Where are you in Fantasyland? January, 2023

Happy New Year!!

Still very slowly making my way through The Trouble With Peace by Joe Abercrombie.

I'm now in Oxford in the early 19th century, discovering Babel.

(and we suddenly went back 1821 years, to the year 202, haha)

I'm still in Spidlaria with Beltur. But much closer to the end of the novel I'm reading, The Mongrel Mage

I am starting the new year somewhere in the Cosmere with Tress of the Emerald Sea.

In Hypata, where Lucius just turned himself into a donkey.

In the Scholomance with Deadly Education, now that I've finally gotten the complete trilogy from my library. I enjoy the voice and the setting, and overall I'm having much more fun with Novik's writing than I ever have previously. I'm glad I gave it a try.

Back to Ankh-Morpork with Unseen Academicals

>7 Anaxyrus:. I had to check, but that's still sitting on my TBR shelf being neglected. Sadly.

Heading to Brazil as part of Temeraire's ongoing world tour in Crucible of Gold.

I'm travelling on Abeth with the Holy sister.

I'm back to Chicago for Side Jobs.

I wanted to know what happens next and picked up Outcasts of Order so I am in Candar still, starting in Elparta, with Beltur again.

Left Abeth after a great time with the Holy sister. I loved the character development in this series, and the focus on friendship which prevents the grimness of events overwhelming the books.

Added The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo to my reading rotation.

I'm navigating twisty political situations with Maia in The Goblin Emperor.

Heading into a regency faerie tale, with Ten Thousand Stitches.

Starting the year with a rare read (sci-fi is my normal fare) in the fantasy genre: Sword Bearer by Jennifer Roberson.

Finished The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo. Enjoyed it much more than I thought I would.

Added Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees to my rotation.

>17 ThomasWatson: I liked the Tiger and Del novels, but I love Jennifer Roberson's Cheysuli chronicles.

>19 elorin:, seconding that! (although I should only do it tentatively, haven't read them since my teenager years and I've learned to suspect my taste from that decade.)

Wandering around Europe & west coast USA with numerous supernatural beings & immortal humans, in The Sorceress, the third Nicholas Flamel novel. I'm enjoying the series. Scott is very good at ending chapters -- and books -- in mid-action so the reader feels compelled to keep on. It can be annoying sometimes, but it works if well done. I usually leave a gap between volumes of a series and read something else; but I just finished The Magician this evening and waded right into the next one.

>15 curioussquared: That's a great novel, hope you enjoy it!

I'm heading to a cubicle farm for The Atrocity Archives.

Edit to fix the touchstone.

Visiting The Burning Lands with The Oleander Sword.

Oh, I'm also well into an audiobook listen of The True Queen, which is as much of a delight as Sorcerer to the Crown was.

>22 Karlstar: I'm loving it! Took an accidental break in the middle due to some real life stuff and it took me a little bit to get back into the world, but now I'm racing eagerly to the end. I may have already purchased Witness for the Dead and The Grief of Stones, too.

In New Haven, CT, with Alex Stern as she tries to put together a plan to rescue Darlington from Hell, in Hell Bent.

On an island off the South Carolina coast, I enjoyed a bit of magical realism in Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen

DNF for Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees.

I've started reading Among Others (which I keep accidentally calling "Among Us" and need to stop doing immediately.)

>28 seitherin: When I tried to read Lud-in-the-Mist a year ago I also DNFed it. The idea and the style were nice but it didn't hold my interest.

I finished the Scholomance trilogy but was ultimately very disappointed. The first book was so fun but there were diminishing returns with each book and The Golden Enclaves was just awful. Somehow despite the two or three major plot twists, it felt like nothing really happened in it.

I've moved on to Jeru with The Bird and The Sword, which is a very traditional fantasy book where magic users have to hide their powers. It's serving as a nice palate cleanser, although I don't especially like how the romance is depicted.

>29 Cecrow: lol

Just spent some time in the small town of Somerton, Tennessee, where people can be possessed by demons but also be subject to deliverance. Excellent depiction of modern times in a small corner of the world, with teenagers and adults who cover the gamut between absolute evil and just assholes.

I've been in a magical mansion with The Atlas six, but can't say I enjoyed my time there. The characters are all more or less unpleasant, there is a lot of very dull discussion on theory of magic, and the plot becomes stupidly complicated. I doubt I'll continue with this series.

>31 karenb: Wait, what book is this? Sounds intriguing.

>33 Kanarthi: Whoops, forgot to mention that crucial information. It's Dandelion by Alex Bledsoe. From a smaller press in North Carolina.

I'm in upstate New York at a run down mansion with a spooky attached garden in This Poison Heart.

>32 Sakerfalcon: This book had so much potential, but I agree with most of your points. I think the first half was decent, but the lead up to the ending was almost nonsensical.

>4 Narilka: I can't wait for it! I'm currently re-reading ALL of the Cosmere in as close to chronological order as I can! Itching to get my hands on this and a paperback Lost Metal

>37 flyinryry: I highly enjoyed Tress of the Emerald Sea. I hope you do too when you get a copy.

I've moved on to Wilmington for Magic Tides.

Adventuring with Penric & Desdemona in The Assassins of Thasalon.

Also started a new audiobook with One Good Dragon Deserves Another.

>19 elorin: I've read both and have the opposite preference - but not by much.

I am in Westeros pondering the strange marrying customs of the Targaryens in Fire and Blood.

In the western USA reading Dies the Fire.

I'm in a future New York walking around with Lock in.

Just left The Red Sister at the Sisters of Mercy convent in the Corridor between the ice walls.

Now arriving in upstate NY to investigate an uncanny death in Uncanny Times.

>43 Karlstar: This sounds like a book I read many years ago (probably the 60s) which I've never been able to rediscover or remember the author/title of. As I remember it, Earth goes through the tail of a comet which causes all things with moving metal parts to fuse. Then follows the familiar scenario: fall of civilization; small town trying to survive while threatened by mobs of refugees from the cities, and worse, small armies of thugs. If anyone knows the title, let me know!

I'm re-reading Sabriel by Garth Nix after finishing his latest Terciel and Elinor. I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed this series.

I've noticed a couple of thumbs-downs for Lud-in-the Mist by Hope Mirlees in this thread. It's one of my favourite books! A great mix of fancy and world-weariness. Don't be put off - give it a try.

I'm heading back to Hogwarts for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

Just finished The Priory of the Orange Tree. I'm not entirely sure what to make of it. On one hand, it focuses much more on the world building than the story, which suggests an architect writer. But the actual story is written without certain elements such as foreshadowing, which highly suggests a gardener writer. Also, the main story doesn't really get started until you are halfway through. The first half of the book is just character development. It wasn't really a bad book, but it wasn't one of my favorites.

Finished The Trouble With Peace by Joe Abercrombie. Liked it well enough. Next up is When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo.

I'm discovering politics and plots around Chiltean and Kisia in We Ride the Storm

Finished Out of Their Minds by Clifford D. Simak. A rather strange fantasy, with what I thought was an oddly abrupt ending. Still, I found it entertaining.

Finished When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo. Liked it but not quite as much as Empress of Salt and Fortune.

Nearly done with Among Others and I've been underwhelmed. It feels more 'about' the genre than 'of' the genre, although it does have an interesting take on the nature of magic.

I'm reading Threadneedle, a YA fantasy about witches set in London.

Adventuring in faerie lands with in search of some Stardust.

2023 has had a faerie-heavy start for me. This'll be my fourth book (out of six total) that have significant faerie elements to them so far this year.

New monthly thread: https://www.librarything.com/topic/348215

By the sea in The Changeling Sea.