169: Gears of War: Aspho Fields
- Thread starter Karen Traviss
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I'm beginning to think that I'm from another planet here, and maybe that planet is just called "genre fiction". But, without disrespect to the other authors in the issue, I think this is by far and away the best constructed and executed story here, and I think all of you who claim it's poorly written are completely high (again without disrespect -- some people like to be high). This is tight, clean, and shows a level of narrative mastery quite refreshing in science fiction. There are no characters emitting cliche actions (blinking, smiling, sighing every other paragraph -- I could give go on), the displayed actions are carefully considered. I'm completely unfamiliar with the Gears of War IP (I've been away from consoles for awhile, sucked into the worlds of online games) and I found this showing the material's core differentiating elements to mystery and advantage.
I think why some might have trouble with its presentation is the necessary noise of the Escapist page. If we were reading this in the magazine's old format, which didn't have ads placed mid-text and a frame of bright colors and distracting text, it would be a much different read. This reads, as it should, like a novel, and if you focus in and ignore the surrounding ad elements the action comes through clean and clear. It is _hard to follow_, but mainly because of the level of graphical distraction -- it wouldn't be on a printed page or a fiction-oriented magazine.
In another of my lives I'm a contributing editor to Ideomancer, an online genre magazine of science fiction, fantasy, slipstream, and horror. I read a crapton of slush. This is good stuff. It makes me curious about the book, and hopeful. Karen Traviss should be encouraged to rock on.
I think why some might have trouble with its presentation is the necessary noise of the Escapist page. If we were reading this in the magazine's old format, which didn't have ads placed mid-text and a frame of bright colors and distracting text, it would be a much different read. This reads, as it should, like a novel, and if you focus in and ignore the surrounding ad elements the action comes through clean and clear. It is _hard to follow_, but mainly because of the level of graphical distraction -- it wouldn't be on a printed page or a fiction-oriented magazine.
In another of my lives I'm a contributing editor to Ideomancer, an online genre magazine of science fiction, fantasy, slipstream, and horror. I read a crapton of slush. This is good stuff. It makes me curious about the book, and hopeful. Karen Traviss should be encouraged to rock on.
I'm sorry, but somebody should say this...
The comment "I think all of you who claim it's poorly written are completely high (again without disrespect -- some people like to be high)" seems very uncalled-for. There's nothing wrong with disagreeing with somebody's opinion, or with many people's opinions, but that can be done without launching a personal attack.
(And no, you can't make a disrespectful comment less so by adding "without disrespect" to it.)
So, if for no other reason than for the sake of the author, who may very well be reading this, let's respect the people even if we disagree with the opinion. As far as I know, this is the first Gears of War book to be coming out, and it certainly is deserving of discussion without launching flames.
Best to all,
Robert Marks
The comment "I think all of you who claim it's poorly written are completely high (again without disrespect -- some people like to be high)" seems very uncalled-for. There's nothing wrong with disagreeing with somebody's opinion, or with many people's opinions, but that can be done without launching a personal attack.
(And no, you can't make a disrespectful comment less so by adding "without disrespect" to it.)
So, if for no other reason than for the sake of the author, who may very well be reading this, let's respect the people even if we disagree with the opinion. As far as I know, this is the first Gears of War book to be coming out, and it certainly is deserving of discussion without launching flames.
Best to all,
Robert Marks
I thought it was pretty good.
Remember, if it was fan-fic Dom and Marcus wouldn't have had to tackle a boomer from above, they would have just emptied clip after clip into it from behind the dumpster. Or more likley, just walked slowly forward and killed it with sheer awesomeness. This, on the other hand, didn't read like an account of me playing, which is a good thing for a novel.
When is it set by the way?
Remember, if it was fan-fic Dom and Marcus wouldn't have had to tackle a boomer from above, they would have just emptied clip after clip into it from behind the dumpster. Or more likley, just walked slowly forward and killed it with sheer awesomeness. This, on the other hand, didn't read like an account of me playing, which is a good thing for a novel.
When is it set by the way?
I agree with Armitage here. However I did feel like it jumped between characters a bit. I was never sure about who was feeling what.Armitage Shanks post=6.72829.780877 said:
Not sure when it's set. Must be at least six months after the first one as there is some sort of peace going on in that time. Most likely during the events in the number two or set after it in between two and three.
Why don't they just make a movie? Gears is not about the story, it's about the atmosphere and the action that need to be experienced first-hand. Writing a Gears novel is like making a game based on Great Expectations.
The on thing I would like though, and I can understand you'd put the action bit in a preview, but it would be good if it explored the universe a bit more. Not necessarily just solved every mystery about emulsion or the locust, but maybe if just went a bit deeper: How many humans are surviving, are they all united, why they fight, etc.Fire Daemon post=6.72829.780885 said:
Just a few things like that could help turn it from, as many people seem to be saying, a mindless shooter, into something more expansive.
I don't think that it's impossible to have a good video game book, just that it's impossible to have one based on a game like gears. The characters in gears are backstoryless testosterone loaded caricatures, not real emotional characters. When the author did in this piece felt a bit fake and unnatural. Perhaps if would have worked for some other set of unnamed people, but with Delta Squad I couldn't help but feel unattached.
