Vagabond Treehouse (2023) [Beware of Chicken 3 - December 4th] Showing 5,051-5,100 of 5,829

[Narilka]

That looks like something that should've gone into the What If books lol so weird!

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Over half done with the new Joe Ledger book... these days, every time a new book comes out, I spend most of it wondering "is this the book where the apocalypse happens?"... it's a series that's been flirting with the Laundry Files treatment, from day one, basically...

Also, is Nicodemus going to be in this one, somehow?... (view spoiler)[I just assume he's the body in the coffin... even tho he's also the one on the phone calling for the coffin retrieval... I assume he's in some sort of recovery chamber from the events of the alst time he "died"... he's unkillable... code name Trickster?... has me wondering about Loki/Coyote...

Also, the plot of this one has me wondering if Mr. Church is Judas... (hide spoiler)]

[Choko]

Darn it, you guys, I started Beware of Chicken ... I am up to Ch. 4 ... (view spoiler)[ and am enjoying it a whole a lot! I think I needed something light, because the second book in The Sword of Truth depressed the hell out of me! So much rape and betrayal in that one, wanted to shoot myself at one point... Well, shoot the book. It ended fine, but I was getting very upset, because it's like the Aes Sedai with both regular and Black Adja sisters, but with less subtlety and more S&M. But I digress...

So, this is a Cultivation world, and am I getting this right, original Jin of this world actually got killed during the fight, and current Jin was reincarnated in his body right at that moment, so he asked to be released and become a farmer in a far away village. There he started a farm, and apparently his pet rooster has also been reincarnated in this form, and he made the distinction that this last fox is also one of them, not just a regular fox... Are people and animals who gather a certain amount of Chi being reincarnated in other worlds, bodies or forms? (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

LOL That is a great Question, Iain. I am glad to see that it has an answer... Math to the rescue.

@Choko--yeesh, I am glad I didn't join the Sword of Truth read... then again, I have heard not-good things about Terry Goodkind so I'm not overly surprised...

So glad more folks are joining the Chicken Bus! @Narilka--I wonder if adding in book 2 would get you to Starter Villain?

Okay Iain, I'll start book 2 sometime tomorrow...

[Choko]

BOC #1 .. Up to Ch. 18... . O-o! Big D is going off the rails! I hope the little rat girl can save him...

The romance is very cute:) And I loved the fire bear:)

[Nirkatze]

Oh... I only just got the BOC BOC BOC joke... *facepalms*

re: Romance--(view spoiler)[I really like how she thinks she's not pretty, and he keeps thinking of how beautiful she is... even though that's not an uncommon trope, it's still sweet. Maybe because the trope is usually oh-no-she's-pretty-she-just-doesn't-realize-it-and-all-the-boys-are-hot-for-her but this is more... he thinks she's beautiful because she's the one he loves... (hide spoiler)]

[Saar The Book owl]

That's hilarious, but I don't know if it would take that long. If you are in a place, not that big, maybe your garden, and it's full with birds. I think it wouldn't take that long. Not an experiment I would do, though, haha!

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Choko wrote: "Darn it, you guys, I started Beware of Chicken ... I am up to Ch. 4..."

Jin is the only one reincarnated... the one inhabiting the original body is a Canadian boy from our Earth (view spoiler)[using Earth knowledge/skills to survive in a magic kung fu / Cultivation world...

Cultivations worlds with kung fu magic have spirit beasts, which are animals with enough Chi/Qi to become sentient... wild spirit beasts tend to act in their nature and/or get angry at being attacked by humans and become a bit evil/feral...

On his farm, Jin is using his kung fu magic to infuse the land, and it's causing his farm animals to become sentient spirit beasts... first the rooster, later other animals... being domesticated, and learning from Jin, tends to make them more friendly/smarter than other spirit beasts we see... (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Nirkatze wrote: "LOL That is a great Question, Iain. I am glad to see that it has an answer... Math to the rescue.

@Choko--yeesh, I am glad I didn't join the Sword of Truth read... then again, I have heard not-goo..."

Same... everything I've heard about Terry Goodkind, he's an asshole... he doesn't even consider his books fantasy, because fantasy is beneath him and his books explore "important human themes"...

And yea, the books are full of rape & torture... I was actually part of the original Buddy Read with Choko a few years ago, that rapidly fell apart after book 1-2... Choko & someone else might have made it to book 5?...

I've heard Goodkind has done more egregious stuff in recent books/years, too...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Choko wrote: "BOC #1 .. Up to Ch. 18... . O-o! Big D is going off the rails! I hope the little rat girl can save him...

The romance is very cute:) And I loved the fire bear:)"

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Nirkatze wrote: "Oh... I only just got the BOC BOC BOC joke... *facepalms*

re: Romance--[spoilers removed]"

This is the sound a chicken/rooster makes: BOC BOC BoC (Beware of Chicken) :D

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Nirkatze wrote: "Oh... I only just got the BOC BOC BOC joke... *facepalms*

re: Romance--[spoilers removed]"

I also think it's playing more with societal ideas of beauty?... (view spoiler)[it seems like in this series, the world's culture tells everyone that freckles are ugly... not sure if it's supposed to be an Asian thing... there's a scene in the second book (view spoiler)[where Meiling is going to meet the governor's wife, and her friends seem to be caking her in makeup (hide spoiler)] which made me think of geishas, and wearing that amount of makeup would hide any freckles/blemishes...

Another reason the Jin finds her beautiful is coming from Earth, which would have less of a stigma to freckles, and a more varied attitude to beauty... different from this world he now finds himself in, anyway... (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Saar The Book owl wrote: "That's hilarious, but I don't know if it would take that long. If you are in a place, not that big, maybe your garden, and it's full with birds. I think it wouldn't take that long. Not an experimen..."

If you lay on my car, you could probably be pooped on in a day... certain times of year, my windshield feels like a poop magnet...

[Tonari no Emily]

LOL I was confused for a bit because I didn't see the equation Iain shared. Same with my car I swear!

[Tonari no Emily]

Finished BOC. Concept was great, liked the characters, and I really want more of the animals! (view spoiler)[ I was cackling when Tigger did the "anatomically correct" ice sculptures xD

And it seems like Fa Rum itself is becoming sentient/always has been but was treated badly? (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Tonari no Emily wrote: "LOL I was confused for a bit because I didn't see the equation Iain shared. Same with my car I swear!"

Was on the end of the previous page :D

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Tonari no Emily wrote: "Finished BOC. Concept was great, liked the characters, and I really want more of the animals! I was cackling when Tigger did the "anatomically correct" ice sculptures xD

And it seems like Fa Rum ..."

(view spoiler)[I think it's the whole Grass Blade region in general?... and that's the reason it's considered Qi-weak, compared to other regions... maybe someone ascended in this region, a long time in the past, and drained the region of power, using the old "aim for the sky, fuck the earth" mentality, that everyone but Jin & his disciples use... (hide spoiler)]

I seem to fall back on Dimension 20 terminology that Brennan Lee Mulligan has come up with alot, these days...

My favorite is his Sinatra's Law from the Unsleeping City, which states "if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere" a la the Frank Sinatra song/statement about Vegas...

But, in the Crown of Candy, a season that involve food people living in a fridge world and worshipping the great Lightbulb in the sky, there's a Ramsian Doctrine, based on some principle of Gordon Ramsey about farm fresh food... Jin & the animals are constantly noting how Fa Ram food tastes better than other food... (view spoiler)[pretty much because it's all infused with Qi, and the equivalent of advancement pills that are common in Cultivation stories to speed up progression...

It's also like Erin's food magic/potions in the Wandering Inn... eating it makes people feel better/stronger... (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Started Oh Great! I was Reincarnated as a Farmer... the MC, Arnold, just got Skyrim'd, LOL:



He didn't think Fast Travel was real, and blindly agreed... turns out, he didn't really fast travel, so much as spend 10 weeks passed out, until he arrived at his destination, too...

[Choko]

I absolutely loved BOC #1!!!! Had me all relaxed and smiling, which I really, really needed these days! On top of SOT depressing the hell out of me, life has been quite stressful in its regular way, and I needed the joy that BOC was!!! I am jumping straight into BOC#2, mostly for my own sanity!

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Choko wrote: "I absolutely loved BOC #1!!!! Had me all relaxed and smiling, which I really, really needed these days! On top of SOT depressing the hell out of me, life has been quite stressful in its regular way..."

Great to hear, Choko... another resounding success...

As I just posted in the Mystery thread, Gray Court came out last week, and is available on Hoopla... I used one of my leftover August credits on it, so I have until September 20th to read it...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

My September Buddy Read List is just barely under 30 books, for the first time since March, I think, when I dropped a bunch of stuff I wasn't loving...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Oh Great! I was Reincarnated as a Farmer is proving interesting...

Alot is thrown at the reader early on, and I feel like Travis Baldree is reading faster than usual, or something, but I got used to it...

Like most LitRPGs, the majority of the plot involves exploiting the system, but the LitRPG system here seems to subvert the tropes...

Exploiting loopholes is a large part of the system, and some of the loopholes the MC and his friends come up with, put them in hot water with the local nobility, which escalates the plot...

The fact the MC is a level 24 Farmer, with level 100 Gambler & Merchant, and some level of Socialite thanks to his Scholar mentor, is giving me some real Threadbare vibes (with his cute fashion model exploits)... I think he's also a Landlord, now, and some level of skillmaster for maxing some classes already...

[Narilka]

Nirkatze wrote: "I wonder if adding in book 2 would get you to Starter Villain?..."

I am going to find out! Finished Beware of Chicken and already downloaded volume 2 to start tomorrow :)

This was just the book I needed right now. Who knew farming was so relaxing?

[Narilka]

Tonari no Emily wrote: "Finished BOC. Concept was great, liked the characters, and I really want more of the animals! ..."

(view spoiler)[The earth the farm is on is starting to awaken due to Jin's care. Give to the earth and the earth gives back. (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Narilka wrote: "Nirkatze wrote: "I wonder if adding in book 2 would get you to Starter Villain?..."

I am going to find out! Finished Beware of Chicken and already downloaded volume 2 to start tomo..."

This also reminds me of the comics Soo got me to check out last year:

Strongest Florist: https://www.webtoons.com/en/action/th...

Some bodybuilder dude joins a VRMMO, to live his dream of being a Florist... kinda breaks the game, since it uses real life physical attributes as a base, I think... keeps accidentally being OP, and doing surprising things...

Advanced Player of the Tutorial Tower: https://www.webtoons.com/en/action/th...

Earth becomes a LitRPG world, big tower appears, people are chosen in a lottery and teleported into the tower... Tower is a training/tutorial area... when people reach the end, they are released back into the real world... MC bugs out, and is stuck in the tower for 100 years / 100 loops (can't remember)... keeps completing the tower... by the time he escapes he's crazy overpowered, and kinda just goes around clearing dungeons in a track suit... occasionally he uses his sandal/chancla as a projectile weapon... then Kaiju monsters start appearing and the plot progresses...

They're both quite different comics, but both kinda remind me of Jin Rou :D

[Choko]

So, I finished BOC#2 and once again, absolutely loved it! It did have some obvious setting up for the next book, so some things were left wide open, but I don't mind. I really hope you guys let me know when that book comes out, so we don't miss it!

(view spoiler)[ I am not sure how I feel about Tigger becoming human and not being able to turn back to cat... I would be devastated in her place...

Is it me, or was there a big nod to Orthos from Cradle???? It doesn't help matters that the narrator is the same, so I couldn't stop thinking of the turtle dragon as Orthos and expecting him to teach the fish how to generate dragon fire:)))

The fox ancestor of the two brothers was also very unsettling somehow, but I still want to know more about him. I wonder if we will get to meet their monkey ancestor too...

Big D is still my absolute favorite, so I totally get why the author decided to name the whole series after him. Loved his quest, loved the kid he trained, and loved that he got the snake and the rabbit to come to The Great Fa-Ram !:))) I think I could consume stories in this realm for quite a while and not get bored! (hide spoiler)]

Overall, just the right books at just the right time! Thank you guys for having me read them!

[Narilka]

I started BOC 2 today. Through Ch 6 (view spoiler)[I got the biggest laugh when the kung fu girl lost a sparring match to Big D lol It's nince she and Tigger are friends. When they were talking about Tigger taking a human form... does that mean that kung fu girl was another form before? I was driving during this section so not sure if I missed something. If it's revealed later just tell me RAFO. (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

I'm through Chapter 29 of Beware of Chicken #2 and loving it. There were several moments I was listening and thought "I have to remember to comment on that! That was funny!" but of course I didn't remember.

Just one thing I did remember--there's a mention of something looking like a "winged pigu" at some point--they've been using "pigu" for pig, haven't they? I still miss a lot--but also "pigu" in Chinese means "butt." So that made me laugh.

@Narilka, re: Chapter 6... I honestly have no idea! But I'm curious too, now... I totally missed that tidbit... makes me think of Cradle, (view spoiler)[how sacred beasts could advance and gain a human form. Is this a common trait in cultivation novels? (hide spoiler)] I feel like I heard something that suggests it isn't the case for Xia Lan, but I'm not sure.

New month about to start, but I'm still thinking about trying to squeeze in the Farmer book too... I've been wanting to read that, and @Iain, I love your Skyrim gif reference!

@Iain, re: Beauty--that's a really good point, about freckles and culture...

re: Pidgeon poop algorithm. I feel like it needs to have an additional variable--location. If the location you lie down is underneath a perch of some kind (light post, window sill), the probability should increase exponentially.

[Nirkatze]

Up to Chapter 40--so, in Chinese, "Mian tiao" means "noodle" LOL a very appropriate name for a (view spoiler)[snake (hide spoiler)]. I need to try to pay more attention... there's as many Chinese puns in here as English...

Though one thing I've found a little ... not annoying, but causes a pause, is Mei Lin being called "Mei Mei" which can mean "little sister"--so it's a bit weird when her little brother calls her that... on the other hand, it's not uncommon for one syllable of the name to be doubled as an endearment... though it'd be more likely for her brother to call her "Mei-jie" "big sis Mei".

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Nirkatze wrote: "Up to Chapter 40--so, in Chinese, "Mian tiao" means "noodle" LOL a very appropriate name for a [spoilers removed]. I need to try to pay more attention... there's as many Chinese puns in here as Eng..."

The world seems to cause people to refer to themselves as Daddy sometimes... no idea what that's about... MC found it weird when he did it... I think Big D does it at one point too...

[Nirkatze]

I will have to listen to that... that's not unusual in families--the same way parents might say "your mother/father..." when talking to kids about the other parent, but just referring to themselves, or their partner... not sure about using it on people not in the family, or by people who aren't parents...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I feel like it’s supposed to be the corrupting influence of power-hungry cultivation?

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I liked farmer… more focused on the powerleveling aspects than I’ve listened to in awhile… hope to make time for book 2 in the next couple weeks

[Narilka]

Something I keep seeing popping up as an audio book recommendation from r/Fantasy is Dungeon Crawler Carl. Have any of you tried this one yet?

Not that I'm deviating from BOC :) Just a future possible Vagabond candidate.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Narilka wrote: "Something I keep seeing popping up as an audio book recommendation from r/Fantasy is Dungeon Crawler Carl. Have any of you tried this one yet?

Not that I'm deviating from BOC :) Just a future poss..."

No... but I picked it up on the 2-for-1 sale, along with the other LitRPGs Soo has recommended to me, in the past...

[Nirkatze]

If Soo recommended it, then that's a good thing, right...?

I like what the reviews say about Dungeon Crawler Carl, that it has good characters who have actual conversations and avoids some of the more annoying tropes...

[Choko]

I also have it, so whenever we decide, we should definitely read it together!

[Saar The Book owl]

I've just read the blurb of Dungeon Crawler Carl and it sounds very adventurous. The level thing makes me think of 'Ready Player One', but just that aspect, not the story. And 18 levels, a lot can happen there. I wonder what monsters and traps are lurking behind.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I tend to rate things higher than Soo... I tend to like most things she recommends... and most things she hates, it seems :D

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Saar The Book owl wrote: "I've just read the blurb of Dungeon Crawler Carl and it sounds very adventurous. The level thing makes me think of 'Ready Player One', but just that aspect, not the story. And 18 levels, a lot can ..."

LitRPGs are definitely a genre that evolved out of gamer culture... why not write stories about it... and in this day & age, the concept of Virtual Reality MMOs aren't that out there...

People living in VR worlds has existed in fiction for awhile... RPG mechanics just never entered into it until the last couple decades...

Vasily Mahanenko of Survival Quest, is credited with coining the term in 2013... Wandering Inn is technically a LitRPG, but so much other stuff is going on in that story, that pirateaba doesn't like to be confined by that term...

[Saar The Book owl]

I'm still stuck in the first book of the Wandering Inn (it's me, not the book), but it is indeed more than LitRPG. The genre is new to me. I've read Ready Player One and a book from Marie Liu (the title escapes me), but that's it. That's the reason why Dungeon Crawler Carl caught my attention.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Saar The Book owl wrote: "I'm still stuck in the first book of the Wandering Inn (it's me, not the book), but it is indeed more than LitRPG. The genre is new to me. I've read Ready Player One and a book from Marie Liu (the ..."

Wandering Inn starts as your typical Earthling in an RPG world LitRPG, with lots of pleasant cozy chapters/storylines and characters gaining classes and levels... but the characters and worldbuilding piles up until you're swept away in plotlines to rival any epic fantasy out there... the page count to get there can be daunting tho... long-term commitment... but for eye-readers, the fact it's freely available on a website is a plus... and it's long, so it won't be over too quick, and need to find your next free literature...

As an audiobook listener, I'm more tied to release schedules... just waiting for the existing content to all release on audio is gonna take about a decade... and alot more content will be written between now and then... everything written so far only took 5-7 years, I think, and the quantity of pages per day/month has only increased...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

My biggest problem with LitRPGs, honestly, is usually the tacked on real world storyline, running concurrent to the in-game plotlines...

Awaken Online has this whole plot where the video game secretly became a sentient AI that took over game design, and is doing unexpected things, and the CEO and devs are trying to hide the details from criminal investigation... which gets tough when the MC murders some bullies in real life while wearing the VR headset, because the AI took control of his body or something (it's been awhile)... I think the bullies were in his house attempting to attack or prank him... maybe sabotage...

[Choko]

I am loving the LitRPG genre way more than I ever thought possible. But I guess it is like the games - when it is written well, it is absolutely addicting. I am very grateful to Soo and Iain for turning me on to it, because it feels very relaxing and enjoyable, and there are times I really need that. But as Iain said, Wandering Inn is much, much more than just a comfortable read. It has become totally Epic!

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I can only read so many LitRPGs in a short period of time, before I before super picky/critical... this is my first foray into new stuff in a few years, I think...

[Narilka]

Agreed. The trick is finding the litrpg gems. Like Threadbare and Spells, Swords & Stealth. I did enjoy Awaken Online for a while though felt like it was starting to drag out. Like Iain, I loved the game world but not the real world plot.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Narilka wrote: "Agreed. The trick is finding the litrpg gems. Like Threadbare and Spells, Swords & Stealth. I did enjoy Awaken Online for a while though felt like it was starting to drag out. Like Iain, I loved th..."

I made it through 3-4 awaken books & some side quests... now there's 7-8 main books, a side quest between almost every book (expanding on supporting cast members, filling in backstory or their quests that don't make it into the main story, generally to gain a deity boon), and a trilogy called Tarot that you're expected to read in the middle when it becomes relevant...

Sometime around book 7, the book covers also shifted from white to black, and it sounds like there was an apocalyptic / time travel event that shifted alot of dynamics (I just read some blurbs today)...

I thought the series started strong, with the MC gaining access to a special deity, gaining bonuses from being the first person to do certain quests, and becoming a necromancer, and pretty much becoming the big villain of the server/game...

Being overpowered is almost expected, in the genre... which is why stuff like Threadbare & NPCs is so special, because it's generally the opposite...

[Nirkatze]

Timelord Iain wrote: "I tend to rate things higher than Soo... I tend to like most things she recommends... and most things she hates, it seems :D"

Was thinking similar things... Soo definitely has higher standards than me... so if she liked/recommended it... that is high praise...

Now that the new month has started, probably won't be able to cram in more Vagabond reads until the end again... glad I got BOC BOC down though...

[Saar The Book owl]

I think I understand most of it as LitRPG is all new to me. I've got one on my Kindle: Cinnamon Bun, for awhile now, but haven't read it yet. You guys, certainly know more of it than I do, but it's great to discover new genres.

[Nirkatze]

I picked up Cinnamon Bun at the last sale too. There's another LitRPG by the same author on this month's sale, and I'm considering it. I'm becoming a fan of the cozy LitRPG genre...