Other than Grimdark, what else are you reading?

[Scott]

I liked Furies and went right into Academ's both on audio books. I generally have one audio and one kindle book going at a time. I thought Furies was a lot like the first Dresden book were it was good and you saw the potential but it wasn't sensational. I loved the Aeronaut's Windlass and that's my favorite Butcher book to date.

Riyria Revelations is simply awesome. I'm skimpy with my 5*'s and I'd give the first two books solid 4.5's and the last book is a 5. I've been putting off Chronicles to savoir them but with Age of Myth due out I'll probably read them soon.

[Chompa, Founding Father]

Riyria is some solid stuff. Good writing and very likable characters.

[Chompa, Founding Father]

Not all books can be fantastic. I know this and I generally don't get too worked up about it, but the 2nd of the Greatcoat series by Castell kind of failed me. Castell is not a bad writer, but I felt kind of cheated by main character always pulling off some miracle save. Very Mary Sue/Gary Stu in my opinion.

I know a lot of people really enjoyed the books and I'm not knocking anyone. I just found my suspension of disbelief suffered a serious failure on this one.

[pisang]

Chompa wrote: "Not all books can be fantastic. I know this and I generally don't get too worked up about it, but the 2nd of the Greatcoat series by Castell kind of failed me. Castell is not a bad writer, but I fe..."

I agree on that. I also read it in bits these last 2 months. Still had fun with it. But I save the 3th part for some other time in the future ;-) Couldn't handle anymore greatcoat greatness

[Mark]

Chompa wrote: "Not all books can be fantastic. I know this and I generally don't get too worked up about it, but the 2nd of the Greatcoat series by Castell kind of failed me. Castell is not a bad writer, but I fe..."

It happens Chompa, I cant get away with lies of locke lamora.

[Chompa, Founding Father]

It always makes me wonder when everyone seems to love the book and I'm one of those oddballs, but as we all know, "different strokes, for different folks".

[Scott]

Chompa wrote: "Not all books can be fantastic. I know this and I generally don't get too worked up about it, but the 2nd of the Greatcoat series by Castell kind of failed me. Castell is not a bad writer, but I fe..."

The two most disappointing books for me this year have been The Black Prism and The Name of the Wind. Neither was awful but I was expecting a lot more especially in the case of TNofW.

[Chompa, Founding Father]

I enjoyed Name of the Wind, but am not as enthused by it as many are. It seems to be a bit over-hyped.

[Christopher]

I'm currently reading Caliban's War as I work through The Expanse series. I decided to read the first book, Leviathan Wakes, before watching the show and now I've got to finish the rest of the series.

[Mark]

Chompa wrote: "I enjoyed Name of the Wind, but am not as enthused by it as many are. It seems to be a bit over-hyped."

Agreed, I did enjoy it, very good writing style, but haven't rushed into reading book 2 as book 3 seems to taken years to come out.

[Scott]

Chompa wrote: "I enjoyed Name of the Wind, but am not as enthused by it as many are. It seems to be a bit over-hyped."

Totally over-hyped. The two best series I've done the past year have been Stormlight Archives and The First Law and they dwarf Name of the Wind. The first three Mistborn weren't as good as Stormlight or First Law but still miles better than Name of the Wind. I really feel it got hyped to the point were it was uncool to not love it. It was a nice story but nothing special.

[Mel]

Oh, Chompa, where had you been when I was not enthused by Name of the Wind when I first read it a couple of years back and people were treating me as if I had punched a puppy? :-)

Wise Man's Fear is slightly worse. It might have been a good book had it been 300 pages long, but for 700 and so much fairies and woe, it was painful at times.

[Silvana]

Christopher, Caliban's War is amazing! One of the best books in a very good series.

[Silvana]

I also think The Name of the Wind is slightly overrated. And probably Wise Man's Fear. But that's because it could have less pages. And less fairies. The rest is still very good writing.

[Dan]

I liked both of the Kingkiller Chronicles instalments so far, but also agree they may be overhyped a bit. I never really expect something to be as good as others say it is, so I wasn't disappointed, but nor do I think they were as good as the first 3 ASOIAF or The First Law books (which really surprised me) I've read or The Lord of the Rings. Still, those are lofty goals, and they were better than other fantasy novels I've read recently. I gave both a 4/5.

[Scott]

Dan wrote: "I liked both of the Kingkiller Chronicles instalments so far, but also agree they may be overhyped a bit. I never really expect something to be as good as others say it is, so I wasn't disappointed..."

I think First Law might actually be better than GOT simply because there weren't as many characters to learn and it flowed from the start. Plus you get more of your favorite characters. I will say though in respect to GOT when the first sacred cow (to avoid spoilers) goes down there isn't a jaw dropping moment anywhere else that measures up.

I would say Riyeria also smokes KKC.

[Mel]

Scott wrote: "I would say Riyeria also smokes KKC"

Riyria as in Hadrian and Roy? I am a big fan. It is not grimdark, but it is by far the funnest fantasy I've read in years :-)

[Chris, kingtermite]

I'm one of those that thought the First Law books were hyped up a lot better than they were. I thought they were OK, but nothing special.

[Scott]

Melina wrote: "Scott wrote: "I would say Riyeria also smokes KKC"

Riyria as in Hadrian and Roy? I am a big fan. It is not grimdark, but it is by far the funnest fantasy I've read in years :-)"

Yep love Royce and Hadrian. Great characters.

[Dan]

Chris wrote: "I'm one of those that thought the First Law books were hyped up a lot better than they were. I thought they were OK, but nothing special."

They didn't have too much hype for me, I remembered them mentioned from years ago and kind of picked them up on the fly. Expectations make a big difference in enjoyment I find. With that said though, we all have different taste in what we find enjoyable, which makes for a good goodreads group. Variety is the spice of life!

[Brenda ╰☆╮]

Ha.. Dan!
I was about to reply the same.
: )

One sees a book as great, and the next says... meh...
I'm sure there are a lot of factors....
I try not to judge, but sometimes it's sooo hard when it's a favorite book or author.
: D

[Scott]

I agree with the sentiment that one man's trash is another's treasure with any book. The thing about King Killer Chronicles is in many circles it's billed as one of the best epic fantasy series ever. When debating others in that realm that I love such as LOTR, First Law, etc I can understand the merits and failings of each.

Mistborn is a great modern example that people know well. I understand why it's in the discussion. It's a great series and I'm through the first three books and will read the others in time. For me it's not the GOAT but I get why people would say it was. It's highly compelling, great characters, great action, etc.

The First Law is in the discussion for the GOAT for me. I love the perfectly flawed characters, the quick witted biting banter, the caustic thought process, etc. However I get people who may be turned off by the violence or say it's not as epic as WOT or GOT.

KKC is constantly compared to Stormlight Archives which to me has the best first two books of any series ever. I'm not prepared to say it's the GOAT after two books but I'm really hoping it lives up to the billing. I really cannot see how somebody can put these two series in the same space and nobody has been able to explain it to me. If somebody said for my money GOT's is better than Stormlight I would completely understand and say to each his/her own and GOT is awesome.

I guess maybe I have to compare KKC to WOT. I love WOT but even I will point out it's flawed on a lot of levels and I get why people abandon the series. There were some parts, and this won't really give anything away, with the traveling circus where I was shaking my head thinking WTF does this have to do with the story line?

/RANT

[Silvana]

What's GOAT?

[Chris]

Silvana wrote: "What's GOAT?"

Greatest Of All Time

[Scott]

Yes Chris is correct. Sorry it's a widely used acronym in the sports world.

[Chris, kingtermite]

Dan wrote: "Chris wrote: "Variety is the spice of life! "
Certainly no argument here.

[Chompa, Founding Father]

Great discussion going on here. Variety truly is the spice of life. Never feel ashamed of liking or disliking against the general population.

Right now I'm reading The Afghan Campaign and am enjoying it so far. I've only read a little historical fiction (mainly Cornwell's Sharpes and a little bit of OBrien's naval books.

[Chompa, Founding Father]

That was one of my favorites. Let us know what you think! I felt like it was darker than Gates of Fire but Gates of Fire was deeper for me. If that makes sense "

I recall you being a fan of Pressfield. I'll be sure to let you know what I think.

[Brenda ╰☆╮]

I can't keep up with these abbreviated titles.
Now...I've got GOAT!
LOL. ; )

I'm taking a leap of faith.....The Stormlight Archives is THE GOAT!

[Scott]

Brenda ╰☆╮ wrote: "I can't keep up with these abbreviated titles.
Now...I've got GOAT!
LOL. ; )

I'm taking a leap of faith.....The Stormlight Archives is THE GOAT!"

I second that!

[Silvana]

I beg to differ. ASOIAF is the GOAT.

:))

[Brenda ╰☆╮]

Weeellll....it got my goat....
; )
Writing is good, but I just can't take the killing of all my favorites.
: (

[Chompa, Founding Father]

Maybe it was growing up with my sister's pet goat as a nemesis, but I'm having a hard time picking a GOAT myself.

[Chris]

[Chompa, Founding Father]

I knew I could count on Chris.

[Sumant]

Here is my my review for The Dragon Reborn.

[Rich]

Currently reading:


Imaro

Haggopian And Other Stories

Darkness in the Valley: An Uncanny Dossier

Gardens of the Moon

A few too many on my plate right now, but I'll push through. Probably won't finish by the end of the month, though.

[Scott]

Academ's Fury 2/3rds done on audio-book. Maybe slightly better than the first book but solidly in that 3.5* range.

The Rook 40% done. A combination of Dresden meets Scotland Yard. I like it a lot.

Red Rising 88% done. The first 10% of this book is awful. It gets better after that and I'd day it's probably somewhere between a 3.5-4 overall but I still don't love his writing style.

[Chompa, Founding Father]

The Rook was one of my favorite reads a couple years ago. This summer a sequel is coming.

[James]

Considering until yesterday I wasn't clear what grimdark was, this may be a little presumptious but there's a group of books I desperately need to recommend to this group that is almost grimdark, in that the setting is a remarkable moment in history that feels like fantasy - the Napoleonic wars. It features a lead character an awful lot like a certain small Lannister (perhaps even an inspiration for him), who is even more dastardly than Flashman, a character from the same period whom I've always found rather aspirational... which says more about me than Flashman.
Check out Julian Rathbone
and especially Joseph

and let me know what you think...

[Chris, kingtermite]

James wrote: "Considering until yesterday I wasn't clear what grimdark was, this may be a little presumptious but there's a group of books I desperately need to recommend to this group that is almost grimdark, i..."

Are you a fan of the Flashman books? I had somebody (can't remember who, now) who was going nuts over how great he claimed those books were a few years back.

[James]

Absolutely love them. There's a real dirty mean streak running through them, a perfect example of a bully who succeeds where the honourable fail. He's like a twisted version of James Bond, but with a sword instead of a walther. Can't recommend them enough. The movie by Dick Lester (Three Musketeers, superman 2) and starring Malcolm McDowell is worth checking too.

[Chompa, Founding Father]

I've heard of the Flashman books, but it has been a bit since someone mentioned them. I may have to add these to the infinite pile.

[James]

Chompa wrote: "I've heard of the Flashman books, but it has been a bit since someone mentioned them. I may have to add these to the infinite pile."

I noticed you're reading a book on Afghanistan now, Chompa. The first Flashman is in part set there in the 19th Century - might give you some added colour to your current read...

[James]

Noticed Hyperion keeps popping up on this stream. I loved the first book and found the second a bit... bitty. It really reminded me of this Radix
which was the first really trippy sci fi book I read, when I was much too young to know what trippy was... A bit Bester too.

[Chompa, Founding Father]

Hyperion was an interesting read. The stories are a little hit and miss for me, but I loved the Canterbury Tales feel of it. A couple of the stories were just amazing. I never made it to book 2.

[Dan]

Just started up Imaro with Richard.

[Maark]

Aside from grimdark, I read manga. Not much else on my shelves... just finished BlazBlue: Remix Heart, got a few issues if Attack on Titan and Akame ga Kill! on order and am thinking of looking at JoJo shortly as well.

[Sumant]

Here is my review of The Farthest Shore really loved it!.

[Chompa, Founding Father]

So you recommend the series, Sumant? I've had this on my radar for about 30 years.