Fantasy Buddy Reads discussion
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The Perfect Run
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Vagabond Treehouse ~ [Fall 2025: World of Chains #1-3 (Wayward Bard) | The Perfect Run 1-3 (alternating)]
message 1051:
by
Brian
(new)
Oct 02, 2024 08:26PM
Good book. Reading Koontz new book the Forest of Lost Souls now. I’ll let you know
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Narilka wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "I helped by getting someone else to do it for you :D"Hah! Niraktze, I caught you up to beginning of September. I highlighted my entries in yellow to indicate the changes I m..."
Waaaa thank you Narilka!!! And to Iain for instigating! That is such a huge help! *bows down in gratitude*
And exciting about KD Wilmington 3!
re: BOC4--I'd prefer a dedicated thread--easier to track...
Mod
Brian wrote: "Good book. Reading Koontz new book the Forest of Lost Souls now. I’ll let you know"I just got that! I'll read that in a day or so. =D
Timelord Iain wrote: "Dean Koontz is an odd writer I don't usually seek out... but haven't actively hated anything I've read by him (Odd Thomas series and that multiverse book)..."Maybe cause you like series? He writes mostly standalones. I like that he has a diverse writing style.
ETA: I have zero notifications for the club threads. Hahahhaha
Just come back randomly to check and saw posts. XD
I've gotten almost no notifications the past week... it's very strange...
Mod
Timelord Iain wrote: "Dean Koontz is an odd writer I don't usually seek out... but haven't actively hated anything I've read by him (Odd Thomas series and that multiverse book)..."I agree he can be hit or miss sometimes but when he hits the mark the books are pretty good. He's a bit like Stephen King to me. Many King books I love and others not so much
I've rather liked Dean Koontz when I read in the past. I kind of fell off of Odd Thomas, not because I didn't like it, but it just wasn't a priority and I'd feel liked I'd need to reread to keep up...
Nirkatze wrote: "re: BOC4--I'd prefer a dedicated thread--easier to track..."Current release date is Dec 17th. Should I give a week's grace period? That would make it a Christmas read which feels appropriate somehow :)
Narilka wrote: "Nirkatze wrote: "re: BOC4--I'd prefer a dedicated thread--easier to track..."Current release date is Dec 17th. Should I give a week's grace period? That would make it a Christmas read which feels..."
Yah! It'll be a good, mostly feel good story to read at the end of the year.
Dean Koontz
I love Odd Thomas! That first book was great. Rest of the series was ok and only a few hit the same kind of vibe/mark as the first book.
My other go to fav is the Jane Hawk series. It was a great modern, suspense thriller that deep dived into politics, computers and etc.
@Brian, I'm going to start The Forest of Lost Souls: A Novel today. =D
Extinction: Got this from the library. Loosely connected to Pendergast outer circle, side characters. Case was a tool to develop the story, good group of characters, couple of interesting ideas and a suspenseful happy ending.
I wanted to put that phrase "suspenseful happy ending" in my review, but decided against it. Hahha
Got a notification that so-n-so liked a review I wrote for Kaiju by Matt Dinniman. Someone left a comment hating on the review and two other strangers debunked the hater. This amused me. XD
Ok! I'm requesting a thread for BOC 4 on 12/24, one week after release. Fingers crossed the release date doesn't change :)
The Forest of Lost Souls: A Novel: KU Read & Listen.This one had extreme responses from me. Lots of cool details and ideas are woven into the story, but the vast majority of the story was told as flashbacks and summaries.
It's one of those open ended kind of tales that doesn't have a true beginning or end. I feel that was intentional. There's a loose theme & objective, but the stuff between the lines were the true focus. So, the case, brutality, warm family bonds and stuff were accents to show the between the lines ideas.
So, as a story? It kind of fails. A collection of loosely connected short stories would have been a cleaner & clear method to show the same overall vibe & group of ideas.
The intro was quirky and warm. Very feel good setting with a singular dark spot. Then the story unfolds, and I spent a lot of time trying to hold the suspension of belief together and failed. Hahahah~
Cause Koontz did a great job of drawing out the darker aspects of human drive and actions. Totally had me wondering what kind of story I'm reading.
At the end, I'm disappointed. Cause some aspects are SO cool & intriguing that I wanted those parts to be fleshed out better than it was presented.
I would have enjoyed the book more if it was focused on Vida and how she becomes what she was always fated to be. That's in the book, but there are various POV's thrown around and side scenes clobbered together.
Iain, how important are Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell / Sixth of the Dusk to read ahead of Oathbringer?
Mod
Sixth of Dusk would be good to read before Rhythm of War, to catch a worldhopper implication...
Constituent Service: A Third District Story: Everyone go and read or listen to this new short by Scalzi!
I was grinning or laughing for most of this short. Good times! It's on Audible Plus.
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Yah? Sweet! I just got the 1st book on this Prime sale.
Mod
Some things are 100% analagous, others are different... that's where the animals solving problems without their master's awareness comparison comes in (either the chicken/etc in Beware of Chicken, or that invisible cat in Legends & Lattes)...
Soo wrote: "Constituent Service: A Third District Story: Everyone go and read or listen to this new short by Scalzi!
I was grinning or laughing for most of this short. Good times! It's on ..."
I saw that and was wanting to pick it up! Looking forward to it
Mod
Sergeant Snips -- Crab
Corporal Claws -- Otter
Rocky -- 2nd Crab (keeps getting catapulted into the ocean by Sergeant Snips, the Crab Queen... this is the MC's reference to "he gets knocked down, he gets up again")
Cinnamon -- Bunny (seems like a clear reference)
Warrant Officer William aka Bill -- Pelican (beak/bill, get it?)
BeeBro & Queen Bee -- Bumblebee and Honeybee Queen the Bumblebee saved from wasps...
Lieutenant Corporal Lemony Thicket aka Lemon -- Lemon Tree Hive (ascendant ancient tree + the 3-4 Lemon Trees it connected with and helped grow/ascend... they have a bit of a shared consciousness... the whole thing kinda reminds me of that tree in Harry Potter 3 that attacks people)
NOTE: other characters in the story have stopped letting the MC name anything other than pets, after he tried to call his chi-heavy sugarcane and lemon juice/rum Pew Pew Sand and Pew Pew Juice #fingerguns #pewpew
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Timelord Iain wrote: "In general, I think Heretical Fishing is good in small doses... reading #2 immediately after #1 might have been a mistake... more of the same, and heavy on the slice of life... Beware of Chicken ha..."It still sounds like a nice go to when needing that cozy fix between other things.
Mod
I'll definitely be continuing with the series... just won't mind a break, and probably won't re-read as often as Beware of Chicken, which I've already read 3x...
Dungeon Crawler Carl: This Inevitable Ruin #7 Kindle will be out November 11th, Audible 02/2025.🎶🎵🎶
I took a short break to watch S1 of Nobody Wants This on Netflix. Good writing for the series and great actors. It's goofy, smart and heartwarming rom-com. There's an eclectic cast of characters without feeling like different types of people and beliefs are smashed onto your head. Eps are only 30min long. Highly recommend as a feel good short series to watch.
👌
Soo wrote: "Dungeon Crawler Carl: This Inevitable Ruin #7 Kindle will be out November 11th, Audible 02/2025.🎶🎵🎶 ..."
YAY!!!
@Iain, I'm cracking up at the growth progress in Path of Ascension 2. Matt was already a broken character in #1. The addons in #2 make him super OP. This author has no idea how to spin a dungeon dive or fight scenes.
🤣
Mod
Has anyone figured out a fix for the notifications? All the threads I was getting notified for automatically because I posted in them I now have to go back and click a little box... and I'm not getting emails anymore at all... Is it a bug or a new "feature"?
Mod
Mod
1) Home Page -> Updates -> Customize (controls what updates appear on your home page, from friends/strangers)...
2) Account Settings -> Account & Notifications -> Notifications (choose...) (tons of settings / checkboxes... definitely looks like it got the new UI update since I last visited that page)...
3) I swear there's a way to modify group settings from the group homepage, but maybe it's just the settings near the comment box on a thread... it's kinda dangerous for me to go searching, because half the things I click are moderator group settings to change how the group works...
Group settings are at the top of the Group Homepage.You click on Group Info and then you can update your notification settings for each thread.
I've seen posts in different groups that people are having issues with notifications. I don't even get notifications for Vagabond or Wandering Inn now. I haven't gotten them for a few weeks.
I don't check too many places, so I've been just checking a few threads by refreshing the bookmarked page.
Yeah the way to turn on and off notifications for threads is just a checkbox now, there used to be options to turn off, turn on with only notifications, or turn on with email...Definitely don't like it this way, I don't trust that just checking the box will turn it on for the thread!
Mod
Listened to Constituent Service: A Third District Story today. Loved it! Definitely very Scalzi. Love how he does aliens :DReminded me a little of the Andrea Vernon books
Tonari no Emily wrote: "Listened to Constituent Service: A Third District Story today. Loved it! Definitely very Scalzi. Love how he does aliens :DReminded me a little of the Andrea Vernon books"
Yah! It's a nice short & doesn't leave you feeling like you don't know the characters, setting or plot. Good fun with a bit of mystery.
Re Notifications There's a checkbox at the bottom of the thread:
[] Notify me when people comment
That one used to be checked for me and now it isn't. I guess that was part of the wacko update on GR.
*checks the checkbox*
re: Notifications--my settings are set to notify me by email, and to receive a notification every time someone posts on a "discussion I've commented on"--but commenting isn't automatically ticking the "notify me" box anymore, and every thread I had set to notify me has no un-notified me... My email is correct... but I'm only receiving news emails from GR now. >.< So I have to go through all of my old threads and click the little "notify me" box now... and check the notifications page instead of being able to click from email... Just a hassle on top of everything else in life. I'll try that group feed thing...New Scalzi!!! I'll need to check that out.
Mod
Immediately thrown for a loop by the narrator... Ramon de Ocampo... aka Marco from Animorphs audiobooks all year :D
Mod
Clearly things aren't quite as time-sensitive as the blurb suggested... takes alot of time for a tree to start growing from a seed to a sapling to a baby tree... and the MC to regain wakefulness to take advantage of Cultivation tactics...
It's interesting, if a bit slow... I'm sure this one isn't gonna be for everyone... MC is also bonding with a girl that cares about the tree... still kinda clueless about the world... I'm mostly assuming alot of evil/demonic stuff from the blurb... altho plenty of these types of books tend to lean into cultivators being self-serving and basically evil regardless...
From reading the blurbs for the rest of the series, it reminds me a bit of BuyMort, without the Amazon aspect...
MC needs to accelerate growth to gain ability to interact with people, and forms own cultivator sect and starts becoming a powerhouse and a bit multiversal (like Yggdrasil?)...
🤣 Of the options on the current sale, can't believe ya got that one. I just glanced at it this morning. Will give it a better look later.How I, A Normal High School Student, Went to Royal Academy and Avoided Being Trapped in Hiatus: Vol 1, A LitRPG Adventure: Read 1 & 2. 3 is lined up to read later.
It's not LitRPG. It's more like slice of school life in a magical academy with a twist. Mix of learning grind, misadventures, smidgen of mystery and running hoops to keep the story from going into hiatus. 🎃
The genre labels for the current Audible sales was wacked! Lots of romances thrown into each category. I like Keri Lake. So I went ahead & got the 1st Nightshade Duology book via KU for cheaper audio.
- Infernium #2 of Duology
- The Quarry Master (I am expecting lols from this alien ridiculous love story.)
3 Roms, 2 from the Sale
- Out
- Reborn as a Demonic Tree
I couldn't find a decent 2nd book to pair with Out, so I went with the Demonic Tree story since Iain is reading it now. XD
Mod
I like Keri Lake. So I went ahead & got the 1st Nightshade Duology book via KU for cheaper a..."
Audible/Amazon/GR is terrible at tags in general... or too trusting of readers tags...
I almost got Quarry Master...
Mod
[book:How I, A Normal High School Student, Went to Royal A..."
I definitely picked up Demonic Tree with less due diligence than I usually do, skimming reviews on Audible and Goodreads... sometimes I wanna get a book based on the blurb, no matter how bad it is... and I honestly enjoyed Heretical Fishing, despite finding more and more negative reviews over time and almost abandoning my plans to ever get the book... reviews are a mixed bag, anyway, if you dunno whether your reading tastes match up or not...
I read some more before bed last night, and 7-8 years have passed now, in the first 15-20 chapters...
That Academia Hiatus story sounds a bit like Ilona Andrews next big publisher novel... which is about a girl sucked into her favorite book series, where the author is taking way too long to release the next/final book...
Maggie the Undying: https://ilona-andrews.com/wp-content/...
Academy Hiatus series: Twist for that one is that the author is NOT good and makes amateur online serial story mistakes. The MC changes the flow & pushes the story in varied directions. He gets random quests where he has to save the story main character & stuff. Basically, it's a fun change of pace series. Light fun between other books.
Premise for Maggie the Undying sounds fun. I may line up for library loan for that one.
Nirkatze, I did my best to catch you up completely for the competition tracking sheet. There were some books that had too similar names in search that I highlighted RED so you can check them.
I started Heretical Fishing: A Cozy Guide to Annoying the Cults, Outsmarting the Fish, and Alienating Oneself. Ch 4 has a nice call out to DCC and Cradle :)
Timelord Iain wrote: "RoverpoweredLookie what Audible showed me..."
I have the ebook. Gotta get audio.
Iain!
I'm listening to Path of Ascension 3 and most of it is the most BORING mock war training ever. This author has zero skills for fight sequences, battle & dungeon dives.
Even the way Matt + others are growing has become dull as dust. These characters started out well fleshed out and now all of them are like 1.5D toons.
Narilka wrote: "I started Heretical Fishing: A Cozy Guide to Annoying the Cults, Outsmarting the Fish, and Alienating Oneself. Ch 4 has a nice call out to DCC and Cradle :)"Fun! Looking forward to reading it. 🤗
Fantasy Buddy Reads
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Nathan Lowell (other topics)Nathan Lowell (other topics)
Nina Bangs (other topics)
