What Are You Reading? Third Quarter, 2023

[unJon]

I just finished House of Odysseus by Claire North, book 2 in her Songs of Penelope trilogy. I have found North to be very hit or miss since her amazing debut novel The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August. That said I have really enjoyed these first two Penelope books. It tells the story of Penelope while Odysseus is lost at sea after the Trojan war, with a goddess narrating the book (Hera the first books and Aphrodite the second). Great focus on how a smart and strong woman Queen can get by and thrive in an island with very few adult men (since they all went off to Troy and haven’t come back).

I would recommend for anyone that enjoys Greek myths or the characters from the Iliad/Odyssey. 

Edited September 29, 2023 by unJon

[Fragile Bird]

10 hours ago, dog-days said:

T Kingfisher/Ursula Vernon's web comic continues. Smiting Cancer with Rooster the Paladin

I didn’t know that was going on. Since I went through it two years ago, I have a great deal of sympathy for her. Sounds like it’s going well, though, thankfully.

[dog-days]

4 minutes ago, Fragile Bird said:

I didn’t know that was going on. Since I went through it two years ago, I have a great deal of sympathy for her. Sounds like it’s going well, though, thankfully.

Yes. Early on she said something like 'everything was finally going well and I was happy, so of course this...' I'm v. glad it sounds as if she'll be able to get back to gardening and non-chemo life soon. 

[Luzifer's right hand]

Just finished Infinity Gate by M. R. Carey. I enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to the next book as it is the start of a new series.

If you enjoyed his previous books I feel you will enjoy this one too.

[Pellert]

I just finished the part of a series called “The Bound and the Broken” that is currently released (3 out of 5 planned books in the main series). 
 

I started a separate thread about it in hopes to give the writer a small boost since I have not seen it mentioned in this forum, if it at least deserves to be thrown out there as an alternative to people searching for new stuff in this genre.
 

IMO it’s a fresh breath in terms of new releases in high/classic fantasy last couple of years - if your looking for an action-packed, well-planned and intriguing classic fantasy I recommend you try it out  

Edited September 29, 2023 by Pellert

[dog-days]

8 hours ago, Pellert said:

I just finished the part of a series called “The Bound and the Broken” that is currently released (3 out of 5 planned books in the main series). 
 

I started a separate thread about it in hopes to give the writer a small boost since I have not seen it mentioned in this forum, if it at least deserves to be thrown out there as an alternative to people searching for new stuff in this genre.
 

IMO it’s a fresh breath in terms of new releases in high/classic fantasy last couple of years - if your looking for an action-packed, well-planned and intriguing classic fantasy I recommend you try it out  

Out of curiosity, your RL initials don't happen to be R. C. – do they? : )

Edited September 30, 2023 by dog-days

[Pellert]

2 hours ago, dog-days said:

Out of curiosity, your RL initials don't happen to be R. C. – do they? : )

Lol I didn’t catch the actual joke about the initials (RL?), but I can categorically deny that I am Ryan Cahill or have any connection or stake into those series besides having read them and really liked them

but I guess I’m in a minor and temporary “meltdown” state in terms enthusiasm of the series and wanted give it some promotion in a forum where it might actually catch some interest.

And my overall point stands that it is some time since I found a newly written series that intrigued me.

it’s also combined with that I’ve read some other series  that I really liked, but didn’t have a mention in this forum (or much elsewhere on the internet), so I have a genuine interest in exploring if I just happen to have a love for “cheap and dirty” literature that really isn’t that great, or if I have happened to stumble upon something like a gem (I assume you read my other post where I tried saying I am not good at evaluating the actual quality of the literature..). And don’t think there are much better places to bring it up than this forum

Edited September 30, 2023 by Pellert

[IlyaP]

Pausing on everything else I'm reading to plow through Yanis Varoufakis' newest book, Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism, which Cory Doctorow, among others, have been praising highly. 

[Zorral]

Again, wrong thread. This should be in 4th quarter.  Third quarter is finished.

 

Edited October 2, 2023 by Zorral

[Ser Not Appearing]

I just finished Horus Rising and found it to be pretty enjoyable. There's a character who does something at the very end and I couldn't remember exactly who they were, so I made the mistake of googling it and ... enormous spoilers were presented in the first sentence describing who he is.

Full regret and it removes a lot of the interest I had in where the story is going to go. Super lame.

[Ser Not Appearing]

On 10/4/2023 at 12:41 PM, Ser Not Appearing said:

I just finished Horus Rising and found it to be pretty enjoyable. There's a character who does something at the very end and I couldn't remember exactly who they were, so I made the mistake of googling it and ... enormous spoilers were presented in the first sentence describing who he is.

Full regret and it removes a lot of the interest I had in where the story is going to go. Super lame.

 

False God is a solid step down in that the plot pivots heavily on an out of character decision that's treated as something rash (even then it's out of character) but has an extended time before execution and nobody (in the entire army, really) stops to question things or requests confirmation / more information. If they were (all) this easily manipulated, they'd (all) not be the characters we know them to be.

I have a strong distaste for these sorts of failures in stories but it's especially frustrating to have it arise as such as pivotal matter.

[briantw]

I finally got around to finishing Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn.  The last book was the best of the three, but at the same time, I feel like Williams should have better stretched the plot over the three books, because in retrospect the series feels like nothing much happened in the first two books and then everything in the fucking world happened in the third one. 

It also felt really lazy how every big reveal gets monologued at the end of the book.  One of the main villains spends about four pages revealing the depths of his evil plan near the end of the book, and then another tells you of how he didn't actually die but intends to fake his death after the climax and somehow no one has noticed the literal fucking prince who is missing a hand wandering around listening to conversations.  It was silly.  

Overall, though, it was a series that kept me engaged while also giving me more insight into who George RR Martin is as a writer.  It was honestly pretty shocking how much this series clearly influenced Martin.  It was worth it alone for that factor, but it was also a pretty damn good fantasy series.  I'm looking forward to reading the sequel series in the near future.

Currently reading Elmore Leonard's Get Shorty.  Leonard, in a word, is breezy.  His books are absurdly easy to read.  Fun characters, ridiculous situations, sharp dialogue.  That's what Leonard does and this one is no different.  I'm about two thirds of the way through the book, which I started yesterday, and there's a good chance I finish tonight.  Mark of a good read. 

[dog-days]

Don't want to start a new thread just for this; anyway, the British Library in London is holding a load of fantasy-related events in October and November, and many are going to be available online. 

More information and schedule

 

[unJon]

16 hours ago, dog-days said:

Don't want to start a new thread just for this; anyway, the British Library in London is holding a load of fantasy-related events in October and November, and many are going to be available online. 

More information and schedule

 

Put it in the 4th quarter thread 

[Zorral]

Would somebody PLEASE lock this thread?  Pretty please?

[KingintheNorth4]

Since it's October, I felt it was appropriate to reread World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks. 

[Fragile Bird]

8 minutes ago, KingintheNorth4 said:

Since it's October, I felt it was appropriate to reread World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks. 

Lol, please post this in the 4th quarter thread!

[Wilbur]

On 9/28/2023 at 8:33 PM, unJon said:

I just finished House of Odysseus by Claire North, book 2 in her Songs of Penelope trilogy. I have found North to be very hit or miss since her amazing debut novel The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August. That said I have really enjoyed these first two Penelope books. It tells the story of Penelope while Odysseus is lost at sea after the Trojan war, with a goddess narrating the book (Hera the first books and Aphrodite the second). Great focus on how a smart and strong woman Queen can get by and thrive in an island with very few adult men (since they all went off to Troy and haven’t come back).

I would recommend for anyone that enjoys Greek myths or the characters from the Iliad/Odyssey. 

Such an excellent recommendation - thank you!

[polishgenius]

On 9/29/2023 at 5:33 AM, unJon said:

 I have found North to be very hit or miss since her amazing debut novel The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August. 

 

I know this topic is long outof date but I just wanna make sure unJon knows that Harry August was like her fifteenth novel, in case he wants to check out her earlier work as Kate Griffin (and her own name Catherine Webb, but that was a children's series I've not read myself).

Edited November 1, 2023 by polishgenius