[Macros]

Definitely not YAish, but yah I thought the exact same upon first glance at the map, a distorted Midkemia. The political landscape is totally different thought.
I'd say it's partly a rip on the way Christianity was forced into Europe

[Mentalist]

Finished "Terminal Void".

IT doesn't really feel sci-fi-ish, it's a pretty weird mashup. And the plot and character development felt full of cliches. It's a fun ride (who doesn't love airships? Airships make every book better, just like jetpacks make every game better), but nowhere near as "hard" as what I've come to expect from Reynolds.

Next up, I have a book I bought due to a suggestion from one of the retailer algorithms. Don't remember why I put it on my wishlist, exactly.

Anyway, the book is "The Last Sacrifice" by James A Moore. I'll give it a shot and see where it goes.

[Abyss]

Abyss, on 23 March 2020 - 04:23 AM, said:

TRAIL OF LIGHTNING, Rebecca Roanhorse.
Post floodpocalypse urban fantasy with Indigineous American mythos.
The story itself is fairly standard, writing is solid, but the Indigineous elements really make it a treat to read. I so enjoy learning a new mythology.

Just finished this.
It was good. The Native mythos are really the selling point in an otherwise fine but not wildly original story. The gods are complex and not just powerful humans. The human powers are interesting, have a cost, and rarely solve the character's problems.
Reminded me a lot of early Anita Blake books back when that series was fun and not porn.
I'm in for the sequel STORM OF LOCUSTS, probably soon.


Now back to PRIORY OF THE ORANGE TREE.
...And a few chapters in I can see I'll need another break soon.

[stone monkey]

I've read a couple of the sequels to Rendezvous With Rama, and my advice would be: don't read them. I wouldn't go as far as Rothfuss, but they are certainly Bad Books. And life, especially these days it seems, is too short to be reading bad books.

[Abyss]

stone monkey, on 06 April 2020 - 10:22 PM, said:

I've read a couple of the sequels to Rendezvous With Rama, and my advice would be: don't read them. I wouldn't go as far as Rothfuss, but they are certainly Bad Books. And life, especially these days it seems, is too short to be reading bad books.

Seconded. They never ever get close to the first book, which stands very well by itself.

[Malankazooie]

Interesting personal story about "Rendezvous With Rama." A work colleague of mine, who is a long time employee and has almost 25 years at the company, offered the book to break the ice with an independent contractor who was brought on board to help us deliver a project on time. The contractor lived in Canada but was from India and his name was Rama Omkaram. He was tickled to pieces when the coworker and I presented the book to him but he said he couldn't accept it, so my coworker gave it to me.

It seems like a pretty old version. It's paper back and has this cover.

[Mentalist]

So, "Last Sacrifice" is grimdark to the max, and is trope-tastic, the way most books published by Angry Robot tend to be.

A grizzled proto-Scottish axe-wielding mercenary with the heart of gold comes home to find his family taken by cosmic horrors as part of the random "sacrifice to the gods" lottery. He rounds up some friends and breaks every law to get his family back- he fails and triggers an apocalypse, because the gods are angry pricks.

Now we watch the entire world crumble, because one man did what he thought was right, and he wants to find a way to kill the gods, rather than submit and redeem the world. While everything around him goes to shit and a lot of (generally innocent) people are caught as collateral damage.

Fairly easy reading once you get into it, and it's nice to follow someone who just wants to watch the world burn once in a while.

[Aptorian]

Mentalist, on 08 April 2020 - 02:48 PM, said:

So, "Last Sacrifice" is grimdark to the max, and is trope-tastic, the way most books published by Angry Robot tend to be.

A grizzled proto-Scottish axe-wielding mercenary with the heart of gold comes home to find his family taken by cosmic horrors as part of the random "sacrifice to the gods" lottery. He rounds up some friends and breaks every law to get his family back- he fails and triggers an apocalypse, because the gods are angry pricks.

Now we watch the entire world crumble, because one man did what he thought was right, and he wants to find a way to kill the gods, rather than submit and redeem the world. While everything around him goes to shit and a lot of (generally innocent) people are caught as collateral damage.

Fairly easy reading once you get into it, and it's nice to follow someone who just wants to watch the world burn once in a while.

This sounds good.

Looking at Amazon there's several Last Sacrifice books. I assume it's the one by James A Moore and not the thrilling conclusion to the Vampire Academy series.

[Zeto Demerzel]

A third of the way through Revelation Space and my mind has been pretty well blown.

Have also been limping through The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet for a while now.

[Abyss]

Abyss, on 16 March 2020 - 03:12 AM, said:

So about 3 hrs / 10 chapters into PRIORY OF THE ORANGE TREE and can someone who's read the book tell me...

Spoiler

- does the exposition ever stop? and,
- do things pick up after secret assassin girl saved the queen from the dragon?

... because this is draaaaaaging for me.

Almost halfway thru.

Meeeeeeeeeeeeeh. Short sequences of good action or drama interspersed with SO MUCH exposition and redundant introspection.

So on the fence with pushing thru or dropping this. Jemisin's THE CITY WE BECAME is RIGHT THERE calling to me...

[QuickTidal]

Abyss, on 09 April 2020 - 02:28 PM, said:

Abyss, on 16 March 2020 - 03:12 AM, said:

So about 3 hrs / 10 chapters into PRIORY OF THE ORANGE TREE and can someone who's read the book tell me...

Spoiler

- does the exposition ever stop? and,
- do things pick up after secret assassin girl saved the queen from the dragon?

... because this is draaaaaaging for me.

Almost halfway thru.

Meeeeeeeeeeeeeh. Short sequences of good action or drama interspersed with SO MUCH exposition and redundant introspection.

Still have this on my kindle, got it on a sale, your reivew drops it down my priority list...while the other book I got on kindle sale around that time (RAGE OF DRAGONS by Evan Winter) keeps shifting up...it MIGHT be my next read after finishing my latest GGK. I've heard nothing but great things about it, and I'm fascinated by the notion of African-inspired fantasy.

[Abyss]

QuickTidal, on 09 April 2020 - 02:40 PM, said:

Abyss, on 09 April 2020 - 02:28 PM, said:

Abyss, on 16 March 2020 - 03:12 AM, said:

So about 3 hrs / 10 chapters into PRIORY OF THE ORANGE TREE and can someone who's read the book tell me...

Spoiler

- does the exposition ever stop? and,
- do things pick up after secret assassin girl saved the queen from the dragon?

... because this is draaaaaaging for me.

Almost halfway thru.

Meeeeeeeeeeeeeh. Short sequences of good action or drama interspersed with SO MUCH exposition and redundant introspection.

Still have this on my kindle, got it on a sale, your reivew drops it down my priority list....

Your comment makes me wonder if I'm running up against one of the foibles of earbooks... it's really hard to 'skim'.

Or maybe it's that so much of this book is familiar. The key characters... secret assassin girl, dragonrider in training, lax noble forced to learn to survive, exiled alchemist... are all things I have seen before. That's fine when the author can do something different with them, but so far, not so much. The writing is good, the setting well thought out.... I think I'm just running up against my own reading history.

[JPK]

Just finished Terminus. Need more Threshold stat.

Next up is one I've been procrastinating on for some time. Oathbringer. Due to various strong reactions on the board, my expectations are thoroughly tempered.

[Cyphon]

Having finished HoC, I've started Lovecraft country by Matt Ruff which seems to be a splice of segregationist American with Lovecraft. Quite a loving one as the protagonists joke about Shoggoths abounding...

On earbook I have started Gideon the Ninth. After finishing the horus heresy humble bundle I was definitely ready for a change. The most refreshing of which after listening to the first chapter of the book is a (and my first) female narrator.

This post has been edited by Cyphon: 10 April 2020 - 09:08 AM

[Chance]

Started The First Man in Rome and was worried for all of about a few minutes that it would be too dry, too long, too many strange names that where too similiar to each other. Now I'm instead very much entertained

This post has been edited by Chance: 10 April 2020 - 08:44 PM

[Mentalist]

Finished "last Sacrifice"> There's some good ideas and some interesting developments hinting at a more complaex sequel, but given how prone to casual murder everyone is, I don't see it really getting there.

Gonna bookmark the author to check out some other books, but this is ebooks/discount sales territory for me.

Next up, gonna try "ember Blade", Volume 1 of the new series by Chris Wooding/ I liked both Ketty Jay and The Braided Path trilo, so hopefully this is good. Oh, and it's got a back quote endorsement by our very own Wert.
-Also, the map uses the same font as MBOTF maps.

EDIT: 20-odd chapters and 170 pages in, and this is a definition of a slow burn. Still not quite sure what we're building up towards.

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 12 April 2020 - 12:41 AM

[Chance]

Briar King, on 10 April 2020 - 08:52 PM, said:

You are in for a stellar fucking ride with book but even more so if you are planning on doing a full series 1-7 read through.

Feels very much like I might go through all of them. So far maybe less than a quarter in but it is good.

Mentalist, on 11 April 2020 - 12:53 AM, said:

Next up, gonna try "ember Blade", Volume 1 of the new series by Chris Wooding/ I liked both Ketty Jay and The Braided Path trilo, so hopefully this is good. Oh, and it's got a back quote endorsement by our very own Wert.
-Also, the map uses the same font as MBOTF maps.

EDIT: 20-odd chapters and 170 pages in, and this is a definition of a slow burn. Still not quite sure what we're building up towards.

Might be that it just ain't a very good book, just my "guess" . If I remember right there was very little of the playful and awesome that made Ketty Jay a joy to read and the main character what a collection of worn out troupes.

This post has been edited by Chance: 12 April 2020 - 09:48 AM

[Cyphon]

Enjoying Lovecraft Country. Its knows what it is and is a nice tonic the race issues in the original Lovecraft. I've discovered it's a series of interconnected stories hitting all the right beats, so easier to pick one up rather than one large narrative.

On Gideon the ninth I can see why Abyss likes it, the snark is tailored made for you. Dont dare go into the ded thread incase for spoilers.

[Macros]

Finished HoC.

Went up to the TRP of doom, Calgary's Fury caught my eye, book 2 of the Calgar sequence by Paul Kearney, enjoyed the first, I expect similar fast paced Space Marine action

[Mentalist]

Chance, on 12 April 2020 - 09:45 AM, said:

Briar King, on 10 April 2020 - 08:52 PM, said:

You are in for a stellar fucking ride with book but even more so if you are planning on doing a full series 1-7 read through.

Feels very much like I might go through all of them. So far maybe less than a quarter in but it is good.

Mentalist, on 11 April 2020 - 12:53 AM, said:

Next up, gonna try "ember Blade", Volume 1 of the new series by Chris Wooding/ I liked both Ketty Jay and The Braided Path trilo, so hopefully this is good. Oh, and it's got a back quote endorsement by our very own Wert.
-Also, the map uses the same font as MBOTF maps.

EDIT: 20-odd chapters and 170 pages in, and this is a definition of a slow burn. Still not quite sure what we're building up towards.

Might be that it just ain't a very good book, just my "guess" . If I remember right there was very little of the playful and awesome that made Ketty Jay a joy to read and the main character what a collection of worn out troupes.

Braided Path was straight-up fantasy Asian grimdark, and it was still amazing.

The characters aren't terrible, just dumb. The pacing is bit underwhelming though