Argent he/him Posted June 8, 2015 Posted June 8, 2015 Making my way through The Skull Throne. It's kind of weird. It's not an overall improvement over the previous book in the series, but I feel like more things got better than those that got worse. We'll see if I keep this sentiment in the second half of the book.
Erai Sedai he/him Posted June 8, 2015 Posted June 8, 2015 just started The Queen of the Tearling. A friend has really wanted me to read this so i'm doing it for them. any one else read it? thoughts?
Blaze1616 he/him Posted June 8, 2015 Posted June 8, 2015 (edited) Just finished Lords of the Sith, and it was MUCH better than Heir to the Jedi. Kemp proved he knows how to handle Star Wars. Edited June 8, 2015 by Blaze1616
Argent he/him Posted June 9, 2015 Posted June 9, 2015 Does anyone recommend Peter V Brett? Depends. How do you feel about grimdark?
sanderfuss he/him Posted June 11, 2015 Posted June 11, 2015 Of course you do. Can you give me a for instance? How grim are we talking? I find lots of fantasy stories quite grim. Protagonists fighting when it seems all is lost appears to be the recurring theme for lots of well let's face it, novels of all types of fiction.
Briar King Posted June 11, 2015 Posted June 11, 2015 Mostly all you need to know: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grimdarkthough I don't agree with the GRRM as thus I can see why some class it so. All the other authors are classic examples of the genre for sure.
Argent he/him Posted June 11, 2015 Posted June 11, 2015 Grimdark is very much what it sounds like - a subgenre of fantasy usually classified by darker and grittier style, characters, events, and worldbuilding. Rape, massacre, torture, gore, described in different levels of details are often featured in grimdark (though some are lighter than others). I think Peter V. Brett's Demon Cycle series is considered grimdark, but it's pretty light on those things - they are mostly mentioned or suggested, but rarely described in detail or for long. Definitely lighter than Joe Abercrombie, George Martin, or Mawk Lawrence.
Left he/him Posted June 12, 2015 Posted June 12, 2015 Well I've finished Atlas Shrugged. It was good. It has changed or at least made me reconsider my perspective/opinions, but Rand doesn't by any stretch have a full convert here. I went through it fairly steadily so I read the freaking massive thing in about a week and a half, still digesting it mentally.
Argent he/him Posted June 12, 2015 Posted June 12, 2015 (edited) Ah, forgot to update this. Again. Finished The Skull Throne by Peter V. Brett a few days ago. I thought it was an improvement over The Daylight War, but not as much as I wanted it to be. There are still characters and events I barely care about taking up precious pages. Still, I feel better about the series now than I felt when I finished The Daylight War. With the setup we have right now I expect The Core to have an actual chance at a 5-star rating by me. Reading Mark Lawrence's The Liar's Key now. I find The Red Queen's War easier to read than The Broken Empire, but I don't know if I'll be able to endure another several hundred pages of Jalan's whining. Making a main character a coward is not a bad thing on its own, but when virtual every action this character takes is justified along the lines of "I was terrified to act, but I was more terrified not to act, so I acted" it starts to get annoying. Hopefully we'll see an arc that fixes this a little bit. Edited June 12, 2015 by Argent
Left he/him Posted June 12, 2015 Posted June 12, 2015 Currently reading Confucius Lives Next Door by T.R. Reid, and just checked Going Postal out from my library.
Silverblade5 he/him Posted June 12, 2015 Posted June 12, 2015 "The Silencing." It's an interesting commentary on how the illiberal left is slowly suppressing our first amendment rights. It's by Kristian Powers.
Axies he/him Posted June 12, 2015 Posted June 12, 2015 Ah, forgot to update this. Again. Finished The Skull Throne by Peter V. Brett a few days ago. I thought it was an improvement over The Daylight War, but not as much as I wanted it to be. There are still characters and events I barely care about taking up precious pages. Still, I feel better about the series now than I felt when I finished The Daylight War. With the setup we have right now I expect The Core to have an actual chance at a 5-star rating by me. I actually liked The Daylight War It has some downside... the fact that he is still developing the characters in the book 3 instead of starting with the action... but I liked it and that final... O_O Soon finishing Dust of Dreams and I'll go full The Crippled God
KaladinStormblessed he/him Posted June 12, 2015 Posted June 12, 2015 (edited) Does anyone know of any good and clean (like Sanderson) fantasy book series or authors? Edited June 12, 2015 by KaladinStormblessed
Left he/him Posted June 13, 2015 Posted June 13, 2015 There were some threads a while back on the topic, but I'm too lazy to look them up at the moment. L.E. Modesitt's Imager and Corean Crhonicles are both good and are somewhat like a milder Mistborn in terms of content. I've only read one book by Mercedes Lackey, but I enjoyed it and it was clean, and she has written a tooooooon. There's David Farland's Runelord series, I didn't like it past book one, and it's about Warbreaker on content. Shannara series is clean, somewhat a classic, but again I didn't like them very much. Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn was a fantastic trilogy by Tad Williams with a little in book 2(?) that was Warbreaker ish content. There's also Terry Pratchett's discworld series, the books are amazing, start with Guards! Guards! or Mort.
GreyPilgrim he/him Posted June 13, 2015 Posted June 13, 2015 Sadly, I am still reading Dust of Dreams. I have had literally zero reading time recently, occasionally going literally weeks without reading more than a few dozen pages. Hopefully summer should mend this.
KaladinStormblessed he/him Posted June 13, 2015 Posted June 13, 2015 There were some threads a while back on the topic, but I'm too lazy to look them up at the moment. L.E. Modesitt's Imager and Corean Crhonicles are both good and are somewhat like a milder Mistborn in terms of content. I've only read one book by Mercedes Lackey, but I enjoyed it and it was clean, and she has written a tooooooon. There's David Farland's Runelord series, I didn't like it past book one, and it's about Warbreaker on content. Shannara series is clean, somewhat a classic, but again I didn't like them very much. Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn was a fantastic trilogy by Tad Williams with a little in book 2(?) that was Warbreaker ish content. There's also Terry Pratchett's discworld series, the books are amazing, start with Guards! Guards! or Mort. Thank you! I'll have to check these out...
Argent he/him Posted June 15, 2015 Posted June 15, 2015 Brent Weeks' Lightbringer series is almost as clean. Language is, I think, the only significant difference. Good series too.
StormingTexan he/him Posted June 15, 2015 Posted June 15, 2015 (edited) Just finished the Powder Mage trilogy and I really liked it. I will say the end seemed a little rushed but other than that really solid I think most Mistborn fans would enjoy these books. I'm also reading the novellas there are several and enjoying the first one. Also started Naomi Novik's book His Majesty's Dragon from a suggestion here about female fantasy authors. I like it so far. Edited June 15, 2015 by StormingTexan
Jit he/him Posted June 16, 2015 Posted June 16, 2015 I just finished books 1 and 2 and the 2 novellas of The Shadow Campaigns by Django Wexler which I really enjoyed. I've just started my reread of blood song and tower Lord by Anthony Ryan before the final book comes out next month.
mail-mi he/him Posted June 17, 2015 Posted June 17, 2015 I just finished the 10-book Pendragon series by DJ Machale. Oh my goodness. Oh my rusting goodness. Those books were amazing. Even though they were written for a younger audience, the writing was still masterful. I was surprised at almost every twist and turn. It was awesome.
Iarwainiel I she/her Posted June 17, 2015 Posted June 17, 2015 Just finished the latest Bryant & May mystery by Christopher Fowler, "The Burning Man." It's # 12 in the series, but each can stand alone. I cannot recommend these books highly enough. Arthur Bryant & John May are octogenarian detectives in London who head up the (fictional) PCU - the Peculiar Crimes Unit. The plot, characters, action, etc. are just superb. You learn some interesting facts about London and its history along the way, and the many humorous parts are well-balanced by observations on the human condition that are both wry and poignant. The book will have you both laughing and choking up - - just so well written. I had to order this copy from the UK, as it won't be available in the US till late this year. Totally worth it. Anyone else here on the Shard a fan of Bryant & May?
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