Kevin's Watch

deer of the dawn wrote:I really wanted to find a new epic saga to keep me engaged for several thousand pages, but the search continues...

Look for The Fall of the First World trilogy, by David C Smith. It has a rare but delightful appreciation for what is goodness in men which seems up your alley. It's been re-released on Kindle for like $3 per.

I have started The Art of Starving by Sam J Miller.

wayfriend wrote:

deer of the dawn wrote:I really wanted to find a new epic saga to keep me engaged for several thousand pages, but the search continues...

Look for The Fall of the First World trilogy, by David C Smith. It has a rare but delightful appreciation for what is goodness in men which seems up your alley. It's been re-released on Kindle for like $3 per.

"Goodness in men"? Men are evil!! Eeeeeeevvviillll!!
But thanks, I'll check it out!

And ignore mine and Fist's posts...

--A

Hmph!

Fist and Faith wrote:Seriously. Have you never seen our posts, dawn???

Okay, will check out Malazan as well.

Btw I downloaded a sample chapter of Black Leopard, Red Whatever (it's been a heckuva day, see my post in "What do you feel today?" in Gen Dis) because it's an African fantasy and I was way pumped about that. But the sample chapters I read make Game of Thrones seem tame in the rape and icky sex category, so I won't be finishing that either. Thank God for Amazon's sample chapters.

UPDATE. The sample for The West is Dying included the list of characters and a longish introduction that includes words like Manichean, and then just a few pages of the actual content of the book. Roll my eyes.

Haha, if you want epic you don't get much more epic than the Malazan books.

Finished King Rat and didn't have anything new left, so started Pratchett's The Last Continent. Always dangerous in that I'll probably end up reading a bunch more now, but since I don't have anything else, they do make a pleasant interlude.

Maybe I'll play some of those games I have yet to finish. Or install.

--A

Downloaded some samples, read them, decided to go with Gardens of the Moon (Malazan book 1). Although I also realized I need to go back and read all the Earthsea books again, it's been too long!

Decisions, decisions! Well, depends on what you're after at the moment. You originally posted that you are looking for a massive read. That's Malazan. And, more than massive, it is of the highest quality throughout! None of this, "The first three books are great, but then it gets boring/repetitive/whatever." The nearly 10K page of the 10 books of The Malazan Book of the Fallen are one, gigantic... I don't even know what to call it. Orgasm? I read it all in a headlong rush. If I was able to stay awake that long, or could read as fast as Av, I would have read it all in one sitting.

And the several books by the co-creator are at least good, and some are great.

I thought book 5 and 7 were a bit weak...

(And personally, I prefer to start with "Night of Knives," although I guess in future I will be starting with "Dancer's Lament.")

Enjoy Deer...worth it if you want epic and detailed world-building, and a cast of thousands.

--A

For me, 5 was just a jarring change. That feeling was gone by the end of the book, and 7 didn't suffer from it at all. But 5 also introduces important characters, and has the beloved Tehol and Bugg.

Finished The Art of Starving. It's really very good. About a gay teenager with an eating disorder who believes his hunger gives him superpowers. One of those stories where the speculative element is left fairly ambiguous. It was gentler, kinder than I expected, but painful too.

Avatar wrote:I thought book 5 and 7 were a bit weak...

Apart from Tehol and Bugg.

Anyway, went from The Last Continent to Interesting Times, now on The Last Hero.

--A

Finally finished The Broken God by Zindell Phew, philosophical sci-fi at its best. I wonder if Zar has read Zindell - I think he might like it...

Having a small break to re-read Seventh Decimate in preparation for the release of The War Within, and then on to The Wild.

Yeah, I found it a little too philosophical at times.

Anyway, Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment. Not my favourite, but it has Vimes in it...

--A

Yeah I found it too philosophical too At times. I'm interested in reading further though.

Just finished the Expanse series for the first time. Love the time jump, I hate it when series dwindle...

Avatar wrote:Maybe I'll play some of those games I have yet to finish. Or install.

SAME! haha

The Fifth Elephant - Pratchett...you can't read just one. Or two or three etc.

--A

Just finished rereading Krabat, by Preussler.

StevieG wrote:Finally finished The Broken God by Zindell Phew, philosophical sci-fi at its best. I wonder if Zar has read Zindell - I think he might like it...

Having a small break to re-read Seventh Decimate in preparation for the release of The War Within, and then on to The Wild.

Ha, I just popped into this forum for the first time in months and saw this by chance. I've read Neverness and thought it was overall ok, and brilliant in many spots. If he gets better, maybe I should press on. I'm not sure it's possible to be "too philosophical," as Av says, but I'm curious to see where others draw this line.

I've never read Pratchett. I know I should. So help me out, where should I start?