What Are You Reading, Part 2

[The Rooster he/him]

Halfway thru The Widow's House by Daniel Abraham, Book 4 of The Dagger and The Coin series. Awesome fantasy series set to end in one year. Worth reading.

[Argent he/him]

@Gamma Fiend, Tom Bombadill doesn't really serve any significant purpose in the story. In fact, while amusing, he might be hurting the story a little bit, as his main role is to 1) goof around, and 2) show up unexpectedly, Mary-Sue-ing the hobbits out of danger. This being said, I believe he was in the original draft of the script, but Peter Jackson cut him off because of similar reasons. Also, budget and time.

 

Anyway, this is not a discussion we should be having in this thread (if you were planning to discuss).

 

On topic, I finished Forsworn and am about halfway through Servant of the Crown. I do like the latter much better - and since the former is not bad at all, that's saying something. Also, if for some odd reason you've been paying attention to my reviews / comments about Promise of Blood and The Crimson Campaign, you might remember that I was mildly dissatisfied with both the lack of a female protagonist, and the lack of detail around Tamas and Erika's relationship; well, it looks like the short stories take care of both of those issues for me, which is all sorts of awesomesauce.

Edited August 11, 2014 by Argent

[Kobold King he/him]

I am currently re-reading Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton and The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. This is the third time for both of them, though I've never read them both at once before. Together they make for a beautifully perceptive reading experience, as the differences between 19th and 20th century paleontology consensuses become exceedingly striking in their contrast. While Doyle envisions the creatures as lumbering (although dangerous) brutes, Crichton follows the modern interpretation of bird-like, intelligent dinosaurs.

[Erai Sedai he/him]

just finished Gardens of the Moon. The first Malazan empire book. About to start deadhouse gates now

[Briar King]

just finished Gardens of the Moon. The first Malazan empire book. About to start deadhouse gates now

Hell yes! Prepare for awesomeness! Have you joined Malazanempire forums yet? We have great people there that are some true diehard fans come join us!

[Argent he/him]

Finished Servant of the Crown and Hope's End. Reading The Girl of Hrusch Avenue now. Man, novellas and short stories are so... relaxing! I love epic fantasy, and it will probably always be my favorite genre, but it can be taxing sometimes, especially if it's only decent. Novellas can be so refreshing.

[Guest]

I am reading The Blade Itself, and I really need to hurry as my book is already late at the local library.... I like it enough to finish it, but I am not compelled by it.  I find the story takes time to establish itself. The characters are alright, but the only one I really like to read about is Jezal as he makes me laugh. So, I'll keep reading and then I think I'll go read something Brandon wrote

[Kobold King he/him]

I am reading The Blade Itself, and I really need to hurry as my book is already late at the local library.... I like it enough to finish it, but I am not compelled by it.  I find the story takes time to establish itself. The characters are alright, but the only one I really like to read about is Jezal as he makes me laugh. So, I'll keep reading and then I think I'll go read something Brandon wrote

 

Sounds like a solid plan.

[Briar King]

I am reading The Blade Itself, and I really need to hurry as my book is already late at the local library.... I like it enough to finish it, but I am not compelled by it. I find the story takes time to establish itself. The characters are alright, but the only one I really like to read about is Jezal as he makes me laugh. So, I'll keep reading and then I think I'll go read something Brandon wrote

Bk 2 picks up quite a bit. I loved all. 6 1st Law books. I hope you don't give it up.

[Guest]

Bk 2 picks up quite a bit. I loved all. 6 1st Law books. I hope you don't give it up.

 

I won't. As I said, I like it enough to keep on reading it, but my next read won't be book 2. I may get to it sometimes this fall. I tend to read less lately, so I dunno how long it'll take me to get there.

[Argent he/him]

I am half having a panic attack here, unable to choose what to read...

[Briar King]

What's the choices and I ll tell you.

[Argent he/him]

I settled for Goblin Quest by Jim C. Hines. It looks like a pretty light read, and Jig the Goblin was the last Hines series still on my to-read shelf. After I am done with the series... well, The Broken Eye should be (nearly?) out and I'll be content.

[LSU Tiger he/him]

I just finished Lightbringer reread can't wait for The Broken Eye to come out. Reading The List Unseen now it's a prequel to the Chronicles of Lumineai which is a descent but not great series.

[EHyde she/her]

I'm currently a bit less than halfway through The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by NK Jemisin. I'd been hearing good things about it for a while and then seeing Brandon recommend the author bumped it up on my list, and I'm really enjoying it so far. It's cool to see a book that features gods taking an active role in the story, I feel that's something that (surprisingly, now I come to think of it) doesn't show up a lot in the high fantasy that I read.

[Argent he/him]

I'm currently a bit less than halfway through The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by NK Jemisin. I'd been hearing good things about it for a while and then seeing Brandon recommend the author bumped it up on my list, and I'm really enjoying it so far. It's cool to see a book that features gods taking an active role in the story, I feel that's something that (surprisingly, now I come to think of it) doesn't show up a lot in the high fantasy that I read.

 

I feel lonely in my dislike for this book... 

[EHyde she/her]

I feel lonely in my dislike for this book... 

 

It would probably be wise to wait till I'm finished before asking what you didn't like about it, but I am curious. (and like I said, I'm less than halfway through--my opinion could change, this has happened before)

[Argent he/him]

You can take a look at my (pretty much) spoiler-free review on Goodreads if you want. It's not very specific or detailed, but I guess the important thing about it is that I read The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms very soon after I finished Words of Radiance, so my expectations may have been a little on the high end. I don't remember much of what I disliked about it, but I think I mostly had problems with the Jemisin's style; it just wouldn't click with me. The gods were also kind of underwhelming, I think - the reasons for that made sense in-world, but I had hoped for more. Thinking some more about it, I guess my main issue was with expectations - I thought the book would be better than it was. Not that it was bad, but I had hoped for more than merely decent. Also, obviously, we could simply prefer different things.

 

EDIT

---

Finished Jim C. Hines' Goblin Quest and have moved on to Goblin Hero. Entertaining books and quick reads. I wish I had read Orcs by I-don't-know-who, since that one was the first, I think, famous book that merged humor with the stereotypical evil fantasy races.

Edited August 15, 2014 by Argent

[EHyde she/her]

Well, I finished it and still really like it, but I can definitely see where you're coming from and why it might just not appeal to some people. Jemisin's style is very different than what I usually see in fantasy novels.

[Edgedancer he/him]

I finally got myself a copy of Alcatraz, which I´m currently reading and because I like to buy books in bulks I know that I´ll be reading The tropics of serpents by Marie Brennan and a Discworld novel next.

Someone also gifted me the translation of Tad William´s Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn books, which seems like rather standart high fantasy, maybe a bit to much so for my taste, but I have them here, so I´m most likely going to read them.

[ZoneZero]

I'm snailing my way through Otherland 1. Awesome book series, but lengthy at times.

[Briar King]

Tad Williams is pretty much a must for fantasy readers. It's very much standard fantasy but I quite enjoyed them,

[GreyPilgrim he/him]

I've really wanted to read Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn and Otherland for quite a while now but have never gotten around to them. I wish I had more time to read... At this rate, it will take 10 years to finish my current tbr list, and that doesn't include new releases that will some along the way.

[Left he/him]

Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, might very well be my favorite fantasy series not brandon. The rest of Tad's stuff I stay away from, but I really love that trilogy

[Hood he/him]

Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn is a very nice trilogy, except for the fact that it is very very slow at some points. I am more into fast-paced fantasy. But slow-paced ones have their own joy.