View Full Version : Fantasy Book Thread
Fantasy Books like Game of Thrones are my favourite type of book to read. I thought I would start a thread on them for those that also read. Personally I think the TV show does a great job and I like it more than the books in some ways.
My favourite book has been The Name of the Wind. Book 2 wasn't quite as good. Blood Song, Emperor's Blades were both excellent starts.
My favourite non fantasy was a sci-fi book called Wool. Loved it.
Any interest in this genre or books overall?
steelerfan
07-02-2014, 10:51 PM
I like Penthouse Forum. Does that count? ;)
oweb26
07-19-2014, 04:00 PM
Fantasy Books like Game of Thrones are my favourite type of book to read. I thought I would start a thread on them for those that also read. Personally I think the TV show does a great job and I like it more than the books in some ways.
My favourite book has been The Name of the Wind. Book 2 wasn't quite as good. Blood Song, Emperor's Blades were both excellent starts.
My favourite non fantasy was a sci-fi book called Wool. Loved it.
Any interest in this genre or books overall?
I have recently gotten into more fantasy books.......I loved blood song, and I really enjoyed emperors blades.
I actually have in the name of the wind but havent read it, I am currently on a david gemmel kick so I am reading alot of his books, which is also in the fantasy genre.
Tower Lord was good IMO but many fans of Blood Song were upset. The book changed to a multiple point of view and Vaelin became just another character. I didn't mind this though. I did find it hard to remember everything in the first book so it was a bit confusing at times. It was a bit disappointing overall since I liked the first book so much. Like many middle books in a sequel more questions are raised than answered.
JeffHCross
07-19-2014, 06:36 PM
Fantasy has never been my cup of tea. I want to watch Game of Thrones, and I loved the Lord of the Rings movies, but generally speaking if it involves magic I'm probably not interested. Yet, the King Arthur tales were a major part of my childhood, and I love them.
To that end, Bernard Cornwell did a series called the Warlord Chronicles that mixed the Arthur tales with historical fiction-type writing, and did it very well IMO.
Now, if we started a Sci-fi book thread, I could be talking about that all day.
Game of Thrones has very little magic. Emperor's Blades didn't have a ton either. The Name of the Wind definitely has magic but it's very cool and unique IMO.
As for sci-fi I loved Wool (omnibus). Did you read Red Rising? I've thought about it but don't like the young adult label. Those books lack quality writing too often. Steelheart was good but in the same YA boat.
jaymo76
07-19-2014, 07:35 PM
I'm not really a fantasy person as I much prefer sci-fi type novels. Basically I have read every single Star Trek Novel ever made. One series that I really like is "The Passage" (book :2 "The Twelve" book 3: tba)) by Robert Cronin. Since watching the first episode of "The Strain" on FX Canada, I am going to read that series next.
I have taken a shot at the Way of Kings. It's a series by Brandon Sanderson that is expected to last 10 books. He's just released the second book and both of his first two are just over 1000 pages. Not sure it's wise to start reading a book set where I might be 60 when it's done but I'll see how I like the first one. I've read over 150 pages and I like it so far. Definitely has strong fantasy elements to it.
I'm very cool if you guys want to make this an overall book thread instead of just fantasy as well (maybe a mod could change it to just Book thread?). I don't think we have enough book readers here that it would get too cluttered if we talked about everything. I haven't read a ton of sports books although I really liked Moneyball (movie very different, based on small subset of book) and Summer of '49 (Yankees vs Red Sox with a good look at the players).
I really, really liked the Way of Kings. Epic and classic fantasy. More traditional where it's not gritty (no swearing or sex) and the good guys ARE good, not grey. Big book but finished it in 2 weeks. Characters, story and the mystery around things had me captivated.
oweb26
08-19-2014, 08:52 AM
Tower Lord was good IMO but many fans of Blood Song were upset. The book changed to a multiple point of view and Vaelin became just another character. I didn't mind this though. I did find it hard to remember everything in the first book so it was a bit confusing at times. It was a bit disappointing overall since I liked the first book so much. Like many middle books in a sequel more questions are raised than answered.
I started tower lord but stopped about half way through, I am currently finishing the book. Most people I have spoken with seem to feel as you do, and even as I felt which is why I stopped reading it intially....lost. I have come to conclusion that we all not having such a hard time remembering, just he didn't really explain some of the other points he was trying to make and then brought them all up in the second book. Every summary I have read of blood song and even a brief re-read on certain parts; alot of things that are being pointed out in the second book weren't even main points in the first book.
I really, really liked the Way of Kings. Epic and classic fantasy. More traditional where it's not gritty (no swearing or sex) and the good guys ARE good, not grey. Big book but finished it in 2 weeks. Characters, story and the mystery around things had me captivated.
You are going to like words of radiance even more.....I enjoyed the first two books of this series immensely.
I think when I finsih tower lord though I am going back to my really gritty fantasy, I have quite a few books in the hopper I really want to read.
oweb26
08-19-2014, 08:54 AM
Personally I think the TV show does a great job and I like it more than the books in some ways.
To rehash an old point.....Every time someone mentions the TV show to me from GOT (SOIAF) I think of this video.....
http://youtu.be/1CLCOvZOh1o
Have you read Black Company? What grittier books have you read? I haven't read Joe Abercrombie yet.
oweb26
08-19-2014, 08:54 PM
Have you read Black Company? What grittier books have you read? I haven't read Joe Abercrombie yet.
The black company.......I have read the first 100 or so pages ( I was reading two books at one time) and never went back so I can't say whether its good or not......
I have read the blade itself ...I thought it was pretty good, I haven't finished the series yet.....
If you want gritty fantasy read the prince of thorns by mark lawerance ( its pretty gritty, like at moments uncomfortably so if you are sensitive) ......I am actually about to speed read it ( I have read it once) and then I am going to finish the series ( yay for a completed series)
I've heard some of the stuff in Mark Lawrence can be brutal (like rape by the main character) so I've shied away. But he's got a couple trilogies out now I think (one completed) that get pretty good reviews.
It's kind of refreshing to read Sanderson and not have any brutalness to it. I read an indie trilogy called Firehurler. That was pretty good. If you watch for sales the first book on Amazon Kindle can be $1. The first book is really good and the last two are good but not as good as the first. It's the twinborn trilogy. The author JS Morin tried another series from this universe but it wasn't good. I quit reading it.
For a standalone book I thought the Lions of Al Rassan was good.
oweb26
08-20-2014, 05:05 AM
I've heard some of the stuff in Mark Lawrence can be brutal (like rape by the main character) so I've shied away. But he's got a couple trilogies out now I think (one completed) that get pretty good reviews.
It's kind of refreshing to read Sanderson and not have any brutalness to it. I read an indie trilogy called Firehurler. That was pretty good. If you watch for sales the first book on Amazon Kindle can be $1. The first book is really good and the last two are good but not as good as the first. It's the twinborn trilogy. The author JS Morin tried another series from this universe but it wasn't good. I quit reading it.
For a standalone book I thought the Lions of Al Rassan was good.
The rape part is probably the worst part, alot of it is brutal killings mostly.
I might have to check one of those out , but my backlog is pretty crazy at the moment.
I finished the 2nd book of Way of Kings. It was really good as well and similar to book 1 so if you like one you should like the other obviously. I would say I liked book 1 a touch more simply because book two features more of Shallan who is my least favourite character. She's supposed to be witty and clever and yet I found her annoying. She has a much bigger role in book 2 (arguably the biggest) although I found her much more interesting in the second half. Overall the first two books were each over 1000 pages and each had a great ending. Yet this also just set up a whole other impact on this world and much more going on. There are still new characters that haven't been fully fleshed out. I wonder how much of a large story board Brandon Sanderson has for this thing. It must be huge. I'd be very curious over what he adds to his books after his initial layout.
4.5/5
(and now 1-2 years before book 3 in this estimated 10 book set)
oweb26
09-10-2014, 09:01 AM
I actually finished tower lord some weeks ago......
I thought it was a pretty good book, again not a fan of the ending as with any second book.....I thought he introduced some pretty interesting characters though so all that being said....
4/5
Providence of Fire Review
This is the second book in the Unhewn Throne trilogy (Emperor's Blades the first). The first book introduced us to the three children of the murdered Emperor. I really enjoyed their trials and the search for the mystery behind the murder of the Emperor and others. While Kaden and Valyn were the focus of the first book, Adare gets a fair share in the second and her story line is interesting. Valyn continues where he left off and his path is action packed although Kaden’s story wasn’t quite as enjoyable as the first book imo.
I really feel the author has done a great job with the surrounding cast in this book and the older and newer characters are interesting. While the first book did not involve a lot of mythical or traditional fantasy powers or magic, this does increase in book two. I don’t have a problem with that. I read this book fast and it had me hooked after a slightly slow start. When you are thinking about the characters at night, you know it’s a winner. Still much to learn and figure out.
Overall this has been a great series so far and I can’t wait for the finale next year. (Note that Kindle samples are long so definitely download them if you are interested).
4.5/5
Reading the Powder Mage trilogy now. All 3 are finished and am starting with Promise of Blood. Over halfway through and it's really good. Wasn't sure if I would like guns being involved but there is a cool magic system and a good mystery developing.
If anyone wants to read a good, classic epic fantasy (not gritty) that is cheap I would highly recommend Firehurler. It's a trilogy and the first book is under $3 and sometimes is free. Long Kindle samples too. The first book was the best but the last two books of the trilogy were pretty good. The twist in this is that there are "twinborn" characters. Characters that are linked across other worlds. I found it very interesting. His next trilogy was weak and I quit reading during book 2 but this was a really good read imo.
http://www.amazon.com/Firehurler-Twinborn-Trilogy-Book-1-ebook/dp/B00BA5VEXG/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1424177624&sr=1-1&keywords=firehurler
Well I finished Promise of Blood. It was good but the last half of the book left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. I loved the first half. The world, characters and magic are all very interesting. My biggest beef is that the plot twists weren't all that plausible in the second half. Quite often I was thinking - "Really? Does that make sense?" It felt like the author could just write anything down the stretch to make whatever he wanted happen. I know it's fantasy but it's not a Scooby Doo episode. The two main characters Tamas and Taniel also had 9 lives. While I don't think the author needed to go all George Martin on them, the inability of the bad guys to kill them off when they could felt amateurish. It bugged me a bit, especially since I really enjoyed a lot of the book.
I do plan on reading the next one but for now the score would have to be a 3.5 or 4 max out of 5.
Decided to give the Malazan books a chance. 10 book epic series that is described as love it or hate it. Read book one Gardens of the Moon and I'd say it's average. Feels more like a good popcorn fantasy DragonLance book.
A couple complaints:
1) It's high fantasy. Tons of magic, wizards, talking animals, gods interfering with the people, etc. That's old school and I prefer the toned down fantasy aspects of the modern books. Plus it seems there are no limits to some things. A badass just appears and can do whatever he wants. Well what took so long then?
2) It's story driven at the expense of characters. There are a ton of characters but it's a fast paced story that takes the wheel. This leads to some confusion early on as they introduce a lot of characters, fast forward time twice and even include a quick flashback. As you just get comfortable a second wave of characters hits you. You do settle in half way and while some characters are unique and/or cool I never truly cared about any of them. Not like Kaladin in the Way of Kings. I would definitely recommend that series over this. Plus the author builds up the story in certain areas and it feels like it gets finished too quick.
So I didn't love it or hate. I don't think I'm going to read any of the other books at this point. We'll see. 3.5/5
My next book to read may be Grace of Kings (new book). Otherwise I will likely wait until the Queen of Fire (Blood Song Final Book in trilogy). I still may give The Blade Itself another chance. I liked the preview but haven't pulled the trigger on that one.
JeffHCross
04-29-2015, 10:55 AM
It's sci-fi rather than Fantasy, but I've been reading The Fear Saga by Stephen Moss lately, and I've really enjoyed it. It may not be the best written series, but the story is enjoyable and right up my alley. The third book is more than double the length of the second, so I'm still grinding through it.
oweb26
04-29-2015, 03:52 PM
Decided to give the Malazan books a chance. 10 book epic series that is described as love it or hate it. Read book one Gardens of the Moon and I'd say it's average. Feels more like a good popcorn fantasy DragonLance book.
A couple complaints:
1) It's high fantasy. Tons of magic, wizards, talking animals, gods interfering with the people, etc. That's old school and I prefer the toned down fantasy aspects of the modern books. Plus it seems there are no limits to some things. A badass just appears and can do whatever he wants. Well what took so long then?
2) It's story driven at the expense of characters. There are a ton of characters but it's a fast paced story that takes the wheel. This leads to some confusion early on as they introduce a lot of characters, fast forward time twice and even include a quick flashback. As you just get comfortable a second wave of characters hits you. You do settle in half way and while some characters are unique and/or cool I never truly cared about any of them. Not like Kaladin in the Way of Kings. I would definitely recommend that series over this. Plus the author builds up the story in certain areas and it feels like it gets finished too quick.
So I didn't love it or hate. I don't think I'm going to read any of the other books at this point. We'll see. 3.5/5
My next book to read may be Grace of Kings (new book). Otherwise I will likely wait until the Queen of Fire (Blood Song Final Book in trilogy). I still may give The Blade Itself another chance. I liked the preview but haven't pulled the trigger on that one.
Rudy our books taste are very similar..... Like scary similar or I read too many damn books.
The malazan books are okay, honestly you should have just skipped the first one it was an average book that is a average read...what he does extremely well is tie everything back together almost irritatingly so. The next book is pretty good but honestly I stopped at book three because I simply wasn't interested in any of the other 7...lol 10 books on one series is an investment I wasn't sure I wanted to make at the time.
I am on the fence about the last blood song book as much as I loved the first one the second one wasn't as good and not really that much valeyn in it. Might hold off for the paperback this time around.
Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk
Yeah, the first Blood song was great. Then he switched to multiple characters for part 2 and a lot of people were upset. Looking forward to the final book in July. Hopefully it finishes strong.
And Jeff please feel free to talk about sci fi as I like them too. Curious about the Martian.
JeffHCross
04-30-2015, 08:44 AM
I knew you were okay with Sci-Fi talk (after all, most who like one tend to like the other), I just often forget to come to this thread.
I've been trying a lot of new authors lately, so right now I'm spread pretty thin among the number of series that I'm trying to complete. Stephen Moss, as mentioned, is the author of the moment, with Jack Campbell's Lost Fleet series something that I really need to get back to. Evan Currie's Into The Black series started off really well, and I thought he was taking on a risky, unique plot, but then it went in a different direction that I didn't enjoy as much, so it'll probably be a while before I rejoin that series.
And I'm really screwed when Disney starts releasing new Star Wars books in the fall to lead into The Force Awakens.
Finished Queen of Fire and it was a disappointing end to the blood song trilogy. Way too many side characters and cultures and world/religion building. Vaelin is neutered and all the main characters are boring or repetitive. The story is just go from point a to b with the characters being poorly utilized. No memorable scenes or dialogue.
I will read the Martian or Vicious as my next fiction work.
jaymo76
08-16-2015, 05:42 PM
Finished Queen of Fire and it was a disappointing end to the blood song trilogy. Way too many side characters and cultures and world/religion building. Vaelin is neutered and all the main characters are boring or repetitive. The story is just go from point a to b with the characters being poorly utilized. No memorable scenes or dialogue.
I will read the Martian or Vicious as my next fiction work.
Just read The MARTIAN a few months back. Not a deep read and not great writing but the story itself is a quick read and very entertaining. The protagonist is incredibly likable (though I just don't see why Matt Damon will play him in the movie...???). My wife read it too and enjoyed it which is surprising because it's not her type of book.
Kindles on sale on Amazon. Ca. Paperwhite is just $119. My wife surprised me with a Kindle almost 3 weeks ago from staples. I just upgraded it to a Paperwhite two days ago although I haven't told her yet. I really like it but wanted the light for reading all the time. The base Kindle is too dark in poor lighting and definitely poor late at night. But mine was $139 and the older 212ppi compared to 300 ppi and $119 right now! It bugs me a little but the higher resolution is mainly beneficial for maps or pictures. Definitely a great device.
Half way through Vicious right now. Great book! It's a modern book that resembles Heroes with a mix of Flatliners. Excellent read so far and it's just a single book.
Just finished Vicious. Great book. It's a tad dark (I liked this) but in the mould of Unbreakable/Heroes TV and Flatliners. It also bounced back and forth in time to flesh out the history of the characters but it worked great. It wasn't annoying. Just a single book about 360 pages or so. I loved it from start to finish with only two things that bugged me a little. Those things have me downgrade the score to 4.5/5.
The janitor of the University would never have let a kid into a professor's locked office - especially after seeing him try to pick the lock. Serena's motivation behind everything didn't add up but it didn't take away from the great story.
oweb26
08-21-2015, 03:26 PM
Finished Queen of Fire and it was a disappointing end to the blood song trilogy. Way too many side characters and cultures and world/religion building. Vaelin is neutered and all the main characters are boring or repetitive. The story is just go from point a to b with the characters being poorly utilized. No memorable scenes or dialogue.
I will read the Martian or Vicious as my next fiction work.
I will read Queen of Fire at some point in the future, I read the amazon reviews ( since you can't trust the goodreads reviews) and they are all saying the same thing so I will probably pick this up on paper back at some point.....
I have no idea what my next read is going to be at this point, I really hate these moments when I don't have a story that is really capturing me and making me want to read the next book in the series.
I recently reach The Sword and the Dragon, which was an okay read I have the second book just not a strong desire to read it, plus it was a little to fantasy for me.
I completely re-read the parthian series by peter darman , which I think is offically ranks in my top 3 favorite historical fiction stories, the first book is decent the they get soo much better starting with the second.
So any suggestions? Maybe I will re-read the Ryria Revelations
I haven't read the Ryvian Revelations. Grace of Kings is $2 on Amazon Kindle so I bought it. I will read it at some point. Mixed reviews a little and it's the start of a trilogy.
oweb26
08-24-2015, 07:47 AM
I haven't read the Ryvian Revelations. Grace of Kings is $2 on Amazon Kindle so I bought it. I will read it at some point. Mixed reviews a little and it's the start of a trilogy.
I would have sent you a hardback copy of the grace of kings, for free (minus shipping of course). LOL I have it in my cube at work and I didn't even pay for it.
You should read the Ryria Revelations it's a pretty good series and seeing as how he has since released a few prequels it actually is something like 6 books now instead of three.
What did you think of grace of Kings? Mixed reviews on it but $2 isn't bad.
I may give the Mistborn trilogy a try soon. Gets great reviews and there is a sale for the boxed set although I will get it for my Paperwhite.
oweb26
08-24-2015, 03:10 PM
What did you think of grace of Kings? Mixed reviews on it but $2 isn't bad.
For 2.00 it isn't bad at all, I thought it was just meh, probably worth a read at some point but I wouldn't put it ahead of anything else I want to read.
I may give the Mistborn trilogy a try soon. Gets great reviews and there is a sale for the boxed set although I will get it for my Paperwhite.
I haven't personally read the mistborn series my wife has and she loved it, I am a Sanderson Fan as I don't think I have read a bad book by him yet. I would probably read mistborn before I read Grace of Kings
I didn't like Prince of Thorns as maybe some others did. Average fantasy imo. 3/5
Longer review below with no real spoilers.
This is actually a shorter fantasy book at a little over 300 pages. The author uses an anti-hero as the main character and the first person story is told through him. Much has been written about how awful a person Jorg is as he rapes two girls at the beginning of the book. Yes, this is terrible but the rapes are not described in gruesome detail, simply stated as fact. It doesn’t make this a less horrible act but this is a dark fantasy. Stay away if this is not a genre you care for. While this book has dark moments, it’s not as dark as the Game of Thrones so anyone that likes those books or TV shows and has a problem with this book is hypocritical.
This book is an average fantasy book. I’m really unsure of why people really recommend it. I found it hard to believe in the story of Jorg as the story starts out with him at 9 years old and covers the next 6 years of his life. He comes across as too smart, strong, cunning, etc for the age at which he is portrayed. He’s interesting in some scenes but also comes across as bi-polar as he does some things that also seem out of character.
There are odd elements in this book as well. It’s a fictional setting but one that also references Plato, Aristotle and current religions. It has some ghosts, necromancers (a bizarre scene with them) and strange creatures that bugged me a bit for their inclusion. I think this book could have been better without the higher fantasy levels but then so much of the main plot in the book wouldn’t have even been possible either. Some of this stuff feels invented just to make it possible to get from point B to C.
The story itself isn’t really that great. The motive of revenge is good but where the story goes and how it gets there was just average. There isn’t much mystery involved which I missed. A little too much of the main character can do anything and get out of anything. The writing isn’t bad but there is nothing special either. You will either like this book based on the story and main character or you won’t. I’ve read enough fantasy books now that average just doesn’t do it for me. I won’t be paying to read the rest of this trilogy. I didn’t hate the book but it just wasn’t special imo and I don’t feel compelled to read the rest of the tale.
3/5
I has started Grace of Kings but kind of quit reading after awhile. Wasn't sucking me in. I need something more unique and interesting.
jaymo76
12-29-2015, 02:39 PM
It's not fantasy but my wife picked up a Walking Dead chronicles book for me. I am looking forward to getting into it at some point in the near future.
comprar
02-13-2016, 06:44 AM
Just finished A Series of Unfortunate Events, though I don't think it's necessarily fantasy. Either way, I enjoyed it. I never finished it as a child, I fell away from them over time, but this time around I made it all the way through and very much enjoyed it. More so than as a child, I think, possibly because its signature narrative style reminds me of J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan.
I liked its ending. It was exactly as bleak as promised throughout the series, without becoming mere melodrama. Life doesn't match most peoples' bizarre sense of fairness, disaster can strike for no reason, there's no such thing as good or evil, people are stupid, there are rarely satisfying answers to life's questions and you have to just get on with things as best you can anyway.
It was a better ending than I expected from a children's series (I know, I should know better, but modern YA is so idealistic and naive despite its superficially bleak promises and it's lowered my expectations), and I'm quite impressed by Daniel Handler's willingness not to condescend to children with the ending. Yeah, the story had bleakness throughout, but until the ending there was always a sense that there would be a satisfying conclusion, as is traditional, and this along with the narration's sense of humor diluted the message, made it more palatable and less effective. The end discarded the humor, talked to the reader seriously and respectfully about some unpleasant truths and managed to instill a lesson without feeling like an Aesop's fable.
Definitely a favorite children's series. Give it a go - it starts off episodic but the longer story arc kicks in toward the end of book five, so if you try it, get at least that far. Highly recommended.
I've moved on to The Chronicles of Prydain now. I never read these as a child so it's a first time for me, but I loved the horribly forgotten Disney adaptation (regardless of how unfaithful I've heard it to be) and Welsh (or British in general) mythology, so I have high hopes.
Uprooted was great. A single book and a darker fairy tale. I loved it. Going to try the Red rising trilogy. Waiting for the first Red Rising book to come back in as I have a hold on it in the library.
Read Red Rising. It was very good. A sci fi dystopian version of Hunger Games although there are enough differences to keep it fresh. Quite a few interesting characters and it didn't feel like a YA book.
4.5/5
Just finished Golden Son - 2nd book in Red Rising trilogy. Often the second book is the weakest in a trilogy but this one was great. The first book was a lot like Hunger Games but that didn't bother me. This book had a totally different setting as the main character moves into an adult role but it's fast paced, action packed but still has great characters and some cool plot twists.
I know Jeff loves science fiction so I'm sure he would love these books. Even though many consider it YA and compare it to Hunger Games or other YA books I think it stands out on its own and it doesn't feel like YA. It's just a very interesting and a solid book.
This series is near a 5/5 for me. Hope the finale finishes strong (I've heard good things).
It's been awhile since I updated anything in this thread.
The Red Rising Trilogy was great. It's not a true YA series but a good sci-fi book that is being made into a movie.
I read the First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. This was considered by many to be one of the newer grimdark style books. The author's twitter handle is Lordgrimdark I believe. I didn't find it overly dark after experiencing Game of Thrones. This is a lot tamer than that. The book centers around 3 characters and it's been a while since I've read it but it was well written and solid. I often find books smartly written/realistic or fun. Hard to find one that covers both. This was in the smartly written section and could have used a touch more fun. It's heavier and at times slow but very well done.
Read the Ryria Revelations. This trilogy doesn't have bad language or anything overly sexual so it can be read by a younger set of readers as well. This falls into the fun category. Not that realistic or gritty but a lot of good characters starting with the two main thieves (more in the Robin Hood sense) that have a fun adventure. Light hearted and entertaining. Worth it. This is not a high fantasy type of book so don't expect different races, dragons or a lot of magic.
Just finished the Codex Alera 6 book series. This was a lot of fun. It's an epic fantasy that isn't overly realistic. It's also a high fantasy type of book with magical elements like "furies" that were allegedly a dare to the author to mix fantasy and Pokemon. That sounds strange but it was a fun, fast action and fast paced ride. Quite a few characters, a bit of a coming of age story due to the main character but a perfect mix of different POVs to keep you from getting confused. Don't expect epic realism as there are a couple things you will shake your head at but I enjoyed them.
I did read the City of Stairs and it was decent. But not enough for me to continue on. A little slow and different for my tastes. Slow is fine but I need to be hooked.
My library has been on strike for 4+ months now. Hoping to get back into Wheel of Time after reading the first book. That is old school but also serious writing. After finishing a bunch of light hearted and faster paced books I'm looking forward to getting into something different.
Just checking Goodreads and it says I've read 24 books this year already and almost 13,000 pages. That's easily my most reading in the last 4 years when I have started. Love my Paperwhite. That's pretty good for me. Baseball fans with a love of stats should check out "The Only rule is that it has to Work". Similar to Moneyball in how the premise is based on stats but the book is enjoyable because of the story.
morsdraconis
11-07-2016, 08:08 AM
Man, I haven't read a book in ages. Last one I "read" was Jingo, part of the Discworld Series by Terry Pratchett (I say "read" because I listened to it on audio book). I need to get back into doing that again now that I'm traveling 30ish minutes to and from work again.
I'm really bad about reading books physically or through e-books. I get home and I just want to play video games/watch youtube videos and turn my brain off.
As long as the books are interesting I find myself reading more than gaming as I'm burnt out on some things in that area. I'll bring my Paperwhite to work and read at lunch too. There are a ton of good fantasy books as well as some sci-fi. A great backlog problem to have.
morsdraconis
11-07-2016, 08:29 AM
As long as the books are interesting I find myself reading more than gaming as I'm burnt out on some things in that area. I'll bring my Paperwhite to work and read at lunch too. There are a ton of good fantasy books as well as some sci-fi. A great backlog problem to have.
My problem is, I have such a HUGE backlog of games, I feel terrible not doing something with them when I get a chance to do so, which means I don't have much in my time table for sitting down and reading a book. First world problems, am I right? :)
morsdraconis
11-28-2016, 12:51 PM
I just finished "It's Kind of a Funny Story" by Ned Vizzini. Probably the fastest I've ever read a book. I don't want to give too much of the book away, but it's about depression, anxiety, and all of that fun stuff. It's really god damn good and it spoke to me in a way that a book about the subject hasn't done ever for me. It's a very real take on depression and anxiety and what it feels like from within.
morsdraconis
11-28-2016, 08:47 PM
Is that fiction or non?
It's fiction, but very much written from the author's experiences in life.
oweb26
05-01-2017, 05:36 PM
What happened to the book thread? No one reading anything, I am stuck at a " I don't know what I want to read" moment.
I'm on book 9 of the Wheel of Time. I have been reading this series exclusively now and hope to finish all 14 books by the end of the year.
I've bought good deals on the Vagrant, Age of Myth and Tad Williams first book (Dragonbone Chair: Memory and Sorrow or something). I want to read the Fifth Season yet. For SciFi the first book of the next trilogy in the Red Rising Trilogy is out later. I really enjoyed Brian Stavely trilogy the Emperors Blades and he has a standalone just released called Skullsworn based on Pyre from his trilogy. She worships the God of Death and I found that cult weird. This book is supposed to be good.
As for Wheel of Time the middle really bogs down. Book 8 was weak with very few memorable things and the start of book 9 was bad. At least they are shorter. Have one more book that is slow and then books 11-14 are supposed to be really good.
American Gods starts today on Amazon Prime or Starz. I'm very curious about this show. They have a decent amount of names in it. I quit reading the book because I thought it got too weird but maybe the TV format will do it well. Hopefully watching episode 1 tonight. The first season is 8 episodes.
I'm not sure how much they will deviate from the book or what their plans are. This wasn't a trilogy. It's a single book 560 pages long. For Game of Thrones it was pretty much 100+ pages per episode. So I don't know how they can stretch this book out into multiple seasons unless they veer from the source material.
Well, I just watched the first episode, which was rated R and just over an hour. Much like the book it has cool characters but very weird crap. I will watch the next one but I think I will quit sooner than later. Posted this in tv thread.
oweb26
05-01-2017, 08:45 PM
I'm on book 9 of the Wheel of Time. I have been reading this series exclusively now and hope to finish all 14 books by the end of the year.
I've bought good deals on the Vagrant, Age of Myth and Tad Williams first book (Dragonbone Chair: Memory and Sorrow or something). I want to read the Fifth Season yet. For SciFi the first book of the next trilogy in the Red Rising Trilogy is out later. I really enjoyed Brian Stavely trilogy the Emperors Blades and he has a standalone just released called Skullsworn based on Pyre from his trilogy. She worships the God of Death and I found that cult weird. This book is supposed to be good.
As for Wheel of Time the middle really bogs down. Book 8 was weak with very few memorable things and the start of book 9 was bad. At least they are shorter. Have one more book that is slow and then books 11-14 are supposed to be really good.
I read the dragon bone chair already , it's old fantasy so the world building can be a bit much at times. Typical slow start , epic ending. Not sure I have ever heard of vagrant I'll have to check that out.
I have no interest in reading the wheel of time series , that has pretty much falled into the malizan series with me to big for there own good.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
I only read one book of Malazan. It was OK. I wasn't willing to invest all that extra time in that series. The WOT should have been a lot shorter. Jordan gets out of control with characters, political meetings, etc. But I will finish it!
oweb26
05-02-2017, 05:07 AM
I only read one book of Malazan. It was OK. I wasn't willing to invest all that extra time in that series. The WOT should have been a lot shorter. Jordan gets out of control with characters, political meetings, etc. But I will finish it!
I did read this series Free the Darkness (King's Dark Tidings Book 1) and it was pretty good if you like light fantasy by a self published author. It was an easy read and pretty enjoyable without all the heavy backstories and filler.
I am actually looking forward to book three.
Edit: This series was decent as well. Nightblade
Its like a asian samurai type fantasy story, names are kinda crazy but over all story was pretty good. Another self published author so again expect fantasy light.
I've heard people say good things about Kings of the Wyld. Has humour and there have been sales on the Kindle US but not Canada.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30841984-kings-of-the-wyld
Finished Wheel of Time! 14 books with 12 of them this year. Took me less than a year I guess. A good series that dragged in the middle. Only for the hardcore fantasy reader and you have to like old school fantasy - lots of magic, evil trollics/orcs, epic good vs evil. Glad I read it.
raisonvadeboncoeur
06-19-2018, 11:57 PM
Try this out. The Lyra Novels by Patricia C. Wrede, The Reluctant Swordsman by Dave Duncan and Deerskin by Robin McKinley. Hopefully, it will work for you.
jhonalbert
12-20-2021, 01:08 AM
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (1865)
The King of Elfland’s Daughter by Lord Dunsany (1924)
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (1937)
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