What Are You Reading, Part 2

[Jaywalk he/him]

6 minutes ago, Briar King said:

Took 35 days but I have been really hitting up Xenoblade games that entire time.

That's a valid excuse in my book.

[Draginon he/him]

Finished Legacy of Secrets. These books are cheesy but so fun to read. Unlike the previous Kingdom Keepers books this mostly takes place in 1955 around the opening of Disneyland. I did like how Pearson didn't sidestep the casual racism of the day by using the "it's a different time, we have to be careful" line of thinking since there were a couple times in the book things almost went south because the character Maybeck is black and his friends are white (Willa is a hard one to figure out her race since her full name suggests Mexican or Spanish but official art depicts her as either Native American or Asian). It was bizarre having the Three Little Pigs as bad guys to be honest. Also the main villain is psycho! He's got a victim complex blaming Walt for all his hardships, which is putting it nicely since this guy is responsible for the events of the previous 8 books.

Can't wait to get started on the finale of the trilogy Disney At Last!

[Ammanas]

Just finished The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie. What a unique book! Here is my review:

I think the readers determination of how much they will enjoy the book will be determined on two factors. The first is: how do you feel about second person point of view? One, of the two points of views, is told entirely in this way. I love the novelty of it, but it is a bit of a awkward and inelegant way of relaying information to the reader. It didn't bother me too much and the plot was good enough to keep the pages turning.

The second is what entertains you? There isn't a bunch of chase scenes and explosions in the book. It is a book of subtle political maneuvering and the story of a god the takes centuries. It is beautifully written and I was enthralled by the tale. I don't know if whoever is reading this will like the book, but I encourage them to try it. The ending was also a big surprise to me! I was expecting the author to zig and she ended up zagging. It is also a standalone for those tired of waiting for the next book in a series.

@Sorana I'm tagging you because you were interested in my thoughts.

[+Sorana she/her]

1 hour ago, Ammanas said:

I don't know if whoever is reading this will like the book, but I encourage them to try it. The ending was also a big surprise to me! I was expecting the author to zig and she ended up zagging. It is also a standalone for those tired of waiting for the next book in a series.

Thanks a lot! I'll give it a try, once I've finished the series I'm reading right now.

[urrutiap]

anyone know if Terry Pratchett is a decent fantasy author? His books any good?

[Dunkum he/him]

48 minutes ago, urrutiap said:

anyone know if Terry Pratchett is a decent fantasy author? His books any good?

Yes and Yes.  But do bear in mind that the Discworld books all mix in a lot of humor as well.  Some people will also tell you that you shouldn't read the books in Chronological order, since the first few are weaker entries, but I don't hold with that.  however if the first book or two don't hold your interest, Guards! Guards! or Small Gods make fore reasonably good entry points as well.  the former is the first book to focus on The Watch, all of which tend to be strong, and the latter is probably the best stand-alone in the series.

[Ammanas]

I found the Pratchett books to be a little too silly for my tastes, but definitely give them a chance. They are really popular and well thought of so there's a good chance you will like them

[Jaywalk he/him]

I’ve been thinking of trying Pratchett. He sounds like an author I’d really enjoy.

[Pagliacci he/him]

1 hour ago, Jaywalk said:

I’ve been thinking of trying Pratchett. He sounds like an author I’d really enjoy.

Funnily enough, I've nearly just finished my first Pratchett book, Small Gods. It's a wonderful book.

I've also just finished The Gigantic Beard that was Evil. It may be one of the finest comics I've ever read, and I mean that unironically.

I'd highly recommend both books.

[Who Sharded?]

On 3/9/2019 at 7:56 PM, urrutiap said:

anyone know if Terry Pratchett is a decent fantasy author? His books any good?

https://brandonsanderson.com/terry-pratchetts-discworld-might-be-the-highest-form-of-literature-on-the-planet/

[urrutiap]

I just started re-reading the paperback of Dean Koontz's Frankenstein book 1 

[Ammanas]

About 60 pages into Ruin of Kings by Lyons and had to put it away into the maybe later category. I just don't get it. It was heavily promoted by Tor with them pulling out all the stops to push this book on people but from what I've read its just so mediocre. The reviews out there have been mostly positive so perhaps some other sharders may like it though. The Spider by Carew was good though (just finished it). It's a breezy military fantasy book but I just love the main characters and the action scenes.

[TheGirlWhoLookedUp she/her]

I just finished reading Les Miserables for school. And well... I think my life is over now.

[Ammanas]

Just now, TheGirlWhoLookedUp said:

I just finished reading Les Miserables for school. And well... I think my life is over now.

Did you read the abridged or unabridged version? I'm a big believer in unabridged, but this book is one of the few that could definitely benefit from cutting or editing a few sections. There are 100's of pages describing the french sewer system, convent life and the battle of Waterloo its too much I tell you! Still a powerful story that I'm glad ive read. Loved seeing the play live!

[Orlion Blight he/him]

1 hour ago, Ammanas said:

Did you read the abridged or unabridged version? I'm a big believer in unabridged, but this book is one of the few that could definitely benefit from cutting or editing a few sections. There are 100's of pages describing the french sewer system, convent life and the battle of Waterloo its too much I tell you! Still a powerful story that I'm glad ive read. Loved seeing the play live!

*pretentiously rolls eyes*

[TheGirlWhoLookedUp she/her]

2 hours ago, Ammanas said:

Did you read the abridged or unabridged version? I'm a big believer in unabridged, but this book is one of the few that could definitely benefit from cutting or editing a few sections. There are 100's of pages describing the french sewer system, convent life and the battle of Waterloo its too much I tell you! Still a powerful story that I'm glad ive read. Loved seeing the play live!

Yeah, I read the abridged version. The only part that really bothered me about it was that they left out most of Fantine's story. Apparently it's "not appropriate" for teenagers to read. Made my teacher mad. we spent an entire day just talking about her story.

Edited March 16, 2019 by TheGirlWhoLookedUp

[Pagliacci he/him]

I've started Good Omens and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrel. They're both really good so far.

[Dunkum he/him]

3 hours ago, Pagliacci said:

I've started Good Omens and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrel. They're both really good so far.

it took me 2 tries to get into Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrel, but it was definitely worth it.

[flairue]

I finished reading Children of Dune two days ago. It was more enjoyable than Dune Messiah for me, but I didn't really like how the story went.

Spoiler

Alia was my favorite character since the first book so seeing her descending into madness is quite hard for me. Meanwhile, I didn't really care about Leto II in this book, and I read that the next book is about him becoming a tyrant for thousands of years. Well, I don't think I'll read it in the near future.

As of right now, I'm reading House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds. I watched Netflix's Love Death + Robots yesterday and it introduced me to Alastair Reynolds through the episodes Beyond the Aquila Rift and Zima Blue, which were based on his short stories. I loved them!

I wanted to read his other works and I saw someone recommending House of Suns on reddit for starters since it's standalone. I'm still on chapter 8 now, but I'm already liking it.

Edited March 17, 2019 by flairue

[Sunbird she/her]

On 3/16/2019 at 4:08 PM, Pagliacci said:

I've started Good Omens and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrel. They're both really good so far.

I enjoyed Good Omens, but I SUPER enjoyed Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. Once you finish the book, I also recommend the BBC miniseries of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. I think it's available on Netflix, at least in the US.

[Silverblade5 he/him]

Just getting into the web series the Deathworlders. So far so awesome.

[Briar King]

Hit 2 milestones on Inheritance Omni last night. I reached pg 731 which was the halfway point of this beast and also finished up bk 2. Loads better then bk1.. I dug it for the most part minus a boring 60+ pg middle section. Started bk 3

[Merlin]

Lord of the Rings. For the third time. I didn't like it the first time, so why I managed to come back to it again is a mystery lost in the dryer.

Edited March 23, 2019 by WannabeWorldhopper

[Pagliacci he/him]

I have finished Good Omens and I am about 120 pages in Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell and I am enjoying it immensely.

I've also started Mort (Discworld), Slaughterhouse 5 and Lud-in-the-Mist.

[Ghanderflaffle she/her]

I'm currently re-reading A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket.

For the first time: Elantris (I'm sure you know), The Paper Magician (Charlie N. Holmberg), and Graduation Day (Joelle Charbonneau).