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The New Coffee Room

  1. TNCR
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  3. "The Dispatcher"

"The Dispatcher"

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  • JollyJ Offline
    JollyJ Offline
    Jolly
    wrote on last edited by
    #8

    Above all, a good writer is a good storyteller.

    Scalzi is a good storyteller.

    “Cry havoc and let slip the DOGE of war!”

    Those who cheered as J-6 American prisoners were locked in solitary for 18 months without trial, now suddenly fight tooth and nail for foreign terrorists’ "due process". — Buck Sexton

    George KG 1 Reply Last reply
    • JollyJ Jolly

      Above all, a good writer is a good storyteller.

      Scalzi is a good storyteller.

      George KG Offline
      George KG Offline
      George K
      wrote on last edited by
      #9

      @jolly to this day, I'm grateful to you for turning me on to "Old Man's War." A remarkable, and epic series.

      Scalzi's style led me to explore his other works (I think "Fuzzy Nation" is my favorite). He has a sense of humor, irony and he can be really sensitive ("Fuzzy Nation" and "Lock-In").

      "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

      The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

      1 Reply Last reply
      • George KG Offline
        George KG Offline
        George K
        wrote on last edited by
        #10

        Started "Murder by Other Means" today.

        So Scalzi.

        Only about ¼ of the way through, and it makes me sad that there's not more.

        Looking forward to the Amazon's series.

        "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

        The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

        Aqua LetiferA 1 Reply Last reply
        • George KG George K

          Started "Murder by Other Means" today.

          So Scalzi.

          Only about ¼ of the way through, and it makes me sad that there's not more.

          Looking forward to the Amazon's series.

          Aqua LetiferA Offline
          Aqua LetiferA Offline
          Aqua Letifer
          wrote on last edited by
          #11

          @George-K said in "The Dispatcher":

          Started "Murder by Other Means" today.

          So Scalzi.

          Only about ¼ of the way through, and it makes me sad that there's not more.

          Looking forward to the Amazon's series.

          Let's be honest, Scalzi's good fun, but he's not who I think about when I think of versatile writers. He's got a handful of tricks in his bag that he always pulls out. Always uses them very well, but it's the same bag of tricks.

          The Dispatcher series is a little different, though. It reminds me a lot of Glengarry Glen Ross (the play and to a lesser extent the movie): The plot is revealed through a series of extended dialogues that take place in distinct settings. It's also kind of like radioplays, or lower production theater. I really like that. It's different, he doesn't shove it down your throat and it just works as a way to tell these particular stories.

          Please love yourself.

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          • George KG Offline
            George KG Offline
            George K
            wrote on last edited by
            #12

            Finished it this morning. It was...okay.

            Not Scalzi's best, and certainly without the snark and humor that I've enjoyed in his previous works. It's almost as though he was trying to be the Scalzi I've enjoyed in the past, and failing at it.

            Too many twisty-hoops to get the story told. Too many irrelevant characters introduces, just for the sake of making the novella "just long enough."

            It was a nice enough story, and would probably be a good fit for a Netflix/Amazon series.

            As a sequel to the first novella, it was a "Meh plus a half."

            "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

            The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

            1 Reply Last reply
            • LuFins DadL Offline
              LuFins DadL Offline
              LuFins Dad
              wrote on last edited by
              #13

              I liked it well enough… I just started a reread of Old Man’s War. I never read the sequels so I want to refresh my memory then dig into the sequels.

              The Brad

              George KG 1 Reply Last reply
              • LuFins DadL LuFins Dad

                I liked it well enough… I just started a reread of Old Man’s War. I never read the sequels so I want to refresh my memory then dig into the sequels.

                George KG Offline
                George KG Offline
                George K
                wrote on last edited by
                #14

                @LuFins-Dad I loved "Old Man's War."

                The sequels, IMO, are better than the original story. I particularly loved "Zoe's Tale," which tells the same story as another book - I forget which one - but from a different perspective.

                "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

                The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

                1 Reply Last reply
                • LuFins DadL Offline
                  LuFins DadL Offline
                  LuFins Dad
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #15

                  I just re-listened to these on Audible. Fun stories… And Zachary Quinta was on point for the narrator. I don’t think Will Wheaton would have done as well…

                  Any word on the Amazon series?

                  The Brad

                  1 Reply Last reply
                  • LuFins DadL Offline
                    LuFins DadL Offline
                    LuFins Dad
                    wrote on last edited by LuFins Dad
                    #16

                    Oh…

                    Were @George-K and @Aqua-Letifer aware of https://www.audible.com/pd/B0B8387XQX?source_code=ASSORAP0511160006&share_location=pdp

                    540FDB15-1979-41C6-8284-8DD07A451008.jpeg

                    The Brad

                    1 Reply Last reply
                    • Aqua LetiferA Offline
                      Aqua LetiferA Offline
                      Aqua Letifer
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #17

                      Yup, already listened.

                      Please love yourself.

                      LuFins DadL 1 Reply Last reply
                      • Aqua LetiferA Aqua Letifer

                        Yup, already listened.

                        LuFins DadL Offline
                        LuFins DadL Offline
                        LuFins Dad
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #18

                        @Aqua-Letifer Damnit.. I had a murder idea coming out of the 2nd book that I thought would be an interesting idea to explore and was going to post it… I’m midway through the first chapter and it looks like Scalzi beat me to it!

                        The Brad

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