Fantasy Book Club discussion

Completed: 14/26
A-
B- Red Rising by Pierce Brown
C-
D-
E- Dancer's Lament by Ian C. Esslemont
F-
G-Legend by David Gemmell
H- Dragon Fate by J.D. Hallowell
I- Genghis: Birth of an Empire by Conn Iggulden
J-
K- Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay
L- The Shadow Over Innsmouth by H.P. Lovecraft
M- Broken Blade by Kelly McCullough
N- Uprooted by Naomi Novik
O-
P- The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett
Q-
R- Dawn of Wonder by Jonathan Renshaw
S- The Grim Company by Luke Scull
T-
U-
V- Bound to the Abyss by James R. Vernon
W-
X-
Y-
Z- Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny

1. The Grim Company by Luke Scull. Characters heavily influenced by Abercrombie with a pinch of Erikson, and a plot inspired by Dark Sun. The Davarus Cole chapters were fun. Smug good-for-nothing 'anti-hero' with delusions and childish mannerisms. Overall enjoyable and a good setup for the next one in the series.

2. The Shadow Over Innsmouth by H.P. Lovecraft. Very good! And a 'sweet' ending.

3. Red Rising by Pierce Brown. I was in the mood for an easy to read first person story for a business trip and found this recommended several places. Well paced, well told story that were much better than expected - and much better than the Hunger Games. The main character is such a Gary Stu, though, I considered giving only 3 stars. Considering the tempo of reading, I guess 3 is too low.

Golden Son is even better than Red Rising. More mistakes are made, more complex, more action

@ Margret. You are right. Just finished Golden Sun. What a ride. What an ending. I would call it heroic science fiction if there exists such a genre.

4. Uprooted by Naomi Novik. Not really my cup of tea. There's nothing new under the sun in this one, and the story is pretty forward and the characters are pretty meh.

5. Bound to the Abyss by James R. Vernon. 2 stars. Only first part of two books that shouldn't have been split. The ending is just sort of there all of a sudden. Otherwise the YA and 'hero' comes from a small community parts are nothing new. The summoning part and imp friendship could be something. However, I won't know since it's not interesting enough to read the second book.

6. Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny. A classic in the fantasy genre and one, where a lot of other authors obviously have borrowed or expanded on the ideas within. After a good and interesting beginning, it got really messy - messy pacing, messy language, messy handling of the storyline. The Princes with all their powers and invincibility are really poorly written. Both with plotting, acting and behaving. A letdown overall.

7. Dragon Fate by J.D. Hallowell. Childrens style fantasy about the bonded(/forced) love between a man and a dragon. The first 2/3 about the dragon growing, food, handshakes, and the reputation of the main character - a much better sounding story from before the start of this book. The last part is a sex (trying to mask as a love) story with the main character and another dragon rider and a show down with the only character that the main character doesn't like (in the entire book), who, of course, is a bad guy. Poorly paced, badly written, no suspense or surprises. Nothing, but a good premise.

8. Dawn of Wonder by Jonathan Renshaw. Great coming-of-age story on par with Blood Song and Name Of The Wind. 4 stars.

Lundos wrote: "6. Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny. A classic in the fantasy genre and one, where a lot of other authors obviously have borrowed or expanded on the ideas within. After a good and interesting..."

Too bad to hear about this one. I've really been looking forward to checking out this series, might do a different Zelazny work for the letter Z in my A-Z list.

Dan wrote: "Lundos wrote: "6. Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny. A classic in the fantasy genre and one, where a lot of other authors obviously have borrowed or expanded on the ideas within. After a good ..."

I was thinking of doing the Nine Princes in Amber for my Z as well. Let me know if you find a better one, Dan.

@Dan and Jenna
It's a classic for a reason and while I found it underwhelming, you might still like it. As a fantasy fan with my age (30+) it's a must read at some point. That said there a lot of good books out there and I don't think this would have been published today.

9. Broken Blade by Kelly McCullough. 2 Stars. The good at heart assassin and hero without a cause is done ad nauseam - and better.

Lundos wrote: "@Dan and Jenna
It's a classic for a reason and while I found it underwhelming, you might still like it. As a fantasy fan with my age (30+) it's a must read at some point. That said there a lot of g..."

There's lots that I don't think would be printed today that would have decades ago, for better or worse. Times change, and it's not always an indication of quality. I may pick it up sometime, as you said it is essential reading for a fantasy fan, but there's much that is, and I'll be just as pleased picking up Zelazny's other fantastic works like Dilvish, the Damned or perhaps something lighter like Bring Me the Head of Prince Charming for the letter Z, or maybe another integral fantasy work like Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon.

10. Legend by David Gemmell. Heroic fantasy the way it's meant to be written.

I liked the Grim Company but I would be putting The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson for 'S'......... Just saying.

Lundos wrote: "10. Legend by David Gemmell. Heroic fantasy the way it's meant to written."

Yup, loved it.

Tim wrote: "I liked the Grim Company but I would be putting The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson for 'S'......... Just saying."

I've read The Way of Kings and was not that impressed. The last 200 pages are awesome, but the first 800 are only sporadically on the same level. If the book had been 500 pages less it would have received more stars from me. Shallan was pretty boring imo.

11. The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett. The first book in the legendary Discworld series by Terry Pratchett (RIP). I've read other Pratchett before. I just cannot remember which ones, so I guess I'll just have to read them all.

12. Genghis: Birth of an Empire by Conn Iggulden. The first book in a series of five books about Temujin of the Borjigin, also known as Genghis Khan, the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, one of the greatest Empires in human history (in size at least). 3,5 stars.

I've been meaning to checkout Iggulden for years and this challenge might give me the final push to do so. Have you done his Rome series? If so which would you suggest to start with?

Lundos wrote: "8. Dawn of Wonder by Jonathan Renshaw. Great coming-of-age story on par with Blood Song and Name Of The Wind. 4 stars."

I really liked Dawn of Wonder and a lot more than Name of the Wind. I think it has great potential in the future books. Blood Song is on my to read list.

Lundos wrote: "11. The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett. The first book in the legendary Discworld series by Terry Pratchett (RIP). I've read other Pratchett before. I just cannot remember which ones, so I guess..."

Loved this book, read it late last year for the first time. First Pratchett at all actually. Great satire and absurdist fantasy that lampooned many of my favourite S&S series. I look forward to exploring more of his works.

Bill wrote: "I've been meaning to checkout Iggulden for years and this challenge might give me the final push to do so. Have you done his Rome series? If so which would you suggest to start with?"
Hi Bill. I have actually read the first of the Rome books and wasn't that impressed. This one is better, but it includes rape, very rough treatment of kids and not that friendly people overall. It's grown up historical fiction.

Scott wrote: I really liked Dawn of Wonder and a lot more than Name of the Wind. I think it has great potential in the future books. Blood Song is on my to read list.
I feel the same way. The potential is huge.
Blood Song is definitely worth a read. And it's very different from tNotW.

Dan wrote: "Loved this book, read it late last year for the first time. First Pratchett at all actually. Great satire and absurdist fantasy that lampooned many of my favourite S&S series. I look forward to exploring more of his works"
Pratchett is a legend. There are great societal criticism/satire more or less hidden in his stories, and some of the absurd jokes on fantasy is ahead of his time.

Thanks Lundos. Grown up historical fiction sounds good to me.

13. Dancer's Lament by Ian C. Esslemont. ICE completely captures the relationship between the future Kellanvad/Dancer and their interactions are quite fun (in a Malazan way), and furtunately, there are also lots of cameos of famous future characters and rewarding bits and pieces for the aficionados. Will definitely read the rest of the trilogy.

14. Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay How would you be affected if you lost the entire history of your country, people and family? Everything taken and erased (obliterated) from the memories of the everyone else. Your complete identity only known to you and few like you. Your entire legacy gone.
Kay writes very well - especially given the sadness of the subject, and he takes the time to really explain a lot of the situations. That makes the story telling slow at times, but the overall enjoyment higher.
This is sad and excellent at the same time.

Great list. I'll add Tigana to my to read list.