Timewaster's Guide Archive

she's powerful cause she's really a Jedi.  Brandon told me she was Luke's OTHER sister.

there are several issues being muddled here. 

The mention of musicians, artists, authors, etc. releasing their own material for download is fundamentally different from other torrent downloads.  When, say, and author releases his/her stuff online, it is with consent.  They are making it available for people to read to help influence their future sales.  They rarely release EVERYTHING they have ever done.  The Super Bowl reminded me of this last night when, before the game (and every game for that matter), they say that any rebroadcast WITHOUT THE CONSENT OF THE NFL is illegal.  There is no doubt that authors like Brandon, musicians like Smashing Pumpkins, Fallout Boy, and that rapper dude have benefited by having their stuff downloaded.   However, that stuff is being downloaded with the artist's consent and approval.

That is a COMPLETELY different issue from other torrents that are being done without the consent of the original artist.  It's not just the companies that suffer, the artists do as well.  In the book industry for example, it's not like authors get a ton of money per book that is sold.  not to mention authors get double taxed.  Can you see why an author would get a little upset for each book of theirs that is downloaded rather than purchased.  For anime, where do you think a majority of their profit comes from?  Manga sell a ton, sure - and the margins are way lower.  Merchandise, i imagine, is a much smaller part of business.  DVDs are probably a huge part.  Overall sales dont mean shizz if the biggest contributor to your bottom line is f'ed by things such as downloads.  Business 101.  For an Anime company to have its DVD profit cut in half is like Microsoft having its profit from software/hardware cut in half.  It would bankrupt them.

So, because they are young and cant afford it means its ok to download?  I old and cant afford everything I like, so according to your logic I should legally download anything I want for free too.  In fact, all those young kids downloading 17000 mp3s should be able to go into BestBuy and take any CD for free since they cant afford it.  You know, lets make all bookstores libraries with free copies to "borrow" for everyone.  Im sure all the artists would work for free.  Downloading without the artists consent = stealing.  Period.  claims to the contrary are ridiculous.

The comment about the show House vs Tenchi Muyo doesnt seem to be taking into account the fact that it is way more expensive for the anime to be released than House.  The translation costs alone make that price go way up, and also the quantity of released.  They sell the anime at a higher price to account for smaller release numbers and higher costs.  That is an apples vs oranges comparison and really isnt valid.

Prolly not a pre-release thing like for the other 2 books, but I doubt that would be official until July or August.  There are definite benefits to an early release (plus the track-record to prove that it will succeed), but I can see why Tor might not want to.

As for what he should do next - whatever he feels like.  I would personally prefer his to wait before doing more Mistborn.  Since he has just finished a trilogy of Mistborn, I fear that doing more in the universe so soon would peg him as a "one-trick-pony" in the minds of different readers.  We dont want Brandon getting the "Terry Brooks Syndrome."

Dragon Steel would be sweet, but I would like to see a longer series (5-6 books).  I think Brandon will have a better idea of long term planning (even better than he already does) once finished with WoT, and that this would be a good time to flex those metaphoric muscles.  I also think a Big Series would be the smartest thing to do from a marketing perspective at this point - ride the wave and all that.

it doesnt say anywhere that he killed everyone all at once.  I dont understand why it is hard to believe that a person who was already in prison for his deeds can't use the trace elements in his body to kill numerous people.  This wasnt like the end of Mr & Mrs Smith where they obliterate 50 guys shooting at them.  Think of how mines are usually set up - its typically not just one big room.  There are several off-shoots and tunnels.  Why is it hard to believe that Kel (a killer and revolutionary) could kill a numerous people in a path of destruction.  This isnt Kel vs. the Persian Army from "300".  Dont think about it so hard.

is it worth my time picking it up (I am in my 40's and found the Harry Potter Series, a bit--- basic)?

Well, Alcatraz is a kids book after-all.  So, naturally, it will be more basic than his Mistborn series.  To me (a 27 year-old), Alcatraz was a fun read, and a bit of refreshment between the heavier fantasy books I read (not to mention there are some pokes at HP that I enjoyed immensly).  If you want that, go for it.

Sorry for the delay in responding.  I've been on vacation and sick, so I've been a bit under-the-radar.

This is basically to respond to Insomnius.  Sorry for not replying sooner.  I usually respond better.  In fact, the only reason I am responding right now is because Im all hopped up on cold medicine...

Anyways, with regards to the vulgarity in Martin's work.  I actually had this same problem until a little ways back.  Scott Lynch does the same thing in his fantasy novel.  After thinking about it for a good while, however, I changed my mind.  You see, if this book were actually on our earth, in that time period, then maybe I would still have that problem - disregarding the fact that most of what they said (vulgarities included) was different from how we say things now (In fact, if every fantasy novel was written using grammar from that time period, I doubt it would sell at all due to how tiresome it would be to read.).

But these novels are written in a fantasy world.  Not ours.

How can you prove an inconsistancy of swear words in a world you've never been to?  Errent made some very good points about those words exisiting back in an older time, but really, none of that matters (no offense man, those WERE good points though!).  Martin created the 'Fire and Ice' world, so he makes the rules.  If the people swear like that in HIS world, then that's how it goes.  The mistake that many of us are guilty of (myself included) is comparing author's works to our own real world that we live in.  However, after stopping this comparison, I myself began to be less bothered by it.  That's just how people talk in that FANTASY world.  Also, you can't prove an inconsistacy between that and the use of the word Ser in a world you've never lived in.  Martin made this world, and that's how they talk in his made-up world.  That's why this doesnt bother me anymore.

The undead thing kinda catches you by surprise, no doubt about it.  However, the question I ask myself is, In a world where the magic is subtle and unexpected and not even the characters understand it - how can we completely understand it?  Now, I would like there to have been more foreshadowing and such, but like Errent said, thats what draws a lot of people to this series - the unexpectedness of everything.

I agree with religions, I would like them to be a bit more fleshed out.  Personally (and no offense intended), I think that the issue with telling someone to "go to hell" and there not being mentions of heaven or hell in the religious area is kinda nit-picking.  I could very well argue that since in this particular fantasy world a person tells another to "go to hell", that this implies a belief that there is a hell to go to, and thus there is no need to fully elaborate.  But like i said, I pretty much agree that a bit more fleshing out of religions would be great in his stuff.

So there you have it.  Errent basically said why I like Martin's stuff for me, so I wont go there.  This was just responding to Insomnius' points.  Hopefully my points made some sense amid my cold medicine.

Its true, most book chains only think about what they get in their weekly shipments.  And if they regularly dont carry the titles that people are looking for, then you are absolutly right - they'll stop going there.  That is the problem many of the mall-type chains (Walden and B Dalton) had, and it is the jusification their parent companies have been using to close them down.  This is where it's really up to the manager and book sellers in that store to anticipate the needs of their clients.  Unfortunatly hardly any chain stores do that. 

Terry who?  Doesnt he write about that Richard guy that accidently saves the day at the end of each book? 

Seriously though, if a person reads, thats good.  I dont care what you read (for the most part) as long as you are reading.