What are you reading? Sci-fi/fantasy edition

Just finshed IT and now onto On Writing by Steven King. Horror/mystery/fantasy fiction is right up my alley.

Drafting a novel now... not sure if i can do it im not the smartest but i have a very good imagination.
 
Finished up The Blade Itself.

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Really enjoyed the book, found myself laughing out loud on more than one occasion. Loved Gloktas inner monolog and him always worrying about falling down or ending up dead in a river. Through the majority of the book I found myself wondering how Logen had made it as far as he did. He was certainly a capable warrior, with lots of battlefield smarts, but still took a lot of damage and seemed to end up on the lucky side of the coin on a few occasions that he could have easily ended up back in the mud. Then when all seemed lost and I thought Bayaz would come to save the day, The Bloody Nine took the drivers seat and he went beast mode, and it all made sense. I read that part 3 times it was so satisfying.

For the first book in a trilogy, I thought it would end with a little more resolution, but it seems to be written as one complete story rather than a large over arching story with 3 parts. I would have been pissed if would have had to wait on the follow up material, but I'm a little late to the part on this series so was able to pick up the rest of the trilogy and making my way into Before They Are Hanged.
 
Re-reading the night angel trilogy by Brent Weeks.

Terrific series
 
Reading through The Witcher series of books. I'm enjoy them so far.
 
Juts started reading this:

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The story of Gan Moondark of the Dog People and the nation he forged in the post-apocalyptic Northwest. For centuries the proud Dog People had roamed with their horses across the grassy plains and fir-clad hills of the Northwest. Then, when their strength was as its greatest, the Dogs turned their bows on one another in a struggle over who would become War Chief after Col Moondark.....

So far, so good.
 
Wrapped up Before they are Hanged, the second book in the First Law Trilogy.

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I really enjoyed the first book, and liked this one even more. The first book didn't reveal what the bigger picture was, so this one picked up the pace a little more with bigger events. First one had to focus more on world building and character development, so this one was able to focus more on the over arching story.

Glotka continues to be my favorite character. I'm really enjoying Logen and his group and how that are developing, especially Jazel after he got a busted up. Collem West and the Northmen has been really interesting as well. I'm anxiously waiting for them to make the connection that West encountered Logen and he's still alive. I haven't read a ton of fantasy, but the wizards usually have some sort of restraint, so I love that Bayaz just straight up explodes dudes.

I have the 3rd book ready to go, but I just got The Drawing of the Three from the library so I want to finish that up and give it back before I wrap up the First law Trilogy.
 
Finished up The Blade Itself.

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Really enjoyed the book, found myself laughing out loud on more than one occasion. Loved Gloktas inner monolog and him always worrying about falling down or ending up dead in a river. Through the majority of the book I found myself wondering how Logen had made it as far as he did. He was certainly a capable warrior, with lots of battlefield smarts, but still took a lot of damage and seemed to end up on the lucky side of the coin on a few occasions that he could have easily ended up back in the mud. Then when all seemed lost and I thought Bayaz would come to save the day, The Bloody Nine took the drivers seat and he went beast mode, and it all made sense. I read that part 3 times it was so satisfying.

For the first book in a trilogy, I thought it would end with a little more resolution, but it seems to be written as one complete story rather than a large over arching story with 3 parts. I would have been pissed if would have had to wait on the follow up material, but I'm a little late to the part on this series so was able to pick up the rest of the trilogy and making my way into Before They Are Hanged.

Loved this whole trilogy as well as the stand alone novels in the same universe that come after. You're in for a treat imo.
 
Loved this whole trilogy as well as the stand alone novels in the same universe that come after. You're in for a treat imo.
i second this. these are some of the best fantasy novels out there at the moment.
 
i second this. these are some of the best fantasy novels out there at the moment.
His other trilogy was pretty good too. Half a king/war/world etc. The short story book is also fucking awesome. Sharp ends. Has some Glotka when he was young and a bunch of other characters. There's also a few with 2 new female characters which I liked.

Just read Kings of the Wyld which was similar in vein. Really enjoyed it. 2nd one is out soon.
 
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One of the most baffling mixtures of genius and incompetence I've ever read. It's from 1912. Lovecraft called it "one of the most potent pieces of macabre imagination ever written".

Premise from wikipedia

The Sun has gone out and the Earth is lit only by the glow of residual vulcanism. The last few millions of the human race are gathered together in a gigantic metal pyramid, nearly eight miles high – the Last Redoubt, under siege from unknown forces and Powers outside in the dark. These are held back by a shield known as the "air clog", powered from a subterranean energy source called the "Earth Current". For millennia, vast living shapes—the Watchers—have waited in the darkness near the pyramid. It is thought they are waiting for the inevitable time when the Circle's power finally weakens and dies. Other living things have been seen in the darkness beyond, some of unknown origins, and others that may once have been human.

To leave the protection of the Circle means almost certain death, or worse an ultimate destruction of the soul. As the story commences, the narrator establishes mind contact with an inhabitant of another, forgotten Lesser Redoubt. First one expedition sets off to succour the inhabitants of the Lesser Redoubt, whose own Earth Current has been exhausted, only to meet with disaster. After that, the narrator sets off alone into the darkness to find the girl he has made contact with, knowing now that she is the reincarnation of his past love.

I'm inclined to agree. On the level of sheer grimdark imagination and fantastical creativity it's almost unsurpassable as far as single novels go (only bested by titans such as Dune). Even today you do not see stories as eerie and apocalyptic as this. It's very much ahead of it's time but still standing right next to the works of pulp authors like Howard, Burroughs and (especially) Lovecraft. But the actual writting of it is filled with equally gobsmacking decisions. It's painfully verbose and overwritten, with some lacking or bad characterisation at times, and a virtually stand-alone prologue that's very lenghty and impacts almost nothing. It's that strange mixture of the superb and the incompetent that is as confounding as it is gripping and impressive.
 
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Just finished Dune. Ridiculous worldbuilding but I was a bit let down by the lack of suspense or tension.

Should I bother with rest of the series?
 
Re-reading the night angel trilogy by Brent Weeks.

Terrific series

One of my favorites and I'm thinking about giving it a second run-through after I finish Winter's Fury by AE Rayne.

A few others I'd highly recommend:

The Elven by Bernard Hennen
The Prince of Fools Trilogy by Mark Lawrence
The Prince of Thorns Trilogy by Mark Lawrence
The Blood Song Trilogy by Anthony Ryan
The Broken Sword by Poul Anderson

Probably not considered fantasy but anything by Bernard Cornwell

Also, I'm trying to remember the name of a series I read several years back. The story is set in a world based on two continents. One ruled by Lycan and the other ruled by humans with magical abilities based on a "familiar".

The Lycan and humans are at conflict due to the Lycan colonizing the coast of the hospital man continent. They are being pushed out by a humanoid/insectoid queens with the ability to use mind control over the armies of the people they conquer.

The protagonist (human), is an extremely powerful magic user that accidentally discovered his abilities. The story intially revolves around this and his development, until he discoveres one of the queens hibernating near his home and accidentally releases, her setting in motion an apocalyptic struggle for control of the human continent.
 
Dune was the best of the series.
I guessed since pretty much nobody in popular culture ever mentions the rest of them.

It's probably like the Neuromancer series in that respect. Though Mona Lisa Overdrive was also pretty good.
 
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