[Abyss]

Abyss, on 20 August 2019 - 04:17 PM, said:

amphibian, on 20 August 2019 - 03:27 AM, said:

worry, on 20 August 2019 - 12:49 AM, said:

Have any of you ever read the TekWar books? I'm not thinking of reading them, just wondering.

I think I read one and it has been washed away in my memory with its mediocrity.

Yes. The first few are decent, not great, sf, helped along by being fake-written by Captain Kirk.

Then they get repetitious. Then boring. Then bad.

Aptorian, on 20 August 2019 - 04:37 PM, said:

Oh shit are these the books written by Shatner? I heard they were good?

Ghostwritten as i understand it. They start out ok enough.... it's no ALTERED CARBON but entertaining if you like your sf without much s or need for thinky.

[Salt-Man Z]

I remember liking his "Man 'o War" much better, though I don't remember anything beyond that.

[RACHEL]

Has anyone read Brian Durfee's book The Forgetting Moon? I saw book two at the library and liked the cover and was impressed by its immense size. The blurb for FM sounds interesting as well.

[Macros]

Iirc correctly someone here liked it and I picked it up on that reco. I did not like it very much.


Cover and size were impress, but what's inside wasn't (for me)

[Chance]

RACHEL, on 24 August 2019 - 03:13 PM, said:

Has anyone read Brian Durfee's book The Forgetting Moon? I saw book two at the library and liked the cover and was impressed by its immense size. The blurb for FM sounds interesting as well.

About a third into it right now and I find it very much standard fantasy fair, most of it so far has been teenagers and young adults moping about but I guess they will man up to simple chosen ones eventually. Some parts hint at some fun but religious stupidity and young adult moping about doesn't do much for me right now.

This post has been edited by Chance: 28 August 2019 - 06:55 PM

[Macros]

It stays fairly teenage mopey

[Aptorian]

Macros. Go participate in the 84K book club!

[Macros]

Aptorian.

I am so far behind on everything at the minute it's not even funny.
I have 2 house to get finished wiring before the weekend so the owners can move in.
I need to finish plasterboarding my own walls so the taper can seal the place to let the painter in.
I have another mate who has bought a house that's a fixer, in fairness I bashed most of the kitchen out this morning for it.

But no. I REALLY want to get back into reading and part take of the book club, especially since it's the book I picked!!!
Holidays start next Thurs, my plane reading will be slaughterhouse just to do it and drop my thoughts in thread and then 84k

[Aptorian]

No worries. Don't rush it, the book club isn't fun if it feels like homework.

[QuickTidal]

Chance, on 28 August 2019 - 06:55 PM, said:

RACHEL, on 24 August 2019 - 03:13 PM, said:

Has anyone read Brian Durfee's book The Forgetting Moon? I saw book two at the library and liked the cover and was impressed by its immense size. The blurb for FM sounds interesting as well.

About a third into it right now and I find it very much standard fantasy fair, most of it so far has been teenagers and young adults moping about but I guess they will man up to simple chosen ones eventually. Some parts hint at some fun but religious stupidity and young adult moping about doesn't do much for me right now.

Macros, on 29 August 2019 - 07:38 AM, said:

It stays fairly teenage mopey

Mac is right. I liked the first volume (enough to recommend it), but there's been MUCH better fare along this avenue out there recently that shames it.

Namely 'The Licanius Trilogy' by James Islington.

[Macros]

I thought it was you reco'd it, but also thought I might have bought it off the back of a featured review by wert. Maybe the dread combination of the two.

[Chance]

Closing on 3/4 of the book done and I'm regularly thinking why am I continuing?

Spoiler

The protagonists have zero agency of their own, things happen to them and any action they take inevitably fall out poorly.

Any revelation of humanity in anyone with the least power is only to accentuate how horrible they are in the next scene.

95% of the people in the book are unrepentant assholes, most of them murderous assholes with no real relatable qualities at all.

Pretty sure it is going to end up the worst book I've read so far this year (Been mostly good and average ones so far so the competition in the bottom isnt that stiff), probably mostly continuing to see if it is possible to save any part of it.

This post has been edited by Chance: 30 August 2019 - 10:07 PM

[Macros]

Iirc correctly the ending annoyed me and I called what it was setting up for the rest of the series.
Couldn't be arsed to see if I'm.correct

[Chance]

Macros, on 02 September 2019 - 07:29 PM, said:

Iirc correctly the ending annoyed me and I called what it was setting up for the rest of the series.
Couldn't be arsed to see if I'm.correct

Me too.

Spoiler

For a few pages close to the end I was impressed with the writers guts when it seemed like he was about to kill two of his protagonists and set it up so that the mysterious people with all the truths where really horribly wrong. That would have made it all worth it or at least nearly.

A few pages later no he was too gutless to do anything but a minor reveal that god was an elf and some more pointless suffering.

All in all everyhing this book did was pretty obvious, took ten pages to accomplish what could be done in two and the only good thing I can say about it is that it is very good at mustach twirling villainy and repulsive religious fanaticism.

A bit of a lost chance there toning down some of that villainy, allowing the characters some agency and skipping pages of adolescent moping around and it might have been a decent book. That books however would have few similiarties to this one.

I'm still kind of thinking about skimming the next one since I have it sitting around anyway but I can probably stop myself.

This post has been edited by Chance: 03 September 2019 - 10:00 AM

[Cyphon]

Has anyone read the commonweal series by Graydon Saunders? Read a comment about it under a tor.com blog post about needing to examine power structures and not relying on kingship as a staple form of government though fantasy. Sounded intriguing.

As a by the by MBOTF wasn't mentioned as looking at these power dynamics which I thought might be an omission. There is a lot of kingship about in the series but it seriously does look at power relationships. Maybe im fanboying. link to article for those interested here: https://www.tor.com/...sy/#more-504801 - comment 5 for the Saunders reco.

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

A Pattern Of Shadow And Light by Melissa McPhail?

[Abyss]

Over on twitter i keep seeing recoms for books by one Jay Kristoff.

Searchbot tells me Ando Ment Coco QT have reco'd some, to various degrees.


Any thoughts? ...and if good, whats a good book to start with?

[Mentalist]

I read the first one. It's steampunk feudal Japan where girl finds and takes mythical beast for the Emperor and gets god-powers the Emperor wants for himself. Super YA stuff. Haven't read the rest.

[Aptorian]

Apparently Sanderson has written a larger overarching narrative called the cosmere... universe? Do I need to read Elantris or Warbreaker before reading the Stormlight Archives? Or is it something like Stephen Kings writing where there's a link but not much more?

[JPK]

You can read Way of Kings at pretty much anytime, but you'll want to read at least Warbreaker and the original Mistborn trilogy before SA book 2.