[Abyss]

Baco Xtath, on 13 June 2016 - 01:54 PM, said:

End of Disc One, on 13 June 2016 - 01:47 PM, said:

HiddenOne, on 13 June 2016 - 01:35 PM, said:

Started the Warded Man by P Brett. For some reason, I think that I had this confused with another series when I bought it. It seems a whole lot like I'm reading the introduction for characters that really belong in the world of Kvothe by Rothfuss. I'm past the halfway point, and it seems predictable & a tad generic - but I still want to keep reading. It's possible that I just don't enjoy some kinds of fantasy anymore.

I'd say if you're not in love with it just stop after book 1. Brett has his raving fans who think he can do no wrong and that the series keeps getting better. Everyone else thinks it goes downhill fast.

I really don't understand how people like the Demon cycle but then again, there are tons of people that love Goodkind. Personally, I made it about 3/4 through Warded Man and quit.
...

I read WARDED MAN. Liked, didn't love but found the setting and conflict interesting.

Would have moved on to bk2 except for the utter dislike it drew from pretty much every forumite and reviewer I trust.

[Salt-Man Z]

Warded Man showed promise, but I've long moved on from having any actual interest from Brett's world.

Seveneves was good. The last third (5,000 years into the future) wasn't particularly engaging, though, and seemed more like Stephenson just wanted a platform to expound on some ideas he thought were cool. I think it would have been better served as a duology (with the first two parts as Book 1) and then he'd have room to expand on the future bits as a full-length novel, developing the history and characters and plot a bit more. Still a really good book, though.

[acesn8s]

Finished Warriors of the Storm. Another solid Uthred book. No surprises.

I picked up Duncan Hamilton's The First Blade of Ostia for $0.99. It looks like some swashbuckling fun, so I'm giving it a shot. I haven't read any of his other books. I love swashbuckling stories so I'm hoping this will be great.

[worry]

A Crown of Swords 2

Spoiler

I haven't said anything nice about RJ in a while, so I'll say that 500 pages into this book one of the cooler things he's doing is playing with the fact that events are happening simultaneously so far apart, so people are working on assumptions of events or people that are no longer possible, and the news hasn't hit them yet. I hope this is leading to some pretty cool moments, but you never can tell in this series.

Other high spots: Perrin clashing with Rand, always welcome. The introduction of the oldest living Aes Sedai was pretty cool. Again that's a "we'll see where this goes" situation but so far so good. Also, the reintroduction of Lan was a great scene and the more screen time he gets the better.

Negatives so far: As usual, the characters haven't done much of anything yet. But I'm used to that now. Mat's POVs, again as usual, are grating and one-note. Being inside his head draaaaaags. But at least he tends to make things happen eventually. The biggest issue so far, and it's minor except in terms of being a stylistic microcosm, is the exponential explosion in named Aes Sedai. It's seriously ridiculous, especially because I know 90% of them are non-vital information. One-off Aes Sedai POVs are rattling off names of other Aes Sedai who won't ever be on screen (cuz they're old and/or dead) and all the detail you MIGHT get about them is their Ajah color. As a matter of worldbuilding depth of course it's not unwise to show there's a whole vast world of unknowns, but listing names isn't how you should go about it. More and more I'm seeing what a minor miracle it is that SE can actually make, say, the three sorcerer kings of Shal-Morzinn pop. These lists of Aes Sedai names do just the opposite.

[Chance]

Coonass, on 13 June 2016 - 01:04 AM, said:

I'm moving along Safehold 2 at quite a good pace now. I read about 80 pgs one night. On pg 462 now. I'm just lost on where Kingdom of Delferahk is located as its not shown on world map at all. I even looked at bk 3 map to see if it is and it's not.

There is a rather complete one on his site.

http://www.davidwebe...safeholdMap.jpg

[Nicodimas]

Salt-Man Z, on 13 June 2016 - 04:13 PM, said:

Warded Man showed promise, but I've long moved on from having any actual interest from Brett's world.

Seveneves was good. The last third (5,000 years into the future) wasn't particularly engaging, though, and seemed more like Stephenson just wanted a platform to expound on some ideas he thought were cool. I think it would have been better served as a duology (with the first two parts as Book 1) and then he'd have room to expand on the future bits as a full-length novel, developing the history and characters and plot a bit more. Still a really good book, though.

Seveneves I had similar concerns....if your done..

Spoiler

Seveneaves world build was redic over the top good. I didn't much like the time jump and really would have had him explore the concepts in a book itself. Then he jumps to the seven new human races and then starts talking about the caste system rather abruptly and on the fly. He covered a ton of ground super quick. Then I felt that the races subdivided starting feeling like cleric, warrior, and bard, but in a sci-fi world. I need to another re-read on the 2nd half sometime. The worldbuild and concepts were stellar and one of my favorite parts of the book. I could get lost just thinking about the ring.... Sometimes his own thoughts reached out punched you in the face on the way he feels about all sorts of things. I will read the 2nd book and really hope explore's the various ground races...and the martians maybe???

.

This post has been edited by Nicodimas: 14 June 2016 - 05:04 AM

[West33]

I liked the first three quarters of the Warded Man, but not the last quarter. And I've read nothing about book two that would make me want to continue with the series.

[HiddenOne]

West33, on 14 June 2016 - 08:24 AM, said:

I liked the first three quarters of the Warded Man, but not the last quarter. And I've read nothing about book two that would make me want to continue with the series.

Yes, I'm down to the last 10% of the book. Seems pretty predictable. I tried to finish it last night so I could move on to a new book, but it just wasn't happening. I had to watch some anime instead.

[West33]

HiddenOne, on 14 June 2016 - 12:42 PM, said:

West33, on 14 June 2016 - 08:24 AM, said:

I liked the first three quarters of the Warded Man, but not the last quarter. And I've read nothing about book two that would make me want to continue with the series.

Yes, I'm down to the last 10% of the book. Seems pretty predictable. I tried to finish it last night so I could move on to a new book, but it just wasn't happening. I had to watch some anime instead.

I saw a review earlier calling it "one of the most unique and engrossing novels I have ever read". Each to his or her own, I guess!

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

Damn, N.K. Jemisin is so fucking talented. I'm halfway through The Fifth Season and I'm absolutely loving it! Unfortunately, I just realized that it's not a standalone, and while the second book is out, the third is still a ways away

[worry]

The second book ain't out till August, actually. But yeah it's definitely more "one story over several books" than her usual style.

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

worry, on 14 June 2016 - 08:31 PM, said:

The second book ain't out till August, actually. But yeah it's definitely more "one story over several books" than her usual style.

I had just looked at the Amazon page for the paperback and saw that version wasn't going to be released until August. I then just assumed the hardcover had already been released, since the paperback is usually several months delayed.

Guess my wait for book 3 will be even longer than I initially thought

[Abyss]

West33, on 14 June 2016 - 01:58 PM, said:

HiddenOne, on 14 June 2016 - 12:42 PM, said:

West33, on 14 June 2016 - 08:24 AM, said:

I liked the first three quarters of the Warded Man, but not the last quarter. And I've read nothing about book two that would make me want to continue with the series.

Yes, I'm down to the last 10% of the book. Seems pretty predictable. I tried to finish it last night so I could move on to a new book, but it just wasn't happening. I had to watch some anime instead.

I saw a review earlier calling it "one of the most unique and engrossing novels I have ever read". Each to his or her own, I guess!

Say what we will, he didnt get paid to write four novels because no one was buying the series. Kinda like dragoncow guy and that Ayn Rand cultist...

[JPK]

Abyss, on 16 June 2016 - 03:19 AM, said:

West33, on 14 June 2016 - 01:58 PM, said:

HiddenOne, on 14 June 2016 - 12:42 PM, said:

West33, on 14 June 2016 - 08:24 AM, said:

I liked the first three quarters of the Warded Man, but not the last quarter. And I've read nothing about book two that would make me want to continue with the series.

Yes, I'm down to the last 10% of the book. Seems pretty predictable. I tried to finish it last night so I could move on to a new book, but it just wasn't happening. I had to watch some anime instead.

I saw a review earlier calling it "one of the most unique and engrossing novels I have ever read". Each to his or her own, I guess!

Say what we will, he didnt get paid to write four novels because no one was buying the series. Kinda like dragoncow guy and that Ayn Rand cultist...

Yeah, I used to really enjoy those books. The first two I loved when I read them. Book 3 is where it fell apart for me. It just devolved. The original concept of mankind being reduced to a smattering of survivors that locked themselves behind falling wards at night to defend against elemental demons was entertaining. I even loved the idea of the desert culture that is introduced in the first book - and a closer look at that culture is what made the second book enjoyable for me as well. After that however, the two cultures really devolved into rednecks and a very thinly veiled racist view of the middle east. Add in several scenes of rape that do little to further the story and it's lost me. Especially with the teaser reveal about a main character's baby for book five...

Ugh, I even had the designs for two of the wards tattooed on my wrists after the second book. Oh well, at least the designs are still solid looking.

[Abyss]

JPK, on 16 June 2016 - 03:34 AM, said:

.....
Ugh, I even had the designs for two of the wards tattooed on my wrists after the second book. Oh well, at least the designs are still solid looking.

If anyone asks... "Neo Celtic."

[Abyss]

Earbook time...
ALL THE BIRDS IN THE SKY by Charlie Jane Anders. Two loser kids grow up to be a witch and a mad scientist, more or less. Their worlds clash. A little bit Harry Potter, a little bit The Magicians, a little bit Gaiman and a little bit Fringe. Low action, high character drama, but it never drags. The earbook narrator gets a bit scratchy with some of the vocies, but never for long. Fun earbook, probably a fast read, totally worthwhile.

THE MARTIAN. ok, you were all right, it's a great earbook. Fantastic narration, really great story, not at all spoiled by the movie.

[worry]

All the Birds seems to be the big crossover nerd book this year, so glad to hear it's actually good.

[QuickTidal]

Would not touch an Anders book if you paid me to. Her attitude and clickbait article writing at io9/gizmodo is utterly trollish a lot of the time. As a result, I won't buy her fiction work. If I'd never read her "blogging" over the years, maybe I would give it a chance...but as it stands. Nope.

Finished up Andy McDermott's THE VALHALLA PROPHECY, and it was solid. It drags a BIT in the middle where there is a pretty needless sequence, but finishes strongly. I've got the next book in the series in my ToRead pile and will probably be reading it before the summer is out.

Started Tad Williams short fiction collection THE VERY BEST OF TAD WILLIAMS, and have so far read the first 2 stories. Story 1 was cool, if not overly complex, and the 2nd one was an awesome supernatural horror tale that I quite liked. Plenty more to go!

[Abyss]

QuickTidal, on 16 June 2016 - 12:20 PM, said:

Would not touch an Anders book if you paid me to. Her attitude and clickbait article writing at io9/gizmodo is utterly trollish a lot of the time. As a result, I won't buy her fiction work. If I'd never read her "blogging" over the years, maybe I would give it a chance...but as it stands. Nope.
...

You're judging her fiction writing based on how she did her job which was essentially to create clickbait... And i would argue she was far more geek friendly than you seem to think. Your opinion and you're entitled to it, but i think its apples and orangutans.


Regardless, she isn't Card or Goodkind, and it was a good book.

[worry]

Plus trolling rules.