Ranting about Firstborn

[TheEconomist]

I'm not ignoring you Some shit went down in the Middle East and Asia and I had to analyze to see what I'm going to do about it. The rest of us also post erratically so we take breaks mid-conversation from time to time.

My point (one I don't really care about) is simple, if you want deep characters and a complex world, stay away from StarCraft and StarCraft novels. Hyperion, for example, would be an infinitely better series to get into. The Dark Templar Saga was not meant to introduce the reader to deep, memorable characters that they would fall in love with, only mediocre ones that move the story along. Sure, you can say a good author would make the best of a bad situation, and you're right, but not here. I don't know if Christie is a bad author (given her work on Raveloft was pretty good) or if Blizzard just contrained her too much, given they kept jerking her around with the story line and she had to rewrite large portions of the trilogy over and ove agin. The series was was meant to, and even was billed as such, a continuation of a story which, at that point, had not been touched in quite some time and we were all blissfully ignorant of how pathetic it was. To me, the book served its purpose, which was to entertain me while I was reading it and to give some more depth and continuation to the universe. Other than that, I think I said that I liked the books more than you did, but still found them highly forgettable. So, either way, don't care about the books themselves or to defend them.

This isn't a statement aimed at your review, but just a statement of my general opinion, since you asked. StarCraft is dead to me, basically.

If you want to talk about economics, geopolitics, history, philosophy, physics/metaphysics, astronomy, or anything of that nature, I'm down for that. But, I'm pretty burned out on StarCraft in general. I'm only here for the people and friends I made over the years. I've tried unsuccessfully a couple of times in the last four years to get back into the universe but my enthusiasm always peters out quickly. So, I can only declare my love for StarCraft dead and has been replaced by my love fo science fiction novels (and to a lesser extent Mass Effect and a few others).

[Visions of Khas]

I'm not ignoring you Some shit went down in the Middle East and Asia and I had to analyze to see what I'm going to do about it. The rest of us also post erratically so we take breaks mid-conversation from time to time.

So what's the plan, [paki]Stan? Anything to do with ISIS? Also, have you seen this?


As for me, I remember liking Firstborn when I read it, but I'm not about to pick it up again.

[Gradius]

@Gradius. I'm sorry if I sounded condescending, but it really offends me when people accuse me of things falsely, even if it's something as simple as bias. I really did give the book a chance, and there were a lot of things I didn't like about it. If you disagree and wanted to talk about things you liked, well then, alright. I very much don't like being talked down to, but that's no excuse for doing the same. I'm sorry.

I'm not remotely offended and I seriously wasn't trying to do the same. Seriously. I usually have a policy of giving two main replies in a debate thread, because I know we can both argue for pages on end, and it can give others an opportunity to respond.

[Nissa]

I'm not ignoring you Some shit went down in the Middle East and Asia and I had to analyze to see what I'm going to do about it. The rest of us also post erratically so we take breaks mid-conversation from time to time.

My point (one I don't really care about) is simple, if you want deep characters and a complex world, stay away from StarCraft and StarCraft novels. Hyperion, for example, would be an infinitely better series to get into. The Dark Templar Saga was not meant to introduce the reader to deep, memorable characters that they would fall in love with, only mediocre ones that move the story along. Sure, you can say a good author would make the best of a bad situation, and you're right, but not here. I don't know if Christie is a bad author (given her work on Raveloft was pretty good) or if Blizzard just contrained her too much, given they kept jerking her around with the story line and she had to rewrite large portions of the trilogy over and ove agin. The series was was meant to, and even was billed as such, a continuation of a story which, at that point, had not been touched in quite some time and we were all blissfully ignorant of how pathetic it was. To me, the book served its purpose, which was to entertain me while I was reading it and to give some more depth and continuation to the universe. Other than that, I think I said that I liked the books more than you did, but still found them highly forgettable. So, either way, don't care about the books themselves or to defend them.

This isn't a statement aimed at your review, but just a statement of my general opinion, since you asked. StarCraft is dead to me, basically.

If you want to talk about economics, geopolitics, history, philosophy, physics/metaphysics, astronomy, or anything of that nature, I'm down for that. But, I'm pretty burned out on StarCraft in general. I'm only here for the people and friends I made over the years. I've tried unsuccessfully a couple of times in the last four years to get back into the universe but my enthusiasm always peters out quickly. So, I can only declare my love for StarCraft dead and has been replaced by my love fo science fiction novels (and to a lesser extent Mass Effect and a few others).

Oh, that explains it. Well, please excuse the oversensitive nerd. I'm not over my love of Starcraft, and either way, I'm still going to critique writing. It just seems logical for people to try when they write, and it's a realm where I know what I'm talking about -- as opposed to economics. Your job sounds a lot more fun than mine.

That's a really great policy, Gradius.

[solidsamurai]

Reading through it right now... looks good! I completely agree that the first 100 pages should've been cut out. Also, that reference to Shadow of the Xel'naga shouldn't have ever been their in the first place. Sure, Christie was tactful about it, but she could've just as easily not have had it altogether. That part annoyed me.

[solidsamurai]

But since Zamara says so, when she inevitably forces Jake’s mind to undo the resocialization process, Wright allows Jake to leave the brig and goes to hunt everyone else instead.

Lol, that's not how human brains work! If someone regains such an intense memory, they will probably be so horrified that they'll turn psycho. Psychotic people have disordered thoughts, and chances are Wright would both thank and murder Jake at the same time. Good understanding of psychology, Christie. I guess we can forgive Zamara (Namara?) for not fully understanding humans though. Maybe it's just a fluke that the trick worked (that's me doing a handwave, hi!). God dammit, I hate the way posts work. It's impossible to edit anything!!!

[Nissa]

Lol. Thanks for understanding. Yeah, the real troubles with this book have nothing to do with SC2. There's just so many questionable choices in it. Well, not that questionable choices aren't interesting.

[TheEconomist]

Who was Wright again? Need some context to comment.

[Nissa]

Who was Wright again? Need some context to comment.

Wright was a resocialized soldier who was a former murderer and cannibal. Zamara undid his resocialization to get him to release Jake and distract other soldiers. He wasn't a more important character, and was one of the guys that captured both Jake's and R.M.'s teams.

[TheEconomist]

Okay, so, using a StarCraft standard of logic, what's the problem again?

If someone regains such an intense memory, they will probably be so horrified that they'll turn psycho.

Don't remember the intense memory but somehow I doubt this is the case. Not everyone is a punk bitch especially in fiction where everyone can be total badasses if need be.

Also, have you seen this?

Shame I missed this before. Interesting information. Will look into. Thanks for the heads up.