Fantasy / Horror Reading in November 2015

I am looking at my shelf of over 40 books written by my favourite fantasy author Sir Terry Pratchett. I am focusing on the books that are out of the main sequence and the mini series within the discworld universe. The stories where the main sequence characters have no parts or at most small walk on parts such as the way some of the watch turn up in Monstrous Regiment.
Small Gods is first up with Soul Music in the on deck circle.

Here is a quote from the master that seems to be a good fit for this forum.

"Fantasy is an exercise bicycle for the mind. It might not take you anywhere, but it tones up the muscles that can."
Sir Terry Pratchett
 
Finished Shadows of Self. I really enjoyed this one. It fused the fun and focused story of The Alloy of Law with more epic and overarching Mistborn story. The end also hit me quite a bit emotionally. I don't think it was my favorite Sanderson book, but it's kind of hard to judge because I've gotten to the point where I probably have ridiculous expectations going into every Sanderson book.
 
Hobbit said:
Sounds a bit like Tin Man, the TV miniseries starring Zooey Deschanel, which was The Wizard of Oz reimagined as a steampunk fantasy.
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I haven't seen Tin Man so I can't say if the changes in Mechanica are comparable. With Mechanica, some of the ways it is different from Perrault's Cinderella are moving the story in the direction of the older folklore variants, and some in the direction of Disney. I'll have to wait until I have finished reading it to decide whether this is a happy combination.
 
I finished A Darker Shade of Magic a little while ago.

This is one of those books that just didn't quite hit the spot for me. And in this sort of case, it's hard to tell whether I'm really objecting to the book or to the narrator -- narrators can have such a strong impact on your perception of the book.

So -- the narrator. He wasn't *bad*, but he exaggerated his delivery too much, making everything seem a bit obvious and didactic. And one of my main gripes about the book is that there was too much telling and not enough showing -- too much obviousness. But it might have struck me differently if I had read it instead of listened, or if I had heard it with a different narrator.

I liked the storyline well enough, but I thought the emotional aspects of a lot of things were neglected. For instance, there is (not a spoiler -- there's no surprise about it) a magical artifact in the book that acts a lot like the One Ring -- it gives power, but it also corrupts seductively. Now, in Tolkien, you are drawn in and greatly affected by the struggles of everyone exposed to the Ring -- but in this book, my reaction was sort of "yeah, been-there-done-that, yawn." Similarly,
two characters (one very minor) are bound by a horrific and irreversible magic that forces them to obey one of the Bad Guys. This could have had a big emotional impact on how we perceive them, but I thought it was much too glossed over.

I'd love to hear from someone who actually read this. I'm giving it a flat three stars.

Moving on, I've just started A Stranger in Olondria by Sofia Samatar. I've only heard the first few minutes so far, but it already seems delightful and fresh. I'm looking forward to the rest of it.

eta -- after having read more of the reviews for Darker Shade of Magic on GR, I've come to the conclusion that my impressions were not unduly affected by the narrator after all. The "obviousness"/simplicity/telling-not-showing may instead be a product of Schwab's history as a YA author. Just a thought!
 
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Read the third volume of Clive Barker's Books of Blood.

As the title suggests, most of these stories are horror or a horror/dark fantasy blend, written in his early days before progressing to the more epic dark fantasy novels with their incredible world-building.

Overall I'd rate these stories slightly above average; there's still much originality and they read very well, mainly from the start, but a number of them ended fairly limply. My picks would be Son of Celluloid (a convict dies in a movie theatre and his cancer becomes sentient through the emotions and actions of movie stars) and Confessions of a Pornographer's Shroud (the shroud of a wrongly-murdered accountant comes to life to seek revenge).

Good for a short story horror fix.
 
Finally reading more Ellen Kushner. I read her Thomas the Rhymer many years ago and loved it. Always told myself I needed to pick up her other works and I've finally, finally picked up Swordpoint. I'm about 50 pages in and so far it's great. More like a Georgian or Regency period novel set in an imaginary world - actually reminds me of Georgette Heyer's romances a little (esp. the character interactions within the aristocratic class), someone whom I've also read just recently. No magic (so far) and very fluid prose.
 
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I love Swordspoint. Unfortunately, it's sequel wasn't as successful -- but still not a bad book.

Incidentally -- if anyone is thinking of *listening* to Swordspoint, DON'T. They use a "full cast" production in parts of the story and not others, which drove me batty.
 
Contrarius said:
I love Swordspoint. Unfortunately, it's sequel wasn't as successful -- but still not a bad book.

Incidentally -- if anyone is thinking of *listening* to Swordspoint, DON'T. They use a "full cast" production in parts of the story and not others, which drove me batty.
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I still haven't been able to get into audiobooks. Have tried them two or three times and it's been a no-go. However, I decided to try non-fiction in audio format (today for the first time, coincidentally) when I'm out walking and it was a great experience. Don't know why I can't get into it with works of fiction.
 
I finished up Half the World by Joe Abercrombie. I liked it quite a bit. Though I've enjoyed his Half a... series so far, it doesn't quite hit the same highs that his previous works have for me.

I also finished my audio-experience of Stephen King's Under the Dome. Wasn't really a fan. I enjoyed the concept of a town trapped under a giant force-field, but not so much the exploration of said concept.

Taking a break and doing some non-sf/f reading for palette cleansing.
 
There is no magic in Swordspoint*. It qualifies as fantasy -- just -- because it takes place in an imaginary world. It's a marvelous book. I was a bit disappointed in the end, but it is a marvelous book nevertheless.

____
*Unless you mean the kind of spell that a book may exercise on a reader.
 
Teresa Edgerton said:
There is no magic in Swordspoint*. It qualifies as fantasy -- just -- because it takes place in an imaginary world. It's a marvelous book. I was a bit disappointed in the end, but it is a marvelous book nevertheless.

____
*Unless you mean the kind of spell that a book may exercise on a reader.
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I actually prefer fantasy that deals with magic as a low key and ambient part of our world that can be tapped into rather than something overt or highly ritualised/structured. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy that type of magic, too, but when the use of magic in a novel is constrained, I find it it has a greater impact when finally utilised.

When it's used in those rare, yet critical moments, it engenders that primal feeling of awe. Like the Druids of old, during Celtic Europe in the Bronze and Iron Ages. I always envision some ancient, primal Pict ceremony that triggers fear and awe in the amygdala of those watching/participating.
 
still reading through "The Best of Cordwainer Smith". I started it as my Halloween read last week, and I really love his poetic, mythical style of looking at the future of humanity. While it should belong in the SF section of the forum, I find that the stories are more focused on the human than the scientific elements, and I find it difficult to assign a clear category to his universe.

Also read another delightful fairytale fantasy by Patricia McKillip - The Changelling Sea. She is one of my favorite authors, so it's not really a surprise that I liked her story, but even among so many good books, Changelling Sea stands out because of her cleaner than usual plot, endearing protagonist (a young girl who loses her fisherman father and puts a curse on the sea with unforeseen consequences.) and touches of humour. The tale is also about romance, with not one but three young bucks getting interested in the girl, but I found the story a breath of fresh air after the doom laden "Queen of Fire".
 
McKillip is one of my favorite authors, too. Some of her books are better after a second reading, and that was how it was for me with The Changeling Sea. I agree with everything you have said about it, but I wasn't able to appreciate all of that the first time I read it.
 
Finished reading Swords and Deviltry by Fritz Leiber last night. This is a collection of the three origin stories of Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser. I'd never read any of the Fafhrd and Grey Mouser stories before and picked this one up because I was able to get it for $1.99. I found the story about Fafhrd a bit slow going in places and I found myself wondering if I would've cared more if I'd started out by reading stories where the two were already a team and then gone back to the origin stories. The story about the Grey Mouser moved along at a much faster pace and I really enjoyed that one. I accidentally read spoilers on wikipedia about the last story where the two actually meet, and was unsure whether I was in the mood to read about certain events or not. However, I decided to stick with the story, and also found it quite fast paced and exciting. All in all, I think I will be putting more Fafhrd and Grey Mouser stories on mount TBR.
Now I'll be going back to the short story collection I started in October. In the Forest of Forgetting by Theodora Goss. This is one that Randy M. recommended in the Halloween thread and I'm finding most of the stories quite beautiful although a lot of them are also sad.
 
Night of the Jabberwock by Fredric Brown

Not fantasy but associated by author and by content, a mystery novel that I only mention here because fantasy readers might enjoy the way Brown taps into Alice in Wonderland to form and tell his story. I haven't finished the novel but I'm about 3/4 through it and I suspect anyone who enjoyed Alice... would find it fun, though you don't need to know Carroll's books to follow the story. It's a Brown in lighter mode rather than his darker mysteries like His Name is Death.

Next up ... well, not sure. I'm torn between Perchance to Dream, the recent collection of stories by Charles Beaumont, and Topper by Thorne Smith. For some reason at this time of year I'm in the mood for older works.

Randy M.
 
I'm reading Ania Ahlborn's The Bird Eater right now and I have to say, it is genuinely creepy.
 
I finished A Memory of Light Friday night and I thought the ending to the Wheel of Time series was pulled off magnificently. When I finished I was surprised at the feeling of sadness that I had, knowing I would not read another WoT book again. Funny how books can still manage to move me like that after all these years.
 
I just finished The Incorruptibles by John Hornor Jacobs. This is an old West story set in an alternate universe where the Roman empire survived and dwarves and elves exist. However, the elves are super powered, wild killing machines who hate everyone. This was a really great story with a little bit of everything: steampunk elements, infernal magic, romance and political intrigue. I can't believe this story isn't more well known.
 
ezchaos said:
This was a really great story with a little bit of everything: steampunk elements, infernal magic, romance and political intrigue. I can't believe this story isn't more well known.
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It looks interesting! The description on Amazon does, too. I'm going to download the sample.
 
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