[QuickTidal]

Read and finished up to the end of book 13 in the Drizzt Forgotten Realms books and I have some thoughts and feelings. I stopped here for now as there is a break in the overall narrative that happens here as the next set of books was intended as a re-launch of Drizzt and Co.

1. The fact that Drizzt and Co. don't ever venture away from the Sword Coast, or moreover the Underdark, Menzoberanzan, and Icewind Dale got grating after like book 6...in fact the entire FR series of books annoy me in that VERY few of them step away from the Sword Coast at all. But yeah, the sheer amount of the 13 books that take place underground in either the caverns near Mithral Hall, or The Underdark and Menzo...staggering. Like how BORING a setting is "underground caves"....like the action is fine, but when the 25th fight between Drizzt and his companions and goblins/dark elves/gnomes/creatures happens on a non-script bunch of rock in moderate darkness...the whole thing creaks at the damned hinges. I understand that at least Menzoberranzan is a bit unique in terms of underground...but it's still the same shit. The whole ass continent of Faerun exists above...but no, lets go back here cause reasons.

2. Having Drizzt constantly return to the "homeland" well to deal with a new Matron, or someone else working for the Spider Queen...makes for such diminishing returns. The guy is a philosophical badass who REJECTED his homeland...why the fuck do you keep having him return there Salvatore?! I think out of those 13 books, only the OG trilogy (Icewind Dale; books 4-6) and a single sea of swords tale DON'T return to take place there and concern people there. Like FFS you gave him a human assassin nemesis (and an interesting one who you never know if he's going to turn good) who COULD chase him all over Faerun....but nope...let's have them fight in the under dark again.

3. The Companions of the Hall. Look....I'm very cool with having a group of people who you'd see in any standard AD&D game, a dwarf king, a ranger, a human archer, a halfling and a barbarian...for a few books....but the fact that Drizzt has made NO OTHER FRIENDS is baffling. Say what you will of Dragonlance, but my gods the Companions of the Lance at least had kids, and moved away and met new people, and did new things...Drizzt, Catti-Brie, Wulfgar, Bruenor, and Regis being the only characters of note in some 13 books is...taxing. Drizzt is the one we are following....leave the rest of them safely in Icewind Dale and Mithril Hall and GO ON SOME ADVENTURES DRIZZT AND MEET NEW PEOPLE! Fuck.and if you're going to keep the same cast....put them through some shit...and I don't mean off-screen death fakeouts....or trickery of making one of them see things that didn't happen....I mean real shit that causes them to change and move forward. Catti-brie is EXACTLY the same in book 4 that she is in book 13. There is no growth. Just a cutout of a pretty redheaded archer love interest.

4. Look, Drizzt is a great character. He's complex, and has the ability to really go on some interesting adventures that further him as a person...but he just doesn't. I know that the next set of books push him in new directions...and after a while they get pretty good and do interesting things....but my gods the first few trilogies are hard to manage with how rote-by-D&D standards they are.

I will be reading the rest, but man I wish I'd have known just how much a slog books 7-13 would be overall with the same set of characters doing the same set of things over and over in mildly different ways.

For what it's worth, while Drizzt is a cool character, the first two Brimstone Angels books by Erin M. Evans are MILES better with characterization...and I've heard that Niles, Cunningham, and especially Kemp put Salvatore to absolute shame with their Forgotten Realms work. I also plan to read the two D&D: Honor Among Thieves tie-in novels.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 18 September 2023 - 01:11 PM

[Abyss]

 QuickTidal, on 18 September 2023 - 12:41 PM, said:

Read and finished up to the end of book 13 in the Drizzt Forgotten Realms books...
For what it's worth, while Drizzt is a cool character, the first two Brimstone Angels books by Erin M. Evans are MILES better with characterization...and I've heard that Niles, Cunningham, and especially Kemp put Salvatore to absolute shame with their Forgotten Realms work. I also plan to read the two D&D: Honor Among Thieves tie-in novels.

If you can track down the GORD THE ROGUE books, that is some OLD olde skhool ADnD. Great fun, aged surprisingly well.

[QuickTidal]

 Abyss, on 18 September 2023 - 01:41 PM, said:

 QuickTidal, on 18 September 2023 - 12:41 PM, said:

Read and finished up to the end of book 13 in the Drizzt Forgotten Realms books...
For what it's worth, while Drizzt is a cool character, the first two Brimstone Angels books by Erin M. Evans are MILES better with characterization...and I've heard that Niles, Cunningham, and especially Kemp put Salvatore to absolute shame with their Forgotten Realms work. I also plan to read the two D&D: Honor Among Thieves tie-in novels.

If you can track down the GORD THE ROGUE books, that is some OLD olde skhool ADnD. Great fun, aged surprisingly well.

will do. I think I'm off the Salvatore FR bandwagon for a while, so I'll happily seek out other FR authors.

[Abyss]

 QuickTidal, on 18 September 2023 - 02:30 PM, said:

 Abyss, on 18 September 2023 - 01:41 PM, said:

 QuickTidal, on 18 September 2023 - 12:41 PM, said:

Read and finished up to the end of book 13 in the Drizzt Forgotten Realms books...
For what it's worth, while Drizzt is a cool character, the first two Brimstone Angels books by Erin M. Evans are MILES better with characterization...and I've heard that Niles, Cunningham, and especially Kemp put Salvatore to absolute shame with their Forgotten Realms work. I also plan to read the two D&D: Honor Among Thieves tie-in novels.

If you can track down the GORD THE ROGUE books, that is some OLD olde skhool ADnD. Great fun, aged surprisingly well.

will do. I think I'm off the Salvatore FR bandwagon for a while, so I'll happily seek out other FR authors.

For accuracy, it's kind of precursor to Forgotten Realms. Hard to explain without spoilers, but hey, it's written by Gary Gygax himself.

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

 Whisperzzzzzzz, on 04 September 2023 - 10:12 PM, said:

I have been reading through Martha Wells' Books of the Raksura series. I had seen them recommended as "aliens that are truly alien!", though I don't really understand where that characterization comes from. I feel like I should like them more, but I find them sort of shallow, repetitive, and boring. Despite that, I do like the world she has created. I've stalled out about 1/4 of the way in to book 4 and I can't make any more progress on them.

I've also read through Marlene Winell's Leaving The Fold, as my partner is an ex-religious person who is dealing with trauma from their upbringing. I highly recommend this book if you are close with anyone who either is ex-religious or is still religious.

I'm currently reading Rachel Aaron's Legends of Eli Monpress series. These are a lot of fun! I zipped through the first book and am progressing nicely through the second. They sort of feel like One Piece (which I'm only reminded of due to having just watched the live-action Netflix adaptation and Eli's drive to increase his bounty) meets Hadrian & Royce from Riyria meets a Miyazaki-esque world in which every object and creature has a sentient spirit. If you're looking for some fun romping, these are a good place to go.

Finished the Legends of Eli Monpress, and mt thoughts from above stand. The worldbuilding is really novel and cool too.

Starting Butcher's The Aeronaut's Windlass.

[QuickTidal]

 Whisperzzzzzzz, on 20 September 2023 - 03:18 AM, said:

 Whisperzzzzzzz, on 04 September 2023 - 10:12 PM, said:

I have been reading through Martha Wells' Books of the Raksura series. I had seen them recommended as "aliens that are truly alien!", though I don't really understand where that characterization comes from. I feel like I should like them more, but I find them sort of shallow, repetitive, and boring. Despite that, I do like the world she has created. I've stalled out about 1/4 of the way in to book 4 and I can't make any more progress on them.

I've also read through Marlene Winell's Leaving The Fold, as my partner is an ex-religious person who is dealing with trauma from their upbringing. I highly recommend this book if you are close with anyone who either is ex-religious or is still religious.

I'm currently reading Rachel Aaron's Legends of Eli Monpress series. These are a lot of fun! I zipped through the first book and am progressing nicely through the second. They sort of feel like One Piece (which I'm only reminded of due to having just watched the live-action Netflix adaptation and Eli's drive to increase his bounty) meets Hadrian & Royce from Riyria meets a Miyazaki-esque world in which every object and creature has a sentient spirit. If you're looking for some fun romping, these are a good place to go.

Finished the Legends of Eli Monpress, and mt thoughts from above stand. The worldbuilding is really novel and cool too.

I'v had this on my kindle, the whole series for like a decade and have never read it. Good to know it's solid.

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

 QuickTidal, on 20 September 2023 - 12:16 PM, said:

 Whisperzzzzzzz, on 20 September 2023 - 03:18 AM, said:

 Whisperzzzzzzz, on 04 September 2023 - 10:12 PM, said:

I have been reading through Martha Wells' Books of the Raksura series. I had seen them recommended as "aliens that are truly alien!", though I don't really understand where that characterization comes from. I feel like I should like them more, but I find them sort of shallow, repetitive, and boring. Despite that, I do like the world she has created. I've stalled out about 1/4 of the way in to book 4 and I can't make any more progress on them.

I've also read through Marlene Winell's Leaving The Fold, as my partner is an ex-religious person who is dealing with trauma from their upbringing. I highly recommend this book if you are close with anyone who either is ex-religious or is still religious.

I'm currently reading Rachel Aaron's Legends of Eli Monpress series. These are a lot of fun! I zipped through the first book and am progressing nicely through the second. They sort of feel like One Piece (which I'm only reminded of due to having just watched the live-action Netflix adaptation and Eli's drive to increase his bounty) meets Hadrian & Royce from Riyria meets a Miyazaki-esque world in which every object and creature has a sentient spirit. If you're looking for some fun romping, these are a good place to go.

Finished the Legends of Eli Monpress, and mt thoughts from above stand. The worldbuilding is really novel and cool too.

I'v had this on my kindle, the whole series for like a decade and have never read it. Good to know it's solid.

They're quick reads, so worth a weekend.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

 QuickTidal, on 15 September 2023 - 01:57 PM, said:

 Azath Vitr (D, on 15 September 2023 - 01:32 PM, said:

He gives

Spoiler

Chade

a thick Scottish accent and Fitz and the other characters so far English accents... which seems completely inappropriate. Their accents should be similar.

Especially because...

Spoiler

Chade is part of the royal family who has always lived at the keep with his younger brother King Shrewd, and the rest of his immediate family...like I could understand if Chade had been sent away young and educated elsewhere for decades and then come back...but that's not what happened. There is zero reason for him to speak in a Scottish brogue, when everyone else just speaks in aristocratic English accents. That would irritate the shit out of me.

Not to mention poorly done regional accents by audiobook narrators VERY often turn me off audiobooks....hell the narrator of the Green Rider books was SO bad that the only reason I got into the books at all was because I pushed through the physical copy and tried to forget her pronunciation and terrible accents. Another one is the Patrick O'Brian books...Patrick Tull AND David Pigott-Smith give Stephen Maturin a typical and deep Irish accent...but Maturin largely grew up in Catalonia/Spain, so his accent would not have been a full Irish accent, but rather a lilt that would show up occasionally (I think even O'Brian mentioned this while he was alive.....but then he hated the idea of audiobooks altogether) in certain words and phrases, but would not be so dominant. I don't know if Simon Vance does this on his O'Brian readings, but at the very least Ric Jerrom does not....he's the only one I can listen to do these books as a result. Meanwhile everyone thinks Tull's readings are best....it drives me mental.

And

Spoiler

Kettricken

has a dainty French accent that is laughably bad... I had to turn it off and take some deep breaths to compose myself. IMO it's the worst choice he could have made (though some other choices would arguably be stranger---Cthulhu accent, etc.). Because

Spoiler

when I think of French royalty, what most comes to mind is the Sun King, etc. Extravagance, luxury, having your body servants do everything.

Even if he didn't bother reading much of/about the first trilogy, just from what he'd already read aloud before introducing her it's obvious that

Spoiler

she's the polar opposite of the Sun King and so forth. And not 'dainty' or excessively smooth at all. An earthier or more realistic French accent wouldn't be quite as bad.

And once I composed myself and forced myself to go on, I was still finding it very distracting but borderline bearable until

Spoiler

Chade

started speaking with her and the combination of his Scottish accent (which a Redditor aptly described as 'funny') with her ridiculously bad French accent was just too much. Still, I shall subject myself to several more hours today while electrocuting my abs... will agony distract from agony, I pray (upon my willful crucifixion day)?...

Also, my joy at learning that

Spoiler

a wit bond with a cat

would be a major part of the plot has turned to ashes in my ears after getting the very clear impression that

Spoiler

Hobb doesn't like cats, and is going to keep going on about how mean and petty they are. And they stay up late---what monsters! Humans need to wake up early to stay human!

[Edit: Correction: of course

Spoiler

the Mountain Kingdom isn't to the north.

]

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 23 September 2023 - 05:46 PM

[worry]

Finished House War book 3, House Name, by Michelle West. I'd say it was as good as the second one, which is high praise as that one was wonderful. Maybe not as many gut punches here, but by her standards (so far) it was action packed. She's excellent at character, pathos, tension building, and maybe the most important thing here is found family. It pays off over and over and over. I also like that she kind of handles the 'gray area' stuff at the micro level, and has a pretty stark good vs. evil thing going at the macro level, and it all works. The unambiguously evil stuff going on in these books is genuinely disturbing, but it's kept mostly (and tastefully) off-page. What starts happening like halfway through this book, though, is still among the most hellish things I've ready lately.


Now I'm reading a book called Horror Stories, appropriately enough. But it's just Liz Phair's memoir, so hopefully nothing too crazy.

[pat5150]

Finished Butcher's The Olympian Affair and it's a bit better than the first one.

Now starting Stephen King's Holly.

[Abyss]

 pat5150, on 25 September 2023 - 01:15 PM, said:

Finished Butcher's The Olympian Affair and it's a bit better than the first one.
...

i hate you Pat.



Paused SUN SWORD 3 because bored.
Started THE ART OF PROPHECY by Wesley Chu. One hour in, i'm completely hooked.

[Abyss]

 Abyss, on 05 September 2023 - 03:31 PM, said:

...I've been ear'ing the podcast drama TRANSMISSIONS FROM COLONY ONE on spotify. It's an audiodrama, full cast w fx and soundtrack, about astronauts sent on what is supposed to be a one-way trip to start a colony on Mars. I can't really go into any detail w/out spoilers but - duh - things go wrong. All the things. It's very well done generally. The scripts are done as audio recordings from the astronauts' suits/computers - basically the same way a 'real' space mission would have hundreds of hours recording everything said - which works nicely. The events and challenges and tensions are effectively built, the actors make the characters' reactions believable, and it would be hard not to find this gripping. The story also takes major shifts every few episodes so nothing feels like filler....

Just finished Season 4 of this. I strongly recommend. It is VERY well done. Effectively THE MARTIAN with a bigger cast and no potatoes. The end of S3 and all of S4 included some massive game changers that really upped the already high tension. S5 is about halfway done, i plan to wait til it's completed - which is allegedly the finale of the series as well - and wil absolutely be listening to it. Worth your time. Free wherever you get your pods. Note there are complete pods for seasons 1-4 so you can listen to them straight through.

[QuickTidal]

Read and finished Clive Cussler's (7th?) Dirk Pitt novel TREASURE. Really enjoyed it. Blazed through it at breakneck pace considering it's 678 pgs long. The only complaint I have (other than noting some rather 1980's type machismo stuff that feels over the top in 2023)...is that it's a BIT overlong for what it is. He could probably have cut 100 pages out and not lost much. I do note that this is one of the 3 or 4 longer Pitt novels, so it's not a hallmark of the series that they are normally this long. Anyways, had a blast. I'll bring INCA GOLD or TREASURE OF KHAN on my vacation next year as a beach read.

Going to dive back into the Mercy Thompson series (which I abandoned for silly reasons at Book 4 a number of years ago) by Patricia Briggs, so I'm doing SILVER BORNE (book 5).

[polishgenius]

Back in 2006 I read a book called The Crooked Letter by Sean Williams. Being an American import of a book by an Australian author I wasn't sure when I'd be able to read more, but I enjoyed it so I thought I'd look out for them- particularly his earlier series that The Crooked Letter was a prequel to.



Now in 2023 I have finally read The Stone Mage and the Sea.

It's good fun. Quite a small-scale story to begin with (though as a series it's clearly trending in a larger direction). Nothing earth-shaking, but I'll probably read the next one a bit quicker.



Now I'm reading The Archive Undying by Emma Mieko Candon, a science-fanatasy epic that I can best describe as, I dunno, something like a mix between mech stories and Planescape Torment? That misses a lot but it gets the general idea across maybe. Anyway, I'm really enjoying it so far.

[QuickTidal]

 polishgenius, on 03 October 2023 - 04:20 PM, said:

Emma Mieko Candon

How is her prose this time out? Her Star Wars book (based on the Non-Sith force user from VISIONS) was amateurish AT BEST and really made me wonder why anyone picked her to pen the book...it was BAD.

[polishgenius]

I'm finding it really good.

edit: it's probably worth saying that my tolerance for a certain kind of arty-farty prose is probably historically more patient than yours, but I don't know if that was your problem with the Star Wars book. In this book she has a bit of that but saves it for the odd inter-chapter fragment from a particular perspective, for the most part it's pretty straightforward but, imo, evocative.

This post has been edited by polishgenius: 03 October 2023 - 05:14 PM

[QuickTidal]

 polishgenius, on 03 October 2023 - 04:46 PM, said:

I'm finding it really good.

edit: it's probably worth saying that my tolerance for a certain kind of arty-farty prose is probably historically more patient than yours, but I don't know if that was your problem with the Star Wars book. In this book she has a bit of that but saves it for the odd inter-chapter fragment from a particular perspective, for the most part it's pretty straightforward but, imo, evocative.

I found her SW book really pedestrian for something that was so niche in the already niche of Star Wars - it was based on the Samurai character from VISIONS, so I expected it to have more flourish.

[polishgenius]

Hmm. Well, I definitely don't think that's a problem here. But I don't have the Star Wars one to compare it to.


In any case this book involves the corpses of AI mecha-gods being revived and piloted by tortured immortal revenants, so the setting at least is not pedestrian.

This post has been edited by polishgenius: 03 October 2023 - 07:56 PM

[Abyss]

 polishgenius, on 03 October 2023 - 07:55 PM, said:

...this book involves the corpses of AI mecha-gods being revived and piloted by tortured immortal revenants...

gotta say, that's a glorious one line hook right there.

[pat5150]

Just finished Stephen King's Holly. Another good one and it's been a few in a row for King, what with The Institute, Billy Summers, Fairy Tale, and now this one.