Vagabond Treehouse (2023) [Beware of Chicken 3 - December 4th] Showing 4,701-4,750 of 5,829

[Choko]

I finished it and yes, it was pretty awesome!!! The battles are great, but I love her clashes with the upper military echelon the most!!! I can't even imagine being in her position! You have to have a will out of this world to put that kind of weight on your shoulders... And quite a bit of self confidence... I am going to jump right into #4, once I finish #4 of the Heartstrikers...

[Nirkatze]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Yea... Theirs Not to Reason Why is an ebook series from a relatively small/indie author... they mostly write romance, and this one sci-fi series and it's prequel trilogy... it's why not everyone read it last year, I think... ebooks are a commitment, since I/you/we can listen to audiobooks in many more places......"

TY For that info... not going to be jumping in with y'all then, unless you're still reading this summer... having a harder time focusing on print as the school year winds into end chaos...

[Nirkatze]

Narilka wrote: "Yeah that's Robin Hobb lol I want to reread the whole saga some day but just can't put myself through it yet :D"

Dittoing Narilka--I do think that Liveship has the worst of it though... the biggest ups and downs... every time I've done a full series reread, Liveship has been the hardest to get through... I don't even know if it is better on a reread or not, when you know what is coming and can prepare yourself for it... maybe 3rd or 4th reread, and on audio so it is easier not to just stop reading... one nice thing about audio is that it is easy to be a passive listener, but you can't passively read a book by eye really....

[Choko]

I agree, but I have been doing the hybrid reading and I was devastated!!! I am very glad to hear that this is the worst of it though!!!

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Soldier's Duty, 60%, first counseling session with Dr. Benjamin:

[Choko]

Hahaha! Yep, that was a good reveal of the certain "Game"!

[Tonari no Emily]

I soooo want to read Liveship Traders, but I'm having a hard time reading in general lately :(
I'm pretty sure I have post-herpetic neuralgia after my shingles episode because the pain actually got worse after the blisters healed. Its been hard to concentrate on things. I've been gravitating towards In Death lately because they're becoming somewhat of a comfort read...

[Choko]

I am so sorry you are going through this, Emily! In moments like that, my mantra is "I know I will be fine tomorrow!!!" And it really works for me:) Another thing that really works - the In Death Series!!! They are a complete comfort read for me too!!!! It's the chemistry between the characters that is the magic:)))

[Narilka]

Tonari no Emily wrote: "I soooo want to read Liveship Traders, but I'm having a hard time reading in general lately :(
I'm pretty sure I have post-herpetic neuralgia after my shingles episode because the pain actually got..."

Ouch! I never new that could happen with shingles. Weird. I hope the pain passes quickly.

[Brian]

Tonari no Emily wrote: "I soooo want to read Liveship Traders, but I'm having a hard time reading in general lately :(
I'm pretty sure I have post-herpetic neuralgia after my shingles episode because the pain actually got..."

Sorry to hear! Get well please. Shingles are miserable

[Nirkatze]

Oh no! Health and wellness thoughts sending your way Emily! Thank goodness there's no running out of In Death any time soon...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Sounds like something that would happen to me... half the time I feel like my old car, that worked fine for awhile, then once it started breaking down, every fix uncovered a new problem

Get well soon, Emily...

[Nirkatze]

Does anyone have any recommendations on the current 2-for-1 audible sale? I keep eyeing the SF series bundles, reading the reviews, and backing off...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I'm still sitting around 60% on the Soldier's Duty ebook... haven't made time to read it in a few days... but I think you were thinking of Dr. Silverstone (Feyori), and not Dr. Benjamin (Chaplain/Friend), Choko... usually called Bennie?

In the meantime, I've finally made time to start Full Share, and Ishmael is still God's gift to women... first he knocks an older captain out of a depression, after she was left for a younger woman (because we know Ishmael is all about the cougars, given his proclivities amongst his own crew), and then he hooks up with a shy spacer from another ship, to bolster her cred with her crewmates (and because he's interested, obviously)...

The older male author definitely seems to have a message to share on that front... but I like the other aspects of the story too much to abandon it over the eyeroll elements...

[Tonari no Emily]

Thanks for the well wishes guys! <3
I hope to respond to some BRs today...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Finished Full Share... in general, I enjoyed it... the ending seemed like it was keeping the gang together, but then I read Double Share, and it time jumped right past Officer College, and spread everyone out, so now Ishmael had to start over with a new dysfunctional crew... early on, it seemed like more of the same, before he arrived, and was hooking up with women...

Then the main story started, and I loved it... Ishmael fixed the crew in his usual competent way, but the ship was really bad... corrupt officers sleeping with everyone and using intimidation and violence to control everyone... but it all worked out in the end... watching the women join a fake harem around Ishmael for protection became kinda hilarious, as they gained confidence and left Ishmael uncomfortable...

Started Captain's Share, and there was another time jump, and surprise failing marriage... in 5 books, now, Ishmael has gone from 18 to 38... and we're not even halfway through the series... there's still Owner's Share, In Ashes Born, To Fire Called, By Darkness Forged, the Shaman's Tales side trilogy, the Smuggler's Tales side trilogy, and the new Ishmael trilogy the author is writing...

EDIT: On a side note, buying a 2nd iPod has done wonders for eking out another hour or two of audiobooks per day, when I'm on a roll, since i don't listen while charging (to avoid damaging the charge ports more than they already are)...

[Narilka]

Timelord Iain wrote: "I'm still sitting around 60% on the Soldier's Duty ebook... haven't made time to read it in a few days... but I think you were thinking of Dr. Silverstone (Feyori), and not Dr. Benjamin (Chaplain/F..."

oh boy. Seems that Full Share isn't much better than Half Share as you all described it.

[Narilka]

Obviously I posted before your latest update Iain. So it gets better?

[Nirkatze]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Finished Full Share... in general, I enjoyed it... the ending seemed like it was keeping the gang together, but then I read Double Share, and it time jumped right past Officer Colleg..."

Glad to hear your reviews, Iain... the harem bit has me a bit worried, but if it's a "fake" one that makes Ish uncomfortable, then maybe I won't feel like it's as much of a middle-aged male wish-fulfillment dumpster-fire as the last one...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Narilka wrote: "Obviously I posted before your latest update Iain. So it gets better?"

I would say Full Share is on par with Half Share, for everything Nirkatze had problems with towards the end of Half Share...

Double Share started out seeming like more of the same for the first 10-20%, then improved mightily... (view spoiler)[ Ishmael still has a bit of wandering male gaze, but never follows through on any of it, and is appalled at his commanding officers... the fake harem situation is completely run by the women of the crew, Ishmael tries to shut it down, but the women value it too much... as an officer, it makes these women out of bounds and easier to fend off the lower level crewmates, but also leaves Ishmael fending off true violence and possible murder for most of the book... towards the end of the book, Ishmael finds out how truly abusive the whole situation is, when a crewmate disrobes to show her bruises/injuries...

Luckily, everything works out in the end, but the author still makes some really weird choices... it's never really explained, what's going on with certain male crewmates visiting the officer quarters (I thought there was a smuggling/criminal syndicate plotline waiting to be unveiled), and one of the enforcers is basically given a free pass, after he cleans up his act at the end, with a forceful female authority figure to straighten him out... (hide spoiler)]

I wasn't gonna spoiler tag this, but I'm basically explaining large swaths of the plot so you can decide if you want to bother with the series or not, so I figure I should...

All of this ignores the things Ishmael does that REALLY seems to piss off the abusers... cleans the ship, teaches them his tricks for skipping advancement levels, and turns them from one man islands into a crew that works together (which makes it harder to abuse, without the isolation)...

And, of course, he fixes the coffee and teaches the engineer to cook everyday meals better...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I seem to be lowkey trying to binge the Trader's Tales series right now, but this 2nd trilogy just seems to balloon in size... the audiobooks go from being 9-10hrs, to Captain being 13hrs and Owner being 17.5hrs...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I just spent all day reading Captain's Share & Owner's Share... the time jumps definitely gave Ishmael time to mature and grow out of his old "wholesome playboy" ways...

I really liked these entries... until 90% through Owner's Share, which I just hit, when it went and suckerpunched me, and now I'm sad and frustrated with how this is all ending... (view spoiler)[after a book or so of Ishmael moving on from a coworker he was infatuated with, but who said it wasn't reciprocated (and everyone implying she was lying and it WAS recriprocated... she was just honoring his no fraternization rule)... they hook up, she joins his crew, and like 20-30 pages later, she's dead... collateral damage in the main plot of the book... (hide spoiler)]

After this book comes the Shaman's Tale & Smuggler's Tale trilogies, which loosely connect back in to the 3rd Ishmael trilogy (Seeker's Tale), which has more depressing book titles & features Ishmael reuniting with Pip & going deep into uncharted space...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Owner's Share managed to end in a much better place than I expected, honestly... and I think the last line matched the first from Quarter Share. "Call me Ishmael."

I also went and read the blurbs for the next Ishmael trilogy, and they involve hunting down the man responsible... it also sounds like they return to the hopeful cozy nature of the earlier books, somehow... gonna take a break from the series now, tho... been a major binge-fest...

[Choko]

Now I want to read all of those! Which one should I start with?

[Nirkatze]

I think I'm going to have to try to catch up at some point too... but I expect there will be rants in my future...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

You generally read all the Ishmael Trader books (the ones with Share in the name), then you can do Shaman & Smuggler... then you do the 3rd Ishmael trilogy (Seeker's Tale), which ties together with Smuggler in the 3rd book... then he's writing a 4th trilogy right now...

Shaman's trilogy is the least necessary, but I think it follows the maker of the wooden whelkie figurines...

[Narilka]

Choko wrote: "Now I want to read all of those! Which one should I start with?"

First book is Quarter Share.

[Choko]

Thank you guys, I will be on it:))))

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

You must have missed out when Nirkatze and maybe others read Quarter Share and Half Share in December... they were on Audible Plus and about to expire...

I only recently made time to continue with further entries... don't think anyone else has, yet...

[Choko]

I actually have all of his books, just, as always, have to get to them:)

[Choko]

Finished Quarter Share earlier today. Really pleasant slice of life cozy sci-fi! I really needed something like it today, since my brother and my father have obviously decided to emotionally torture me these days... I have been so upset, I have been having a hard time concentrating on anything, but this is such a mundane, easy read, it kind of centered me... Ishmael is a very nice dude, although a bit of a genius, apparently even better at trade than a guy born and raised on a trader ship:))) I am also half way through Half Share and I can buy him being this smart, I am having a harder time buying him as this 19 years old Don Juan... All those smart, strong and gorgeous women are all over him AND he can charm them out of their garments just by chatting them up and looking good in jeans??? Hahaha! I just can't see it. But, it is still fun to read...

[Nirkatze]

Choko wrote: "Finished Quarter Share earlier today. Really pleasant slice of life cozy sci-fi! I really needed something like it today, since my brother and my father have obviously decided to emotionally tortur..."

That was the problem I had with Half Share, Choko--it felt like a male harem fantasy and I was not happy....

[Nirkatze]

Is anyone else having problems with Hoopla? It's not loading any books at all for me... troubleshooting isn't doing any good so far... trying to figure out if it is a me-problem or a Hoopla-problem...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Everything seems fine to me... browsed yesterday, borrowed and downloaded and started listening to something this morning, just to test for you...

Try completely turning off your ipod & turning it back on... usually resolves most problems for me... most problems for me creep in after an OS/app update... usually problems with sound playing in earbuds when i turn the screen off... on very rare occasions, I've gotten glitchy sound from Hoopla, and my only recourse was to try and delete and reinstall app/book, or use another device...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Me & Choko are gonna read Agatha H and the Airship City, if anyone wants to join... I think she wasn't the only one to pick up a few of the books already? (I could be wrong)...

This was originally just me doing some re-reads on my own, but I told Choko in the mystery thread and here we are :D

The first one is short, but later entries get alot longer (not Wandering Inn longer, just 9-10hrs vs 15-18hrs... kinda like Heartstrikers)...

[Choko]

Where will we read it?

Also, I finished Full Share and I really enjoyed it. The only thing I wish we had more of was the trading. It got away from what it started as... But we had the first real bump in the series, and despite it being minor and quickly fixed, it was something different:) (view spoiler)[ I am glad he finally hooked up with his ex bunkmate at the end. I also am sad that he is leaving what seems like the perfect ship with the most supportive and awesome crew and captain. There was a moment I found a bit ridiculous, but the author is doing it from a good place in his heart, so I have programmed myself to give these types of situations here a pass... I am talking about him meeting the lady captain of another ship in a bar, seeing her being striking, but sad, and magically, our 19 year old makes her feel better about herself within a short walk and an even shorter conversation... And she is old enough to be his grandma:))) But it, as I said, came from a place where the author is trying to "empower" women of all ages, types and sizes, so as absurd as it was, I was Ok with it:)))... Now we are off to The Academy! (hide spoiler)]

[Choko]

I just saw your post that we should read it here. So yeah, I will be here tomorrow for Agatha:)

[Choko]

Double Share Up to Ch. 20... Well, this new ship sure isn't the Louise! I can't believe this sexual harassment is not only tolerated, but obviously is the culture of the ship... Ishmael already fixed the coffee and is cleaning up the bridge. I am hoping he puts his genius magic brain to fixing the ship's culture too...

[Nirkatze]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Everything seems fine to me... browsed yesterday, borrowed and downloaded and started listening to something this morning, just to test for you...

Try completely turning off your ipod & turning it..."

It was really weird... I tried updating the ipod software, updating the hoopla software (which included several full restarts) uninstalling and reinstalling the app... and it still didn't work... until I left it alone for an hour after that and finally--with an hour to midnight--it worked again. So I got to use up a few more of April borrows before jumping in to May. Whew!

[Nirkatze]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Me & Choko are gonna read Agatha H and the Airship City, if anyone wants to join... I think she wasn't the only one to pick up a few of the books already? (I could be wrong)...

This..."

I have the first 4 of those... I'm pretty behind bookswise right now so I don't know if I'll be jumping in, but I'm interested...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Nirkatze wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "Me & Choko are gonna read Agatha H and the Airship City, if anyone wants to join... I think she wasn't the only one to pick up a few of the books already? (I co..."

4 = all the novels, for now... everything else you're seeing is just the webcomics in printed volumes... 4 novels = about 10 comic volumes, I think...

Should definitely join... I wasn't expecting Choko to :D

Me & Choko have a bad habit of starting new stuff before we finish the old stuff, like Marla Mason...

I was thinking of starting other stuff, too... but trying to hold off until there's more time to BR together... Middlegame, Hungry Dreaming, etc...

[Choko]

Finished Double Share ... This was a bit harder to read, because of the constant expectation of abuse in the air... I agree with everything you said, Iain... The "harem" was kind of funny, but I felt really bad for the one girl... The dude who got away bothered me the most, but I guess we have to have some hope of rehabilitation... I guess... It was harder to read, but it was better as a plotted book than the previous one...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Choko wrote: "Finished Double Share ... This was a bit harder to read, because of the constant expectation of abuse in the air... I agree with everything you said, Iain... The "harem" was kind of funny, but I fe..."

I think the possible space pirate subplot is more of an overarching thing that's gonna be doled out slowly across multiple trilogies including the side one with Smugglers...

[Choko]

Started Agatha H#1 The prologue was very ominous! Those wasps are horrifying! And what are the Sparks they are trying to kill... And Ch. 1 apparently started 16 years later?

[Choko]

Agatha H#1 still in Ch. 1... (view spoiler)[ Obviously, something is suppressing something inside of her... I wonder if it was her locket, and now that those down-on-their-luck soldiers stole it, whatever was suppressed will be unleashed... I am also fascinated by those Jagger-Monsters...:) Are they on the tyrant forces? What were those mechanical police then, that they feel threatened? I think it will take me a second to get oriented into the world here... I like that:) (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Choko wrote: "Started Agatha H#1 The prologue was very ominous! Those wasps are horrifying! And what are the Sparks they are trying to kill... And Ch. 1 apparently started 16 years later?"

Sparks are people with the "spark" for Mad Science... they tend to go into a fugue state and make inventions that kinda defy science a bit... also attract minions... and tend to rule chunks of the world with their inventions (kinda like warlords, safer for the populace)...

The series has it's ominous plot elements, but overall it has that comic book asthetic... comical villainy, dastardly plans... think Inspector Gadget kinda...

Much of the overarching plot of the series is the mystery of the disappearance of the Heterodyne Boys, Lucretia Mongfish's lingering plots, what Baron Klaus von Wolfenbach did in their absence, etc... all told through the eyes of the next generation... Agatha H(eterodyne), Gilgamesh von Wolfenbach, etc... and the myriad side characters... I find the Jaegermonsters to be a hoot, especially the narrator's portrayal... them and the the Gentleman Adventurer have that comic book asthetic of never being able to be seriously hurt/killed, despite ridiculous things happening, like falling off an airship...

I did my re-read this morning, but wanted to wait to comment, until you started reading :D

This is my 3rd readthrough...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Choko wrote: "Agatha H#1 still in Ch. 1... [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[Jaegermonsters are creations of the Heterodyne Boys / Family... basically Frankenstein creatures that are extremely hard to kill... I think their creation is explained a bit in later books... Klaus von Wolfenbach was a friend/ally of the Heterodynes, 16 years ago, before whatever happened happened... so he was able to recruit/corral them, in the absence of a Heterodyne...

Also, that's basically Klaus's genius... collecting & using the best works of other Mad Scientists to bolster his empire, and bring a bit of stability to Europe...

The premise of this series is fun, but the day-to-day of it isn't great, when you think about what living at the whims of Mad Scientists would be like (exactly like feudalism, really)...

The robot army is one such Mad Science creation of Dr. Beedle, here in Beedleberg... (hide spoiler)]

[Choko]

Jaegermonsters!!! Hahaha! I am liking them too:)))

Re. Klaus's genius - isn't that what the richest people in our world's genius is? To gather all the smart and innovative people around them and use their talents to get rich?

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Choko wrote: "Jaegermonsters!!! Hahaha! I am liking them too:)))

Re. Klaus's genius - isn't that what the richest people in our world's genius is? To gather all the smart and innovative people around them and u..."

Yea... but I mean... Klaus has the Spark, too... he's mostly notable for not being 100% blinded by it, the way some are...

[Choko]

Ahhh, OK, gotcha! Up to Ch. 2... I didn't expect (view spoiler)[ that Dr. Beedle would get killed this early on... Also, I hope Gilgamesh is as nice as he seems so far... (hide spoiler)]