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Book Recs
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@Whisky said in Book Recs:
I think this series has mostly gone under the radar but Gideon the Ninth was one of the most delightful reads I’ve had in a while.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42036538-gideon-the-ninth
Very casual to read it is about lesbian space necromancers sort of meets hunger games. Anyway, the wife did quite an in-depth review in case helpful.
I am part way through this and my library loan is about to expire. This is extra annoying because my library doesn’t let you renew ebooks and I had to wait several months to get it at all, so I’m either going to have to buy it or spend several months on the waitlist again.
whisper turn off the wifi/internet connection on your ereader until you’re done and it won’t take your book away
@Roz Eeeee! This worked. THANK YOU.
You’re welcome! I have made extensive use of this trick over the years. And I’ve been assured by librarian friends that it has no impact on the next person in the waitlist getting the book, etc., so I feel NO GUILT about what I guess essentially boils down to cheating. I JUST WANT TO FINISH MY BOOK
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@Whisky said in Book Recs:
I think this series has mostly gone under the radar but Gideon the Ninth was one of the most delightful reads I’ve had in a while.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42036538-gideon-the-ninth
Very casual to read it is about lesbian space necromancers sort of meets hunger games. Anyway, the wife did quite an in-depth review in case helpful.
I am part way through this and my library loan is about to expire. This is extra annoying because my library doesn’t let you renew ebooks and I had to wait several months to get it at all, so I’m either going to have to buy it or spend several months on the waitlist again.
whisper turn off the wifi/internet connection on your ereader until you’re done and it won’t take your book away
@Roz Eeeee! This worked. THANK YOU.
You’re welcome! I have made extensive use of this trick over the years. And I’ve been assured by librarian friends that it has no impact on the next person in the waitlist getting the book, etc., so I feel NO GUILT about what I guess essentially boils down to cheating. I JUST WANT TO FINISH MY BOOK
Honestly, I turn the wifi on my tablet off half the time, anyway. I hate having it sit there pinging and buzzing and chiming about all of the exact same things coming through on my phone.
Now I just know to be strategic about when I turn it on and off.
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@Aria That’s non-ironically
one ofthe main reason I choose to read on a Kindle than my tablet. It’s not that it’s easier on the eyes, the weight, the capacity, etc.It’s just that if I have a tablet in my hand the temptation to use access one of the myriad instant-gratification options is just… too much. I’ll switch over to Reddit since it’s easier than to focus on what’s on the page, or I’ll get a popup from one of my FB contacts. And then that’s that.
And physical books just ain’t gonna happen. I’ll never win the fight for shelf space.
E-book readers salvaged my reading habit, frankly.
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Any recs for grimdark fantasy stuff that isn’t oppressor porn?
Prince of Thorns by Lawrence ruined my week. I forced myself to finish Bakker’s Prince of Nothing/Aspect Emperor series hoping that the few interesting philosophical questions would pay off. They didn’t, not at the level needed to balance the rest of the shit in there.
I just want something that’s grounded in like, materialist speculative fantasy about how geography, history and culture conflicts traits might influence made up societies. And I want those people to have swords and magic.
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@shit-piss-love said in Book Recs:
Any recs for grimdark fantasy stuff that isn’t oppressor porn?
The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman was, in my opinion, excellent.
Anything by Joe Abercrombie is top notch, starting with his First Law work.
I’m not sure what you’d qualify as oppressor porn (a lot of grimdark fantasy probably touches on some definitions of it), though.
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I’m not sure what you’d qualify as oppressor porn (a lot of grimdark fantasy probably touches on some definitions of it), though.
Sexual assault apologia. Glorification of colonial/feudal societies. “It’s okay because religion”. Etc.
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@shit-piss-love said in Book Recs:
Any recs for grimdark fantasy stuff that isn’t oppressor porn?
I’ll echo @Arkandel on his Joe Abercrombie recommendation. I never managed to finish his First Law pieces, in no small part because of the library loan issue getting me every damn time, but my husband is obsessed. Like, to the point that I have alerts set up on his publication dates so I can let @insomniac, for whom time does not exist and calendars are a laughable suggestion, to expect something soon.
As for e-readers over tablets, I picked a tablet specifically because I get ebooks from enough different sources that I needed to have the ability to use apps rather than a proprietary system. I picked a wifi-only tablet in the hopes that I would end up using it more like an e-reader than like a giant version of my phone and also because they’re way cheaper than ones that have cellular network access.
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@shit-piss-love Don’t know if you’ve read it, but The Dresden Files actually has a fair amount of pretty dark modern fantasy stuff that actually isn’t oppressor porn.
Admittedly not fully caught up with the series (I think there’s been another book or 2 I haven’t read, need to get on that) but it might be a good read for you.
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Sounds like Joe Abercrombie is the solid rec. Where do I start with that, The Blade Itself?
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@shit-piss-love said in Book Recs:
Sounds like Joe Abercrombie is the solid rec. Where do I start with that, The Blade Itself?
The Blade Itself is the first book of The First Law trilogy, and is the definite right place to start!
If you end up digging it, I strongly recommend Best Served Cold.
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@shit-piss-love said in Book Recs:
Sounds like Joe Abercrombie is the solid rec. Where do I start with that, The Blade Itself?
That’s the first one in the First Law trilogy, yeah. It goes:
- The Blade Itself
- Before They are Hanged
- Last Argument of Kings
There’s other books he’s written in that setting, which are considered to be part of the First Law “series” even though some of them are standalones and the rest are part of a second trilogy set in (I think) a different time period of that world. But The Blade Itself is the original starting point.
Amusingly, the title of the third book in the trilogy refers to what Louis XIV had inscribed on his cannons.
(Can you tell I was serious when I said my husband is obsessed with these books, given that I know this much about nine volumes, only one of which I made it two-thirds of the way through? >.>)
ETA: Oops! Sorry, @Solstice. I didn’t mean to “what she said but mine is better!” at you. I think your post went up when I was typing and I didn’t see it hiding under the input pop-up.
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That’s totally what happened, so no worries!
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Over the years Stephen King has thrown evil clowns at me, as well as parasitic vampires, dream-eaters, truly despicable human beings, world pandemics, malicious gift-givers and I took that in stride.
But Fairy Tale features a sweet old dog who befriends a boy, and she has arthritis that keeps her from walking as far as she once went, and if anything happens to her I’ll be very cross with Mr. King.
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@Solstice Amazing book! I love them so much!
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@Whisky said in Book Recs:
I think this series has mostly gone under the radar but Gideon the Ninth was one of the most delightful reads I’ve had in a while.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42036538-gideon-the-ninth
Very casual to read it is about lesbian space necromancers sort of meets hunger games. Anyway, the wife did quite an in-depth review in case helpful.
The Locked Tomb series is one of my favorites ever. Tamsyn Muir is incredible, and I’ve never been so confused by a book before, in the best way.
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Just finished “Notorious Sorcerer” by Davinia Evans, and it’s a rollicking good time. Second-world fantasy, with a street alchemist getting catapulted into the spotlight in the only city in the world where alchemy works. Lots of action, fun characters, a light read with some great worldbuilding. It started out a little florid, but settles in to a good voice and has a satisfying ending.
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Grant Morison! Luda!
Just amazing! Odd, Weird, totally like his comic the Invisbles. I don’t want to spoil anything, but it was amazing!
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My book is on a Kindle Daily Deal today for only $1.99. Blackout Trail - A Post-Apocalyptic EMP Survival Thriller. If you’d like to support me, please consider picking up a copy or sharing the deal on socials.
Some other cool books I’ve been reading lately:
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Nightstalkers is about a family caught up in an alien apocalypse. Pretty cool so far. (Only 99 cents limited time release deal)
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Cassandra In Reverse is a time-travel relationship drama featuring an autistic protagonist. Witty and relatable. (my review)
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Devil’s Ransom is the latest installment of my favorite counter-terrorism thriller series. (my review)
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Diamond Eye is a WW2 novel based on the fascinating real story of Russian sniper Lyudmila Pavlichenko. (my review)
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Gutter Medicine is an interesting memoir from a firefighter/paramedic recalling the early days of EMS.
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If anyone has written a book, I’m almost always down to buy it if y’all want to post a link. I can’t promise when I’ll actually read it, but I’ll buy it.
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I’m reading Mercedes Lacky’s newest Valdemar book that has Larry Dixon as a co author.
It is PAINFULLY obvious when the story fully came from him. I’m sorry, Lacky’s style may make a joke that foxes are having sex, but wouldn’t expound on it beyond the joke.
Also, there are a solid handful of things that just DO NOT ALIGN WITH THE REST OF THE WORLD.
Kyree can suddenly talk aloud and not just with mindspeech? And they sound like scooby do?The hawkbrothers suddenly know A LOT about Valdemar history and founding, including actually having one of the barges from the founding.
Gates work again??
Tremane is now has a magic y in the spelling?!
Silverfox was ~never~ a hawkbrother or identified as such, even after formally pairing with Firesong. He was always from White Gryphon. No, I don’t remember how to spell the ethnic group.
