[JPK]

 Abyss, on 12 March 2024 - 04:35 AM, said:

Yknow how I reco'd that dinosaur webtoon comic and all of you immediately started reading it and became extremely addicted (except for all of you who ignored me because you hate dinosaurs and fun and, I dunno, freedom or something)?

Well, here's something else for you to ignore despite that I'm telling you its exceptional and you should try it: MIDNIGHT BURGER is a podcast production, full cast w soundtrack, about a mysterious diner that jumps between time and space. One day it's in 1800s Arkansas, the next an alien world with exactly one inhabitant, and so on. The staff consist of some dude who wandered in by accident, a cook with a wild backstory, a really angry physicist, a taco chef, and a sentient radio that mostly plays olde timey Christian revival tunes and occasionally predicts the future. Also, teleporting parmesan cheese. They appear somewhere, and inevitably someone shows up who needs help. Mostly. Sometimes they just need coffee.

The cast are great, they deliver at a level most podcasts wish for. The writing... seriously people, the blend of sf and humour and drama is exceptional. It's like peak Dr Who and Cheers with a dose of Sliders, Quantum Leap, and Highway to Heaven. The setup/payoff is masterful, the big moments HUGE. I just marathoned about 28 episodes, plus another six of the spinoff/prologue short series they do in between and I am loving this.

They're on the usual podcast sites, free w short ads, website is https://www.weopenatsix.com/ , totally worth some eartime.

You are the worst kind of pusher, you know that?

Tell you what, I'll start that when you start the first Greatcoats. Just a little nudge to push it further up your trp.

[Abyss]

 JPK, on 13 March 2024 - 12:55 AM, said:

 Abyss, on 12 March 2024 - 04:35 AM, said:

Yknow how I reco'd that dinosaur webtoon comic and all of you immediately started reading it and became extremely addicted (except for all of you who ignored me because you hate dinosaurs and fun and, I dunno, freedom or something)?

Well, here's something else for you to ignore despite that I'm telling you its exceptional and you should try it: MIDNIGHT BURGER is a podcast production, full cast w soundtrack, about a mysterious diner that jumps between time and space. One day it's in 1800s Arkansas, the next an alien world with exactly one inhabitant, and so on. The staff consist of some dude who wandered in by accident, a cook with a wild backstory, a really angry physicist, a taco chef, and a sentient radio that mostly plays olde timey Christian revival tunes and occasionally predicts the future. Also, teleporting parmesan cheese. They appear somewhere, and inevitably someone shows up who needs help. Mostly. Sometimes they just need coffee.

The cast are great, they deliver at a level most podcasts wish for. The writing... seriously people, the blend of sf and humour and drama is exceptional. It's like peak Dr Who and Cheers with a dose of Sliders, Quantum Leap, and Highway to Heaven. The setup/payoff is masterful, the big moments HUGE. I just marathoned about 28 episodes, plus another six of the spinoff/prologue short series they do in between and I am loving this.

They're on the usual podcast sites, free w short ads, website is https://www.weopenatsix.com/ , totally worth some eartime.

You are the worst kind of pusher, you know that?

Tell you what, I'll start that when you start the first Greatcoats. Just a little nudge to push it further up your trp.

Guilty guilty guilty.
Also, I like to share nice things. And the writing for this pod is too great not to share.

As for Greatcoats this is funny bcs on the strength of Malevolent Seven I almost started it yesterday, but found the next Wayward Children AND felt like continuing Midnight Burger til the end of S3 first.

[JPK]

I've added it to my podcast library so I'll have it ready when the time comes.

Most of my book time lately has remained audio but it's been a bit since I've checked in, so I'll throw a couple of details on each below.

THE BRISTLING WOOD by Katherine Kerr. This one is book 3 of Kerr's Deverry series. The basic premise of the books follows an ancient wizard, Nevyn, as he tries to atone for selfish choices he made in his youth that affected the Wyrd (essentially karma but a touch more complicated) of several people close to him that results in one of them being unable to fulfill their Wyrd during that lifetime. He ends up making a vow not to rest until he finds them in a future incarnation and helps them set their Wyrd back onto the right path. I'm enjoying this series quite a bit but have to warn that it treads heavy territory including SA, incest, and nasty uses of blood magic.

WARS OF THE ROSES: BLOODLINE by Conn Iggulden. 3rd book in the series. Good stuff if you're a fan of historical fiction, though Iggulden does take some liberties with the history.

SAINT'S BLOOD by Sebastien de Castell. Greatcoats book 3. That number seems to be appearing a lot lately. This one was a reread (listen) and I loved it just as much as the first time around. I won't say too much about this one in particular since I'm determined to pester Abyss into starting them, but the overall setting for the series is essentially what happens when you take The Three Musketeers and drop them into a world where they failed to keep their King alive and are trying to survive in a world that hates them because of it.

Finally, I've started SEASON OF SKULLS by Charles Stross. New Management #3. I'm a few hours into this one and while I'm enjoying it well enough, it's hard to say that it's as good as the first two. I'd even go so far as to say it's probably the second worst book in the Laundry universe so far, but this series sets the bar pretty high so even when they're not great they're still pretty good.

This post has been edited by JPK: 13 March 2024 - 06:18 PM

[pat5150]

Just posted my review of Mark Lawrence's The Book That Broke the World. I enjoyed it, but it appears that Lawrence is not as comfortable with multiple POVs as much as he is with first person narratives. Storylines meander a bit aimlessly at times, which is why it feels this might be the author's first case of middle book syndrome. Still looking forward to the final volume!

You can find my review here.

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

Malevolent Seven!

Ripping through this and enjoying it a lot. It reminds me a bit of Peter Newman's Vagrant series somehow.

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

 Whisperzzzzzzz, on 13 March 2024 - 11:31 PM, said:

Malevolent Seven!

Ripping through this and enjoying it a lot. It reminds me a bit of Peter Newman's Vagrant series somehow.

That was fun.

Next I ripped through Buehlman's The Blacktongue Thief — love the characters, love the magic, love the world, did not love the ending. It felt rushed, anticlimactic, and just unfinished. I want more!

He has a prequel, The Daughters War, coming out. I will read this...but I'd prefer a sequel.

[amphibian]

 Whisperzzzzzzz, on 16 March 2024 - 05:20 PM, said:

 Whisperzzzzzzz, on 13 March 2024 - 11:31 PM, said:

Malevolent Seven!

Ripping through this and enjoying it a lot. It reminds me a bit of Peter Newman's Vagrant series somehow.

That was fun.

Next I ripped through Buehlman's The Blacktongue Thief — love the characters, love the magic, love the world, did not love the ending. It felt rushed, anticlimactic, and just unfinished. I want more!

He has a prequel, The Daughters War, coming out. I will read this...but I'd prefer a sequel.

The other series that Newman wrote (The Deathless) is quite good. I recommend that if you're looking for more in that Newman style.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Finished Fool's Quest. It's not her best, but it was entertaining enough. The prose and the dialogue were thoroughly mediocre. While the overall plot was pretty good, it was also a bit cheesy and predictable, and the pacing was annoying:

Spoiler

the previous book implies that Fitz being on the verge of learning that his daughter has been kidnapped, but this one takes an extremely long time to get around to that revelation, and sets it up in a very contrived "oh he's on top of the owrld, finally gets recognition and acceptance as a royal and a hero, then he finds out his daughter got kidnapped while he was busy with all that". Then, after Bee is taken into the pillar, the book does very little to make the reader think there's any real chance that Bee might have actually been "destroyed" by the pillar, but it postpones switching back to her narrative until the very end of the book. Maybe she didn't want readers to get too distressed, but it would be a better book if she'd led us to believe that Bee might really have been "destroyed" in the pillar or dispersed into the Skill current---at least temporarily.

Decent characterization and (a bit of decent) character development though.

The audiobook narrator continues to amaze me with how terrible he is at doing "aristocratic" British accents---I think I've never heard a professional English actor be so bad at it. (Though if it's no longer required at acting schools in England... well, that is progress. Of course it would be better if you just ended the silly monarchy---and replaced them with actors who actually contribute to the UK economy in net.) He's also terrible at doing whatever sort of accent he's trying for with

Spoiler

Reyn

, who he gives an extraordinarily grating and annoying voice.

On to Assassin's Fate, the final book in the whole universe... until she publishes some more (she's announced she's working on one about

Spoiler

Bee

---so basically a sequel to the final book). There are some very good prose passages---particularly dream sequences---and great dialogue. Love the dark humor (that iirc was mostly absent from the previous two books):

Quote

Spoiler

"Little girl, Bee, are you alive?

"I am," I answered, because I was glad he had stopped singing.

"I am very confused. When we walked through stone, I was certain we were dead. But if we are not dead, then this would not be a good way for you to die.

I think I could reach your neck, would you like me to strangle you? It will not be fast, but it is a faster death than starving."

How thoughtful. "No, thank you, not yet."

You should not wait too long, I will become weak, and it will be unpleasant in here soon. Piss, shit, people going mad."

Not sure whether I should circle back and listen to the novellas (which I skipped) after finishing this one... perhaps I'll finish all those just in time for the next new book. Do feel like I'm leaning towards taking a break from the series after---what is it, a year now?... feels like it. IDK who they had selecting audiobook performers for the Fitz books, but they did an extraordinarily bad job at choosing them for a relatively successful series. The narrator for the non-Fitz books was pretty good though and I'm glad they kept her on for The Rain Wild Chronciles.

[JPK]

I finished up Stross' SEASON OF SKULLS. I hate to say that I can give this one a 2.5 at best. It falls in line with THE ANNIHILATION SCORE as my least favorite Laundry universe books.

Spoiler

I think the decision to sideline pretty much the entire cast of the first two novels to focus so heavily on Eve was a mistake. I also hated absolutely everything about the "romance" between Eve and George. I will give Stross credit for that whole thing in one regard though. After listening to Eve's objectification of George, I think this is the closest I've ever come to understanding how off-putting "male gaze" is to a lot of readers.

That's not even mentioning how irritating the repetition of certain plot points became. How many times did we need to hear that the marriage geas wouldn't work because she went to the past when she wasn't married?

I did enjoy two things about this book though. 1- Napoleon clones are a fantastic idea and the idea of Fabian with a pet Napoleon is hilarious. 2- Fabian was fantastic throughout, as per usual.

I hope Stross comes back strong with the next Laundry book again, and I'm particular that we finally get more Bob.
I miss Bob.

Next up I'm finally starting THE GIRL AND THE STARS by Mark Lawrence. This one is long overdue for me.

[TheRetiredBridgeburner]

 TheRetiredBridgeburner, on 07 March 2024 - 04:19 PM, said:

Picked up David Gemmell's Lion of Macedon off my shelf on a whim. I thought I'd read it before, but now I'm a quarter or so in I'm thinking maybe I started it but never finished it as I don't remember more than the beginning.

Anyway, it's very on the nose Gemmell and it's clipping along nicely.

Lion of Macedon was fun, the sequel Dark Prince is fine but it's not one of his strongest.

I also finished Elinor Cleghorn's Unwell Women this week. The conclusion made me cry. It's been a very hard read in many places (the history of women's medicine is absolutely unequivocally YIKES) and then a couple of things referenced in the modern day were very close to the bone of my own experiences. Overall though, its a terrific study in the 3000 years or so of prejudice against female health that modern medicine has inherited and how it continues to show up today. I'm overwhelmingly glad the book was written, and would recommend it to anyone (with a strong stomach).

Gone back to Gemmell for something lighter - realised I've owned the Troy trilogy for years and never actually got round to reading it. Starting Lord of the Silver Bow tonight.

[Tiste Simeon]

Ah you'll love the Troy trilogy!

[Macros]

So much awesome in that trilogy.

I might reread after the wheel of slog

[Aptorian]

 JPK, on 18 March 2024 - 04:10 PM, said:

I finished up Stross' SEASON OF SKULLS. I hate to say that I can give this one a 2.5 at best. It falls in line with THE ANNIHILATION SCORE as my least favorite Laundry universe books.

Spoiler

I think the decision to sideline pretty much the entire cast of the first two novels to focus so heavily on Eve was a mistake. I also hated absolutely everything about the "romance" between Eve and George. I will give Stross credit for that whole thing in one regard though. After listening to Eve's objectification of George, I think this is the closest I've ever come to understanding how off-putting "male gaze" is to a lot of readers.

That's not even mentioning how irritating the repetition of certain plot points became. How many times did we need to hear that the marriage geas wouldn't work because she went to the past when she wasn't married?

I did enjoy two things about this book though. 1- Napoleon clones are a fantastic idea and the idea of Fabian with a pet Napoleon is hilarious. 2- Fabian was fantastic throughout, as per usual.

I hope Stross comes back strong with the next Laundry book again, and I'm particular that we finally get more Bob.
I miss Bob.

Next up I'm finally starting THE GIRL AND THE STARS by Mark Lawrence. This one is long overdue for me.

I got 20 pages or so pages into Season of Skulls and bounced off the book. I'll try it again later but like you write, this side story is not the main attraction.

I want bureaucratic spy necromancy, I want to know what the Laundry is turning into during Case Nightmare PM is an Elder God and God damn it I want Bob back!

[Aptorian]

I just read the first Vorkosigan Saga book, Shards of Honor by Louise McMaster Bujold. Heard a lot of good things about Bujold and wanted to read some Space Opera.

This was a trap! This is a love story masquerading as a War focused Space Opera! I was looking for space battles and political treachery, I got the treachery but the real trick was making me enthralled with the protagonists relationship.

I almost dropped the book during the first chapters but damn if the writing didn't keep me hooked. Pretty untraditional story arc too. The book ends just as it's getting complicated.

I bough the sequel right away but I'm jumping to book 7 "Barrayer", as it picks up the day after the first book ended. I think this book ends in tears.

[worry]

Read a weird one: The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera. It's a fictional setting that mixes modern trappings (urban sprawl, TV, internet, social media) with fantastical elements, kinda somewhere in the same corner of fiction as Neil Gaiman or China Mieville. But the predominant forces in this world, or at least the corner of it in this novel, are overlapping bureaucracies and rival cults. The kind of place where the 'unchosen' children of deities and cult leaders might attend a support group, and where frequent riots and pogroms go hand in hand with pop concerts and dinner parties. It's not a satire per se, but it's definitely got something side-eyed to say about the real world -- mostly invested in and informed by South Asian cultures (Sri Lanka in particular), but you know, also the way that's a facet of the human condition generally. Which is to say, plenty to go over my head, while still finding lots to value.
In terms of execution, it's a slow burn and there are things I wish it did more of or delved into more. It's often more interesting than it is gripping. Like when someone says something funny, and you say "that was funny" instead of laughing. But you meant it, it was funny. But it also still didn't make you laugh. That's how I mean this book was interesting. The protagonist is fairly passive for most of it, I can see him being compared to Shadow from American Gods in that way. But also I zipped through the last 1/3 of the book this weekend, so it definitely picks up and gets going.

I guess that's a long way to say it's pretty unique, has lots of cool ideas (some of which are under-explored imo), and I liked it but didn't love it.

Now I"m gonna start Malice by Danielle Steel. Just kidding, the one by John Gwynne.

[Tiste Simeon]

Started reading Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica and I'm only about 10% in and already extremely uncomfortable. I am not in for a fun time but it is so compelling!

[worry]

Gonna add that one to the list.

[Tiste Simeon]

 worry, on 04 April 2024 - 10:59 AM, said:

Gonna add that one to the list.

It's ostensibly a horror but it's more the deeply disturbing/probably more gory as it goes along type rather than the monsters or frights type of horror.

I got it second hand and I think whoever had it previously had to write an essay on it or something because they've put notes in it.

[Imperial Historian]

 Aptorian, on 31 March 2024 - 10:21 AM, said:

I just read the first Vorkosigan Saga book, Shards of Honor by Louise McMaster Bujold. Heard a lot of good things about Bujold and wanted to read some Space Opera.

This was a trap! This is a love story masquerading as a War focused Space Opera! I was looking for space battles and political treachery, I got the treachery but the real trick was making me enthralled with the protagonists relationship.

I almost dropped the book during the first chapters but damn if the writing didn't keep me hooked. Pretty untraditional story arc too. The book ends just as it's getting complicated.

I bough the sequel right away but I'm jumping to book 7 "Barrayer", as it picks up the day after the first book ended. I think this book ends in tears.

You've got a journey to go on, Bujold writes a lot of different genres masquerading as Space Opera but they all have very compelling writing. One of my favourite authors!

Quote

Started reading Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica and I'm only about 10% in and already extremely uncomfortable. I am not in for a fun time but it is so compelling!

I also found this extremely uncomfortable! I did not enjoy the whole book but somehow had to finish it

[Tiste Simeon]

Finished Tender is the Flesh. Horrendous, uncomfortable, immensely disturbing. I wouldn't say I enjoyed it as such but I read it very quickly - it was very well written and wonderfully constructed.

To go with a completely different style and a change of pace I am reading the Rigante series by David Gemmell, for the first time in probably 20 years. So good! Already gone through 200 pages of the first book.