Thanks Pillow
Books Fantasy Reads
- Thread starter Alock1
- Start date
Echo those but would also recommend the bounty hunter trilogy which has a fantastic rivalry between Boba Fett and Bossk running through it.
The short story books tales from the mos eisley cantina and tales from jabba's Palace are very good and I'd recommend the latter before reading the bounty hunter trilogy.
Still decent, but not top tier was the Jedi academy series which follows on from the thrawn trilogy.
Shadows of the empire was okay and set between empire strikes back and R o t Jedi movies
Avoid at all costs the crystal star and the corellion trilogy. Probably I Jedi too.
Going on holiday next week and taking the original Thrawn trilogy with me. Not read them since they came out so will enjoy those again.
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Dude you're doxxing yourself
Sounds bad. Link removed.
Ok, 6 months later have finished A Practical Guide to Evil. It's superb go read it and sacrifice many, many, many hours of your life.
am i the only one that got really amused by how much thinking Cat did before responding in conversations? Like the rest of the Woe got used to her going dead still for like minutes at a time before suddenly coming back to reality?
She could never quite master the Secret of Scathing Retorts
Btw did you read the extra chapters as well?
I've not, just the epilogues, are the extras worthwhile? I feel like I need a break!She could never quite master the Secret of Scathing Retorts
Btw did you read the extra chapters as well?
Yeah definitely. Round out the backstories of so many characters and some behind the scenes stuff early on
Just finished Books 1-6 of John Bierce's Mage Errant progression fantasy series, right after finishing the first 4 books of Andrew Rowe's Arcane Ascension progression fantasy series. I enjoyed both series, Mage Errant a lot more than Arcane Ascension. But both are still below Will Wight's Cradle. Indeed Cradle is far and away the most simple to follow and most exciting action fantasy series I've read so far. On to two completed web serials: A Practical Guide to Evil by David Verberg (Erratic Errata), and Mother of Learning by Domagog Kurmaic (Nobody103).
After seeing it receive so much praise, both on here and elsewhere, I started reading Cradle earlier this week. I'm 16% into book 2 and I can't say I'm impressed so far. It's slow, plodding and it's given me very little reason to care about its protagonist, so it's safe to say I'm confused by all the praise. Honestly, if I hadn't read the excellent Traveler's Gate by the same author, I'd have given up on this and never looked back.
So I guess it's either going to improve drastically soon or this just isn't for me and I'll have to revise my opinion on Will Wight's style. If it's the former, I can only say this really isn't a good start to the series. At the moment I just can't see myself enjoying this as much as I did Traveler's Gate, or getting as invested in Lindon's story as I was in Simon's. I'll give it to the end of this book.
So I guess it's either going to improve drastically soon or this just isn't for me and I'll have to revise my opinion on Will Wight's style. If it's the former, I can only say this really isn't a good start to the series. At the moment I just can't see myself enjoying this as much as I did Traveler's Gate, or getting as invested in Lindon's story as I was in Simon's. I'll give it to the end of this book.
Yeesssss. Make sure to read the extra chapters too! They're awesome!
Cradle is a comfort read. It's doesn't challenge you with edge of seat plot of morally interesting character choices, but something that just keeps you happy. It does get better from Blackflame and keeps getting better.
Mage Errant is cool stuff. Loved it.
Arcane Ascension book 1 was superb, book 2 was nice but I've cooled off on book 3. Still have high hopes for it. If you haven't read read How to Defeat a Demon King in Ten Easy Steps by same author. It's a standalone novella and brilliant!
I've read Mother of Learning and wasn't really impressed. It might have been great as a web serial, but the eBook version was really not to my liking.
I'd recommend Desolate Era by I Eat Tomatoes. It's available for free online and it's a translation. So get ready for bad prose, worse dialogues and awful names. But....get past it and it's just f*in brilliant! One of my favorite reads at par with Cradle. Easy story, overpowered MC and some epic progression.
Recently finished Hyperion.
Need a little rest before tackling the 2nd one - it was excellent though.
Need a little rest before tackling the 2nd one - it was excellent though.
such an emotional book, some of those short stories were like sledgehammers.
The same author wrote Coiling Dragon, which I've heard a lot more of. I am intending to read more of the translated chinese wuxia/xianxia serials, including Coiling Dragon, after I finish Mother of Learning and A Practical Guide to Evil. Would you place Desolate Era ahead of Coiling Dragon?
It did get a little better in the final third of book 2, just about enough for me to continue with book 3. Still can't shake the feeling the first two books as a whole were a bit dull, though. I can only hope that's most of the groundwork out of the way now and the narrative starts to pick up.
No. Read Coiling Dragon first. It's a shorter series (8 books only
) and is a faster crisper read. Also let's you get used to the prose and dialogue before diving into DE. Desolate Era is far longer (40 books are something) and kicks off only at book 3 and onwards. The payoff at the end is far greater than Coiling Dragon, but read this after.
Thanks, will do.
Just finished the War for the Rose Throne series.
Quite liked it, verging toward grimdark and a bit like the Peaky Blinders meets medieval.
solid 7/10.
Any suggestions for the next audiobook/Series?
Quite liked it, verging toward grimdark and a bit like the Peaky Blinders meets medieval.
solid 7/10.
Any suggestions for the next audiobook/Series?
1. Manifest Delusions by Michael R Fletcher
2. The Pariah by Anthony Ryan
If you are looking for something unique if recommend
Maleficent Seven by Cameron Johnston (standalone)
The Grey Bastards by Jonathan French (this is Sons of Anarchy like but with Orcs riding Wild Hogs).
Both are very good reads. Maleficent Seven is a personal favorite of mine.
Books 1 and 2 is Lindon taking baby steps from a virtually helpless Unsouled (without any magic power) to someone training on a path to real power in Book 3 (Blackfame). The pace in the first 3 books is necessarily slow to make his training and power gain more believable. The full team only gets together in Book 4 (Skysworn), and the action and power gain only accelerate (believably) as the books progress.
Also, you might note that the Travelers Gate series is only 3 books, so Simon's training and the action sequences in the book needed to be speeded up from the beginning. Cradle is 12 books, much broader in scale, and has a much more developed magic system than Travelers Gate, so it needed a much firmer foundation in order to progress believably. Cradle is not universally praised for nothing.
I get that, but it doesn't help make the first books less tedious. Even two thirds into book 3, it still feels like I'm reading a training montage without any plot. I'm only continuing because I'm hoping the payoff in the next books is worth it.
I'll admit it is very readable though. I've blasted through most of the first 3 books in about a week now. Despite my criticism, it's an easy read and hard to put down mostly because I want to see what comes after all this training.
I had a similar experience as @Ainu with Cradle, but it just didn't interest me enough to power through book 2
I listened to them all which I guess is even easier in terms of having it on in the background, whilst driving etc.
It does ramp up every book basically but it is so so simple. I raced through the series in a week or two.
It does ramp up every book basically but it is so so simple. I raced through the series in a week or two.
Cheers will check out them all!
Started A Practical Guide to Evil. Still at chapter 10, but it's got me hooked.
Ahaha that's barely the intro. Wait another 10 chapters and it starts getting real good
That's my next read after Mother of Learning (3 quarters through that). Looking forward to Practical Guide
I'm curious ... are you still racing through it or have you abandoned it?
I'm on book 5 now, so I haven't abandoned it, but I still don't love it either. None of the books have been more than 3 stars for me and it's looking like this one won't be either, but all of them have been just about entertaining enough to keep me going.
My biggest problem with this series remains the absence of any real plot and character development in the traditional sense. Sure, there's a lot of moment-to-moment action that's described in great detail and the characters are, in an almost video game like manner, "improving", but even five books into it, that's literally all there is to it. It doesn't feel like there's much purpose or direction behind it all.
I'm going to keep at it because it's comfortable reading and I'm too lazy to start looking for anything else to read. Will I have fond memories of this series once I'm done with it? Probably not, but if it keeps me mildly entertained during my time spent with it, that's okay.
No release date yet, but cover is out!
Just to recap:
Lindon, who is not even allowed by his tribe to learn magic because he is "unsouled" is revived from death by a celestial being (Suriel) who gave him two choices: to live a normal life and die in about 2 decades during the destruction of his entire valley and everyone in it by a Dreadgod; or, undertake a near-impossible task to seek the power that would allow him to save his valley when the Dreadgod shows up. Lindon chose the 2nd option, and Suriel shows him some of the beings in the world who have the kind of power that would be required to save his valley. So Lindon's entire being is focused on gaining sufficient power to face a Dreadgod, and every minute of his life is dedicated to that purpose. The battle to save his valley from the Dreadgod takes place late in Book 9, and all the prior books show Lindon's progression from an "unsouled" to having the power to save his valley. Does he succeed? Books 10-12 raise the stakes infinitely higher!
Finished Mother of Learning. Superb.
Binged my way into book 3 now and it's been brilliant. It reads like a grimdark book, but the tone and humor makes it feel otherwise. Captivating!
Just finished Book 1, and I have some issues.
I found the early chapters a bit difficult to believe... Catherine's excessive mouthiness under circumstances where any normal person (much less a 15-year old girl who has just been saved from certain death) should be quaking in terror. It took me a while to stop rolling my eyes at her near-insolence towards the universally feared legendary Lord Black. That aside, the story shows a lot of promise. Early yet, but for now I'll rank it behind Cradle and Mother of Learning among my recent reads. On to Book 2!
Agree on that, though a brief explanation on how she conquered her own fear was provided. It's like none of them fear death.
But that light tone in a grim setting is just against every book I read and I'm enjoying it's freshness.
But that light tone in a grim setting is just against every book I read and I'm enjoying it's freshness.
I didn't rate Mother of Learning at all. There were so many events that happen all through that have no impact on the ending. As a serial every birth can be a separate arc, but as a book the lack of continuity had me down.
interesting. I like MoL for precisely the opposite reason! I'm reasonably sure every single skill he learned in the time loop to become the most advanced (human) mind mage on the planet was utilized to effect the desired ending (i.e, Zorian, Zach, and their loved ones alive, and all retained or are set to regain the powers they acquired in the time loop)! I'm curious what events you thought had no impact on the ending.[/Spoiler}