December 2017: Reading thread

[Teresa Edgerton]

Has anyone here read John Masefield's The Box of Delights? Comments? I've only read a few pages so far.

Yes, several times. I only discovered it as an adult, and in what appears to be an abridged edition, because there are places where things don't quite make sense, like something has been left out. I loved it anyway. One really gets a sense of the season, and of mysterious things abroad during it. (I believe there is an unabridged edition available through Amazon, which I keep meaning to buy.)

 

[HareBrain]

There was a pretty good BBC production of it a few years (decades probably)

I keep meaning to buy this on DVD for a Christmas viewing.

Of additional SFF interest, Patrick Troughton plays a major role.

 

[hitmouse]

Make some allowances for the fact that this was BBC in 1984. Still very good.

 

[The Big Peat]

Quick re-read of The Hogfather. Now back to toying with the TBR list.

 

[vanye]

December finally saw me read some fiction, again.

Started off with We are Legion (We are Bob), the first book of the Bobiverse trilogy by Dennis E. Taylor and liked it a lot. Cool idea, all the chuckles nerdy references can bring and well written. I ordered the other two, For We are Many and All these Worlds - and while waiting for them to arrive, dove into some fantasy as a change of pace.

So next was Luke Skull's The Grim Company. Again, the first in a series of three. It goes for that absurd dark and gritty humour, like so many other recent fantasy I've read. I'm unsure if I like it as a trend, though. Reckon I like me some more hope in the books I read. But this one is still a good read, so ordered the next two of these, as well (The Sword of the North and Dead Man's Steel).

By then, the two Bobiverse books had arrived, so they were next. They both lived up to the promise of the first book.

Then I picked one off my TBR-shelf, Havoc, the second book of the Dred Chronicles by Ann Aguirre. If you liked the first, you will like the second. SF prison break story with lots of action and a little too much romance for my personal taste. But that's probably just me being me.

Then it was back to Fantasy, again: Scourge the Betrayer, by Jeff Salyards. Found this a very engaging take on grim and dark and to make a writer the central POW character is an interesting twist. Already have the second one, Veil of the Deserters.

Then some more fantasy, You Die When You Die, by Angus Watson. It took me a few chapters to get into it, but it turned out that perseverance paid. This is a work in progress (the second one is not yet available), but I am glad I took the plunge.

Right now I am reading the second of The Grim Company (The Sword of the North) and am almost through but decided to start re-reading the early Bolitho books by Alexander Kent, too. It's been decades since I read them last and I was in the mood for it.

 

[TitaniumTi]

I’ve enjoyed more science fiction/fantasy novels this month than I have for a long time.

Dawn of Wonder by Jonathan Renshaw was a straight-forward but imaginative epic fantasy, focused on one protagonist and his character arc. It had an underlying religious theme, but one which I (an atheist) did not find oppressive. The pace was probably too leisurely for some readers, but I loved the world-building.

I finally listened to the audiobooks of the Bobiverse series, and wondered why I’d waited so long. Dennis E Taylor has done a brilliant job of endowing his disembodied protagonists with as much charm and personality as any flesh-and-blood character. The narrator has done a superb job of giving the protagonist(s) an

I’ve read several of Honor Raconteur’s young adult fantasies - most of which are free on Kindle Unlimited. The protagonists are likeable - albeit somewhat “Mary Sue/ Marty Stu” - and their worlds and adventures are diverse enough to keep my attention. The novels are not great literature (nor intended to be, I think), but easy holiday reading.

I’m 88% of the way through S.A. Chakeborty’s novel, The City of Brass, and it’s still surprising me. The story is a complex as the magical city in which it’s set, with intertwined conflicts and shifting alliances. I’d definitely recommend it to readers who are tired of medieval fantasies. It’s a book that may well become a classic.

 

[tobl]

[QUOTE="TitaniumTi, post: 2210204, member: 3591

I’ve read several of Honor Raconteur’s young adult fantasies - most of which are free on Kindle Unlimited. The protagonists are likeable - albeit somewhat “Mary Sue/ Marty Stu” - and their worlds and adventures are diverse enough to keep my attention. The novels are not great literature (nor intended to be, I think), but easy holiday reading.[/QUOTE]
i found the mage series quite entertaining