[QuickTidal]

TheRetiredBridgeburner, on 17 September 2019 - 08:35 PM, said:

I'm sure I saw Evangeline Lily stating the romance was added in re-shoots. Not discounting the rest of what you said, but that would suggest it was an idea added afterwards rather than something del Toro came up with in the beginning.

Ah, that’s possible. So begun by GDT, and love triangled by PJ. Lol

[TheRetiredBridgeburner]

Lindsay Ellis makes interesting watching on the subject (one of three)

[Maark Abbott]

Abyss, on 17 September 2019 - 02:15 PM, said:

Macros, on 17 September 2019 - 06:23 AM, said:

Cyphon, on 15 September 2019 - 04:24 PM, said:

As such I just devoured the first of the Daughter of the Empire series by Fiest and Wurts. Started the second now. Love all the links to the original trilogy and how it neatly builds out the world and the plots from one small bit of the original trilogy and one character feature into a gripping story. They've also done action and consequence plotting really well too.

Book 2 is even stronger.

Really is feists best work

Are you referring to Feist's MAGICIAN series as the 'original trilogy' or is there a second EMPIRE trilo that i cannot find evidence of on the internet?

Maark Abbott, on 17 September 2019 - 07:22 AM, said:

Been ages since I read those but always remember the Cho-ja (I think?). Insect duuuuuuuuuudes.

Those were fun.
I liked how a plot point of the second book was

Spoiler

Mara negotiating to recruit the new Queen bug to make a hive on her territory.

Magician will be the 'original trilogy'. There was the Serpentwar too but that was kind of a mess.

[TheRetiredBridgeburner]

I picked up Gemmell's Winter Warriors for a quick comfort read and the usual has happened and it's turned into a full blown Drenai re-read. Expect a Bernard Cornwell one coming in a few weeks.

The combination of the two might get me up to the release of the second Book of Dust entry, so sorted!

This post has been edited by TheRetiredBridgeburner: 18 September 2019 - 10:07 AM

[Salt-Man Z]

Started in on Tamsyn Muir's Gideon the Ninth last night. I'm liking it so far! Very gothic and darkly humorous. Very...weird. Like, interplanetary empire of necromancers weird. Like, actual necromancers raising skeletons out of the ground necromancers. Gideon's Ninth House oversees a prison planet, I guess? and she just wants out. And then the head of the Ninth (a girl younger than Gideon) takes her on a mission for the necromancer emperor. (I gather most of this is given in the jacket copy, though I usually avoid those just to keep all the surprises to myself.) The initial setting gives me the vaguest Shadow of the Torturer vibes, though Gideon is definitely no Severian.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing where the plot goes, as I enjoy the setting and characters so far. Gideon is pretty much a lovable asshole, good with a sword (told though not yet shown) and a weakness for dirty magazines.

Really, Charles Stross' front cover blurb gives you pretty much all you need to know:

He said:

Lesbian necromancers explore a haunted gothic palace in space! Decadent nobles vie to serve the deathless emperor! Skeletons!

[Andorion]

Salt-Man Z, on 18 September 2019 - 09:26 PM, said:

Started in on Tamsyn Muir's Gideon the Ninth last night. I'm liking it so far! Very gothic and darkly humorous. Very...weird. Like, interplanetary empire of necromancers weird. Like, actual necromancers raising skeletons out of the ground necromancers. Gideon's Ninth House oversees a prison planet, I guess? and she just wants out. And then the head of the Ninth (a girl younger than Gideon) takes her on a mission for the necromancer emperor. (I gather most of this is given in the jacket copy, though I usually avoid those just to keep all the surprises to myself.) The initial setting gives me the vaguest Shadow of the Torturer vibes, though Gideon is definitely no Severian.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing where the plot goes, as I enjoy the setting and characters so far. Gideon is pretty much a lovable asshole, good with a sword (told though not yet shown) and a weakness for dirty magazines.

Really, Charles Stross' front cover blurb gives you pretty much all you need to know:

He said:

Lesbian necromancers explore a haunted gothic palace in space! Decadent nobles vie to serve the deathless emperor! Skeletons!

I really have to read this book.


Also I started reading Winds Twelve Quarters and The Compass Rose by Le Guin and even in short stories she shows why she is head and shoulder above other authors

[Abyss]

Abyss, on 27 March 2018 - 06:56 PM, said:

The City of Brass: A Novel (The Daevabad Trilogy), ebook is $1.99 on amazon.ca.


Haven't read it, but heard many many good things.

And then i read it, liked it, negligently never posted about it, but....

Abyss, on 09 September 2019 - 03:29 PM, said:

...

Next up, back to Daevabad w S A Charabotay's KINGDOM OF COPPER.

...which i Just Finished, thus...

S.A. (Shannon) Chakrabotay's CITY OF BRASS is a solid fantasy book. Nicely original Middle-East based setting that draws on a lot of the relevant mythology of Djinns, Ifrit, river spirits, etc. The author has set up an interesting world, existing parallel to 1930s Middle-East but hidden, with various Djinn tribes who have all the usual human issues ... classism, domination, mixed race people considered lesser, a history of genocide, religious conflict tho i give kudos for not hewing too close to any specific real world religion... plus magic that is not over-explained but does have limits and rules.

The core characters, a human young woman (sort of) accidentally drawn into the Djinn world, a Djinn prince who keeps doing the wrong thing trying to do the right thing, and an ancient legendary warrior who just cannot catch a break and die already, are well developed, play off each other nicely, and follow logical plot paths without a lot of the 'random decision to drive the plot' type decisions that new authors fall for. When these characters do something the reader knows is stupid and will backfire horribly, for the most part it makes sense why. At times characters' actions or reasoning are over-explained, but it's not a serious detriment to the book. And i appreciate that she interweaves the stories instead of keeping all the players off in their little silos til the end.

She writes good action... in particular i appreciate the pacing, how she incorporates magic and weapons, and doesn't over explain. When things big and epic happen, you believe it. When someone throws down against a better swordsman, it works without super detailed explanations. I had worried this was going to be a slow-build-to-big-finish book, but nope, Chakrabotay saves the biggest for the end but doesn't cheap out getting there.

Which brings us to KINGDOM OF COPPER. It's always a treat when a good author gets better, and that is this. The writing is tighter, the pace better, the characters more alive and distinct and interesting for their experiences in CITY. About halfway through the book i started to get a sense of the finale the author was building to and wondered whether she could pull it off... and yah, she did. In fact she threw in a few massive curves just before that i did not see coming but made solid sense to the story and made the expected finale even more interesting and solid fantasy lit epic big screen reading.

Both end with hooks if not quite cliffhangers for the next, so i'll be grabbing book 3 whenever it comes along.

Earbook narrator is excellent if you go that route.



...now then, on to Lesbian Necromancers In Spaaaaaaaaaaaace....

[RACHEL]

I read the free sample of Gideon the Ninth, from Amazon, on my kindle and it is now on my must read list.

[Chance]

Devoured the Raven Tower by Ann Leckie over the last two days, I loved it and would read more from the world even if it is one of those books that feel entirely self contained and there is no need for anything more.

[Abyss]

Abyss, on 19 September 2019 - 07:18 PM, said:

...
...now then, on to Lesbian Necromancers In Spaaaaaaaaaaaace....

RACHEL, on 19 September 2019 - 08:42 PM, said:

I read the free sample of Gideon the Ninth, from Amazon, on my kindle and it is now on my must read list.

I'm only about 20min into Ch1 but this is immensely entertaining.
The insults... i need to commit some of these to memory....

[Salt-Man Z]

Yeah, just finished Part One, and I love it.

[Mentalist]

Finished the re-read of "The Dragon's Path" . Good refresher, banking and truth-seeking, world-eating spider goddess.

Moving on to "King's Blood" next.

[Andorion]

I am reading The Outsider by Stephen King and its really excellent so far. I forgot how good King can be.

[Terminus Est]

Just finished three Ballard novels: Hello America, Crash, and High-Rise; now going back to Neuromancer (for the first time), to be followed by some fantasy, though I'm not yet sure what.

[Abyss]

Abyss, on 20 September 2019 - 07:15 PM, said:

Abyss, on 19 September 2019 - 07:18 PM, said:

...
...now then, on to Lesbian Necromancers In Spaaaaaaaaaaaace....

RACHEL, on 19 September 2019 - 08:42 PM, said:

I read the free sample of Gideon the Ninth, from Amazon, on my kindle and it is now on my must read list.

I'm only about 20min into Ch1 but this is immensely entertaining.
The insults... i need to commit some of these to memory....

Salt-Man Z, on 20 September 2019 - 09:55 PM, said:

Yeah, just finished Part One, and I love it.

Ten chapters, about 25% of the way in... and yeah, this book is solid.
Fun, snappy dialogue, interesting/original setting, terrific characters.
And the earbook narrator is amazeballs... you can practically hear her enjoying herself as she narrates and her voice for Gideon is perfect and likely not at all what a reader might expect... i believe the technical term is 'Hounslow Girl'.
So far so good.

[Tiste Simeon]

Good to know Abyss I've got that one in my Audible library, though it'll be ages cos I'm working through Memory Sorrow Thorn and those books are long!

[Abyss]

Quote

...Gideon the Ninth...

Abyss said:

...

Ten chapters, about 25% of the way in... and yeah, this book is solid.
Fun, snappy dialogue, interesting/original setting, terrific characters.
And the earbook narrator is amazeballs... you can practically hear her enjoying herself as she narrates and her voice for Gideon is perfect and likely not at all what a reader might expect... i believe the technical term is 'Hounslow Girl'.
So far so good.

Tiste Simeon, on 23 September 2019 - 04:25 PM, said:

Good to know Abyss I've got that one in my Audible library, though it'll be ages cos I'm working through Memory Sorrow Thorn and those books are long!

Well, hey, when you're done with that 90ish slogging hours from now (130 if you include the new books) you'll have a nice change of pace standing by.

- Abyss, has always thought MS&T would have been vastly improved by the addition of Lesbian Necromancers.

[Maark Abbott]

Almost finished with In The Ruins. It's only taken fourteen months of which twelve were spent NOT FUCKING READING AT ALL.

[Andorion]

So I just finished Jemisin's How Long Till Black Future Month, and wow.... this anthology is absolutely superb. Hard hitting, beautifully written and very authentic.

[Abyss]

Quote

...GIDEON THE NINTH...

Abyss said:

I'm only about 20min into Ch1 but this is immensely entertaining.
The insults... i need to commit some of these to memory....

Abyss said:

Ten chapters, about 25% of the way in... and yeah, this book is solid.
Fun, snappy dialogue, interesting/original setting, terrific characters.
And the earbook narrator is amazeballs... you can practically hear her enjoying herself as she narrates and her voice for Gideon is perfect and likely not at all what a reader might expect... i believe the technical term is 'Hounslow Girl'.
So far so good.

15 chapters...some great action now. The character interactions are staying strong, story building nicely.

The dialogue... oh my god the dialogue is fucking priceless.

Also starting to flesh out (necromantic pun intended) the magic system, so to speak, and it's pretty neat.