Fantasy Buddy Reads discussion
Archive [Retired Book Clubs]
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RETIRED THREAD: Vagabond Treehouse Book Club
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Flame Lady: (view spoiler)
The Doppels/Mirrorists are fascinating too... (view spoiler)... and it's cool that (view spoiler) have been added to the story...
Not sure where this story is headed, for a conclusion, really... there's so much going on, and so much weirdness, I feel like anything could happen...
Timelord Iain wrote: "Manifest Delusions: Past the halfway point... Morgan has the most theorycrafting potential, I think... [spoilers removed]Flame Lady: [spoilers removed]
The Doppels/Mirrorists are fascinating too..."
I agree. This book is 100% WEIRD! lol. I still don't know how I feel about it but will continue. Flame lady's story line was a bit strange and didn't really feel like I connected with that story line as much.
Enjoy the rest
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Also, 50% through Purgatory Ridge. Good story line and pacing. Jo is getting more likable but she still has moments where I don't like her.
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Flame Lady: [spoilers removed]
The Doppels/Mirroris..."
Finished already, I take it?
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So weird to think... very mind-bendy theorycrafting results from this book...
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Need to read the 2nd book to get the whole story... from the sample of the 2nd book at the end of the audiobook (I stopped after a few paragraphs) (view spoiler)
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I'll probably rate it 4 stars like you did, Brian...
Timelord Iain wrote: "Friend reviews for the sequel are setting my expectations high... 10 ratings with an average of 4.7... Beyond Redemption has 14 ratings and an average of 4.35...I'll probably rate it 4 stars like..."
haha. "mindbendy" is the perfect term. It definitely ended abruptly. I see book 2 is on audible but book 3 isn't?
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I'll probabl..."
Michael Fletcher's been publishing for about 6 years now, but his books have only made it to audio/Audible in the past 2-3 years... Manifest Delusions released in April/June of this year... I hope Swarm and Steel follows soon, but even if we have to wait a bit, it's technically just a standalone book set in the same world... The Mirror’s Truth wraps up the story from Beyond Redemption I think...
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Beyond Redemption: I really like the Prologue and hope that the story is as weird as the prologue hints it can be.
I haven't gotten too far from that because I want to pay more attention to the story. I've been busy & haven't gone hiking. Waiting for a hike to listen and chat about the story. =)
I had leftover coupon on Audible. Used KU to get the audio discount + leftover coupon = $2.35 buck audiobook for #2. Sales are great! Hahaha
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I think that's a good vague way to summarize the story :D
I'm gonna start Beyond Redemption. I've started a few times while I'm home and just felt like I wasn't giving it the right mental attention I should in order to appreciate the phrasing and weirdness. Will see how it goes. If not, I'll try to get in a short hike today and listen then. =D
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It's really a great show, but I've been watching a 2hr highlights compilation while doing laundry, and made the mistake of taking a drink shortly after laughing, only to start laughing again... closest I've ever come to a full-on real life spit-take...
LoL - Sounds like fun! Good to have a great laugh but that's a messy way to have one. lolBeyond Redemption
Until the end, I was rooting for the kid, Morgan. After the end, eh. To be determined within next book. lol
For me, the story did not meet the bizarre & twisted promise that was hinted at in the prologue. Dark setting and lots of gross stuff was explained in a sparse manner. The characters, world and plot should come across as very complex and layered. Yet, the way it was shown to the reader was in my face and everything was too simple in how it was shown to be blah blah. One of my GR friends wrote about how Fletcher did a good job of making him feel sympathy for all of the characters. I agree with that.
I think the ideas are great! Loved the concepts. Story execution was off for me, because I felt the author was too busy telling me how to think vs letting me draw my own ideas and conclusions to flesh out the nutty world.
I went back to read Iain's comments on the story. So, the problem for me is that I don't feel like the story stayed within it's own described boundaries and that's a suspension of belief for me. I didn't find the story to be very mysterious, because it did exactly what the characters in the book said they were going to do. Some of the actions were mildly surprising, but mostly because it was nightmare style erractic and gruesome/dark whenever. But after that happened several times, it was no longer a shocking element because it happened too often.
I have #2 ready to roll and can start whenever. =)
God of High School - Ch5 Ragnarok Ep251 Even though I knew it was gonna happen, SO SAD!!! Ahhhhh
Artist/Author used a nutty mix of mythologies, culture & fighting styles in this action comic. Drawings are like One Piece. Which is not my fav art style at all. I didn't watch OP for a long time, because I thought the art was bad. The story was great though!
It's like a goofy style of Hunter x Hunter. Now, there was a series that I loved and pretty sure it hasn't been finished. Hm. I should look up the manga.
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Beyond Redemption
Until the end, I was rooting for the kid, Morgan. After the end, eh. To be determined w..."
Re:British comedy: I've become quite familiar with alot of British comedians, between the Graham Norton show, 8 out of 10 Cats, Would I Lie to You, and the yearly highlights show hosted by Jimmy Carr (Jimmy Carr hosts alot of British comedy shows including 8 out 10 Cats)...
I think I just like how the shows feel less rehearsed and more off the cuff... between Graham Norton couch interview setup, and the rest of the shows just being vehicles for funny stories...
Would I Lie to You seems to have to team leaders that appear on every episode, Lee Mack and David something-or-other, and they get 2 rotating team-mates and they tell stories and the opposing team guesses if it's true or a lie, after asking clarifying questions... they also do a segment where a person comes on stage, and the 3 team members tell 3 stories of how they know the person and only 1 is true...
Example: I watched one where there was this 10-13yr old kid... one 30 yr old comedian said he was his arch-nemesis after a cabbage prank got out of hand... Lee Mack said he accidentally mistook the kid for his own kid and took him home from daycare once... and a gymnast said she tripped him up in a family wheelbarrow relay event , because of the pressure of being a family of athletes...
Turned out the cabbage story was the true one, as crazy as it sounded...
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Beyond Redemption
Until the end, I was rooting for the kid, Morgan. After the end, eh. To be determined w..."
Beyond Redemption: same... Morgan was the most empathetic character, until he ascended, and his Mirrors and germophobic psychoses kinda took him over the deep end...
I agree the story was pretty straightforward, carried by the oddities of the world... I didn't do much theorizing about where the story was going, because I was expecting some twist and didn't feel like I had anything to build ideas off of... I mostly had the powers and limitations to speculate about...
I think this was the author's first book... it came out all the way back in 2015, and before that seems to be mostly short stories in anthologies and magazines, if I remember correctly...
In many ways, if the friend reviews of book 2 are anything to go by, this first book was mostly setup for a big epic 2nd book?... we'll see...
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Even though I knew it was gonna happen, SO SAD!!! Ahhhhh
Artist/Author used a nutty mix of mythologies, culture & fighting styles in this action comic. Dra..."
I read the 2nd Paternus book... think I liked it more than the first book... but wasn't very happy with the character deaths :(
Looks like book 3 is almost as long as books 1 + 2... will read that soon... epic conclusion...
I feel like almost every book I read that Petrik has read has a rave review attached to it... Manifest Delusion and Paternus are the ones I've seen lately... and Jade City...
Edit: I mostly linked this as a reply to your comic post because of the talk of mythologies :D
I'm not friends with Petrik, because we haven't chatted about books in a consistent manner. In general, what he considers 4-5 stars tend to be 3-4 stars for me. I don't think he & I have rated too many books the same. Overall, I think I have a more jaded bent when it comes to rating and book experiences. Format definitely has a big impact on how I feel about the story. I'd say 97% of books I adore in print are loved for similar reasons in audio. That percentage does not include romance. My tolerance for cheese/bad writing in romance for print does not transfer well to audio. Usually because the audio over emphasize the negative aspects. 😆
Also, was there German spoken in Beyond Redemption? I don't remember that at all.
@Iain Good to hear you're enjoying Paternus :) Yeah, that death was a gut punch in book 2.
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I think the terms for people with powers were german?
Geistercranken, or whatever for people like Kernig, and something with an H for underlings like the flame lady...
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Yea... I think the death of (view spoiler) squandered the character a bit, too... was the main chance to see (view spoiler)
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I generally accept friend requests from members of groups I'm in that I've talked to before, and decline randos....
And yea... I think you're more critical of books than I am, or Petrik... not in a bad way... I should probably be more critical sometime... I just think you're more cognizant of it as an aspiring writer?... or a sometimes writer?...
Timelord Iain wrote: "Soo wrote: "I'm not friends with Petrik, because we haven't chatted about books in a consistent manner. In general, what he considers 4-5 stars tend to be 3-4 stars for me. I don't think he & I hav..."At this point, I'm only accepting friend requests from people that I have a conversation with and remember. Otherwise, I'm not interested. I'm not trying to network the way I was when I ran my review blog, etc. Back then, I was looking into different aspects of writing, publishing, editing, etc and figuring out what parts I'm interested in doing for myself.
Thus far, I haven't been in a BR with Petrik or had a conversation with him about anything. The most we've said were something about a book we've read in team chats. So, not like you guys.
I need to figure out a way to get my "only read in print" list going. Wheel of Time, a bunch of Sanderson because freakin' Kramer is the narrator (barf), Janny Wurts, etc are on that list.
Guess this comic spree is a good time to get back into reading & listening. That's what I've been doing. lol
As for Beyond Redemption, it would be cooler if I had not psyched myself up for a twisty/bendy/deep story based on the prologue. The wording and meanings were really well done! What a prologue should do as a setup. I want to read #2 and see how that goes before making up my mind on the story. Since it's basically a story cut in half.
I am almost done with Pugatory Ridge and was gonna start Black Ice because it just came avail on Libby but can start the next Manifest Delusions after that. Strange ass book but I am interested to see what happens next.
After we finish #2, I totally want to chat about how world setting & core plot elements! So much potential!
Soo wrote: "After we finish #2, I totally want to chat about how world setting & core plot elements! So much potential!"I will say that I feel I would like to have read the first book in print instead of Audio. The Audio was great but some of the German names threw me off a bit.
XD I didn't even think of the names being German. Just wished that I had the book to double check the names because I didn't think the pronunciation were correct. I do think that I would have a slightly different response if I had read the story vs listening. I ended up staying up all night reading a Korean comic called Peerless Dad. It's about a widowed martial artist & how he wants to raise his triplets (2 boys, 1 girl) the best way he can. His wife died after giving birth.
It's SO FUNNY! He's a straight forward & earnest kind of guy. The most unique thing about him is how strong he is with martial arts. Except he doesn't think that he's that good and only a little better than average. The comic had me laughing from the get go and I got all teary when his wife died. There's a sequence where he's trying to get the babies to sleep and they're only happy when he's rocking them. Every time he tries to put them down on the bed, they wake up. LOL He was like, "How do they know that I put them down???" Ends up falling asleep with the babies sprawled on his chest and lots of pillows surrounding him on both sides just in case they roll off. Super cute!
A bunch of political stuff happens and he gets conned into going on missions for extra pay. He's always thinking about how he has to save money to give his kids the best life!
I've been laughing my butt off and enjoying the plot. The sequences are really well done! Also loving all of the martial arts and kung fu magic. =D
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2018, first year of the competition, I think I did 200-300 buddy reads... 2018 also kinda soured Petrik to Buddy Reads, tho...
Petrik only liked Buddy Reads that had several pages of meaningful discussion, and I can definitely say that was only like 10-30% of the BRs, when so many were happening...
Some of it comes down to the types of book, and how fast people are reading, I think... as can be evidenced by the times I put in the extra effort to comment something every couple chapters, versus reading the whole book and leaving 1-3 lines of comments...
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It's so hard to go back and recatalog 100s/1000s of books years later, with new tags you now find relevant...
BRs in general seem to have slowed significantly this year. I hope it's temporary.
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It has slowed a lot. I thought during Covid it would have picked up the chats around FBR. Such a great group of people and book club so hope it picks up again. Understandable that life gets in the way tho
I miss the activity too. I hope its a cycle as some leave and more join. I agree Brian that I thought Covid would have prompted more reads though I think it might have had an opposite effect. I saw so many friends posting about reading slumps during the last 18+ months and even fell into a mini one myself.I'm sticking around here though so you all better not leave :D
Audible is having 5 days of Flash sales. A new flash sale every day for 5 days. Prices starting at $5. I happened to be checking emails when it came in :) Today's sale has 10 pages of stuff to go through. I have it open in another tab to check later.
Lol. I’m staying. This is still the first app I open in the morning when I wake up.
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I think there was an initial surge in April/May 2020, then the opposite as time stretched...
I'm not going away either... this little subgroup of FBR is keeping the torch lit, I think...
I love you guys! I mean, I love friends in other groups too, but I know I can do a mashup of general chat + books with ya'll. Which is the right mix for me and has me coming back to see what's going on. =DAs for BR's, I like having a good BR discussion. It does make reading a book a lot of fun.
I'll say that I also don't want like being the downpour of doom and flak for a book either. There aren't enough BR's where you can discuss opposite points of view and have that lead to a good conversation. I think that's a positive thing to have, because reading other viewpionts is healthy & can be challenging. So, if I'm up for a debate, I'll share some of my dissenting thoughts and see where it'll go. If it doesn't seem like it'll be a good for the thread deal, I tend to not say as much. I mean, nothing good will come from me just saying, I don't like blah blah blah a lot. What's the point if there's no discussion? That's part of the fun. Sharing, disagreeing, cheering, etc.
Totally going to check out the Audible Sale later. I'm a sale sucker. lol
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Sandman Slim - King Bullet #12
Pendergast - Bloodless #20
Finder - The Scavenger Door #3"
Gonna give Finder #2 a chance... and picked up King Bullet... still only on Pendergast 15/16...
I'm getting caught up on Pendergast and then I'm diving into #20. =DLet me know when you're going to read Sandman Slim. I'll do it around the same time.
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I need to catch up on the Sandman Slim series. I'm only up to book 3.
Poison Study is a better series than Healer. I like both.Brian, yah! Who doesn't need more crazy hijinx? lol
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Brian, yah! Who doesn't need more crazy hijinx? lol"
I liked the characters, but it seemed weird that every war/conflict came down the the MC "healer" going solo behind enemy lines... and somehow the world felt small, because everything took place in captivity or war camps...
Fantasy Buddy Reads
Books mentioned in this topic
Boundary Crossed (other topics)Into the Black (other topics)
Terms of Enlistment (other topics)
The Palace Job (other topics)
The Cuckoo's Calling (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Rysa Walker (other topics)Rysa Walker (other topics)
Charlie N. Holmberg (other topics)
ETA: I don't think it's the link I was trying to add to an existing post. It's the not GR links I had in there. LAME