What are you currently reading?

[isos81]

I'm just starting Deadhouse Gates. Took some getting used to coming back into the Malazan world once again, but now I think I'm going to enjoy this one as well. 

One of the best along with Memories of Ice. Enjoy.

[Bender]

The Lost War (Eidyn #1) by Justin Lee Anderson

Picked this from this years SPFBO as it seems to get high ratings. Finished this. A plot made solely of eye roll moments and belief stretching mechanics.

3/10

[cupiscent]

A plot made solely of eye roll moments and belief stretching mechanics.

Thanks, @Bender, that was literally coffee out my nose from snorting laughter.

[Peat]

Picked this from this years SPFBO as it seems to get high ratings. Finished this. A plot made solely of eye roll moments and belief stretching mechanics.

3/10

Cold 

[Bender]

Well, here's the full goodreads review, if anyone is interested..


The author has tried to pack multiple movie elements into same book, zombies, alien like creatures bursting from cocoons, time alteration, memory alteration, demons and what not which was quite new. The themes work well in the story, but I'm not sure the plot is strong enough to weave them together.

Overall, decent attempt...but there are just far too many plot mechanics that stretch believe to outright eye roll moments for me to take this book seriously.

We start off with the protagonist getting team for a quest to solve a mystery. On their travels, they come across adventures with pretty good climax. The writing is a bit simplistic and lacks the oomph for the action scenes. The hints are very high handed from initial few pages and get to an obvious suspect..except the protagonist refuses to consider that possibility. Get a "memory rewrite" pass, but then it doesn't mean logical thinking is also banned!

The characters too are a bit one dimensional and lack charisma to make an impression. They have behavioural inconsistencies which are jarring. It's the author forgot that memory alteration doesn't change personalities. Rewriting a memory of a warrior to make him think he's a monk stretches the imagination a bit. It's not just memories but a whole personality override, which really is a bad plotline.

The magic isn't really impressive. We have different types of magic which are invoked by words, but not much explanation past that on how they work. They can summon demons, change a person to a zombie etc and readers just have to take it at face value.

There's also a time magic which can make a person replay same battle multiple times till they win...really not sure how that works in larger context. What if someone was watching from distance? Reversing time on a specific arm injury without affecting rest of arm/person is another huge eye-roll moment. I mean, come on....creative liberty in magic only extends so far.

I just feel the author ha stacked too many themes on top of each other and rather than striking a balance, it just comes across a sludge of hot pot.

[isos81]

Finished A Canticle for Leibowitz (almost loved it), starting Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu

[xiagan]

starting Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu

Bought it recently, curious what you think.

[Rostum]

I have avoided The Three body problem as it was described to me as perfect. I am likely to be disappointed but only a little.

[Alex Hormann]

Finished A Canticle for Leibowitz (almost loved it), starting Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu

Three Body Problem is amazing and mind-blowing stuff. What language are you reading it in?

[Bender]

Three Body Problem is just unique. It took me quite some time to get that book through not just the scientific terms, but the context and application too.

I liked the book, but haven't really been able to pick up book 2. Have gotten loads of abuse from my brother who just loves the trilogy.

[cupiscent]

In a response that's very on-brand for me, I found the real-world cultural and historical stuff of Three Body Problem fascinating, and the hard science theorising very tedious. It reminded me a lot of big chewy philosophical cyberpunk (like Gibson and Stephenson), but from a non-Western angle, which was part of the interest.

[Bender]

Really good read. If you like a book from a non-good person pov, this is definitely recommended.


Black Stone Heart (The Obsidian Path #1)
- Michael R. Fletcher

Overall: +7/10

Picked this from 2020 SPFBO and it was a very interesting read. Overall I have no regrets on reading this, except for a vague sense of unfulfillment once done as I expected a lot more which never happened.

Writing/plot/Pace: +7

The author has a simplistic yet very immersive style of writing. Not much of flowery prose, but simple, straightforward and yet very influential. The book isn't short of violence, but the prose gives it a kinda memoirs vibe (fits with the plot) with none of the gore associated with the events. The book grasps you from the first word and really flows well all through the end. Very evenly paced (too even as I'd have liked some fast paced action scenes) and never becomes a drag.

The world building is introduced nicely and we get to uncover the background along with the protagonist. What I felt let down was that the climax didn't really have the oomph or significance the book needed. It just felt it ended after a chapter that next book will continue. Lack of epic climax kinda brings the score down.

I don't really like first person PoV, but it really works in here. Well done, Mike!

Characters: +7

We are set with a interesting protagonist, a very anti-hero/villain'esque character with very conflicting personalities on who he was, who he is and who he wants to be. The overlapping personalities have been dealt with very nicely and it makes for one of the more intriguing characters I've read recently. The split of personalities between bad, naïve and good only adds to the interesting mix.

We have 2 supporting characters, who have been portrayed nicely but haven't realized their potential...hopefully in next book.

[Bender]

Continuing my SPFBO trend ...



The Combat Codes
- Alexander Darwin

Overall a nice read which has a lot of potential, but nothing really stands out in book 1. Interesting and intriguing enough to make me get book 2 though. Hope the oomph factor gets amped up more.

What I liked:
+ World building. It's a novel world with old gladiator style combat's combined with steroids, technologies and modern styles mass media viewing of the fights.
+ Prose: It's easily readable prose that flows smoothly and quite immersive. It maintains a smooth tone all through, which works well mostly but in key situations lacks to bring forth the emotive content.

What was ok:
+ Characters: Well written but nobody really stood out. They have personality but just feel generic (as in we've read such characterization before in other books)

+ Plot: Felt like a setting of stage book and didn't really develop the plot much. I expected the training segments to be more prominent but sadly it didn't stand out.

[DrNefario]

I don't think I'm going to be reading so many SPFBO books this year, since I understand Amazon have quietly dropped the Kindle Owners' Lending Library, and that was both my main source of self-published books and my main driver for actually reading them. I've been resting my Prime membership for a few months, and the loss of the KOLL is another reason I'm not rushing to rejoin.

Anyway, I pushed through the rest of A Stranger in Olondria yesterday. It was well-written but strangely slippery, and I struggled to get into it. In the end I decided I needed to brute force it, or I'd keep reading 10 pages and drifting off for weeks.

Now I'm reading a quick children's book before I get back to Crown of Stars.

[J.R. Darewood]

Picked this from this years SPFBO as it seems to get high ratings. Finished this. A plot made solely of eye roll moments and belief stretching mechanics.

3/10

Cold 

Haha maybe I'm a terrible person, but when I read reviews like this I feel encouraged and think "Well at least my writing isn't that bad!"