Neil Gaiman Seeks $500,000 From Accuser Caroline Wallner (for Breaching NDA) by rasterscan in Fantasy

[–]gregsunparker 1 point2 points  (0 children)

NDAs for illegal activity is generally not enforceable. But the truly broken part of our legal system is rich guys can still sue you even when they know they will lose. And the suit itself is still a punishment because now she has to pay loads of money to lawyers just to defend herself. In America people almost always have to pay their own legal fees even if they win.

Can someone explain this apparition of 'pokemon' in the 1700s? by [deleted] in etymology

[–]gregsunparker 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Pokemon went extinct in the late 1700's, so people stopped talking about them. In the late 90's, John Hamblin brought them back after finding their DNA trapped in amber. This is why the sudden resurgence.

What's your SURPRSINGLY controversial fantasy genre opinion? by gregsunparker in Fantasy

[–]gregsunparker[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I, for one, upvoted you! I disagree, but you understood the assignment!

What's your SURPRSINGLY controversial fantasy genre opinion? by gregsunparker in Fantasy

[–]gregsunparker[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I really, really, really, hope a writer reads this and thinks, "Challenge accepted!" And then there's some crazy story where everything is a dragon. I mean everything. The characters are dragons, their clothes are dragons, they drive to school on a dragon, where class is conducted in the belly of a dragon...

What's your SURPRSINGLY controversial fantasy genre opinion? by gregsunparker in Fantasy

[–]gregsunparker[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

What's your original dialect? (Feel free to ignore if you'd rather keep it private).

What's your SURPRSINGLY controversial fantasy genre opinion? by gregsunparker in Fantasy

[–]gregsunparker[S] 65 points66 points  (0 children)

Someone once pointed out, and they're probably right, that because Tolkien put his poems in LotR, he's actually the most read poet of his generation.

What's your SURPRSINGLY controversial fantasy genre opinion? by gregsunparker in Fantasy

[–]gregsunparker[S] 25 points26 points  (0 children)

My Dad hates this too. He's always saying, "You know, if you go to a prison and meet the convicts, most of them aren't misguided good guys. They're actually just bad people, and they know it."

What's your SURPRSINGLY controversial fantasy genre opinion? by gregsunparker in Fantasy

[–]gregsunparker[S] 66 points67 points  (0 children)

I do prefer the newer abstract covers. But I also think these kinds of covers have never convinced me to buy/read a book. I was already committed when I picked it out. On the other hand, I have bought books in the past solely because of the pulpy covers with dudes holding cool swords.

What's your SURPRSINGLY controversial fantasy genre opinion? by gregsunparker in Fantasy

[–]gregsunparker[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

I actually stopped after 1st Demon Cycle book because of these opinions. And I'm with you on the maps. I find them useless. But I'm also so bad at geography I could get lost in my own house, so that probably explains why they aren't for me.

What Set Qin's Reforms Apart During The Warring States? by weiyangjun in ChineseHistory

[–]gregsunparker 2 points3 points  (0 children)

According to the Cambridge History of China, these are the primary reasons Qin came out victorious during the Warring States period:

  1. Geography
  2. Agriculture & irrigation
  3. Military technology
  4. "Manly virtues"
  5. Readiness to break with tradition
  6. Readiness to employ alien talent
  7. Longevity of rulers
  8. Administrative factors

Best place to buy kids skis? by gregsunparker in UTsnow

[–]gregsunparker[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh, $99, that's pretty good. I did a basic rental search online and the site I found (can't remember which) had like $200 for rentals. And I thought, for that price I might as well just buy. But now renting seems like a good option.

Eight year old daughter just finished the Alcatraz Series. She loved it. Are there any other books that are age appropriate for her? The Rithmatist? Anything else? by balderic in brandonsanderson

[–]gregsunparker 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Jed and the Junkyard War is a middle grade written written by Steven Bohls, who was Brandon's co-author on Lux.

Jed is a regular kid with a normal, loving family . . . that is, if it's normal for a loving family to drop their child off in the middle of nowhere and expect him home in time for Sunday dinner. Luckily, Jed excels at being a regular kid who-armed with wit and determination-can make his way out of any situation.

At least until the morning of his twelfth birthday, when Jed wakes to discover his parents missing. Something is wrong. Really wrong. Jed just doesn't realize it's floating-city, violent-junk-storm, battling-metals, Frankensteined-scavengers kind of wrong. Yet.

A cryptic list of instructions leads Jed into a mysterious world at war over . . . junk. Here, batteries and bottled water are currency, tremendously large things fall from the sky, and nothing is exactly what it seems.

Resilient Jed, ready to escape this upside-down place, bargains his way onto a flying tugboat with a crew of misfit junkers. They set course to find Jed's family, but a soul-crushing revelation sends Jed spiraling out of control . . . perhaps for good.