What Are You Reading?

Lady Haywire

shootermacg wrote: »

Started the demon cycle series:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3428935-the-warded-man

I'll keep you updated.

I quite liked that though it seemed a bit monotonous in book two for a while. Book four was definitely a step back in the right direction.

OwaynOTT

david75 wrote: »

I dropped the last book in the first law trilogy. Became a chore.

Reading the wheel of osheim right now. It's good. I like jalan. He's a bastard. But a funny one.

Grim company by Luke Schull.





By the Buford Justice that great coats series is ****e!

machalla

shootermacg wrote: »

Started the demon cycle series:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3428935-the-warded-man

I'll keep you updated.

For some reason I kept reading through all of these even though I gradually came to hate them more and more. Some nice ideas initially which take a turn for the worse with increasingly unbelievable protagonists.

I can't see myself continuing with this series unless its a choice of bad or worse. Not that that means anyone else shouldn't enjoy it, I just found it got worse as the series continued.

Buford T. Justice XIX

OwaynOTT wrote: »

Grim company by Luke Schull.





By the Buford Justice that great coats series is ****e!

That's a bit OTT, Owayn.

Isn't it well known you have no taste:P

I'm enjoying it, mixing it with Hillbilly Elegy so getting a great contrast.:)

Trojan

david75 wrote: »

I dropped the last book in the first law trilogy. Became a chore.

I wasn't crazy about First Law either. I think it was a bit overhyped because it's "gritty". That's becoming a thing.

ixoy

Trojan wrote: »

*following*

Update us when you finish.

So I finished 'The Magicians' and it's a difficult one to talk about because of the rather huge shift it takes later on in the book - it's pure spoiler territory and changes a lot of things, and I assume for the sequel books.

So aside from that.. Quentin as a lead is a bit of a moany git. He's hard to like really - swerving from self pity to unbridled anger. I don't expect characters to always likeable or else I could never read grimdark books but there's something about him that makes you want him to get a good slap..

The world we see - and again it's hard to avoid spoilers - is a bit of an odd one. Grossman sometimes seems to skimp over threads and ideas that seem really interesting and fantastical, reminding me of say a particular work by Clive Barker - and spends a long time in the mundane. Sure it's part of Quentin's character to wallow in the mundane and ignore the fantastic but it feels like there's a lot of untapped potential - a little frustrating really.

The novel's short enough and I'll read the sequel (not least because I bought it a while back for 99p) but there's better fantasy series with urban flavour. I will check out the TV show mind you as I can see how it would suit it in an easy-to-watch way.

Trojan

ixoy wrote: »

Grossman sometimes seems to skimp over threads and ideas that seem really interesting and fantastical, reminding me of say a particular work by Clive Barker - and spends a long time in the mundane. Sure it's part of Quentin's character to wallow in the mundane and ignore the fantastic but it feels like there's a lot of untapped potential - a little frustrating really.

This is what really killed it for me. Skipping straight over some great stuff and back to Moany McMoanface.

david75

Finished the wheel of osheim.

Hmmmmm

wyrn

Trojan wrote: »

This is what really killed it for me. Skipping straight over some great stuff and back to Moany McMoanface.

I hated this book so much but I did finish. Absolutely loathed all the characters, not in a House of Cards kind of way where no one is nice, but just wanted to slap some sense into the characters in this book. Heard Book 2 is better. Have it on my kindle but haven't bothered to start it yet. I gave up on the tv series once I realised the book diverged and I didn't want any spoilers.

Trojan

After all that I need me some good clean space opera. Is there anything new that's a bit like Banks or Hamilton out there?

mickmac76

Just finished the first two Harry Dresden books by Jim Butcher. Quite good I thought for a light read.

donegal_man

mickmac76 wrote: »

Just finished the first two Harry Dresden books by Jim Butcher. Quite good I thought for a light read.

One of my favorite series. If you liked them then you might also like the "Rivers Of London" series by Ben Aaronovitch. They follow the adventures of PC Peter Grant, a recently graduated member of the London Metropolitan Police who finds himself serving an apprenticeship to Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, the last remaining (official) wizard in England and head of the very special branch that deals with the occult and paranormal. Including the gods and goddesses of the titular rivers.

david75

donegal_man wrote: »

One of my favorite series. If you liked them then you might also like the "Rivers Of London" series by Ben Aaronovitch. They follow the adventures of PC Peter Grant, a recently graduated member of the London Metropolitan Police who finds himself serving an apprenticeship to Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, the last remaining (official) wizard in England and head of the very special branch that deals with the occult and paranormal. Including the gods and goddesses of the titular rivers.

Love those books. Make em into a tv series already.

machalla

Trojan wrote: »

After all that I need me some good clean space opera. Is there anything new that's a bit like Banks or Hamilton out there?

Personally I wouldn't recommend it but theres been some comparisons between Banks and this author. Who is wildly overrated in my opinion but you never know.

Ancillary Justice

The expanse series of books has a good first 3 books for good space opera.

I'm not sure if any of the new star wars books might be worth a look. Apparently "Thrawn" is supposed to be good. I've not indulged in any of those yet myself, I'm waiting to see if they are any good.

shrapnel222

Trojan wrote: »

After all that I need me some good clean space opera. Is there anything new that's a bit like Banks or Hamilton out there?

have been rereading it since last i mentioned it in this thread, and am on to the last one, but Julian May's galactic milieu series is great. Jump right in or read the introduction called intervention first. really enjoyable series

mickmac76

donegal_man wrote: »

One of my favorite series. If you liked them then you might also like the "Rivers Of London" series by Ben Aaronovitch. They follow the adventures of PC Peter Grant, a recently graduated member of the London Metropolitan Police who finds himself serving an apprenticeship to Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, the last remaining (official) wizard in England and head of the very special branch that deals with the occult and paranormal. Including the gods and goddesses of the titular rivers.

I read the first one a few years ago. Never realized that there was more. Will have to add him to my list.

Bits_n_Bobs

shrapnel222 wrote: »

have been rereading it since last i mentioned it in this thread, and am on to the last one, but Julian May's galactic milieu series is great. Jump right in or read the introduction called intervention first. really enjoyable series

Been a looooong time since I read them, maybe 30 years?? Enjoyed them at the time and definitely time for a reread

shrapnel222

Bits_n_Bobs wrote: »

Been a looooong time since I read them, maybe 30 years?? Enjoyed them at the time and definitely time for a reread

definitely 20+here also. they're still a great read!really enjoying them

ixoy

40% into 'Shadows of Self' the second book in Brandon Sanderon's "Wax and Wayne" series which itself is the second arc of his Mistborn series.

Reading this now because it is a light, fluffy read. The allomancy and feruchemical powers in it are still well among my favourite of any magic system and they work well, Sanderson using them in a clever style that properly propels the story.
Character wise it's fairly light but the leads are likeable and the prose is a little workmanlike and not as strong as his Stormlight series. There's a lot of banter in it and it's grand but nothing like say some of Erikson's dialogue or Scott Lynch's.
A nice easy read so far then, even if it won't be a classic.

OwaynOTT

I dislike Sanderson's 'banter', it's usually forced and falls flat.

shootermacg

OwaynOTT wrote: »

I dislike Sanderson's 'banter', it's usually forced and falls flat.

I dislike Sanderson's books. :D:D

OwaynOTT

shootermacg wrote: »

I dislike Sanderson's books. :D:D

I wouldn't go that far, the stormlight stuff is good so far.

Thargor

OwaynOTT wrote: »

I dislike Sanderson's 'banter', it's usually forced and falls flat.

Its excruciating, and the POV character who always think they're lame but turn out to be the most powerful user of whatever magic system they use ever, it happens over and over again, I just dont read his books anymore. I have the Stormlight Archive books but just his name on the front puts me off reading them.

OwaynOTT

Thargor wrote: »

Its excruciating, and the POV character who always think they're lame but turn out to be the most powerful user of whatever magic system they use ever, it happens over and over again, I just dont read his books anymore. I have the Stormlight Archive books but just his name on the front puts me off reading them.

Stormlight isn't too much like that but you've described what should be the blurb to his Steelheart series.

Thargor

Steelheart might actually be the worst thing Ive ever read.

shrapnel222

Thargor wrote: »

Steelheart might actually be the worst thing Ive ever read.

worse than warbreaker? wow he really knows no bounds in terms of spewing garbage.

Thargor

Never read it and happy to say I never will.

mcgovern

Orb Sceptre Throne was pretty good, I think ICE is definitely improving as he goes.
After that I read Relics by Tim Lebbon. It's a kind of Urban Fantasy set in London, where some supernatural creates still exist and some humans hunt their artifacts. I really liked the idea of it, but the execution was really poor. The first third of the book is about how great the two main characters relationship is. With better editing another third could have been removed, as there is so much repetition of everything.
Overall I would say it's one to avoid.

I also read She Who Waits by Daniel Polansky, the third and final book in his Lowtown series. I really liked this series, it's quiet dark and The Warden is quite different from most protagonists. I think the first book in the series was the best, this one doesn't really have much 'fantasy' in it, but it was worth a read.

I'm now split between Lightless by C.A. Higgins, which so far is an interrogation taking place on a spaceship. It has a bit of a strange mix, the story is not really YA but some parts of it seem like they were lifted straight from something like Twilight - the main female character is quite and shy, who can't help but interact with the bad guy who is probably not really bad and has amazing blue eyes that look straight into her soul...
As well as that I'm reading King of Thorns by Mark Lawrence, second book in the Broken Empire trilogy. I'm struggling to remember what happened in the first book and it's not helped by the fact that every second chapter is a flashback to 4 years previous, so I'm not even sure what is going on anymore...

Nody

Finished Blood Song and started on the second book; it was good but not sure all the raving about it set my expectations to high or spoiled by a similar story written worse that I read earlier.

keane2097

Nody wrote: »

Finished Blood Song and started on the second book; it was good but not sure all the raving about it set my expectations to high or spoiled by a similar story written worse that I read earlier.

Nah it was fairly middle of the road. Hype around fantasy books is nearly always overblown.