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Eh. It's really just a semantic shift. What was once "raiding" is now "hard modes." People who aren't doing hard modes aren't actually "raiding" in the traditional sense. They're punching their time card and collecting enough in-game time to earn 2nd class rewards. That's more or less how...

I'm not familiar with Munsey, but I guess I don't see the pulp/non-pulp divide having much to do with depth. Leastways not reliably.

On the WoW issue, if anyone finds these descriptions of the plot compelling, I would advise waiting for the next expansion (Cataclysm) to try the game. Right now, the leveling experience is very disconnected from the meta plot of the game and the early zones are relatively poorly "narrativized"...

Indeed. The white human male takes what? Two months? To become the bestest Navi EVAR! (Or at least in 3 generations or so). The Ferngully parallels are almost as obvious as that Pocahontas summary. Dude almost gets killed in the forest, but is saved by Magic Native Chick. Dude and Chick...

Perhaps I need to re-read the original Holmes books again, but they never struck me as all that deep, outside of the fact that Watson is clearly writing his journals of these events to cover up how whacked out Holmes must be most of the time. I shall have to revisit.

I suppose I can accept that as insider information and move on with my life. But somehow I anticipate eye roll when I try that line on my wife.

I'll take a brief stab.... The Na'avi were Indians in a Nathaniel Hawthorne novel, only cooler, prettier, and more awesome. They were, however, also nearly terminally dumb and hidebound. That view of them is simultaneously reverent and paternalistic. The mix doesn't sit well. Once I...

Doesn't matter what the source is (for the record, we knew the source), but it's supposed to be a farking squid. If you're going to steal, steal correctly :p She also said the same thing when she saw the original Clash of the Titans, and I agreed with her then, too. So we're consistent in our...

Saw the trailer and I have to say.... it was pretty useless. Irritating flash cuts with almost zero content. Plus.... the Kraken was asinine. I think my wife was actually irritated. At the end, she leaned over again and said, "The Kraken should be a squid, dammit!" And that is how I now...

Aye. The liberties taken were actually fairly few and could mostly be attributed to taking the pen out of the hands of Holmes' best friend and partner.

"Practically forever" might have been the better statement. I know a couple cats in materials science who are doing such research. Rechargeable batteries that last more than 100 years are quite possible, according to them. If the battery lasts 10 times as long as the device it is intended to...

You guys just don't quit. I was trying to bow out. The book basically gave her a flashback but you think the book has no similarity or relationship to her experience? Are you being deliberately obtuse? Or is this standard kneejerk geek defensiveness of all things vaguely geeky, regardless of...

I tried to make this clear in the last post and leave off of this, but I'll try again... For me, the issue isn't just about these particular books. I have several friends who have been abused, one for a very long relationship before she finally came to her senses. And that's just the ones who...

I realized that. The logic was still sound. Grassland living humans who raise livestock as a key element of their agriculture wouldn't raise hippogriffs. And anyone who tried wouldn't last long. The occasional mythic one-off who shows up long enough to carry the hero around is one thing...

I think you are severely conflating my reaction to my friends' experiences of this book with the "movement" to talk about this book. My reaction is very emotional, grounded in personal relationships with people who have been abused in relationships, one of whom was so affected by trying to read...

Indeed. A mixture of both is particularly heady and potent, but an understanding of neurobiology and animal (including human) behavior can make for some really interesting interpretations of fantasy creatures and races. I remember doing a thought experiment on what having Darkvision actually...

They have mentioned on more than one occasion that they can see themselves legitimately making children's books in the future. I suspect one or both of being fans.

Perhaps I have my "Negative Nancy" hat on today, but I see three possible outcomes. 1) He turns in Hollywood quality on a fraction of the budget, something Bollywood has been flirting with for a while, but no one cares, because they are foreign. If this occurs, he will be burned in effigy by...

If the stack of books I want to read ever shrinks to the point that books I've been warned not to read by friends actually make it into the stack, I'll take it under advisement.

Actually, I went in with very little bias, evidenced by the entire joke-y first post I made here. After that, the internet hoopla about this seemed hyperbolic, so I talked to two women I know who had tried to read the books. Neither were able to finish them, specifically because both of them...