Vagabond Treehouse (2023) [Beware of Chicken 3 - December 4th] Showing 2,201-2,250 of 5,829

[Nirkatze]

I haven't read any G.A. Aiken but not I am intrigued. Adding to TBR mountain.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I'm near the end of Princess Knight, I think... made it to the sex scene... (view spoiler)[I feel like they retconned a bunch of stuff, at the start of this book...

How Gemma left her monk/monastery... her hatred for Beatrix (didn't they setup something near the end of book 1, where Gemma was hoping to save Beatrix even more than Keeley?)... etc...

I was surprised 2 years passed between books...

The invisible sister seems weird, in such a devoted family... but it sets up a new funny female lead for the next book... I think Shelly Laurenston cares more about what's fun/funny, than any other elements of her stories...

The centaurs are as arrogant as the dragons of Dragon Kin... and the family dynamics remind me of every other Laurenston series... Pride, Calling of Crows, etc... (hide spoiler)]

Still having loads of fun...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Watching the Reacher show makes me want to relisten to some of the early books, when the series was still great... I loved it up to around book 10-15, I think... 15-25 has been a bit of a downward slide...

[Brian]

I agree. First 10 Reacher books were great and then dropped off.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I think part of the problem is Reacher is getting too old... it's hard to be an asskicking badass in your 60s... and be believable (not that the series ever cared too much about that... it was about the fun of it all, for the most part)...

It's been the real difference between Reacher and Bosch, for me... Bosch had the advantage of not having to do feats of strength all the time, but also the author kept finding ways to evolve the narrative, over the years...

I've especially been unhappy with the past couple books... and haven't even read the newest 1-2... I'm generally not very happy when the author starts co-writing... seems to be a bad sign... the recent Reacher books have been cowritten with Lee Child's son, I think...

[Tonari no Emily]

Whoo.... Take a break for a couple days and there's so much to get back to. :D

Finished Redwall too! So I wasn't super invested the first half of the story. It's also something i never read as a kid so didn't have that initial nostalgia interest. But the last half I super enjoyed. I think I became super invested once Matthias was with the sparrows. I loved their language and the intellect of the Sparrow mother (don't remember her name D:)

I love Julian the cat. That might have been my favorite bit when he was offended Matthias fell into his mouth xD and how we was like tell the shrews to calm down I'm not gonna eat them, that's gross lmao

Wish I would have waited for the full cast audiobook because I was turned off by the narrator's "s"s and couldn't listen to it through earbuds cuz it was just so jarring. But I was able to listen to it through just my phone's speaker.

Probably won't continue any time soon with the rest of Redwall, but I definitely think it's great for children and if I ever have the opportunity to share with kiddos i will. I do like how there were real stakes for the characters.. though there was ALOT of death which might be hard for some ages...

[Tonari no Emily]

Also, I didn't know there was a show! Might have to check that out. Thanks Katie for sharing!

[Tonari no Emily]

Will probably start Misfit Soldiers because that's totally up my alley and I think my Hoopla has it...

[Nirkatze]

Emily wrote: "Whoo.... Take a break for a couple days and there's so much to get back to. :D

Finished Redwall too! So I wasn't super invested the first half of the story. It's also something i never read as a k..."

I really loved the Sparrows too! I'm curious how the single narrator handles it, especially since what I loved this time around was the full-cast renditions of their accent. Though I do like Warbeak & Matthias's friendship, and its development, and the mother (Dunwing) too. Also feel bad for the Sparrows living under a volatile king...

It's interesting thinking about all of the death in Redwall--as a child, I didn't even notice it. From the insane popularity of the books, I'm thinking most children didn't bat an eye at it either. But now, as an adult, and reading the book along with a bunch of parents of young children (my local book group has a lot of single-digit kids), there's a lot of focus on it.

I don't remember my parents ever trying to censor or screen what I read. I actually called my mom to ask her--and she confirmed
that they never did. It's true there's a lot of violence in Redwall, but the violence is never glorified, and like Choko mentioned earlier, it shows that actions have consequences, and those consequences can be deadly.

Still, there is a ton of violence around in media of all kinds nowadays, and it is definitely very easy for kids to get desensitized at a young age.

[Choko]

Just finished The Princess Knight... What can I possibly say, except that I wish there were more books right now!!! I have missed her irreverent writing, which feels like a slap in the face to contemporary romance writing and a bit more brutal than the light fantasy out there... I just missed it...

Gamma was annoying in the first book, but awesome in this one. I love how GAa does that, kind of like the little sister in the Dragon Kin series:)))) And yeah, now that you said it, it is kind of weird to have an "invisible" sister in a family as close as this one, but yeah, she will be a cool leading character when her time comes, kind of like Brenna, the serious one...

That last scene, haha! No one can ever be as insane as the Mad Queen!!! Hahaha! And she doesn't seem to be getting any better, exactly the opposite... But you know, if anything would set her off, it would be the abuse of children... And of course the G-ds. It is funny that they are chatting with the Blacksmith Queen, which we have learned leads to madness little by little, if they keep getting involved...

I didn't think I would like a series of hers as much as the Kin one, but this one is up there. I was never a fan of her series written as SL. Just too much romance and not enough anything else. I am pure GA fan:)

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Choko wrote: "Just finished The Princess Knight... What can I possibly say, except that I wish there were more books right now!!! I have missed her irreverent writing, which feels like a slap in the face to cont..."

I wanted more from that epilogue... it barely whet my appetite...

Blacksmith Queen definitely reminds me of the Mad Queen... I liked the chat with the centaur god, who sounded more like a spidertaur god... and he was like "for the love of me (instead of god)"

[Narilka]

Whew! Finished The Kaiju Preservation Society. Initial thoughts are that I enjoyed the fluffy fun and all the various scifi references Scalzi included. And I wish I could have a plushie Bella lol Time to go find all your spoilers...

[Narilka]

Nirkatze wrote: "@Narilka--I'm glad I'm not the only one still reading!

Kaiju through Chapter 26--Mike Satie is still my hero.

[spoilers removed]"

Oh yeah. (view spoiler)[Totally got Jurassic Park vibes. (hide spoiler)]

[Choko]

Narilka, it was a fun book, wasn't it? I personally couldn't read the Jurassic Park books, just not my thing, so I was worried that I would not like this one, but I really enjoyed it... I guess it has to do with the way Scalzy writes...

[Choko]

Iain, now we have to wait until the end of the year for the next book...:((( That sucks!

[Julian]

So I couldn't help myself and instead of pacing I finished Starsight today. I can't start Cytonic until I read the first two novellas which take place between books 2+3. Can it be April 5th already lol?

[Choko]

It is Monday, so I am reading TTCC #8... Up to Ch. 21... (view spoiler)[ So, the only thing I see wrong with Cassie's first life is her regrets at not going to college and not having kids... Otherwise, I thought she had a perfectly normal life. She didn't commit suicide, as such, but in her 70's she became depressed and lost her desire to live... Is that enough to be considered for restart by the Universe Machine??? I guess, but I think that they need to restate the parameters of the rules, or I am missing something... It is funny how shell-shocked her first class made her:))) (hide spoiler)]

[Choko]

Ok, Julian, then I will read Starsight tomorrow...:)

[Julian]

@Choko if you do then we can read the skyward flight novellas once they get released on April 5! As someone who has never read them and just finished starsight I'm really looking forward to continuing the story

[Choko]

TTCC#8... Ch. 32... Cassie is a bit of a spoiled brat... She is probably the most immature of our main characters so far...

[Choko]

TTCC#8... I finished it, and it was OK, but it didn't feel like it really belonged to this series, just a regular semi-romance ... I will wait to see what you guys think...

[Narilka]

Choko wrote: "Narilka, it was a fun book, wasn't it? I personally couldn't read the Jurassic Park books, just not my thing, so I was worried that I would not like this one, but I really enjoyed it... I guess it ..."

A bit of fun is just what I needed. Kaiju prompted me to start Space Team 3 as my next audio :D

[Choko]

Space Team!!!! Yay!!!! A Space book:)))

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

My reading is really on a downturn... since I was sick, basically...

Lots of TV, lots of time listening/watching nothing... rough time finding things I want to read that isn't already on a loose BR schedule...

I read part of the first Time Travel book you guys are reading, but paused around the time the MC is heading to school as a kid, again...

Been reading Reacher #1 for 2 days...

Need to finish Misfit Soldier...

Only thing I've zoomed through, recently, was the 2 GA Aiken books...

Might have forgotten something... and have several new releases I downloaded, like Quantum of Nightmares... probably have Improbable Impostor somewhere, too...

[Choko]

Iain, you sound like you are in a reading slump a bit... I told you, in those moments GA is my to go to, but you have read everything by her... I have no idea what to recommend... Just be gentle with yourself and give your brain a break!

[Julian]

@Iain perhaps consider an entirely different genre altogether from what you normally read?

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and The Radium Girls are both extremely interesting books that you might like

[Tonari no Emily]

TTCC- Yeah this one was pretty underwhelming... (view spoiler)[ Cassie did seem kinda immature/spoiled.. But she did try to get by on her own for her second life? And she didn't just try to "start over" again...

And yeah, the rules seemed to have morphed based on what the author was feeling. And her first life definitely didn't seem unfulfilled... so yeah.

Also in Veronica McAlister's book, did she have that scene with Cassie I wonder... (hide spoiler)]

[Tonari no Emily]

Also CC willingly (view spoiler)[ just joined a cult? I feel like she 100% knew that was a cult and she just walked right in... I'm just glad it wasn't the kind of cult where they physically forced you to stay.. more just manipulation and taking possessions. Also I'm glad her watcher intervened with her impending murder.. (hide spoiler)]

[Tonari no Emily]

Timelord Iain wrote: "My reading is really on a downturn... since I was sick, basically...

Lots of TV, lots of time listening/watching nothing... rough time finding things I want to read that isn't already on a loose B..."

I hope you can find something to read to get you out of the slump!

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Thanks for the recs, Julian... if I ever pull the trigger on reading nonfiction, I'll give the one with audio a go...

In the meantime, I'm giving the forbidden romance/pnr category a go with some Shelly Laurenston rereads...

Maybe do more mysteries?...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Been thinking about doing a Marla Mason re-read, lately... pretty good benevolent dictator/villain series... she actually evolves into a bit of a heroic figure over the course of the series, but it takes a long time... and weird route...

There's 3 prequel novellas that setup her rise to power, then two 5 book arcs that follow what happens once she rises to the top, falls, and rises again to a new role... very meta on tropes, too... cool superpowers, alternate realities, etc...

[Choko]

I have never read those... I will read them with you when you choose...

[Choko]

Emily, totally agree! I get the feeling, the author himself was not sure about what he wanted to do with the character and how he felt about her, thus we got this blah result...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Choko wrote: "I have never read those... I will read them with you when you choose..."

Sorry if this overbooks you, since I've seen you zooming around, reading a ton of stuff lately, but this is my planned pallette refresher, paired with unBuddyRead Shelly Laurenston books...

So... I'm planning to start this Marla Mason read soon... and I'm planning to do everything... you can choose to join for everything as well, since it's not much extra, costwise, thanks to an anthology released in 2019, that includes every previously published short story, a bunch previously only available on Patreon/etc, including the noncanonical stuff...

Costwise, the most expensive books are books 1-4, and books 7 & 9 for some reason (not sure about #10, because I bought it when it came out, but I think it's got whispersync)... this is because books 1-4 were traditionally published before they quit supporting the author and he moved to kickstarter and self-publishing the rest of the series...

So, #0.1 Bone Shop, and numbers #5/6/8 and maybe 10 are available for $2 audio paired with $3-$5 ebook first...

I previously read this series as ebooks back in 2013-2015, so I used this method to get the audiobooks, and then bit the bullet on credits for the more expensive books, since the series isn't available on Hoopla or elsewhere for cheaper...

My plan is to generally use the series page to dictate my reading order, which means:

0.1) Bone Shop -- backstory / origin story

0.2 - 0.5) Encounter on a Back Street, Haruspex, Pale Dog, Mommy Issues of the Dead -- mostly noncanonical short stories that show the evolution of Marla from the first time the author ever started writing... Part 3 of the Do Better anthology (be careful looking at the start of the anthology, the opening pages give a spoilery summary of the series for people reading the anthology without ever reading anything by TA Pratt before, including the main series)... also some relatively canonical stories in early Part 1 of the anthology

0.6 - 0.8) Doorman, Ill Met in Ulthar, Pride is an Engine -- 3 new short stories that take place before book 1, Part 1 of Do Better anthology and Part 3 of Do Better anthology

1) Blood Engines

1.5 ) Grander than the Sea (anthology Part 1)

2 - 5) Poison Sleep, Dead Reign, Spell Games, Broken Mirrors

5.5 - 5.6) Shark Teeth, Little Better than a Beast (anthology Part 1)

6) Grim Tides

6.5) Snake & Mongoose -- this is the last new to me story with a really defined location in the timeline, so I'm just going to save the rest for the end...

7 - 10) Bride of Death, Lady of Misrule, Queen of Nothing, Closing Doors

10.5+) all the short stories from Part 1 of the anthology I didn't read, that take place sometime during 7-10 or after... then all the Part 2 stories from side characters... The End...

@Choko: Probably start listening to Bone Shop at work tomorrow, it's pretty short I think, then make time for some ebook reading to do all the short stories I listed at the top, then Blood Engines a day or 2 after, and the other chunk of short stories... then I'll go from there, and be relatively done touching the anthology for awhile, as listed above...

[Choko]

I am in!!! It will be something different for me. so yeah, I will start them tomorrow with you:)

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

DEATH TO
THE MONARCHY!!!… Started my Bone Shop re-read, about 1/3 thru… main things I remembered going in were that Marla starts from nothing and works for everything she has… and a bit about Arty’s magic…

The beginning of this is a bit dry, but it’s getting better…

[Tonari no Emily]

Series sounds interesting! Adding to TBR for now because I can't afford more books right now hahaha

[Choko]

Marla Mason = MM#0.1, Bone Shop... Just in the beginning, up to Ch. 5... Well, this is a very intriguing start. Jenny was such a f-up and now she has her act together. Daniel is so homicidal with his robots and objects, but I just found out how Artie gets his magical energy and his explanation was hilarious!!! The story about the penis thieves of the Congo, had me laughing:)))

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Choko wrote: "Marla Mason = MM#0.1, Bone Shop... Just in the beginning, up to Ch. 5... Well, this is a very intriguing start. Jenny was such a f-up and now she has her act together. Daniel is so homicidal with h..."

The part where he insists his urine spontaneously appears AT LEAST 8 inches from his torso ;) ... and his apprentices say it's been invisible so long, his memory is faulty :D

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Things definitely take a dark turn near the end of the story... I knew some of that was coming, couldn't remember it all... wasn't sure how many characters appeared in later stories...

I definitely see some things that I wonder if are directly connected to later events, or just similar, like (view spoiler)[ the entity in a pocket dimension that ate the previous batch of apprentices... (hide spoiler)]

Elsie Jarrow is an important character for the main series... author says it's his 2nd favorite character, behind Marla...

The introduction of the cloak is also the topic of one of the non-canonical short stories, where things go a bit differently...

There's also alot of time jumps throughout the middle of the story... I'm around 85%, I think, and at least a decade has passed since the start of the book... (view spoiler)[she was 16 at the start, 17 when she became a full apprentice, 18-19 when she found the cloak I think, 20 when Daniel died and Jenny combusted, and now she's a 26 year old merc that's transitioned from selling her services for money to selling for knowledge/power... really starting to solidify her Bone Shop magic persona... (hide spoiler)]

I think the main series takes place when she's 30-35, at the start?... she's been in her role as (view spoiler)[Chief Sorcerer of Felport (hide spoiler)] for awhile, and things start going awry because she's too busy with other things... plot ensues...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Finished Bone Shop... definitely forgot some important details, but remembered the broad strokes...

Also read Encounter on a Back Street (it's only 2 pages)... still managed to have some thoughts... (view spoiler)[it's interesting how many names and ideas like Thrones managed to be crammed into this first material, if it wasn't edited in any way to match names/ideas in canonical work... also hints of the white/purple cloak already, on a different figure... (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Re-reading Haruspex now... alternate version of the Belly Killer section of Bone Shop, basically... the aptest description of this version, seems to be that it feels more like a Sandman Slim story... (view spoiler)[gritty main character, drinking baby tears, scaring Rondeau, Juliana is more frail... Rondeau is more of a demon and knows his past?... Marla is less caring, not much humor... Rondeau is still scared of Marla... Eighth Room has more ties to the moon... Marla is more willing to use the turned cloak... but didn't even think of using the healing side on Juliana... alot of cynical inner monologue about the Belly Killer...

Thrones feel different, too... slightly... (hide spoiler)]

Half done with the re-read...

EDIT: Other half: (view spoiler)[lacks the details pertaining to Daniel, and made the Thrones unable to enter the Eighth Room... 99% sure they appeared in there and were unharmed in Bone Shop... Sauvage and Marla tried to capture the Throne, and found it to basically be an illusion?

Also, went through with replacing Marla's jaw with a dead girl's, instead of the cloak growing a new one overnight... (hide spoiler)]

[Choko]

MM#0.1 Ch. 13...(view spoiler)[ WTF? Is Daniel really dead? And Jenny burned herself up because she had been in love with him all of this time??? Wow! It just feels unreal to me...

What is that creature that took over the dead apprentices under the water? (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

The Doorman: I decided to just read 0.2 to 0.8 in the order in the anthology for the next chunk, since they're sorted chronologically... and then do the last entry from Part 3 at the end, since I think it's an alternate ending to Bone Shop?...

Anyway, this one was definitely interesting... (view spoiler)[showed how much Marla's POV is colored by her perceptions of herself and her friends... this was from the perspective of someone who owed Artie money, and started innocently enough... got kinda dark at the end, but the dude deserved it... (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Choko wrote: "MM#0.1 Ch. 13..." You just got your first dose of "this isn't gonna be rainbows and unicorns" :D

Not gonna answer your question :D

But regarding the sea monster: it sounds like a Cthulhu entity... (view spoiler)[there's one in the Laundry Files series that lives deep in the water... they're Codename BLUE HADES, The Deep Ones... sounds like something like that... Eldritch entity that can possess thralls to do their bidding on land and sea... (hide spoiler)]

[Choko]

Finished MM#0.1... Quite enjoyed it, and yes, there are some dark moments in here. She already doesn't really think like a norm, and has at times, a very cavalier attitude towards death (of others), and inflicting pain. She has to remind herself that something is wrong, which obviously means she is no snowflake:)))

I started Haruspex and am 66% in... I am noticing some differences, as you said, on the darker side of the story telling... (view spoiler)[ Apart from not even thinking about healing Julianna, when Rondeau saves her in the first story, he gets the help from the healing magician, and he had tried to get her a cybernetic jaw, but the cloak had already regenerated one for her, thus when she got her original one back, she kept it as a spare. Here, and I found this very disturbing, Rondeau brings in a random young lady, and uses her to take her jaw off and replace Marla's .. And her laying next to Julianna's corps, we don't know dead or alive, our heroes never even mentioned her again... She served a purpose, why bother thinking if she lives or not, and if she does, that she will be disfigured for life... That was just cruel... But obviously normal for the two of them... (hide spoiler)]

[Choko]

Ok, Iain, I know I sound like an idiot, but which stories from the anthology should I read next?

[Choko]

Just finished MM 0.2... Enjoyed the more detail, but at the end of the story, the author stated it was the first MM novella he wrote, and he changed a lot of the rules he set in it, as he went on with the series... I understand why:)

[Choko]

The Doorman... Wow! That dude seemed sympathetic in the beginning, and then you get that he is horrible actually... Good for the girls...

[Tonari no Emily]

Damn, I had a comment written up about Misfit Soldier and I guess I forgot to hit post...

Finished that yesterday and I also very much enjoyed it!

Nirkate re they/them: I rather like them for non-binary people. I already use that pronoun when I'm talking generally/don't know someone's gender. Also there's definitely precedent for taking a plural pronoun and use for singular person. I mean we don't even use the singular thou anymore, it's all the (originally) plural you :)
Xie sounds too close to "she" to me sometimes, but it does give scifi vibes which is fun

I really enjoyed the heisty vibes, but (view spoiler)[ when Gas said his plan all along was to get captured so Miller could release the information.. Idk it was from his perspective so that bit didn't really work for me? (hide spoiler)]

I would like more stuff in this world though. Also I found it interesting we didn't even get much on why the war was being fought in the first place..
And yes the silent Martinez being great at karaoke was fantastic :D