Malazan Empire: Abyss - Viewing Profile - Malazan Empire

amphibian, on 05 December 2025 - 07:35 PM, said:

It is LitRPG or Progression?

Slow Ben, on 05 December 2025 - 05:44 PM, said:

NICE FUCKING FIX! HAVE FUCKING REP
(can't believe i fucking missed that)

k my turn... quite the diverse read set this year, from the simple/entertaining (ELI MONPRESS, 13TH PALADIN) to the sublimely complex (MACHINERIES OF EMPIRE). My numbers were consistent w the last few years, 36 books to date, mostly earbook, will probably fit in another 2-3 before year's end, plus a fair amount of audiodrama eartime and a small but glorious set of comics.

BEST OF THE BESTEST OF THE BESTESTIEST - With respectful Honorable Mentions to MACHINERIES OF EMPIRE for complexity and insanity, and ART OF LEGEND for sticking the end on a glorious trilogy, this comes down to two books, Abercrombie's THE DEVILS and Erikson's NO LIFE FORSAKEN. And i'm torn because Devils was massively entertaining but NLF was the Malazan fix i wanted and needed and also just a deeper read overall... as i write it out i think that last bit is what decides this for me, i enjoyed the hell (hee) out of DEVILS, but NLF was just a better read overall, it gave me the action and humor but also the brain buzz i want from a genuinely great book. Devils was a glorious steak. NLF was master class sushi. I loved both but i'll remember the sushi more.

BEST RETRO - i blame my read of Carol Berg's SONG OF THE BEAST late last year for sparking a 'need' in my readbrain from some olde schoole easy reading fun fantasy, which the five book LEGEND OF ELI MONPRESS absolutely delivered. Ffwd after some sf and grimdark, and then in July THE 13TH PALADIN, which has drawn me in beyond any expectation 11 books later, so that gets the prize. Great fun.

BEST PRITTY PICY - less comics reading overal this year, but the 1-2-3 of BEASTS OF BURDEN, then DIE, and finally SUPERGIRL: WOMAN OF TOMORROW... yeah, it was a good year. I give DIE the win for sheer mindfuckedness and originality, but any of those was a top tier read. FIREPOWER was fun too but not at the same level. Same could be said for the DEMON SLAYER manga.

BEST NEW WRITER: Yoon Ha Lee was a revelation to me. Tnx Forum!

BEST OLD FRIEND IT WAS NICE TO SEE AGAIN - a STORMLIGHT ARCHIVE book is always a treat, and say wharever the online haters will, i enjoyed WIND AND TRUTH overall. Rivers of London also came through with STONE AND SKY and MASQUERADES OF SPRING and i cannot deny it was a pleasure to be back w those characters. Seanan McGuire's Wayward Children bk 10 ADRIFT was a pretty glorious read. That said, the sheer random find of Ilona Andrews' SANCTUARY solo about death priest Roman was a treat, and gets this slot, not the least for giving a death priest a menagerie of nasty monsters and making them all the good guys in the story.

WORSE READ? - if i finished a book, it wasn't that bad, because while hate reads can sort of almost be fun, lifes too short for that. Even so, Mike Cole's Sacred Throne bk 2 QUEEN OF CROWS jumps out for the sheer archetypical by the numbers of it. Good enough, but not great.

SO MUCH DRAMA - in the audiodrama side of things MIDNIGHT BURGER / WELCOME TO THE HORIZON continued to blow me away monthly, DERELICT thrilled, but i have to ack the wild ride that was THE SILT VERSES. Creative, clever, deep (pun intended), as well written and executed as any book could hope to be. If this had been a novel literary people would have been losing their minds over it.


So, great year of reading. Looking fwd to what the next year has in store, notably new Dresden from Butcher, Amina bk 2 from Shannen Chakrabortay, Stross' conclusion to The Laundry, whatever Clines is up to w GOD'S JUNK DRAWER, and maybe just maybe a new Richard Morgan fantasy.


Thanks all of you for the chats and suggestions and nonsense, you complete me.



....except for those of you who are just clones i haven't harvested yet.

JPK, on 05 December 2025 - 04:48 PM, said:

whenever it happens, you know i'll mention it here

HoosierDaddy, on 05 December 2025 - 05:15 PM, said:

I started the webcomic but lost interest pretty quickly. It resembled every other portal/tower/isekai smaller people of my acquaintance have read w me in the recent past. May be a pace/attention thing, will continue to vaguely consider an earbook attempt.