I currently have someone telling me Abercrombie’s First Law trilogy was disappointing because it had such a happy ending, so it begs the question what other truly awful takes are out there.
One thing I’m usually disappointed in is the lack of actual classes in a lot of magic academia books. Harry Potter and Lightbringer (despite other flaws) actually showed students in classes learning magic in class from a practical aspect, and I really enjoyed those depictions.
What other books have these types of scenes?
After seeing quite a few recommendation posts about the Cradle series I finished the first book last week and am on the second. It’s not deep or mind-blowing but it’s fast paced and fun.
While reading I can’t help but feel like I’m reading an anime. It just has that feel. So much so that I find myself mentally constructing the visuals an anime in my head. This series needs an adaptation! It’s so perfect for it.
Inspired by this thread from the other day: https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/162siyf/quiz_can_you_guess_the_fantasy_book_based_on_its/
A fairly easy one to start:
“I wanted to read this to see what all the brouhaha was about. Well, now I know and knowing is half the battle. Man, I only wish these were as cool as GI Joe. I’m not going to go all into the plot and characters other than to say that this is a very negative series with twisted morals. It most definitely is an attack on religion and God. I did not like the characters - they are mostly liars, cheaters, adulterers, murderers, etc. I did not like the plot. I do like green eggs and ham, but I did not like this.”
EDIT: Thanks for all the laughs and great responses all, this was super fun!
Scrolling through my library’s e-catalog, I found Spinning Silver and borrowed it on a whim. Upon starting, I promptly devoured it (staying up half the night). Great characters, great world, great plot, all combined so evocatively that I couldn’t put it down. I was transported to a fantasy medieval Russia, where tsars reign andwinter stalks always.
I have started another of Novik’s books, Uprooted
Looking online, I was surprised that some characters in Spinning Silver were vaguely historical, including Irina, >!daughter-in-law of Ivan the Terrible and the first female in Russia to reign in her own right!<
Beginning to end this is seriously one of the most refreshing, unique, and genuinely memorable series I’ve ever read, to the point when my response to finishing the latest book was to immediately want to go back and revisit the rest.
The series is split up between two trilogies, with three largely standalone books featuring characters from the trilogies in between them. The story is exceedingly simple, just the tale of a largely medieval fantasy nation and their barbarian neighbors to the north.
The real draw though is the characters. From the pompous and arrogant noble Jezal to the Wise old wizard Bayaz to the bitter torturer Glokta or the great warrior Logen who just wants to get away from fighting, the characters start out practically as walking, talking tropes that grow into some incredible and surprising characters. Abercrombie is all about deconstructing tropes but it never seems to distract, as the characters grow into some fantastic shades of moral gray.
And then …
He raised quite a bit of money for “charity” on the promise of a chapter reading 2 years ago, and it’s nowhere to be found.
I also have it on good authority that Worldbuilders hasn’t made a charitable contribution since December of 2021, yet the Patreon is still up and accepting payments.
So the charity is bringing in money, is paying employees, and is paying Rothfuss rent for the use of his building (quite a bit more than market value I might add); but when is Heifer International going to see some of the money that was intended for its use. Why is there a middle man when the link to contribute could just be pointed straight at Heifer Internationals donation link?
Why does anyone think this man is going to finish a book, much less a chapter, when he’s done nothing but lie about it for 2 years?
This book is absolutely mind-blowing. It took me a few days to finish it, but it’s definitely a book that should be savored. Every single page is incredibly well-written and the characters are just amazing. I couldn’t put it down! I don’t care about historical accuracy, I read it purely as fiction and loved it. And that ending…wow. I’m usually a crier, but strangely, I didn’t shed a tear during the heartbreaking ending. It’s such a weird feeling. Now that I’m done with the book, I have no idea what to read next. Any recommendations? Thanks for listening to my rant!
I’m busy re-reading Twilight. I’m about halfway through and Edward is hella controlling. Pulling Bella by her jacket when she wants to drive her own car to the point she nearly stumbles? When I was younger, I thought he was “boyfriend goals.” As someone who’s since had the controlling/possessive boyfriend, this now gives me the major ick. I’d be so put off.
I’ve read a lot of forgettable books and a lot of good books I’ve really liked that I can’t remember weeks after, but there are a few books that have stuck with me because of how much I HATED them.
The most recent one is Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots. I read this book two or three years ago and it’s still on my mind. It had such great reviews and seemed to be right up my alley. It’s another “the superheroes are the real villains” type of story, about a woman who gets a temp job working for a supervillain that turns into a crusade to prove that superheroes represent a workplace hazard. It was so jarring, absolutely managed to convince me of the opposite of what it wanted (the “good guy” villains regularly use child abuse/child endangerment to accomplish their goals, while the “bad guy” heroes don’t do ANYTHING remotely evil until nearly the finale) and ended it with absolutely the grossest final showdown. …
This was a weird year for the Hugo Awards. The nominees came out quite late, it’s appeared pretty disorganized, and I know at least one person declined a nomination to protest the guest of honor being a Russian who is an outspoken supporter of the war in Ukraine - so there were probably more. All that said, here’s what I thought of all the nominees, plus 3 actually amazing sci-fi books that should have made the list:
Mostly fantasy with a few sci-fi elements, this book follows a sweet, confused girl named Nona who was born six months ago into a nineteen year old body into an elaborate world of death magic, people taking over each other’s bodies, and lots of factions fighting for reasons that never made any sense to me - didn’t rank this one because it’s the third book in the Locked Tomb series, I haven’t read the others, and you absolutely can’t read this one as a standalone
You’ll love it …
Pretty simple question. I’m new to the genre, and looking to read what whatever people are enjoying.
I recently read Dark Matter and Recursion, enjoyed both.
What books do you read this year that you loved? And why?
Specially I mean any series/book that has a narritve that follows from
-initial incident
-small settlements and scavenging the waste
-the emergent of larger powers
-and the era of the frontier as new nation states bide for power.
Only series I’m familiar with that does this are the games fallout 1, 2, and New Vegas.
Edit: thanks for all the recommendations!
The Saga of the Seven Suns was simply written but it had something like this in it. Revelation Space is too “hard” for me right now.
Anything in the middle that fits the bill? Preferably humans have already colonized the galaxy/universe and are actively looking and researching alien stuffs for XYZ reasons. Thanks!
I went to a Mayan exhibit at the Kimbell Art Museum this last weekend and it blew my fucking mind. Like, they were fully powerful. Some of these communities were as powerful as a Greek city state would have been back in the day.
Annnnyway, is there any speculative fiction out there where Europeans didn’t spread plague to the Mayans and their culture grew and thrived into the 19th and 20th centuries? If not, someone should write some.
“Visual effects (VFX) crews at Walt Disney Studios have taken a significant step to unionize after filing with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for an election to unionize.
A supermajority (over 80%) of the 18 in-house VFX crew members at Walt Disney Pictures signed authorization cards signaling their desire to unionize.
The historical move is the second time in history that VFX professionals have joined together to demand the same protections and rights as their colleagues. Earlier this month, Visual Effects (VFX) crews at Marvel Studios voted to unionize beginning Aug. 21. Ballots are due on Sept. 11, and the vote count will take place on Sept. 12.”
Here’s the explanation: Several months ago I showed my fiancé “tropic thunder”. She was extremely skeptical of the movie’s quality, specifically because of the RDJ “blackface” character. She thought it was ridiculous that a studio company could get away with something like that in the 21st century, but it wasn’t until she sat down and watched it that she realized “huh, that was a good movie that I got totally wrong!”
I’m curious if there are any other movies that people saw that had similar thoughts on. Where, be it for either trailers, screenshots, or media stories, the viewers “missed the point” on a movie simply because they didn’t watch it.