The Second Apocalypse

Miscellaneous Chatter => Literature => Topic started by: Wilshire on January 02, 2020, 02:03:26 pm

Title: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: Wilshire on January 02, 2020, 02:03:26 pm
Another year, another book topic.

I think I'm going to try and finish the series I didn't get to last year, and sprinkle in some new stuff. Maybe even a reread or two if there's time. 30 was pretty easy last year, and since the outlook for this year seems similar, I'll try for 40 to make it a bit of a stretch.

Happy reading.

Some books I'd like to get to this year:

Sabriel by Garth Nix (maybe)
Labyrinth of Flames by Courtney Schaffer
Black Leopard Red Wolf by Marlon James
Rejoice: A Knife to the Heart by Steven Erikson
Beyond Redemption by Michael R Fletcher (read Smoke and Stone instead)
A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie
Acts of Cain by Matthew Stover
Powder Mage by Brian McClellan
Enchantment of Ravens (christmas)
A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
To Be Taught if Fortunate by Becky Chambers
This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar
An Unkindness of Magicians (been sitting on my shelf for ages)
The Priory Of The Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay
The Dragon's Legacy by Deborah A Wolf (christmas)
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo (christmas gift, thus required reading)

January (4)
1) Skullsworn by Brian Staveley
2) The Gap into Vision: Forbidden Knowledge by Stephen Donaldson
3) Six Sacred Swords by Andrew Rowe
4) The Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

February (6)
1) The Dragon's Legacy by Deborah A Wolf
2) Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay

March (8 )
1) The Priory Of The Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
2) The Lathe of Heave by Ursula K Le Guin

April (9)
1) A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab

May (11)
1) Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames
2) Blade of Tyshalle by Matthew Stover

June (16)
1) Orconomics by J. Zachary Pike
2) The Raven's Tower by Ann Leckie
3) This is How You Lose The Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (blue/red respectively)
4) An Unkindness of Magicians by Kat Howard
5) To be taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers

July (24)
1) Minimum Wage Magic Rachael Aaron
2) Off to Be The Wizard by Scott Meyer
3) The Vine Witch by Luanne G Smith
4) Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
5) The Theft of Swords by Michael J Sullivan
6) Uprooted by Naomi Novik
7) Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan
8 ) The Crimson Campaign by Brian McClellan

August (26)
1) The Autumn Republic by Brian McClellan
2) Scientific Secrets for Raising Kids Who Thrive by Peter M. Vishton

September (29)
1) Caine Black Knife by Matthew Stover
2) Caine's Law by Matthew Stover
3) Dragon's Flight (Pern 1) By Anne McCaffery

October (33)
1) 1984 by George Orwell
2) Crib Sheets by Emily Oster
3) Smoke and Stone by Michael R Fletcher
4) A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie

November (35)
1) Hyperion by Dan Simmons
2) The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons

December (36)
1) Rejoice: A Knife to the Heart by Steven Erikson

Also, a running list of the books I've read in the last few years, organized generally by how much I liked them in relation to all the others on the list:
(click to show/hide)
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: Madness on January 02, 2020, 07:08:19 pm
No commitments on my part but I'll try to be more diligent about recording what I read this year here :).
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: Madness on January 04, 2020, 04:10:05 am
Halfway through Blade of Tyshalle, which I believe sci and Wert told me to follow through on a year ago and more. Stover has some... really unprecedented prose.

I really do wonder what Stover and Bakker disagreed about in terms of writing styles given that they tread some very similarly unsettled ground.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: Wilshire on January 06, 2020, 02:12:44 pm
Hey that's one I plan to read. Hope its good... Whats this about Bakker/Stover disagreement?

Skullsworn by Brian Staveley (1)

As a standalone, it suffers without the context of the larger series. As a quasi-prequel exploring the origins of a mysterious character who plays a big role in the trilogy, its pretty good. But even "pretty good" is a disappointment by Staveley. I really enjoyed Unhewn Throne, one of my top 10 series of all time, and this doesn't hold up. Its a fun romp, but I can't recommend it to anyone who isn't craving more Annur.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: Madness on January 06, 2020, 04:03:04 pm
Link (https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/6366ko/r_scott_bakker_on_fantasy_philosophy_and_dooooom/dfro5p1/?context=8&depth=9).

That comment seems more in jest but I remember reading something once about Bakker and Stover agreeing about thematic intentions but disagreeing on execution in writing.

Blade of Tyshalle is turning into a great read though. Almost done. Probably burn through the other books soon, what with the fancy digital library, but I'm going to interject some of my other holiday purchases first - I've had a couple books on the go towards the end of the year that I'll list as I finish them but not count as this year's number but I'm really excited to read Pressfield's The Legend of Beggar Vance finally!
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: Wilshire on January 06, 2020, 05:53:43 pm
Interesting. Well glad that its good. I remember enjoying Heroes Die but didn't feel extremely compelled to finish the rest right away.

I got Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo, An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson, and Dragon's Legacy by Deborah Wolf for christmas. The former two not by request but I'll probably read those sooner rather than later to be polite. Hopefully they're good.

First though is another Gap Cycle book. Forbidden Knowledge: Gap Into Vision by Stephen R Donaldson. It seems to be following the dark trend of the first book... Might be tough to read the whole series if it is unrelenting.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: Madness on January 06, 2020, 09:13:43 pm
Lol, I did not continue Donaldson after I finished or failed to finish the duology of the first two books. Though, I actually might try again through the digital library. Now that we're talking about it.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: Wilshire on January 06, 2020, 09:16:11 pm
Well I'm only on book 2 of Gap, which I'll finish but I may stop here. There's only so many pages I care to read about various kinds rape and their myriad impacts. There's gotta be a plot in here somewhere, right? ...
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: Madness on January 07, 2020, 12:03:13 am
Oh, right. Nah, book #2 opens up the narrative world a lot without the difficulty of the opening novel(lla). I just think at the time it was overwhelming coming right off the first piece.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: Madness on January 09, 2020, 02:48:28 pm
Blade of Tyshalle - Matthew Stover (1)

Honestly... this took me for a ride, though I don't think it impacted me quite as much as reading Heroes Die. Stover is an inventive fuck regarding the narrative, I'll give him that. I'm super disappointed to learn about some of his stylistic choices regarding the third and the fourth books in the series - I'm thinking I have a Hyperion/Endymion situation on my hands so I'm going to hold off on rushing into Caine Black Knife. Definitely, as well as per the Hyperion comparison, would recommend that any Bakker fan read at least Heroes Die and Blade of Tyshalle as a duology.

Also, the first book I've ever read on a fucking phone ;).
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: Wilshire on January 09, 2020, 03:37:43 pm
Congrats on reading a phone-book ;).
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: Madness on January 09, 2020, 04:00:10 pm
On a fucking phone, man! :(

Trending toward Seppuku.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: Wilshire on January 14, 2020, 01:35:32 pm
The Gap into Vision: Forbidden Knowledge by Stephen Donaldson (2)

Ugh. I want to like this book/series. There's a lot of narrative progression and worldbuilding potential, cool aliens and deep state politics, cyborgs, etc. All the trappings of entertaining scifi... But for fuck's sake does every POV character need to spend the majority of the book being raped repeatedly? If you took out all that in the first two books you'd probably not have enough narrative left to publish a book. There are only 2 POV characters, and both spend the vast majority of the time being treated violently - physically, emotionally, and sexually - both in "present time" of the book and in "the past".

Its exhausting to read, and I'm probably going to abandon it at this point. Its not a bad book if you can get past all the needless assault, the writing is pretty good and there's enough of everything else to make it worth reading. So I'm not going to say its not worth people reading, but I think I'm going to tap out.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: Wilshire on January 16, 2020, 01:09:36 pm
Six Sacred Swords by Andrew Rowe (3)
Not his best book, but largely because its not a true sequel. It tells the story of one of the side characters, but it felt too inconsequential to be engaging. True to form though, its funny and a fun quick read, but skip-able in the grand scheme of the series.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: Wilshire on January 23, 2020, 02:19:52 pm
The Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo (4)

Not the biggest fan of the setting, theme, or hook. Modern day fantasy, murder mystery, ivy league secret societies, respectively.
That said, it still was a very well written book that was enjoyable to read. I can understand why it got the attention that it did last year (2019), though I don't think it deserved to be goodreads "best fantasy of the year". The prose is great, and is what makes it worth reading. Bardugo was able to keep me interested in the book despite what I said above, and I think that's pretty impressive.

So if you like the setting/theme/hook above, definitely check this out. Its also set up for a sequel which could go an interesting direction, and I think I liked Ninth House enough to check it out whenever it gets released.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: The P on February 02, 2020, 06:51:23 am
I'll shoot for 30 books this year.  Some things I might get to:

The ninth Expanse book.  I don't like to start a series too long before it is finished.  I read these expecting it out late 2019, but I guess it will be this year some time.

Terry Pratchett, specifically the City Watch arc of Discworld.  I've never read him before.

Bradley P. Beaulieu's Song of the Shattered Sands.  I enjoyed his previous trilogy.  I'll probably start it later in the year, as the sixth and final book is a 2021 release.

Josiah Bancroft's Books of Babel likewise will be wrapping up in 2021, so I imagine I'll get a jump on it in anticipation.

Peter Watts's Blindsight and Echopraxia.

Ann Leckie's The Raven Tower.  The Ancillary books were good, Provenance less so.  We'll see how she does with fantasy.

I'm toying with trying out the graphic novel Saga by Brian K. Vaughan.  If it wasn't a comic book, I'd be more certain.

I expect some rereads of K. J. Parker, maybe dip into Gormenghast if the mood strikes.  And of course, I'll continue slow rereads of TSA in between all else.

January (3):
The Light of All that Falls by James Islington.  Pretty good debut trilogy.  Ended nicely wrapping things up.  I'll read the next thing he writes.
The Mirror Empire by Kameron Hurley.  I expected better, despite not liking her God's War books.  I read a couple chapters of the next in the trilogy, but decided there were better things to read like:
The Warrior Prophet.  Excellent of course.  Fun to reread since knowing what comes after.

February (3):
Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett
Blindsight by Peter Watts
Prosper's Demon by K. J. Parker

March (3)
Echopraxia by Peter Watts
My Beautiful Life by K. J. Parker
Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett

April (3)
Lord Foul's Bane by Stephen Donaldson
The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie
The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco

May (3)
The Masters by Ricardo Pinto
John Dies at the End by David Wong
The Thousandfold Thought by R. Scott Bakker

June (0)  :'(

July (3)
The Illearth War by Stephen R. Donaldson
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Toll the Hounds by Steven Erikson

August (1)
City of Golden Shadow by Tad Williams

September (3)
The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson
Light, Time, and Gravity by R. Scott Bakker
Disciple of the Dog by R. Scott Bakker

October (3)
Rejoice, a Knife to the Heart by Steven Erikson
The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang
The Dragon Republic by R. F. Kuang

November (3)
The Monster Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson
Video Palace: In Search of the Eyeless Man by Various Authors
How to Rule an Empire and Get Away with It by K. J. Parker

December (2)
The Jackal of Nar by John Marco
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: Wilshire on February 03, 2020, 02:58:31 pm
I read my first Prachett book last year, decided to go with the first published (Colour of Magic). He's a pretty entertaining writer. Definitely something to pick up if you're looking for something fun and jaunty.

Blindsight I loved, and I suspect any fan of Bakker would be a fan of Peter Watts. Echopraxia, the quasi-sequel, was disappointing to me though.

I read the first two Books of Babel, enjoyed the first, found the second lacking and decided to not read the third. There seems to be a significant shit if style and focus from book 1 to book 2, and I didn't appreciate it. Still worth the read though to see for yourself - its well written and unique.

How's the Expanse series? I read the first book and am not a huge fan of the whodunit mystery solving style, but the universe seems interesting. I think I might pick it up again this year if time allows.

The Dragon's Legacy by Deborah A Wolf (5)
Eh. Its OK. At times great, at times boring. Fairly typical fantasy setup, with atypical cultures smashed together. Something like tribal africa, scottish highlands, and eastern china, thrown together in adjacent kingdoms. This setup was jarring initially but doesn't actually detract from the story and I got over it. My biggest issue was that most of the POVs I found uninteresting, and the ones I preferred had the least amount of screen time. Probably wont pick up the sequel(s), but  I might.

Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: The P on February 04, 2020, 01:39:44 pm
The Expanse is worthwhile.  After the first book, they aren't too much in the whodunit genre.  Things escalate and the scope gets significantly bigger.  The books aren't in the realms of timeless classic sci-fi, but they are enjoyable.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: The P on February 08, 2020, 09:53:48 pm
Finished Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett.  Enjoyable, certainly, but as I told my wife, I prefer my fantasy to be more grave.  It's a good change of pace, and I'll certainly read more.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: Wilshire on February 10, 2020, 01:48:48 pm
Finished Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett.  Enjoyable, certainly, but as I told my wife, I prefer my fantasy to be more grave.  It's a good change of pace, and I'll certainly read more.
I imagine all Pratchett's books are like that. Well written, he does interesting things with punctuation and shapes of words to create sounds in the reader's mind, which I find very impressive... But normally the tone is not something I'm looking for.

There's a couple authors that I think do "grave" fantasy in a unique way:

Robin Hobb. She strikes a nice balance between grave and light. The Farseer trilogy has an extremely melancholy vibe without striving into depressing territory. Also probably one of the best writers in fantasy imo, worth checking out if you haven't yet.

Also, Poppy War by RF Kuang. Dark and violent, but what's interesting is she strays into territories usually skipped over. Violence of war, sure, but she also deals with depression, emotional/relationship abuse, and bigotry/racism. These things lend a visceral and "real" quality to the books that can be lost when books try to be too dark/violent just for the sake of being edgy.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: Wilshire on February 13, 2020, 05:01:17 pm
Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay (6)

Great book, really liked Kay's writing. The premise was great and the plot was fun to follow to its resolution. Major downside is that there are functionally only 3 women in the story and their entire purpose was to be sexy and sleep with a variety of men... So look elsewhere for strong female roles, however it is otherwise worth reading.

Next up, The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon. Been some time since I've read a book with dragons (dragon's legacy early this year doesnt count because there aren't actually any dragons), and the book have gotten a lot of hype in the last year or two.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: The P on February 17, 2020, 04:21:25 pm
I enjoyed Hobb.  I read the Farseer trilogy in the mid 90s.  In 2018, I decided I read too many male authors, so spent the dedicated the whole year to female authors.  A decent portion of the was Hobb's entire Realm of the Elderlings.  The way she ties together the disparate stories over decades of plot is impressive.

Poppy War is on my list, I think it's one I need to wait until the trilogy or whatever is closer to done.  Oh crap, just looked it up, and book three is due in May (according to Amazon)?  Guess I'll short-list it.

Just finished Blindsight.  It was pretty good, but seemed to be lacking something...  It was suitably creepy.  The vampire thing was a little jarring at first, but was well-done (including the video presentation).  I don't know if I just expected the blindsight condition to figure more in the story or what.  It was still enjoyable, and I'll pick up Echopraxia at some point.

Next up, I realized K. J. Parker snuck a couple novellas through my radar in the past few months.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: Wilshire on February 17, 2020, 04:32:17 pm
Ah, too bad you've read most of my suggestions, but hope you enjoy Poppy War. I'll see if I can't think of others.
FWIW, I'm really not a fan of Lawrence's Broken Empire. Maybe Joe Abercrombie's First Law.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: The P on February 18, 2020, 02:47:57 pm
Prosper's Demon by K. J. Parker

Parker continues to be a master of the short form.  His longer work can occasionally get tedious, but I don't mind a couple pages for a crash course in bronze-casting in a tight story.  Wry humour, quotable lines, the inevitable twist.  Classic Parker.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: Wilshire on March 04, 2020, 02:57:45 pm
The Prior of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

I was underwhelmed by this. It turns out to be a rather generic fantasy plot - big bad evil awakens, needs stopped by the heroes. The major standout feature of the book is that... There's a matriarchy instead of a patriarchy, and some of the women are lesbians (or bi, its unclear).

There's a Monk, a Queen, a dragon rider, and some bumbling soldiers as supporting roles, who spoiler alert - slay the big bad evil and live happily ever after. The writing itself ("the prose") is fine, if a bit bland for my taste. The dragons are lame - which one has to work pretty hard to make dragons lame imo, but being defeated by some chloroform is just... lame. The standard arrow-through-the-damaged-scale bit is also rather tired.

Can't say I recommend it.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: The P on March 05, 2020, 02:44:31 pm
Echopraxia by Peter Watts

I was kind of let down by this one.  Maybe I didn't understand a lot of it (likely), but its plot seemed a lot less focused than in Blindsight.  I do enjoy all the different takes on cognition and the various paths of post-humanity.  The inclusion of faith and God (or the idea of God) in hard sci-fi was pretty well done, too.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: Wilshire on March 05, 2020, 03:02:43 pm
Echopraxia by Peter Watts

I was kind of let down by this one.  Maybe I didn't understand a lot of it (likely), but its plot seemed a lot less focused than in Blindsight.  I do enjoy all the different takes on cognition and the various paths of post-humanity.  The inclusion of faith and God (or the idea of God) in hard sci-fi was pretty well done, too.

Yeah this was pretty much my take as well. Blindsight was so good in a lot of ways, and Echopraxia just wasn't. The narrative/plot just didn't work out very well, and it felt more like an exposition/extrapolation of research rather than a cohesive story.

I did love the conversation, and the expansion on it in the glossary, of porche the spider, along with many other topics.

Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: The P on March 06, 2020, 04:21:52 pm
My Beautiful Life by K. J. Parker

This one was middling as far as other Parker novellas go, but still very good.  The intro claims it is basically the story of an actual historical 11th century figure.  I did some deep diving in to wikipedia and found the guy (Michael IV the Paphlagonian, ftw).  Parker merged some co-regents and eliminated some family members for cohesion, added some narrative embellishments, but this is the closest I'll get to reading actual history.

(Quick aside to Echopraxia, I probably enjoyed reading the notes at the end more than the actual story)
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: Wilshire on March 09, 2020, 07:45:20 pm
The Lathe of Heave by Ursula K Le Guin 8

Pretty fun. Le Guin is just a great writer of classic scifi. This one is about the is-ought gap, and is a bit more temporal than some of her other novels because of the at subject.  Its a great book, would recommend to someone looking for a quick, tight scifi story that leaves you thinking.

(Quick aside to Echopraxia, I probably enjoyed reading the notes at the end more than the actual story)
I think I agree with this, at least for the most part.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: Madness on March 11, 2020, 04:48:47 pm
Boom!

Surprise, Kill, Vanish - Annie Jacobsen (2)

Finally, I can report actually finishing a second book :).

I like reading about history fairly indiscriminately so I liked it. Mildly biased but no more than a few moments that were really off-putting. I'm told Jacobsen is a journalist before a historian but the research and writing training really should trend toward similarly unbiased either way.

I'm just glad I'm through it so I can move on to finishing other previously started books (this year*, as I won't count finishing ones I started before the New Year) - this one was really getting in the way given the attentional constraints around here.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: Madness on March 19, 2020, 01:08:31 pm
The Legend of Bagger Vance - Steven Pressfield (3)

Very impressed by it but I think that's mostly because I was once hit and miss with perennial philosophy and I've resumed being an avid and terrible golfer in the past half decade. I've been convinced in the past two years that everyone needs to find and read at least a handful of Pressfield's books in their lifetimes though, even if I don't necessarily agree with his underlying esoterics.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: BeardFisher-King on March 20, 2020, 04:52:16 pm
Smoke, by Dan Vyleta

Very enjoyable. The setting is an alternate Victorian England, with some strange metaphysics involving the physical manifestation of good and evil. Recommended.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: The P on April 07, 2020, 12:27:55 am
Men At Arms by Terry Pratchett

I liked it much better than Guards! Guards!  The clown funeral actually gave me an audible chuckle.  Pratchett seems too be too coy at times with the movements of minor characters.  Having a section where a character is doing something important but not introducing the reader to that character until much later kind of jars me out of the flow.  It would probably work well if i was reading the book over the course of a couple days instead of a couple weeks, but so it is.

Lord Foul's Bane by Stephen Donaldson

Ugh.  What a tedious book.  I actually attempted to read it long ago (19 years actually, made it to chapter 3 according to the bookmark).  I persevered this time.  Am I getting old because i found the most interesting part to be the beginning before Covenant goes to The Land?  Once there, it's just a tiresome succession of boring events mainly showcasing what a jerk the main character is.  I don't mind unlikable characters, and I suppose this was revolutionary 40 years ago, but I really had to force myself through this.  I did not care at all what happened.  Maybe I just don't get what Donaldson is trying to convey through it all.  There was one interchange between Covenant and the Giant I really liked, the rest was forgettable.  Maybe I'll add the quote to the Quotes thread.

Update: Ah, I knew it was familiar from somewhere when I read it.  It was actually already posted here:http://www.second-apocalypse.com/index.php?topic=768.msg17388#msg17388 (http://www.second-apocalypse.com/index.php?topic=768.msg17388#msg17388)
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: Wilshire on April 07, 2020, 12:28:06 pm
I think i can quote myself in this instance, from 2018 when I read Lord Foul's Bane. It is, I have to say, one of the worst fantasy books I've ever read.

To me, what Donaldson appears to have done is taken wholesale some (now) worn out Tolkien tropes. He doesn't so much re-purpose them as recycle. From the Ring, to the names, quasi sentient horses... the entire thing reads like all the fantasy I've read from that era - unimaginative derivations of Tolkien.

You can follow the link to the rest of the discussion. BFK does quite like it, and I tried to figure out why... But I don't recall ever coming to an understanding.

I really liked Donaldson's Gap Into Conflict, but read the second book and it seemed to somehow be following the same path as Lord Foul's Bane. He's just not the author for me.


A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab (9)

This was a pretty fun book. The magic was interesting and used well, the characters a bit tropy but still entertaining. It definitely felt like it was setting itself up for some sequels, and I'll probably check them out. Worth the read if you're looking for some quick and fun English/London Magic type books with a darker shade to it.

Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: BeardFisher-King on April 07, 2020, 03:14:50 pm
I think i can quote myself in this instance, from 2018 when I read Lord Foul's Bane. It is, I have to say, one of the worst fantasy books I've ever read.

To me, what Donaldson appears to have done is taken wholesale some (now) worn out Tolkien tropes. He doesn't so much re-purpose them as recycle. From the Ring, to the names, quasi sentient horses... the entire thing reads like all the fantasy I've read from that era - unimaginative derivations of Tolkien.

You can follow the link to the rest of the discussion. BFK does quite like it, and I tried to figure out why... But I don't recall ever coming to an understanding.

I really liked Donaldson's Gap Into Conflict, but read the second book and it seemed to somehow be following the same path as Lord Foul's Bane. He's just not the author for me.

I remember trying to persuade Wilshire to give the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant another chance. He essentially responded, "Too many books, not enough time." The link presents my case for Donaldson, so no need to repeat it. Hey, at least Wilshire thought Donaldson was better than Brooks! And I seem to have persuaded MSJ to give Donaldson a try.

The quote that The P mentions by itself lifts "Lord Foul's Bane" into the precincts of literature.

ADD: This goes back two years! Tempus fugit ...
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: The P on April 14, 2020, 01:57:06 pm
The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie

This was a good one.  Ann Leckie dips into fantasy and continues to play with unusual narrative framing, in this case the story told in second person to one of the characters.  It was immersive and worked out well.  She also plays around with gender, but again manages to do it without being preachy or agenda-driven (I mention this mostly because I recently read Kameron Hurley's The Mirror Empire).  With Leckie's books, it is just part of the character/world/story, whereas Hurley seems to constantly be shouting, "Look how woke I am!"

In any case, I certainly recommend this and any other Leckie (with less emphasis on Provenance).  I hope she writes more fantasy in the future.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: Wilshire on April 14, 2020, 02:13:11 pm
I like Leckie. Well, kind of lol. I read Ancillary Justice and thought it was pretty good. Ideas were interesting, the prose was pretty unique, and the execution of al it fit nicely together. Shes an interesting author, but not someone I can read a lot of. I think Raven Tower will make it onto my list though - it should be interesting to see what she does with a fantasy setting.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: H on April 22, 2020, 02:54:07 pm
I don't even have a realistic target for the year.  But I did finish The Last and First Men yesterday.  It was a pretty interesting book.  Honestly, it was a bit long, in the sense of drawn-out, but it is interesting especially in the beginning, to see how someone writing in 1930 saw humans progressing historically in the future.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: The P on May 12, 2020, 01:57:44 pm
I finished The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco a couple weeks ago.  It is a decent book.  The setting and world are pretty unique.  The chapters are framed by some guy seeking out the bone witch, with the bulk of the story consisting of her telling him about her past.  I was pretty interested by the "present" story, as it seemed the bone witch was gearing up to do some crazy cool stuff.  But that part of the story was only a few paragraphs every chapter.  Her training was a lot of dresses and jewelry and dancing and a little witchery; very "geisha-ey."  The writing was fine, and the world was unique, but I just wanted to get through to the interesting things happening in the "present."

The last couple weeks, I've been reading the sequel The Heart Forger.  It's more of the same.  More interesting things are happening in the "present."  The related "past" bulk of the story is more interesting, too, but I reached a point (about halfway) where I realized I didn't care much at all about most of the story.  I doubt I'll finish it.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: Wilshire on May 12, 2020, 08:23:38 pm
Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames (10)

Much humor, a standard fantasy book in the theme of "old guys get the band back together and save the world". It doesn't stray very far from well worn fantasy tropes, but the writing is good and the humor is spot on - I found myself actually laughing out loud from time to time. The world is well imagined, with some classic heroes and monsters as well as some well-imagined new comers.

I'll probably skip the sequel(s), but I wouldn't turn them down if I happened upon one by chance.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: Wilshire on May 26, 2020, 12:29:48 pm
Blade of Tyshalle by Matthew Stover (11)

This was a really good book. A bit strange right now to be reading a book set (partially) in Earth future where a pandemic directed the course of human history. Stover explores a lot of the same themes as Bakker throughout his books, and does a good job all around. The two worlds he has built (Future Earth and Overworld) are both well imagined. The intertwined histories are explored more in this sequel, and the woldbuilding for both is interesting. His writing is compelling, though I think  at this point in my reading career a lot of the "horror" elements kind of just pass by. Theres only so many times you can read descriptions of rotting corpses and dying men before they all kind of run together. The writing seemed to improve between the books, not that the first one was bad, so I'm definitely going to keep Stover near the top of my list. I'm looking forward to continuing this series and his other books, and highly recommend him to anyone looking for a good fantasy to read.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: Madness on May 26, 2020, 12:58:49 pm
You've come a long way since Salvatore ;).

Glad you read it, though I've tried to start the third book a number of times now and I'm feeling a Hyperion/Endymion split, as far as my appreciation goes.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: The P on May 27, 2020, 06:59:59 pm
The Masters by Ricardo Pinto

This is a reworking and tightening of the trilogy Stone Dance of the Chameleon, which I hadn't heard about until recently.  The setting is pretty unique, kind of a Mayan stone-age vibe.  The society is pretty brutal, with the ruling elite treating all the other races/people as no better than animals.  I am very interested to learn more about the world, specifically what makes the elite the way they are.  Hopefully it goes in a more supernatural/mysterious vein.  Going forward, I expect there to be a strong theme/plot of the "lesser" races rising up against the oppressive ruling class.  I hope there is more to it than that.  There are certainly hints of some supernatural oddities, though it remains light on the magic and mysticism so far.  More to come; the first three are out, and the remaining four are scheduled to come out over the course of the rest of the year.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: The P on June 08, 2020, 03:39:38 pm
These were both finished in May, I am just lax in updating.

John Dies at the End by David Wong

I blitzed through this in two days, not because it was particularly gripping, I just had a long weekend and some rare time to myself.  It has a pretty informal conversational style to it, and any lack of plot cohesion can be attributed to the partial madness of the narrator.  It was fun and enjoyable to read, and while I'm not clamoring to read the sequels, I am not opposed to it.

The Thousandfold Thought by R. Scott Bakker

Continuing my reread in between other things.  I also reread The False Sun.  I might get around to posting some further cogitations.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: Wilshire on June 12, 2020, 07:14:45 pm
Orconomics by J. Zachary Pike (12)
Kind of a silly book, but its a satire so I guess its fine. Not my first choice, but filled with allusions to other works which makes it pretty amusing if you're familiar. Also some basic exploration of economics in a fantasy setting, which is unique, and a nice take on some aliments that might affect heroes. Altogether it was a fine book if your looking for something short and simple with a lot of humor.

The Raven's Tower by Ann Leckie (13)
This was a great book. Split into two timelines which might be described as 'current' and 'past'. The Current timeline is a retelling of Hamlet, apparently, and done quite well. Very enjoyable. The Past is a story giving the history of the world and the life of a god. I enjoyed the prose and the setting, and the perspective of the God telling the story. Both parts of the story were interesting, and told woven together, painting a nice picture of everything as the story progressed. I recommend this one from Leckie, probably enjoyed it more than her scifi.


This is How You Lose The Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (blue/red respectively)  (14)
A scifi epistolary novel. How about that. Unique, and a fantastic read, written as letter correspondence between two agents on opposing sides of a war fought through time and space. A unique premise, well executed, and full of references/allusions to everything from art to shakespear, scifi and opera. Another one I heartily recommend if you're looking for a quick read.


An Unkindness of Magicians by Kat Howard  (15)
This has been on my shelf since it came out a few years ago (received for free via Subterranean Press' email for being the first to respond). I'd have to say, it deserves the accolades it got and the advertisement that SP was doing for it. Kat Howard built a tidy little novel here. Urban fantasy, hidden wizard world (modern times), going through some kind of magical tournament to decide the ruler of the hidden world. While fairly generic sounding, the magic is done and described beautifully, and the novel is as long as it needs to be. It does drag on unnecessarily, it doesn't have sequels, and it ends before it gets stale. Everything is balanced nicely from prose to worldbuilding and characterization. Another good one to recommend.


To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers  (16)
Another amazing book. This is a hard scifi, ie no magic masquerading as technology (beyond a machine that can induce a coma and a spaceship engine that can travel between stars slowly), it details the journey of 4 scientists exploring exoplanets around other stars. Its a beautiful exposition of prose and description. Alien worlds being gently explored by very realistic feeling characters. Highly recommended.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: The P on July 11, 2020, 01:24:02 am
The Illearth War by Stephen Donaldson
I am still unsure why these are so acclaimed...  Took me the whole month of June and then some to slog through this.  Donaldson is a fine writer as far as the prose and everything goes.  The idea of the story is intriguing, man with a chronic illness is transported to a fantasy land where he is healed, but can't bring himself to believe the experience is more than a hallucination.  The problem is the world is pretty dull, I don't care at all for any of the characters.  The slightly interesting ones (the giant in the first book, and the fat Lord who goes with the expedition to the giants in this one) have small parts.  I thought Hile Troy would be a nice addition; he plays a nice foil to Covenant in the early parts of the book.  But once they separate, he gets to be just as dull as Covenant is without the other.  I did like this book more than book one, but not by much.  I'll slog my way through the final in the trilogy, but I certainly don't expect much from it.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
This one was good.  A bit surreal reading about the lead-up and aftermath of a global pandemic that wipes out most of the population.  It was very character focused, and jumped back and forth between their lives before, during, post-pandemic.  There's a good amount of pathos, but contrasted with some nice heartwarming moments.  It's worth reading if you have even a passing interest in the premise.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: Wilshire on July 20, 2020, 03:08:33 pm
Found some cheap books for sale on audible, so I grabbed a few at random. Can't say I was overly impressed but it wasn't a total waste of time in most cases.

The Road by Cormic McCarthy
Not a fan of this bloke. Hated Blood Meridian, thought I'd give Road a go, and stopped about 15% in. Just not for me.

The Theft of Swords by Michael J Sullivan (17)
A pretty standard fantasy, which is to say that its entirely skippable. Generic plot and bland characters in a flat and uninspiring world.

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo (18)
Surprisingly good. Its a heist book, which can be pretty hit or miss, but Bardugo did a good job with the world and the characters. Bits of magic sprinkled throughout, and I'm not sure why this got labeled as YA - its dark, and one of the characters removes a guys eye with an oyster knife. If this is YA ... "kids these days".

The Vine Witch by Luanne G Smith (19)
Not sure what to call this. Maybe a fantasy romance? the "vine witches" are mages that live in france in the 1900s and are viticulturists. An interesting use of magic use to describe wine making, with some sub plot romance. It was a fun quick book.

Off to Be The Wizard by Scott Meyer (20)
A scifi/fantasy where a kid discovers he can change reality by editing a .txt file be found on some old server. Goes back in time for magical shenanigans. It was OK, definitely trying to be funny and mostly succeeding, though it was ultimately a very small book without any grand ideas.

Minimum Wage Magic Rachael Aaron (21)
Urban fantasy set in the future, where Detroit was blown up via magic and rebuilt by some deity. A clever little book following a magical crime scene cleaner. Another suprisingly interesting fantasy book, though I don't think I'll be reading any sequels.





Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: H on July 21, 2020, 05:05:44 pm
The Road by Cormic McCarthy
Not a fan of this bloke. Hated Blood Meridian, thought I'd give Road a go, and stopped about 15% in. Just not for me.

 :'(
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: Wilshire on July 23, 2020, 07:04:37 pm
Uprooted by Naomi Novik (22)

I read this one because I got it as a gift due to a mixup from a kickstarter.  pretty good book, though honestly nothing to write home about. The magic is fun and very "real" feeling. Maybe 'natural' is a better term - forest magic. Anyway, its fun, if a pretty standard story about an evil wood, an old wizard, and his young apprentice. A fine YA book, if that's what its labeled as. Recommended, though not if you're looking for something dark and gritty.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: The P on July 28, 2020, 02:27:25 am
Toll the Hounds by Steven Erikson

After spending over a month slogging through Illearth War, I wanted to read something undeniably enjoyable.  I hadn't read this one since it came out 12(?!) years ago.  Strangely, it has a cover blurb by Donaldson.  Erikson has named Donaldson as one of his major influences in the genre.  I guess I can see that in the subversion of epic fantasy....  But man, I just don't get the Donaldson love.  Maybe reading him for the first time in 2020 is just too far removed from its initial publication.
Erikson has a unique ability to wrench emotions (particularly grief and compassion in this book) out of the reader.  Even minor characters (like the unnamed guard following up murders in the slums) get a moment.  Maybe by then my emotions were already under duress.  I was blitzing through the last third.
I will say, it is certainly helpful having the internet around after so many years to quickly recall the originating threads of some of the minor characters.

Up next, some historical novelization.  Hopefully it's tolerable.  Outside my wheelhouse, but it is my trade for a friend of mine diving in to Bakker.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: Wilshire on July 29, 2020, 11:20:25 am
TTH is definitely Erikson in top form. 12 years seems about right for rereading a Malazan book - though its one of my favorite series its not something I see myself picking up anytime soon - but its only been 3 years.

And yeah, I agree with you on Donaldson. My personal guess is that back in the 70/80's (which is a time period that I dislike most of the books anyway) he stood out as unique, but his stuff really has not aged well (like many books from that period).
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: Wilshire on August 04, 2020, 06:01:13 pm
The Powder Mage Trilogy by Brian McClellan, including Promise of Blood (23), The Crimson Campaign(24), and The Autumn Republic(25).

I am am heartbroken I didnt enjoy this series more. Promise of Blood was a brilliant book the first time around, and I reread it before going into the next two. On the second read, it felt a bit more shallow, though still a great book. Unfortunately, the sequels didn't hold up. Its still a good story, but the main characters are simply too powerful. They are given special powers, with no explanation, and to such a degree that other character comment on it. At first I though this was some kind of meta-commentary by the author, but since it never leads anywhere it leaves me feeling a bit confused.

Again, the first book is good, maybe even great. However it is actually cheapened by the sequels. They seem to rehash the same old ground every time, feeling very redundant. The books all open in very similar ways, the characters encounter functionally identical  threats that all end in the same way. In works very well in book 1, but rehashing it twice more is just disappointing.

Before I picked these up, I thought there were only 3 books, but there are actually something like 6 now, all various forms of prequels set before and during the three main books. I'm actually still tempted to read them, with the hope that McClellan covers some new ground and actually goes deeper into worldbuilding.

And maybe that's the rub. There's this big world out there. He's got religion, politics, wars, gods, armies, command structures, gangs, police forces, worker's unions, monarchies, savages, a handful of different kids of diametrically opposed magics... There's just so much there to explore. So many ways the story could have been fleshed out. Instead, what you get is a couple of quick army campaigns with some flavor thrown in for interest, but I'm left wanting more.

Such potential left untapped, Brian McClellan has the potential of a great writer. I do encourage everyone to read Promise of Blood, despite the sequels, as it is by itself quite a fun read.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: Wilshire on August 31, 2020, 11:16:50 pm
So August was a slow month, only got to one more, but hey it was a non-fiction (which I actually finished) so maybe that counts for something?

Scientific Secrets for Raising Kids Who Thrive by Peter M. Vishton (26)

The title is a bad start - "scientific secrets" is just a dumb hook, and "thrive" I suspect will be a buzz word I will come to despise. Despite that, it was a very interesting book. More like a series of 20 TED talks, each was pretty informative for the aspiring parent. He does a good job explaining current science, reasoning behind it (ie tests, which ones, how many, if they're any good), but also opposition arguments and potential confounding variables. Good for your average person wanting to understand things, rather than simply being told right or wrong, or being given a simple rule list to follow.

I think I'll try to finish out Acts of Cain. Cain Black Knife could be interesting. But also I got the 'first' (publication order) Pern book in a bogo, so maybe I'll do that instead... We'll see.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: Wilshire on September 30, 2020, 12:34:47 pm
Caine Black Knife by Matthew Stover (27)
This is an amazing book. The best in the series, imo (and I waited to write this until I had finished Caine's Law so I would say that unequivocally). This book is fascinating given the rest of the series. A lot more self reflection for Caine, as well as some look back into his post-school, pre-fame, years. It is a much shorter book the Blade of Tyshall, mostly because it deals with a much shorter timeline. This small framework spends less time with Caine kicking everyone's ass, and more time with plot and character development - something I think this series needed. If you've invested the time into reading the first two books, with worth continuing.

Caine's Law by Matthew Stover (28)
This one is closer to business as usual, though it seems Stover continues his writing development. There is a deeper concern with philosophy in Caine's Law than previous books, and some entertaining discussions about temporality of Gods (and how that fucks with everything). Overall its a fun conclusion to Acts of Caine, though I suspect not the one most people were expecting. Worth the read.

Dragon's Flight (Pern 1) By Anne McCaffery (29)
I mostly read this one on a whim due to its previous popularity, and also dragons (who doesn't like scifi dragons?). It was ... just ok. Not bad, but plain. Not dull, but predictable. Also, there's an aspect of timetravel, which gets strange real quick, and coming from finishing Caine's Law it felt a bit absurd. The writing got better from start to end, which makes me have some hope that the series gets better, so maybe someday in the future I'll give it another shot. Probably its a fine book for someone looking for a simpler, feel good story about the good overcoming the bad.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: Wilshire on October 05, 2020, 12:44:38 pm
1984 by George Orwell (30)
This is an amazing book, even today some 70 years after it was published in 1949.  Orwell lays out a fascinating that is disturbingly similar to the direction things are going in 2020. That's not to say there's a worldwide government spying on us all the time, but the functionality of the society Orwell imagined never seems too far from the truth. If you've not read it, do yourself a favor. 1984 is well written, with interesting characters, but as is typical of older SF the main thrust of the novel is not the worldbuilding or characterization, but the central ideas and themes.

For a novel about the perpetual and permanent triumph of absolute evil, it is surprisingly enduring - and endearing.  I've claimed this is one of my favorite books for a long time, but had only read it once more than 12 years ago. I'm glad, after this reread, that my memory hadn't been wrong, and that it still holds its own against the hundreds of books I've read since. The writing is crisp, the world vivid, the prose stark without being overly plain. The ideas in 1984 still inspire profound thoughts about the way the world works today, and provides a bare roadmap for potholes and pitfalls we ought to avoid as the future continuously approaches on the horizon.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: BeardFisher-King on October 13, 2020, 11:51:18 pm
1984 by George Orwell (30)

For a novel about the perpetual and permanent triumph of absolute evil, it is surprisingly enduring - and endearing.

Wow, that's one helluva blurb, Wilshire!
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: Wilshire on October 14, 2020, 01:58:56 pm
Zippy one-liners is about as much as I can do for a book review ;) I'd never survive attempting to make a blog of  my thoughts, but todays world of information quanta spread thinly over multiple platforms, I might be OK.

Crib Sheets by Emily Oster (31)
A baby/parenting book. Emily Oster is an amazing writer and very good at portraying deep research in a digestible fashion. Very helpful. I highly recommend Oster to anyone looking for baby related books. There's tons of information, explanations of data and when it is/isn't good, plus she manages to be humors while doing it.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: Wilshire on October 23, 2020, 01:12:45 pm
Smoke and Stone by Michael R Fletcher (32)
I was... disappointed with this. I picked it over Beyond Redemption because BR wasn't on audible and SAS was. They aren't related, and SAS is newer so I figured it would be fine. Frankly, the prose and the worldbuilding were interesting but the characters were really flat Not a whole lot of characterization, I never felt connected to any of the characters, which may have contributed to the main conflict feeling boring. I was left wanting to learn more about the world Fletcher had crafted, but caring nothing for the people populating it. Which is a damn shame, because it was a unique setting that was well crafted.

So if you don't mind a story with forgettable characters, it may still be worth the read. That said, I'd probably not recommend it and say that maybe Beyond Redemption is worth reading instead.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: The P on October 26, 2020, 08:36:56 pm
Well, it's been a few months since I updated.  Let's see....

City of Golden Shadow by Tad Williams.  I first read this ages ago.  At least before the first Matrix movie came out, since I recall noting its similarities to Otherland at the time.  It made an impression on my young mind, and I was curious how I'd find it 20+ years later (and the library had a digital loan readily available).  It is....ok.  It takes too long to get where it is going, which is typical for Williams, but the journey is not as enjoyable as his fantasy books.

The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson.  It started strong, got a little bogged down, but then ended nicely with some intimations of cognitive philosophy to come (hopefully).  The world building ended up feeling a little flat, but it has some potential yet.  I will be reading the next book.

Crash Space by Bakker.  This is short enough I won't count it towards my reading goal.  Madness shamed me into reading Bakker's non-SA work, so I did.  I enjoyed this one a lot, kind of a condensed less soul-destroying Neuropath.  The interaction with Glen showing that unrestrained freedom paradoxically results in bondage is much more in line with some Christian philosophy than I expected to find from Bakker.

Light, Time, and Gravity by Bakker.  Man, I did not expect to like this as much as I did.  It was a little heavy on the philosophical discourse for me, and I learned more about tobacco farming than I ever needed.  The description of that part of Canada as "just more Ohio" was a little sad, but helped me to think of Canada more accurately (I generally consider it to be a combination of frozen wasteland and thick forests).  A lot of it seemed very autobiographical, which is maybe a little concerning.

Disciple of the Dog by Bakker.  I don't read a lot of detective/mystery fiction, but this is at least as good as any I've read.  Certainly this is the most accessible thing Bakker has written, and it ought to be more widely known that it is.  I guess that's the problem with crossing genres.  Or maybe the detective/mystery genre is so oversaturated nothing stands out.

Rejoice: A Knife to the Heart by Steven Erikson.  An interesting take on first contact.  I once tried reading his other sci-fi (Willful Child), but just couldn't be bothered.  I like how positive and hopeful Erikson can be without losing dramatic tension or devolving into thoughtless warm-fuzzies.  I heartily recommend it.

The Poppy War and The Dragon Republic by R. F. Kuang.  This got a lot of buzz when it came out, and look! Time Magazine says they are two of the best 100 fantasy books ever written!  They're fine.  Better than most new fantasy, and it doesn't settle into the expected ruts most fantasies do.  It might drive along them a little or cross over them, but moves along before things get stale.  My biggest problem with events happening and decisions being made for no reason other than convenience of plot.  There are some cool moments and ideas; enough to keep me interested.  I'll read the final book, but it's not the amazing debut I was led expect.

I'll be better about staying on top of things.  That historical novelization is still unread until my friend picks up TDTCB.  I will wear him down.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: Wilshire on October 27, 2020, 02:04:49 pm
Crash Space is among my favorite works of Bakker. I don't know why exactly, but its a fantastic depiction of short form SFF - and a MUCH better showing than his attempts at TSA short stories (which, while entertaining, are terrible if you're not deeply entrenched into the lore of TSA, which seems to defeat the purpose of the exercise).

I never read LTG, and never intend to, but "just more Ohio" is hilarious enough to make me reconsider.

Disciple is a fun noir. I'm usually disappointed with this type of story, finding them boring more often then not, but Bakker does a fine job given the limitations of the medium. He manages to squeeze in some philosophy and tie-ins with TSA without it becoming overbearing.

Rejoice is something that I wanted to read this year, but I'm not sure I'll get to it. I've not read anything outside of Malazan from him, and I'm curious how he does without millions of words to tell a story. You're brief review is encouraging though.

Poppy War is primarily fascinating due to its setting. I really appreciate the non-western setting with its own trappings, history, and mythology. Probably if it wasn't for that I'd have more qualms, but as it stands I'm a big fan. I love the first book's split from "magic school" to "magic war". This is often mentioned as one of its downsides, which is fair, but the magic school setting can get old quick, and having it end abruptly is fine by me. For a new writer Kuang did a fantastic job... But that Time list of "best fantasy" was drivel (ffs, the panelist authors who made the list all managed to have at least one, if not multiple, books on the list. C'mon, >10% of the list is an advertisement for their own books. Times, i expected better) and I dont think Poppy War belongs on that list. Its good, probably one of my top 20, but its not THAT good.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: Wilshire on November 03, 2020, 05:56:07 pm
A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie (33)

Abercrombie is a great character writer, I've got to give him that. A Little Hatred takes place maybe 20ish years after the events of First Law, which means that its largely a new cast of main characters. Its fun to see the old faces lurking in the background, bringing a nice nostalgia factor with it, while still allowing plenty of space for the young and reckless to take center stage. That said, I don't think its altogether his best work. Some scenes are fantastic, but there is not the same overall sense of awe that I had with The Blade Itself. Something is missing, though I can't honestly put my finger on it.

I'll be looking forward to reading the rest, but I'm not feeling an immediate need to start The Trouble With Peace.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: The P on November 03, 2020, 09:02:50 pm
I'll be reading this closer to the release of book 3.  I assume the series will improve by each book.  I appreciate Abercrombie's method of plotting the whole trilogy from the start.  It gives me hope even after a subpar start.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: Wilshire on November 04, 2020, 02:11:42 pm
Yeah I think I'll wait for the 3rd release and read them together. Its not bad, and I still recommend fans of Abercrombie read it, but its a good thing this is the opening to the second trilogy rather than his debut novel.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: Wilshire on November 09, 2020, 03:42:31 pm
Hyperion by Dan Simmons (34)

Hmmm. You know what, it wasn't as good as I remembered. The first time I read it was something like 5 years ago, and what was a few hundred books ago, frankly fairly early on in my reading career (when judged by read count). So the reread was somewhat disappointing, not quite the incredible book I remembered. That said, its still a great book. The various pilgrims' stories are fun to listen to, though Simmons struggles with making interactions centered around romances any kind of believable.

The setting, the worldbuilding, remains the primary interest. Each individual story is largely interesting by itself, but it doesn't weave quite the cohesive narrative as I original remembered. Brawne Lamia's story is the weakest of the bunch, but it does work nicely to reveal aspects of the universe to the reader.

Altogether, its still one of my top scifi picks, but it might no longer remain at the top. We'll see how it goes with The Fall, and perhaps the rest of the Cantos.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: The P on November 10, 2020, 02:15:34 am
I enjoyed Hyperion a lot.  I agree the strength is in the setting.  I like slow building of tension as we learn more about what brought them all on the pilgrimage together and the growing threat of the shrike.
The fall of hyperion is very good, probably my favorite of the cantos.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: The P on November 17, 2020, 02:38:20 pm
The Monster Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson

I think I liked this more than the first one.  It opens up the world more from the very localized setting in book one.  There are some interesting ideas and world-building going on that I think the first book needed in order to be more engaging.
This book really solidified what was a nagging complaint I had with book one, and it continues here; there is little emphasis put on relationships between characters, but those relationships end up being huge motivators for their subsequent choices.  Maybe I am not picking up on the author's subtleties, but it reads like these interpersonal motivators are very ad hoc to move the plot along.  In a similar way, the settings and ambience of scenes seem underdeveloped.  I guess the other side could end up with a bloated story (not that this book is short), but there needs to be more.
Despite it all, I will read the next and the one after it whenever it comes out.  It is one of the better new fantasies I've read.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: The P on November 20, 2020, 02:56:11 pm
Video Palace: In Search of the Eyeless Man: Collected Stories edited by Nick Braccia and Michael Monello

My friend has a horror themed podcast and got to interview the editors of this.  He was very excited about it, so I listened to the Video Palace podcast (it's like a 10 episode radio play), then read the book.  I don't normally dig on anthologies, but this was pretty good.  My only real complaint about it is the inconsistency as it concerns the framing.  The through line of the anthology is these are stories and accounts gathered by some professor concerning the titular figure.  But some of the stories are written in third-person omniscient, which kind of took me out of any immersion.  There are some good stories in here and some mediocre ones, but nothing either amazing or awful.

The related podcast is pretty well done, and worth listening to if you are bored.  The book doesn't require you to have listened to the podcast.  There are a couple references and just one story directly related to it.  I think they put a couple of the stories up for free as audio files there as well; I haven't checked.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: Wilshire on November 30, 2020, 06:01:13 pm
The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons (35)

The Fall is definitely an important part of the Hyperion saga, and it really does make Hyperion a better book. That said, it still wasn't as good as nostalgia memories say it ought to have been. I'm not exactly sure what I missed this time around, but its still a great pair of books. The Ousters remain some of my favorite "aliens" - despite them not technically being aliens at all.

I really must say though, after all the philosophizing, calling The Void Which Binds a consciousness that grows as consciousness in animals grows, but then reducing back to simply being "love" is something of a letdown.

I dont think I'll make it to my goal of 40, but hopefully I can get to one or two more this year.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: The P on December 04, 2020, 01:27:34 pm
How to Rule an Empire and Get Away with It by K. J. Parker

Who knew last year's Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City was the first in a trilogy?  It certainly didn't seem like it needed to be followed, not that everything was nicely wrapped up.  This book takes place years later with a nearly entirely new cast of characters.  It is fun getting a completely different perspective on the events of the first book.  Parker is, as always, funny and entertaining to read.  How to Rule, like Sixteen Ways, is on the shorter side and doesn't have the lengthy sections describing mundane processes that sneaks in to many of Parker's works.  I love it of course, and heartily recommend.  These books might be the most approachable Parker, aside from his short fiction.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: Wilshire on December 30, 2020, 01:29:23 pm
Rejoice: A Knife To The Heart by Steven Erikson (36)

Finished this one last week, and it'll be the last one of 2020. Definitely an interesting book, though more of a Thought Experiment writ long form, rather than a book in its own right. Also, despite it being much shorter than what he normally does, it is Classic Erikson. By which I mean, its told as a series of short stories set around the disconnected lives of many different characters, which he uses to weave a loosely connected story. Anyone who has read even part of Malazan will understand what I mean here.

The ideas presented in this First Contact novel are fun, and definitely worth some contemplating, but as he goes through all the various arguments for/against the positions presented in the books there really isn't THAT much let to think about. It is an interesting take on your standard scifi, and it doesn't quite work - for me. Not that he did it poorly, but Erikson seems to have a very strong writing style that I get tired of very quickly. If you're interested in a book with minimal plot, that reads like Erikson-does-Asimov, this is probably the book for you. Or if you want a first contact story that isn't about the humans somehow beating a stage 3 civilization, its probably a good bet too.
Title: Re: Yearly Reading Targets 2020
Post by: The P on December 31, 2020, 06:02:53 pm
The Jackal of Nar by John Marco (29)

This was decent.  It's kind of strange it is touted as military fantasy.  The plot deviates enough from standard fantasy to be interesting.  I think the world building was lacking, almost feeling like the world was just built around the story instead of the story fitting in to the world.  It might not be a bad way to go about writing a fantasy novel, but I think it is better the other way around.  There is good potential for the story going forward, I will continue the series.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab (30)

Hey, look!  I hit my goal of 30 books right on the nose.  Schwab is a pretty good writer.  I still think my favorite of hers is Vicious.  This one was enjoyable, but really falls well toward Romance rather than SFF.  But it does so without getting too sappy or boring or steamy.  It is a nice representation of the "deal with a devil" trope; there are some fresh twists thrown in, but nothing mind-blowing.  I sometimes jokingly call myself a literary misogynist, but Schwab is one of the female authors I enjoy every time.  It's worth reading any of her books.  I'd place Addie LaRue below Vicious, but above the Shades of Magic trilogy.