Books (General)

[long sorrel]

And there's no romantic crap in it

Cruel Prince ofc works ||any book that does "let's rule the world together" and/or "let's be evil together" is gonna wink me over ngl||

The stuff in Addie LaRue does work for me too but this is due to VERY specific things that are very spoilery

So does the stuff in Bury Our Bones 😈

[snow vessel]

I think some of my connection with it might be because of some personal stuff

[long sorrel]

mhm, that's fair!

I had a connection to some of the stuff in At the Feet of the Sun in a way I cannot even describe in words.

I do like some toxic stuff too (Yes, no surprise there either)

[minor sleet]

Trying to read my book before it lapses on Thursday but it’s a) 1,000 pages (600 if we remove notes and appendices) and b) a biography of a high rambled Nazi war criminal so not exactly pleasant reading

[analog geode]

@zinc flicker I am getting annoyed at Austen. P&P ||She just confessed to him and it isn’t even in dialogue?? Why???||

[zinc flicker]

||she does not care about the romance she cares about the drama and satire ||

[analog geode]

Tease

Also which adaptation do I watch first

[ivory cypress]

Austen?

[analog geode]

Autocorrect hates me

[mild lance]

Twelve Months 4 ||I have only had Bear for one chapter, but if anything happens to her, I will kill everyone in this room and then myself||

[zealous harness]

Nooo, 2-5 hours more to wait

[viral fractal]

most romantic austen couple

[zinc flicker]

The two main ones are the 05 movie and the 95 BBC show. Both are good but prioritize different things. Movie is shorter, more aesthetic focusing and feels like a modern take on the story. BBC show is pretty 1:1 with the book and a gold standard for the story.

[zinc flicker]

Pride and Prejudice

||Lizzie being a gold digger is canon ||

[viral fractal]

||lizzie is such a troll lmao||

[zinc flicker]

||she takes a total of zero conversations in the book seriously||

[analog geode]

||Id also fall for someone with beautiful grounds||

P&P ||I am still baffled about how society in that day could blame Lydia and love Wickham||

[viral fractal]

||I think they blamed them both||

||issue is everyone knows Lydia is a child but she’s “out” so she’s technically marriage-able||

[zinc flicker]

PandP ||sexism||

[analog geode]

||Both Mr. And Mrs. Bennett immediately flipped as soon as they were married||

||At the end, Wickham was her favorite son in law||

[zinc flicker]

P and P ||men could generally sleep around and nobody would really bat an eye but for a woman, it is their valuable asset to be a virgin||

[viral fractal]

||lydia being “ruined” would have doomed her to a life as an impoverished outcast and also probably doomed the other bennet sisters too, as unmarriageable||

[zinc flicker]

||the issue was Whickham ruining Lydia’s good name, but in marrying her that no longer mattered ||

[analog geode]

Yeah, but you’d assume they’d still be mad for putting her in that position in the first place

[zinc flicker]

||Wickham had probably been sleeping with prostitutes for years tbh||

[viral fractal]

Societal ruin was a lot worse for women than for men

[analog geode]

100%

[zinc flicker]

Women were objects. Men were owners.

[viral fractal]

S+S ||the Willoughby / Eliza situation is much much worse lmao||

[zinc flicker]

Austen comments on that inequality through her stories tbh

[analog geode]

Explain it? I haven’t read it

[viral fractal]

||in the backstory, one of the characters knocked up a sixteen year old girl and then abandoned her and left her in poverty while she was heavily pregnant. Nothing bad happens to him except he doesn’t get to be with his crush||

[analog geode]

Wow

[zinc flicker]

(If you want a more full fledged romance, Persuasion is peak)

Emma is a good comedy

[viral fractal]

||also the misery porn aspect of this is that the girl (Eliza) was born out of wedlock to a woman who got cast out of society for eloping and turned to prostitution to survive. And then died. Lmao||

[analog geode]

P&P ||Now that I think about it, was there ever any evidence that he slept with Lydia and ruined her virtue? I remember them leaping to conclusions but nothing else||

[viral fractal]

||it’s not outright stated but yeah, they had sex||

[zinc flicker]

||it is very very likely||

[viral fractal]

||they were living together, that’s the implication||

[analog geode]

Ah ok

[analog geode]

I might read it next then

[viral fractal]

Pnp ||also it’s explicitly (well, as explicitly as possible) stated that Wickham was sleeping with the daughters of the tradesmen||

Persuasion and Emma are both really good

[zinc flicker]

Persuasion is pretty good

[viral fractal]

Emma is kinda frustrating tho

On account of well

Emma

[zinc flicker]

Emma lmao

Emma was the mean girl before mean girls existed

[analog geode]

||I don’t remember that, just that he was indebted to all the tradesman (or so they claimed)||

[viral fractal]

Emma is basically a slightly smarter and more well mannered miss bingley

[analog geode]

Lmao

[zinc flicker]

But Emma is a comedy

[analog geode]

What is the plot?

[zinc flicker]

So it does work

[viral fractal]

|| “not one tradesmen’s daughter he had not outraged” or something like that||

[viral fractal]

Rich girl doesn’t have enough problems, so creates her own

[zinc flicker]

Emma ||Emma is a matchmaker who is set in believing she is right about everything and sets up people with other people. Disaster ensues. ||

[viral fractal]

The 2020 movie is also peak

[zinc flicker]

The 2020 movie goes all in on the comedy

Persuasion has no good adaptions

[viral fractal]

Mansfield Park is also a good book but it’s more like a more realistic bronte book than an Austen book

[analog geode]

||He was declared to be in debt to every tradesman in the place, and his intrigues, all honoured with the title of seduction, had been extended into every tradesman’s family.||

This is the closest I found, but I don’t really understand the phrasing

[zinc flicker]

Austen likes to be snide and snarky

[analog geode]

That sounds hilarious

[zinc flicker]

It is super funny

[viral fractal]

It means he had extra marital sex with every tradesman’s daughter

Austen was writing a polite book so she couldn’t just say “they had sex”

But yeah

[analog geode]

How do I parse it?

[viral fractal]

They were super prudish back then

[analog geode]

Oh I see

I get it

[zinc flicker]

P and P ||his intrigues = having sex, honored with seduction = he is a charmer who lies about the act with sweet promises||

[viral fractal]

“His intrigues, all honoured with the title of seduction” means he was doing things that could be called seduction

[analog geode]

Yeah just figured it out lol

[viral fractal]

Wuthering heights and tenant of wildfell hall both got a lot of flack for being obscene, even though by our standards they’re not explicit

[analog geode]

I learned so many archaic ways to use words in this book. It was an annotated edition,which really enhanced the experience

[zinc flicker]

It is fun to see how such an old book can translate so well to modern times and shows the evolution of language.

[analog geode]

Yeah!

[zinc flicker]

Also Austen hides her true meaning under every line in a sarcastic way which is fun

[analog geode]

I confess I did have to go back to look up the specific meaning of a “living” multiple times

[viral fractal]

It’s funny to contrast how prudish 19th century novels are with 18th century novels

Moll Flanders is straight up about a prostitute lmao

[ivory cypress]

i disturbed my mother by crying so furiously at the one picnic scene in the old adaptation

i was SO upset

[zinc flicker]

Yeah… Emma ||is so mean 😭 ||

[viral fractal]

I feel like every other Austen protagonist would hate her lmao

[forest sierra]

Honestly same now that I think about it

It just being there doesn't help

Hell it can hurt the story sometimes

But sometimes it can elevate a character

I like established romances within a story

Don't recall liking a developing one

[brazen pilot]

Dreams of Steel 42 ||Not sure how I'll feel about it if Lady is pregnant.||

[brazen pilot]

Dreams of Steel 47 ||Idk how we're gonna get around Soulcatcher posing as Lady. That is a problem.||

||Man if Catcher's plans went her way back in book 1 her endgoal was definitely to become the new Lady for the Dominator.||

[mild lance]

Twelve Months 18 ||seems like Harry is playing Monopoly with some woman… an imaginary Murph maybe?||

[frozen glacier]

||I mean wasn't that kinda explicit?|| Dreams of steel

[frozen glacier]

||But have you consider how much of a badass the kid would be ||Dreams of steel

[proper silo]

Prince's Gambit 8 ||You know, the way Aimeric was the only one who was there when Orlant died and the way there was no foreshadowing as to Orlant being a traitor, it makes me think there are shenanigans afoot. 😒 I am heavily side-eyeing Aimeric rn.||

9 ||On a funnier note, lowkey really funny how Damen keeps saying like "no-one who knew Laurent would like him" or "they're only happy to see Laurent cause they don't know what he's like" when he's very obviously falling more and more in love the more he gets to know Laurent||

[tight kindle]

I finished The Hollow and the Haunted.
Good book. Short enough that I might want to knock out another romance before I dive into Lightbringer

[oblique zodiac]

My next book called "Dream House"

This is a children's book.

The difficulty gap between the books in my list is so huge

I'm in the children's corner in my library sitting around with kids about 3~4 years old lol

[versed agate]

You've been reading your whole life, you can beat those children 😤

[low hill]

Glad you enjoyed.

[west gate]

so you read all 14?

[snow vessel]

Yeah

I'm starting book 15 (aka book 0, the prequel) just now after a two year or so break

[junior dew]

I plan to tackle WoT either later this year or some time next year

Will be interesting to see how that goes

Haven’t yet decided if I’m going to hit WoT or books 2+ of Malazan first, but I am leaning towards the latter.

Granted it’s possible I do both, as Malazan is kind of in a unique scenario where I want to only listen to it when I can sit down with the ebook in front of me as well

Got a few physical reads prior to that though

Licanius book 3 is proving pretty enjoyable so far. Probably my favorite of the 3 currently. Just under 6 hours left so I’ll likely be finished with it tomorrow or Friday

It’s got some momentum to it now. Should be doing some game dev before work but I also both want to see where this goes/how it ends, and I’m excited to finish the series because once I do I can start Daevabad or Cage of Souls

[quaint tendon]

Every time I reignite my interactions with the Bartimaeus sequence books I am ultimately surprised by how much of the minuscule amount of fan content I see online comes from Russian readers

Kinda makes it all feel as if bart exists in this weird Cold War spectrum

The capitalist Harry Potter and the Soviet Bartimaeus

[oblique zodiac]

I finished it as quickly as I can.

Anyways my next book on my list is "Bystander" by James Preller

[oblique zodiac]

It seems to be a book about bullying?

[proper silo]

Prince's Gambit 14 ||Well, it's not quite the apology form I wanted but it is an apology. I'll allow it.||

||Also, I still wish we had Laurent POVs, but it is fun to notice all the signs he's falling for Damen||

[long sorrel]

I don't remember what this is

[proper silo]

It's when Laurent ||apologizes for being needlessly cruel and promises to free Damen once the border situation stabilizes||

[long sorrel]

Man I don't remember that at all

That means I really should reread

[long sorrel]

My current read has picked up a lot though tho 👀

So much i said though twice

The mystery build up is insane

And I feel there's a lot of foreshadowing but I can't tie it up into proper theorising

Along with the weird ass identities of the mc it has finally hooked me

[proper silo]

What are you reading?

[long sorrel]

Innombrable by Caryanna Reuven

Its in spanish

[proper silo]

ah, i see

Prince's Gambit 15 ||AIMERIC YOU ASSHOLE||

||Why is it that out of three characters named Aymeric that I've ever met, two turns out to be horrible? It's a bad precedent||

[mild lance]

Twelve Months 35 ||alright, lot has happened by now. Thomas wants to stay a vampire to help Justine, but I’m thinking that decision will change by the end of the book, or maybe later in the series. The ability to cure White Court vampires seems too important to not come up again. I’m also still fairly certain he’s going to become a Knight of the Cross eventually||

[proper silo]

Prince's Gambit 15 ||I suppose I can at least say "I knew it" when it comes to Orlant's death being sus||

[untold leaf]

I just realized how confusing book titles can be. For example, there is the book "Howl's Moving Castle", which has a sequel named "Castle In The Air", which I sometimes get confused with the title of "Castle In The Sky", a Studio Ghibli movie, the same studio that adapted "Howl's Moving Castle" into a movie.

And because of that, I think I said "Castle In The Sky" when I meant to say "Castle In The Air" when talking about the book.

There's just too many castles.

[proper silo]

Prince's Gambit 19 ||Mannn. This was less hot and more heartbreaking, really (well-written heartbreaking, though!). Doubly so if one considers that Damen may be the first person Laurent has been with since... you know... that||

||It's incredibly funny that Laurent's speech gets more sesquipedalian the hornier he is, though||

20 ||Oh gods, Nicaise What did you do to make the author hate you so||

||Oh gods, Aimeric ||

||With Regent's... victims dropping like flies, I am increasingly concerned for Laurent||

[long sorrel]

What happened?

[proper silo]

||they had sex||

[long sorrel]

Ah

I think I know which scene this is but I can't remember for sure

... i really should reread instead of ask

[proper silo]

It's literally the first time they do it properly

I'd be a little shocked if you don't recall this scene

[long sorrel]

I think i know i just don't wanna ask about the details i remember in case i spoil you

Which is a great excuse to just reread

I'm sure i can read CP in one sitting

... since i did last time

I think i devoured the series in 2 days

[proper silo]

Well, I don't think I'll manage two days, but I think I can do it in three

On that note, finished Prince's Gambit

||I like Laurent a lot more now 😌 Though I am still waiting for a more specific apology, and I'm still hoping that we'll get a POV from him.||

[long sorrel]

Yeeeeeessss. To the first part

[proper silo]

Prince's Gambit ||I do like that we get to see Laurent in more... environments than just the palace. It makes all the other parts of his personality come out; the scene near the end where he admits he can't think when it comes to his uncle is a standout, especially contrasted with his usual levels of self-control. And the hints of his attraction to Damen are excellent (particularly when he bluescreens after Damen throws the sword )||

[long sorrel]

||It is such a fine line because you know he is thinking at the palace but he's on like a very tense thread about to break, and it kinda makes so much sense when you put into perspective all of first book||

[proper silo]

💯

[long sorrel]

||I do love that Prince's Gambit does a pretty good job at recontextualizing book 1, without book 1 being bad on its own or anything but it does get recontextualized, not massively but all the nuanced added makes a difference||

You can see why I was impressed when I thought "this sounds like an excuse for smut" and not much else about it

aaargh I can't wait for book 3 of Dark Rise 😩

I know he posted an excerpt on patreon, maybe I should subscribe

I read the first paragraph, which was free, and it sounds like last chapter of book 2 so idk

[proper silo]

Is Dark Rise also m/m romance?

[long sorrel]

Yes-ish

[proper silo]

🤔

[long sorrel]

but it's quite a bit more YA

[proper silo]

ah, i see

[long sorrel]

(though not in a negative way, I love it)

[proper silo]

might grab it after I finish this and Remnant of Filth, then

speaking of which

[long sorrel]

Dark Rise general both books but a bit spoilery for BOTH (but I think you'd like to know this, Rasarr) ||It definitely is MM but that doesn't show until... very late, like not even in book 1||

[proper silo]

||I mean, arguably the romance in Captive Prince doesn't really show up until book 2 either ||

But thanks for the warning

...there is something to the fact that I have read three books in a row wherein the main plot conceit is "a powerful military leader gets captured and reduced to a bed slave of the enemy nation". I don't know why this happened, and I am mildly concerned 🤔

Perhaps next time I pick a book to read, I should make sure that's not the plot

[long sorrel]

||No I mean... I wasn't even sure who the love interest was... lol||

||Captive Prince has the relationship very clearly defined from like page 2||

[proper silo]

oh, huh

[long sorrel]

||Dark Rise plays with the reader for quite a while||

[proper silo]

well color me curious

[long sorrel]

So like, this is really just vibes. Book 1 is ||a sort of fantasy-adventure try to prevent the apocalypse-book||

[proper silo]

been a while since i read one of these

and it will be a good break from the last three books I've read

[long sorrel]

It definetely doesn't do that at all

I do want you (or end or Atrus) to read it so someone can suffer with me 😔

AH

@tight kindle @ivory cypress 13 days 😈

[proper silo]

I'm gonna finish Remnant of Filth first, then start on Dark Rise

[long sorrel]

I won't get super excited in case you change your mind, (but I'm inevitably slightly excited)

Remnants of Filth is a very good name

[tight kindle]

Ahhhhhhhhhh

-# I'm unmedicated this is the most excitement I can show right now

[ivory cypress]

pacat is on my tbr

but yessss ahhhhhhh!

[long sorrel]

https://tenor.com/view/hoecat-bunny-fast-zoom-gif-17159621360561728072

[wraith lynx]

This is an adorable gif btw omg 😭

[long sorrel]

As adorable as i am 😇

[royal carbon]

Need more bunny popping balloons gifs

[long sorrel]

i think I know what im gonna read at the gym today, since the book I'm midway through (digitally) is smut, so probably not great for the gym
So it's gonna be CP 😌

[proper silo]

Kings Rising 2 ||LAURENT POV!||

||MY WAIT HAS FINALLY PAID OFF!||

||MY PRAYERS ARE ANSWERED AND MY HOPES ARE FULFILLED, WE FINALLY HAVE A LAURENT POV||

||I hope that means there'll be more||

[long sorrel]

||I've been the entire time trying to remember if there were Laurent PoVs or not lol||

[minor sleet]

Imagine if it’s just the one

[oblique zodiac]

how does one read at the gym? does reading while running make it more bearable?

[minor sleet]

Audiobook or resting in front of you

I can’t do that, the blurriness bothers me. I can watch tv or videos while running though

[long sorrel]

I don't do audiobook

but I do put my tablet on the treadmill

and yes it makes the time go by

i also don't run (messed up knees)

I walk very fast lol

[proper silo]

Kings Rising 3 ||Didn't know Damen was a Khorne berserker ||

[mild lance]

Finished Twelve Months! On the whole, I was pretty satisfied with this one

[proper silo]

Kings Rising 3 ||Yep, I knew it, the most obvious twist of all time||

[hollow hedge]

cool to hear, I started it yesterday and got through about 10 chapters, but work and such

[mild lance]

Twelve Months ||I’m a little confused about all that happened at Demonreach and why it was so significant that both Mothers got involved. Not sure if I missed something or this is supposed to be a mystery||

[hollow hedge]

I probably shouldn't try to talk about it because I know that's how I get spoiled

[mild lance]

Twelve Months ||also the reveal that Hungers are actually Outsiders is interesting. Fans have speculated for a while that White Court vamps can’t be N-fected, at least not directly. If that’s true, it’s possible there isn’t room for two Outsiders in one body.||

[mild lance]

This server is usually pretty good about not spoiling things so you should be fine here

[hollow hedge]

I just mean I'd be too tempted to click on your own things or the remarks of other people who are talking about it

[mild lance]

Oh yeah, got to be careful about that

[merry galleon]

Titan’s Nest ||Darren believing that he is worthless|| why am I crying?!

[unique turret]

I’m rereading the series (except I started on Summer Knight) so I’m excited to eventually get to Twelve Months. I’m glad it seems to be getting relatively positive responses

[proper silo]

King's Rising 4 ||Ugh, Laurent getting Delpha out of Damen is gonna play merry hell with his rep with Akielons... Like bro, Laurent, I get you're having a terrible day but I liked you in book 2, don't waste that right at the start of book 3||

[long sorrel]

I started reading CP but only finished c1 lol

In 30 min

I got distracted

[versed niche]

GUYS I need book reccomendations! This is what is on my TBR for 2026 so far in no particular order:

The Name of the Wind
Red Rising
Isles of the Emberdark
Narnia
The Screwtape Letters
The Wheel of Time

I want to read 40 books this year.

[analog geode]

Earthsea

[versed niche]

what is that?

[analog geode]

It’s a fantasy series by Ursula Le Guin. It’s amazing

One of the best ever written

[versed niche]

whats it abt

[analog geode]

It’s about a wizard and his adventures across the archipelago

Its classic fantasy, won a ton of awards

[versed niche]

seems dope, will look into it

[ripe tide]

Anything by RF Kuang, A Natural History of Dragons, the Rook and Rose trilogy, the All Souls series

[oblique zodiac]

Tree Girl is great, though it isn't fantasy

[torpid kiln]

I know I should read new books but the desire to reread ASOIAF is strong. A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms brought it to mind again

I think I messed up reading Lord of The Rings, ASOIAF, and The Cosmere as my first fantasy series

[versed niche]

LotR and then Cosmere was my first fantasy things

LotR is the greatest book series ever (imo) so yk

[buoyant whale]

there is so much more good stuff to experience

rereading is good ofc so do that if you want

but dont feel you have already gone through the good stuff

[versed niche]

Im gonna read 30 new books this year, and reread 10 because yk i cant stop myself

[torpid kiln]

I just feel like nothing can compete with what I’ve already read, like other books are good but they don’t bring me to the same heights as those did

[buoyant whale]

what else have you been reading?

[junior dew]

Some of my blanket top recommendations:

Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Speculative Fiction

• Broken Earth (short trilogy) by N.K. Jemisin : It’s peak. Heavy but peak. Idk how to describe it. Go in knowing nothing.
• The Sword of Kaigen (standalone) by M.L. Wang (in my top 2 reads of last year) : Fantasy story following a family impacted by a war. Heavy read. Trying not to give much away.
• Realm of the Elderlings (16 books) by Robin Hobb - Some of the best character work I’ve ever read. Many also find this heavy.
• Children of Time (trilogy) by Adrian Tchaikovsky - Accelerated evolution go brr
• Dandelion Dynasty (quartet) by Ken Liu - No idea how to pitch this. Engineering go brr. First book basically is a prequel for books 2 and 3, laying down the history.
• Xenogenesis (short trilogy) by Octavia Butler - Uncomfortable, but fantastic. Post-apocalypse humans meet aliens.
• Kindred (standalone) by Octavia Butler - Heavy read about a woman yoyo’d in time between modern day and mid-slavery America to keep an ancestor alive.
• Chain Gang All-Stars (standalone) by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah - Very tough read, but very good. American prison privatization and exploitation of inmates cranked up to 11.
• Alien Clay (standalone) by Adrian Tchaikovsky - Alien biology go brr

Fiction

• The Girl With the Louding Voice (standalone) by Abi Dare - Best book I read last year. One of the best and most moving books I’ve ever read. Young girl in Nigeria is married off, but she just wants to go to school and be a teacher
• Homegoing (standalone) by Yaa Gyasi (Up there with The Girl With the Louding Voice) - Two sisters separated by slave trade. Generation-spanning view of the story of them and their descendants. Also heavy/tough read but exceptional.
• Beartown (trilogy) by Fredrik Backman - Hockey town rocked by SA. Also heavy/tough read.

[torpid kiln]

I read the first book of Malazan but couldn’t really get into it, I felt like there was no one to root for, I started the Farseer trilogy but I didn’t get too far with it, I think I’ll pick it back up eventually, I started some other fantasy series that I couldn’t really get into but I can’t think of them off the top of my head. I just get bored so quickly with books nowadays

[hollow hedge]

I guess if you want to mash up LOTR and Cosmere, I feel like WOT sits right in the middle between them

[unique turret]

The Aubrey/Maturin series has 21 books for you. Not sci-fi nor fantasy, but it’s been at the top of my “favorites” list for about two years now

[versed niche]

My reading list for this year. Blue is new reads, orange is re-reads

[torpid kiln]

Rereading ASOIAF is so tempting especially with AKOTSK and my dad rereading it now too

[versed niche]

idk what that acronyms are

[torpid kiln]

A Song Of Ice And Fire, A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms

[versed niche]

ahhhh

[long sorrel]

Captive's Prince 1 (reread) ||‘No,’ said Laurent, with satisfaction. ‘Crawl.’ hehehehe (that's all) ||

[minor sleet]

CS Lewis kick

[versed niche]

Yes friends from my church have been really pulling me into Lewis

Somehow I have never read narnia

[minor sleet]

I read it as a kid and managed to miss that the lion is ||literally Jesus, incarnated in Narnia in a new form||. Which would gave deeply upset Lewis

[ivory cypress]

oh apparently I borrowed captive prince from Libby in 2024 but never actually read it

lmao

well it's still on Libby!

[viral fractal]

Especially because there’s a scene where || Aslan looks at the reader and says “in your world, I am Jesus”||

[long sorrel]

Same

[wet belfry]

OCEANS ARE NOW BATTLEFIELDS

Man

The opening text for the movie goes so hard and has almost nothing at all to do with the film

[minor sleet]

For real?

I gotta reread these books

[velvet umbra]

I don't think he says ||Jesus, I think he says like "in your world, I have another name" but like its obvious thats what he meant||

Narnia ||while it's admittedly heavy handed and sometimes corny I do find the way he implemented some of this stuff interesting for the time, like the fact that it's essentially a multiverse and there's like a world between worlds and what not. Even if it's for the purpose of a "my religion is the real one guys" author plug the concept that the multiverse has a singular god who manifests in each sub-universe as semi-autonomous versions is pretty interesting.||

[viral fractal]

Narnia is really preachy but I honestly found it to be a pretty solidly kids book series

[mossy gyro]

Narnia

[viral fractal]

Guess he’s gotta set himself on fire now LMAO

[mossy gyro]

It gets a little overrated in Christian circles but its a good series

[analog geode]

I don’t think it is. He set out to write a fairy tale for adults, and I think he succeeded

[junior dew]

Never read Narnia but watched the movie as a kid and did not know or understand at all but I wasn’t raised in a religious household

[viral fractal]

I think the target audience is still intended to be children

It’s written in that Percy Jackson/ series of unfortunate events tone

[merry galleon]

Titan’s Nest ||forging a sword takes many trials to make indestructible|| such wise words

Also, I’m at 275 pages on Titan’s Nest!

[merry galleon]

I didn’t even know it had religious themes until I researched about the series. I thought it was a trilogy. That’s egg on my face.

[junior dew]

Yeah it flew right over my head as a kid. I was just hyped for talking animals

[long sorrel]

I'm glad I didn't understand any of the religious stuff when I read Narnia

I enjoyed it a great deal thanks to that

[oblique zodiac]

I never finished Narnia as a child

[junior dew]

I somehow have still never read Animal Farm, the Giver, Fahrenheit 451, or 1984.

A few others here I’ve never even heard of 👀

[versed niche]

The giver is soooo good imo

[oblique zodiac]

how so?

[versed niche]

Wdym

Imo it's a good book

[oblique zodiac]

I agree it's a good book, but I forgot why it makes it a good one because it was so long since I read it

[junior dew]

Maybe this year I’ll continue my LoTR read at some point

[tight kindle]

I loved The Giver

Been quite a while though

[unique turret]

I try so hard to get other people to read the books, but even people who really like the movies are hesitant to start a long series like it

Maybe Id have more luck with people who like Jane Austen lol

[junior dew]

Not sure if it’ll be my cup of tea but added book one to the TBR anyways

Always good to try different stuff

Will report back in 2 years with my thoughts

[wet belfry]

They're shorter than that

[junior dew]

My TBR currently consists of 109 combined books and series. So probably a few hundred books

So unless I have something slotted in my immediate term plans, it’s a roll of the dice when I’ll get to anything in particular

Short term plans for early 2026 currently are in no specific order probably:

• Cage of Souls
• Daevabad trilogy
• Animal Farm
• Tainted Cup series
• Mercy of the Gods series
• Final Architecture series
• She Would Be King
• Earthsea
• The Underground Railroad

Cage of Souls, Daevabad, She Would be King, and Earthsea are probably the first few I’ll be hitting of those.

99% sure Daevabad is after Licanius book 3

[lucid isle]

I just finished DCC The Butchers Masquerade. Epic ending!

[junior dew]

Butchers was definitely my favorite of the books released so far

[lucid isle]

I really enjoyed it but book 2 is still my fave

[unique turret]

@viral fractal @zinc flicker you should read the Aubrey/Maturin series. Go ahead and start with the second book, “Post Captain”, for the most Austen-esque introduction

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/nov/28/why-patrick-obrian-is-jane-austen-at-sea

[wet belfry]

Camille would eat this series up

[analog geode]

I had a way easier time with Jane Austen than him

Idk why

It’s just soooo dense

[unique turret]

You have to let the nautical terminology just exist without needing to understand it

If you try to know what people are talking about, it does seem very dense

[viral fractal]

Looks neat! I’ll give it a shot 🫡

[analog geode]

But I need to understand it! I understand it when David Weber uses it! Or when CS Forester uses it!

[viral fractal]

Let’s all do a moby dick read through

[analog geode]

We’ll have a whale of a time

[unique turret]

Please let me know if/when you do! I’d love to hear your thoughts

[lofty glen]

Little Barnes and Noble haul today

(Yes I am that person that walks into Barnes and Noble and immediately books it to the manga and graphic novel section )

[wet belfry]

Let it wash over you

Part of the genius of the Stephen Maturin character is that he's a believably very intelligent character who also believably never really gets a grasp on naval terminology, so when its relevant there's ample excuse to explain it and otherwise most readers will pick it up faster than Maturin does over the course of the series

He's more commonly the POV charcacter at sea as well

I was moderately surprised how much of Nelson era Royal Navy terminology has survived to the modernized metal ship US Navy and also how much just got shredded during/after WWII

[analog geode]

But I can’t build a mental picture of how it’s sailing without it

[junior dew]

Wait… y’ll are building mental pictures?

(Kidding. Aware it’s a thing)

[unique turret]

Eventually you understand enough to know what’s going on. It’s not unlike learning a new language. The first little while you get tired reading because it’s hard to know what’s going on, but after a while you mind adjusts and focuses on what you can understand and lets the rest go by until that makes sense to you, too

[unique turret]

And how much of that terminology is used in normal non-navel contexts

By and large, in the doldrums, log (as in recording information)

English is a pretty naval language

[versed agate]

almost like it was developed on an island

[analog geode]

Nah

[brazen pilot]

Dreams of Steel 55 ||CROAKER IS FREE||

||As usual, Taken infighting is what breaks things||

||I love how it's just the chaos of Longshadow thinking it really was Lady. Nobody's plans go right. It's all a mess.||

[wet belfry]

Mostly wind goes into sails

[junior dew]

Boat on water go forward

How? However it pleases

[wet belfry]

No that's the modern metal ones

[junior dew]

I never even considered what said boat was made of

[unique turret]

Libro.fm is having a pretty decent sale right now. Lot's of audiobooks are going for under $5, some even as low as $1.40. You can download them DRM free and a portion of the proceeds go to support a local bookstore.

[snow vessel]

Oooh

oh gideon the ninth is on sale...

Maybe i go for the audiobook as well

[velvet umbra]

I was at B&N and got book 1 and 2, I was like "oh I have credit card rewards I can redeem for a B&N gift card"

but then I accidentally clicked the option to mail me a physical card instead of getting a barcode I could use right then lmao

[brazen pilot]

Dreams of Steel 65 ||lmao it was frogface wasn't it||

[long sorrel]

@proper silo i forgot about, Prince's Gambit 10 ||Lazar seeing Damen looking at Laurent with so much longing that he decides he's definetely not [having sex] with him ||

[brazen pilot]

Dreams of Steel 74 ||These grimdark mercenary fantasy books understand YEARNING. They understand LOVE. Messages sent between them over the river...||

Dreams of Steel 75 ||Oh, Lady, the way you close off and skip past things when you write, the way you refuse to dig deep into your own emotions.||

||Rip Ram...||

Dreams of Steel all ||I do love this book overall, easy 9/10, Lady is amazing and I love her sm. I think there is some slight criticism that is worth like, maybe not committing to, but bringing up as a point of discussion? There is a trend I became aware of lately that morally complex female characters tend to fall into archetypes like the femme fatale or the mother, because they need to appeal to at least one feminine ideal to balance out their moral complexity. I don't think that invalidates the story being told here, but it is in my mind. I also feel like the trope of like, baby being stolen and the mother swears revenge at the end, is one I've seen before a few times... except I'm not totally sure where off the top of my head. And the thing is, the similar ones that come to mind for me came out way later, so if anything I might actually give the book points for being so ahead of its time here, even if it feels oddly like I've seen the trope before. Maybe I haven't, maybe I've seen similar but never this specific way. Anyway this book was amazing.||

[long sorrel]

Prince's Gambit 12 ||Damen now knew the precise number of arrows Laurent needed to have trained on him in order to shut him up. It was six. ||

[frozen glacier]

Mines right next to the sci-fi fantasy section and history section

[frozen glacier]

Every pov has such a fun tone of voice and it’s great to see them write about each other

[zinc flicker]

As long as Russell Crowe isn’t singing we’re chilling

[junior dew]

Oh that’s so cool! @ proceeds partially going to a local bookstore

[junior dew]

Got a referral code?

[analog geode]

He wasn’t that baddd

[wet belfry]

He pretends to play the violin instead

[proper silo]

Kings Rising 6 ||I don't like how it feels like Laurent is retreating back to their end-of-book 1 distance in terms of relationships. Like bro, you knew who he was all along, don't act like it has bearing on your attitude now||

[proper silo]

Same ||Govart dying offscreen is a but disappointing, ngl||

[oblique zodiac]

Bystander Early chapters ||Oh I hate bullies so much.||

Why do people feel superiority by putting others down? I just don't get it.

There was a moment when I went along with something bad toward someone in middle school just to get along with my friends. I will never do that again. Being alone is preferable

[uncut shoal]

Yeah I didn't realize it until I was older either

[idle trellis]

Because if you put others down you yourself have more value

You show that you are stronger

It's a sort of toxic way to express capability

[proper silo]

Kings Rising 9 ||Laurent thinking he's talking to his uncle whole drunk in bed is, uh... Adding to the horrible picture, innit||

[ripe tide]

I knowww

[oblique zodiac]

Bystander 13 ||Dang.. This kid that is bullied reminds me of me in highschool. Just a little. 😭 😭 ||

[oblique zodiac]

I don't want to feel superiority that way. I'd rather be respected for helping others and being kind.

[oblique zodiac]

What's funny is when reading these translated books originally in English, there are a few expressions where it feels out of place in Korean, and I can immediately know what the original English expression was.

[uncut shoal]

@analog geode (I hope I have the right bean) Vorkosigan series Cryoburn end ||Damn, that line with "Count Vorkosigan, sir" still guts me after all these years||

[oblique zodiac]

“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
Amazing quote by Martin Luther King Jr.

[junior dew]

Less than 2 hours left in Licanius book 3. Daevabad SOON

Will be finished with this one today for sure

[junior dew]

Licanius book 3 chapter 49 || The Elric stuff feels a bit deus ex machina-y/awfully convenient. Granted I had been wondering if Islington really just dropped Elric as a character. But also just using him to save the day and then just being like “yeah it’s all a long story” is kinda… meh ||

[quaint tendon]

Bartimaeus Sequence all || one of my favorite things about this series is that Sholto Pinn is not seemingly ever part of any of the various attempts to overthrow the government in these books, he’s just kind of an awful guy for purely apolitical reasons. ||

[lucid isle]

This is my reading for the rest of Jan

[quaint tendon]

Nice

[oblique zodiac]

Finished "Bystander" after a 4 hour reading session! Great book. I give it a 4.75 out of 5.

[proper silo]

Kings Rising 11 ||I do dearly hope Jokaste ends up executed at the end of this book because what the actual hell||

(language) ||What a rancid piece of shit||

[minor sleet]

Wow you’ve defeated the turtle

[proper silo]

My fury at that scene could not be restrained

[long sorrel]

I almost caught up to you lol

Though i think you'll finish before I actually do

The beginning of King's Rising ||is tough 😭 also rereading all of book 1 was fun, it has more foreshadowing than I thought||

[proper silo]

Idk, there's a lot to distract me today

Plus you can still outpace me in rereading the short stories collection

[long sorrel]

I've not read those

I wont be reading until midnight today

[proper silo]

Huh

[long sorrel]

That at the short stories or at my reading?

[proper silo]

That you haven't read the short stories

Sorry, was just a bit surprised

[proper silo]

Kings Rising 11 ||well, that was a lot more heartwarming than their first time 😌 ||

[long sorrel]

I guess I should reach c11

I'm currently on c2 ||Where Laurent is saying it was all part of his plot, even though it very obviously wasn't||

[proper silo]

Kings Rising 14 ||lmaooo, Damen.exe has stopped working||

||lmao, I guess harping on how similar Laurent and Jokaste are wasn't just a joke about how Damen has very specific taste in people ||

[long sorrel]

||he does from the very beginning, have a VERY clear type||

||there was that line I read in Prince's Gambit where Laurent directly tells him "you have a thing for this type of personality (which sounds like he meaens Jokaste, but he absolutely means himself)" this is before things get steamy||

[analog geode]

It does

||It hits you like a brick, right at the end||

[proper silo]

Kings Rising 15 ||You're Charls; I'm Charls; he's Charls; everyone is Charls!||

[junior dew]

Oh yeah, finished Licanius 3 earlier today. Decent series. Not one I’ll be adding to my list of recommendations, but not bad either. Definitely had its strengths and weaknesses.

I think I would have rated it much higher a few years ago prior to having read so many goated books and series.

[untold leaf]

Hmm, when I read Licanius, it was my favorite fantasy series I'd read since Sanderson. After reading Brandon's books, I felt desensitized to other fantasy books not being the same caliber, and nothing hit right until Licanius.

Licanius' weaknesses are obvious, but so are its strengths.

[analog geode]

I accidentally read Licanius twice because I found it so forgettable. I didn’t notice until the third book

[tight kindle]

My copy of Don't Let The Forest In is finally ready to borrow!
So that's what I'll be starting

Also I love Licanius. One of my favorite fantasy series of all time

[untold leaf]

I think the dialogue and characterization are pretty weak, and probably Islington's biggest failing in writing. The plot, however, is so intricately crafted and despite its extreme complexity, every individual component of it fits perfectly together in the overall narrative. And that's what I love so much about it.

It's such a complicated narrative, but everything just fits in the end, frequently in very mindblowing ways. The twists and turns got me every time.

And because of that, I'm more than willing to forgive bad characterization and dialogue.

[proper silo]

I remember reading the first Lycanius book and then just... never feeling enough about to start the next one 🤔 I could not tell you what the plot was about, other than like... the general premise of the setting

I'd say it's a very "love it or hate it" series but it seems to be more of "love it or forget it"

[untold leaf]

Ah, the ending of the first book made me gasp out loud in a way few books ever have.

[low hill]

Given my feelings on Will of the Many, I'm probably not rushing out to buy Licanius and this is not helping tip the balance. :P

[brazen pilot]

The first book is very generic, all for the sake of setting up what it does later. It would have been better if it found a way to do that while still introducing more unique concepts in book 1.

[untold leaf]

That's a perfect description of The Will of the Many.

I personally think Licanius 1 did waaaaay better than Hierarchy 1 as far as actually having a substantial story of its own and not just being buildup.

[brazen pilot]

I think this is a pretty fair and perfect description of Licanius. If this kind of thing sounds worth it then you should read it. If it does not, then you shouldn't.

[untold leaf]

I'm reading Hierarchy because I read Licanius first, but if I'd read Hierarchy first, I probably wouldn't have wanted to read Licanius. However, I'm not done with The Strength of the Few yet and Hierarchy is an unfinished series. For all we know, book three could be a masterpiece of unprecedented reckoning.

[untold leaf]

That's a good way of putting it, I think.

This series isn't for everyone. If it's not your cuppa, that's totally valid, but if it is your cuppa, you'll want a gallon of it.

If you want good characterization, you just won't find it from Islington. If you want a complex narrative that ties every plot point together perfectly, Licanius is good for that.

[junior dew]

So that’s why I think I would have loved Licanius a few years back.

I think that the plot leaned a bit too heavily on its influences on (Licanius all) || Christianity || ultimately. So I’m in a weird spot where I like what he did with it in a number of ways and think he did interesting stuff scaffolded on top of those influences. But I also think that it could have been executed much better.

I do really like how the epilogue tied everything together.

Dialogue and characters were obviously a weakness and some stuff felt a bit too convenient at times. Like (Licanius all) || The Elric stuff, which actually never really got explained in the end as far as I recall? Like yeah it was set up in that he went off and disappeared for half the series, and there was light foreshadowing on the army seen, but he also ended up coming back with some unexplained abilities ||. And then || the one thing about the ending is nothing really explained how the time loop stuff doesn’t break down/causality stuff still feels like a lingering issue surrounding everything. ||

Credit to Islington in that I think that he chose a really tough idea to tackle for his first published work, and overall he executed on it decently. I do also think he struggled with conveying passage of time.

[untold leaf]

Licanius general (book one late) ||I will say, I personally think Licanius does time travel better than most time travel stories I've experienced. That's one of its greatest strengths.||

[junior dew]

Would this be considered a spoiler?

[untold leaf]

Yes, you're right, sorry

[brazen pilot]

||IIRC Elric's plotline ballooned into something large enough that he decided to write it as its own book. But given that Islington is working on Hierarchy now, I feel like that plan was likely shelved.||

[tight kindle]

Don't Let the Forest In 1 ||I already LOVE the prose of this book. The metaphors are gorgeous.||

[untold leaf]

||I forgot about that. I suppose that's the one chink in the armor of an otherwise really tightly woven plot. The one unresolved plot point.||

[junior dew]

So part of why I say I think I would have loved it a few years ago is that
A) I’ve read so many top tier books and series over the last 3 or so years. Many of which I feel have blown Brandon’s works out of the water and set a new standard for me (still love Brandon’s works mind you)
B) (Licanius all) || I’ve been exposed to Christianity a lot more over the last few years because my gf is Christian (I didn’t grow up in a religious household so I’ve historically been atheist/agnostic), and I just finished reading Mere Christianity this week per a request from her. So the Christian influences in the overall conflict I think feel extra noticeable/heavy handed in some ways as a result. ||

[oblique zodiac]

I'm getting into the habit of reading lately. I find myself excited for the next book to read which is surprising because I always had this prejudice with new books. Having the passion to finish all books in my list helps.

[junior dew]

|| Makes sense. The fact that basically every time they were like “what, how?” it was all just hand waved away as “it’s a long story” ||

[untold leaf]

||As a lifelong Christian, I was perfectly fine with the influence, hehe.||

[tight kindle]

@quaint burrow I'm like
Already in love

[ivory cypress]

i didn't particularly find licanius all that christian

nothing noteworthy in that regard

[junior dew]

I will say that it does feel largely planned out fairly well and the way the plot ties into the overarching narrative and themes is well done.

Licanius all || Davian being the one to have brought together his parents in the first place is pretty funny. Cadan taking Davian’s face to change himself was cool. I figured that somehow Davian was going to not be dying for real. My money was on it being through him being connected to the forge and being reborn. I do think you do get a few chicken and egg scenarios granted ||

[marble sinew]

If by Christian (Licanius general) ||you mean general themes of redemption, predestination (and its impacts on agency) and individuals fighting a Force For Evil in the name of a deity that isn't obviously leaning on the scales, sure, but that feels more theological discussion in general||

[brazen pilot]

i didn't find it more christian than a lot of fiction/fantasy tends to be anyway, when writers who were raised in a culture with implicitly christian philosophy start trying to make up fantasy worldbuilding

[junior dew]

My gf is the one who recommended it to me while I was finally reading WoTM because she thought I’d appreciate the world building.

Trying to discuss it with her revealed she had forgotten most of it.

[analog geode]

See!

[marble sinew]

Licanius all ||Granted, you've read it much more recently than me, but I kinda feel like you thinking it's very Christian might be a Boss Baby Vibes situation||

Licanius all, Lightbringer Series all ||(Of course, around when I read Licanius I also read Lightbringer (not the RR one), so I might also be comparing to a very different "Christian Book" scale)||

[junior dew]

Yeah I don’t mind the influence. I think for me it just ultimately led to the overarching plot feeling a bit less punchy/novel/unique.

I’m typically very immune to strong influences/typically I can’t easily pinpoint influences.

(Licanius all) || Again, having just read Mere Christianity and having the arguments made in that book so front and center in my mind likely may be why it felt like the Venn diagram had a lot of overlap. But I definitely had a few points where it felt like it was just Christianity with a coat of paint. Not saying that’s bad, but that it resulted in maybe a bit of immersion breaking? Like it felt as if it ultimately led to treading familiar ground, rather than something new.

Granted I did appreciate it in the sense of the perspective it offered in relation to the Mere Christianity read. The two together proved interesting in regard to some of the connections my brain made on the subject of faith. ||

[buoyant whale]

Lots of writers fantasy books setting are just [insert their religion here] with a new coat of paint

[tight kindle]

The only way I can describe the prose of the book I just started is "written in a minor key"

It's fascinating and beautiful

[buoyant whale]

Hell even Brandon does it a bunch where if you read like. Book of Mormon and the like and then some of the stuff in his books you can clearly see a lot of places he took inspiration from (I'm not saying Brandon is in this group tho I think he generally does stuff different enough)

[ivory cypress]

yeah like.... idk, there are a LOT of things i consider real parallels and references but our movies and books and stuff are CHOCK FULL of jesus figures that i need quiiiiite a bit more than that to go "oh this is really christian"

having a jesus figure is just like, being raised in the west

[junior dew]

Licanius all || Like I said, it could very well be the Mere Christianity read overlapping directly with the read of this series. Book 3 of Licanius definitely had some overlap in arguments and discussions around faith at least to my brain. Plus you have the whole idea of essentially the devil is corrupting the world, commentary at the end around separation from god, some strong commentary around faith and God and free will, arguments like why would El the god let El/Elle (Cadan’s wife) die and how that impacted his belief system, etc.

But I also don’t know Christianity all that well. ||

[ivory cypress]

hm, interesting!

✍️

[junior dew]

Yeah it really could just me being exposed to Christian ideas recently as a non-religious individual with a surface level idea of what Christianity is and honestly a pretty poor understanding of other theologies as well

[ivory cypress]

so yeah more like, maybe the story exploring the ideas about christian apologetics

i get that

[junior dew]

So maybe I’ll start seeing those influences more and this just happened to be the first book series I’ve read following exposure to some certain Christian ideas lol

[ivory cypress]

i was thinking more on the theological side rather than the meta real life level of theology meets moral arguments about it

[buoyant whale]

If you wanna read very Christian fantasy go check Narnia or lightbringer

[ivory cypress]

being genuine when i nod and go "neat"

[junior dew]

Is lightbringer the problematic one?

[marble sinew]

Everything is problematic to someone

[hollow hedge]

I don't know if I'd call it problematic, personally?

I'm sure there are people who would take issue with something here or there but there's much, much worse out there

[marble sinew]

Lightbringer all ||That being said, yes, Lightbringer is the one that does a rugpull "It was Christianity all along!" in the last book||

[long sorrel]

This doesnt register to me despite having been raised in a very catholic society (culturally)

[junior dew]

There’s one series I think that begins with an L that I feel like a lot of people drop due to reasons that I don’t quite recall

[hollow hedge]

Lightbringer has an issue of the books getting worse as they progress but that's not something I'd use the word 'problematic' for

[marble sinew]

(It's Lightbringer, people get squicked or weirded out along the way for various reasons)

[long sorrel]

Yes me, lightbringer (series), first book Black Prism

Its rather sexist and the slave stuff is really gross

[junior dew]

Makes sense!

Yeah I can definitely see the argument as to how a lot of what I was feeling could apply to theology as a whole as well tbh.

Brain just making connections based on what’s fresh I presume

[ivory cypress]

yeah, totally

[buoyant whale]

Forgetting moon, that terrible book I read last year, was also very Christian to the point that it didn't make sense for the setting to be lol

[junior dew]

Since the Mere Christianity read basically started around the same time I started Licanius book 1 and ended on Monday lol

[junior dew]

Ahh yeah that was it

[long sorrel]

I don't mind that something is christian tough depending how its done it's gonna push me out entirely. Sometimes I just feel it's kinda fastidious

[quaint burrow]

I knew it would be right up your alley 👀

[junior dew]

Yeah I definitely didn’t mind it. I think a lot of things with Licanius boil down to “it just could have been executed a bit better”. (Licanius all) || I think maybe I expected more of a twist at some point in the series to the overarching plot perhaps, which didn’t really end up happening? ||

[minor sleet]

Firestar from the new graphic novels. He’s just a little bitty kitty

[junior dew]

I’ve thought about trying to re-read the first Warriors book actually. Though I’m not sure how well that would go

Been like… 15+ years?

[tight kindle]

Usha do you ever read horror?

You might like this one too

[long sorrel]

I've read a little

It's in the tbr

[buoyant whale]

Man I got one of the black tower books i hadn't finished yet and the blurb is completely derranged

[long sorrel]

What is it?

[buoyant whale]

Lemme get a screenshot

Errr, picture

Real life screenshot 😌

[minor sleet]

They’re still fun. Not great but I enjoyed rereading series 1

[junior dew]

Yeah maybe years down the road haha

Also have thought about re-reading the Gone series to see how those hold up and to see what the sequel trilogy did. But that would also be super low priority

[buoyant whale]

Chat would you read this book based on the blurb
Dark tower VI blurb spoilers lol

[tight kindle]

The prose of this book makes me want to see Morgenstern writing horror

[twin hull]

Is this the famous frog and toad?

[wet belfry]

Lightbringer is very male gazey, and attempts to tackle some ideas later on in a way that comes off more as sloppy and they're the kind of sensitive topics that I don't think should be handled with anything except extreme care

[minor sleet]

I put that book down when the 14 year old sent his mom to her room because Daddy had left him in charge of the estate while he was away and obviously no woman could do the work

Also the series was on thin ice already because the assassins are called ‘wet boys’ which is so silly it’s immersion breaking

[brazen pilot]

wet boys

[wet belfry]

Is there more than one Lightbringer? Its been a couple of years but I don't remember that lmao

[minor sleet]

Oh! The chapter before this, the same teenage boy finally realized the guards were humoring him in a fight by letting him win because they love him so much their coddling him. Totally someone who should be given responsibility

It’s possible this is another book by Brent Weeks

[brazen pilot]

Night Angel?

[minor sleet]

Yes that’s the one

[wet belfry]

I didn't read anything else by Weeks because Lightbringer crumbled so badly

[minor sleet]

I get his books mixed up because despite having spent so much time shelving them I didn’t like them enough to read them

[hollow hedge]

I think the five Lightbringer books are the only ones in that particular world? And Night Angel is another world within the universe, sort of like a Cosmere thing

[torpid kiln]

I started Lightbringer but by chapter 2 I was bored

[wet belfry]

Yeah it wasn't that captivating to begin with

I finished it because I was at sea

[oblique zodiac]

nope

[wet belfry]

Otherwise I probably wouldn't have bought the second book at all after having finished the first

[twin hull]

You’re on the way to some classics. If you would like some books nobody else here would recommend:

The city of dreaming books (by Moers), about a young writer-dragon going to the city entirely focused on print. Moers is one of the few people who can write fantasy as if he was entirely unbothered by the existence of Tolkien. He is neither addressing nor subverting him. He writes as if he had never heard of him.

“This used to be about Dungeons” (by Wales) about what it’s like to form an adventure group, think about being one, plan doing the adventures, cook together, and become friends. About 5% of the story is actual dungeons. Dungeon Meshi coded. Also the team consists of people with various loveable neurodiversities (that are never addressed by name, it’s just clear they have them).

“Hild” (Griffith) a historical novel that tries to very accurately recreate what life was like in the Middle Ages, to say nothing false about back then, and to give a believable andgood explanation for the possible fate of someone who we only have like 3 lines of historical text about. It’s very different from many other books because it’s so experimental. For a long time, it’s unclear if a “plot” will emerge (it does) and a lot of 700s vocabulary comes at you hard, but the book is great.

[hollow hedge]

For Lightbringer I entirely listened to the first four via Graphic Audio, but I had done so before the fifth book came out, so I read the fifth book myself

I think the GA production elevated it, to me

I'm not sure if I would have liked book five more if it had been ready, but I hear that there were some recasts that had to happen anyway so maybe not

[mild lance]

Lightbringer is a series that I enjoyed a lot and do not recommend to anyone

[wet belfry]

I kind of mentally shelve Lightbringer next to Dresden insofar as they both have a fairly strong male gaze (and some adjacent associated issues) and kind of tone deafness but fewer of Dresden's virtues

[mild lance]

I can see it but Dresden has way better writing on all counts and the issues with Lightbringer go way beyond that

[wet belfry]

I also think of it as the case study for Pantsing Gone Wrong because it has many late stage issues borne clearly from having taken a big swing early on that he had no idea how he was going to resolve that just become dropped threads or get some unsatisfying patchwork

[hollow hedge]

it doesn't help lightbringer that Dresden improves as the series progresses and Lightbringer's ending is remembered about as fondly as Game of Thrones

[minor sleet]

Dresden also annoyed me enough with its misogyny that I quit it early one

I had just finished reading several of Seanan McGuire’s October Daye books which did the Paranormal private detective with faeries story much better

[wet belfry]

I do think Dresden's first few books (first like, five or so lmao) are worse than Lightbringer ever is

I did also read Twelve Months and I think he's (finally) taken some of the criticisms he's received over the last ~five years to heart, though I think it might also be too early to tell if his adjustments will be the right ones

[unique turret]

I’m currently rereading Blood Rites and yeah… I think later books are much better about this sort of thing

[wet belfry]

He tries to transition later on into kind of a commentary on the predatory aspects of sexuality and especially male sexuality and I just don't think he quite has the writing chops to say anything interesting on the subject so like why are we going here

[tight kindle]

Don't Let the Forest In 17 ||It's been a while since I've read a book that's this hard to wake up from||

||Why did the Antler King call Andrew the prince?
Are his stories creating them and Thomas's art giving them form?
I have no idea how they're going to stop this.||

[minor sleet]

Sort of a “making everyone upset” tact

[tight kindle]

Dltfi 20 ||The romance mixed with the horror is just... Crazy.||

||I really think they're doing this together. They're not just Thomas's monsters.||

[analog geode]

I accidentally stepped into a bookstore again

[somber timber]

TAINTED CUP

[ripe tide]

Amazing books.

I don’t know the last one though

[minor sleet]

Funny how they have this magic ability to deduct $80 from your wallet just by setting foot in the door

[minor sleet]

It’s a cozy fantasy novel that was popular on booktok last year

[ripe tide]

I tend to be very good at just browsing at bookstores

[junior dew]

Hmm hadn’t heard of a memory called empire

[analog geode]

I liked the cover and it seems like a nice cozy fantasy

[low hill]

A Memory Called Empire was good.

[analog geode]

It won the 2020 Hugo I believe

[alpine drum]

I quite liked it

[junior dew]

Ahh gotcha

[alpine drum]

haven't gotten around to reading the sequel

[junior dew]

To the TBR it goes

[analog geode]

I feel weird walking out of stores without buying something. Or many things if it’s a bookstore

[junior dew]

Also starting City of Brass.

This narrator’s exclamations are delivered in a way that makes those lines read as really cheesy We’ll see if this shifts to a physical read

[minor sleet]

That’s how they get you

[proper silo]

Kings Rising 16 ||Aaaand there it is, the horrible reveal ||

||I am going to reach through my screen and strange the Regent with my bare hands||

||Damen can't do it, since he's at Kingsmeet (not that it matters to him at the moment), but I'm happy to volunteer to do it in his stead||

[junior dew]

This narrator is completely fine when voicing this male character and describing stuff/narrating normally, but the voicing of the main character in dialogue is a hop, skip, and a jump away from bad anime dub

[proper silo]

Kings Rising 16 ||Damn, eight men just to hold him down? I asked this before, but I'll ask again, we sure Damen doesn't have some Khornate berserkers in his family tree? Bro's a beast||

[junior dew]

Damn, I’ve never even considered dropping an audiobook due to the narration before. But it’s so hard to take the main character seriously.

At least if I do drop the audiobook I already have a physical copy.

[long sorrel]

He truly is

[long sorrel]

I wanna get home and continue reading

It felt like such a treat to reread

Probably because they're so short

[long sorrel]

I'm so picky about voices, one of the reasons i can't watch much content or audiobooks

I imagine Id feel that way about a lot of em

[unique turret]

I’ve done it before

I’ve also really disliked a narrator initially then later come to enjoy their voice

Like with The Expanse books, I didn’t like Jefferson Mays’s voice at first but eventually came to view his narration as one of the best I’ve ever heard

[junior dew]

Yeah I don’t see that happening here lol. Like it’s not all bad but the main character ends up sounding like she’s out of a bad YA novel with the way the lines are delivered

I switched to Cage of Souls

Daevabad is going to be a physical read

Going to still try to make time for it but it’s going to probably be slower since game dev and outer wilds also will be competing for that time

And it’s not exactly short either

[long sorrel]

King's Rising 4 ||Laurent had known who he was, and had still made love to him. He wondered what mix of yearning and self-delusion had allowed Laurent to do that. he can't really lie to Damen anymore ||

[proper silo]

King's Rising 17 ||Goddamn but Damianos knows how to aurafarm The walk through Ios leading to his grand hood-off reveal was peak||

[long sorrel]

||they're both so good at just being the absolute boss at what they do||

||It is why I like them so much||

[proper silo]

💯

[junior dew]

Cage of Souls narrator good

Adrian Tchaikovsky also does character voice so well

[proper silo]

Kings Rising 18 ||I was not expecting this novel to end like a courtroom drama but I am so so here for it||

||I for one welcome Damianos of Akielos, Ace Attorney||

19 ||You know, on one hand, it's slightly disappointing that Damen doesn't get to kill any of the villains himself||

||On the other hand, I appreciate the rhyming of Damen the warrior winning over the Regent with words, like Laurent the politician triumphs over Kastor win a fight||

[long sorrel]

Kings Rising 4 ||The delicate thing that had grown between them had never had a right to exist. 😭 what a sad sentence||

Also the prose is nicer than I remember

I thought it was more bland than it is

[proper silo]

I found the prose really neat

and occassionally very funny

[long sorrel]

Yeah!

It flows really well

[proper silo]

Kings Rising all ||Wait, that's how we end? No denounement, no "and then they lived happily ever after", just, Kastor dead, general plan of new joint kingdom, and that's the end???||

This was a really good book but I do sincerely need that short story collection to give me ||a proper ending||

[long sorrel]

||It does really only solve the conflict and nothing else||

lemme know how the short stories are I guess

[proper silo]

looking through the list of them, seems like there's only one that interests me, tbh, and fortunately, it's set after book 3 ends

"The Summer Palace"

[long sorrel]

Yeah that's the only one I had heard about

But I feel it's gonna be some cheesy thing rather than a "what happens after"?

but it might be baked in

no clue

[proper silo]

well, i'm reading it now, so I'll report shortly

[long sorrel]

Kings Rising 5 ||The absolute BALLS of Laurent to gift him THE whip??? I had forgotten about this||

||‘After all,’ Laurent held his gaze, ‘I remember what you like.’ internally screaming||

||I certainly remembered the cuff ||

||Nikandros like "I've seen him, don't bullcrap me" yes, Damianos has a type and it is widely known to be Laurent||

[proper silo]

okay I have finished The Summer Palace and yea, this was the epilogue I wanted

I wouldn't call it cheesy but it was very sweet, so I suppose it depends on your tolerance for sweetness

[long sorrel]

||‘You have committed Akielos to an alliance because the Prince of Vere has blue eyes and blond hair.’ ||

[long sorrel]

Ill give it a go

[proper silo]

It does explain what happened in the aftermath of the last chapter of Kings Rising, too

[long sorrel]

it's short enough that it shouldn't bother me even if it's very cheesy

[proper silo]

Anyway, with this, as for the whole series, it was fantastic

Thanks for recommending it to me

[long sorrel]

Yaay

It has such a well crafted plot 😌

Now Dark Rise (after your 23908208342 volumes of the Remnants of Filth I guess)

[proper silo]

I'll have you know that Remnant of Filth has only seven volumes

[long sorrel]

I know xD

[proper silo]

But yeah, aside from a few... wobbly bits at the beginning of the first book, this was excellently written, and I love both those guys

I will be looking for fanfiction

[long sorrel]

Dark Rise 3 is one of the very few times in my life where I've been like

at the edge of my chair waiting

usually I don't mind waits

[tight kindle]

Sir Cameron intensifies

[long sorrel]

This is all on you!

Which makes me remember it!

I've been patiently waiting

Okay, yesterday it was me but y'know, it just compounds

[ivory cypress]

it's sOOOOOO soon!!!

[long sorrel]

Yeaaaaah

https://tenor.com/view/aliphobe-bunny-rabbit-running-running-in-circles-gif-21893441

[tight kindle]

I pre ordered a copy at my local bookstore so hopefully I can get it on release day 🤞

[ivory cypress]

oh wow!! fun

[long sorrel]

I'm getting it digitally so 100% on release day

[ivory cypress]

yeah

it's going to start downloading on my phone the moment it's out 😤

[proper silo]

Captive Prince (whole series) ||lowkey incredibly funny that the third most popular tag for Captive Prince fanfic is "Auguste Lives". The masses yearn for brotherly fluff, I suppose ||

[tight kindle]

I can already tell that it's going to be one I want physically so I figured I'd just head it off

[proper silo]

When is the book coming out? 😆

[long sorrel]

Then after that there's the new Heather Fawcett book on Feb 17th...

[ivory cypress]

Feb 3!

[tight kindle]

And now I need to find a copy of Don't let The Forest In because ahhhhhhhhh

I need to own that one too

[long sorrel]

... are you sure it's "fluff" they're yearning for???

[ivory cypress]

oh is that the cat shelter one?

[proper silo]

The descriptions of the first few top kudos'd fics seem to imply as much 😅

[long sorrel]

Yep!

[ivory cypress]

.... oh i've never read the description for this before

it sounds cute!

[long sorrel]

I think it sounds good for me, not the type of cozy I don't like

[proper silo]

[long sorrel]

It sounds rather charming

[long sorrel]

All right, I had my suspicions given... y'know

[proper silo]

understandable

I checked out of curiosity, and (Captive prince? Shipping?) ||There are significantly fewer Auguste/Laurent fics than there are "Auguste Lives" fics, so there's that||

...I should probably go to sleep instead of trawling AO3 tags

[long sorrel]

Okay, that's probably good? (to each their own)

but Captive prince all ||since there's that constant rumour of them having had sex and all I thought some fics would go that way||

[proper silo]

they sure did

[long sorrel]

||I think an Auguste x Damianos x Laurent ship would be far more interesting... 👀 (without the brothers being there at the same time)||

[tight kindle]

Apparently, there's a paperback of don't let the forest in the sprayed edges coming out in like 5 days

[snow vessel]

Atruss did you finish it? How is it?

[tight kindle]

Not yet I'm at 62%

It's amazing do far

[snow vessel]

I might pick it up myself

It's been on my list a while

[proper silo]

You are cooking 🤔

[minor sleet]

Reading Kushiel’s Chosen ||and Phedre and Melisandre finally reunited. Melisandre offered to break Phedre to her will, to keep her forever as a penitent and Phedre wants it so so bad. “All that I was, I became under her kiss” oh Phedre, you should sleep her more and mope over Jocelyn less||

@long sorrel You’d like this series

[snow vessel]

I've gotta finish kushiel's dart sometime

[long sorrel]

I am cooking, i know

I know what I'm on about

[long sorrel]

how so? 👀

pretty sure I've it on my tbr

I saw someone mention it here a while ago, Grey perhaps?

[minor sleet]

It’s court intrigue but the main character is a bisexual courtesan who is divinely blessed (or cursed) to draw passion from pain, submission, and punishment. She uses this to get information from the patrons who buy her favor for a night

[long sorrel]

ayyyyy?

First book is Kushiel's Dart yeah?

[minor sleet]

Yes

[snow vessel]

Funnily enough I stopped reading it because I was struggling with the court intrigue xD

[minor sleet]

I’m on book 2

[long sorrel]

it was NOT IN MY TBR

fixed

[snow vessel]

I was doing audio and having a hard time remembering the names

[minor sleet]

Fair. They all kinda sound the same (vaguely french)

[long sorrel]

I have what I think is a cute lesbian fantasy on my "soon" tbr

Kushiel's Dart has gone to "somewhere within the next few months maybe" spot

[snow vessel]

Audio just made it a bit harder because I couldn't remember the spellings

[long sorrel]

I don't generally have troubles with names except it has happened with a couple of series...

oh it defs happens when all names are chinese

[tight kindle]

Don't Let the Forest In all ||what. What.||

Six star book

Genuinely

That was... An indescribable experience

[snow vessel]

👀

[tight kindle]

I'm having trouble waking up

[snow vessel]

Audio seems to make it worse because I had it a bit with swordcrossed as well, from memory

[long sorrel]

yeah fair

I don't do audio at all so i can't compare how it is for me

[quaint burrow]

told ya

https://tenor.com/view/cat-eat-gif-6870775030264883930

[tight kindle]

I can absolutely see why that's in your top 10

Might have made top 5 for me

Looking at my list of favorites, I think it made it to #4

These being my top 5, it's bumped ASaSE to fifth place

[quaint burrow]

When you're in the mood for something like that again... the author has a similar novel, though I haven't read it, (still waiting for libby)

it's called Hazelthorn

Don't Let the Forest In ||I was as like: reading the last few chapters||

||the dead sister reveal then the second plot twist....damn||

[tight kindle]

||I was genuinely staring off into space for a couple minutes.
The ending was a little more ambiguous than I like but it fits the book||

[quaint burrow]

||well.... I heard there's an extra crossover scene between Don't Let the Forest In and Hazelthorn being written👀 (I follow them on tiktok)||

[analog geode]

Tainted Cup 10 ||I am in love with this biopunk world||

[ivory cypress]

yesssss

[somber timber]

https://tenor.com/view/jack-nicholson-jack-nicholson-yes-yes-nod-head-nod-gif-17444176260167585294

[analog geode]

||Biopunk is really underdone. I’ve only encountered like 2 others, New Jedi Order and Leviathan||

Both are amazing

[sleek jungle]

Many of which I feel have blown Brandon’s works out of the water and set a new standard for me
With praise like that, you've got to share the sauce

[long sorrel]

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1194838543747530872/1433821203054858403/ezgif-55f98130818863.gif

[tight kindle]

Started White Trash Warlock cuz it's been on my TBR for ages.
Unfortunately it's not one I can put on my Kindle for whatever reason so I have to read it off my phone

Not my favorite way to read books

[royal carbon]

Bunny got hops

[long sorrel]

Oooh

This is the one i told you to read them you said it was already on your tbr

It was fun

I should read book 2

[oblique zodiac]

too lazy to go to the library today

[junior dew]

So… Mentioned a bunch of my top recommendations here. #1404497733108236318 message

But it’s not quite that simple. Not saying those all fall into the “blows Brandon out of the water category”.

Broken Earth, RoTE, Sword of Kaigen, Dandelion Dynasty, The Girl With the Louding Voice, Homegoing, Beartown, and Kindred I would say easily blow Brandon’s works out of the water generally (imo). Some of the best books and series I’ve read. (Caveat, lumping together series as a whole. RoTE rainwild sub-series is well below everything on this list and many of Brandon’s works for me, but RoTE as a complete package is top tier for me)

Then there’s stuff I personally loved but wouldn’t say outright blow Brandon’s books out of the water. They just hit the right notes for me. Children of Ruin in particular stands out, probably placing higher than any of Brandon works for me personally. Children of Time and Alien Clay are also very high up there for me, though idk for sure if I would put them above Tress. Would have to think on those. (Note, if I had included Brandon books in that top recommendations list, Tress would 100% make the cut. Yumi probably would too. Mistborn probably would as well. Unsure if it’s because of nostalgia at this point.

Some I think are excellent and I highly recommend, even if I wouldn’t put them in my list of top favorites, often due to them being particularly uncomfortable or unpleasant to read (xenogenesis, chain-gang). Would I say I consider them better than Brandon’s works? Possibly. In terms of quality. But I would simultaneously sooner re-read Tress, Yumi, Mistborn, or Emperor’s Soul again over those.

Piranesi and PHM I’d probably add to a list of very strong recommendations but they’re not quite as high for me as other books on the list. I do think they’re great, very well executed, and worth a read though. I would put a number of Brandon’s books above them personally though for sure.

[tight kindle]

the one
Usha there's gotta be at least three at this point

We have an exchange like that once a month minimum

[long sorrel]

Fair

[junior dew]

Wow this ended up being a lot of asterisks and clarifications lol

Any opinions mentioned of course are just opinions. My favorite Stormlight book is RoW and I’d pick Mistborn over Stormlight any day, so make of that what you will

[frozen glacier]

elric of Melnibone ||now that is a introduction||

[quaint burrow]

All the people keep saying RotE is so good.... maybe when/if I finish Malazan?

[long sorrel]

@proper silo Kings Rising 10 ||the moment Laurent orders his slave and Damen automatically responds instead has been living rent free in my head since I read it the first time and it's here again. 😳 ||

[proper silo]

same tag ||Honestly, it gave me secondhand embarrassment when it happened, since Nikandros and I think other Akielons are right there 😅 ||

[long sorrel]

Hahaha

I get that too

Well not as far

But yknow ||it shows he did get trained (this is absolutely horrible if I think about it for more than 1 minute lol)||

[long sorrel]

13 ||Not Laurent "we're busy concurrently" while they're having sex ||

[mild lance]

Started In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan on a Reddit recommendation!

In Other Lands midway thru 1 ||calling it now: Elliot and Luke will eventually end up together. Possibly as a throuple with Serene||

[analog geode]

Finished The Tainted Cup

Absolutely loved it

[tight kindle]

It was a really cool setting and story

TTC ||I struggle a lot with the body horror elements which makes me love it a little less than a lot of people here but I legitimately enjoyed both it and the sequel.||

[oblique zodiac]

i took the next step and showered

time to go to the library

[snow vessel]

Ugh im already getting the itch to go back to TVC

I think my options for my next audiobook read are:

• what moves the dead
• the hobbit
• don't let the forest in

[oblique zodiac]

My next book on my list is "Hatchet" by Gary Paulsen

[snow vessel]

Oh I think I've read that!

[oblique zodiac]

nice

I think I saw this one before too. The english cover looks very familiar

[oblique zodiac]

I use an application to help with the Korean vocabulary and I just made it so that it shows the English version of the words and it is so much easier to grasp the meaning

[proper silo]

Reading vol2 of Remnant of Filth, and forgot just how damn funny this author can be The story's got the same tonal whiplash as Erha, where it can go from dramatic to horriffic to absolutely hilarious multiple times, sometimes within a single scene, it somehow works

Remnant of Filth 47 ||Gu Mang being so mentally broken he starts acting like an animal? Horriffic. Gu Mang stealing every single chair in Mo Xi's house to build a defensive line? Hilarious.||

[oblique zodiac]

Hatchet ||I think this book will be the polar opposite of what "My Side of the Mountain" was||

[junior dew]

Cannot recommend it enough! If you like really sinking into a world and great character work, then RoTE is great. After 16 books I still wish I had more time with those characters

[uncut shoal]

Ooof I forgot how rough the first few Dresden books are. I usually skip them. I think I'm wincing every other page or so

[sleek jungle]

I'm starting a reread before digging into Twelve Months and the only book I'm skipping outright is the second. Always hated that one. But James Marsters does such an incredible job as the narrator that he makes the books readable even through the insanely cringy/sexist moments

Actually, there was another moment even he couldn't save
I don't remember the specific book, so Dresden all ||The part when he and Kinkaid(? the assassin guy) had to take Murphy's jeans off because of a bomb's weight sensor or smth like that||
Just an unbelievably stupid scene that should not have been written in the first place

[hollow hedge]

According to the guy at his booth at a convention several years ago, even the author recommends skipping those books, but most fans aren’t the type to listen

[junior dew]

Oh wow, that says a lot lol

[hollow hedge]

IIRC they said the best starting points were the third, fourth, or seventh books, depending on whether vampires, fae, or necromancy sounded more interesting, and that for the first 11 books or so, they tried to make each book passable as a standalone novel (and tried extra hard for the seventh becuase it was his hardcover debut)

[junior dew]

Duly noted!

[hollow hedge]

there are definitely some things happening in the background that would have some fans argue with that, FWIW. If you went to the Dresden subreddit they'd probably insist you start at the beginning

but I think it's perfectly fine either way, just think of anything Changes and beyond (the twelfth book) off limits until you've read at least most of them

[junior dew]

I’ll admit I’ve never really given reading Dresden any consideration due to what some have said about it. But if I ever decide to give any of them a chance then that’s good to know

[hollow hedge]

like he tries to include some basic catch-up text anytime he introduces a character for the first time in a book, and actually introduced some of the main characters of the series for the first time in the same way

also just to be clear, starting late doesn't dodge everything problematic about the series, there are lingering things that people very much don't like, I'm not really going to get into it but if it's something you expect to bother you, you don't have to read the series

it gets a little more self-aware and painted more as a character flaw but it doesn't outright stop

[wet belfry]

That is true, some of the main characters get the old "yeah and Dresden met this chump between books or has known this guy for years and it just hasn't come up yet don't worry about it" treatment

[unique turret]

Which honestly I appreciate

Makes it seem like not everything important in Dresden’s life happens in one week every year

[alpine drum]

If you can selectively read a little (to skim over the eyerolling stuff) I recommend starting at book 3 because I really like michael and his introduction is good

and from what I remember it's also when the stakes sort of get concrete compared to the more episodic nature of the first two

[unique turret]

Dresden Files General all ||it also really starts the whole “being Harry Dresden is suffering” thing lol||

[analog geode]

@zinc flicker You’d like The Tainted Cup, it has that same Thrawn format

[zinc flicker]

I bought it a bit ago

[analog geode]

Read itttt

[somber timber]

YES!!!!

[merry galleon]

I’m at 312 pages on Titan’s Nest. I’m getting there.

200 pages to go!

[tight kindle]

White Trash Warlock 17 ||I liiiiiike where this is going||

[long sorrel]

How far in are you?

like what has happened

I have the plot pretty clear in my mind

[uncut shoal]

I mean, Dresden isn't that bad compared to some, and his sexism is pointed out right away by the very first woman he meets, and it's not presented as a good thing

It's still winceworthy

[versed agate]

It's one of those things where like, you could have not written that. A choice was made

[wet belfry]

Yeah like I say I feel like Butcher is trying to do a thing with it but just kind of isn't the right author for the job sometimes

Its just sort of clumsily there most of the time without saying anything about it except the odd "well cmon Harry get it together"

[tight kindle]

So at that point was ||when he went to visit Vic for the first time.
I'm now to the point in chapter 23 where|| ||he's going to find the first possessed dude and him and Vic are talking in their heads and I'm just like.
Such a sucker for the mind-meld trope. It's so much fun.||

[long sorrel]

||The relationship with Vic is very cute but also very light in the book, it's done in a way that seems soft and light and I like it.||

That might be one of my most articulate sentences of all time

[tight kindle]

Also, ||Vic is hot af. Like exactly my type 😭||

[long sorrel]

He sure is

I can relate 😌

(to having that type)

[tight kindle]

Now I'm sad
White Trash Warlock vague ||I wanna watch a movie snuggled up against a hot, very direct man ;-;||

||The directness is very attractive cuz like
Gestures at self||

||I'm very yearn-y today||

[proper silo]

(quick reminder to tag what book you're talking about every once in a while)

[long sorrel]

This i cannot relate very much with

[analog geode]

My sister dragged me to the bookstore again

[long sorrel]

nice

[royal carbon]

Good choices

[somber timber]

Bean corruption dropping in chat🔥

[tight kindle]

Ok finished White Trash Warlock
...Libby told me I spent 2 hours and 23 minutes reading it
It's 84000 words.
So I averaged over 500 words per minute reading 😭

Almost 600

[long sorrel]

It's pretty light

Maybe if you get onto book 2 I will too

It's one of those I liked but got distracted by other things (as usual)

[tight kindle]

I liked it a lot! I definitely want to keep reading

[long sorrel]

It also had an interesting ending when it comes to White Trash Warlock all ||Vic's end????||

[tight kindle]

WTW ||Also I expected them to save Annie. The fact that they didn't was kind of a shock.||

[long sorrel]

||I like that the romance is so soft it just feels like a natural part of the plot with all the focus being on the eldritch horror and all that||

||and the actual plot was pretty good and very nicely paced, and I the plot twists were pretty decent||

[long sorrel]

[tight kindle]

||It felt kinda separate, which I liked a lot. It provided a nice contrast and a bit of a mental break.||

Looks like it'll be a bit till I can get ahold of the next one

I'm the only one in line so as soon as the next person finishes I'll be all over it

[long sorrel]

drop me a ping if you want ~

[tight kindle]

Will do

[tight kindle]

...Now I don't have a book to read again

I looked for Paladin's Strength but I had to put that one on hold too

[ivory cypress]

my problem is that i have books to read and none of them feel right rn 😔

[tight kindle]

I have a couple of those too

The Spear Cuts Through Water, Lightbringer

...Might just be those two

I could start my His Dark Materials reread

I have an omnibus

[buoyant whale]

Atrus you should read , I think you would really like it

[tight kindle]

visible confusion

[forest sierra]

Any book out there that scratches the Memories of Murder itch?

Hilariously incompetent detectives constantly getting into goofy hijinks while a very serious case proceeds

[tight kindle]

Mia what 😭
I'm going crazy

[snow vessel]

@long sorrel Starting what moves the dead

[ivory cypress]

OOOH

[long sorrel]

Yeeeeeeees

[rugged tartan]

What does move the dead? Puppet strings I hope, that's always a fun trope

[minor sleet]

What moves the dead? Well, uh, don’t worry about it

[long sorrel]

Read to find out!

[velvet umbra]

for some reason all of these are always available at my library

[ancient bay]

New Dresden?!

[mild lance]

Yep!

[ancient bay]

Literally this was not on my radar at all lmao. I heard about it, forgot about it, and then never heard anything else and now I'm learning that IT'S BEEN OUT FOR A FEW DAYS?!

How did I hear NOTHING

[mild lance]

Somehow not a lot of people here have been talking about it, other than me

I did a few chapter reactions when it came out

[ancient bay]

Daniel please tell me these things 😢

Put it in ur thumbs pls

[marble sinew]

A lot of people were unhappy with the last couple Dresdens, and they were after a huge hiatus. Personally, I'm waiting to hear more before I decide if I'm going to read

[wet belfry]

Tuesday

[wet belfry]

For what its worth I think its easily top 5 Dresdens

Which isn't exactly rarified air, but it was a notable improvement over the last two for sure and felt generally like a return to form

[ancient bay]

I personally never was unhappy with Dresden

I thought the last books were really good

[royal carbon]

I do need to finish Dresden 7 since Libby is passive aggressively reminding me that people are waiting.

[long sorrel]

I reached the peak of Charls in Kings Rising

[long sorrel]

Kings Rising 16 ||I forgot how utterly disgusting the Regent is, like, dont get me wrong, he's disgusting the entire series, but at this point? Saying he just did what Laurent had wanted? I want to torture him||

[potent linden]

👀👀👀

[snow vessel]

I didn't realise there were so many fans here xD

[potent linden]

it's a good one!

[long sorrel]

Hehe~

[snow vessel]

Oh, I was going to say

I quite like the narration style of this book. It feels like... charming?

There's just something about the way it's written and the tone and some of the little asides

[long sorrel]

Welcome to Kingfisher

[royal carbon]

Condolences/Congratulations

[long sorrel]

Kings Rising 19 ||Laurent calling Damen an idiot is probably the most casual/carefree thing he's said in the entire trilogy lol||

[little dock]

Literally just finished Twelve Months and definitely agree.

Mild spoilers for the general vibes of TM but full spoilers up through BG ||It’s a much slower pace, but appropriately so, after the battle of Chicago and Murphy dying. It’s a breather to let things settle while still building future tension. Also a seemingly realistic depiction of trauma and PTSD, which helps Harry’s character. ||

Also, I didn’t really notice male gaze stuff much, if at all, in this book. Some of that might be for plot-relevant reasons, but whatever the reason it was definitely wayyyy less than previous books.

[wet belfry]

He definitely seems more aware that the criticism is there

[mild lance]

He is, he’s talked about it in interviews

[oblique zodiac]

continuing hatchet

[sleek jungle]

🍿 👀
https://www.reddit.com/r/DungeonCrawlerCarl/comments/1qld53g/dungeon_crawler_carl_book_8_a_parade_of_horribles/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

Next DCC book in may! Yay

[oblique zodiac]

My Korean teacher said that you always have to read as fast as you can when you read something

Does consciously putting an effort into reading fast actually help?

[snow vessel]

I think it generally makes me slower 😅

[low hill]

I don't see why you need to read fast.

There is much to be said for slowing down and savouring a book, as much as there to be said for devouring it in a frenzy of need.

[uncut shoal]

You should read at your natural speed. Too fast and you'll miss things. Too slow and it could get dull

[minor sleet]

https://www.tumblr.com/greyratdog/806524006015565824/rusty-meets-bluestar

khas

Rusty meets Bluestar

-# #warrior cats #warriors #warrior cats fanart #warriors fanart #bluestar #firestar #into the wild #traditional drawing #traditional art

Tumblr · Jan 23, 2026, 9:40 AM

He was just a little baby kitten when they met 😭

[mellow meteor]

I liked it a lot

[mellow meteor]

usually it comes at the cost of comprehension

[oblique zodiac]

Finished Hatchet! The ending was a bit.. abrupt, but it was an okay book. I give it 4 out of 5.

[long sorrel]

Captive Prince (series) all ||I see one of the stories is about Aimeric and I think I'll be sad if I read this? The guy was an asshole but he was also just sold by his father to the kink and I think his story is real sad? 😭 ||

I got the Summer Palace

Pacat really makes an amazing job at making me feel sad for all these horrible characters 😭

[long sorrel]

I typed kink instead of king!

I just realized

Rasarr you didn't even say anything

King, I meant king!

[proper silo]

i... genuinely thought you meant kink when I first look at it 😓

[minor sleet]

Was wondering when you’d notice that

[long sorrel]

I... wow, ok

||I don't feel comfy at all calling that a kink 😬 ||

[proper silo]

fair enough, sorry

It's the same word in my language, so I didn't think about different meanings in English

[long sorrel]

No worries, I did make that typo

Which is funny in isolation

[versed agate]

Hang on, "kink" and "king" are the same word in polish?

[royal carbon]

Interesting if true

[long sorrel]

The Summer Palace ||Laurent being like "stop my mouth, I don't know what I'm saying" has me making a huge effort to not giggle at the gym lol||

[proper silo]

no, i meant "kink" and "fetish"

(ah, sorry for the ping, forgot to disable it before i hit enter )

[long sorrel]

To be clear the thing Im refering to was (click at your own risk) ||pedophilia||
||i assume you're using fetish for both kink and philia here||

[proper silo]

yeah

[long sorrel]

It is also fetish in spanish, however that word isn't used for what I said above

[long sorrel]

This short story is sweet but not overtly cheesy

[royal carbon]

Libby is just throwing all my holds at me

[long sorrel]

I finished

That was a nice and very needed epilogue, you were right, Rasarr

[proper silo]

Yeah, it was the denounement I needed after that finale

[long sorrel]

Now i have an urge to read dark rise 😩

[proper silo]

Well, with third book releasing soon, might be a good time for a reread

[long sorrel]

Soon when 😭

[minor sleet]

https://tenor.com/view/stitch-cobra-bubbles-book-throw-ouch-gif-18068289394009824540

But times 6

[little dock]

I just made a list of all the Adrian Tchaikovsky books, so that I can keep track of what I’ve read and what I haven’t, but man, there’s so many. I knew there were, but putting them all down is incredible. I count 56 in 18 years, not counting his Warhammer stuff, his individual short stories, or a series he wrote one book in. That’s over 3 books a year on average

[junior dew]

Which have you read so far? I’m on cage of souls right now!

[little dock]

Honestly not many. I know his SF is more popular but I was curious about his fantasy so I’m 2/3 way through Echoes of the fall, I’ve read Spiderlight, and a handful of his novellas, both SF and fantasy.

Now that I’m most of the way through Echoes, I know I’m going to be diving into Shadows of the Apt too even with how long it is. The length put me off from starting with it, but I like this world quite a bit

[tight kindle]

I have a library card now :D

Checked out these two

[long sorrel]

Oooh

[tight kindle]

Also I get two book requests a month so
You better believe this library's collection of gay romance is about to increase steadily over the next few years

Ooh City of Brass
I need to finish that sometime

Ooooooh Emily Wilde too

[velvet umbra]

I love that every library has that same little purple unicorn sticker for Fantasy lol

[ripe tide]

Guys I need more recommendations of channels of fandom specific video essays, kind of like what @storm escarp makes.

[analog geode]

Yessss

[versed niche]

I only own 64.1% of the books on my TBR for this year. Gotta get to buying ig.

[half raven]

could i get a spot of help here

in hitchhikers guide. one of the later books i think. theres a running gag where ||a human character knows the moment of his death. time, place, etc. and keeps on doing improbably dangerous stuff and getting away with it||

whos that character

i look it up and its all ||marvin, who does understand when he will die, but its just because his death is inevitable and boring. rusting away long past the end of civilization. im thinking of a different gag i’m sure||

[versed niche]

Also, is hitchhiker's guide a good book

like should I read it?

[half raven]

i liked them

i was also. what. twelve?

you have to be up for Adams’ humor. but if you are, they’re great

oh and also, Ford Prefect’s name is supposed to be a joke, but the Ford Motor Company stopped manufacturing their Prefect model around the time and nobody remembers it. so the joke has fallen flat ever since. in case you are reading the first few chapters and think the joke density isn’t up to snuff

[versed niche]

how many are there

[half raven]

books? i mean like four or five idk

you can stop after any one tho