Caliphate by Kratman

Which would be a blatant violation of Free Speech.

Let's see if that arguement works when trying to get a six figure publishing deal for a trilogy about a man who does nothing but eat cheetos for seven hundred pages.

This has nothing to do with free speech, it's about why the hell anyone would rather pay to publish drek like this over the works of better writers.
 
It annoys me to no end that stuff like this got published (and is no doubt making Kratman a rich man in royalties) and good writers who deserve to get published keep getting rejection letters.

Like you, for example. I think that your writing is worthy of publishing (and I'm not just toadying to my religion's Messiah, either), while this kratman guy simply isn't.

This has nothing to do with politics, but everything to do with quality. What I think is happening is that the editors for Kratman and other politically-motivated writers support their views, and do a bad job of editing them, simply because they support other conservative/liberal/pastafarian/select appropriate writers. Did that make any sense? I'll rephrase it, if necessary.
 
As I said before, Caliphate is a terrible book. Kratman took the worst elements of 16th century Ottoman Empire, combined them with the worst elements of the modern third world, and then smeared them across Europe. It's a ridiculously poor fit. I mean, teh evil Muslims are using Janissaries, ferchristake. And AKs! For that matter, for a novel called Caliphate I don't seem to ever recall seeing an actual caliph, or anything close. It's just bad.
 

norm4064

Banned
Caliphate

Great book.
Shows what COULD happen if current policies of LIBERAL think continue. What I got out of this is the only thing better than a dead moslem is 300 million of them.
 
Great book.
Shows what COULD happen if current policies of LIBERAL think continue. What I got out of this is the only thing better than a dead moslem is 300 million of them.
What? No, wanting entire groups of people to die is a bad thing. Hell, even if they want you dead (not that hardly all Muslims want that- just ask one) you tolerate them and quietly subvert their values until they're just like you, instead of confronting them and delaying any cultural assimilation attempts by flaring up old ethnic and religious identities.
 
Great book.
Shows what COULD happen if current policies of LIBERAL think continue. What I got out of this is the only thing better than a dead moslem is 300 million of them.

Out comes the Banhammer......

Son, let me tell you one of the things about this site. Talking about such things gets you tossed out of here, pronto.
 

Ian the Admin

Administrator
Donor
Plus since Baen writes a lot of military science fiction it is going to seem conservative. Of course a liberal utopia (besides being impossible and probabably dangerous) would be boring. War is interesting peace isn't.

I think that's a reflection of you more than anything else. The great majority of fiction has nothing to do with war. Even "action" stuff is usually about personal level conflict rather than actual war.
 
Wasn't Kratman the one who wrote that book with lesbian President Definitely Not Hillary who persecuted all the god-fearing nonsocialists and enacted sharia law and booga booga?
 

TelClaven

Banned
Yeah, I'm pretty hardcore conservative. Surprise, I know.

I found Caliphate under a chair in an airport waiting "lounge". Read it during my fifteen freaking hour layover (stupid plane, having an engine fall off or some such).

I have to say. Ugg. I had to finish it. It was like watching a train wreck in slow motion. I liked the fighting in the Philippines part. That's it. On the ground combat was kinda interesting, jungle warfare just suckeths. Everything else was a circle jerk of conservative fantasy - don't get me wrong, a little is okay, but that was WWWAAAAAYYYY too much.

Ditto for Centurian. Can't believe I actually purchased that one. this guys is def off my author list.
 

Susano

Banned
Of course a liberal utopia (besides being impossible and probabably dangerous) would be boring. War is interesting peace isn't.
Sorry, but I don't care about an authors politics. But I do hate it when they make everyone act ways that make their politics fit in.

Greg Egan, China Mieville, Charles Stross, Alistair Reynolds, etc etc - read them!
 
We had a fellow calling himself nationalsocialist once...


The only interesting part of the book is that by no stretch of the imagination can the US as presented be seen as the good guy, and I'm surprised his fellow conservatives haven't attacked Kratman over that.
 
We had a fellow calling himself nationalsocialist once...


The only interesting part of the book is that by no stretch of the imagination can the US as presented be seen as the good guy, and I'm surprised his fellow conservatives haven't attacked Kratman over that.

Ah, but they will simply see that anything that the US does is good, simply because the US does it. JIngoistic bastards.
 
I think that's a reflection of you more than anything else. The great majority of fiction has nothing to do with war. Even "action" stuff is usually about personal level conflict rather than actual war.


Well of course that is true. I was talking about military science fiction which the better parts of involve interactions of the characters. The manly men doing manly things (or basicly a Gears of War type of book) would not appeal to me at all.
What I meant about most military science fictions books being conservative (or at least seeming conservative) is that for a war to happen usually someone wants war. Now personally if I would much rather live in a peaceful world but a military science fiction book without a war would probably have no point.
I do personnally prefer military science fiction not because I am a war hawk but because I like the alt history aspects of them. The 15 or so series that are basicly redone Horatio Hornblower are a prime example. Some I like a lot like the HH books. Some are really stupid. Of course sometimes I have to look up what Nelson did instead of Hornblower because of this. I also like the dork aspect (as long as it doesn't detract from the plot). Plus I like the political aspects as long as it makes sense and doesn't become an "author on board" scenario.
Which is why Kratman, Ringo, and Flint (there are others but they are the ones that stick out the most to me at least) bother me.
 
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