January Reads: Setting the Tone for 2016!

[Starkess]

I started on The Paper Magician by C.N. Holmberg. The series was on a deal on Amazon, and I heard the author on a podcast once and she seemed nice. She also described the book as new adult, which is unusual for fantasy so I was intrigued. They're short books, so it should be a perfect popcorn read as I head out on vacation.

[Xray the Enforcer]

I read the sample and it definitely had something cool going for it. In spite of the last few pages, is it worth pursuing?

Probably. That said, it totally fails to impress upon reread (in fact, the book gets retrospectively shoddy), so I guess my recommendation is to enjoy the ride and then walk away quickly.

[red snow]

Really enjoying Abraham's "the widow's house". It's been sitting around for over a year but I decided to start on it now that I know the final part is out in a couple of months. It has a bit of everything, humour, conspiracy, pathos, action, twists and characters acting like humans. Fingers crossed the expanse brings more attention to Abraham and some studio realises they could have their own GOT sitting in front of them.

[Peadar]

Probably. That said, it totally fails to impress upon reread (in fact, the book gets retrospectively shoddy), so I guess my recommendation is to enjoy the ride and then walk away quickly.

I may wait until Boston to talk to you about it

[Goldhand]

Need more help deciding what to read:

The Steel Remains by Richard K. Morgan

Winter Be My Shield by Jo Spurrier.

 

WBMS kinda slipped under the radar of most non-Australian readers, and the preview is pretty damn good. Both books are of solid length (not looking for a tome right now). Thoughts?

[TheRevanchist]

The Lions of Al-Rassan - a nice book from Guy Gavriel Kay. If the ending wasn't so rushed, i might have said that it is on par with Tigana (one of my most favorite fantasy books).

Did anyone else thought that it was Rodrigo who won the duel? I thought so, especially after you hear that Delmonte has defeated the other 'Muslim' city-states of 'Spain' and that now 'Spain' is united under King Rodrigo. It was a surprise when I saw Amar in 'Jerusalem', alive.

[Astromech]

The Lions of Al-Rassan - a nice book from Guy Gavriel Kay. If the ending wasn't so rushed, i might have said that it is on par with Tigana (one of my most favorite fantasy books).
 

Hidden Content

GGK seemed to be telegraphing Ammar's victory when he reveals Miranda's thoughts about her and Rodrigo having enough time together and offspring whereas Ammar and Jehane haven't had enough yet. The battle was obviously intentionally vague, but I was expecting Ammar to win after Miranda's thoughts.

I personally felt the climax to the story was when Ammar and Rodrigo decided to serve Espana(generally) and Al Rassan, respectively. The combat between Rodrigo and Ammar seemed an inevitability at that point.

I enjoyed the book, but the ending felt rushed. I did love the little twist at the end when GGK made it seem Jehane and Alvar were married, only to reveal it was Ammar and Jehane. Even if it was only for a page or two.

 

[TheRevanchist]

Hidden Content

Yeah, that twist was great. Especially when you hear that Belmonte has managed to get the remaining three cities. I thought it was Rodrigo (meaning Amar is dead), not his son.

The battle was vague but I had the perception that Rodrigo won.

The battle happening was easy to predict. A bit sad, considering that they were my favorite characters in the book. Also, I was a bit sad to hear what happened with the 'Kindrath/Jewish prince', how he was mutilated etc. He was a very likable character.

[beniowa]

Finished Reynolds' On the Steel Breeze, second book in Poseidon's Children.  I had a few issues with the first book, Blue Remembered Earth, and this one was an improvement.  Had a bit of a weak ending though.  Will be reading the third book when it comes out in February. 

Now reading Goddess of Buttercups and Daisies by Martin Millar. 

[Spockydog]

Finally got round to picking up Robin Hobb's Fool's Quest. 

She is a witch. Had me in tears within a couple of pages.

Poor Nighteyes.

 

 

[Darth Richard II]

Just wait. Your soul will be torn from your chest and shat upon.

[HexMachina]

Uh, Fool's Quest made me veer from bawling like a baby to grinning like a Cheshire Cat at times. Enjoy the ride then join the wait for the last (ever? Wow, that's a sad thought) Fitz book

[SkynJay]

I finished Truthwitch and was not all that impressed.  That said it is getting a lot of hype on the YA side and reads like a Sanderson book so I expect it to be very popular.

Now reading Tower of Thorns by Juliet Marillier and half way through it is proving to be much more my cup of tea. 

[williamjm]

well the next few are decent then there's s series of I think four books that starts good then gets weird. But then you get to books based on video games based on his books, and those are as terrible as that sounds.

In retrospect I'd probably be happier with the series if I'd stopped reading after Rage of a Demon King rather than reading another dozen or so after that.

I've seen that before. Should've realized that's what you meant. As for the series going to shit: That's a bummer. I've enjoyed it to this point. Characters are extremely safe which I don't like but I enjoy them all nonetheless. Sometimes a simple read is soothing.

If you're wanting more Feist to read then I'd recommend the Empire trilogy he co-wrote with Janny Wurts that is set on Kelewan during a similar timeframe as Magician.

[Darth Richard II]

Ah yeah, the Empire trilogy is decent, although I still think book 1 is kind poopy. HE wrote those before he went to total shit though. And yeah Rage of A Demon King is the place to stop.

[Spockydog]

Uh, Fool's Quest made me veer from bawling like a baby to grinning like a Cheshire Cat at times. Enjoy the ride then join the wait for the last (ever? Wow, that's a sad thought) Fitz book

Just wait. Your soul will be torn from your chest and shat upon.

Oh dear. Sounds like I'm in for something of a rollercoaster ride. Ah well, it's what I've come to expect from Hobb. She gives me the feels like no other author.

 

[Guinevere Seaworth]

I loved Kushiel's Justice by Jacqueline Carey more than Kushiel's Scion.  Great stuff!

Now reading The Magicians by Lev Grossman.  I started this with some trepidation as I know this novel split the board down the middle to those who loved it and others who hated it.  I am actually enjoying it (about a 1/3 of the way through) even though Quentin is not a character I can root for as he is extremely self-absorbed and depressed individual.

[Quoth]

I'm 175 pages into "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr. Not something I'd usually pick up. But, I read the first dozen pages and was hooked by the marvelous prose.

[polishgenius]

In the last couple of days I've been feeling a bit grotty on my commute and having The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers to read was the perfect pick-me-up. A delightful space opera. If you're looking for big, sweeping epic plots and grand concepts you won't really find them here, but if you want the adventures of a lovable crew of motley wayfarers on a spaceship (yes, it's kind of like Firefly, and Ketty Jay) in a galaxyfull of , this is a book for you.

I've now moved on to An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir, a Roman-Empire-esque-set fantasy (the whole setup isn't too dissimilar to The Traitor Baru Cormorant, tbh) which isn't badly written but looks to have a romance angle that feels like it's going to annoy me.

[williamjm]

I finished Emily St. John Mandel's Station Eleven, which I thought was excellent. I remember a while back GRRM was campaigning for it to be on last year's Hugo list and having read it I'd think I'd agree with him that it was better than any of the nominees. I think the balance of the scenes in the novel worked well, with relatively little time spent on the apocalyptic pandemic itself but most of the time split between the aftermath as civilisation struggles to survive and the more mundane scenes of everyday life before the pandemic. I think the question of what parts of civilisation are going to survive is often the most interesting part of post-apocalyptic stories. Possibly there could have been a bit more time spent focused on the Travelling Symphony era, the pre-pandemic scenes are nicely written with some deft characterisation but that part of the plot feels a bit unfocused in comparison to the (chronologically) later events. I liked the tone as well, it's naturally a fairly dark story with lots of horrible things happening but there's still enough moments of hope to make the overall effect more bittersweet than depressing.

Has anyone read any of Mandel's other books? I'm not sure any of their synopses sounded as interesting but the writing in Station Eleven was good enough that I might try something else by her at some point.

Next up is Robert Jackson Bennett's City of Blades which I'm hoping will be as good as the first book in the series.

In the last couple of days I've been feeling a bit grotty on my commute and having The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers to read was the perfect pick-me-up. A delightful space opera. If you're looking for big, sweeping epic plots and grand concepts you won't really find them here, but if you want the adventures of a lovable crew of motley wayfarers on a spaceship (yes, it's kind of like Firefly, and Ketty Jay) in a galaxyfull of , this is a book for you.

That does sound very interesting from your description.