What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it...

[Grailknight]

Repercussions, the 8th book in the Wearing the Cape series.

 

The stakes have been steadily rising and this book keeps the pace smoothly. An extreme eco-terrorist group is out to take mankind back to nature and they are well organized and well funded. The first strike takes out all the major North American hydroelectric dams and it gets worse from there. 

 

IMO, this is the best superhero fiction on the market and i'd recommend it for all ages

[csyphrett]

Read Broken Souls and the Cunning Man.

Broken Souls has Eric Carter still dealing with Santa Muerta and his place as her prospective king of the dead. The problem is she and her ex-husband are still trying to manipulate him into killing one of them to solve his and their prospective problems.

 

The Cunning Man has a Mormon beet farmer and his adopted Navajo son taking food to a shutdown mine and winding up dealing with a deal with a demon, angry heirs, old witches, and the Mormon elders who don't like cunning men and their magical ways.

CES 

[Grailknight]

Peace Talks has been announced for 7-14-2020.

[csyphrett]

2 hours ago, Grailknight said:

Peace Talks has been announced for 7-14-2020.

There is already a christmas story out where Dresden gets gifts from Mab, Molly, and Odin, while Mouse shows him how to build a bike for Molly

CES

[Grailknight]

40 minutes ago, csyphrett said:

There is already a christmas story out where Dresden gets gifts from Mab, Molly, and Odin, while Mouse shows him how to build a bike for Molly

CES

 

According to Jim's site, that actually takes place after Peace Talks. The short is free reading on the site for those who haven't read it.

 

[csyphrett]

12 hours ago, Grailknight said:

 

According to Jim's site, that actually takes place after Peace Talks. The short is free reading on the site for those who haven't read it.

 

I saw it at the book store around thanksgiving I think.

CES

[Hermit]

More Audiobooks...

 

Theft of Swords (Vol 1 of Riyria Revelations) by Michael J. Sullivan was a great read/listen largely because it has one of the best buddy buddy bromance set ups in fantasy fiction. Hadrian Blackwater is a big three sword carrying warrior of cheery disposition and often idealistic leanings. Royce Melbourn is a slim, cold, and pragmatic thief who is a consummate professional- Together they commit CRIME!

 

Of course, what turns out to be a charity theft of sorts (Okay, not charity, they are getting paid but they bend rules out of mercy) ends up as a frame job for the murder of a king!  And it just steamrolls from there.

 

Despite the high stakes and dangers, this is not a grimdark set of books (This is two novels put together), the good guys can win or at least hold their own, some shallow people get better, and while happy endings seem a long way off and not everyone makes it, there's an element of 'all is not lost' even at the darkest parts.

 

 

 

[Hermit]

On 8/31/2015 at 3:44 PM, Enforcer84 said:

NPCs by Drew Hayes

 

Like I've said, I likes me some escapism. This is a book that looks at what happens to our game worlds when the PC's TPK.

 

Good cast of characters, some nice inside jokes for gamers.  

 

Thanks for the suggestion, I enjoyed a great deal

[Old Man]

Finally finished Wise Man's Fear by Rothfuss.  (I mean, it's over a thousand pages long, so it took a while.)  Pretty good book for not having a plot.  Main character is a little less insufferable, mainly because he's in a book and not a D&D campaign that allows Bard/Thief/Wizard/Monk/Assassins.  If I dock the book a full point for naming the main character something totally unpronounceable, it gets a solid seven point eight out of ten.

[Hermit]

On 1/16/2020 at 7:45 PM, Hermit said:

More Audiobooks...

 

Theft of Swords (Vol 1 of Riyria Revelations) by Michael J. Sullivan was a great read/listen largely because it has one of the best buddy buddy bromance set ups in fantasy fiction. Hadrian Blackwater is a big three sword carrying warrior of cheery disposition and often idealistic leanings. Royce Melbourn is a slim, cold, and pragmatic thief who is a consummate professional- Together they commit CRIME!

 

Of course, what turns out to be a charity theft of sorts (Okay, not charity, they are getting paid but they bend rules out of mercy) ends up as a frame job for the murder of a king!  And it just steamrolls from there.

 

Despite the high stakes and dangers, this is not a grimdark set of books (This is two novels put together), the good guys can win or at least hold their own, some shallow people get better, and while happy endings seem a long way off and not everyone makes it, there's an element of 'all is not lost' even at the darkest parts.

 

 

 

 

Okay, after this...I read (Well, listened) to Volume Two Rise of Empire and then Vol. Three Heir of Novron

 

This maybe the most enjoyable (For me) fantasy series I've consumed in years. What began as a bromance heist gone horribly wrong turns into the rise of an empire, and then more than one threat to it. There are plot twists I did not see coming, and character development and surprising redemption galore. The lime light is split somewhat ,as the Author develops and introduces some amazing women  but never for so long that Hadrian and Royce are ignored. 

 

The Audiobook narration really brought his A game too.

 

I'd give it the whole series a five out of five. I am a notorious soft touch, but I love great characters and this series shines there, with a fine world under it, and a plot that unfolds to make that setting a living tapestry. There is loss and heart break, and the Happy Ending has to be earned, but it's a relief from the Grimdark

[death tribble]

The Shadow of Saganami by David Weber.

 

This is an Honorverse book. That means it does not feature Honor Harrington as the main character. Instead it looks at different characters in the meta plot about the evil machinations of the Mesa system and the Manpower corporation. The executives of Manpower are trying to overturn a vote in a system where the inhabitants want to be incorporated in the Star Kingdom of Manticore. One of the planets has a set of terrorists who engage in a violent struggle while another planet has a group who engage in economic warfare. In the background another system is refitting warships to come into the area and take it over on Manpower's behalf. The crew of a new battlecruiser must work out whatv is happening and how to stop it.

If you like David Weber's Honor Harrington, you should like this. I did. 

[Hermit]

On 8/23/2007 at 11:24 AM, Sundog said:

Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it...

 

Old Man's War by John Scalzi. A "Future War" story where people get a chance to become young again at 75 - provided they're willing to fight in the unending wars and skirmishes required to protect the colony worlds for ten years.

Well written, and has an interestingly different point of view from most space opera, where the protagonist is usually young and brash.

 

Having read more than one of you liked this in this very thread, I gave it a chance. 

What can I say but thanks for you guys cluing me in on it. Scalzi interjects some humor through out, mind you often of the gallows variety (Which totally fits), and I was surprised to find myself chuckling now and then between some rather riveting battle scenes. I like the protagonist, a sympathetic old fart with a romantic streak that's hard not to envy but there were a lot of secondary and even one page characters that caught my attention.

 

Well worth the read/Listen

 

 

[Hermit]

Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames.

"it's time to get the band back together!"

The Warband that is. In a world were mercenary bands are sword wielding, knife twirling, spell casting celebrities, no one stood taller than Saga, who walked the Heartwyld slaying monsters and ending threats to civilization in a most uncivilized fashion. They were the best.

But that was 19 years ago.

Now, Clay Cooper is a married man, with a little girl, a respectable if boring job on the local watch. His glory days far behind him. 

But when Gabriel aka Golden Gabe, his old bandmate shows up begging for help in rescuing his own daughter from a city under siege?

Well, #$$##.

Saga will rise again, and try to remind the world, and themselves, why they were once called Kings of the Wyld.

 

........................

That's the basic set up, folks, and it's glorious. Not for originality per se, but style. This novel is a homage to 70s Rock bands and it shows! Old Dogs have one last 'tour' (Adventure) together for a good cause that will probably get them all killed. Each one of these men is flawed, a bit beat down by time and bad life choices. They're not as good as they once were, but you still cheer them on. At least, I did. I'm rather impressed how much depth characters got, not just our protagonists. Frex, Who would have thought I'd grow fond of an Ettin?

Profanity laden, violence heavy, this is one macho novel, but yet it also touches on the love fathers can have for their children, how a man recognizes he is better than he was for his wife being in his life, and , of course, bonds of friendship that survive danger and decades. Why, mixed in the blood and F bombs is a bit of syrupy sweet sentimentality, but.. you know, don't tell anyone, that's awkward.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[slikmar]

Been listening too the Quincy Harker, Demon Hunter series. Modern Pulp Detective meets Vampire Hunter D. To much profanity, but still a good listen. the reader is very good. Escalates quickly, but then his group of "superfriends" aren't pikers. Main character is the son of Mina and John Harker, 130 years old, 20% vampire, very strong sorceror and 100% badass. Along the way we meet Uncle Luke Card (Dracula), Gabriel Van Helsing (great grand daughter of Abe, who used to bounce Quincy on his knee), Adam Franks (better known as the creation of Dr. Frankenstein) and many others.

[Ranxerox]

Just finished listening to Jasper Fforde's (no, not a typo) book Early Riser.  It is set in an alternate Earth which is colder than our own an most people in the Northern Hemisphere hibernate during the 4 brutally cold winter months.  Our protagonist, Charlie Worthing, is not one of the hibernators.  Charlie has taken a job with the Winter Consulate where he must contend with brutal cold, zombie like nightwalkers, unimaginative but aptly named Villains, the mysterious winter folk, and the nefarious HiberTech corporation.

 

This was an enjoyable listen.  Even though this is British satire, the protagonist is not a twit.  Charlie is generally likable, and while he starts off extremely green to the job, he learns quickly.  Also, the world building is extremely neat.  It is filled with details both amusing and surprisingly sensible for people who spend 4 months a year hibernating.  

 

I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

[slikmar]

I will have to check that out. I really enjoyed his Thursday Next and Nursery Crimes series.

[Ranxerox]

5 hours ago, slikmar said:

I will have to check that out. I really enjoyed his Thursday Next and Nursery Crimes series.

 

Cool. I never heard of Jasper Fforde before listening to Early Riser, but now that I have I am interested in trying our some of his earlier stuff. 

[Old Man]

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch.  An outstanding take on the city-of-thieves subsubsubgenre of fantasy.  Fairly lighthearted, though also violent.  Quite unpredictable.  I really can't think of any significant flaws.

[Doc Democracy]

The Grey Bastards by Jonathan French is a good book.  Different take on half orcs.

 

Interesting because the author ensures the narrative is reliably unreliable (the story is told within the knowledge and biases of the protagonist).

 

My only criticism is that the capability of the orc antagonists seems to vary depending on story needs a bit too much.

 

Doc

[death tribble]

Fallen by Benedict Jacka

Alex Verus and Anne are arrested by the Keepers as the latter finally realise what actually happened at San Vittore. They are then 'rescued' by Drakh. And that's when the fun really starts.

The story progresses with Verus finally acting in a new way. This was good

[death tribble]

Storm from the Shadows by David Weber. This follows Honor Harrington's friend Michelle Henke through the loss of her ship, captivity, return to Manticore and reassignment to the Talbott Quadrant. Then you have Manpower up to their evil deeds which causes problems with the Solarian League. I liked it and it was difficult to keep to a set number of pages per day rather than speeding on.  

[sinanju]

Slaying Monsters for the Feeble, by Annette Marie. Second book in a series (the third drops on Thursday). The heroine, Robin, has accidentally become a Contractor (i.e., someone who holds a demon in thrall based on a contract). Contracting is a thing in her world, where magic is common and widely practiced (in secret), and demon summoning is well known and regulated by the magical authorities. Demons are bound by lengthy, detailed contracts in return for the summoner's soul when he/she dies. Except for Robin's demon. They made a very hasty verbal agreement to avoid both being killed by bad guys trying to bind the demon, and using her as their sacrifice. her demon is bound to "protect her" (as HE defines protecting her, since she didn't specify) in return for...cookies she bakes. (He likes her cookies, and she refused to part with her soul, and they were under severe pressure, so....) Unlike most bound demons, he retains free will and his magic, and if anyone finds out they'll both be put to death because an unbound (or loosely bound) demon is insanely dangerous.

 

I like this series, which is a spin-off series of another set in the same world, following the adventures of Tori, a human (i.e. non-magical) bartender for one of the magical guilds, along with the three powerful (and hot, of course) mages she hangs out with.

[Grailknight]

More Dresden updates

 

https://io9.gizmodo.com/check-out-our-exclusive-peek-at-jim-butchers-new-dresde-1842415798

 

Trailer! for  Peace Talks with a surprise announcement at the end and Chapter 1.

[slikmar]

Now how do we get them to make movies with that cast of all the books...sorry.

Just finished latest Mercy Thompson book - Smoke Bitten. First time in the series I never actually felt any real peril, though to be honest, the real underlying tension wasn't external. This book felt a lot like a setup for what comes next. Still one of the better modern fantasy series (I would put it behind Dresden, Jane Yellowrock (though I think that series needs to end sooner rather then later before it gets stale), Kitty Norville series, Kelley Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld (really enjoyed the world building of meeting the various supers), almost anything by Seanan Maguire (October Daye being the biggest and best) and Kim Harrison's Hollows series.

[unclevlad]

Braintrust:  Requiem by Marc Stiegler, which also ends the series.  First in the series is The Braintrust:  A Harmony of Enemies.  The 4th book, Ode to Defiance, is a finalist for this year's Prometheus Award...and I think Requiem may pull that off next year.

 

Short outline...near-term future, where the politics of today have only intensified.  The US is mostly fractured, Russia and China are Russia and China to a T.  The tech companies bail from the US and go offshore...along with the jobs and the money, and most of the brains.