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schneefinkSome books I read in the past few months that I'm too lazy to talk about in more detail:
Windrose Chronicles by Barbara Hambly
I read the first three books, the "The Silent Tower" + "The Silicon Mage" duology and then "Dog Wizard." The cliffhanger at the end of "Silent Tower" and the corresponding first sentence at the beginning of "Silicon Mage" are among the best I've encountered. I really liked the fantasy + this world crossover, and the characters. At times the story was a bit slow, especially in the third book. I have an idea for an Antryg&Salteris fic that I like but probably won't get around to actually writing; I love their relationship, so much potential for angst.
Metal Wolf by Lauren Esker
This is basically "Jupiter Ascending" without the reincarnated Princess stuff, and I mean that in the best way. Okay no, this is vastly oversimplified, but "werewolf shifter and former slave crashes on Earth and encounters a woman interested in space and romance happens" made it impossible not to think of the comparison.
Wind on Fire by William Nicholson
When I learned that the series was partially out of stock I bought it in paperback because I have very fond memories of "The Wind Singer," and positive memories of "Slaves of the Mastery." (Also the covers are very pretty.) I was relieved that I still really enjoyed the first two books, and disappointed that I still didn't really enjoy the third one, "Firesong." "The Wind Singer" is great, I really like Kestrel and Bowman and I really enjoyed the different people and cultures they encountered, they all seemed very vivid and interesting. The second and third book then veer a lot more into "prophesied destiny of our people" territory and especially in the third book I thought everything else fell flat behind that.
Spirits Abroad by Zen Cho
I read a lot of fics of short story length, but very few original short story collections. Maybe it's time to change that, because I really enjoyed this one. It was fun to read about Malaysian myths and a culture I didn't know.
The Dark Profit Saga by J. Zachary Pike
Two of three books published so far, "Orconomics" and "Son of a Liche." Tbh I picked up the first one almost entirely because of the name, and I didn't regret it. It's a satirical take on a D&D-style fantasy world focused on economics, and then builds non-satirical epic quests and adventures on top of that. It took me a bit to warm up to the characters, some of them still feel underdeveloped (also the first book had way too few female characters but the second one improved) but there are also some characters and relationships I like a lot and I really liked the plot with its twists.
Also I want (but probably won't) to write fic about Gaist and Iheen the Red, because how does an arrangement like that even happen, and I want to build the entire party as D&D 3.5 characters for my players to encounter in my campaign because that could be so much fun.
Windrose Chronicles by Barbara Hambly
I read the first three books, the "The Silent Tower" + "The Silicon Mage" duology and then "Dog Wizard." The cliffhanger at the end of "Silent Tower" and the corresponding first sentence at the beginning of "Silicon Mage" are among the best I've encountered. I really liked the fantasy + this world crossover, and the characters. At times the story was a bit slow, especially in the third book. I have an idea for an Antryg&Salteris fic that I like but probably won't get around to actually writing; I love their relationship, so much potential for angst.
Metal Wolf by Lauren Esker
This is basically "Jupiter Ascending" without the reincarnated Princess stuff, and I mean that in the best way. Okay no, this is vastly oversimplified, but "werewolf shifter and former slave crashes on Earth and encounters a woman interested in space and romance happens" made it impossible not to think of the comparison.
Wind on Fire by William Nicholson
When I learned that the series was partially out of stock I bought it in paperback because I have very fond memories of "The Wind Singer," and positive memories of "Slaves of the Mastery." (Also the covers are very pretty.) I was relieved that I still really enjoyed the first two books, and disappointed that I still didn't really enjoy the third one, "Firesong." "The Wind Singer" is great, I really like Kestrel and Bowman and I really enjoyed the different people and cultures they encountered, they all seemed very vivid and interesting. The second and third book then veer a lot more into "prophesied destiny of our people" territory and especially in the third book I thought everything else fell flat behind that.
Spirits Abroad by Zen Cho
I read a lot of fics of short story length, but very few original short story collections. Maybe it's time to change that, because I really enjoyed this one. It was fun to read about Malaysian myths and a culture I didn't know.
The Dark Profit Saga by J. Zachary Pike
Two of three books published so far, "Orconomics" and "Son of a Liche." Tbh I picked up the first one almost entirely because of the name, and I didn't regret it. It's a satirical take on a D&D-style fantasy world focused on economics, and then builds non-satirical epic quests and adventures on top of that. It took me a bit to warm up to the characters, some of them still feel underdeveloped (also the first book had way too few female characters but the second one improved) but there are also some characters and relationships I like a lot and I really liked the plot with its twists.
Also I want (but probably won't) to write fic about Gaist and Iheen the Red, because how does an arrangement like that even happen, and I want to build the entire party as D&D 3.5 characters for my players to encounter in my campaign because that could be so much fun.
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Date: 2018-07-27 12:15 pm (UTC)I think I was a little put off by the second half of The Silent Tower when they meet up with the prince. It might have just been a mis-reading on my part, but I thought there was a a homophobic undertone to the writing of his character. It seemed like he was portrayed as a cruel sadist and I think at one point he's referred to offhandedly as a pervert, which felt really weird. Especially since he might be the only gay character in the series. Since you've read the rest of the books, would you say that I'm totally off on my interpretation?
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Date: 2018-07-27 12:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-07-27 04:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-07-27 05:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-07-30 02:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-07-30 09:23 pm (UTC)