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RETIRED THREAD: Vagabond Treehouse Book Club
message 2501:
by
Soo
(new)
Nov 05, 2021 09:10AM
Cradle #10, Reaper: Ch4 HAHAHAHAHAHA too funny!
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But I'm pretty sure everything is about to hit the fan... Court's doing Court Stuff, but so much other stuff is going on that he has no control over, or even knowledge of...
If this book has a happy ending, I'll be surprised... that's actually one of the most frustrating things about the series... Court survives each book, and some he comes out ahead in, but half the people he tries to help either die and need to be avenged, or fail to end up in good situations themselves...
Court isn't totally depressing like some series. Jack Ryan series by Tom Clancy has one of the more stable relationships in a thriller-verse world. It's mostly realistic and pulls through to happy days. Going by a loose estimate, I think I'll end up around 725/750 books read for the year. So, more than I thought I would, but less than I could have read. Hm, I didn't mark down all of my comics and webnovels. lol
I would love to be able to read 725 a year. Impressive Soo!!!!
Mod
Thanks! Comics & web novels for the win! Well, it was great for changing up what I was reading. I had gotten to a point where I was doing 95% audio and my comic spree got me back to reading more. =D The lure of fun art that tells stories. Who doesn't like that?
That’s awesome Iain. I’m at 170 now and will probably get to 185-190 this year and that’s the most I’ve done. Last year was 140. Knowing both of you and Soo certainly has upped my game. Lol
My go to group right now is FBR and you guys in the club threads. =DThanks for being an awesome group of book friends! Plus some life things. =D
Currently reading the worst Chinese to English web novel translation. My brain kinda hurts.
I haven't figured out what "wheat" is supposed to be.
Takes a bit of work to figure out if a character is a female or male cause the translation uses both he and she for the same person. Hahahahha
This was easy: removed his eyes of reading
He removed his eyeglasses.
LOL
I must like to torture myself just a little? Or enjoy puzzles of many forms anyway. lol
One of the mini-games in phone game I play is a number puzzle. You have to link like #'s to combo and lose when the board fills up. I figured out my subconscious pattern recognition is faster than my conscious. I play both ways in turns. The highest score I've gotten is around 1000's doing it with my subconscious. With conscious, in 900's.
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The blurb for Reaper sounds like thinks are finally moving on the Suriel/Abidan side of the story... I mean, if Linden and his friends actually accomplish what they're aiming for in the blurb, there won't be much left to do (view spoiler), right?
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Instant pre-order...
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It's great... don't get me and Soo started...
The first book takes a couple hours to build momentum / get decent (about the amount of time it would take to read a normal size book)... these things are all tomes, and written online as a web serial...
Andrea Parsneau's narrations help get over the rough patches, and also make it so you don't need to try and pronounce names like Klkch :D
You should check it out so we have a 3rd person to discuss with... audiobook production seems to be speeding up, too, with smaller gaps between releases... the audio still covers less than half of the series, I think... half by volume, less than half by page count...
Timelord Iain wrote: "Brian wrote: "Is that Wandering series good?"It's great... don't get me and Soo started...
The first book takes a couple hours to build momentum / get decent (about the amount of time it would t..."
I will for sure. They do look long!
Some rough reviews on Audible but I'll take yours and Soo's word its good
Wandering Inn starts off as a very awkward slice of life in fantasy setting. Erin is teleported from our world on Earth to a larger planet with magic/etc. The story is LitRPG light. Only because there's a leveling system that is lightly used and core part of the story line. The writing (pacing, character/story development) improves over time. Some parts of how the story works is hard to understand when you just do the audiobook route. Cause you miss out on all the commentary & author note comments/updates that are on the website.
You'll like some characters more than others. There are characters that I don't care about, but I don't "hate" any of the crazy list of characters that are in the series. In fact, you may dislike a character a lot and end up liking them as you get to know them better via story. That will happen several times.
So, it's a no punches pulled kind of writing. What I mean is that the writer shows each character as they are within the current setting. That makes the character seem only "naive/bad/stupid/arrogant/etc". Yet, as the story flows, you get to see them in different situations and interactions. It's a solid + meandering build of characters/plot. Kinda like life. lol
In a lot of ways, Pirateaba is like the Asian translated writers in how she pulls the story together. That's what I realized while reading the translated novels.
You have to be patient with Volume 1. The story starts off slow. But the truncated version of the intro is a young woman from our world ends up stranded in a strange land with magic and non-human races.
Basically:
Erin got up to go to the bathroom. I think she was getting ready for school? I forget. She ends up in a dark cave and a dragon roars fire at her. She runs screaming and ends up running outside. She runs into goblins, gets attacked, etc. She finds an empty building and it's an old inn. She's on kinda autopilot and naive in ways that make you want to smack her upside the head.
Erin is a fish out of water and you get to watch as she awkwardly makes her way to the land of walking people. LOL - Super awkward.
I forgot how gross some of the stuff that happens were until I went back and re-read the volumes. I've read them several times by audio and a few on the actual website.
There's cool races, weird leveling/skill system, lots of conspiracies, a huge world, lots of moments that will make you yell at ____ character, hilarious scenes that will make you laugh, cute stuff that become known jokes/etc of the series, and big moments that made me cry cause it really did express sad/haunting stuff.
It's one that you need patience to read. Audiobook is the best way to get into the series. Andrea Parsneau does a great job with the narration. It's really one of her best work. All of the audiobooks are hours of listening material. So, totally worth a credit or snag on a sale. =)
Wandering Inn starts off as "slice of life" type story and evolves into lots of conspiracies, wacko action, magic, etc. The slice of life moments/scenes become part of the magic that makes the series a lot of fun. Part of the reader's understanding/joke/etc.
Sounds like a huge commitment like The Malazan books. I am in for sure. Just gonna knock out a bunch of paperbacks I own and clear out my audible books I haven't got to so I can be ready for Jan 1 competition.
Wandering Inn is more fun than Malazan. I've read both. That's my opinion. There were great moments in Malazan, but I always felt like I had to work for the well timed/written parts. Looking back, it was an interesting mix of perspectives. There's no such thing as a true "good" guy in Malazan. lol I re-read Wandering Inn all the time. I'm down to BR it next year.
Whew! Just did a search for Chinese internet slang. That totally helped me a lot with my current "what the heck am I reading" translated novel adventure. LOL
Mod
One of the best characters, storylines for me is Formerly Florist, in Volume 3... so much story in such a short period... (view spoiler)
Mod
I did notice that the Audible reviews for the first book weren't the best... I don't think half of them knew what they were getting themselves into when they bought the book... definitely better with some perspective and tempered expectations...
Oh yeah, Reaper is great! But it's packed with stuff and I want to pay more attention to events. So, I'm taking it slow. Continued working on retraining my Spotify. Got the rock style I like back into the "Made for me' playlists. Now working on international stuff like Asian rock, instrumentals, etc.
Mod
All of the past stuff is coming together. I kinda feel like I should wait until #11 is out. lolDid you get to the fight between Lindon & his dad? It's classic family verbal fisticuffs. =D
Come post your LoL when you get to the hilarious part. Hehe
Mod
I can see that bit in Ch4 being a running joke. I thought it was even more funny once I finished the book. Reaper was great! I mean, the ending is a gigantic tease to make you drool for #11, but there were enough cool things that I'm very happy with #10!
Mod
I'm enjoying it... MC seems to have found the roles reversed, and now he's the teacher for a bunch of people...
I don't understand why the person didn't like it? The overall format, plot flow and big events were done well. Lots of stuff that were hinted at in #1-9 were addressed. I liked it a lot.
Mod
Finished Elantris finally. Pretty good book and I understand it was Sanderson's first book written but not published. Had some slow spots but overall I really liked it. I haven't read a bunch of Sanderson's books simply due to the size and wait for new ones. I read Way of Kings and Mistborn but have waited too long to read the others. I might try and deep dive into the Cosmere in the coming year
Glad ya enjoyed it. =)I range Sanderson's work to fall between good to great. Most of it is what I consider cozy fantasy reading. Interesting stories that will be good, but sometimes I may need to be in the right mood to read. Moody reading is always a thing. Heh
Mod
I didn't see him KNOWING tho... but maybe that's just my October Daye theories creeping in (where I'm pretty sure the Kings & Queens of Faerie have suppressed themselves and don't even know who they secretly are, in their human or changeling disguises)...
I also can't tell how much longer the series is... if it's going to cover everything I feel like it has to, this could be a Dresden/October Daye level, 25+ book series... or this could transition into a sequel series, when (view spoiler)
Either way, I liked a ton of stuff about this book... (view spoiler)
Woah, can you imagine a showdown between Dross and Bob? That would be EPIC! Mercy's mom is the highlight of bad guys galore.
Did you like the outtakes? I thought they were funny. But they were totally all inside series jokes. lol
Also, the kick joke. Ha~ I grin every time I think about it. Hehe
Total Speculation: I'm slowly making my way with the crappy translation of Almighty Your Persona Has Collapsed.
I think the these stories are like Wandering Inn. Where the author has set release dates and releases a chapter per schedule. Likely has a system like Patreon and gives extras to pay readers, etc.
The chapters have author commentary/etc at the bottom. From what I've read, it seems to be like Pirateaba/Wandering Inn. The way Pirateaba will make a poll of topics and let readers vote on what to write next, include, have as an extra, etc. That makes some of the jumps in story flow make sense.
Reading this is great and also a huge pain in the arse! I think I'll make it to the end.
Mod
Mercy's mom is the highlight of bad guys galore.
Did you like the outtakes? I thought they were funny. But they were t..."
I actually still need to listen to the bloopers... I finished the main story right when I got home...
I DID feel like blooper dialogue/inflection is almost creeping into the story, now, tho... like when Aithlinn made a comment and then the beast attacked :D
The bloopers aren't recording mistakes. These are written in alternations of scenes. Good fun =)
Mod
Yea I know... kinda like when actors forget lines in movies or good around...
Most in this book were Aithlinn-related... I loved the Blue pixie one :D
Finished A Time of Dread today on audio., John Gwynn is quickly becoming my favorite fantasy author. I love this world and he excels in producing characters I really care about or hate. I am going to power through all three of this series's books.
Did the story go about how you thought it would? =)
Yeah mostly. This seemed more like a set up book for book 2 and 3.
Fav part of the story? You'll be the reason why I give the author another try. Heh
Favorite part of the story so far is the characters. There is a lot of catch up and narrative about the world (100 years after first series). What I enjoy about Gwynne is how he writes good characters. Similar to Michael Sullivan the stories are considered Epic but not nearly as complex as George RR Martin or the dreaded Malazan series (for me). In this story I really like the 4 main POVS, especially Drem, the quiet son of a tanner with a good back story that slowly develops. Each POV (Riv, Sig, Drem, and Bleda) each have a good story that makes you care about them. Sig returns from the first series so I had to catch up a bit on her story in the first series.
Also, I read the first series and I am doing this one on Audible. Narrator is great!
Alright, ya got me. I'll put that one in TBR. Heh, I'm sure the audiobook will go on sale at some point. =DTurns out it was already on my TBR. But I added a mental note for Audible sales.
I got book 1 and 3 on a $5.99 audible sale and book 2 was avail at my library
I saw that the 3rd book hasn't come out in audio yet. =)I'm still working on the badly translated light novel, Almighty Your Persona Has Collasped.
The MC is Meng Fu. She has a complicated background. This author likes to write complicated & layered stories. =D
There's always humor in the series, but it's based off of getting to know the characters. So, not so much in the beginning but more frequent later.
Meng Fu grew up in a mountain village with hardly any modern touches other than electricity & basics. She's super smart and she's like a Scrooge McDuck type. She likes to make money. That's the surface bit about her.
Example:
She already has goals on career/school/etc. She's really good at a lot of things between photographic memory and great comprehension skills.
The president of the art association (very important person) went to ask her to be his disciple several times. Each time, Meng Fu was like, maybe. During one of the visits, the president asked her if she wanted to sell the painting she had entered into a contest. Someone wanted to buy it for 400,000 yuan (about 62k) and Meng Fu was all stars and sparkles from the money that was offered for her drawing. LOL
That's how the president was able to get her to agree to be his student. Not that he knows it, but that's why she agreed because she can make money by learning to be a better artist. LOL
Later, Meng Fu meets a family member and he gave her a limited edition necklace. She could see that it's valuable, but she's not into jewelry, etc. She's not super girly. She's more about learning traditional Chinese medicine, etc. Her friend told her that the necklace would cost more than a fancy, gold plated toilet.
Meng Fu is like. Oh. Okay. I guess I'll wear this fancy toilet and show my appreciation of the gift.
I laughed a lot. Hehe
*goofy victory lap* I have successfully confused my Spotify algorithms! *cackles*
For the past month, I've made time to listen to music. I usually listen to music during hikes/drives/etc, but I'm not doing that right now. So, had to throw it into the other habit rotations.
It took me a while to figure out what keywords to use & get the results I want with the Search Function.
Shaking Up Spotify Algorithms:
- Started to Rock/Metal
- Spent some time listening to Cover Song playlists (covers done by well known bands are great!)
- Acoustic/Stripped/Live
- Dipped into classical, Orchestral arrangements for rock/etc
- Opera/Melodic Rock/Metal
- Ballads (better results than love songs, current love songs are mostly bad)
- I like Country but I didn't like the Top Hits list. I was like. That's not country. That's pop/rap/other.
- Blues (Bluegrass/Jump) & stumbled across Southern Gothic/Gritty South: Good times and interesting mix of styles.
- Korean Pop/Rock/Mix
- Chinese Pop/Rock/Mix
- Japanese Pop/Rock
- Asian shows have great soundtrack songs. Spent a few days exploring soundtrack playlists.
- Traditional Asian Instrumentals
- Metal Ballads (eclectic mix of stuff and mostly European/etc)
- International Ballads (Weird mix of new and old stuff: Asian, Middle East, European, UK, US, Latin, etc)
Looking forward to seeing what my Discovery Playlists will look like and how many times the automated & personalized playlists will change genre/categories.
Still have a bunch of different types to test out + explore.
Sadly, I'm not a fan of the falsetto singing style that's popular right now. Also, the music sounds like bunch of computer generated compositions vs music that's played on instruments & computer mixed.
Mod
There's still 1-2 books left, but they're Cordelia books, and a Vorpatril book?
Edit: forgot 2 more Miles books... one more with Ekaterina, and one without?... Diplomatic Immunity and Cryoburn... and the other 2 books I mentioned...
Are you reading all the books? Audible list has 17, not counting shorts. If you haven't read Gentleman Jole & the Red Queen #17, you should! =D I enjoyed it. It was a good story based on where the characters are in their lives and stuff. I have Komarr lined up as my next read. =D
Exploring my re-vamped Spotify playlists. Spotify has 6 custom playlists that are based on what you have "liked", saved to playlist and listen to.
My current lists:
- K-Pop
- J-Rock
- Ballads (Japanese/Chinese + 1 US)
- Orchestral/Melodic Metal
- Rock/Metal/Punk/AltRock
- Soundtrack-Mix (Korean/Chinese/Japanese)
LoL
The fun part of about the playlists is that it's a mix of stuff I have heard/"liked" and new music that I may not have heard.
I wasn't using Spotify to explore music the past few years and the customized playlists + Discovery Weekly started to only have music I knew or new stuff that I didn't enjoy hearing. Now, it's new (some cool stuff) and old stuff that I like. It's that touch of something new and to make me go, OO what's that? that I missed having from the customized lists.
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