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grind-the-rust In reply to CharmQuark [2017-01-06 14:12:41 +0000 UTC]

I'm sorry I took a thousand years to reply to this! I was in one of my slumps for a while there, doing work and not a heck of a lot else. I'm glad someone liked the writing - I was really worried I'd wrecked the piece with it - it looked a lot more spare without.

Also, no way does that suit dust any suit you've drawn! Yours could almost always be dated to a decade - wheras mine is just sort of like.... vaguely suit shaped. I've never drawn one before. Although, to be fair, in 250 years time, residents of space stations in the Asteroid Belt who want to dress like a noir character probably won't have much of a clue about 20th century men's garments beyond "this is vaguely suit-shaped, and not a jumpsuit, hooray!".

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CharmQuark In reply to grind-the-rust [2017-03-27 15:26:05 +0000 UTC]

Back to re-appreciate this after involuntarily spending a whole day with my ass glued to the couch reading Leviathan Wakes cover to cover. (And to giggle at "vaguely suit-shaped, and not a jumpsuit.") Miller and Julie look just like I pictured them, or possibly I pictured them just like you drew them.

Have forbidden myself from reading the rest of the series until school is out because I cannot read in moderation, but I am really looking forward to seeing how the quote in this drawing plays into things.

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grind-the-rust In reply to CharmQuark [2017-04-06 15:43:11 +0000 UTC]

*shriek of joy*
One of my favourite internet people just read one of my favourite books!  Holy fuck.

Much as I'm not one to cheer for disruptions to anyone's schedule, I'm very pleased that you got engrossed.  I'm an immoderate reader myself, albeit a very slow one, as English is not my first language - so I was out of action for the better part of a week when I got stuck into Leviathan Wakes. It only gets better from here, although Full Fathom Five doesn't come up until book 4.

And I'm honoured that my imaginings of the characters influenced yours. I was on a bit of a hiatus from drawing, but that world just wormed itself into my brain, and glowed blue and vast and lonely in there, and got my pen moving again. 

I recall I recommended the series because of the third-person limited POV. What did you think of that aspect of the writing?

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CharmQuark In reply to grind-the-rust [2017-04-13 21:04:05 +0000 UTC]

I'm shocked as only a dumb monolingual American can be that English isn't your first language. You create some wonderful sentences with it, friend!

You did recommend the series because of third person limited: I can't imagine the story working as well any other way. Seeing Holden and Miller from both their own and each other's point of view was a great way to contrast their worldviews and, uh, highlight the potentially maddening character flaws that each has. I tend to read fiction more to watch interesting characters bounce off each other than to follow a plot or analyze symbolism or what-have-you, so I felt like that dynamic provided a lot of the story's charm. (Occurs to me that I may have that preference as a reader because IRL, human interactions generally leave me 100% baffled--I only understand people when somebody literally spells them out to me.)

And of course there's legitimately so much going on with the plot that without two perspective characters to take it all in, the reader would probably get lost and way too much action would be off-stage.

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grind-the-rust In reply to CharmQuark [2017-05-21 10:13:51 +0000 UTC]

Duuude. You're just one person, how do you manage to so frequently climb up to a vantage point from which to look down on yourself? There's nothing special about speaking two languages if you're a migrant like me - you just kinda have to learn. I mean, if I'd chosen to learn another language for no practical reason, and reached fluency with it - now that would be something to write home about. And you might be a monolingual American, but I can't say you're dumb. Or if you are, then you hide it verrry well behind humour and eloquence. Also, I totally did try learning another language for no practical reason - I did two years of German, and failed miserably. I can make some semi-intelligible seedy propositions, but that's about it. Those trennbar verbs killed me. *facedesk of shaaaame*

Yeah. Expanse is something I definitely read for the characters. Well, and the world. And the way it explores identity, empathy, class, disadvantage. Uh, but yes. Characters. In general, I've never been much of a plot-oriented reader. If the characters are cardboard cutouts, it doesn't much matter what happens to them, or where. This opinion has left me unable to enjoy a whole bunch of otherwise-respected writers. I'm also hearing you loud and clear about being baffled by most IRL human interactions - to a point where I sometimes half-jokingly wonder if reading well-written characters is what it's like to be a person who actually "gets" their fellow man with some regularity. Although deep down I suspect almost everyone is baffled by almost everyone else almost all of the time.

But yeah. Were there any standout moments in Leviathan Wakes for you? No prizes for guessing what mine were, heh. And now that study has released you from its grasp, does this mean there's a chance you're going to do some immoderate reading to the other books in the series? Because book 2 has a wonderfully written POV character by name of Prax, who thinks in a rather roundabout and circuitous manner. The fact that the writers managed to capture this via third-person is pretty damn impressive. He's also generally a joy to follow around.

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grind-the-rust In reply to ScrapSomeCrap [2016-09-13 04:20:03 +0000 UTC]

Heya! Glad you picked up on the floating hair - he's always seeing her "ghost" as though she is in zero-gravity, so the billowing hair pops up quite a bit. I always appreciate your thoughtful interpretative comments - I'm always keen to know if the intended "feel" of a picture comes across right. There's definitely a soft, dusty, whispery sadness there.

Most of that story happens in Book 1 of the Expanse Series - Leviathan Wakes, runs as a subtle thread through book 3, and becomes a major part of the plot again in Book 4 - Cibola Burn. The books are biggish, but so very worth it - I haven't been invested in any book series in years, but this stuff just sucked me in. It's at least partially the "literary/cultural easter eggs" - there's subtle (and unsubtle) thematic references and shout-outs to Peter Pan, Divine Comedy, Don Quixote, the New Testament, Kurosawa movies, the Tempest, and others. One other thing I love is the mixture of names given to spaceships - some are quite significant to the story, whereas others are just seemingly random - as though the authors knew that some of their nerdier readers will be looking this stuff up, and decided to be playful with it. I felt a bit dubious about Book 1, but then got drawn into a reading vortex of terrifying proportions, chowing down one novel per week and running to the local bookstore for the next one.

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