury makes me wary although I can see the benefit of knowing someone with the ability to procure such a large selection of items. (hide spoiler)]

Allegra - (view spoiler)[She is taking the whole revelation of magic extremely well. I hope she makes a good alchemy student. She was completely correct about Stark needing her help to navigate a more modern world. (hide spoiler)]

[Devann]

oooh good point about the club task, i didn't even think about that

[Deanna]

At 60% now

Favorite Stark line: "You tell the rest of these animals and any Kissi you run into to stay away from my doughnut place."

Kissi - (view spoiler)[Wierd chaos creatures that both angels and demons are wary of, that's a new one. I'm not sure I really understand how they fit in the story other than adding another layer of bad guys. (hide spoiler)]

Vidocq and Allegra - (view spoiler)[Stark may have been over the top going after Parker, but I am really disappointed in their betrayal. They should know enough of his history to realize that his response would be to further alienate himself from people when what he really needs is the opposite. (hide spoiler)]

[Devann]

i think my favorite part was towards the beginning where whoever was like 'i thought it would be more like metaphorical doors' or whatever and he was like 'no it's literally a room full of doors'

[Deanna]

Finished! I intended to stop around 80%, but the story finally sucked me in.

Stark - (view spoiler)[Having him be nephilim makes a lot more sense. I couldn't figure out how a human, even a magical one, could have survived all of that. Loved watching him slice holes in the Kissi realm. I was glad that he got a chance to scatter Alice's ashes and say goodbye. (hide spoiler)]

Mason - (view spoiler)[I'm a bit disappointed that the demons couldn't manage to tear him apart. At least he is stuck in hell now. (hide spoiler)]

Lucifer - (view spoiler)[I cannot figure out his end game at all. I agree with Stark that he was helping him. I didn't believe his comment about Mason causing him trouble. I might actually read the next book solely on the basis of trying to figure out the devil's schemes. (hide spoiler)]

For me it was a 4 star read. It dragged a bit at the beginning, but I thought all the action toward the end more than made up for it.

[Devann]

re: Stark - yeah i was wondering the whole time like ...why is this dude so special??? so i'm glad there was some kind of reason beyond like 'standard male power fantasy' although honestly it was kind of too little too late

i gave it 3 stars which basically for me meant like 'would have been interesting if not so blandly sexist' but i don't think i'll be continuing onto the next one after reading the summary

[Lexi]

Devann wrote: "re: Stark - yeah i was wondering the whole time like ...why is this dude so special??? so i'm glad there was some kind of reason beyond like 'standard male power fantasy' although honestly it was k..."
I finished it yesterday and came to the same conclusion. It was sexist and I don' think I will continue. The end at least was more interesting.

[Devann]

@Lexi yeah the few chapters after what i would call the 'real' end were probably the most interesting part of the book and i was like why ...did you not write a book about that instead?? it would have been way more interesting probably