Lady_Yasha

Fair enough. I'm not trying to force you to read the book because of my personal appraisal for it, I'm only attempting to bring clarity to some of the misleading accusations put forth in here.

Because we'll finally be able to agree on the Standard Model as a whole and push out new, evolving ideas based on our empirical evidence. We could be developing technology that would never have been possible without knowledge of the inner structure of the universe. Look at what happened when the atom was discovered. If we unlock the mysteries of the particle that gives mass to everything we could be developing things like superconductors on massive scales. We could even manufacture stable and efficient plasma energy (there is one in the works at the moment involving a torus ring and electromagnetic fields).

You don't have to be a physicist to know that this will be a ground-breaking discovery It will essentially solidify the Standard Model which has, up to this day, remained a theory. The Higgs boson accounts for the gaps we're able to calculate mathematically based on empirical studies, but haven't been able to reproduce due to the vast quantities of energy required to make it visible. If it is discovered you can expect science to accelerate.

Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn has been an enjoyable read. Albeit the pacing is a little out-of-step and the author could have used more pages to expand on certain scenes. But overall, the book is a great read and only ~300 pages long. It has some fantasy elements to it, like super-hearing, invisibility, and bilocation. If you haven't already you should read Dune (Frank Herbert). It's perhaps one of the greatest sci-fi novels out there. Garth Nix also did the Abhorsen trilogy - dealing with necromancy in a unique way and has many subsets of magic. Anything by Neil Gaiman, especially Neverwhere. His Dark Materials trilogy by Phillip Pullman. And if you don't mind cyberpunk you could pick up Neuromancer by William Gibson. If you prefer steampunk then try The Difference Engine. Neuromancer more so for the dystopian fiction.

Very good. I only have a few points about the magic system you've crafted, the Ayethru: You've gone with a scientific approach, while not a bad thing and certainly you don't have to abide by the laws of our world, but due to its nature make sure you give the Ayethru some solidification; grounds to base the Kriston waves' science on. You have to make it believable and consistent throughout the story. You've given it some limitations, good, but how much energy is used? What happens if someone uses too much? Shardblade? You're straying into Sanderson territory here. If your primary audience is going to be fantasy readers, you might want to change the name to something that isn't already used in a prominent fantasy author's work. Since the Orre live in high altitudes they should have lower mortality rates, by natural death, and live longer lives than those at lower altitudes. Just flesh the details out and you have something good there.

We were never told how the Derethi derived their magic. Maybe it ties into their culture but I don't know. The Aonic symbols of Elantris have a different design to the Metallic Arts.

I saw this on another forum. I'm psyched for the advances in technology this decade will - hopefully - bring. Then next decade we can move past the computerised glasses into biometric eyes and neural implants.

This is going to be a back-and-forth battle for an eternity. Oracle claims copyright of Java, Google claims copyrightable patents from IBM, Oracle acquires copyrightable database structure patent, Google obtains copyrightable CSS. It's the same thing as when Apple filed a lawsuit against other smartphone developers because they made their's - wait for it - rectangular!

1) The prostitute scene isn't very graphic. It's more subtlety worded than you're making it out to be. It's more like he merges with her body like they were always one person, a shape-shifter reforming its whole. If that's graphic you should go read a Herbert novel and reconsider the definition. 2) She implies it. Gaiman doesn't actually narrate the scene. How many movies/books/games have you heard someone say "I gave him a blowjob"? And infidelity is a fact of life, it happens, quite commonly. 3) Again, it doesn't describe the scenes, just implies. Any extension of his seduction is just a lecherous god misusing his powers (but this is the god that demanded a human sacrifice in his name by hanging them from a tree). 4) She's in human form. 5) No, he doesn't. Laura never had sex throughout the entire book. 6) I'll give you that one. But that chapter is so redundant to the main plot you can just skip it without any major consequence. As far as I remember there was no necrophilia, bestiality or rape. Even if there was beyond what has already been mentioned it was so insignificant I can't recall it. Prostitution only appears in one chapter and infidelity is commonplace in reality. You can't shield people by saying don't read a book because it shows you the ugly, but very much true, side to life. It isn't all rainbows and sunshine; people do horrible things to others and this is what American Gods highlights. I'm not trying to convince people to read it, because it is a difficult book to confront. But all I'm saying is don't give people the wrong idea about what is a superb literary experience. @Musicspren: Don't take one person's opinion over a unanimous appraisal for American Gods. Aethling is the only person I've seen that has bashed the book, everyone else is praising it. Don't overlook it just because of the controversy, you'll miss out on some exceptional works of art if you do that.

I can divide myself, separating my astral form from my body to walk through the back-alleys of time. When I find a suitable moment in the past (can't travel forward in time) I drag my physical body to the point my astral body occupies in the time continuum.

I don't see how there's much controversy with American Gods. It's mostly people just getting upset because it's a little different than what they're used to. There's a dead woman in it, sure, but she never has sex. There's a cat that transforms into a woman, ergo there could be bestiality but not really. There's nothing in American Gods that I haven't read before.

Since everything seems to be thematic in here I'll switch it up a little: X Japan - Kurenai

I liked the Refusal ending. But I'm still concerned about the Starchild. It was too magical and deus ex machina to be believable. And how the Crucible worked wasn't actually explained, just "space magic." I still prefer the original ending that involved dark energy. I would've liked to see how Drew Karpyshyn wrote it.

Ssh, spoilers Since this was the first Gaiman book I'd ever read I just went with an interpretation without the knowledge of his writing style. I assumed he was trying to embody modern society through Shadow's perspective; how we all sometimes think and behave because of how the rules dictate our actions, of what our cultures impose on us.

"I am Nothing; no family, no name, no beginning and no end - no future. I will die for the sins of man, but I will not become a martyr. I will be hated and spurned, but not loved. Why, then, was I compelled to help them?" I haven't written much of this book because I'm still working out the details. But it's essentially about an immortal drifting through the years without an identity, witnessing the atrocities man commits while ignoring the compassion for love and art.

HTC Desire S The only problem I have with it is feedback sensitivity. It becomes noticeable in text messages when sometimes you can't scroll back or insert the cursor between text. You have to go out of the message and go back in to solve the problem. Other than that, good phone.

Ugh, Russel Crowe as Javert >.> That role is difficult to play and I doubt Crowe has the emotional subtlety to pull it off. I love Les Mis, I've seen the stage production twice and every DVD that's ever been released (the best Javert was Norm Lewis) but I don't see why they need to rehash what's already been done. We have a movie with Liam Neeson and Geoffrey Rush that was, in my opinion, a perfect adaption. Even if they did leave out plot points and completely removed Eponine. Not a big fan of Hathaway either and I don't think she has the voice for any Les Mis role, which are notoriously demanding of all its actors. If she can sing "I Dreamed a Dream" with the harmonies of Lea Salonga I'll change my opinion of her, but I just don't think she'll ever match up to that quality.

I understand some people don't like American Gods but the whole point of the book was that you weren't supposed to like the characters. They're all depraved in some way because they're a reflection of modern American society, how we can be avaricious and selfish in so many ways that some of us don't even realise we're corrupted by a system that practically screams, "every man for himself." Shadow is the nihilist, he doesn't care about others (except Sam) and has no ulterior destiny. He's simply a shadow, drifting among the living and is symbolic of the decline of faith in higher powers (the whole theme of the book is infact). I'm not sure if you've looked into much folklore and ancient religions but the gods of Indo-European heritage weren't exactly known to be saints. The depiction Gaiman gives them is accurately fitting to their actual descriptions from mythological texts. The book is difficult for some, as it deals with fatalism and nihilism that are not everyday philosophical concepts people encounter, but I thought Gaiman served them well. Speaking as a subscriber of a more obscure philosophy myself, American Gods was a fantastic read.

This. All this.

Not all metals can be Burned because of their Allomantic status. The metallurgy on Scadrial is similar to chemistry with only certain few elements being capable of reacting with other elements, as only certain metals can react with an Allomancer. Leras was drawing power from the Shard in his possession and to date, only Vin was ever able to draw into her body the mists. I don't think it's been explained entirely why she was able to do so, but I think it was Leras allowing her to draw from the power of his own Shard. Atium is still used as a metal by Allomancers, since it seems Vin's ability to draw in Preservation's body/power was unique.

I see Red isn't too well loved. I'm no woman but Green would be my Ajah for the harem. Or maybe it's because they're the battle-Ajah?

Nice! Now I have some new books I need to go out and buy. I've only read the fantasy side but there's enough there to keep me happy for the next few weeks.

Eric's managed to avoid mentioning Physics to me on Skype The Elegant Universe is a magnificent book for this subject, as is anything written or produced by Brian Cox. I find it's easier to learn from people who're enthusiastic about their work and Dr. Cox does just that. His main focus of study is astrophysics and particle physics - the fundamental subject area if you want to begin understanding physics as a whole.

Since this has gotten rather inordinate I've just got this to say: Allomancy works only by Burning metal. Atium is a metal; Tears are a flower. Ergo, Allomancy cannot Burn Tears. It has nothing to do with whether Atium is the body of Ruin or not, Atium is a metal and an Allomantic one at that.

I've confused everyone with my name in the past. I obtained it through a random name generator for His Dark Material's daemons. I believe I had a fad for discovering the name of my own daemon had I one and this one was the only one I could recall when I first used it as an account name.