Marcus' Epic Reads 2014

[Marnie]

Great minds...Travis!

[Travis]

Agreed!

[Marcus]

Finished: The Audran Sequence

Starting the somewhat lengthy The Wise Man's Fear and looking forward to the ongoing story of Kvothe. I'll be sure to check out the buddy read thread when I'm through

[Esther]

Marcus wrote: "Finished: The Audran Sequence

Starting the somewhat lengthy The Wise Man's Fear and looking forward to the ongoing story of Kvothe. I'll be sure to check out the bud..."

Oh. Have fun!
You can check the thread while you are reading. We have been really good about spoilers and noting chapters

[Marcus]

Finished: The Wise Man's Fear and was happy to see from the buddy read thread that all of you seem to have the same thoughts and feelings that I have about the series so far. Still a lot of questions linger but I guess I'll have to wait to get them answered.

In the meantime, it's on to Mickey's Marchers which I am starting with:

Off Armageddon Reef I am pretty excited about this one as the premise is pretty interesting and combines a lot of my favorite genres (scifi, historical fiction, fantasy) in some ways. Also, I am always on the lookout for a lengthy series that will keep me entertained for a while and with seven books at around 500 pages each, this should fit the bill.

Also, I'll be starting The Passage as the first of several horror books I've selected for this portion of the challenge to sate my appetite for horror until SK's next book Mr. Mercedes arrives.

[Janice, Moderator]

You're done Slick's Slugs?! Super, I will head right over to your wall and give you your badge.

[Cherie]

Hey, Marcus, I stopped by your wall and saw your badge. Great job finishing your first section! I hope you like The Passage.

[Sarah]

Thanks for mentioning the new Stephen King book Marcus - added to my wishlist now!

[Marcus]

Thanks for the accolades. This challenge has been a real treat so far as many of the books have been at the top of my TBR list for a while

[Sarah]

Do you have a favourite out of Slick's section?

[Marcus]

Sarah wrote: "Do you have a favourite out of Slick's section?"

Well, I'd have to pick two because my overall favorite read from the group was:

Lords of the North

However, I hadn't read any HF novels in a while and was kinda dying for some of that. From the other books in my Slick's group which were pretty much fantasy, I'd say my favorite was:

The Name of the Wind with The Thousand Names as a very close second

[Sarah]

I have to say I've never read any of Bernard Cornwell's books - I've lots of good things about him though.

I agree on The Name of the Wind!

The Thousand Names looks really good - I've added it to my wishlist. Did you like it because one of the main characters was called Marcus?!? ;-) I quite like it when I read a book with a character called Sarah - sad I know!

[Travis]

I would give Azincourt a go Sarah and I'm different it absolutely annoys me to have a character named Travis . Well with audio books I'm constantly looking around every time I hear my name

[Travis]

Although I am enjoying also The Last Kingdom I'm just kind of slow getting through it is all.

[Marcus]

So, I've really enjoyed everything I've read by Cornwell so far with Azincourt (last year's A book) being one of my favorites. I should catch up with the Saxon series this year and really want to read the Thomas of Hookton trilogy also. It was a lot of fun to have a main character named Marcus :) That doesn't often happen for me and was a bit of a plus. I could imagine that it would kinda drive me crazy with an audio version however.

[Travis]

You're in luck there is a Marcus in The Dragon's Path as well.

[Sarah]

I will check out Azincourt!

I hadn't thought about how annoying it might be on audio having a character with the same name as you!
Having a character with the same name kind of reminds me of those books which I guess were role-playing books in a sense where you'd get to the end of the page and it would say "to slay the dragon turn to page 5" or "to run away turn to page 10" where the main character was the reader. Did you guys ever read any of those? I think they might have been linked to Games Workshop.

[Travis]

Choose your own adventure books and you know I did at least but Marcus you know he was reading Stephen kings it and pet semetary when he was like 8 so maybe he skipped them

[Travis]

Escape the ones we had we like this one

[Sarah]

Travis of NNY wrote: "Choose your own adventure books and you know I did at least but Marcus you know he was reading Stephen kings it and pet semetary when he was like 8 so maybe he skipped them"

Yes that's them! I thought perhaps I had misremembered them as every one I've spoken to about them (those not on Goodreads anyway) had no idea what I was talking about! I wonder if they still make them?! I don't remember any specific ones just that I read some!

[Rusalka, Moderator]

I remember too Sarah. Don't worry, we're all the normal people.

[Marcus]

I love choose your own adventure. In particular, as Travis may recall, the goosebumps books were pretty popular when we were in elementary school. I remember there were a few choose your own adventures from goosebumps that were pretty fun

[Travis]

I have goosebumps #1-#34 right on my shelves. Can't wait til my son starts reading over the next few years

[Rusalka, Moderator]

I ripped through all the goosebumps books, and then read all his "teen" horror books. They were like reading a incredibly washed out teen slasher movies.

[Sarah]

Rusalka wrote: "I remember too Sarah. Don't worry, we're all the normal people."

Glad to hear I'm normal! ;-)

I must have missed the Goosebumps books as a kid - I do remember the teen horror books though by some of the same authors.

[Marcus]

Travis of NNY wrote: "I have goosebumps #1-#34 right on my shelves. Can't wait til my son starts reading over the next few years"

That's great that you have saved all of them :) I used to love those books. I remember I tried to write my own Goosebumps style story once about a werewolf at boyscout camp. Good times.

[Marcus]

Finished: The Passage with mixed feelings. Will still plan to read The Twelve but am quite relieved that it is a bit shorter than the first book which seemed to drag a bit at times.

I am still working through Off Armageddon Reef which has been great so far and am starting Helliconia Spring and The Dark Country just to keep things varied for an upcoming flight

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Going anywhere nice?

[Marcus]

Heading to Park City, UT for a skiing weekend with the guys for my friend's bachelor party :-)

[Rusalka, Moderator]

That sounds great! Enjoy!!

[Marcus]

Yeah it should be a lot of fun...then he's getting married in Key West in April so I have a couple great trips to thank him for

[Marcus]

Finished: Off Armageddon Reef, Helliconia Spring

Really loving the Safehold series so far. Helliconia Spring was great as well so it seems I've now got two new series to add to my TBR list.

Still working on: The Dark Country
which has some pretty odd stories so far (but I like that :)

Starting: The Atrocity Archives and Heart-Shaped Box next

[Esther]

Marcus wrote: "Finished: Off Armageddon Reef, Helliconia Spring

Really loving the Safehold series so far. Helliconia Spring was great as well so it seems I've now got two new series t..."

I almost read The Atrocity Archives for my SF read in the toppler. This one have been sitting by my bed for a while. Let me know what you think.

[Cherie]

Marcus wrote: "Finished: Off Armageddon Reef, Helliconia Spring

Really loving the Safehold series so far. Helliconia Spring was great as well so it seems I've now got two new series t..."

I think I am the only one in the group that is not reading the Safehold series.

Did you have a good visit and some good skiing?

[Marcus]

Yeah it was great to hang out with the guys for a few days and while the snow wasn't the best, we got some pretty good skiing (and eating) done.

[Janice, Moderator]

I'm glad you had a nice break, and that you didn't break anything on the ski hill. :)

[Marcus]

Well I didn't break anything but I did have a pretty spectacular crash at one point...I need a massage badly

[Janice, Moderator]

Ouch! I can feel your pain. I turned bowling into a contact sport once when I tried to bowl myself down the lane instead of the ball. (My shoe stuck to the floor, but my body didn't stop with it.) My massage therapist restore movement to my upper body.

[Marcus]

Ouch...nothing like a good massage

[Janice, Moderator]

If you haven't had one already, I highly recommend it to ease those sore muscles.

[Marcus]

Finished: The Dark Country and The Atrocity Archives today both of which unfortunately get a ...meh...rating.

I've started: Heart-Shaped Box and The Dreaming Void which I have much higher expectations for

[Janice, Moderator]

I hope you enjoy Heart Shaped Box. One of my fav's.

[Marcus]

Six down and two to go for the Marchers after finishing The Dreaming Void with only Best Served Cold and Heart-Shaped Box remaining

[Marcus]

Finished: Heart-Shaped Box

I realy enjoy Joe's writing style whether it's novels, short stories, or graphic novels. I can't wait for more from him and his dad.

And now "Best Served Cold" will be served last in this group. I've heard pretty good things about it and have enjoyed Abercrombie's other work so I'm looking forward to this one....and who doesn't enjoy a good revenge story

[Marcus]

Finished: Best Served Cold to wrap up Mickey's Marchers

To kick off Roadrunners group, I'm starting with some nautical flair with Desolation Island and By Schism Rent Asunder as well as The Grand Inquisitor for a little variety

[Janice, Moderator]

Congratulations on finishing Mickey's Marchers. :)

[Dawn]

Safehold is a good choice, I'm reading How Firm a Foundation for my roadrunner section. :)

[Marcus]

Yeah it's been a long time since I've been so "obsessed" with a series as I've become with safehold so far. I really like the idea behind the series and the political and religious strife that suffuses the books. I guess that's my main draw as I also loved and devoured the song of ice and fire series and all of the dune books

[Dawn]

Hmmm, Dune is a good idea. I've only read the first one and that was a very long time ago. I should pick them up again.

[Marcus]

Yeah a lot of people aren't as fond of the later novels in the dune world but I like the original storyline (all 8 books) and the prequel trilogy that dealt with the butlerian jihad as well