Fantasy Book Club discussion
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What are you reading in...
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What are you reading in October 2017?
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I'm 40% into The Daylight War. The plan being scrap September's book list read and complete Brett books ready for author night and start The Core. Work and life scuppered that!
I just finished reading Rose Daughter, a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. I like the beginning and middle parts and all the description of the roses. But the explanation about the Beast became a Beast and the ending were just too weird.
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Finished Provenance (which was great) and, in honor of the season, decided to reread H.P. Lovecraft, beginning with Collected Fiction Volume 1 (1905-1925): A Variorum Edition.
At last I started The Crippled God (Malazan Book of the Fallen 10)..been putting it off for a while now.Also continuing with Codex Alera..almost finished book 2 (Academ's Fury).
For rereading, I'm almost done with Go Set a Watchman..after that will start on Royal Assassin (Farseer Trilogy, book 2).
In the middle of Summer Knight this month. So far Dresden's aptitude for ticking people (and Fae) off is still holding strong.
I plan on finishing The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance re-read in prep for Oathbringer. Once that is done I am thinking of reading It by Stephen King and finally The Core
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I'm also rereading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. It's a whole different experience after living in Stockholm for 2 years, I can really picture the places and atmosphere.
I started The Way of Kings a couple weeks ago, really enjoying it so far, hoping I can finish Words of Radiance before Oathbringer comes out and join in on our discussion. At 1200 pages each tho I may be cutting it close haha.
Listening to an audio version of this month's group read A Night in the Lonesome October; fun discussion.I thought I'd finally join the party of Stormlight fans. Have had a copy of The Way of Kings on my Kindle for a few years but didn't want to start a series that may not be finished in my lifetime. I've read the first 2 chapters, and it's been a slow start for me. I'm hoping it will pick up and I'll enjoy more of the story...soon, otherwise it will be a very long drawn out thousand pages to read.
Monica, I got through 60% of Way of Kings and was bored out of my mind. I was doing audio book. I picked up the ebook to see if skimming heavily would help. But then I thought, can really commit to possibly skimming seven books if this keeps up? I didn't even like his short YA books so I kinda consider it a lost cause for me.
Oh wow, Heather. Good to know. If it doesn't pick up by the time I get through 25% (250 pages), I'll give up on it for now. It has such high ratings that I was anticipating a gripping story from the beginning.
I'm not sure that I gave them a fair shake.
Just finished A Darker Shade of Magic. A solid 4 star book. I liked this world and its magic although i found it a bit strange to read a fantasy based (sort of) in the city where i live! I will look forward to continuing with the other two in the trilogy when i get the chanceFor now though - on to the Stormlight re-read withThe Way of Kings, Part 1
This will be my third re-read of the first two Stormlight books which is no chore. I love them. To those who are struggling, I do understand. If your only exposure to Sanderson are his short stories or you've never read him before, this series is a challenging place to start. I think you need to have a faith in the author that can only be gotten by having read some of his other epic fantasy. The Mistborn Trilogy Boxed Set would be a good example as its more immediate than Stormlight. The first Stormlight book has effectively 4 prologues, all different povs! If you have read him before though you go with it because you know he has the ability to pull all this together and tell an amazing story set in a unique world.So stick it out, you're in for a treat
So far I really like it. The only books I've read by Sanderson so far are the first two in the Mistborn series, and at this point I can say that I already like Way of Kings a bit better - not that Mistborn wasn't good, but this has a lot more substance. I like that he's created a fantasy world outside of the more traditional medieval England style (not that that's a bad thing) I love the weird crab creatures, and he does magic systems really well. Looks like I've invested myself in another long series with 7 more books to go :D At least this will tide me over for a little bit while I wait for Winds of Winter and Doors of Stone.
Helen wrote: "I just spotted that you finished Throne if Glass :)I'm 40% into The Daylight War. The plan being scrap September's book list read and complete Brett books ready for author night and start The Cor..."
Yeah and I'm going to buy book 2 next week. Actually, I'm even thinking about buying book 2 and 3 but will see about that. I do need to have something to look forward to next month ;)
I read The Road & was highly disappointed. I'm a fan of post apocalyptic fiction & with all the raving about this, I thought I was in for a treat. I wasn't. I gave it a 1 star review here:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Thanks Jason. I also struggled in the beginning with the drawn out detailed setup in The Dragonbone Chair until Shadowdenizen said to srick with it...it would be worth it...and it was. So, two more chapters of Way of Kings read last night, and still hanging on. Not loving it, but willing to continue.
I read Steelheart (that's what I meant by his shorter work). I will give it a try again at some point. The reason I'm less willing to keep trying is that I've run into fantasy books that are wildly popular that I didn't like such as: The Warded Man, The Eye of the World, Promise of Blood.
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Monica, I would recommend The Way of Kings in audiobook form. I thought it was great.
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Heather, IMHO Steelheart was not one of Sanderson's better works. A lot of his others books are really great.
I also have found that some really popular books were just not for me. But, that's ok because everyone has different tastes and, as I have said in the past, that's what makes FBC great.
Thanks, Tnkw01, I'll keep that in mind.
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Finished H.P. Lovecraft's Collected Fiction Volume 1 (1905-1925): A Variorum Edition and, unsurprisingly, will be proceeding to Collected Fiction Volume 2 (1926-1930): A Variorum Edition.
I'm currently reading A Gathering of Shadows, re-reading Priestess of the White and for in between for public transport or during cleaning up Warbreaker on audiobook.After finishing that I'll re-read The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance to be prepared for Oathbringer. Sanderson is just amazing, the world he creates is just awesome. And I can only encourage everybody who is still stuck on the first book to go on.
You have to keep in mind that "the way of kings" is more like an introduction to the stormlight archive, the foundation of his world. So yeah there isn't happening a lot, but you are getting introduced to the characters, what the world is all about and all that. It is a little unusual but definitely worth it.
Patrick, thanks for the "push" to keep going with "Way of Kings". I put it aside a couple of days ago after finishing chapter 6, but will pick it up again and continue. It's not bad, but I'm not yet drawn into the story.
I most definitely know how you feel, I had this on my shelf like half a year or so, always trying to get into it but failed miserably. But once you get to the part where Sylphrena (Syl) is getting smarter. Well that's what kept me going - she's just so loveable. Really I want her as my personal Spren as well and if I had I would probably feel sad all the time because I can't hug her and the urge to do so would be just too overwhelming :DNah seriously, what I did was buying the audiobook for my first "read" (Because I too got stuck on page 100 or so i guess) - working on computer, on my phone when going shopping etc. That's how I tricked myself over the "boring parts" your brain just shuts down. But not enough that you don't get the baseline. And, once I've done that and read words of radience...
I almost immediately picked up the first book again and read it - because you see, the "boring parts" are almost always damn important - sanderson hides so many infos in plain sight - I can't even begin to tell you how big the "AHAAA effect" was after my first reread.
Like I said, I gave it 60% (in audiobook) and was still bored. I guess if the intention is book one to just be world-building, this makes sense (although I don't agree with that method). But I'm not as much into fantasy as most people in this club. But I like you guys, so I stick around.
Oh no, that sounds problematic! I got rid of the audiobook because I thought I'd have to skim heavily to survive book one. But if he hides important bit in boring bit that method won't work!
I bought 10 books at the same time and have read 3, and now I´m reading A Night in the Lonesome October
I'm starting The Shape of Desire. I don't usually read urban fantasy, but I bought this because I love Sharon Shinn's other books. I like it so far. The issues it brings up are interesting. As an added bonus for me, it's set in Missouri, where I stayed when I was in the US many years ago.
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Lara, come and join the daily read - it's great fun. Jim is amazing.
Tnkw01 wrote: "Finished Forge of Darkness. Rated it 5-star. Best Erikson book to date. I definitely will finish this trilogy."I enjoyed that as well. Did you try Dancer's Lament? I think I liked that more than Forge.
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I enjoyed that as well. Did you try [book:Dancer's La..."
I haven't but I just added it to my "To Read" list.
I haven't been a huge fan of the ICE books but this one really reminded me of the original Malazan.
I've had a dry several weeks, but the calendar day layout of A Night in the Lonesome October has got me back in the groove. I'm all caught up and looking forward to trying to catch up in that discussion thread... Also hoping to finish my September Discworld (#9: Eric) and at least get a start on my October Discworld (#10: Moving Pictures). I think I can still finish my personal Discworld challenge (#'s 1-12) for this year...
Finished listening to ‘American Gods’ and ‘I Am Legend’. I thought both were very entertaining. Started listening to ‘The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet’. Along with listening to that, I’m trying to finish reading Lord of the Rings.
Half BadPretty good, but the gay romance threw me off in the second book.
A Darker Shade of Magic
Generic and lifeless.
Nevernight
Some reviewers hated the purple prose, and a good editor would have probably done something with it. BUT to me it's more amusing than frustrating, the story itself isn't that original. This book has personality, you could say, albeit not one I wholeheartedly enjoy, you gotta give the author props for not giving a crap and doing his own different thing. Usually I can't tell one YA book apart from another in terms of writing style.
actually, here is areview for nevernight. sorry, couldn't help myself.https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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It's good isn't it. I went back to my main read that I hadn't touched in a week and finished it yesterday :)
Helen wrote: "Liam wrote: "I've had a dry several weeks, but the calendar day layout of A Night in the Lonesome October has got me back in the groove. I'm all caught up and looking forward to trying..."I'm having a great time with it. I spent all my reading time yesterday just catching up with the discussion lol.
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Fantasy Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
The Stone in the Skull (other topics)House of Leaves (other topics)
The Death Cure (other topics)
The Way of Shadows (other topics)
Words of Radiance (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Elizabeth Bear (other topics)H.P. Lovecraft (other topics)
Stephen King (other topics)
H.P. Lovecraft (other topics)
Welcome to the new month. It's already October :(
Share here what you're reading this month.
I'm halfway done with Red Sister and Throne of Glass (I have about 5 pages for this one) and my goal for previous month was that I catch up with group reads and I've kinda done it. My goal is still the same ;)
edit: reading The Greatest Knight as well