Hey, George. The Scalzi Book's Out.
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Their is definitely a Scalzi formula for the beginning of his story… Guy gets thrown into a very large organization with technology and resources that he knows very little about, guy bonds with other newbies that also are very much in the dark…
I also see why @Aqua likes this book. He’s the protagonist!
wrote on 9 Apr 2022, 14:12 last edited by@LuFins-Dad said in Hey, George. The Scalzi Book's Out.:
Their is definitely a Scalzi formula for the beginning of his story… Guy gets thrown into a very large organization with technology and resources that he knows very little about, guy bonds with other newbies that also are very much in the dark…
I also see why @Aqua likes this book. He’s the protagonist!
Nah. I quit in 2020. Didn't get canned, although my boss at the time did try it.
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wrote on 26 Apr 2022, 22:33 last edited by
OK, I'm about ⅔ of the way through it.
It's VERY Scalzi. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but pretty much the story he's told many times before.
- Everyman (Hero of "Old Man's War," pilot in "Interdependency", Dispatcher is conflicted)
- Everyman encounters trial (Death of wife, being fired, unusual job)
- Things go off the rails because the solution to #2 is so weird
- Lot's of funny stuff and snarky comments and tons of exclamation marks.
Definitely fun, but pretty predictable. As someone said, talking about John Grisham, "Every author has, basically one story."
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OK, I'm about ⅔ of the way through it.
It's VERY Scalzi. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but pretty much the story he's told many times before.
- Everyman (Hero of "Old Man's War," pilot in "Interdependency", Dispatcher is conflicted)
- Everyman encounters trial (Death of wife, being fired, unusual job)
- Things go off the rails because the solution to #2 is so weird
- Lot's of funny stuff and snarky comments and tons of exclamation marks.
Definitely fun, but pretty predictable. As someone said, talking about John Grisham, "Every author has, basically one story."
wrote on 26 Apr 2022, 23:49 last edited by@George-K said in Hey, George. The Scalzi Book's Out.:
OK, I'm about ⅔ of the way through it.
It's VERY Scalzi. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but pretty much the story he's told many times before.
- Everyman (Hero of "Old Man's War," pilot in "Interdependency", Dispatcher is conflicted)
- Everyman encounters trial (Death of wife, being fired, unusual job)
- Things go off the rails because the solution to #2 is so weird
- Lot's of funny stuff and snarky comments and tons of exclamation marks.
Definitely fun, but pretty predictable. As someone said, talking about John Grisham, "Every popular author has, basically one story."
Yeah. Fun, though.
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wrote on 26 Apr 2022, 23:58 last edited by George K
I think my favorite Scalzi books, and I think I've read them all, are "Fuzzy Nation," "Lock In," and "Redshirts."
THey're all stand-alone and don't make you commit to a trilogy or more (though there is a sequel to "Lock In.").
Among those three, perhaps "Redshirts" is the most creative, but "Fuzzy" is the one I enjoyed the most.
Also, listening to "Kaiju..", it strike me that Wil Wheaton, who has done SO much of Scalzi's stuff, is perhaps, just a bit, TOO Wil Wheaton, if you know what I mean.
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I think my favorite Scalzi books, and I think I've read them all, are "Fuzzy Nation," "Lock In," and "Redshirts."
THey're all stand-alone and don't make you commit to a trilogy or more (though there is a sequel to "Lock In.").
Among those three, perhaps "Redshirts" is the most creative, but "Fuzzy" is the one I enjoyed the most.
Also, listening to "Kaiju..", it strike me that Wil Wheaton, who has done SO much of Scalzi's stuff, is perhaps, just a bit, TOO Wil Wheaton, if you know what I mean.
wrote on 27 Apr 2022, 00:00 last edited by@George-K said in Hey, George. The Scalzi Book's Out.:
Also, listening to "Kaiju..", it strike me that Wil Wheaton, who has done SO much of Scalzi's stuff, is perhaps, just a bit, TOO Wil Wheaton, if you know what I mean.
Fully agree.
My favorite is probably Redshirts. But Lock-In and Dispatcher are up there along with Fuzzy Nation.
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OK, I'm about ⅔ of the way through it.
It's VERY Scalzi. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but pretty much the story he's told many times before.
- Everyman (Hero of "Old Man's War," pilot in "Interdependency", Dispatcher is conflicted)
- Everyman encounters trial (Death of wife, being fired, unusual job)
- Things go off the rails because the solution to #2 is so weird
- Lot's of funny stuff and snarky comments and tons of exclamation marks.
Definitely fun, but pretty predictable. As someone said, talking about John Grisham, "Every author has, basically one story."
wrote on 27 Apr 2022, 01:14 last edited by@George-K said in Hey, George. The Scalzi Book's Out.:
OK, I'm about ⅔ of the way through it.
It's VERY Scalzi. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but pretty much the story he's told many times before.
- Everyman (Hero of "Old Man's War," pilot in "Interdependency", Dispatcher is conflicted)
- Everyman encounters trial (Death of wife, being fired, unusual job)
- Things go off the rails because the solution to #2 is so weird
- Lot's of funny stuff and snarky comments and tons of exclamation marks.
Definitely fun, but pretty predictable. As someone said, talking about John Grisham, "Every author has, basically one story."
You forgot about the part where our antagonist finds and befriends a whole crew of newbie misfits that ultimately prove to be experts in just the right fields…
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@George-K said in Hey, George. The Scalzi Book's Out.:
OK, I'm about ⅔ of the way through it.
It's VERY Scalzi. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but pretty much the story he's told many times before.
- Everyman (Hero of "Old Man's War," pilot in "Interdependency", Dispatcher is conflicted)
- Everyman encounters trial (Death of wife, being fired, unusual job)
- Things go off the rails because the solution to #2 is so weird
- Lot's of funny stuff and snarky comments and tons of exclamation marks.
Definitely fun, but pretty predictable. As someone said, talking about John Grisham, "Every author has, basically one story."
You forgot about the part where our antagonist finds and befriends a whole crew of newbie misfits that ultimately prove to be experts in just the right fields…
wrote on 27 Apr 2022, 01:34 last edited by George K@LuFins-Dad yeh, there's that.
(I assume you meant "protagonist")
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@LuFins-Dad yeh, there's that.
(I assume you meant "protagonist")
wrote on 27 Apr 2022, 01:36 last edited by@George-K said in Hey, George. The Scalzi Book's Out.:
@LuFins-Dad yeh, there's that.
(I assume you meant "protagonist")
Tomato, tomahto…
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@LuFins-Dad said in Hey, George. The Scalzi Book's Out.:
Old Man’s War actually was a little underwhelming at parts. Is it worth continuing?
The first book, which is mostly exposition and setup, is probably the weakest (though, in fairness, I read it about 5 years ago, so memory fades). The rest of them are popcorn books, but they have the usual Scalzi snark and snappy dialog. I think OMW was one of Scalzi's earliest books so that may play a role.
The one I really enjoyed in that series was "Zoe's Tale," which tells the same story as a book earlier in the series, but from the perspective of a different character. Very entertaining, but you gotta read both. The series ends with "The End of All Things" which is a satisfying conclusion.
For more "Scalzi-like" stuff, check out "Lock-In," "Fuzzy Nation," and a novella "The President's Brain is Missing."
If you're looking for a binge of three, "The Collapsing Empire" series is pretty good.
wrote on 7 Jun 2022, 21:40 last edited by LuFins Dad 6 Jul 2022, 21:45@George-K said in Hey, George. The Scalzi Book's Out.:
@LuFins-Dad said in Hey, George. The Scalzi Book's Out.:
Old Man’s War actually was a little underwhelming at parts. Is it worth continuing?
The first book, which is mostly exposition and setup, is probably the weakest (though, in fairness, I read it about 5 years ago, so memory fades). The rest of them are popcorn books, but they have the usual Scalzi snark and snappy dialog. I think OMW was one of Scalzi's earliest books so that may play a role.
The one I really enjoyed in that series was "Zoe's Tale," which tells the same story as a book earlier in the series, but from the perspective of a different character. Very entertaining, but you gotta read both. The series ends with "The End of All Things" which is a satisfying conclusion.
For more "Scalzi-like" stuff, check out "Lock-In," "Fuzzy Nation," and a novella "The President's Brain is Missing."
If you're looking for a binge of three, "The Collapsing Empire" series is pretty good.
I'm in "The End of All Things" now, and have quite enjoyed this and "The Human Division", especially due to the episodic storytelling nature of The Human Division. Very different... But man, EVERY SINGLE male lead/POV in every book he writes is the same guy...
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@George-K said in Hey, George. The Scalzi Book's Out.:
@LuFins-Dad said in Hey, George. The Scalzi Book's Out.:
Old Man’s War actually was a little underwhelming at parts. Is it worth continuing?
The first book, which is mostly exposition and setup, is probably the weakest (though, in fairness, I read it about 5 years ago, so memory fades). The rest of them are popcorn books, but they have the usual Scalzi snark and snappy dialog. I think OMW was one of Scalzi's earliest books so that may play a role.
The one I really enjoyed in that series was "Zoe's Tale," which tells the same story as a book earlier in the series, but from the perspective of a different character. Very entertaining, but you gotta read both. The series ends with "The End of All Things" which is a satisfying conclusion.
For more "Scalzi-like" stuff, check out "Lock-In," "Fuzzy Nation," and a novella "The President's Brain is Missing."
If you're looking for a binge of three, "The Collapsing Empire" series is pretty good.
I'm in "The End of All Things" now, and have quite enjoyed this and "The Human Division", especially due to the episodic storytelling nature of The Human Division. Very different... But man, EVERY SINGLE male lead/POV in every book he writes is the same guy...
wrote on 7 Jun 2022, 21:42 last edited by@LuFins-Dad popcorn, right?
That's OK.