[Maark Abbott]

Tsundoku, on 11 January 2023 - 12:22 PM, said:

Maark Abbott, on 11 January 2023 - 08:46 AM, said:

Tsundoku, on 10 January 2023 - 01:22 PM, said:

Maark would definitely hate "Legends and Lattes".

Incorrect. I'm reading it at present and it's basically any comfortable Japanese slice-of-life fantasy light novel but tweaked for Western audiences. Plus the MC is relatable.

Have I been transported to some sort of parallel universe?

It's definitely not because I have a thing for hulking orc ladies who could snap my spine.

[QuickTidal]

Re-reading WOT and just finished The DRAGON REBORN. It was still fun. I always forget how this is the one with minimal Rand, but the joy I get from reading about Perrin and Mat fills that gap nicely in this one. Mat's incredulity at the end that he did so much of the last section or at least fomented it, but not one is paying attention to that always makes me laugh.

Oh and Faile is not quite annoying me as much as she did the first time I read these books, so that's good.

Onto THE SHADOW RISES....but I'm also diving into some Pathfinder stuff for a D&D-like fix....becuase the OGL 1.1 announcement from WOTC/Hasbro has pissed me off enough to want to jump ship from Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance, to Pathfinder. At least Paizo is trying their best to avoid their shit being involved in the OGL mess. More and more I find myself saying Fuck WOTC AND Fuck Hasbro.

[Abyss]

Maark Abbott, on 11 January 2023 - 12:48 PM, said:

It's definitely not because I have a thing for hulking orc ladies who could snap my spine then whip up a fabulous latte.

Fixed.

[polishgenius]

Finished The Forgotten Beasts of Eld. It's mostly really good, in that Earthsea-like 60s/70s fairytale style, but there's one questionable decision about the romance depicted that left a sour taste in my mouth. Still, I'll be reading more by McKillip.



Hmm I'm on a tear. Didn't read very much last year, started this one fast. What to choose, what to choose.

[worry]

I recommend dipping your toes into a little macro-genre known as ‘speculative fiction’. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

[Abyss]

worry, on 11 January 2023 - 11:43 PM, said:

I recommend dipping your toes into a little macro-genre known as 'speculative fiction'. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

I hear it's mostly people rewriting their ttrpg games and stuff about cats.

[worry]

Cats are always a pleasant surprise!

[Maark Abbott]

Abyss, on 11 January 2023 - 07:32 PM, said:

Maark Abbott, on 11 January 2023 - 12:48 PM, said:

It's definitely not because I have a thing for hulking orc ladies who could snap my spine then whip up a fabulous latte.

Fixed.

I mean, I do like a nice latte.

[polishgenius]

worry, on 11 January 2023 - 11:43 PM, said:

I recommend dipping your toes into a little macro-genre known as ‘speculative fiction’. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Sounds made-up.

[Tsundoku]

worry, on 11 January 2023 - 11:43 PM, said:

I recommend dipping your toes into a little macro-genre known as ‘speculative fiction’. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Sounds better than speculum fiction. Which I Googled on a whim and was surprised to find out is actually a thing.

Just don't.

polishgenius, on 12 January 2023 - 04:11 PM, said:

worry, on 11 January 2023 - 11:43 PM, said:

I recommend dipping your toes into a little macro-genre known as ‘speculative fiction’. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Sounds made-up.

Indeed, just a lot of guesswork.

[polishgenius]

So what I did read is Adrian Tchaikovsky's latest, The City of Last Chances. One of his standalones (I think). It initially affects the gimmick of seemingly jumping from character to character for every chapter without returning to previous ones, but that'd be unworkable for a full 500 page novel if you actually want to care about anyone so thankfully he settles down after a while. In any case it's about a sort of exaggerated, comformity-demmanding communist regime's occupation of a new-weird style fantasy city with a bunch of quirks and oddities. Fun stuff.


Now I've started The Big Sleep coz I've never read Chandler and I figured I should try him.

[Macros]

Just finished Tchaikovskys Children of Memory.
As said earlier in thread, different from the other two, but handled superbly.

Also read Rivers of London last week, that was fun

[QuickTidal]

Started Aubrey & Maturin Book 9 - TREASON'S HARBOUR by Patrick O'Brian and In wanted to see ifs I could do it in audiobook....but the audible Audiobook narrator Ric Jerrom put me to sleep when I tried him before...there was no aplomb to his reading of the material and he seemed to giggle and delivery laugh-y sort of lines when they were not appropriate...so I went to a different site and found the narrator of these books everyone said was the best, Patrick Tull (recorded back in the 90's when they did this on CD; like you can occasionally hear [if you strain] ambient noise in the background....either a TV, or someone speaking...lol) and it's like night and day. I can EASILY listen to Tull narrate, he pauses and gives every section attention. He's not just "reading" it as written as Jerrom does....he PERFORMS it.

Anyways, great volume in the series so far!

[Macros]

Started a new book
The King's Justice by Richard Swan

[QuickTidal]

Macros, on 16 January 2023 - 08:04 PM, said:

Started a new book
The King's Justice by Richard Swan

Good luck. I made it 100 pages before dropping it.

[stone monkey]

I read Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian recently; which is a truly amazing book. The characters range from monstrous to very monstrous - one of whom states that he's literally the devil and may not be lying about that. The things they get up to are absolutely appalling - made even worse by the fact that the whole thing is based fairly closely on testimony of actual events ( the author even personally retraced the party's steps to allow him more accurately describe their surroundings). It's not a book that can be enjoyed in the conventional meaning of the word, however the writing is stunning.

[Macros]

QuickTidal, on 16 January 2023 - 08:31 PM, said:

Macros, on 16 January 2023 - 08:04 PM, said:

Started a new book
The King's Justice by Richard Swan

Good luck. I made it 100 pages before dropping it.

oh boo, I picked it up flipping through the kobo store, keep a book on my phone to read on travel days etc. What was the turn off?

[Abyss]

Just Finished THE LAW, a Dresden Files short story.
It's surprisingly good for a short story. Set just after BATTLE GROUND, Dresden takes on a case to distract himself from all his much bigger problems. It seems as tho it will be a very low key story but it escalates steadily and brings in some bigger players, as well as a few new characters i hope we see again as they were genuinely fun to read. It's not epic level Dresden but it is very much a Dresden story, with a few interesting notes about the status quo in Chicago post the war with the titan.
Earbook is narrated by Jim Butcher himself. He won't ever replace James Marsters, but he does well enough.

Also Just finished Stephen Blackmore's latest Eric Carter Necromancer book BOTTLE DEMON. Look, it's book 6 in a series, if you enjoyed the previous five this is completely worth your time and money - you know what you're getting, you like or you dont. I did. The ridiculous time limit, death god shenanigans, ghosts, drugs, alcohol, guns... it's all there. Blackmore did shake up the character and status quo a bit this. If that was the end of the series (he hasn't said, i'm speculating) then it was a solid end point. If there's more, i want to read it.
Considering each earbook, this included, run less than seven hours, i'm amazed how much the author manages to pack in.
This was a Graphic Audio presentation with cast, sound fx, and music. All very entertaining as always.


Next up... not sure... the eTRP is fantasy-heavy but i may be feeling something spacey, with fleets of pretentiously named ships blasting the fnckstars out of each other...

[Chance]

Just finished the first of the Ash and Sands book from that top fantasy list, out of pure curiosity. Slow start but I want to know what happens to the characters in the next one which makes it a good book in my opinion. Basically several pov characters with intersecting stories where all of them rebel against the society/social order/families they live in, some by attempting reform and some quite a bit more radical. A good set of characters whom each get very different moments of total awesomeness along all the grimdark in very different ways from the split personality cannibal genius to the young sorcerer-king buddha. Probably not for everyone and the first part establishing the characters is slow but its just the right kind of grimdark for me.

Macros, on 16 January 2023 - 09:19 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 16 January 2023 - 08:31 PM, said:

Macros, on 16 January 2023 - 08:04 PM, said:

Started a new book
The King's Justice by Richard Swan

Good luck. I made it 100 pages before dropping it.

oh boo, I picked it up flipping through the kobo store, keep a book on my phone to read on travel days etc. What was the turn off?

It does get better after the halfway mark, but it isn't a very impressive book. Probably only finished it because I'm kind of stubborn.

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

Whisperzzzzzzz, on 01 January 2023 - 10:19 PM, said:

Aptorian, on 01 January 2023 - 08:59 PM, said:

Oh boy, is this the first time reading the Laundry Files?

Yep! I found a collected edition (On Her Majesty's Occult Service) at an estate sale a few months ago.

Pausing this for the moment. Lyons' The House Of Always has just arrived!