[Tiste Simeon]

Abyss, on 03 June 2026 - 05:31 PM, said:

Tiste Simeon, on 03 June 2026 - 05:24 PM, said:

...
Second purchase - The Tapestry of Fate by Shannon Chakraborty, the sequel to The Adventures of Amina Al Sirafi because ever since I heard there was a sequel, about 20 minutes ago in a different thread, I've wanted it.

you're welcome!

I think it's the same narrators and they were great!

[QuickTidal]

I have CJ CHERRYH's FORTRESS IN THE EYE OF TIME on an ebook sale, and the other day I found FORTRESS OF EAGLES and FORTESS OF OWLS (books 2 and 3) hardcover, first editions at the used book store for $5 each.

I've not even started the first one, but that was a solid deal and with great condition 90's era fantasy covers? Sold.

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

Hamilton's The Helium Sea, book 2 of his Exodus duology. This book is heavy for how thick it is! And expensive too — list price is $35!

This post has been edited by Whisperzzzzzzz: 28 July 2026 - 12:01 AM

[worry]

Blacktail by Scott Hawkins of Mount Char fame. If you didn't know it was out as of yesterday, now you do. I have a couple things to finish up before I get to it, but it's next in line.

[Tsundoku]

See Reading at t'moment and Imbalance threads.

This post has been edited by Tsundoku: 03 September 2026 - 09:41 AM

[QuickTidal]

The latest Michael J Sullivan kickstarter is live, this one with a co-writer handling the grim years after the fall of Percepliqius.

https://www.kickstar...&category_id=47

[worry]

Dang, those were grim years, I remember them well.

[QuickTidal]

worry, on 03 September 2026 - 01:57 PM, said:

Dang, those were grim years, I remember them well.

Supergrim even!

[Macros]

Thankfully they weren't dark as well

[Tiste Simeon]

So I currently have a few Audible credits spare and I saw an offer on the app that was basically spend 3 credits and get £10 credit for it. Which is great! So I picked up 3 new audiobooks, and now have a tenner to spend on another one!

So I now have "The Spear Cuts Through Water" by Simon Jiminez, "This Kingdom will not Kill Me" by Ilona Andrews (dang it QT!) and also a pre-order of the non fiction book "Live Laugh Love: The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World they Made" by Kristin Kobes du Mez, the author of the scary and brilliant "Jesus and John Wayne". I expect once again to be angered and fascinated in equal measure by this one.

And I need a good one to spend £10 on!

[Mentalist]

I was out in the West end of town, and they have a fantastic Chapters there. Though, my God, there's a lot of romantasy on those shelves.


I did pick up a few early gifts for myself
"House of Open Wounds" by Adrian Tchaikovsky- Bk 2 of The Tyrant philosophers
"Play of Shadows" by Sebastien De Castell- because I can never say no to a new light De Castell read.

I also saw that there's another new Dragonlance trilogy by Weiss& Hickman. And apparently, they are going for yet ANOTHER time travel to undo things the new MC doesn't like caper.

Some things really need to end.

[Tsundoku]

Mentalist, on 04 October 2026 - 11:17 PM, said:

I was out in the West end of town, and they have a fantastic Chapters there. Though, my God, there's a lot of romantasy on those shelves.

It's the same here. They really need to separate romantasy back out into it's own section, like when they had the "paranormal romance" section back about 10-20 years ago.
It's seriously polluting the SFF section so badly it's hard to find anything decent these days, even if the covers are fairly indicative.

[QuickTidal]

Mentalist, on 04 October 2026 - 11:17 PM, said:

I was out in the West end of town, and they have a fantastic Chapters there. Though, my God, there's a lot of romantasy on those shelves.

Tsundoku, on 05 October 2026 - 12:54 AM, said:

Mentalist, on 04 October 2026 - 11:17 PM, said:

I was out in the West end of town, and they have a fantastic Chapters there. Though, my God, there's a lot of romantasy on those shelves.

It's the same here. They really need to separate romantasy back out into it's own section, like when they had the "paranormal romance" section back about 10-20 years ago.
It's seriously polluting the SFF section so badly it's hard to find anything decent these days, even if the covers are fairly indicative.

Nah, that's silly. It's still fantasy, it just has a romance tinge. Some of it is dreck like anything else, but some of it is fine, and they are probably HOLDING up the Fantasy tent right now in physical sales, which is why the stores stock so much of it. We are dinosaurs. This is derigeur right now. There's always going to be something. Fro a really long time post- Potter magic academies and whatnot filled the shelves. You just gotta take more time to look for stuff you'd be into.

Mentalist, on 04 October 2026 - 11:17 PM, said:

I also saw that there's another new Dragonlance trilogy by Weiss& Hickman. And apparently, they are going for yet ANOTHER time travel to undo things the new MC doesn't like caper.

Some things really need to end.

Nah, it's not a time travel one and the same vein. It's a re-vamp of the really old Huma & original wizard Magius tale from the early days on Krynn....it does touch on the device of time journeying, but only briefly and not to change anything...the majority of the story is set in the past. I'm fairly certain that Weis & Hickman took the "no time travel" notes from us...I've heard this series is so far much better than Destinies was.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 05 October 2026 - 11:42 AM

[Tsundoku]

QuickTidal, on 05 October 2026 - 11:39 AM, said:

It's the same here. They really need to separate romantasy back out into it's own section, like when they had the "paranormal romance" section back about 10-20 years ago.
It's seriously polluting the SFF section so badly it's hard to find anything decent these days, even if the covers are fairly indicative.


Nah, that's silly. It's still fantasy, it just has a romance tinge. Some of it is dreck like anything else, but some of it is fine, and they are probably HOLDING up the Fantasy tent right now in physical sales, which is why the stores stock so much of it. We are dinosaurs. This is derigeur right now. There's always going to be something. Fro a really long time post- Potter magic academies and whatnot filled the shelves. You just gotta take more time to look for stuff you'd be into.

Politely but vehemently disagree. I define romantasy or paranormal fantasy with: if you removed the fantasy elements, what's left would be a typical romance novel.
If it's romance, just in a fantasy setting, it belongs in the romance section. If it's a fantasy novel, but there's romance elements, fine. And no, most of the stuff out there isn't "fantasy with a romance tinge" - it's straight out romance with fantasy trimmings. Just read the blurbs on the back and the reviews, and see who buys them. The post-Potter magic academy stuff was NEVER even 10% this bad.
I'm not saying at least some of it can't be well-written, it's just so prevalent and absolutely does not belong in the SFF section for reasons I described above.
Maybe this is a part of why self-published/Royal Road/LitRPG type stuff is going gangbusters at the moment? I'm reading a fair bit of that recently. It's variable, but mostly decent. And I guess - like the formulaic romance stuff - it hits the spot. No, not THAT spot, you filthy perverts.

This post has been edited by Tsundoku: 05 October 2026 - 07:51 PM

[Mentalist]

Yeah, if the blurb emphasizes "characters in difficult circumstances developing attraction for their antagonist", then the focus is romance.

Kate Daniels books had a relationship as a running thread, but the emphasis was on the magic and monsters stuff, and that's what the blurbs were about. Most of the new stuff I saw is the opposite of that.

[worry]

If you aren't fantasizing, is it really fantasy?

[Tsundoku]

worry, on 06 October 2026 - 01:58 AM, said:

If you aren't fantasising, is it really fantasy?

Stop trying to trick me into trying to think deeper ... stuff.
It gives me wrinkles and I'm desperately trying to stop ageing here.

[QuickTidal]

I guess romance doesn't scare me? Shrug.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 06 October 2026 - 01:00 PM

[Morgoth]

I have tried some of the recommended titles of the romantasy genre, and it was spectacularly terrible. The most recent attempt, the Raven Scholar was so laughably bad in so many ways I don't even understand how it could become popular at all.

If one enjoys well written romance in ones fantasy, I would much rather recommend Kingfishers paladin books

[polishgenius]

The Raven Scholar is (imo) really good and a book I suspect a lot of members here would like, tbh. Like, it's not one I'd guarantee a double stamp on if QT read it, but I think it's got a pretty good shot.


It's also not romantasy, mind you. Sure, there is a romance in it, but it's a fantasy murder mystery with a heavy dose of politics and some fantasy-tournament shenanigans, and also the lead has a romance thing going on.