Fantasy Book Club discussion

14/26 C O M P L E T E D


A: Abercrombie, Joe. Half the World COMPLETED
B: Briggs, Patricia. Iron Kissed COMPLETED
C: Carmody, Isobelle. Obernewtyn COMPLETED
D: Douglass, Sara. Beyond the Hanging Wall
E:
F: Feist, Raymond E. Magician
G: Gaiman, Neil. Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and DisturbancesCOMPLETED
H: Hobb, Robin. Assassin's Fate (I am *hoping* that this will be published this year, if not I will have to think of something else)
I:
J: Jemisin, N.K. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms COMPLETED
K: Koontz, Dean. Odd Hours COMPLETED Kay, Guy Gavriel. Sailing to Sarantium
L: Lynch, Scott. The Lies of Locke Lamora COMPLETED
M:
N: Novik, Naomi. Uprooted COMPLETED
O: O' Malley, Daniel. The Rook COMPLETED
P: Pratchett, Terry. Hogfather COMPLETED
Q:
R: Rothfuss, Patrick.The Name of the Wind COMPLETED
S:St. John Mandel, Emily. Station Eleven COMPLETED Sanderson, Brandon. The Final Empire COMPLETED
T: Tiffany, John. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts 1 & 2 COMPLETED
U:
V: Valente, Catherynne M. The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making
W: Weeks, Brent. The Black Prism COMPLETED
X:
Y:
Z:

Seems like UT could be a challenging challenge. Any suggestions for Q or X? :-o

Michael wrote: "Seems like UT could be a challenging challenge. Any suggestions for Q or X? :-o"

I think some of them will be SO difficult. I can't think of anyone with a last name starting with Q or X...

My plans for X is to read Malcolm X's autobiography. Most of the rest are Chinese translated works, but not as readily available to me.
There is a Q author who wrote Silver Linings playbook.

Not my normal cup o tea but I guess the point is to expand your horizons!

I thought we had to pick books that are in the Fantasy genre?

In Helen's post about the challenge she says that it can be any book

It would be nice to keep to fantasy but I don't think it would be possible for the more obscure letters. Feel free to prove me wrong ;)

I am planning on puting all the books regardless of genre then replacing with fantasy if possible.

Oohs ok. I've a Q then lol.

For years people having been asking me if I had read Obernewtyn -and then recommending it to me when they found out I hadn't.

I gave it 3 stars because although I enjoyed the idea of the story and the world Carmody created, I found myself not feeling much of a connection with the characters...there was just something off about it.

The best way I can explain it is like this: when I am really immersed in a book and its landscape I find it really easy to visualise what I am reading. It's like the characters and setting come to life. But with this book it was like I was witnessing it through a fog, there was not enough detail or description to really draw me in.

I gave Station Eleven 5 stars. I thought it was an excellent take on the post-apocalyptic/disaster genre and loved the way the story moved back and forth between periods of time.
I also enjoyed the way she wove together the different narratives, providing you with just enough hints to piece together some of the puzzles (without telling you everything).

I haven't read much in the way of this type of urban fantasy but I am finding the Mercy Thompson series okay - I gave Iron Kissed 3 stars. I enjoy the magical elements and the history of the fae and like how the romantic narrative hasn't completely taken over the story....yet.
Mercy is a pretty likeable heroine as well, refreshingly honest and easy to relate to.

I enjoyed this collection of short stories and gave Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances 4 stars. My favourite story was Black Dog because I adore American Gods and liked seeing what Shadow was up to. I think that the fairy tale appropriations in the collection were excellent.

I was thinking about reading Trigger Warning for my G as well :)

I was disappointed with Odd Hours after enjoying the previous three books in the series. The story didn't have the same amount of intrigue/mystery as the earlier books and I wasn't excited to see how it would play out. I also found the constant retelling of previous events (what I refer to as "previously on"...) soooooo frustrating! I almost threw my book across the room.
I think I will add another book for K, one that is actually fantasy. I'm thinking Guy Gavriel Kay as I recently picked up Sailing to Sarantium at a book fair.

Jenna wrote: "I was thinking about reading Trigger Warning for my G as well :)"

Would recommend, it was an enjoyable read.

Mistborn: The Final Empire rated four stars.

This was the first Brandon Sanderson book I have read and I was apprehensive going into it due the amount of hype surrounding this series and others. However, I was pleasantly surprised by how easily I was drawn into the novel. There was enough going on that made it exciting, without giving too much away and it moved at a quick pace as well which made it stay exciting. The use of magic was interesting, as was the concept of the dark lord winning out.
I am looking forward to the next book in the series.

This is going to take me forever seeing as I keep starting books and then not finishing them....also now that I started reading the Mistborn books I can't stop!

Half the World 4 stars
I somehow forgot that I was reading this book (probably because I only had it on my iPad) and then when I started reading it again I was so lost. So I gave up for a while and went onto other books. The other day I was flying and needed something to read, so I thought I would give it another go, and I was glad that I did. I thoroughly enjoyed the remainder of the book and I enjoyed Thorn's character development. I did find her relationship with (view spoiler)[Brand (hide spoiler)] a little contrived, but I appreciate how Abercrombie didn't let it change her. For YA fantasy (which I genuinely think this falls under) it's refreshing and engaging.

The Lies of Locke Lamora 4 stars (but really 4.5)
I absolutely LOVED this book. The characters were amazing, the world building was excellent and I loved the intricacies of the story. I have heard that the next two books are not as good, but I will definitely still be reading them as I need to know what will happen!

I'm reading The Lies of Locke Lamora next month Caitlin. Sounds like it's going to be good.

Finished The Name of the Wind last night and rated it 5 stars. It was such an enjoyable read. The character of Kvothe is fascinating. The book reads beautifully — there is such a nice rhythm to it and the world Rothfuss is slowly building is incredible.

I loved it, will you go on to the next?

Yes! I bought the second one yesterday and will start it today

Cool. I noticed a lot more links when I read them together.

Oh, I've done so poorly this year with my reading. I think I can probably knock a couple off over the Christmas break...

I absolutely loved the name of the wind,, it was such an engrossing read and I felt like I was really in the story. I've read some good books since then but nothing seems to compare. Take your time and enjoy the second one, it's definitely a once in a lifetime read.
Incredible!!

No rush; there isn't a time limit on the challenge :)

Helen wrote: "No rush; there isn't a time limit on the challenge :)"

Excellent! I'll just keep plodding along then. I'm going to really try and give myself more time for reading this year...well, that's the plan anyway!

Ben wrote: "I absolutely loved the name of the wind, it was such an engrossing read and I felt like I was really in the story. I've read some good books since then but nothing seems to compare. Take your time..."

It's beautiful! I've finished reading the second one and now I feel a bit empty, knowing that I have to wait for the third! I am so engrossed in the story.

Finished The Black Prism on New Years Eve. Rated it 2 stars. Cliched, didn't enjoy the writing style or the main character. Story does have some interesting components and I'm interested by the magic system so I may read the rest of the series at a later date.

Loved Uprooted. Beautifully written.

Liked The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms but didn't love. It was an enjoyable and easy read, but there was something missing for me to truly love it.

I loved Uprooted too. I've been waiting so long for Rothfuss to write book three.