What Are You Reading?

shrapnel222

lordgoat wrote: »

Still working my way through Feist, have maybe 5 books left. Any other big fantasy series I can go to after this. One requirements are
1 - it's complete no bull**** like GRRM or Rothfuss please, I wait for Sanderson to finish them before picking them up again.
2 - Not Erikson (read it)
3 - Pretty much read anything but ones I dislike are: Goodkind, Jordan, Tolkien (I know but he needed an editor)

Thanks

lot of good recommendations so far (personal fav also for the amber chronicles).


here are a couple more

the fionavar tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay

broken earth by jemisin

or for easy reading (quite similar to Feist imo)


the belgariad by David Eddings

Thargor

Sorry House of Suns is hard sci-fi by Alastair Reynolds, I was just saying i was good, wasnt responding to your fantasy recommendations request...

Igotadose

Couple of other all time favorites:

Saberhagen's "Book of Swords" series. Fantasy/Science Fiction and various weirdnesses. Brilliant writing.
Barbara Hambly's Darwath saga. She's a very versatile writer, the Darwath saga is older but very clever.
Mercedes Lackey "Valdemar" series, especially the earlier ones.

coffee_cake

Thargor wrote: »

Sorry House of Suns is hard sci-fi by Alastair Reynolds, I was just saying i was good, wasnt responding to your fantasy recommendations request...

I like the preview - gonna get it now

nhur

lordgoat wrote: »

Still working my way through Feist, have maybe 5 books left. Any other big fantasy series I can go to after this. One requirements are
1 - it's complete no bull**** like GRRM or Rothfuss please, I wait for Sanderson to finish them before picking them up again.
2 - Not Erikson (read it)
3 - Pretty much read anything but ones I dislike are: Goodkind, Jordan, Tolkien (I know but he needed an editor)

Thanks

+1 for black company (nothing compared to erikson tho)
+1 for Eddings... Belgariad is great but is also dated IMO... Elenium is better...
Lightbringer series by Brent Weeks
Weis and Hickman? They're a bit ancient but still great... Both the Dragonlance ones and the Rose of the Prophet...
Stormlight series...

Not sure quite what you mean by no bs tho!

ixoy

I'll third the 'Shadow of the Apt' dekalogy. Interesting premise and world - unusual in that it shows the rise of technology (close to steam punk - early 20th century) in the shadow of the decline of magic as typically it's the other way around. Fully complete and, if you like the author, he publishes about a billion works a year (okay, 1 novel and 2 novellas at least).

Of recent reads, I really enjoyed 'The Winnowing Flame' trilogy.

'The Books of Babel' series is very good so far but the last volume isn't out - it's being written, should be out in the next year (he's not a procrastinator) but just in case you need it fully completed.

Thargor

ixoy wrote: »

I'll third the 'Shadow of the Apt' dekalogy. Interesting premise and world - unusual in that it shows the rise of technology (close to steam punk - early 20th century) in the shadow of the decline of magic as typically it's the other way around. Fully complete and, if you like the author, he publishes about a billion works a year (okay, 1 novel and 2 novellas at least).

Of recent reads, I really enjoyed 'The Winnowing Flame' trilogy.

'The Books of Babel' series is very good so far but the last volume isn't out - it's being written, should be out in the next year (he's not a procrastinator) but just in case you need it fully completed.

Whenever Im stuck for something to read I check Adrian Tchaikovskys Goodreads page and sure enough he'll have written something new, most recent one was Firewalkers:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52758714-firewalkers

Loved Shadows of the Apt and Children of Time and Children of Ruin were some of the best sci-fi Ive read in a long time. Such a great author but strangely under the radar for a lot of people considering the sheer amount he's written.

keane2097

Are there any other Dresden Files fans here who thought the latest was like a really **** fan fic?

ixoy

Thargor wrote: »

Whenever Im stuck for something to read I check Adrian Tchaikovskys Goodreads page and sure enough he'll have written something new, most recent one was Firewalkers

Read it and enjoyed it (it's a novella). Really looking forward to 'Doors of Eden' which is out in 3 weeks and features parallel universes where an alternate lines of evolution took place.
He's got, I believe, 6 novellas (at least) coming in the next few years, including a sequel to 'Dogs of War' and a space opera trilogy.

lordgoat

bluewolf wrote: »

any interest in katharine kerr's deverry series?


Personally reading this at the moment - very good so far
Aftershocks (The Palladium Wars Book 1)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07GJK4C5D/ref=series_rw_dp_sw

Read Deverry years ago, only remember the name so might drop back to it.

shrapnel222 wrote: »

lot of good recommendations so far (personal fav also for the amber chronicles).


here are a couple more

the fionavar tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay

broken earth by jemisin

or for easy reading (quite similar to Feist imo)


the belgariad by David Eddings

Read them all!! GGK never gets enough credit for this series.

enjoyed Eddings when I was a teenager! Not so much after that you can see the ending a mile off once you've read the first series but great stories.

Igotadose wrote: »

Couple of other all time favorites:

Saberhagen's "Book of Swords" series. Fantasy/Science Fiction and various weirdnesses. Brilliant writing.
Barbara Hambly's Darwath saga. She's a very versatile writer, the Darwath saga is older but very clever.
Mercedes Lackey "Valdemar" series, especially the earlier ones.

Actually never heard of any of them. Will look into them

nhur wrote: »

+1 for black company (nothing compared to erikson tho)
+1 for Eddings... Belgariad is great but is also dated IMO... Elenium is better...
Lightbringer series by Brent Weeks
Weis and Hickman? They're a bit ancient but still great... Both the Dragonlance ones and the Rose of the Prophet...
Stormlight series...

Not sure quite what you mean by no bs tho!

Read most of these too. Week's first series is far better than LB for me.

ixoy wrote: »

I'll third the 'Shadow of the Apt' dekalogy. Interesting premise and world - unusual in that it shows the rise of technology (close to steam punk - early 20th century) in the shadow of the decline of magic as typically it's the other way around. Fully complete and, if you like the author, he publishes about a billion works a year (okay, 1 novel and 2 novellas at least).

Of recent reads, I really enjoyed 'The Winnowing Flame' trilogy.

'The Books of Babel' series is very good so far but the last volume isn't out - it's being written, should be out in the next year (he's not a procrastinator) but just in case you need it fully completed.

Cheers for this, will def read it at some point soon

coffee_cake

bluewolf wrote: »

Personally reading this at the moment - very good so far
Aftershocks (The Palladium Wars Book 1)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07GJK4C5D/ref=series_rw_dp_sw

Finished this and its sequel. absolutely love them. that's great writing. and not one spelling error - some people are checking their kindle versions after all.
next one not til next year it is military scifi i guess.
will read the alaistair r one next now. and another by Kloos - he has a whole other series

pixelburp

Reading Andy Weir's second novel & follow-up to The Martian, Artemis.

A very mixed bag: like the previous book the technical details feel coherent and thought out, giving the world that lived-in feel you often don't get with such overly fictional locations. The lead character though. Oof. She's basically Mark Watney with a vagina: that same thread of joking self-awareness but this time around it doesn't work. At least in The Martian, that constant quipping felt appropriate for a man trapped & alone on Mars - a defence mechanism against insanity & a hopeless scenario. With Artemis though, the continuous winking style of the narration doesn't work half as well; Jazz comes across as just smart arsed and annoying. I'm only 30% through so maybe the book is building towards the character needing to reckon with her flippancy, but it doesn't feel that way.

The White Feather

I thought the same about Artemis. I thought Jazz was a man for a while at the start. Weir can't write at all like a woman. Jazz says things like a horny guy all the time! :pac: Rerally took me out of the book every time

Lady Haywire

I'm in the Shades of Magic trilogy. Weirdly enough, I'd forgotten about the third book so just re-reading the first two again before the third.
Really enjoying them so might check out Schwab's other books after these.

Also reading The Last Magician (Lisa Maxwell) & Lavondyss but got a bit bored with them, hence getting sidetracked to the London tales again

Thargor

pixelburp wrote: »

Reading Andy Weir's second novel & follow-up to The Martian, Artemis.

A very mixed bag: like the previous book the technical details feel coherent and thought out, giving the world that lived-in feel you often don't get with such overly fictional locations. The lead character though. Oof. She's basically Mark Watney with a vagina: that same thread of joking self-awareness but this time around it doesn't work. At least in The Martian, that constant quipping felt appropriate for a man trapped & alone on Mars - a defence mechanism against insanity & a hopeless scenario. With Artemis though, the continuous winking style of the narration doesn't work half as well; Jazz comes across as just smart arsed and annoying. I'm only 30% through so maybe the book is building towards the character needing to reckon with her flippancy, but it doesn't feel that way.

That drove me mad when I was reading it and I ended up despising the Martian, never saw the hype. Didnt rate the film either.

Buford T. Justice XIX

Just finished A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir. Book 3 of the Ember Quartet.

I bought the first, An Ember in the Ashes, on a special offer. It started off slowly and I was a tad disappointed as it really was a love story in a fantasy setting but I enjoyed the world she formed and kept on reading. Good decision as I enjoyed it and the story developed very enjoyably. I have the final one pre ordered which I rarely do.

ixoy

Finished 'The Soldier' by Neal Asher, the first book in his 'Rise of the Jain' trilogy. I know what to expect from Asher and he delivers in spades here - lots of different factions trying to work out different angles about each other, a nice mystery, tactics and some of the best action scenes in a sci-fi book. Characterisation is good, never Asher's strongest suite, but the pacing is great and it's always entertaining.

'Twelve Kings in Sharakhai' by Bradley P. Beaulieu, the first book in his 'The Song of the Shattered Sands' series. It does feature a young woman with a bit of a destiny but that trope is offset by setting it in an Arabian-influenced world (hence the sands in the series title) with the events moving along reasonably well. Nothing highly original here and I do wonder if it will ultimately drag (it's six books long and there's a bunch of novellas) but kept me going.

'Summerland' by Hannu Rajaniemi. I really enjoyed his 'Jean le Flambeur' high-concept sci-fi but this one I struggled a bit with. It's got an interesting premise on paper - a spy-thriller set in an alternate world where the after life not only exists but can be interacted with, allowing spirits to act as spies. Throw in concepts of fourth dimensions and it should have worked... but the plot itself was a little dull as were the characters despite the big concepts. Hoped for more, especially from this author, but was left wanting.

Paddy Samurai

I may be making a mistake here but hopefully not.
Im only 20% through book 1 and just ordered book 2 & 3 of this series.
Loving it so far.......


Just as well I don;t judge books by their covers.:D

coffee_cake

sufficiently advanced magic (andrew rowe), books 1 & 2: LitRPG, quite entertaining. Enjoyed the world building. Would read more of it

Mage Errant books 1-4 (john bierce): fairly generic school of magic go off on adventure around the world bit of politics. i wouldn't massively recommend it but it's good light reading and i tore through the books the last couple of days

Bit of a loss on what to read next - read a few free samples but the quality of editing is so poor I put them back down. Those books above weren't perfect either - it's brooch, not broach - but tolerable

I have some Marko Kloos and have just got "unsouled" by Will Wight to give a go.
Open to recommendations... on a fantasy kick again now after a recent scifi one

mcgovern

bluewolf wrote: »

sufficiently advanced magic (andrew rowe), books 1 & 2: LitRPG, quite entertaining. Enjoyed the world building. Would read more of it

Mage Errant books 1-4 (john bierce): fairly generic school of magic go off on adventure around the world bit of politics. i wouldn't massively recommend it but it's good light reading and i tore through the books the last couple of days

Bit of a loss on what to read next - read a few free samples but the quality of editing is so poor I put them back down. Those books above weren't perfect either - it's brooch, not broach - but tolerable

I have some Marko Kloos and have just got "unsouled" by Will Wight to give a go.
Open to recommendations... on a fantasy kick again now after a recent scifi one

If you like Grimdark I recently read A Little Hatred by Joe Ambercrombie which was very good, and The Traitor God by Cameron Johnston which was good.
A Little Hatred is set a few years on from the First Law books and while it is generally all new characters, it's as good as the old ones I think.
The Traitor God. An on the run magician returns to his home city to avenge his best friend. There is lots of magic and daemons.




Other stuff that I've read recently:
Walking to Aldebraan by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Astranaut stranded on ancient artifact goes a bit mad. Not his strongest work but ok.
The Consuming Fire by John Scalzi. Second book in the series, it's a quick read that I'd say is better than the first. It's set in the far future where there are 'flows' that connect planets to allow interstellar travel, but these flows are closing and in most systems humans are living in habitats and not self sustaining...
Now reading The Air War by Adrian Tchaikovsky, you can't knock Shadows of The Apt series!

Fian

I read "the summer tree" first book in "finnovar tapestry" by Guy Gavriel Kay. ~Now reading the second book in trilogy.

quite different from his other works. I think I prefer the others - which are "alternate history" more than fantasy - they are fantasy but very light on the magical elements, to the point that anything portrayed as magic could generally (not always) have a rational explanation.

These are high fantasy, with dwarves, elves, gods, a big bad and are essentially another version of "the lord of the rings" - though with some characters magically transported from our world.

It has been decades probably since I read something in that style. Not my favorite style anymore but these are well written, I have a queue of books in my "to read" list but I will most likely go straight on to the third book when i finish this one.

I should say that guy gavriel Kay is definitely one of my favorite authors.

coffee_cake

bluewolf wrote: »

have just got "unsouled" by Will Wight to give a go.

This is brilliant - read it and the second one so far. very un-put-down-able. Woudln't call it a grand epic and the books are shortish - I think 277 pages on book 2 - but i love the setting and the worldbuilding going on, and the mix of fantasy & scifi

Thargor

Reading Reamde after being so impressed by Seveneves and Anathaem, always avoided it because I thought it would be pure cringe like whenever anyone tries to write about gamer 'culture' but I'm liking it so far.

Igotadose

Thargor wrote: »

Reading Reamde after being so impressed by Seveneves and Anathaem, always avoided it because I thought it would be pure cringe like whenever anyone tries to write about gamer 'culture' but I'm liking it so far.

Reamde was great imo. The sequel "Dodge, in Hell" not so great.

ixoy

Finished 'Exile' by R.A. Salvatore, the second in his 'The Legend of Dizzt' trilogy. Old school fantasy with a good few tropes and a strong Goth-type vibe. Easy read, nothing special and works as a nice cleanser while reading other books.

Also 'Doors of Eden' by Adrian Tchaikovsky. This one features parallel earths where evolution went down a different road. It's contemporary, unlike most of his works, and has a bit more of a thriller vibe to start with, with the evolutionary alternatives told in interludes. Characters are decent, although the villain is a little 1D. It starts to come together a lot more in the second half and finishes strongly (with room for a sequel). It's not in the "Children of.." quality for me but damn enjoyable, as usual.
As an aside, he's prolific enough now to have three books available for order that are all due for release early 2021...

Glebee

ixoy wrote: »

Finished 'Exile' by R.A. Salvatore, the second in his 'The Legend of Dizzt' trilogy. Old school fantasy with a good few tropes and a strong Goth-type vibe. Easy read, nothing special and works as a nice cleanser while reading other books.

Also 'Doors of Eden' by Adrian Tchaikovsky. This one features parallel earths where evolution went down a different road. It's contemporary, unlike most of his works, and has a bit more of a thriller vibe to start with, with the evolutionary alternatives told in interludes. Characters are decent, although the villain is a little 1D. It starts to come together a lot more in the second half and finishes strongly (with room for a sequel). It's not in the "Children of.." quality for me but damn enjoyable, as usual.
As an aside, he's prolific enough now to have three books available for order that are all due for release early 2021...

Im half way through the next in the trilogy "Sojourn". Nothing special, just very easy reading.

ixoy

Glebee wrote: »

Im half way through the next in the trilogy "Sojourn". Nothing special, just very easy reading.

Did you pick it up with a Humble Bundle out of curiosity?

Glebee

ixoy wrote: »

Did you pick it up with a Humble Bundle out of curiosity?

Yes, always been meaning to read some forgotten realms books for ages.

Thargor

Oh yeah I read Max Brooks Bigfoot new one aswell, thought it was a total dud tbh.

Igotadose

Just finished "Four Roads Cross" by Max Gladstone. Not bad, I kind of like stories where Lawyers are the villains
Now starting "Walking to Aldebaran" by Adrian Tchaikovsky.

BTW, RIP Terry Goodkind. "Wizards First Rule" was an amazing read. The subsequent novels I thought ran out of steam, I read two or three of them then gave up.

https://www.tor.com/2020/09/17/terry-goodkind-sword-of-truth-wizards-first-rule-death-obituary/