Lucy Kills it With Words 2020

[Lucy]

I loved the serial killer challenge, and I've been inspired by everyone else that's "killing it", so I'm getting my series sorted and hopefully I can get some killing done in 2020.

John Dies at the End (3 Books, by David Wong) 2/3
1 - John Dies at the End ☑
2 - This Book Is Full of Spiders ☑
3 - What the Hell Did I Just Read (Twisted Trivia book)

☠New Crobuzan (3 Books, by China Mieville) 3/3☠
RIP 05/16/2020 Book List (view spoiler)[
1 - Perdido Street Station ☑
2 - The Scar ☑
3 - Iron Council ☑ (hide spoiler)]

☠Southern Reach (3 Books, by Jeff VanderMeer) 3/3☠
RIP 06/27/2020 Book List (view spoiler)[
1 - Annihilation ☑
2 - Authority ☑
3 - Acceptance ☑ (hide spoiler)]

Tom Stranger (3 Books, by Larry Correia) 1/3
1 - The Adventures of Tom Stranger, Interdimensional Insurance Agent ☑
2 - A Murder of Manatees [Own]
3 - #1 in Customer Service The Complete Adventures of Tom Stranger

The Long Earth (5 Books, by Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter) 2/5
1 - The Long Earth ☑
2 - The Long War ☑
3 - The Long Mars
4 - The Long Utopia
5 - The Long Cosmos

☠ A Cheese Shop Mystery (7 Books, by Avery Aames) 7/7☠
RIP 04/05/2020 Book List (view spoiler)[
1 - The Long Quiche Goodbye ☑
2 - Lost and Fondue ☑
3 - Clobbered by Camembert ☑
4 - To Brie or Not To Brie ☑
5 - Days of Wine and Roquefort ☑
6 - As Gouda as Dead ☑
7 - For Cheddar or Worse ☑ (hide spoiler)]

☠Robert Langdon Series (5 Books, by Dan Brown) 5/5☠
RIP 04/09/2020 Book List (view spoiler)[
1 - Angels & Demons ☑
2 - The Da Vinci Code ☑
3 - The Lost Symbol ☑
4 - Inferno ☑
5 - Origin ☑ (hide spoiler)]

MEG (6 Books, by Steve Alten) 4/6
1 - Meg ☑
2 - The Trench ☑
3 - Primal Waters ☑
4 - Hell's Aquarium ☑
5 - Nightstalkers
6 - MEG: Generations

Dexter (8 Books, by Jeff Lindsay) 5/8
1 - Darkly Dreaming Dexter ☑
2 - Dearly Devoted Dexter ☑
3 - Dexter in the Dark ☑
4 - Dexter By Design ☑
5 - Dexter Is Delicious ☑
6 - Double Dexter
7 - Dexter's Final Cut
8 - Dexter Is Dead

Discworld - Publication Order (41 Books, by Terry Pratchett) 32/41
1 - 32 Read ☑
33 - Going Postal
34 - Thud!
35 - Wintersmith
36 - Making Money
37 - Unseen Academicals
38 - I Shall Wear Midnight
39 - Snuff
40 - Raising Steam
41 - The Shepherd's Crown

Pern - Publication Order (25 Books, by Anne McCaffrey and/or Todd McCaffery) 9/25
1 - Dragonflight ☑
2 - Dragonquest ☑
3 - Dragonsong
4 - Dragonsinger
5 - The White Dragon ☑
6 - Dragondrums
7 - Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern ☑
8 - Nerilka's Story ☑
9 - Dragonsdawn
10 - The Renegades of Pern
11 - All the Weyrs of Pern ☑
12 - The Chronicles of Pern: First Fall
13 - The Dolphins of Pern [Own]
14 - Dragonseye
15 - The Masterharper of Pern ☑
16 - The Skies of Pern ☑
17 - Dragon's Kin
18 - Dragonsblood
19 - Dragon's Fire
20 - Dragon Harper
21 - Dragonheart ☑
22 - Dragongirl
23 - Dragon's Time
24 - Sky Dragons
25 - Dragon's Code

Ender's Saga (4 Books, by Orson Scott Card) 1/4
1 - Ender's Game ☑
2 - Speaker for the Dead
3 - Xenocide
4 - Children of the Mind

Aubrey & Maturin (21 Books, by Patrick O'Brian) 2/21
1 - Master and Commander ☑
2 - Post Captain ☑
3 - H.M.S. Surprise ☑
4 - The Mauritius Command
5 - Desolation Island
6 - The Fortune of War
7 - The Surgeon's Mate
8 - The Ionian Mission
9 - Treason's Harbour
10 - The Far Side of the World
11 - The Reverse of the Medal
12 - The Letter of Marque
13 - The Thirteen-Gun Salute
14 - The Nutmeg of Consolation
15 - The Truelove
16 - The Wine-Dark Sea
17 - The Commodore
18 - The Yellow Admiral
19 - The Hundred Days
20 - Blue at the Mizzen
21 - 21: The Final Unfinished Voyage of Jack Aubrey

Harry Bosch (22 Books, by Michael Connelly) 2/22
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5 -
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8 -
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10 -
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[Lucy]

These are series I've started, but I'm not sure I want to continue/finish.

Space Odyssey 1/4
Jason Bourne 1/15
Dune 1/8
Alex Cross 2/29
A Chocoholic Mystery 1/17

[Lucy]

These are series I'm interested in but have not yet started.

The Witcher 6 Books
The Lincoln Lawyer 6 Books

[Lucy]

Looks like I will be reading For Cheddar or Worse for the upcoming April Monthly Challenge. This is the final book of the series, there will be no more, so this will be the killing blow, and it means I will get at least one series killed off this year.

[Lucy]

RIP Cheese Shop Mysteries. I finished For Cheddar or Worse for the Cozy Challenge. It's official that this is the last book in the series, so it won't be rising from the grave with another instalment.

Currently listening to Origin for a buddy read.

[Cherie]

Congrats on your Cheese Shop series kill, Lucy.

[Lucy]

Thanks Cherie!

[Lucy]

Finished Origin to kill off the Robert Langdon series, for now. I'm guessing this series will need to be re-killed in the future,

[Janice, Moderator]

Lucy wrote: "Finished Origin to kill off the Robert Langdon series, for now. I'm guessing this series will need to be re-killed in the future,"

I call those "orphans". Origin was an orphan for me since I had killed off the series when there were only 4 books in the series.

[Lucy]

I have seen that used, I was wondering what that meant, now I know.

I was thinking of calling them Zombies. Can you imagine a Zombie Robert Langdon. XD

[Janice, Moderator]

With his Mickey Mouse watch! :)

[Lucy]

Hahaha, keeps on ticking!

[Lucy]

Starting Authority, book 2 of the Southern Reach series for the Twisted Trivia. Found a spot for the 3rd book in the series as well, so looks like I will be able to kill this trilogy off as well.

[Cherie]

Waiting to hear what you think about Authority. ;o)

[Lucy]

I'm nearing the end (view spoiler)[Control just fled the facility (hide spoiler)]. I actually like this one better than Annihilation (still love the movie though, and I'm finding some tiny details from book 2 are in the movie).

The narrator for book #2 is much better than book #1. Since Annihilation is so short, might give it a read and see if I like it better.

[Cherie]

I thought #2 was a little better than the first also. I did not see the movie.

[Lucy]

The movie is different than the book, it's possible you'd like it more than the book LOL The main elements are present though, and it seems like details from the other books are also included.

I had 4 library books come off of hold in the last 2 days so I'm going to have to put Acceptance aside for a little bit to get these other books listened to.

[Cherie]

Isn’t it amazing how the library books all become available at the same time and then you have to put others aside to read them???

[Lucy]

Yes, it likes to throw a whole bunch at me at once, never one at a time.

The Scar and Iron Council both just became available, so it looks like I'll get the New Crobuzan series killed off here next. Although, not quickly, one is 27hrs and the other is 21hrs.

[Cherie]

I bought the first book in the series and started it once, but could not get into it. It was just not the right time for me. I own The Scar, now too, but keep putting them off. One day, I will get to them. :o)

[Lucy]

They are very weird, so if that's not your thing I can see how it may be harder to read. Thankfully, weird is right up my alley. ;)

I really like the narrator for the audiobooks, he has exactly the right sounding voice or the atmosphere of the book.

[Lucy]

Finished with The Scar. I really love the narrator, I'm glad he did the whole trilogy, he really makes everything come alive.

[Cherie]

I will have to look and see if my library has the audiobooks. I do not mind reading along as I am listening. Weird is okay for me. I just was not in the right mood for them at the time. Eventually, I get back to things.

[Lucy]

Gildart Jackson is the narrator, hope your library has them!

[Lucy]

Finished Iron Council, killing off the New Crobuzon series. Iron Council was my least favorite of the trilogy. Perdido Street Station was good, The Scar was great, Iron Council was only so-so.

[Cherie]

Lucy wrote: "Finished Iron Council, killing off the New Crobuzon series. Iron Council was my least favorite of the trilogy. Perdido Street Station was good, The Scar was great, Iron Council was only so-so."

Good kill!

I always find it so interesting when a trilogy turns out like that. There are so many times when the second book is so much better than the first. Is it just because we are familiar with the characters and the setting from the first story or is it because the author was more creative and relaxed after getting the first story out? Then, there is the third one "not as good" or like you indicate "so-so". Is it a let down because it is over, or did the author run out of steam? It always seems to me that - after the fact, the three would have been better as two books. Is it the publishers - offering the authors a three book deal, or the authors not planning the story out better? Just a strange thing, but it happens A LOT!

[Lucy]

You're right, it does happen a lot, seems like they just run out of steam.

And I think it's especially noticeable in this trilogy because they are pretty much stand alone novels all set in the same world. There are only a handful of minor details beyond setting that connect the books.

China definitely seemed most comfortable with the world he's built in The Scar, like that was the book he really decided to start laying out the build of the world. That's one of the things that made it the best of the three for me, the world building was great.

[Lucy]

Finished HMS Surprise, book 3 in the Aubrey-Maturin series. Good story, but Patrick Tull is starting to wear on me, narration wise.

[Cherie]

Oh, I loved HMS Surprise. Too bad you can’t get the Simon Vance versions to listen to. I loved his Jack and Stephen voices.

[Lucy]

I can starting book 6! If I ever come across the first 5 Simon Vance narrations I think I would definitely relisten.

I did enjoy HMS Surprise, I think it's the best of the first 3.

[Cherie]

Oh, yes, I agree. It WAS the best of the first three.

[Lucy]

Listened to Acceptance for my last book of the toppler, plus it works for my Twisted Trivia challenge and it killed off the Southern Reach trilogy.

I can see why everyone is so down on this book, but I still liked it. It was interesting hearing about some of the people near the lighthouse before "everything happened". I do think the fact that the story switches from past to present, and then to the past but in first person POV, and then back to third person and so on was definitely confusing, especially in the beginning. I probably would have given this four stars but 2nd person really annoys me sometimes LOL

[Cherie]

I agree - there were a few good parts but it was too confusing and did not really answer any questions. (view spoiler)[ Did you decide what “It” was that was taking over the area? Was it an alien or Mother Nature? (hide spoiler)]

[Lucy]

Yep, agreed, too much was "shown" and not enough was answered, which is a bummer because I bet the answers would have been pretty cool. LOL

(view spoiler)[I think that Area X was created by alien technology and that the technology was intended to accelerate the growth of and change the environments and the nature of whatever it touches. I've seen theories that the alien technology was made for terraforming, so it accelerates the growth of an environment that is suitable for the alien species to form a society. I like that theory! (hide spoiler)]

[Cherie]

Lucy wrote: "Yep, agreed, too much was "shown" and not enough was answered, which is a bummer because I bet the answers would have been pretty cool. LOL

[spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[ The alien was the only thing that I could think of that made any sense out of what was happening. The terra-forming stuff definitely enhanced the environment, but not for humans, unless they evolved too, which was the part that was not explained. I guess it was an interesting experiment in words anyway. It got our attention anyway, huh? (hide spoiler)]

[Lucy]

Oddly enough, I think Annihilation the movie, might answer some of your questions. They may not be the authors answers, but they are answers of a sort lol. The movie seems to encompass minor details of all three books. At this point, I think my opinion on the universe of the books also encompasses the movie. Its hard to seperate it all.

(view spoiler)[I do believe, that since humans are organic creatures/ a part of nature, the alien tech would likely cause them to change as well. (hide spoiler)].