Fantasy Books Groups

[Hera]

Just finished The Emperor's Blades (Book 1 of the Chronicles of the Unhewn Throne trilogy) by Brian Staveley. I have no idea why I bothered finishing it, but my god am I glad that's over. It's another one of those books where I'm completely baffled by its Goodreads 4+ stars average. I found it offensively bad, bordering on terrible. Poor, staggeringly incompetent characters, zero direction, barely any narrative at all actually, laughable descriptions of female characters, I thought pretty much everything went wrong. The prose is decent, I guess. The reception on Goodreads indicates there's an audience for everything, but I certainly wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

 

[Pip]

Finished the first book of the Lyonesse Trilogy by Jack Vance and am now on the second. Quite engaging so far, after getting past the very dry history introduction with numerous unpronounceable place names. Would recommend it.

The Complete Lyonesse (Lyonesse, #1-3)

The Elder Isles - an ancient land where chivalry and th…

www.goodreads.com

 

[Cherub]

Just finished the War for the Rose Throne series.

Quite liked it, verging toward grimdark and a bit like the Peaky Blinders meets medieval.

Any suggestions for the next audiobook/series?

 

[David76]

Just finished the War for the Rose Throne series.

Quite liked it, verging toward grimdark and a bit like the Peaky Blinders meets medieval.

Any suggestions for the next audiobook/series?

Manifest Delusions by Michael R Fletcher
The Pariah by Anthony Ryan

If you are looking for something unique I'd recommend

Maleficent Seven by Cameron Johnston (standalone)
The Grey Bastards by Jonathan French (this is Sons of Anarchy-like but with Orcs riding Wild Hogs).

Both are very good reads. Maleficent Seven is a personal favourite of mine.

 

[Tom]

Reading Book 3 of Coiling Dragon, Baruch Rising.

The story started very, very slow, with the main character as a young boy of 6! But the story has picked up considerable steam now and it is moving at a pretty good pace.

 

[Crabtree]

Reading Book 3 of Coiling Dragon, Baruch Rising.

The story started very, very slow, with the main character as a young boy of 6! But the story has picked up considerable steam now and it is moving at a pretty good pace.

And amazingly, it never stops. It's pure fun all the way to the end of the series!

 

[Tom]

And amazingly, it never stops. It's pure fun all the way to the end of the series!

Now some way into Book 6 of Coiling Dragon ("The Four Divine Beasts"), but in the last couple of books a glaring inconsistency has been bugging me. Maybe you have an explanation:

Spoiler

In books 3-4 it was explained that the God level is reached by mastering one or more of the 6 'Profound Mysteries' underlying one of the Elemental Laws, and that the Highgod level is reached by fusing two or more of the Profound Mysteries. However, in Book 5 Linley managed to fuse about 3 of the Profound Mysteries in the Elemental Laws of the Wind, and in Book 6 he managed to perfectly fuse 3 of the Profound Mysteries in the Elemental Laws of the Earth. He is able to easily defeat 6-star Highgod Fiends (e.g., Ganmontin), and yet he remains at the God level? Is this just so Linley can hide his level from other potential opponents, or is there a rational explanation?

 

[Ginger Ted]

Not read any fantasy so far this year but my best read of 2022 was A Practical Guide to Evil by Erratic Errata.

One of the GOAT books that very few have read. A dark humour epic fantasy where the tropes are the plot themselves. Unique and spectacular!

 

[Black Sheep]

Admittedly it was a struggle at times but I persisted with the Farseer trilogy and finished it yesterday evening.

Spoiler: No real spoilers but just in case

That was equal parts brilliant and frustrating. I have a lot of problems with it, especially the final book and its conclusion. I found it deeply unsatisfying, even in the knowledge that there's a lot more story after this.

If I had to sum up my thoughts on Robin Hobb based on this, I would say: excellent world-building, deep characterizations, beautiful prose but disappointing storytelling. The positives are enough to keep me reading beyond this trilogy, but I do hope the storytelling improves.

Next up is Liveship Traders, which I gathered focuses on a different set of characters. Which is a good thing, as I could do with a break from Fitz.

 

[Tom]

Finished Tress of the Emerald Sea.

First off, the physical book itself is stunning and the artwork is gorgeous. So glad we got the physical copy!



The story is whimsical and fun and delightful. It works both as a Cosmere book or standalone if you are not neck-deep into Sanderson lore.