What Are You Reading?

alchemist33

1/3 of the way through Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo, about secret societies and magic in Yale University. That makes it sound like run of the mill YA urban fantasy but it's really well-written and engaging.

Thargor

I just have to stop using Goodreads for my recommendations its just a sewer full of morons, they get excited over the most badly written crap, most recent was Dragon Mage by ML Spencer, apparently the greatest fantasy debut in years but its just so generic and cliched, another "But I cant do anything Im just a street urchin, oh wait Im actually the most powerful sorcerer that ever lived" which brings absolutely nothing new whatsoever to the table. I assume its the fact that the grizzled old mage that trained him had a husband this time thats gotten them excited and led to all the thousands of 5 star reviews, wow edgy.

Thargor

Im really struggling for anything to read at the minute, there hasnt been anything good in so long, next up is Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay which might be alright:

In Under Heaven, Kay tells a story of honor and power, this time in a setting that evokes the dazzling Tang Dynasty of eighth-century China. In recognition of his service to the Emperor of Kitai, Shen Tai has been sent a mysterious and dangerous gift: 250 Sardian horses. Wisely the gift comes with the stipulation that the horses must be claimed in person. Otherwise, he would probably be dead already.

Gary kk

smacl wrote: »

Just finished We are legion (We are Bob), a great romp and I'll certainly follow up with the rest of the trilogy over the coming months. Just starting into Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke for something a bit different.

I think you can stop at that the next one is crap.
(We are Bob)

megaten

Thargor wrote: »

I just have to stop using Goodreads for my recommendations its just a sewer full of morons, they get excited over the most badly written crap, most recent was Dragon Mage by ML Spencer, apparently the greatest fantasy debut in years but its just so generic and cliched, another "But I cant do anything Im just a street urchin, oh wait Im actually the most powerful sorcerer that ever lived" which brings absolutely nothing new whatsoever to the table. I assume its the fact that the grizzled old mage that trained him had a husband this time thats gotten them excited and led to all the thousands of 5 star reviews, wow edgy.

It would never even occur to me to use goodreads for recommendations. I use it solely for keeping track of books

keane2097

Gary kk wrote: »

I think you can stop at that the next one is crap.
(We are Bob)

Confirmed.

shrapnel222

Thargor wrote: »

Im really struggling for anything to read at the minute, there hasnt been anything good in so long, next up is Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay which might be alright:

Both the Chinese based ones are fantastic.

pixelburp

I'm just reading that Becky Chambers has a new one coming on the 18th, "The Galaxy and the ground Within". Apparently it'll be the last one she writes set in the universe of "Long way to a small angry planet" and hopefully she'll find some of the verve lost in the last couple of books.

ixoy

Finished:

'The Warship' by Neal Asher, the second book in his Jain trilogy. It's pretty much by-the-numbers Asher - AIs, space battles, etc. It moves along well and all but it's starting to feel a bit that, with each series now, he needs to keep going "bigger is better" and trying to outdo himself on scale. Some focus then is lost on characters.

"Bear Head" by Adrian Tchaikovsky, the follow up to "Dogs of War" is a much better way to tackle a series. It builds upon ideas from the first book and features largely new characters. It has something to actually say too, with some interesting ideas.

I've read a lot of works by both authors at this point. In Asher's case I've read 21 novels now as well as some short stories, 17 of which are set in the same Polity universe. In Tchaikovsky's case, I've also read 21 novels as well as bunch of novellas. There's multiple series and standalone books in his works and it's clear to me that he's not content on just playing in the same universe but exploring different things. Far more refreshing and good to see an author not just rest on what might be easy.

Tristram

pixelburp wrote: »

I'm just reading that Becky Chambers has a new one coming on the 18th, "The Galaxy and the ground Within". Apparently it'll be the last one she writes set in the universe of "Long way to a small angry planet" and hopefully she'll find some of the verve lost in the last couple of books.

Saw the same recently and looking forward to it.

coffee_cake

Finished the salvation trilogy. Doesn't seem to be fully wrapped up, still have loads of questions...

fenris

keane2097 wrote: »

Confirmed.

RE: Bob 2
Yep, I just gave up on it after trying again, I was looking forward to it as a light February read, but it was just annoying and I really couldn't get myself to care about the characters or plot, one of those rare, "why don't you all just die so that I can just move onto a better book" while feeling that you should still plough on.

Rhythm of War by Sanderson is a much better place to be, knackered from staying up way too late with it last night.

The White Feather

The White Feather wrote: »

I finished Gardens of the Moon recently and am now reading the next book in the series, Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erikson

Now just finished Memories of Ice and House of Chains next.

Fantastic stuff so far!

keane2097

The White Feather wrote: »

Now just finished Memories of Ice and House of Chains next.

Fantastic stuff so far!

They don't get worse. House of Chains is absolutely class. Midnight Tides wasn't my favourite I don't think but the one that follows it - The Bonehunters - is right up there.

nhur

Man I love those Erikson books... Might be due a ré-read soon...

Recently finished Peter Hamilton's Void Trilogy... And then started into the Cradle series by Will Wright which I'm devouring... Have pretty much ditched TV and twitter completely. It's like a shonen anime in book form and am delighted to learn that there are loads more to read!

Im seeing quite a few posts praising the Reality Dysfunction... Which I got about halfway through before ditching a long time ago. Does it continue in the same vein to the end of the book? (if not I might give it another go)

Black Sheep

nhur wrote: »

Im seeing quite a few posts praising the Reality Dysfunction... Which I got about halfway through before ditching a long time ago. Does it continue in the same vein to the end of the book? (if not I might give it another go)

I'm a long term Peter F Hamilton fan, and in some ways I think The Reality Dysfunction / The Night's Dawn trilogy, as a series, might be his strongest in terms of large space opera. I do like the Commonwealth novels, but I think you could reasonably argue that with the Void novels and the Salvation novels he had to start trying to find new ways to sustain a space opera series... But in The Night's Dawn trilogy he really went all-out in terms of world-building, and a lot of the high technology concepts and social ideas he has are sketched out really clearly there. He had few places to go afterwards in that kind of story, I think the Commonwealth novels are nearly re-hashes in some of the worldbuilding.

In the Night's Dawn trilogy you've got two 'utopias', one based on capitalist perfection and an abundance of everything for everyone, and then you have a kind of spiritual / eco / socialist utopia that's a little softer but ultimately it's also based on the same idea... That high technology will be a cornucopia in the future that allows people to live the way they want to. Same idea you get in Star Trek and Iain M. Banks.

Great action scenes in The Night's Dawn also, truly epic... Although I'd caution that some of the more violent and twisted directions the plot takes have kind of stuck with me. There's a very brief child abuse sub plot (nearly a throw away paragraph) in book one that I still remember clearly, it established someone as a villain very clearly but I just ... didn't like to read it...

Yeahyeah42

Going to read “the death gate cycle” read the 1st three books years ago and stopped for some reason and loved them also “Necroscope” by Brian lumley looks interesting - just to add found the death gate series (1st 3 books) superior to dragonlance just my opinion mind

Lady Haywire

Going through a Tamora Pierce phase. Easy reading! Finished the Immortals quartet this week, onto the Numair Chronicles now, so not reading them in chronological order.

coffee_cake

Vicious by ve schwab. Great stuff. Really loved her shades of magic series. This is a bit more contemporary

Thargor

Thargor wrote: »

Im really struggling for anything to read at the minute, there hasnt been anything good in so long, next up is Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay which might be alright:

shrapnel222 wrote: »

Both the Chinese based ones are fantastic.

Under Heaven is a masterpiece, so good to be back reading an author who can actually write.

Conall Cernach

I'm reading the Witcher books, on Tower of the Swallow now. I think it is fair to say that they are ****e. The short stories were diverting, the one with the striga being the best, but nothing to write home about.

Blackhorse Slim

Currently reading Bloody Rose, Nicholas Eames' sequel to Kings of the Wyld. Enjoying it a lot, about 1/3 of the way through and if anything it's better than the first.

I've also recently read the first 2 Broken Earth books by N K Jemisin, very different but also fantastic. I have no. 3 ready to go when I finish Bloody Rose. And I'm slowly making my way through the Dresden Files books (book 5 up next).

Lockdown has been pretty good for reading.

Blackhorse Slim

Conall Cernach wrote: »

I'm reading the Witcher books, on Tower of the Swallow now. I think it is fair to say that they are ****e. The short stories were diverting, the one with the striga being the best, but nothing to write home about.

I pretty much agree on this. The first 2 books, the short stories, were very good, but the novel series was not great and I gave up about half way through. MIght go back to it someday, it wasn't terrible, but didn't really hold my attention. There is better out there

coffee_cake

Blackhorse Slim wrote: »

Currently reading Bloody Rose, Nicholas Eames' sequel to Kings of the Wyld. Enjoying it a lot, about 1/3 of the way through and if anything it's better than the first.

I've also recently read the first 2 Broken Earth books by N K Jemisin, very different but also fantastic. I have no. 3 ready to go when I finish Bloody Rose. And I'm slowly making my way through the Dresden Files books (book 5 up next).

Lockdown has been pretty good for reading.

Reading kings of the wyld also, very enjoyable

fenris

Working my way through the Galaxy's Edge series off shoots in between other books, currently reading No Fail by Doc Spears, one of the ones where Cole and Ansbach have added in another author.
Quite good, fast moving, basically covers what a kill team does on smaller missions in between saving the galaxy, a bit like Chris Ryan but in space

smacl

pixelburp wrote: »

I'm just reading that Becky Chambers has a new one coming on the 18th, "The Galaxy and the ground Within". Apparently it'll be the last one she writes set in the universe of "Long way to a small angry planet" and hopefully she'll find some of the verve lost in the last couple of books.

Had it on advance order and downloaded it to the Kindle over the weekend. Currently halfway through something else but thinking of swapping over. Loved the first two books in the trilogy, third was a dead duck but recent novella "To be taught if fortunate" was excellent imho.

Tristram

Waiting on delivery and looking forward to it. Thanks to the poster above for flagging.

Igotadose

Just finished "The Ruin of Angels," last in the Craft Sequence. Felt like the series had lost some steam by this one, and the ending was, well, kind of far-fetched but entertaining.

Now working on "The City We Became" by N.K. Jemisin. Nice read so far, especially as I'm from NYC originally and recognize all the real-world locations.

Heffoman

Yeahyeah42 wrote: »

Going to read “the death gate cycle” read the 1st three books years ago and stopped for some reason and loved them also “Necroscope” by Brian lumley looks interesting - just to add found the death gate series (1st 3 books) superior to dragonlance just my opinion mind

Loved the death gate cycle in my youth. Doesn't seem to get the love their deserve.

keane2097

Igotadose wrote: »

Now working on "The City We Became" by N.K. Jemisin. Nice read so far, especially as I'm from NYC originally and recognize all the real-world locations.

I just got that in a 2-for-1 sale on Audible. I'd be interested to hear how you find it in the end.