Copying from the weekly thread, over at !books@lemmy.world :

Finished Summer Knight by Jim Butcher. Fourth book of The Dresden Files. Things keep getting worse, stakes keep getting higher, Harry keep going through hell. Same old, same old.

Currently Reading Sleeping Beauties by Stephen King and Owen King. It was recommended on reddit for books similar to the comic Y: The Last Man. I didn’t used to like Stephen King much before, but I can understand why. Book is 700 pages long, and first 100 or so pages were pretty much just a set up. I didn’t use to have patience for such slow books in my youth, though I am enjoying it now.

What about you guys? What have you been reading?

P.S: I have mentioned the !books@lemmy.world (and the weekly thread) a few times here. Didn’t see any rules against that, and am just trying to increase engagement for books-related communities, but if there’s any issue with that, I can stop doing it. (Disclaimer, I am a mod there)

  • butterypowered@feddit.uk
    4·
    9 months ago

    Nearing the end of Oathbringer (Brandon Sanderson, Stormlight Archive #3).

    There’s something about his world-building that’s just brilliant. Shame it takes me 6 months to read each one!

    • cdipierr@beehaw.orgEnglish
      2·
      9 months ago

      Oathbringer took me from a Sanderson stan to a bit exhausted. It just felt like a very long slog and not much reward on the path. I’ve been really enjoying his kickstarter books, as they’ve been a bit more svelte, while maintaining his unique penchant for setting up a magical playground and always managing to surprise you with how his toys interact.

      • butterypowered@feddit.uk
        2·
        9 months ago

        I know what you mean although, because I get so little time to read, I tend to put that down to me losing track of plots. Particularly with larger books.

        Maybe my habit of alternating high fantasy with Discworld books maybe balances out more than I realise.

        Good to know the kickstarter books are a bit different too. Will keep that in mind!

      • dresden@discuss.onlineOPEnglish
        1·
        9 months ago

        I think middle parts suffer in most long series. I don’t recall much from the Oathbringer though, but I remember liking it when I read it. May notice the issues during re-read.

        And yeah, loving the secret projects. I think we needed these from him as much as he needed to write these. 😀

  • cdipierr@beehaw.orgEnglish
    2·
    9 months ago

    Abercrombie-August has stretched into September. After finishing the First Law Trilogy, I started reading the copy of The Heroes I picked up from a bookstore over the summer. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen someone create this very detailed examination of a wholly imaginary battle. It’s like I picked up one of my dad’s books on Gettysburg, except there’s a scheming wizard hanging around.

    After this, I’m eyeing something breezy like Dome City Blues by Jeff Edwards or A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab. I read Babel last month, and I’ve come to terms with my weakness for: “London but with Magic.” I also want to jump on More Perfect by Temi Oh. I saw Hadestown last winter, and I’m in for some reinterpretations of the Orpheus/Eurydice story.

    • dresden@discuss.onlineOPEnglish
      2·
      9 months ago

      I should get back to First Law Trilogy one of these days. The Heroes is the next book on list.

      Haven’t heard of the other books you mentioned, would love to hear your opinion once you have read them.

      • cdipierr@beehaw.orgEnglish
        2·
        9 months ago

        Welp, I tore through The Heroes in less than a week 😆 – not only did I like it, but it’s made me certain I’m going to read the other two “First Law World” books. Doing Darker Shade of Magic now it’s… okay so far. Feels a bit young-adulty for my tastes right now.

        • Jerzy D@mastodon.social
          1·
          9 months ago

          @cdipierr @dresden I banged through them and read sewuentially til Red Country. It was a good romp for several books but does Peter out. I kept just wanting to read the Logan portions and there was very little of that eventually.

          • cdipierr@beehaw.orgEnglish
            2·
            9 months ago

            Say one thing for Logen Ninefingers, say he’s a fun POV character.

            Luckily Abercrombie has a wide cast of bloody-handed northmen, scheming wizards, cringing nobles, and other fun miscreants after the Bloody Nine has left the stage. A big thing I loved about The Heroes is how it managed to bring me a whole new crop of characters to enjoy, and lose, just contained in that book. I’m excited about the “industrial revolution” sequel trilogy with a next generation of characters. It’s like my father always said: Once you have a sequel trilogy, it’s better to read it than live with the fear it.

            After all, you have to be realistic about these things.

            • Jerzy D@mastodon.social
              2·
              9 months ago

              @cdipierr try Savage Dominion by Luke Chmilenko after you’re done with Abercrombie! I’m currently on Blood Song by Anthony Ryan which I would also recommend.

  • MisterBigFart@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    9 months ago

    Baldur’s Gate 3 has me on a D&D kick so I’ve been making my way through The Cleric Quintet from R.A. Salvatore.

      • MisterBigFart@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        9 months ago

        Salvatore’s Drizzt series is what got me into reading like 20 years ago. I loved them then and now the CQ series is reminding me why. They are very easy reads with likable characters and I think his writing really shines when it comes to action/battle scenes.

    • dresden@discuss.onlineOPEnglish
      2·
      9 months ago

      Thanks for mentioning fantasticfiction.com, I have seen it mentioned a couple of times, but always thought would check it later and then forgot.

      Generally, I just use LibraryThing (and Wikipedia) and they usually have very uptodate information, but there is no way to subscribe to any author / series and get the updates, you have to manually look up the author / series. So a way to automatically get the update sounds nice.

      The Far Reaches sounds great, I have heard great things about James S.A. Corey, Veronica Roth and John Scalzi. So, should look it up.

        • dresden@discuss.onlineOPEnglish
          2·
          9 months ago

          you should really check out ann leckie and her ancillary justice series, probably one of my favorite series in the last 10 years

          Thanks for the recommendation, going to check it out.

    • Jerzy D@mastodon.social
      1·
      9 months ago

      @cwagner @dresden thanks for the recommendations. I’m currently enjoying book 2 of Ravens Shadow by Anthony Ryan. In the LitRpg world I really enjoyed Savage Dominion by Chmilenko, a great series, that has a Discworld tone through out.