[Abyss]

Abyss, on 29 September 2022 - 03:20 PM, said:

... Scalzi's THE KAIJU PRESERVATION SOCIETY. Halfway in and very enjoying it.[/size]

Just Finished. It's great. Nerds vs evil corporations to protect giant monsters. Literary popcorn at its finest and I hope the movie gets made. Will Wheaton's narration is utterly appropriate. Worth a read if you want something light and fun.

[Abyss]

JPK, on 02 October 2022 - 03:21 AM, said:

Abyss, on 01 October 2022 - 11:28 PM, said:

JPK, on 29 September 2022 - 08:05 PM, said:

Tiste Simeon, on 29 September 2022 - 05:57 PM, said:

But I got Sandman Act III. So that's jumped up my list to the very top.

I'm working on this one now as well. I just finished the first story and it's so damn good to be back in this version of the story. Gaiman's narration is just fucking ace.

OMG... Delirium... is PERFECT.

I'm about halfway though and I completely agree. Kristen Schall was just absolutely brilliant casting for this. "Can I drive?".

I may have just listened to her chat with Destiny six or seven times.
Six lines... delivered almost verbatim from the comic.... and BOOM.

Spoiler

(after Destiny's guidance drops Dream to his knees)
What did you tell him?
That is his affair, surely.
Do you know why i stopped being Delight, my brother?
...
I do. There are things not in your book. There are paths outside this garden. You would do well to remember that.
It is, refreshing, to see you so collected.
Stick it.

The subtext, the threat and the weight and their relationship... all of it. BRILLIANT.

[JPK]

Abyss, on 03 October 2022 - 02:26 PM, said:

JPK, on 02 October 2022 - 03:21 AM, said:

Abyss, on 01 October 2022 - 11:28 PM, said:

JPK, on 29 September 2022 - 08:05 PM, said:

Tiste Simeon, on 29 September 2022 - 05:57 PM, said:

But I got Sandman Act III. So that's jumped up my list to the very top.

I'm working on this one now as well. I just finished the first story and it's so damn good to be back in this version of the story. Gaiman's narration is just fucking ace.

OMG... Delirium... is PERFECT.

I'm about halfway though and I completely agree. Kristen Schall was just absolutely brilliant casting for this. "Can I drive?".

I may have just listened to her chat with Destiny six or seven times.
Six lines... delivered almost verbatim from the comic.... and BOOM.

Spoiler

(after Destiny's guidance drops Dream to his knees)
What did you tell him?
That is his affair, surely.
Do you know why i stopped being Delight, my brother?
...
I do. There are things not in your book. There are paths outside this garden. You would do well to remember that.
It is, refreshing, to see you so collected.
Stick it.

The subtext, the threat and the weight and their relationship... all of it. BRILLIANT.

That section is fantastic but

Spoiler

Their visit with Destruction fucking tops it. Destruction's monologue about what defines their natures is just sublime.

[Abyss]

JPK, on 03 October 2022 - 08:07 PM, said:

...
That section is fantastic but

Spoiler

Their visit with Destruction fucking tops it. Destruction's monologue about what defines their natures is just sublime.

Loved that too, but in the end...

Spoiler

...it's a chat, even if Dream does become heated at times. Destruction is never baited and his departure is inevitable. There is never a moment where it seems he might return to his duties and family.
It's a satisfying end to the BRIEF LIVES search, but only just, and to an extent it always bothered me that it minimized the consequences of Destruction's safety measures killing off his old friends and associates.

Whereas Delerium seems genuinely ready to go to fucking war against Destiny, which goes gloriously beyond what the comic showed.

Into the WORLD'S END section now and loving it. That tpb was my first SANDMAN comic and i've always had a soft spot for it.

[QuickTidal]

Brushing up on the Cosmere in prep for THE LOST METAL coming out (put it on my Xmas list), so I'm re-reading the second half of RoW (for anyone wondering, this book is SO rewarding on a re-read) and then re-doing ARCANUM UNBOUNDED and DAWNSHARD again....I MIGHT re-do Warbreaker too (Cause ya know...Vash and Nightblood). We shall see what I get to before Xmas...I may shove some Crown of Stars Elliot into that grouping as a break/palate cleanser.

[Abyss]

Just Finished SANDMAN ACT 3, it's a flawless adaptation of the comics, utterly worthwhile if you're a fan and following til now.
I admit the middle/main segment, BRIEF LIVES, has never been my favorite part of the story, and i was a little sceptical. Silly me, the pacing and voice work and fx were excellent. If anything they may have elevated the story. WORLD'S END was impressive considering how much some of those various stories depend on visuals... TWO CITIES and HOB'S LEVIATHAN in particular. CITIES used the soundscape to capture the eeriness of the 'other' city, essentially doing the art's work, while HOB'S - aside from telling it's narrator's story beautifully - very effectively shifts the focus away from the titular beastie to the characters, and their reactions.
The cast list at the end is fun to listen to and realize how many actual 'names' did bit parts.


Next up, back to Lyons' CHORUS OF DRAGONS, bk 3 THE MEMORY OF SOULS. Not quite an hour in and while it's great to be back w these characters and pick up the story again, i'm somewhat echoing Azath's upthread view as this is my least favorite narrator in the series so far. His women's voices sound like a man trying to sound like a woman and my brain keeps jumping to LITTLE BRITAIN's 'i'm a lady!' skits.

[Tiste Simeon]

Finished British crime novel The Khan about a Pakistani crime syndicate in the North of England. Occasionally weird weird pacing issues aside, I very much enjoyed it and happy to support authors outside my usual purchasing (ie Saima Mir is a Muslim Asian-British female and lets face it a majority of fantasy and science fiction authors are white men!)

Moving back to fantasy though by starting Prince of Fools (and by extension the Red Queen series) by Mark Lawrence.

[JPK]

Tiste Simeon, on 06 October 2022 - 07:09 PM, said:

Moving back to fantasy though by starting Prince of Fools (and by extension the Red Queen series) by Mark Lawrence.

I've been rereading that series myself, and I'm about to start the third book in the trilogy. It really is a wonderful series. Have you read it before?

[Tiste Simeon]

JPK, on 07 October 2022 - 12:51 AM, said:

Tiste Simeon, on 06 October 2022 - 07:09 PM, said:

Moving back to fantasy though by starting Prince of Fools (and by extension the Red Queen series) by Mark Lawrence.

I've been rereading that series myself, and I'm about to start the third book in the trilogy. It really is a wonderful series. Have you read it before?

Never! I read the Thorns trilogy years ago and I've read a couple of his other series (the One Word Kill trilogy and the Red Sister trilogy) but not this one!

[Mentalist]

Hit a point in "Wall of Storms where I just want to put the book down.

The Emperor's wife, out of of her beliefs for what stability of the realm is, is fomenting a rebellion to fabricate a threat to elevate herself and her faction.

I can't see this ending in anything but disaster. Don't want to RAFO.

I hate when authors do this.

[Abyss]

Tiste Simeon, on 07 October 2022 - 02:49 AM, said:

JPK, on 07 October 2022 - 12:51 AM, said:

Tiste Simeon, on 06 October 2022 - 07:09 PM, said:

Moving back to fantasy though by starting Prince of Fools (and by extension the Red Queen series) by Mark Lawrence.

I've been rereading that series myself, and I'm about to start the third book in the trilogy. It really is a wonderful series. Have you read it before?

Never! I read the Thorns trilogy years ago and I've read a couple of his other series (the One Word Kill trilogy and the Red Sister trilogy) but not this one!

i unreservedly LOVED the RED QUEEN'S WAR trilo.
My favorite Mark Lawrence work so far.

[Aptorian]

A good trilogy made hard to read because of how much I hated the protagonist.

[worry]

Aw, I loved J-dogg and Snorgi -- Mark Lawrence's funnest characters imo!

[QuickTidal]

QuickTidal, on 18 November 2019 - 02:10 PM, said:

Finally got around to starting Kate Elliott's THE BURNING STONE (had to retake it out from the library because never got round to it the first time I took it out), and it's already really amazing. I'm surprised just how immersive these books are for me. Like I sink into every page and relish the story. Only 140 pages into it so far, but already a tonne of shit is happening.

Also, not enough Theophanu currently. One hopes that is rectified.

Been a while, and I had dropped off this series for some reason...back on now and restarted this one to get back into it (I got the whole rest of the series on the cheap at the used book store; all matching! ) and it's reminded me how I really enjoy this series.

[pat5150]

Just finished Stephen King's Fairy Tale. More than just another portal fantasy story, it's a love letter to SFF giants such as Bradbury, Lovecraft, Howard, and Tolkien, among others.

It's also a love story about a boy and his dog, and that's the best part about the book.

Full review here.

[worry]

That’s what I’ve been waiting to hear.

[Tiste Simeon]

Finished the audiobook of The Two Towers. Just superb and, as always, Andy Serkis was phenomenal (lack of a Yorkshire Gollum notwithstanding)

As I mentioned elsewhere my plan was to launch straight into The Return of the King but Sandman Act III has changed that plan! Especially now I've read what others have said!

[Tiste Simeon]

Tiste Simeon, on 12 October 2022 - 06:37 PM, said:

Finished the audiobook of The Two Towers. Just superb and, as always, Andy Serkis was phenomenal (lack of a Yorkshire Gollum notwithstanding)

As I mentioned elsewhere my plan was to launch straight into The Return of the King but Sandman Act III has changed that plan! Especially now I've read what others have said!

And I'm already HOOKED I forgot how good Kat Dennings is as Death. Whoever is playing Destruction is likewise exactly how I imagined him speaking.

I don't imagine it'll take me long to get through this as I think I'll be playing it whenever I can!

[JPK]

I just finished up One Word Kill by that Lawrence dude. I can see some of the stuff in here and I'll give him props for writing a difficult pov. This one is pretty underwhelming to me though, and maybe it's because of the YA tone. If it weren't for the

Spoiler

Broken Empire connections hidden in here (I mean the Tower is clearly The Wheel)

I'd probably skip the other two books. Someone please tell me it gets less generic? Pretty please?

[Macros]

It's fun overall, don't expect broken empire level of maturity and scope.

Considering how short and (usually on ebook) cheap they are I'd say read them