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

Chompa’s comments from the Grimdark Fantasy group.

This is awesome. Perfect lunch time reading.

I'm loving the nominations so far. A Crown for Cold Silver has intrigued me from day one. I love that the main character is an older woman.

City of Stairs has been frequently lauded. And Shadow of the Wolf sounds really, really good.

Here's my nomination as the 3rd book is due out in about a week. Scourge of the Betrayer

As a teen, I remember when Corwin gets into that first fight and throws a chair that showed he was much stronger than mere human - I was totally hooked.

The Batman coloring book is based on "Hush", which is a really great story and art.

I've mentioned before I'm a big fan of Urban Fantasy. I just noticed that Kevin Hearne has a new Iron Druid book out. This series is closest (for me) to the Dresden Files books. I got my sister reading the series a while back and her and all of her kids and husband are big fans now. Staked

Gemmell is much more fantasy based than reality. I've not read Pressfield, but I assume his books don't have much magic and such in them.

Silvana, I watched the first episode of Dark Matter with my wife and found it pretty interesting. A good set up, mystery and interesting crew. Sadly, the wife found it blah and it went by the wayside. It is one of many shows I want to resume.

Ughh.... Malazan was a DNF for me. I started the first book and dropped it about half way in. The mere thought of having to wade through two books before it gets "good" is abhorrent.

That said, I may have to pick it up again and try. A ten book series that is outstanding? That's very tempting and those of you recommending it are getting through to me.

Regarding reading - I use my tablet and have the font set to fairly large and then I put on my reading glasses too. That episode of the Twilight Zone where the world ends and the guy is left with a library full of books and no one to bother him. Then he breaks his reading glasses and can't read? That would totally be me at this stage.

When do I decide to quit? For me it is a combination of writing and story. If I like the story and the writing is at least decent I'll probably stick it out. If the story is mediocre and the writing is bad, I'll ditch it.

Regarding reviews: I follow a lot of reviews and certain reviewers have certain prejudices that I've come to recognize. There is one guy I follow who is a bit conservative in his views, but often reads the same books I do. When he gives something a five star review I take notice. When he gives something a two star review, I will read why he did that. Often what offended him is not a negative to me and that two star review may compel me to read the book.

Each reviewer is different. The reviewers that never have low reviews or never write comments don't inform me much. Those with varied reviews and details on why are awesome.

Brittany, I always enjoyed Gemmell's books. They have a tinge of Grimdark in them, but are mainly just bad-ass action.

Brittany and Silvana - A Darker Shade of Magic keeps popping up on my radar also. I love urban fantasy books and 2016 seems to be all about finding a new series of them to read.

Silvana - Hyperion was really solid. It is yet another series I need to finish. I see where you find it a bit sluggish, but once you are into the various stories from the travelers it gets good. The soldier and the priest both are standouts for me.

I read the first book a while back and found it very Grimdark. I really want to check out the television show. This whole maintaining a job for 50 hours a week really impacts what I WANT to do.

Brittany wrote: "There are a few comic/graphic novel giveaways on page 2 of giveaways filtered by popular authors. I think there is Justice League Vol. 7, Batman Vol. 8 and Batman and Robin Eternal. Oh and a Batman..."

Batman coloring book? I've been thinking about joining that craze. It supposed to be very therapeutic.

Polansky's "The Builders" is available for a chance at a free copy.

https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/en...

Silvana wrote: "I reckon there are many enjoyable books out there, why bother with the one you don't enjoy even if your buddies all give it five stars. "

Totally agree.

A couple years ago I started giving up on books that were not doing it for me. Yesterday I started a book that may (probably should) end up that way.

I was just curious about others. Do you drop those books that just aren't working? Do you suffer to the last sentence? What's your ratio?

I try to be picky about what I start and frequently will skip books that have bad reviews by people I trust. That said I'm still probably doing a DNF on about 10% of the books I pick up.

I really want to watch The Expanse. I enjoyed the first book in the series, but haven't been back. I have series OCD for reading in order, but have series ADHD when it comes to bouncing around.

Chris - (Continued) I can even tell you what made my teenage brain explode the first time I read it. When you've read a few chapters get back to me.

Also seeing that some dude named Betancourt wrote a prequel series for Amber? Sigh... Looks like I got some more reading to do. The sigh is totally facetious. I'm scared that it is not Zelazny writing from the grave, but hoping for the best.

Chris - Amber was one of my early favorites. I found the five book compilation at the library when I was a teen and read it several times. About 20 some years later I found out there was a second set of five "The Merlin Cycle". That got me reading the originals again and the sequel series a couple more times. I can gush about Amber with the best of them.

China Mieville and KJ Parker have been on my list for a while.

FYI: I was totally joking about this type of challenge, but I'm okay with it too. Now that Brittany has acknowledged my cheese-worthiness I'm even more inclined to do it!

That sketch is awesome.