SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion
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Which new releases are you most looking forward to?
Raucous wrote: "Aww... That sounds very sweet. Except for the treachery, spies, poisoners, cryptic killer, murder, and despair"Don’t forget the severed heads!
The new releases I most anticipate are all upcoming sequels to other books or series I've read The Stormlight Archive #4 Stormlight Archives
The Last Druid Shannara
Shadows Alive Ender/Shadow
The Queens Ender Prequils
Heart of Black Ice Nicci
The Lost Metal Wax and Wayne
I'm still excited to read it, and it still sounds amazing, and it's still by YHL, but I do *not* like the recently revealed cover of Phoenix Extravagant :/
You aren't kidding, Anna, that cover is pretty bad. Maybe it would be okay if the dragon didn't have that silly expression on its face, reminding me of:
Also, what are the things coming out of its nostrils? It looks like a helicopter crashed on its head.
Yoon Ha Lee has always had such beautiful covers before - I'm sure they'll change it before publication! The things are barbels, I believe (Asian dragons being more related to fish than reptiles), but why they are straightened out like that is beyond me. I mean, it's an automata dragon out of metal, okay, but still... Right now I'm looking forward to The Unspoken Name - I've heard it's really, really good. Otherwise I'm still busy catching up with old releases that are all new to me.
They did a big cover reveal, so why would they change it? Majority of the internet seems to love the cover though, maybe I just don't understand art?
You aren't the only one, Anna. We'll have to take the remedial art appreciation course together. :D I honestly expect SFF covers to be cheesy/pulpy, but this one doesn't work for me even on that level. Well, I do kind of like the graphic design work on the author's name...that's something.
Alright I’ll bite- I kind of like the cover. I think it’s one that would appear much nicer in person though as opposed to the graphic I’m viewing on a phone. I had to look a couple times, the first time I rejected it immediately. Something about the contrast of the red and blue.
Anna wrote: "Also, what are the things coming out of its nostrils? It looks like a helicopter crashed on its head."That's so apt! It really does! 🤣🤣🤣
Anna wrote: "I'm still excited to read it, and it still sounds amazing, and it's still by YHL, but I do *not* like the recently revealed cover of Phoenix Extravagant :/"My eyes! Can't unsee!
Why the dragon has an antenna on its nose?
Glad I read ebooks.
okay here's my thought. I agree, it's fine up til the nose.
BUT!
It is a mechanodragon. What if it literally is a helidragon? What if this isn't questionable, it's true to fiction??
BUT!
It is a mechanodragon. What if it literally is a helidragon? What if this isn't questionable, it's true to fiction??
Silvana wrote: "Anna wrote: "I'm still excited to read it, and it still sounds amazing, and it's still by YHL, but I do *not* like the recently revealed cover of Phoenix Extravagant :/"My eyes! Can't unsee!
Why the dragon has an antenna on its nose?"
Not sure what the issue is. That’s a typical Korean dragon. From a Korean-American author.
Sure, it’s a stylized anime robot dragon, but... so?
Here's another dragon related new release I didn't know I was expecting:Tea Dragon Tapestry is not on GR yet, but look at that cuuuuute cover! <3
edit: Oh it *is* on GR: The Tea Dragon Tapestry
Mostly looking forward to Network Effect by Martha Wells (bring on more Murderbot I say) and The Girl and the Stars by Mark Lawrence. There were a few others that I saw and thought they’d be good but nothing that sticks in my head.
Oh and the new Alice Hoffman novel that centres on Maria Owens. So loved Practical Magic and The Rules of Magic. She’s announcing news on it tomorrow apparently. And I can’t forget the third Nevermoor book. Morrigan Crow might be for middle schoolers but it’s brilliant and this old duck loves it.
I will most certainly be checking out Naomi Novik's new series, starting with A Deadly Education, out in October.
Beth wrote: "Finna looks cool! Added."A couple of items from tor.com. (Note that tor.com is the publisher for both of these books.) I'm looking forward to reading both!
Review of Finna: https://www.tor.com/2020/02/25/book-r...
Six-chapter excerpt from Docile: https://www.tor.com/2020/02/24/read-t...
George R.R. Martin dig on JeopardyOn Tuesday’s episode of the game show, in the category “After All These Years,” contestants were treated to the following answer:
After nearly a decade of waiting, this author assures us “The Winds of Winter” is coming ― there’s an excerpt on his website.
The correct response is, of course, “Who is George R.R. Martin?”
Is there an actual release date?! Should we get ready for the ”brace yourselves, winds of winter is coming” memes?
It’s just come out so not upcoming but I’m looking forward to reading it for sure:Star Trek: Picard - theLast Best Hope
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...
It’s gotten good reviews, most notably by a guy who reads everything Star Trek and Star Wars for reviews.
Anna wrote: "Is there an actual release date?! Should we get ready for the ”brace yourselves, winds of winter is coming” memes?"Nope and it's a non-race between George R.R. Martin and Patrick Rothfuss as to which one published first
Martin's last book in his Song of Fire and Ice series was released July 12, 2011
Rothfuss' last book in the Kingkiller Chronicle was published March 1, 2011
so, we're now at around 9 years later and still waiting
I hadn't noticed that the next Wayward Children novella has been announced. Across the Green Grass Fields sounds like it introduces a new character, and it honestly doesn't sound like something I'd like. But that does follow the pattern of me (and most people) only liking every other book in the series. So I guess good news for those who enjoyed novellas 1 and 3? I'm going to read it anyway, but I'm hoping it's not as MLP as it sounds.
Anna wrote: "... I'm going to read it anyway, but I'm hoping it's not as MLP as it sounds."I had to look up MLP, kelpie, and some other things so I'm clearly not the target market. Still it's hard for me to imagine this author hewing very closely to anything resembling MLP. I'm going to have to get it just to see where she goes there. Thanks for the pointer.
Raucous wrote: "Still it's hard for me to imagine this author hewing very closely to anything resembling MLP."Wayward #3 + horses = MLP :D
Oh, could you please enlighten me? I tried to find a suitable meaning for MLP, but everything that pops up in my search doesn't fit at all.
Anna wrote: "Wayward #3 + horses = MLP :D"Hmm... You have a point there. I think that I tend to focus on the darker struggles characters have in her works and not so much on the sugary glaze.
I also haven't read Wayward #3 yet. I've mostly read her shorts, her Velveteen books, and the start of this series. They seem a long way from what I am only imagining to be MLP. Clearly I have some background work to do before the release. I hope that this isn't the start of a descent into Brony territory. 😱
Eeee Aliette de Bodard just announced a new Xuya novella! It doesn't look like it's on GR yet, but she says it's set in the same place as Tea Master and the Detective and is a "thematic follow up" to that book. ETA: pub date in October.
Yes! She said in her newsletter that it’s being published by Subterranean Press and pleaded for pre-orders so if you’re incline to get it in October go ahead and preorder it from them now. It might mean she can get a UK publisher to take it on. At the moment she doesn’t have one.
That's great news. Tea Master and the Detective is my favorite of her Xuya stories so I keep hoping that she'll write something else related.
The Goodreads page: Seven of Infinities. I continue to be amazed at the covers they're putting on her books.
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Aww... That sounds very sweet. Except for the treachery, spies, poisoners, cryptic killer, murder, and despair.
I see another T. Kingfisher binge read in my future.
I'm also looking forward to Finna. The premise sounds too weirdly contemporary to pass up.