Everybody Hates Keith


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merkin muffley
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Re: Everybody Hates Keith

Post by merkin muffley »

invisible jetsam, the ethereal flotsam, like some graceful leviathan swimming a terrestrial sea
Sounds like Brian's Hooptedoodle.

Fear is the little death that kills me over and over, killing me softly, killing me nightly, over and over, killing me slightly, tangible flotsam, visible jetsam, swimming in semen, whenever she pets 'im...
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D Pope
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Re: Everybody Hates Keith

Post by D Pope »

Enemies & Allies reviews on amazon.
Bill W wrote:Anderson must be a better writer than this, otherwise they wouldn't keep letting him into major franchises like Dune, Star Wars, and Star Trek.
R. Swanson wrote:My biggest quibble with this book is that nowhere does the book say it's a grade school/jr. high level story, which it clearly is (except for a few words I don't want my preteens knowing, and I can't imagine them being interested in a Cold War story). The writing it juvenile in every way, from motivation and (lack of) character development to storytelling.
I wanted to like this book, I really did. All and all I'd like those hours back.





http://www.amazon.com/Enemies-Allies-Ke ... ewpoints=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Leto II is gone for good, except for OM. The "pearl" was just that; a miniscule portion of what Leto was, and not a compressed version of the whole. The pearl that the worms have do not make them Leto, or in any way similar to him.
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Re: Everybody Hates Keith

Post by SandChigger »

He hasn't mouthfarted lately about any new DC projects, so maybe Enemas 'n Allies burnt that bridge? ;)

(Did Superman meat Batman, or Batman meat Superman? Or were they both versatile? :shifty: )
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Re: Everybody Hates Keith

Post by D Pope »

I find it interesting that the comic nerds I know were completely out of the loop on this one, they're usually all over anything related before it happens. :think:
Leto II is gone for good, except for OM. The "pearl" was just that; a miniscule portion of what Leto was, and not a compressed version of the whole. The pearl that the worms have do not make them Leto, or in any way similar to him.
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Re: Everybody Hates Keith

Post by SandRider »

Hey, now!

that novel won an award, goddamnit ...



haters ....
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Re: Everybody Hates Keith

Post by Ampoliros »

:lol:
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lotek
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Re: Everybody Hates Keith

Post by lotek »

a comic book fan wrote:(KJA:) To paraphrase an old Don Henley song ["Gimme What You Got" from The End of the Innocence, ed.], you can steal more money with the stroke of a pen than with a gun.
http://www.comicbookbin.com/kevinjanderson001.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
really?
I believe all Dune fans wil be realizing the import of such a statement...

That's what he thinks his writing does, steal money? As in not deserved money but still got it anyway so fuck you money?
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Re: Everybody Hates Keith

Post by D Pope »

I think you're on to something there mate. Rereading this, it seems he really warms up to the Lex Luthor question. I wonder if he sees himself there.
Leto II is gone for good, except for OM. The "pearl" was just that; a miniscule portion of what Leto was, and not a compressed version of the whole. The pearl that the worms have do not make them Leto, or in any way similar to him.
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lotek
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Re: Everybody Hates Keith

Post by lotek »

I really think the hack shows his lack of understanding of the internetz in general...

And contender for suck up question of the interview:
someone who can't wait to have it whole wrote:You’re something of a superman yourself ­ being a prolific author. So are you interested in writing more superhero novels ­ either with existing characters or those of your own creation ­ why or why not?
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Re: Everybody Hates Keith

Post by Superdog »

D Pope wrote:Enemies & Allies reviews on amazon.
Bill W wrote:Anderson must be a better writer than this, otherwise they wouldn't keep letting him into major franchises like Dune, Star Wars, and Star Trek.
R. Swanson wrote:My biggest quibble with this book is that nowhere does the book say it's a grade school/jr. high level story, which it clearly is (except for a few words I don't want my preteens knowing, and I can't imagine them being interested in a Cold War story). The writing it juvenile in every way, from motivation and (lack of) character development to storytelling.
I wanted to like this book, I really did. All and all I'd like those hours back.





http://www.amazon.com/Enemies-Allies-Ke ... ewpoints=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I like how the featured Amazon.com review is a negative one.
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Anderson's latest is a hokey, contrived imagining of the first meeting between Batman and Superman, set during the thick of the cold war and hobbled by flat characters and flatter dialogue (My source was murdered shortly after she spoke with me. That tells me that Luthor must not have wanted her talking). The two superheroes are initially introduced when Clark Kent interviews Bruce Wayne for a feature in the Daily Planet, and their alter egos cross paths again as Batman and Superman are drawn into Lex Luthor's dastardly scheme for world domination. (It involves the Soviets and Death-ray transmitters.) To stop it, Batman and Superman embark on a ludicrous globe-trotting mission that's equal parts camp and Forrest Gump. A schlocky mediocrity for die-hard fans only. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Re: Everybody Hates Keith

Post by D Pope »

That wasn't there when I looked, what does it take to get more 'real' reviews? Must we start a letter writing campaign?
I have to admit, if anyone had told me one of the biggies like Publishers Weekly would have anything negative to say, i'd have doubted.
Leto II is gone for good, except for OM. The "pearl" was just that; a miniscule portion of what Leto was, and not a compressed version of the whole. The pearl that the worms have do not make them Leto, or in any way similar to him.
-Omphalos
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Re: Everybody Hates Keith

Post by Omphalos »

Those reviews are a hoot. Especially the professional one.
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Re: Everybody Hates Keith

Post by TheDukester »

Keith and Bobo do get broadsided occasionally by those featured reviews, but not often enough — and certainly not often enough on their McDune stuff (although I think Waterworms got hit pretty hard, especially for its seven deus ex machina episodes).

What's great is that most of the complaints are similar to what's said around here: no character development, wooden dialogue, a lack of understanding of the source material, etc.
"Anything I write will be remembered and listed in bibliographies on Dune for several hundred years ..." — some delusional halfwit troll.
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Re: Everybody Hates Keith

Post by A Thing of Eternity »

The dialogue quoted in that review is even worse than his McDune writing... maybe that means he does actually put in a pinch more effort for Dune? :lol:
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Re: Everybody Hates Keith

Post by D Pope »

Did you just make a case for Brian having influence? :P
Leto II is gone for good, except for OM. The "pearl" was just that; a miniscule portion of what Leto was, and not a compressed version of the whole. The pearl that the worms have do not make them Leto, or in any way similar to him.
-Omphalos
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lotek
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Re: Everybody Hates Keith

Post by lotek »

Though the book Enemies & Allies is not advertized as a young adult novel, I did wonder more than once, if this book was written for 11 year old male readers. The text can be overly simplistic, and the dialog seems to be lifted from older comic books. My 17 year old son read the book the same week as I and found though he liked it, he too wondered what age level Anderson was going for.
sounds familiar...
bloody cherry pickers at it again!
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Re: Everybody Hates Keith

Post by D Pope »

My 17 year old...wondered what age level Anderson was going for.
Consider that cherry PICKED!
Fulvio, on the SofSS wrote:Space Opera for Children; My main problem with this book is in the behaviour and thought processes of the main characters. These are people who are supposed to be highly intelligent leaders of worlds and yet who act and react with child-like simplicity.
I have never had a reaction like the one I experienced while reading a certain passage in this book. It's hard to describe but basically I did the reading equivalent of a "double take". Anderson has these floating factories that harvest hydrogen in the upper levels of gas giant planets. He also has these factories completely open to the environment. Open-air factories in the noxious, poisonous atmosphere of a gas giant! Wow. I actually had to pause for a moment when I read this. And there are more science gaffes in this book; so many in fact that I just cannot fathom how someone so obliviously ignorant of science ever got started down the path of writing science fiction.
I get the impression he didn't like it. edit; I'm reminded of 'alarm sensors.'
Fulvio also wrote:Just silly silliness.
I can't quite place it, sounds familiar though...
Last edited by D Pope on 05 Oct 2010 17:33, edited 1 time in total.
Leto II is gone for good, except for OM. The "pearl" was just that; a miniscule portion of what Leto was, and not a compressed version of the whole. The pearl that the worms have do not make them Leto, or in any way similar to him.
-Omphalos
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Re: Everybody Hates Keith

Post by dunaddict »

Problem:
- Put "For young adults" on the cover and adults will not buy it. Profit cut in half.
- Write for adults, and the teens will not buy it. Profit cut in half.

Solution:
- Write for teens but don't put "For young adults" on the cover. Maximum Profit. BINGO!!!
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Re: Everybody Hates Keith

Post by D Pope »

I'll agree with that if it's the publishers choice. I don't think Ks ego would allow him to dictahike below his 'ability.'

edit; He's not the first fortysomething juvinile.
Leto II is gone for good, except for OM. The "pearl" was just that; a miniscule portion of what Leto was, and not a compressed version of the whole. The pearl that the worms have do not make them Leto, or in any way similar to him.
-Omphalos
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Re: Everybody Hates Keith

Post by SandChigger »

Actually Dan Simmons did the "gas giant with a breathable section of atmosphere" thing in one of the last two Hyperion books.

Naturally, he did it much more convincingly. ;)
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Re: Everybody Hates Keith

Post by Kojiro »

SandChigger wrote:
Chapter One

Occultus Ora, Stardate 58358.1


The Starship Titan rolled slowly in the dark, dancing between the invisible jetsam, the ethereal flotsam, like some graceful leviathan swimming a terrestrial sea. All around it the other occupants of this region, the inspiration for the ship's lingering ballet, also pitched and spun in apparent counterpoint to the vessel's motion.

Titan's astronomers had dubbed the region Occultus Ora for some reason known only to them. The physicists called the things residing here exotic matter plasmids but, lately, those who'd been tasked with ferreting out their secrets had taken to referring to the strange objects simply as darklings.

The image came from a myth Dr. Celenthe had heard on its homeworld of Syrath, something about the Catalysts of creation hiding in the dark.
Wow... isn't that good? :?
Titan "rolled slowly in the dark?" So this makes it, what, the first Star Trek ship to use centrifugal force to generate gravity?
Has not religion claimed a patent on creation for all of these millennia?
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Re: Everybody Hates Keith

Post by SandChigger »

I thought it meant the ship had big spoiler drag wheels on the side, spinning slowly around their axes, kind of a meaningless kitsch detail meant to strike fear into the hearts (or other pulmonary pump thingies) of enemies of the Federation, saying in effect, "Look upon this, would-be foes, we can afford to squander resources on meaningless kitsch detail like this, meant to strike fear into...um, ahem.

Whoa. Started to have a Scheherazade moment there.... :shock:
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Re: Everybody Hates Keith

Post by Hunchback Jack »

I'm confused by this whole bit:
The Starship Titan rolled slowly in the dark, dancing between the invisible jetsam, the ethereal flotsam, like some graceful leviathan swimming a terrestrial sea. All around it the other occupants of this region, the inspiration for the ship's lingering ballet, also pitched and spun in apparent counterpoint to the vessel's motion.
So why does it need to "roll slowly" because of the "other occupants"? To dodge them? Or is KJA just being meaninglessly poetic?
Titan's astronomers had dubbed the region Occultus Ora for some reason known only to them. The physicists called the things residing here exotic matter plasmids but, lately, those who'd been tasked with ferreting out their secrets had taken to referring to the strange objects simply as darklings.
Critical darklings, perhaps?

HBJ
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Re: Everybody Hates Keith

Post by SandChigger »

:lol: I like that!

(By the way, it's not KJA what wrote it. It's new KJA-defender Geoffrey Thorne. Whose real name, I suspect, was originally Jeff Thorn. ;) )
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Re: Everybody Hates Keith

Post by Hunchback Jack »

Ah, shoot. Lost track of who we were lampooning. Hate it when that happens.

HBJ
"The sky calls to us. If we do not destroy ourselves, we will one day venture to the stars."
- Carl Sagan

I'm still very proud of The Quarry but … let's face it; in the end the real best way to sign off would have been with a great big rollicking Culture novel.
- Iain Banks
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