What Are You Reading, Part 2

[DSC01]

I'm finally reading The Malazan Book of the Fallen. I started Gardens of the Moon a couple of years ago, but I gave up because I was not getting into it at all. If memory serves, I tried reading it immediately after finishing The Wheel of Time for the second time (this being about five months after I finished reading it the first time). It was just the wrong time to try to get into the series, in every possible way.

Also, since my first attempt, I checked this out, and it gave me some context for the whole story. The first time I tried to read GotM, it was like, "Okay, there are a bunch of different characters that I don't like at all, and I have no idea what any of them are talking about, ever." Keep in mind, I read a good 400 pages of the book, that first time. I did give it a chance. It's just that the tone was all wrong for my headspace, coming out of a WoT reread, and having no clue what was happening really didn't help. I think I'm just past where I stopped on the first attempt, but really, I've been engaged from the start this time. 

[Andarist]

8 hours ago, DSC01 said:

I'm finally reading The Malazan Book of the Fallen. I started Gardens of the Moon a couple of years ago, but I gave up because I was not getting into it at all. If memory serves, I tried reading it immediately after finishing The Wheel of Time for the second time (this being about five months after I finished reading it the first time). It was just the wrong time to try to get into the series, in every possible way.

Also, since my first attempt, I checked this out, and it gave me some context for the whole story. The first time I tried to read GotM, it was like, "Okay, there are a bunch of different characters that I don't like at all, and I have no idea what any of them are talking about, ever." Keep in mind, I read a good 400 pages of the book, that first time. I did give it a chance. It's just that the tone was all wrong for my headspace, coming out of a WoT reread, and having no clue what was happening really didn't help. I think I'm just past where I stopped on the first attempt, but really, I've been engaged from the start this time. 

Good for you! Malazan is an awesome ride. 

Just a tip - don't google stuff. There is a high chance you will get spoilers. 

[maxal]

I have a hefty problem... I am starting Part 3 of Golden Son, but I failed to book a reservation for Morning Star. I've just checked. It is available, but in another library. What are the odds it'd get deliver here before I finish Golden Son??? 

I have half a mind to either buy it and get it on Tuesday or drive to the said library to pick it up myself  Even if I have to bravely face hordes of orange cones and the world greatest most terrifying road work pit to get there  I mean, it is worth the drive, the stress, the impending hopelessness of driving through a real nightmare (seriously I live in a post-apocalyptic zone where every single bout of road is currently under-going massive transformation)?

[Left]

13 minutes ago, maxal said:

I have a hefty problem... I am starting Part 3 of Golden Son, but I failed to book a reservation for Morning Star. I've just checked. It is available, but in another library. What are the odds it'd get deliver here before I finish Golden Son??? 

I have half a mind to either buy it and get it on Tuesday or drive to the said library to pick it up myself  Even if I have to bravely face hordes of orange cones and the world greatest most terrifying road work pit to get there  I mean, it is worth the drive, the stress, the impending hopelessness of driving through a real nightmare (seriously I live in a post-apocalyptic zone where every single bout of road is currently under-going massive transformation)?

It's worth it. Go on the quest. 

[maxal]

4 hours ago, LeftVash said:

It's worth it. Go on the quest. 

Turned out I ran out of time. I'll have to wait. A pity. I keep on spoiling myself 

Spoiler

I really, really, really, really wanted Darrow and Cassius to make it up. Of all characters, I really, really, really feel the most sorry for Cassius: everyone he ever trusted betrayed him. Everyone he turned to trying to fill out the void left by Julian's death ended using him, manipulation him, lying to him. I so hated Mustang for playing on wounded and emotionally compromised Cassius, making him love her in order to secure a political advantage for her despicable hateful father while knowing full well she was taking advantage on a man having little light in his life. She knew she'd be prying a knife into an open wound and yet she did it. No matter how I shuffle things: I just don't like Mustang. I love Victra, but Mustang? Hypocritical and manipulative, having nor remorse in hurting people. Darrow, at least, feels sorry what he has done, for whom he has become. He understands Cassius isn't a bad person, he is his enemy, but at the same time, he understands he's been hurt. So I really, really, really wanted Darrow to realize Cassius is just like Tactus. I kinda spoiled myself when I accidentally found out it is actually happening in Morning Star  I can't wait to read it  but looks like I might have to. Apparently I had more important tasks to perform today then drive to the other end of town to get a book  With a bit of luck, the book will get here this week.

I feel these probably aren't popular comments  I think readers are supposed to love Mustang  and hate Cassius  I think readers are supposed to also really love Sevro, but I'm kinda of mew towards him. The Darrow/Cassius relationship is just so much more interesting even if there is very little of it in Golden Son.

[Who Sharded?]

Regarding the Wiggins reference in the Red Rising Trilogy....it's either A. Ender's Game becomes a timeless classic in that universe, and the character who mentioned Wiggins is a fan, or B. Pierce Brown is a fan, and threw that in as a homage.  You'll find that there are other homages in the trilogy as well.  In no way does Red Rising take place in the same universe as Ender's Game.

[Argent]

My (re)read of the Warcraft books continues! I am on the War of the Ancients trilogy right now, having read The Well of Eternity and The Demon Soul, and making good progress on The Sundering. 

[Jondesu]

2 hours ago, Who Sharded? said:

Regarding the Wiggins reference in the Red Rising Trilogy....it's either A. Ender's Game becomes a timeless classic in that universe, and the character who mentioned Wiggins is a fan, or B. Pierce Brown is a fan, and threw that in as a homage.  You'll find that there are other homages in the trilogy as well.  In no way does Red Rising take place in the same universe as Ender's Game.

Yeah, I finally figured that out in Golden Son. Red Rising didn't tell me enough to be completely confident.

[maxal]

I finished Golden Son and gee this was an ending... Kinda sad.

Spoiler

 

I figured out Roque would betray Darrow, eventually. How he slowly lost confidence and trust into Darrow was well brought on. He gave his friendship, without asking anything in return other than consideration, but Roque was just one of those people Darrow could never be truthful with. 

As first, I thought Lord Arcos was Ares. Then when I skipped ahead, just skimming , I accidentally glimpsed the words "Uncle Harold" so I thought he was Ares... I never figured out it was Flitchner nor did I foresee his death.

I feel horribly, terribly sorry for Cassius: all his family has been slaughtered, even the little children. History also tells us how the Bellonas aren't worst than the Augustus: they just happened to be on the bad side of the Cassius/Darrow blood feud. We have gotten on Cassius were drop there for a reason: how he wouldn't kill a bird as a boy and had to cry to Karnus to do it for him, how Virginia tells us how wounded he is by the events at the institute... These were there to tell us, the readers, Cassius isn't a monster but, just like Julian, a naturally kind person who is forced to be something monstrous. I do think he'll eventually get second thoughts: things will go too far for him. I think he may end up being the one helping Darrow escape. At some point, he is bond for his last break down. 

I loved how the author played Darrow's inner conflict making him not only like, but admit how similar he was to the Golds. Instead of seeing them as the monsters he thought they were, he ends up seeing the monster in him which ultimately leads to him realizing all people are people. All colors are capable of good and bad, but he will try hard to make it more even. The scenes at the end, with his mother, were quite touching. The Virginia reveal also was, though I never liked her character. I suppose she'll come back sometimes during the next book, fully supporting Darrow.

I also figured out the Jackal would betray his father. This one was obvious: I just didn't know when and how. He figured out about Darrow: I figured out he would. 

 

I can't wait to read the next book.

[Andarist]

Anybody here read Madeline Miller's Song of Achilles? Finished it recently, and really liked it. 

[StormingTexan]

9 hours ago, maxal said:

 

I finished Golden Son and gee this was an ending... Kinda sad.

 

After that ending I was so glad the series was finished when I started reading it. 

[maxal]

10 hours ago, StormingTexan said:

After that ending I was so glad the series was finished when I started reading it. 

Yeah talk about a cliffhanger  At least, alI have to wait are a few days for the library to deliver the book. Its status says "transit", so I expect it will arrive either tomorrow or Friday, I hope.

My predictions, it'll be fun to read them again and see if I was right about anything :

Spoiler

 

Sevro becomes Ares. He rouses the low Color rebellion.

Victra survived. She and Sevro become an item.

Mustang comes around and organize the Darrow's rescue party together with Sevro and Ragnar. She and Darrow become an item once again.

Darrow becomes the sovereign and starts to changes things, so time towards the end of the book, but he doesn't destroy all order. He goes slowly. I am not sure what his inner dilemma will be about: he came to grip with him being a monster. Now maybe it'll be about trust, about second chances, about letting go of the rage and the hate.

Cassius becomes the rage Knight instead of the Morning Knight. He eventually finds out the Jackal killed the Bellona children and not Darrow as he was led to believe. He'll realize he is being, once again, lied, manipulated and used to steer someone's else conflict. He'll stand at a cross-road where he'll have to decide if he truly wants to be the man everyone yearns him to be (a powerful enraged weapon) or the man his conscience tells see he ought to be, the man Julian would be proud of (a kind considerate man who doesn't kill unless absolutely required, the man who refuses to hurt the bird). He chooses right, he chooses Julian. Making it up with Darrow will be an arc for both characters, but it'll be a while before they can trust Cassius again.

Roque remains an antagonist: the clever thoughtful one who knows his enemy all too well. No redemption for him, unlike Cassius he made his choice while knowing all the variables.

Cassius kills someone important: the jackal or the sovereign or his crazy mother.

The jackal remains.. the jackal, but he dies in the end.

Loran survived and is transformed too in one of those enhanced Red.

 

I am keen to see if I get anything right 

[maxal]

I've got Morning Star. I'll start the reading tonight 

[DSC01]

I just read Battlemage by Stephen Aryan. It is bad. I really feel bad panning a creative work publicly because I know what goes into their creation, but after buying the book because I'd seen it on a couple of lists of good modern fantasy, I feel like I have to warn others. The writing is simple to a fault--to the point that it actually distracts from the story with elementary exposition that reads almost like a kid is telling you a story. "This was happening because of that. Also, so-and-so did not like that because they have this opinion." It would have been fine for a younger audience, if it weren't for the violence, profanity, and gore. And there are just bizarre faults that one would think that an editor would catch, like, "She put on the mask and lifted the hood." What mask? When you say, "the mask," surely you've mentioned a mask before, right? Nope. "Lifted her hood," would be fine--hoods are common enough, after all--but using "the" suggests that it's a specific hood that has recently been mentioned. It wasn't.

If there was anything original about the story, I would forgive those faults, but there wasn't. The magic is fueled by "the Source," which, when drawn on, enhances ones senses. Draw too much, and you can burn yourself out or die. Sound familiar? It does if you've read The Wheel of Time. But what I explained is about all there is to it, so it's not like it's similar to WoT's magic, with some variation. It's like WoT's magic, with far less detail.

You've got a bunch of standard characters--a grizzled old veteran soldier (he ends up secretly being a god of some sort, but that potentially interesting twist isn't enough to redeem anything about the story), the titular Battlemage who really doesn't have anything much to distinguish his character, the princess who overworks herself as her father's spymaster and is unexpectedly raised to queen when he dies. And, no, I'm not sorry for posting spoilers without warning. You shouldn't read this book. Cliches abound, including a tribe of black people who wear bone jewelry and only loincloths for clothing, like a racist African stereotype. Their magic is a little bit different because of their connection to the land. *eyeroll* All characters are written such that their actions rarely ring true, even though it's not clear what their personalities are really supposed to be (though the author will occasionally flatly tell you, "This character's personality is like this because of that."). The average score on Amazon is 4.4 stars. Do not be fooled. Those reviews had to be left by family and friends of the author.

Anyway, I'm reading Deadhouse Gates now. My package from Better World Books, via abebooks.com, arrived today, so I've got lots of Malazan ahead. Less than 50 pages in, and hardly even grasping much of what's going on with the new characters and locales, I've already derived far more enjoyment from it than from all 469 pages of Battlemage.

[Jondesu]

Just picked up Morning Star, and finished Earth Awakens.  I'll write up a review of the whole Earth At War series (my name, I'll have to look up an official name for the trilogy) instead of one book at a time like I originally meant, in fact.

[maxal]

I am at chapter 19 of Morning Star and while I understand he is supposed to be a fan's favorite, I have to say it: I don't like Sevro. I really, really do not like him  

Spoiler

I really hope Darrow with get his mojo back soon because really Sevro is a terrible leader and hateful man. Oh and please someone give a teddy bear to Cassius.

 

[Sunbird]

My copy of Heart and Brain: Gut Instincts arrived today, and I immediately read the entire thing. Absolutely hilarious!

[Who Sharded?]

Sevro is my favorite character in the Red Rising trilogy.  To each his own.

[Jondesu]

On 10/21/2016 at 10:56 PM, maxal said:

I am at chapter 19 of Morning Star and while I understand he is supposed to be a fan's favorite, I have to say it: I don't like Sevro. I really, really do not like him  

  Hide contents

I really hope Darrow with get his mojo back soon because really Sevro is a terrible leader and hateful man. Oh and please someone give a teddy bear to Cassius.

 

Spoiler

Oh, he does, he does.

 

[Left]

I'm going to create a thread for the Red Rising trilogy since it seems like there's enough fellow fans.

On topic, I finished Heretics of Dune. Mmmmmm..... So, I think it's better than Children of Dune...But it was still pretty bad. At this point I know I'm going to get around to reading the Chapterhouse book that Frank Herbert wrote, but I really don't want to read Brian's books.

So now I'm reading a ton of batman comics, The New Tsar: The Rise and Reign of Vladimir Putin, and then I have to choose between a history of the ottoman empire, Frank Herbert's biography, The Dragon's Path, or Otherland book 2.

[Briar King]

Less then 100 pgs left of Outlander 3. They are bricks and get bigger with each entry. Takes me forever to read one. This one is 1059pgs next is 1070 next is 1443 next is 1446. Yikes

[AngelEy3]

Currently reading the Mistborn series for the first time. I have about 150 pages I'd guess left of Well of Ascension. It's really good, lol, just in case anyone here hasn't read it yet. 

[Sunbird]

2 hours ago, AngelEy3 said:

Currently reading the Mistborn series for the first time. I have about 150 pages I'd guess left of Well of Ascension. It's really good, lol, just in case anyone here hasn't read it yet. 

LOL I know of least one person on the board who hasn't: @mattig89ch has set his member title to "He Who Will Not Read Mistborn."

As for me, I'm kind of going on a vampire binge ATM. Found a Dracula prequel series and read the first book, Covenant with the Vampire, as well as Once Bitten, Twice Shy, the first book in a UF series by Jennifer Rardin. Currently working on the sequel to Once Bitten and I have the second of the Dracula prequels ready to go on my Kindle when I finish.

[AngelEy3]

1 minute ago, Sunbird said:

LOL I know of least one person on the board who hasn't: @mattig89ch has set his member title to "He Who Will Not Read Mistborn."

That's what I'd call drawing the hard line, especially for a fan of author. Things that don't bend. . . 

As for me, I'm kind of going on a vampire binge ATM. Found a Dracula prequel series and read the first book, Covenant with the Vampire, as well as Once Bitten, Twice Shy, the first book in a UF series by Jennifer Rardin. Currently working on the sequel to Once Bitten and I have the second of the Dracula prequels ready to go on my Kindle when I finish.

You know, that's something I never got into. Don't really know why not though . . . Vampires are cool and Bram Stoker's Dracula was a good read from what I can remember back in HS. I'll have to add those titles to my extensive "read before I die" list. 

Next up for me will be Hero of Ages, followed by either Alloy of Law or Elantris. My goal is to have at least the original Mistborn trilogy, Elantris, and Warbreaker finished before Arcanum Unbounded releases. 

[Andarist]

Reading The Cruel Sea by Nicholas Monsarrat. This book is so sad. And so good