Talk:Viper District

"Stalinist"? Is that in reference to Travis being the Stalin of Kupopolis? --Scen 10:34, 11 October 2006 (CDT)

• No, I'm comparing the government to Russia under Josef Stalin. People talk about communism as if all communist governments are the same or that the Soviet Union defines what communism is. The Soviet Union under Stalin was kind of a hybrid of communism and fascism. In some ways, fascism is more a style of government than a type of government - carry any government to its militaristic, violent, jingoistic extreme, and you have fascism. The FTSR is more like the Soviet Union under Gorbechev, where the KGB is still following you around, but the government isn't slaughtering its own people. I have a post planned that sort of clarifies this a bit, if I get around to it. Basically, the idea is that the Viper District has a centrally planned economy that is focused on feeding the Viperese war machine rather than Viperese workers - it's mechanistic communism without any of its goals or principles other than glorification of the state. --Xstryker 08:33, 12 October 2006 (CDT)
  • So would someone within the Kupop universe call the Viperese brand of communism "Stalinist"? --Scen 13:51, 12 October 2006 (CDT)
    • No, they wouldn't. That's why I wrote the article myself for real people to read, rather than having beloved Ticonderan historian Allaine Pretenderpants write it (with gusto!) for all the citizens of faraway Pretendia to read. But shhh, don't tell our characters, it would be like finding out Santa Claus is a big red lie. --Xstryker 07:47, 13 October 2006 (CDT)
  • (I think his complaint is that "stalinist" is a "meta" term, like Mike comparing splatdonalds to mcdonalds in its entry. Or maybe I'm way off base. --JD 15:09, 12 October 2006 (CDT))

Is the x missile related to the x stryker --JD 13:10, 11 October 2006 (CDT)

• Or as I call it, the X Em-Aye-Double-Sizzle. --Xstryker 07:47, 13 October 2006 (CDT)

ive been to rock lobster i like there crablegs --Scen 13:24, 11 October 2006 (CDT)

ok ill try them sometimes

hey guys is the mallorean any good? I'm thinking of reading it, but my back is killing me and it hurts to move, so I'm not sure the walk through the book store is worth it. --JD 17:38, 11 October 2006 (CDT)

• Assuming you've read the Belgariad already, yes, the Mallorean is pretty good (if you didn't like the Belgariad, the Mallorean is no different). I also like his other series, the Elenium and Tamuli. Everything he's written since is really terrible. --Xstryker 08:19, 12 October 2006 (CDT)
  • Yeah, I liked the belgariad pretty alright. I was just afraid that the mallorean was going to be a bunch of retarded "me too" crap, like the belgariad made money so let's write another one. I think I'll pick it up on the way hope, though I'm still not sure if I'm up to the walk through the bookstore. --JD 15:09, 12 October 2006 (CDT)
    • They are similar, but I like a lot of the new characters, and Boundless Mallorea makes for an interesting setting. Sometimes I prefer the Elenium/Tamuli to the Belgariad/Malloreon because Sparhawk is a lot more badass of a protagonist than Garion. --Xstryker 07:47, 13 October 2006 (CDT)
• (I'm a huge Eddings fangirl, to the point where he was a big influence on my own writing style, so just keep that in mind.) Read them! If for no other reason than a good chunk of Kupop canon comes from them. They're not terribly innovative fantasy, but that wasn't the point of the series. I've since come to the conclusion that the Elenium/Tamuli series is better written and I just like everyone more (Kalten is big, hairy love), but the Belgariad/Malloreon was the first fantasy series that I got crazily obsessed with, and it still gives me the warm fuzzies. A lot of people criticize Eddings' writing style, and even though I'm a raging fangirl I'll admit a lot of the criticisms are deserved--but, IMO, very few writers in any genre have the knack for dialogue that Eddings has. And his fantasy is very much grounded in reality, which I also like. I'll warn you, though: if you're not a fan of the road trip style of fantasy, stay away from his stuff. --Aurora 05:16, 14 October 2006 (CDT)
  • I read the belgariad last winter, after receiving the two omnibus editions as a gift, and I thought it was ok. Not the best thing I'd ever read, but an enjoyable read. Thursday after work I went to the book store on the way home, which is something I can never, ever do, since I ended up spending like sixty dollars on books. And that was even with leaving about 90% of what I wanted on the shelves. I did pick up the entire mallorean, though I was disappointed they only had the individual volumes and not an omnibus edition. I'll probably end up getting started on it this weekend, since I've decided to go nowhere and do nothing in hopes that my back heals, and this cold goes away, by monday. --JD 20:50, 14 October 2006 (CDT)
    • I really loved both the Belgariad and the Mallorean when I read them about ten years ago. Since then I've read them both a couple more times, and I've come to agree with a friend's opinion that the Belgariad, on the whole, is better. The Mallorean does have a certain 'cash-in' feel to it--the main story having been thoroughly completed by the end of the first series, leaving a sort of tacked-on 'fo-real-prophecy' as the main moving force of the second series. But on the other hand, the Mallorean jettisoned many of the bland characters from the first series and replaced them with more interesting characters (Zakath, Sadi). I especially liked the increased role for Beldin. But on yet the other hand, re-reading them all at the same time a while back, I grew to dislike the sing-songy all-too-clever back-and-forth dialogue (sometimes the exchanges felt a little too perfect, as if over-dramatized for the stage). If you enjoyed Belgariad, you'll enjoy Mallorean. Like someone else, I thought the Sparhawk series was better (there was actually some space to worry about the characters in that series, whereas in the Mallorean the main cohort is very much in control of most situations, except for the brief moments at the end of each book when they are not). I also read the Redemption of Althalus, which was ok, but towards the end felt too much like something he had already written.--Nick 12:54, 17 October 2006 (CDT)
      • Man I read most of guardians of the west last night I don't know what I was thinking. I went to sleep at like 4am. --JD 16:54, 18 October 2006 (CDT)