Community Book club - What are you reading and what have you read recently

Pranooy

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Sep 8, 2018
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After a couple of years of not reading anything other than Books related to my field, I started reading "The First Law Trilogy" few months back (recommended by Schnitzelfee) which i loved so damn much. Now i am kinda obsessed with buying/reading books, especially dark high/epic fantasy ones.

Anyways i thought I would make a Book club thread here to gather some recommendations and to know what y'all been reading the past few weeks. Go wild!


So as i mentioned earlier, highly highly recommend the first two books of the First law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. The main draw of the story for me was the very unlikeable main characters (At least in the conventional sense; I really like them btw) - A torturer, a barbarian and a narcissistic rich soldier. It's got everything i look for in a fantasy series. Again do yourself a favour and read it.




A short non-spoilery review i found: 'The First Law' Trilogy Is Fantasy At Its Finest by Forbes

Also i've been reading Six of Crows by Leign Bardugo, which is a YA novel with romance and young leads doing crazy heists. I would have loved this book 10 years back. Now i am old and enjoy more darker stories. hehe.
I started the 2nd book of the duology - The Crooked Kingdom today. I am not too far into it, to talk about it.




I am reading a couple of others too. But haven't gotten too far to claim that i am reading those. I am reading too many, i know.

P.S: I wish i could write a short review on these books. I'll try better next time, I am too busy today.
 
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Pranooy

Pranooy

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Sep 8, 2018
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Ye i've added it in my list after reading the You - Yakkue convo on Ningen channel. My list is massive tho.

I nabbed the Brief Cases from the Dresden Files series recently. It's a damn decent series imo tho some of the plot twists are a tad hamfisted.
Pranooy try the Black Company series, they are dark fantasy and I found them to be decent titles.
Black Company series seems good from the synopsis. But it being a 10 book series kinda scares me from going near. Lol.
 
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bobnowhere

Careful Icarus
Sep 20, 2018
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Finally bought a copy of Starship Troopers at a charity book sale a couple of weeks back after seeing the movie many times. Be interesting to read seeing as the movie completely changed the themes of the books, reversing the worship of militarism.
 

RionaaM

Vogon Poetry Appreciator
Sep 6, 2018
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First Law Trilogy? Never heard of it, sounds like something from Isaac Asimov. I'll have to keep it in mind!

Sadly I haven't been reading anything for several years now. Loved that hobby, but it's so hard for me to go back to it. I've been stuck in the 4th Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy book for more than 2 years, and this week I managed to read 3 chapters or so. At this rate it'll be finished by the time Milliways (aka the Restaurant at the End of the Universe) is open for business.
 

SpikeHitman

Bad Framerates, Bad Opinions
Sep 20, 2018
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First Law is Joe Abercrombie, right? (Edit: duh, maybe read the OP next time) I think I have it on kindle and just haven't dug into it yet.

I haven't picked up a book since I wrapped up Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson. Something about those 1300 page behemoths makes me want to not read anything else for a while.
 
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Tenrius

For the Snark was a Boojum, you see
Sep 9, 2018
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I've been reading Norwegian Wood on and off for like a couple months now. I read to about the halfway point and I'm thinking of perhaps dropping it. I appreciate what I've already read, but it feels like the rest of the book is just going to be sort a retread of what's been happening so far.
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The first three books were really cool. I think I tried reading the fourth and it wasn't as fun, just a fair warning.
 

Weerez

Hello, I'm here, I'm waiting
Sep 20, 2018
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I just recently finished The Death Of WCW and Have A Nice Day: A Tale Of Blood And Sweatsocks, which are both rereads. I've also been reading a lot of stories on r/nosleep. I plan on starting It back up. I only read halfway, but love what I read. I'm just going to start from the beginning since it's been so long since I started reading it the first time.
 
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Tenrius

For the Snark was a Boojum, you see
Sep 9, 2018
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Tenrius there is a fourth Silo book? Must have missed that...
And yeah, first law is amazing in the ways the characters are written and the story unfolds
Well, the wiki article you linked mentions 9 books. I'm not sure where exactly I stopped though
 

Atraveller

MetaMember
Sep 22, 2018
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I'm reading Bob Woodward's Fear, and the situation is worse than you think.

You know, I can actually buy Trump himself not being a Russian plant, simply because he is that much of a fucking idiot. He only thinks of the global economy and alliances in the context of owing money and being owed money, he doesn't know how trade works. Trump's fixation on "bringing back manufacturing" is entirely based on the macho image of manly men working heavy machinery, and he does not understand that most jobs in the US had already transitioned into service jobs.
 
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Pranooy

Pranooy

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Sep 8, 2018
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First Law is Joe Abercrombie, right? (Edit: duh, maybe read the OP next time) I think I have it on kindle and just haven't dug into it yet.

I haven't picked up a book since I wrapped up Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson. Something about those 1300 page behemoths makes me want to not read anything else for a while.
I'm planning to get into Stormlight Archives, once i'm done with First law. Already bought Way of Kings and Radiance. The sheer size of the books are kinda scaring me off. It used to excite me once upon a time. :(
 
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Yakkue

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Sep 6, 2018
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I've recently finished Neuromancer, and I started Count Zero some days ago and I can't wait to start Mona Lisa Overdrive. Not sure if the covers are the same in other countries, but I think they look so good in the Brazilian version.
Those look interesting, would you say they are page-turners or rather something you take your time with?
 
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Panda Pedinte

Best Sig Maker on the board!
Sep 20, 2018
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Those look interesting, would you say they are page-turners or rather something you take your time with?
Definitely something to take your time. I tend to read the same page more than one time just to absorb what is going on.
 
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Omakell

Together we stand, as the Alliance!
Sep 25, 2018
13
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Madrid
finished the sidebook of the kingkiller's Rothfuss trilogy a few days ago, (The slow regard of silent things)

Right now i've started a book series called "the lies of locke lamora", whick so far, i'm enjoying a lot. very commendable book series if you guys like fantasy settings and well written books.
 
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Nahkapukki

Finest Finn
Sep 7, 2018
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The Iciest Hole
I'm more fan of the Wildcards series from Martin. Too bad that the audiobooks switched from a single good reader to a bunch of mediocre ones.
 

GonarcH

MetaMember
Sep 25, 2018
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I'm still chipping away at the Horus Heresy saga, started Prospero Burns some weeks ago. When the third season of The Expanse finished I finally decided to start Leviathan Wakes and I'm enjoying it quite a bit. And finally, many months ago my best friend gifted me Perdido Street Station because he said the reviews are great and it should be right up my alley. I started it last week or the week before and in fact it's insanely strange/interesting. Not a very big fan of the style but the story has me hooked so far : )

 
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Pranooy

Pranooy

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Sep 8, 2018
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finished the sidebook of the kingkiller's Rothfuss trilogy a few days ago, (The slow regard of silent things)

Right now i've started a book series called "the lies of locke lamora", whick so far, i'm enjoying a lot. very commendable book series if you guys like fantasy settings and well written books.
Always wanted to read the Gentleman Bastard series. Did u start with Bastard of Knives? or Locke lamora?


Does anyone have any idea when the third book in the Kingkiller comes out? Feels like ages.
Unrelated, but found this on Goodreads page of Kingkiller 3. :LOL:
 
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Panda Pedinte

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Sep 20, 2018
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I finished Count Zero some days ago and Ioved the book. It's a sequel taking place 7 year after the events that happened in Neuromancer, and while three main characters are all new, Gibson throws some nods referencing things that happened in the previous book and even an appearance from a side character.

Count Zero follows three new protagonists, each one with no seemingly connection between them. The start is a bit slow and it's a book that requires a lot of attention while reading, but as things starting happening I couldn't stop reading it. I recommend it as well the previous one if you're into Science Fiction, and like the Cyberpunk genre.
 

Yakkue

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Sep 6, 2018
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Sourdough by Robin Sloan was really great.

Very well written, funny, yet thoughtful and such a weird idea for a book. It worked perfectly.
 
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Panda Pedinte

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I finished Mona Lisa Overdrive, earlier today and I enjoyed it a lot though I can't really rank the Sprawl trilogy because I fell everyone brings some new concept by iterating on what happened in the previous books,
 
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Yakkue

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Sep 6, 2018
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I'm rereading Rumo right now. Walter Moers just writes the most amazing books about Zamonia, though his recent ones haven't been quite as great. I hope he will finish the third entry in the City of Dreaming Books series one day...
 
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Mivey

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Sep 20, 2018
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Finished this one last week. Another great Discworld novel, and the second one that concern the Night Watch of Ankhmorpork. I really love how this one develops Carrot. In the first one he felt like a funny side character, but he didn't have much character besides growing up with dwarfs and sharing some of their cultural views (and their literal mindedness). Here he becomes so much more. All the other great members of the Night Watch are featured too,

As with many of Pratches books, I feel the build-up of the book is much more interesting than the eventual pay-off. Aside from, perhaps, The Light Fantastic, I don't think I have read a Discworld novel where the ending didn't feel at least a little rushed. And The Light Fantastic was the second part to The Colour of Magic, so not a fair comparison as he had more time to cover the ending. Still, the funny story and the wit in the writing keep his books interesting, despite his lack of good narrative structure.

I finished Mona Lisa Overdrive, earlier today and I enjoyed it a lot though I can't really rank the Sprawl trilogy because I fell everyone brings some new concept by iterating on what happened in the previous books,
Actually in the middle of reading it right now. I like how the final book seems to tie so many other events from the first two books. The second one - Count Zero- felt very much like it's own thing, with the connections to Neuromancer only becoming clear late into the book.
With Mona Lisa Overdrive, it's an "obvious" sequel right away, I feel.
 

xist

Healing...
Nov 14, 2018
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I have just finished Zachary Mason's Void Star. Going in I really thought I'd enjoy it, with it's mix of characters, world building and technology...but I just could grasp it...nothing grabbed me, and I just kept wishing it would end. I never really became that interested in the plot, never felt any real sense of jeopardy and none of the characters were particularly endearing to me. I actually felt fatigued reading it!

Now I'm done I'm wondering where to go to next....
 
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Panda Pedinte

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All my latest books were from science fiction or fantasy genre, so I decided to change this time and bought a book about Brazilian story. What makes this book different from other story books is that the author uses memories written by people who lived during these years to paint a picture of how the society worked back then.

I started with the third volume of the series, and that is focused between the years 1889 and 1950 taking part during the Primeira República (First Republic) and the Era Vargas (New State) who was basically a dictatorship in the end.
 
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Gevin

Watch Madoka
Nov 16, 2018
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Currently reading the third book on the Broken Earth trilogy



Amazing books and the trilogy is great so far, I think they will be in my top 5 ever if it keeps on the same level til the end.

If you are SFF fans you may know this trilogy grabbed the Hugo and Nebula for the past 3 editions, if you are wondering whether it's deserved, I think they are worthy indeed.
 

dummmyy

Dumb fool
Nov 14, 2018
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I've been stuck on DON QUIXOTE for better part of 2018, and that's all I've been reading, unfortunately.
 
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Madventure

The Angel of Deaf
Nov 17, 2018
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I just started reading Chronicles of the Black Company Chronicles of the Black Company by Glen Cook so I can't comment much on whether it's really good or not but I like it so far and if I do end up liking it I know it has a lot more books in the total series so I've got that going for me which is a plus.

I got done reading at least up to the same point as the TV series on netflix The Last Kingdom (The Saxon Stories, #1) by Bernard Cornwell
So up to book four in that (But the author has written 8? books now with one having just came out) the show speeds through things so much faster and kind of glosses over so much that it's like waait no! You guys are missing out on so much detail!

But The Last Kingdom is basically following the story of Uhtred trying to reclaim his fathers lands and all the awesome stuff happening while he's trying to make that happen
 
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Pranooy

Pranooy

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Sep 8, 2018
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I've been insanely busy this couple of months. So sorry fellas for not maintaining this thread. hehe.

Anyways i finished First Law Trilogy. And holy shit, it was insanely good. I would count it among my top 3 fantasy series. Since i read only Fantasy, top 3 book series of all time. Highly Highly recommend First Law Trilogy.

I started a bunch of other books too.
All three of em are insanely good. And yes i know reading a ton in parallel isn't good, but i can't help it.





Currently reading the third book on the Broken Earth trilogy



Amazing books and the trilogy is great so far, I think they will be in my top 5 ever if it keeps on the same level til the end.

If you are SFF fans you may know this trilogy grabbed the Hugo and Nebula for the past 3 editions, if you are wondering whether it's deserved, I think they are worthy indeed.
I really like the cover of the books from the series.
I wanted to get into this series too. But when i was about to and asked a friend who read it, she seemed extremely unimpressed that she left a 1/5 score on goodreads. The overall reviews seems to be on the higher side tho, So i will get to it when i find some time. hehe.


I just started reading Chronicles of the Black Company Chronicles of the Black Company by Glen Cook so I can't comment much on whether it's really good or not but I like it so far and if I do end up liking it I know it has a lot more books in the total series so I've got that going for me which is a plus.

I got done reading at least up to the same point as the TV series on netflix The Last Kingdom (The Saxon Stories, #1) by Bernard Cornwell
So up to book four in that (But the author has written 8? books now with one having just came out) the show speeds through things so much faster and kind of glosses over so much that it's like waait no! You guys are missing out on so much detail!

But The Last Kingdom is basically following the story of Uhtred trying to reclaim his fathers lands and all the awesome stuff happening while he's trying to make that happen
I was looking into some Grim-dark fantasy series after First Law. Many recommended Broken Empire and Chronicles of the Black Company to me. So i'm planning to start both of those when i find some time. Do let me know your impressions once you read more.
 
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Accoun

MetaMember
Dec 9, 2018
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Since Stan Lee's passing, I've been reading Steve Howe's "Marvel Comics: The Untold Story".
I'm actually not a big comics guy, but I've got this book a year or two ago and never finished it, so I thought I might as well try again now. Fun read, but I'm kinda getting lost among all the people that worked there. Might just be me, tho - doubly so since I'm an outsider.
 
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Madventure

The Angel of Deaf
Nov 17, 2018
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I've been insanely busy this couple of months. So sorry fellas for not maintaining this thread. hehe.

Anyways i finished First Law Trilogy. And holy shit, it was insanely good. I would count it among my top 3 fantasy series. Since i read only Fantasy, top 3 book series of all time. Highly Highly recommend First Law Trilogy.

I started a bunch of other books too.
All three of em are insanely good. And yes i know reading a ton in parallel isn't good, but i can't help it.




Post automatically merged:



I really like the cover of the books from the series.
I wanted to get into this series too. But when i was about to and asked a friend who read it, she seemed extremely unimpressed that she left a 1/5 score on goodreads. The overall reviews seems to be on the higher side tho, So i will get to it when i find some time. hehe.
Post automatically merged:


I was looking into some Grim-dark fantasy series after First Law. Many recommended Broken Empire and Chronicles of the Black Company to me. So i'm planning to start both of those when i find some time. Do let me know your impressions once you read more.

I wish I could really give you an update with the Chronicles of the Black Company beyond "I like it so far!" but I haven't had a real chance to sit down and read as much as I like, so I know that isn't really all that helpful.

I'm a super picky reader so that has to count for something? Right?... right...?

I hated reading and always thought of it as a boring chore until I was teenager and then I found an author things just sort of clicked into place and just started devouring books. It definitely fits the bill for that but I just don't have a lot of time because of so many other obligations with things.

I feel like...


will how things end up being
 
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Adnor

Tetris Hell
Dec 11, 2018
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I'm in the process of re-reading The Witcher series, but it's taking longer than expected.

I'm just too goddamn lazy, I oreordered the digital version of Oathbringer but still haven't started it.
 
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Wibblewozzer

Robot on the inside
Dec 6, 2018
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I've been insanely busy this couple of months. So sorry fellas for not maintaining this thread. hehe.

Anyways i finished First Law Trilogy. And holy shit, it was insanely good. I would count it among my top 3 fantasy series. Since i read only Fantasy, top 3 book series of all time. Highly Highly recommend First Law Trilogy.
What are your other favorite fantasy series? I liked The First Law Trilogy so I'd be curious for other recommendations.

I'm sort of rereading The Wheel of Time series for the ???? time. Depending on the book this is my 2nd-6th time with the books after the fifth or sixth where it starts declining. I'm currently on book four, The Shadow Rising. The reason I'm sort of rereading is that I bought all of them digitally back in May, stopped after a couple books, got into the audio books for a book+ while playing the recent WoW expansion, and finally returned to early in the fourth book during some of my work travels I did last week. It's gotten me interested to start getting further again.

For fantasy readers I do suggest checking out Robin Hobb's set of trilogies (and singular quadrology?) that are all set in the same universe and tie together in fun ways. It can be a bit jarring when starting a new trilogy when it begins with all new setting and characters but inevitably you'll begin to warm up and care about that story and then suddenly it'll start making bigger connections with the prior stories and you'll be fully wrapped into it at that point.

I should probably start something new because the reason I'm not actively reading a bunch is because all I'm going through is The Wheel of Time books and with being very familiar with the events of the first nine or so books it can be tough to get excited to read through some chapters.
 
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Rockin' Ranger

Rangers With Candy
Nov 7, 2018
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For fantasy readers I do suggest checking out Robin Hobb's set of trilogies (and singular quadrology?) that are all set in the same universe and tie together in fun ways. It can be a bit jarring when starting a new trilogy when it begins with all new setting and characters but inevitably you'll begin to warm up and care about that story and then suddenly it'll start making bigger connections with the prior stories and you'll be fully wrapped into it at that point.
My book club just finished the Farseer trilogy which I absolutely loved and I then picked up Ship of Magic to slowly read as I mainly focus on other books.

We're now on Leviathan Wakes which I'm not really big on so far. The book hadn't grabbed me and then took a turn that caused me to lose interest. It is a fast read though, especially coming off of reading Robin Hobb.

I also picked up The Last Full Measure: The Life and Death of the First Minnesota Volunteers that I intend to start soon, a non fiction book about First Minnesota Volunteers that fought in the Civil War.
 
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Stevey

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I'm slowly making my way through the Horus Heresy Series, which is fantastic so far.



Nearly finished Fulgrim, then it'll be on to Descent Of Angels.

Also, Visions of Heresy arrived today which is a sort of art/lore book to go with the series.

 
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Rockin' Ranger

Rangers With Candy
Nov 7, 2018
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Finished Leviathan Wakes last night, not really my thing. I thought it was just okay up until the first half of it before it lost me.
The book went from being pretty solid sci-fi to fantasy the moment the zombies showed up and it didn't work well for me, plus Miller and his Julie obsession became really tiring for me.

Next up my book club chose The Blade Itself which was pretty convenient since I planning to read it and had actually bought it already a couple months ago. Happy to go with that even though my pick had been Circe which I will get to at some point.
 
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Gevin

Watch Madoka
Nov 16, 2018
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Finished Leviathan Wakes last night, not really my thing. I thought it was just okay up until the first half of it before it lost me.
The book went from being pretty solid sci-fi to fantasy the moment the zombies showed up and it didn't work well for me, plus Miller and his Julie obsession became really tiring for me.

Next up my book club chose The Blade Itself which was pretty convenient since I planning to read it and had actually bought it already a couple months ago. Happy to go with that even though my pick had been Circe which I will get to at some point.
First Law is amazing, enjoy!
 
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Pranooy

Pranooy

¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Sep 8, 2018
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First Law is amazing, enjoy!
I second this. Everyone should read First Law. ( I recommend the audiobook since Steven Pacey is so damn good narrating the First law books)
I am going through the standalone books of First Law. Almost near the end of Best Served Cold.

What are your other favorite fantasy series? I liked The First Law Trilogy so I'd be curious for other recommendations.
I recommend Lightbringer series. It takes almost 100 pages before u properly understand the magic system in Black Prism, but it is sooooo damn good.
 
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Wibblewozzer

Robot on the inside
Dec 6, 2018
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I recommend Lightbringer series. It takes almost 100 pages before u properly understand the magic system in Black Prism, but it is sooooo damn good.
Alright, bought the first book since it was on sale on Kindle. I'll try to get to it fairly soon. I finished my latest mobile game so I need something new for the train and reading (and crosswords) were my thought. Now that I bought this I'll jump in soon.
 
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