[polishgenius]

Kate Griffin > Carey, Butcher and Jacka

[Tiste Simeon]

Me > everyone.

This is fun!

[worry]

Kathy Griffin <

[Tiste Simeon]

Dang I keep meaning to read the Matthew Swift series especially considering how much I love Claire North...

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

QuickTidal, on 17 April 2021 - 04:56 PM, said:

Allow me to add a little.....spice

Carey > Butcher and Jacka

polishgenius, on 17 April 2021 - 05:37 PM, said:

Kate Griffin > Carey, Butcher and Jacka

I assume that's Mike Carey, of Felix Castor? I'll add those to my list.

And Kate Griffin's Matthew Swift books don't blurb that appealingly. Are they actually good? (I'm aware she's Claire North. I haven't read any of her stuff yet.)

[Abyss]

polishgenius, on 13 April 2021 - 08:29 AM, said:

I read a recent debut, The Forever Sea by Joshua Phillip Johnson. It's a good debut, very promising, slightly compromised by the fact that for the first half of the book the main character is unbearably and idiotically reckless in almost every decision. She does learn and it's obviously a deliberate choice but the author did go a bit OTT with it.

Still, other than that, it pops- the world is fantastic, ships sailing on top of a miles-deep sea of grass, magical fires make them go, lots of weird and wonderful supporting cast, piracy, mystery, conflict and derring do. Plus a framing story that puts an added impetus to the main narrative.


Worth reading, but also worth noting that it is a literal plot point that it doesn't really finish properly.

Tnx, was considering this based on the setting. May hold out for another book or two in the series, but am v tempted.

[Abyss]

Whisperzzzzzzz, on 17 April 2021 - 12:30 PM, said:

Cyphon, on 17 April 2021 - 08:47 AM, said:

That's a big statement Whisp. Not sure where people rank the big urban fantasy series these days.

I'm purposefully inviting conflict 😈

In all seriousness, I haven't read Dresden in many years. But, if forced to compare, I'd say they're about equal. Butcher may have a slight edge on Jacka when it comes to pure writing chops. I think Jacka's world is more immersive.

Whisperzzzzzzz, on 19 April 2021 - 03:50 AM, said:

QuickTidal, on 17 April 2021 - 04:56 PM, said:

Allow me to add a little.....spice

Carey > Butcher and Jacka

polishgenius, on 17 April 2021 - 05:37 PM, said:

Kate Griffin > Carey, Butcher and Jacka

I assume that's Mike Carey, of Felix Castor? I'll add those to my list.

And Kate Griffin's Matthew Swift books don't blurb that appealingly. Are they actually good? (I'm aware she's Claire North. I haven't read any of her stuff yet.)

Carey is the best writer of the group. He is a wordsmith and master of the slow boil to big finish. Despite how low key he keeps the magic through the first few CASTOR books, they utterly held my attention and when he went bigger for the last two they were riveting. It causes me rhetorical pain that we will never get CASTOR bk 6, but 1-5 read complete and are a gift. I read pretty much everything he writes, albeit not always on release.

Butcher... Butcher is big Hollywood. His DRESDEN books are fast and loaded w action and the characters are larger than life and twice as witty. A new Butcher book - Dresden or otherwise - is an automatic pre-order for me, tho i have had mixed feelings about his Dresden comics..

Jacka is somewhere in between. His series started low key but he's gradually amped it up to near Dresden level splosions and shootfestes. His 'magic system' is probably the most complicated of the three, but at times is a little too flexible for story purposes. He writes great characters, especially villains. He was not on my pre-order list until i binged 5 VERUS books in a row and now i preorder them.

Kate Griffin... i tried, she didn't hold my attention. The level of praise for her Claire North work has me thinking about another try.

Others in the same vein...

Ben Aaronovitch's PETER GRANT series is wonderful. The magic varies from low key to big, the characters are at once very ordinary and very exceptional, the 'world' and magic system are well thought out and always surprising. The action can get big but doesn't always, the pace varies from slow to breakneck, his London is fantastically written. The books are automatic pre-orders for me, the comics more or less when each new tpb comes out.

Richard Kadrey's SANDMAN SLIM gets a lot of paise. I've only read a short story or two but i've enjoyed other work by Kadrey and will try these sooner or later.

Laurell K Hamilton's ANITA BLAKE VAMPIRE EXECUTIONER series is a solid urban fantasy series that ended at book ten and they all lived happily ever aftr and she never wrote anything else about the characters lalalalalalathe othe rbooks never happened NEVER HAPPENED lalalalalalalala

China Meiville is a divisive author, but his KRAKEN is such a great piece of urban fantasy it's utterly worth reading.

Hearn's IRON DRUID series... the early books had some fun with Indigenous and Celtic and non-traditional European myths that were a lot of fun. Conversely, his vampires and werewolves were meh and his Norse gods verged on irritating. It's a good enough series if you need something new, but for me mid-list at best. (And the earbook narrator, whose other work i have enjoyed, really didn't work for me here.)


Ilona (really two people) Andrews' KATE DANIELS series is post-magic-apocalypse fantasy, not urban fantasy. It sort of works with some of the tropes, but doesn't really belong on a list with the others above. Regardless, it's a lot of fun, and while she's working on a couple of spinoffs, the original KATE DANIELS series is done and an awesome fun read.


Rebecca Roanhorse's THE SIXTH WORLD is also post-magic-apocalypse more than urban fantasy, but i'm throwing it in here for the same reason, and also because she does some really original work w traditional Indigineous myths that make for a fun and interesting read. The first book was good, i have the second standing by in the eTRP.

[Maark Abbott]

Salt-Man Z, on 16 April 2021 - 06:48 PM, said:

Maark Abbott, on 15 April 2021 - 11:05 AM, said:

OK I reached the end of Lord Foul's Bane and... well, that certainly dented my opinion a little bit. Jeez. I'll probably still check out the next one, mind.

I've always considered LFB one of the weakest of the Covenant books. Fortunately, Donaldson doesn't much like to do the same thing twice, so each book (and each trilogy) does something new and surprising. Gah, now I really want to read the whole series again; I just love SRD's utility with language.

Oh, and you should check out his Gap Cycle: grimdark sci-fi based on Wagnerian opera. It's pretty fantastic.

I'll keep it in mind.

Lycanthropy 1: I am a mage at the Circle in Dragon Age, I'm a wizard now Harry and I'm getting shipped to Morrowind because Daddy Dagoth up past the Ghostfence is up to some fuckery. YOU N'WAH.

Am I about there so far? It's certainly still aight.

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

Abyss, on 19 April 2021 - 05:07 AM, said:

Whisperzzzzzzz, on 17 April 2021 - 12:30 PM, said:

Cyphon, on 17 April 2021 - 08:47 AM, said:

That's a big statement Whisp. Not sure where people rank the big urban fantasy series these days.

I'm purposefully inviting conflict 😈

In all seriousness, I haven't read Dresden in many years. But, if forced to compare, I'd say they're about equal. Butcher may have a slight edge on Jacka when it comes to pure writing chops. I think Jacka's world is more immersive.

Whisperzzzzzzz, on 19 April 2021 - 03:50 AM, said:

QuickTidal, on 17 April 2021 - 04:56 PM, said:

Allow me to add a little.....spice

Carey > Butcher and Jacka

polishgenius, on 17 April 2021 - 05:37 PM, said:

Kate Griffin > Carey, Butcher and Jacka

I assume that's Mike Carey, of Felix Castor? I'll add those to my list.

And Kate Griffin's Matthew Swift books don't blurb that appealingly. Are they actually good? (I'm aware she's Claire North. I haven't read any of her stuff yet.)

Carey is the best writer of the group. He is a wordsmith and master of the slow boil to big finish. Despite how low key he keeps the magic through the first few CASTOR books, they utterly held my attention and when he went bigger for the last two they were riveting. It causes me rhetorical pain that we will never get CASTOR bk 6, but 1-5 read complete and are a gift. I read pretty much everything he writes, albeit not always on release.

Butcher... Butcher is big Hollywood. His DRESDEN books are fast and loaded w action and the characters are larger than life and twice as witty. A new Butcher book - Dresden or otherwise - is an automatic pre-order for me, tho i have had mixed feelings about his Dresden comics..

Jacka is somewhere in between. His series started low key but he's gradually amped it up to near Dresden level splosions and shootfestes. His 'magic system' is probably the most complicated of the three, but at times is a little too flexible for story purposes. He writes great characters, especially villains. He was not on my pre-order list until i binged 5 VERUS books in a row and now i preorder them.

Kate Griffin... i tried, she didn't hold my attention. The level of praise for her Claire North work has me thinking about another try.

Others in the same vein...

Ben Aaronovitch's PETER GRANT series is wonderful. The magic varies from low key to big, the characters are at once very ordinary and very exceptional, the 'world' and magic system are well thought out and always surprising. The action can get big but doesn't always, the pace varies from slow to breakneck, his London is fantastically written. The books are automatic pre-orders for me, the comics more or less when each new tpb comes out.

Richard Kadrey's SANDMAN SLIM gets a lot of paise. I've only read a short story or two but i've enjoyed other work by Kadrey and will try these sooner or later.

Laurell K Hamilton's ANITA BLAKE VAMPIRE EXECUTIONER series is a solid urban fantasy series that ended at book ten and they all lived happily ever aftr and she never wrote anything else about the characters lalalalalalathe othe rbooks never happened NEVER HAPPENED lalalalalalalala

China Meiville is a divisive author, but his KRAKEN is such a great piece of urban fantasy it's utterly worth reading.

Hearn's IRON DRUID series... the early books had some fun with Indigenous and Celtic and non-traditional European myths that were a lot of fun. Conversely, his vampires and werewolves were meh and his Norse gods verged on irritating. It's a good enough series if you need something new, but for me mid-list at best. (And the earbook narrator, whose other work i have enjoyed, really didn't work for me here.)


Ilona (really two people) Andrews' KATE DANIELS series is post-magic-apocalypse fantasy, not urban fantasy. It sort of works with some of the tropes, but doesn't really belong on a list with the others above. Regardless, it's a lot of fun, and while she's working on a couple of spinoffs, the original KATE DANIELS series is done and an awesome fun read.


Rebecca Roanhorse's THE SIXTH WORLD is also post-magic-apocalypse more than urban fantasy, but i'm throwing it in here for the same reason, and also because she does some really original work w traditional Indigineous myths that make for a fun and interesting read. The first book was good, i have the second standing by in the eTRP.

Thanks for the breakdown! Carey and Aaronovitch sound worth adding to my TRP.

[Tiste Simeon]

I think I've only read the first two Aaronovitch books and I loved them and I have no idea why I didn't read the rest.

[Macros]

Because you are weak.
And a disappointment to us all

[Tsundoku]

Maccy, why are you reading your high school reports again?

[Tiste Simeon]

Macros, on 19 April 2021 - 03:00 PM, said:

Because you are weak.
And a disappointment to us all

I see you have been speaking to my mum

[Cause]

Do we think winds of winter or doors of stone will ever actually be written?

[amphibian]

Kate Griffin/North is a better writer than Butcher or Dresden. I loved the Matthew Swift books, yet she's having massive success elsewhere and is understandably chasing a living that way.

I'm genuinely sad we will never get Castor 6. Carey is one of my favorites and the series really could use a finish.

Cause, on 19 April 2021 - 08:48 PM, said:

Do we think winds of winter or doors of stone will ever actually be written?

Rothfuss was at one time pretty open about how depression and health issues have fucked things up to a point where he can't put out work. At this point, I don't expect a book from him and I'll pick up the book if it comes out.

GRRM probably will put out Winds in two years, but I gave up waiting on the series. I am pulling the eject cord on ASOIAF and will read wiki summaries of it as I did for Robert Jordan's/Brandon Sanderson's series after Crossroads of Twilight.

[Abyss]

Tiste Simeon, on 19 April 2021 - 03:31 PM, said:

Macros, on 19 April 2021 - 03:00 PM, said:

Because you are weak.
And a disappointment to us all

I see you have been speaking to my mum

Yes.

Cause, on 19 April 2021 - 08:48 PM, said:

Do we think winds of winter or doors of stone will ever actually be written?

No.


...actually, yes to Winds but there's a decent chance it won't be GRRM who finishes it. Even if he does, it will be meh. Again. ... why yes of course I'm going to read it why do you ask?

Doors... look on some level I do think Rothfuss wants to finish it, but on a practical level I think he's living just fine off the royalties of his two books plus development dollars and enjoys RPGs more than writing.

[TheRetiredBridgeburner]

amphibian, on 20 April 2021 - 12:25 AM, said:

Cause, on 19 April 2021 - 08:48 PM, said:

Do we think winds of winter or doors of stone will ever actually be written?

Rothfuss was at one time pretty open about how depression and health issues have fucked things up to a point where he can't put out work. At this point, I don't expect a book from him and I'll pick up the book if it comes out.

GRRM probably will put out Winds in two years, but I gave up waiting on the series. I am pulling the eject cord on ASOIAF and will read wiki summaries of it as I did for Robert Jordan's/Brandon Sanderson's series after Crossroads of Twilight.

I'm in much the same boat. The combination of disappointment with ADWD and an attempted re-read which floundered just shy of the Red Wedding the other year has definitely killed ASOIAF as a series I have much investment in. I'll probably do the same as amph and read the chapter summaries on Wiki, because on some level I would be interested to see how the end of the book story differs from the mess of the end of the TV series. Or not, as I suppose the case may possibly be.

I feel sorry for Rothfuss. it's a depressing exercise seeing the number of "Get on with writing book 3" comments under every single time he posts on social media. I know it's been a long wait but Rothfuss does a lot of good in other arenas and seems like a genuinely nice individual. However, I'm still actively interested in the series and would love to read book three should it eventually surface.

This post has been edited by TheRetiredBridgeburner: 20 April 2021 - 07:22 AM

[Maark Abbott]

About a quarter of the way into Licc Anus now. The pacing is a little uncomfortable in that it's constantly a bit too quick, but enough actually happens that I can overlook it.

So far it seems very JoJoesque in that there's a lot of outsmarters trying to outsmart other people's outsmarting. I'm hoping that a thread of plot beyond "this macguffin" starts to tease out soon and that we can come, friend or traitor, come.

[Tiste Simeon]

Finished the 6th book of Earthsea, The Other Wind and it has been a delightful journey going through this series again.

Going to read The Binding White next.

[Abyss]

Abyss, on 12 April 2021 - 04:24 AM, said:

About 1/3rd into Myke Cole's LEGION VERSUS PHALANX.
It's a historical study of the six battles where Greek/Spartan style phalanx armies (ie 300 but in armor, not loincloths and capes) faced Roman Legions (ie the beginning of GLADIATOR).
So far he's broken down both styles of army by brief history, lines of battle, equipment, common tactics. About to start getting into the battles.

Unlike what i usually read (listen) and i'm really enjoying it. The books is written towards a non-academic, non-military audience, and the narrator delivers the text as if you were sitting in a bar with a buddy telling some interesting stories.

Just finished, very enjoyed. At 10ish hours it's an easy listen and done in a way that is engaging and not at all academic despite including a tonne of history, discussion, and even conflicting theories. For each of the six battles he gives a concise, entertaining summary of the events and players leading up to the bloodshed . The narrator nails the battle retellings. Worth a listen.

Next up... oh yes, it is time... THE ACK-ACK MACAQUE trilogy.