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[b]Tex wrote:[/b][quote]
Just curious, but did you use a discount code to order it? Every time I’ve used one, the books come in cheap packaging (in my cases, bubble envelopes too big for the books.)As an experiment, when I ordered AP, I bit the bullet and paid full price. It showed in the traditional Lulu box with the book shrink-wrapped to the cardboard inside (as they ALWAYS used to do.)
Tex
(again, just curious)[/quote]
IIRC, I’ve used a discount code for all but one of the orders, and they all arrived in those fantastic flat boxes with the books shrink-wrapped to cardboard inside.
Maybe it was because the other orders were for 2 copies at a time?
I only ordered one CtC and it arrived ok, but now I can’t remember how it was shipped.[b]mateo wrote:[/b]
[quote]Well, in this case both are true. It is a second printing, but the typo fixes could certainly make it a second edition.[/quote]hmmm. well, really, it’s an either/or type of thing, but I know what you’re saying.
Which has got me curious. Did the recent resurrection of Resurrection have its number line incremented to 2 as well?I got home from a quick trip to find a tiny little box in my mailbox.
Lo and behold, it was from Lulu, but the box looked too small to contain a book.
I opened it up, and what do you know – there’s Android Planet.
And just like I thought, the box isn’t wide enough to fit a book.
AP was wedged inside until it fit. It now has a permanent S-curve shape to it and it won’t lie flat on a table.
I hope Lulu’s return policy is a good as they say on the website, because this is unacceptable.
Why would they even use boxes that aren’t wide enough for a book? They used to use those great flat packs that could easily fit a few books in them. Must be a money saving measure. Not this time.[b]mateo wrote:[/b]
[quote]
Of course, we had the thrill of knocking off a digit in the edition countdown:10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
:laugh:[/quote] Traditionally that line of numbers is called the printer’s key or number line and is an indication of the print number, not the edition number. For a second edition this number line should still start at 1.
[quote]Info on how to post a pic on the forum would be greatly appreciated.[/quote]
click on the image below to see it better and hopefully be able to read the instructions
[img]http://www.captphilonline.com/powys/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/images/photo.jpg[/img][b]Steve F wrote:[/b]
[quote]Ultra… I enjoy your reviews, so please keep posting them! š [/quote]
thanks. I do spend some time on them, so that’s good to hear.[b]Steve F wrote:[/b]
[quote]I find it astonishing that something so utterly trivial provoked such an OTT reaction! Yes, he would, but this is FICTION! Koenig would know if he were real. He isn’t. The writer goofed. And you’re (quite probably) the only one that noticed. [/quote]
I think it’s *because* it’s such a trivial thing – and it’s wrong – that it bugs the crap out of me. For fiction that takes place in space, I would hope that these simple astronomical things, like solar and lunar eclipses, would get labeled correctly. Some things that are more obscure, such as the incorrect use of geosynchronous orbit on page 293 of Born for Adversity, when it really should have been a synchronous orbit (or seleno-synchronous if you want to get fancy), is getting into some deeper subject knowledge and I can let that slide. But the mainstream info should be correct.
And yeah, I know it’s the writer making the error and not the character, and perhaps saying that ‘Koenig would know this’ confuses the real intent of my remark, which is that I think these works should have a little QA done on their technical aspects to avoid these kinds of simple mistakes.
And only a little. I’m definitely not advocating that these books should hold up to some rigid rules of scientific accuracy, because that would be the ultimate buzz-kill and destroy any fun or flare in the story-telling (and couldnāt be done, anyway). So as unlikely as it is that “the edge of the moon grew fiery as the Earth’s atmosphere heated it, destroying an abandoned base, lost Eagles, etc.” when the Earth collides with the Moon, it’s an incredible visual image and a great dramatic moment and is fine just the way it is. (and I say unlikely, since the Moon would go through the Earth’s atmosphere in just a split second)[b]Steve F wrote:[/b]
[quote](Re: the opening paragraphs.) I was COMPLETELY blown away! I thought about it for days afterwards. I’d be making a cup of tea, having come home from work, and suddenly stop and think about what Luke had said/thought… and it just blew my mind! This… was something beyond this passionate fan’s comprehension. & I liked it![/quote]
Your thoughts on the Testament of Arkadia opening to the book are interesting in their intensity. For me, it just provoked the thought “Really? was that really necessary to have this happen? what’s the point?” Of course, after reading the rest I see why it was done, but I wasnāt blown away by it like you. I couldnāt see the consistency of this event with oldMike’s later actions, and that lingers in the back of my mind while Iām reading the rest of the story.[b]Steve F wrote:[/b][quote]I think that one remark symbolises why the death of Sara Picton is handled/portrayed in the way that it is.[/quote]I think you misunderstand what I was trying to say about her death. I didn’t have a problem with her getting killed. My problem was with having Enlen show up and use force to kill her so easily. If this was really, truly a full-on battle between Mike and Enlen, why in the world was Enlen playing little games by tossing a fleet of starfish ships around in space that couldnāt win a battle but yet popping into a single Eagle to kill off just one person? If this was war, Enlen should have popped in behind all 300 Alphans one-by-one and snapped each and every one of their necks in a matter of minutes. Who would stop him? Story is over before chapter 6. I was not satisfied with the brush off miss-direction answer given at the time, and it annoyed me the characters refused to think about this incongruity for the next 200 pages.
Although, really, goodMike’s battle tactics throughout the novels wavered between full-on battle mode and “we can’t kill the main characters” mode, making it difficult to pin down the point of some of the battles. They were more than just warnings, but never enough to really damage things. Which goes back to how do you have omnipotent beings battle it out without the story ending after only 10 pages?
[b]Steve F wrote:[/b]
[quote] And I was actually very happy with Victor’s characterisation. ā¦ Bill wouldn’t have been able to give Sandra one of her best lines in the series EVER!
“If the pity party is over…”[/quote] weāll have to agree to disagree on this one. I think Bill did an amazing job with Victor in Resurrection, but I didnāt care for him at all in either Spiderās Web or Omega/Alpha. Heck, in Spiderās Web heās fighting tooth and nail for most of the story, and winning!, but as soon as he meets up with Yendys, he quits. She saves his butt, and the next moment they are confronted, he quits again. Where is this coming from? Heās survived so many things, through his own ingenuity or through the mysterious forces of the universe, over and over again, but he suddenly becomes a negative sourpuss and itās strange.
And I agree – Sandraās line was great, because Victor needed a serious b*tch slap to the face to get his head back in the game and be in it to win it.[b]Steve F wrote:[/b]
[quote]you’d have to leave your brain at the door with regards to most, if not all of them Perhaps, if you did, you might enjoy the stories more. I’m happy to leave my brain at the door… if doing so enables me to: “Escape to world’s beyond belief”. The world of [b]SPACE: 1999[/b] as portrayed in shocking, moving, unpredictable novels such as [b]OMEGA[/b] & [b]ALPHA[/b], leaves me hungry and desperate to do so far more! They are enjoyable, thrilling novels, both of them[/quote]
Thing is, I have enjoyed these novels, and gave BfA a 9. I just found these two lacking.
As for the rest, up to a point I agree. SF allows fantastic concepts to be delved into, philosophies to be bantered about, spectacular epics to be portrayed ā and I love it. I loved Space 1999 Season 1, faults and all, and I really do enjoy seeing these new adventures. And although I may not agree with some of the changes, I have enjoyed most, and Iām certainly onboard for more.
Now that Iām starting to read Chasing the Cyclops, Iām seeing better the years of preparation and back and forth that went into these books, the continued changes to the plot, the development of eye-popping twists and revelations and on and on and on. Tons and tons of work and effort. And I applaud it! Great job and keep it up.
And it almost makes me want to revise my score up a notch to a 7. But then I think back on the issues I had with the story and I canāt do it. Iām stuck with huge unanswered questions like:
Why were Alan and Maya transported to Earth? And Koenig later on?
Why didnāt badMike transport a badArkadian to Arkadia to trigger the device at any time after it had been uncovered?
Why were the Moons moved towards the planets?
Why werenāt the two moons smashed into each other to end their ability to trigger?Questions like those bother me and keep me from rating these books higher.
But overall Iām still really enjoying these books. Iām in it for the long haul and have been buying them ever since Resurrection was announced way back when. And certainly looking forward to more.
-Patrick
Ok, I finally finished up Omega and Alpha. Iām not really sure why I put off reading these two for so long, maybe it was just the thrill of seeing unread Space: 1999 books sitting on my shelves. But, it was finally time, and luckily I had been able to get through the past year avoiding most of the spoilers ā although it was pretty much completely impossible to get away from everyoneās endless reference to āthe handāā¦
I was pretty excited about the publication of these books and the chance to read them. It seemed clear from the hints and teasers that this duology was a major event in the 1999 chronology and it was going to be a massive coming-together of various story elements resulting in a universe forever changed.
And, now that Iām done reading them, I find that thatās exactly what they were – a valiant attempt to explain the MUF, to tie together various different year 1 episode threads, to weave in the prior Powys universe creations and to bring about a brave, new path forward for any later stories – all in one fell swoop.
I found the Omega/Alpha novels to be well written in a fast-paced, big spectacle manner – in a Michael Bay movie type fashion if you will ā with big events, large battles, huge explosions and the occasional down time for some character exploration. And unfortunately, just like in a Michael Bay movie, if the reader stops to take a breather from the non-stop action to think about what is actually going on, theyāll quickly notice a lot of things donāt really make a whole lot of sense or donāt really add up. Itās a difficult task to write a story involving omnipotent powers that arenāt quite omnipotent anymore. How do you balance the characters doing truly amazing powerful events one moment and then not being able to do an incredibly simple action the next? For the most part it worked, but there were also notable sections of the story where this incongruity was glossed over or ignored. At times it made for very frustrating reading, and like a Michael Bay movie, I found that I really needed to just switch off my brain for a time and go with the flow to enjoy it.
A few of my pro and con highlights of these books, with an overall score at the end.
Pros:
The covers. The inside/outside the rift cover image pairing is inspired. Although not an actual scene in the novels, it works really well to show a key aspect of the story and intrigues the potential reader to pick up the books to find out whatās going on.
The Brell. This was a truly fascinating, new species of life created for this book. The first few chapters where they showed up, and had to be initially dealt with, were extremely well done. Reminded me in a tiny way of one element from Robert Reedās Well of Stars ā an author who I think could write an amazing Year 1 1999 story.
Having a character named Meyer. His name made me laugh every time I read it, as it always made me think of Tony calling out Mayaās name.
The incredible thought and effort that went into plotting out this story. It had to be a near endless task to map out the convoluted path of this story, to pore over it again and again, spending days (years?) making sure everything works from within the episodes and within the novels.
Cons:
The covers. I was excited to see Mars on the cover of Omega visible through the rift in space, only to find that Mars has nothing to do with this story. A picture of one of the planets actually used in the book or even a unique alien world would have been more meaningful.
Victor. He is either really brilliant or surprisingly stupid, depending on what is required of the plot. I also found his character to be the most āoffā and for the majority of the story I could not picture Victor saying what he was saying, as he continuously spoke… in endlessā¦ ellipses. He was also a non-stop pessimist, throwing in the towel, over and over again, at the slightest drop of a dragon (to abuse the phrase). I lost count of how many times he just gives up and accepts impending death instead of working to figure out a solution. Was he ever like that in the show? And I found it odd that not once did he pause to remark about his pulse quickening, or something to that affect ā after all, this is the first time in dozens of years that he has a flesh and blood heart. Youād think heād notice.
The random killing of Sara Picton. Her death clearly didnāt fit in with what else was happening and made no sense at all, and yet none of the characters thought about it or questioned it for even a second. It was such an incongruous event, and required the characters to play stupid for such a long time to make it work, that it was aggravating to read the next 200 pages before it was finally explained. It did keep me trying to figure out what was really going on for a long time though, because clearly something was seriously amiss, so Iāll give it that.
The eclipse in Chapter 12 of Alpha. Before I could even finish the thought that an eclipse was impossible, it was labeled a ālunar eclipseā. At which point I nearly threw the book against the wall and gave up reading the story. I know I shouldnāt let these little things bother me so much, but Koenig would know the difference between a solar and lunar eclipse.
Typos :
Minimal, only a handful in total, with Omega having more than Alpha. What made them stand out though is that they were complete corruptions of whatever word should have been there as opposed to just a misspelling or incorrect word. These made for some ugly stumbling blocks as I tried to figure out what word was really supposed to be in the text. Oddly, three of them started with āignifā.Overall
A rollicking convoluted story for the hard-core fan that brings in everything except the kitchen sink to explain and resolve the meta-story of 1999 – but unfortunately requires a brain check at the door.Rating: 6/10.
[b]blatham wrote:[/b]
[quote]In the meantime, I’m putting lots of extra spaces in the book. :P[/quote]
hopefully 1,999 extra spaces…. :pinch:[b]Tex wrote:[/b]
[quote]Single spacing is the form used online. Double spacing is the correct form for books.Tex
(where do you think the concept of double spacing came from, yah?)[/quote]
sorry, but you’re wrong. Books are single space after the period. Double spacing puts too much white space between the end and the start of sentences. If you take a look, all of the Lulu published books are single spaced.from Wiki:
“[b]One space [/b](French Spacing). This is the [b]current convention[/b] in countries that use the modern Latin alphabet[b] for published and final written work[/b], as well as digital (World Wide Web) media.”
I’m not really sure where double spacing came from, but from online sources it sounds like an old, antiquated style, which really shouldn’t be used by anymore. I know I was taught to do that when I learned typewriter in grade school, but it really has no place in modern publishing.
[b]blatham wrote:[/b]
[quote]Mateo made me take out some typos! There’s a microscropic author’s note, other than that, it’s the same as the original.Don’t tell anybody, but the Android Planet proof copy was just ordered…the countdown begins…[/quote]
I meant to ask earlier, but has the spacing at the end of the sentences been corrected? The original printing had double spacing after the periods, whereas single spacing is the correct form for books, and was used for all the recent publications.[b]Zack wrote:[/b]
[quote] After all where do we put this book? Next to the old Android planet? That just doesn’t seem right somehow. [/quote]
a really good reason why these books should have been re-titled.
they could have had the new titles, and in small print underneath “previously released as XXX”And here I thought it would be another week or two…
I enjoyed the foreword from John Mason.
And now I kind of wish Powys had changed the book title to the original working title mentioned by John: [spoiler]Labyrinth of Pelorus.[/spoiler]
That would have been kind of cool – to re-title all these old school novels as they become part of the Powysverse – to differentiate them from the original versions.
