Where are you in Fantasyland? December, 2013

Still working on Happy Hour in Hell.

I started A soldier's duty, a book about a psychic girl who can see the future. One day she sees a future in which the whole world gets destroyed. She finds one slim path to salvation and tries to follow it and nudge events in such a way that disaster can be avoided. I'm not far in yet, but so far it looks good.

2> That does look good!

I'm on the Prairie in the 1800s following the life of the Sioux leader Red Cloud in The Heart of Everything That Is.

Then will travel to Cooperstown, New York in search of Baseball's Creation Myth.

Next will journey to Washington D.C. and sit along side JFK in the Senate.

All three books are giveaways from either Goodreads or LibraryThing, none are scifi/fantasy. If neither of the outstanding giveaway books I'm still to receive don't come by the time I finished the third book then I'll be going to "Space...the final frontier."

I'm in Lancre with Lords and Ladies. Very enjoyable so far.

Reading The Misplaced Legion by Harry Turtledove...

I've been in Cornwall waiting for Advent, a British fantasy novel reminiscent of the books of Susan Cooper, Alan Garner et al. It was a good read though not as memorable and compelling as Cooper or Garner at their best. It did suit the wintry weather here as the year draws to an end.

Starting a pair of new books: Kushiel's Dart and Daughter of Smoke and Bone.

Just starting Walk to the End of the World. And (@8) I just downloaded Laini Taylor's Kindle Single Night of Cake & Puppets. I just wish Taylor would bring back her Dreamdark series.

8: I've already mentioned loving Kushiel's dart, but I'm also curious about Daughter of smoke and bone. One of the people on my book forum was raving about it...

10: Daniel O'Malley praised Daughter of Smoke and Bone to the skies in his afterwords to The Rook, and that prompted me to pick it up after finishing O'Malley's novel. I'm about seventy pages in, and so far I'm very intrigued. Lots of Other-y goodness, both male and female.

11: I'd looked at it, but ended up choosing not to read it. It looked like it focused mainly on the romance - one review used the word "swoonworthy" in reference to the male lead.

I'm not at all a fan of those angels-and-demons thingamuhbobs, but I really do like Laini Taylor (mainly for her Dreamdark books), which is why I'm reading all of this trilogy. It's really not bad at all, and considering my opinion of angels-and-demons that's really saying a lot. I'd recommend giving it a try. You might also want to check out Lips Touch: Three Times which is more along the "fairy tale" or folklore line.

But where Taylor's concerned, I especially recommend the two Dreamdark books. JMHO :)

>10 zjakkelien:-13: I loved the first half of Daughter of S & B, but started rolling my eyes when the romance arrived. I'll be very interested to find out what kceccato thinks of it.

I'm currently with the Pantomime in Ellada.

Taking a deep breath and hopping back to the Malazan Empire with Toll the Hounds. I'll be there for a good, long while... I always enjoy these books, but they *do* tend to be slow reads for me.

#15 by @Niko> They are slow reads for me as well. I'm headed there in January.

My first bit of leisure reading in ages, I'm revisiting Lady Merin's land in When Women Were Warriors Book 1.

>15 Niko:,16, hear you loud and clear. Just finished the ninth in November.

17: Those books sound interesting, @Morigue. Can you say something more about them?

19: The books are set in a quasi-Bronze Age period. A young woman is sent to the house of the ruling Lady to be fostered and receive warrior training. Her mentor is an outsider from another tribe, which causes hardship and unconventional choices. There is intrigue, betrayal, self-discovery, love, and a healthy dose of adventure. Though this particular society is still matrilineal, most of the surrounding tribes no longer are. I really appreciated that none of the conflict was based on gender. And though there is a romance in the story, no one becomes a simpering idiot or loses their identity.

20: Hmm, I must look out for that one!

Still in alternate London for Kraken. It is a fun read if not a intensive one. I have to concentrate really good to make sure I got it all since it is written in British English.

I'm in Colchis in Medea by Kerry Greenwood.

Reading The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic and finding it mostly ok-ish so far.

Touchstone fairy: The thinking woman's guide to real magic

I'm revisiting the Four Lands for the first time in over a decade, reading The Elfstones of Shannara - I found an old bookmark in the front, which was a train ticket from 2001!

I have fond memories of this as my favourite Shannara book (I only ever read the first two trilogies; I didn't think much of the second trilogy so stopped following it after that). Rereading it now, I can see how much my tastes have changed :)

I'm various places in Dangerous Women, but at the moment, Dresden Files Chicago in "Bombshells."

Also making my way thru Dangerous Women.

Well #2, you mentioned it on another thread. And I have just ordered it at my Local, Aussie, shop.

Finished Lords and Ladies. Really enjoyed this one! It's one of those I'm already looking forward to rereading.

I'm having a hard time picking my next book. I think I may give Foreigner a try.

I'm in the Antilles with some Cold steel.

>26 imyril:, apparently there's a tv series coming: http://www.tor.com/blogs/2013/12/terry-brooks-shannara-mtv-series

I think of Terry Brooks as a YA author, someone I'd recommend to a teen right after Harry Potter.

>32 Cecrow: Yes, I can totally see Brooks working as YA (given the age I was when I connected with him - enjoying both Shannara and the first few Magic Kingdom books). Reading it now, it feels rather simplistic in tone, characterisation and structure - and the Four Lands are so very small :) You appear to be able to walk across them in a few days...

Good for them for recognising that you can't possibly televise Sword of Shannara without the whole world making fun of you and your LOTR clone.

Now I'm in London in Long Live the Queen.

I'm leaving the Westland in the Four Lands and heading over to the Eastland with Wishsong of Shannara.

I have to admit, Elfstones has had me gritting my teeth more than expected - it feels very old-school now, and as commented earlier, definitely YA. The bit that has really done me in though is the (probably unintentional, and indicative of the time of writing) sexism.

I suspect Brooks thought he was being really awesome by having 2 leading females (Amberle and Eretria), and making a woman (Amberle) key to saving the world. The bit where he did these things and still managed to remove the women's agency, fail the Bechtel test, create 2 hideously stereotyped female tier 2 villains (Mallenroh and Morag), and make it feel like women get to fall in love and sacrifice whilst being held up by blokes is far less palatable now than it was when I first read it cough mumble about 25 years ago ahem.

I sort of like that Wil Ohmsford isn't a particularly manly man (in fact, I recall this being true for all the Ohmsford men - accidental heroes with hearts, rather than capable protagonists), but that doesn't make up for the bit where Amberle turns to him and tells him it's up to him to make sure she does the right thing, because she's just not brave or strong enough and he's just so determined.

GAAAAAHHHH.

The fact she turns out to -have- to do it alone and IS brave and strong enough doesn't reconcile me to her wobble. Or the fact that Eretria - otherwise a potentially kickass character - is only motivated by the fact she fancies this Valeman she's just met.

Ah, the difficulties of reading classics of the genre. This is why I don't often read classic scifi - the period sexism leads to enraged ranting. I'm not sure why I still expect more of fantasy.

In spite of this, I'm still going to go read the sequel, and I suspect it's going to make me even more angry. I'm just starting to recall the bits where she can't shake off her male companion/protector, and the whole point is that the true hero is her brother who needs to rescue her from herself. I promise not to rant here; I'm inflicting it on myself after all :)

I'm just about to start on The Riddle Master of Hed for my book club. I had to order it from the library, and have just picked up an enormous hardback of the entire trilogy, The Chronicles of Morgan, Prince of Hed, as that was the only copy in my library system.

Finished Dangerous Women edited by Duzois and Martin. Was generally disappointed by it. In two of the stores, women were nothing more than plot devices. Two of the stories were historicals so they were more about who did what to whom when-where-how than about the characters. Two of the stories were about what I would actually consider dangerous women and another wound up having the woman become dangerous. I liked a lot of the stories, but I think most of them failed as examples of dangerous women.

Next up is The Black God's War by Moses Siregar III.

Currently in the Los Angeles area with Diana Furnaval in an Early Reviewers copy of Netherworld, enjoying it so far as a light and fluid read, once I had suspended disbelief on the subject of how strangely perfect the heroine is when it comes to adhering to a "modern" viewpoint re. such things as lack of racist prejudices, lack of haughtiness vs the local colonized populations of the British empire, no passive acceptance of expected privileges, or her behaving as a liberated woman with approval from those surrounding her (with no background provided on the matter).

Going on with early vampire texts I've also been in the english countryside with Varney the vampyre on the back burner for a while now.

I finished my three history-related books from various giveaways, only for another giveaway book to arrive I'm now traveling in space and time of the Who-verse in Doctor Who: The Dalek Generation by Nicholas Briggs.

I've mostly been reading along science fiction lines this month, so I won't list the titles unless people specifically ask me to, but I did finish Princesses Don't Get Fat by Aya Ling yesterday. It... I still don't rightly know how I feel about that one, to be honest.

On the one hand, it has a fairly pro-active (once you're a few chapters in, anyway) plus-sized heroine. On the other... I wasn't entirely comfortable with the way it was implied that if only she didn't eat so much (sugar) she wouldn't be overweight and that the novella has some moments that are intended to be funny that just... really aren't. One scene is actually really offensive -- it's an archery contest ala Brave which is nodded at very heavy-handedly earlier on, except once the suitors see Valeria burst out of her clothes they all compete to lose because they're disgusted with her looks and have no problem displaying it in public.

After that scene, once Valeria is sent off to the kingdom of Riviera to study at a warrior's academy because her mother is adamant she lose weight so she can marry, it does start to pick up somewhat and actually becomes quite sweet. Valeria learns that she doesn't need to be a stick-figure to be happy, that she loves tasting food and is really good at creating desserts, to stand up for herself and take matters into her own hands. And Valeria is a very sweet, cheerful, intelligent and compassionate character. I liked her a lot as a character.

I think, as a story, it has a lot of potential, but it needed at least another look before publication. It aims to be a positive, cheerful fairytale, but it doesn't quite deliver just yet.

Reminded me that Fat Girl in a Strange Land is still on my wishlist too. Has anyone here read it?

I've got two Fantasy or SF from the library in the pile -- Vicious and Ancillary Justice, both of which are supposed to be quite good. I think I'll read Vicious first, as it's due earlier.

Doing a quick reread of The Children of the Lost in preparation for The Canticle of Whispers. I remember The Midnight Charter well enough, but I need a second spin-through of TCofL.

I'm in London Below in Neverwhere.

Starting the Dragonlance series with The Legend of Huma.

Now I'm with Mark returned to Agora and with Lily descending into the crypt in The Canticle of Whispers.

It's SF for me at the moment. I've read A soldier's duty and An officer's duty and continued on in Hellfire.

In the Green Isles, in Into the Green.

>44 JP000:, that's quite the place to start! Dragons of Autumn Twilight is really where it all began. If it weren't for that original trilogy being so good, they wouldn't still be publishing the series. The Chronicles and Legends trilogies are probably worth the trouble (I say probably because I read them very young, might have a different opinion now.) After that, very hit and miss - mostly miss. I thought The Legend of Huma wasn't too bad an entry, but really it's backstory for the others. It has a direct sequel that might be tough to find called Kaz the Minotaur.

44, 48> Oh wow, that's a blast from the past. Given I'm on a nostalgia kick anyway, I might have to hunt up a copy of Chronicles...

>49 imyril:, maybe you shouldn't. I'd hate to see it turn out the same as Terry Brooks, lol. Some memories are just too good to ever risk destruction by re-read.

Just like that I'm finished with Doctor Who: The Dalek Generation, it was a fun read. Briggs got Matt Smith's portrayal down pat, however there were some noticeable miscues in the story that detracted from the reading. That doesn't mean I won't try another Doctor Who book by Briggs or any other author.

Next I'm reading the The Kobayashi Maru, a Star Trek book by Julia Ecklar. This will be my last 'never before' read book of 2013 unless my last outstanding Early Reviewers book arrives before the end of the year.

After venturing through the Final Frontier, I'm going to return to Middle Earth for the first time since high school as I re-read The Hobbit.

After journeying to the Lonely Mountain and back, if there is still time left in 2013 then I'm going to venture to Hogwarts in a re-read of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

Hopefully that will get me through the rest of the year.

>48 Cecrow:,49, Actually the reason I started with The Legend of Huma is because I already had it. Years ago I read Preludes, Chronicles, Legends, the first three Tales, and the first three Hero's, then decided all the new books by authors other than Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman were as you said a bit hit and miss. Only recently I had a look to see if Weis & Hickman had ever added to the series, and was a bit surprised to find there are now more than 190 books in the series, including 21 by Weis & Hickman, though not always together. So now I'm curious what happened in the core series after I left, but thought I'd first reread what I already have in chronological order.

>49 imyril:, 50: I read the Chronicles a couple of years ago and enjoyed them. It's fun to read something so old-school for a change. I 've never read the Twins trilogy but I'm planning to as that seems to be the most highly thought of.

I'm still travelling with Cat and her Cold steel through Kate Elliott's alternate Europe. I'm pleased that although it is longer than the previous two books it is not dragging like the 2nd one did.

>51 mattries37315:, I haven't read many of the Star Trek novels, but The Kobayashi Maru is very memorable and a definite keeper.

>52 JP000:, when Weiss and Hickman returned to Dragonlance I followed the reviews and that dissuaded me. For more quality work by them I'd recommend getting out of Dragonlance completely and hunting down their Darksword trilogy, starting with Forging the Darksword. Again, I might not like it as much now as I did then, but I was impressed at the time.

54> I did read the Darksword trilogy years ago. I can't remember much about it now except that it wasn't at all a dungeons and dragons type world like Dragonlance. I might try and dig it up and have another look at it. I'm about 150 pages into The Legend of Huma now and it's about what I expected.

53> Yes, Legends were my favourites.

Visiting the Five Hundred Kingdoms and the Palace of Ever-Winter with The Snow Queen.

>54 Cecrow: I just finished The Kobayashi Maru and it was the best Star Trek novel I've read, which technically isn't saying much since I've read only 4. But I didn't want to put it down and that's a pretty big deal to me.

Cold steel took me all on an exciting journey all over Europa with Cat, Bee and their diverse cast of companions. Unlike the previous book, this one was fast paced and tightly plotted. A great end to the trilogy.

Now I'm at military school with Inda, a reread for me, but this time I hope to carry on and read the sequels.

Entering the lands of Dreams of the Compass Rose, interlinked short stories in a setting very reminiscent of Tanith Lee's Flat Earth tales, loving it.

I'm in various places, but Los Angeles at the moment, in Smoke and Mirrors.

Still in Eastland with Terry Brooks for Wishsong. I'm enjoying it a helluva lot more than I enjoyed Elfstones. There's plenty to pull apart here - on so many levels - but I think it's better written and hangs together better. Go figure.

Finished The Legend of Huma. It wasn't bad for what it is, but I am hopping for a bit more from this series once I get up to the Weis & Hickman books.

Next a bit of Irish surrealism with The Third Policeman.

Finished The Black God's War by Moses Siregar III. I can only think of one work to describe the book - interminable. Next up is Legacy, the omnibus edition of Mary Stewart's Arthurian cycle. The first book in the cycle is The Crystal Cave.

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly. I have finished up his Samuel Johnson series so now I will try some of his other works.

63: The crystal cave has been on my TBR for ages, @seitherin...

Rereading The Princess Bride.

Read that earlier this past year. I really enjoyed it. Not sure which one I like more the book or the movie, that movie was always one of my favorites from my childhood.

65: zjakkelien, I read the first three books in the cycle years ago when I was going thru an "everything King Arthur" phase. I really liked them then so I thought it was time for a reread.

68 (@seitherin): One of my friends really liked it, so I bought it. There have just been so many books to read...

Finally finished Wishsong - and I have to admit, I enjoyed it. Not sure where I will head next - I'll have to see what I find under the tree tomorrow! (I'll admit to having already accidentally opened my SantaThing, and I'm very excited to go read those, but they're technically scifi rather than fantasy)

I finally finished River of Stars, much aided by an ebook version that's easier on my hands. Before that I sped through The Bone Palace and abandoned half a dozen or so books I decided I wasn't interested in after all.

I enjoyed Discount Armageddon, the first novel in Seanan McGuire's InCryptid urban fantasy series. Taken with Rosemary and Rue (the first in her October Daye series), I would say that McGuire is a reliably entertaining writer. Looking forward to reading more in both series.

>72 edgewood:: I just managed to get copies of Discount armageddon and its sequel; can't wait to have time to get into them. I finished Parasite recently and that was excellent.

Still having adventures - not all of them pleasant - with Inda.

And the last fantasy book I've finished for the year is Emyr's Smile by Amy Rae Durreson, a short (m/m erotica) novelette. It was incredibly sweet and a lovely way to finish off the reading year.