[Tiste Simeon]

JPK, on 24 September 2025 - 03:46 PM, said:

Tiste Simeon, on 24 September 2025 - 02:41 PM, said:

Abyss, on 24 September 2025 - 01:57 PM, said:

TheRetiredBridgeburner, on 24 September 2025 - 11:52 AM, said:

...

Finished the First Law trilogy - I definitely want to read more Abercrombie, ...

You're in for a treat, his writing - which was fine in TFL - just gets better and better from there.

This reminds me that I have The Devils queued up on Audible and I should get around to listening to it. Maybe after Stonewielder...

Yes. You should. Maybe even before Stonewielder.

I'm halfway through SW and I don't really want to dip out tbh but you've convinced me to make it my next book!

[Tsundoku]

QuickTidal, on 24 September 2025 - 01:07 PM, said:

Tsundoku, on 24 September 2025 - 12:18 PM, said:

So ... if 50 Shades of Shit was fan fic Twishite cleansed of the obvious Twishite refs, does this then follow similarly ... ?

I'm not even sure I understand this sentence...

LOL

I'm (tongue in cheek) asking if this series started life as a shitty slash fic which then pivoted and got cleaned up when the author thought they may have something better there.

[JPK]

Tiste Simeon, on 24 September 2025 - 08:11 PM, said:

JPK, on 24 September 2025 - 03:46 PM, said:

Tiste Simeon, on 24 September 2025 - 02:41 PM, said:

Abyss, on 24 September 2025 - 01:57 PM, said:

TheRetiredBridgeburner, on 24 September 2025 - 11:52 AM, said:

...

Finished the First Law trilogy - I definitely want to read more Abercrombie, ...

You're in for a treat, his writing - which was fine in TFL - just gets better and better from there.

This reminds me that I have The Devils queued up on Audible and I should get around to listening to it. Maybe after Stonewielder...

Yes. You should. Maybe even before Stonewielder.

I'm halfway through SW and I don't really want to dip out tbh but you've convinced me to make it my next book!

That's fair, I suppose. But the hype for this one is well deserved.

[worry]

Finished: Poppy War 2 -- The Dragon Republic. I have to say, the protagonist of these books (Rin) is a real dumbass. Which isn't an insult to the writing or R.F. Kuang. The character as written is a dumbass. It's kinda refreshing and frustrating at the same time. Nearly every single choice she makes is dumb as hell, but is true to character (and I guess true to life, as far as that goes), and it's not like there aren't consequences. Can't wait to see what the finale has in store. --That said, I am waiting, cuz I'm reading other books in between.

Horrorstör -- A gimmicky horror novel from Grady Hendrix set in a fictional equivalent (and rival of) Ikea. The book itself is even stylized like a catalog. I was surprised to find that the protagonist of this book is also a young woman who is a dumbass. But like Rin, she has chutzpah, so that combo drives the story as she and some co-workers stay overnight in the store to suss out a mystery. Spoiler: it turns out to be some supernatural and hostile goings-on. It was okay. Not very scary, but it makes good use of the setting, which is most of the point of this one.

Peace Talks & Battle Ground (of the Dresden Files) -- I don't know why, but I just never read these when they came out, so I figured I should change that with the announcement of the new one. I didn't love either of them, tbh. The first one is supposed to be place-setting with the second one a big climax, and that's how it shook out I guess, but at the same time even the second one ultimately felt like place-setting. I dunno -- big stuff definitely happened, and both were still very readable, so I don't mean to sound too negative, but something about Battle Ground still felt like a middle chapter to me.

This post has been edited by worry: 25 September 2025 - 09:24 PM

[amphibian]

I didn't finish the Poppy War trilogy. I stopped about 40% through the third book because I felt like it wasn't going to a fresh place or a meaningful place within the story.

[worry]

I don't know if it's for the same reason, but I did feel something like that about Book 2 until about halfway in. I don't want to get too into it, but part of what's "wrong" with Rin is the way she persistently stagnates and outsources her agency -- it does affect the story Kuang is telling because Rin's the sole POV, even if I consider it a deliberate character flaw of Rin rather than the writing. I am expecting the first half of Book 3 to be another doldrums, but I am curious enough as to how it all shakes out. Plus I bought them as a boxed set, so I am gonna sunken-cost-fallacy them regardless. (Not that I hate the series, but they are 3-stars books to me so far).

[amphibian]

It definitely isn't awful writing. I very much get how finishing is better and have finished some genuinely awful books in my past, while likely having more in my future.

I think what I bounced off of more than anything was the lack of a step beyond war training becomes useless in a long drawn out war. She's got my attention and what is she doing with it?? I will happily trust an author to take me to wild places, but I'm not sure Kuang has that extra gear in there.

Have fun with it and I'm currently reading The Spear Cuts Through Water.

[Cyphon]

I just finished the spear cuts through water, on forum reco, and it was excellent. Quite an intense read in places but clever and engaging on many levels. Well worth the money and eyeball time.

Have added his other book on the wishlist which sounds good too.

For a change in pace, reading Xenos in the Eishenhorn omnibus.

This post has been edited by Cyphon: 26 September 2025 - 07:16 AM

[QuickTidal]

QuickTidal, on 24 September 2025 - 12:02 PM, said:

Started the buzzy buzzy book ALCHEMISED by SenLinYu....which began life as a Harry Potter Fan Fiction that became such a hit that movie studios had a bidding war over it, and asked the author to re-write it without any of the copyrighted Harry Potter stuff in it...

Thus the jumping off point for this story (if it were still Harry Potter) is that The Order of the Phoenix lost the war, Harry Potter is dead, and Voldemort not only rules the world, but used necromancy to raise the dead Order members after they were killed and used them against the remaining ones, he has started a eugenics program to repopulate the world with people of his magical type, and resorts to torture and whatnot to make sure everyone under him stays in line...into this is flung a war-broken Hermoine who has a deliberately placed magical mental block so she can't recall the last 14 months of the war, and is captured and tortured until the Voldemort stand-in (The High Necromancer) realizes that she might be more valuable for whatever information is in her head behind those blocks that no one can penetrate...and she is sent to the High Reeve (Draco Malfoy) for safe keeping until they can find out how....

So...that's fucking dark as hell. I only started it last night, but I'm already on page 60 and it reads really well and pacey.

Update:

Finished.

Look. It's good, but I have complaints.

1. It's FAR too long for the amount of characters and plot lines it contains. There are so many repetitive moments.
2. It retained squickier elements of the fan fiction version that are simply not needed here, and in the hands of a more seasoned author, they would not have been included.
3. The book is structured oddly...the beginning and the end are "present day" and are about 200 pages each...and the middle 600 pages are a monstrous flashback. This is done for full tilt effect to get an emotional reaction out of you. I didn't care for it...mostly becuase the "revelations" in the flashback are telegraphed by the fact that if the author did the things in Part 1 that they did...and they were left as is, it would be too dark...as such, I KNEW the flashback would retcon/re-adjust your view of them...which robs the emotional heft of the revelations.
4. Bad people like to curse. SenLinYu seemingly feels that to REALLY show you how villains are villainous...they have to swear....it's amateurish and at times was Deadpool-level over the top.
5. It's a really simple story in the end for what is a thousand page novel. This could have been 500pages and not lost a thing.

So, I liked it, but it's not the book-revelation I kept seeing it portrayed as...like many people were saying this was in their top ten of all time...and I have to wonder at how many books they've read...because this book would not even crack my top 50.

[Tsundoku]

QT, by your rather neutral-to-underwhelmed reaction (my interpretation of the above, even though you say you "like" it) I'd go further and suggest it's not even in your top 500.

Over 1,000 pages? At least Branderson can have multiple storylines and POVs going, although YMMV on the quality.
I suggest anyone who isn't into Stormlight Archive-level doorstoppers give this one a massive swerve.

Oh, and the original "Manacled" is still available online ... if you know where to look. And are some sort of next-level masochist.

This post has been edited by Tsundoku: 29 September 2025 - 12:15 PM

[QuickTidal]

Tsundoku, on 29 September 2025 - 12:13 PM, said:

QT, by your rather neutral-to-underwhelmed reaction (my interpretation of the above, even though you say you "like" it) I'd go further and suggest it's not even in your top 500.

Over 1,000 pages? At least Branderson can have multiple storylines and POVs going, although YMMV on the quality.
I suggest anyone who isn't into Stormlight Archive-level doorstoppers give this one a massive swerve.

Oh, and the original "Manacled" is still available online ... if you know where to look. And are some sort of next-level masochist.

Agreed. Skip it.

And yeah, the 1000 page thing for what is ostensibly like 4 or 5 characters in the "present day" parts, and only about 3 to 4 more main ones in the flashback...compare and contrast with the plot lines and dramatis personae in Malayan, ASOIAF, or Stormlight...I was like "why do we need all these pages?"....oh yeah I guess it's to hammer home the point of the story over and over so when we get to the singular moment near the end you can "feel" it...I guess?

That's probably the last time I'm going to dive into some buzzy buzzy book on social media on day of release.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 29 September 2025 - 12:54 PM

[Abyss]

Tsundoku, on 29 September 2025 - 12:13 PM, said:

... and the original "Manacled" is still available online ... if you know where to look. And are some sort of next-level masochist.

i just threw up inside my mouth a little.

[Tiste Simeon]

Hmm maybe I'll wait for the inevitable massive reduction in Kindle price to get that one.

[QuickTidal]

Tiste Simeon, on 29 September 2025 - 03:09 PM, said:

Hmm maybe I'll wait for the inevitable massive reduction in Kindle price to get that one.

Yeah, for sure. Like the concept is as cool as it sounds...but the execution is off enough that you'd be fine to wait.

[polishgenius]

lol just got (at full price) Alchemised without seeing QT's mention of it, about 50 pages in. Didn't realise it was a HP fanfic changeup, but it's a lot better than 50 Shades I'd imagine...


Anyway I'm enjoying it so far, let's see if it gets the Double Meh or if it fits my tastes more.


I also picked up The Raven Scholar, the other buzzy fantasy of the moment. Haven't started it yet though.

QuickTidal, on 29 September 2025 - 12:53 PM, said:

That's probably the last time I'm going to dive into some buzzy buzzy book on social media on day of release.

Read Notorious Sorcerer instead. A quick search says I'm still the only person to even have mentioned it on this forum and that is an outrage. Also: it's called Notorious Sorcerer. There's at least a 50% chance you'll like it.

[QuickTidal]

polishgenius, on 29 September 2025 - 06:01 PM, said:

lol just got (at full price) Alchemised without seeing QT's mention of it, about 50 pages in. Didn't realise it was a HP fanfic changeup, but it's a lot better than 50 Shades I'd imagine...


Anyway I'm enjoying it so far, let's see if it gets the Double Meh or if it fits my tastes more.

Yeah. I mean it's not in any way bad...and they know how to keep you rolling in it (I ploughed through it pretty quickly, but I had a lot of free time to read with a number of days off on vacation), but I'll be curious what you think when you're done.

The cover is lovely, and I like the map (which is not in the printed version on our side of the pond and I had to look it up on their website).

[polishgenius]

I'm glad you said that coz I got it on ebook where maps are rubbish anyway, but yeah looked it up and it's great.



I watched a youtube vid not that long about how it'd be great if more fantasy book maps were a bit unusual in one way or another, and I remember agreeing but also thinking that increasingly, they are. And this is one of them.

And yeah it was the cover what sold me on it.

[worry]

A thousand pages?!?! That's basically a million pages!

[Tiste Simeon]

 polishgenius, on 29 September 2025 - 06:01 PM, said:

Read Notorious Sorcerer instead. A quick search says I'm still the only person to even have mentioned it on this forum and that is an outrage. Also: it's called Notorious Sorcerer. There's at least a 50% chance you'll like it.

Currently £3.99 on Kindle so I've nabbed that. Looks good!

[QuickTidal]

My copy of A SEA OF FALLING STARS (Green Rider 8) arrives today, so I've finally started WINTERLIGHT in preparation!