[Mentalist]

amphibian, on 07 August 2023 - 06:47 PM, said:

I really liked the South Asian fantasy blend and very much understood why Cook fractured the narrative. The jump in settings to go north initially was a bigger shock to me.

But he functionally stopped writing for decades and then released a loop back to early series rather than forging on ahead. Big missed opportunity and we're unlikely to see more Black Company (even if I bought Port of Shadows and all the others).

I'm still angry we never got a conclusion to Instrumentalities of the Night.

[amphibian]

Glen Cook is gonna Glen Cook all the way. Here's hoping some fun endings come our way someday.

[QuickTidal]

Read a bunch of stuff on Vacation:

Finished THE BLACK COMPANY. Very solid and enjoyable, if a bit bare bones for a first novel in the series. It got better in the back half through so that's good.

OF BLOOD & FIRE by Ryan Cahill. It's fine, but it's HYPER tropey...and the theft of archetypes from other series (like he hoists Fades wholesale from WOT), and plot structure and character beats are likewise wholesale ripped from ERAGON (which itself is a rip from STAR WARS)...so call it Classic style fantasy but as unoriginal as it comes. Like Michael J. Sullivan writes classical style fantasy but it's still VERY original and filled with compelling characters...Cahill doesn't have that skill and this is a very plodding outing as a result. I have the other two main books in the series (got them all on sale) so I'll read the others at some point, but I'm not expecting much. I expect to forget this one in short order as nothing very memorable happens in it...oh and Cahill cannot write women to save his life. At least WOT had Egwene, Nynaeve, and Elayne ect. who all have agency...I dunno. He's an indie author and people have been raving about how great this series is...I simply don't get it. It's "fine"...and thats about it.

LIONHEART by Ben Kane. I like Kanes Roman antiquity books, so I expected to like this one too...and it's fine, but it leans a BIT too hard into the "Richard I was a hero worth following" that we all know is relatively false. Kane also tries out Bernard Cornwell's tactic of having it be through a POV "close" to Richard as opposed to Richard...but Rufus (Ferdia) is no Derfel, and his "enemy" being a local knight who pisses him off when he's first captured by the English DRAGS and from what I understand stays an antagonist throughout the trilogy....which kind of bugs me. It's 1st person POV for most of it, but occasionally is drops into 3rd person for a chapter at a time to tell of needed historical events and characters that Rufus can't be present for...which is jarring. I can't decide if it works well enough or if it might have been better to let Rufus come to the revelations through his own means or not...I also feel like if you're going to dive into Richard's life, why not do it fully and just POV it through Richard. His life was interesting enough that we don't need the 12th century Irish squire POV/protagonist at all, or his knight enemy. I was Rufus to be more interesting, but he's not...and he expresses a rather blind devotion to Richard that feels unearned? I dunno. It was fine. I have the other two books in the trilogy...one of which dives into his Crusade attempt....but as we all know Richard doesn't take Jerusalem at all and ends up having to peace treaty with Saladin to save face for the amount of money he wasted getting there...I dunno. Perhaps I'll stick with Kane's Roman books? I expected to like this more than I did.

THE ORDER WAR by L.E. Modesitt. This was probably the best of the Recluce series I've read yet. I don't want that to sound like glowing praise. It's not. This books suffers from the same things that the previous 3 suffered from; too much day to day minutiae and deep dives on "balance" and "order" and "Chaos", female characters that feel overtly poorly drawn from an almost chauvinistic POV (Expect this has more to do with 1995 male POV than anything else? I know Modesitt's politics on women gets far more progressive in the post-2000 years), and not enough overall story progression. That said, it was more enjoyable than the previous outings because it really showcased that the "bad guys" in this are just doing what they think is the right thing so the shades of gray to the whole thing feel earned and interesting. I also liked Justen (who we last saw as a much older man in the first novel) as a protagonist as he questions everything and never takes things at face value..and he was far less prone to flying off the emotional handle like Lerris did. I hear that later in the series, the first two complaints lessen, especially the female representation as time went on and Modesitt learned to be less chauvinistic.

Next up I'm either reading SHARPE'S ASSASSIN, VAGABOND (also by Cornwell), or perhaps FARILANE by Michael J. Sullivan will finally arrive and I'll dive into that.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 08 August 2023 - 01:43 PM

[QuickTidal]

QuickTidal, on 06 November 2019 - 01:40 PM, said:

Got stuck deep into Shannon Chakraborty's CITY OF BRASS, which so far is quite wonderful!

Oh hey, it's a book I got 25% into, was fully enjoying and dropped off for some reason I don't recall...so as I was scanning through my kindle for shit to read next as mentioned in my previous post....and there was the entire trilogy still waiting for me to dive back into (and the short story book THE RIVER OF SILVER, before I get to the ADVENTURES OF AMINA AL-SIRAFI pirate book to boot!)...and so the decision made for me, in we go again amongst djinn, magic urchins, and fantasy royalty.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 08 August 2023 - 05:00 PM

[worry]

Street urchins or sea urchins?

[amphibian]

Sea street urchins.

[worry]

Now that's something!

[Mentalist]

JFC, is this whole book gonna be Kaladin's existential crisis: part 4?

I don't think I'm in the right headspace to deal with for another 1030 pages

[Abyss]

Mentalist, on 09 August 2023 - 11:30 PM, said:

JFC, is this whole book gonna be Kaladin's existential crisis: part 4?

I don't think I'm in the right headspace to deal with for another 1030 pages

Do you want encouragement or cold hard truth?

[Abyss]

Just Finished Pierce Brown's LIGHT BRINGER. All good sixth entry in the series, not as dark as the last book, and sets the stage nicely for the finale. Comments in the dedthread but i'm a satisfied customer.

Up next, almost started back into YUMI AND THE NIGHTMARE PAINTER but decided i needed something low brain high silly and went w Michael Cole's MEGALODON BLOODBATH, bcs sometimes i just need to read about a giant shark eating people. A few chapters in and yep, that'll do it.

[Mentalist]

Abyss, on 10 August 2023 - 04:03 AM, said:

Mentalist, on 09 August 2023 - 11:30 PM, said:

JFC, is this whole book gonna be Kaladin's existential crisis: part 4?

I don't think I'm in the right headspace to deal with for another 1030 pages

Do you want encouragement or cold hard truth?

truth, obv.

[QuickTidal]

Mentalist, on 10 August 2023 - 06:51 AM, said:

Abyss, on 10 August 2023 - 04:03 AM, said:

Mentalist, on 09 August 2023 - 11:30 PM, said:

JFC, is this whole book gonna be Kaladin's existential crisis: part 4?

I don't think I'm in the right headspace to deal with for another 1030 pages

Do you want encouragement or cold hard truth?

truth, obv.

I feel like it's important to note that Kal DEFINITELY turns a corner in RoW and that arc you're/we're annoyed by with him ends in this book. IF that helps. That said, it DOES continue till at least the last 3rd, at which point you FINALLY get resolution for 3.75 books worth of whiny/unsure/angreyatdad/angryateveryone/angryathimself Kaladin.

[QuickTidal]

QuickTidal, on 08 August 2023 - 04:50 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 06 November 2019 - 01:40 PM, said:

Got stuck deep into Shannon Chakraborty's CITY OF BRASS, which so far is quite wonderful!

Oh hey, it's a book I got 25% into, was fully enjoying and dropped off for some reason I don't recall...so as I was scanning through my kindle for shit to read next as mentioned in my previous post....and there was the entire trilogy still waiting for me to dive back into (and the short story book THE RIVER OF SILVER, before I get to the ADVENTURES OF AMINA AL-SIRAFI pirate book to boot!)...and so the decision made for me, in we go again amongst djinn, magic urchins, and fantasy royalty.

Well that was a blitz of reading. Finished Book 1 and yeah that was really excellent, could not put it down after the 50% mark. Really excited to see where the series goes next!

[QuickTidal]

I got my hands on the HERITAGE OF SHANNARA books in hardcover First Editions at a used book store haul, and so naturally I decided to do a full Shannara re-read (not including the first trilogy as I've read it too many times) and man SCIONS is just really dark stuff, but as compelling as I recall it being the first time I read it. I love me some broody indecisive Walker Boh and some grumpy Cogline. My plan is to finish HERITAGE, roll right on into the VOYAGE trilogy, and push through to eventually cap off FALL (which I only ever read book 1 of, but I enjoyed it) That probably means I won't finish it till sometime next year as I won't be re-reading it all at once.

It's funny, though, I realized how many of these I have in hardcover. I have everything but the first trilogy, FIRST KING and FALL in hardcovers.

Anyways, I've always been a Shannara fan, even with how repetitive and formulaic then can get. Brooks writing is just always pulling me in.

Also, it's fun to map where the place points on the Four Lands map land in post-apocalyptic North America/Asia....locations I only recently learned on the Four Lands map: Crater Lake Oregon is behind the Hadeshorn, The Tiderace is the Great Lakes Region after the Atlantic rushed in and "ate them" them after the cataclysm, Lake Tahoe is The Innisbore in the Wetslands, Paranor (the druid keep) was built atop the Devils Tower in Wyoming, Eldtwist is Chicago (though some people think it could be Toronto...which I admit would be cool as fuck), The Silver River is the Columbia, Castledown and Parkasia and the Ice Henge (across the blue divide [The Pacific I assume]) is either Korea (because Park is a common Korean name), or the Kamchatka peninsula (we don't know because of how fucked up the world became in the demon wars/climate change)...but Castledown at the very least seems Japanese or Korean (techwise)...but place named like Aleuthra Ark Mountains are similar to the Aleutian Islands which is closer to Kamchatka, and in The Fall, the Skaar apparently come from the UK across the Tiderace (Atlantic), people have thought Hawk's valley where humanity makes its last stand and refuge in the GENESIS books is either the Flathead Reserve, or the Montana side of Lookout Pass...the former makes far more sense as it's large and is surrounded by mountains and contains a freshwater lake....but Brooks said he made the location deliberately obtuse....but those places make sense. Oh and Morrowindl is clearly Hawaii as Brooks mentioned Koa trees. I admit to being WILDLY fascinated by a fantasy world intentionally built to be some future post-climate change/nuclear war real world map...like this is evident in Lawrences Broken Empire (only not as deliberate and not as changed)....but I can't think of many other authors who have tried.

It also amuses me that people ever thought that the series was a made-up fantasy world when in the very first book The King of the Silver River uses a 5000 year old flashlight to save Shea & Flick...by Elfstones at the very least I would hope people had figured it out.

EDIT: as a side note about the TV show (which I liked even though it was not great at many points) it bugged me that the old world was so easily seen in the show, considering Elfstones is some 5200 years after the Cataclysm/GreatWars/Fall of the old world...by 5000 years shit like the Seattle Space needle would not be still laying topped over with plant growth on it...it would be GONE. Long gone. Highways, bridges, ect...all gone in a matter of centuries not millennia. This is why I like that the things in the books that are left from the old world are either buried underground (keeping them safe from the elements) or are in climate appropriate places where the weather would be conducive to keeping them more intact.

Anyways, enjoying as per usual. Ignore me!

Oh and for funsies, here's Marc Simonetti's recent interior art for the Grim Oak FIRST KING edition, which shows Kinson Ravenlocke and Druid Bremen heading towards Paranor (Devils Tower, Wyoming)...I love that the forests around the tower that we know today...grew into that ungodly tangle by the time Paranor was erected/carved into it a few thousand years later.

Spoiler

 Para.jpeg (385.57K)
Number of downloads: 0

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 16 August 2023 - 03:23 PM

[Cyphon]

In need of a comfort read I've embarked on THE DRAGONBONE CHAIR after picking up the humble bundle deal. Now to get lost in the world...

[QuickTidal]

Cyphon, on 16 August 2023 - 04:46 PM, said:

In need of a comfort read I've embarked on THE DRAGONBONE CHAIR after picking up the humble bundle deal. Now to get lost in the world...

YMMV but I love that series and Williams was very good at sinking me into that world. Enjoy!

[QuickTidal]

In a flurry of vacation reading, I finished SCIONS OF SHANNARA (excellent as always), and then rolled right into DRUID OF SHANNARA expecting to only get a few chapters into it, but then the cottage power went out for 4 hours and I had nothing else to do so I read all of it.

As usual a great book, even if some of it is a BIT predictable at times. In fact I think I enjoyed it more this time that my previous read. The knowledge that it used to be our world makes these ones so much more rewarding to digest. So I rolled into THE ELF QUEEN OF SHANNARA and I'm already 100 pages into Elf Rover Goes Hawaii Boogety Boo. To be honest, at this point I'll probably just do TALISMANS after this one and polish off the quadrology. I had only expected to START a Shannara re-read, but here we are...

More thoughts in De-thred, cause I still wants to talk about it in depth.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 21 August 2023 - 12:59 PM

[Tiste Simeon]

Finished The Eye of the World and quite enjoyed it. Going to read The Great Hunt but I think I'll have a break to read Forge of the High Mage first. I can't wait because I love every new adventure in the Malazan world ♥️

[stone monkey]

Tiste Simeon, on 21 August 2023 - 08:44 PM, said:

Finished The Eye of the World and quite enjoyed it. Going to read The Great Hunt but I think I'll have a break to read Forge of the High Mage first. I can't wait because I love every new adventure in the Malazan world ♥️

The Great Hunt is the start of the improvement. The Fires of Heaven - 3 books later - is where it all starts to go downhill imo; which continues until the absolute nadir of Winter's Heart. Knife of Dreams and the Sanderson books are fine, but I'd argue they don't hit the heights that books 2, 3, and 4 did. I just realised that I haven't read The Eye of the World since the last millenium... No idea whether I'll ever read it again.

This post has been edited by stone monkey: 21 August 2023 - 09:30 PM

[Tsundoku]

stone monkey, on 21 August 2023 - 09:30 PM, said:

Tiste Simeon, on 21 August 2023 - 08:44 PM, said:

Finished The Eye of the World and quite enjoyed it. Going to read The Great Hunt but I think I'll have a break to read Forge of the High Mage first. I can't wait because I love every new adventure in the Malazan world ♥️

The Great Hunt is the start of the improvement. The Fires of Heaven - 3 books later - is where it all starts to go downhill imo; which continues until the absolute nadir of Winter's Heart. Knife of Dreams and the Sanderson books are fine, but I'd argue they don't hit the heights that books 2, 3, and 4 did. I just realised that I haven't read The Eye of the World since the last millenium... No idea whether I'll ever read it again.

See, there you go. I find TFoH to be my favourite, with LoC as "not too bad" but definitely the start of the slide.
But for me the absolute nadir is CoT. WH at least had some excitement toward the end as a few big things actually happened.
TPoD is a close second last though. My God for such a (comparatively) short book it dragged on and oooooonnnnn ... So many generic bitchy magic chicks.