Rob’s Comments (group member since Jul 06, 2012)

Rob’s comments from the The Sword and Laser group.

the month has begun..go forth and discuss!

Our August pick will be Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

Let us know what you think about the pick

Silvana wrote: "Finished with Blade of Dream. @Rob: I ended up giving it two stars. Pacing is glacial, almost nothing going on, and I don't like the romance plot. Not gonna continue with the last book."

Oh, bummer. It also must have come out sooner by you than here in the US. My preorder only just showed up. I'll probably do that after Sanderson's latest book, but maybe I'll take a break from fantasy in between.

I still mostly read fantasy, and have had several "favorites" over the years.

Not sure what my top series would be, but the series I've read the most is easily The Dark Tower. Especially when I was younger and did a lot more rereading. I've probably read Wizard and Glass 8 or 9 times. I don't think any other book comes close for me.

Other highly enjoyable fantasy series for me include:

Dresden Files (not complete, but I've done most books a few times)

Stormlight Archive (not complete and most recent book wasn't as good as the first 3 for me but it's a drop everything and read book whenever a new one is out)

Wheel of Time (but some of those middle books are rough. Done this series twice).

Elderlings (really a series of series)

Cradle by Will Wight (recent favorite that just wrapped up)

Riyria Revelations (I also have enjoyed some of the prequels and other related books, but not as much)

Codex Alera (I like all of Jim Butcher's stuff and have read this series twice).

Harry Potter (Done several rereads, although I'm not sure how to feel about it anymore/haven't wanted to reread it the last few years)

I also read and enjoyed Malazan, but it is a tough read that I think I enjoyed in part because of the group of people on Goodreads I read it with.

Some other series that might be favorites if they were finished (or more recently had a book in the series published):

Song of Ice & Fire (although I enjoyed 1-3 far more than 4 &5. I don't want to beat this dead horse on book 6)
Kingkiller (previously mentioned by other in the thread, and not going to beat the dead horse here either)
Gentleman Bastards (I hope Scott Lynch gets back to this series one day)

I'd be hard pressed to pick favorite reads, and like Trike I don't want to dwell on the stuff I didn't like.

I joined S&L in early 2012 and started reading along in August of that year if I recall correctly.

Of the 179 books on the shelf (which includes some alt picks) I have read 130 of them. Many were with the group, but a fair number I read on my own.

My participation in the group reads has dwindled to 1 or 2 picks/year since 2020 (and my reading in general has fallen off a cliff).

I thought it was at least interesting to look at my breakdown of ratings:

Skipped (after Joining): 27 (2 alt pick)
Lemmed: 2
Didn't Read (before Joining): 20
5 stars: 9
4 stars: 65
3 stars: 40
2 stars: 15
1 star: 1

One book that really sticks out to me is Assassin's Apprentice. It was possibly my first read with the club, and while it's not a favorite, it did start my love of Robin Hobb and her Elderling books.

I consumed all the books published in the series shortly after and then picked up the later books she wrote as well.

Welcome Rachel. If you like mystery and more modern fantasy, the urban fantasy sub genre with a lot of mystery. Dresden Files is a favorite of mine, although the first few books aren't as strong as the later books.

Another favorite of mine is called The Shadow of the Wind

I'm sure other members will load you up with recommendations.

Silvana wrote: "Currently reading Daniel Abraham's second Kithamar novel Blade of Dream. So far I am loving this more than the first one."

That's good to hear. I liked the first book alright, but it's not as good as his Dagger & Coin series.

I need to pick that one up at some point this year

The month has begun, go forth and discuss!

The year is halfway done, what are you reading to kick off the 2nd half?

if you guys want to discuss the book/series already, please create a new thread. This is just the announcement thread and ideally should be spoiler free, even if using tags.

I will be locking this thread on July 1st anyways.

Our July pick will be Planetfall by Emma Newman

Let us know what you think in the comments below.

I like Lower Decks better as a whole, but SNW is right up there. I'm looking forward to the new season.

However I'm a pretty big Trek fan (I've watched most of the Trek that's been released minus ToS) and like all the stuff that's been on Paramount+ except probably Picard Season 2 (haven't watched S3 yet).

Discovery was a bit uneven for me, but I've like the bulk of it, which I know isn't the case for some vocal subset of the Trek fanbase.

the month has begun...go forth and discuss!

It is June. There are books to be read. Which are you enjoying?

Terence wrote: "TODAY ONLY, to celebrate 10 years of writing, all Will Wight ebooks will be free on Amazon for 24 hours.

Wednesday May 31st from 12:01 AM Pacific time and ending at 11:59 PM Paci..."

This includes the first book of his brand new series The Captain, which I rather enjoyed (I bought the audio book version when it came out last month.

Resistance is not very good. There are a few good episodes..but not really enough to make watching it worth it imho.

Back to the book pick...

I think it's a matter of what you're used to. I find discord far easier to keep up with.

Veronica has selected Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros as our June pick.

Let us know what you think about the selection

Trike wrote: "His Thrawn sounds exactly like TV Thrawn,"

He originated the voice of Thrawn with Heir to the Empire

I'm not sure if the voice actor who they got to play him on Rebels listened to those audio books or what, but they pre-date Rebels.

He is fantastic though.