Spike? It's you. It's really you! My therapist thought I was holding on to false hope, but…I knew you'd come back. You're like…you're like Gandalf the White, resurrected from the pit of the Balrog, more beautiful than ever. Oh…he's alive Frodo. He's alive.

Andrew ,'Damage'


Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.

There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."


Hil R. - Jun 24, 2012 5:57:53 pm PDT #19201 of 28348
Sometimes I think I might just move up to Vermont, open a bookstore or a vegan restaurant. Adam Schlesinger, z''l

Good point. At the point where I am right now, there are too many people trying to plan things around Daenerys that her death would take too long to have much impact, but Stannis could easily die with no one even noticing. He doesn't really seem to have much purpose, anyway -- he wants to be king because the rules say he should be king, and he follows the rules.


Jessica - Jun 25, 2012 3:36:59 am PDT #19202 of 28348
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset

Paul and Storm have a plea to GRRM - Write Like The Wind!

I don't remember anything NSFW about it (language, maybe?) but I'd recommend headphones, just in case.


Consuela - Jun 25, 2012 6:01:49 pm PDT #19203 of 28348
We are Buffistas. This isn't our first apocalypse. -- Pix

Bujold fans might like to know that Captain Vorpatril's Alliance is available as an e-ARC from Baen's ebooks site for $15.


-t - Jun 25, 2012 6:56:28 pm PDT #19204 of 28348
I am a woman of various inclinations and only some of the time are they to burn everything down in frustration

Oh, thank you! Mmmm, not waiting for release date, that's nice.


Jessica - Jun 26, 2012 3:04:05 am PDT #19205 of 28348
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset

Oooh! New Ivan!


Consuela - Jun 26, 2012 5:21:56 am PDT #19206 of 28348
We are Buffistas. This isn't our first apocalypse. -- Pix

I'm halfway through. It's very fun, and (as a friend on my flist noted) very fannish. Also rather heteronormative, with the exception of By being definitely identified as bi.

But one of the more entertaining bits is Barrayar and Ivan's friends-and-relations all being viewed and commented on by an outside party with no previous knowledge of them. This is something Bujold has done before, but it continues to entertain.


erikaj - Jun 26, 2012 9:07:54 am PDT #19207 of 28348
Always Anti-fascist!

My Kos post about Elmore Leonard. [link]


Consuela - Jun 26, 2012 11:54:30 am PDT #19208 of 28348
We are Buffistas. This isn't our first apocalypse. -- Pix

Update on Captain Vorpatril's Alliance: it's really quite endearing. Loads of character stuff, some quite interesting infodumps about Barrayaran history, some funny bits, and now the second half of the plot has kicked in.

Quite wisely, I think, Bujold has shipped Miles off to Sergyar so Ivan will mostly have to deal with the complications on his own.

But what's interesting is that the pace is much more, well, Ivan-speed. It's not all mad breakneck racing about the way it is with Miles. Things have time to percolate. I rather like it.


Jesse - Jun 26, 2012 12:00:55 pm PDT #19209 of 28348
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.

I was just talking to my coworker who has, in the past couple of months, read all of the Vorkosigan books to date (not including this one), and I got all excited about all of the side stories that could be told. So many people doing so many other things while Miles was the main character!


Consuela - Jun 26, 2012 12:10:55 pm PDT #19210 of 28348
We are Buffistas. This isn't our first apocalypse. -- Pix

So many people doing so many other things while Miles was the main character!

Oh, indeed. You have Cordelia & Aral, and Mark and Kareen, and Alys & Simon (dear me, it is rather heteronormative, isn't it?), and Ivan and By and Gregor; the Durona collective; Duv Galeni; the various Koudelka gals... plus all the other worlds: Beta, Jackson's Whole, Escobar and Sergyar and Tau Ceta. And the Dendarii, of course.

It's actually a pretty rich world for ficwriting, and there has been some great stuff written (although most of it is AU or Jossed).