What Are You Reading?

mcgovern

Finished Semiosis which was quite good, I'd definitely read more if it was made into a series. There is a lot of potential with the flora and fauna of the planet and the humans relationship with it.
Now onto Theft of Swords by Michael J Sullivan, it's got off to a decent start. Fantasy apart a pair of thieves on the run.

keane2097

Thargor wrote: »

Okay having read a bit further it makes total sense now, nevermind...:o

I've finally just finished this (The Fifth Season). Not sure why it took me so long as it's not particularly lengthy. It's very good. Pleased to get the impression that the second and third book are just as good if not better.

Not sure whether I'll dive straight in or not...

lordgoat

Onto book 3 of Scalzi's Old Mans War. The Last Colony.

Really enjoyed The Ghost Brigades. I normally prefer a storyline driven book but the characters in this and the concepts are really interesting and (for me) a nice new take. I do generally read fantasy though...

Plan is to move on to Sanderson's Mistborn next. Or I might read RE Feist's new book King of Ashes (and break my golden rule of not starting a series until it's all published).

coffee_cake

lordgoat wrote: »

Onto book 3 of Scalzi's Old Mans War. The Last Colony.

Really enjoyed The Ghost Brigades. I normally prefer a storyline driven book but the characters in this and the concepts are really interesting and (for me) a nice new take. I do generally read fantasy though...

Plan is to move on to Sanderson's Mistborn next. Or I might read RE Feist's new book King of Ashes (and break my golden rule of not starting a series until it's all published).

New feist?? Yesss

lordgoat

bluewolf wrote: »

New feist?? Yesss

Non- Midkemia. New world. New series. Book 1. Been writing it for ages.

Buford T. Justice XIX

lordgoat wrote: »

Onto book 3 of Scalzi's Old Mans War. The Last Colony.

Really enjoyed The Ghost Brigades. I normally prefer a storyline driven book but the characters in this and the concepts are really interesting and (for me) a nice new take. I do generally read fantasy though...

Plan is to move on to Sanderson's Mistborn next. Or I might read RE Feist's new book King of Ashes (and break my golden rule of not starting a series until it's all published).

It's not released till 26th April?

lordgoat

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

It's not released till 26th April?

Yep, just started The last colony, so should be finished it around then, prob a day or 2 before hand. I always have a few short story books going on as well to fill in.

From a recent Q&A here:

https://www.steenholst.dk/interview-with-raymond-e-feist/

Can you tell us anything about your next book?

King of Ashes is the first book in a new series, The Firemane Saga. It’s set on a new world with different magic, no elves, dwarves, or dragons. It’s very different in some ways from everything before, most significantly that it’s structured much more like a three act play rather than a classic literary trilogy. If you think of it as “Act One,” when you read it, it’ll make a bit more sense than expecting it to resolve. Two young man grow up after a massive war changed the political landscape of the world around them. One is the hidden lone surviving child of a dead king and the other a gifted blacksmith who’s life does not follow the course he chose. A young woman of remarkable talents is part of their lives and she holds both their fates in her hands, without knowing it. I hope fans embrace it as they did my Midemian stories.

stesaurus

lordgoat wrote: »

Really enjoyed The Ghost Brigades. I normally prefer a storyline driven book but the characters in this and the concepts are really interesting and (for me) a nice new take. I do generally read fantasy though...

I remember hearing at the time they were planning a TV show set in Old Mans War universe and to be focused on the Ghost Brigades. Just checking it up now and te seems the option has passed on to Netflix who may make it into a movie/tv series

keane2097 wrote: »

I would recommend for anyone who hasn't come across them to seek out the old radio show version of HHGTG which so far as I know is the original incarnation.

The books are great but the radio show is out of this world.

Flying through the audiobooks at present. There's the dramatised versions available also which I presume are the old radio shows? Not sure I'd start them over again but maybe in a few years

Jayd0g

stesaurus wrote: »

I remember hearing at the time they were planning a TV show set in Old Mans War universe and to be focused on the Ghost Brigades. Just checking it up now and te seems the option has passed on to Netflix who may make it into a movie/tv series

Nice one, really enjoyed the Old Mans War set of books. Still have Zoe's tale on the to be read pile.

Thargor

bluewolf wrote: »

New feist?? Yesss

lordgoat wrote: »

Non- Midkemia. New world. New series. Book 1. Been writing it for ages.

I thought Feist was dead for some reason...

Im glad its not Midkemia tbh, I mean I loved Magician and the other earlier stuff, it blew my mind when I discovered that series myself back before you could go online for reccomendations, along with Gemmels Legend it was probably what got me addicted to fantasy and massive series but he was really just going through the motions at the end, the whole thing got so tedious and repetitive to the point where characters grandkids were having the exact same adventures as their ancestors in the previous books, I dont even remember how it ended tbh.

ixoy

27% into "City of Blades" by Robert Jackson Bennett, the 2nd book in his Divine Cities trilogy. It's fantasy in a 19th/20th century-esque world where everything was powered by magic but now that magic is dead... mostly. It's a bit like an inverse of Max Gladstone's Craft series and yet somewhat similar in tone - it's also better written. Good world building in this.

Trojan

Thargor wrote: »

Im glad its not Midkemia tbh, I mean I loved Magician and the other earlier stuff, it blew my mind when I discovered that series myself back before you could go online for reccomendations, along with Gemmels Legend it was probably what got me addicted to fantasy and massive series but he was really just going through the motions at the end, the whole thing got so tedious and repetitive to the point where characters grandkids were having the exact same adventures as their ancestors in the previous books, I dont even remember how it ended tbh.

Ditto. The Midkemia horse had been flogged, turned over, and flogged some more. But I'm very happy to see a new Feist book

Thargor

Trojan wrote: »

Ditto. The Midkemia horse had been flogged, turned over, and flogged some more. But I'm very happy to see a new Feist book

How many storylines were there where some powerful race of elves or demons or whatever were fleeing their dying world and invading Midkemia? It feels like it happened 4 or 5 times and the exact same characters or their grandkids went to sort it out and Pug or his kids were incapacitated in some convenient way so they couldnt just magic it away like they ended up doing at the end anyway. I feel like that happened about 5 times...

ixoy

Thargor wrote: »

How many storylines were there where some powerful race of elves or demons or whatever were fleeing their dying world and invading Midkemia? It feels like it happened 4 or 5 times and the exact same characters or their grandkids went to sort it out and Pug or his kids were incapacitated in some convenient way so they couldnt just magic it away like they ended up doing at the end anyway. I feel like that happened about 5 times...

You know, as right as you are I've always had a soft spot for these books. Even if they had the Panthians followed by a bunch of other demons later on and it kept building in scope it just worked for me. Maybe it's a bit of nostalgia or something.
And to be fair, Feist always had said there were 5 Riftwars that spanned the book and I believe that's what we got.
"Magician's End" was a nice conclusion for it all.

SFX didn't rate the new book highly, but at the same time spent half the review giving out about the lack of women in it rather than reviewing the book.

keane2097

I loved whichever one he finished up with the universe as an infant god learning about itself - it was a nice take on some of the most interesting parts of eastern philosophy.

Trojan

ixoy wrote: »

You know, as right as you are I've always had a soft spot for these books. Even if they had the Panthians followed by a bunch of other demons later on and it kept building in scope it just worked for me. Maybe it's a bit of nostalgia or something.

Me too, because I think it was the one of the first proper fantasies that I read, after Tolkien and a whole bunch of Dragonlance. It expanded the genre for me. Before that I was reading sf almost exclusively.

keane2097

Thinking of early ventures into fantasy, there was this series called The De Danann Tales I remember getting out of the library as a child that I absolutely adored. Anyone else read them?

https://www.goodreads.com/series/84280-the-de-danann-tales

ixoy

Trojan wrote: »

Me too, because I think it was the one of the first proper fantasies that I read, after Tolkien and a whole bunch of Dragonlance. It expanded the genre for me. Before that I was reading sf almost exclusively.

You might be of a similar age to me then! My first fantasy books were the Dragonlance Chronicles/Twins series (and a bunch of the other ones) as well as joining Pug and co. on their 20+ book adventure. They both stick better in my head than say some of the Shannara stuff and Eddings books that I'd have also read but now feel more derivative.

mcgovern

keane2097 wrote: »

Thinking of early ventures into fantasy, there was this series called The De Danann Tales I remember getting out of the library as a child that I absolutely adored. Anyone else read them?

https://www.goodreads.com/series/84280-the-de-danann-tales

Not sure if I've read those but the name sounded familiar. I definitely read The Last of the Fianna by him and I'm sure some of those Other World horror books too.

wyrn

keane2097 wrote: »

Thinking of early ventures into fantasy, there was this series called The De Danann Tales I remember getting out of the library as a child that I absolutely adored. Anyone else read them?

https://www.goodreads.com/series/84280-the-de-danann-tales

Yes I did. I won Earthlord (the 2nd book) in a library competition back in the day. I still have the book on my shelf. I'm kinda sad the series never finished.

Trojan

ixoy wrote: »

You might be of a similar age to me then! My first fantasy books were the Dragonlance Chronicles/Twins series (and a bunch of the other ones) as well as joining Pug and co. on their 20+ book adventure. They both stick better in my head than say some of the Shannara stuff and Eddings books that I'd have also read but now feel more derivative.

Interesting parallel in our reading. I didn't read much of nor get into Brooks or Eddings. I read a little of them around the turn of the millennium but it didn't hook me at all.

I was asking on here if it would be worthwhile going back and trying both of them again - there didn't seem to be many fans of that idea given the quality of what is available now.

Nody

Trojan wrote: »

Interesting parallel in our reading. I didn't read much of nor get into Brooks or Eddings. I read a little of them around the turn of the millennium but it didn't hook me at all.

I was asking on here if it would be worthwhile going back and trying both of them again - there didn't seem to be many fans of that idea given the quality of what is available now.

I read both and honestly greatly preferred Eddings at the time (and still do). I think Eddings has all the right elements for introducing a kid to fantasy (in fact my sister's son who's 10 just started the series and is absorbed) as it has all the fantasy cliches (farmer's boy with a secret past, old wizards, big brute melee, sneaky stabby stabby rogue, nobel knights etc.) but also humour which works for it's age group ("He'll die if he can't fly" *Looks down* "Does bouncing count as flying?") etc. without overly complex plot and just enough of the right type of deaths to matter but not be overly gruesome. Now rereading it as an adult it's no where near as good but for a kid around 10 to 15 I think it's a great series for them to read.

With Feist I got through the six books in the Imperial daughter and a couple of others but honestly I found them over all boring by comparison.

keane2097

I loved Eddings' Elenium as a kid as well. Never read any of the rest, bar attempting to get into the follow up and not really being grabbed.

shrapnel222

keane2097 wrote: »

I loved Eddings' Elenium as a kid as well. Never read any of the rest, bar attempting to get into the follow up and not really being grabbed.

Read all of Eddings personally, and Sparhawk was the more "mature" hero. Eddings with a tiny tinge of darkness compared to the belgariad etc.

Did you ever read any Jonathan Wylie (the unbalanced earth trilogy or dream weaver)? used to love his stuff when younger, always enjoyed his systems of magic.

sydthebeat

Eddings was my first serious foray into fantasy series, and both the belgariad and malloreon series will always have a warm place in my heart.
I spent most of my 6th year secondary and early college teaching his (and her) work.

facehugger99

Just finished the Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy - my first Chinese sci-fi novels.

Really enjoyed it. Even though the story spans hundreds (and possibly thousands) of years, it's a neat narrative trick to use cryogenic freezing to bring some of the same characters to the different time periods covered.

Apparently Amazon are going to spend a ****-tonne of money developing it into a series - it'll be a tricky one to adapt.

lordgoat

Ehhh there'll be no Feist bashing....

ixoy wrote: »

You know, as right as you are I've always had a soft spot for these books. Even if they had the Panthians followed by a bunch of other demons later on and it kept building in scope it just worked for me. Maybe it's a bit of nostalgia or something.
And to be fair, Feist always had said there were 5 Riftwars that spanned the book and I believe that's what we got.
"Magician's End" was a nice conclusion for it all.

SFX didn't rate the new book highly, but at the same time spent half the review giving out about the lack of women in it rather than reviewing the book.

Same I love Feist, I found him around 1996, I have pretty much everything by him. I can see the flaws in the series but for some reason I can ignore them more with Feist.

Nody wrote: »

I read both and honestly greatly preferred Eddings at the time (and still do). I think Eddings has all the right elements for introducing a kid to fantasy (in fact my sister's son who's 10 just started the series and is absorbed) as it has all the fantasy cliches (farmer's boy with a secret past, old wizards, big brute melee, sneaky stabby stabby rogue, nobel knights etc.) but also humour which works for it's age group ("He'll die if he can't fly" *Looks down* "Does bouncing count as flying?") etc. without overly complex plot and just enough of the right type of deaths to matter but not be overly gruesome. Now rereading it as an adult it's no where near as good but for a kid around 10 to 15 I think it's a great series for them to read.

With Feist I got through the six books in the Imperial daughter and a couple of others but honestly I found them over all boring by comparison.

I enjoyed the first books from Eddings, the second story was a carbon copy of the first one me.

Read pretty much all of the older authors above. Stephen Donaldson has 2 good trilogies too.

coffee_cake

Yeah one story about a young smartass lad, a knowitall girl, a magic jewel, arrogant women, same as the rest of them. I enjoyed them well enough but so repetitive

donegal_man

"The Sorceress's Apprentice' by Joshua Jackson popped up as a special offer e-book at 99c so thought I'd take a chance.
Turns out it's YA, which I definitely am not. The titular apprentice decides to further her mistress's plans for conquest by kidnapping a neighbouring princess only to find herself on the run with said princess's would be rescuer. So far so clichéd. The big problem is the e-book needed a good proof reader. It's written in the first person with chapters alternating between the two central characters however it will suddenly change to third person mid sentence and some of the spelling and grammar is terrible. "Drugged" is not the past tense of "drag".

lordgoat

donegal_man wrote: »

"The Sorceress's Apprentice' by Joshua Jackson popped up as a special offer e-book at 99c so thought I'd take a chance.
Turns out it's YA, which I definitely am not. The titular apprentice decides to further her mistress's plans for conquest by kidnapping a neighbouring princess only to find herself on the run with said princess's would be rescuer. So far so clich The big problem is the e-book needed a good proof reader. It's written in the first person with chapters alternating between the two central characters however it will suddenly change to third person mid sentence and some of the spelling and grammar is terrible. "Drugged" is not the past tense of "drag".

The amount of new books that need better proofs/editors is insane. Far more books getting out there, far more to be ignored.


Started Mistborn book 1 by Sanderson last night, enjoying it so far.