[Macros]

Andorion, on 24 August 2016 - 01:45 PM, said:

T77, on 24 August 2016 - 01:35 PM, said:

Finished The Dread Wyrm by Miles Cameron and thought it was very good. I would rank this series as solid B list fantasy. not quite in the A list like Malazan, but very solid. Looking forward to the last two books.

I have heard that the military element is a major strong point of this series. What do you think?

I know it wasnt addressedat me, but, I think its handled very well, Cameron throws out really really solid action scenes, and battle scenes that (me anyway) are very easy to follow and have an idea in your head easily how the chips are falling at any given time.
Some authur really struggle to convey whats actually happening in a battle beyond the povs personal fighting space, this wasnt a problem for me in the red knight books,

[polishgenius]

The big battle in The Dread Wyrm is very high on my list of favourite fantasy battles ever. It's fucking awesome.
One trick he uses throughout the books that not too many authors do is to often have a PoV or two on the villain's side, so you can see the ebb and flow and planning from both angles.
He also has a great handle on how his various magics and monsters would affect his meticulously researched medieval war tactics.


Anyway, myself, this week I've finished The Obelisk Gate, which is a fully worthy follow up to The Fifth Season, read River of Gods by Ian Macdonald which was a good book but honestly a bit disappointing after all the hype I remember about it at the time, and am now halfway through The Spirit Gate by Kate Elliott, which is a solid-not-mindblowing effort so far.

[HiddenOne]

Briar King, on 24 August 2016 - 04:48 PM, said:

HiddenOne, on 24 August 2016 - 01:32 PM, said:

There was plenty of good reading the Forgotten Realms & Dragonlance series. I still have a bunch of those at my parent's house.

Which is better?

They were hard to compare, but as a D&D gamer, I preferred the FR system of rules, monster, characters, etc. The group of writers was larger, so there were more storylines to follow, particularly early on. I was a kid when this stuff started coming out, so my tastes were less discriminating, but I enjoyed the accessibility of the material. DL had a cluster of books by the same authors and they were pretty consistent, but quickly got carried away when it began to spread into time travel paradoxes, gnomes, etc. But the minotaurs are a hardcore race. Overall the characters in both are a little hard to take as an adult, particularly after being exposed to all the modern fantasy we enjoy today.

[Andorion]

Macros, on 24 August 2016 - 06:18 PM, said:

Andorion, on 24 August 2016 - 01:45 PM, said:

T77, on 24 August 2016 - 01:35 PM, said:

Finished The Dread Wyrm by Miles Cameron and thought it was very good. I would rank this series as solid B list fantasy. not quite in the A list like Malazan, but very solid. Looking forward to the last two books.

I have heard that the military element is a major strong point of this series. What do you think?

I know it wasnt addressedat me, but, I think its handled very well, Cameron throws out really really solid action scenes, and battle scenes that (me anyway) are very easy to follow and have an idea in your head easily how the chips are falling at any given time.
Some authur really struggle to convey whats actually happening in a battle beyond the povs personal fighting space, this wasnt a problem for me in the red knight books,

polishgenius, on 24 August 2016 - 07:07 PM, said:

The big battle in The Dread Wyrm is very high on my list of favourite fantasy battles ever. It's fucking awesome.
One trick he uses throughout the books that not too many authors do is to often have a PoV or two on the villain's side, so you can see the ebb and flow and planning from both angles.
He also has a great handle on how his various magics and monsters would affect his meticulously researched medieval war tactics.


Anyway, myself, this week I've finished The Obelisk Gate, which is a fully worthy follow up to The Fifth Season, read River of Gods by Ian Macdonald which was a good book but honestly a bit disappointing after all the hype I remember about it at the time, and am now halfway through The Spirit Gate by Kate Elliott, which is a solid-not-mindblowing effort so far.

Excellent. This sounds like exactly what I prefer when it comes to battles. Bumping this thing up the TRP

[Baco Xtath]

Sweet, I didn't realize the Obelisk Gate was out. Bought and downloaded, thanks. Finished, All the Birds in the Sky. I hated the first of the book. i put it down with no intention of picking it back up but it was the only book on my mp3 player when my other book finished, so I gave it another shot. Glad I did as it turned into a pretty solid book.

[Chance]

Just finished up The Builders by Daniel Polansky and found it great for a short novel that is basically a mix of The Wind in the Willows and a western made by Tarantino. A murderous badger with a gatling cannon is all I need say.

Also begun Fall of Light and it is of course great thought at times I wonder if I'm reading a particularly bleak collection of poetry and not really a novel. I'm good either way in this case.

[T77]

Andorion, on 24 August 2016 - 01:45 PM, said:

T77, on 24 August 2016 - 01:35 PM, said:

Finished The Dread Wyrm by Miles Cameron and thought it was very good. I would rank this series as solid B list fantasy. not quite in the A list like Malazan, but very solid. Looking forward to the last two books.

I have heard that the military element is a major strong point of this series. What do you think?

It's very good, I don't think to the level of Glen Cook or SE though. It's not overdone, which I like. I wouldn't say it's a major strong point for me, I like the characters, plot and fantasy elements much more.

[Macros]

Chance, on 25 August 2016 - 01:32 PM, said:

Just finished up The Builders by Daniel Polansky and found it great for a short novel that is basically a mix of The Wind in the Willows and a western made by Tarantino. A murderous badger with a gatling cannon is all I need say.

Also begun Fall of Light and it is of course great thought at times I wonder if I'm reading a particularly bleak collection of poetry and not really a novel. I'm good either way in this case.

I must try th Polanski book. I love his Low Town trilo, but have been struggling to finish Those Above.

[Salt-Man Z]

Finished Champion of Mars last night. Wow. Amazing. The end left me a little confused, but it's one of those deals where it feels like I have all the puzzle pieces, even if I can't quite seem to fit them all together. It definitely demands a reread at some point. Highly recommended, and not at all what I was expecting when I went in. (Also it's a little funny that the last two books I've read--and loved--have kinda been secretly love stories...)

[Abyss]

Briar King, on 26 August 2016 - 04:26 AM, said:

Lmfao. I'm reading myself. Dragonlance had me hankering to dig and find one of my very 1st attempts at writing 15 yrs ago. I'm cringing at the simple old school was of it and yet gasping in delight at its moments of gold. This is a blast !

Post.
POST.

[Mentalist]

Finished "Dark Intelligence", the first of Asher's new Polity sequence.

Fun ending, action-packed to the end. Basically ties together bits of the Spatterjay books + The Technician, which was almost like a sequel to the Cormac stuff. Will be looking for Bk 2, even though this one seemed pretty self-contained.

Meanwhiel i wanna try to figure out what i think about "In Dark Service", so gonna make that commute book. At home, I need a break, so I think I'll re-read the first 2 Amberghis books before jumping into Van der Meer's Southern Reach trilo.

[acesn8s]

I had yesterday off, so I was able to put in some reading time. Finished The Huntsman’s Amulet (Society of the Sword Book II) by Hamilton. Book 2 was fun. It's a fun read, not to taxing on your concentration. I recommend him when you need a nice, easy, escapist read. On to book 3, The Telastrian Song (I picked up the digital bundle when it was on sale on Amazon).

[Salt-Man Z]

Now reading something (awesomely) titled Asteroid Made of Dragons by G. Derek Adams.

[Andorion]

Finished the latest Craft book - Four Roads Cross by Max Gladstone. Awesome as usual

[Mentalist]

Briar King, on 28 August 2016 - 04:34 AM, said:

Stumbling a tiny bit on Dragonlance 1. I forgot there was a huge underground arc and I hate reading in these locations so until they bring back the sky I ll be creep reading.

Umm, I'm pretty sure "Dragons of Autumn Twilight" ends underground. And then there's a skipped ark (covered in Lost Chronicles 1, "Dragons of Dwarven Depths"), and Bk2 starts with the Companions getting out into the surface world again.

But there's gully dwarves, and they're freaking hilarious/awesome.

EDIT: dunno what it was, but right around the time I started reading "In Dark Service" in commute, the sotry got good. Now that we got some background on just who Jacob was before, the story ramped up nicely.

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 28 August 2016 - 06:29 AM

[Andorion]

Started Guns of Empire by Django Wexler. Seriously good. This might turn out to be one of my all time favourite series

[Abyss]

Finished the GUNMETAL MAGIC earbook... More of the same from the Ilona Andrewses, if you like the Kateamine, you'll enjoy this. Same world but a supporting cast member, Andrea, is lead. More in the dedthread.


Started Bakker's THE GREAT ORDEAL, also earbook. As an aside, fuck you all who talked this book up so hard that my vow to wait for the second part fell utterly by the wayside.

In ebook, finished Stross' latest Laundry book, THE NIGHTMARE STACKS. Best in the series in the last 3-4 books and that's saying a lot. Comments already in the dedthread.


In dead tree.... Ah fuck who am I kidding, at this point I might as well donate the entire mass I so don't even feel like even picking up a physical book anymore except the odd graphic novel.


Next... Dunno... The TRP is deep and wide, but with Bakker filling my epic fantasy needs, and coming off an extended Kateamine binge, maybe some weird...

[polishgenius]

Abyss, on 28 August 2016 - 04:14 PM, said:

Next... Dunno... The TRP is deep and wide, but with Bakker filling my epic fantasy needs, and coming off an extended Kateamine binge, maybe some weird...

Go double-removed, read some SF-weird. Like Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha-Lee or the Jacob's Ladder trilogy by Bear. Or join the Fifth Season hype train with the rest of us if you've not read that.



I was gonna say Who Fear's Death by Nnedi Okorafor but while that's imo a true great of modern oddness in SFF and should be read by (almost*) all the people reading it at the same time or just after Bakker might overload your centers for both highly disturbing sexual imagery and angry philosophy.



*because anyone who is triggered by any kind of sexual violence shouldn't touch Who Fears Death with a ten foot pole.




Aaaanyway. Me, I'm reading Seveneves. I've heard from some that there's parts where it's not that good, but so far after stalling out of Cryptomonicon I'm really enjoying being back with Neal Stephenson on a theme I'm really interested in.

[Puck]

polishgenius, on 28 August 2016 - 05:18 PM, said:

Aaaanyway. Me, I'm reading Seveneves. I've heard from some that there's parts where it's not that good, but so far after stalling out of Cryptomonicon I'm really enjoying being back with Neal Stephenson on a theme I'm really interested in.

Personally, I thought it was quite brilliant, especially Parts 1 & 2, as long as one doesn't mind the technobabble. What most people seen to agree about is that Part 3 is almost an entirely different book. Whether it's a good one or not comes down to opinion. I'd say it's worth the read.

Me, I'm halfway through Hobb's Liveship Traders trilogy and as far as I'm concerned, overall, it's a better story than the Farseer trilogy. Which means I'm all over it whenever I can.

[Salt-Man Z]

Puck, on 28 August 2016 - 06:56 PM, said:

polishgenius, on 28 August 2016 - 05:18 PM, said:

Aaaanyway. Me, I'm reading Seveneves. I've heard from some that there's parts where it's not that good, but so far after stalling out of Cryptomonicon I'm really enjoying being back with Neal Stephenson on a theme I'm really interested in.

Personally, I thought it was quite brilliant, especially Parts 1 & 2, as long as one doesn't mind the technobabble. What most people seen to agree about is that Part 3 is almost an entirely different book. Whether it's a good one or not comes down to opinion. I'd say it's worth the read.

Yeah, parts 1-2 were amazing, but I thought they should've been their own book. Then he could have expanded part 3 into its own novel as part of a duology.