[JPK]

Into part 3 of THE WINTER KING

Spoiler

Cornwell is really doing a deconstruction of Lancelot here, isn't he?

This post has been edited by JPK: 01 October 2024 - 05:58 PM

[JPK]

I've realized I've been lurking again so I've got a decently sized update this time.

I finished THE WINTER KING today. One of the easiest 5* ratings I've dropped in awhile. Two minor criticisms:

Spoiler

firstly, the audiobook narrator was the same for several of the Uhtred novels and Derfel already sounds very much like Uhtred so it could be pretty uncanny at times. I laughed when he dropped one of Uhtred's catchphrases "fate is inexorable" in character, so at least it seems like Cornwell was aware of it.

Secondly, this book was rough on every one of it's female characters. I do hope the series gets better on that regard going forward.

I also finished off my ded-tree read of GORMENGHAST (book, not series. TITUS ALONE can wait). I've loved both books in this series though the pacing in this second novel felt off and I think it's due to an unnecessary storyline involving a side character that adds about a hundred pages that weren't really needed.

Next up in audio is Reynold's ELYSIUM FIRE. This is the second Prefect Dreyfus novel which is a prequel trilogy to REVELATION SPACE set in the Glitter Band before the melding plague turns it into The Rust Band. I think I actually like these more than Rev Space.

As far as paper goes, I think I'm still in the mood for more manly men doing manly things ala Cornwell so I think it's time for a reread of LEGEND by Gemmell. I know how much you all hate that book and know how disappointed you'll be.

[TheRetiredBridgeburner]

JPK, on 01 October 2024 - 05:58 PM, said:

Into part 3 of THE WINTER KING

Spoiler

Cornwell is really doing a deconstruction of Lancelot here, isn't he?

Believe it or not, he actually gets worse before the end of the trilogy...

[JPK]

TheRetiredBridgeburner, on 03 October 2024 - 06:54 AM, said:

JPK, on 01 October 2024 - 05:58 PM, said:

Into part 3 of THE WINTER KING

Spoiler

Cornwell is really doing a deconstruction of Lancelot here, isn't he?

Believe it or not, he actually gets worse before the end of the trilogy...

Considering how the character's traditional story plays out, yeah, I believe it. He's always been an asshole.

I really appreciate how Cornwell has done such an excellent job at shifting each of the core characters in ways that fits his narrative but still really rings true to their traditional archetype with Galahad, Lancelot, and Merlin in particular standing out.

[Tiste Simeon]

JPK, on 03 October 2024 - 02:39 PM, said:

TheRetiredBridgeburner, on 03 October 2024 - 06:54 AM, said:

JPK, on 01 October 2024 - 05:58 PM, said:

Into part 3 of THE WINTER KING

Spoiler

Cornwell is really doing a deconstruction of Lancelot here, isn't he?

Believe it or not, he actually gets worse before the end of the trilogy...

Considering how the character's traditional story plays out, yeah, I believe it. He's always been an asshole.

I really appreciate how Cornwell has done such an excellent job at shifting each of the core characters in ways that fits his narrative but still really rings true to their traditional archetype with Galahad, Lancelot, and Merlin in particular standing out.

Hah I remember ranting at TRB about Lancelot when I was reading this. Like "aaargh I hate him so much!"

[Macros]

As much as I like taking credit for stuff, I didn't offer u0 the winter king reco.

Iirc I bounced off it early and didn't continue, I keep meaning to revisit to see why, given the sterling recos it gets from TRB and Tiste, we are usually pretty on par for what we like and don't, especially in that vein

[Salt-Man Z]

JPK, on 03 October 2024 - 12:37 AM, said:

I also finished off my ded-tree read of GORMENGHAST (book, not series. TITUS ALONE can wait). I've loved both books in this series though the pacing in this second novel felt off and I think it's due to an unnecessary storyline involving a side character that adds about a hundred pages that weren't really needed.

I too had to put GORMENGHAST aside about halfway through, though I came back and completed it (and it finished strong IIRC.) Peake really can do some amazing things with just words printed on a page.

If you're wondering where I've been this past year, I basically spent March through July reading SHOGUN, which was of course amazing. (I don't remember if seeing the announcement of the TV show spurred me to finally pick it up, or if it was entirely coincidental.) Anyway, reading it on Kindle made the ending (specifically, when it ended) come as quite a surprise. I liked how the plot, while it would often revolve around Blackthorne, was never about him. And indeed, in the end you find out

Spoiler

just how little he mattered.

I also enjoyed reading (due to buzz around the show) how John Byrne was so enamored of the character of Mariko that he stole her outright to put her into Wolverine comics.

Since July, I've been reading D.V. Berkom's LEINE BASSO thrillers, via a prequel short from the author's website, and an 8-book omnibus from Amazon. They're about a former government assassin lady turned anti-human trafficking operative. Definitely not high literature, but entertaining enough. If you see the 1-8 omnibus on sale for a couple bucks, there are definitely worse things to spend your money/time on.

[TheRetiredBridgeburner]

Tiste Simeon, on 03 October 2024 - 03:09 PM, said:

JPK, on 03 October 2024 - 02:39 PM, said:

TheRetiredBridgeburner, on 03 October 2024 - 06:54 AM, said:

JPK, on 01 October 2024 - 05:58 PM, said:

Into part 3 of THE WINTER KING

Spoiler

Cornwell is really doing a deconstruction of Lancelot here, isn't he?

Believe it or not, he actually gets worse before the end of the trilogy...

Considering how the character's traditional story plays out, yeah, I believe it. He's always been an asshole.

I really appreciate how Cornwell has done such an excellent job at shifting each of the core characters in ways that fits his narrative but still really rings true to their traditional archetype with Galahad, Lancelot, and Merlin in particular standing out.

Hah I remember ranting at TRB about Lancelot when I was reading this. Like "aaargh I hate him so much!"

Your rants about Lancelot and pre-book 3 Guinevere were so fun

[Macros]

Well now I'm going to have to try them again!

[Macros]

picked up the trilo second hand for a tenner

[JPK]

I think you'll end up liking this overall. It's pretty much the Arthurian Myth as told by Uhtred.

[Tiste Simeon]

Macros, on 04 October 2024 - 12:57 PM, said:

picked up the trilo second hand for a tenner

Better luck this time I hope!

[Abyss]

Abyss, on 11 September 2024 - 02:17 PM, said:

Abyss, on 09 September 2024 - 01:38 PM, said:

Abyss, on 04 September 2024 - 02:25 PM, said:

... some upthread posts are nudging me towards SIDEWINDERS...

3rd of the way in, and must say, Forumies, you did not steer me wrong.

This book just gets better and better....

The sequence

Spoiler

at the oasis, from the theft to the chase to the ambush to the spider....

damn, that was some solid writing.

Just FInished SIDEWINDERS. Great book, am totally on board for bk 3 when it shows, am mildly annoyed with myself for starting this series knowing i'll have to wait between installments. Redick improved on a lot of what i enjoyed from MASTER ASSASSINS here. His characters were quirkier and better, his action moved faster and there was more of it, the worldbuilding remained low key but engaging. Kadri and Mektu are so so much more engaging here, both individually and specifically in their relationship as brothers. The supporting cast is better developed too. More than anything, this book is essentially one long travelogue slog of slogs through desert after desert, and it NEVER got boring for that, which is an impressive feat bcs i tend to tune out of books that take that kind of approach. Great read, some excellent hooks for bk 3, it gets a pre-order whenever the listing drops.

I have caught up with all of my audiodramas.... DERELICT S2 is not disappointing, the same kind of Jim Cameron sf story as S1, upping the scifi elements nicely, and the sfx are jus a little bit less blasting over the dialogue. MIDNIGHT BURGER continues to cook but new eps are only monthly, alas. All caught up on MAGNUS PROTOCOLS, the follow up to MAGNUS ARCHIVES, am genuinely curious where they're going w this. The little hints dribbling out from the Archives' end are brutal, in a good way. Mid season hiatus in progress tho.
So naturally i started a new one.... THE SILT VERSES. The writing on this is exceptional, it's an alt-world where gods are common and have been industrialized, religions are everywhere, and the bigger religions routinely absorb or eliminate upstart groups. The story follows a small number of worshippers of a river god called The Trawler Man (lovely fellow w a tendency to turn people into crab zombies), a cop hunting them (cops have their own god, The Cloak, he's a bastard), and their hostage Paige who works in advertising (which is as messed up as you'd hope in this world). It's VERY clever and well thought out and i'm all-in to see (hear) where it's going. The Writer takes full advantage of the medium, having conversations take place in the foreground and background, narration run over other actions. He has a framing sequence with a radio host on a 'pilgrimage' to worship his god by staying awake and on the air as long as possible that's genuinely twisted. Worth a listen.

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

Abyss, on 05 October 2024 - 02:37 AM, said:

Abyss, on 11 September 2024 - 02:17 PM, said:

Abyss, on 09 September 2024 - 01:38 PM, said:

Abyss, on 04 September 2024 - 02:25 PM, said:

... some upthread posts are nudging me towards SIDEWINDERS...

3rd of the way in, and must say, Forumies, you did not steer me wrong.

This book just gets better and better....

The sequence

Spoiler

at the oasis, from the theft to the chase to the ambush to the spider....

damn, that was some solid writing.

Just FInished SIDEWINDERS. Great book, am totally on board for bk 3 when it shows, am mildly annoyed with myself for starting this series knowing i'll have to wait between installments. Redick improved on a lot of what i enjoyed from MASTER ASSASSINS here. His characters were quirkier and better, his action moved faster and there was more of it, the worldbuilding remained low key but engaging. Kadri and Mektu are so so much more engaging here, both individually and specifically in their relationship as brothers. The supporting cast is better developed too. More than anything, this book is essentially one long travelogue slog of slogs through desert after desert, and it NEVER got boring for that, which is an impressive feat bcs i tend to tune out of books that take that kind of approach. Great read, some excellent hooks for bk 3, it gets a pre-order whenever the listing drops.

I have caught up with all of my audiodramas.... DERELICT S2 is not disappointing, the same kind of Jim Cameron sf story as S1, upping the scifi elements nicely, and the sfx are jus a little bit less blasting over the dialogue. MIDNIGHT BURGER continues to cook but new eps are only monthly, alas. All caught up on MAGNUS PROTOCOLS, the follow up to MAGNUS ARCHIVES, am genuinely curious where they're going w this. The little hints dribbling out from the Archives' end are brutal, in a good way. Mid season hiatus in progress tho.
So naturally i started a new one.... THE SILT VERSES. The writing on this is exceptional, it's an alt-world where gods are common and have been industrialized, religions are everywhere, and the bigger religions routinely absorb or eliminate upstart groups. The story follows a small number of worshippers of a river god called The Trawler Man (lovely fellow w a tendency to turn people into crab zombies), a cop hunting them (cops have their own god, The Cloak, he's a bastard), and their hostage Paige who works in advertising (which is as messed up as you'd hope in this world). It's VERY clever and well thought out and i'm all-in to see (hear) where it's going. The Writer takes full advantage of the medium, having conversations take place in the foreground and background, narration run over other actions. He has a framing sequence with a radio host on a 'pilgrimage' to worship his god by staying awake and on the air as long as possible that's genuinely twisted. Worth a listen.

The Silt Verses sounds intriguing - subscribed!

[polishgenius]

Abyss, on 05 October 2024 - 02:37 AM, said:

More than anything, this book is essentially one long travelogue slog of slogs through desert after desert, and it NEVER got boring for that, which is an impressive feat bcs i tend to tune out of books that take that kind of approach.

Isn't this, like, 40% of Malazan? >_>

[Abyss]

Whisperzzzzzzz, on 05 October 2024 - 07:57 AM, said:

...

The Silt Verses sounds intriguing - subscribed!

I hope you enjoy!


Am on Ch16 now and yeah, it starts strong, interesting, a little creepy, and just keeps building and building. I am fully blown away with where it starts and how it moved to where it is now. This is another audiodrama being written at a level as impressive as anything we might find in a published novel.

Pro-tip: DO NOT ignore the little aside clips with the radio host and other characters.

[Abyss]

polishgenius, on 05 October 2024 - 06:07 PM, said:

Abyss, on 05 October 2024 - 02:37 AM, said:

More than anything, this book is essentially one long travelogue slog of slogs through desert after desert, and it NEVER got boring for that, which is an impressive feat bcs i tend to tune out of books that take that kind of approach.

Isn't this, like, 40% of Malazan? >_>

Yes/No. You're absolutely right that some 'ok we're walking again' storyline appears in almost every MBF and NotME, but that's where the 'tend' comes in. I find, just my $0.02cdn, that SE and ICE don't write slogs for slogs' sake (unlike say, Tad Williams, JV Jones, or Bakker). The slog is the way they tell the story, but - usually, i ack there are exceptions - the slog itself is not the story. In SIDEWINDERS the slog is very much central to the story, it more or less drives it, but the way he keeps the focus on what the characters are doing BESIDES thirsting to death or walking their feet off just works for me.

[polishgenius]

I'm only messing but also I am now compelled to post this

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Went back to the series I was listening to before Audible Plus---fantasy inspired by ancient Mesoamerica. I had been a little concerned that almost all of the books I listened to on Audible Plus were by white men---with the only exceptions being a cheesy romantasy by a white woman and one brief epic (Gilgamesh) translated by a white man. (Near the end I seriously considered Octavia Butler's Parable duology but didn't think I'd have enough time to finish it---and the idea of dystopian science fiction where religion saves humanity or whatever seems a bit unappealing, even if it is a new religion...)

Backtracking a little: I'd been listening to each of the author's novels in order. Her first book, Trail of Lightning, is like a postapocalyptic Navajo American Gods romantasy. Very tropey and derivative, writing not great, mainly of interest for the Navajo elements. Told myself: well, it's her first novel, and she's Navajo, so she may come from (in some respects) an underprivileged background. Audiobook performer iirc started out seeming a bit awkward but became pretty good. The sequel: better writing, somewhat more original plot, some sublime imagery (though still not extremely original), interesting Navajo cosmology. Overall leaning maybe a bit YA, not the greatest writing ever, but good.

Then I started reading her third Navajo book, a YA novel set in the present day and not directly related to the first two. Much wittier, overall better dialogue; aside from the plot and YA style, which I didn't care for as much, it seemed like she was improving further.

Around that point I searched for whether there were going to be more books in the series and holy shit she's not Navajo, doesn't come from an educationally or economically underprivileged background (and also graduated from Yale), and lots of Navajo and indigenous people are very upset with her. Her husband is Navajo, she claims she's Black and indigenous. She (Roanhorse) never actually claimed to be Navajo, but she apparently did claim to be of the Ohkay Owingeh tribe, of which she is not a member... and one member of the Ohkay Owingeh called her "the Elizabeth Warren of the sci-fi set". According to Roanhorse, she tracked down her birth mother (she was adopted by white parents) and was told she's Ohkay Owingeh, but because her mother's family is very Catholic and Roanhorse was born out wedlock they don't want to acknowledge her. The Ohkay Owingeh tribe has no record of her birth mother.

'The Elizabeth Warren of the sci-fi set': Author faces criticism for repeated use of tribal traditions (indianz.com)

Quote

Roanhorse had crossed the [Navajo] "lines of disclosure" [...] In the traditions of many Native tribes, only certain people have the authority to grant others the right to tell sacred stories, and some stories are never supposed to be shared with outsiders

Spoiler

— a measure meant, in part, to safeguard communal ideas and practices that have been assailed by hundreds of years of genocide, theft, forced assimilation, and distorted representations in the dominant culture. Some tribes have official boards or committees that review cultural output, but the Diné [Navajo] Nation isn't one of them, a fact that this group felt had left them especially vulnerable. [The Navajo call themselves the Diné, which means "the people", but many of them apparently prefer to be referred to as "Navajo" by non-Navajo.] [...] they published a letter accusing her of appropriating narratives that didn't belong to her and of misusing sacred stories. They were troubled, for example, by Roanhorse's [...] violent misuse of a peaceful ceremonial element traditionally meant to restore harmony. "Our ancestors did not fight for our land and culture so that our deities, figures of profound spiritual import, could be commodified, cheapened, and turned into superheroes,"

Rebecca Roanhorse, 'Black Sun,' Profile (vulture.com)

... though if you don't already know which elements from Roanhorse's books are sacred Navajo secrets (never meant to be shared with non-Navajo), then you can't tell which ones actually are, and which ones she just made up...

Roanhorse claims her birth certificate says she's Black and "half Spanish Indian" (the Ohkay Owingeh are a Pueblo community), though IDK if she's ever posted her birth certificate. (She's also accused her Native American critics of being motivated by anti-Black racism.)

So I won't listen to any more Navajo-inspired books she might come out with. Still, the concept of a fantasy series inspired by ancient Mesoamerica seemed very interesting, and I don't think it carries the same cultural misappropriation issues (also, she looks indigenous Mexican or Pueblo---"Spanish Indian"---so I guess it's close enough to "her lane", to the extent that's something I should even consider), so I decided to give her Between Earth and Sky series a chance. And the first one is a tremendous improvement over her earlier work. The audiobook assigns a different performer for each POV character---the performances are okay. So after my Audible Plus odyssey ended, I was ready for book two. Since she'd been improving with every book I expected it to be even better than book one, but... about an hour in, it was a bit disappointing. Okay, still better than her earlier books, not as good as the beginning of the previous book though.

And then Audible offered me another three months for $0.99 / month. (Each month also comes with one credit to buy an audiobook permanently. At the end of the first month I was offered two books for one credit... but I'd already used my credit. Then at the end of the second month I was given the same two-for-one offer... I didn't think they'd do that two months in a row, so I'd already used my credit. For the third month I was ready to wait and they did a two-for-one sale right near the beginning of the month---but only for a limited selection of books, none of which I wanted. I think the previous sales had no such restriction. So counting the seven books I streamed on Audible Plus I could have gotten thirteen audiobooks for $3, not bad. If there's a two-for-one offer for each of my additional three months and I stream seven more books... then that could have been 26 audiobooks for $6.)

I didn't have time to listen to Redick's complete Chathrand Voyage series on Audible Plus before... but now I do, if I'm diligent enough to complete it in three months. (Since he followed it up with The Fire Sacraments, I guess Redick basically went straight from sea slog to desert slog...) So I've started on that. (To get through it all in time I calculated that I'll have to continue devoting the time I used to reserve for tv to audiobooks, as I had for the previous three months. Will I be sacrificing my humanity by not watching television? ... and not even seeing images humans outside my (amply roiling) imagination. The human form seems ridiculous and terrible enough to me as it is. Tentacled light and radioactive plasma make much more logical sense...) I was happy to see that the performer is Michael Page. But when I started listening to it... I didn't like his voice nearly as much---much posher and higher pitched than I remembered, and rolling his r's really extravagantly... thankfully it turned out he was doing a character voice, and his narrator voice is much better. Still not as good iirc as his performance of the Gentleman Bastard books, but still pretty decent. (Although his vaguely South Asian inspired accent for one of the main characters is a bit iffy... IDK if some Desi people might find it objectionable.) He does a particularly good job dramatically voicing the

Spoiler

awakened rat's monologues

.

Now I'm over halfway through The Red Wolf Conspiracy. The writing (so far) isn't quite as good overall as The Fire Sacraments series but it's still pretty good (this is also Redick's first published novel) and there are some very nice parts. It's frequently humorous but not lol funny. Was a bit skeptical of some of the tropey pirate / Peter Pan-ish elements at first but I like what he does with them. World-building in general seems promising. Here are some quotes from it I stopped to write down:

Spoiler

Quote

"peacocks strutting at liberty"

"her favorite word in any language: idrolos, the courage to see. Her own language had no such word, and without a word to hook it, how the thought wriggles away."

"'Impossible,' said Chadfallow, "there's a word we must try to forget"

"his delight in abusing others made him careless"

"wind palace"

"a land of ice-sheathed mountains"

"Pour milk for your lions, Lord of Winds"

"I'll knock that gold tooth down his throat"

"a man whose sword is rarely sheathed
will one day trip and fall upon the blade"

"my terror is the terror of the sleeper, buried alive"

"he could hear the layers of the wind, pouring over the world like drifts of snow mile after mile, and thinning at last to the icy flute song of the void"

"'If I could explain,' he said, 'you'd understand why I can't'"

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 08 October 2024 - 10:11 AM

[worry]

Finished the first couple books of John Gwynne's follow-up trilogy to his first series. It's more of the same in terms of quality -- pretty good meat and potatoes fantasy (but non-Tolkieny). I don't love the world-building, and didn't for the first series either. But I do like at least some of the characters -- POVs are much pared down here too -- and the plot carries on in an interesting way since the earlier books, with a decent time jump and a little more gray area. I don't really have anything interesting to say about these, since I'm not enamored, but I do want to find out what happens and other people seem to dig these more than I do for what it's worth.


I also read Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits by Jason Pargin. Same guy who wrote John Dies At the End (and no longer using a pen name), but this is his other ongoing series. Near-future sci-fi that isn't quite dystopian, and isn't quite Idiocracy-level satire, but is partway towards both with this crazy new American city that's part Vegas part Tech Bro dreamworld. Zoey Ashe makes a great reluctant protagonist, there's lots of fun action and genuinely funny humor, and definitely a great standout villain. Maybe a little overlong, but it's the start of a series so more world-building to be done -- you won't believe this, but the aforementioned city is like a character of its own! I think a lot of folks here would like it if you're in the mood for something that can be both serious and silly at the same time.

I'll probably stick to mostly horror this month. Now I'm reading something called Fever House, that is part supernatural horror, part crime novel, and part government black ops -- so far, I'm only about 20% in. We'll see if it adds more genres to the pile. So far so good though! Kinda-sorta American Elsewhere vibes but with more POVs, if that's not overselling it. Like I said, I'm only 20% in!