Zenith destroyed my hopes and dreams, I guess

[@themannaking]

Okay, James, I've been watching you for years now. Every time I hear the introduction song, the song, "Story of a Girl" plays in my head but with the introduction song lyrics. It just fits so well and I needed to finally say it.

[@JamesTullos]

This is it. The best comment I'll ever get.

[@ChaseMcCain81]

@@JamesTullos, cool.

[@SpektralJo]

Maybe I make Remix of the intro song

[@ShadowWolf1307]

@@SpektralJo please do!

[@johannageisel5390]

@@JamesTullos Btw. the book IS listed as "The Andromeda Saga" on a couple of websites, for example on German Amazon. So you're not the only one who got this wrong.

[@skyblade7438]

The fact that everyone in this book has chronic nightmares is a metaphor for the nightmare of actually reading the book.

[@poankiyu7664]

Deep

[@jaffarebellion292]

If I had a nickel for every sci-fi ship called "The Marauder", I could afford another sci-fi book with a ship called "The Marauder".

[@frostyenderman13]

The young protagonists have too much backstory. Or, in DnD terms, a level 20 backstory for a level 1 character

[@Mario_Angel_Medina]

If the authors at least gave us an explanation about why they can have such a complex past at such a young age it would be tolerable (maybe these elite warriors are trained from birth and enhanced with hormones to accelerate their puberty or something so an 18-years-old veteran is kinda common among them)... but like James said, the book left unexplained the things it should explain while overexplaining thing it shouldn't

[@racoon2623]

“the bloody baroness” hey that sounds like that thing from harry potter “the ship was called the marauder” _hey_

[@klaudiaosmalek6105]

Yeees that's what i was thinking!

[@daneymcpane]

The opposite of Deus ex Machina is Diabolus ex Machina ; "The introduction of an unexpected new event, character, ability, or object designed to ensure that things suddenly get much worse for the protagonists, much better for the villains." According to Google

[@AaronRotenberg]

@Doofus Unlike deus ex machina, sudden unexpected complications are common in good stories. It helps if they are foreshadowed at least a little bit though. E.g. the structure of every heist story: protagonists plan; protagonists arrive at place; protagonists' plan is disrupted or find out it won't work and have to improvise.

[@Sarah-eh7bw]

IMO not a horrible trope by itself, but most writers frankly don’t have the skills to pull it off well

[@mycroftwatson6441]

REAL LIFE is full of Diabolus ex machina, so it's a realistic plot device to work with. Things always can get worse in our world too (but how many times are you saved miraculously?). The issue is when authors just drop a Diabolus ex machina because they're stuck in writing, so they spice things up by random drama in lukewarm situations.

[@crowravencorvenrow]

@Digicraftmon the Crystal Gem From what I've heard, no. That was built up over the course of the original series.

[@crowravencorvenrow]

@Digicraftmon the Crystal Gem *Shrug* I wouldn't know, I only watched/enjoyed the original series.

[@Stairdweller]

I'm sorry about your hopes and dreams James but your hair has gotten really nice.

[@slowmotionwriting8714]

Yeah, I was surprised how good it looked this time.

[@mr.l5071]

Yeah, his hair is nice.

[@shizzleblitz]

Priorities, clearly.

[@slip4009]

It looks so good

[@russellcunningham2781]

Agreed, great hair

[@josemartin2211]

Eh, them being all women could all be cicumstance, we wouldn't question the reason for an all dude crew. Them not having a real rhyme or reason for teaming up is an issue though

[@Dani-ww4dy]

Yeah I agree

[@johannageisel5390]

That's true.

[@robbomegavlkafenryka6158]

I’d question why four dudes were the only crew on a “civilian” ship when there isn’t any real reason why they are together.

[@josemartin2211]

@@robbomegavlkafenryka6158 yes, but the weird bit would be them being together randomly not being four dudes

[@robbomegavlkafenryka6158]

@@josemartin2211 it’s because mixed crews tend to have high morale levels (fornication) and ships are extremely cramped and people who don’t have some level of positive relationship don’t tend to last very long in tight conditions. If it were a mixed crew, or at least established that they were gay or bi, I’d be able to go “oh, so they probably just bang to help deal with the conditions” but no.

[@OsirisLord]

Better example of sword fighting in space opera is Dune. In that universe portable, personal energy shields are cheap and common. They work by propelling objects away at the same velocity that the strike the field, so they deflect bullets. They also have this strange quirk of quantum mechanics where if the energy field collides with a laser it creates a nuclear explosion. As a result of them making conventional firearms useless and laser weapons a war crime, close quarter fighting became the most effective way to fight shields because you could move a blade slow enough to get through the shield. There is even an entire style of knife dueling where you fight with two blades, a fast blade to distract your foe and a slow blade that bypasses the shield while they are distracted.

[@mshaqed2538]

Ah, dune, a book which starts its plot after about half of the book is already done.

[@Piromanofeliz]

@@mshaqed2538 oh boy, the sequel is worse (I actually liked Dune btw)

[@etienneleroi9515]

Dune is incredible

[@Mechsrule1]

There is a reasonable reason to not use guns on spaceships. You could put a hole in the hull and then everyone dies. Shame this book didn't think of that.

[@DeathsHood]

You can plug holes in space ships with your finger, if need be. There's only a 1 atmosphere difference between the inside and the outside of the ship. It's re-entry that becomes the problem, because that hole would be the weak spot in thermal shielding that rips your craft apart.

[@Mechsrule1]

@@DeathsHood Have you ever seen what happens in an airplane where there is decompression from a rupture? Not good. I assume a space ship would not fall apart as easily but still, it would pull about everyone as the air escapes.

[@DeathsHood]

@@Mechsrule1 The danger from aircraft depressurization due to rupture is the violent tearing from the air outside the craft, given that it's moving at hundreds of miles per hour when said rupture occurs. There is no such air in space to move at such speed, so the only force is the atmosphere inside the craft rushing out. It's only going to do that until a rough equilibrium is reached, or you jam a hunk of gum/tape into the hole and repressurize the spacecraft. Your ears may pop, and some papers may get ruffled, but the pressure difference between space and space-craft is the same as the difference between the surface of water, and a few meters down. Approximately 14psi. Stick some flex-tape over it and sail on, captain! Just don't try to land in an atmosphere until the thermal insulation is fixed...

[@CN-yb5gn]

@@DeathsHood I know this is from 8 months ago, but the main danger is the superheated outside conducting heat via air to the inside, boiling everyone, with the gum likely liquefying in a matter of seconds anyway

[@glinrenkrenko9613]

@@DeathsHood The pressure difference is equivalent to pretty exactly 10 m of water column. Flex tape may be able to hold if for maybe finger sized holes, but for everything larger you need some very strong tape. And explosive depressurization is responsible for some pretty gruesome plane accidents: The Ermenonville Disaster or Aloha Airlines Flight 243 come to mind. Especially note the forces occurring in both cases: In Ermenonville the rushing air was able to break the support structure for the aisle, in the case of Aloha 243 the air was probably able to suck out a human. Some reconstructions of Aloha 243 even assume that the initial hole was shortly plugged leading to a shock phenomenon similar to a water hammer that ripped of the rest of the roof.

[@runningcommentary2125]

"Zenith? Never heard of- Oh? It's the 'hope is a raging asshole' book? Oh yeah, that one. I know about that book."

[@EvilDickism]

Excuse me what?

[@guessmyname1246]

I need context

[@helloill672]

Hope as in the concept of hope, or is that just a character called Hope?

[@junechevalier]

It's funnier without context. Like is hope the name of a certain individual's literal asshole? Who knows

[@depressedpigeon1257]

"Hope is a raging asshole" is I believe a direct quote from the book if remember correctly

[@larissas706]

13:40 The word for a group of poly people in a relationship is polycule.

[@emilyrln]

I propose the term "forespotlighting" for obvious foreshadowing. Also, I love your shirt.

[@smergthedargon8974]

How about "foreclipsing", if it's meant to be a far-too-obvious shadow?

[@emilyrln]

@@smergthedargon8974 ooh, nice!

[@SoulDigester]

It sounds like the authors just took ALL the story beats and tropes they likes and then pulled it all together with no overarching plan for all those things they like

[@Tenebrio_molitor1]

We should all appreciate how James read the "My leg!" line. He didn't have to, but he did. I salute you.

[@robopope7584]

The amazing voice work is at 45:20

[@UmbraKrameri]

Severe burns are a little bit different from other scars in the sense that they actually never heal completely, or rather never stop healing themselves. There is an upper limit of how big a percentage of the body's surface can heal by itself and how much additional surface can be safely grafted. If someone has burns on bigger skin surface than that ( I believe it's problematic around/over 60%), they just kind of leave the rest as it is. But it is basically scar tissue at this point that tries to close itself up, so those areas will keep shrinking over time. Without constant medical intervention, those areas of burnt skin can overstretch and tear. Probably the authors wanted to depict something like that, they just didn't really do their homework/ didn't care enough to explain properly and thought they might get away with it. ^^;

[@roguepsykerhaaker4813]

huh, good to know

[@chickenfoot2423]

i know its an old video but i was about to comment this. burn victims may have to wear compression garments for years from what ive been told

[@UmbraKrameri]

@@chickenfoot2423 It depends on the size and the placement of the burns, some of them need to keep wearing them all their lives and need surgeries every couple years to fix the places where the skin shrank too much.

[@laurasalo6160]

I suffered severe frostbite on my feet and i didnt even know that! You just explained why it feels like im wearing tight socks, indefinitely. And why my pain never really lessens. I had not considered this in 19 years! Thank you, genuinely. 😀

[@UmbraKrameri]

@@laurasalo6160 Wow, you're very welcome! I'm so happy to hear that this little scientific tangent gave useful information to you about your condition. Although I have to add that in your case, it is likely that there is an element of permanent nerve damage as well, which likely adds to the discomfort/pain you experience.

[@mushroomshrub]

You kinda glossed over the authors which like, fair, but also I feel obligated to point out that Sasha Alsberg got herself in a lot of hot water towards the end of last year for a) travelling repeatedly during a pandemic, b) selling ARCs and c) forging Sarah J Maas' signiture and selling it. The first one is genuinely terrible, the second a faux pas of debatable importance, and the third is just very, very funny.

[@KamenRiderFeline]

That goes from criminally dumb to just dumb.

[@---rm8do]

What are ARCs?

[@bengisumolyer7310]

@@---rm8do advanced reader copy

[@ARMYALEX1869]

Who's sarah j maas?

[@bengisumolyer7310]

@@ARMYALEX1869 very popular YA author known for throne of glass and a court of thorns and roses

[@RocknRoll301199]

"If I found out that somehow I'm the heir to the throne of France, no one would give a shit cause they don't have a monarchy for a very long time" Oh boy, you should really come to Brazil

[@Strannik01]

Brazil had an emperor who, from what I understand, was generally liked, though.

[@RocknRoll301199]

@@Strannik01 damn that was response was fast, LOL. But no, the "emperor" wasn't that liked, the people didn't hate him like the Tsars or the French monarchy, but he didn't had the support to keep in charge after the army and the church stopped supporting him. Also, Monarchy is an obsolet and archaic form of government and honestly it's sad that there's people who defend a return to this kind of bs

[@Strannik01]

@@RocknRoll301199 Thank you for clearing it up. My knowledge of Brazilian history is, to put mildly, not the best, and at least now I know better.

[@maxthepaladin2147]

Noo, I don't want to go to Brazil! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

[@analupelosi3319]

alguém me tira daqui

[@LittleGoblinBoi]

This is the kind of stuff I subscribed to this channel for, videos about horrible books whih take 1,5 hours!

[@JeevesAnthrozaurUS]

38:44 "But it was the survivors who had to continue battling, even after the fight was over" Ah yes, people die when they are killed, but also life hard

[@firstlast8090]

That line sounds ok to me? If the line was in a better book it'd be enjoyed better

[@florette95]

@@firstlast8090 I don't like that line because it makes it seem like it's worse to have to continue fighting than dying. Also, kinda duh, the dead aren't going to continue fighting...

[@242nicolas]

@@florette95 the line doesn't seem all that bad to me, although it's weird/overly edgy that a person in their 20s would be this jaded and or depressed

[@plaguedoctor2882]

(Video starts) His shirt: *Exists* Me: Off to a great start, I see

[@DuelistKoi93]

I can't quite make out the bottom text, but yes.

[@strategicgamingwithaacorns2874]

Fuck secessionists.

[@tezatheboffin2184]

@@DuelistKoi93 "The only confederate flag that matters" I've seen the meme ;)

[@mr.froglegs]

@Wind Rose it really isn't bad or good, that really depends on a lot of things in the scenario why an area would succeed.

[@3rdgilmoregirl585]

sasha alsberg practically raised me, in middle school i watched her videos, every. single. day. so when the zenith preview came out (at that point it was just the first few chapters, and they were still trying to get it published) i was so disappointed and didn't understand why people were saying it was good? also because of this book's success she kind of stopped posting booktube content and turned more into an *author* youtube account. So safe to say, this book ruined my childhood.

[@Cgriff512]

The more James Tullos reviews I watch, the safer I feel about my own writing project, though I’m sure my time to get grilled will come.

[@roguepsykerhaaker4813]

it's been 3 months, how's it coming along?

[@starpaladinnelaj]

Its been 7 months. I hope its going well

[@jimjimson6208]

No idea if you're still writing but don't give up even if you do get grilled

[@theflyingspaget]

I can't wait till your time comes.

[@des4929]

Yea same

[@industrialalliance9905]

Read Empress Theresa and you'll cry yourself to sleep

[@eliasbischoff176]

64-squares is apparently even worse

[@oddeyes9413]

Krimson Rogue's video was like 7hrs. It was insane.

[@naanmelon7386]

I would actually not want James to review it. For his sake more than ours

[@robbomegavlkafenryka6158]

@@oddeyes9413 it wasn’t a video, it was a full on series.

[@eliasbischoff176]

@Joseph Douek please help

[@danadau.365]

I agree with most of the problems you have with the book, except for the "why is the crew all-women?" part, which really bothered me. I don't think this is something that would need to be justified in a way, it could be that all of the crew Androma hired just happen to be women (chance works in funny ways), it could be that women are more interested in working with 'Bloody Baroness' than men, it doesn't matter, there doesn't have to be some matriarchal conspiracy for there to be more than two-three women in any given band/crew. Plus, there a many all-men crews in fiction, and hardly anyone questions that, same goes for the lone-woman trope when in a band of 5-7 people there is only one female character, and I doubt this would make you as apprehensive as an all-women crew.

[@nicholasdalli6303]

Someone else with the same criticism thank you, I feel like it's just an unconcscious bias on his part, but yeah I wouldn't think of anything if it were an all-male crew - in a future world with many more years/centuries what have you of feminism I would assume it just becomes standard to have gender-one-sided associations regardless of the gender at question to become a norm as much as gender parity schemes.

[@harry_ord]

I think it was brought up because it is not common and often comes with some reasoning behind it. Edit: Not that there needs to be a justification just often there's the expectation of one because it isn't common.

[@pinkyylemon]

I agree with you but I feel like half the point was that you hardly know anything about how they ended up together but were it an all male cast he would have had that point as a 'why do we learn nothing about how they end up here together' instead of putting the focal point on that they're all women which for a 4 person cast really isn't that unlikely

[@harry_ord]

​@@pinkyylemon If that message was to me. I think we're agreeing. If it was men the criticism you wrote in quotes would remain.

[@applestrudeldoo7645]

Reminds me of that study where they would show a cast of mostly men and one or two women and ask men how they viewed the representation and they would say it was ‘equal’. Then they made the cast half women, half men and men would perceive that there were ‘too many women’. It’s the overall media representation. Men have just been in bigger roles with more parts than women, it’s changing but slowly and there are lots of people who just didn’t grow up seeing themselves a lot in media or are too used to seeing themselves as the default.

[@JordanHarveybooks]

Oh my, I really thought I was done with this book like 3 years ago, but somehow you've got me psyched to relive it for a whole hour and a half

[@JordanHarveybooks]

Okay, so I'm loving this review, but one thing I will say is this: There really doesn't need to be a justification as to why the crew is all women. There's rarely, if ever, a justification as to why crews are mostly or all men.

[@NapaCat]

@@JordanHarveybooks Yup... I read Zenith and despite its abysmallity, I felt that the four girls being together made sense

[@NapaCat]

Nexus was compelling at parts but was just awful in general.

[@wickedwanderess]

dude, you're like a younger version of Krimson Rogue and I am living for it.

[@micuu1]

How did two people manage to write a book that long while being that shallow and undescriptive? How? What is actually on those pages?

[@mergesviz]

Shoddy metaphors by the looks of it

[@Rivenlore99]

I know! I don’t get it

[@llamaniaman4002]

Most likely not communicating properly and being afraid to take risks and stray away from eachothers supposed writing styles.

[@PhileasLiebmann]

This day just went from tolerable to great.

[@erlanddrow7950]

I'm not sure why I'm laughing now at the thought of the Queen going "Hey, you kidnapped my son. That's an act of war, kind of."

[@Pikachugecko]

"Have you ever tried to carry an unconscious person?" Speaking from experience, James?

[@minez5628]

Sounds a lot like a bad self-insert fanfic of Mass Effect.

[@confusedcabal342]

This feels like Jupiter Ascending crossed with the Hunger Games, and not in a good way.

[@ethicalcheeze1407]

Jupiter Ascending is the shit

[@screee77cat83]

Loving the shirt James!

[@eliasbischoff176]

Don't know if I'm swinging at a hornets nest here, but your shirt made me laugh

[@yvaerosreaver9278]

I feel like a cool explanation for using melee weapons on ships is maybe using guns would create hull breaches and wouldnt be optimal for trying to capture someone alive,

[@fallencrow6718]

There are bullets made for shooting inside planes that will kill you but won't go through the hull so...

[@yvaerosreaver9278]

@@fallencrow6718 I mean but that isnt as cool though lol

[@gutza1782]

1:18:28 According to TV Tropes the term is "Diabolus Ex Machina."

[@larrackell]

I have never heard Space Opera described specifically that way, and I think that's my new favorite way to explain it.

[@gingerkatherina]

James spoiling us with a super long rant is giving me the will to endure the rest of this week ❤️

[@alburqueniense2442]

Fresh video just when I'm about to start to wash the dishes? Perfect timing.

[@milchreis9554]

I also do my chores when I play James's videos. Is it a mood?

[@giovanac4820]

@@milchreis9554 it is a mood

[@roosh5149]

@@milchreis9554 it's absolutely a mood

[@firewolfandrewb]

The all-female crew doesn't really need a justification, especially since no such justification would be expected of an all-male crew.

[@luciachayes]

Not trying to detract from your point, cause I agree with the point you're making, but I think there would definitely be criticism for an all-male space crew. I know it would certainly stick out to me and be a bit strange. Even the original Star Trek, as dated and problematic as it is, had female characters.

[@OsirisLord]

I've long decided to stop really caring about the politics of representation. IMO if an author wants to have their characters be the way they are they have every right to do so and they don't need to justify shit to the audience, especially if the work takes place inside the author's own constructed setting. The company of Thorin Oakenshield from the Hobbit consisted of 15 men, so if this ship is a crew of four women, okay cool.

[@luciachayes]

@@OsirisLord The phrase 'I don't care about the politics of representation' is quite the loaded phrase. I've seen it used in response to critiques of many forms of media (and may different kinds of "representation"), so allow me to reason as to why I think it is actually a lot more important than you may think: The representation of marginalised communities is important in media to normalise them as people, as opposed to "the other". For women, this means representing us as something more than just eye candy for men and giving us agency within the confines of the story, and thus, reality. Media does not exist within a vacuum and including or excluding certain peoples or types of people has real world, lasting consequences, as with poor representation. I think proper representation should be the priority of all writers, as the alternative leaves us with an unrealistic story that reinforces certain ideas of "normality" we don't see in reality.

[@ninafloyd18]

@@luciachayes I understand and agree to some degree with what you are saying, but would you then categorise The Hobbit as misogynistic? Would a modern retelling of the Hobbet demand a half female cast? But then we're leaving out POC's and LGBT community. What I'm getting at is, with fantasy and to a lesser degree sci-fi the rules don't apply the same. So where do we draw the line?

[@mms2855]

@@luciachayes oh my god learn to be more concise. no need to write the bible on some youtube comments.

[@nitrocharge2404]

Normally I avoid hour and a half reviews, but I actively seek yours out, and have been for a good couple years now

[@gingerkatherina]

As you should 😌

[@logamuffin3876]

"I've never read something this dense with mistakes" Oh boy just wait till you read Empress Theresa

[@Emma-sj6wp]

That might actually break him lol.

[@vedantthapar3666]

Why would you wish that on anyone?

[@Dani-ww4dy]

King of great t-shirts and great videos

[@lookalivebrett]

I've been digesting your content for a while now on the advice of a friend and it's made me a better writer. You're also super entertaining and I dig the fashion sense, ha.

[@Eanso-706]

I leave for a few months and everything is different

[@saturnalia9220]

Loving the hair James, you look great!

[@delmattia96]

I am at 28.53 and will share my opinion on the topic. Could it be the book never got edited? The fact that the crew's description just seemed to mention the core concepts, the fact that concepts like Specter and Guardian were not expanded, all remind me of my worldbuilding/story notes. Maybe they went on with publication without completing the work? Just a feeling.

[@Wh00000]

It should be noted that in Star Wars most of the weapons appear to be energy weapons of some kind, so Jedi are often deflecting energy with energy in a direct fight. Most people don’t use real bullets anymore because Jedi can just stop those with the Force.

[@sydneyparker7150]

Guns with metal bullets being called “slugthrowers” in Star Wars is my favorite defunct EU lore

[@MrMoustouche]

@@sydneyparker7150 I believe slug throwers are still canon, cos the tusken raiders rifles are slug throwers, they're bullets coated in laser so the laser deflects then the jedi gets a hot face of molten lead

[@hidden_games7099]

Love the stuff, but I kinda disagree on the point about needing to have a justification for them to be all women. While it might be better if there was one line about it, I doubt many would notice it if it was all guys. I'm not trying to claim you meant anything bad by that, but I think that one was a bad take.

[@dragonlord0784]

yeah, the point he made stuck out like a sore thumb in otherwise a really good video. You dont really need an in story explanation for why a team of people in a story is all men, so why is it weird if its all women? It doesnt make any sense

[@andrewjennings7306]

@@dragonlord0784 I guess because men were/are more likely to go on adventures and shit than women, so people expect men to be there but not so much women.

[@d.c.beckendorff1323]

Depends on the context for me. In a maritime ship crew in a past setting, an all-male crew wouldn’t be strange at all. In a futuristic sci-fi setting like this, I actually would find it a bit weird if the crew of a large ship were all men. Not saying a same-gender crew is implausible or anything, but I don’t think his take was bad: it would be better with some explanation, even if it were just implied.

[@kilgour22]

James' point is that there should probably be a reason for having an all-x crew, but this in no way implies that he wouldn't say the same thing about all men, as he does in Battlefield Earth. Further, whether one notices this homogeneity is irrelevant to the argument James is making, which is centred on justifying a decision that, on its own merit, doesn't make much sense. And James goes on to provide examples of how a homogenous cast can be justified. Homogeneity is what he's criticizing, which has nothing to do with which gender is selected.

[@hidden_games7099]

@@andrewjennings7306 The issue is that there is no proof of that. That uses stupid gender roles thinking, which isnt good. gals do just as much dangerous shit as guys do.

[@MrSamthefan]

I absolutely love your shirt.

[@lucasmarsh8068]

one of my favourite character's name is Zenith and I just clicked automatically (btw I love your content, keeps me going during tough days, big kudos)

[@gasmonkey1000]

I tried taking a shot every time an edgy thing was said in that book. I have a horrible hangover

[@treekangaroo.7691]

james i dare you to wear that shirt in rural alabama

[@hidden_games7099]

best shirt ever

[@JamesTullos]

I have family in Louisiana, I'll bring it with me the next time I see them.

[@dovelyy]

@@JamesTullos expecting pics or it didn't happen

[@amberwingtundrawing776]

I have a horrible memory but I knew I recognized the cover. I started reading this book in 2019 and never finished it. I only got up to chapter 7 before I got bored but luckily it was a library book so I didn't waste any money

[@jaamitasn1617]

this book would be so much better with some found family trope mixed in

[@allmylovers1]

I have a feeling that first draft was fantasy YA from 2018 pirate craze.

[@mahrinui18]

Missed opportunity to call Dex's crew Dex's Midnight Runners.

[@violenciarivas7797]

man your hair looks SO good, really flattering

[@gorkamorka41m84]

You should check out Daniel Greene's book when it comes out. Maybe it will finally break the youtuber book curse.

[@JamesTullos]

I will, don't worry.

[@roosh5149]

One bookseries by an ex-youtuber I quite like are the rosewood chronicles by Connie Glynn. It basically applies to two of my soft spots: royalty (it's fun in literature, imo) and boarding schools. I haven't read the last book yet, but the villain's motivations are interesting (yet a bit unknown) and have an opening to some seriously interesting ones. The name of the group he leads are the leviathan, I hope the author will go into it, and take that turn. (though the villain is a bit of a mystery figure, i guess a la voldemort) Anyhow, it may not be your cup of tea, but I enjoy them quite a bit. On a youtuber book scale, these books are just very neat. Sorry for the ramble, haha

[@dabwiso784]

I heard Lindsay Ellis' book is good but I guess she's not a booktuber. Same with the Green brothers.

[@whosaidthat84]

@@dabwiso784 she's definitely a booktuber. I read the sample in Kindle. It was okay, better than most youtuber books, but nothing special.

[@cookiebrain718]

I don’t trust Daniel Green after the ass licking he gave Brent Weeks over his horrible last Lightbringer book. Seriously, that book was the disappointment of the decade.

[@Taschenschieber]

I love the t-shirt.

[@nadeshikobeauty]

Omfg I've been so ready for this LEEETS GOOOOOOOO 💜💜💜💜 LOVE ALL YOUR VIDS! Absolutely love your shirt btw ✊🏻

[@pavelZhd]

22:48 The use of swords reminded me of another books where a neat explanation was given for this. The explanation amounted to all the small arms projectiles and beams being also affected by ship deflector shields. So if you fire a gun while the ship shields are up - and this is going to be the case diring most boarding actions - you have no idea how the projectile is going to go. So rather than risking to shoot yourself or your allies, everyone switched to using melee weapons during boarding actions.

[@natedodge7538]

They're trying to make the main characters backstory like Guts from Berserk but that made sense, this is just edge for the sake of edge and complexity

[@KamiRecca]

"Why do you know what your sister smells like?" Doppleganger-war.

[@alaaraad1936]

Finally got to see your hair in all it’s glory.

[@springshowers4754]

love the shirt btw

[@katharinafisher394]

Love the subtle background music you play when you read a passage. Makes it so much nicer.

[@gregoryk.6986]

Specter huh? The council will let anyone be a specter nowadays I guess

[@engelhaust]

loving the long hair and style james

[@Mecharnie_Dobbs]

51:39 "Dex's actions are sanitized." 52:18 "Dex's actions are morally ambiguous."

[@Jumbo_Chisel_Tip]

Ah, now I see what all the berets were for. Nice hair dawg 👌🏽

[@frostkiss2]

This may be totally inappropriate to say but that hairstyle really suits you, looking handsome!

[@FlareonSky]

The switching POVs.... the uncoordinated storytelling of two authors... the overly dramatic backstories and repetitive plot... honest to god question was this an RP that got novelized? I've read fanfics that were just uploaded RPs and they had that same vibe

[@CSRaeburn]

Me: Cas, you need to listen to New Moon so you can write a script for a video about audiobook narration. James: **uploads video**

[@JM-mh1pp]

Headgunner? His main job is gunning for people's heads.

[@insertcheesypunhere]

thank you for that shirt

[@poke-charlie]

the only literature with the title “zenith” that i respect is the poem by genghis swan

[@jopearson6321]

I'll be honest, I enjoyed that excerpt you read at 9:00, but then I very much like Linkin Park. Perhaps having a 14-year bout of severe depression increased my tolerance for angst because I can recall that level of self-loathing. Just another data point I guess about how things hit differently for different people.

[@SteveClr]

Without having seen the video I can already tell this is the type of content I subscribe for!

[@noneofyourbusiness3288]

oh man, 1.5h rant ? COUNT ME IN ! ^^

[@alymoose53]

10 minutes in and by gods, the prose. It's so... purple. So... melodramatic.

[@SimonClarkstone]

1:34:07 I found _Horse Destroys The Universe_ to be pretty good, but that's by a KZbinr who is known for working on things for a long time between releases (Cyriak).

[@lizabethhampton4537]

James rocking the quarantine hair cut telling us about bad books.

[@Brynwyn123]

The video has only just started so before I have my will to live lowered I just want to say you really suit your hair like this, it looks great on you

[@cryptikkcries]

finally. sustenance. will listen to this while I cook

[@Dani-ww4dy]

Also, I'm sorry about your friend ❤️

[@skalliedA]

James, that shirt is ON POINT :D

[@judyliang237]

Love the new hair!

[@feedmyego8588]

“Each of his gloves” does he have multiple gloves on or is it coming from his knuckles

[@cloudypie9466]

may i just say that your shirt, good sir, is top tier.

[@jeremiasremix]

the dumping bodies part was exactly what told me that "The 100" show would be a lazy young teenage garbage back in the day.

[@aj_814]

how does one go to write a book and start writing and get through all that writing without putting in a bit of exposition and worldbuilding?? like how do you write something with zero explanation and think "yeah this is good" and then go to edit and revise and read your paragraph that doesn't explain book-specific terms that would be a great gateway into some worldbuilding and still think "yeah this is good"??? i genuinely don't get how this book made it to publishing in the form that it's in.

[@theOnlydillweed1]

Ok this is quite possibly the best thing I have watched on book tube in a real long time

[@echomikoart]

I like that you add german text to the thumbnail! I don't know which country the majority of your audience is from, but being used to see almost exclusively english reviewers it's really nice to see for me. I know German well enough to read it but I have difficulty understanding the more complex words so i'm never confident to read books in german or listen to reviews. Idk the german text is almost eye candy to me ^^ btw my father is german but I grew up in Italy, basically all my german knowlegde comes from me going to my gramps (usually once a year) and occasionally speaking with my dad in the language. and cartoons- I grew up watching german cartoons. I never had proper education in german so that's why I'm not confident with it. still, really appreciate the lil nuggets! they really add to the tone of the review!

[@anjetto1]

Would it need an explanation if the crew were all men?

[@anjetto1]

@Doofus that's fine

[@DeathsHood]

Yes, it would. In-world explanations for things matter, even if only to add characterization. In the all-male example: are they military? If so; is the military all-male? If so; why? Are they criminals? If so; what brought them all together? Their criminality? Old bonds? Happenstance? World-building is important.

[@legionofyuri]

Sounds like somebody played some Mass Effect/KotOR and wanted to write a fanfiction of it.

[@wendyhan9727]

okay that vitriol for the generic dance festival/basically fantasy prom? whewwwwwww i feel you king

[@VikingBoyBilly]

@5:16 Playing with NASA's Eyes On Exoplanets app will change your mind about galaxy maps. I've never gotten such perspective of just how far apart from each other and how big/small things are to each other. It made me realize I can't even comprehend how much stuff is in the galaxy

[@elvingearmasterirma7241]

Ah something to upend the country vampire witch school! I never thought I'd see the day