Reading in Fantasy / Horror, January 2022

[DanielJLoney]

Evening everyone looking for a cosy/macabre read to see them t
hrough the rest of the winter, I've just published the first volume of my animal fantasy fiction series 'The Last of the Wild Days', inspired by and dedicated to three of my favourite childhood authors who are sadly no longer with us. It's available on Ebook and paperback on amazon and I'm running a free Ebook promotion for it for the next five days starting today to get it out there and hopefully get some reviews in, I'd love you guys to read it as fans of the fantasy genre and as of tomorrow.... Its free for 5 days! Grab it while you can and tell anyone else you know who is at odds and ends for a fantasy to read!

'For Brackenhal, Merralea and their last remaining cub, life on the rugged Storm Cairns is a continuous struggle. Plagued by hunger, exposure to the elements and Flesheaters who are picking their fellow Foragers off one by one, they are fleeing a brutal and seemingly unending winter in search of kinder lands than their own. On their path, they discover an abandoned fox cub lying in the snow. Despite foxes being some of the most feared and cruel of all predators, they decide to raise the cub as their own. Meanwhile, another creature born of winter itself is uniting the Flesheaters under one creed to begin a great hunt, and as the Foragers raise their orphaned cub in little knowledge of the looming threat, the Wintergazer is ever growing in both power... and hunger'

Here is the link...

The Last of the Wild Days: Volume One: Amazon.co.uk: Loney, Daniel J: 9798783640049: Books

Buy The Last of the Wild Days: Volume One by Loney, Daniel J (ISBN: 9798783640049) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.

www.amazon.co.uk

 

[oasis seeker]

Talking of re-trying, guess what I'm trying (AGAIN)....

Hahahaha! I've tried again also, but have yet to succeed.

The beginning is so good, but I have yet to overcome the hurdles of the later books. I'm thinking maybe Crossroads is the peak I have yet to be able to climb over, which is a shame because I heard Branderson was able to pick up the ball and run home with it.

One day....

 

[oasis seeker]

As for what I'm reading this month:

I've started David Gemmell's Lord of the Silver Bow and am enjoying it. Which is surprising as I tried the first of the Drenai series years ago and didn't care for it much.

 

[Raf]

Haven't watched the TV series yet, AC. Just finished The Witcher. This is an ongoing task of mine.... I think it's 4 times I've tried reading this series. Really liked the beginning but keep stalling around Book 3 - 4, the point at which I usually lose the will to live.

That is about the stall point for many of us. I never went back though.

 

[Agent Cormac]

If you stopped at book 3, that's a shame because book 4 (Shadow Rising?) is the best of the lot in my opinion. After reading it for the first time I went back and read The Battle of Emond's Field scenes all over again. My favourite part of the entire series. All the books have good parts, but some of those middle ones are cluttered with shite.

 

[Hobbit]

I have yet to overcome the hurdles of the later books. I'm thinking maybe Crossroads is the peak I have yet to be able to climb over, which is a shame because I heard Branderson was able to pick up the ball and run home with it.

If you stopped at book 3, that's a shame because book 4 (Shadow Rising?) is the best of the lot in my opinion.

Yup. It's why I keep trying...

 

[cgw]

Wheel of Time - I got through book 4, but then either lost interest or was distracted by something else. I think I had been hearing too much about the later books (here probably).

 

[cgw]

I finished Jade Legacy, the third and final book in the The Green Bone Saga by Fonda Lee.

Like the first two, this was an excellent read, totally immersive as the No Peak and Mountain clans fight for supremacy and control over Jade, a substance that gives them special powers. It was long (longer than the first two books) at around 700 pages, but this wasn't an issue at all as the author expertly weaves the many characters and political issues into such a well-paced novel (she has a black belt in martial arts and is an ex-Corporate Strategist, and it shows).

Probably one of the best series I've read - really worth checking out! (and this book has an average rating on GR of 4.74 - the highest I think I've seen!)

I just started Jade War. And I thought the first book was The Godfather...

 

[Westy]

I just started Jade War. And I thought the first book was The Godfather...

Yes similar...but with jade magic and martial arts!

 

[Raf]

If you stopped at book 3, that's a shame because book 4 (Shadow Rising?) is the best of the lot in my opinion. After reading it for the first time I went back and read The Battle of Emond's Field scenes all over again. My favourite part of the entire series. All the books have good parts, but some of those middle ones are cluttered with shite.

I read Shadow Rising, AC...but it did not make me want to continue. By that time, Rand had fallen too far into navel gazing and Ae Sedai circumlutions.

 

[Westy]

I read Wylding Hall by Elizabeth Hand - an upcoming electric folk group are holed up at Wylding Hall, a large Tudor mansion out in the country, to record their sophomore album - and strange things being happening.

The story's told years later as band members (now quite famous from the album that was made at the house) and their entourage recount the events that happened at the house, all from different points of view. This structure of the novel is quite effective - as the reader you know something major and verging on supernatural has occurred, and recounting it from eyewitness accounts made it seem more real.

It's quite well written and easy to read, and convincing from the music and band point of view as well (the author did her research), describing the steps they went through to create the album. Weird things don't really start happening until quite late in the story, and most are fairly standard-fare haunted house/paranormal scenes (I've read a lot of horror books in my younger days so don't scare easily), though there is one right at the end that was a bit creepy.

On the whole I was expecting a bit more from the supernatural side of things, but it was still a good read.

 

[Windshadow]

Amazon.com: The Immortal Doc Holliday: Hidden : (The Immortal Doc Holliday Series Book 1) eBook : Crumley, M.M.: Kindle Store

The Immortal Doc Holliday: Hidden : (The Immortal Doc Holliday Series Book 1) - Kindle edition by Crumley, M.M.. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading The Immortal Doc Holliday: Hidden ...

www.amazon.com

I had this series recommended to me and I am well into volume one and enjoying it so far wether or not the author sustains the clever modern urban fantasy aspect that seems to be melded with a touch of the “Red Dead Redemption” vibe throughout his series I don’t know. So far it’s a fun light read and free via kindle unlimited.

 

[tpetty]

Hobbit, Jordan absolutely needed a more aggressive editor. Although, that is a reasonable criticism of a lot of the door stopper size fantasy books.

I haven't read them for years, but still recall the hundreds of braid tugging moments, etc. I gave up 1/2 way through. I have the entire series in hardcover sitting on the shelf, need to retry at some point.

 

[Raf]

My favourite out of all Abercrombie's books. You're right about there being no good guys in these books but that's what makes them fun. Sand dan Glokta will stay with me forever.

I'm halfway through this one and, honestly, I'm struggling with it. Abercrombie seems to have a fascination with the tools and applied mechanics of torture. As if San dan Glotka wasn't enough?

In this one though...the scene with Caul Shivers and the hot iron....well. I'll finish this book, but think I'll head back to scifi.

I know it's fantasy, but it's pretty dark. Seems like the genre is trending darker these days for some reason. Felt the same about Gene Wolfe's "New Urth novels too. Never finished that series either.

 

[Agent Cormac]

I guess it's not for you, Raf. It is dark but for me it's not so much the darkness of the characters as their individuality and how their experiences form them into who they are. Sorry you didn't like it.

And Gene Wolfe, eh? Might be the sort of thing I would enjoy.

 

[suciul]

Finished The Trail of Swords (The Kimorae rift Trilogy #1) by C Porter; it was intriguing at the beginning and the end (and making the sequel a book of interest) but the middle was less exciting overall

Blurb:

To be banished along with your youngest son is not a pleasant prospect…but to be murdered by your own family is surely worse.
Timot Kimorae has spent the last ten years knowing his son, Ezren, is an outsider in the royal family of Ambarta. Because he was born with no exceptional powers or abilities, Ezren is a threat to the family’s perception of divine authority and Lady Kimorae can accept no threats to her ascension.
Only Lord Timot Kimorae has kept Ezren alive and safe this long.
But now that it is Ezren’s 10th birthday, his lack of powers is undeniable.
Now, Lady Kimorae must decide: Should she banish her weakest son to protect the legacy of the family?
Or should she remove the threat of his presence for good?
Can Timot find a way to keep them both alive?
If there ever were a time for Timot and Ezren to fight, it is now…
For their lives may just depend on it.

 

[Raf]

Started the first book of the "Gobbelino London" Series by Kim M. Watt. "The Scourge of Pleasantries". A very tongue in cheek, funny Private Eye / Urban Fantasy.

Quote from the author's website:

"...This is the first book in the Gobbelino London, PI urban fantasy series, centered around the adventures of a mercenary feline PI and his human sidekick. It contains snarky cats and other gods, many bad jokes and terrible puns, plus a large serving of mythological and real creatures behaving badly. It will appeal to anyone who likes their fantasy funny, modern, and filled with friendship rather than romance – and also to those who suspect their cat may be living a great and secret life when they’re not looking.

Which, of course, they are...."

Good start so far.... really bad puns. Right up my alley, lol. Will let you folks know more once I finish the series (4 novels)

 

[Randy M.]

Finished Something More than Night by Kim Newman. Fun 1940s Hollywood romp featuring Raymond Chandler (the narrator), Boris Karloff and the template for Philip Marlowe (Newman's version, not the real thing) versus a studio head, a mad scientist and his even smarter engineer, killer clowns, revivification, kinda zombies, studio back lot shenanigans and intelligent and intriguing merging of Frankenstein the book, Frankenstein the Karloff movie, and Chandler's The Big Sleep. In spite of all that, it's a fairly serious novel, and while I'm not sure it's completely successful, I can't think of anyone other than Newman who would have the chutzpah to even try it.

 

[pogopossum]

I just bumped into a title in that is one of my several (2-3?) favorite series, (The Atrocity Archives) It's part of a series extension, The New Management. Title? Quantum of Nightmares. by Charles Stross.
I do fantasy a lot less than SF. But it's Stross!
Ordered it. If there are other Charlie fans, I would love to see comments.

 

[Hobbit]

It's part of a series extension, The New Management. Title? Quantum of Nightmares. by Charles Stross.

Yes: it's an offshoot of the original series, pogo, just published here. It is book two: if you haven't read Dead Lies Dreaming I understand you might want to read that one first.