Christopher’s Comments (group member since Jan 21, 2019)

Christopher’s comments from the Beyond Reality group.

I nominate the Rama series by Arthur C. Clarke and Gentry Lee that started with “Rendezvous with Rama” and ended with “Rama Revealed”

I've been meaning to post on this board for awhile, so sorry that I am a little late to the party. I've actually already read this book back when it was one of Beyond Reality's monthly reads. I'm really looking forward to finishing this series before the end of the year, but I can briefly recap what I liked and didn't like about City of Brass:

Likes:
-I like the Middle East/Central Asia setting and influences. It's so nice to see new authors using new influences for fantasy that are not predominately inspired by white Northern and Western European Middle ages.
-There was some great world-building going on in this book. I also enjoyed many of the action sequences too.

Dislikes:
-Though the world-building was great, it could also be confusing at times. I didn't fully understand the conflict that was tearing apart Daevabad or how exactly Nahri fit into all of it.
-The ending was a little confusing to me. What exactly happened with Dara and Ali at the end there? Everything happened so fast.
-I'm a little "meh" on the developing love triangle between Nahri, Dara, and Ali. Does every fantasy novel have to have a romance in it?

Overall, I enjoyed it and I look forward to reading the rest of the series.

I started reading this on Wednesday and so far I am really enjoying it. I look forward to posting my spoiler-filled thoughts when I'm done.

For August for the fantasy category, I would like to nominate A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes. I have been fascinated by Greek mythology since the sixth grade and that fascination has been reignited recently after reading both Circe and The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller and I picked up Ms. Haynes’s book to keep it going.

For sci-fi, I would like to nominate The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi. I have been meaning to get to this series for a while after meeting Mr. Scalzi at a book festival not too long ago and I would love to start reading it with other people.

Hi everyone! I had not originally planned on reading this book, but the group vote coincided with an ebook deal, so here I am. I just finished reading the first three chapters and, without spoiling anything, I know I am in for one heck of a head trip when it comes to this work. I typically don’t do well with mind-bending novels, so I’ll be interested to see if this author can keep things simple and hold my attention with a good yarn.

This month, I will be reading both the sci-fi and fantasy selections for this month, The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson and Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse. Also, if I can get my s**t together, I plan to start reading Kindred / Fledgling / Collected Stories by Octavia E. Butler at the end of the month.

Candace wrote: "https://www.sachakraborty.com/reading...

Because you were asking about Suleiman, I thought you might find the above link of interest. It is the list of the author’s sources."

Thanks for sharing Candace. There's a lot of good stuff on there. I'm going to have to update my TBR.

I finished reading this book yesterday as a part of the Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon. I haven't posted my review to Goodreads or my book blog just yet, but here are some general thoughts I have so far:

Pro:
-The action and world-building is great. I especially loved the climactic ending where Dara tries to rescue (kidnap?) Nahri heroically, but ends up screwing pretty much everyone over, including himself. The epilogue also had a nice little cliff hanger that I look forward to seeing play out in the sequel.
-The three main characters of Nahri, Dara, and Ali were great. Each one of them had fascinating motivations and interactions with each other. And though they all end up in a bit of a trope-ish love triangle, it never felt forced or rushed. I'll be very interested to see how these characters progress in the sequel.

Cons:
-I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by the amount of world-building going on. Throughout the book, I was very confused as to the central conflict between the Qhatanis, Daeva, and shafits until after I had put the book down. I'm also a little fuzzy about the role the other races play in the background. I'm pretty sure Dara tried to explain everything to both Nahri and the reader in one of the earlier chapters, but I think a lot of it went over my head.
-There was a lot of time jumping going on in this book. For example, at the beginning of the book Nahri and Dara seem to hate each other. Nahri even tries to escape from Dara before they reach Daevabad. But then just a few chapters later they're making out in a cave. I feel like there were some intervening steps between these two extremes that were never explored. I also feel like it got even worse in the second half once Nahri and Dara reached Daevabad. In one chapter they are just entering the city, but in the next chapter two weeks has passed. I'm sure S.A. Chakraborty had to do this to keep the narrative moving along, but it gave me a little whiplash at times.

Some lingering questions:
-When they talk about Suleiman, are they referring to one of the past Ottoman rulers or to King Solomon from the Bible? Because I have also heard of King Solomon being associated with a mythical City of Brass (thank you Uncharted 3 video game).
-Is Daeva pronounced Dave-a or Dive-a or Dev-a or Deev-a? I always get confused with the pronunciation of ae words.

Overall though, I really enjoyed this book and am leaning towards a 4-star rating. I don't know when I am going to get to them, but I can't wait to read the sequels and see how the story plays out.

Hi everyone! I’ve had the Kindle edition of this book on my TBR for awhile, so I am so happy to get to read and discuss it with you. I just finished the first five chapters and I already love the cinematic feeling of the narrative already as well as the world-building that has already taken place. I am just a wee bit confused by the first Ali chapter, but hopefully my confusion will be cleared up soon. Looking forward to finishing this book and reading everyone’s thoughts in the spoiler discussion.

For science fiction, I would like to nominate Dune by Frank Herbert. I have never read this book, but I know it is a classic of the genre and with the new movie coming out soon, I thought that this would be the perfect time to read it.

For fantasy, I would like to nominate Fire & Blood by George R.R. Martin. I received this book as a gift when it first came out and, though I have not read the whole book, I read some of the first pages and enjoyed how it imitates a medieval historian's tone. I'm sure people are a little done with Westeros by now, but I still think this is worth a read.

For fantasy, I would like to nominate The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon. This was nominated last month and I really wanted to vote for it, but I wanted to read the one that was chosen for May even more. So, I want to put it to another vote as I really want to read this book too.

For sci-fi, I would like to nominate 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke. I’m looking to read a bunch of sci-fi novels over the summer starting with Clarke’s Odyssey series. So, I am hoping that others will be interested in reading this book with me.

I'm not planning on reading many Sci-Fi/Fantasy novels this month, but I do plan on reading Into the Dark by Claudia Gray. I read the first adult novel in the new High Republic Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule last month and really enjoyed it, so I have some high expectations for these new Star Wars novels.

For sci-fi, I would like to nominate 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke. I have read a few Arthur C. Clarke novels, but never any of the Odyssey series, though I have seen the movies. And I think this would be a good year for me to read these ones and I hope others will vote with me.

For fantasy, I would like to nominate Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse. I recently bought this book because I find its background steeped in Pre-Columbian South American mythology to be fascinating. I would love to hear from other readers what they think of it.

Kari wrote: "I'll nominate The City of Brass for fantasy, a well-regarded first in a trilogy (I think?) that I've wanted to start for a while....

I would like to second Kari's nomination of The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty. As for sci-fi, I would like to nominate Vagabonds by Hao Jingfang.

I would like to nominate the Odyssey series by Arthur C. Clarke that includes:

-2001: A Space Odyssey
-2010: Odyssey Two
-2061: Odyssey Three
-3001: The Final Odyssey

For sci-fi, I would like to nominate Vagabonds by Hao Jingfang. I have suggested this book before and my reason remains the same. This sounds like a fascinating story, I am starting to become a sucker for sci-fi stories about Mars, and I have been dying to read this book in a group setting.

For fantasy, I would like to nominate The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon. I am nominating this because I am thinking about tackling this big, meaty standalone fantasy novel in December and it would be great if I could discuss this book in a group context.

Shel wrote: "How about a classic that I read forever ago, loved, barely remember, have wanted to reread and I feel like there’s a lot to talk about: the Dark Tower Series by Stephen King? I’m on my phone right ..."

I would second this nomination as well. I read the first two books in the series and I have been meaning to get into the third. I just haven't found the right time to do so.

I would like to nominate The Witcher series by Andrzej Sapkowski. From what I gather online, the best order to read the books is:

-The Last Wish
-Season of Storms
-Sword of Destiny
-Blood of Elves
-The Time of Contempt
-Baptism of Fire
-The Tower of the Swallow
-The Lady of the Lake

I know these failed last time, but I would once again like to nominate Vagabonds by Hao Jingfang for sci-fi and The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller.

For my sci-fi pick I would like to nominate the new release Vagabonds by Hao Jingfang. When I first read the description for this book, I was hooked. But I became even more excited after reading a few of the advance review from readers and I would love to read and discuss it with others.

For my fantasy pick, I would like to nominate The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. I read her most recent book Circe and loved it and I hear that this previous book was just as good. And it's told from the perspective of Patrocles, so that should be interesting.