What Are You Reading, Part 2

[Weaver of Lies he/him]

I’m going to try to get into wheel of time, hopefully it works.

[Treamayne]

On 12/5/2023 at 11:04 AM, 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!

On 12/5/2023 at 5:17 PM, Ookla-The-Stick said:

And I just finished Lunar Chronicles

Highly recommended.  

Have you considered summarizing it for this recommendation thread?

 

[Mini Eddie]

After a bit of prodding from siblings, I did manage to read the Sunlit Man. 

Highly Recommended. 

[Edema Rue she/her]

7 hours ago, Mini Eddie said:

After a bit of prodding from siblings, I did manage to read the Sunlit Man. 

Highly Recommended. 

(just a bit of prodding)

[Ravenclawjedi42]

I was gifted Words of Radiance as an early Christmas present and I’m rereading it so that’s fun! It’s only my second owned Sanderbook (after Yumi, which I bought when it came out) and I love owning it.

I’m also attempting to read the Alleyverse. All the plot. It’s going…not too bad. My main problem is that since I’m still in the early days of the subforum it’s hard to tell what’s plot and what’s randomness.

And there’s much overlap.

[Ancient Elantrian Elan/Elan/Elan/Elan/Elan]

Just finished Over Sea, Under Stone, The first book in The Dark Is Rising Sequence

Now I get to start on the Sunlit Man!

[Zurvanight he/him]

I started The Magic of Recluce by L.E. Modesitt Jr today. I'm going to read the whole series of (currently) 22 books in publication order which is what the author recommends. I own about half the books already, some of which I got for free awhile back. So far I am really enjoying it.

[The Unknown Order he/him]

I finished The Dark Forest, I think I liked it better than the first one, even if the predictions did feel a bit more off, but I kinda accept that society behaves in ways I wouldn't expect in these books. The actual Dark Forest principle isn't something I agree with, but it fits very well within the series and is pretty thoughtful. 

I am currently reading Red Sister, and it is so very good just like every says I will need to put it in Treamayne's thing. It is written superbly, I love the prose and the characters and the magic. So great. 

I also finished up Grave Peril, I don't remember my first read through all that well, but I wasn't the biggest fan this time. Susan's character grated on me a lot compared to the first two and what I remember of the rest of the books. I really liked Justine in the first half of her screen time, then just actually kinda hated her. Glad to see Thomas and Michael though, they're characters I love and look forward to.

Started the Blinding White. The Graphic Audio switched Voice Actors for two (apparently three but I haven't seen on yet) main characters who were perfectly casted, so it didn't get off to the best start, but I'm sure I'll enjoy it regardless. 

Also rereading A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Great book, I'm looking forward to the movie. I think I'll probably also reread the Hunger Games after I finish it. 

I want to read the next WoT book, but I'm not sure where I'm going to slot it in.

[The Sibling she/her]

I finished the Colour of Magic. It was pretty good. I'm not sure I like the way it was paced, but I've heard that other books in the series are way better, so I'm excited.

[Zurvanight he/him]

The Towers of the Sunset by L.E. Modesitt Jr. This is the second Recluce novel and I am loving it even more than the first. While the first book was in first person, this one is third person, present tense.

The main character Creslin I like much more than the first books protagonist Lerris, who loved woodworking and berry juice a bit too much.

Creslin is a silver haired youth, adept in swordsmanship and has latent magical talents. His sheltered upbringing makes him a bit naive, and often times he ends up getting into trouble because of it. I love when he talks to people though because he speaks with a very flowery vocabulary and the peasants and mercenaries he often finds himself with just look at him like he's crazy or an easy mark. He is also extremely beautiful and is often mistaken as a girl dressed as a boy at first glance.

Edited December 22, 2023 by Zurvanight

[Briar King]

Just pulled out BS’s WoT books from storage boxes. 3 years after 2 back to back hurricanes I’ve yet to buy new bookcases.

Will finish WoT 11 later today after I wake up and begin 12.

ed: fail

Barely read 3 pages.. maybe will finish upon waking take two.

Edited December 23, 2023 by Briar King

[Thaidakar the Ghostblood he/him]

I am reading Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett. Really good so far, even though I know I'm not getting a good portion of the jokes. Better than Going Postal imo.

[Briar King]

Success.

Starting my very 1st WoT 12-14 reread. I really want to be done and onto other stuff after 2 years of the rereread of 1-11. 

[Zurvanight he/him]

On the third Recluce book now, The Magic Engineer. So far Dorrin isn't as neat as Creslin, but he's better than Lerris. Pretty awkward kid, who'd rather tinker with machines than do anything else. Machines aren't allowed on the island of Recluce so he's basically forced to attend a school and go on a quest in the mainland or be permanently exiled.

Pretty cool thing is this book takes place several centuries after the events in the last book. Creslin and the events in The Towers of the Sunset have become a sort of quasi-legend historical fact, that builds upon the already existing legends from that book. Some of Creslins achievements have been exaggerated or even false, while others are spot on or are missing vital parts. Some characters don't even believe he existed. It's a very neat take and I hate to say it but I feel like it's done better in these books than in Mistborn. 

[The cheeseman Sola Scriptora]

I'm slowly making my way thru Warriors of God, by Andrzej Sapkowski. It's really good, but, as with all books for me, it's taking a while for me to really get into it. If you're a fan of the Witcher or looking to get into historical fantasy, I highly recommend the Hussite Trilogy.

[Robin Sedai she/her]

Great poem that I wanted to share. Touch Gallery: Joan of Arc, by Mary Szybist

[The Unknown Order he/him]

I finished aBoS&S a few days ago. It's a excellent book but wow is Snow despicable. On my first read I felt all the sympathy that everyone seems to and a sort of "how does this boy turn out so awful," but on this read through I saw all the red flags. Still don't completely understand the ending, but what can you do.

I'm reading Kings of the Wyld. It's delightful and a good example how to do proper try/fail cycles. Lots of "Yes, But" type things here.

Still listening to the Burning White (goodness why is it so hard to remember its name). I kinda forgot just how much happens in this book alone. I'm a little bit sad at the low quantity of Gavin chapters, but Kip's fun and it isn't too bad with Teia and Karris. I'm not having any problems with the new VAs anymore, so that's good.

I'm also starting Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay. It's interesting so far, but I'm only just starting it. I was super impressed by Tigana, so I'm hopeful.

[Kasimir he/him]

On 1/1/2024 at 5:24 AM, Ookla the Bald said:

I'm also starting Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay. It's interesting so far, but I'm only just starting it. I was super impressed by Tigana, so I'm hopeful.

I'd be interested in how you find it. I don't think he's ever written a book I disliked, and I like his Kitai books (Under Heaven / River of Stars) quite a bit.

I finally finished the Poet King. I think I still stand by my assessment of Myers being a bargain bin GGK. She kind of wants to get there in terms of prosody and kind of doesn't, and the books overall feel fine, not wow territory, but I just don't have any strong feelings about them and the fact I took forever to finish the trilogy probably says a lot about my assessment of them. A lot of the story feels like things happening to the characters with no real sense of agency, and the worldbuilding doesn't really stick out to me too strongly.

I now get to decide whether to do Yumi which I was putting off until after Poet King, or to go read Elizabeth Moon's Paksenarrion again as a palate cleanser.

Edited January 2 by Kasimir

[Dunkum he/him]

4 hours ago, Ookla the Bald said:

I'm also starting Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay. It's interesting so far, but I'm only just starting it. I was super impressed by Tigana, so I'm hopeful.

haven't read that one, but i've read a few from him and I didn't think any of them were quite as good as Tigana. not bad, but also never quite reaching that height.

[The Sibling she/her]

I just finished Crooked Kingdom, and holy Trell that was incredible. I'm still so hyped up from the last chapter. It was so crazy from start to finish. 

Spoiler for Crooked Kingdom

Spoiler

When I thought that Wylan had actually given them all away I was freaking out so much I had to put the book down and just pace for a minute to calm myself down.

I love Wylan and Jesper so so so much. I loved them in the show but this was just awesome. Actually getting their backstories!!! I don't remember if that was in this one or six of crows because I read them back to back and the past three days have just been an awesome blur of epicness and crows and Nina and Matthias and explosions. Anyways, now I have to go and try to sleep.

[hunter212]

I'm reading Alcatraz Versus the Shattered Lens.  Also Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

[aneonfoxtribute]

I have now finally finished Evershore. Yeah that was probably the best Skyward book so far. It's kind of not even a contest.

[Part Of The Narrative she/her]

I'm re-reading the Percy Jackson books and reading Harry Potter for the first time

[Robin Sedai she/her]

The Inspector Chen series by Liz Williams

[Zurvanight he/him]

I'm on the fourth Recluce novel, The Order War. This one takes place 200 years before the first novel and follows Justen, a young engineer. If you've read the first book you'll know who Justen is and what he does, but reading his story is quite interesting. There is a much bigger focus on magic in this book, unlike the others which were more low fantasy.

A new faction gets introduced in this book, the Druids of Naclos. They are also known by their more common name, Gray Wizards, those who balance both the magics of Chaos and Order.

Personally I find Justen to not be very interesting, but the story is probably my favorite next to Dorrin's in The Magic Engineer which was phenomenal.