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The Books That Have Just Come Out: New Release Thread


Maester Llama

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On 8/5/2017 at 10:22 PM, red snow said:

I've been getting a lot of social media ads about "Blackwing" . Claims of best fantasy of the year, Abercrombie-beater etc. Has anyone hear read it yet? Just curious as to whether it's genuinely good or if Gollancz has an effective and targeted marketing campaign?

 

 

Yeah,i finished reading it last week and really enjoyed it.The world/setting sorta reminded me of a mix between Prince of Thorns and The Incorruptibles.It's pretty short too,i finished it in 6 hours.

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4 hours ago, AncalagonTheBlack said:

Yeah,i finished reading it last week and really enjoyed it.The world/setting sorta reminded me of a mix between Prince of Thorns and The Incorruptibles.It's pretty short too,i finished it in 6 hours.

Incorruptibles is the one with a louisiana 19th Century flavour, right? Good to have someone here confirm the hype at least. Feels a while since someone new has entered the fray with a strong start. Or I'm just bad at trying new authors/series these days.

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On 8/5/2017 at 6:52 PM, red snow said:

I've been getting a lot of social media ads about "Blackwing" . Claims of best fantasy of the year, Abercrombie-beater etc. Has anyone hear read it yet? Just curious as to whether it's genuinely good or if Gollancz has an effective and targeted marketing campaign?

 

 

The author is a member of a Facebook group, he is a "bit" salty and the writing advice he posts are pretty shitty in my opinion. Won't be reading that book soon.

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In sure it's been mentioned, but Court of Broken Knives by Anna Smith Spark is a very excellent book and would recommend to anyone that enjoys Grimdark Fantasy. Not quite finished, but it's been excellent throughout. And, it's alot more than Gore and pointless savagery. Alot of mystery, intrigue and politics. First novel, so prose could be a bit better, but expect it to improve as the series progresses.

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13 minutes ago, Michael Seswatha Jordan said:

In sure it's been mentioned, but Court of Broken Knives by Anna Smith Spark is a very excellent book and would recommend to anyone that enjoys Grimdark Fantasy. Not quite finished, but it's been excellent throughout. And, it's alot more than Gore and pointless savagery. Alot of mystery, intrigue and politics. First novel, so prose could be a bit better, but expect it to improve as the series progresses.

I totally liked this one. My major gripe with it was : ( spoilers for a twist that happens halfway through the book) 

Spoiler

The Marith-Thalia romance

The Worldbuilding, the Amarath sections and anything Sorlost were the highlights for me.

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I was fine that sorta-twist because it all played into the artful, theatrical hysteria that the later part of the novel descended/ascended into.

 

 

It wasn't really a romance, more an infatuation that went sour- it seems pretty clear from her PoVs at the end that somewhere inside Thalia is screaming but isn't letting her thoughts go there. She's quite a fascinating character in general- someone who's basically a total innocent despite her whole role in life being to do an awful thing, who thinks she's freed herself from that and ends up being dragged into total horror.

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5 hours ago, polishgenius said:

I was fine that sorta-twist because it all played into the artful, theatrical hysteria that the later part of the novel descended/ascended into.

 

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It wasn't really a romance, more an infatuation that went sour- it seems pretty clear from her PoVs at the end that somewhere inside Thalia is screaming but isn't letting her thoughts go there. She's quite a fascinating character in general- someone who's basically a total innocent despite her whole role in life being to do an awful thing, who thinks she's freed herself from that and ends up being dragged into total horror.

Spoiler

I wasn't a very big fan of that "hysteria" either. The army of Marith's father destroying themselves because Marith scared them shitless made my eyes roll.I mean, I didn't hate it but I seem to have missed it's purpose.

 

4 hours ago, Darth Richard II said:

Pfft if I didn't read authors who were salty sometimes on the internet I'd have no books.

I generally distinguish the artist from their art which is why that book is still in my TBR, but he did put me off his book for the time being. Maybe I will get it when it's in Paperback.

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For clarity, continued Court of Broken Knives spoilers here:
 

7 hours ago, redeagl said:
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I wasn't a very big fan of that "hysteria" either. The army of Marith's father destroying themselves because Marith scared them shitless made my eyes roll.I mean, I didn't hate it but I seem to have missed it's purpose.

 

I just sorta assumed there's more going on there than just fear- the more mad he goes, the more mad everything around him goes too, and I'm fairly sure it was being generated by or through him in some way. There's a sort of sanity slippage towards the end not just from the people in the book but in the book as a whole, which was done in a way I thought was neat.



I definitely see why it's not for everyone though. I thought it was better than Godblind, the other hardcore grimdark debut written by an Anna that came out at the same time, but I suspect Godblind may have a more even reception; it's a bit more normal in its stylings, if not in what actually happens.

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On 8/7/2017 at 1:28 AM, AncalagonTheBlack said:

Yeah,i finished reading it last week and really enjoyed it.The world/setting sorta reminded me of a mix between Prince of Thorns and The Incorruptibles.It's pretty short too,i finished it in 6 hours.

Quoting this just to post that the conclusion of the trilogy that started with The Incorruptibles was just released: Infernal Machines. Good series overall. 

Also NK Jemisin's new book dropped today. Have just started it and very happy to be back in this world. 

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16 hours ago, polishgenius said:

So yeah, started Blackwing, think I'm about halfway in, really good so far. Reminds me a bit of Robert Jackson Bennet's Divine Cities but with a Mieville-ish more horror-based styling.

Glad you're enjoying it.This has been a really good year for debuts (after a long time i feel).

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