Sir Lancer Recommends

[Paul, A wanderer in unknown realms]

Episode 1

Welcome one and all to Sir Lancer Recommends! I have been wrangled in and convinced (thank you Hybrid and everyone else) to starting my super awesome recommendations thread.

To get things off and running I am going to have begin by recommending what you all know I was going to. So my first official recommendation is May's BOTM: Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding Retribution Falls
Along with this I am gonna go ahead and just recommend the whole damn series:
Book #2: The Black Lung Captain The Black Lung Captain
Book #3: The Iron Jackal The Iron Jackal and
Book#4: The Ace of Skulls The Ace of Skulls

This is one of my favorite series of all times. It is not going to win any awards for whimsical writing or mind blowing prose. What it is though is one of the funnest, funniest, rip-roaring adventures I have had the pleasure of reading. It is a series that makes you smile and feel connected to its many characters. I definitely suggest reading the books in order as certain plot elements evolve over the course of the series and the character arcs as well, so reading the out of order may lead to spoilers or missing little pieces. The way that Wooding writes the dialogue and interaction between the crew is just great. Also I would describe it like a steampunk-ish Firefly all taking place on one planet. I have recommended this series more than any other.

And because this is the first post I will add a second recommendation as well. I just completed this series as fast as I could find and read the books. It is the Low Town Trilogy by Daniel Polansky.
Book #1: Low Town (The Straight Razor Cure) Low Town
Book #2: Tomorrow the Killing Tomorrow the Killing
Book #3: She Who Waits She Who Waits

This series hit all the good spots for me. Whenever I play an RPG kind of game I usually play my first go as a Rogue/Thief type character. This trilogy takes place in the slums of Low Town. It is fantasy crime-noir told through the first person view of the main character (The Warden) who is now one of my all-time favorite characters. Again I recommend reading the series in publication order and don't want to give away anymore and spoil anything.

So there you have it. This concludes episode #1 of Sir Lancer Recommends! I hope you enjoy them as much as I have!

[Shawnie]

Woohoo! Both are on my To Read now.

[Cupcakes & Machetes, Hybrid Creature]

[Cupcakes & Machetes, Hybrid Creature]

I had to. It's just how excited I am. ;)

[Lancer, Warden of the Slums]

Thank you for that Paul, I still can't get goodreads to verify my email, but now that it's up and running that shouldn't matter.

[Paul, A wanderer in unknown realms]

And the post is now up on the blog as well :-)

[Lancer, Warden of the Slums]

I saw that, very snappy :)

[Dawn]

Thanks Lancer! Love it! Even though I've already read all but the last Low Town book I'd happily read them all again they are so good.

[Dawn]

Thanks Raven and welcome to the group. I've not been a member long myself but I agree, it's a great group and I'd like to thank Rinn and the moderators for all their hard work running it. Thanks all!

[Rinn, (Retired mod) Captain of the SSV Normandy]

And thanks to all of you guys for keeping the group active with your chatter and participation :)

[Lancer, Warden of the Slums]

Dawn She Who Waits is the best of the three if you ask me. They are all fantastic though.

[Kirsty, Jedi Master]

This is brilliant. Love it!

[Kimonawhim]

I think I read a book by Chris Wooding once, it was called 'Poison'. I remember it being weird, a little creepy, but so entertaining at the same time. I was quite young aswell. Is this series you recommend comparable at all?

[Lancer, Warden of the Slums]

Unfortunately I have not read it but if I am correct he has done some YA stuff and that may be part of that series.

I have been trying to find a book by him called The Fade locally with Bo luck and it may be time to just prefer it.

[Roger, Knight Radiant]

I'm going to give Low Town a try, I haven't had great look with other books that you have loved, seems we just have different tastes, but I'll give another one a shot....

[Lancer, Warden of the Slums]

Haha that fine Roger, everyone has different tastes. A lot of people loved Harry Potter but I could not get into it. Dame thing Happened with people loving the Hunger Games Trilogy, I thought the first was OK then the second and third were terrible.

I just like to pass things on that I have enjoyed.

[Lancer, Warden of the Slums]

Another would be that although I enjoyed A Song of Ice and Fire I think it's very overrated.

[Roger, Knight Radiant]

sir Lancer wrote: "Another would be that although I enjoyed A Song of Ice and Fire I think it's very overrated."

On that you and I agree!

[Lancer, Warden of the Slums]

Hello Again Everyone!

Welcome to Sir Lancer Recommends Special Music Episode!

In the last year or two I have become acquainted with chiptune music. It basically mixes sounds that could be found during the era of 8 and 16 bit gaming. So for all of you that grew up playing NES and SNES like me this will be right in your wheel house.

Like old video games? Like old JRPG's? Well then be prepared to have nostalgiagasms beamed directly into your brain!

So with that being said I recommend to you the album Endless Fantasy by Anamanaguchi!

I have decided that the song Echobo would be Sir Lancer's official final boss theme song!

Bonus Track! - Anamanaguchi - Jet Pack Blues, Sunset Hues (Jetpack I know!)

So there you have it folks. Now I know this may not jive with everyone's tastes like it does for me, but the way that it is put together and the way it sounds and what that means for me takes me back to the best times of my life. And when your all grown up and have discovered that life isn't always what you expected it to be maybe that's not such a bad thing.

This concludes Sir Lancer Recommends Special Music Episode!

postcript. listen to this loud, preferably with headphones, adds immersion

Also check it out on the Dragons and Jetpacks Blog

[Paul, A wanderer in unknown realms]

The Blog post comes with actual music :-)
https://dragonandjetpacks.com/2016/04...

[Lancer, Warden of the Slums]

what Paul said

[Lancer, Warden of the Slums]

Sir Lancer Recommends - Episode #2
Skullcrack City
Hello Again Everyone!

Sorry that it has taken me a while to get around to episode #2 of sir Lancer Recommends but unfortunately I have been rather busy with school. With that being said let's get to it!

Without wasting anymore time, I recommend to you Skullcrack City by Jeremy Robert Johnson. This is a standalone sci-fi bizarro thriller with a lot of comedy elements. I have to admit I was instantly drawn to it by its cover and the blurb that sounded like it was conceived on acid trip.

The adventure follows our hero of sorts S.P. Doyle. He is a jaded banker and part time recreational drug user that is fed up with his time at the bank and decides he is going to take them down from the inside. FIGHT THE POWER! The problem is his method for doing this involves a full on Hexadrine (a special sci-fi drug) binge and pep talks from his turtle (sidekick) Deckard.

I don't want to give too much of the plot away other than it is bat shit crazy and one hell of a good time. The descriptions of Doyle's drug binge are almost enough to make you feel like you are on drugs yourself. I should also mention that this all happens within the first third of the book. From there, things only get more and more ridiculous (in a good way).

Along the way you also meet brain sucking mutants, mad scientists, a game-show competitor who carries his brain with him in a box outside of his body, and all sorts of drug addicts and cultists. This is also only a fraction of what this sci-fi wonderland on LSD has too offer.

Will Doyle, with the help of a female missionary (who is a bad ass) and his trusty side-kick/turtle/best friend Deckard, be able to solve the mystery he unintentionally unearthed? Well, I leave it you to find the answer.

This was the most F*cked up book I have ever read, and it was FANTASTIC. It may not be to everyone tastes and I laughed out loud more than once, but was also very much intrigued and absorbed throughout the book. There are a lot of graphic scenes, so fair warning if that is something that bothers you.

So that concludes episode #2 of Sir Lancer Recommends. As always, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

This will also be posted to the blog !

[Paul, A wanderer in unknown realms]

Just saw the Email Lancer. I will upload first thing tomorrow.

[Kirsty, Jedi Master]

Added to tbr. Sounds amazing!

[Ryan]

I just read the sample on Amazon and I'm intrigued.

[Veronica]

You might've sold me at "turtle sidekick". :-)

[Dawn]

Totally on my to-read list. Sounds amazing.

[Lancer, Warden of the Slums]

It was like nothing I had read before and will likely be a while until I find something that would fit the same category.

[Lancer, Warden of the Slums]

Sir Lancer Recommends - Episode #3

Hidie Ho Neighbourinos!

Welcome to episode #3 of Sir Lancer Recommends!

The number three comes up a lot in the world of readers. So I figured for episode three we would focus on a trilogy. Actually, a trilogy of trilogies! and another trilogy! Kinda!

The first trilogy I am going to direct you towards has come up in a couple of Dragons and Jetpacks threads recently, and that is the Silo Trilogy by Hugh Howey.
Wool OmnibusShiftDust

The Silo Trilogy has to be one of my favourite reads of the last 2-3 years. The short chapters lead to the ever present "just one more chapter" syndrome many readers regularly deal with. Most seem to call it sci-fi, but I would go one step further to calling it speculative fiction. It takes place in the near future and is quite the "what if " scenario. If anyone has read any of the Maddaddam books by Margaret Attwood I would place them in a similar zone. The overall situation reveals itself slowly over the trilogy so I won't give any plot away, but I will say that a good portion of the trilogy focuses on a very strong female lead that is also up there with my favourites. Overall the Silo trilogy is a fantastic page turner and I am ashamed to say I have yet to read anything else by Hugh Howey

The second trilogy I am going to recommend is one I am pretty sure most people have read at list a bit of, and that is the First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie.
The Blade ItselfBefore They Are HangedLast Argument of Kings
Best Served ColdThe HeroesRed Country

Joe Abercrombie has become one of, if not my favorite authors. Authors like Glen Cook and his Black Company put gritty fantasy on the map, but Joe Abercrombie has brought it back in force. For a fantasy series it is fairly light on the fantastical elements, but heavy on the ball busting, kick ass awesomeness. To me the characters are what really shine in this trilogy and it contains three of my favourites. Logan Ninefingers, Inquisitor Glokta, and mercenary leader Nicomo Cocsa. You would be doing yourself a disservice by missing out on this trilogy or Joe Abercrombie's writing in general. On top of the First Law Trilogy there were three stand alone novels (a trilogy...kinda?) that brings back some major and minor characters from the First Law Trilogy. They are Best Served Cold, The Heroes, and Red Country. They are just as good as the first three, and Red Country was my favourite of all six.

The third and final trilogy I am going to recommend is the Alchemy Wars Trilogy by Ian Tregellis.
The MechanicalThe RisingThe Liberation

Only the first two books have been released so far (the third comes out December 2016), but those first two books were fantastic with one of the most interesting settings I have ever read that you could call steampunk in certain aspects. In the series the Dutch have become the superpower of the world after mastering the art of alchemy which allows them to create subservient automatons to do their bidding (they are basically slaves) The pretty much follow similar rules to Asimov's laws of robotics ala iRobot. The only holdouts are the French who have colonized Eastern Canada and take on the role of the resistance. The series starts with one of the mechanicals (Clakkers) somehow breaking free of the masters hold on him and goes from there. What follows is war, espionage, chaos, and all that good stuff. Once again one of the POV's is a strong female which is always good and book three Liberation is near the top of my most anticipated releases of 2016.

So there you have it! A trilogy of trilogies (and a quasi trilogy as the cherry on top)! That concludes episode #3 of Sir Lancer Recommends, and as always happy reading and see you next time!