Where are you in Fantasyland? June 2019

Getting the new thread started. I'm still reading Empire of Grass by Tad Williams. I'm injoying it so far.

I'm in the fictitious (I think) town of Caldwell, New York (I'm pretty sure it is New York) with the Black Dagger Brotherhood in The Savior by J.R. Ward.

The Kingdom of Cello, in A Corner of White. Some lovely imagery and language drew me in, but I'm getting a bit restless with the exposition. I'm almost half way through and there hasn't been much action.

I am starting A Shadow in Summer. Should be interesting.

>3 2wonderY: I didn't like that one nearly as much as Moriarty's Ashbury High series (touchstone goes to the last and weakest volume, annoyingly). I'll be interested to see if you think it improves.

I'm still in Foundryside. It's an interesting place but so far I prefer the City of stairs trilogy.

I'm in the middle of some very strange experiences in Tim Clare's The Honours. Unlike the LibraryThing reviewer I'm enjoying it tremendously. (It is on LT but you'll need to search for it - the touchstone points to the wrong work.)

The Honours

>6 Zambaco: When it's not the first on the list, just click "others" and choose the correct entry.

>7 2wonderY: Thanks - noted for the future.

I'm on Arrakis, also known as Dune.

Adding A Brightness Long Ago by Guy Gavriel Kay to my reading rotation.

I finally bit the bullet & read the first Malazan book Gardens of the Moon. It did show its fantasy-game origins a bit too much in places, but on the whole it was quite good. I guess I'll continue (though the length even just of this volume was a bit daunting).

>11 rshart3: I have not yet been tempted by Malazan, but my boyfriend was reading them and eventually petered out at book 7 or 8. Good luck with your foray!

>11 rshart3:, I will always recommend that series. There's a lot more going on than just the action, and that becomes even more so in the final volumes, although the action is still pretty staggering. Tor.com produced a fantastic re-along series that helps guide you through every chapter of all ten books.

Currently somewhere called "The Strand" in The Stone Mage and the Sea.

About 20% into it right now, and so far it is very... "YA" in the more pejorative "not much fun for adult readers" sense. Lots of "no one will tell our hero what the hell is going on, so he spends most of the first part of the book fumbling around with no clear goal and complaining every page or two about how little he knows what's going on", combined with "our hero dealing with bullies" and "our hero goes to school so the author can quote the teacher's entire lesson as she info-dumps the geo-political landscape of the world". I'm pretty ready for this stage of the story to be done and the inevitable crisis event that sets him on adventures to kick in.

Finished A Brightness Long Ago by Guy Gavriel Kay. Enjoyed it very muchly.

I heavily suggested my book club join me in Four BEE (Biting the Sun), and I was gratified that everyone enjoyed it. Someone even asked afterwards to keep one of my copies to lend to a friend! It's the rare book where I can't decide if it's more scifi or fantasy.

Meanwhile I finished off No Quarter. I was surprised how much it and Fifth Quarter were really one story split into two volumes. It was beach reading fluff but enjoyable beach reading fluff. I do admit to loosing track of some of the characters along the way.

#15 Seitherin - How did it compare to Kay's other titles?

Just getting started with The Dragonbone Chair. I last tried to read this back when it was first published and couldn't get into it, and have been thinking I should really give it another shot after all this time.

>18 Niko:, Tad Williams is a notoriously slow starter, so you gotta be patient with him. He's worth it in the long run, but that may take half the first book before you believe it, lol.

Noting also, 'Memory Sorrow and Thorn' is a product of its time (1990-ish) and will require forgiveness on that score, too. His sequel trilogy he's releasing now is apparently proving much more contemporary.

>17 JannyWurts: It's on a par with his most recent books. I enjoyed this one tremendously, but I freely admit that it very much suited the mood I was in while reading it.

Adding Lent by Jo Walton to my reading rotation.

Since Brief Cases is out in paperback now, I bought it and am reading the stories I haven't already read in anthologies.

Now I'm in Germany in The October Man.

I'm on London rooftops with Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster.

I'm visiting The priory of the orange tree.

Added The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon to my rotation.

Finished Empire of Grass by Tad Williams. Very excellent middle book. Lots of things being put into play. One of the better middle books of a series I've read.

Next up is The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction September/October 2018 edited by C. C. Finlay.

>27 seitherin:, reviews of the first book didn't make me say "I've gotta go back to Osten Ard", but the second one's reviews are intriguing me.

Now it remains to be seen if he can actually finish a trilogy in just three books for a change, lol.

>28 Cecrow: His trilogies do tend toward four volumes, don't they? I have to say that I liked this "middle" book better than the first one. I just hop the "last" book flows like this one did.

Finished The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon. Really enjoyed this one as well.

Added The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett to my rotation.

Finished The Light Fantastic. Made for a very nice distraction.

I've started A Betrayal in Winter.

Finished Lent by Jo Walton. Interesting book. Not quite what I was expecting, but I did enjoy it.

I'm sailing from Linesh in the very beginning of Blood Song by Anthony Ryan.

New Thread: https://www.librarything.com/topic/308643