RETIRED THREAD: Vagabond Treehouse Book Club Showing 2,101-2,150 of 2,932

[Soo]

System Apocalypse #12 will be the last book. That's the next book coming out on KU. I'm on the fence about it. I guess I should get going on listening to #10 and read #11.

#12 comes out next year. Hm. I'll do a re-read before the last book comes out. Hopefully, Tao Wong will continue writing within the SA world. Well, not just co-written stuff. He already starte doing those.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Such a long delay for book 12, seems like he's trying to get it just right...

I've read more of In Times Like These, and the MC seems kinda like an idiot... he keeps screwing up his time travelling, now that he has a time travel device, and he keeps making things worse instead of better... he should just jump forward in a controlled manner, instead of jumping backward uncontrollably to get out of problems...

[Soo]

That's a viewpoint that may be easy to see from the outside, but would you be able to think that clearly as events happen around you? If you were in his spot.

[Soo]

Tao Wong doesn't work on just one series at a time. He's got a few in the air. Patreon, etc + his publishing company. He's made short stories and compilations and other stuff. So, for him, one SA book about 6-8 months apart is normal.

[Soo]

Update for KU members, the borrow limit is now 20. Which makes sense because I've been borrowing past my limit for the last few months. I was wondering if it was a fluke. lol

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Soo wrote: "Tao Wong doesn't work on just one series at a time. He's got a few in the air. Patreon, etc + his publishing company. He's made short stories and compilations and other stuff. So, for him, one SA b..."

Back when I was reading them, it seemed like he was releasing 2-3/year... not sure if he had as much going on back then...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Soo wrote: "That's a viewpoint that may be easy to see from the outside, but would you be able to think that clearly as events happen around you? If you were in his spot."

going from -12hrs to +12hrs and 30 seconds would have solved everything... I think I could have trusted myself that much... he talked himself out of that and into riskier jumps...

Altho, I'm a bit further now, and it sounds like so much more is going on in the story, now that the Scientist's daughter has shown up... sounds like the time traveling serial killed is a mega threat...

[Soo]

Yeah, Tao Wong was focused on mostly writing when I started reading SA. Now he's doing a bunch of stuff. Though, I'm skeptical on what the indie authors who have developed their own publishing companies consider as a good editor, because the books still NEED more editing in my opinion. XD

Out of the LitRPG indie writers, I know two of them have created their own companies and are working full time as writer/publishers.

I have yet to find a female writing release monster to compare with Michael Anderle. That man has a new release every month or less.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I feel like I can see the dialogue improving as the story progresses here, somehow... the dialogue with Guy Friday and Lawrence was better than the early stuff with Grandpa... the stuff with time travel Scientist and Mym was more mysterious than anything else...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Soo wrote: "Yeah, Tao Wong was focused on mostly writing when I started reading SA. Now he's doing a bunch of stuff. Though, I'm skeptical on what the indie authors who have developed their own publishing comp..."

I think the problem with editors is cost vs quality... most indie authors aren't big enough to afford quality editors... or if they are, they cut too heavily into the profits... I dunno...

I just checked Audible and he has over 400 listings, now... and has only been writing for like 5-6 years...

I think Michael Anderle releases too much...

I read the Kurtherian Gambit series, but didn't like it as much past the first 7-14 books, and haven't had much interest in continuing to add the side series and sequel series and unrelated series he's churned out with co-writers... it's probably doing wonders for his profitability, tho... the narrator he stumbled across is great tho... Emily Beresford?... obviously she left an impression if I might still remember her name... she did alot of audiobooks in a short period of time, and got to leave comments at the end of each book about her favorite characters/scenes and interactions with fans on social media...

[Soo]

Michael Anderle is a beast in the indie field. Going by the author notes he leaves on some of his audiobooks, he's made enough money to buy several homes and goes to live in different locations for writing stays, etc. That info is a few years old at this point. I haven't listened to a book by him in a while.

He would be a better writer if he took a bit more time to work on his stories and plot. As it is, he has also matured over time. He's kind of like Pirateaba.

That deal where he's co-writing a bunch of series has made him a crapton of money. Think about it. I bet his relies on Amazon as his primary source of income. It doesn't pay that much and his books aren't that expensive. Even with the audiobooks, I've heard about how Audible doesn't pay a good percentage to authors/etc. For him to make a good profit that pays out in low percentages, he's doing well for himself.

MA did so well that at least one of his kids is also publishing.

Emily Beresford - Is that the narrator from KG? She's ok. I don't think I've heard her narrate other stuff? Or if I did, I feel like it was YA.

My faith in editors has gone downhill. I keep looking at some of the stuff that is coming out of the traditional publishing houses and I'm like, uh, what? How is this considered polished?

I'm sure there are lots of influences on how an editor will view a story based on what they consider good. Reading different viewpoints from people about books and what they enjoy about them is a huge indicator. Like, having fluff (clickbait, not actual science based) articles about how people have short attention spans and crap does influence people in a subconscious manner. It doesn't really go in detail about how there's a lot of tech changes that have altered how people interact, think, believe, etc.

Anyways, I'm glad long books are coming back into fad, because there was a span of years where that wasn't popular. It's the SF/F epics with strong fan base that has made that possible. So, even if I'm not a total wackadoodle fan for stuff like Malazan or Expanse, I'm super happy that those series are part of the reason why large tomes are staying in the long term fav lists.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Feels weird that I'm 70% into In Times Like These, and I've only now reached most of the stuff mentioned in the blurb... the blurb really did a bad job of framing the first half of the story...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I'm starting to feel like the author conveniently doesn't explain all the rules in a comprehensive fashion from an authority, that way the MCs can learn new rules when the story demands...

I mean, not 50-100 pages ago, Guy Friday and his brother were saying nobody really goes back beyond 1985ish... now we learn Cowboy Bob is from 1910 and Dr. Quickly and Mym have been back to the early 1800s...

Not to mention different time travelers share different contradictory rules with the MC and say the other time traveler was wrong, or the MC misunderstood...

I feel like nobody really knows how it works... I guess that means the author can do whatever they want... and based on blurbs, that's exactly what he does with the series...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Bunch of geniuses... trying to bluff a serial killer...

[Soo]

=) But that just means you're invested in the story. =)

[Soo]

Bloodless (Pendergast) - Welp. In the end, I could not STAND the narrator, William DeMeritt.

- Inconsistent voicing: Narrative voice was all over the place from bored/bland/flat to interest. Character voices were inconsistent. The guy actually worked on making Pendergast sound kinda like Pendergast but that's about it. The other voices were not consistent. That drove me crazy!
- Random sound effects. If the story didn't really have sound effects, why would any producer ADD some for a couple of scenes? AND why would you make it louder than the dialogue/narration? Blah

Upside: The story was interesting. It was a weird mix of crime, ghostbusters and other shenanigans.

Starting Mirror's Truth. =)

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Finished my Time Travel book... finally loaded Mirror's Truth up on my phone... probably gonna read another Gray Man book before getting to it...

[Soo]

So, did ya like it? I looked it up. I made it to #2 and quit. XD

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Soo wrote: "So, did ya like it? I looked it up. I made it to #2 and quit. XD"

Nowhere near the best time travel / multiverse book I've read... not the worst either... I've read so many, that I'm not sure that's saying much, tho...

The worst offenders, I abandon, or I would if they weren't Buddy Reads like Chronos Files at times...

Probably 3 stars for me... I feel like 2-3 stars for me are a measure at how much the book frustrated me...

Not gonna be pushing to continue any time soon, tho, I don't think...

Also not sure I'm really gonna read Gray Man #4 next... wasn't particularly feeling it last night, when I read the prologue... should be an interesting day of trying to find something I want to read...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Probably gonna read The Scavenger Door instead, since Driving the Deep was another good read last week...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Sometimes I miss the days when I had too many UF books to read… now I struggle to find much other than new releases in ongoing series to tise mw over…

End up reading more scifi/thrillers instead, it seems…

[Brian]

I’m starting Manifest Delusions #2 today. Have to hustle as library audio expires in two days. Also got the next Ben Coes book on Libby. Seems like they all come at once.

[Soo]

The Mirror’s Truth/Manifest Delusions

I finished. The main idea for the duology is great! I don't think the author was able to make the potential for the story real though.

What I wanted: From book #1's prologue & intro, I really wanted to see how belief would manifest and work within the world. You get lots of examples of it, but it's mashed over by repeated internal angst. Some of that is useful for the story, but I wanted all of that to mean something, and that didn't happen in a satisfactory manner.

One of my fav series is the Acts of Caine by Matthew Woodring Stover. In that series, a part of what should have been present in this series is definitely established, shown, explained and enacted within the story.

The idea is great because belief can be expressed/altered in so many ways. It could be psychological/religious bent/emotionally driven/etc. Limitless potential!

Between the two books, I liked the flow & events in the first book more. Waiting to see what ya'll think about #2.

[Brian]

I’m definitely not liking it as much as book 1. The middle of the story slogs on with little or no tension. I was becoming bored. The core characters are good and have very few redeeming qualities but I still like them.

Ending was better and I feel satisfied but book 1 was better. Interesting and unique in the world of fantasy fiction though. Very creative idea, just not executed as well as it could have been. To me

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

You guys really flew through, once you decided to start (still)...

I started late last night... read about 10% before going to bed...

So far, there hasn't been much explanation why Bedeckt had to abandon his allies from book 1, except whatever is going on with the Mirrorist...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Found a new thriller series I'm gonna try: Slow Horses: it's about British spies sidelined for screwing up or being unreliable... 7 books and a couple short stories... all but newest are on Hoopla...

[Soo]

I know right? Not much happened in #2. A lot of introspection and repeat from the first book. The internal angst would be fine if it lead to other stuff happening within plot, but that didn't really happen in a way that made things click.

Iain, Bedeckt was killed in 1st book and revived in #2.

Let us know about Slow Horses. =) I see Woman Reading read it & enjoyed the book.

[Soo]

Starting Across the Nightingale Floor. The 4th book for the series is in the current Audible sale. I figure I should listen to the first one and make sure I want to get the rest. XD

[Soo]

My current comic fun is Martial Peak. An over the top cultivation series that's packed with action.


Yang Kai is the MC. He starts off as a regular kid with a determined drive to learn martial arts. I'm somewhere in the 400 chapters range. I thought it would be a basic weak character grows strong story, but there's a lot going on. I like the different ways he trains/cultivates and incorporates the special skills into his martial arts. The backstory unfolds a snippet at a time. It makes the overall story rich with details about why Kai started his martial training path. All of the side characters are fun! The morality of good & evil are explored. There are plot holes. The artist/author has great ideas that come together in a fun plot. It's a 4 star series for me. Can't 100% recommend it though. The translations are a bit off for some of the releases, but easy to figure out if you're familiar with Chinese sayings & Kung Fu type stories.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Yea, I remembered that part about Bedeckt, but it seemed like he could have brought them with him back to life if he chose to… seems more like the new ally is setting up a chain of events where Morgan sending the other two back works in Bedeckt’s favor…

Reading you guys’ comments is really coloring my listening experience… you didn’t say anything I didn’t already know to some extend and couldn’t point to in the first book as well, but now I find myself slowly getting more frustrated with how much all the characters repeat the mantras and justifications for their actions and goals and the rules of this world… Delusion shapes reality, etc etc etc…

Probably why I paused so long in the middle of the first book, too…

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Forgot to mention I’m 25-30% into Mirror’s truth now…

Read Slow Horses soon… keep you updated… high hopes… sounds interesting/different…

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

40%: At least my theory that (view spoiler)[the new Mirrorist might be a crazy Fate (hide spoiler)] is looking promising…

That torturer seeking perfection through mutilation is messed up, tho…

[Soo]

Eh, at least that makes sense within the context of being a torturer?

I finished the other book and diving into The Terminal List. My library has most of the books. It has high ratings. I figure it should be fun.

[Soo]

Reese in Terminal List is nowhere as cool as Joe Ledger. LOL

Maybe I should just knuckle down and listen to Relentless. *sniff* It's SO SAD THOUGH!!

[Soo]

To explain this manhua (Chinese comic) crop that I posted on FB:

Martial Peak (Somewhere in mid-500 chapters)

Top Crop - See all that writing in the background? That's Kai's Mom talking about him and all the ways that she knows him.

Bottom Crop - The ultimate statement about Kai's temperament.



At this point in the story, a horde of "evil" martial arts practitioners are taking over one of the big cities. Central City is ruled by 8 powerful families, and all of them have pissed Kai off by trying to force him to submit to their demands. That happened before the attack. Now, it's in the middle of the long battle and the families (those that are left) want to figure out Kai and see if they can get him to help vs attack them.

Basically, Kai treats anyone that has been nice to him very well. If you're mean to him, he gets his revenge three-fold. BWAHAHA!

I died laughing! Bwahahahha

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Manifest Delusions 60%: Can't believe I'm that far through already... doesn't feel like much has happened... other than showcasing how much worse off the Trio are solo vs as a group... Shtelin is a bit lost... Vishtig is falling apart, between the torture and the 2v1 fight he just stupidly did... I dunno how he survived that face slice... or how he's gonna continue his bravado combat act (altho it doesn't seem to be slowing down his wins in his bar room bender he's got going right now)...

[Soo]

Yah, just keep going. It kinda picks up around 80-85%.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

After that swordfight, his face sounded like Wesker or the dogs in later Resident Evil movies...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Wait... (near the end now): (view spoiler)[so Bedeckt IS delusional... but his delusion is that he's sane/normal... and he's able to shape reality so EVERYBODY is normal?... no powers...

Seems like Bedeckt is the one with the ability to make the world "perfect" and remove the need/existence of Geisterkranken/etc... (hide spoiler)]

There's a question on the book page that the author answered 4 years ago, that indicates this series is intended to be a trilogy, but the author has gotten sidetracked with other projects... no idea when this fabled 3rd book will materialize... but author says it's tentatively called WAR TO END ALL

EDIT: Rooted around the author page, and it looks like he intends to get back to Manifest Delusions after fiinishing the last book in the other 2 open trilogies... last year he said early 2022 probably... looking now, I'd say late 2022 or early 2023 probably, since neither book is out yet...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I guess I lived in my own little fantasy there for a minute, with my last spoiler... (view spoiler)[Bedeckt is dead, and he died in a sane world... so much for being the answer to everything...

Starting to feel stupid for expecting this book to follow through on the initial premise... the first book didn't, really, either...

Starting to seem like this book is going to end with Morgan continuing along with his Crusade that's been going on as a side-plot the whole book, and maybe Vishtig and the Mirrorist left alive to maybe go after him? (hide spoiler)]

[Soo]

So... Did anyone catch exactly how they came back to life? Because it felt super short fly over move that got lost in the massive amounts of introspection about being crazy/etc.

I don't think it's clear if B was sane or not. The whole belief impacting reality is great, but it wasn't well established within the story. Makes me so sad!

LOL to the Resident Evil gif!!!

Like, I'm not going to believe that anyone is actually dead until the series is over. I knew that the books couldn't be a duology! Thanks for confirming for me, Iain. XD

After 1 & 2, the concept of what is real and who will win is pretty fuzzy. I mean, it already looks like Morgan's reflection is ready to come out and take over. Probably more than one.

I think it's funny that the author can describe gross stuff well, and doesn't quite capture how to express quiet beauty/moments. If there was both in the book, it would have made for good contrasts.

Was it at all clear the age difference between B and his new sidekick? The standalone book is about B's son and sidekick.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Soo wrote: "So... Did anyone catch exactly how they came back to life? Because it felt super short fly over move that got lost in the massive amounts of introspection about being crazy/etc.

I don't think it'..."

Bedeckt: was seeking a Geisterkranken, and the girl came along... her delusions believed that mirrors could be used to jump dimensions or go between life and death... viola!

Vishtig and Shtelen... Morgan is playing the game in God Mode and just snapped his finger...

Re:Death: (view spoiler)[I believed he was permadead, until the other people that died during the "sanity bubble" turned up in the Afterdeath and Shtelen killed them again... now I think it can go whichever way the author decides... (hide spoiler)]

Last Morgan Chapter: (view spoiler)[he's going off the deep end with his slaver tendencies and super-cult... interesting that Nacht orchestrated the whole book... until he thought it was too easy, and now thinks someone bigger is orchestrating the things on a higher level... sound cool... shoulds be interesting...

The fact that Failure is free again demonstrates what you were saying about "death" not being really permanent for POV characters in this series... (hide spoiler)]

I'm not really clear what kind of ending this series is aiming for... sanity... a revelation on a higher level about the inevitability of spawning new dimensions when insanity breaks a threshold?... the world is fucked no matter what?...

Bedeckt/Wichtig: The age difference comes down to whether the mirror is really her sister, or a mirror... which is pretty vague in the story, given how the character seems to have Multiple Personality dissorder or something... sometimes she seems like the naive child and other times like the world-weary adult... based on appearance I figured early 20s?... pretty young, regardless... Shtelen a bit older... Vishtig could be up to 40, with the kid/family abandoned... and Bedeckt a worn down 50-60?...

Hard to say, really... also, not sure where you got that for Swarm and Steel... I don't recognize the names in the blurb...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Started Parasite... I thought I knew what I was getting into... Miracle Cure of all diseases leads to Rage Zombies...

But this first book is pre-apocalypse, so a much different feel... the apocalypse apparently is the focus of books 2-3...

[Soo]

Swarm & Steel - Ha! Okay, so part of the problem is that I haven't read the books and the names/situation for the two characters seem like the son and sidekick.

Also, apparently, I mixed B & V. Anyone else do that? Bah! This makes me feel like I need to read the books vs listening to them. Except, I don't think I will like it more for reading. Hm, dilemma.

Though, I guess I can speed read #2. It's on KU. Hmmmmm

Parasite: Yeah! It's weird right? I wanna know what you think of the MC.

[Soo]

My pride is pricked! I'm gonna speed read MT.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Parasite: given what I know the expect from the story, it's making me paranoid... is Sal a blank slate human?... or a tapeworm piloting a meatsuit and doing a better job than these sleepwalkers?...

I just make up my own spellings and correct as I see correct spellings in other comments or on the book page/reviews... mostly know character names of this series from Author Questions...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I know I’ve got a real leg up, having an idea where the book is heading, but my theories have been pretty spot on so far… with the tapeworm dreams and love of ultrasound chambers… sometimes when the narrator says drum it sounds like germ which confused me…

Coverup/epidemic aspect reminds me of covid…

Title of book 2, Symbiont, seems like a hint to what’s going on with Sal, unless book 3, Chimera, is more accurate…

[Soo]

Did you buy all of the books or planning to buy 2 & 3? I was going to wait and see if they go on sale. I don't think my library has them. Now I gotta go look.

*checked

Yah. I have to buy the books. I'll probably wait for them to go on sale.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I’ll get them, either through Hoopla or a sale/etc… I liked Newsflesh when I read it forever ago, and it seems like alot of people liked this trilogy more…

[Soo]

Not sure if I'll like Parasite series more than Newsflesh. I really loved the way Newsflesh was more than a zombie story. =)

I just finished The Rule of Four and saw that you have it posted as Read as a Kid. If you re-read it, you'll appreciate the story more now than you did back then. =) The audiobook was great! I can see why people would get disappointed if they're looking for a Dan Brown/mystery/thriller experience. It's not that kind of book.