Whatcha reading at the moment?

[Collecemall]

I'm reading the Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb.

Pretty good stuff.

It's the second book in The Farseer Trilogy. Did you read the first one? If so, was it good too?

I finished reading Mistborn trilogy for the second time. I couldn't put it down but I think my brain is failing me because I realised that I didn't remember a lot of the plot points and I read it the first time just one year ago.

Meanwhile, I order the 2 Stromlight Archive books.

Right now that series is among those that I'm most excited to see where they go. Keep us posted on what you think about them as you read. I'm going to have to read them again as the new books come out because I've forgotten many of the plot points now.

 

[Laurens]

It's the second book in The Farseer Trilogy. Did you read the first one? If so, was it good too?

Yes I read the first, some of the best fiction I've read in a long while.

I think it captures all of the court intrigue and plotting that Game of Thrones has, but her writing is better. I'm excited to see where the story leads.

 

[Prolescum]

Battle Pope.

The end of the world came and went, God saved the worthy (both ascended to heaven), and it's up to the Pope and his sidekick Jesus to save the angel Michael from Lucifer's perverted grasp in a post-apocalyptic America.

Great book so far.

 

[Collecemall]

Joe Abercrombie: Shattered Sea series.

I really enjoyed the First Law books but I've found these to be even better. I finished Half A King and Half A World this week. It's about a Prince (Yarvi) born with a mangled hand who is suddenly thrust into (and then quickly back out of) the throne of Gettland. He's struggled his entire life trying to live up to the expectations of his father and since he wasn't first in line for the throne trained to be a minister. His cunning and foresight make him masterful in this position and it really is a great book full of adventure, revenge, relationships, humor, war, and just enough "magic" to call it fantasy. This joins my list of highly recommended series. I hope to finish it up over the weekend. It is a must read for First Law and fantasy fans.

 

[WarK]

Joe Abercrombie: Shattered Sea series.

I really enjoyed the First Law books but I've found these to be even better. I finished Half A King and Half A World this week. It's about a Prince (Yarvi) born with a mangled hand who is suddenly thrust into (and then quickly back out of) the throne of Gettland. He's struggled his entire life trying to live up to the expectations of his father and since he wasn't first in line for the throne trained to be a minister. His cunning and foresight make him masterful in this position and it really is a great book full of adventure, revenge, relationships, humor, war, and just enough "magic" to call it fantasy. This joins my list of highly recommended series. I hope to finish it up over the weekend. It is a must read for First Law and fantasy fans.

I heard about the series but thought it was meant for children. At least in comparison with the First Law trilogy.
Right now I'm listening to The Bands of Mourning by Brandon Sanderson. It's the 3 book in Wax and Wayne series (which is part of Mistborn series). I'm liking it.

Next in line, although probably not this month, is The Way of Kings. I got the two released books. Each is over 1000 pages long and the series is supposed have something like 10 books. That'll be a long read.

 

[Laurens]

I'm currently on the Assassin's Quest by Robin Hobb.

I have to say it is some of the best fantasy I've ever read. I'm totally hooked. I totally recommend reading the whole trilogy.

 

[Collecemall]

Joe Abercrombie: Shattered Sea series.

I really enjoyed the First Law books but I've found these to be even better. I finished Half A King and Half A World this week. It's about a Prince (Yarvi) born with a mangled hand who is suddenly thrust into (and then quickly back out of) the throne of Gettland. He's struggled his entire life trying to live up to the expectations of his father and since he wasn't first in line for the throne trained to be a minister. His cunning and foresight make him masterful in this position and it really is a great book full of adventure, revenge, relationships, humor, war, and just enough "magic" to call it fantasy. This joins my list of highly recommended series. I hope to finish it up over the weekend. It is a must read for First Law and fantasy fans.

I heard about the series but thought it was meant for children. At least in comparison with the First Law trilogy.
Right now I'm listening to The Bands of Mourning by Brandon Sanderson. It's the 3 book in Wax and Wayne series (which is part of Mistborn series). I'm liking it.

Next in line, although probably not this month, is The Way of Kings. I got the two released books. Each is over 1000 pages long and the series is supposed have something like 10 books. That'll be a long read.

I guess I can see why Shattered Sea might be marketed as YA. It is a coming of age story for a variety of characters including Yarvi the stories focus. But the writing style is the same as FL with a better plot on the whole. It can be pretty easy to predict where it's going but there are some surprises mixed in to throw off your assumptions. It's also a fairly short series which again might appeal to younger audiences. I guess what I'm getting at is I wouldn't let the marketing push you away from it if you enjoyed Abercrombie's other work.


I'm not as thrilled about the Wax and Wayne books as the originals but they are still good. Unlike the originals I have been able to set them down for a few days at a time. I got confused and thought The Bands of Mourning was going to end that story arc but there is another on the way. He also released another novella. Secret History Of Mistborn which follows Kelsier after he died. I really enjoyed it and it answers some questions I had and hinted at more to come. So once you've finished all of those you might want to pick it up. I always thought he was too great a character to have him disappear so early and not return.

You'll love The Way of Kings. I can't wait for the new one in that series. To me this series is the next great epic fantasy. My only fear is that his writing is going to get stale with all the different series he has going. His scheduled output is extremely ambitious. But so far so good.

 

[WarK]

Ok, I'm putting The Shattered Sea on my to-read list.

I skipped the paragraph about Wax and Wayne because I havne't finished it yet.

Cheers

 

[Collecemall]

I think I got the name of the novella slightly wrong but I tried to avoid any spoilers. I think it's safe. I'm going to have to try Laurens recommendation of Robin Hobb. I'm running out of things I'm excited to read.

 

[Collecemall]

I finished up Shattered Sea today. Still recommend it. Now more puzzled that it's considered YA. Some pretty adult themes. Like First Law I can see him spinning off more books from this.

Going to finish up Stephen Kings last book which was a collection of short stories (I've got one more section) as I've been touching this periodically for a few months. Then I'm not sure. I really enjoyed Daniel Abraham's work so I think I'm going to try some of his other stuff. Either that or maybe go back to Greg Iles and catch up with his last few books.

 

[Collecemall]

It's the second book in The Farseer Trilogy. Did you read the first one? If so, was it good too?

Yes I read the first, some of the best fiction I've read in a long while.

I think it captures all of the court intrigue and plotting that Game of Thrones has, but her writing is better. I'm excited to see where the story leads.

I'm almost done with the second one. It's not a bad book but it lacks.... something. Part of my issue with it is I use the audiobooks to supplement my reading. So If the reader isn't great it can detract from the book. In this case the guy is (I think) the same one who did The Belgeriad and it just came off as really contrived and cliche. It's not quite as bad when reading but listening the dialogue was terrible at times. It's almost like it was written for preteens. While Farseer isn't as bad it is almost on the same level as Belgeriad. I'm a bit disappointed because the first half of the first one sort of had me interested. Now I'm forcing myself through and it's getting more difficult to read with the enthusiasm that I have with other series like Malazan. I started those again and it's incredible the second time around. So much of it makes sense now on a second reading. So glad I stuck through the tough start to that series.


Has anyone read any Neil Gaiman? I'm considering trying one of his. Same with Hugh Howey. Would love feedback if anyone has read anything by them.

 

[Collecemall]

I don't mean to be a post whore in this thread. I just happen to read a lot and want to share in hopes others will do the same. I'm always looking for new things to read.

I finished the Dagger and Coin series by Daniel Abraham yesterday. I think I might have mentioned this series before but he released the last book earlier this month and I'm quickly becoming a huge fan of his writing. He's done some unique things in the fantasy genre (at least unique from all the other things I've read). There's of course a bit of magic, nobility and court intrigue, wars, battles, unique races, etc. but perhaps my favorite part is the focus on areas that don't duplicate the middle ages in Europe. There's a bit of Asian themes mixed in and usually an economic thread that other series ignore or don't do as well. If you haven't read one of his books do yourself a favor and pick up either Dagger and Coin series or Long Price Quartet and give them a shot. He has a couple of other series in other genres that I plan on trying at some point. I suspect he has something unique to offer there as well. He's collaborated with GRR Martin on some works too.


My problem lately is I'm running out of authors I'm familiar with and the few I've tried this year didn't grab my attention very well. I tend to read a lot of fantasy and while there is a lot of it that is really good there's also a lot that is either not to my taste or written to a younger audience. So please if you have suggestions throw them my way!

 

[WarK]

My problem lately is I'm running out of authors I'm familiar with and the few I've tried this year didn't grab my attention very well. I tend to read a lot of fantasy and while there is a lot of it that is really good there's also a lot that is either not to my taste or written to a younger audience. So please if you have suggestions throw them my way!

You've probably read 100 times more books than I have so no point in me giving you advice because all books I've read you probably read too. Try going here, maybe you'll find something interesting.

Or maybe you could read the final book in The First Law series (Red Country)? It's pretty good and you get to see what happened to The Bloody Nine after his deadly fall.

I'm reading The Way of Kings, I don't like it as much as I did Mistborn or the Kingkiller Chronicles but I still can't put it down.

 

[Collecemall]

My problem lately is I'm running out of authors I'm familiar with and the few I've tried this year didn't grab my attention very well. I tend to read a lot of fantasy and while there is a lot of it that is really good there's also a lot that is either not to my taste or written to a younger audience. So please if you have suggestions throw them my way!

You've probably read 100 times more books than I have so no point in me giving you advice because all books I've read you probably read too. Try going here, maybe you'll find something interesting.

Or maybe you could read the final book in The First Law series (Red Country)? It's pretty good and you get to see what happened to The Bloody Nine after his deadly fall.

I'm reading The Way of Kings, I don't like it as much as I did Mistborn or the Kingkiller Chronicles but I still can't put it down.

I didn't start reading ravenously until about the middle of 2013. So it took me a while to go through all the Wheel of Times, Game of Thrones, (don't laugh) Harry Potter, etc. so while I do read a lot now I've only read about 300 books or so. I've sort of settled into an average of a little more than a book a week now though.

I'll check out the link you posted. But yeah I finally finished Red Country a couple weeks ago. Glad to see the resolution (or not) for Logan. I liked it more than the previous stand alone book in that series and generally like Abercrombie. The bit of humor he includes is a nice diversion from the normal fantasy I usually read.

The Way of Kings was really good I thought. I enjoyed the second book as well. It's got a different spin to it but still plenty of intrigue, politics, etc. I'm terrible with names of books in series. Sorry.

I'm in the midst of Assassin's Quest. The last Farseer book. I will eventually read more of Hobb if I don't find something new soon but it hasn't been among my favorites. I'm also reading the Malazan series written by Erickson again before I start on the books that Esslemont wrote in the same world. I was half way through the series the first time before I sort of put things together so I know I missed a ton of stuff. But I always keep 2-3 books going at the same time and those I'm reading slowly this time around. I figure it will take me the whole year to get through all of them but I'll probably manage another 35-40 books besides those. Just have to find something else that interests me.

 

[WarK]

Damn.

Last year I read 12 or so books and that's a lot for me. I started The Way of Kings two weeks ago and I've read 800 pages so far. So, I'm a slow reader.
I started reading more after 3rd season of Game of Thrones ended. I listened to the whole Song of Ice and Fire as an audio book and later I bought the latest 2 books.
Before Song of Ice and Fire I used to read a couple of books every year. I'd usually been re-reading Lord of the Rings or The Silmarillion.
My problem is that I don't remember all the details from the book I've read. At the end of last year I re-read the Mistborn trilogy and was surprised how much of it I'd forgotten.
But still, reading is so much fun that I've started lagging on watching films and tv shows.

If you'd like to read something that's not fantasy I recommend The Hot Zone by Richard Preston. It's not fiction but it's so interesting and it just reads itself.

 

[Collecemall]

I'll try almost anything that isn't romance or vampires. That sounds like something I'd read. I'll throw it on my tablet and start it in a few weeks. Thanks!

 

[WarK]

I finished Words of Radiance two days ago. Awesome. Can't wait for the 3rd book to come out.

 

[Collecemall]

I know right? I'm glad he writes so fast. I hate waiting forever on a book. I may have to read those again as I've read so much since those I'm confused as to what all happened.

In case you didn't know Abercrombie just released another First Law book. It's short stories I think. Haven't read it yet.

I haven't read anything that just blew me away recently (other than the re-read of Malazan). American Gods by Neil Gaiman wasn't bad. The Dagger and Coin series finished up and it was good. I really like Daniel Abraham. The next book I'm excited about reading is the last book in Mark Lawrence's Red Queen's War Trilogy. It comes out in June I think. Erikson and Esslemont have both released more books in the Malazan world so I'll be busy with those for the rest of the year. I'll be doing good to read all of them and fit in the other 10-15 I have on my list.

 

[WarK]

I have an audiobook of Warbreaker. After that I think I'll try the Shattered Sea trilogy. Not sure yet. I may spend all the time looking at the progress bar for 3rd Stormlight Archive book on Sanderson's webpage. It's at 51% at the moment. In one of the interviews he said that it wasn't that he was a fast writer but that he writes consistently every day.

 

[Collecemall]

I have an audiobook of Warbreaker. After that I think I'll try the Shattered Sea trilogy. Not sure yet. I may spend all the time looking at the progress bar for 3rd Stormlight Archive book on Sanderson's webpage. It's at 51% at the moment. In one of the interviews he said that it wasn't that he was a fast writer but that he writes consistently every day.

Warbreaker was great. I think you'll enjoy it. I hope he writes the sequel (Nightblood). His website says he is but it will be a while. He puts out a couple of books a year pretty consistently so I consider that fast. Very few authors maintain that kind of output for any length of time but he has. So far he's done a good job of keeping things from getting stale but I worry about it being an issue in the future.