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Post by q5tyhj on Mar 29, 2024 16:06:55 GMT
I just bought a Silmarillion and now I bought another. This time not a cheap one, but a deluxe version, illustrated by Ted Nasmith. He is my favorite Tolkien Illustrator, but alas, he didn't do many of Tolkien's books. This one is an absolute beauty. He did one earlier, but the new one has some new illustrations. That is what Ted always does. He is never satisfied with just a re-release and always tries to add something to it. The book and slipcase are orange and a lot of people don't like that color, but hey... I am Dutch, so it cannot be orange enough. Possibly my favorite book of all time. Certainly Tolkien's best work (sorry, it just is- fite my IRL if you disagree). And I also have two versions, a nice one and a cheapie one- I re-read it so frequently that I have a cheap paperback version for reading, and then a gorgeous hard-cover version that is just for show/looks. And Ted Naismith is great, I have a book that is just a collection of Tolkien illustrations (I forget the name of it but its like "the art of the world of Tolkien" or something to that effect) that has a ton of his work. He's consistently one of the best Tolkien illustrators, and that's saying something since there's some tough competition out there. ~~~ I've been in a bad reading lull, having stalled out in the middle of multiple books (After the Revolution, Children of Memory, Hail Mary Project, couple of non-fiction books) but lately I've been re-reading the Expanse since I finally got my mother to read the series and I wanted to refresh my memory so I can talk to her about it. But that got me back in the reading routine and so I've been reading a book I got for xmas that is just a collection of academic writings on the topic of the history and development of atheistic satanism: Interesting so far, I didn't realize that satanism had its intellectual roots in 18th-19th century French Catholic socialism, primarily as a purely literary figure who represents political and social emancipation and liberation. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, given the current political leanings and activities of the Satanic Temple (which are awesome and hilarious, fighting for religious freedom, trans rights, etc in very clever ways- check the news for some of their recent actions). Either way, super interesting stuff for anyone who has any interest/background in the sociology of religion or (just the history of ideas).
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Post by q5tyhj on Mar 29, 2024 16:09:21 GMT
Finished reading The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin. I'll be curious to hear what you think of the 2nd book, I really enjoyed the 1st book but had a hard time getting into the 2nd book, and sort of just stalled out and eventually moved on. But now that the Netflix adaptation is out and is so well-received I feel like I need to go back and finish the series so I can watch the show.
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Post by q5tyhj on Mar 29, 2024 16:10:49 GMT
I`m reading The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon. This one has been on my list for a while, how are you liking it?
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Post by q5tyhj on Mar 29, 2024 16:13:42 GMT
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Post by Iakus on Mar 29, 2024 18:10:35 GMT
Major Rodger Y. Murphy should have died when his helicopter crashed off the coast of Mogadishu in November, 1993. Instead, he woke up in August, 2125, in a binary star system 152 light years from home. Without any memory of the otherworldly abductors who spirited them away in cold sleep, Murphy and 100 other “Lost Soldiers” have been retrieved and awakened by officers of the Consolidated Terran Republic. Promising to return to the 55 Tauri B system after completing a distant mission, they leave the twentieth century castaways with a daunting objective: establish a base of operations on the main world, using local allies they have yet to recruit and enemy equipment they have yet to seize. If that weren’t hard enough, 55 Tauri A, the system’s primary star, is rapidly approaching, and the technologically superior powers from that neighboring system always visit during the close approach . . . to raid, pillage, and cull the locals. Worse, the Lost Soldiers left behind with Murphy were the losers and ne’er-do-wells deemed “sub-optimal” for inclusion on the rescue mission. Defiant and determined to live down that judgment, they have given themselves a different, more suitable label: Murphy’s Lawless
Note: this book incorporates six previous novellas and adds 40k of new worldbuilding from Charles E. Gannon that Caine Universe readers won't want to miss!
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Post by AngryFrozenWater on Mar 30, 2024 21:00:20 GMT
Today a number of books, which all have to do with Tolkien's artificial languages. The first book is called "A Secret Vice - Tolkien on Invented Languages" by J.R.R. Tolkien and edited by Dimitra Fimi and Andrew Higgins, released in 2016. If you have read the appendixes of Tolkien's "the Return of the King" then you know that he took his artificial languages very serious. He described several there and wrote about their alphabets, sounds and structures of some of those. In fact, the stories and mythology could not be written without these languages. "A Secret Vice" goes into more detail and uses Tolkien's source material, previously unreleased or released in other publications. This book gives insight in Tolkien's languages, but isn't a tutorial for any of these. The easiest to understand scripts are "Cirth" (Dwarven runes) and "Tengwar" (created by Fëanor). Initially Tolkien used those to write common English. Later he created Sindarin and others as separate languages using Tengwar. The second book is called "the Writing of Middle-earth" by H.L. Fourie, released in 2012. This small 81-page book is an introduction to the two scripts and their fonts. As the name suggests, it helps you to use these scripts and decipher them. The author appears to be a fan (not sure) and doesn't claim to be an expert. The book is easy to follow. The next two books are "Write English with Cirth - a Workbook for Dwarven Runes", released in 2021 and "Write English with Tengwar - a Workbook for English General Use", released in 2020. Both are written by Fiona Jallings, who has a BA in English-Linguistics. That shows and these two books (about 55-pages each) appear to be well written. The fifth book is "A Fan's Guide to Neo-Sindarin - a TextBook for the Elvish of Middle-earth", again by Fiona Jallings and this 358-page book was released in 2017. Tolkien never fully developed Sindarin and textbooks which claim to be a more or less full descriptions of the language call it "Neo-Sindarin", because these had to fill in the gaps that Tolkien left. Fiona is honest about this and thus you learn her interpretation of it. However, her variation seems to be well researched. She also has a website with additional resources: academy.realelvish.net. The sixth book is called "Sindarin-English and English-Sindarin Dictionary" by J.M. Carpenter, released in 2013. Note that this is from another branch of Neo-Sindarin, so depending on which one you are familiar with, it can slightly differ in details from the one you know. The last book is called "A Gateway to Sindarin - a Grammar of an Elvish Language from J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings" by David Salo, released in 2004. David Salo made a name for himself by working on the languages used in Peter Jackson's movies. However, Salo is not a specialist, nor a scholar, and a lot of this book is crap. Critics claim that he doesn't have the slightest idea what went into the language. Not recommended.
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Post by Iakus on Mar 30, 2024 22:38:20 GMT
Slayter has been given a terrible choice....
The dragon who destroyed the city of the dark elves has alighted in Usara. His plan? To incinerate the crown city.
He finds and forces Slayter into a game—an insidious choice that will glut the dragon’s hunger for suffering. It is a game only the dragon can win…
But Slayter outwits him.
The dragon vows revenge and sets in motion the prophesied conflict. Giants awaken in the land. The wheels of war begin to turn. Khyven, Lorelle, Rhenn, and Vohn all stand ready to fight, but it is five mortals against a horde of godlike beings. Only the most brilliant mind can pierce this impossible fog of war. Slayter is pushed to the forefront and must uncover the solution. But can he do it in time?
Or will darkness consume the lands at last?
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Little Pumpkin
Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Mass Effect Andromeda, Anthem, Mass Effect Legendary Edition
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Post by Beerfish on Apr 8, 2024 19:46:56 GMT
So I finished 'Memories Legion' the last bit of The Expanse series content. The volume of short stories. I really liked this book and found it very important to tie a number of things together from the novels.
I actually tried to purchase the complete tv series on amazon about a month ago but after buying it on dvd the order got cancelled by amzazon. I thought one might be able to purchase it on microsoft store but no such luck. I am not going to get a streaming service just for one show though so that is out. I'll just have to wait a bit and hopefully get the whole thing on dvd or blueray
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Post by dazk on Apr 8, 2024 22:00:39 GMT
In the meantime I have downloaded some Adrian Tchaikovsky books to read the first of which is: Dogs of War "Rex is a seven foot tall at the shoulder Dog, bulletproof, bristling with heavy calibre weaponry and his voice resonates with sub-sonics especially designed to instil fear. With Dragon, Honey and Bees, he's part of a Multiform Assault Pack operating in the lawless anarchy of Campeche, south-eastern Mexico.
Rex is a genetically engineered Bioform, a deadly weapon in a dirty war. He has the intelligence to carry out his orders and feedback implants to reward him when he does. All he wants to be is a Good Dog. And to do that he must do exactly what Master says and Master says he's got to kill a lot of enemies.
But who, exactly, are the enemies? What happens when Master is tried as a war criminal? What rights does the Geneva Convention grant weapons? Do Rex and his fellow Bioforms even have a right to exist? And what happens when Rex slips his leash?"It's entertaining if not overly complicated and I think is more like an exploration of ethics than anything else. So finished this and it is a hard book to review. Firstly and I guess most importantly I enjoyed it but the book felt a bit disjointed in its story and narrative. Maybe that's it but it was kind of like the author wanted to tell a story and try and also write an ethics essay into the rights of bioengineered animals. It cut from being a colourful story about an interesting character/characters to some investigative insight into something that to me seemed painfully obvious. Maybe I am just not quite intellectual enough to appreciate some of the points. Anyway discovered there is a second one which I am hoping will focus more on one or two of the main characters from the first but they have yet to actually appear in the second book: "Bear Head". "Following on from his novella Dogs of War, Adrian Tchaikovsky’s novel Bear Head is a brilliantly observed, drily funny and deeply grim science fiction story of biotech, artificial intelligence and political greed. Despite living on Mars, life for construction worker Jimmy Marten is pretty dull, but that changes when the digital awareness of Honey the bear takes up residence in his headspace wanting to make contact with her old friend Bees, the Distributed Intelligence who laid the foundations of Hellas Planitia (or Hell City, as the locals call it)"
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Post by AngryFrozenWater on Apr 11, 2024 15:36:17 GMT
This time it is about "the Maps of Middle-earth" by Brian Sibley and illustrated by John Howe, released today (the 11th of April, 2024) by HarperCollins. The US version was released two days earlier by William Morrow. Although Tolkien was interested in cartography, it was his son Christopher who usually made the ones we are familiar with. The large maps in this book are created by John Howe, based on their work. Although they are much smaller than those of John's in the earlier publications. Brian's text has doubled, compared to the previous edition, and this hardcover now has 160 pages. The book is richly illustrated by a black and white drawing on at least every other page. The text covers the history of the four maps in this book. - The Map of Middle-earth. - The Map of Wilderland. - The Map of Beleriand. - The Map of Númenor. The maps are beautiful and in full color, but they are simply shoved in the book and are not attached to it and nor do they have a sleeve to save them in. I think that is rather disappointing, considering the maps are the main attraction and the price of about 30 euros. Do you need this book? I don't think so, but it is a must for collectors. Usually Tolkien's books already contain one or more maps, which are attached to the books themselves, which makes their use more convenient. John Howe's maps don't add anything, except beauty. That is the main reason to buy this book. The book is beautiful, and has a great paper and print quality. If you want more detail and depth then there is only one alternative: Karen Wynn Fonstad's "Atlas of Tolkien's Middle-Earth", which I already praised a while back. I wish a new hardcover edition will be released of that book. That would be awesome.
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Post by Alfonsedode on Apr 11, 2024 19:30:23 GMT
In cold blood by T. Capote.
I should stop as the translation clearly sucks and is stealing the fun i could have had. Maybe i would nt have liked it much anyway. I m halfway. Might try to DL the english epub version.
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Post by Iakus on Apr 13, 2024 1:45:47 GMT
With his wedding behind him, Fred is looking forward to nightly life finally settling down. Unfortunately, someone from his past has other, far less peaceful, plans in mind.Finding his clan under attack, Fred must scramble to discover who is working against him and how to fight back. Between securing shelter, trading favors, and keeping up with his accounting business, it won’t be easy to stay out of trouble; let alone uncover the identity of his adversary.Faced with an enemy who has no interest in diplomacy, Fred and his friends will have to make hard choices if they want to survive. Choices that could forever change The House of Fred.I'm actually listening to the dramatized adaptation, which is pretty cool. Almost like listening to one of those old radio dramas.
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Post by Iakus on Apr 14, 2024 1:38:52 GMT
And reading: m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81RrgA7S9TL._SL1500_.jpgW hen you take the Emperor’s gold, you become the Emperor’s man.
For Colonel Mulbah Luo and the Kakata Korps, their initial contracts with the Mercenary Guild had them defending Earth. Honest work, they were led to believe, keeping the citizens of Earth safe from alien pacification in their own way. As the occupation continues, however, their eyes are opened to the fact that the hand gripping their throat is slowly tightening.
After an outside attempt to throw western Africa into unending civil war, the Kakata Korps must choose sides. Will they honor their oaths and fight their own people at the cost of their very souls? Or will the call of freedom—freedom from the Merc Guild—sway even the most hardened of souls?
The war for Earth rages on. The souls of a people hangs in the balance.
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Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Mass Effect Andromeda, Anthem, Mass Effect Legendary Edition
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XBL Gamertag: Beerfish77
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Post by Beerfish on Apr 20, 2024 23:10:49 GMT
Back to 18th Century Russian authors for a bit, just started this book. Started a wee bit slow but all of a sudden it is very intriguing.
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Post by Iakus on Apr 21, 2024 15:57:36 GMT
Now listening to m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91sBYYAUrmL._SY466_.jpgLos Angeles of 2039 is a baffling and bifurcated place. After the Collapse of 2028, a vast section of LA, the Disincorporated Zone, was disowned by the civil authorities, and became essentially a third world country within the borders of the city. Navigating the boundaries between DZ and LA proper is a tricky task, and there's no one better suited than eccentric private investigator Erasmus Keane. When a valuable genetically altered sheep mysteriously goes missing from Esper Corporation's labs, Keane is the one they call.
But while the erratic Keane and his more grounded partner, Blake Fowler, are on the trail of the lost sheep, they land an even bigger case. Beautiful television star Priya Mistry suspects that someone is trying to kill her - and she wants Keane to find out who. When Priya vanishes and then reappears with no memory of having hired them, Keane and Fowler realize something very strange is going on. As they unravel the threads of the mystery, it soon becomes clear that the two cases are connected - and both point to a sinister conspiracy involving the most powerful people in the city. Saving Priya and the sheep will take all of Keane's wits and Fowler's skills, but in the end, they may discover that some secrets are better left hidden.
Kroese's The Big Sheep is perfect for fans of Philip Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, Terry Pratchett's Guards! Guards!, and Scalzi's Old Man's War.Despite the title being a play on a Philip Marlowe book, the detectives ar emore of a Holmes and Watson team.
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Post by Iakus on Apr 21, 2024 15:59:39 GMT
Also reading: The invasion of Earth is a broken dream, a victim of Peepo’s ability to play the long game better than anyone thought possible.
With Alexis Cromwell shot in the back by her XO and the fleet in ruins, the Humans have run back to New Warsaw to lick their wounds, but the Merc Guild now knows the location of their hidden base, and they are in hot pursuit. Led by the New Era, a dreadnought built for the sole purpose of destroying humanity, they are an unstoppable force.
But the Golden Horde has been fortifying the system for a decade, though, and it won’t fall easily. The question, though, is whether the Humans can summon the will to defend it. With Alexis gone, the Winged Hussars are in turmoil, and their morale is at an all-time low. Humanity’s space fleet is in a shambles, and Sansar Enkh realizes her dream of being unable to stop the dreadnought is about to come true, despite her best efforts.
The final battle is at hand, with the survival of mankind at stake. The sun is at its zenith as the forces take the field—will the Humans crush the Merc Guild forces and take their place in a new hierarchy, or will the sun forever set on humanity?
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Post by dazk on Apr 23, 2024 0:40:16 GMT
In the meantime I have downloaded some Adrian Tchaikovsky books to read the first of which is: Dogs of War "Rex is a seven foot tall at the shoulder Dog, bulletproof, bristling with heavy calibre weaponry and his voice resonates with sub-sonics especially designed to instil fear. With Dragon, Honey and Bees, he's part of a Multiform Assault Pack operating in the lawless anarchy of Campeche, south-eastern Mexico.
Rex is a genetically engineered Bioform, a deadly weapon in a dirty war. He has the intelligence to carry out his orders and feedback implants to reward him when he does. All he wants to be is a Good Dog. And to do that he must do exactly what Master says and Master says he's got to kill a lot of enemies.
But who, exactly, are the enemies? What happens when Master is tried as a war criminal? What rights does the Geneva Convention grant weapons? Do Rex and his fellow Bioforms even have a right to exist? And what happens when Rex slips his leash?"It's entertaining if not overly complicated and I think is more like an exploration of ethics than anything else. So finished this and it is a hard book to review. Firstly and I guess most importantly I enjoyed it but the book felt a bit disjointed in its story and narrative. Maybe that's it but it was kind of like the author wanted to tell a story and try and also write an ethics essay into the rights of bioengineered animals. It cut from being a colourful story about an interesting character/characters to some investigative insight into something that to me seemed painfully obvious. Maybe I am just not quite intellectual enough to appreciate some of the points. Anyway discovered there is a second one which I am hoping will focus more on one or two of the main characters from the first but they have yet to actually appear in the second book: "Bear Head". "Following on from his novella Dogs of War, Adrian Tchaikovsky’s novel Bear Head is a brilliantly observed, drily funny and deeply grim science fiction story of biotech, artificial intelligence and political greed. Despite living on Mars, life for construction worker Jimmy Marten is pretty dull, but that changes when the digital awareness of Honey the bear takes up residence in his headspace wanting to make contact with her old friend Bees, the Distributed Intelligence who laid the foundations of Hellas Planitia (or Hell City, as the locals call it)" Finished Bear Head, it was a slog at the start but worth the effort as it was an interesting and thought provoking ride.
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Post by Iakus on Apr 26, 2024 22:11:41 GMT
Humanity has colonized the solar system, but crime still doesn’t pay. David Carter is one of the most decorated agents in the Interplanetary Police Forces, but for the last two years, he’s turned reckless, throwing himself into his work—or into the path of a criminal’s bolt pistol. As a specialist in deception analysis and interrogation, Veronique de Tournay has been right where she wants to be: a profiler in the major cases bureau, Division 7.
Unfortunately, the director has reassigned her to Special Agent Carter, and neither of them are happy about it. After they stop a devastating attack on Mars, meant to kill thousands and cripple interplanetary travel, Carter and de Tournay discover evidence of other subversive attacks in the system. With time running out, the reluctant partners may be the only ones standing in the way of a conspiracy that stretches all the way from Luna to the Saturn Space Station.Buddy cop movie. In space!
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Post by dazk on Apr 29, 2024 23:29:23 GMT
Started reading "Elder Race" by Adrian Tchaikovsky last night and was enjoying it a lot then when it got time to go to bed looked at the percentage read and I was like what that cannot be right 83%. Well it was as the book is actually a "Novella". Hadn't read that when I decided to get it, it was free so no big deal but interested to see how it is wrapped up, good characters interesting "short" story sadly I can see no continuation of it. "In Adrian Tchaikovsky's Elder Race, a junior anthropologist on a distant planet must help the locals he has sworn to study to save a planet from an unbeatable foe. Lynesse is the lowly Fourth Daughter of the queen, and always getting in the way. But a demon is terrorizing the land, and now she’s an adult (albeit barely) and although she still gets in the way, she understands that the only way to save her people is to invoke the pact between her family and the Elder sorcerer who has inhabited the local tower for as long as her people have lived here (though none in living memory has approached it). But Elder Nyr isn’t a sorcerer, and he is forbidden to help, for his knowledge of science tells him the threat cannot possibly be a demon…"
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Iakus
N7
Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
Posts: 20,882 Likes: 49,344
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Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
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Post by Iakus on Apr 30, 2024 12:57:13 GMT
By the year 2032, the U.S. federal debt has surpassed $50 trillion. The American empire is on the verge of collapse.
An entrepreneur named Kade Kapur has an idea for rescuing the debt-ridden United States: the government will issue stock in a company with exclusive mining rights to an asteroid whose orbit will soon bring it near Earth. The asteroid, which contains $10 trillion in valuable minerals, is officially called 2015 RK 16 Maimonides, but it soon comes to be known by another name: Mammon.
Fortunes are made and America seems to have avoided an economic collapse. But when the plan to capture the asteroid goes awry, the sky will fall....
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Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, Mass Effect Andromeda
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Post by q5tyhj on Apr 30, 2024 16:34:41 GMT
Got this back from a friend so am giving it a re-read, beautiful artwork An odyssey about one man's thousand-year struggle to save the woman he loves, The Fountain follows Thomas as he feverishly travels through three distinct eras: as a 16th century conquistador battling a fierce Mayan army, as a present-day scientist searching for a cure for his wife's mortal disease and as a future explorer seeking to uncover the secrets of a dying star.
An epic love story so grand that one medium cannot contain it, Aronofsky's feature film - released by Warner Bros, Pictures and Regency Enterprises - stars Tony Award-winner Hugh Jackman (The Boy from Oz, X-Men) and Oscar-winner Rachel Weisz (The Constant Gardener, The Mummy).
The Fountain graphic novel is a sister-project to the film, using the same story as its seed, but stretched instead upon the limitless canvas of the comics medium. Already earning Williams the Eisner nomination for Best Painter, The Fountain graphic novel provides an alternative interpretation wholly unique yet still intimately tied to the movie, in what can be considered the ultimate "director's cut".
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