Miscellaneous Musings about Books

[J.R. Darewood]

Yes I did buy it!  I pretty much had to.  It's sitting on my shelf right now!
(I got Cam's book and a series of essays by Joseph Campbell--no they're NOT about the hero's journey!)

I'm not in LA so it's good that i've got it here in my cabin!

[CameronJohnston]

That is just super-cool
My books love cabins and real fires. And Whisky.

[Peat]

That is just super-cool
My books love cabins and real fires. And Whisky.

There's impressive, not many paper objects that love fires out there

[Alex Hormann]

I realised today I haven't read any debut fantasy book from this year, and barely any from last year either. There's only a few series/authors I'm keeping up with, and most of those will finish within the next year too. 

[xiagan]

There's only a few series/authors I'm keeping up with, and most of those will finish within the next year too. 

The trick is to add ASOIAF and Kingkiller Chronicles to that list. That way you're never out of series you haven't finished yet.

[ScarletBea]

I realised today I haven't read any debut fantasy book from this year, and barely any from last year either.

This intrigued me, and I went to check my list - since this year I've mostly been reading Malazan.

I only read 5 books published in 19/20 as well, and only one is in a series...
I actually have a few more at home still unread - and one of them I will have to read as the others come out, to check if I should buy them or not (Sam Hawke's City of lies).

[Alex Hormann]

I realised today I haven't read any debut fantasy book from this year, and barely any from last year either.

This intrigued me, and I went to check my list - since this year I've mostly been reading Malazan.

I only read 5 books published in 19/20 as well, and only one is in a series...
I actually have a few more at home still unread - and one of them I will have to read as the others come out, to check if I should buy them or not (Sam Hawke's City of lies).

I didn't enjoy City of Lies much.A lot like Robin Hobb, though, so you might enjoy it more.

[cupiscent]

I think I've read a lot more new releases this year than usual because access to libraries has been trickier. My stand-out 2020-release recs so far would be AK Larkwood's The Unspoken Name and Melissa Caruso's The Obsidian Tower (which is the first in a new series that loosely follows on from her first, but I think probably stands ok without having read the first trilogy). I've also really enjoyed Cate Glass's first two books - An Illusion of Thieves and A Conjuring of Assassins - which came out last year and this year. Very Italian-city-state magical-heist character-driven stuff.

I already have 13 books on my to-read list coming out next year, oh gosh...

[J.R. Darewood]

I've also really enjoyed Cate Glass's first two books - An Illusion of Thieves and A Conjuring of Assassins - which came out last year and this year. Very Italian-city-state magical-heist character-driven stuff.

I already have 13 books on my to-read list coming out next year, oh gosh...

Ohh those sound good! How do they compare to Locke Lamorra?

[cupiscent]

I've also really enjoyed Cate Glass's first two books - An Illusion of Thieves and A Conjuring of Assassins - which came out last year and this year. Very Italian-city-state magical-heist character-driven stuff.

I already have 13 books on my to-read list coming out next year, oh gosh...

Ohh those sound good! How do they compare to Locke Lamorra?

Hmm, not at all the same kettle of fish. Glass's books are much less rip-roaring wise-cracking wild adventure, and much more a quiet heist of paper and politics and hidden, heretic magic. Our main character was the mistress of the Prince - who is very much a Prince that Machiavelli would be proud of, in both methods and intentions - and the first book is as much about her reconciling her life as using her long-quashed powers to continue protecting him and the city.

[DrNefario]

Cate Glass is Carol Berg, so I'm not sure how much they should count as debuts.

I'm not normally very up-to-date, but I have read Andrew Hunter Murray's slightly disappointing debut which is a 2020 book, although it's SF rather than fantasy.

[Alex Hormann]

I'm not normally very up-to-date, but I have read Andrew Hunter Murray's slightly disappointing debut which is a 2020 book, although it's SF rather than fantasy.

I really enjoyed this one. I've managed to stay up-to-date with SF this year and have found some real treasures (and a few disappointments), but Fantasy I've definitely fallen behind on. looking at my records, I see that less than 20% of what I've read has been Fantasy, and that's almost entirely keeping up with existing series.

[cupiscent]

Cate Glass is Carol Berg, so I'm not sure how much they should count as debuts.

That makes so much sense - they're highly competent work and I can see how Berg might want to try "breaking out" again. Though I thought we were looking more for "new series" than new author so debut or no is a less pressing issue. (The Caruso I recced also isn't a debut.)

[cupiscent]

I didn't know where to put this so I decided to put it here...

There is going to be another Goblin Emperor book! It's called The Witness for the Dead and it's not listed as a sequel so much as "in the world of the Goblin Emperor" but I am very, very excited.

[eclipse]

I didn't know where to put this so I decided to put it here...

There is going to be another Goblin Emperor book! It's called The Witness for the Dead and it's not listed as a sequel so much as "in the world of the Goblin Emperor" but I am very, very excited.

Goes to goodread  only to find I’ve already added it on the 21st March 2020 haha