I’m not looking for the biggest plot twist or surprise ending.

I’m thinking about those moments where you suddenly realise the world, history, or conflict is much bigger than you first believed, but in hindsight all the clues were there if you knew where to look and what you were looking at.

Which book did this best for you?

More importantly, what made it satisfying rather than feeling like it came out of nowhere?

Oh my… I never thought I’d get to this point, but I actually did it, I’m officially done with the Book of the Fallen. I started in June 2025, and thirteen months and 3.3 million words later, I can finally relax and not feel like I have to prepare for a symposium after work hours.

This post is here mostly for me, because it really feels like an achievement, given how much time I put into it. I didn’t skim a single chapter, I took notes through the early books, and I checked the Malazan Reread of the Fallen after every chapter that left me confused. I stopped taking notes around book 4, but kept reading the chapter summaries until the end, because I really wanted to understand what everyone else was seeing in this series. When I say “everyone” I mean the people on the positive side of the spectrum, because this series is probably the most polarizing thing I’ve come across in the ten or so years I’ve been reading fantasy.

Before I get …

I’m not going to hold back in my praise for Gene Wolfe’s The Book of the New Sun. What an elaborate, complex and masterfully written series. Gene Wolfe’s prose is so beautiful and articulately woven it genuinely challenged me and made me consider if my own reading ability is up to this. I found myself rereading pages and sequences multiple times to really understand the beauty of his writing. The earlier chapter were the hardest, a lot is thrown at you, visions and symbolism with deeper meanings is presented and you’re left there confused and unsure of the story you’re reading. But that’s part of the experience of this book.

I’ve never read a book with such a strong atmosphere. That real dystopian, world with a huge history/past, but futuristic at the same time feeling was always prevalent throughout the book. The world building was just phenomenal, I’d almost go as far to say it’s up there with Tolkien, Martin, Herbert etc. As a huge fan of the Dark Souls/Elden Ring/Bloodborne video …

Mine is from piranesi “Beauty of the house is immeasurable; it’s kindness infinite”

Are there any that don’t seem to go through a middle book slog like Wheel of Time or don’t decline in quality like Stormlight Archive (from what I’ve heard)

(note: this is a reread done in anticipation for the forthcoming third book in the series)

So instead of committing robbery, I made tea.

Sometimes, all you need in life is a good murder mystery and tea. The fact that this story is set in a fantasy world that does not gatekeep, is the cherry on top. The setup for this is deceptively simple (at least on the surface): Ana & Din (a fantasy Sherlock and Watson-esque combination), get tasked with solving a murder in the fictional city of Talagray. A high ranking official was found murdered in the most peculiar of ways – namely having a tree grow out of their torso. As a leviathan creature begins its slow move to attack the sea walls that surround this continent, Ana & Din race to solve a crime that spreads throughout normal civility and encompasses some of the largest noble houses of the land.

All of which to say, it was a fun little adventure, that, even on a reread, I finished in two sittings.

How queer it suddenly felt: I’d …

I missed these when they came out this year

Disclaimer: the following post is merely a reflection of my own experiences using Goodreads. If you enjoy tracking your reading habits and working on reading challenges, more power to you. Just because it inhibited my enjoyment of reading doesn’t mean it’s that way for everyone. I just wanted to offer my perspective on things. Agree or disagree how you like, it’s no big deal.

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I hope this is a fitting post for the sub, if not, feel free to remove.

For the past year, I’ve been using Goodreads religiously, constantly adding dozens over dozens of books to my ever growing tbr and rating and reviewing nearly every book I’ve read. I don’t think I’ve ever read as many books as I did since I started using Goodreads.

Today, I finally deleted my Goodreads account.

Why? Because to me, adding books to my shelves and participating in reading challenges made reading slowly but surely feel performative and like an obligation. I started …

I was just thinking the other day about another re-read of Pushing Ice and then happened on this beautiful signed first edition. Not affiliated at all, but shout out to Second Story Books in Dupont Circle DC! Definitely going to be back there soon to see what other Easton Press editions they have (fingers crossed for House of Suns)

My first LeGuin book, finished in a day, what an incredible story. The fact that it is in less than 180 pages is incredible.

Never felt sadder like this after reading a book since the end of Lonesome Dove.

!Captain Davidson is a bastard, though. Never have I despised a character more !<

Excited to read more of her work

The story is part of “The Martian Chronicles.” In 1997 Bradbury moved the dates in the book forward about 30 years, but if you own or can access an earlier edition, set your alarm a little early on Wednesday August 5th and take five minutes to read “There Will Come Soft Rains.” (most of the story takes place on the 4th but I recommend the morning of the 5th for full effect)

https://preview.redd.it/dqk7u7on8oeh1.png?width=543&format=png&auto=webp&s=5f667354d197bd036f04bb25cc3d84b182bc2307

It holds up

I’m looking for authors who are consistently putting out great books every year or so. Besides Tchaikovsky, who honestly might actually be a robot

I’m looking to read books where it’s not just about space opera, politics or fights.
I would like to read books where the author present us with strange and original ideas, or interesting What Ifs scenarios and thought experiments.

Things like Foundation, I have mouth and I must scream, Blindsight, Children of Time, 3 body problem, etc.

For me this is what science fiction books do best, and where we get the most original and thought provoking ideas.

2 years since it’s over, still one of the most popular shows out there and I just don’t get the appeal at all. I’ve watched episode 1,2,3,6,7 and I don’t understand what should I even think about the show?

I kept watching because I couldn’t accept that it really is this bad. It feels like a ²⁄₁₀ show that you watch with your friends to laugh at how bad the show is. Not even nitpicking, just majorly bad.

• Pretty much everyone is a douchebag through and through - not even fun douches - just bloated ego and a small brain
• No life lessons, no consistent morals, no cautionary tales, no jokes, no positive or even rational character development
• No consistent beliefs - John talks about how he wouldn’t sell even the smallest piece of land for a fortune and then 10 minute later moans how his son is a failure for being a cowboy and not money oriented
• All quotes by John are nonsense gibberish
• Jimmy is constantly being degraded and seriously tortured …

“For Greek translator Emily Wilson, the release of director Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” has been gratifying in various ways. Her acclaimed 2017 edition of Homer’s epic has reached the top 5 on Amazon.com, leading a wave of similar books boosted by the movie. Nolan has even cited her translation, notably the opening line “Tell me about a complicated man,” as inspiration.

But the film itself, which brought in more than $260 million worldwide during its opening weekend and has received raves from many critics, left her unsatisfied.

“I want to celebrate the fact that so many more people are aware of ‘The Odyssey’ and were brought back to the poem,” she told The Associated Press. “But at the same time, I had the sense that Christopher Nolan was trying to pack everything in while missing themes that were essential to the poem.”

….

Wilson, a professor of classical studies at the University of Pennsylvania, said she didn’t want to come across as a “snobby,” nitpicking expert at odds …

Thought this was a really neat way to show the size of the screen at the IMAX in Leonberg, Germany. This rolled before The Odyssey. The IMAX is tucked away in a little town and was not easy to get to, but it was well worth it.

While it’s not a true 1.43:1 IMAX ratio it still holds the world record for largest theater by surface area.