Fantasy Book Club discussion
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What are you reading in...
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What are you reading in March 2016?
Finished The Worldwound Gambit and am sticking with Pathfinder Tales -- up next is Master of Devils by Dave Gross.
Here my review of The Claw of the Conciliator which is the 2nd book in The Book of the New Sun series .
I've started reading Knight's Shadow and enjoying it so far. I enjoyed Traitor's Blade enough to see where book 2 goes.
I finished Twisting the Rope. Eh...I wasn't into it much.Now reading the Empire of the East trilogy. Old school epic fantasy.
Joseph wrote: "They're very good, but probably not the best place to start -- I'd be more inclined to suggest either The Complete Morgaine or Fortress in the Eye of Time for fantasy"I really need to go around Fortress :)
@Charles The Curse of the Mistwraith and the whole series is a masterpiece. Can't get enough of it :D:D:D
just finished Chains of the Heretic: Bloodsounder's Arc Book Three, the last book of the series, and I'm impressed. I liked the denouement and the whole series was very good, grimdarkish but also original because it's totally character-driven. In addition, there are several battles, skirmishes, fights and derring-do. Very recommended.
Elise wrote: "I finished Twisting the Rope. Eh...I wasn't into it much.Now reading the Empire of the East trilogy. Old school epic fantasy."
I never read Empire of the East but I did read a bunch of the Swords & Lost Swords books. Someday ...
Alissa wrote: "Joseph wrote: "They're very good, but probably not the best place to start -- I'd be more inclined to suggest either The Complete Morgaine or Fortress in the Eye of Time for fantasy"I really need..."
I just bought the first book in the series :D.
Just finished reading Tales of Nevèrÿon yesterday, and posted my review today:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I also picked up a copy of Brak the Barbarian I had lying around, to fill in my J section of the A-Z thread, and to eat up time until I get my hands on a copy of Last Argument of Kings and/or Stone of Farewell.
Finished The Spider's War - Daniel Abraham and it was an extremely satisfying ending to the series. Ended up being a favorite, truly love the characters in this series. Has one of the best "villains" ever as well Bought 30% through Children of Time - Adrian Tchaikovsky and struggling a bit. Hard to put my finger on why, maybe I just need more time to get fully invested
I´ve finally managed to get The Satanic Verses (that exact edition! I´m really obsessed with editions, so I always link the edition I´m reading)! I´ve been checking my university library daily for the book. I´m studying Asian literature (even though Mr. Rushdie is now an Englishman) so this one is on my list of "need to read" for this semester - but I adore what I´m studying so this one, too, is a pleasure.I´m still reading Der Drachenbeinthron (english edition expired so I´m stuck with german, since it´s friend´s) and River of Stars.
Also started The Historian
I finished Gardens of the Moon and now I'm returning to the Farseer Trilogy with Assassin's Quest. I'm also reading The Crown Tower right now.
^ I liked Assassin's Quest quite a bit, but at the time I read them I did not enjoy the rest of the trilogy. I hope you like it more than I did though!Lára wrote: "I´ve finally managed to get The Satanic Verses (that exact edition! I´m really obsessed with editions, so I always link the edition I´m reading)! I´ve been checking my university li..."
Always wanted to check out The Historian, seemed like a cool concept, let us know how it turns out.
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Tnkw01 wrote: "Started Mythago Wood today, finally, I've been trying to get to this one for a really long time."This is another book/series I have been interested in for some time, but never got around to reading (yet).
Finished Rules of Ascension and... meh. Written in the same style (prose and characterizations) as pretty much everything in the
Forgotten Realms
novels, I prefer more depth to the characters and a little more plausibility to the plot devices. My review.Sticking with an Author Unknown To Me, I'm now giving Dennis Mccarty's Flight to Thlassa Mey a try.
Dave wrote: "Sticking with an Author Unknown To Me, I'm now giving Dennis Mccarty's Flight to Thlassa Mey a try."Never read it, but I very much remember seeing the title (and the Darrel K. Sweet cover) back in the day.
Never read it, but I very much remember seeing the title (and the Darrel K. Sweet cover) back in the day."It hit the shelves back in the height of my fantasy-fiction reading days, but I couldn't remember seeing the artwork or the author's name. Several pages in now, and I'm diggin' it so far.
Finished Master of Devils and started the next Pathfinder book, Death's Heretic by James L. Sutter, while sitting in the bar drinking beer and waiting to head over to the theater for Boiled in Lead's annual St. Patrick's Day show.
Finished Death's Heretic and am reading El Borak and Other Desert Adventures, one of Robert E. Howard's heroes with whom I'm less well-acquainted.
Finished Magic Slays - Ilona Andrews last night. Continue to really enjoy this series, the consequences continue to ramp up. Great action, great relationships, great story. Also still making my way through Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets - David Simon. I can't read a lot of it in one sitting, but it's really interesting. I love David Simon
Started and finished the Black Company this weekend.. It just didn't do it for me, the writing was just so choppy it was difficult to follow, and the storyline was just... Sigh. I really wanted to like it. I really did.
Margret wrote: "Started and finished the Black Company this weekend.. It just didn't do it for me, the writing was just so choppy it was difficult to follow, and the storyline was just... Sigh. I really wanted to ..."I felt the same way - I really wanted to like, but it just wasn't doing anything for me.
Mod
^You're referring to Mythago Woods with that comment?Jenna wrote: "Margret wrote: "Started and finished the Black Company this weekend.. It just didn't do it for me, the writing was just so choppy it was difficult to follow, and the storyline was just... Sigh. I r..."
I liked it quite a bit. Different, but enjoyable. Still need to read past the first novel though, admittedly.
I finished of Brak the Barbarian and The Magician's Nephew over the weekend, and just posted the reviews today. I enjoyed both quite a bit.
Brak: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Narnia: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Just started up The Last Unicorn and Stone of Farewell today. Was hoping to start Robert E. Howard's The Hour of the Dragon, but it seems my Ace paperback with it is missing. I find this mildly disconcerting. Though I may have the hardcover copy of the Karl Edward Wagner edited edition somewhere, I just don't like dragging my hardcovers around with me to work.
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Yes, I guess reading all these weird styles has me writing weird.
Tnkw01 wrote: "Dan wrote: "^You're referring to Mythago Woods with that comment?Yes, I guess reading all these weird styles has me writing weird."
I figured, it's just that the description also seemed, to me, to apply to Gardens of the Moon as well.
Joseph wrote: "Finished Death's Heretic and am reading El Borak and Other Desert Adventures, one of Robert E. Howard's heroes with whom I'm less well-acquainted."
I read them years ago, they didn't quite click with me as well as Howard's barbaric works. Still beautifully written though.
Tnkw01 wrote: "Started Mythago Wood today, finally, I've been trying to get to this one for a really long time."So far it´s good. As I´ve gathered, it follows two stories (sometimes ever 3 or 4) and if you love an atmosphere the library gives you plus some history and travel around Europe, this might just be the book for you.
However, I am not a fan of too much history (l mean, going backwards, like here) so I do not really enjoy when it goes backwards (letters from the "dead/missing") to the present and those kind of books usually get a very bad rating or I gave up on them. I don´t even like the "present" heroine much. Might be I´m just in a very bad mood but I´m afraid not. This book just do nothing for me at all.
I´ve started reading Cethe and I admit: I took this one because it´s BL ("gay romance", I hate all the other romance books) and it has its own fantasy world (in 16th century); mages, swordsmanship, sin-cather .... even tho it´s m/m, its more enjoyable then most of the fantasy books. Author is not centered on sex between characters (it contains some, but not much) all the time, she let us explore the world and difficulties it provides. I´m kind of short when it comes with reviewing books; for example, I rarely rate classics or books written by authors dead for more than 30 years, I don´t rate retalling, stolen charecters and etc. I do want to review this one.
Dan wrote: "I read them years ago, they didn't quite click with me as well as Howard's barbaric works. Still beautifully written though. "I'm about one chapter into the second story; right now, I'd say that El Borak and Other Desert Adventures is Howard's Talbot Mundy book and Sword Woman and Other Historical Adventures (which, to be fair, I haven't read yet) is Howard's Harold Lamb book.
I finished Calamity. Not as good as the previous two books in the series, as I had a few major issues with this... Plot holes were just one of them. Then I read Magic Bleeds, which I loved.
Now I am reading A Song for Arbonne - a book which someone from this group recommended to me in another thread - so far it seems really promising.
LaylaNoir wrote: "I finished Calamity. Not as good as the previous two books in the series, as I had a few major issues with this... Plot holes were just one of them. Then I read [book:Magic Bleeds|..."
Yeah, I was disappointed with Calamity too. I'm glad I borrowed it from the library cos I would have been really peeved if I had paid for it.
I am currently on Dragons of Winter Night. Read the first book Dragons of Autumn Twilight. While I do have some complaints about characters' depth (i.e. if you compare to Tolkien, Salvatore or George Martin), the storyline is generally quite exciting and it is an easy-read. I'm hoping to finish the trilogy asap so I can start the April BOTM on time.
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Tnkw01 wrote: "I believe I'll start Lord Valentine's Castle today, as soon as I gather my thoughts about a couple of reviews: Mythago Wood and Gardens of the Moon."That's another one I keep meaning to revisit.
LaylaNoir wrote: "Now I am reading A Song for Arbonne - a book which someone from this group recommended to me in another thread - so far it seems really promising."Probably one of my next reads, once I'm done with The Copper Promise trilogy (I'm halfway through book 2), I've only read The Lions of Al-Rassan by Kay, but I was stunned and filed it straight into my favorites shelf.
Before the copper promise (which I would recommend for a pure sword&sorcery moment, a light read with no-frills, nice characters and buckets of blood) I read The Princess Bride, not a kissing book at all :D. Very humorous.
Alissa wrote: "LaylaNoir wrote: "Now I am reading A Song for Arbonne - a book which someone from this group recommended to me in another thread - so far it seems really promising."Probably one of my next reads,..."
Love the Princess Bride film, still need to read the book. Been on my TBR pile for ages, as had The Last Unicorn, which I am finally tackling now.
Adding The Copper Ring promise to that same pile now!
I finished Brandon Sanderson's Words of Radiance a couple of days ago. I was on such a book-high that I wanted to read SOMETHING else immediately. I started Katherine Addison's The Goblin Emperor, and at first had to go sit down. It's so radically different from most fantasy I've ever read that I was thinking "hang on, this isn't what I signed up for". Two mornings later, however, I'm halfway through it and really enjoying it. I've never read a fantasy novel that is almost 100% pure court intrigue, putting all the other elements in the background. It is thick and complicated, with an explanation of Addison's elven language in the back, as well as a (mandatory) glossary of names and places that is staggering for a 500 page novel.
I bought The Blade Itself and I think I´ll start to read it, along with our book of the month.I´m actually quite slow this year, I don´t know why. There´s just so many books I want to read and I can´t really decide which one to read 1st so I pick up several of them and then read them simultaneously. I´ve always done that, but somehow this year is a bit different. Maybe I´ve just picked up books that are so good that I want to read them in one breath, I don´t know. I´m so picky about books that it annoys me.
Lára wrote: "I bought The Blade Itself and I think I´ll start to read it, along with our book of the month.I´m actually quite slow this year, I don´t know why. There´s just so many books I want ..."
Loved The Blade Itself! It's overflowing with wry dark humour, and a riveting action and intrigue filled story. It might not be for everyone, but I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Reading The Grace of Kings. Epic fantasy with Chinese influence and setting. Very good so far and I like the different environment.
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Dan wrote: "Lára wrote: "I bought The Blade Itself and I think I´ll start to read it, along with our book of the month.I´m actually quite slow this year, I don´t know why. There´s just so many ..."
I quite enjoy it!
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That's another one I keep meaning to revisit. "
Well, I'm about a quarter of the way through and I'm really enjoying it. It's a tad more Science Fiction then I expected but it's still really good.
Bas wrote: "assassins aprentice Robin Hobb"Nice - good series. I'm reading Assassin's Quest right now, but it is taking awhile because of research and other novels that I've read recently.
I also just started The Bands of Mourning, but will also have to put it on hold for school.
A Clash of Kings. I heard many say that it's the weakest book in the series. Only having the first book as a basis for comparison I noted the pacing to be slightly different because of all the strings being tied together at once, it's easy to tell that the bulk of the second book is being used as a tense build up and planning phase. So far, that is (430 pages in). Regardless of that noticeable change in the pacing I'm still really enjoying it and haven't at any point felt it a chore to finish off a chapter.
Quite late getting into the series but extremely glad I did nonetheless!
Just started Malice; too early to tell just yet but I like the writing so far. We shall seeFinished NPCs in a couple days, it was all sorts of fun!
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Fantasy Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
Ishtar's Blade (other topics)The Magic Mines of Asharim (other topics)
Fate Fallen (other topics)
Heart of the Sunset (other topics)
The Sword of Shannara (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Lisa Blackwood (other topics)Pauline M. Ross (other topics)
Sharon Stevenson (other topics)
V.E. Schwab (other topics)
Harold Lamb (other topics)
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https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I'm thinking of picking up another book to read at home. Has anyone read Messenger’s Legacy by Peter V. Brett? If so, is it a stand alone, or better read as part of the series? I haven't read anything by him yet, but I own it and thought it might be a good place to start as an introduction to his style.