RETIRED THREAD: Vagabond Treehouse Book Club Showing 2,051-2,100 of 2,932

[Soo]

Audible Flash sale: Good stuff in SF/F but they're all stuff I already have or (lucky!) at the library.

[Soo]

The Palladium Wars series by Marko Kloos is currently on KU Read & Listen. If you have KU, you can listen/read to the whole series. Glad it's on there! I really enjoyed Aftershocks #1. Ballistic #2 was okay, but it didn't make me eager to buy #3. Glad the books are back on KU. Totally going to listen to Citadel #3.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I read them last rime they were on KU… didn't know they left… or that book 3 came out…

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I like Pendergast… and it annoys me… most of my annoyment comes from the Chong-Ra BS the authors insist is real, and learned from a secret monastery…

[Soo]

Timelord Iain wrote: "I read them last rime they were on KU… didn't know they left… or that book 3 came out…"

My take is that the author probably thought he had created enough of a fan base to get sales/etc without them being on KU. The ebooks were normal price, but the audiobooks were over a credit to buy if you're not an Audible member. The series wasn't on KU for about a year and (my guess) is that it didn't do well.

Now the books are $1.99 to buy ebook and on KU Read & Listen. That will bring readers back and gain Amazon's chopped up revenue.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Forgot how big the cliffhanger was on Crimson Shore, setting up the next book...

Started Gray Man #3 now...

[Soo]

I finished a weird VanderMeer book. I'm glad I got it from the library. It was weird but not cool like Southern Reach trilogy.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I don't think I've read any VanderMeer, but obviously have one on my TBR... that Peril one...

Southern Reach/Annihilation sounds like a movie trailer I saw recently... not sure it's the same movie, tho, since I see that you read the book in 2018 and mention a movie already... I think this is a newer movie that's not out yet, or just came out?

[Brian]

I am gonna start The Cuckoo's Calling tonight on paperback if y'all are close to ready?

Can also start next Manifest Delusions tmrw or next day on audio or whenever your two are ready.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

That's a big jump... just told Saar this morning that we had vague plans to read it in October/November...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Last day of the Flash Sale... picked up:

The Fairy-Tale Detectives
Make Me No Grave

The Mountains Rise made me want to checkout Mageborn...

I saw at least 1-2 books that were repeats from earlier in the sale...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Between Gunnie Rose and Make Me No Grave and Sixgun Tarot, maybe Audible will start recommending more Weird Westerns to me... it's such a niche genre... so much potential...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Skimmed some Audible recommendations, actually, and picked up Machinations from the same author as Make Me No Grave... it's a Terminator:Salvation type story, but it was only $2 with Whispersync...

[Brian]

Oct/nov for Cukoo’s calling?

[Brian]

I can wait too. Just went to Barnes and Noble and added to my never ending supply of books to read

[Soo]

Brian, I can start Mirror's Truth #2 tomorrow. =)
For Mystery Club, we're starting the next Alex Benedict book too. Within few days.

What did you get from Barnes & Nobles?

Iain, you should be able to find books by Michael G. Manning at your library. I read one of his series via library. I remember thinking it was okay, but not amazing. I decided against getting Mountains Rise due to the reviews.

Southern Reach was made into a movie. Just the first book as far as I know. I'm totally out of touch on movie/show front. The movie isn't true to the book, but the concepts are pretty close. That author likes to mix science and ambiguous ideas/philosophies together with some hard to swallow (because they're so brutally sketched out & not really likable) characters.

[Soo]

I'm down to BR Make Me No Grave. I have that and haven't read it yet.

[Brian]

Soo wrote: "Brian, I can start Mirror's Truth #2 tomorrow. =)
For Mystery Club, we're starting the next Alex Benedict book too. Within few days.

What did you get from Barnes & Nobles?

Iain, you should be ab..."

Oh damn. I totally forgot about the Benedict book next. I'll Scratch Cuckoo then for a bit. I could be ready for Manifest anytime but can wait for Iain to be ready as well, I'm in no rush whatsoever.

From Barnes and Noble I bought A Demon in Silver
Hangman's Gate
Past Tense
We Ride the Storm

[Soo]

I may join you for We Ride the Storm. That author gets controversal reviews. I'm curious! Also, it's in my TBR. Bwahahahah

[Brian]

Soo wrote: "I may join you for We Ride the Storm. That author gets controversal reviews. I'm curious! Also, it's in my TBR. Bwahahahah"

Sounds good! My wife says I shouldn't be allowed in books stores anymore! LOL

[Soo]

LOL Love of books is not the worst problem to have. =D

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

These Audible sales have definitely spurred extra purchases... usually I just seek things out when I'm looking for something to read or a certain type of story/genre... these sales have me picking up things because they're cheap and sound like something I'd want to read, and then sometimes they sit waiting to be loaded onto my reader for months...

At least with library resources and things like KU, we can make out reading habits manageable in cost...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I can probably read Mirror's Truth after I finish Ballistic... might read one other book first... I feel so tied to the whims of my moment-to-moment reading tastes...

Ballistic feels like the most Jason Bourne meets Jack Reacher to date, of the Gray Man books I've read (#3)... Court Gentry kinda sucks at keeping allies alive, tho... maybe that improves as the series progresses and he gets into more of these types of situations... his life of simple assassinations seems to be over...

[Soo]

My audiobook own & need to read pile has grown a lot! I don't feel too bad about it though. With audiobooks, I'm more inclined to re-read and get books done faster just because I can listen while doing just about anything. I have several audiobooks that I've had for a while and haven't read either because I'm waiting to get more from the series or not in the mood.

I'm glad digital library systems have grown so much! It's a heck of a lot more than it was 10 years ago.

While I'm not a huge fan of everything going the "buy the right to be able to buy cheaper route", it does work as long as you consume over a bulk amount. Like, KU and Audible/etc would not be worth it for me if I read less than 200-300 hundred a year.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

The problem with subscription models is they only seem to work for Amazon, because they have such a near-monolopy... smaller companies can't handle power-readers/etc... they tried doing similar with Scribd and Harlequin romances/etc, andI saw people started hitting arbitrary limits to how much they were allowed to read or how often... like Hoopla, but with a price tag... at least Hoopla is free (to me), so I can't complain much about the limits...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Re: KU/Audible: I think Audible would be worth it to me, even if I only used my credits... KU is only worth it for the KURLs and the Whispersync savings, otherwise it would be a waste... Whispersync definitely requires you read a certain amount to appreciate the savings... I think I get most of the moneytary value from KURLs and very rare actual ebook reading... and then Whispersync offers some real "saving" even tho I'm technically spending :D

[Soo]

I don't understand people that use ScribD and some of the other audiobook services. For the price and the fact that none of them are actually give a good percentage to authors, etc, it doesn't make sense to me. After trying the interfaces and seeing how they treat customers/etc, I don't get it. From a consumer viewpoint, doesn't make a whole lotta sense. *shrug*

As far as I know, there is no company that hasn't done something crappy to someone in business policies, treatment of employees, etc.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Siobhan's The Sword of Kaigen BR got me checking what the author's been up to...

Looks like Blood Over Bright Haven is a novella that's coming out next year... it's set in their new writing universe "Altima", and similar to Sword of Kaigen it's standalone and set earlier than the other material...

If it's good, and given time, I might then check out the other material in Altima... apparently ML Wang is releasing those as web serials right now... there are 3 that all started sometime in 2020... Seven Forsaken releases a chapter monthly, and Gunpowder Magnolia and Suzuma release a chapter on alternating months...

The slow schedule is why I want to wait... that and the alternating ones require Patreon... altho I'm tempted to support because I really want this author to produce more stuff...

Altima universe seems to be flintlock fantasy with calligraphy magic... and some other stuff...

If you weren't around when I was digging into this author before (other threads): Sword of Kaigen is set in the Theonite universe... a universe with 2 other books that the author started writing in high school... as a result, she doesn't like the quality of the first 2 books much, and thinks she needs to grow as an author more, before she can realize the potential/plans for Theonite... so they put that universe on hiatus and I guess started writing in this new one through serials/etc... and apparently contributes to some short story anthologies, but if that's true, they're not listed on her author page yet... just looked at her blog a bit...

[Soo]

I think that author has potential, but the reasoning and the way she writes stories together is pretty raw. Pirateaba comes across as raw too, but the flaws with her writing has a lot to do with the way she chooses to write. The plotting and story elements are still strong and get better with each chapter release. There's so much of it, that I feel at ease for being a Patreon for the writing.

Wang has a lot more room to grow. It'll happen as long as she writes regularly and isn't afraid to change to grow as a writer. I'll be interested to check out her stuff. Hopefully, it will stay on KU.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Finished Ballistic and read 2/3 of A Blade So Black today... not bad for a YA book... but I'm near the end already, and don't feel like too much happened, other than curfew troubles and a couple magic nightmare fights... and a bit miffed to hear the final book isn't expected until 2023, when the first 2 books came out in 2018/2019...

[Soo]

=D That's not a bad timeline. Authors seem to be in two camps during the pandemic. Either they're writing more & using the time to crank out more work, or depressed and writing less because they're under the assumption that sales would be less.

Besides, who knows what is happening in the writer's life.

To me, I think people are reacting in a negative fashion to having their choices restricted. It makes me think about how people want to embrace, inflate and go to extremes on a painful emotion/idea, but not actually face the things that cause the pain and make choices to deal with it.

[Soo]

Bloodless - Aww, there's a new narrator for the book. He's ok, but not as good as the other narrators for the series. All of the other ones are very experienced. This guy is kinda stiff and dull.

ETA: Turns out the new guy has great character voices but his regular narration voice is bland as dirt. His Pendergast sorta sounds like Pendergast. =D

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Soo wrote: "Bloodless - Aww, there's a new narrator for the book. He's ok, but not as good as the other narrators for the series. All of the other ones are very experienced. This guy is kinda s..."

Rene Auberjonois died a year or 2 ago... I think the new narrator started 1 or 2 books ago...

Rene was the 2nd or 3rd narrator of the series, but he did over a dozen books...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Soo wrote: "=D That's not a bad timeline. Authors seem to be in two camps during the pandemic. Either they're writing more & using the time to crank out more work, or depressed and writing less because they're..."

I know it's unfair to expect things to just proceed as normal... I kinda do, tho...

Seems like Rachel Aaron fell into the 2nd camp... but at least she finished DFZ before pandemic and is kinda between series anyway, working on start of next series... (not that you woulda cared, since you pretty much hated DFZ :D)

[Narilka]

Or depressed about the pandemic and it killed their creativity. It definitely slowed Peter Clines, who I'd been hoping would have another Threshold book soon. Doesn't look like it though as I think he's going to a new series based on some references in his blog posts.

I hope Rachel Aaron starts writing again. She's one I check periodically to see if any new news coming out and haven't heard much. I don't check her other name though.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

There are indications on twitter that she's working on something new...

[Soo]

Peter Clines usually works on more than one work at a time. The Threshold books generally come out between other books. Happy to hear that we'll get a new book out of him!

I really loved Rachel Aaron's Heartstrikers! I like the world she created with that series. I was super excited about DFZ until I read it. Her representation of Korean is terrible and the tie in for Dragon ways with Asian culture was equally bad. It was very disappointing. That made me realize that I can't automatically be excited about her work. Upside, I can potentially read her stuff on KU.

Pendergast - I should be done with this book already and I'm not. *grumble grumble* Producers also put in sound effects. Blah! Going to jump to Seeker or Mirror's Truth. This series has had several narrators. I think around 5-6.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Rene was the longest lasting narrator

[Saar The Book owl]

Brian wrote: "Oct/nov for Cukoo’s calling?"

I can start earlier too, if I shift some things. I don't know what your preference is, Iain?

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Saar The Book owl wrote: "Brian wrote: "Oct/nov for Cukoo’s calling?"

I can start earlier too, if I shift some things. I don't know what your preference is, Iain?"

For now, my preference is to wait... and I seem to have gotten Brian to go with it, once reminded of all the other BRs this week :D

Tammie wants to try it, too, and we've got her pretty booked up alternating between Cork O'Connor and Alex Benedict books, and family visits... maybe go over to the Mystery Book Club thread and float that you're interested in reading/joining when everyone is available, and we can figure out if Tammie will have time sooner...

Altho, I feel like I have alot of other reads going on, too, if I'm gonna continue with Shadows of the Apt and whatever else I'm forgetting... Peculiar Peril with Soo before my Hoopla checkout expires in 2-3 weeks... Mirror's Truth... current Alex Benedict book... next Cork O'Connor book before Hoopla checkout expires in 3 weeks... etc...

Jade War BR just got delayed until October, since Jade #3 doesn't come out until December...

[Soo]

Saar, the plan was to read Cuckoo's Calling in the Mystery Club. We're reading two series there right now. Alex Benedict is the shorter one and we'll be done with it around October. We all agreed to try to read books at the same time. Chat about it and all that good BR jazz. =)

[Saar The Book owl]

Okay, I'll head over to the right thread ;)

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I didn't love A Blade So Black... but I thought the ending came together well and the epilogue left me with tons of questions about books 2-3...

[Soo]

Brian, turns out I have the audiobook for A Demon in Silver. I can BR that with ya whenever. =D

ETA: I've lost control of my audiobook TBR and only know what I have by writing it down or looking it up in app. XD

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Soo wrote: "Brian, turns out I have the audiobook for A Demon in Silver. I can BR that with ya whenever. =D

ETA: I've lost control of my audiobook TBR and only know what I have by writing it d..."

My list probably isn't nearly as big as yours, but I'm always surprised at how much I've forgotten when I start sorting by Not Started...

[Soo]

I can't count on Not Started because sometimes I'll start listening to several before settling on what I want to listen to. =D

It does help to have the Not Started & Started groups!

[Brian]

A Demon in Silver is on audio plus. 🥵 I just bought the paperback too!! Lol.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Started In Times Like These, and just looked up the author... glad to see this is his first book from 8 years ago, and he's written 9-10 books across 3 series since then... because the dialogue is a bit stilted...

I'm gonna try and overlook that for now, and stick with it... the stilted/weirdness at the beginning reminded me a bit of the T-Rexes & Tax Law

I see Soo read this, and agree about the narration... I slowed it down to 1.7x within the first 2 minutes... feels like the narrator is reading each sentence separately a bit, to put a hard stop to each sentence...

[Soo]

Brian wrote: "A Demon in Silver is on audio plus. 🥵 I just bought the paperback too!! Lol."

LoL It just means you can either read or listen. =D

[Soo]

Nell Helleger's narration has gotten better since In Times Like These. He has narrated a bunch of LitRPG and SF/F books.

Didn't I try to read T-Rexes & Tax Law and gave up? XD