Currently Reading

[Alan]

Yeah, enjoyed that a lot! My only quibble is that its set in "our world" but it might as well have been a new First Law land because the tone and archetypes are just a First Law novel really. I mean a warrior that sometimes loses control and becomes an indiscriminate killing machine, a badass lady, a mage ("MAGICIAN!!!!") and a future monarch go on a quest.... ¬_¬ It was great, laughed loads but I just wish it differentiated itself a bit more. If I hadn't read this others I'd have fuuucking loved it but as I had I just fucking loved it. Balthazar is the best.

Also...
https://www.indiewire.com/news/breaking ... 235128767/
That was quick!


Now back to The Expanse, its impressive how close these are to the show so far. If it keeps going like this I think you could probably just pick up the books where the show leaves off and be fine.

[Snowy]

Yeah, enjoyed that a lot! My only quibble is that its set in "our world" but it might as well have been a new First Law land because the tone and archetypes are just a First Law novel really. I mean a warrior that sometimes loses control and becomes an indiscriminate killing machine, a badass lady, a mage ("MAGICIAN!!!!") and a future monarch go on a quest.... ¬_¬ It was great, laughed loads but I just wish it differentiated itself a bit more. If I hadn't read this others I'd have fuuucking loved it but as I had I just fucking loved it. Balthazar is the best.

I had similar thoughts. Vigga is basically the Bloody Nine but with less personality. Great story though, I had a lot of fun with it.

[Sly Boots]

Enjoyed it too, although:

Spoiler

I think it sucked how Baptiste went out like she did. I don't even mean that she died, but that it basically happened off-screen and all we really saw were the other characters' reactions to it. Right to the end I was sure it would end up that they'd faked her death or something so she could go off and do Baptiste things away from the church. But no, face eaten by a werewolf, see ya. It felt a bit of a desultory way to treat the character.

[Snowy]

Just in the name of keeping the thread more consistently alive

I have just finished Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff. Now he and I have form, I think that his Empire of the Vampire book is one of the best fantasy tales I have ever read, and it's a while till the concluding part comes out, so I thought I would explore his back catalogue.

It's an interesting proposition -

Spoiler

feudal Japan has developed an, erm, dieselpunk(?) technology using lotus flowers, that creates a hugely polluting fuel and also kills the soil it grows in, but it has stayed feudal. Emperors, the bushido code, samurai etc (although think proto Space Marine samurai in powered armour with chainsaw-katanas). They are the pre-eminent civilisation and are subjugating the world at the same time as killing it

. Enter the cast - I will spoiler no more.

Really enjoyed the first in the series. I have just started on the second, and am liking the new characters that are being introduced and the story is going an unusual direction which is good. Worth a look if you like your fantasy. He is fairly grimdark.

[Alan]

I'm maybe 80% through Smoke City by Keith Rosson. Plot is; a chap that thinks he is the reincarnation of Joan Of Arcs executioner goes on a road trip to find a woman he seen on a talk show claiming to be the reincarnation of Joan Of Arc. It sounds daft but its wonderful and as daft as it sounds its written with sincerity and earns its sincerity. I enjoyed Rossons duology of Fever House and Devil In Name Only but I think this one is miles better. The writing is great, the character building is great and it actually has pathos! I was expecting silly fun but I got a genuinely great little read. Going to look out the rest of his books now I think.

[Mantis]

I know I'm obscenely behind the curve on this one, but between playing a lot of Dune Awakening before my trip and also having a long week of lazing on a beach, I've taken to finally reading Dune. Man, what a book. I'm about two thirds of the way in now and this has been an absolutely gripping read from the beginning so far.

[Sly Boots]

I know I'm obscenely behind the curve on this one, but between playing a lot of Dune Awakening before my trip and also having a long week of lazing on a beach, I've taken to finally reading Dune. Man, what a book. I'm about two thirds of the way in now and this has been an absolutely gripping read from the beginning so far.

The first Dune has always been one of my favourite books.

But once you've finished it, do yourself a favour and leave the series there

Although the next one, Dune Messiah isn't too bad. It jumps the shark thereafter though, and quickly at that. While I've read the first book multiple times down the years, I've never read the rest more than once!

[Mantis]

I have heard that the series gets increasingly bonkers as the books progress. There is a set of six available on Amazon for £30 though which makes it hard to resist finding out for myself.

[Stormbringer]

I am reading the Barsoom novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Right now I am still on the first, A Princess of Mars.

[Alan]

The Expanse

So I'm almost up to the end of the show now. Its good! I think when I started I said it was surprisingly close to the show but it takes a fair few big shifts. The core is mostly the same but there are some big differences for better and for worse. Examples - Drummer is a non-character in the books and Ashford is a two dimensional irredeemable shit. The Drummer in the show takes from a few book characters experiences (mostly Pa a less interesting character missing from the show) and melds them but in the case of her and Ashford, the show is much better for it. On the flip side the very televisual "everything must be related to the main characters" scenes are much less. For example Bobbie is not responsible for the rocks, nor does she show up on the Behemoth as part of an MCRN team to conveniently take down the broadcast. Books/show. its a toss up which is better overall. Makes me want to rewatch the show but that'll just confuse me if I do that before finishing the books. My brain is a small and simple place.

[Alan]

.....and finished.

So the next book in the series after the show ends time skips forward 10 years. Some of the people on the show have said there were still some things happening behind the scenes that didnt fully rule out a Season 7 so maybe theyre big braining it and waiting till the actors age the 15 years with their characters before bringing it back? Season 7 in 2032! Likely :p. Now if you watched the show and wanted to continue with the books I dont think you'd have any bother. Theres one fairly big difference that will throw you a little at first I suppose but because of the time skip everything mostly falls into place with the show by the start of the next book.

I dont think the post show books are as good. They are still good, very enjoyable romps but they arent quite as grand strategy or complex as the earlier arcs. I wasnt that keen on the threat or some of the turns the plot took but I still very much enjoyed it and it does wrap up in quite a satisfying way. Overall I would reccomend it, short stories too, all worth reading, its a fantastic space opera.

[Stormbringer]

I am reading the Barsoom novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Right now I am still on the first, A Princess of Mars.

Almost finished the the third of these, The Warlord of Mars.

I am only planning to read the first three of these novels, which I have in the form of a hardback 'trilogy'. I must say I have enjoyed them from the point of view of learning the history of science fiction literature, but they are getting quite repetitive, even tedious, and I will be glad when this series is over.


I am also re-reading The Hobbit right now, which is a bit good.

[Stormbringer]

Just finished the third Barsoom book. Of all the trilogy, it only left two questions unanswered, which is a bit annoying, but otherwise had a satisfying ending, and was a fun romp across the surface of Mars.

I was looking forward to putting this down and moving into some historical fiction, but my sons (whom I was reading it to) announced they wanted me to continue with the Barsoom saga, of which there are ten or eleven books in total.

Oh boy...looks like we'll be on Mars a while yet...

[Maturin]

Malazan Book of the Fallen - Steven Erikson

Getting back into my reading a bit more lately and these books have been a revelation, 10 of them in all. Erikson may not have the smoothest prose out there, some people struggle with the denseness, especially early on in the series - but boy is he a visionary. The way he constructs this tale spanning multiple eras, unique yet all connected, is something else.

Got a few books left to go, but by all accounts they're phenomenal, so looking forward to them. Also, *cough GRR Martin cough*, Erikson pumped them all out in about 12 years.

I'd recommend them to any fantasy fan, but the caveat is they are a major mental investment, to the point where they might not be for everybody. Also, frustratingly the first book is by far the weakest (but still very good), which was originally written as a film script. Book 2 onwards though, it kicks into gear in a major way. If that had been the first introduction for new readers instead, I think the series would have taken off in a much bigger way.

[Mantis]

A series I have tried to get into on a few occasions now but have always put the first book down before the halfway point.