Fantasy Buddy Reads discussion
Archive [Retired Book Clubs]
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RETIRED THREAD: Vagabond Treehouse Book Club
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Veronica doesn't seem to be around much, these days, except maintaining the Bingo thread?... it's a shame... we had a good amount of BRs going at one point, with Sanderson/etc...
Vagabond fills my hangout/discussion itch, as well... the rare times I try to get active in GG&G, I just copy discussion posts from here over there...
I definitely aim more for fun / eye-catching books/blurbs... for all that this is a Fantasy group, I struggle to read new Fantasy/Epic Fantasy series...
Started my re-read of Tiamat's Wrath #8. I'm amused because there's an analogy about training pets in Threadbare #4 & Expanse #8. The idea of using punishment to reinforce actions you want your pet to do. Though, in Expanse, it's more about aliens.
Which just leads to me thinking, "What a dumb plan! And it took a whole committee/etc to come up with it." Sadly, this happens in real life too. LOL
GG&G: Heck, I keep thinking you've been around forever and forget that you were around when I came back to GR after a bit of a hiatus. =)
I have an hour left of Threadbare 3. I'm thinking to leave it at a trilogy for now. Apparently Siepel is planning more books. Do I remember that you guys tried his other series Small Medium? I think that's the name. Were they worth it?
Threadbare: I would wait until the 2nd trilogy of books are done. I'd guess #2 & 3 will be out within a few years. Iain mentioned that the books are currently on Royal Road. So, you could potentially read the less edited version for free on RR. If you have Audible & want more Sieple, try the Dire Saga. The first few books (1-3) are on Audible Plus.
I went back to read my reviews and check on what's on Audible, KU, etc. All of the books used to be on KU, but he's taken it off that now.
Small Medium has elements that are fun, but I didn't care for the main character. It was the side characters that made the books fun. Also, AS has pacing issues and doesn't know how to stick to a main plot line. I guess you can ignore the potential plot lines? Except, how would you know which ones to ignore? lol
From the looks of it, all except Dire Saga, series are in the same world as Threadbare.
Iain and I had planned to read Blasphemy Online once the books were done. That trilogy is done & the audiobooks are available. Hm, reviews are not that great though. I'd probably take it one book at a time. I was buying the audiobooks as they were coming out or when it went on sale.
Iain, we should read Dragon Hack #1 (Blasphemy Online) next year and see if we wanna keep going. =P
Narilka, we can also give you recs for other books that are fun adventures with the warm fuzzies. =)
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My only other real slice-of-life series, that I can think of, is parts of Wandering Inn, which I'm constantly trying to get everyone to read, it seems...
Wandering Inn is only partially slice of life. WI is definitely the kitchen sink of fantasy. lol There's a fun town building/etc LitRPG with a goofy name. Oh Great! I was Reincarnated as a Farmer is on KU and the audiobook is out. A very good debut novel for a series by an indie writer.
Oh, going with LitRPG, you guys should look at Dungeon Crawler Carl #1. Currently 4 books out on KU & the audiobooks are out too. Glad I checked! Now I have #4. =D
The series is a great LitRPG: engaging characters, evolving plot lines, humor and lots of action.
Matt Dinniman will probably be added to my auto buy LitRPG list. He has some rough edges as a writer, but he shows a lot of promise of becoming a better writer with each book.
Timelord Iain wrote: "Blasphemy Online is supposed to be a prequel series to Threadbare, before the game world became broken, I think?My only other real slice-of-life series, that I can think of, is parts of Wandering..."
Let's plan to read it next year? Which is in a few weeks. lol
Okay, I'm gonna read the last Sandman Slim soon. I feel like I should get a better pay off from reading that one than the last Expanse book. Which leads me to wonder how many "last of the series" books I've read this year. I feel like there's more than five...
=D
Wandering Inn (Website): Turns out I paused on Vol6, Ch.59. Only have 11 chapters to finish it off. =DIn the mode to finish things, picking Vol6 back up and going to finish it.
Soo wrote: "Narilka, we can also give you recs for other books that are fun adventures with the warm fuzzies. =)"Bring on the recs! Threadbare has been my favorite discovery this year :D It's the perfect mix of clever, funny, action and heartwarming cuteness! The fact that it's a decent LitRPG is a bonus. Not sure anything can really compare.
I've accidentally let Audible credits build up. I'm definitely going to download Project Hail Mary and I wanted to try another of Seiples series. I can probably be persuaded elsewhere though. Doesn't have to be LitRPG. I checked out Joe Ledger 7 and think that may be too serious right now based on your and Iain's reviews so putting off for a couple more months.
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In the mode to finish things, picking Vol6 back up and going to finish it."
I'd like to finish things, too... but my Incomplete Series spreadsheet is very out of date... and most of the stuff I'm behind on I have little interest in reading right now... doing better at just kinda keeping up with new releases I care about...
I did Sandman Slim awhile ago, I think...
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Bring on the recs! Threadbare has been my favorite discovery this year :D It's the..."
If you don't want to join us for Wandering Inn, I'd recommend Drew Hayes?... I've loved all his series, some are lighter than others...
NPCs
The Utterly Uninteresting and Unadventurous Tales of Fred, the Vampire Accountant
Super Powereds: Year 1
Second Hand Curses
Forging Hephaestus
Corpies
Pears and Perils
The Case of the Damaged Detective
Wandering Inn doesn't interest me. Based on the comments here I'd have a really hard time getting through Vol 1. I also don't think I'd last for an audio book that long right now lol At the moment I prefer 15 hours or less.I really enjoyed Second Hand Curses and the 5 Minute Sherlock books. Based on that, would you pick either Fred the Vampire Accountant or Pears and Perils next?
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Fred the Vampire Accountant, is a 6 book series, and counting, so more of a commitment... the first 1-3 books are kinda like anthology stories, from what I remember, or at least the first one is, introducing all the characters... later on, they start being more single stories of the group dealing with things while trying to do a bigger thing...
I really like the series, it's kind of an unexpected hero series?... Fred kinda stumbles his way into being the Pack Leader to a bunch of Misfits, that operate outside the Supernatural Norms...
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re: WI: yea... that was kind of the problem with the initial BR of WI back in 2019/2020... we tried doing it like WORM / Super Powereds, but it fell apart fast... I think I and maybe one other person were the only ones to survive the BR, and we did it alone not together...
The audiobook DOES really help... but I also know you mostly use audiobooks for commutes/etc, and don't necessarily want to be committing to 50hrs of audio, eating up a whole month of audio time...
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2021, by contrast, has only been 20-30 books per month, except for January...
I downloaded Pears and Perils. Listened some while I ate lunch and it's already interesting. A professional scapegoat...Also loved the quote "Desire is the root of suffering."
Soo/Brian - feel free to chime in with other suggestions. I still have a few credits.
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Also loved the quote "Desire is the root of suffering."
Soo/Brian - feel f..."
Too late now, but I would have probably just checked out the ebook for "free" on KU and bought the book for $7.49, instead of using a credit... if you have KU... I always check that before using a credit... one of the reasons I don't buy more credits than I do...that and how much I use Hoopla and Audible Plus/etc and rereads, these days...
I don't have KU. It's not cost effective for me.
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It's only cost-effective for me at the discounted price... and depending on what I'm reading, even that might be a stretch... it's not hurting me financially to have it tho...
To get it at 40% off, you just need to search for the 2 year subscription sales online... there's usually a promo code somewhere, that takes you to a secret section of Amazon, where they hide the sale to get more money from people that don't search... I think I'm bought up through September 2023?
I get my value with Read & Listen titles, and getting audiobooks for $2-$7 with ebook loans and whispersync pricing... I've read at least 30-50 KURL titles, and done a decent amount of Whispersyncing...
Melissa Olson, Marko Kloos, the Rogues of the Republic series, Puatera, Cradle, I think the Odyssey One series, etc...
Woohoo! Ok, I'll put my thinking cap on and make recs later today. The deal with Audible credits is a bit silly. I believe it's use within a year of purchase now. I haven't had that issue of not using it, so that's good. I don't recommend the other Seiple. It's unfortunate, but not worth a credit.
Joe Ledger definitely is more dark than light, but it's generally a good thriller + great cast. I just had a tough time with the latest release, Relentless, because I'm more angry this year. Haha. For some reason, the story emphasized my anger and sadness. Probably because I like the characters a lot and Joe is having a tough time!
I thought Pears & Perils was okay, but not as good as Super Powereds/etc. Drew Hayes writing truly shines in his series. I've held off on Fred the Vampire, because I figure I'll like it and will go on a spree of it at some point.
Wandering Inn is great, but it's one that takes work to get to that point. It's thousands of pages. I don't think everyone has the time and patience to get to that point. The audiobook format works well for getting people hooked, but you have to enjoy the audiobook. In the BR for WI, there were people who did not enjoy the audiobook. So, it didn't work for everyone. I think audiobooks make it easy to focus on the flaws of a story.
I was hoping to get hooked by Worm & it never caught my attention enough to read. I think it has a similar deal as Wandering Inn. It's rough writing in progress, but if a small bit catches your interest, the story grows on you over time. I just didn't get there with Worm, but it's on my "try at some point" list. lol
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Audible Recs for Narilka (Or Library!)Feel Good Moments:
- Andrea Vernon series by Alexander Kane (Superheroes & Humor)
- Cradle series by Will Wight (LitRPG/Cultivation/Humor)
- Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix (UF/YA)
- XOM-B by Jeremy Robinson (SF/Post-Ap) Best book by J Robinson
- Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance by Ruth Emmie Lang (Fantasy/Magical Realism)
- Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz (Supernatural/UF) You can read just #1 & be happy.
Fun Books:
- Tufa series by Alex Bledsoe **On Audible Plus** (UF/Fae)
- Orphan X series by Gregg Andrew Hurwitz (Thriller)
- The Acts of Caine series by Matthew Woodring Stover (Fantasy with SF)
- The Sparrow #1 by Mary Doria Russell (SF)
- Gray Man series by Mark Greaney (Thriller)
- Nathaniel Cade series by Christopher Farnsworth (UF/Vampire/Thriller)
- Hurog duology by Patricia Briggs (Fantasy)
Made this list by looking at my favorite shelf. Which is mostly reliable, but not entirely because there are books I really enjoyed & do not consider a fav. Hm. I may add more books later. =D
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Only ones I wouldn't entirely call light are Gray Man and Nathaniel Cade... rest are light, or have a bit of lightness...
Wandering Inn Vol6 Ch59: Probably towards the end of the chapter. This part is what I consider classic WI + Erin moment. A series of events meet & explode lots of sparks. Tears. Blood. Anger. All the feels! Topped by a hilarious & fun spree filled with laughter. Laughter heals. Totally on point. Part of the allure for the webseries.
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Yea... Erin just wades into and out of situations... with her trusty frying pan projectiles...
It goes pretty well, too... 90% of the time... until the end of Last Light, when (view spoiler)
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Last time I did 50-100 reviews last week, first it was just a checkbox, then the pictures, then multiple pictures per review...
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Next year, I want to do ratings/reviews immediately, when adding book links to my sheet... hopefully a more streamlined process...
I also need to go back and find my books for November/December 2020/2021, to finish ALL my reviews, since I didn't do a very good job of recording what I read during the off months... but I'm feeling the home stretch now...
That's a lot! Good work! I know what a pain it can be to have to log everything after a year of reading/etc. It's also a pain when there are GR glitches and books I rated are gone. Are you actually writing a review for each one or just notes? I wouldn't be up to writing 100's of reviews in a row. lol That's why I'm happy with my current note system. =D
Soo wrote: "Audible Recs for Narilka (Or Library!)..."I'm going to give the Nathaniel Cade series a try. Thanks! I have several from the first list in my ebook TBR already. Just need to cycle them in.
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Thanks Iain.Pears and Perils is showing promise. I love the cat that is king of the island and sharing a beer with the shark lol
Glad you're enjoying Pears & Perils. =)WebToon: I'm glad I downloaded the app. I only have it on my "library" tablet. Some of the updates are a bit annoying, but I like adding the new series as they are released. The indie stuff may have faster releases. If the comic gains a good fan base & the comic is well done, the indie artist/author may get picked up as official WT author/artist.
It's cool to check back in with series I have started and get a batch of chapters to read.
Teenage Mercenary is great! Love the mix of slice of life/comic moments & badass conflicts.
Finished Dark Tower #6, Song of Susannah. Pros: I'm enjoying the audiobook re-read much more than I thought I would. Part of it is due to the fact that the series is good. Plus, Frank Muller is a perfect fit for the series. He's narrated several of King's books and they're a good duo.
Cons: While I am super loving the way things connect & how the plot has evolved & progressed in each book, #6 is a prickly reminder of the things I don't like about the series.
Thus, my love/hate relationship with the series will most likely continue.
Cool Bit: Instead of author notes, the end of this book had snippets of King's journal entries/notes from his life and before & during the writing process up to #6. It was a really neat look into King's mind & life.
The downside is that it seems to go with my gripes about the series. The reasons why I had speculated may be close to reality. Heh
I like how open King is about his addictions and (guessing) that he was able to come to terms with them. It definitely adds a certain type of realism to his stories with those elements.
I'm on Pirateaba's Patreon. Which means I get some news earlier than others. This year, she started to take longer breaks after 3 weeks of writing. Last year, she started to take 1 week breaks as needed. That was about every 2 months or so. She used to just take 2 breaks for Xmas/New Years and Summer. Turns out she's been writing a book during her longer breaks this year. That's on top of the comic side story that she started 2 years ago. The book will be about one of the key side characters in WI. She has an editor working with her on the book. The plan is to have the book out in print, ebook & audiobook by next summer. Book will be around 500-600 pages. Haha
Plus, she decided to re-write part of Volume 1 and have that be released in print. So.... cool that she's doing a rewrite, but I wonder if she plans to re-do the audio too?
Volume 8 will run into 2022 and it may take until February to wrap up. I'm glad she's not trying to stick to a year time table. Though, I'm guessing that she's still trying to keep the volume to a certain length for the audiobooks.
I think it's cool that this indie writer churns out several thousand pages of work each year. Now, she's getting into the groove of adding polish to the writing.
PS: I'm not really enjoying Blacktongue Thief. - The narrator is a bit fast talking. He has the dry tone for humor. That makes the gross parts seem less disgusting. Haha.
- There's a lot of info packed into character's internal dialogue, interactions and observations. BUT it's also drowned in filler commentary.
- Aspects of the world & characters are interesting, but I feel like I'm listening to a non-stop complaining, whine babble that has some interesting bits.
- This is the time where I don't like the singing in the story. The narrator's singing is ok, but I don't care about what he's singing. That also goes with, the narrator's skills are good, but I think his voice makes me want to sleep or annoyed.
Author has the gritty part of creating a story down. Now, waiting to see how the plot evolves.
I find the main character mostly annoying, and I don't care if he ends up getting himself killed. Heh
I started the book last night and turned it off to listen to music for hours. Today, I've already had to go back to chapters to re-listen a few times. This kinda sucks because I feel like I should like this story.
Blargy blarg bah =P
Brian, I should like this story, right? *falls over* lol
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Great news... wonder which character she's writing a side book about...
I wonder if the Vol 1 re-write is to try and create a better start that draws readers in faster?... it's a great series, but I feel like we have to talk people into surviving V1 more than the rest :D
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I also find it hilarious how the book is dedicated to Derek Landy (the author), and what an amazing and humble person he is...
I found a gallery with all the dedications for books 1-9... I don't think earlier audiobooks included the dedications?... because I don't remember most of these... https://imgur.com/gallery/eILYy
Wandering Inn: I'm sorta tempted to copy Volume 1 & keep it for my own records. It's the only way to see the changes clearly. It's new writer blues. Pirateaba is a better writer now than she was then. It's been a few years and like over 10k pages. The trick will be to keep the content the same and make it more appealing in the rewrite. So, same scenes and mostly the same sequences, but maybe switch around when some of the chapters happen. That's harder to do than you think. It's easier to clear the plate and rewrite completely, but then you have to keep tabs on what details have been left or taken out. This is a huge world and cast of characters. It's not an easy deal to rewrite Vol1.
Yeah, she mentioned something about the negative feedback for the filrst volume and how she knows it's not as good as it could be. But, the thing is, I feel that the flaws are part of the process of growing as a writer.
The new book (which is probably going to be a spin off series) will also be a different entry point for people to get into the series. Though, it's tricky to do.
Pirateaba mentioned that the book will be a way for people to start WI and get drawn into the series. It'll be interesting to see how the story line will be embellished and woven to keep up with the various plot lines.
Oh yeah, it'll be about the singer. =) I think it'll be a lot of fun.
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You'll like her. She's different. That's one of the cool things. All of the characters stand out as individuals. I'm trying to finish up Vol6. Very tempted to read into Vol7 and re-read Vol8. I came across a light novel that a friend enjoyed reading. I may read that first or save it for 2022.
Vol7 has some major events that were awesome to read the first time around.
Ah choices!
I started A Fist Full of Credits again. This time around, I'm in the mood to listen. The book+audio was just released this year. Not sure when the next one will show up. Tao Wong also released another co-authored piece (in System Apocalypse World) that takes place in Australia with K.T. Hanna. She's pretty popular in the LitRPG world. I did not like her stories much. Tempted to get the audiobook, but there are a LOT of negative reviews about the male narrator sucking. lol Not sure why they went for two narrators when they had Andrea Parsneau for that one.
Anyways, I went on Audible to see what books would be recommended based on Fist Full of Credits and Oh Great! I was Reincarnated as a Farmer. Which lead to the next book and my journey into another rabbit hole. Hahaha
I'm going on a wild guess and think the author of Initialization: A LitRPG Adventure is another webnovel handle from online writing. I mean, it's From Hell. LoL
Turns out the book is translated. I'm super curious now. It is on KU. I may borrow it and skim a few pages.
Going by the translation company & the other work done by the translator, I bet the book is a popular Korean web novel. I'm kinda amazed by how many Asian light novels are translated (not necessarily well) and sold on Amazon.
The reviews for the book are extreme. People either liked it or hated it.
*went online to look up OppaTranslations*
Cool. Looks like it's a small group deal that gets permission from the author/s to translate & publish the work. They've done a few books now and also have them on Audible. Basically, all the reviews probably have a point. LitRPG & webnovels do not necessarily have the same quality of writing & plot progression. Plus, Asian tropes & cause/effect reasoning don't always translate well to English.
Now, I'm super curious about the books. Other series is Main Character Hides His Strength.
I actually came across both of the web novels before, but haven't read them.
Solo Leveling is a comic that I like and it's on WebToon. It's based on a popular light novel. It looks like it has been turned out on audio too. Hmmmmm... Yeah, so, I have patience to read but not necessarily to listen. Does that make sense? Though, I'm now curious to see if any of these are good audiobooks. They have good narrators.
Narration:
Master Hunter K by Travis Baldree
Main Character Hides His Strength by Nick Podehl
Unfamiliar with narrator for Solo Leveling. That guy's Korean.
Wee~~ new book/audiobook rabbit hole! I will report if any of these are worth it. hahahaha
Oooo. This year's State of the Sanderson is up: https://www.brandonsanderson.com/stat...Edit: Read through it. Am I the only one not excited by all his collaborations? I do need to give the Skyward novellas a try though.
With a date for Wax & Wayne 4, I'm finally going to start that series in 2022. Kept putting it off lol
It also might be the time to start Stormlight since he's aiming for a 2023 release for book 5. Those are so massive I might try for 1 a quarter starting second half of next year.
I'm with you! I'm not that super excited about his collaborations either. Upside, Sanderson is popular enough that his novellas will probably be available at the library at some point. Don't have to buy the audios. I feel like I've forgotten a lot about the Stormlight series. Hm, I should probably do a re-read at some point.
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Sanderson's one of the few mainstream authors with an indie author churn rate, as I call it... at least he's honest with the whole situation, and not using ghostwriters...
Anyway, I also haven't read any of the collabs yet... he did the Skyward novellas, the Original with Mary Robinette Kowal, etc... he's also experimenting with adding an audiobook arm to Dragonsteel Publishing, iirc...
Soo wrote: "I'm with you! I'm not that super excited about his collaborations either. Upside, Sanderson is popular enough that his novellas will probably be available at the library at some point. Don't have t..."I am down to read Stormlight when you both want to get to it. Also, I need to read the Mistborn series at some point. I have only read book 1
Also, went to Barnes and Noble yesterday and it was not pretty. Ive expanded my never ending supply of paperbacks. Early Xmas presents for myself
Fantasy Buddy Reads
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The drama was several years ago. I'm sure you heard parts of it, but that's when one of the core mods left GR, Sonja got more responsibilities and Veronica became a mod. It was around that time.
I think the Pick it for Me monthly deal and the little contests like Bingo & etc do the best in GG&G. The regular update thread used to be the core meeting place, but I feel like most just update their books and don't really converse. It's too bad.
Vagabond has filled the hangout & discuss bit for me. I like the ideas for SFFBC, but the mods are a bit too strict in how some things are done and the chosen books to read move more into politically correct/etc stuff than, OO I want to read it because it seems cool route. That's the one I prefer. lol