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First Quarter 2019 Reading


Garett Hornwood

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Finished The Bear and the Serpent by Adrian Tchaikovsky, book two of the Echoes of the Fall trilogy.  I didn't like it quite as much as the first book, but I still really enjoyed it.  Moved right into The Hyena and the Hawk.  Not sure how it's all going to wrap up by the end of this book as I'm 12% through, my guess is that

Maniye will somehow, in the Godsland, figure out how to give the Plague People and Pale Shadow souls sating their 

hunger.  Just a feeling I'm getting that's reminding me of David Anthony Durham's
Acacia Trilogy - loved that ending

The Hawk

Kaliovela?

has yet to show up.

 

On 1/15/2019 at 2:47 PM, williamjm said:

 

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I remember getting to that bit as well and realising that the Plague People were something else than what I was expecting. In retrospect, I'm curious whether there were hints in The Tiger and the Wolf that I didn't pick up on.

 

I still don't understand why the captured, winged being was so small, and why that hasn't been brought up in any of the other encounters that Loud Thunder's group or Maniye's warband have had.  I'm so confused as to what they are.  And their tech is so, so far ahead of this side of the world's.   

Metal boats and flying ships...

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4 hours ago, Blue Roses said:

Just downloaded The Hod King by Bancroft and started reading. Been really looking forward to this as the two previous books were wonderful reads from a few years ago. Definitely one of the most interesting and enjoyable series out there at the moment and refreshingly different. So far, so good......

Please post your final impressions.  I was concerned after the second book that it was turning into a shaggy dog story that would meander pointlessly, so I'm on the fence about continuing with the series as it is published.  Waiting for series completion would at least let me know if Bancroft managed to maintain a worthwhile shape to it.

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13 minutes ago, RedEyedGhost said:

Finished The Bear and the Serpent by Adrian Tchaikovsky, book two of the Echoes of the Fall trilogy.  I didn't like it quite as much as the first book, but I still really enjoyed it.  Moved right into The Hyena and the Hawk.  Not sure how it's all going to wrap up by the end of this book as I'm 12% through

  Reveal hidden contents

I still don't understand why the captured, winged being was so small, and why that hasn't been brought up in any of the other encounters that Loud Thunder's group or Maniye's warband have had.  I'm so confused as to what they are.  And their tech is so, so far ahead of this side of the world's.   

Metal boats and flying ships...

 

I think the overall plot is meant to be the world's equivalent of European colonists discovering the New World (or Australia) with superior technology and a disregard for land ownership. The two continents have been cut off from each other for millennia, which is one reason there can be such a big tech divergence.

Have you read any of Tchaikovsky's Shadows of the Apt books? They would help some of the background world-building make more sense.

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1 hour ago, williamjm said:

 

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I think the overall plot is meant to be the world's equivalent of European colonists discovering the New World (or Australia) with superior technology and a disregard for land ownership. The two continents have been cut off from each other for millennia, which is one reason there can be such a big tech divergence.

Have you read any of Tchaikovsky's Shadows of the Apt books? They would help some of the background world-building make more sense.

 

I haven't the Shadows of the Apt. I didn't know they were related.  Knowing that they are makes me both less and more interested in reading them.

This is far worse, in scope and technology discrepancy, than the real world events.  I guess the leeching of souls could be analogous of disease.  

Is the background in SofA just about the Plague People, or does it have info on the Serpent, Owl, and Bat?  I really like how the Serpent and Bat are so different from the others.

Just finished reading Maniye's assault on their camp which resulted in her capture, and nearly everyone that went with her dying or getting locked in their animal form.  That was brutal.

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8 minutes ago, RedEyedGhost said:

 

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I haven't the Shadows of the Apt. I didn't know they were related.  Knowing that they are makes me both less and more interested in reading them.

This is far worse, in scope and technology discrepancy, than the real world events.  I guess the leeching of souls could be analogous of disease.  

Is the background in SofA just about the Plague People, or does it have info on the Serpent, Owl, and Bat?  I really like how the Serpent and Bat are so different from the others.

Just finished reading Maniye's assault on their camp which resulted in her capture, and nearly everyone that went with her dying or getting locked in their animal form.  That was brutal.

 

I had read SotA previously, but there was no indication I noticed in The Tiger and the Wolf that it was set in the same world, Tchaikovsky kept it quiet. It wasn't until I got to the flying 'little monster' in the second book that I started to think that the description sounded a lot like a fly-kinden from SotA, although I wasn't sure until I got to the end of the book with what were unmistakeably wasp-kinden wearing the uniform of Imperial Light Airborne that I was sure they were connected.

I don't think there's anything in the SotA novels about the Serpent or the others. In one of the shot stories it shows that most of the insect kinden have no idea they used to share the continent with others, and any evidence of it (such as an archaeological dig uncovering an ancient massacre in the story) is ruthlessly suppressed by the small group who know the truth. There's another short at the end of The Light of Distant Shores which shows the first contact between the two civilisations in an expedition probably shortly before the start of The Tiger and the Wolf, which shows the kinden being just as confused about the encounter as Maniye's people.

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15 minutes ago, williamjm said:

 

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I had read SotA previously, but there was no indication I noticed in The Tiger and the Wolf that it was set in the same world, Tchaikovsky kept it quiet. It wasn't until I got to the flying 'little monster' in the second book that I started to think that the description sounded a lot like a fly-kinden from SotA, although I wasn't sure until I got to the end of the book with what were unmistakeably wasp-kinden wearing the uniform of Imperial Light Airborne that I was sure they were connected.

I don't think there's anything in the SotA novels about the Serpent or the others. In one of the shot stories it shows that most of the insect kinden have no idea they used to share the continent with others, and any evidence of it (such as an archaeological dig uncovering an ancient massacre in the story) is ruthlessly suppressed by the small group who know the truth. There's another short at the end of The Light of Distant Shores which shows the first contact between the two civilisations in an expedition probably shortly before the start of The Tiger and the Wolf, which shows the kinden being just as confused about the encounter as Maniye's people.

 

Any info about the Pale Shadow people in SotA?

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17 minutes ago, RedEyedGhost said:

 

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Any info about the Pale Shadow people in SotA?

 

The Pale Shadow seem to originate from the Spiderlands, which do play a major role in the series. The Spiderlands are infamous for the ruthless battle for power and influence between their noble families, I'm guessing the Pale Shadow were on the losing side of one of those battles and chose exile rather than a less pleasant fate at the hands of their enemies, which is why they're not exactly thrilled to be reunited with their long-lost kin.

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16 hours ago, Peadar said:

I have started Death and the Dervish by Mesa Selimovic -- apologies for my keyboard that refused to put in the correct accents. The translation is by Bogdan Rakic and Stephen M. Dickey.

A Bosnian Muslim cleric reviews his life.

An excellent novel, although it can be a difficult read. I hope the translation is good, since I haven't read it in English. If you like it, The Fortress by Selimovic is also very good (if you can find it).

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On 1/19/2019 at 1:39 PM, williamjm said:

At least she's publishing new books at a decent rate, with her latest book out next month.

 

True, and I still have Mercy to read.  If I like a series it's sometimes hard to pull the trigger on that final book. 

I have finished Connelly's Dark Sacred Night and moved on to Sagara's Cast in Ruin.

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5 hours ago, Gorn said:

An excellent novel, although it can be a difficult read. I hope the translation is good, since I haven't read it in English. If you like it, The Fortress by Selimovic is also very good (if you can find it).

It's certainly a clear translation.

I'm enjoying having a more muslim point of view -- something I haven't experienced since I read a Moshin Hamid book a few years back. But yes, it's dense.

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Priest of Bones, Peter McLean - a fantasy gangster drama reminiscent of Peaky Blinders. Decent writing with a sort of grimdark protagonist and the odd little flourish that keeps the interest.

All These Beautiful Strangers, Elizabeth Klehfoth - YA posh boarding school murder angst, a bit like the Secret History. Works well as a thriller, with info eked out in the various narratives and lot of work put into the characters.

Six Stories, Matt Wesolowski - murder mystery written in the style of a podcast series.  The gimmick is good but the ultimate twist is a bit too twisty, imo.

Also started reading Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi. It was pretty basic stuff I thought, not sure why it garnered such interest, although the fantasy Africa setting is mildly interesting. Anyway, not for me. I conveniently replaced it with Children of Time by Tchaikovsky (only have to delete three words from the list on my phone). So far that’s as good as everybody says it is.

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4 hours ago, Peadar said:

It's certainly a clear translation.

I'm enjoying having a more muslim point of view -- something I haven't experienced since I read a Moshin Hamid book a few years back. But yes, it's dense.

While he came from a Muslim family, Selimovic himself was a Communist and his personal beliefs were most likely agnostic, which adds an additional layer of complexity to his work.

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I'm in the middle of Gnomon by Nick Harkaway and enjoying it so far though I really have no idea what's going on. I'm also listening to my first Terry Pratchett book (Colour of Magic) and I wish I did this earlier. So entertaining.

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1 hour ago, Mexal said:

I'm in the middle of Gnomon by Nick Harkaway and enjoying it so far though I really have no idea what's going on. I'm also listening to my first Terry Pratchett book (Colour of Magic) and I wish I did this earlier. So entertaining.

I have that on TBR list on my Kindle.  The first chapter didn’t grab me at the time so I put it down to revisit.  IIRC it threw a lot of unexplained gibberish into the first few pages and I needed a more patient frame of mind. 

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Just finished Disappearance At Devil’s Rock by Paul Tremblay, a novel whose central premise sounds a bit like Stranger Things: a middle school boy goes missing one night while out late with his misfit best friends, and his anxiety-wracked single mom thinks he may be communicating supernaturally with her.  It’s not a police procedural at all, and feels more like literary fiction than genre fiction.  It’s well written and I enjoyed it, even though I would not normally select a book with slightly creepy/horror tones.

Something lighter is called for next. 

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3 hours ago, Iskaral Pust said:

I have that on TBR list on my Kindle.  The first chapter didn’t grab me at the time so I put it down to revisit.  IIRC it threw a lot of unexplained gibberish into the first few pages and I needed a more patient frame of mind. 

I don't find it to be as witty or fun as The Gone-Away World but I do like the concept in Gnomon. I'm very interested to see how it all comes together.

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15 hours ago, Mexal said:

I don't find it to be as witty or fun as The Gone-Away World but I do like the concept in Gnomon. I'm very interested to see how it all comes together.

I thought it was worse than GAW but better than Tigerman. 

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This past Sunday I finished Soldier, Sailor, Frogman, Spy, Airman, Gangster, Kill or Die: How the Allies Won on D-Day by Giles Milton.  A look at the first 24 hours of the Allied invasion of Normandy from the men and women, from both sides, who lived it.  It was a nice historical narrative, unfortunately Milton used so many eyewitnesses that when he returned to some it took me a bit to remember them.  Overall nice, but problematic.

I'm currently reading Raise the Titanic! by Clive Cussler.

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