*"To YMTC it up" means to design cards that have value mostly from a design perspective. i.e. you would put them in a case under glass in your living room and visitors could remark upon the wonderful design principles, with nobody ever worring if the cards are annoying/pointless/confusing in actual play
You read books, right? Because I pretty much don't. But then I read this one book that I told you about, and it was kind of fun. So I ask: Do you know of any good books that deal with modern (urban?) fantasy? Particularly ghost-esque stuff, I really like those. Especially with good worldbuilding, because that fascinates me more than most other things.
Joined: Sep 25, 2013 Posts: 14140 Location: Kamloops, BC
Identity: Male
Sounds like what I've heard of the Dresden files, but I've never read those myself. Young Wizards qualifies on all fronts but aims a little young in the target demographic. If you don't mind young adult novels though, I can recommend everything before book 7. The Wizard's Dilemma and A Wizard Alone are the high points if you don't want to commit to a full series. Don't worry about starting at the beginning.
*"To YMTC it up" means to design cards that have value mostly from a design perspective. i.e. you would put them in a case under glass in your living room and visitors could remark upon the wonderful design principles, with nobody ever worring if the cards are annoying/pointless/confusing in actual play
You read books, right? Because I pretty much don't. But then I read this one book that I told you about, and it was kind of fun. So I ask: Do you know of any good books that deal with modern (urban?) fantasy? Particularly ghost-esque stuff, I really like those. Especially with good worldbuilding, because that fascinates me more than most other things.
You should read my book. It has ghosts in it. I'm self-pubbing it in the next couple of months.
Ghost urban fantasy is a liiiiiiiittle harder, because it tends to fall under paranormal and be romance-based; supernatural and be phenomena-based; or your standard urban fantasy which is a hode podge of fantasy tropes thrust between the same book jacket.
If you like good world-building and want urban fantasy then I definitely recommend Jim Butcher as a fun, light read with thousands of pages of fast-paced content. He started writing them very young, so there's the added pleasure of watching a writer hone his craft, because the books get much better as the series goes on.
Sounds like what I've heard of the Dresden files, but I've never read those myself. Young Wizards qualifies on all fronts but aims a little young in the target demographic. If you don't mind young adult novels though, I can recommend everything before book 7. The Wizard's Dilemma and A Wizard Alone are the high points if you don't want to commit to a full series. Don't worry about starting at the beginning.
I randomly picked up a later book in this series and loathed it to the point of giving myself a migraine. Maybe the writing is better in the beginning, but I worked through fifty pages of people wandering aimlessly through a house before I flung it at the wall and swore to never read the first book.
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"In all fairness that probably is a sight that would make you stop and reevaluate your life choices." ~ Garren_Windspear
That's an arbitrary term "worst" and not really conducive to advice. I think the "worst" thing I've done in recent memory is not visit my mom when she was in the hospital. She fell down the stairs and conked her head pretty hard, but the diagnosis I was told wasn't really bad. (I'm in NYC, she was in Texas, and I didn't have much money at the time for the trip.) Anyway, one night she was talking to my brother, the next day she was dead. Lung infection from resuscitating her vomit after the fall. The docs didn't know, so we didn't know.
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"In all fairness that probably is a sight that would make you stop and reevaluate your life choices." ~ Garren_Windspear
That's an arbitrary term "worst" and not really conducive to advice. I think the "worst" thing I've done in recent memory is not visit my mom when she was in the hospital. She fell down the stairs and conked her head pretty hard, but the diagnosis I was told wasn't really bad. (I'm in NYC, she was in Texas, and I didn't have much money at the time for the trip.) Anyway, one night she was talking to my brother, the next day she was dead. Lung infection from resuscitating her vomit after the fall. The docs didn't know, so we didn't know.
Dang, that's hard to hear.
It's cliche to say stuff like how we are not promised tomorrow, make sure you talk to your loved ones because they might not be here tomorrow, etc. But it really is true, life is fragile.
On a less sombering note, since you're a Jim Butcher fan what did you think of Ghost Story? My sister reads his stuff as well but we clashed on that book. She hated it, I enjoyed it. Not as good as Changes but solid.
Joined: Sep 23, 2013 Posts: 6317 Location: New York
It's a cliche because it's true, but I hear ya.
Spoilers for Jim Butcher Fans that Haven't Gotten This Far
Ghost Story was a "growing pains" novel for Butcher/Harry. It needed to be written, because everything we knew about Dresden had been turned upside down the book before. (It was also a beautiful sacrifice on Harry's part--killing himself, I think, more than anything else, showed how committed and just how deeply pure and good Harry is.) I see "Changes" as the "end of Act 1" novel of the series--technically Butcher could've ended the series there, with some tweaks, and it would've still been canonized in urban fantasy lore. But instead he raised the stakes, and quite well, even if Ghost Story isn't his best work.
Harry needed to see how flippant a decision it was to kill himself. Leaving Chicago was terrible for Chicago and everyone he loved, and yet his friends also needed to know how to live without Harry too. I feel really awful about what it did to Molly, how Harry used her love of him to basically destroy her so he could, erm, protect her and everyone else. And Murphy--Christ, what an awful thing to happen to her! But this stuff is the stuff of character growth. Harry needed to see it too, needed to see the consequences of his often reckless behavior.
That being said, the "ghost police" storyline was BS, as was the whole Civil War cavalry and Murphy's dad chilling in some perpetual police afterlife. I liked Harry recruiting the murderers and "evil" spirits of the city, that was cool, but I feel like Butcher didn't need to employ the "dead cop" frame to do it. Plus, keeping Murphy's dad's existence from Murphy seems like the kind of thing that'll come back and rip into Harry later on... like, Butcher specifically did it to make Harry/Murphy miserable later, which sucks because a) I don't know why, and b) I can see it coming.
All in all, I feel like it was one of the weaker books in the series. You can skip it, and you don't miss much in terms of overall plot, yet at the same time it served to tell us a pivotal point in each characters' lives. Coming off the strength of "Changes" was never going to be easy though. Still, it feels like this book was more about positioning characters than actual plot. Maybe that's just me.
Henyway, that was log-winded. Let me know if I stopped making sense bc I was typing this up in short spurts while working.
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"In all fairness that probably is a sight that would make you stop and reevaluate your life choices." ~ Garren_Windspear
why doesnt everyone have a website named after their full name
If you feel like you are too young, it is probably because you are. My advice will be to wait. Eventually everyone will be too young, and then you'll feel outdated and can brandish your cane ignobly at the injustice of it all/lack of a flat tax.
If you are upset that you are the only person with a website based on your full name, then my advice is to find someone who shares your name, help them become famous, then sell them your website for a nice mint.
I feel as though you weren't seeking advice, which is what commonly happens before mansplaining occurs.
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"In all fairness that probably is a sight that would make you stop and reevaluate your life choices." ~ Garren_Windspear
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