Welcome to the Second Apocalypse, Titan. Well met. I'm happy you've found your way here.

Quote from: Titan on June 25, 2016, 04:46:11 am

I discovered the series through a mention on the Westeros.org forums, and also by googling for fantasy maps. (I'm a real map nerd)

Have you seen Wertzone's piece regarding Bakker's maps?

Yes! I actually saw that, and that analysis of the maps is what finally convinced me to pick up the books. I really do like the realistic looking map, although I wish Bakker would show us more of Eänna.
(Maps is actually one of my main irritation with GRRM... It painfully clear how the maps are just drawn to fit a book page, and how Westeros is just basically a mirrored England. There's also lots of unrealistic elements - Note how they are almost no rivers that flow in the northern direction, and how a major river flows from just north of KL all the way up into the neck of the North, past the "twins", it makes no sense)

Quote from: Titan on June 25, 2016, 04:46:11 am

And I agree, although Bakker has different strengths (and weaknesses) compared to GRRM.

What are the comparative weaknesses you perceive, Titan? Just curious.

Hmm... GRRM's writing is ... how should I put it... easier to read. Even though the 5th book (ADWD) is not GRRM's best, I actually found Tyrions journey through Essos to be my favorite part. A lot of people hated this part, but I can read though a LOT of well written world building without getting bored. Bakker has his moments, but frequently his descriptions of the world is lacking. It took until the 5th book to even get a clear picture in my mind of how the Sranc and Nonmen look, which seems like a rather basic failure. There is practically NOTHING about how the Sranc look in the first book (or did I miss it?), so I kept expecting a some sort of twist where the Sranc were just regular humans under some sort of mind-control. Or just a primitive tribe.

Now on the positive side, Bakkers world is FAR better though out, and it doesn't feel as ad-hoc or invented on the fly as GRRM's work. Yes, GRRM has the major elements in the history laid out, but it really feels like he is back-filling in details more then it should. And the "World of A Song of Ice and Fire" history book is great, but there is just so much bizarre stuff that seems like he just randomly came up with just for the book. Bakker has clearly put a LOT of thought into the physical and metaphysical rules of his universe, whereas in ASOIAF it seems like anything goes. Magic is just a some sort of elemental force that is applied where the plot needs it to be.

Does that make sense?

Wolfdrop,
Thanks for those quotes - that does seem to close the case.

I suppose my modern skeptic mind can't seem to help seeing tekne/mechanism where sorcery is probably at work. ;-)

A thought occurred to me while reading the section in the books where the Ordeal campaign is visited by Nonmen in a flying chariot.

This chariot - if I recall right - does not seem to show any sign of sorcery. So my thought - as a fan of the Sci-Fi elements of the story and searching for what might be Tekne - wondered if this vehicle actually does not fly by sorcery, instead using some sort of technology. Nonmen civilization appears to have been pretty advanced, although there is no direct evidence of 'technology' per se. But I'm wondering if Nonmen technology is actually more advanced that we might think - perhaps learned from the Inchoroi, or gifted from the Consult.

Of course, at some point you get down to the Arthur C. Clarke argument - any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic - and I wonder if it will be revealed in the end that some of what we think is sorcery without the mark might actually be some form of technology.

Working against this off-the-wall theory is that the POV in the chariot scene is Sorweel, I think, so he would not be a good judge of its sorcery-ness. But the description in the book does make it seem different.

New forum member here, who just finished the currently published 5 books, and about to start a re-read in preparation for TGO.
(If this is in the wrong sub-forum, feel free to move it, mods!)

After my first read, here are my favorite POVs:
 - Achamian (the true main protagonist of the series - if there is one)
 - Sorweel (the hidden white luck warrior? - my own pet theory that I may post about later, if TGO has't disproved or proved it by that time) 
 - Kellhus (for he is the kwisatz haderach!) 
 - Mimara

My least favorite POVs:
 - Kelmomas (aaargh, so... frustrating... to read through, my number one most hated character)
 ... (a big gap)...
 - Esmenet (especially in the Aspect Emperor books)
 - Ikurei Conphas (not a fan)
 - Serwe (reasons are obvious)

Any agreement or disagreements?

TSACast on iTunes! Thanks, Titan !

You're welcome!  (Although I'm not sure what I did...) 

It now shows up in my podcast player, and it is as I type this downloading all the episodes. Thanks so much!

Hi, I'm a new reader (just finished the first read-through of the series), and a new member to this forum, and I have been trying to start to listen to this podcast. (first episode was excellent!)

But... Is there a reason why this isn't published as podcast on iTunes? And that it is apparently uploaded to Soundcloud with the download ability turned off??? I scanned through this thread and saw some old and expired links and attempts to publish them. The iTunes links did not work, or seemed to be Canadian-only?

Anyway... The reason for this is that I very much enjoy listening to podcasts as I'm out exercising or driving, and being able to have them downloaded on my device saves a lot in cellular/mobile data costs. And... Soundcloud charges $7/month (!!!) to be able to cache things on your phone, a cost I don't want to expend for just this podcast, no matter how excellent it is.

So - Can someone summarize the current state of the downloadability (or iTunes access) of this podcast, in case I missed something obvious? Any help would be appreciated, thanks!

EDIT: Also, what happened to episodes #4, #6, and #7? They are missing from SoundCloud.