Miskatonic & Gin' Wrote:"Harbingers" the BEST? By Noomri! Raining tires, Roger Rabbit and HYRTBU makes me believe otherwise.Looks like Jamo agrees with me as well.
-Wapitikev
Axioms Jack seems to live by (inadvertantly or not):
Why he does what he does: "I chose this life. I know what I'm doing. And on any given day, I could stop doing it. Today, however, isn't that day. And tomorrow won't be either." Bruce Wayne, Identity Crisis
On Rasalom: "Water's wet, the sky is blue...and good old Satan Claus, Jimmy...he's out there...and he's just gettin' stronger." Joe Hallenbeck, The Last Boyscout
Wapitikev Wrote:So, let me get this straight. You're saying that All the Rage (tires), The Haunted Air (Roger Rabbit) and Crisscross (HYRTBU) are all better than Harbingers?
I loved all those books but none of them had the gut-wrenching impact on Jack's life, the all out action/mayhem nor the huge revelations about the other players in the Ally-Otherness war, that Harbingers has.
It appears that we will have to agree to disagree.
-Wapitikev
I'll agree that none of them had the gut-wrenching impact on Jack's life but we were offering up our nominees for THE BEST (your words) book right? I'm just arguing my side of why I don't think Harbingers is the BEST Jack book.
Now, I would also argue that the "most all out action filled book" would have to be All The Rage or Gateways as opposed to Harbingers. Think about it for a monet....er, moment.
As for revelations, Gateways could give Harbingers a run for the money but I'll give you the edge there....slightly.
And as for gut-wrenchingest? The scene between Gia and Tara Portman's father in The Haunted Air affected me far more than anything else in the Jack series. And nearly FPW's entire ouvere. Harbingers was intense for sure, but that moment in The Haunted Air was very raw and emotional and really hit me hard. This very human moment amidst a haunting supernatural ghost story really took me by surprise. The way FPW conveys her father's sense of loss in that scene is incredibly heartbreaking and highlights his strength as an author to shift gears from the supernatural to the very human at a moments notice. We thought Gia might unearth some clues regarding Tara and we were treated to something very, very different there.
Cthulhu for President!
Why vote for a lesser evil? I can think of none better than the great old one, who should return from his slumber to take over the U.S. government and make this country a whole hell of a lot better as the leader of our executive branch. Or destroy it and drive everyone insane, kill us all, or something really nasty! Remember, Cthulhu for President, why vote for the lesser of two evils?
Miskatonic & Gin' Wrote:I'll agree that none of them had the gut-wrenching impact on Jack's life but we were offering up our nominees for THE BEST (your words) book right? I'm just arguing my side of why I don't think Harbingers is the BEST Jack book.These are just my opinons, but...
Now, I would also argue that the "most all out action filled book" would have to be All The Rage or Gateways as opposed to Harbingers. Think about it for a monet....er, moment.
As for revelations, Gateways could give Harbingers a run for the money but I'll give you the edge there....slightly.
And as for gut-wrenchingest? The scene between Gia and Tara Portman's father in The Haunted Air affected me far more than anything else in the Jack series. And nearly FPW's entire ouvere. Harbingers was intense for sure, but that moment in The Haunted Air was very raw and emotional and really hit me hard. This very human moment amidst a haunting supernatural ghost story really took me by surprise. The way FPW conveys her father's sense of loss in that scene is incredibly heartbreaking and highlights his strength as an author to shift gears from the supernatural to the very human at a moments notice. We thought Gia might unearth some clues regarding Tara and we were treated to something very, very different there.
Breaking down the action:
Gateways: Jack versus Otherness twisted hillbilly's
All the Rage: Jack versus comitted Serbian drug dealers
Harbingers: Jack versus stone cold, highly trained assasins
On the gut-wrenching front, while that scene from Haunted Air was very touching for us, the readers, I don't recall Jack being directly involved.
"A spear has no branches" and all that it involves for Jack's whole family was pivotal to Jack and equally gut wrenching for the reader. I fail to see how one moment in Haunted Air, however touching, can compare to the events that occur to Gia and Vicky in just Harbingers, let alone the revelation of who is respobsible for the cumulative tragedy to Jack's family in 4 previous books (Hosts, Haunted Air, Infernal and Gateways).
It seems we will have to continue to disagree.
-Wapitikev
Axioms Jack seems to live by (inadvertantly or not):
Why he does what he does: "I chose this life. I know what I'm doing. And on any given day, I could stop doing it. Today, however, isn't that day. And tomorrow won't be either." Bruce Wayne, Identity Crisis
On Rasalom: "Water's wet, the sky is blue...and good old Satan Claus, Jimmy...he's out there...and he's just gettin' stronger." Joe Hallenbeck, The Last Boyscout
Wapitikev Wrote:These are just my opinons, but...
Breaking down the action:
Gateways: Jack versus Otherness twisted hillbilly's
All the Rage: Jack versus comitted Serbian drug dealers
Harbingers: Jack versus stone cold, highly trained assasins
You're simplifying the "action" a little
In "All The Rage" not only did we have Serbian drug dealers but also a Rakosh, 5 Roustabouts from Oz's circus, a few Berzerked out guys from their 25 year reunion and a freeway chase with a motorcycle cop too.
As for "Gateways", these were not your average twisted hillbilly's. They were accompanied by a two headed snapping turtle, a swarm of beetles, a 25 foot mutant alligator and numerous chew wasps. Not to mention an encounter with Rasalom.
:dontknow:
Cthulhu for President!
Why vote for a lesser evil? I can think of none better than the great old one, who should return from his slumber to take over the U.S. government and make this country a whole hell of a lot better as the leader of our executive branch. Or destroy it and drive everyone insane, kill us all, or something really nasty! Remember, Cthulhu for President, why vote for the lesser of two evils?
Miskatonic & Gin' Wrote:You're simplifying the "action" a little
Well...maybe a little.
Miskatonic & Gin' Wrote:As for "Gateways"...Not to mention an encounter with Rasalom.
Uh. I seem to remember big-R appearing in Harbingers as well.
-Wapitikev
Axioms Jack seems to live by (inadvertantly or not):
Why he does what he does: "I chose this life. I know what I'm doing. And on any given day, I could stop doing it. Today, however, isn't that day. And tomorrow won't be either." Bruce Wayne, Identity Crisis
On Rasalom: "Water's wet, the sky is blue...and good old Satan Claus, Jimmy...he's out there...and he's just gettin' stronger." Joe Hallenbeck, The Last Boyscout
Wapitikev Wrote:Well...maybe a little.
Uh. I seem to remember big-R appearing in Harbingers as well.
-Wapitikev
Ooops I said his name.
Cthulhu for President!
Why vote for a lesser evil? I can think of none better than the great old one, who should return from his slumber to take over the U.S. government and make this country a whole hell of a lot better as the leader of our executive branch. Or destroy it and drive everyone insane, kill us all, or something really nasty! Remember, Cthulhu for President, why vote for the lesser of two evils?
Miskatonic & Gin' Wrote:Ooops I said his name.At least it wasn't three time while looking into a mirror.
Heh.
-Wapitikev
Axioms Jack seems to live by (inadvertantly or not):
Why he does what he does: "I chose this life. I know what I'm doing. And on any given day, I could stop doing it. Today, however, isn't that day. And tomorrow won't be either." Bruce Wayne, Identity Crisis
On Rasalom: "Water's wet, the sky is blue...and good old Satan Claus, Jimmy...he's out there...and he's just gettin' stronger." Joe Hallenbeck, The Last Boyscout