Fantasy Buddy Reads discussion
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Beware of Chicken 3
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Vagabond Treehouse (2023) [Beware of Chicken 3 - December 4th]
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I'm always noting character names... not sure when they're intended or not...
One of the Gray Man books had Asian agents named Tao & Wong... Tao Wong writes System Apocalypse...
In Empire of Silence, the MC is named Hadrian, and the force shields are Royce Shields... Hadrian & Royce are the MCs of the Riyria Chronicles...
Etc etc etc...
The Kaiju Preservation Society - Just started this & it's super funny! Not sure why it has mixed reviews. XDGuess I'll find out soon. Heh
Timelord Iain wrote: "@Emily: Started listening to Minor Mage a few hours ago... almost done... I think that counts as a Buddy Read... been less than 2 weeks since you read it (barely)...I'm liking this one less than ..."
Yeah I liked Defensive Baking better too, but it was a cute story and I'd agree with the author, it's more of a children's story despite some of the content.. And I got Nettle and Bone vibes from it too, mostly from Trebastion's weird talent
Soo wrote: "The Kaiju Preservation Society - Just started this & it's super funny! Not sure why it has mixed reviews. XDGuess I'll find out soon. Heh"
I think most of us really liked it! I'd say its similar to his other stuff and if you like that, you'll like this one :D
Tonari no Emily wrote: "Soo wrote: "The Kaiju Preservation Society - Just started this & it's super funny! Not sure why it has mixed reviews. XDGuess I'll find out soon. Heh"
I think most of us really l..."
I think I enjoyed the first half of the book the most, but I still really enjoyed the whole thing--the opening, with COVID, and getting hired, was just extra funny. It was my vote for best SF last year in the GR Choice Awards.
I love how diverse Scalzi is in his topics--yet still maintains that lovely Scalzi snark...
The Kaiju Preservation Society was fun!Good author's note. Too many authors have been over planning/reaching & publishing books that are not as good as one would expect from them.
The first half was much better than the last half. Not because the writing went funky but I bet due to the deadline commitment. The character based parts were the best! You could also tell that a lot of the general vibe of 2020 was inserted into the book cause that was what Scalzi had been noting the whole time.
I really liked how Scalzi presented the way people think of themselves as the center of everything that happens, but that's not really the case. Oh look, we're just tiny spec in danger of being stomped as Kaiju do their thing. XD
Diving back into He Who Fights with Monsters 5. Going by my book notes on the series, I like He Who Fights with Monsters more than Beginning After the End series.
I loved the author note at the end of The Kaiju Preservation Society. And the book was a lot of fun:)))
Has anyone tried the Unconventional Heroes series? Two Necromancers, a Bureaucrat, and an Elf keeps ending up in my recommendations.
Narilka, no, but it sounds interesting:)
Ditto Choko--that looks interesting but haven't heard of it. @Soo--I also keep seeing He Who Fights With Monsters show up on audio sales and lists--what kind of recommendation would you give it?
Hi, Choko! =DNarilka wrote: "Has anyone tried the Unconventional Heroes series? Two Necromancers, a Bureaucrat, and an Elf keeps ending up in my recommendations."
Going by reviews, I'd say it's fine as long as you can read it for free. Like on Audible Plus/KU. Not worth spending money, but may be a fun little spree for free.
Nirkatze wrote: "Ditto Choko--that looks interesting but haven't heard of it. @Soo--I also keep seeing He Who Fights With Monsters show up on audio sales and lists--what kind of recommendation would you give it?"
He Who Fights with Monsters is another Royal Road story that has gotten enough traction/Patreons to end up on KU + Audible. I don't have the patience to read this story on Royal Road/KU, but I'm enjoying the audio.
Action/Some Humor/Sort of Cultivation Growth/Apocalypse
It has fun characters & interesting plot elements. I'm glad I'm coming into the series on the later end, because it's not one I would enjoy having down time between audio releases. Since it's a webserial turned into book, the format is a series of episodic arcs.
Meanwhile, I decided to try out Beware of Chicken #2 on Royal Road & reading it between other stuff. The story continues to be cute & the inside story jokes are more apparent. =D
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I feel like I like the genre more in theory than in practice, half the time...
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If I'm not part of the BR, it doesn't exist :D
To be fair, I seem to be signed up for 75% of the BRs right now, so it's easy to forget any others exist...
Soo wrote: "He Who Fights with Monsters is another Royal Road story that has gotten enough traction/Patreons to end up on KU + Audible. I don't have the patience to read this story on Royal Road/KU, but I'm enjoying the audio...."Thank you for the review! Adding to TBL...
Haha! Soo! I guess you missed my overly enthusiastic YAY when you first posted again:))) Missed you and am so happy that you are back!!! Next time, if you are taking a sabbatical from GR, stop by to let us know you are OK, because we were very worried!!! ❤️❤️❤️
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In the meantime, I read:
Smoke Bitten -- almost done with my Mercy Thompson re-read, started back in September... few books behind on Alpha & Omega re-read... need to do the horse one, then Burn Bright & Wild Sign...
Minor Mage -- another cute little story from T. Kingfisher... enjoyed it as much as I expected, if not quite as much as A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking
Posthumous Education -- another Fred book... I love these... I think they might count as competence porn, maybe?... new-ish term for me to use to describe books... they also tend to have an episodic/anthology nature to them... which is how I describe most St. Mary's books... also like St. Mary's the baddie needs to die already... the baddie in this series is Quinn, and he might finally be dying, in another book or 2... he's Fred's sire, and has all this stockpiled power from drinking the blood of other magical creatures... and is always off-screen making dastardly plans...
The Seventh Bride -- then I did another T. Kingfisher... this is a bit of a Beauty & the Beast story?... not really... more like that Naomi Novik version: Uprooted or the Bluebeard folktale (I had to look this up... for some reason I thought it was a Lovecraft story I was looking for... I knew there was a story)... anyway, I enjoyed it, if the ending played out pretty quick, and I was left with some questions and/or interpretations of events to deal with...
Also, along the way, I read a few chapters Empire of Silence, and figure it'll be an easy read, once I start in earnest...
Tried Destiny (Choko asked it I was interested in BRing it)... checked it out on Hoopla... stopped after about 10 minutes tho... I'm REALLY not a fan of Graphics Audio... and sometimes it's the only audio option, sadly... so I called that a bust...
Now I'm reading It's A Wonderful Midlife Crisis, from Audible Plus... one of those Midlife UF books I mentioned were all over the place now... this one is full of ghosts... enjoyable enough... (pre-EDIT: I just looked at the book page, and this book might be terribad... good for a few laughs early on, but downhill for plot/characterization over time)...
LOL that's an awesome readathon, Iain! Adding more books to my TBR, you salesman you.Fitcher's Brides is a retelling of the Bluebeard Folktale... but I haven't read it myself... I still want to jump in on Minor Mage & Defensive baking before Illusions, but I'm not optimistic on the squeeze.
I'm still interested in the Rogue Angel series, Choko, but I've definitely signed myself up for waaay too many BRs right now..
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rated it 5 stars
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Up past chapter 10 now on Empire of Silence (of like 80 chapters... long way to go... even at 2.7x speed it's a 10hr audiobook)...
This is why I find myself doing so many re-reads... it's hard to find new series to love... or give them time to grow on me, either, honestly...
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rated it 5 stars
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Fitcher's Brides is a retelling of the Bluebeard Folktale... but I haven't read it myself... I s..."
If I'm getting you to add Drew Hayes to your TBR, I'd start with Super Powereds: Year 1... that's where I started... and it was glorious... I think it's where Choko started, too... maybe ended... not sure she's read as much of his catalog...
It's a webnovel turned traditionally published novel... so the 4 books span nearly 5000 pages in total... very good, tho... I'd be open to a re-read in the next year or 2, if you guys find time...
Timelord Iain wrote: If I'm not part of the BR, it doesn't exist :DTo be fair, I seem to be signed up for 75% of the BRs right now, so it's easy to forget any others exist..."
Lol fair enough, you've done most of the others this month xD
I don't know why I keep adding stuff when I know this isn't sustainable, but I'm having fun
Also dittoing Nirkatze here, sighing while adding even more things to the 'ol TBR xD
Gavin & I BRed Empire of Silence. We had great chats about the story in status updates. He enjoyed the story & our mutual rants about the book. Gavin rated it 4 stars. I gave it 2 Stars. It's one of those books that I'm not sure why it became popular. lol Series has been out for a while now. Friends that I tend to agree with on books, seem to love this series, and I'm like EWwwwww. XD
LoL - Just re-read my review for the book and I'm like, maybe it should have been a 1 star rating. XD
Tonari no Emily wrote: "I don't know why I keep adding stuff when I know this isn't sustainable, but I'm having fun..."OMG THIS! I can't stop myself, I feel like a frickin' book addict...
Tonari no Emily wrote: "Also dittoing Nirkatze here, sighing while adding even more things to the 'ol TBR xD"
I'm so glad we understand each other so well... nice to have company in this insanity...
Soo wrote: "Gavin & I BRed Empire of Silence. We had great chats about the story in status updates. He enjoyed the story & our mutual rants about the book. Gavin rated it 4 stars. I gave it 2 Stars. It's one o..."This makes me even more curious to start reading the series... hoping to jump into the BR as soon as I finish Ember Blade... which side of the spectrum will I fall on? Definitely looking forward to reading your review Soo.
Nirkatze, it's insane! I also started the second Malazan today because I Couldn't Stop Myself 🙈And yeah, definitely looking forward to the Empire of Silence BR and also why Soo wasn't as enamored as others... xD
Soo wrote: "Gavin & I BRed Empire of Silence. We had great chats about the story in status updates. He enjoyed the story & our mutual rants about the book. Gavin rated it 4 stars. I gave it 2 Stars. It's one o..."Hahahah just saw your edit... I hope I enjoy it more than you did because I already have book 2 and 3 😅
lol Emily XDEmpire of Silence - I actually bought the print & audio for this book. I had a tough time reading the print. Sentence structure, word choices, awkward POV, etc - there were lots of glaring issues that made me question why people (those who had Advance Reader Copies) enjoyed the story.
Audiobook made it possible for me to finish the book. Audios have that wonderful aspect of glossing over punctuation & other grammar issues when you have a good narrator that will add the pauses, etc.
To me, that book was a beta stage & needed another series of editing waves before publishing. The fact that it's not a self-pub makes it worse. Some editor, in a trad publishing house, read that book & decided it was ok with all the flaws. Meh
BUT! That's the trend at the time. All of these books are getting cranked out by amateur writers and collecting their own dedicated fans. Still the trend, though I'm going to guess it is evolving since reader tastes will evolve over time.
It makes sense that Trad Pub houses would also take risks to publish raw books with the intent of riding the tending waves. Nevermind that there should be a different degree of reqs between a self-pub & trad pub. XD
Anyways, to me, Empire of Silence was a bunch of already done ideas mashed up in a less appealing dish. A new cook that burnt the edges of the meal and left the middle raw. XD
Soo wrote: "lol Emily XDEmpire of Silence - I actually bought the print & audio for this book. I had a tough time reading the print. Sentence structure, word choices, awkward POV, etc - there..."
Oof, that makes sense... Trad publishing really should have more editing even if they do take a risk with a story...
2-for 1 Credit Sale on Audible XDTook a quick look at the SF/F section & there are a few I'm interested in there. Will have to look them up on GR & see what the general thought for them are.
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Took a quick look at the SF/F section & there are a few I'm interested in there. Will have to look them up on GR & see what the general thought for them are."
Audible is always having sales... kinda like Steam & game sales... if I don't cut myself off, I'll be spending money all the time...
I haven’t even looked at the sale. I still have like 18 books on Audible from the last few sales.
Yeah I'm not doing a sale for a while... Won't even look at this time (hopefully)
Only got 3 new & 1 add to series I'm slowly collecting as they go on sale. LoL I already had most of the fun books that were on the sale. XD
- Win
- The Fall of Dragons
- Jade Legacy
- Cast in Deception - I own all the books in print & ebooks. Slowly adding audio as the books go on sale. XD
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I'm not a fan of Khristine Hvam's narration. It's meh to ok for the series. Her voice is not a good fit for the variety of core characters. She has a tendency of making them sound more whiny or airhead-like. Only getting the audios for the easy to listen on the go aspect. I much prefer reading the stories. It's a rich world, complex characters, action & humor. Plus, ya know, magical dragons. XDCoE & Vlad Taltos = winners with little dragonlings
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Jhereg (dragonling)
On Basilisk Station (telepathy cats)
Hounded (derpy dog who loves bacon & poodles)
Minor Mage (armadillo)
A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking (gingerbread man)
The Seventh Bride (hedgehog)
This list would grow crazy long if I started including shifters and the aliens in the Innkeeper Chronicles... I eventually abandoned Honor Harrington over story structure & infodumps (and avoided a multi-author megaverse that never ends, honestly)...
This is mostly a list of recent reads and notables... I'm sure I've forgotten alot of crazy good examples...
October Daye should probably be on here for the Rose Goblins...
Timelord Iain wrote: "I'm sucker for talking/intelligent animals/familiars:Jhereg (dragonling)
On Basilisk Station (telepathy cats)
Hounded (derpy dog who loves bacon & poodle..."
And the knowes xD
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Jhereg (dragonling)
On Basilisk Station (telepathy cats)
Hounded (derpy dog wh..."
Yea... I didn't include sentient houses... I should...
Black Hat, White Witch (Moth/Fae soul transfer/familiar)
How to Save an Undead Life (sentient house)
Clean Sweep (sentient house)
Deadly Assessments (haunted/sentient house... can't remember which book it's introduced in tho, so I picked a middle book)...
I got only four books this sale round... I've been getting better about cross-referencing all the libraries and other sides though...I picked up:
Jade Legacy
Ruin
Kings of the Wyld
The Pariah
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I need to read Bloody Rose too at some point. Kings of the Wyld was great
Wait for Outlaw Empire to come out & read Bloody Rose & Outlaw Empire. I thought Bloody Rose was a transition piece & did not have the same kind of voice as Kings of the Wyld. Finished He Who Fights With Monsters 8 & it was a nice mini-wrap up for some of the key events that have been happening. Nice spot to be happy with the story & pause until there are 3 audiobooks out. XD
Currently, #9 is set to be published. So, I'll prob wait a year to continue this one.
I really liked Bloody Rose. I might have liked Kings of the Wyld a little more, but I enjoyed both. Then again, I'm easy to book please. ^^ I thought I'd like to try rereading with audio. I knew there'd be a very different tone between them, since Kings of the Wyld is inspired by rock bands like Pink Floyd, and Bloody Rose was mostly 80s music/Pat Benatar inspired. I wonder if they do anything with the music inspiration on the audiobook? I know Eames has a recommended playlist...
I only knew that Kings of the Wyld was rock influenced. You can't tell from story that Bloody Rose is Pat Benatar inspired. At least, I never caught on to that and I am a fan of Benatar. XDReading the print may be a better experience for both stories. There was a dryer tone for Bloody Rose. I don't think Bloody Rose was given enough character centered content to stand on it's own. It was a transitional piece with gloss overs.
Roadkill was fun. A light popcorn read. Good for kids I'd say. Along the lines of Men in Black. There's a snarky AI in it too. =D
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Readin..."
Kings of the Wyld is inspired by 70s music... Bloody Rose by 80s... Outlaw Empire by 90s...
That is totally not apparent within the story.XD
Also, if Outlaw Empire is inspired by 90s music... well, I'm gonna expect it to be cheesy funny.
Fantasy Buddy Reads
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Nora Sakavic (other topics)Jordan L. Hawk (other topics)
Jordan Castillo Price (other topics)
T.J. Klune (other topics)
Derek Alan Siddoway (other topics)
Only semi related... I did get a chuckle when reading The Atrocity Archives that they had a Fred in accounting. Made me think of that Hayes series.