Chompa’s Comments (group member since Feb 16, 2015)

Chompa’s comments from the Grimdark Fantasy group.

I agree. The Warden struck me as being written from someone well into "middle age". That only adds to my admiration for Polansky.

Brittany wrote: "I'm glad you're man enough to admit The Hunger Games is a decent read."

Oh Brittany... I'm man enough to admit I read the entire Hunger Games trilogy. I'm not man enough to call it decent though. I loved the first book. Was "meh" on book two and calling Katniss an idiot throughout book three.

Levi - I totally agree on The Martian and The Aeronaut's Windlass. I read a big stack of Cornwell's Sharpes books in years past. I'll have to try out the Saxon books.

Melina - Elric is something I tried when I was very young and didn't like. Going back to it as an adult, I could see why I found it hard to read, but can really appreciate it now. Elric could very well be considered grimdark in my opinion, but most put him in the sub-genre of Sword and Sorcery. I can't disagree with that label either.

Blind Guardian is a group I'd never heard of, but I like their influences based on the wiki article. I can't understand speed metal so I doubt I'll check them out. I'm more of a Waylon Jennings kind of guy.

Silvana - I loved Anubis Gates. What a great story.

Let me clarify a bit. The First Law Trilogy is very light on female characters and while interesting they are very damaged. Note - that goes for all his characters really.

Best Served Cold - the protagonist is female and an ass-kicker. Might be a good starting point (curbing my continuity fixation here) as it only loosely is a sequel to the trilogy. Note - we again have very damaged characters (both literally and figuratively).

Red Country - Shy is a great character. A lot of people didn't care for this book much because it is a homage to western movies. If you like "cowboy" movies, then you'll enjoy this. Again - damaged characters, but Shy is about the toughest. This MUST be read after the First Law trilogy.

That's just my two cents. Your mileage may vary.

I'm two episodes in on Jessica Jones and getting ready for the third. This is very grimdark. While based on comic books, this is not like a "superhero" thing.

Episode 1 was a bit plodding for me, but the second was much better.

I'm far from over comic book movies. I'm wallowing in all the comic book superhero shows and movies I can.

Thanks Brittany. This is a great group of people.

I'm a big fan of comic books, but am feeling very jaded toward the DC and Marvel the last few years. They seem to want to reboot every other year just to create more first issues to help sales. Image, Dark Horse, Boom!, Dynamite and other "independent" comic publishers tend to have the better stories and also treat their creators better too. Brian K. Vaughn, Robert Kirkman, Mark Millar and Garth Ennis are some of my favorite authors.

In regards to Mindy Kaling - I love her. A couple years ago, I watched an episode of Mindy with my wife and said, "I have no idea why, but I absolutely loved that." She's hilarious and beautiful. I am also deeply impressed that she has burst through the glass ceiling and is a woman who produces, writes and stars in her own show.

Brittany, I think that folder is a good idea. Maybe even call it "Other than Grimdark"?

I read the first book in The Magicians and enjoyed it. I can see that having some potential.

With the new Star Wars movie coming out, it has brought to mind that I was nearly 11 when the original came out in 77. That's 38 years between the two releases, which just seems crazy to me.

Chris it sounds like you are close. I just turned 49. It used to bug me when I'd realize something was 20 years before and such, but now I'm kind of taking delight in it. "Back in my day..."

Chris - I had the same thought. Looking it up the original came out in 97. I was already out of college for 12 years.

Did anyone watch The Bastard Executioner? Any thoughts on it?

I'm tired of being a rugged, white male.

Rugged went out the damned window a long time ago. Haggard? Worn?

I love diversity in books and movies. Seeing the same stereotypes over and over is boring.

I love how international our group and Goodreads is with the membership.

I hate when I make typos. Maybe I meant it takes a week to read the second one and only two days for the third?

Just a word of warning. The second book is the week one in the series, but that third one.... hoo boy!

I saw the trailer for Into the Badlands and it looks good to me. Is it out yet?

Thanks, Silvana. I love seeing favorite books with alternative covers. When I was in Ukraine a little over 10 years ago, I loved browsing bookstores for books, magazines and comics I knew. My pitiful Russian was good enough to understand the author's name even if the title was different.

Welcome Candace. If the recent book is Low Town, I think you are in for a treat.