What Are You Reading, Part 2

[The Sibling she/her]

Just now, aneonfoxtribute said:

I need to reread that. Have you read the Hero trilogy that happens after Gone?

Only the first two. They're not quite as good. There's not the same crazed urgency that really pushed the first series.

[aneonfoxtribute]

Just now, The Sibling said:

Only the first two. They're not quite as good. There's not the same crazed urgency that really pushed the first series.

Yeah that's entirely fair, since it's not in an enclosed area. But I like seeing the effect of the characters in the actual real world, it's less urgent and small but it manages to be just as horrifying because it's on such a massive scale. The ending was a doozy, it's the kind of ending that I think a lot of people would hate but I personally loved.

[The Sibling she/her]

1 minute ago, aneonfoxtribute said:

Yeah that's entirely fair, since it's not in an enclosed area. But I like seeing the effect of the characters in the actual real world, it's less urgent and small but it manages to be just as horrifying because it's on such a massive scale. The ending was a doozy, it's the kind of ending that I think a lot of people would hate but I personally loved.

Maybe I should get the last one then. I have a bunch of gift cards from my birthday and I've been looking for books to buy.

[Kasimir he/him]

Finished Recursion - was impressed enough even if I'd strictly call it an upper B-tier read (maybe getting picky in my old age.) I like the concepts and how Blake Crouch handles light sci-fi. Makes me nostalgic for a Dark Matter re-read.

Also finished re-reading A Last Song Before Night, on to Fire Dance, and then The Poet-King. I want to finish the trilogy just to have finished it. ALSbN is not as good as I remember it being. It's probably 0.5 a GGK at best in terms of prosody, and I felt the plot was middling. Many characters aren't particularly interesting and I just read a section in FD where two allies are stabbing each other for no particular reason. I'm curious enough about the worldbuilding to see this through, but lower B-tier.

Edited November 3, 2023 by Kasimir

[Zurvanight he/him]

I'm about halfway through the third Lightbringer book, The Broken Eye. I'm right at the part where they realize what The Blinder's Knife is actually used for.

 

I really enjoyed the chapter with the mock battle between Ironfist and Tremblefist. I'll admit I got a bit teary at the end.

[Wittles he/him]

On 9/15/2023 at 5:03 PM, Treamayne said:

Have you gotten to the end? If not, you'll have to let us know when you do and what you thought of the ending. . .

It's been a bit, but I finally finished it. Wow. Just wow. That was a very cool twist. It legitimately completely shocked me, I did not expect it at all.

[Treamayne]

23 minutes ago, Wittles of Shinovar said:

It's been a bit, but I finally finished it. Wow. Just wow. That was a very cool twist. It legitimately completely shocked me, I did not expect it at all.

I really liked how the last line changed context (spoilers)

Spoiler

Showing that the Ministry names aren't just irony - but metaphorical truths from the Party's POV. TV Tropes says it better than I can:

Quote

The names of the Ministries (Ministry of Truth, Ministry of Love, Ministry of Plenty, Ministry of Peace) can be perfectly true from The Party's point of view, rather than ironic.

• Minitrue doesn't falsify or lie, it corrects the past to show the new truth, which having been corrected has now always been the truth
• Minipax maintains internal peace by continually waging external war
• the goal of Miniluv is for everyone to love Big Brother and The Party
• Miniplenty is in control of Oceania's economy, which appears to actually be very strong but is directed almost solely towards creating plenty of weapons and large public gestures which do not actually improve the lives of the population but keep their minds occupied.

 

 

[Wittles he/him]

1 hour ago, Treamayne said:

I really liked how the last line changed context (spoilers)

  Hide contents

Showing that the Ministry names aren't just irony - but metaphorical truths from the Party's POV. TV Tropes says it better than I can:

 

 

Spoiler

Yes, I really liked that aspect A LOT. It really showcases how well the party is able to brainwash everyone into believing in them. Also, I agree, the last line was incredibly impactful and context changing

 

[Zurvanight he/him]

I'm about a third of the way through The Blood Mirror by Brent Weeks. Very good so far. 

Spoilers:

Spoiler

The part where the prophets headless corpse vomited up those dog like creatures was a fantastic scene. Very visceral and gross and I loved every second of it. The Iron White is also a super awesome title. 

Kip and Tisis are a cute couple. I'm gonna be real for a second. I Iike Teia but she doesn't fit with Kip in my opinion. Tisis on the other hand just feels right for some reason. She's also surprisingly funny and I laughed at them having to fake "doing it".

I have a theory about Andross and Lina during that card flashback and if I'm right then I'll scream. It seems a bit too obvious especially since I remember something the real Gavin told Dazen/Gavin when the secret between them was revealed in the first book. I'm probably wrong, but still that part caught my attention. 

I'm also curious about Abaddon, the Great Library and Rea in the last book. It was a very weird but fun scene I hope gets expanded on. 

 

Edited November 8, 2023 by Zurvanight

[Briar King]

Oh man my completion list for 2023 is going to be my lowest ever..

 

Finally finished Night Angel 4 just past midnight today. 4/25/23-11/13/23 yikes. That was number 5 for the year. Really yikes.

I liked this book yet didn’t like this book. Wonderful to be back in that world with those people but boring location lockdowns plague those 832 pgs.. Looking forward to book 5.

Now back on WoT 11 as main read of the day. Hopefully I won’t pick up a 2nd book again. I usually do though..

I really need to finish this series rerereread. 2 years now.

[Zurvanight he/him]

I'm finally on the last Lightbringer book, The Burning White. Really enjoying it so far.

 

*Spoilers for The Blood Mirror and The Burning White*

Spoiler

So I actually guessed correctly in The Blood Mirror that Kip was Andross' son and not Gavin's. I wasn't expecting the "real" Gavin in the cell to be a figment of Dazen's madness however. I guess it makes sense that there was no way he could've gotten his brother down there without Andross or someone noticing. Really interested in who the man in the mirror is. Probably an Immortal of some kind, and possibly one of the reasons why The White King plans to invade the Chromeria. 

I'm only a little bit into The Burning White but I've been waiting so long for Zymun to just get wrecked since The Broken Eye. I hate him so much. I'm hoping for some kind of conclusion with him because although characters have talked about him and the awful stuff he's done, he didn't have any actual appearance since the end of the third book.

Andross has grown on me a lot. This guy might be one of the best written characters ever. And I'm hesitant to even call him a villain at some points. I feel like most of what he does, be it evil or bad is only to protect the Chromeria. He's a monster, but a logical one.

Teia's chapters near the end of The Blood Mirror were some of my favorites. The assassination of the Satrap and the Nuquaba (I think that's how you spell it) were definitely pretty awesome. Feeling for Ironfist but seriously his sister was awful. 

I'm glad that Kip and Tisis are finally together for real and love each other, but I gotta say, a lot of his chapters in the Blood Forest were kinda boring to me. The part where they crossed the yellow Luxin storm in the beginning was super cool though. I hope the final book has some amazing scenes.

Karris had some good chapters, and some bad ones, but overall they were enjoyable. It just sucks it took Gav Greyling's death to force her to confront what a monster her son is. Like, she didn't feel weird that Zymun constantly tried to do weird, creepy things to her?

 

Edited November 15, 2023 by Zurvanight

[The Unknown Order he/him]

Quoting Zurvanite and therefore spoilers for Blood Mirror:

Spoiler

51 minutes ago, Zurvanight said:

I wasn't expecting the "real" Gavin in the cell to be a figment of Dazen's madness however.

This is actually my biggest complaint for the series. I wasn't happy with it on my first readthrough, and I had even more complaints on the reread. There are certain things the Black Prism learns from Gavin that he shouldn't be able to if it's madness. Can't call to mind specific examples, but I was noting them while reading the earlier books.

56 minutes ago, Zurvanight said:

So I actually guessed correctly in The Blood Mirror that Kip was Andross' son and not Gavin's

Really? I remember being blindsided by that on my first readthrough. Not quite there yet in my read through, we'll see how I like I this time.

I'd like to hear as you learn of it what you think of the Two Hundred and the worldbuilding there.

 

[Treamayne]

1 hour ago, The Known Novel said:

  Hide contents

So I actually guessed correctly in The Blood Mirror that Kip was Andross' son and not Gavin's. I wasn't expecting the "real" Gavin in the cell to be a figment of Dazen's madness however.

Quoting Zurvanite and therefore spoilers for Blood Mirror:

  Hide contents

This is actually my biggest complaint for the series. I wasn't happy with it on my first readthrough, and I had even more complaints on the reread. There are certain things the Black Prism learns from Gavin that he shouldn't be able to if it's madness.

 

Spoilers for Blinding White:

Spoiler

That was one of the things that I didn't "get" until the third readthrough - "Gavin" wasn't Gavin, but also wasn't just madness-induced delusion - because it was a djinn. TBP (The Black Prism) Gavin actually does learn things he could not have otherwise known (which is meant to confuse if it's delusion or not) but not because it was Gavin in the prison, but because it was a Djinn impersonating Gavin in the prison

2 hours ago, Zurvanight said:

 

  Hide contents

Andross has grown on me a lot. This guy might be one of the best written characters ever. And I'm hesitant to even call him a villain at some points. I feel like most of what he does, be it evil or bad is only to protect the Chromeria. He's a monster, but a logical one.

 

I'm interested to know if you still feel that way when you are done. 

 

 

[The Sibling she/her]

I finished A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. I really enjoyed it. It's so much more chill than the main series, and Dunk is such a fun character to read. There were a few boring parts where it was just like, listing nobles. I also didn't really like the jousting but otherwise it was really good. I'm no sure if all the editions have the art, but the one I got had a bunch of really nice art so that was cool.

[The Stormfather He/Him]

I am halfway through a book called : the monsters know what they're doing.

Its about how every monster in D&D reacts to being attacked, when it runs away, how it operates an attack, and which of it's attacks truly has the best chances at high damage.

[J. Magi she/her]

I'm currently halfway through the Silmarillion and really enjoying it. It's definitely not an easy read, but it's not as complicated as some people make it out to be. Plus it's super interesting because I've been doing a lot of world building and this is like the og example.

[The cheeseman Sola Scriptora]

1 hour ago, Ookla the Magician said:

I'm currently halfway through the Silmarillion and really enjoying it. It's definitely not an easy read, but it's not as complicated as some people make it out to be. Plus it's super interesting because I've been doing a lot of world building and this is like the og example.

I've read it eight times.

2 hours ago, The Stormfather said:

I am halfway through a book called : the monsters know what they're doing.

Its about how every monster in D&D reacts to being attacked, when it runs away, how it operates an attack, and which of it's attacks truly has the best chances at high damage.

My DM read this and the next session was a TPK. 10/10 would play again.

[J. Magi she/her]

1 minute ago, Ookla the Cheesy said:

I've read it eight times.

Slay my dude

[The Unknown Order he/him]

It's been a while, so I might have missed a couple.

Finished the Night Angel One Audiobook, got a hold on number Two, though I might do the Graphic Audio instead. 

I had a brief interlude listening to one of Robin Hobbs Fitz books, the third one of the second series I believe. It's my listen to when I don’t have something else downloaded book.

Started listening to Grave Peril, Dresden Files 3. I really like this narrator for the character. Second only to Red Rising's Graphic Audio Narrator.

Plan is to finish off Lightbringer with the Burning White next.

Finished a Blight of Blackwings, glad to finally have done so. Looking forward to getting the third book whenever my library picks it up.

Started The Dark Forest. Goodness these books start slow, but I'm getting to the good part now I think. Once I get thereI really like them, even if some of the complexity it lost on my straightforward brain. For some reason, I can't really get stuck on philosophical questions. I always seem to immediately think one opinion is right. 

Edited December 5, 2023 by Ookla the Bald

[Edema Rue she/her]

Sunday at 1am I finished The Burning God, the third book in The Poppy War trilogy. Stars above.

Then at a more decent time on Sunday I finished A Monster in the Hollows, the third book in the Wingfeather Saga.

Now I have the 4th Wingfeather book, and the first Suneater book...aaaaaahhh what do I do...

[The Wandering Wizard he/him]

2 minutes ago, Ookla the Believer said:

Sunday at 1am I finished The Burning God, the third book in The Poppy War trilogy. Stars above.

Then at a more decent time on Sunday I finished A Monster in the Hollows, the third book in the Wingfeather Saga.

Now I have the 4th Wingfeather book, and the first Suneater book...aaaaaahhh what do I do...

WINGFEATHER FIRST!!!

[Ravenclawjedi42]

I am rereading The Book Thief! Even though I finished it literally 3 weeks ago! It's just such a good book! I highly recommend it!

[The Sibling she/her]

6 hours ago, Ookla thePresentParticiple said:

I am rereading The Book Thief! Even though I finished it literally 3 weeks ago! It's just such a good book! I highly recommend it!

It's a really good book. I cry so much at the end, even on re-reads when I know what's going to happen.

[Just-A-Stick she/her]

I'm currently reading The Final Empire for the very first time.

Spoiler

Not gonna lie, I'm finding it a little hard to get into.

so far, I like SA better  

Spoiler

Y'all, don't hate me plz

 

And I just finished Lunar Chronicles

Highly recommended.  

[Ravenclawjedi42]

2 hours ago, Ookla the Sibling said:

It's a really good book. I cry so much at the end, even on re-reads when I know what's going to happen.

I usually don’t get very sad when I read books—like I often smile when my favorite characters die—but I felt myself tearing up by the end. And even on your first read you know what’s going to happen! And yet…and yet….