Reading in Fantasy / Horror, April 2023

[RedMage]

@Decrepit&Senile, Sheepfarmer's Daughter is one of the books I'm reading at the moment. I read it maybe 15-20 years ago as part of The Deed of Paksenarrion omnibus and I may not have finished it. I certainly don't remember much. But I'm reading it now and I'm enjoying it.

 

[Agent Cormac]

Goldenhand

Continuing the story of Lirael, Goldenhand takes place shortly after the events in Lirael and Abhorsen. The majority of the book alternates between Lirael’s journey to locate Nicholas Sayre and then accompanying him to the Clayr Glacier, and a new character from the far north called Ferin, who carries an important message for Sabriel warning of an invasion by the northern tribes.

Like the other books in the series this was a reasonably good read. I wouldn’t rate it as a classic of what I think of as traditional fantasy, but it and the previous books were entertaining enough to keep me reading to the end. There are a couple of other books connected to the series. However, I don’t feel the urge to read them, so that’s me done with the series now.

 

[Hobbit]

There are a couple of other books connected to the series. However, I don’t feel the urge to read them, so that’s me done with the series now.

Three books in a row, though, AC!

 

[Prairie_Dog]

I just finished reading A Mountain Walked, Great Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos. This extensive book is a collection of stories by the esteemed literary expert on things Lovecraftian, S. T. Joshi. The anthology tries to collect stories that the editor believes are great examples of the authors taking Lovecraft’s ideas and using them in their own unique ways, rather than writing mere pastiches.

These stories range in time from 1939 to 2014 (this collection was published in 2015). They are a varied collection, with some being very true to Lovecraft’s visions like “Beneath the Beardmore” by Michael Shea, which uses the setting of “At the Mountains of Madness.” Others seem far from the original Mythos, like “The Wreck of the Aurora” by Patrick McGrath. The latter I only accept as a Mythos story because S. T. Joshi says it is.

One of the most disturbing tales to me is “[Anasazi]” by Gemma Files. This one is going to live in my head quite a while, I’m afraid. Possibly the most surprising story is “Only the End of the World Again” by Neil Gaiman, which takes place in Innsmouth. I didn’t know Neil Gaiman had written Mythos fiction.

Like any anthology, some tales will be more to a reader’s taste than others. However, this is a high quality collection put together by a subject matter expert, so it’s hard not to recommend it highly.

 

[57special]

I never got around to reading Rothfuss's "Name of the Wind". At the time, the various reviews sounded too much like what I was reading at the time. And then, like a lot of books, it just slid from my radar.

Did he ever write a sequel?

I know your question has already been answered, but i would urge you to read it, as long as you know that the trilogy was never finished. Really good, especially the first book. Have just finished a book by R R Virdi that reminds me of it, called The First Binding.

 

[RedMage]

I know your question has already been answered, but i would urge you to read it, as long as you know that the trilogy was never finished. Really good, especially the first book. Have just finished a book by R R Virdi that reminds me of it, called The First Binding.

There's no saying if Rothfuss will or will not finish it. Just that he has not yet finished it.

As for Virdi's book, I read it a month or two ago. I liked it and I, too, thought of Name of the Wind a few times.

 

[mac biggs]

Thinking about starting The Basilisk Throne by Greg Keyes

Also, finishing up Empire of Grass by Tad Williams, and Fool Moon by Jim Butcher

 

[oberon55]

Possibly the most surprising story is “Only the End of the World Again” by Neil Gaiman, which takes place in Innsmouth. I didn’t know Neil Gaiman had written Mythos fiction.

I know of 3 mythos stories by Gaimon including 'Only the End of the World Again'. The other 2 are:

'A Study in Emerald' - Sherlock Holmes & Cthulhu
Shoggoth's Old Peculiar - Humorous take on 'The Shadow over Innsmouth' in England.

 

[pogopossum]

Possibly the most surprising story is “Only the End of the World Again” by Neil Gaiman, which takes place in Innsmouth. I didn’t know Neil Gaiman had written Mythos fiction.

This was written as a tribute to Roger Zelazny in Lord of the Fantastic, which by sheer coincidence I mentioned in this month's Reading in Science Fiction thread. It's a reference to Zelazny's Night At The Lonesome October. It's a small world.

 

[Prairie_Dog]

I just finished reading White Cat, Black Dog which is the newly released collection of short fiction by Kelly Link. The theme of these stories is that they are inspired by classic fairy tales. However, they are very modern stories, that sometimes don’t seem to have much in common with the original tale. However, each classic tale is identified beneath the title at the beginning of the new story. For example, the story “Prince Hat Underground” tells us it is derived from “East of the Sun, West of the Moon.” It should also be noted that each story also has a great illustration courtesy of Shaun Tan, who also provided the cover art.

Kelly Link is well known for her masterful stories, and there are seven of these on display in this collection. There is a story of a demon lover, who has to be rescued from a boring hell and an undesirable union. There is the story of the white cat, who ends her marriage to a wealthy man with three sons in a most final way. The White Road is a dark fantasy about the road and those terrible things that come upon it, unless repelled by the dead. The others are all beautiful and memorable in their own ways. This is a collection I can wholeheartedly recommend for those who enjoy modern fantasy.

 

[Westy]

Untethered Sky is a novella just published by Fonda Lee this month. Ester is a young ruhker, a person with an ability to be paired with a roc and painstakingly train them over time to hunt and return. The story tells of her coming of age as she hunts manticores, and her revenge on the one that killed her family when she was young.

This was a well-written, free flowing, enjoyable read - nothing ground breaking but good to see the author can write about something quite different (to the green bone saga).

 

[Sfinx]

Not posted for a couple of weeks - and that's because I was immersed in Alex Marshall's Crimson Empire series:

- A Crown for Cold Silver (2015) [already mentioned here]
- A Blade of Black Steel (2016)
- A War in Crimson Embers (2017)

Don't let the somewhat cheesy titles fool you - this is highly original hardcore fantasy stuff. In the words of Grimdark magazine: "a tale full of grit, dark humour, drugs, f**k-ups, and excellent writing". So.

But there's more besides the grit, dark humour, drugs, f**k-ups and excellent writing. Marshall produces a line-up up of awesome characters like there's no tomorrow. Be it "Cold Cobalt" Zosia, Mighty Maroto or General Ji-hyeon, they all jump from the pages. The magic system is also refreshing (well, somewhat disgusting at times, so 'innovative' is perhaps a better word). All the storylines cleverly intertwine (also through time - and sometimes space) and come together in a satisfying climax. Nothing to complain about then? Well....the pages and pages Marshall devotes to his protagonists' thought processes are quite tedious and add very little to the story imo. Other than that, a highly recommended series.

 

[Berlyn]

I just finished reading Babel by R. F. Kuang. This book was a really slow burn, and I'm not sure they pay off was worth it. I actually quite like the author's prose, but it was quite obvious she had a lot of knowledge in etymology and wanted to showcase that in this book, even though I think almost 25% of the book could have been cut and the story wouldn't have been impacted. I gave it a 3/5. Anyone else read this?

 

[Westy]

Anyone else read this?

Sounds like I enjoyed it more than you did (rated 4/5 - liked the comradery of the main characters, and the detailed etymology and workings of the University), though I agree it could have been pared back a bit in length to make it better.

 

[Decrepit&Senile]

Since last posting, I have completed Elizabeth Moon's The Deed of Paksenarrion; book 2, Divided Allegiance on 15 April; book 3, Oath of Gold, yesterday evening 19 April 2023. Both received their fifth readings. I've always held this trilogy in high esteem. This new reading does not alter my opinion of it. If anything, I might now think more highly of it.

Upon finishing Oath of Gold, I was so hyped up that I decided to continue on with Oath of Fealty, book one in Moon's Paladin's Legacy series, despite not being overly impressed during its initial read. Alas. Mine is a fairly hefty hardback edition. Hardbacks of its size are difficult for me to hold while lying down nowadays. Since I do almost the whole of my "serious" reading lying down, I've pretty much had to abandon them. I gave it a try last night, only to admit defeat only a few pages in. Thankfully, Amazon's Kindle edition is only 2.99USD (plus tax). Following a bit of soul-searching, I bit the bullet and bought it this morning. Which reminds me that I need to recharge the Paperwhite.

 

[tpetty]

Just finished the newer edition of Liege Killer : Book 1 of the Paratwa Saga by Christopher Hinz. Very interesting science fiction book. Good enough that I just got on ebay and bought the next two books.

Now I'm going to start Guns of the Dawn by Adrian Tchaikovsky.

 

[Randy M.]

Finished White Horse by Erika T. Wurth. Solid first novel, a ghost story, about on par with Joe Hill's debut novel, Heart-Shaped Box.

Started American Hippo by Sarah Gailey and I'm liking her humor.

 

[Prairie_Dog]

Started American Hippo by Sarah Gailey and I'm liking her humor.

American Hippo was so larger than life and fun to read, I was willing to overlook many issues of plausibility and geography. I liked it so much, I read a couple of other books by her. She has a unique style…

 

[LayZ25]

Finished Orconomics by J. Zachary Pike

This one is interesting for me because while it isn't overly long and not a book I would call boring, I found it very easy to put down and was never in a rush to get back to it. It started out playing more to the satire it claims to be but then slowly built into a pretty serious book by the end. I wont dive into the satirical attempts of the book because written humor has never worked for me so the best I can say is it was never annoying or off putting (which is actually a compliment given how annoyed I have been at characters who were trying very hard to be funny).

Where I thought it excelled was actually when it got serious and the plot came together pretty late in the book. I didn't mind the author playing around with the idea of an economic system within the hero framework but if we talk about the book in two halves (the serious fantasy plot vs the satirical take on capitalism amongst heroes), I thought while both were well attempted they also both ended up being underdeveloped. There were some cool things I wish were explored more on both sides and what ended up being hurt the most was character development amongst all of that. When you do party building it definitely helps if I care about at least a few members of the party and I just never did. A lot of fantasy books take the risk of being bloated tomes but this is one of the occasions where the author could have used some more pages to flesh out the characters and plot points more.

If I was rating just off the latter parts of the book this would be an easy 4 or slightly higher but it took awhile to get there and that doesn't outweigh the bigger portion of the book that was just okay. I'd give it a 3.5. I have a feeling the sequel will be better and do plan on getting it to finish out the series.

 

[cgw]

Thinking about starting The Basilisk Throne by Greg Keyes

Also, finishing up Empire of Grass by Tad Williams, and Fool Moon by Jim Butcher

I haven't finished the 3rd book in Keyes most recent series. I probably will but it seems like the first book was a standalone and the others are afterthoughts.
I'll check out The Basilisk Throne.