What Are You Reading?

[Gerrinson]

I rip through 3 - 4 books on Kindle Unlimited per week. I may have a problem...

Anyway, things I would recommend:

Anything by Drew Hayes. If you don't like him, skip further down for other stuff. Just look for '/Drew Hayes'.

I got caught up in his Super Powereds series, which is complete btw. I normally don't read superhero anything outside of comic books, but gave this a try and was not disappointed. One of my all time favorite series period.

Outside of superhero books, Drew also has:

A fantasy series set in a D&D type world - I don't want to spoil anything, but this is good stuff and is an ongoing series which has not been completed.

Then there is the series which starts with The Utterly Uninteresting and Unadventurous Tales of Fred, the Vampire Accountant. Also, really interesting characters and a fun time.

/Drew Hayes. But still, all of his stuff is great so far, IMO.

I've been blasting through LitRPG books - for those who are unfamiliar with the genre, LitRPG are books where people typically find themselves trapped/living in an MMO world.

A few recommendations in this vein:

The Land series by Aleron Kong is pretty damned good, so far.
The Bushido Online series by Nikita Thorn has been solid.
The Armored Souls series by Xavier P. Hunter.
The Viridian Gate Online series by James Hunter.
The Stonehaven League series by Carrie Summers.

Similar, but different, are cultivation series, where people 'cultivate' power/chi/etc. in order to grow in power. This overlapped for me with dungeon core series, so I'm combining the lists:

The Divine Dungeon series by Dakota Krout.
The Cradle series by Will Wight.
The System Apocalypse series by Tao Wong.
A Thousand Li series by Tao Wong.
The Rogue Dungeon series by James Hunter & Eden Hudson.

And, of course, if you get these through Amazon they will link you to a bunch of similar items.

The only thing I haven't enjoyed recently are harem stories. The characters are always so - early teenager daydream tropes that it's mentally painful to try to read the rest of the story. The first couple I stumbled into were not tagged as such, so it took a bit before I realized what I was reading. It's too bad, some of them were otherwise interesting fantasy worlds. Your mileage may vary and your opinions may differ, of course, but these books are not for me.

Also there are a few LitRPG shorts which I've found to be basically misogynistic rape fantasies. So, be sure to check reviews before delving into some of the oddly sized/priced stuff.

[Ceir]

Still re-reading my way through my collection. I just finished The Fire Kimono by Laura Joh Rowland, and am now on The Snow Empress, by the same author. They are two books in a mystery series set in 17th-century Japan.

Might have to look into that one. I've recently been on a samurai kick, and historical/fantasy Japan is always fun.

I'm well aware it's a massive series. That's one reason I got into it. It'll keep my reading time filled for a while.

Ah, WoT. I tried, I really did. I made it to about book...four, I think? The one where the protagonist is lost in the desert for 400 freaking pages. I think my brain called self-preservation on that one.

At the same time, Classic Fantasy Epics...I've started my yearly-ish reread of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings a little late this year (Frodo and Bilbo's canonical birthday is the 22nd). I've read 'em a dozen times by now, surely, but they're comfort food. Something I can pick up, cruise through a chapter, and enjoy a nibble at a time.

[AnaKhouri]

Reading an anthology of Gothic stories with a twist called Exquisite Aberrations (full disclosure: I have a story in it but wanted to read all the others) and just getting into Hero with a Thousand Faces. I love Joseph Campbell's PBS series but have never read his books! Time to rectify the one most closely associated with storytelling.

[Kit-Ginevra]

Just finished Gail Carringer's 'Etiquette and Espionage' set in a floating steampunk finishing school... where young ladies are taught not only to dance gracefully with a young man,but where to conceal a dagger about their person should lethal force be needed. Can't wait for the next instalment.

[Pixelated]

Interestingly, the young Bond here also gets his ass handed to him on more than one occasion and it obviously HURTS.

The only thing that might have been a little -- uh -- superhuman? -- is when one of the bad guys pours several quarts of gin down his throat and yet he recovers. Now, I know nothing about gin or how bad it is on the body, but could a large quantity of the stuff, all at once (especially to a non-drinker) really shut everything down in short order?

I should add that he does not simply doze off for half an hour and wake up full of vim and vigour. He is sick as hell for a while, and in fact wonders at one point if he might be dying.

[greek_jester]

Yep, it's the James Bond, while he was still at Eton. Never been much of a Bond fan, but this book is actually pretty good. (Admittedly, I never read any of Fleming's novels; all I knew of the character was what I saw in movie trailers, and I was pretty unimpressed by them.)

James Bond in the novels was more obviously a ruthless sociopath, but he was also more human; given that the readers when the books were first published had all fought in WW2 (or at least knew people who did) there was no way to shrug off bullet wounds or beatings as "just a flesh wound" the way writers/film makers do today without making the readers nope out.

That's actually one of the reasons Daniel Craig's Bond was so popular; if you've read the books, he's the most accurate version we've had yet; ruthless, lacking empathy, and actually looks hurt when he's shot/beaten/tortured.

[Pixelated]

Besides The Snow Empress, I'm also reading Double or Die, by Charlie Higson.

"You're all right, you know. What do they call you, kid?"

"Bond. James Bond," he said without thinking.



Yep, it's the James Bond, while he was still at Eton. Never been much of a Bond fan, but this book is actually pretty good. (Admittedly, I never read any of Fleming's novels; all I knew of the character was what I saw in movie trailers, and I was pretty unimpressed by them.)

-------------------
From the blurb on the inside of the back cover: "Several authors were approached by Ian Fleming Publications to write the Young Bond series. They gathered in a secret mountain hideaway inside a giant cave and sat around a huge marble-topped table. Charlie Higson pulled lever and the other authors disappeared into a shark-infested tank. So Charlie got the job ...."

[Jay 2K Winger]

It was nice knowing you. That series (while excellent) is rather like War and Peace for fantasy; it goes on forever! I was reading it as it was still being written by the original author, and waiting for each book to come out was sheer torture.

I'm well aware it's a massive series. That's one reason I got into it. It'll keep my reading time filled for a while.

[Pixelated]

Still re-reading my way through my collection. I just finished The Fire Kimono by Laura Joh Rowland, and am now on The Snow Empress, by the same author. They are two books in a mystery series set in 17th-century Japan.

The main character, Sano Ichiro, is (to nobody's surprise, I'm sure) a samurai, and the shogun to whom he owes allegiance is, unfortunately, a weak, indecisive and very inept ruler, easily swayed by other people's opinions, and one who can't cope with any kind of stress or intrigue -- of which there is more than enough in the court. Not least among these intrigues is the unspoken battle between Sano and another high-ranking courtier (Lord Matsudaira, who just happens to be related to the shogun) for control of the country.

In The Fire Kimono, the skeletal remains of the shogun's cousin are found, and Sano is ordered to find the killer -- never mind that the death occurred 40 years ago, during a massive fire that virtually levelled the city. As the investigation goes on, Sano learns to his horror that his own mother appears to be implicated in it ... and also that she does not appear to be the person he believed her to be.

In The Snow Empress, Sano is sent north to the northern land of Ezogashima to find out why the Japanese overlord of that domain (the indigenous peoples are called the Ezo and are regarded as uncivilized barbarians) has not make the required yearly visit to the shogun's court. But he has a second reason to go there: Lord Matsudaira has kidnapped his son, Sano Masahiro, at a local festival, and has sent the boy to Ezogashima, presumably to the court of that same Japanese overlord.

[YamiNoHime]

Elegantly Frugal Costumes

[greek_jester]

About one third to halfway through the book so far, and I'm liking it so far.

It was nice knowing you. That series (while excellent) is rather like War and Peace for fantasy; it goes on forever! I was reading it as it was still being written by the original author, and waiting for each book to come out was sheer torture.

Be warned that the author passed away before finishing the final book; he left extensive notes, so another author (and massive fan) Brandon Sanderson was brought in to finish it. It was eventually decided that the final book was too large to be released as one book, so it was released as three.

I have never read past around book 6 or 7 (it was quite a while ago) as my brain issues were really kicking off by that point, so I can't vouch for how well Sanderson was able to match the tone of Jordan. You'll have to let me know if it was done well.

[Ironclad Alibi]

I'm reading a book on Teach Yourself Telekinesis. According to the bookstore it's been incredibly popular. It's been flying off the shelves....

It was a very moving book.

On the other hand, I finished Prelude To Foundation and have started Forward The Foundation by Issac Asimov.

[Jay 2K Winger]

With the recent news that it's being developed for a TV series with the end of GoT, and after hearing about the books for years, I started reading Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. About one third to halfway through the book so far, and I'm liking it so far.

[Kit-Ginevra]

I'm reading a book on Teach Yourself Telekinesis. According to the bookstore it's been incredibly popular. It's been flying off the shelves....

[Ghel]

I finally finished American Gods. It was... ok, I guess. It wasn't as epic as I expected, especially with the hype around the tv series. The only character I found interesting was Sam, and she was a very minor character (in that she didn't influence the plot AT ALL). I agree with greek_jester's assessment that the female characters in the book lack motivation, Sam included.

Now I'm reading Darth Bane: Path of Destruction, a Star Wars AU book suggested by my partner. I'm only 3 chapters in, but I'm hooked. I can't wait to see how this story develops.