What Are You Reading, Part 2

[Dunkum he/him]

Didn't realize Jim Butcher had finished a second book in the Cinder Spires series until I saw The Olympian Affair at the book store this afternoon, so starting on that today. I liked the first one well enough, but I read it so long ago that I barely remember anything about it or the setting. ideally i'd give it a reread first, but I don't have it on hand. if I get too confused i'll just look up a synopsis or something to refresh my memory

[Robin Sedai she/her]

A poem! "Dragons", by Devin Johnston.

Spoiler

We gathered in a field southwest of town,

several hundred hauling coolers

and folding chairs along a gravel road

dry in August, two ruts of soft dust

that soaked into our clothes

and rose in plumes behind us.

 

By noon we could discern their massive coils

emerging from a bale of cloud,

scales scattering crescent dapples

through walnut fronds,

the light polarized, each leaf tip in focus.

 

As their bodies blotted out the sun,

the forest faded to silverpoint.

A current of cool air

extended from the bottomlands

an intimation of October,

and the bowl of sky deepened

its celestial archaeology.

 

Their tails, like banners of a vast army,

swept past Orion and his retinue

to sighs and scattered applause,

the faint wail of a child crying.

In half an hour they had passed on

in search of deep waters.

 

Before our company dispersed,

dust whirling in the wind,

we planned to meet again in seven years

for the next known migration.

Sunlight flashed on windshields

 

and caught along the riverbank

a cloudy, keeled scale

about the size of a dinner plate,

cool as blanc de Chine

in the heat of the afternoon.

 

Edited January 21 by Robin Sedai

[The cheeseman Sola Scriptora]

I'm currently rereading The Way of Kings in preparation for Wind and Truth to release in December. And this time, I'm annotating it, which I'm having a lot of fun doing, and will definitely continue doing as I finish my SA reread and go on to read and reread other books.

[Use the Falchion]

On 1/20/2024 at 11:31 AM, Dunkum said:

I'm firmly of the opinion that any time anyone suggests hiring J.J. Abrams for anything, they should just play the "somehow Palpatine returned" scene to remind them why that is a bad idea.

Ha! I get why they hired him for TROS - he made Star Wars popular again with TFA, and he brought a sense of magic back to the franchise. And after the reactions to TLJ, it made sense to go back to what seemed like was working, especially when other movies in the franchise were having such behind-the-scenes drama. 

It's just...they didn't understand what Rian was doing and they didn't grasp the ramifications of what they were asking JJ to do. (It also doesn't help that Chris Terrio was his cowriter.) Although hindsight is 20/20.

JJ is great at rebooting franchises because he can distill down what made them so special in the first place, as proven with Mission Impossible and Star Trek. (With a weird level of success on the latter.) He proved that with TFA to me. But what he CAN'T do is finish stories well or use original ideas. 

TFA asked a lot of questions and basically repeated the core story of Star Wars for the fourth time (ANH, ROTJ, TPM, and TFA pretty much have the same goal and third act). Rian Johnson took the retelling of the OT and wrapped up the "rhyme" to ESB with the final battle on that one planet mirroring the escape form Hoth, and the ROTJ with the Throne Room battle. TLJ ends so openly because the cycle had been completed and thus broken, allowing for the next director and writer to bring Star Wars in a new direction. Unfortunately, they hired the one guy who isn't known for original ideas or finishing stories to come up with an original idea to finish a story. So what did JJ do? He decided to also cram two movies into one so he could get the outcome he wanted which just so happened to be the mirror to the outcome of ROTJ, and used his iconic "mystery box" to get there, seemingly not understanding that this is supposed to be the part of the story where he answers questions, not create new ones or retcon explanations from previous movies that end up undermining the themes of the entire trilogy. 

I could go on and on about the ST, but this isn't the thread for it. 

 

I'm trying out Ascendant by Michael something or other. Here's to hoping it's good! I'm also behind on a lot of other books I need to read, so hopefully I'll get back into the reading mood. 

[The Unknown Order he/him]

Recently read Rage of Dragons by Evan Winters. Man do I love that book, it's so excellent, emotional, gripping, and relatable. I really recommend it if you've done the sport of wrestling, there's a strong message about what it takes to be the best. One of my favorite books ever.

I also finished Under Heaven. It was a very interesting book, though I felt the ending suffered a little from the (film) LotR problem, though that may have been caused by the circumstancesthat I read the ending in. I'm a little disappointed at how little it scratched the surface of a really intriguing world, but the writing was excellent as expected. I kind of felt it every time the main character said "it was to honor my father." I've had people congratulate and look up to me for things that I just kind of had to do, so it was quite relatable on that front.

On the same trip that I finished Under Heaven, I also finished rereading the first Hunger Games book. Pretty good book, I enjoy it every time. I noticed on this read how closely the movie followed the book, particularly in the interview section. Like, it was perfectly word for word for description lifted from the page.

I'm currently listening to Maze Runner. It's a bit odd, returning to Dystopian after a pretty long time without reading any, but it's a good book. It's a clever writing tactic to use the character's amusement at the slang to gradually get the reader used to it. I'm only about 12 chapters in, but I've had enough details spoiled over the years that I'm really looking forward to what comes next.

I switched from the audiobook to a physical book on The Burning White, looking forward to finally finishing it.

I also also started Old Man and the Sea, which is looking to be an interesting read (I only read the forward so far).

Edited January 24 by The Bald Brandon

[The Bookwyrm he/him]

I finished The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Considering the dark tone of the rest of the book, I actually loved the ending, and found it appropriate. It's a dark, gruesome book, but has a beautiful message.

I also just read Howl's Moving Castle, because I'm planning on watching the Miyazaki film soon. It was a simple book, but really fun. I can see why it's so popular.

I'm going to see if I can get my hands on Red Rising and The Will of the Many to read next. I've heard good things about both those books. Though I do need to do some research first.

I wanted to read Fourth Wing, but as far as I can tell there's some content in there that I don't really want to read...which is sad, because it sounded really cool.

[The Unknown Order he/him]

28 minutes ago, The Bookwyrm said:

I'm going to see if I can get my hands on Red Rising and The Will of the Many to read next. I've heard good things about both those books. Though I do need to do some research first.

I'd definitely agree on Red Rising, though if some things (no idea what exactly) make you uncomfortable, it might not be best book for you. I'm still waiting for Will of the Many to arrive, but I've enjoyed the author's other series (to this day, one of the best endings, and one of the more interesting worldbuilding concepts I've seen).

I finished the Burning White (I remembered it this time!), really good ending. Just the right note of sadness behind the happiness. 

@Treamayne, I have opinions! I'll send you a PM about it, but suffice it to say that I disagree, at least a little. 

I also finished Maze Runner. It was some ending. I think I'm going to continue reading, but I didn't like it all that much. The worldbuilding so far is kinda meh, but I think the second book can bring some more. Not hopeful on a third though.

I'm going to start To Sleep in a Sea of Stars. I'm looking forward to it, I heard some good things when it came out, and it will be fun to see all the improvements Paolini's made in the what, two decades since Eragon. Maybe eventually I'll grab Murtaugh too.

I started listening to Night Angel 2. It had such an ending that I'm not sure if it can pull it off, but I have faith in Brent Weeks.

[Ookla she/her]

I recently got (and read and finished, then started to reread) "Just Stab Me Now" from Jill Bearup. It's based on a YouTube shorts series she made, that all of us subscribers begged her to make a book of, and she did, and it fully lives up to my expectations. For a person who never intended to be an author, she sure wrote a great book! (Basically, it's a story about an author writing a romantasy novel, only her characters aren't doing any of the things she wants and keep ruining her tropes. Lots of meta action as the author keeps breaking into the characters' lives to tell them off for misbehaving. )

[RoyalBeeMage he/him]

so last weeked i finished fourth wing and iron flame Rebecca Yarros. i also finished the hunger games book 1 for the second time. just out of interest who else has read fourth wing?

[Zurvanight he/him]

I've been reading The Sun Eater series by Christopher Ruocchio. I'm already on the fourth book, Kingdoms of Death. The last book, Demon in White was absolutely incredible. Probably some of the best hard sci-fi I've ever read.

[Briar King]

Just finished rereading The Gathering Storm. Finally.. had a fire lit in me and read about 250 pages in the last 2 days. Very uncommon for me to do so now. It was better than I remembered.

Onto Towers now! I very much hope it doesn’t take 2 months.. I’m beyond ready to move on to something else but I’m a stubborn Cajun no question…

[The Sibling she/her]

On 2/9/2024 at 10:46 PM, RoyalBeeMage said:

so last weeked i finished fourth wing and iron flame Rebecca Yarros. i also finished the hunger games book 1 for the second time. just out of interest who else has read fourth wing?

I read like half of it, but I didn't really like the style so I gave up. My friend loved it though! She doesn't read that much but she devoured this book and the sequel.

Yesterday I finished Unseen Academicals. So far, it's definitely my favourite Pratchett book. I loved all the characters so much! Glenda was so cool and I really like Mr. Nutt. The book I read before this was The Last Continent, which I didn't really enjoy to be honest. The plot was really confusing and the humour of that book didn't work as well for me.

Now I'm reading The Narrow Road Between Desires. I'm around half way through and so far really enjoying it. I love the illustrations because Bast looks just like I imagine him. and I like the character of Rike as well. 

[RoyalBeeMage he/him]

2 minutes ago, The Sibling said:

I read like half of it, but I didn't really like the style so I gave up. My friend loved it though! She doesn't read that much but she devoured this book and the sequel.

Yesterday I finished Unseen Academicals. So far, it's definitely my favourite Pratchett book. I loved all the characters so much! Glenda was so cool and I really like Mr. Nutt. The book I read before this was The Last Continent, which I didn't really enjoy to be honest. The plot was really confusing and the humour of that book didn't work as well for me.

Now I'm reading The Narrow Road Between Desires. I'm around half way through and so far really enjoying it. I love the illustrations because Bast looks just like I imagine him. and I like the character of Rike as well. 

i realy enjoyed the narrow road between desires. whats your thoughts on his main series?

[The Sibling she/her]

Just now, RoyalBeeMage said:

i realy enjoyed the narrow road between desires. whats your thoughts on his main series?

I love the prose, but after finishing The Wise Man's Fear I don't really like Kvothe as a character anymore. He just kind of goes with the flow and doesn't have a great motivation. Yeah, he's looking for information about 

Spoiler

the chandrian

but it doesn't really affect his decisions all that much. It feels like I'm reading a dnd character going from adventure to adventure while being mildly impacted by his backstory.

That said, I actually do really like the books. They're a joy to read and I do like a lot of the side characters (like Bast). I'm definitely planning on re-reading them soon, although I do need to buy A Slow Regard For Silent Things because I really want to read that too.

[RoyalBeeMage he/him]

2 minutes ago, The Sibling said:

I love the prose, but after finishing The Wise Man's Fear I don't really like Kvothe as a character anymore. He just kind of goes with the flow and doesn't have a great motivation. Yeah, he's looking for information about 

  Hide contents

the chandrian

but it doesn't really affect his decisions all that much. It feels like I'm reading a dnd character going from adventure to adventure while being mildly impacted by his backstory.

That said, I actually do really like the books. They're a joy to read and I do like a lot of the side characters (like Bast). I'm definitely planning on re-reading them soon, although I do need to buy A Slow Regard For Silent Things because I really want to read that too.

i actualy have to agree. i recently read the series for the first time. if you call july recent and i loved them.

[The Sibling she/her]

3 hours ago, RoyalBeeMage said:

i actualy have to agree. i recently read the series for the first time. if you call july recent and i loved them.

Okay, I just finished The Narrow Road Between Desires. Probably shouldn't have been reading instead of working on my English project, but whatever. I loved this book. I love Bast. I love Rike. The ending was great, and it was nice to see Carter and the Cob and all of them. 

[Dunkum he/him]

do you know how similar The Narrow Road Between Desiresis to "The Lightning Tree"? I got the impression looking at it that it was essentially an expansion on that story to some degree, but I haven't actually read it to compare.

[Little_Dagger she/her]

On 3/8/2024 at 10:35 PM, Dunkum said:

do you know how similar The Narrow Road Between Desiresis to "The Lightning Tree"? I got the impression looking at it that it was essentially an expansion on that story to some degree, but I haven't actually read it to compare.

Narrow Road is an expansion of the Lightning tree. It's exactly the same story, but a little padded up and better edited. I love the series, BTW! One of my favourites.

 

On 2/10/2024 at 7:46 AM, RoyalBeeMage said:

Just out of interest who else has read fourth wing?

I read both Fourth Wing and Iron Flame. It's... OK, I guess. One of those series that are everywhere on BookTook for a while and then dissappear.

Reading Red Rising by Pierce Brown at the moment. Not sure if I love it yet, but I might. Anyone read the entire series?

[RoyalBeeMage he/him]

On 3/9/2024 at 1:42 AM, The Sibling said:

Okay, I just finished The Narrow Road Between Desires. Probably shouldn't have been reading instead of working on my English project, but whatever. I loved this book. I love Bast. I love Rike. The ending was great, and it was nice to see Carter and the Cob and all of them. 

i loved them as well

6 minutes ago, Little_Dagger said:

Narrow Road is an expansion of the Lightning tree. It's exactly the same story, but a little padded up and better edited. I love the series, BTW! One of my favourites.

 

I read both Fourth Wing and Iron Flame. It's... OK, I guess. One of those series that are everywhere on BookTook for a while and then dissappear.

Reading Red Rising by Pierce Brown at the moment. Not sure if I love it yet, but I might. Anyone read the entire series?

i have to agree with fourth wing. i enjoyed them at the time but now second-guessing them. i tried reading red rising but never had enough time to finish the first book

[Treamayne]

27 minutes ago, Little_Dagger said:

Reading Red Rising by Pierce Brown at the moment. Not sure if I love it yet, but I might. Anyone read the entire series?

That's probably a question for @The Bald Brandon:

On 7/27/2023 at 1:28 AM, The Bald Brandon said:

Go read Red Rising, just go do it.

I've read the original trilogy but none of the "added" material (books 4+). I loved Red Rising (the book), but was less enthused by book two and had to force myself to finish book three. But I admit that it's very much a YMMV series; some of the characters just really bothered me, and that made it hard for me to continue.

[Use the Falchion]

On 3/12/2024 at 5:57 AM, Little_Dagger said:

Reading Red Rising by Pierce Brown at the moment. Not sure if I love it yet, but I might. Anyone read the entire series?

I read the first three books (aka the "original trilogy" before Brown turned it into a 7-book series) and I loved them! I haven't really felt the need to revisit them, which isn't uncommon. Only two authors have made me feel that. (Sanderson and Will Wight.) But those who get into the series LOVE IT. 

 

Reading a lot of LitRPG stuff this week. I finished 6 books during this Spring Break while ALSO playing the ever-loving-stuffing out of Unicorn Overlord and still being relatively social, so I feel pretty accomplished. 

 

Crown (Unbound 9) and All the Skills 3 were the two highlights of the 6 books so far, and I eagerly await the next installments in these series in September and August respectfully. I've got a few more things to try out, and then it's onto some Flintlock Fantasy and Epic Fantasy by Django Wexler I've procrastinated for far too long on. 

[Xaladin he/him]

Shadows in flight by Orson Scott Card and 1984 by George Orwell. Big Brother is watching you.

[Treamayne]

3 hours ago, Xaladin said:

Big Brother is watching you.

Or Big Bean (as the case may be). . . 

[Kasimir he/him]

On 3/17/2024 at 2:46 AM, Use the Falchion said:

Flintlock Fantasy and Epic Fantasy by Django Wexler

Is this the Shadow Campaigns  

I've been marathoning books a lot recently because of my wrist and because Hael and I are doing a 'read 52 books before the end of the year' goal/resolution thing.

I just finished:

-Children of Dune

Part of a Dune marathon instigated by TJ and an essay about how Frank Herbert wrote Salafist themes into Dune. (I actually wanted to stop at DM because I knew if I did CoD I'd have to do GEoD before stopping, but there are fair reasons to go on to CoD instead of stopping at DM.) I got into re-reading it for lulz because everytime I read Duneiverse, I hate it, and I love it only after I'm done. I actually liked it a lot more this round, which might mean that my predominant memories of Dune are just reading the lot when I was fifteen or so because classmate I liked was super into it and then not getting everything that was going on and hating the everloving crem out of Frank Herbert's writing style.

-The Tournament at Gorlan

I like the Ranger's Apprentice series a lot. Yeah it's a kids book and arguably jumped the shark at Emperor of Nihon-Ja but in general it's simple and does a few bunch of things well, and sometimes it's nice to go back to a simple book to look at the craft and then do the simple thing well before writing anything more complicated. I liked the worldbuilding of the Ranger Corps, and watching younger Halt and Crowley get up to shenanigans is always fun. Also part of an ongoing marathon.

Reading:

-The Winged Histories (re-read)
-God Emperor of Dune (please let me stop there please let me stop there)
-Red Sky in the Morning (re-read)

(I know there are three reads in progress - I have a system with two Kindles and a physical book. It's maybe not functional but mood is a thing for cattle or making love or reading  )

Edited March 19 by Kasimir

[The Unknown Order he/him]

3 hours ago, Kasimir said:

(I know there are three reads in progress - I have a system with two Kindles and a physical book. It's maybe not functional but mood is a thing for cattle or making love or reading  )

Rookie numbers.

What's fun is when your library only gives e-loans for 14 days, which is not nearly enough time to read any fantasy novel. So you then have a rotation of three to four books you're halfway through listening 14 days worth at a time. Not to mention your ebook, physical book, and before sleeping book. 

I went on a road trip and have since reread Earth Unaware by Orson Scott Card and the Fires of Vengeance by Evan Winters, which are respectively a good book and a great sequel (that can never live up to the divinity of the first).

I then started A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie. I'm not far in yet, but I very recently read Half a King, which was simply amazing. That, combined with the excellence of The First Law trilogy, leaves me very hopeful.

On that road trip, I listened to part of WoR, but have since switched to Shadow's Edge by Brent Weeks. WoR is WoR, and Shadow's Edge is okay, but unimpressive. 

I'm hoping to get the next WoT book in when I make another trip next week, but we'll see. Depends what shows up from the library.