AncalagonTheBlack Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 On 2/4/2019 at 4:15 PM, red snow said: Ruin of kings sounds tempting too Just saw that it's been optioned for a tv series by Annapurna TV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red snow Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 44 minutes ago, AncalagonTheBlack said: Just saw that it's been optioned for a tv series by Annapurna TV. That was quick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 That Ruin of Kings synopsis seems very ordinary until you get to the last line and then it’s like ... huh, interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AncalagonTheBlack Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 22 hours ago, john said: That Ruin of Kings synopsis seems very ordinary until you get to the last line and then it’s like ... huh, interesting. Don't go by the synopsis.I'm half way through reading this and is looks like Tor could finally have a genuine epic fantasy hit after a long time being dominated by Orbit. I've heard some people describe it as Locke Lamora mixed with Name of the Wind with a hint of Chronicles of Amber and Malazan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 Actually I was reading some of the reviews on Amazon, and yeah it sounds like that was a bad blurb by Tor. The book in fact sounds really innovative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jussi Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 52 minutes ago, AncalagonTheBlack said: looks like Tor could finally have a genuine epic fantasy hit after a long time being dominated by Orbit. Tor has Brandon Sanderson's ongoing The Stormlight Archive. Or do you mean a new epic fantasy hit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AncalagonTheBlack Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 14 minutes ago, Jussi said: Tor has Brandon Sanderson's ongoing The Stormlight Archive. Or do you mean a new epic fantasy hit? Yes,i meant among the newer authors/series from the past few years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red snow Posted February 16, 2019 Share Posted February 16, 2019 19 hours ago, AncalagonTheBlack said: Don't go by the synopsis.I'm half way through reading this and is looks like Tor could finally have a genuine epic fantasy hit after a long time being dominated by Orbit. I've heard some people describe it as Locke Lamora mixed with Name of the Wind with a hint of Chronicles of Amber and Malazan. I've got the audiobook and it'll probably be my next read after phase 1 of the Abercrombie re-read (might help it out by putting some non-fiction in between). I've read some goodreads reviews that aren't as glowing although they also mention Malazan but more in terms of it being a bit confusing. That said, most of the negative reviews are more in the form of "this book has being so insanely overhyped and compared to leaders in the field that it can only fail to live up to expectations". So I'm trying to temper mine going into it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 I've been reading a recent debut, The Gutter Prayer by Gareth Hanrahan. Enjoying it a lot. It's part of the recent trend for novels about godwars, except rather than being set after this is set during, albeit in a (trying to stay) neutral city. It's got a vibe of Robert Jackson Bennet's Divine Cities about it in particular, though with a very definite detour to Bas Lag to pick up some gruesome weirdnesses along the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AncalagonTheBlack Posted February 21, 2019 Share Posted February 21, 2019 20 hours ago, polishgenius said: I've been reading a recent debut, The Gutter Prayer by Gareth Hanrahan. Enjoying it a lot. It's part of the recent trend for novels about godwars, except rather than being set after this is set during, albeit in a (trying to stay) neutral city. It's got a vibe of Robert Jackson Bennet's Divine Cities about it in particular, though with a very definite detour to Bas Lag to pick up some gruesome weirdnesses along the way. I read this when it came out and thought it was very good. The other debut (from Tor), The Ruin of Kings, also has a godwars sub-plot going on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 Been reading Ruin of Kings, most of the way through it now, and yeah, its' really good. Funny coz there's quite a lot of plot twists set up in a really contrived way that would normally piss me right the fuck off, but this carries it off. It's also got an absolutely delicious villain character, which is always fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Richard II Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 For The Killing of Kings was fan fucking tastic. Go read it, now. I'll wait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red snow Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 Amazon failed me pretty badly with "black leopard, red wolf" in that the cover is torn/bent. Bit pissed off as i want to start reading the damn thing. Will try and pick one up at the weekend from an actual shop where i can check the damn thing isn't damaged before purchasing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unJon Posted March 1, 2019 Share Posted March 1, 2019 5 hours ago, red snow said: Amazon failed me pretty badly with "black leopard, red wolf" in that the cover is torn/bent. Bit pissed off as i want to start reading the damn thing. Will try and pick one up at the weekend from an actual shop where i can check the damn thing isn't damaged before purchasing. Tell them it was damaged and they’ll send you a new one before you have to send the old one back (if you even do). You can still start reading right away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Richard II Posted March 1, 2019 Share Posted March 1, 2019 17 minutes ago, unJon said: Tell them it was damaged and they’ll send you a new one before you have to send the old one back (if you even do). You can still start reading right away. Yeah I’ve had to do that a few times and usually they overnight the book. Not sure how it works in the UK though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red snow Posted March 1, 2019 Share Posted March 1, 2019 1 hour ago, unJon said: Tell them it was damaged and they’ll send you a new one before you have to send the old one back (if you even do). You can still start reading right away. They do that here too. Problem is that i have a long weekend and will miss replacement. Although as you say i probably shouldn't sweat starting to read this one out of some misplaced guilt I'm rendering the actual book "read" in the sense it's obvious when a book has been opened by creases in the spine etc. So i will return and read the faulty version if replacement doesn't arrive in time. It's a shame as it's just the removable cover that's torn and damaged but i feel on principle it should be in mint condition when it arrives. I must say it is a beautiful hardback with the print etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john Posted March 1, 2019 Share Posted March 1, 2019 I’m reading The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon. Number 1 Amazon bestseller in lesbian fiction apparently (no confirmed lesbians so far at 20% of book). Also a very well realised epic fantasy about eastern trading, knights and sea serpent dragons and with lots of glossaries and everything. The writing is very good although it is a little painfully overwritten at times. I’ve also mostly read Ruin of Kings (about 70% done) and I much prefer the Shannon book. It reminds me of Robin Hobb whereas Ruin of Kings reminds me more of Brandon Sanderson. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted March 1, 2019 Share Posted March 1, 2019 I just added Priory of the Orange tree to my Kobo cart after having my eye caught by the absolutely fantastic cover and enjoying the couple of pages I read of it, so I'll be reading that soon. Good to hear it's strong. I wouldn't say RoK is much like Sanderson though? I mean, I guess in being about big, extravagant magic and strict interpretation of the rules thereof, it has that resemblance, but it's a lot more vicious and twisty and just better written as well imo. Anyway, I finished it today, and while by the end there was just maybe a bit too much twisting-for-twisting's-sake, I did enjoy it a lot. The one major downmark is purely for the ebook version, or at least the way it interacts with my Tolino, because it turns out that there are footnotes galore but the only indication that this was even the case while reading was one asterisk I noticed in the text but it didn't link to anything so assumed it was in error, and none of the others were even indicated. First real indication that they were even there was when I finished the book and the footnotes popped up. Footnotes are always a hassle in ebooks to be fair, but this was pretty poor. Maybe it's not the same if you read it on a Kindle or Kobo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john Posted March 1, 2019 Share Posted March 1, 2019 2 hours ago, polishgenius said: I wouldn't say RoK is much like Sanderson though? I mean, I guess in being about big, extravagant magic and strict interpretation of the rules thereof, it has that resemblance, but it's a lot more vicious and twisty and just better written as well imo. That’s what I meant. The magic, plus the stuff with the royal families, each with their own gemstone etc. It’s quite info dumpy, not in a horrible way, just that there is a lot of info that needs to get out. She does have better prose than Sanderson and the humour hits better. None of that is meant to disparage Sanderson btw, I like him fine. The footnotes worked fine on the Kindle, I found it a bit of a chore to be honest but I did like the elaborate framing of the story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted March 1, 2019 Share Posted March 1, 2019 Just now, john said: None of that is meant to disparage Sanderson btw, I like him fine. Ah, that would explain my slightly-too-vehement reaction. I don't, so much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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