Andarist

Doesn't matter if you loved the books you did read!

Currently reading: The Thousandfold Thought by R Scott Bakker - 84 pages in - his usual excellent quality so far The Ships of Merior by Janny Wurts - too early to comment Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell - too early to comment Rereading House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds - about 250 pages in - I forgot how epic and elegant Reynolds can be Also what are your top reads for 2016? Here are my top ten: 1. Dancer's Lament by Ian Cameron Esslemont 2. Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins 3. Fifth Season by NK Jemisin 4. Obelisk Gate by NK Jemisin 5. City of Blades by Robert Jackson Bennett 6. The Warriot Prophet by R Scott Bakker 7. Four Roads Cross by Max Gladstone 8. The Rook by Daniel O'Malley 9. Black Wolves by Kate Elliott 10. The Waking Fire by Anthony Ryan

Anybody else listen to Trans Siberian Orchestra?

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

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

Good for you! Malazan is an awesome ride. Just a tip - don't google stuff. There is a high chance you will get spoilers.

This is sooo sooo good. Thank you very much for sharing.

Reading Outlander and Blood Meridian

Reading Blood Meridian and Outlander. 7 chapters into Blood Meridian and I really like the author's style. 2 chapters and a little bit into Outlander. Oh dear...

Absolutely loved this book, and I feel like it was a huge step up from book 1. The third book, which came out this year is great too.

Mozart's music of the night. Classical music is still my go-to for reading or working.

I agree with you on the rap. Except for metal I don't really listen to much of the pre-80s music though the exceptions are Led Zep, Beatles and Dylan. Have you tried some of the new alternative stuff like Of Monsters And Men? I like Jazz though I don't know as much about it as I would like to, So far I have listened to Coltrane and Charlie Parker. I don't know much about classical but I love listening to classical. I find it soothing and calming especially violin works like Vivaldi.. Have you listened to Trans-Siberian Orchestra? Very nice blend of Classical and Metal. In metal I prefer heavy, thrash and symphonic. I don't really like death metal and its variants as I prefer clear vocals. Love Maiden, Dream Theater and Opeth.

I am in the listening thread browsing through all the posts. A good way to discover new music, right? What other genres do you listen to? I am mostly rock and metal though I am a bit out of touch at the moment.

Just read Amanda Downnum's Drowning City. Quite good.

I don't stop by here very often but I am trying to change that. Nightwish's latest album is Endless Forms Most Beautiful and it it awesome. And yeah their new vocalist - Floor Jansen I believe is excellent, especially if you see her in concert. If you are new to metal and like symphonic metal try out Kamelot as well They are very very good. Also for a very heavy metalish sound with symphonic elements and a fantasy theme try Rhapsody of Fire. Do you post in the What are You Listening Thread?

Agree fully on the metal part I prefer Iron Maiden to Metallica, but I am a huge huge fan of Nightwish and in fact the entire symphonic metal subgenre. What did you think of their latest album?

I would recommend against reading Brian Herbert and KJA's last two books of the series. They are horrendous.

I understand how people would want everything to be knit up tidily in the ending but one of the major features of Malazan is challenging commonly held assumptions and making the reader uncomfortable. I am going to spoiler code the next few lines for those who have not finished the series I totally get why some people may not like this as it may not be what they were looking for in a fantasy series. I firmly believe that reading and the enjoyment derived from it is a subjective experience, but, this is one of the reasons why I love it.

Actually that is because Erikson has a certain philosophy towards his storytelling. Everything is set in a huge world where lots of things are happening. Some of those things maybe entirely relevant to the story and we get to see their resolution, some are partially relevant, they enter the story and then leave on their own journey and some are irrelevant so maybe we will only hear allusions about them. To put it in the context of our world, say we are reading a story about the second world war, and one of the many PoVs is a Brazilian kid. In 1939 the german pocket battleship the Admiral Graf Spee fought the battle of the River Plate against the British and then was scuttled. Lets say the Brazilian kid befriends and takes care of an injured german sailor. And we never see them again. Would you say this is a wrong thing to happen in the story? I am reading the Waking Fire by Anthony Ryan. Its really quite good.

Reading Four Roads Cross by Max Gladstone. Looks to be another stellar entry in the Craft series. I recommend this series to everybody. Really innovative use of magic and gods

Started Salyards' Chains of the Heretic. 11 chapters into Andrew Gordon's Jutland: The Rules of the Game - this is a very interesting, informative book that really focusses on the details. 15 chapters into James Herriot's All Things Wise and Wonderful. I recommend this book to anybody who is depressed, sad or tired. Its delightful

Reading the Goblin Emperor. Its really an excellent book

I just finished reading the Library at Mount Char. Dark and disturbing, yet brilliant and compelling. I really liked it.

Could you be a bit specific? DG is pretty violent throughout, yes, the overall tone of Malazan is pretty dark

Finished reading To Ride Hell's Chasm by Janny Wurts. Its an excellent book. Since it is a true standalone the intensity of the events and the heady pace can sometimes feel like an adrenaline rush. In fact after the first bit of setup the book takes off and never looks back. The emotional quotient in this book is very high as several pretty major events happen in a relatively short time. The author puts detail in the strangest things. This is the first time I was genuinely worried about a horse. The way the worldbuilding takes place is very interesting. The story takes place in a relatively small area which is easy enough to construct, but the way the wider world is portrayed through memory and the way the sorcerous threat is built up is very interesting. The juxtaposition of scarred veterans and brutal sorcery against the rather bucolic insular society of Sessalie made for a very interesting contrast. I have read in multiple places about Wurts' style of writing - her tendency to use the occasional archaic word or phrase. To me this did not detract from the story at all. After I took a couple of chapters to get settled in, the narrative moved fast and smoothly. On the other hand I could not help but feel that the characters of the Anja and Mykaael were somewhat exaggerated. Of course this may have been a side-effect of the book focussing so much on them. Also I would have liked to know more about how things worked out in Sessalie and the Empire at the end really merited more explanation. Overall, a very enjoyable book which I would recommend.