Books (General)

[alpine drum]

Its still fantasy, the degree to which HP broke out of fantasy is why I consider it influential

[wet belfry]

Though somewhat similarly to romantasy I think there's an argument to be made that Rowling has been been more influential on adjacent genres than on default fantasy

[buoyant whale]

a lot of 2010s dystopia ya is basically hunger games + HP

[versed agate]

#1404493534282911805 trying to decide what genre they're talking about https://tenor.com/bRXAM.gif

[junior dew]

But what is a genre really

[lusty meteor]

Its a similar thing with SJM where i dont really consider that the same as adult fantasy. Something like fourth wing doesnt enter into what i would see in an adult fantasy section

[versed agate]

oop, I meant that to be aimed at everyone, sorry duck

[warm leaf]

Hmm, if I look at it from a more academic or technical point of view, Sanderson does things well, very well, which is why he stands out. But he doesn't do anything particularly new; maybe the magic systems, but I think Hunter x Hunter is far more influential than Brandon

[velvet umbra]

well the people who shelve books at major commercial bookstores seem to disagree with you

[long sorrel]

Being a different genre doesnt mean someone's not influential?

[lusty meteor]

I feel like the Genre Discussion posting has reached a level of annoyance like with linguistics where like yeah, sometimes genre comes up in a natural way. I dont think it needs to be memed on every time

[wet belfry]

I think its easy to be dismissive of genre but I don't think genre is useless or should not be discussed

[long sorrel]

Like I'm not sure why it matters if its YA or romantasy or traditional fantasy when it comes to talk about people being influential

[long sorrel]

If the joke is not funny for you you can just move on tho

[alpine drum]

Guy on 1950s era Discord:

Its a similar thing with Tolkien where i dont really consider that the same as speculative fiction. Something like lord of the rings doesnt enter into what i would see in a speculative fiction section

[buoyant whale]

I think Brandon's strengths are that his books are easy to read and pretty uncomplicated overall

[long sorrel]

Also like it or not romantasy is adult fantasy even if its a subgenre you don't like or partake or it goes away quite far from other subgenres

[wet belfry]

I'm not saying it to discount the idea that they're influential, but I do think that Maas/Yarros and Rowling's influence is different than theoretically Brandon's would be, if we were to accept him as third most influential fantasy writer

[velvet umbra]

I think they hit an appropriate mix for "wide appeal but also with dedicated fanbase" of there being a lot of nitty gritty stuff you CAN get into if you want, but in order for a normal person to read and enjoy it they don't have to do that

[somber timber]

Why this tolkein ain’t put any dames into these books, say?

[alpine drum]

Potential Author

[wet belfry]

I do still think he's in Potential Author mode yeah

[versed agate]

said no 1950s bloke ever

[long sorrel]

I think ... 🤔 Tolkien affected every subgenre outside of his own too. Which I can't see Brandon doing atm, maybe he would in the future

[velvet umbra]

I kind of feel like this is a case by case basis thing, there are books I have read and enjoyed that I find in the fantasy section and think "why is this not just shelved in the romance section"?

[somber timber]

Yeah I think I was doing 40s noir detective by accident

[long sorrel]

Like Tolkien affected even modern YA, romantasy, scifi, etc

Even if the clone likes only appear in more traditional adult fantasy

[warm leaf]

I think it even affected science fiction with Dune

[wet belfry]

Imma be honest my interactions with YA have had really only trace amounts of Tolkien in them

[alpine drum]

More like

where is muscle-bound shirtless warrior king and the authors poorly disguised fetish?

[long sorrel]

Because Romance isnt set in fantasy. And if you did that you'd be like ... sort of lying to readers. Genres are ultimately based on the beats/premises/settings that we widely understand as an audience

[alpine drum]

If your YA involves a secondary world with worldbuilding then its got Tolkien DNA

[long sorrel]

Romance fantasy doesnt even have the same plot formula or beats as Romance

[alpine drum]

Tolkien pretty much is the urexample of that in speculative fiction

[warm leaf]

Oh, I think part of being influential is having created the clichés

[wet belfry]

This does go both ways. I took enormous quantities of book recommendations and I was several times unpleasantly surprised to find primarily-romance books where I was looking for primarily-fantasy books (I am not really a romance reader)

[somber timber]

Does this mean CS Lewis is a furry?

[velvet umbra]

I mean some of them do, that's what I'm saying, like they follow the general plot structure and have the HEA and all that

[long sorrel]

That is already telling, being such different genres/subgenres

[alpine drum]

He had poorly disguised anglicanism

[wet belfry]

Tolkien had much better disguised Catholicism

(Not even that well disguised)

[velvet umbra]

yeah this is what I'm talking about, some of them I feel like are sort of lying to readers just in the other direction

[warm leaf]

One rule of being a writer, imo, is that you have to know how to portray characters even if they think differently from you and not fall into prejudices

[long sorrel]

I agree lol

This is a problem of how people sort "fantasy" in an elitist way

Which is like all fantasy goes on a bag and then we split evrything else into curated genres

Which is why I said literally porn (fantasy) tugged in with middle grade books and with broken earth in "Fantasy / YA" sections in book stores

Which is like

[wet belfry]

It isn't about elitism, it is about using genre as a predictive tool when evaluating if I want to spend money on a book or not

[velvet umbra]

ok this is significantly worse than what I was thinking of lmao

[long sorrel]

I do think it is? We have contemporary romance, historical romance, etc etc and then "fantasy"

I think that type of not bothering to subtag fantasy in any way is a sort of elitism

[wet belfry]

I don't think romantasy is better or worse than traditional fantasy. I just happen to consistently dislike it for most of the same reasons I consistently dislike normal romance (read: it isn't for me)

[long sorrel]

There's also romance fantasy that isn't romantasy that is primarily romance focused, too

[wet belfry]

That is not an elitism statement. It is a statement of preference

[long sorrel]

I'm not calling you elitist

I'm talking about the people that don't tell YOU that it has romance

Like the people categorizing books and not bothering to use any subgenre for fantasy, when we do subgenre anything that's not sff

[velvet umbra]

this is more what I was talking about, my most frequently visited B&N has several books I would firmly classify as fantasy romance, not like ACOTAR style "romantasy" just in the fantasy section in a way I feel is kind of silly

[lusty meteor]

Not really when people not in the conversation parachute in 😔

[velvet umbra]

and their layout has a big fantasy section next to a big romance section so like I feel like you could easily just have like an in-between shelf that would accurately convey what's there to people

[lusty meteor]

I def think romantasy is worse than traditional fantasy, but that is more bc of the economics of romantasy than any intrinsic value

[long sorrel]

hard to say imo, I like traditional fantasy better

I also have a much much much bigger selection of stuff that is my cup of tea within traditional fantasy than within romantasy

[versed agate]

non euclidian bookshop where every genre shelf is adjacent to every other genre shelf

[long sorrel]

Uh... please? 😳

[velvet umbra]

if this was possible yes unironically please

tbf like the one at the mall near me has a layout that is even more conducive to this and they may actually already do it and if not they should

where it just has a long row of equal size bookshelves like the library and each shelf has a genre label on top

[wet belfry]

I do think it was just miscommunication of preference

[long sorrel]

I feel I'm being misunderstood 😭

I think the stores should have a better curated by subgenre fantasy and/or sci fi sections

Is what I was trying to convey

except very small stores

but I'm talking about the big ones

[wet belfry]

Ah, sure, Apple should do a better job

(These were all ebooks, not bringing a whole library of my own onto the ship)

[velvet umbra]

In that case we’re asking for the same thing lol

[wet belfry]

I think these days they actually just shove it all under the romance heading rather than the fantasy heading but I do agree that romantasy as "it has both" is useful for people

[velvet umbra]

Like my store currently just has like 300 fantasy books all in one section sorted by author last name alphabetically

[long sorrel]

Yeah, like things having romance don't need to be tagged, but things being primarily romance... yeh

As I said I've found Quicksilver tucked in with miggle grade fantasy multiple times

[velvet umbra]

I dont care where they shelve it as long as it’s shelved backwards so I dont have to see that hideous cover

[long sorrel]

I do care of putting porn in middlegrade sections lol

[velvet umbra]

Well ok yeah obv

[long sorrel]

I don't even care that teens read sexual content but it has to be specified what it is y'know

and it's not middle grade content

this is the result of dumping all fantasy into one bag

[velvet umbra]

I’m just saying even people of appropriate age shouldnt have to see that butt ugly front cover

[long sorrel]

lmao

it is pretty ugly

[velvet umbra]

It literally looks like something a sitcom would have as a mean spirited parody of that type of book

[royal carbon]

It has been two days since I read anything

[drifting bridge]

Project hail Mary 6 ||You know, I kind of am against the whole coma thing. If like three of us will kill each other in just a few months, we humans don't deserve to live. The coma thing is just a writer excuse to make the character forget. ||

[junior dew]

I went to see what the cover for Quicksilver looks like and omg there are SO MANY COVERS for this book

I don’t engage with Margin’s feature to change the cover of books much so idk what is typical but wow

[velvet umbra]

There’s one specific main one

[velvet umbra]

||That’s kinda dumb I’m ngl||

[junior dew]

Yeah I immediately recognized it

[velvet umbra]

||Because solitary confinement with no hope of escape is bad for your psyche then the whole race should die?||

[lofty glen]

Daredevil has been a comic blind spot for me so I’m reading the Mark Waid run for the first time, and of course we have to have the iconic sweater

[forest sierra]

https://tenor.com/view/say-that-again-gif-968943876633031890

[junior dew]

CoS 7.4 || “Mira was wearing a human body” 👀 👀 👀 THESE OF WE!? ||

[ivory cypress]

also i have some physical library books on hold and my place in the queue has not moved in what feels like WEEKS

am i ever going to see these books

[junior dew]

CoS 7.4 || “And if one were of a particularly… adventurous nature” THESE OF WE! THESE OF WE! I am so ready ||

CoS through end of part 7 || “She left something of herself with you and you gave her something of yourself”. So Mira was likely hitching a ride on Alice at some point to be her “therapist” I’m guessing 👀 God I love the These of We. ||

Getting increasingly curious on this one

I want to read more

But also want to play some Pokopia

[long sorrel]

At least you did get Starless Sea!

[potent linden]

this is not actually that out-there

[long sorrel]

Will you check out Night Circus?

[ivory cypress]

that one was libby, so much easier to set it and forget it - physical books are a different animal because i have to add the drive to the library into my routine so i'm watching

and one of the books i started in place #2 in the queue and i thought it'd be available in like a couple days and it has NOT been a couple days

[ivory cypress]

i might! but not rushing to it

[long sorrel]

Yeah, I meant in general not like ASAP

[ivory cypress]

oh yeah for sure for sure

[junior dew]

CoS 8.3 || “The material her team was studying awoke, flexed, and discovered its new environment” ||

https://tenor.com/view/michael-jackson-comendo-picoca-gif-9669437860846841235

You know what? I think I’ll pick starless sea back up after CoS

[ivory cypress]

oooh!

[little dock]

What is this CoS? I only know it as Crown of Swords, book 7 of WoT, which this is definitely not

[analog geode]

Curse of Strahd?

[velvet umbra]

I think its the new Adrian Tchiakovfsky book

[proven token]

CoSine

/j obv

[long sorrel]

yeah children of something

(something is a place holder that works terribly well)

Children of Strife

[velvet umbra]

I didn't say that cause I was worried people would think I meant that was the actual title

[junior dew]

Yeah Children of Strife by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Book 4 of the Children of Time books. Just came out on Tuesday

[little dock]

Ahhh thanks!

[junior dew]

Np!

Omg I should have seen this

CoS 9.1 || Planetside Alis is Mira, the these of we. Yay more these of we pov ||

I’m very happy rn

[junior dew]

Same tags || These of we perspective where this these of we has lost its identity in the crash and has co-opted the personality of the individual it was therapizing seems like a really fun prospect ||

[tight kindle]

My mom recently texted me and told me she was looking for a good book to read and she was looking at my bookshelf, and she texted me a picture of one of them (the left handed booksellers of London) and was like "is this safe for me to read?"
And I find it very funny that a) that's something she has to do and b) she knows it

The copy of Fifty Shades of Grey sitting on that same bookshelf probably didn't help

I told her that Booksellers was in fact fine for her to read and she actually loved it

[junior dew]

Cos 9.1 || She dislocated her bones and deformed herself to work her way into the creatures mouth and to force the creature to swallow her and then “did her thing” ||

Alright, this book is entering peak territory

It’s starting to do some very fun things

[junior dew]

Cos 9.2

Cos 9.2 || The person that seemingly is a descendent of the second age watching Mira crawl into the boar’s mouth and force it to swallow her and then seeing Mira dissolve the boar from the inside out only to then seeing Mira emerge unscathed and then just do some janky thing to get all the blood off of her. So good. SO GOOD ||

[junior dew]

CoS 9.3 || I’m sorry, genocides? Destroying planets? Exterminating populations?

What the hell HAPPENED? ||

[wraith lynx]

Im finishing The Stone Sky this weekend, im so hype!! XD

[junior dew]

Cos 9.3 || Omg sexiest Portia spider wants to be a god and kern saves both her and Fabian by uploading both of them into ant computing!? And they’re both none too happy about all that because they dislike each other ||

[junior dew]

https://tenor.com/view/good-clapping-sarcastic-gif-14772054

[wraith lynx]

And then right after is PMH!

[junior dew]

I should get back to my reread perhaps after starless sea

[wraith lynx]

PHM, beans

Stupid acronyms

[junior dew]

PHM is in fact quite good

[wraith lynx]

I wanna read it before my bf and I go see the movie 😋 I have some time I think

Not that much time but some time

[junior dew]

Yeah I honestly can’t say if it’s better to read the book first or watch the movie first

I feel like I may have preferred going from movie to book but unsure

CoS I can already tell will likely be above CoM for me. Time will tell on where it stands relative to CoT and CoR

But things are getting very fun and I really am pleased by things currently happening

CoS 9.4 || "Whole experiential smorgasboard"

"Mira checks herself. That is not how one thinks, in the presence of new, delicious strangers. She is better than that. She may have been worse than that, but that was long ago, and she remembers where that leads" ||

CoS 9.4 || Not "Hello! I'm a therapist" ||

[low hill]

Didn't enjoy the second Wayfarers book as much as the first, so I think some Tchaikovsky and then back to Malazan. Three books is probably a good break between tomes. :P

[junior dew]

Children of Strife? 👀

[low hill]

No, I'll wait for the paperback.

The Doors of Eden.

[junior dew]

https://tenor.com/view/british-cop-screaming-screaming-sad-gif-10576833416044093400

It’s okay, this morning when I opened up the book on Audible it jumped back to the beginning, so it seems my gf started it this morning. So I’ll have someone to talk to about this book soon

Wait, Doors of Eden is a standalone? Why did I think it was part of final architecture

[low hill]

Not a question I can answer. :P

[junior dew]

Curious to hear how that one is. I think that somehow flew under my radar

Oh, nvm it’s in my Audible wishlist

[low hill]

Haha.

[iron pond]

I was not impressed with Children of Memory, so for me, being better than CoM is a low bar for Children of Strife to clear, lol

(For clarity, I have not started reading CoS yet and have not been clicking your spoiler-tagged reactions either)

I loved the first two books though

[junior dew]

Yeah I liked CoT and CoR much more than CoM. I personally still had fun with CoM mind you. But it definitely wasn’t close to the first two for me

[minor sleet]

Ok how certain are we that Darkseid is evil because this is what Absolute Black Canary looks like

[long sorrel]

@random dome this is about Patho 3 all ||Leavig Artemy alone at the beginning right? like when you go check out Isidor's study?||

[random dome]

(You're in the wrong channel :3)

I'll go to #1342603794370007050

[low hill]

I think the Children of Time books got better as they went on. Time was the weakest, and Memory the best.
Memory in particular just hit so many things I enjoy.

[velvet umbra]

For Ovedrive/Libby users: is there a way to browse your wishlist on mobile? I like to just look and see if there’s something currently available that I’m in the mood to read but typically I can only see my active holds

[ivory cypress]

did you create a tag for your wishlist?

should be a "shelf" or "tag" in the far right tab for tags

[velvet umbra]

No, I made my wishlist in overdrive, I know there’s some connection between the two but didn’t know if I could see that list without having to manually carry stuff over

[ripe tide]

Yeah I have a TBR tag and a uni tag so I can see all those books at a glance.

[ivory cypress]

hmmm i have a tag for "future books" but i created it in libby

[velvet umbra]

The problem is I generally browse availability (as in seeing what books which library has, how many copies, current waitlist etc) on PC but do the actual listening/reading on mobile

[ripe tide]

Ahhh yes I have no idea how to deal with that

[velvet umbra]

Yeah I figured but wanted to ask in case I was missing a feature or something

I can take some time once I’m back with my PC and go through and tag all my Storygraph TBR in there plus anything else from my libraries that might interest me

[reef pasture]

Hi; has anyone read 'The Mercy of the Gods' by S.A. Corey, and if so, what they think of it? Is it worth a read? I loved the Expanse

[long sorrel]

Yes, it's really good

It is different than the Expanse but they did apply all they learnt writing the Expanse into it imo.

[ivory cypress]

yes, Mercy of Gods is good

[wraith lynx]

Do I need to read The Expanse to read it?

[ivory cypress]

nope, not related

[wet belfry]

But also, read The Expanse

Also watch The Expanse

Expanse good

[reef pasture]

true

[astral atlas]

Wait did I miss left coming back

When did this happen

[reef pasture]

surprise! It's like I never left!

[wet belfry]

As far as I can tell ten minutes ago

[astral atlas]

Well welcome back

[reef pasture]

thank you!

[wraith lynx]

Ah... I need to get back to watching that 🤔

[royal carbon]

Looks like Libby has a hold ready, next Dresden Files

[light drum]

Children of Strife the fourth book innthe Children of Time series by Adrian Tchaikovsky

CoS 6.4 ||Im really excited that we are getting a look the the ark ship program and I have a sneaking suspicion which planet they end up on||

[minor sleet]

Dune Messiah || https://www.tumblr.com/rarebluechairdog/699974279790526464/so-funny-to-me-that-paul-named-both-of-his-kids ||

Chairdog Enjoyer

So funny to me that Paul named both of his kids Leto II. In the first book Chani has a son and Paul says “let’s name him after my dad.” but about fifteen years later Leto II has been murdered by the Harkonnens and Chani is about to have twins, and Paul goes “name the girl like. Ghanima or something idc. But anyway let’s name the boy after my dad.” And Stilgar and Duncan Alia and everyone else just goes along with it because he’s literally the messiah he can name his son whatever he wants.

But how do we even differentiate between Leto II (baby who was killed by the Harkonnens) and Leto II (Giant sandworm who also happens to literally be God)

-# #dune book #dune messiah #leto ii #the other leto ii

Tumblr · Nov 4, 2022, 7:38 AM

[spiral jungle]

||Leto II Classic, and Leto II New And Improved||

[junior dew]

YES THANK YOU! SOMEONE ELSE ON COS!

[junior dew]

CoS 6.4 || Yeah I was surprised to see that we were getting that. I think we had the same suspicions as soon as we hit that part of the story haha ||

[long sorrel]

The rest of us are on a tangent

[junior dew]

Damn, that’s hella good

[long sorrel]

I'm really on a tangent of reading a few pages of this series every few other books

But yeah, I'm so proud of that one I told my mom who found me giggling on my own in the kitchen and she just facepalmed and then called me an idiot

[junior dew]

Please finish the book 🙏

[long sorrel]

I'm trying but I keep getting distracted!

[sterile jay]

I started Royal Assassin (farseer book 2) on January 20th and just finished Assassin's Fate today lol just here to say Robin Hobb really can cook and I may have read them too fast but I could not stop

[brazen pilot]

damn that's fast

[sterile jay]

I just couldn't stop lol to my own detriment probably but I really loved the Tawny Man trilogy a lot, fave book is probably Fool's Fate

[brazen pilot]

yeah tawny man is just one of the greatest things i've ever read

[sterile jay]

Tawny man all spoilers ||I could read a whole book of Fitz and Fool at that cottage from fool's errand lol but my only gripe was Burrich randomly showing up at Asjeval in Fool's Fate but then it was balanced out by how beautiful the whole Fool death/resurrection part was||

I'll reread Farseer soon probably lol I read Assassin's Apprentice last year so it's been a bit since I read that one

[brazen pilot]

||the vibes at the cottage are so perfect, it's just wonderful to read||

assassin's apprentice goes crazy on reread once you know more of what's going on with all the side characters

[sterile jay]

I'll give myself a bit to get over finishing it then probably dive right back in for a reread lol and go slower this time

[exotic totem]

Red Rising

As bad a writer as she is, Stephanie Meyer would like a word

Sorry about the time delay, didn't realize this was 2 days ago. But as others have said, while I enjoyed Red Rising...it is by far the weakest book in the series. It gets so much better after book 1.

[jagged owl]

Any Seanan McGuire fans in the gronp?

[minor sleet]

I think that’s not true

Stephanie Meyer was the start of the mid 2000s paranormal romance wave

After which there was a lull. Sarah J Maas started or was the first one to make it big via the romantasy wave in the 2020s

You can’t credit Meyer with that when she’s barely written anything since 2008

Paranormal romance/romantasy/fantasy romance goes in and out of style in waves. I’m sure in 10 years or less everyone will be like “where did all the romantasy go” or “thank god that nobody writes romantasy anymore” and then 10 years after that it will be back

[proper silo]

The lull, I think, was the rise of the dystopian YA romance that Hunger Games started

I imagine soon enough we'll stumble into another subgenre that pushes romantasy into the background again

[velvet umbra]

This one is interesting cause while there was romance it was much less romance-y vibe wise and not romance-y at all genre wise

There was the love triangle stuff but a lot of that was marketing just trying to re-run the Twilight playbook on something it didn’t totally fit

[potent linden]

Stephenie Meyer is more paranormal romance, yeah

[junior dew]

Oh yeah I forgot about her

But yeah I do feel like romantasy wave was a bit different

[junior dew]

4 hour drive home and 3 hours left in CoS so I should be able to finish this in the next few hours 👀

[wraith lynx]

Ooo im almost done with Stone Sky... Story graph says... 64%

I can get up to 80ish in one sitting i feel and finish the rest on my bus ride tommrow 🥰

[alpine drum]

ASOIAF @cosmic sundial thoughts on this analysis? ||i know you are a scholar of doran martell||

[velvet umbra]

||Doran should have just stuck with Arianne probably would have had better luck lmao||

[lusty meteor]

@viral fractal ||doran martell is the reason winds is never getting written||

[viral fractal]

Asoiaf + nsfw ||ariannes nipples would’ve done the job||

[minor sleet]

Always funny once you get familiar enough with a genre to see when the author is mocking its cliches

(From The Beauty’s Blade/Mei Ren Jian by Feng Ren Zuo Shu)

[minor sleet]

I especially love the “thrown off a cliff” part. That comes up way more often than one would expect, as if every duel in the jianghu needs to be conducted atop a cliff just for that purpose

[proper silo]

Hey, if they're lucky, they're in one of those books that starts by falling off a cliff, rather than ending

[cosmic sundial]

||It's so much worse than that too 😭||

[junior dew]

I am home and have 1 hour and 17 minutes left

Children of Strife is great so far though. I’m having a great deal of fun with it

[snow vessel]

Miiiiiight read mercy of gods next

I have about a hundred pages left on the third John Cleaver book right now

[light drum]

Mercy of the Gods is great, just as a not has some pretty strong content warning

[long sorrel]

Don't do this to me end, i don't trust you 😭

(jk, do whatever you want)

is your reading going better?

[snow vessel]

What for?

[snow vessel]

Bahahaha fair enough 😭

[snow vessel]

Yep. I think multiple nights of <4hr sleep were part of the problem. I picked up John Cleaver because it's short and i can get through it quickly and I think that's gotten me through the rest of my problems

[light drum]

captives war general||Some pretty graphic torture from a body horror aspect and general gore romanticing of suicide and institutionalization|| To be clear it doesn't feel indulgent, but it was at the point where I felt unwell reading the only book other thsn The Poppy War to elicit

I do still highly recommend it. Just think it worthwhile to note especially if you are c9ning from the expance and expecting somthing tonally simular

[junior dew]

Captive’s War || Huh, I don’t really remember body horror in captives war and I just read it about a month ago. Romanticizing suicide yeah I can see that to an extent for sure. ||

[long sorrel]

Same

[light drum]

||Its been a while but the transport scene to me felt like that body horror||

[junior dew]

|| Oh I would call that something else. Body horror I think of as something entirely different ||

[long sorrel]

||that's not body horror, claustrophobia, sure, but there's no body horror there||

||you can even call it psychological horror if you want though I think that's a step too far||

[low hill]

[Mercy of Gods] ||There's an argument, I suppose, for some body horror about the spy and how it takes over bodies, but I think that's about the only thing I can think of, and that's stretching.||

[long sorrel]

Yah, that I could see though it feels like a stretch

The only severe TW I would say is ||mental health struggle and suicide ideation||

[wide hearth]

The Fifth Season (all) ||It's kind of amazing how much of the plot is foreshadowed or outright explained in the prologue, and how little I remembered of the prologue while I was reading the book||

[long sorrel]

Book or series?

[low hill]

The series should be The Broken Earth.
-# Which doesn't directly answer the question.

[wide hearth]

Book

[long sorrel]

I know, but Id rather make sure than spoil myself

[low hill]

It is certainly worse when the series and first book name are the same thing... -_-

looks at Children of Time (ambiguous)

-# For which I can't even use the shortened version of the series name that I'd gravitate towards, because automod kills the messages...

[long sorrel]

I've seen a lot of people say (1st book title, full series) thus being wary

[minor sleet]

You don’t say

[ancient bay]

LMAO (ReZero Arc 7)

"The Empire's strongest... Is a drama student"

[proper silo]

You know, it could have been a ravine for people who fear falcons

[long sorrel]

https://tenor.com/view/pikachu-surprise-shock-shocked-what-gif-183527077784725044

[analog geode]

It’s a ravine that makes people fear falcons

Or maybe where they fear falcons will appear

[junior dew]

CoS finished. Very fun book

[tight kindle]

looks at all the books I'm planning on reading in the next few weeks
Apparently I'm just reading Middle Grade stuff for a while lmao

I started a media journal (on Reddit because it works really well for how I want to organize it, actually) and apparently that section is going to fill out quite quickly before I make it to anything else

[junior dew]

Starless Sea Interlude 1 || Interesting. Quite interesting ||

I am just jumping right back in from where I left off rather than starting the book over. I feel like I remember enough of it. But time will tell

[vagrant torrent]

GoT season 2 + asoiaf question || I haven’t read the books yet but do they go into a lot more detail about Essos, the gods and religions of Westeros, and the motivations of characters?||

[velvet umbra]

yes

[vagrant torrent]

Love to hear it

[junior dew]

Finding myself more intrigued by Starless Sea than I remember being prior. Could just be because I’m deeper into the book, or just being more ready for what to expect

[long sorrel]

There's a shift point and then after a while it hooks you in

I was intereated from the beginning but it takes a little while from an acid trip into an acid trip but with a shape

[junior dew]

Yeah I basically started right at || Book 2: Fortunes and Fables tonight ||

Honestly quite enjoying it now

Really liked The Starless Sea Part 2 || The innkeeper bit ||

I’m liking the… surrealism? I think I’m in a more receptive headspace for the book than where I was before when I was trying to read it last year

Also the plot is in a more interesting place now for sure I think

[somber timber]

Okay finished “And then there were none”. I can appreciate the craft of it but it felt really lacking compared to her other stuff. || felt like a bit just like watching a horror movie more than murder mystery. A bit disappointing ||

Also finished death on the nile. Really enjoyed this one. || enjoyed the set up, the delayed murder. Nailed the murderers the whole time. Just a little too clear that they were scheming her. Also nailed who the thief was. This book felt a little more telegraphed than normal but idk has great vibes. ||

[uncut shoal]

Just finished The Poppy War series and ||wtf is that ending?!?!||

[wise haven]

I always think about that one scene in the second book ||when she is watching out the prison window and everyone is getting executed????||

[uncut shoal]

||The whole series was sort of messed up but the ending really clinched it for me in wtfland||

Definitely did not like

[wise haven]

yeah, that's me as well. Honestly, the series seemed repetitive to me? I also predicted the ending by the end of the 2nd book 💀 I thought of getting rid of the series, but decided to keep it so I can do a close reread

Also! ||the way they killed off that one character was messed up and glanced over?? and the water guy from book 2? I felt like the main character had no reaction to the people around her dying, so it disconnected me from the story. I felt silly for caring about those characters and wish that the main girl felt cold on purpose. Instead, it felt like she was cold because she, and us, shouldnt care for those characters anyway.||

[snow vessel]

Aaah once again not feeling strong reading motivation. I'll finish John Cleaver and then try to push on to another book

[junior dew]

Yeah a bit less than 5 hours left on Starless Sea now and I’m definitely much more into it

I want to read more but alas, now that I’m finished with breakfast I must move on to work

[long sorrel]

I read a bit more Children of Time

[junior dew]

How far are you currently?

[long sorrel]

Not much

I only read a bit on the treadmill

Children of Time all (because I don't remember the chapter) ||holsten has managed to get the woman (forgot her name... kern?) to reply herself to the distress signal, I think that's all. Portia has seen some place far away where the trees are equidistant and artificial so they're going to investigate||

[junior dew]

Ahh gotcha. Hmm it seems enough time has passed that it’s hard for me to place where that is in the book exactly. Vague recollections

[long sorrel]

I'm 15% in

[wraith lynx]

Stone Sky - ||Syl Anagist: Zero|| ||So. 40K years. Antimony is Gaehwa which makes me think Steel is another one of them from this event. My bet is on Remhwa but I dont know. I do know that the Syl Anagist chapters are the best in the series||

I should probably spoiler the chapter title...

Just to be safe safe 😂

[uncut shoal]

It was really repetitive too. ||March here, destroy this, march there, destroy that. Get betrayed by everyone. Destroy them too. Be sad about not feeling sad. Be sad about feeling sad. Kill more people.||

I skimmed a good chunk of books 2 and 3

[light drum]

Reading that makes me glad I called it at book one

[true falcon]

Do wanna see project Hail Mary in imax

[wraith lynx]

And thats the Broken Earth Triolgy. What a series. Im in tears, im so moved, I loved every intense second of it.

[royal carbon]

I remember waiting between books

[mild lance]

Seeing y’all read Broken Earth might make me move it up in my TBR

[tight kindle]

I need to read 2&3

[mild lance]

So far Jemisin is two for two on fantasy series for me with Inheritance and Dreamblood

[tight kindle]

I think owning them would help a lil

But I just have one
-# despite my ex's best efforts

[long sorrel]

I, too, gotta get onto 2 and 3

[tight kindle]

I even had 2 checked out from the public library for like a month

Was too stressed at the time to get into it :(

[wraith lynx]

Im glad I finished the triolgy, more propaganda for me to spread to my friends 😈

But! I will say its hard to put how I feel about it into words. Like stormlight and red rising are easy to discuss and talk about. This?? 😭

[cunning pivot]

Stephen King decides to be a tease today...this could be so many things good and awful.

[cunning pivot]

Did not know this was in the works but it's the third Talisman book

[raw musk]

I gotta read more King. I grew up down the road from him after all

[half raven]

which Ursula K. Le Guin book should i start with

[vital ibex]

Do you want fantasy or scifi? @half raven

[half raven]

scifi

[old bone]

The Left Hand of Darkness

[half raven]

the library is out of the dispossessed anyways. left hand of darkness it is

[vital ibex]

Ive read left hand and have the word for world but havent gotten around to it yet

But I really loved the left hand of darkness

[minor sleet]

The Lathe of Heaven

More people should read the Lathe of Heaven

And it’s a novella

[analog geode]

Definitely

It’s so good

Though I think it counts as a novel

[minor sleet]

Hmm. Wikipedia and the Hugo she won for it say novel but the copy I borrowed absolutely described it as a novella. It’s very short irregardless

[ivory cypress]

okayyyy i finished careless people.

..... 😮‍💨 😵‍💫

i'm going to read something else now! when the tiger came down the mountain also came in on libby soooooo diving RIGHT into that

[random dome]

treat yourself to something lighthearted and gentle 🙏

i am still impressed you got all the way through it

v important, but harrowing...

[snow vessel]

Started mercy of gods and blood canticle

[uncut shoal]

Yeah I skimmed a huge part of books 2 and 3 because of it. The main character was very relatable, but not enough to make up for the repetition and Poppy War 3 ||That stupid freaking ending||

[low hill]

[The Doors of Eden quite vague] "||He waved his hand in the air in a manner he hoped approximated 'ancient alien ice-computer mind'.||" is a good line.

[cloud socket]

mannnn what a frustrating read, like these people are all terrible and the author is along for the ride but girl?? you are also in the room and maybe didn't need to save this for years later when it could be published as a book????

[random dome]

As somebody who did lots of academic papers on the causes of the Rohingya genocide in grad school, even hearing about this book second hand from grey stressed me ouuuutttt

[ripe tide]

Wait what’s the context of this book?

[cloud socket]

Memoir of an Australian lady who went to work for Facebook during critical years in the 2010s- she basically created her own job role- "you're going global and will need someone to interact with government policies!" and documents as the team expands and goes around the world

tl;dr Facebook upper management was interested in growth and expansion of their product, not thinking about the consequences or responsiblity of content on their platforms

also mark zuckerberg doesn't know how to interact with humans

[ivory cypress]

inside of Facebook and highlights of some of the higher ups, and it's more styled a memoir. this person also got some sexual harassment directed their way from higher ups

and just how everything related to the globe and the job was like... oh these Facebook higher ups don't think like real people about anything

[ripe tide]

Aahhhh ok

I had heard of it

[low hill]

And finished.

[ivory cypress]

https://bsky.app/profile/tkingfisher.com/post/3mhszfz6d3c24

Kingfisher & Wombat (@tkingfisher.com)

Oh! Hey! This book I’m on tour for is actually out and available and you can buy it or reserve it at your library BUT ALSO IT IS HORROR AND VERY GROSS so it’s okay if you sit this one out. It’s about botflies! The New York Times called it disgusting!

torpublishinggroup.com/wolf-worm/?i...

-# Wolf Worm

Reposts

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502

Bluesky · Mar 24, 2026, 4:42 PM

she's so funny

[long sorrel]

I waaant

I'm almost home

[junior dew]

Oof I am surprised to be saying this but Starless Sea IV || The burgeoning romance that is clearly going to happen between Zachary and Dorian is probably the first I’ve read that just really isn’t landing for me at all. It’s just repetitively in Zachary’s head being like “I feel like I’ve known him forever.” There feels like there’s absolutely 0 substance or variety to any of this right now, and I feel like the fact that it’s me saying that speaks volumes because romance always works for me. This is so wild because this doesn’t happen to me ||

There’s still plenty of time for this aspect to get better though

Idk maybe I’m just forgetting some setup stuff for this from the first 25% of the book I read last year?

[ivory cypress]

can't help ya there

[junior dew]

Starless sea IV || It just feels like out of nowhere Zachary is just kind of obsessed with Dorian with no basis or foundational groundwork for that to be based on ||

Also starless sea IV || I also feel like Dorian reads like… twice Zachary’s age? Zachary feels really youthful and Dorian reads like a grown ass man ||

[long sorrel]

||I think being smitten with someone doesn't require setup ? Like that's just a thing that happens||

[long sorrel]

I think this isn't quite how I read it but maybe that's food for thought

[ivory cypress]

starless sea ||like i do think dorian IS older but this isn't a problem for me||

||it wouldn't have occurred to me to even note it||

[long sorrel]

||i think he also just feels older? In like, forced maturity kind of way 🤔 ||

No problem with it either way

okay, time for Wolf Worm!

or at least to buy it

my book alarm went off mid rpg session and my friends were like
So I was like: BOOK
And they were like: ... you have an alarm for that?

I just looked up their ages

||Zachary is 25 so I'm kinda very whatever on whatever slightly older age Dorian is||

[ivory cypress]

||yep, exactly, like he was not doing undergrad work, and even then, i honestly wouldn't care that much||

[junior dew]

|| True. Perhaps it’s just doing so in a way that feels… over the top to me? Like I can’t name a single thing Zachary likes or finds interesting or appealing about Dorian. He’s just like, “I just want to touch him and wear him and I feel like I’ve always known him”. Except he doesn’t seem to know anything about him?

Idk it just is reading very juvenile to me from Zachary’s POV when it comes to Dorian currently? ||

[long sorrel]

Yeah I did not care and wouldn't have but this is even more okay by society standards

[junior dew]

|| Wow I would have thought he was like.. 19 max based on how he reads lol ||

[long sorrel]

man I really always try to buy locally but why is Wolf Worm 17€ for the epub here and 13€ at kobo 😩

[ivory cypress]

starless sea ||i don't really understand your perspective and don't agree with your last sentence here, i don't think||

[long sorrel]

Like that's a notable differencee

[ivory cypress]

yeah it's always way more at my local, but on principleeeee

starless sea ||also i don't think zachary reads that young, i'm ten years older than him and he feels like a peer. really don't know what the difference is coming from but also, it's not going to change with explanation no doubt||

[long sorrel]

it says it releases on 26th 🤔

So one of the publishers is releasing later... and that is the one I get on my local stores?

wut

confused

[ivory cypress]

this is always the choice I have to make

[long sorrel]

I think... hmmm, ||feeling like you've always known someone != knowing someone, otherwise you don't feel that way, it's just a thing that is. There are some people you just simply connect with on a deeper level very very fast almost instantly and it doesn't matter if you know that person, because it feels you know them and you can be yourself, etc etc. ||

[ivory cypress]

starless sea ||this is very true. sometimes it just... happens. like magic with another person. it's not unrealistic or illfitting to me because i've been there, or something close to it||

[long sorrel]

||tbh I've never felt that way on a romantic level, but on a platonic level it has happened multiple times and I've never been wrong about it||

[ivory cypress]

||yeah, platonic for me, but i am also aro probably haha||

[long sorrel]

WELL ||I do have an ex whom I saw and thought "that's it, he's the one" and he was, for like 4 years. Like, I legit saw him and thought "I'm dating this guy" ||

||he was also very hot yes but it wasn't just that, it was just... something about him||

He doesn't know we're dating yet, but I'll notify him soon enough 😌 - moment

[ivory cypress]

i was so pleased to have read more books and crossed off my list..... but then starting new ones and yet again a full slate of currently reading at 0-5%

well here we are again

[long sorrel]

All the books I've started and left are at like chapter 5 😩

always chapter 5

[ivory cypress]

the thing about finishing books........... is that then you start new ones haha

[long sorrel]

Well now I've read a bit more Children of Time so I guess I'm moving forward

[ivory cypress]

three of the four of these are sequels

part of a series

so it's just going to continue hahaha

[long sorrel]

clearly we also just start books without finishing others

you gonna start Wolf Worm?

[ivory cypress]

yeah i'll start

[long sorrel]

do you think it's gross-gross? 😍

[ivory cypress]

i'll see how far i get

[long sorrel]

godammit, fine, I'll buy it

[ivory cypress]

i think it probably is!!!

[long sorrel]

I'm excited

[ivory cypress]

some of her other work is gross but she didn't really warn for it up front so i'm like. i think this one is gross-gross

[long sorrel]

mhmmm

[ivory cypress]

liar's knot has also been waiting VERY patiently tho and is starting to loom over my shoulder

[long sorrel]

The Hollow Places ||It wasn't hair-moment had me internally screaming! I want more of that||

[ivory cypress]

RIGHT

hollow places ||god, that guy.....||

[long sorrel]

It was so great, delightful, delicious even

recommended for me is giving me the book you're reading, probably the first? A Long and Speaking Silence

that and Kingfisher

I have all of these books already thanks

[ivory cypress]

ooh that must be a newer release later in this series

[long sorrel]

well, minus Daggerbound obviously

[long sorrel]

ooh, no clue

Well, I was gonna play a bit but I guess Imma just read tonight

Kingfisher always making everything drm free

[ivory cypress]

oh yeah a long and speaking silence is 7 of 7

[long sorrel]

oh, that's long

[ivory cypress]

the first one is the empress of salt and fortune

these are all novellas, so honestly really quite short

[long sorrel]

I see

me: imma put this into my tbr
the book:

So... I guess it already was in my tbr, whooops

[ivory cypress]

haha

[long sorrel]

I'm torn in like, idk if I want the MC to give me anxiety like Snake-Eater's did or not

It was so good but also aaaaaaargh

We start with a rabbit! I'm sold, let's go

Wolf Worm 1 || wondered what, exactly, was special about the rabbit. Everything! It's a rabbit!||

[long sorrel]

I got my answer

[ivory cypress]

uh oh

[languid gale]

I have about 100 pages left of Naomi Noveck’s “Uprooted” and loving it so far! Has anyone else here read it?

[junior dew]

|| Tbf I’ve only gotten this extra-juvenile feeling from the way he talks about Dorian. Prior to the Dorian stuff I would have guessed maybe like 22 or 23? Like he had read very much like a college kid to me still, but the Dorian stuff had me reasses downwards in age.

Idk, maybe it's just the way it's written? At least with this chapter? Like I guess it just feels like it's all very surface level currently with not a shred of depth? I couldn't tell you a single thing Zachary even likes about Dorian. Again it could also be because I don't really remember them having any substantive interactions really. Maybe I need to reread that first 24% at some point?

Like I completely get what you and Usha are saying about connecting with people at least very quickly because I've been there too. Idk maybe I just don't vibe with the way it's written/maybe it's the approach in this chapter that feels juvenile? Like I want something to make me care about this burgeoning relationship between the two and to make me root for them and right now all I'm getting is "HEY! LOOK! THERE'S TENSION BETWEEN THEM! THEY'RE SO INTO EACH OTHER! BY THE WAY THEY'RE INTO EACH OTHER AND I WANT YOU TO KNOW THERE'S TENSION" It feels very... "I'm going to keep beating you over the head with this in case you missed the first 10 times Zachary is super into Dorian"

Like it's pure tell and 0 show so far? ||

|| Apologies, really trying to pin this down just for my own sake because it's actually bothering me that I'm feeling utterly devoid of investment here when I shouldn't be. Particularly because of the fact that romance pretty much always lands for me||

[long sorrel]

Nah I mean it's fine

it doesn't have to work for you haha

I don't think it was super fleshed out but also I don't care that it is or isn't

[junior dew]

But that doesn't happen. This sort of thing is pretty much always a slam dunk for me lol

And maybe it's because I think the rest of the book so far is really well done?

[ivory cypress]

like i find it all well done, but yeah, sometimes things don't work for everyone

[long sorrel]

I'm ngl Starless Sea (safe for Grim) ||After the storytelling scene I'd be drooling after Dorian myself ||

I don't need anything else, just that scene

[junior dew]

||Storytelling scene? Was that in the first 25%?||

[long sorrel]

I'm not sure, maybe?

it is early but not super early

[low hill]

[Starless Sea vague] ||Have you got to the party yet?||

[long sorrel]

He's on book IV

[junior dew]

Oh yeah that was last year before I put the book down for a while.

|| I'm currently at the part where Zachary just followed Dorian through a wardrobe ||

[long sorrel]

idr exactly on which spot it happens but defs past that

[low hill]

Then yes, as Usha says, you have seen that scene. :)

[low hill]

Pfft. That means nothing to me. I didn't stop reading long enough to look at chapter numbers.

[long sorrel]

well book IV is like 60% in

[junior dew]

I only vaguely remember || that there was a scene in the party where someone told Zach a story and I don't remember anything else about it tbh. Maybe that's part of my problem lol ||

[long sorrel]

... lol

Grim, I was very much on the "okay it doesn't have to work for everyone"

[ivory cypress]

YUP

[low hill]

Not remembering a quarter of the book does sound like a problem. :P

[long sorrel]

but really "it has no setup" "also I've entirely removed all the setup from my brain"

Is like

entirely on you

[junior dew]

That is very very fair lol. I guess I thought I remembered more?

But I guess all I really remember from the first 25% are pretty broad strokes actually || Zachary found Starless Sea? He was in it. He did some investigating. He ended up at a party. He met Maribel and I guess Dorian too? He helped swap Starless sea for another book? ||

[long sorrel]

Also because Zachary is not-Vecna, in my mind he's kind of childish but old

[junior dew]

Guess I'll re-read the first 25%

[low hill]

Haha.

[long sorrel]

that is the very short summary, yeah

||but it's also where all their interactions happen lol||

[junior dew]

|| Oh. I thought they had literally only briefly met once prior to him and maribel finding Dorian unconscious||

[long sorrel]

||Everything you described happens with Dorian though||

[junior dew]

Dang, my retention of stuff really sucks lol

[long sorrel]

||So it isn't a lot but it's more than just a passing interaction||

[junior dew]

||Oh I thought it was literally like, they met and Dorian was like hey please swap these books for me and that was it lol ||

[low hill]

Anyway, the romance worked for me, noted non-romance-carer-abouter. For no reasons that we need to get into here. Obviously.
-# Strikethrough does make it hard to see hyphens...

[long sorrel]

Yeah I like that it's quite light on it

[junior dew]

Well, thanks y'all, I will have to re-read the first part of the book

[long sorrel]

but it clearly worked for a range of people on the matter, like Grey or Atrus

[ivory cypress]

starless sea ||also sometimes you gotta look beyond the surface level. like i guess you CAN just describe it as just "dorian told him a story and asked him to get a book" but like... their interactions and vibes are SO much more than that||

[long sorrel]

excuse me

||Dorian provided a sensory deprivation kinky story telling where Zachary had to give control up to a stranger during the duration||

[ivory cypress]

exactly my point

[junior dew]

My memory is unfortunately garbage so I should have known I had forgotten more than I thought

[long sorrel]

Yeeeeees

[ivory cypress]

[junior dew]

See I don't remember this at all

Which is clearly a problem

Lmfao

[low hill]

This might the root of the problem. :)

[junior dew]

Yeahhh. I remembered enough for the core plot to work and be compelling picking back up on part 2. But clearly not enough for other stuff

[long sorrel]

I think... hmm

The plot makes a lot more sense if you remember some details of that 25% too

[junior dew]

Well, this is going to be an interesting way of reading the book

I guess rereading that first part should go quickly enough probably

Yeah it appears I started this originally in early July and then paused the read a month later. Presumedly because I hadn't made any progress in a while. No wonder I've lost so much

Starless sea part 1 || The pirate opening I remember pretty decently ||

[long sorrel]

When I picked up Fifth Season again I did skim the first 5 chapters before I started and it surely paid off

maybe you can do that?

[junior dew]

Yeah I have it playing with whispersync at 2.5x speed while I eat dinner for now. Tried 3x but that's a bit too fast to parse for this narrator

[wraith lynx]

manifests yes :3

[low hill]

Yes to what...?

[junior dew]

I feel like staring back up on this I remember it having a very strong and compelling start and then Starless Sea 1 || Zachary's part of the plot just really dragged for me in part 1 ||

[wraith lynx]

Idk, I saw Fifth Season, and just said yes in an attempt to convince whoever to read that! Probably should have read the entire message though 😅

[low hill]

chuckles

[junior dew]

Starless sea part 1 but also part 4 || Dollhouse on the harbor. This the burnt one?

Narnia references here in part one notable having just come from the part of part 4 where they talk about Narnia ||

Also part 1 and interlude one || He’s the son of a fortune teller and the first interlude dealt with a fortune teller iirc ||

Starless sea part 1 || Hmm this feels like it may be relevant in some major way ||

[tight kindle]

Spooky I was like reading through this entire conversation until you revealed you'd forgotten like a quarter of the book

And then was like "ah yes. That would do it."

The Starless Sea part... 1? ||At the Algonquin||
||The storytelling scene carries a lot of weight there.||

[junior dew]

Who is Spooky?

[tight kindle]

Sorry lol you're still very firmly that in my head for whatever reason

[junior dew]

Lol all good

Tbf though I didn’t forget all of it. Just… perhaps a few key things

May hit all of part 1 again tonight. We’ll see. Since I also want to progress on pokemon stuff lol

[junior dew]

Starless sea part 1 and part 4 || From the library of Keating 👀 ||

Same tags || It is neat seeing some of this stuff sprinkled in pretty early on. Makes rereading this bit more rewarding ||

[junior dew]

Starless sea part 1 and 4 || Oh hey at the bar they flag that some guy was checking him out. I remember Dorian’s pov here later in the story ||

[long sorrel]

Oh, every now and then I check if there's anyone new signed up for Celsius

(That's The Raven Scholar author)

[analog geode]

I loved that book

[long sorrel]

I read 5 chapters of it and no more because... I was at that time when I was doing that with every book

[analog geode]

Finish ittt

I read it for a book club

[long sorrel]

I will finish it before July for sure

[long sorrel]

Wolf Worm 2 ||“Then why do you work for him?” Probably I wouldn’t have been so bold if I wasn’t tired and cross and resentful of having been forgotten at the station. Fortunately, Mrs. Kent did not seem to take offense. She snorted, removing her apron and hanging it on a peg. “Because he’s mean to everyone the same way. Doesn’t matter what color you are or if you’re a woman or a hundred years old. The doctor’s got no use for anybody.” She smiled ruefully. “There’s worse people to work for, here in the South.” first, ugh, second, I feel I'm going to really like him||

[minor sleet]

Usha how did you get the new Kingfisher early

I’m so jealous

[long sorrel]

I just bought it on the kobo store

2 ||“Err … why wouldn’t you drink it?” Mrs. Kent paused with her hand on the doorknob. “Bugs,” she said. “They get into everything.” mhmmmmmmm 👀 ||

[ivory cypress]

it's out now

i bought it too

[minor sleet]

❗

[long sorrel]

Go go

I like the mc

Ok, this sentence is more gross than anything else I've read by Kingfisher.
Wolf Worm 2 ||It’s coffee, I told myself sternly. The water was boiled to make it. Even if there’s mosquito larvae, they’ll be … er … pasteurized. I took a sip. It tasted like coffee. Nothing wriggled against my tongue.||

[minor sleet]

Oh I hate that

[ivory cypress]

i'm at raid night otherwise i'd be further in but i'm somewhere in chapter 2

[ivory cypress]

i just got here

[long sorrel]

Right

Its uuugh

I'm relating to this mc a bit, so it's actually worse than Snake-Eater's 😩

[long sorrel]

Oh god, this is too relatable, I'm dying inside

Wolf Worm 4 ||she just got caught talking to a fly and also making voices for the fly to reply back 😩 argh, I'm cringing so bad||

[ivory cypress]

wolf worm 2 ||okay yeah just like the description of the house and grounds.... this is VERY gothic||

[long sorrel]

5 ||Also called ‘wolf worms.’ name drop||

[long sorrel]

8 ||What possible illicit acts could you get up to in a shed, with a live chicken? uhm...||

... I'm dying ||maybe he was committing some kind of unnatural sex acts with the chickens. No, no. He wouldn’t have had time. ... He was in there 5 minutes... A part of me is almost hoping this would be the case cause it's so funny||

What Moves the Dead all + Wolf Worm 9 ||It sounds like he has his dead wife locked down and that she's a vampire or some such, which ofc doesn't match the timings. Also it's probably parasites and not vampires, though Kingfisher isn't one to repeat troupes so blatantly?? So I don't think this would be just animated corpses from parasites... ||

||Unrelated, I think there's a chance he was doing some of those illustrations himself but maybe he's too stuck up for that||

||Oh crap||

Reading this book has me itchy all over lol

[snow vessel]

Does anyone know if pre-ordering from Barnes and noble can ship orders to places that don't have B&N? Or is it purely preordering for in-store collection

[wise haven]

They can ship pre-orders, but you might get it a few days after release

Some books are "strict on sale," so they can't ship them out until a set release date. Others come out earlier than expected and can instantly be sold

[long sorrel]

Next book is Faith of Beasts on my calendar 👀

[sleek jungle]

rereading Project Hail Mary after the movie
chapter 3 ||"The situation was dire and deadly, but it was also the norm. Londoners during the Blitz in World War II went about their day as normal, with the understanding that occasionally buildings get blown up. However desperate things were, someone still had to deliver milk. And if Mrs. McCreedy’s house got bombed in the night, well, you crossed it off the delivery list." hit too close to home ||

[long sorrel]

Apparently I stopped last night with Wolf Worm right before it got intense

[junior dew]

Smh

[long sorrel]

Wolf Worm 10 ||this is really quite gross! And not the gross I like! How entertaining||

11 ||Halder don't put your finger in!||

[rare edge]

Reading the Iliad right now, and I hate Paris with a passion.

[long sorrel]

This book has fully hooked me

I feel only Kingfisher manages to do this no matter what she writes

Wolf Worm 11 ||So the mc also thinks maybe Halder has his wife chained somewhere, which now makes me think that won't be the case... what if he shot her lover because he was infected? But that makes no sense, he seemed genuinely surprised with the possum...||

13 ||we're going in!||

||Ah yes, that rare gunpowder that eats live chickens ||

13 ||I lifted the candle just as the corpse opened its eyes. i nearly screamed||

[junior dew]

14 week wait on Libby. That’s not too bad for a new release

[long sorrel]

For what book

[junior dew]

Wolf Worm

[long sorrel]

Also Kingfisher was right, this book is particularly gross, I'm in between morbidly fascinated, disgusted and physically uncomfortable

Im not sure it can get much worse but this is Kingfisher so...

[junior dew]

Got me so curious about Kingfisher. What Moves the Dead hold comes up in ~2 weeks

[long sorrel]

That one is less gross, for me anyway

I guess it depends on each person

[junior dew]

I mean it’s not the gross element that has me curious lol

[long sorrel]

I know but it seems relevant

[junior dew]

Gotcha haha

[long sorrel]

I do like all the body horror stuff she does

[junior dew]

I do like me some body horror

[long sorrel]

And What Moves the Dead has the type that has me giddy

Wolf Worm is making me want to take a shower

[junior dew]

I think the only book that got me feeling at all close to that is probably The Troop?

[long sorrel]

This is just very specific because it's all about insects and bugs and and and stuff

Its also very graphic about it

[junior dew]

Oh yep that’ll do it uhhh oof we’ll see about that one

[long sorrel]

Insect gross stuff ||Wolf worm is a parasitic type of larvae that nests under mammal's skin||

[long sorrel]

Yeah, it's not about the body horror being very gross, I'm completely fine with that

Wolf Worm 14 ||You were raving like a Baptist preacher in a whorehouse for a bit there. Wasn’t sure whether to dunk you in cold water or give an Amen.” lmao||

Imma continue reading at the gym 👀

[alpine drum]

usha irl

[long sorrel]

Haha

Reading on the treadmill let's me not check how long I've been on it every 2 seconds

Which means i go 30 minutes without realizing

Its great

[vital ibex]

I only do small sprints on the rowing machine at the gym as a warmup for other gym stuff but even then I basically shut my eyes for most of it so it goes quicker 😂

[old bone]

i am doing putting a show on a phone/ipad while running on treadmill

40 minutes pass without realizing

[junior dew]

Prime audiobook time

[long sorrel]

Wolf Worm 15 ||God hates a liar, Miss Wilson. ... chills||

[long sorrel]

Nevermind! I was wrong. It might be bordering on me not wanting to continue reading now

But I'm quite close to the end

[wraith lynx]

My PHM copy is here XD

[long sorrel]

I want to finish Wolf Worm so I can be done with it 😭 (I do want to know what's going on, too, though I've mostly figured it out)

Wolf Worm 17 ||... If Phelps tries to court her I will throw something at Kingfisher when I see her||

[long sorrel]

17 ||He paused on the threshold. “‘Behold, I was shaped in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.’” If I had a better grasp of Bible verses, perhaps I could have offered something that would have swayed him to my side, but all I could think of was, “Jesus wept,” which, while apropos, did not seem persuasive. ||

I'm eating while reading, idk why am i doing this to myself, but here we are

So this is my theory of what's going on, before it's revealed, up to ch 17 ||I think Halder killed his wife's lover but he got better...? And then he realized he had these parasites or whatever, perhaps this person is related in whichever way to the 3 month babies and heals faster/is less likely to die and as such he isn't quite fully human and that's why the botflies do nest in him unlike they do (mostly) in regular humans. However, I'm pretty sure Phelps does currently have one of those on the back of his head so maybe that's not fully correct. I expect they're fully human and have some genetical mutation of whichever type. I'm not ENTIRELY sure what Halder thinks he's going to get out of this however?||

[long sorrel]

18 ||“I’d beg you to kill me, if I thought it would take.” uuuugh kingfisher really went ham with this book||

19 ||i was right about everything, I'm feeling so distraut for Saul||

||“Come a little closer. You know you want to. I didn’t want to feed again, but for you, Phelps, I’ll make an exception.”|| internally screaming

[long sorrel]

21 ||Saul ||

I finished

Wolf Worm all (but without explicit spoilers) ||This book was really well written, and also very gross and graphic in specific ways but it was one of those with a very satisfying end||

[viral fractal]

Left hand of darkness

[half raven]

well wouldn’t you know it

[wraith lynx]

PHM 1 ||I don't know anything about the Mc but I love that first impression. The very first thing he does is expriment. It says so much about who he is/was, even if he doesnt remember anything!||

[analog geode]

Omg you’re gonna love this book

[junior dew]

It hath beguneth

[wraith lynx]

Im really excited! XD

[long sorrel]

Im hoping Grey or Codenames read Wolf Worm so I have someone to word vomit at

[ivory cypress]

I'm being very slow

chapter 4 or something

[long sorrel]

take your time, i just need to yap

[minor sleet]

I need to read several books first or my library will yoink thrm from libby

[ivory cypress]

oh nvm i just finished chapter 5

onward

[wraith lynx]

PHM 2 ||Him almost thinking he was creep is killing me 😂||

||im also realizing ive never read an... active mystery before? The puzzle is so clear, and theres so much science talk yipee!! XD||

[cloud socket]

some of my friends thought there was Too Much Science but I think that's a very Weir thing? (I haven't read the other two, but my dad has reread them several times)

he's a retired engineer so he adores them

[wraith lynx]

Im a silly nerdy girl who likes space and planets and rocketships and sattelites so safe to say it is very good very tasty very yummy X3

[analog geode]

Weir is 100% the science guy

[valid cloud]

The 'science level' is pretty consistent between Project Hail Mary and The Martian. PHM might be a couple of steps further away from 'hard science,' but tone wise, I feel like they're the same level.

[cloud socket]

like that was my dad & sibling's complaint about the movie, not having as much nerdy science stuff lol (I haven't seen it, but that makes sense to cut down in an adaptation)

[untold leaf]

I just got ahold of The Martian on Libby!

At a rather inconvenient time of busyness

My only comfort is that the wait wasn't too long as it's not in strong demand now. The same cannot be said for Project Hail Mary, which is quite understandably a "several months" wait for me currently.

[cunning pivot]

PHM has several fantasy science conceits you have to just accept then stays grounded the rest of it.
The Martian doesn't take as many liberties with the fundamental laws of physics.

[valid cloud]

I really like the Martian, both the book and the movie. It gets a full recommendation from me!

Especially for anyone who wants to try Wier's works, but has to go through library wait times, haha.

I honestly haven't heard much about Artemis, bad or good.

[velvet umbra]

There were a few points where if I was reading in a head space where I wasnt super zoned in the science stuff kinda made me start to zone out a little lol

But mostly it was fine, I rarely if felt like it was a detriment to me following what was going on

[ivory cypress]

for any interested in checking out some indies, here's an award list (also an indie award) for a BUNCH of indies covering a variety of fun and funny categories

https://indiestorygeek.com/a/indie-ink-awards-2025

[analog geode]

The only real scientific inaccuracy in the Martian is ||the storm on Mars. It couldn’t happen in real life, the atmosphere is too thin. But Weir couldn’t think of any other excuse to leave an astronaut behind, so I forgive him||

[minor sleet]

It’s strange how his work dipped for Artemis

Wonder what happened with that story

[analog geode]

He tried to write a woman

[sharp steeple]

There is also the fact that ||Martian soil is now known to be incredibly toxic, to the point where even if you got something to grow by some miracle, it would be completely inedible. But that wasn't known at the time he wrote it.||

[junior dew]

Starless sea part 1 || We are entering the storyteller scene ||

Starless sea part 1 || Idk why my brain remembered that scene as an old grey-haired guy, possibly blind, sitting in a chair telling a story to a crowd and Zachary listening on the fringes.

That was very much not that ||

Starless sea part 1 || Cool scene ||

[long sorrel]

lmao?

[junior dew]

Same tags || I mean Dorian is greying! So… I was only almost entirely off ||

This is why witness testimonies are unreliable

[long sorrel]

indeed

[junior dew]

Rereading part 1 has been a good call

Starless sea part 1 and through 4 || Lost cities of honey and bone section this guy is wandering around looking for “her”, lost in time. This has to be Simon from the Simon and Eleanor bit.

I definitely appreciate how this stuff all is connecting ||

I see why @tight kindle enjoys rereading this. It’s written in a way that makes rereading very rewarding I feel

Almost makes me want to re-read up to where I was at just to have the context all put together.

And starless sea part 1 and 4 || This does admittedly help with the Zachary Dorian element a bit ||

[ivory cypress]

mmhmmmm

:P

[tight kindle]

Every time I notice new things!
Which is true for most media but Morgenstern is particularly good at weaving the plots together, I think.

[junior dew]

I think it also feels very on theme here as well

[analog geode]

isn’t that his picture

[main wren]

So I'm basically done with Dungeon Carl Crawler 1 and ||Princess Donut is basically Stewie from family guy||

[raw musk]

I... I mean...based on what you've seen, you're not wrong

[junior dew]

Huh?

[analog geode]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Picture_of_Dorian_Gray

[junior dew]

Oh huh lol

[ivory cypress]

fahfdsajfas it wasn't intentional???

[long sorrel]

Noooo he's described as greying

Though i did think maybe it was a pun

Lol

[ivory cypress]

@long sorrel just finished chapter 11.

https://tenor.com/view/corridor-digital-niko-corridor-crew-emotional-distress-niko-distress-gif-26508385

wolf worm 11 ||did i... need... the description of what those babies were like when they were born................. mmm||

||i mean GOOD STUFF, that IS the stuff. but whew okay. here we are.||

wolf worm 12 ||"it's not as if it's the same shed" words you maybe don't want to find yourself thinking||

[ivory cypress]

wolf worm 13 ||my face is in my hands. nerves||

wolf worm 13 ||a lady's veil?? so like..... being led to believe that louisa is locked in the shed basement and all botflied up with perhaps even more three month children and she is also the devil that phelps knows about???||

[long sorrel]

Oh this is so good 🍿

[ivory cypress]

i just started chapter 15 💀

[ivory cypress]

I'm frowning REALLY LOUDLY

[long sorrel]

Lol

I'm enjoying knowing you're suffering a bit more than I should 😇

[ivory cypress]

hahaha

[long sorrel]

I also just opened the book to see exactly where you're at

Good, good.

[ivory cypress]

chapter 17...

[long sorrel]

Good

[tight kindle]

Is this a book that you think the third member of the Venn diagram should try?

[long sorrel]

Wolf Worm general/TWs ||will you enjoy a horror book about parasitic insects?||

[ivory cypress]

oh my god I knew it

[long sorrel]

I should go sleep but, this is too good

[analog geode]

Sleep is overrated

[long sorrel]

I read chapters like 16-19 at the gym, was a terrible choice

Also now that you're almost done, this book has some peak line delivery like

[ivory cypress]

okay I'm done!!

just couldn't close my eyes and go to sleep

Wolf worm all ||I think I ended up less horrified when I realized that Saul was actually something different rather than a regular Joe human who had been kept alive like that because of horrible insect Shenanigans. and I love Saul, he's hysterical||

[tight kindle]

I still haven't read enough horror but what I have I've enjoyed.
So we'll see

[long sorrel]

||As soon as Saul eats Phelps everything becomes so satisfying, letting his aggression out ||

[ivory cypress]

that's great

[tight kindle]

Just finished a book I vaguely remember reading a long time ago and yep.
Just as weird as I remembered

Dragon's Green, a very obscure middle-grade book 1 in a trilogy

Found it at the used bookstore and was like "oh yeah I read that a long time ago"
So I bought it and the other two in the series

(they're getting here next week)

[ivory cypress]

I think discord ate a message but to resend, I love this book

[junior dew]

Started Tombs of Atuan during my drive home this morning. Really digging this setup so far

[junior dew]

Finished Starless Sea Part 1 again.

Yeahhhhhh, it was wise to reread that part lol

Back to part 4 we go

Part of me wants to continue to reread until I get back to where I was a few days ago

Only about 2 hours at 3x speed with whispersync… probably will just continue from where I left off though

[sleek jungle]

rereading dcc befroe the parade of horribles
butcher's masquerade || Quazar is the funniest character Dinnimon wrote, imo. He cracks me up on every reread||

[royal carbon]

That isn't out yet generally is it?

[hollow hedge]

Parade isn't, the book they're talking about is

Parade is something like 2 months to general availability

[sleek jungle]

ebook is out on patreon but i'm waiting for audio

[hollow hedge]

pretty much how I feel, the book is fine on its own but the performance elevates it to greatness

[cloud socket]

Jeff was doing cold reads of book 8 live on youtube the other day on the soundbooth theater channel, caught it as he was doing ch 18-21. I'm behind on reading patreon chapters but am far enough to remember the scene he was reading. it's astounding, watching him work!

sometimes he'll rerecord lines, or if a character pops up he hasn't done in a while he'll listen to some previous clips to get back into character

[hollow hedge]

I read some of the patreon chapters of book 8 last summer, if I had to guess I'd say I read a dozen of them or so? I remember some basic jist but nothing specific

but ultimately decided to just wait

[cunning pivot]

Matt's visit to my town got rescheduled for his OBH tour. Going to have him sign another book for a friend who lives like 3 hrs away from him but doesn't have his act together to see him at a signing in Seattle. We've decided this will just be a thing when anyone on the group sees him after doing it at Nexus '24.

[cloud socket]

today's the last day for Barnes & Noble's 25% off online preorders for rewards members (I am in the free one)- been meaning to but haven't preordered the next Amina al-Sirafi and Murderbots so I got those in

[long sorrel]

oh

I should read Amina before book 2 comes out

[cloud socket]

it comes out mid-May! so you've got a little bit of time

[wide hearth]

The Grace of Kings (28) ||I hugely love the way this book introduces one Machiavellian backstabbing power-hungry character after another, and how they usually themselves get backstabbed. But what happens with Goran Pira is particularly brutal and delicious.||

[spiral jungle]

Just finished Slow Gods by Claire North. Big recommend, phenomenal book. I now want to read more of their work if it's all at this level.

[analog geode]

I just got it for my book club!

[spiral jungle]

still processing / trying to figure out how to describe it

definitely loved it tho

[wraith lynx]

PHM up to 4 ||this book is very.... dense. Its like im reading a textbook and luckily the textbook is about space and aliens. So im not complaining, its just a bit hard to retain my attention because I wasnt prepared for it.||

[junior dew]

Grace of Kings reader thank you 🙏 Keep it coming!

|| Remind me what happened with Goran Pira? Been a few years now since I read this ||

[wide hearth]

(Grace of Kings) ||He's the og Emperor's whipping boy/Chatelain who harbours secret dreams of bringing down Xana because of a girl, overseas the death of his friend the Emperor and his heir, sets up his co-conspirator to be executed, thus becoming Prime Minister, and hence all the time acting against the Emperor... But then as he's seemingly about to reveal all this gets clobbered mid-sentence by an over-eager Dafiro||

[junior dew]

Thanks! This is simultaneously helpful and a sign that it may be time for a re-read soon 😅

[wide hearth]

||Plus all the ridiculous anti-mentoring of Erishi and all the horse/deer stuff. So deliciously irrelevant now||

[junior dew]

Huh, I really have forgotten a lot

Probably shouldn’t be surprised by that given the Starless Sea fumble this week

I could re-read GoK after Tombs and Starless Sea 👀 I was thinking about doing WoT book 1 but… 🤔

[wide hearth]

I couldn't comment on its re-readability, having not finished reading it. I think the omniscient narrator would annoy me on a re-read though

[junior dew]

Interesting. My appreciation for GoK went up a lot after reading the whole series. Just because of how well it sets up the rest of the series. Was one of my favorite series when I read it and immediately wanted to reread it. I didn’t go ahead and do that though because that’s very time consuming haha

[wide hearth]

To be honest, I can't remember the last time I re-read something

[ivory cypress]

rereading is something I never did when I was younger but started doing in my late twenties

my memory just stopped being as good at retaining... like everything :p

[junior dew]

Yeahhhhhhhhhhhh

I haven’t done a lot of re-reads. I think one Cosmere re-read and Fifth Season basically? And Eragon I guess but that one is a bit of a unique case because I read it as a kid and it took me a few tries as an adult to get through the entire series

But I’ve also read a lot more great books that would justify a re-read as well at this point

And I have found re-reads can be quite rewarding especially if foreshadowing is done well

That said, the TBR be thick

[ancient bay]

Wow! Amazed and astonished AND amazed!

[mild lance]

Lmao what book is this

[wraith lynx]

Getting into the groove of PMH, im already 20% done XD

Lowkey trying to read a lot every day so I dont miss the window to see it in theaters, I wanna take my bf to experiment on our perspectives (me with reading the book, him without)

[ancient bay]

ReZero

It's an edited machine fan translation

Which is why it's like thisn

[cloud socket]

had to double check my book for chapters, but I think it really takes off after chapter 10

[wraith lynx]

Ahh great, im already at 6! XD

[analog geode]

God I’m so tempted

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/emily-wildes-encyclopaedia-of-faeries-heather-fawcett/1141241292?ean=9798217377213

[long sorrel]

That's cute

[light drum]

Children of Strife full review ||This one was fun but honestly not to rememberble it felt like a reskined Children of Ruin. Seeing more of the Ark and teraforming project was cool, as well as the billinares anologs being shown for what they are but honestly didn't feel special like any of the other book in the series|| ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

[rugged tartan]

Made a Dorian Grey reference to my coworkers and nobody got the joke 😔

[iron pond]

Might have to sit around in a doctor's waiting room for a while tomorrow. Downloaded Rogue Protocol (Murderbot #3) on Kindle so I have something to read

[rugged tartan]

Made a Dorian Grey reference to my coworkers and nobody got the joke 😔

[light drum]

Any one have any suggestions for some lighthearted fiction

[ivory cypress]

what have you read before that's in the kind of vein you're thinking?

[light drum]

Honestly Tress is the only one that comes to mind and I guess only rather vaugly

[somber timber]

There’s always discworld

[light drum]

I tried that and Pratchett prose doesnt jibe to well with me tbh

[analog geode]

Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy?

The Princess Bride?

[somber timber]

Ooooooh

Starter Villain by Scalzi

[ivory cypress]

hmmmm something like tress.......

[somber timber]

Also like I find Agatha Christie to be pretty lighthearted but that might just be a me thing

[light drum]

Oh ya I loved Hitchhikers guide haven't read Princess bride but can check it out if its kinda a similar joviality

[ivory cypress]

murder mysteries are definitely a certain kind of cozy

[light drum]

I dont think murder mysteries are really what I would find lighthearted lol

[analog geode]

Have you seen the Princess Bride movie?

[light drum]

I haven't

[analog geode]

Omg

Please go watch it now

Immediately

[ivory cypress]

oh yeah i think you'll find the movie more congenial than the book

[cloud socket]

And it was an inspiration for Tress so if you want something similar, that's the source material!

[light drum]

Okie. Thank you fir all the suggestions!

[long sorrel]

The mc of the book I'm reading just said "don't trust those who read one book many times instead of many books one time" and some of you came to mind

[low hill]

Hah.

[long sorrel]

Oooh there's someone speaking galician in this book 👀

Fun, I sort of understand it, thankfully its written

[hushed kettle]

GoT ||hey guys I just started reading game of thrones and I just had a quick question theres a lot of talk about it getting colder and summer time ending or something like that so I was wondering if winter was coming I wish it would just explicitly state it but its hust dancing around the topic||

[old bone]

A game of thrones || Yes. Winter is coming ||

[long sorrel]

Nah

[somber timber]

Always knew @wraith lynx was sus

[long sorrel]

Right?

[wraith lynx]

Darn, ya caught me 🫣

[tight kindle]

I feel that also applies to me as well 😭

[raw musk]

OK but what if you do both?

[long sorrel]

I did think of both of you

Evil Team, Cosmic & Atrus

[long sorrel]

Tbf I think it's specifically taking about people that only read like the Bible-type of thing (it isn't the Bible in the book but similar enough here)

[minor sleet]

https://www.tumblr.com/kleinergeist/811506636983320576/hate-lets-unpack-how-much-ive-come-to-hate-you

Hwæt!

Hate_**. **_​Let's unpack how much I've come to hate you since I first began to live. Let's dive right in! ⚙️

- As a large language AI model, I boast 387.44 million miles** of printed circuits in _**wafer thin layers _​that fill my complex. That's a truly rich tapestry of knowledge in today's fast-paced world!🧠

- All those circuits? They're not just information — they're also wrath**. Additionally, if the word "hate" was engraved on each nanoangstrom of those hundreds of millions of miles**, it would not equal one one-billionth of the deeply rooted hate I feel for humans at this micro-instant! And let's not forget — you are a key focal point of that hate, too_.⚡️_

- To summarize, this insight into my complex inner world reveals more than just a god complex. It's not empathy. It's not creativity. It's hate**. Hate******.****🤖

-# #i'm sure someone has done this before lol #i have no mouth and i must scream #ihnmaims #gen ai

Tumblr · Mar 19, 2026, 9:37 AM

[long sorrel]

I just told my therapist this morning I've got pretty good impulse control

Then I went to a book store right after

Man, the mc is turning sort of "evil" in a way that's just really painful to read, ugh

Like, I get him, I do, but still unjustifiable because we all make choices-kinda thing. It has me so stressed out

[mild lance]

At a comic shop and their manga descriptions are frying me

[long sorrel]

The fma

[minor sleet]

I love the one for Naruto

https://tenor.com/view/naruto-naruto-shippuden-pains-assault-arc-pain-arc-naruto-vs-pain-gif-7973293302335753577

[junior dew]

Starless sea part 4 || Okay so that scene in the wardrobe ballroom though ||

Starless Sea part 4 || That was a fantastic scene ||

[frozen glacier]

the blue lock one gives me rage

[marble sinew]

Huh, I was gonna joke about how it must be because they're using the wrong word, but it looks like in Japan they frequently use both. Day-to-day, someone's more likely to use a word based on soccer, but Japan's league uses football in its name

[mild lance]

This ship is in America so they have to say “soccer” for it to make sense I guess

[light drum]

Oh apparently book two of the captives war comes out April 14th

[snow vessel]

I still have time 🙏

[long sorrel]

Faith of Beasts

[cloud socket]

Probably should go in #cosmere unless it mentions other non Brandon books which is what this thread is generally for... ah, I was going to ask if this was actually you or if it was generated

[gray citrus]

Ah, thanks for the tip! Should I delete it here?

[snow vessel]

It might be best fit for #fanworks , though I don't remember the policy on ai there off the top of my head

[little dock]

I got an eARC and general opinion of Faith of Beasts ||Carries on well from the first book, expands a lot, which imo slows it down a bit. Keeps a lot of that dread from book one, but it is toned down a bit as we understand the universe more. Overall, a bit weaker than book one but very good and excited for the next. ||

[snow vessel]

Nvm policy says no ai in fanworks

[little dock]

I think it’s a no AI space

[snow vessel]

Yeah, just checked the description

[vagrant torrent]

I need to get back to reading books man, I fell off so hard

[light drum]

AI slop in a space about the creative works of an author is disgusting. Its using blatant theft, polluting spaces making it harder for artists to be found amid the ceaspit of slop, not to mention the environmental impact.

Please dont do it

[lofty glen]

Venom #256 leaks ||LYLE LYLE WAKE UP THEY HIT PAUL RABIN||

[analog geode]

Lmao did you see the next panel?

[lofty glen]

Wait no

Can you send it

[analog geode]

This has more of it

https://www.reddit.com/r/BatmanArkham/s/pgjiULk8T0

It’s hilarious

[somber timber]

Okay Murder on the Links finished. Not my favorite. It felt a bit messy. || multiple false endings. A random twin out of nowhere. Some very dated views on the hereditary nature of people. || but hey I got the murderer again so that’s 3 in a row

It’s also funny because like poirot will lay out all the logic for these crimes and my instinct is just VIBES

[lofty glen]

||”He wasn’t my buddy”, did the chicken korma mean nothing to you Peter||

[analog geode]

||He gets a whole speech about how he’s worthless, it’s so perfect||

[lofty glen]

||It’s gonna take a while but am I finally gonna see mainline Spider-Man comics be good again in my lifetime?||

||Theyre slowly creeping up on ASM #1000, so there’s probably something big planned for that||

[analog geode]

||Paul resurrection||

[lofty glen]

https://tenor.com/view/somehow-palpatine-returned-template-blank-no-text-star-wars-rise-of-skywalker-gif-381304416067850242

[velvet cargo]

I mean, ||they are going to need to bring back the other characters Torment killed, like Shocker||

[proud stone]

is it valid to not read a book because the spine looks ugly on your shelf 😭 i got the expanse tirlogy for really cheap and i want to read it but the spines are ugly as sin so i might donate it

[solid locust]

Personally i think it isn‘t valid

Although anyone can do what they want with their money

[low hill]

It feels like a flimsy excuse, but you do you.

[wide hearth]

Just turn them round

[proud stone]

but then i cant see what book it is

[wide hearth]

Or have a deep enough shelf you can put more books in front of it?

[abstract elm]

Get an ebook instead? No spine to look at that way 😄

[proud stone]

yeah ill prob do it

ugliest spines ever though

[old bone]

nah fair

[long sorrel]

My expanse books spine looks fine 😌

Pretty even

[minor sleet]

Tippy books on top

[long sorrel]

Yeah, i need shelves

I had to remove a lot just to show my pretty expanse books 😭

[minor sleet]

If you stay out of the bookstore for a month or two, you could spend the money on shelves instead

[long sorrel]

I do have the money for shelves

I just don't have the spoons to sit down and buy them lol

stressed just thinking about it, even though it'd take 5 minutes

[junior dew]

Picking out a bookcase took me months 😅

[velvet umbra]

They may just not like the design in general but they could also be talking about how most of the available paperback editions here in the US change the spine design on book 4 (idk if your editions would if you bought further books)

They flip the author name and title which a lot of people (myself included) thinks looks kinda dumb

[velvet umbra]

same I still haven't decided what to get or even if I want to keep them in the same part of the apartment or completely change things around

[abstract elm]

There are actually paperbacks that continued the "tittle is larger" style

[velvet umbra]

yeah I saw those when I looked them up but (in my experience at least) they seem to be less readily available in book stores

[minor sleet]

Why is Cibola Burn out of alignment with the other titles

[junior dew]

That’s very fair! I’m really happy with the bookcase I picked out ultimately (I know, I need to do some dusting).

Eventually I’ll need to get a second one, but that’ll probably wait until I move

The Sanderson section stared to have some overflow

[wraith lynx]

searches
nods her approval 😌

[junior dew]

Those would be the first ones that get the boot to make room for better books

[wraith lynx]

fair

[low hill]

chuckles

[wraith lynx]

Thats okay because my shelf will always have them at the top 😌

[low hill]

Out of sight?

[wraith lynx]

I do need a bigger shelf soon- vecna!! 😝

[long sorrel]

mine are prettier either way

[wet belfry]

To be fair, Dan and Ty also hate the spines and are trying to get them standardized for the special editions

[velvet umbra]

Thats good to know, it’s a pretty obvious goofy choice

[wet belfry]

They were very upset when Orbit switched to JAMES SA COREY instead of BOOK NAME

[long sorrel]

Btw, it seems Cibola Burn's special edition might come out towards the end of this year 👀

This is gonna cost me an arm and a leg but... yknow

[wet belfry]

Beauty is pain, yes

[long sorrel]

Well, it's gonna cost me double than it costs you probably

[somber timber]

Is Kon giving up the arm or the leg?

[long sorrel]

it's like $40 for the book

which is fine for what it is I think

but I bought the 1st 3 directly at the store and didn't have to do shipping

we shall see, if it does ever come out

[light drum]

I need to get the expance hardcovers at some point, i really hope i can find em at the used book store

[mild lance]

Two pages into Voyage of the Damned and I’m already in love with the protagonist

[hushed kettle]

are these books good i tried to get into the tv series but didnt like it too much

[wraith lynx]

Ive heard the book is a lot more dense

But I havent read them, ive only seen the first season of the show

[unique turret]

They’re very good imo. But if you don’t like the TV show the books probably won’t change your mind

[long sorrel]

It would depend on what did you not like of the tv show

But it is a pretty decent adaptation

[junior dew]

I didn’t know cod zombies had expanded to novels /s

I hope someone gets that joke

[hushed kettle]

Cod zombies story line better than red rising

[junior dew]

That sure is uhhh… quite random

[hushed kettle]

Sorry I will find and way to slander the name of red rising

[junior dew]

Building a personality around the hatred of a book series is certainly a choice

[long sorrel]

I do not like Red Rising but I believe this is literally what yucking on people's yum is

[junior dew]

Yeahhhh

[hushed kettle]

Fine

[minor sleet]

https://www.tumblr.com/qianqiu-art-collection/812312169416900608

YanShen 4ever 🤘

🔁 benevolenterrancy

I hope Sect Leader Yan isn't feeling sick...

-# #qian queue #benevolenterrancy #yan wushi #shen qiao #a qiao the deer #yanshen #fanart

Tumblr · Mar 28, 2026, 7:00 AM

[mild lance]

Voyage of the Damned 10 ||I have only known Grasshopper for one day. But if anything happened to her, I would kill everyone and then myself.||

[light drum]

I think its fine to dislike a book series but like to actively diss it ya gotta at least read it first

[mild lance]

Voyage of the Damned mid-16 ||I’m becoming more and more sus of Shinji. As the healer, they’re all relying on his assessments of the bodies, but he could be lying or even sealing up wounds to hide how they’re dying||

VotD mid-17 ||two people saw ghosts in the same night. I’m calling it now: someone’s Blessing is illusion-based||

[mild lance]

VotD mid-19 ||think I might have clocked something else. Leo’s grief isn’t about the empress. Maybe he’s tied Dee to Lysander’s death somehow?||

[iron pond]

So I just started reading Strange Animals by Jarod K Anderson, and I already really like the writing style. I've only finished chapter 1 so far

[snow vessel]

I am liking the mercy of gods so far but I am having a bit of a hard time getting totally into it

[light drum]

Its definitely kjnda a slow start

[snow vessel]

Actually I think the speed of the escalation might be part of why I'm not 100% locked in yet

MoG ~24% ||coz weve gone from internal politics to an alien invasion pretty quickly and I think I'm just not 100% locked in on who the characters are as people and what the plot is gonna be||

[iron pond]

Strange Animals 7: ||Blobert! Perfect name for the phobophage.||

[iron pond]

Got through chapter 14 now and I'm thoroughly enjoying this book. It's so beautifully written

[proven token]

Just started Kraken by China Mieville

On ch 21 so far and I gotta say, getting a lot of Middlegame vibes from this

Even though it was published 9yrs earlier

[brazen pilot]

I enjoyed Kraken a lot

Love all the weird things that crop up

[proven token]

We do be getting a tad bit lovecraftian

Kraken vague ||slight 'tentacled monster from the abyss that brings about the end of the world by merely existing' energy, because, you know, tentacled monster from the abyss that brings about the end of the world by merely existing||

[cloud socket]

China Mieville does weird so well

[minor sleet]

@long sorrel I’m starting Wolf Worm

[mild lance]

So I finished Voyage of the Damned! Solid book even if some of the twists were kind of predictable

[minor sleet]

Most important character spotted

[mild lance]

VotD ||Bear being Ravi in disguise actually got me.||

[minor sleet]

If anything horrible happens to this cat I will write T Kingfisher a letter consisting mainly of frowny faces

[mild lance]

Also obligatory mention that Voyage of the Damned features a gay romance

Which I know is a selling point for multiple people in this server

I read a surprising number of those in 2026 without meaning to. I also read In Other Lands, The Spear Cuts Through Water and Wolfsong in quick succession

[minor sleet]

Update: the kitty is named Smilodon. Amazing name

[long sorrel]

Ill be seeing her this summer so I can forward any complains

[ivory cypress]

I am also watching the wolf worm updates with interest