[QuickTidal]

Finished one Non-fic and started another.

DEAD MOUNTAIN: THE UNTOLD TRUE STORY OFTHE DYATLOV PASS INCIDENT by Donnie Eichar. So far it's pretty damned great, and is scratching an itch I have with this topic. I only heard about the famous incident a few years back in a segment on a historical mystery documentary show...and since then it's been fascinating to me...so this book is great!

[Maark Abbott]

acesn8s, on 22 April 2015 - 12:26 PM, said:

Maark, on 22 April 2015 - 10:24 AM, said:

Andorion, on 22 April 2015 - 08:53 AM, said:

Maark, on 22 April 2015 - 07:02 AM, said:

Yeah. The Belgariad was my very first fantasy series.

I wa wondering because compared to your normal reading taste, and especailly after Bakker, Elenium may turn out a bit... vanilla. Actually now that I think about it, thats probably an insult to vanilla. Perfectly decent flavour.

Sometimes, a man has to step away from heavy, complex and dark stuff and just indulge in some cheese for a bit.

It shows its age, but Sparhawk is a better main character than Garion.

With Eddings, I go in expecting mid to late 80s cheese fantasy. That's fine. I get what I'm looking for out of his stuff.

[acesn8s]

Maark, on 22 April 2015 - 02:06 PM, said:

acesn8s, on 22 April 2015 - 12:26 PM, said:

Maark, on 22 April 2015 - 10:24 AM, said:

Andorion, on 22 April 2015 - 08:53 AM, said:

Maark, on 22 April 2015 - 07:02 AM, said:

Yeah. The Belgariad was my very first fantasy series.

I wa wondering because compared to your normal reading taste, and especailly after Bakker, Elenium may turn out a bit... vanilla. Actually now that I think about it, thats probably an insult to vanilla. Perfectly decent flavour.

Sometimes, a man has to step away from heavy, complex and dark stuff and just indulge in some cheese for a bit.

It shows its age, but Sparhawk is a better main character than Garion.

With Eddings, I go in expecting mid to late 80s cheese fantasy. That's fine. I get what I'm looking for out of his stuff.

It's fun stuff with that kind of attitude. I wouldn't be surprised to see some quotes posted as you got through the Elenium.

edit: Surprisingly, it seems the ebooks of the Belgariad, Mallorian, Elenium, and Tamuli series are no longer available. That's a shame, they are some of the few "classic" series I haven't gotten around to adding to my ebook library.

This post has been edited by acesn8s: 22 April 2015 - 03:35 PM

[polishgenius]

Abyss, on 21 April 2015 - 10:30 PM, said:

Coolness... I didn't know he had a new book out.

It didn't get a lot of attention, but then neither did Faith. Night Shade books don't seem to have much of a marketing arm, even the new one.


Anyway, finished. The ending is... well, huh. In some ways it's better than that of Faith (it hangs together more strongly in a structural sense), in some ways it's worse (it relies on a narrative technique that I'm really not fond of). Overall I like the book a little less but strongly suspect that a large part of that is my preference for the setting, and strongly suspect that anyone who prefers relatively low-tech thrillers as opposed to bombastic space opera will lean the other way.

[Maark Abbott]

polishgenius, on 22 April 2015 - 05:17 PM, said:

Abyss, on 21 April 2015 - 10:30 PM, said:

Coolness... I didn't know he had a new book out.

It didn't get a lot of attention, but then neither did Faith. Night Shade books don't seem to have much of a marketing arm, even the new one.


Anyway, finished. The ending is... well, huh. In some ways it's better than that of Faith (it hangs together more strongly in a structural sense), in some ways it's worse (it relies on a narrative technique that I'm really not fond of). Overall I like the book a little less but strongly suspect that a large part of that is my preference for the setting, and strongly suspect that anyone who prefers relatively low-tech thrillers as opposed to bombastic space opera will lean the other way.

Probably because Night Shade can only do a maximum of 100 damage...

[TheRetiredBridgeburner]

acesn8s, on 22 April 2015 - 12:26 PM, said:

It shows its age, but Sparhawk is a better main character than Garion.

Seconded. Re-read them all recently.

[EmperorMagus]

I am one hour into Ancillary Justice. This is some pretty great writing. I'm not far into though, so my opinion could change. The MC is one of the few female characters that I absolutely love reading about.(the rest of them all being Malazan characters...)

[Tiste Simeon]

TheRetiredBridgeburner, on 23 April 2015 - 08:05 AM, said:

acesn8s, on 22 April 2015 - 12:26 PM, said:

It shows its age, but Sparhawk is a better main character than Garion.

Seconded. Re-read them all recently.

Thirded. Those books were much better than the Belgarath ones.

[acesn8s]

I finished Dark Defiles and have moved on to Orb Sceptre Throne. I'm seriously slacking in the Esslemont series.

[Maark Abbott]

Tiste Simeon, on 24 April 2015 - 10:49 AM, said:

TheRetiredBridgeburner, on 23 April 2015 - 08:05 AM, said:

acesn8s, on 22 April 2015 - 12:26 PM, said:

It shows its age, but Sparhawk is a better main character than Garion.

Seconded. Re-read them all recently.

Thirded. Those books were much better than the Belgarath ones.

Beldin was the best of the Bel-Ends.

[QuickTidal]

Urg...Dyatlov Pass Incident non-fic book DEAD MOUNTAIN ends with a kind of wishy washy "wind sound event" result, while dismissing some other theories on a weird basis. It's a solid book, and the research is in depth...but the result is a little lackluster and makes me think that the author just was looking to put his own spin on things.

Getting back into fiction next with V. E. Schwab's A DARKER SHADE Of MAGIC.

[polishgenius]

In light of the earlier discussion, I decided to go with a bit of Gemmell, and read one of his books that I'd not read previously, Waylander (oddly, I'd read Hero in the Shadows, the third Waylander). It's not one of his strongest, with certain character developments being implausible or rushed, and a few too many convenient contrivances, but as the first time I've read Gemmell since I read Stover, and especially with this particular hero, I'm convinced that the one was an inspiration for the other (even though Stover is realistically a fair bit stronger a writer than Gemmell).

[Abyss]

TheRetiredBridgeburner, on 23 April 2015 - 08:05 AM, said:

acesn8s, on 22 April 2015 - 12:26 PM, said:

It shows its age, but Sparhawk is a better main character than Garion.

Seconded. Re-read them all recently.

Silk in a better main character than either of them.

[Abyss]

Dolmen 2.0, on 22 April 2015 - 11:00 AM, said:

I'm reading monster hunters international by Larry Correia, on book 2: Vendetta. Thanks Abyss on the Recco.

It's fun to read, high fantasy meets modern warfare by a true gunning enthuthiast.

I'm not a gun nut. I've never really fired anything weapon related. maybe a bow and the odd pellet rifle. I do enjoy the odd Fps but I suck at it.
I admittedly don't much like the fact we use guns as much as we do. Still... there's an real appeal to this book.

Master Vampire versus mortar fire? I can appreciate that.

not my reco.

[polishgenius]

Larry Correia is one of the Sad Puppy guys and although he's not one of the really objectionable ones, his recent arguments with GRRM on the subject make him look like a bit of a clown. Enough that I'm not really interested in reading his books.

[TheRetiredBridgeburner]

polishgenius, on 24 April 2015 - 07:22 PM, said:

In light of the earlier discussion, I decided to go with a bit of Gemmell, and read one of his books that I'd not read previously, Waylander (oddly, I'd read Hero in the Shadows, the third Waylander). It's not one of his strongest, with certain character developments being implausible or rushed, and a few too many convenient contrivances, but as the first time I've read Gemmell since I read Stover, and especially with this particular hero, I'm convinced that the one was an inspiration for the other (even though Stover is realistically a fair bit stronger a writer than Gemmell).

Waylander is an early one - although Legend is the first one and arguably one of the best, so that logic doesn't necessarily follow.

If you can find them (and want to try any further ones) I'd recommend White Wolf and Winter Warriors - they're later and he gets a bit better at shades of grey by that point.

[polishgenius]

I've read both of those. White Wolf is probably my favourite of his books.

As far as I can see all his books are available on Kobo so finding them won't be a problem.


And yeah, the difference between Legend and Waylander is that Legend is pretty much morally straightforward (which is not to say fluffy), whereas Waylander is an early attempt at shades-of-grey that didn't quite work. In a lot of ways the character of Waylander is a dry run for Skilgannon (easily the best of Gemmell's protagonists that I've read).

This post has been edited by polishgenius: 25 April 2015 - 07:40 AM

[QuickTidal]

Started V.E. Schwab's A DARKER SHADE OF MAGIC and it's absolutely wonderful so far! Very much like Gaiman-lite mingled with Rowling.

Synopsis for those interested:

Spoiler

Kell is one of the last Travelers—rare magicians who choose a parallel universe to visit.

Grey London is dirty, boring, lacks magic, ruled by mad King George. Red London is where life and magic are revered, and the Maresh Dynasty presides over a flourishing empire. White London is ruled by whoever has murdered their way to the throne. People fight to control magic, and the magic fights back, draining the city to its very bones. Once there was Black London - but no one speaks of that now.

Officially, Kell is the Red Traveler, personal ambassador and adopted Prince of Red London, carrying the monthly correspondences between royals of each London. Unofficially, Kell smuggles for those willing to pay for even a glimpse of a world they’ll never see. This dangerous hobby sets him up for accidental treason. Fleeing into Grey London, Kell runs afoul of Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She robs him, saves him from a dangerous enemy, then forces him to another world for her 'proper adventure'.

But perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, Kell and Lila will first need to stay alive — trickier than they hoped.

[polishgenius]

QuickTidal, on 25 April 2015 - 12:36 PM, said:

Started V.E. Schwab's A DARKER SHADE OF MAGIC and it's absolutely wonderful so far! Very much like Gaiman-lite mingled with Rowling.

I mostly bought the book on the strength of the main character's coat. I want that coat.


In case you're wondering, her previous book, Vicious, is absolutely nothing like this one. Really dark and quite nasty superhero tale. I didn't find it astonishingly memorable, but it's also pretty good.

[QuickTidal]

polishgenius, on 25 April 2015 - 01:21 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 25 April 2015 - 12:36 PM, said:

Started V.E. Schwab's A DARKER SHADE OF MAGIC and it's absolutely wonderful so far! Very much like Gaiman-lite mingled with Rowling.

I mostly bought the book on the strength of the main character's coat. I want that coat.


In case you're wondering, her previous book, Vicious, is absolutely nothing like this one. Really dark and quite nasty superhero tale. I didn't find it astonishingly memorable, but it's also pretty good.

Oh the coat! Yes, I quite enjoy how it's described...and I want it too!

I'd thought since I like her writing I'd try out Vicious at some point too.