Fantasy Book Club Series discussion
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Nominations and Poll Invitations
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Nominations open for our next series!
Oh...I'll second Maggie's nomination - good choice!
And I still mean to finish WoT this year so I'll second The Wheel of Time.
Even though they've been seconded already, I'll second both WoT and Mistborn. They're on my TBR list for the near future.
I thought Tawny Man would be automatic - I mean, you could see the various trilogies as a single "series" that's shorter overall than Malazan. But I suppose that pragmatically it's useful to let people escape partway through.That said, though, it might be better to have a yes/no on TM first, before general nominations. After all, TM isn't like any other series, in that it'll be harder to vote for it again in future, since it follows on from the other two trilogies.
I thought we were going straight into it too following it with the Dragon trilogy.
Helen wrote: "I thought we were going straight into it too following it with the Dragon trilogy."Me. too.
I'll nominate the Vampire Earth series by E.E. Knight. No, it isn't PNR or UF, it's a post apocalyptic America that is struggling against invasive species, many of which like to eat people, one way or another. It's more guerrilla warfare.
We definitely need a series to replace Malazan. Perhaps to ease the confusion, we should have a poll to see if the majority of members want to continue with the rest of the Hobb series-es for the 'regular' series read?
I'm off to bed, so I won't see any comments until tomorrow morning. Looking forward to your thoughts, though.
Good night,
Jon
OR we could continue with the Hobbs series AND add two more... we are reading three right now...Just a thought.
Ben wrote: "OR we could continue with the Hobbs series AND add two more... we are reading three right now...Just a thought."
That works as well. :)
Not officially nominating this yet, and I'm not sure whether it actually counts, but: "Ash: A Secret History"? I've read it as a single volume, but apparently in the states it's a 4-volume series [the one-volume edition was apparently the largest fantasy novel ever published, so I guess splitting it up makes sense, although I think it feels more like a super-long book than a series].It's about a female mercenary leader in the late middle ages (and about historians in our present day talking about her) - the world at first appears to be our own history, but becomes more and more divergent as the book/series goes on. Well-reviewed but few people seem to have read it; particularly good if you like realistic historical fiction (though with fantastical elements) - the author is a historical enactor, swordfighter and former war studies student.
Ditto what Ben said, lets keep Hobb and start two new ones.
How about The Black Jewels Trilogy: Daughter of the Blood, Heir to the Shadows, Queen of the Darkness?
Maggie wrote: "It's that time again!Live ship and Malazan are both wrapping up soon, and Ryria finishes at the end of March, so we need to start thinking about our next series read!
Please nominate your fa..."
AWWWWWW! :( I thought we were going to read Joe Ambecrombie's series!?
Mod
Abercrombie's series is a good idea but I' tempted with the Shadows of the Apt series by Adrian Tchaikovsky. The first book is Empire in Black and Gold.
by sherwood smith or michelle west's
the sun sword series
I'm currently reading 3 series - Wheel of Time, Dark Tower and Ryria, so probably have no bandwidth to start another series! That said, I have Mistborn and First Law trilogies on my "to read" list this year (as well as Farseer, which I know y'all read a few months back).I recently got on ebay the Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone tetralogy (first one is The Briar King), which looks great. Interweaving POVs, comprehensive world building etc., although some readers felt let-down by the ending (but then, some loved it).
Helen wrote: "Ditto what Ben said, lets keep Hobb and start two new ones."I added the three Tawny Man books to our 'to-read' shelf this morning. I created a new shelf for the entire series 'Realms of the Elderlings' as well. I changed our home page to reflect a reference to 'Realms of the Elderlings' series for Hobb rather than the Liveship Traders (which is a sub-series / trilogy of the overarching series).
Do you also wish me to add the next trilogy - the Rain Wild Chronicles? And follow that with the Blood Dragons trilogy?
And last question, I promise. I've created a 'Realms of the Elderlings' discussion folder that I can start moving the older topics into, if you like. Or, if you prefer to keep each trilogy separate, that new folder can be used for discussing the entire series.
Thanks, Jon
Jon wrote: "Helen wrote: "Ditto what Ben said, lets keep Hobb and start two new ones."I added the three Tawny Man books to our 'to-read' shelf this morning. I created a new shelf for the entire series 'Real..."
I think that would be great, Jon - a 'Realms of the Elderlings' folder. I didn't know the name of the series.
Mod
I'd like to nominate the Rai Kirah trilogy by Carol Berg, which starts withRevelation, and finishes with Transformation and finishes with Restoration.First, it's finished.
Second, it is extremely original - with a lovely magic system and an exploration of both sides of the complex question posed in volume one.
Third, because this author always delivers tremendous twists and superb endings, set in well developed worlds.
And because the characters are well fleshed out and the story flows beautifully.
This story balances dark and light, is not nihilistic or cynical or hateful of life, though it has plenty of dark moments and sharp edges - definitely is not fluff.
NO orcs or elves or rip offs of earlier epics, and there is no 'pig boy' arctype.
There's plenty of room for discussion with these books as they do raise many angles of view and challenge the concept of a black and white ethic.
I second the Rai Kirah series. Great series. I'd even reread them for the discussions.
Amelia wrote: "I second the Rai Kirah series. Great series. I'd even reread them for the discussions."Me, too!
Wastrel wrote: "Not officially nominating this yet, and I'm not sure whether it actually counts, but: "Ash: A Secret History"? I've read it as a single volume, but apparently in the states it's a 4-volume series [..."You've made this sound interesting. I'll second if you nominate.
I'll nominate The Dark Tower series by Stephen King. Starts with The Gunslinger. (most people consider it fantasy)
I would like to nominate the Imager Portfolio series by L.E. Modesitt Jr.. I have read all four (4) published books and am looking forward to the fifth, due out later this year. I can volunteer to lead the discussion and probably convince the author to visit us occasionally for a Q&A thread. I gave long thought to re-nominating (probably for the second or third time) Modesitt's Recluce Saga, but hesitated to try again because of the size (currently sixteen books). I also thought of re-nominating C.J. Cherryh's Fortress series, which I would love to finish reading, but decided against it.
I have the first 3 of the Imager series & it's been a long time, so I'll second it.
Jim wrote: "I'll nominate the Vampire Earth series by E.E. Knight. No, it isn't PNR or UF, it's a post apocalyptic America that is struggling against invasive species, many of which like to ea..."I'll second this one. Looks like it might be interesting. Is it an easy read, Jim?
Hélène wrote: "Abercrombie's series is a good idea but I' tempted with the Shadows of the Apt series by Adrian Tchaikovsky. The first book is Empire in Black and Gold."I'll second this since I'm excited about it too but I'll ask...
Are we sticking to series that are finished? Because I know this is still ongoing...
Also, I don't know if the Mistborn series needs to include Alloy of Law. The way I've heard, the first three are a trilogy and then Alloy of Law is set later and is starting its own series... so again are we reading series that are unfinished? Otherwise we should stick to the original Mistborn trilogy.
Yes, Sandra. It's a little confusing at first, but quite good. Very interesting world.
Sandra aka Sleo wrote: "Wastrel wrote: "Not officially nominating this yet, and I'm not sure whether it actually counts, but: "Ash: A Secret History"? I've read it as a single volume, but apparently in the states it's a 4..."OK, what the hell. I don't have my own copy to hand, but since I pimp it so often I should probably back that up with a nomination. I nominate A Secret History and it's three sequels ("Carthage Ascendant", "Wild Machines" and "Lost Burgundy"). Although it may be easier and/or cheaper to find the omnibus edition, which strangely I can't seem to find in the 'add book' function, but which goodreads has a page for here.
To elaborate a little on my earlier comments, the series is:
- gritty, with a lot of anachronistic swear-words and bloody violence. One review calls it the literary equivalent of the first battle scene from Saving Private Ryan.
- realistic: it's very well-researched and very close to the reality of the late middle ages (including several historical figures), and even when the fantasy elements get going the world keeps (I think) the feeling of being a real, 3D, historical world
- unpredictable: both things that are revealed about the world, and things that occur in the plot, mean that it never stays still and is constantly surprising
- relatively short - each book is less than 500 pages, I think, and it's all available in a single tome.
Reasons people might not like it:
- it has a 'literary' or 'postmodern' subplot (in which modern historians discover anomalies relating to Ash's life as known through historical sources) that eventually links up with the main plot but often feels disconnected, and a bit repetitive. Fortunately, it's only a chapter here and there, and, as I say, if you stick with it it does make sense in the end
- I guess people might complain that it doesn't have much plot structure, and certainly it's not got a cliche introduction-development-conclusion plot - it's a formula 1 track, not a nascar oval. Some may find this confusing.
- although it's a long way from straight historical fiction, it's also not HIGH fantasy. If you want dark lords, elves and dragons, this isn't the series for you. More generally, its genre is not easy to define, although I won't elaborate too much. But it has been called fantasy, science fiction, and historical fiction. This can be a problem - if you like historical fiction, you may find the fantasy/scifi elements ridiculous and distracting; if you like fantasy and scifi, you might wish it weren't so meticulously researched and realistic. Likewise its combination of military fiction with a detailed character-study of a female character - one reviewer complains that there's too many mentions of different pieces of armour, while others complain about romantic entanglements diluting the badassery of major characters and leading to insufficient ass-kicking (but if you think that's good because you don't like ass-kicking, there may be too much blood and guts for you in the battle scenes).
- as the name of the series suggests, it's all about the central character, Ash. She kills her first man at eight, and by eighteen she's a mercenary captain; I think the first line of her story is "It was her scars that made her beautiful" or something similar. There are supporting characters, of course, but it's pretty strongly focused on Ash - so how much you like it will depend a lot on how much you like Ash (or, at least, how much you can empathise with her). If violent medieval tomboys interest you, you may like this; if you find them off-putting or can't relate to them, you probably won't get very emotionally engaged.
- by the standards of a lot of pulp fantasy, this is very slow-paced. There are probably D&D novels with as much plot in a tenth the word-count. I don't think that's necessarily a problem, but some may disagree.
So: detailed, meticulous, genre-bending, gradual, violent, unpredictable, and character-based.
Maggie wrote: "Is that a nomination, Shelley??? :)"Yes Maggie that's a nomination for Joe Ambecrombie's 5 book series! :)
Wastrel wrote: "Sandra aka Sleo wrote: "Wastrel wrote: "Not officially nominating this yet, and I'm not sure whether it actually counts, but: "Ash: A Secret History"? I've read it as a single volume, but apparentl..."Second.
Mod
Yes Maggie that's a nomination for Joe Ambecrombie's 5 book series! :)"
I will second this!
Maggie wrote: I will second this!"WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!! :)
Mod
The following have a nomination but not a second, if anyopne wants to throw in their second still:
Daughter of the Blood
The Broken Crown
The Belgariad Boxed Set
Inda
The Dark Tower, Books 1-3: The Gunslinger, The Drawing of the Three, and The Waste Lands
Otherwise I will close this up tonight so we can get to the polls!
Maggie, you missed the Vampire Earth Series by E.E. Knight that I nominated #12 & Sandra seconded #36. The first book is Way of the Wolf.
Jim wrote: "Maggie, you missed the Vampire Earth Series by E.E. Knight that I nominated #12 & Sandra seconded #36. The first book is Way of the Wolf."And you forgot Joe Abercrombie's series! :)
Bonus here is that Joe has a new book coming out in November of this year! Featuring Bloody Nine from the Best Served Cold series! :) Can't wait!
Ben wrote: "Are we sticking to series that are finished? Because I know this is still ongoing... Also, I don't know if the Mistborn series needs to include Alloy of Law."
Any responses to these points I brought up in #37?
Is there somewhere to actually Vote? I didn't see anything out on the main page?
Mod
And you forg..."
I see them both listed up there...am I the only one seeing them???
as for the Sanderson debate...I havent read them yet and dont have an opinion, we usually just go with what the group thinks...
and no poll yet-will set that up tonight
Maggie wrote: "Shelley wrote: "Jim wrote: "Maggie, you missed the Vampire Earth Series by E.E. Knight that I nominated #12 & Sandra seconded #36. The first book is Way of the Wolf."..."I see it at the very top, but not in the list you posted in #44, so I thought you forgot it! :P
Mod
Sorry, Maggie. I misread that.Ben, I don't think series have to be finished. Most wouldn't make the cut then.
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Fantasy Book Club Series
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Live ship and Malazan are both wrapping up soon, and Ryria finishes at the end of March, so we need to start thinking about our next series read!
Please nominate your favorite Fantasy series here!
All nominations need to be seconded. Please check to see what we have already read.
EDIT: PLEASE PROVIDE A LINK! WE DONT ALWAYS KNOW THE BOOKS!
and yes! Tawny Man trilogy will continue--I do not want to be drawn and quartered after all!
so far:
Mistborn: The Final Empire (Mistborn series)-4 books
The Eye of the World(Wheel of Time series)-13 books
Carol BergTransformation RaiKirah series-3 books
A Secret History by Gentle-4 books
Imager (Imager portfolio)by Modesitt-3 books
Way of the Wolf (Vampire Earth series)-6 books
Empire in Black and Gold(Shadows of the Apt)-5 books
The Blade Itself (First Law series)-5 books