[Whisperzzzzzzz]

Started Gentle's Ash two days ago. It's intriguing, but not at all what I was expecting. I had built it up to be some high-fantasy, first-person narrative with lots of magic and gravid, weighty prose — based off of nothing but the name and comments on here about it. Despite the unexpected reality, I think I'll like it

Also starting James' Black Leopard, Red Wolf, as Worry has piqued my interest.

[TheRetiredBridgeburner]

Picked up a copy of George RR Martin's Fire and Blood. Might have fallen out of love with the main series but I did enjoy reading the World book, so fair to even chance I'll enjoy this.

This post has been edited by TheRetiredBridgeburner: 30 April 2019 - 01:04 PM

[T77]

Finished The War Within, Donaldson's latest and thought it was very good.

Started my reread of The Witchwood Crown getting ready for Empire of Grass next week.

[QuickTidal]

TheRetiredBridgeburner, on 30 April 2019 - 01:04 PM, said:

Picked up a copy of George RR Martin's Fire and Blood. Might have fallen out of love with the main series but I did enjoy reading the World book, so fair to even chance I'll enjoy this.

Let me know how this is, I've been tempted by it. Curious if it's worth it.

[Abyss]

Abyss, on 26 April 2019 - 02:26 PM, said:

Abyss, on 25 April 2019 - 02:39 PM, said:

TIAMAT'S WRATH...

...this book is SOOOOOOOOOOOOO good.



Me, the last few chapters:

((( SPOILERS for
first 2/3 of the book,
albeit vague...))))

Spoiler

Holy crap, Amos. Dammit.

HOLY FUCK, AMOS WHAT????!

GO BOBBY!

Oh... Bobby. Crap. Also, wow! ...but, crap.

GO NAOMI!!!

Almost done...

Spoiler

...did NOT see this coming...

HOLY FUCK, DUARTE!!!!


...and expected but loved...

HOLY FUCK, TERESA!!!!!!!!

This book is a masterclass in 'set-up/payoff'.

End of Disc One, on 26 April 2019 - 02:51 PM, said:

It's good to see that Tiamat's Wrath has been getting positive reviews everywhere. But then again so did Nemesis Games, and that was not one of my favorites.

Briar King, on 26 April 2019 - 03:51 PM, said:

Thanks for the tags on Tiamat instead of just blasting stuff out!

Just finished. Abraham and Franck absolutely killed it. Loved the book, beginning to end. Great pace, every character gets their moment, sets up the next book while concluding a bunch of important things.
Great read. If you had any doubts about the series after PERSEPOLIS, ignore them and get this. Earbook narrator is pretty much perfect if you go that route.



On to GGKay's UNDER HEAVEN at long last.

[Andorion]

Reading Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons. Bit long but very engrossing.

[worry]

I finished Kellanved's Reach, which was pretty good. Very enjoyable, and I didn't think anything happened 'too fast' in terms of their timespan, but I do think these books could stand to add a little more weight/impact to the events in question via page count/POV. These books are breezy, this one probably even more so than the first two. Also definitely didn't feel like the end of a trilogy -- but at the same time, it kinda isn't, so whatevs.

Before that I finished Red Rising, which I enjoyed but found maybe a little too testosterone-fueled. There's a bull in a china shop quality to the storytelling. But that has its upsides too. It's definitely unique (to my limited experience) among dystopian YA fiction to give the protag so much power. In a way it subverts the underdog trope in ways that can be very satisfying. The dude's a one-man army. But it mostly works, cuz he can be clever too, as can his rivals. Anyway, the writing isn't as good as Suzanne Collins, but it is better than most that came in her wake, so I liked it plenty.

Now I'm onto Golden Son and don't know what to expect at all!

[End of Disc One]

I loved the level of testosterone in Red Rising...it reminded me of Acts of Caine in that regard. I don't want all of my reading to be so macho, but I enjoy it from time to time. Hope you like the rest of the trilogy.

[Abyss]

worry, on 30 April 2019 - 06:11 PM, said:

... I finished Red Rising, which I enjoyed but found maybe a little too testosterone-fueled. There's a bull in a china shop quality to the storytelling. But that has its upsides too. It's definitely unique (to my limited experience) among dystopian YA fiction to give the protag so much power. In a way it subverts the underdog trope in ways that can be very satisfying. The dude's a one-man army. But it mostly works, cuz he can be clever too, as can his rivals. Anyway, the writing isn't as good as Suzanne Collins, but it is better than most that came in her wake, so I liked it plenty.

Now I'm onto Golden Son and don't know what to expect at all!

I really enjoyed the series. The tone changes after bk1, to its overall betterment i think, but I really don't think it's YA.

I know it's been marketed that way at times, but wrongly so imnsho. The characters aren't even teens after the first book or so and some of the violence goes right over into anything as dark as i've seen.

Book 5, DARK AGE, is out in July, btw.

End of Disc One, on 30 April 2019 - 06:34 PM, said:

I loved the level of testosterone in Red Rising...it reminded me of Acts of Caine in that regard. I don't want all of my reading to be so macho, but I enjoy it from time to time. Hope you like the rest of the trilogy.

It's played aggressively at times, but it fits the story.

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

worry, on 27 April 2019 - 03:51 PM, said:

Nah. Tracker isn't obtuse in that way, though he has his blind spots. It's more that he's -- and this might turn a lot of people off, given the posts here about a month ago -- kind of a Holden Caulfield character at first. He's a judgmental prick with a pinch of unearned ego, a dash of self pity, and a pathological independent streak. The early goings of the book are episodic and non-Tracker characters tend to be sketchily drawn (given his disposition towards them), so his flaws as a person and a narrator are stark. I'll also restate that the book is long as hell and I took a break halfway in to read something lighter, then came back refreshed...and the latter half was gripping.

I'm really struggling with the prose and dialogue style. It's not engaging at all. Might come back to this when I'm willing to work harder.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Just got the Inheritance novella for 'free' through Amazon's $5 Kindle credit promotion (but the author still gets paid no doubt).

Finished Holy Sister, now about halfway through listening to The Lies of Locke Lamorra. Was surprised to find out it was published in the aughts---thought it was 90's or earlier. Performer sounds remarkably like Dylan Thomas. Prose is good (mildly witty and moderately poetic), story engaging, worldbuilding interesting and a bit unusual, though overall (despite being ranked highly on best fantasy lists) not one of the best (so far...).

After all, it's about an allocishetableistnonfat whitey... how boring is that? And what makes a U S o An who isn't an orphan think he can write about Italian orphans?? J/k....

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 02 May 2019 - 01:28 AM

[Andorion]

About 65% into Ruin of Kings
The middle of this book is a gigantic slog

[Zeto Demerzel]

• DG: Been limping through this one for about 4 months now. 100 pages to go but my first Malazan re-read is going to creak to a halt with book 2.
• Reckoners 2 - Firefight: Long-drawn, juvenile, boring. Another series that's going to come to an untimely halt. I think the 'Not Finishing' thread might jinxing me!
• Tales of the Ketty Jay 1 - Retribution Falls: And finally one that's been ... fun. Almost done.

[Abyss]

Zeto Demerzel, on 02 May 2019 - 11:41 AM, said:

DG: Been limping through this one for about 4 months now. 100 pages to go but my first Malazan re-read is going to creak to a halt with book 2.

Push thru the MoI. Whatever you're feeling about DG, MoI is a whole other thing.

Quote

Reckoners 2 - Firefight: Long-drawn, juvenile, boring. Another series that's going to come to an untimely halt. I think the 'Not Finishing' thread might jinxing me!

Mildly enjoyed the first one, skimmed the second, barely skimmed the third to see how it ended. I love so much of Brandon's work but this YA series left me meh

Quote

Tales of the Ketty Jay 1 - Retribution Falls: And finally one that's been ... fun. Almost done.

Great series that just gets better.

[Abyss]

Abyss, on 30 April 2019 - 03:59 PM, said:

...
On to GGKay's UNDER HEAVEN at long last.

Whereupon I realize that i haven't read GGK in a very long time, and am reminded that gods, the man is a brilliant author.

The characters... the settings... the low-dose subtle magic... hell, the use of words.

[QuickTidal]

Finished THE SECOND GENERATION re-read by Weis and Hickman, and I'd forgotten how great the solid tales are in this: '___________'s Son', 'The Legacy', and 'The Sacrifice', and how shit the other two stories are: 'Wanna Bet', and '__________'s Daughter' are. It's a real roller-coaster of quality and/or lack thereof book. I mean 'Wanna Bet' and the other bad one feel like they were written solely to help explain/make sense of points in SUMMER FLAME and nothing else. (Blanks are my way of spoilering for TRB or anyone else who hasn't finished the initial two trilogies yet)

Onto DRAGONS OF THE SUMMER FLAME. Again, not looking forward to it, but paying the price to make my re-read of the War of the Souls richer.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 02 May 2019 - 03:57 PM

[Aptorian]

Finished Neil Gaimans "Norse Mythology". A sufficiently well told retelling of Nordic folklore. Utterly unambitious but still entertaining.

Also read Patrick Ness' "And the Ocean was our Sky". An excellent book. Been a while since I enjoyed a book this much. You should check this book out.

And the Ocean was our Sky is an illustrated young adult fantasy book that subverts the classic story of Moby Dick. It's told by a whale named Bathsheba who was once a young sailor who went on a hunting trip to kill the legendary Toby Wick and destroy the White Ship that terrorises the Civilization of the Whales.

It's relatively simple but fun read. The whales have evolved to build their own cities and emulate human beings whom they hunt for ressources. To them our sky is an abyss and the depths of the sea is their sky. It's a kind of creativity that I wish we saw more of in our fantasy.

It also has excellent illustrations and overall it's very well designed book.

[QuickTidal]

Aptorian, on 02 May 2019 - 04:31 PM, said:

Also read Patrick Ness' "And the Ocean was our Sky". An excellent book. Been a while since I enjoyed a book this much. You should check this book out.

And the Ocean was our Sky is an illustrated young adult fantasy book that subverts the classic story of Moby Dick. It's told by a whale named Bathsheba who was once a young sailor who went on a hunting trip to kill the legendary Toby Wick and destroy the White Ship that terrorises the Civilization of the Whales.

It's relatively simple but fun read. The whales have evolved to build their own cities and emulate human beings whom they hunt for ressources. To them our sky is an abyss and the depths of the sea is their sky. It's a kind of creativity that I wish we saw more of in our fantasy.

It also has excellent illustrations and overall it's very well designed book.

This. Sounds. Amazing.

[Andorion]

Finished Jenn Lyons Ruin of Kings. Really nice ending.
Overall I really like this book - epic, lots of detail and worldbuilding, convoluted. But it has one shortcoming. At the end, in Malazan terms every character is an Ascendant.

[Aptorian]

QuickTidal, on 02 May 2019 - 04:56 PM, said:

Aptorian, on 02 May 2019 - 04:31 PM, said:

Also read Patrick Ness' "And the Ocean was our Sky". An excellent book. Been a while since I enjoyed a book this much. You should check this book out.

And the Ocean was our Sky is an illustrated young adult fantasy book that subverts the classic story of Moby Dick. It's told by a whale named Bathsheba who was once a young sailor who went on a hunting trip to kill the legendary Toby Wick and destroy the White Ship that terrorises the Civilization of the Whales.

It's relatively simple but fun read. The whales have evolved to build their own cities and emulate human beings whom they hunt for ressources. To them our sky is an abyss and the depths of the sea is their sky. It's a kind of creativity that I wish we saw more of in our fantasy.

It also has excellent illustrations and overall it's very well designed book.

This. Sounds. Amazing.

It is. It's not some clever take down of Moby Dick, it's just a good book inspired by a classic story.

The best thing about it is that it's relatively short. Minus the illustrations it's a but over a hundred pages. It doesn't waste pages, it simply focuses on the story.