[Chance]

Aptorian, on 03 February 2023 - 06:52 AM, said:

Finished the third Eisenhorn book by Dan Abnett.

Somehow an even worse plot than the second book. Abnett is not a strong enough author to sell the significance of Eisenhorns choices in this book.

Anyone read the fourth and last Eisenhorn novel? If I didn't like book 2 and 3 much, will the fourth serve as a satisfying conclusion?

If I remember right you should do Ravenor 1-3 before the fourth Eisenhorn novel. So no if you don't like it why continue

In some way it is a conclusion but a final one not so much, the entire seriess is about the journey from Puritan to Radical for the best of reasons. Ravenor and Bequin are in most ways part of the same series. I have no clue if Abnett will write the planned book but Bequin series taking place later still lacks its third book.

This post has been edited by Chance: 03 February 2023 - 10:58 AM

[Tsundoku]

Huh, I wouldn't have thought of Eisenhorn as a Puritan in the first novel.
Maybe a pragmatist with pure intentions. But we all know what the road to heresy is paved with ...

[QuickTidal]

Tsundoku, on 03 February 2023 - 10:53 AM, said:

Huh, I wouldn't have thought of Eisenhorn as a Puritan in the first novel.
Maybe a pragmatist with pure intentions. But we all know what the road to heresy is paved with ...

Yeah, he mentions it IIRC. He explains the factions within the Inquisitorius and then claims himself as a Puritan of the Amalathian faction.

[Tsundoku]

Yeah, but he never behaves as strictly as the rest do. He gets ... proactive.

This post has been edited by Tsundoku: 03 February 2023 - 01:23 PM

[QuickTidal]

Tsundoku, on 03 February 2023 - 01:21 PM, said:

Yeah, but he never behaves as strictly as the rest do. He gets ... proactive.

Oh 100% agree. How he sees himself and how he behaves are different things indeed.

[Chance]

Finished up Kings of Heaven which was brilliant and decided to start on that Malazan re-read haven't done one in a long time.

Tsundoku, on 03 February 2023 - 10:53 AM, said:

Huh, I wouldn't have thought of Eisenhorn as a Puritan in the first novel.
Maybe a pragmatist with pure intentions. But we all know what the road to heresy is paved with ...

Pretty much that yepp, he certainly doesn't start as what he is by Magos.

This post has been edited by Chance: 03 February 2023 - 07:58 PM

[Abyss]

Whisperzzzzzzz, on 03 February 2023 - 04:39 AM, said:

Aptorian, on 02 February 2023 - 05:24 PM, said:

Tiste Simeon, on 02 February 2023 - 12:19 PM, said:

So

I'm ploughing my way through the Rivers of London series on audiobook and utterly loving it. Currently heading towards the end of FOXGLOVE SUMMER which has possibly been my favourite so far. I picked up (from the library, I've not broken my NY resolution) the dead tree versions of the two novellas, WHAT ABIGAIL DID THAT SUMMER and THE FURTHEST STATION which I understand are the next two chronologically.

Will read them while waiting for my next Audible credit to drop. Does anyone know how many full length novels there are going to be?

As of the latest Rivers of London book, it's completely open. He could write 50 more with the current set up.

The rumor is 500 more.

I don't think Aaronovich has put a timeline on the story, and certainly between Abigail and a few other characters in London, and the foreign agents he's introduced, he's got plenty to work with even if he lets Peter step back from active duty - which seems unlikely in any event.

Aptorian, on 03 February 2023 - 05:51 AM, said:

I would read all of them.

Without hesitation. It is such a great series.

[Abyss]

Abyss, on 26 January 2023 - 02:50 PM, said:

polishgenius, on 17 January 2023 - 06:16 AM, said:

Abyss, on 17 January 2023 - 02:37 AM, said:

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...

Sounds like you want Yoon Ha Lee's Ninefox Gambit tbh.
...

Considered but Wooding's KETTY JAY 4: ACE OF SKULLS won out and it's so so great to read these characters again.
Even the cat.

omg this book is so damn good.
am deep into the finale but i keep having to roll back and listen to parts twice for sheer DIDTHATJUSTHAPPEN?ness.

[QuickTidal]

After trying to get into a few books and failing, I've dropped back into David Hair's SCARLET TIDES, and it's gotten SO GOOD!

[Abyss]

QuickTidal, on 06 February 2023 - 01:15 PM, said:

After trying to get into a few books and failing, I've dropped back into David Hair's SCARLET TIDES, and it's gotten SO GOOD!

What is this MOONTIDE QUARTET series and why do you like it?

[Tiste Simeon]

Abyss, on 06 February 2023 - 03:39 AM, said:

Whisperzzzzzzz, on 03 February 2023 - 04:39 AM, said:

Aptorian, on 02 February 2023 - 05:24 PM, said:

Tiste Simeon, on 02 February 2023 - 12:19 PM, said:

So

I'm ploughing my way through the Rivers of London series on audiobook and utterly loving it. Currently heading towards the end of FOXGLOVE SUMMER which has possibly been my favourite so far. I picked up (from the library, I've not broken my NY resolution) the dead tree versions of the two novellas, WHAT ABIGAIL DID THAT SUMMER and THE FURTHEST STATION which I understand are the next two chronologically.

Will read them while waiting for my next Audible credit to drop. Does anyone know how many full length novels there are going to be?

As of the latest Rivers of London book, it's completely open. He could write 50 more with the current set up.

The rumor is 500 more.

I don't think Aaronovich has put a timeline on the story, and certainly between Abigail and a few other characters in London, and the foreign agents he's introduced, he's got plenty to work with even if he lets Peter step back from active duty - which seems unlikely in any event.

Aptorian, on 03 February 2023 - 05:51 AM, said:

I would read all of them.

Without hesitation. It is such a great series.

Agreed. My initial thought was that maybe he's going to do 10 as Nightingale (the Nightingale?) says it takes about 10 years to become a fully trained wizard but it's kind of veered away from the strict "now I'm in my third year learning I can do these things" that I thought it was going to do.

Now I'm only in book 6 - The Hanging Tree - so I'm not after an actual answer from those who are ahead, but

Spoiler

I really want Lesley to pay for her betrayal. I mean I can kind of get the motivation, but really, it was a very dumb move on her part and, to my mind, quite out of character. I hated that bit and I do hope it doesn't end so well for her. She's made her choice (stupid though it may be) and she's going to have consequences. Though I can see her switching sides last minute in an epic conflagration that saves Peter but takes her own life in the effort. I guess that would be fitting...

Anyway, Kobna Holdbrook Smith is a treasure.

[QuickTidal]

Abyss, on 06 February 2023 - 07:17 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 06 February 2023 - 01:15 PM, said:

After trying to get into a few books and failing, I've dropped back into David Hair's SCARLET TIDES, and it's gotten SO GOOD!

What is this MOONTIDE QUARTET series and why do you like it?

Let's see...

Imagine if Europe and the Middle East/Africa were not connected and were separated by a body of water that is so tempestuous that you cannot sail it, or even fly over it (winds are too much) and every 12 years things calm down enough for 2 solid years and the tides drop enough that a bridge made by ancient magical engineers crossing the closest points between those two landmasses (a point which the landmasses are only a few miles apart) reappears and the people of those two continents go to religious war like the Crusades and the shifting of rulers and politics, and the continual maintenance of order, power, and magic. Neither side is in the right, and mixed in amongst other side are good guys and bad guys...the world building is THICK and enjoyable. Decent sized list of characters. The magic is fairly complicated and there are a lot of different types of magic and all magic depends on Gnosis. There are 4 types; Thaumaturgy - to do with elements, Hermetic -concerns living things, Theurgy - concerns the intangible and the animate and finally Sorcery - concerns to intangible and inanimate. All are powerful, all do different things, all have different facets and every Mage has an affinity with one or more of them.

...I'm underselling it. There's way more going on, but I'd be spoiling stuff to be too up front.

Oh, but in the volume I'm reading they just introduced a culture of Lamia (snake people like Medusa) who were literally created by gnosis many years in the past by the book world equivalent of the Roman Empire to be foot soldiers to mimic Lantric (Greek) monsters but ended up slipping their masters noose and forming their own culture. So yeah, that's kinda fucking cool.


And hey, first book is only $3 right now....so you know....maybe worth a shot. It's a slow build in the first book, but once it gets moving it don't stop.

[Macros]

I read book one of the series and didn't feel compelled to continue, was a right few years ago, can't say now why, but I recall being underwhelmed at the time

[pat5150]

Just finished Martha Wells' forthcoming Witch King and I'm disappointed. Reads a bit like an incomplete novel or an unfinished draft. No endgame, no closure. No cliffhanger, the book simply ends the way a normal chapter would. Almost as if my ARC was missing the second half of the novel. Could this be a cash-grab by Tordotcom? Been reviewing SFF works for nearly 20 years and never encountered something like this before. . .

Full review here.

[Abyss]

pat5150, on 08 February 2023 - 01:33 AM, said:

Just finished Martha Wells' forthcoming Witch King and I'm disappointed. Reads a bit like an incomplete novel or an unfinished draft. No endgame, no closure. No cliffhanger, the book simply ends the way a normal chapter would. Almost as if my ARC was missing the second half of the novel. Could this be a cash-grab by Tordotcom? Been reviewing SFF works for nearly 20 years and never encountered something like this before. . .

Full review here.

Am very curious to see how Wells' fantasy series plays out. She was doing fantasy for decades w mid recognition at best before she struck utter gold with MURDERBOT. Now she's taking another swing at fantasy.

[amphibian]

Raksura is pretty good - but it doesn't have "classic" fantasy pacing.

Same goes for The Element of Fire and Death of a Necromancer.

Wells absolutely writes well, but those specific books were not quite built in ways that lead easily to big fantasy success.

Murderbot did great though and I'm so happy for her.

The short stories she did for Magic the Gathering were wonderful, but the crappy parts of the fandom drove her away from doing more.

[QuickTidal]

Abyss, on 09 February 2023 - 03:09 AM, said:

pat5150, on 08 February 2023 - 01:33 AM, said:

Just finished Martha Wells' forthcoming Witch King and I'm disappointed. Reads a bit like an incomplete novel or an unfinished draft. No endgame, no closure. No cliffhanger, the book simply ends the way a normal chapter would. Almost as if my ARC was missing the second half of the novel. Could this be a cash-grab by Tordotcom? Been reviewing SFF works for nearly 20 years and never encountered something like this before. . .

Full review here.

Am very curious to see how Wells' fantasy series plays out. She was doing fantasy for decades w mid recognition at best before she struck utter gold with MURDERBOT. Now she's taking another swing at fantasy.

This book is on my list to get as I like what Iv'e read of Wells.

[pat5150]

Lots of fans will buy Witch King based on the Murderbot books and they're bound to be disappointed.

Problem is, had it been a full novel instead of about half of one, it might have been quite good. As things stand, I can't help but feel cheated. . .

[QuickTidal]

pat5150, on 09 February 2023 - 03:07 PM, said:

Lots of fans will buy Witch King based on the Murderbot books and they're bound to be disappointed.

I dunno man, you didn't like the new Tad Williams Osten Ard books, and I've loved them so far...

[pat5150]

You have a point.

Well, you'll see. I'd suggest waiting for the paperback or an ebook sale, but it will be up to you.