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What Are You Reading, Part 2


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8 hours ago, Eluvianii said:

I might need to reread those, because I remember the world building being the one thing I was disappointed with regarding that trilogy. 

Interestingly, I don't even disagree with that regarding the whole world, because everything outside of Luthadel definitely feels very empty and uninteresting

But Luthadel itself is a masterpiece imo, a few reasons for that: (Very mild spoilers for Mistborn Final Empire)

Spoiler

It has a very clear aesthetic that is logical within the greater world, it shows all its castes pretty thoroughly, with interesting sociological implications (like, the skaa basically live in front of the nobles, still the nobles are so conditioned to disregard and ignore them, they don't even know if they are in any way intelligent) ... Then there's the economics the story dives into (with the atium), the whole hierarchical structure of the church (including the conflict between obligators and Inquisitors) and the interesting ways that hierarchy is enforced (the Soothing stations) ... And also, one thing I really like about it, everything is designed by the Lord Ruler, in a way, so the way it looks and how it works all implicitly chatacterize him. You don't even ever see him for most of the book, but the whole city seems like an insight into the weird mind of the person on top. Like they're all living in his nightmare and can't escape.

But yeah, Scadrial itself is not the most interesting Cosmere world to me as well, even though I am heavily invested (no pun intended) in what happens on it because of the story and the characters ^^

Edited by Elegy
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19 hours ago, Elegy said:

Interestingly, I don't even disagree with that regarding the whole world, because everything outside of Luthadel definitely feels very empty and uninteresting

But Luthadel itself is a masterpiece imo, a few reasons for that: (Very mild spoilers for Mistborn Final Empire)

  Hide contents

It has a very clear aesthetic that is logical within the greater world, it shows all its castes pretty thoroughly, with interesting sociological implications (like, the skaa basically live in front of the nobles, still the nobles are so conditioned to disregard and ignore them, they don't even know if they are in any way intelligent) ... Then there's the economics the story dives into (with the atium), the whole hierarchical structure of the church (including the conflict between obligators and Inquisitors) and the interesting ways that hierarchy is enforced (the Soothing stations) ... And also, one thing I really like about it, everything is designed by the Lord Ruler, in a way, so the way it looks and how it works all implicitly chatacterize him. You don't even ever see him for most of the book, but the whole city seems like an insight into the weird mind of the person on top. Like they're all living in his nightmare and can't escape.

But yeah, Scadrial itself is not the most interesting Cosmere world to me as well, even though I am heavily invested (no pun intended) in what happens on it because of the story and the characters ^^

Well, I'm now looking forward to that reread because I only remember the aesthetic to be honest. In my head the books gave a lot of attention to establishing the look of the place, but I don't remember the actual details that you just described, which is why I was disappointed. 

Either I managed to forget all of that or my mind was focused on something else at that moment. 

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I'm going through the Farseer trilogy by Robin Hobb, but it's taking a bit. I love the books, but I'm also reading a few others at the same time. 

The series is incredible! The prose takes some getting used to, but I love the political intrigue and characters. Would recommend to anyone and everyone

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I forgot if I mentioned my Mistborn re-read on this thread before, but I'm currently on Shadows of Self. (It took me one day to read all of Secret History, and then the next day I read all of Alloy of Law.)

I had forgotten how epic the ending of Hero of Ages is. I'm not going to say anything spoilery because I don't want to go into a huge discussion about it, (I made a status update about it, though) but that ending is truly satisfying and incredible.

My re-read is to get ready for The Lost Metal, of course.

Aside from that, I still need some new books to read afterwards, so let me know if you have any good recommendations.

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10 minutes ago, The Bookwyrm said:

I forgot if I mentioned my Mistborn re-read on this thread before, but I'm currently on Shadows of Self. (It took me one day to read all of Secret History, and then the next day I read all of Alloy of Law.)

I had forgotten how epic the ending of Hero of Ages is. I'm not going to say anything spoilery because I don't want to go into a huge discussion about it, (I made a status update about it, though) but that ending is truly satisfying and incredible.

My re-read is to get ready for The Lost Metal, of course.

Aside from that, I still need some new books to read afterwards, so let me know if you have any good recommendations.

Definitely recommend the Licanius Trilogy if you haven't read it. Powder Mage is also very good, and the author either just released a new book in a different series or is about to. 

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I'm only like 20 pages in but yeah, it's pretty good. I'm liking it a lot. 

But if you want to get into Russian literature, what i really reccomend is crime and punishement. I recently finished and oh my god what a book. It's pretty dark and depressing so just keep that in mind tho

 

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A few thoughts about Well of Ascension: Certainly one of Brandon's darkest and also most cumbersome books. The first third in particular has many repetitive scenes and internal monolgues that make it hard to really feel like the story progresses. But it all pays off nicely, and it has one of the most rewarding endings I've ever read. It goes from tiresome to awesome. My least favorite of the trilogy for sure, but still a fantastic book in its own right.

Hero of Ages is definitely more eventful and exciting. Not sure if I like all the different plots going on at once in the first half, but the way it concludes things is immaculate. Certainly the best finale to anything I've ever read or watched.

I also did a re-read of Emperor's Soul. Odd how such a short work can have story-telling and character work this impactful. Gaotana in particular is such a fantastic character (probably my favorite Brandon novella character). It's just so good.

I've wanted to re-evaluate these (and Elantris and Warbreaker) for years now, glad to have done it. Conclusion: Warbreaker and the Mistborn trilogy still hold up easily, Elantris, on the other hand, seemed kinda shaky now in comparison, while Emperor's Soul is even better than I remembered.

And now I'll probably read something entirely different.

On 30.7.2022 at 7:37 AM, Elf said:

But if you want to get into Russian literature, what i really reccomend is crime and punishement. I recently finished and oh my god what a book. It's pretty dark and depressing so just keep that in mind tho

Oh yes, Crime and Punishment is probably my favorite non-fantasy novel ever! Really left an impact. You're right though, it is pretty heavy.

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Read a couple pretty good books - Stardust, The Cruel Stars, and The Clockwork Dynasty.  (I do like the word dynasty.  The 'y's are in just the right places to make it fun to say.)

Dragon Bones takes the cake for this group, though.  It's a pretty fun read, and unique, in my own opinion.  I'm currently reading the sequel, Dragon Blood.  After that will be Miracles of the Namiya General Store, The Dream Runners, and Mageborn.

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On 8/6/2022 at 8:55 AM, Shining Silhouette said:

Hey me too! I'm reading through it this summer with one of my friends. We should totally discuss 

Oh yeah totally! But i have midterms coming up so i may not be around a lot and my reading pace will probably be very slow

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I'm reading The Lord of the Rings finally, and it does not disappoint. There is a lot of description and a lot of subtlety to his writing. It's like you are reading the descriptions in the book, and it changes your mood slightly based on what you are reading.

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I picked up The Lies of Locke Lamora for a reread earlier in the week, a book I enjoyed the first time around, but this time, I just kept getting annoyed at how choppy it is, at least at the start. the firt few chapter jump around between the present day and the past in ways that just serve to break up what would be otherwise cohesive stories. I may change my mind when I have a chance to get back into it and can see how i plays out in the longrun, but right now i'd just prefer a standard prologue/timeskip vs the jumping back and forth

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Miracles of the Namiya General Store was really fun!  I loved the 'oh!' at the end when the pieces click into place.  The Dream Runners was okay, and I didn't finish Mageborn.  Next up, Dresden Files: Grave Peril, The Shattered Skies, sequel to The Cruel Stars, and A Man Called Ove.  That one I'm really excited for, since I've enjoyed the other Fredrik Backman books I've read.  I don't think I'll like it more than And Every Morning The Way Home Gets Longer and Longer, but I'm still quite curious.

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45 minutes ago, CalanoCorvus said:

Percy Jackson and the Olympians. i'm on book 5, The Last Olympian, and then I reac the Heroes Of Olympus series :D

Can't even read the original series anymore, love Heroes though. 

Edit: @Dunkum, I personally find the back and forth very nice since it allows things to be explained in interesting ways. it also allows for meta stories.

Spoiler

Like Jean's false identity being resurrected only a few chapters later rather than several years.

LoLL is my favorite book though, so I probably see it through different eyes.

Edited by The Unknown Novel
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