[Salt-Man Z]

 JPK, on 07 October 2024 - 05:59 PM, said:

 Abyss, on 07 October 2024 - 05:31 PM, said:

 Mentalist, on 06 October 2024 - 11:02 PM, said:

....
3) "The Priory of the Orange Tree"- Because I haven't dug into a big-ass doorstopper series in a while, and y'all seem to be pretty positive about this one.

Just speaking for me'all, meh.

Unfortunately I have to agree with Abyss here. It's not that it was a bad book per se, I just didn't think it was great. A perfectly average 2.5/5.

I actually seem to be the only one here who absolutely loved it; it was my favorite read of the year. The prequel is also great, though not nearly as good as the first.

[Macros]

I'm above Meh, but wasn't blown away by any means.
Fell short of it's potential

[Briar King]

I ordered Sacred Hunt duo omni and Skirmish as it was on sale. I see on my list though that I ll need to read all of Sun Sword before I even start Skirmish. Where does Hunters Redoubt Burning Crown 1 fit in? House War 8 is as far as my list on file goes so I need to know where this fits in for chronological reading.

[Abyss]

I have to clear through my Audible credits by Dec 20, and because Audible loves a sucker me and wants me to spend money be happy i received the 'drop 3 credits get a 4th free' promo, so i was motivated to partake in the current 2-4-1 sale and get my extra freebie.

Thus, just purchased:
Ryan Cahill's OF BLOOD AND FIRE, because a couple of you liked it, and,
Hannah Long's DARK WATER DAUGHTER, because Long is Canadian and it's a pirate story and the Amina Al Sirafi sequel isn't here yet.

[QuickTidal]

Briar King, on 21 October 2024 - 04:04 AM, said:

Where does Hunters Redoubt Burning Crown 1 fit in? House War 8 is as far as my list on file goes so I need to know where this fits in for chronological reading.

House War 8 is the last in that particular series.

HUNTER'S REDOUBT is the first book in the finale for the whole universe she created, so you'd not read that till after you're done Sun Sword, and House War series...and the Sacred Hunt omni is the events of House War Book 3, told through the POV of the people from Breodanir in the northwest forested area who overlap. If you've read House War 3, then you know what Sacred Hunt is mostly about, and as such it can wait till after you're done House War as a series.

[QuickTidal]

Abyss, on 19 November 2024 - 06:50 PM, said:

Thus, just purchased:
Ryan Cahill's OF BLOOD AND FIRE, because a couple of you liked it, and,

Reading book 1 now and really enjoying it as a classic uncomplicated fantasy with fun and compelling characters and some cool world building. The prologue made my ears perk up.

[QuickTidal]

Not bought, but Christmas list received:

THE NAVIGATOR’S CHILDREN by Tad Williams (the finale of Last King Of Osten Ard)

WIND & TRUTH by Brando Sando (physical copy, I was already listening on audible)

THE WOOD AT MIDWINTER by Susanna Clarke

…and interestingly my wife (who is as sly as they come) noticed that I was asking for the latest Susanna Clarke novel that takes place in her alternate history England series…saw that they’d released a 20th anniversary hardcover edition of JONATHAN STRANGE & MR. NORRELL, so she secretly ordered that and a matching cover art copy of the anthology book THE LACIES OF GRACE ADIEU….so that’s cool as hell. They look like this (not my photo, this is from the Bloomsbury website, but this is indeed what all three look like):

Spoilered for size

Spoiler

 IMG_0456.jpeg (849.36K)
Number of downloads: 0

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 29 December 2024 - 01:37 AM

[TheRetiredBridgeburner]

Mixture of received for Christmas and purchased (with Waterstones vouchers received for Christmas):

A Tale of Two Cities. One class in secondary school put me off Dickens, but this was my grandma's favourite book and I've always intended to get round to giving it a try. Friend gave me a beautiful gold leaf and clothbound copy.

Hello World: How to be Human in the Age of the Machine by Hannah Fry. We watched her Amazon maths documentary recently (and Mr NAB clearly paid attention to me looking up her books afterwards). AI and machine learning is what my team at work specialise in. I have no science background in it so a well communicated overview aimed at laymen seemed like a good shout.

Buried by Alice Roberts. Been meaning to read one of Alice Roberts books for ages.

Queens of the Age of Chivalry by Alison Weir. I own a lot of Alison Weir, but looking at how medieval women in positions of power stepped outside the boundaries of what was expected of their gender? Couldn't really have sold it to me harder.

Black Tudors: The Untold Story by Miranda Kauffman. Ever since a very funny dig in the Upstart Crow play about how the fully proven existence of black people in England in Shakespeare's day will be "pissing off a certain sort of people for centuries" I've been intending to read further, so here we are.

[worry]

Hannah Fry occasionally appears on Numberphile, with some of the most interesting math-meets-real-world topics they do.

[TheRetiredBridgeburner]

worry, on 03 January 2025 - 07:56 PM, said:

Hannah Fry occasionally appears on Numberphile, with some of the most interesting math-meets-real-world topics they do.

If you like podcasts, her Uncharted series is really fun. They're short episodes about how data has influenced or played a role in some moments in history - some really weird and wonderful ones too.

[Maark Abbott]

I actually picked 3 up, largely because I've realised I may have a dopamine problem contributing to a general lack of focus and inability to read - so I'm trying to force half an hour a day so I can get the ole brain working again.

Picked up Age of Assassins, The Gutter Prayer and The Darkness Before Them. Let's hope they're decent.

[worry]

TheRetiredBridgeburner, on 06 January 2025 - 07:24 AM, said:

worry, on 03 January 2025 - 07:56 PM, said:

Hannah Fry occasionally appears on Numberphile, with some of the most interesting math-meets-real-world topics they do.

If you like podcasts, her Uncharted series is really fun. They're short episodes about how data has influenced or played a role in some moments in history - some really weird and wonderful ones too.

Thanks! Just listened to ep 1 and it was pretty interesting, adding the show to my playlist.

[Tiste Simeon]

I snagged the First Chronicle of Thomas Covenant The Unbeliever from World of Books for only £4 for the whole trilogy! Nice!

[Maark Abbott]

Tiste Simeon, on 08 January 2025 - 09:32 PM, said:

I snagged the First Chronicle of Thomas Covenant The Unbeliever from World of Books for only £4 for the whole trilogy! Nice!

Ah, a fellow WorldofBooks enjoyer

[Tiste Simeon]

Maark Abbott, on 09 January 2025 - 12:49 PM, said:

Tiste Simeon, on 08 January 2025 - 09:32 PM, said:

I snagged the First Chronicle of Thomas Covenant The Unbeliever from World of Books for only £4 for the whole trilogy! Nice!

Ah, a fellow WorldofBooks enjoyer

Indeed. It's usually the first place I check when I'm after a book/series.

[QuickTidal]

Got the entirety (all 5) of Andre Norton & Sasha Miller's CYCLE OF OAK, YEW, ASH, & ROWAN series at the used book store ($2 per book), which I THINK was Andre Norton's last series before she passed away at age 93 in 2005 (which I think means the final book was pretty much all Sasha Miller as it didn't come out till 2008)...was drawn in by the amazing 80's/90's style cover art, but the first few chapters of the first book really grabbed me, so for $10 for the whole series, I figured I may as well.

[Abyss]

QuickTidal, on 13 January 2025 - 01:12 PM, said:

Got the entirety (all 5) of Andre Norton & Sasha Miller's CYCLE OF OAK, YEW, ASH, & ROWAN series at the used book store ($2 per book), which I THINK was Andre Norton's last series before she passed away at age 93 in 2005 (which I think means the final book was pretty much all Sasha Miller as it didn't come out till 2008)...was drawn in by the amazing 80's/90's style cover art, but the first few chapters of the first book really grabbed me, so for $10 for the whole series, I figured I may as well.

Intriguing... I went through a serious Andre Norton binge early in my reading life, blame a school library that had all of her early stuff and a community library that had everything else up to then... I fell out with WITCH WORLD, which (hee) was a fairly long series that veers wildly towards its end, and my interests went wider and i never quite went back. This is tempting... a quick google suggests it's written in what i think of as her usual style for fantasy... high drama, low character dev, steady build to big finale. Am curious whether I would enjoy this. No earbook but I'll be curious to read what you think QT and may keep an eye out for a dead tree version.

[QuickTidal]

Abyss, on 13 January 2025 - 04:16 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 13 January 2025 - 01:12 PM, said:

Got the entirety (all 5) of Andre Norton & Sasha Miller's CYCLE OF OAK, YEW, ASH, & ROWAN series at the used book store ($2 per book), which I THINK was Andre Norton's last series before she passed away at age 93 in 2005 (which I think means the final book was pretty much all Sasha Miller as it didn't come out till 2008)...was drawn in by the amazing 80's/90's style cover art, but the first few chapters of the first book really grabbed me, so for $10 for the whole series, I figured I may as well.

Intriguing... I went through a serious Andre Norton binge early in my reading life, blame a school library that had all of her early stuff and a community library that had everything else up to then... I fell out with WITCH WORLD, which (hee) was a fairly long series that veers wildly towards its end, and my interests went wider and i never quite went back. This is tempting... a quick google suggests it's written in what i think of as her usual style for fantasy... high drama, low character dev, steady build to big finale. Am curious whether I would enjoy this. No earbook but I'll be curious to read what you think QT and may keep an eye out for a dead tree version.

Interestingly, online when you look them up physically they run high priced (the two hardcovers I grabbed are selling for like $75 each on Amazon....) as they might be out of print at the moment...so finding them all for $10 at the used book store (3 MMPBs and 2 hardcovers) feels like a steal. I'll chime in once I've stared them. Might be my vacation read in February when we go away.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 13 January 2025 - 04:46 PM

[Abyss]

Abyss, on 31 July 2024 - 06:12 PM, said:

champ, on 31 July 2024 - 09:50 AM, said:

Just bought the first three books of the Broken Binding Malazan collection, couldn't resist, they look pretty!!

https://thebrokenbin...lazan-books-1-3

worry, on 31 July 2024 - 01:13 PM, said:

SE just posted on FB about how he's signing those now...7,500 of them, yikes!

and we love him for it. My set's ordered YAY!

Abyss, on 05 August 2024 - 03:18 AM, said:

they're just so very pretty... my precioussssss

SO SO VERY PRETTYYYYYYYYYYY

Spoiler

[amphibian]

A rather fun and interesting list of recent-ish SFF to read: https://www.rd.com/l...y-books/#card-1