Second Quarter 2020 reading

[ljkeane]

The Cruel Prince was pretty good. It has some of the standard YA melodrama but overall it's pretty well done.

After reading a few new authors I've found cheap books for I'm going to read something I'm fairly confident will be good in Guy Gavriel Kay's River of Stars.

[williamjm]

I finished Adrian Tchaikovsky's Made Things. I enjoyed it, the premise was interesting and there were several good characters in it. I think there was probably the potential there for a longer story, the heist part of the story felt a bit rushed and parts of the ending were maybe a bit too easy. If Tchaikovsky ever does a sequel to it then I would be interested in reading it.

I'm now reading Samantha Shannon's The Priory of the Orange Tree. It's been a while since I've read a big epic fantasy and aside from not being part of a series it does have some traditional epic fantasy elements such as the coming-of-age stories, the threat of a dark lord and the large cast of characters. I'm enjoying it so far.

[john]

On 4/5/2020 at 2:39 PM, Gaston de Foix said:

I do this thing where I find unread fantasy recommendations from trusted sources and then try to read a sample chapter before deciding the most engaging book to read.  Today I will read sample chapters from (with rankings to come):

Gideon the Ninth

The Priory of the Orange Tree

Watchmaker of Filigree Street

The Ruin of Kings

The Poppy War

Seven Blades in Black

Time of Dread

Hawkwood Kings. 

Time of Dread is the first in a new trilogy that’s a continuation of John Gwynne’s fantasy series. I think you’d have to read four 500+ page epic fantasy books to see if you want to read it, rather than a sample chapter.  

I’d second the recommendation of Priory of the Orange Tree, best fantasy book of 2019.

[Astromech]

I finished Mark Kurlansky's The Basque History of the World. A light interesting read about the Basque people, their history and culture. Serves as a decent introduction to the Basque.

 

ETA: I was undecided on which book to pull off my shelves next. I decided earlier today to read John F. Ross's War on the Run: The Epic Story of Robert Rogers and the Conquest of America's First Frontier.

[HexMachina]

3 hours ago, williamjm said:

I finished Adrian Tchaikovsky's Made Things. I enjoyed it, the premise was interesting and there were several good characters in it. I think there was probably the potential there for a longer story, the heist part of the story felt a bit rushed and parts of the ending were maybe a bit too easy. If Tchaikovsky ever does a sequel to it then I would be interested in reading it.

I'm now reading Samantha Shannon's The Priory of the Orange Tree. It's been a while since I've read a big epic fantasy and aside from not being part of a series it does have some traditional epic fantasy elements such as the coming-of-age stories, the threat of a dark lord and the large cast of characters. I'm enjoying it so far.

I loved Priory of the Orange Tree but wish it wasn’t standalone, or at the very least that there would be more books written in that setting

[Starkess]

Finished my re-read of Caliban's War. This is my third time reading it I think, and I found the same as before that it really picks up once some of the focus shifts off Prax. He annoys the shit out of me, one of my least favorite characters. Think I will read something else before I move on to Abaddon's Gate.

I'm about 3/4 done with Waking Gods, book 2 of the Themis Files, and uhhh (major spoilers):

Spoiler

WOW wtf. I was NOT expecting the main character to die. And I was definitely not expecting the biggest secondary character to die as well. That was a huge mindfuck. I admit, it makes me a little less interested in finishing this series. Goddamn, RIP No One.

Should finish that on my next run, I expect. I have the audiobook of The Book Thief lined up to start after that.

[ljkeane]

I'm going to go against the consensus here a bit with The Priory of the Orange Tree, I thought it was okay but nothing special. Ead was a bit too Mary Sue-ish for me. I thought Tane was the more interesting character but that side of the story got a lot less focus.

[Peadar]

I'm only a quarter through Hannu Rajaniemi's Summerland, but enjoying it a lot so far. It is very reminiscent of Ian Tregillis' Bitter Seeds trilogy.

[ljkeane]

I finished River of Stars, probably not my favourite of Kay's books but it's still pretty good. In the usual Kay style it was quite long and a bit of a slow burner too so it took me a few days to get through, which isn't a bad thing in the current circumstances.

Next up I'm going to continue my Dresden Files reread with Ghost Story.

[shortstark]

On 4/3/2020 at 11:02 AM, Iskaral Pust said:

Finished The Story Of Arthur Truluv by Elizabeth Berg, a heartwarming literary fiction about a lonely elderly widower making new relationships.  Very similar to A Man Called Ove.  It’s well written and a good read, although a bit pollyannish.  There seems to be a new mini genre of geriatric fiction.

I started, but abandoned at 15%, Winterbirth by Brian Ruckley.  This is a grimdark fantasy about a power struggle and clash of civilizations.  So far there seems to an elf-like nomadic tribal race and a splinter group of religious zealots who are seeking to overthrow a feudal medieval nation undergoing an internal power struggle.  It started well enough, albeit a bit dense with new and unfamiliar names and naming structures, and then got bogged down with very emo, self-pitying character arcs and plot arcs.  I’m not sure if this is worth indulging further.  Does it get better?

No it doesn't actually, it's a bit of a slog but I persevered.. There was always something that kept me going.. 

[ljkeane]

Next up I'm going to read Camino Island a John Grisham book I saw. It's been a long time since I read one of his books so I'll see what it's like. As an aside since I last really paid any attention he's apparently written a shitload of books. Looking at his wikipedia page there are probably 30 books he's written since the more famous ones I remember from the 90s.

[Derfel Cadarn]

Started my chronological Malazan re-read with Forge of Darkness. Never read Fall of Light or the Dancer trilogy, so will be interesting.

[ljkeane]

So Camino Island wasn't really what I was expecting. I knew it wasn't a legal thriller like Grisham's usual stuff but it's just a bit of an odd book. Ostensibly it's about the fallout from a heist but that side of the story feels fairly superfluous and it's mostly about a bunch of authors sitting around on an island in Florida bitching about various things.

[Starkess]

I started listening to The Book Thief today, and I am really not liking it. I only listened for 40 minutes or so, perhaps too soon to make a judgment, but I am sorely tempted to write it off as a failure and find something else. Is it worth sticking with? Does the writing get any less eye-rollingly idiotic?

[Infidel]

Just finished Station Eleven. (seemed timely!)

Such an easy, enjoyable read from start to finish, particularly given the subject matter. Need to read some of Ms Mandel's other stuff...

[mix_masta_micah]

Mulling over whether or not to start the Acts of Caine series by Matthew Stover. I'm not big on portal fantasy tbh but the sample of the writing seems up my alley.

Whatever happened to Matthew Stover anyways? 

[unJon]

50 minutes ago, mix_masta_micah said:

Mulling over whether or not to start the Acts of Caine series by Matthew Stover. I'm not big on portal fantasy tbh but the sample of the writing seems up my alley.

Whatever happened to Matthew Stover anyways? 

It’s awesome.  The first book is good. The second is mind blowing. 

[Darth Richard II]

Huh that’s a wert question probably but wiki says he hasn’t done anything since 2012 0.o

[mix_masta_micah]

2 hours ago, unJon said:

It’s awesome.  The first book is good. The second is mind blowing. 

Yeah I've heard solid things for sure. 

2 hours ago, Darth Richard II said:

Huh that’s a wert question probably but wiki says he hasn’t done anything since 2012 0.o

Yeah that's what I've seen. I'm sure his Acts of Caine series wasn't a massive success but he also wrote that Star Wars Episode 3 adaptation. He seems well loved and I'm surprised he doesn't seem to do more. 

[Wilbur]

6 hours ago, mix_masta_micah said:

Mulling over whether or not to start the Acts of Caine series by Matthew Stover. I'm not big on portal fantasy tbh but the sample of the writing seems up my alley.

Whatever happened to Matthew Stover anyways? 

As unJon said, these books actually get better as they progress: the writing is quite fine, the premise is excellent, and the characters work out really well.

Note: The physical books have some really off-putting covers.  Read them anyways.

Note 2: Stefan Rudnicki reads the audio books, and he does a terrific job.