Yearly Targets 2018

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TLEILAXU

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« Reply #45 on: March 28, 2018, 05:46:23 am »
My intuition kinda told me not to bother with those books, so I'm happy to see your expert opinion verify that I made the correct decision.

Wilshire

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« Reply #46 on: March 28, 2018, 11:45:07 am »
Should probably make my a new topic, but there aren't too many people here that I'll be bothering if I continue talking about Prince of Thorns, I think.

 I did some poking and found that people really like Lawrence's prose, though I'm not sure why. Lots of people crooning over the worldbuilding, which again I don't get.

I asked a friend who said that some of the coincidences get explained a bit later because of the nature of how magic works, but it sounds wholly unsatisfying to me. Soft magic, rather than hard magic?

One of the larger hurdles is that its told in first-person from a 14 year old. Unreliable narrator aside (we all understand how that works here lol), he portrays the world through the eyes of your typical 14 year old... So even if there's a decent setting, we'll never know because everything is filtered through the thoughts of a sociopathic prince - think of it like if a TSA prequel was told by 14 year of Xerias lol.

---
On a much more positive note, Reality Dysfunction has turned out to be a very interesting novel. Well written, well imagine, with several concurrent plot-lines to keep things moving. I'm impressed so far and look forward to reading more from Peter F. Hamilton.
« Last Edit: March 28, 2018, 11:47:49 am by Wilshire »
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MSJ

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« Reply #47 on: March 28, 2018, 04:27:22 pm »
Quote from:  Wilshire
Should probably make my a new topic, but there aren't too many people here that I'll be bothering if I continue talking about Prince of Thorns, I think.

Should've took the advice of your buddy MSJ! ;)
“No. I am your end. Before your eyes I will put your seed to the knife. I will quarter your carcass and feed it to the dogs. Your bones I will grind to dust and cast to the winds. I will strike down those who speak your name or the name of your fathers, until ‘Yursalka’ becomes as meaningless as infant babble. I will blot you out, hunt down your every trace! The track of your life has come to me,

Wilshire

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« Reply #48 on: March 28, 2018, 05:35:24 pm »
Quote from:  Wilshire
Should probably make my a new topic, but there aren't too many people here that I'll be bothering if I continue talking about Prince of Thorns, I think.

Should've took the advice of your buddy MSJ! ;)

The list must be completed ;) , but I've added Red Knight to it don't worry.
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TheCulminatingApe

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« Reply #49 on: March 30, 2018, 06:45:43 pm »
So finished most of what I set out initially, except Red Knight. So with that, an updated list of what I'll try to read this year, in no particular order. These plus the 8 I've read should put me at the 20 that I put down.

Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis
Prince of Thorns (Broken Empire) by Mark Lawrence
The Reality Dysfunction (Night’s Dawn) by Peter F Hamilton
The Grand Design (The Tyrants and Kings book 2) by John Marco
The Red Knight (The Traitor Son Cycle #1)  by Miles Cameron
The Colour of Magic by Terry Prachett
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Brandbury
Shards of Honor (vorkosigan saga) by Lois McMaster Bujold
Dark Moon by David Gemmel
The Eye of the World (Wheel of Time) by Robert Jordan
The Time Machine by H G Wells
Lords of Light by Rodger Zelzany

Note - Anyone who can recommend a particularly great book by Bujold, Gemmel or Zelzany, please do. I forget how these particular ones ended up on my list, but I have no attachment to them other than that I want to read these authors. Suggestions welcome :)

Legend is the David Gemmell book.  Prince of Shadows is pretty good as well as far as I can remember. 
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TheCulminatingApe

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« Reply #50 on: March 30, 2018, 07:41:59 pm »
Finished Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence (10)
It was ... unsatisfying. Seemed to rely very heavily on dues ex machina type plot mechanics to keep alive the important character - well, mostly Jorg I guess. I also don't appreciate the setting:

I read it a few years ago (it was free with A Dance of Dragons).  It seemed 'empty' - just sensation for the sake of it
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« Reply #51 on: April 09, 2018, 03:40:34 pm »
Finished The Last Mortal Bond(9), by Brian Staveley. Last book in The Unhewn Throne. A good book, but the ending was just kind of abrupt. It was good and made sense, just didn't finish it with any kinda finality. I recommend highly though, great series as a whole.

ETA:Started Blindsight, want to see what all th hub bub waa about. ;)
“No. I am your end. Before your eyes I will put your seed to the knife. I will quarter your carcass and feed it to the dogs. Your bones I will grind to dust and cast to the winds. I will strike down those who speak your name or the name of your fathers, until ‘Yursalka’ becomes as meaningless as infant babble. I will blot you out, hunt down your every trace! The track of your life has come to me,

Wilshire

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« Reply #52 on: April 09, 2018, 03:52:25 pm »
Blindsight is amazing!
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Wilshire

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« Reply #53 on: April 10, 2018, 10:30:04 am »
The Reality Dysfunction (11) by Peter F. Hamilton.

Wow, this was a great book. A sci-fi in the scope of a large epic fantasy, with all the world building you could want. I'd give it a 5/5. The pacing was great, the story was great, and the ending reminded me of TTT in grandure. Truely a fantastic read.

The characters aren't the best relized, but the scope and content of the adventure far exceeds this shortcoming.
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Wilshire

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« Reply #54 on: April 20, 2018, 11:45:35 am »
The Red Knight (12) by Miles Cameron.

Another very good read - its been a good year for books so far. Thanks MSJ for the suggestion.

Though, like Prince of Thorns, I don't appreciate the Earth setting, the book is otherwise very well done. The magic is interesting, the plot fun, and characters well written. I'll be interested to come back to this series at some point as its very good.

Next up will be La Belle Sauvage by Phillip Pullman. Its been a long time since I've read a YA and I don't expect a ton from up, but I loved Pullman's His Dark Materials so I'll give this most recent installment a whirl.
« Last Edit: May 16, 2018, 02:14:22 pm by Wilshire »
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« Reply #55 on: April 27, 2018, 09:05:17 pm »
The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage by Phillip Pullman (13).

For a YA book, it was pretty good. An interesting first book of this prequel series to His Dark Material.
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Wilshire

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« Reply #56 on: May 03, 2018, 04:19:56 pm »
The Final Empire (Mistborn 1) by Brandon Sanderson (14)

First time I've read anything by Sanderson, and I really enjoyed it. This is not the complex world of TSA, but it was a fun, quick read. I'm looking forward to reading more Sanderson someday.
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Wilshire

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« Reply #57 on: May 07, 2018, 11:58:46 am »
So I'm probably looking at the following for my next couple books:
Colour of Magic - Pratchett
Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
Strom Front - Jim Butcher
Legend - Gemell
Leviathan Wakes
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Wilshire

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« Reply #58 on: May 08, 2018, 04:12:59 pm »
Storm Front by Jim Butcher (15)
I picked this one up because I heard from a friend, and also a lot of recs from r/fantasy, that this was a good book.
You know, it was alright. Better than I expected, given that it was both a detective novel and a modern fantasy... neither of which I generally like. The main character, Dresden, was snarky and somewhat interesting. The novel was pretty short, so not a ton of room for character development, but I think it might be worth reading a sequel or two to see where it goes.

On to: The Colour of Magic. Very interestingly written.
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ThoughtsOfThelli

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« Reply #59 on: May 08, 2018, 04:18:13 pm »
Storm Front by Jim Butcher (15)
I picked this one up because I heard from a friend, and also a lot of recs from r/fantasy, that this was a good book.
You know, it was alright. Better than I expected, given that it was both a detective novel and a modern fantasy... neither of which I generally like. The main character, Dresden, was snarky and somewhat interesting. The novel was pretty short, so not a ton of room for character development, but I think it might be worth reading a sequel or two to see where it goes.


Sorry for creeping into this thread, but I just wanted to comment on this particular book/series. ;) I have read all 15 books (a few years back), and while it can't compare to, say, TSA, A Song of Ice and Fire, or The Stone Dance of the Chameleon, it's still a good and very entertaining series. And while the first few books are alright, things do start picking up more after the third or fourth (can't remember exactly, but it's around that point). So I would advise you to try and read at least to the third book in the series (Grave Peril). :)
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