[Tsundoku]

On to A Blade of Black Steel by Alex Marshall. Sequel to A Crown for Cold Silver.

Lots of black humour, interesting characters and world. No shiny heroes here, everyone's a varying degree of antihero through to outright psycho villain.
I wouldn't call it grimdark as it has humour, but definitely dark-ish.

[Tiste Simeon]

Well, I told myself that this reread would only be of the main 10 books.

So naturally, after finishing MT I am now reading NoK.

I love NoK. It is a tight, compact story. The best part is the story of Temper and the fall of Dassem. But it also builds to a stunning crescendo with the "assassination" of Shadowthrone and Dancer.

However, Kiska is one of the most annoying characters in any story ever...

[Aptorian]

Loved Night of Knives as well. I'll always remember that scene where Possum threw a knife in the back of Temper. He just sort of shrugs the knife off, using a wall like a big armored bear, then he clashes his swords and begins stalking Possum. Such a badass scene.

[Mentalist]

Tsundoku, on 16 January 2018 - 09:20 AM, said:

On to A Blade of Black Steel by Alex Marshall. Sequel to A Crown for Cold Silver.

Lots of black humour, interesting characters and world. No shiny heroes here, everyone's a varying degree of antihero through to outright psycho villain.
I wouldn't call it grimdark as it has humour, but definitely dark-ish.

One of the most hilarious books where nothing happens. And then EVERYTHING happens.

I pretty much stalled on "Black Prism" , between Dishonored and trying to brute-force the "Pandora's Star" re-read by about 100 pages a day, which is taking up home read time as well as commute.

Good book, but just like the first time, Ozzie & Orion feel like a total waste of pages

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 16 January 2018 - 01:04 PM

[QuickTidal]

Started the first book of Paul B. Thompson & Tonya C. Cook's Elven Exiles trilogy, SANCTUARY, and it's really good so far. It concerns one of my favourite characters from the Dragonlance War Of Souls (Age of Mortals) books, Kerianseray the Lioness. It's also amazing to be back in the Dragonlance world...but AFTER the War of Souls, and after most of the major heroes have left...and concerning the elven kingdoms (Silvanesti, Qualinesti, and Kagonesti) in exile in the desert...while the Minotaurs who so cleanly helped the mortal warriors invade Krynn...have taken over those old kingdoms.

Just a great enjoyable tale...and one I know won't end with the bad guy being revealed to be the goddess Takhisis yet again. LOL

[Abyss]

Maark Abbott, on 16 January 2018 - 08:35 AM, said:

Steady progress in Deadhouse landing. I wasn't expecting

Spoiler

Kallor to rock up, though. I don't usually read the DP at the start either...

Alternative Goose, on 16 January 2018 - 09:13 AM, said:

His appearance made so happy. He's probably one of my top 3 malazan characters. I love how Esslemont makes him even more scary than before.

I LOVED how ICE had him make his entrance into the book.

[Abyss]

Salt-Man Z, on 16 January 2018 - 05:53 AM, said:

Abyss, on 16 January 2018 - 05:02 AM, said:

"it means I have less time left to enjoy them"

And...? That means a worn-out book won't last as long as a less-worn one. Do you somehow disagree with that? And did you just ignore the rest of my post where I said I don't mind a little wear, and it's pretty easy to read books without beating them up? Never mind, don't answer that; you probably didn't get this far.

No mister defensive, I asked you a question because that was implicit in your comment

But never mind, don't answer that. You probably didn't get this far.

[T77]

Salt-Man Z, on 15 January 2018 - 04:46 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 15 January 2018 - 03:51 PM, said:

I read my books with less of an eye to keep them "pristine" and more of a "if they look worn, it means I enjoyed them"

I see it more as "if they look worn, it means I have less time left to enjoy them". I mean, I've managed to read some copies of books 3-4 times and they still look almost new. It's not difficult to do. (Depending on the editions; my Bantam Malazan paperbacks can f*&# right off.) On the other hand, a little wear doesn't really bother me either, as long as it's not going to compromise the physical integrity of the book.

T77, on 15 January 2018 - 03:55 PM, said:

I liked The Silver Spike. The weakest book was the one that took place in a bar, can't recall the name.

That was book #2, Shadows Linger, right? I think that was actually my favorite of the original trilogy. Spike is admittedly the weakest of the series, but it's not terrible, and it's the only closure you get for the northern campaign.

Yes, it was Shadows Linger. I thought it was the weakest, but it was still good. Can't wait for September for the next Black Company book.

[JPK]

Last week was a busy week for me. I managed to finish Assassin's Apprentice, Lonesome Dove, 2 graphic novel tpbs, and Night of Knives in audio.

1- Assassin's Apprentice was solid. Overall, I think it sits at 3/5 for me because the story was 90% setup for future books. I've cracked open Royal Assassin now as planned and should be 100 pages in before I go to sleep tonight.

2- Lonesome Dove is one of the most heartbreaking books I've ever read. Are the other books in the series as emotionally scarring as this one? A couple other thoughts that spoiler character deaths from LD and the time before the sequel:

Spoiler

I'm partially torn because pretty much every character that I was drawn to in this book had a horrible death. Roscoe, Deets, Gus... I was also spoiled that Newt dies offpage before Streets of Laredo during the foreward of Lonesome Dove. That pretty much leaves me with Clara and July. The prequels might actually be more up my alley.

3- Night of Knives was fun to get into again. I love the different perspective on Tay that we get from Kiska, and as Simeon mentioned earlier I love pretty much everything Temper in this book.

I'm now about halfway through Persepolis Rising

Spoiler

Holden and Co have just intercepted info about The Typhoon heading towards the ring-gate and Bobbie is having emotions about not being the leader. I'm finding that I like the invading force a lot outside of Gov Singh.

[Tiste Simeon]

JPK I despise Kiska haha but yes it's another facet of Tay.

Onto BH!

[Chance]

Finished A War in Crimson Embers and I love this series, perhaps the tidying up at the end was slightly longer then it needed to be but I enjoyed every part of this book and that is rare. If it had been slightly more serious it would have ended up Grimdark and probably fairly boring as is The Crimson Empire series is extremely entertaining.

Thinking of Infernal Battalion or Senlin Ascends next but who knows...

This post has been edited by Chance: 18 January 2018 - 12:24 AM

[Macros]

Finished Heretics of Dune last night, the best since the first book for me.

Started on Traitor General, the 8th? Gaunts Ghosts book, about halfway through, so good to be back in this universe

[Macros]

Forgot, must go back to it

ETA

Definitely up there as a favourite for me too.
Also probably two of the most likeable/favourite/best Bene Gesserit witches as well.
Character cast wise I'd say it's the strongest leading cast of the books for me so far. But Dune still just about pips it over all because it was introducing so many awesome concepts and also had a solid cast with a great over arching plot

This post has been edited by Macros: 18 January 2018 - 08:51 PM

[Andorion]

So apart from Maark's Incarnate, I am also reading Shadow Games by Glen Cook and I am really loving being back with Croaker and Co.

In Dresden I am listening to Dead Beat and absolutely loving it. This is my favourite arc in the series.

[Maark Abbott]

Andorion, on 19 January 2018 - 01:30 AM, said:

So apart from Maark's Incarnate, I am also reading Shadow Games by Glen Cook and I am really loving being back with Croaker and Co.

In Dresden I am listening to Dead Beat and absolutely loving it. This is my favourite arc in the series.

This post makes my innards feel all wibbly. Rather a compliment to be on the go at the same time as Cook.

[acesn8s]

2/3 of way through Dancer's Lament. It's pretty good. Looking forward to seeing how far it goes.

[Salt-Man Z]

acesn8s, on 19 January 2018 - 06:56 PM, said:

Looking forward to seeing how far it goes.

It goes all the way to the end!

[Mistake Not...]

Reading Iron Gold by Pierce Brown. I think it is a deeper, more thoughtful book than the original trilogy. I also think his prose has gotten better with each novel. He introduces three new points of view so it feels a little disjointed, but overall I am very happy with it. I am taking my time with so it will probably be a couple of weeks until I finish it.

[Abyss]

Mistake Not..., on 19 January 2018 - 08:40 PM, said:

Reading Iron Gold by Pierce Brown. I think it is a deeper, more thoughtful book than the original trilogy. I also think his prose has gotten better with each novel. He introduces three new points of view so it feels a little disjointed, but overall I am very happy with it. I am taking my time with so it will probably be a couple of weeks until I finish it.

Good to know. Am looking fwd to this, I really enjoyed the original trilo.

[End of Disc One]

Mistake Not..., on 19 January 2018 - 08:40 PM, said:

Reading Iron Gold by Pierce Brown. I think it is a deeper, more thoughtful book than the original trilogy. I also think his prose has gotten better with each novel. He introduces three new points of view so it feels a little disjointed, but overall I am very happy with it. I am taking my time with so it will probably be a couple of weeks until I finish it.

I started this too. I haven't quite "settled in" yet as I've just read a bit of each POV, but I was so excited to get back to Darrow and Sevro again. I just caught up with Lysander and he seems likeable. I have pretty high hopes for this book.