[Aptorian]

Abyss, on 20 March 2018 - 02:09 PM, said:

Alternative Goose, on 19 March 2018 - 08:42 PM, said:

Finished Ben Aaronovich "The Hanging Tree"- What a strangely low key Peter Grant book.

New characters are introduced, old ones are expanded upon but generally not much happened. For a book featuring the Faceless Man the plot sure took a surprising turn. I liked it, it fit into this narrative about the Folly trying to catch a modern day magical moriarty but the stakes were pretty low compared to the... 4th book?

Anyway as always I greatly enjoy the British police take on urban fantasy but I remain frustrated with how minimal the magical aspect is and I still find it absurd how limited the British government's magical preparedness is. It's a HUGE national security problem but what ever.

It seems like the Folly is finally getting their ducks in a row and there might be instituted a more prepared response unit to magical bollocks in the future.

One aspect I did like was we got to see and hear a bit more about just how dangerous the River Gods are. A magical warrior ghost is a pretty cool bodyguard.

...

I'm surprised to read you found TREE low key... I thought it had the most action and magic v magic scenes of the books to date...

Spoiler

Nightingale and Faceless actually threw down, Peter and Lesley fought twice, Ty ultimatum'd Peter, ghost bodyguard took out assassin, etc

It also did the most to move the story forward of the last few books. More or less every plotline and character line is advanced by the end, except maybe Moly who is barely in the book, but near perfect comic relief just be reference to her cooking.

My only critique was that the titular Tree itself was barely a background reference .

You're right that there's quite a lot of magical exchanges in the book but if you zoom out an look at what was at stake and how things played out, you realize that (despite the grizzly nature of the Faceless Man's revenge) this book was almost PG13. Peter and Lesley's fights were almost friendly, like kids playing with water balloons. There was no national threat to people's security, etc. it was actually just

Spoiler

a drama about a "crime boss" grieving for his dead daughter, etc.

Like you mention The Hanging Tree doesn't actually come into play, nor did the Difference Engine or the the third principae. Maybe it comes back in the next book but beyond giving us new information to fit into our character puzzles it feels like a lot of stuff happened indirectly.

This post has been edited by Alternative Goose: 20 March 2018 - 07:14 PM

[polishgenius]

I just sorta assumed the hanging tree was more of a thematic reference to

Spoiler

Lady Ty's mood.

[Abyss]

polishgenius, on 20 March 2018 - 06:34 PM, said:

I just sorta assumed the hanging tree was more of a thematic reference to

Spoiler

Lady Ty's mood.

There's an author comment somewhere about how the title was settled on before he finished the book and it didn't end up being as significant as he thought it would.

Similar to that infamous back blurb in WHISPERS that is even more ridiculous after events in TREE.

[Tiste Simeon]

Man I need to pick up the Aaronovitch series again. Maybe a reread is in order then get the books I don't currently have.

[Abyss]

Tiste Simeon, on 20 March 2018 - 07:02 PM, said:

Man I need to pick up the Aaronovitch series again. Maybe a reread is in order then get the books I don't currently have.

Probably. It's pretty great.


I've gotten into the tpbs of the comic series too recently and they're also solid. Very consistent with the books.

[Dolmen 2.0]

I'm reading Waking Fire by Anthony Ryan.

It's a bit of a slow start to be honest. but it picks up nicely about 150-200 pages in. I love the world building.

Pretty sure something like it has been done, sort of a cross between Jim Butchers Codex Alera and Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn. Ryan still manages to deliver straight off the bat a global scale conflict and he does it masterfully. It's an allegorical period piece set somewhere in the Victorian era so I'd set it in the same steampunk fantasy hybrid genre we see in Jim Butchers Cinder Spires series. I'm not much into the spy vs spy, especially in this particular context, but once the dragon hunting really kicks off I could easily see this being one of my favorite expedition stories.

Lots of mystery, solid characters and a great deal of diversity. I like the subtext. Enslaving and butchering dragons all for the sake of the 'harvest' of product. A strong commentary on animal cruelty and trade. I'm halfway through and find the story compelling and wherein Mistborn we saw the magic system stemming from something innocuous like metal I felt the valuable and more powerful metals where nicely tied to painful circumstances. I liked that.

In the Waking Fire series, Ryan dials that up a notch. Every Blood-blessed using product is literally reaping the reward of intense cruelty to living organisms. I am interested in how Ryan will address this issue. might even write a full review.

for now, I give it a thumbs up. This is the kind of book I think most of you guys on here might actually enjoy.

[Andorion]

Dolmen 2.0, on 20 March 2018 - 09:07 PM, said:

I'm reading Waking Fire by Anthony Ryan.

It's a bit of a slow start to be honest. but it picks up nicely about 150-200 pages in. I love the world building.

Pretty sure something like it has been done, sort of a cross between Jim Butchers Codex Alera and Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn. Ryan still manages to deliver straight off the bat a global scale conflict and he does it masterfully. It's an allegorical period piece set somewhere in the Victorian era so I'd set it in the same steampunk fantasy hybrid genre we see in Jim Butchers Cinder Spires series. I'm not much into the spy vs spy, especially in this particular context, but once the dragon hunting really kicks off I could easily see this being one of my favorite expedition stories.

Lots of mystery, solid characters and a great deal of diversity. I like the subtext. Enslaving and butchering dragons all for the sake of the 'harvest' of product. A strong commentary on animal cruelty and trade. I'm halfway through and find the story compelling and wherein Mistborn we saw the magic system stemming from something innocuous like metal I felt the valuable and more powerful metals where nicely tied to painful circumstances. I liked that.

In the Waking Fire series, Ryan dials that up a notch. Every Blood-blessed using product is literally reaping the reward of intense cruelty to living organisms. I am interested in how Ryan will address this issue. might even write a full review.

for now, I give it a thumbs up. This is the kind of book I think most of you guys on here might actually enjoy.

Yeah I really enjoyed it. I loved the worldbuilding and he really kicked things up several notches in the sequel.

[Mentalist]

I totally caved in and finished Knight's Shadow when I got home today, even though it was supposed to be a commute read only.

I think it might be my favourite read so far this year.

At home, Lovecraft is intriguing, but slow. It does not make for good bedtime reading, because the wordy style quite literally lulls me to sleep.

[Abyss]

Mentalist, on 21 March 2018 - 01:53 AM, said:

At home, Lovecraft is intriguing, but slow. It does not make for good bedtime reading, because the wordy style quite literally lulls me to sleep.

Yes. The word style. Yessssss....

[Maark Abbott]

TUC:

Spoiler

What the shitting dick nipples just happened with Aurang?! Tell me he isn't dead. TELL ME!

[acesn8s]

Mentalist, on 21 March 2018 - 01:53 AM, said:

I totally caved in and finished Knight's Shadow when I got home today, even though it was supposed to be a commute read only.

I think it might be my favourite read so far this year.

At home, Lovecraft is intriguing, but slow. It does not make for good bedtime reading, because the wordy style quite literally lulls me to sleep.

Falcio and friends is always a fun time.

[JPK]

Bachelorluver, on 22 March 2018 - 12:40 AM, said:

IK how is Liveship 1 treating you?

I'm assuming you meant me here.

I'm a little over 40% here and the book is growing on me. It's a bit of a tough read though because up until this point there been pretty much no action and all political maneuvering and fallout. This has left Hobb tons of room to really bring her characters to life though, and I'm not finding any of the characters to be the "weak pov". I'm also at a point now where I can see several of the plotlines heading towards a convergence that has me on the edge of my seat. I'm also finding myself a bit surprised that the most intriguing character for me in this is a ship - Paragon/Pariah.

One last thought - between the revelations about Verity's quest at the end of AQ and the entire concept of the Liveships Hobb is getting some serious points for sheer originality.

[JPK]

Bachelorluver, on 22 March 2018 - 05:30 PM, said:

I don’t know any other Incredible Kitsu’s on here. I’m 156 in Fitz 1. Not sure if I wanna buy Liveship.

Ah! I forgot about IK, lol. I think it's been over a year or two since I changed that because of mafia.

Fwiw, I find myself really enjoying this one. Just go into it expecting a heavy emphasis on characterization, world-building, and family politics and I think you'll enjoy it. It is a slow burn, but it's not a slog.

[Mentalist]

Finished "The Best of Lovecraft"

I didn't find it particularly terrifying, but compared to later imitators and "Lovecraftian influences" in various media, I certainly appreciate the original's subtlety . "At the Mountains of Madness" and "The Shadow out of Time" were informative about the multiple pre-human races; I was kinda spoiled for "The Shadow over Innsmouth", b/c the game "Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth" totally ripped off the entirety of it, including the escape/chase scene from the Gilman House, before devolving into a first-person shooter.

I'm not immediately persuaded to look for more stuff, but it's certainly somthing I'd consider in the future. Meanwhile, I'll be moving on to the "Psalms of Isaac" re-read/completion project, starting by re-reading the first 3. So Lamentation is back to being a commute and at-home read.

[Salt-Man Z]

Mentalist, on 23 March 2018 - 12:16 AM, said:

Finished "The Best of Lovecraft"

I didn't find it particularly terrifying, but compared to later imitators and "Lovecraftian influences" in various media, I certainly appreciate the original's subtlety .

When I first started reading HPL a few years ago, I was dumbstruck to find, whilst reading "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" (my second story, immediately following "Mountains of Madness") that I was palpably terrified of these gibbering creatures in the underground pits--despite HPL not giving a single visual detail. I found that absolutely fascinating, and continue to enjoy how he builds tension by withholding detail.

A lot of good fantasy lit has come out recently that engages in dialogue with HPL's original works. I've recently read:
Ruthanna Emrys' Winter Tide, about the last remaining residents of Innsmouth after they were rounded up into WW2 internment camps.
Kij Johnson's Dream-Quest of Vellit Boe, which sees a woman from the Dreamlands go on a quest for the waking world.
And I just finished the all-female anthology She Walks in Shadows, which riffs on a number of Lovecraft stories/themes from a female perspective.

[Maark Abbott]

TUC:

Spoiler

I refuse to believe Lord Aurang is dead. Although the huge plot twist, that the Dunyain had taken over the Consult from within, was utterly unsurprising, for all the gravity that revelation bore.

[Abyss]

Maark Abbott, on 23 March 2018 - 06:36 AM, said:

TUC:

Spoiler

I refuse to believe Lord Aurang is dead. Although the huge plot twist, that the Dunyain had taken over the Consult from within, was utterly unsurprising, for all the gravity that revelation bore.

But....

Spoiler

...wasn't the key revelation that Aurang (and all the Inchoroi) was always just a powerful servant?

[Macros]

Finished he first Ciaphas Cain book here now.

I get the appeal, it was enjoyable yes, but I'm not clamouring to read the next one the way I was with Gaunts ghosts. I will read more, definitely, but not immediately.
Jurgen is basically Baldrick, which is excellent

[Macros]

Reading the Etymologicon, I forget the author's name, same guy who wrote A Short History of Drunkenness.
It's a whimsical dive into the origins of quirky phrases and words in the English language. I love his writing style, it's not expensive and I recommend his work (if I remember his name) to basically anyone


ETA - Mark Forsyth

This post has been edited by Macros: 25 March 2018 - 08:00 AM

[Andorion]

Reading A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness. I thought this would be something like Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian, but it is basically turning into Twilight for adults.

Urgh.

I recently finished Soulless by Gail Carriger and Promise of Fire by Amanda Bouchet. I am slowly coming to the conclusion that Paranormal Romance may actually be somewhat readable with good worldbuilding and strong female characters