[QuickTidal]

The Hust Legion, on 19 February 2015 - 12:30 AM, said:

i was afraid to buy steelheart.. I'm in college (uk) so funds are limited . i spent 20 minutes debating btween way of kings and steel heart. so if anyone has read both feel free to give me your impressions of them! ( also what was good about steel heart)

Both are great, WAY OF KINGS is the opening salvo to a huge series, and STEELHEART the first book in a probably shorter YA series.

STEELHEART does a good job of characterization, and Sanderson is still king of setting a stage and then pulling rugs out from under you late in the game with bananas, epic revelations. Don't want to spoil anything, but if you like his fiction and want to try out his YA skills, STEELHEART is where you start.

[Andorion]

The Hust Legion, on 18 February 2015 - 08:16 PM, said:

dammit i got the skirt the braid wrong. ugh. and hmm i doubt ill even finish book 1 i got exams coming up. but it sounds like getting through them is a monstrous task o.o. the malazan series was 10 books but it didnt seem like a marathon to me, i was thinking wheel of time would be a similar experience

Take on this project when you have a couple of months with very little pressure. Thats what I did. Malazan on the other hand I started literally inside my semester exams, but had no problems.

[polishgenius]

I've tried to read WoT several times but never got past the first few hundred pages of Eye of the World. Just doesn't work for me.

[amphibian]

Read the wiki summaries of each book and then proceed with the To Read Pile.

This is sort of bagging on those who enjoy WoT, but if the first book isn't doing it for you, read the wiki summaries and carry on with your life as before.

Takes ten minutes and skips a ton of the hassle.

[Nicodimas]

Book 10 of Dresden files , almost caught up! Don't think I read the last book in the series yet. So pysched !

[Nicodimas]

Hells Bells! /cause

[acesn8s]

McLovin, on 18 February 2015 - 08:08 PM, said:

Handy if you're doing your business in the forest.

Every once in a while I get tempted to read the last few WoTs, but I'm not sure they would even make sense to me at this point, and i'm damn sure not taking on books 1-10 again.

Encyclopaedia Wheel of Time has excellent chapter by chapter summaries of each book, hyperlinked indexes of each character, subplots, items, places, things, etc.

If you'd like to finish the series without rereading any of the books, it is the way to go.
http://encyclopaedia-wot.org/



I finished The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. Excellent book! I loved the world, even with just the over that we got, I loved how Jemisin described the almost undefinable vastness that was Nadahoth, and I loved the

Spoiler

twist in finding out who killed her mother

.

I'll be picking up The Broken Kingdom.

[Abyss]

QuickTidal, on 19 February 2015 - 12:39 AM, said:

The Hust Legion, on 19 February 2015 - 12:30 AM, said:

i was afraid to buy steelheart.. I'm in college (uk) so funds are limited . i spent 20 minutes debating btween way of kings and steel heart. so if anyone has read both feel free to give me your impressions of them! ( also what was good about steel heart)

Both are great, WAY OF KINGS is the opening salvo to a huge series, and STEELHEART the first book in a probably shorter YA series.

STEELHEART does a good job of characterization, and Sanderson is still king of setting a stage and then pulling rugs out from under you late in the game with bananas, epic revelations. Don't want to spoil anything, but if you like his fiction and want to try out his YA skills, STEELHEART is where you start.

Slight variation on the same point... it depends on what you're looking for.
STEEL is young adult superhero sf written with an adult audience also in mind. It's a cute, fun, fast read. The sequel, FIREFIGHT, is out. There will be three iirc. If you want a commitment-free test of Sanderson's writing, start with this.


WAY is book one of a ten book epic fantasy massive thing that will be going on for at least a decade. Book 2 is out. There are minor nods to his Mistborn series, already at book four or five. If big epic fantasy is your thing and you don't have commitment issues or medical conditions that may prevent you being alive in 2025 or so to read the end of this, start here.

[Andorion]

acesn8s, on 19 February 2015 - 01:52 PM, said:

McLovin, on 18 February 2015 - 08:08 PM, said:

Handy if you're doing your business in the forest.

Every once in a while I get tempted to read the last few WoTs, but I'm not sure they would even make sense to me at this point, and i'm damn sure not taking on books 1-10 again.

Encyclopaedia Wheel of Time has excellent chapter by chapter summaries of each book, hyperlinked indexes of each character, subplots, items, places, things, etc.

If you'd like to finish the series without rereading any of the books, it is the way to go.
http://encyclopaedia-wot.org/



I finished The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. Excellent book! I loved the world, even with just the over that we got, I loved how Jemisin described the almost undefinable vastness that was Nadahoth, and I loved the

Spoiler

twist in finding out who killed her mother

.

I'll be picking up The Broken Kingdom.

Exactly. I loved the way Jemisin described the Gods. Nahadoth is just awesome. Wonder what you will think of the shift in perspective in the second book though.

[acesn8s]

Andorion, on 19 February 2015 - 05:15 PM, said:

acesn8s, on 19 February 2015 - 01:52 PM, said:

McLovin, on 18 February 2015 - 08:08 PM, said:

Handy if you're doing your business in the forest.

Every once in a while I get tempted to read the last few WoTs, but I'm not sure they would even make sense to me at this point, and i'm damn sure not taking on books 1-10 again.

Encyclopaedia Wheel of Time has excellent chapter by chapter summaries of each book, hyperlinked indexes of each character, subplots, items, places, things, etc.

If you'd like to finish the series without rereading any of the books, it is the way to go.
http://encyclopaedia-wot.org/



I finished The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. Excellent book! I loved the world, even with just the over that we got, I loved how Jemisin described the almost undefinable vastness that was Nadahoth, and I loved the

Spoiler

twist in finding out who killed her mother

.

I'll be picking up The Broken Kingdom.

Exactly. I loved the way Jemisin described the Gods. Nahadoth is just awesome. Wonder what you will think of the shift in perspective in the second book though.

Made it to chapter 3 during lunch. Shift in perspective indeed. It's interesting seeing the world in a different light.

[Tiste Simeon]

acesn8s, on 19 February 2015 - 05:51 PM, said:

Andorion, on 19 February 2015 - 05:15 PM, said:

acesn8s, on 19 February 2015 - 01:52 PM, said:

McLovin, on 18 February 2015 - 08:08 PM, said:

Handy if you're doing your business in the forest.

Every once in a while I get tempted to read the last few WoTs, but I'm not sure they would even make sense to me at this point, and i'm damn sure not taking on books 1-10 again.

Encyclopaedia Wheel of Time has excellent chapter by chapter summaries of each book, hyperlinked indexes of each character, subplots, items, places, things, etc.

If you'd like to finish the series without rereading any of the books, it is the way to go.
http://encyclopaedia-wot.org/



I finished The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. Excellent book! I loved the world, even with just the over that we got, I loved how Jemisin described the almost undefinable vastness that was Nadahoth, and I loved the

Spoiler

twist in finding out who killed her mother

.

I'll be picking up The Broken Kingdom.

Exactly. I loved the way Jemisin described the Gods. Nahadoth is just awesome. Wonder what you will think of the shift in perspective in the second book though.

Made it to chapter 3 during lunch. Shift in perspective indeed. It's interesting seeing the world in a different light.

I like the sound of this guy. Would that be the inheritance trilogy? As in, the one where the whole trilogy is currently a fiver on Kindle? Cos I may have to get that...

[acesn8s]

Tiste Simeon, on 19 February 2015 - 08:10 PM, said:

acesn8s, on 19 February 2015 - 05:51 PM, said:

Andorion, on 19 February 2015 - 05:15 PM, said:

acesn8s, on 19 February 2015 - 01:52 PM, said:

McLovin, on 18 February 2015 - 08:08 PM, said:

Handy if you're doing your business in the forest.

Every once in a while I get tempted to read the last few WoTs, but I'm not sure they would even make sense to me at this point, and i'm damn sure not taking on books 1-10 again.

Encyclopaedia Wheel of Time has excellent chapter by chapter summaries of each book, hyperlinked indexes of each character, subplots, items, places, things, etc.

If you'd like to finish the series without rereading any of the books, it is the way to go.
http://encyclopaedia-wot.org/



I finished The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. Excellent book! I loved the world, even with just the over that we got, I loved how Jemisin described the almost undefinable vastness that was Nadahoth, and I loved the

Spoiler

twist in finding out who killed her mother

.

I'll be picking up The Broken Kingdom.

Exactly. I loved the way Jemisin described the Gods. Nahadoth is just awesome. Wonder what you will think of the shift in perspective in the second book though.

Made it to chapter 3 during lunch. Shift in perspective indeed. It's interesting seeing the world in a different light.

I like the sound of this guy. Would that be the inheritance trilogy? As in, the one where the whole trilogy is currently a fiver on Kindle? Cos I may have to get that...

Yes, it is the Inheritance Trilogy. I like the way Jemisin writes. I see she has another series written as well. I'll be checking that out when I'm done with books 2 & 3.

[End of Disc One]

is it as good as the inheritance cycle

[Mentalist]

It's been a while since I posted here...

On the transit-reading front, I'm making my way through "The thousand Names" by Django Wexler. Good pacing, solid military action a la "Napoleonic wars, with some magical bits". Enjoyable, but nothing spectacular so far.

At home, I was really at a loss at what to start after finishing "Seal of the Worm". So I went really retro-reading a mid 18th century adventure romance. Thomas Mayne-Reid used to be one of my favourite childhood authors (sadly he's beenn underuppreciated in the West, just like another great, Louis Boussenard). And one work of his I never got around to reading was "Maroon". So I figured I'd do that.

I wish I could say good things, but it was more of a social commentary on slavery, then an adventure novel. Plot was very flat, when compared to the standards of "The White Chief" or "The Headless Horseman". The characters were archetypes, and not particularly well-done ones. There seemed to. Have been a lot more that could've been done with the setting. I cannot recommend this one to anyone, really.

Having done that, I'm now giving David Abraham's "Dragon's Path" (volume 1 of the Dagger and Coin series. World-building is neat, like the 11 races idea. Too early to speak about the plot yet.

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 22 March 2016 - 03:37 AM

[Andorion]

Finished MIstborn: Well of Ascension. Took me a lot longer to finish that I thought it would. The first part was rather slower than I thought it would be, but the book hooked me about 60% in, and i finished it in a single read from there. Detailed thoughts in the Mistborn thread, now on to Hero Of Ages

[Chance]

Been going through the Crown of Stars series by Kate Elliot and its a mixed experience. She's done her homework on the period she is channeling and that makes the series very interesting. At the same time sometimes it feels like GoT in the later books with people being tormented and horrible just because.

Put it on pause about midway through to read the Autumn Republic the final powder mage novel and found it a very easy read in comparison, few surprises and brought the series to a decent ending. I'd say Brian McClellan has gotten pretty decent and delivers pretty good light action.

Not entirly sure if I'll jump into the next Kate Elliot with Gathering Storm or go Dark Intelligence by Asher.

This post has been edited by Chance: 21 February 2015 - 08:54 AM

[Maark Abbott]

About 3/4 of the way through The Written. I have to say, for all that it's quite predictable, it is good fun.

[QuickTidal]

Finished SALVATION'S REACH by Abnett (officially catching me up with the Gaunt's Ghosts series), and while it was good and had some good moments in it...a little too long on the setup (for a 13th book) and then the main objective (that of recovering important documents and artifacts of Chaos from the Reach) is only set up and never really pays off. I'm sure the Imperium will find out what's important since the battle that freed up the stuff has a number of actions recorded as big deals...but yeah we as readers don't get to find out what's so damned important? I was a little disappointed by that...but overall, more good stuff, just with less of a point? That said, can't wait for WARMASTER to come out this summer.

Onto TO GREEN ANGEL TOWER PART I by Tad Williams now in my first reads of MS&T. EDIT: Best bit about Williams is that he does full synopses of the previous book (or books) at the beginning of the one you are reading so you can recall everything easily before you jump into said latest read. I love it and wish more books did it.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 21 February 2015 - 02:59 PM

[McLovin]

Started LEVIATHAN WAKES. Pretty interesting so far.

[JPK]

McLovin, on 22 February 2015 - 02:32 PM, said:

Started LEVIATHAN WAKES. Pretty interesting so far.

Hold on to your hat and enjoy the ride. This is the series that reignited my love for scifi.

So, I'm almost 30% through the second Sandman Slim book - Kill the Dead. I really enjoyed the first book, but this one just feels abrasive to me. I'm seriously considering dropping it for something else. I think part of my problem is that at this point of the book there is pretty much no plot to speak of. I mean, he was hired to be a certain character's bodyguard and the book shows that there is a strong mutual disdain between him and The Vigil. That's it in the first third of the book. In contrast, the first book had him making actual headway in his revenge plot by now. For those who have gone before me, does it pick back up again? In your opinions, is it worth pushing through?