[Gwynn ap Nudd]

For me, the one I remember is the one I mentioned in the current last post in the book club thread.

[polishgenius]

Yeah.

Spoiler

I went and did a name search for Yunez and there's a period of about sixty pages - which doesn't seem that long but is a decent chunk of a novel moving at that pace- where it genuinely seems like her name's only in it because the author did the same thing and every so often added a line about her chewing her tabbac to keep her 'involved'.

The musicians are oddly treated too. They're not in it long enough to be forgotten about, precisely, but he didn't seem to know how to juggle their presence in the travelling squad either.

Anyway I've now started Last Exit by Max Gladstone. Bit different from his usual fare, so far: both the Craft series and Empress of Tomorrow have a colourful, poppy vibe even without actually having, you know, a visual, this is a dark-and-gritty backroad America, a sort of Lovecraftian monster-hunters-on-the-road fantasy. Gladstone's one of the best genre writers around right now though, so it should be interesting.

This post has been edited by polishgenius: 08 January 2023 - 10:49 PM

[Gwynn ap Nudd]

I will be interested in hearing your take on the Last Exit. I enjoyed the Craft cycle.

[Aptorian]

Finished Xenos, the first Eisenhorn novel by Dan Abnett.

This is definitely the best Abnett book I've read. It's fast paced, flavour full, draws in a lot of elements you don't see or hear much about in the Gaunt books.

Glad I bought the omnibus that also includes various short stories.

[Abyss]

Abyss, on 17 December 2022 - 07:08 AM, said:

Abyss, on 15 December 2022 - 04:48 PM, said:

...Next up, i'm spoiled for choice but started Tchaikovsky's CHILDREN OF MEMORY ... after the spiders and the octopi i am VERY curious what he does next.

Four chapters in, have met the new thingies and OMG I LOOOOOVE THIS.

Need to get caught up....

CHILDREN OF MEMORY was very VERY different from the prior two books in the series. Tchaikovsky makes it work, and nicely so... i was not sure i would appreciate the frequent shift in focus from the beasties to the humans, but in classic Tchaikovsky form nothing is what it seems and no one is just human and he pulls it off nicely. Even when the book slides into tropey territory, the complexity of the characters raises the story. The new beasties are utterly great and steal every scene they appear in.
The book is a solid third step in the MEMORY OF series and if you enjoyed the first two do not hesitate to commit your dollars and brainzez to it.

Next was DEAD ASHORE, book 7 in Melchiorri's THE TIDE special ops/scientists v stabby rage zombie series. It's more of the what made books 1-6 work, nothing wildly novel this time, but consistent fun as soldiers run around shooting nasty thigs and scientists scramble to solve the virus' latest mutation, plus terrorists!

And then... 'charming' is not a word i use often to describe a fantasy novel, but having Just Finished Travis Baldree's LEGENDS AND LATTES i find it's the bestest word i can use. An orc warrior retires from adventuring to open a coffee shop in a major city. She meets new friends, builds up the shop, encounters opposition, tries to find ways to deal with it without resorting to large sharp objects and head crushing. It is low stakes, minimal jeopardy, the fantasy elements are far from important to the story... and it's all just so damn cute i couldn't put it down. Worth a look if you need a light read. The earbook maintains the tone nicely.


Next up is Brandon Sanderson's first 'secret novel', TRESS OF THE EMERALD SEA, A NOVEL OF THE COSMERE. Am about a third of the way in and the word 'charming' appears to fit yet again.

[Tiste Simeon]

So I got the final book in the Scholomance, THE GOLDEN ENCLAVES, for Christmas, and I have now finished reading it.

Utterly sublime. That series is now firmly ensconced in my all time favourites! I saw that some here have said it didn't feel quite as good as the first two and I get it...

Spoiler

I think part of the problem is that the first two books are set in this fantastic, oppressive single location. There is no escape and the kids know it. They have to learn and fight and survive and there is a malice hanging over the whole thing.

The third book is more of a globe spanning quest type of novel with tons of locations and people. It was quite a jarring difference to the others and it took me a while to get into it.

But when I did, as the plot started unfolding and the revelations started coming, I was so freaking hooked! The whole thing of El is actually the "maleficer" due to destroying the maw mouths was fantastic and I stayed up way too late to finish it.

[worry]

I'll add that to my wishlist. I assumed those were parodies, since Scholomance sounds like a word Mel Brooks would coin, but I guess it's a real term.

I just finished Immortal Hulk -- that was tight. I don't really follow ongoing comics but this was a good series to just dip in then out again.

Now I'm starting Senlin Ascends. This is like Infinity Train but vertical instead of horizontal?

[Tsundoku]

Abyss, on 09 January 2023 - 05:49 AM, said:

And then... 'charming' is not a word i use often to describe a fantasy novel, but having Just Finished Travis Baldree's LEGENDS AND LATTES i find it's the bestest word i can use. An orc warrior retires from adventuring to open a coffee shop in a major city. She meets new friends, builds up the shop, encounters opposition, tries to find ways to deal with it without resorting to large sharp objects and head crushing. It is low stakes, minimal jeopardy, the fantasy elements are far from important to the story... and it's all just so damn cute i couldn't put it down. Worth a look if you need a light read. The earbook maintains the tone nicely.

Agreed, thanks for the reco.

After finally finishing the last 800 pages of Rhythm of War over the last couple of weeks I felt like another light read and that did nicely.

I've read that it's described as "cozy fantasy".

[Maark Abbott]

worry, on 10 January 2023 - 08:49 AM, said:

I'll add that to my wishlist. I assumed those were parodies, since Scholomance sounds like a word Mel Brooks would coin, but I guess it's a real term.

I just finished Immortal Hulk -- that was tight. I don't really follow ongoing comics but this was a good series to just dip in then out again.

Now I'm starting Senlin Ascends. This is like Infinity Train but vertical instead of horizontal?

Hold on no one said Senlin was like Demon Slayer before this. Tell me more.

[Tsundoku]

Maark would definitely hate "Legends and Lattes".

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

worry, on 10 January 2023 - 08:49 AM, said:

I'll add that to my wishlist. I assumed those were parodies, since Scholomance sounds like a word Mel Brooks would coin, but I guess it's a real term.

I don't understand why it's Anglicized as 'Scholomance' rather than 'Sholomance', which doesn't look silly and seems to match the Romanian pronunciation: 'The Scholomance[a] (Romanian: Șolomanță [ʃoloˈmant͡sə], Solomonărie [solomonəˈri.e]) was a fabled school of black magic in Romania, especially in the region of Transylvania. It was run by the Devil, according to folkloric accounts. The school enrolled about ten students to become the Solomonari. Courses taught included the speech of animals and magic spells. One of the graduates was chosen by the Devil to be the Weathermaker and tasked with riding a dragon to control the weather.

The school lay underground, and the students remained unexposed to sunlight for the seven-year duration of their study. The dragon (zmeu or balaur) was kept submerged in a mountaintop lake [...] according to some accounts'

Scholomance - Wikipedia

Romanian ʃ is pronounced like the 'sh' in 'ship':

Help:IPA/Romanian - Wikipedia

I'm on book three of The Dandelion Dynasty---The Veiled Throne. More mythology in this, and I'm liking it a lot; the retelling of the mythology is substantially more novelistic and compelling than much of The Grace of Kings iirc. The poetic qualities of the prose have improved.

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 10 January 2023 - 06:37 PM

[JPK]

I've got about an hour left in The Hobbit. Andy Serkis' narration is just sublime here. This might actually be the best single narrator audiobook that I've listened to. The only other that comes close imo are The Sandman audiodramas but those are a whole different ballgame due to being full cast.

[Abyss]

Tsundoku, on 10 January 2023 - 10:03 AM, said:

Abyss, on 09 January 2023 - 05:49 AM, said:

And then... 'charming' is not a word i use often to describe a fantasy novel, but having Just Finished Travis Baldree's LEGENDS AND LATTES i find it's the bestest word i can use. An orc warrior retires from adventuring to open a coffee shop in a major city. She meets new friends, builds up the shop, encounters opposition, tries to find ways to deal with it without resorting to large sharp objects and head crushing. It is low stakes, minimal jeopardy, the fantasy elements are far from important to the story... and it's all just so damn cute i couldn't put it down. Worth a look if you need a light read. The earbook maintains the tone nicely.

Agreed, thanks for the reco.

After finally finishing the last 800 pages of Rhythm of War over the last couple of weeks I felt like another light read and that did nicely.

I've read that it's described as "cozy fantasy".

That's a good term for it.
There is precisely zero moment in the book, even when they are in physical danger, where you actually fear something awful happening to the characters. The physical conflicts are practically a sideline to the borderline 'ordinary' character development and interpersonal plots.
This is so utterly not the kind of fantasy or even fiction i read, even so i was invested in the outcome.

Tsundoku, on 10 January 2023 - 01:22 PM, said:

Maark would definitely hate "Legends and Lattes".

Maybe it would bring out his inner romantic barrista-warrior.

[Abyss]

Maark Abbott said:

worry said:

...
Now I'm starting Senlin Ascends. This is like Infinity Train but vertical instead of horizontal?

Hold on no one said Senlin was like Demon Slayer before this. Tell me more.

Not quite in either instance, but not entirely off.
SENLIN is hard to explain beyond 'boring ordinary dude must adapt to survive in massive steampunk city tower where each level is a different city'.
I barely liked bk 1 - it's told as a series of short stories, a format i dislike, and i found the lead irritating - but then continued out of interest in the setting and enjoyed the hell out of 2-4.

[worry]

That’s cool, I love when stuff is annoying.

[polishgenius]

Gwynn ap Nudd, on 09 January 2023 - 01:15 AM, said:

I will be interested in hearing your take on the Last Exit. I enjoyed the Craft cycle.

Well, it is good. Nothing like the Craft cycle at all, although it does spin away from the urban-fantasy underpinnings into something a bit different. Both a more epic and more personal story than it seems at first glance.


My only real criticism is that I'm a big believer in epic quest stories having some wind-down after the end, and this one gives you about two pages. But even there, it might have been hard to have a real wind-down without just making a whole other book out of it, so...


Gonna jump into The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia McKillip next, I think.

[Abyss]

Abyss, on 10 January 2023 - 08:21 PM, said:

Maark Abbott said:

worry said:

...
Now I'm starting Senlin Ascends. This is like Infinity Train but vertical instead of horizontal?

Hold on no one said Senlin was like Demon Slayer before this. Tell me more.

Not quite in either instance, but not entirely off.
SENLIN is hard to explain beyond 'boring ordinary dude must adapt to survive in massive steampunk city tower where each level is a different city'.
I barely liked bk 1 - it's told as a series of short stories, a format i dislike, and i found the lead irritating - but then continued out of interest in the setting and enjoyed the hell out of 2-4.

worry, on 10 January 2023 - 09:12 PM, said:

That's cool, I love when stuff is annoying.

Can i interest you in the first four Sword of Truth mmpbs, barely read, slightly dented?

[worry]

Haha, even I have standards.

[Maark Abbott]

Tsundoku, on 10 January 2023 - 01:22 PM, said:

Maark would definitely hate "Legends and Lattes".

Incorrect. I'm reading it at present and it's basically any comfortable Japanese slice-of-life fantasy light novel but tweaked for Western audiences. Plus the MC is relatable.

Anyway my Senlin comment was a flippant play on Infinity Train given that Mugen Train was the name of the Demon Slayer film. Didn't expect there to be substance to my joke...

[Tsundoku]

Maark Abbott, on 11 January 2023 - 08:46 AM, said:

Tsundoku, on 10 January 2023 - 01:22 PM, said:

Maark would definitely hate "Legends and Lattes".

Incorrect. I'm reading it at present and it's basically any comfortable Japanese slice-of-life fantasy light novel but tweaked for Western audiences. Plus the MC is relatable.

Have I been transported to some sort of parallel universe?