Fantasy / Horror Reading in November 2015

[Hobbit]

I can't believe this story isn't more well known.

Well, we did try: From August 2014 - http://www.sffworld.com/2014/08/1797/
It was also in my Best Of of last year, too.

 

[Ryan Mueller]

Finished Altar of Influence by our own Jacob Cooper. I liked this one even more than Circle of Reign. Cooper knows how to tell an exciting epic fantasy story.

 

[spiralguru3d]

Finished Fool's Fate by Robin Hobb. I really enjoyed it, and thought the ending an appropriate resting point before the new trilogy.

Tailchaser's Song is still on the shelf. I picked up Ship of Magic instead and made a start on The Liveship Traders - so far so good, strikes me as a bit more mature than the Farseer books, and the characters are (so far) learning from their experiences.

By perusing these forums I am slowly drawing up a shortlist of more recently published fantasy to try and find something new for my next read.

 

[DJ94122]

I'm going back in time. I'll start The Broken Sword by Poul Anderson later tonight. I've never read anything by Anderson before, and I know almost nothing about him, but the man's bibliography is epic-ally huge.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I'm going back in time. I'll start The Broken Sword by Poul Anderson later tonight. I've never read anything by Anderson before, and I know almost nothing about him, but the man's bibliography is epic-ally huge.

The Broken Sword is not at all typical of the style of Anderson's other work (The Merman's Children is in a somewhat similar style), the vast majority of which is SF. However, the style is perfect for the story, which is beautiful and terrible, splendid and horrifying, and it's use of mythic themes has seldom been surpassed. It doesn't receive half the recognition it deserves.

 

[DJ94122]

The Broken Sword is not at all typical of the style of Anderson's other work (The Merman's Children is in a somewhat similar style), the vast majority of which is SF. However, the style is perfect for the story, which is beautiful and terrible, splendid and horrifying, and it's use of mythic themes has seldom been surpassed. It doesn't receive half the recognition it deserves.

Thanks, Teresa. That was a far better recommendation than I could ever have hoped for!

 

[bard`s song]

More than half way through Charnel Prince. Really great series.

 

[Contrarius]

Thanks, Teresa. That was a far better recommendation than I could ever have hoped for!

What Teresa said. I'd also add that it manages to say more in under 200 pages than a lot of books say in 3 or 4 hundred.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I'd also add that it manages to say more in under 200 pages than a lot of books say in 3 or 4 hundred.

I agree. Because The Broken Sword is told in a style somewhere between an old saga and a modern novel (although leaning toward the former) events move very quickly.

It was published the same year as The Fellowship of the Ring, and it is interesting to contrast the way the two authors portray elves. (Although Anderson's elves wouldn't be entirely out of place in the Silmarillion, they could hardly be more different from those in LOTR.)

 

[chitman13]

After loving his Dresden books and enjoying The Aeronaut's Windlass, I decided to take the plunge and start on Jim Butcher's Codex Alera. I've looked at them in the past and they just did not sound like my cup of tea due to both genre and setting. However, I'm really enjoying them. So far I've read the first three - Furies of Calderon, Academ's Fury, Cursor's Fury - and I'm now on the fourth, Captain's Fury. The story progression hasn't taken things quite where I expected, especially after the events of book 2, but the character progression has kept me thoroughly hooked. Looking forward to seeing how the series finishes!

 

[Whitleyrr]

I finished Ania Ahlborn's The Bird Eater last night - it was pretty good. It actually started out fairly terrifying, but, like I find with most long form horror, the terror evaporated a bit over the length of the novel (to its credit, ti was fairly short). Still, enjoyable and worthwhile, with some particularly strikingly visual scenes. 3/5 stars.

Now I've begun M.R. Carey's The Girl With All the Gifts. I've heard good things...

 

[Ryan Mueller]

After loving his Dresden books and enjoying The Aeronaut's Windlass, I decided to take the plunge and start on Jim Butcher's Codex Alera. I've looked at them in the past and they just did not sound like my cup of tea due to both genre and setting. However, I'm really enjoying them. So far I've read the first three - Furies of Calderon, Academ's Fury, Cursor's Fury - and I'm now on the fourth, Captain's Fury. The story progression hasn't taken things quite where I expected, especially after the events of book 2, but the character progression has kept me thoroughly hooked. Looking forward to seeing how the series finishes!

I've yet to encounter a Butcher book I didn't like. The first two Dresden Files books were a little weaker than the rest, but I still enjoyed them a lot.

 

[Hobbit]

I've yet to encounter a Butcher book I didn't like.

I struggled with the first Codex Alera book. If I remember right, there were strange leaps of logic and I didn't like the magic system - but I keep being told they get better.

 

[Heather Myst]

The Codex Alera series was really hit and miss for me. Some books were good and others were weak. I would read one book and think I'm going to give up on the series and then the next book would be great. The one thing that was always top notch was the cover art.

 

[Hobbit]

The one thing that was always top notch was the cover art.

Ah, but which one?

 

[Heather Myst]

I had never seen the top batch of covers. Are those newer or foreign?

 

[Hobbit]

I had never seen the top batch of covers. Are those newer or foreign?

Thought that might be the case, Heather. The top ones are the UK covers, the bottom are the US covers. For what it's worth, I agree with you, I think. I prefer the US covers.

 

[spiralguru3d]

I'm in the UK, and while I haven't read the books, but I prefer those US covers too, Hobbit.

I was looking at the Stormlight Archive book covers recently, and also prefer the US covers on those over the black and white sketchy UK covers(!?).

Robin Hobb covers are another example. I've bought the newer F&F books in hardback, but given the choice between the John Howe stuff and the newer 'symbolic' covers with little artwork on.. I track down the older editions for the cover art alone.

I assume such differences are based on astute market research, and I just fall outside the bell curve of what the masses prefer.

Does anybody here prefer the UK Alera covers?

 

[algernoninc]

I have also recently finished The Aeronaut's Windlass by Jim Butcher. I think it's his best book yet, but considering I gave up on Dresden Files and I had a lukewarm reaction to the later Alera books, I don't hold very high hopes for the sequel. I think Butcher is a great adventure writer, but I often find his characters shallow and his style of ever increasing, overwhelming odds tiring.

I'm reading Iron Lake now by William Kent Kruger, which is not a fantasy book but a crime thriller near an Indian Reservation. It has though a Windigo as part of the plot, which is one of the horror creatures that I am interested in.

 

[Randy M.]

Does anybody here prefer the UK Alera covers?

I'm in the U.S. and haven't read the books. The U.S. covers seem generic epic fantasy to me. The U.K. covers, because of the symbols, add some mystery and because of that I prefer them.

Randy M.