seanan_mcguire: (discount)
[personal profile] seanan_mcguire
Not gonna lie, here: I'm exhausted and cranky from Daylight Savings Time, and I have 600+ comments waiting to be answered (I'm trying not to think about my inboxes), so I'm settling for the low-effort embrace of a review roundup. Which comes with the added bonus of reducing the size of my link file. Everybody wins! And so...

Living Vicariously (Through Books) has posted a review of Discount Armageddon, and says, "I honestly really think Seanan McGuire (/Mira Grant) is my current favorite author. I thought that before this book, but this book did not change that thought at all." Also, "This world has a lot going for it, I think. There’s a lot of potential investigation, multiple built in antagonists of various types, and Verity is good at what she does and comfortable with herself. I am definitely on board for the second book." Yay!

From My Wandering Mind has posted a review of Discount Armageddon, and says, "It is, in fact, awesome. Well, awesome if what you are looking for is urban fantasy about a professional ballroom dancer and cryptozoologist, who also has to work as a cocktail waitress to pay the bills. It is hilarious and fun and action-packed and McGuire has put a HUGE amount of effort into creating extremely detailed and, dare I say, realistic descriptions of all sorts of mythological creatures, now just trying to live amongst humans peacefully." Yes. That is my idea of awesome.

Urban Fantasy Investigations has posted a review of Discount Armageddon, and says, "There was a great amount of action throughout the book. The cast of characters was vast and imaginative. The plot was fun and I had a great time reading the book from start to finish." Five stars! HAIL THE REVIEW!

Book Yurt has posted a review of Discount Armageddon, and says, "With machetes, ballroom dancing, parkour, romance, and oodles and oodles of snark, Discount Armageddon is a smorgasbord of fun. It's six parts Buffy, one part Princess Bride, with a generous sprinkle of Strictly Ballroom on top—or that's the closest I can come to describing it, anyway. I chortled, snickered, and at times laughed out loud while reading Discount Armageddon—not to mention I'm a huge parkour and martial arts fangirl, so the action was exactly my cup of tea—and I finished this book with a huge, rather silly grin on my face. It's been a long, long time since I've enjoyed a new UF series this much." Best. Description. Ever.

Sigrid Ellis wrote a lovely, and very sweet summation of why she enjoyed Discount Armageddon. No good pull quotes, but very much worth reading.

Oh, and you know how sometimes people go "What's the big idea?" Well, thanks to John Scalzi, I was able to explain exactly what the big idea was. Take a look.

That's all for now. I will now resume staring dully at my inbox. Whee!

Date: 2012-03-13 04:31 pm (UTC)
ext_59934: (*facepalm*)
From: [identity profile] taldragon.livejournal.com
"...the first thing I can remember watching on a TV screen was the original Alien, when I was three. I liked the pretty flowers that hugged people…"

this explains SO MUCH.

(i'm so excited about Discount Armageddon - it's next in my book queue, after Gail Carriger's "Timeless")

Date: 2012-03-13 06:23 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com
They just wanted love!

Date: 2012-03-13 09:31 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pbristow.livejournal.com
I want to watch that movie now. Darn you.

Date: 2012-03-13 04:38 pm (UTC)
ginger: (Default)
From: [personal profile] ginger
I'm not all big with the reviews and the fancy words and whatnot, but I posted a list yesterday of my top five book series recommendations these days, and realized that three of them are yours.

HAIL!

Date: 2012-03-13 06:23 pm (UTC)

Date: 2012-03-13 04:46 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] filkertom.livejournal.com
Happy happy! I'll be getting my copy this weekend from Larry Smith at MillenniCon. Hugs to you, sweetie!

Date: 2012-03-13 06:25 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com
Hooray!

And hugs!

Date: 2012-03-13 05:03 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ohlibn.livejournal.com
Verity is wonderful! We'll be hand-selling your Incryptids energetically here. And we're putting up a copy of Scalzi's post next to the book, for the ones we don't have a chance to speak with personally. Lovely story, and here's to many more in that world!

Date: 2012-03-13 06:33 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com
Oh, yay! Thank you!

Fragmented Reactions

Date: 2012-03-13 06:22 pm (UTC)
archangelbeth: An egyptian-inspired eye, centered between feathered wings. (Default)
From: [personal profile] archangelbeth
Night of the Comet! YES! ...which is where I discovered that I at least mildly flip my Kinsey for cheekbones -- that woman scientist... *fans self* What cheekbones!

(...Laura Branigan, "Self Control" lyrics... Okay, not quite, but! ...and I just had to dig that song-title off a cassette tape...)

HAIL! CHEESE AND CAKE!

Date: 2012-03-13 06:33 pm (UTC)

Date: 2012-03-13 06:50 pm (UTC)
anne_d: (Susan)
From: [personal profile] anne_d
Yay for good reviews! Cheese and cake!

And I, too, love Night of the Comet. I wonder if the Younger Daughter might like it... but after we inflict Buckaroo Banzai on her.
Edited Date: 2012-03-13 06:56 pm (UTC)

Date: 2012-03-13 09:27 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] lysystratae.livejournal.com
That's my kind of double feature.

Date: 2012-03-14 03:08 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com
She might like Night younger. I surely did. It's easier to follow.

Date: 2012-03-14 03:48 pm (UTC)
anne_d: (Susan)
From: [personal profile] anne_d
Younger Daughter is nineteen, in college (and how the heck did that happen?????), reads manga, and watches Fringe with us, so I don't think BB will phase her.

Date: 2012-03-13 06:52 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wolfsilveroak.livejournal.com
The first horror movie I remember in any detail* was Night of the Comet

I love that movie! Haven't seen it in some time though. *goes to see if it's available on Netflix* Hee.

Date: 2012-03-14 03:07 pm (UTC)

Date: 2012-03-13 07:34 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] charles ellis (from livejournal.com)
"...the first thing I can remember watching on a TV screen was the original Alien, when I was three. I liked the pretty flowers that hugged people…"

That does indeed explain a lot, and also makes me feel old. Of course, lots of things make me feel old these days.

Urban Fantasy isn't my usual fare (I'm mainly here for the zombies) but as a long-time Coast to Coast AM listener the cryptozoology angle sucked me in. I finished Discount Armageddon last night(1) and I greatly enjoyed it. The pacing was excellent. There was a very good start on building the world and establishing an historical basis for it. Verity is neither too competent for her age and background, nor too incompetent to have believably survived. Besides, I have a weakness for girls with guns(2). Finally, humor is good. Being able to laugh in a life and death situation is even better.

The only sour note for me was Dominic's rather abrupt conversion. Going from fanatical purist to that open-minded in such a short time just didn't ring true. If he was that willing to question the tenets of the Covenant I would have expected someone to notice before sending him off on a solo assignment. If he was just playing along for his own purposes, in the hopes of getting laid or something more sinister, or if his initial fanaticism was mostly an act, then I would find it more realistic.

(1) I miss the obligation-free days of my teen and early 20s(3), when I could reasonably expect to read at least one book a day and often two or even three.
(2) When we first started dating, I taught my wife how to shoot, and eventually took her to the gun show to pick out a handgun that was right for her.
(3) Then again, the internet wasn't around(3) back then, and it cuts into my reading time as well.
(4) Not as we know it today(5), at least.
(5) Help! I'm stuck in an infinite footnote loop.(5)

Date: 2012-03-13 08:05 pm (UTC)
archangelbeth: Little cartoon chick. (Power Of Cute (Disney Chick))
From: [personal profile] archangelbeth
It was the mice. How can you not love the mice? If he's ever seen a Disney flick, he's got to be aware that it's the heroine who has the adorable talking mice.

Date: 2012-03-14 02:28 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ohlibn.livejournal.com
My impression: Dominic wasn't so much converted, as overwhelmed by the real world outside his very cloistered upbringing by the Covenant. So many possibilities that his teachers/guardians had never mentioned! I don't think he's convinced, even at the end of the book, but he's realized his teachers kept a lot of relevant information from him and now he's trying to reconcile the evidence of his eyes with his former worldview, and willing to suspend judgment until then. After all, it's easy to be dogmatic when you only have one side of the argument. And being attracted to Verity, he's probably more likely to want to be convinced of the rightness of her cause because that makes it okay for them to have a relationship without feeling like he's consorting with the enemy ~

Date: 2012-03-14 03:09 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com
It was based on my experiences with very sheltered home-schooled kids at college, who had opinions on things they'd never experienced or seen. Dominic had never actually spoken to a cryptid who wasn't trying to kill him. Which doesn't mean it's all sunshine and roses now, but is sort of why Verity was able to shift him at all.

I'm glad you liked the book!

Date: 2012-03-13 09:31 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] alumiere.livejournal.com
Discount Armageddon is on it's way to me as we speak, in a large part because of The Big Idea posting. I'm looking forward to it (and Blackout and The Drowning Girl which are coming too)!

Date: 2012-03-14 03:09 pm (UTC)

Date: 2012-03-14 12:17 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] serge-lj.livejournal.com
I have 600+ comments waiting to be answered

I think you've answered mine already and if you haven't, just skip them. In fact, I'm quite happy posting comments here but letting you spend time on your storytelling.

And no, you don't need to respond to this either.
:-)

Date: 2012-03-14 03:09 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com
Sadly, you don't get to tell me that.

Date: 2012-03-14 03:19 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] serge-lj.livejournal.com
I wouldn't say 'sadly' myself. I'm quite happy when you respond to my comments. :-)

Date: 2012-05-05 05:12 pm (UTC)

Date: 2012-03-14 01:25 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] aliciaaudrey.livejournal.com
*waves a banner made from tiny pieces of paper, a toothpick, and food coloring* "HAIL THE REVIEW!"

Date: 2012-03-14 03:09 pm (UTC)

Date: 2012-03-14 04:18 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thebluerose.livejournal.com
Due to having to move out for earthquake repairs to FINALLY happen, I have a lack of interwebs access outside of work hours, so I have yet to write my review. But it will be glowing :)

Oddly I was watching Men in Black 2 last night and there was a scene with a villiage of tiny furry things in locker that K had locked away who were keeping some clues from him, and it rang all sorts of bells about the mice.......any similarities or merely coincidence?

Date: 2012-03-14 03:10 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com
Coincidence. :) I had forgotten about that scene until after I wrote the book, and caught it on F/X.

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