SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

"Alison being relatively supportive. Who would have thought?"

Insomnia*

(Allison is always supportive <3)

* The book that contains the quote, and the condition that's to blame for this thread

hmph!!

Hahaha! Cool idea for a thread!

"Talk is for when violence fails."
- Jade War

I like this--now I have to remember to keep my eyes open, because these do happen.

"Can anybody who dies be made corporate again?" ~ Babel-17.

I never could decide if this was intended wordplay (far future corporations run the universe) or if he meant some other word (like corporeal). It is at its core a book about language...shrugs

"I hate them all, these strangers, but if I didn’t, then I’d probably like Alison a little bit. When I rage at her, demanding to see my friends, she looks at me with a weird blend of kindness and pity. She keeps telling me to be patient."

"Alison leans forward, obviously seeing how irritated the donkey is getting with me."

"Too late, Alison, too late."

- Cross Her Heart

(This author seems to have a thing about side characters named Alison.)

all adventures should include one of us!

Aye, it's not really a quest without a villain.

“I am a stick,” he said. He sounded satisfied.
“You could be fire,” Shallan said.
“I am a stick.”
The stick was not particularly eloquent.

- Words of Radiance

I’ve just been reminded of some Douglas Adams quotes:

“we will be restoring normality just as soon as we are sure what is normal anyway.”

“ We have normality. I repeat, we have normality. Anything you still can't cope with is therefore your own problem.”

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Oh I could go on forever with his stuff.

The Jinmoti of Bozlen Two kill the hereditary ritual assassins of the new Yearking’s immediate family by drowning them in the tears of the Continental Empathaur in its Sadness Season.

Consider Phlebas (Culture series) (pp. 5-6). Little, Brown Book Group. Kindle Edition.

Orlaith said,

Hearne, Kevin. Oberon's Meaty Mysteries: The Squirrel on the Train (p. 8). Subterranean Press. Kindle Edition.

Seems a bit harsh, but I guess dogs really don't like Squirrels.

Bnz wrote: "The Jinmoti of Bozlen Two kill the hereditary ritual assassins of the new Yearking’s immediate family by drowning them in the tears of the Continental Empathaur in its Sadness Season.

Consider Phl..."

I have never understood the popularity of this book. Incomprehensible, plotless and ultimately pointless. What on Earth happened?

I love this! Thanks for the laughing-out-loud.

Adrian wrote: "Incomprehensible, plotless and ultimately pointless.

Umm, interesting... Especially "plotless". OK, Use of Weapons is even more plotfull...
If anything, some plot elements might be seen as a bit superfluous.

As for "pointless", how about an outlook on the Culture from the opposite side, both by the main adversaries and by, for the lack of a better word, "third party"? And a way to learn more about Idirans, the only civilization the Culture engages in an all-out war against?

Then again, Banks loved to show how his utopia is ambiguous (to borrow from Le Guin)...

Do you like any of his works?

'It's a Total Disaster
All my Knights have Fled and we're lost in this Dark and very Expensive Forest.'

I don't know what it is about UK authors and double consonants? Or do they have something against the names Allison and Anna? I'm starting to suspect they're just mad at us for living outside of the UK, since they can spell Ryan just fine <_<

"Everyone's asleep today - apart from me and Ana"

- The Day No One Woke Up

--

"She wanted Ana to stop talking."

"Ana had her head in a book, a cafetière beside her on the low stone wall."

"'I come in peace,' Ana said, a hand raised. 'I'd never stand between a woman and her book.'"

"See? Friends. We could've been good friends. Why did Ana have to go and ruin it?"

"Maybe she'd start her own book club. That'd knock Ana from her literary throne!"

- One of the Girls


"Ana with one n gave a little shrug. 'I suppose because a lot of the time I can be a complete knobhead.'"

- Husband Material

--

"Ryan looked... smug. There was no other word for it."

"She couldn't blame Ryan for his annoyance"

"They seem to have talked mostly about Ryan."

"Rampant misogyny my arse," Ryan snapped.

"Why on earth would she have told Ryan, of all people?"

"Do you think this was a practical joke against Ryan?"

"He's still Ryan, still stupid, piss-taking, sarcastic Ryan"

"Ryan's face is unhappy."

"Ryan's friendly banter has somehow made this even harder."

- The It Girl

Oh, Anna, those are awful! Awfully fun finds, that is!

Anna wrote: "I don't know what it is about UK authors and double consonants? Or do they have something against the names Allison and Anna? I'm starting to suspect they're just mad at us for living outside of th..."

That got me to go back and look to see where the author of the Briar King was from since one of the main characters is Anna. Seems he is from Mississippi. Not quite the UK. LOL.

Ah. Those quotes, Anna! :,D

*chef's kiss*

"That's an army in waiting.
"I just need to work out who they're wearing."

- The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

Beth wrote: ""That's an army in waiting.
"I just need to work out who they're wearing."

- The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle"

Sounds like a Necromancer line to me.

I swear I don't go looking for these! :D (But I'm happy it's still happening after I started this thread, because it's happened so many times in the past, and unfortunately I don't have any of those quotes anywhere.) UK mystery author again.


"Alison worked at a nearby corporate firm. They used to meet every lunchtime, buy a Pret lunch. Alison would slag off the law."

"‘Amazing how well behaved everybody is,’ Ryan says"

"She researches local missing babies, and goes deeper into the probate registers, looking for Ryan"

"Ryan is happy to work in a cupboard, yes, but doing what?"

"Ryan loves the drama of it."

"Ryan may not be in danger of getting arrested, but he is definitely in danger of getting fucking murdered."

"‘Ha,’ Ryan says, his mind spinning."

"‘I’m sorry it didn’t work out, Ryan.’"

- Wrong Place Wrong Time

lolol

The worrying thing is most of these Ryan quotes and mentions really could apply to me. Not the pret lunch one though. I'm not a sadist.

The Pret lunch one isn't about Ryan, so we're all good! I left out tons of other ones, because the list was so long XD

All right, what is a pret lunch? I loved that quote, but it seems I might have been missing something.

https://www.pret.co.uk/en-GB

i assume a prêt lunch is one that is prepackaged? this resembles me.

You are also prepackaged?

i think i did eat this on a trip once. it was... life sustaining

i do not require assembly, and i came this way, so yes, I'm also prepackaged

Yeah Pret kept me alive the first time I was in London and too scared to ask for veggie options in real restaurants. (I was a sweet summer childe.)

Funnily enough, my sister works for the company that provides pret and other such coffee shops with their prepackaged food. When I learned that she was allowed to take three items a day for herself I pestered her to supply me. I grew tired of their food in about a fortnight.

Anna wrote: "The Pret lunch one isn't about Ryan, so we're all good! I left out tons of other ones, because the list was so long XD"

I assumed Alison was having lunch with me. Should have known better.

Is Pret similar to Starbucks or Panera?

Yeah, they're all over priced crap chains of coffee shops. :)

Pret (Pret a manger) is doubly annoying for trying to come off as French when it's actually British/English.

Pret is probaby short for pretentious, then 😉

These are hilarious, Anna!

I’m in bed reading but I’ll see tomorrow if I left the note open where I added all the quotes about Ryan’s first day at his new job, which I found funny, but maybe wouldn’t be as funny to those who haven’t witnessed me mod-screaming at Ryan 🙃

Oh no! Did he have problems with Upper Management when he took on the Mod responsibilities?

in order to be a mod in this group, you gotta be used to being a troublemaker

I've checked the contract that Allison wrote and Anna made me sign upon becoming a mod and I'm specifically not allowed to talk about [redacted]. Sorry!

Haha, more like me screeching that you’ll have to pry [mod thing] out of my cold dead hands and/or don’t touch my mod shit before you read the thousand page manual I haven’t written yet. I’m such a delight to work with 😇

You are <3

My smol fox who thinks she is big and bitey but actually is like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZYxK...

Allison wrote: "My smol fox who thinks she is big and bitey but actually is like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZYxK..."

😍🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡

Allison wrote: "My smol fox who thinks she is big and bitey but actually is like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZYxK..."

I thought she was wearing boots! 🤣 😍

Hey not cool, I've asked you not to share vids/pics of me! >:(

Here are all the ones I marked but didn't make the cut :) Most of them are from Ryan's first day on the job, but some of the later ones are from later in the book.


Ryan now has what he has always wanted: ability. Specifically, the ability to make a difference.

‘Oh, sure,’ Ryan says, hoping to sound willing.

She begins to run through the list of active jobs, none of which Ryan understands.

Ryan sits with his legs crossed in the footwell, listening to the radio.

‘Okay, great,’ Ryan says sarcastically.

Ryan doesn’t dignify his remarks with an answer.

Ryan blushes again. The nickname will stick, he knows it will.

Bugger it, Ryan thinks. He’ll do the notebook tomorrow. He’s not in the right mood now.

Ryan feels something positive bloom across his chest. Yes, yes, yes, there’s still plenty of opportunities here. To do interesting things and to make a difference. That’s all Ryan wants to do.

‘Well, don’t get too good, Ryan’

Ryan nods eagerly. ‘Yep, I understand all that.’

Ryan gives a despairing laugh

Ryan says nothing, about as confused as he’s ever been.

‘Oh right, yeah,’ Ryan says. He becomes aware of his heartbeat. A strong, clean, excited thudding in his chest.

Even Ryan’s arms and legs feel excited, as if he could get up and do star jumps. Finally, something that fucking matters. Something that he might be good at. Something where he could change the world.

Ryan is in his element. Ryan is finally good at something.

This is the best job Ryan’s ever had. The most fun. The most satisfying. And the most autonomous, too. He feels a bubble of pride rise up through him, for him and his corkboard.

‘Seems impossible,’ Ryan says.

‘I see,’ Ryan said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

Ryan bit his lip. A sad, soft feeling came over him, like he had swallowed a hot and melancholic drink.

Ryan barks a laugh out.

Ryan swallows. He is nervous. He can admit that much.

Wow. Ryan blows air out through his mouth. The scale of this is bigger than even he realized.

Ryan pauses, holding his breath. They’re teetering now, on the edge of something.

‘Too right,’ Ryan had said. Not the sort of sentence he would usually say.

Ryan blinks back some emotion or other that he can’t name.

Ryan’s been up all night, for the third night in a row.

Ryan is in love. Ryan no longer wants to change the world.

Ryan’s never spoken like this before, but needs must.