Fantasy Buddy Reads discussion

This is a buddy read for Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers starting October 26, 2018.

Starting today :)

Through the prequel, and just a general comment: for a series that I've come to associate with a kind of levity, that prologue was a bit morbid haha.

Yea... i heard months ago this book kinda meanders, and lacks the focus/endgoal of previous books, at least until halfway through... I started last night and listened to the first 10-15%, and decided I wasn't in the right mindset to listen at work... if I don't get to it sooner, I'll probably listen to it on my days off (Tuesday/Wednesday)... I've similarly been delaying the last 20-25% of my Traitor Baru Cormorant re-read, and instead read the 19th Harry Bosch book last night...

I definitely feel the meandering "not in the right mindset" thing and actually had to restart the book after 10% because I wasn't absorbing anything. I generally have a difficult time getting into sequels that don't follow the same characters (maybe it's lazy reading or something). Anyway, take your time. I'm going to be cleaning house today so I'll probably listen to a bunch of it, but then it'll take me a while to finish lol.

Niki Hawkes wrote: "I definitely feel the meandering "not in the right mindset" thing and actually had to restart the book after 10% because I wasn't absorbing anything. I generally have a difficult time getting into ..."

I'm with you... it's why I mostly read series... I like following the same characters as they develop and usually thwart a Big Bad...

Also, sometimes you just want something simple like a police procedural... I really liked The Burning Room, and listening to Titus Welliver read it kinda made me want to continue with the show (I watched half of the first season last year... each season melds together 2-4 of the books, from what I saw online... I think they're on season 4 now)

Yeah me too - I want to go in knowing mostly what to expect and getting that good momentum building (which this series pointedly lacks even though it's still pleasant to read).

I haven't read those, but definitely can appreciate the mood/call for them sometimes. That's what Dresden files did for me.

I binged all the Harry Bosch books that existed back around 2012... before my UF resurgence... so I'm about 5 books behind... nice to be in the mood to catch up...

Nice!

Yea... I had like a year of Thrillers... I got into the Jack Reacher books, a series I read the first 2-3 books of in high school... then I needed something else and tried Harry Bosch... i liked it and just chained through 15 Bosch books, the side books about Terry McCaleb, Jack McEvoy, and the thief in Las Vegas, and the Lincoln Lawyer books about his half brother... now I have a mix of those and the new rookie detective series he's started, since Bosch has hit retirement for like the 3rd time of the series...

Timelord Iain wrote: "Yea... I had like a year of Thrillers... I got into the Jack Reacher books, a series I read the first 2-3 books of in high school... then I needed something else and tried Harry Bosch... i liked it..."

Lol. I've always wanted to get into thrillers, and I keep saying as soon as I read all the spec fic high priorities then I will (which has turned into an impossible feat haha). I'll probably start with Jack Reacher.

Some people get a bit sick of Reacher after awhile... all the books follow a similar formula... Reacher is a wanderer who stumbles across a mystery or a crime, and gets roped in willingly or unwillingly, and saves the day... along the way he has a fade-to-black fling with somebody... the movies are pretty accurate, except Reacher has about a foot and 50+ lbs on Tom Cruise

Timelord Iain wrote: "Some people get a bit sick of Reacher after awhile... all the books follow a similar formula... Reacher is a wanderer who stumbles across a mystery or a crime, and gets roped in willingly or unwill..."

I don't mind formula too much, especially if I don't read them back to back (like Redwall). In some ways it's nice knowing what to expect when you dive in.

Yea... the series grows on you... some of the best books in the series are the prequels... Child writes one about every 5-8 books, it seems... they tend to focus on big cases from back in Reacher's Military Police days... the case that knocked him back from Major to Captain (he re-earns Major before leaving the military)... his last case before leaving the military... etc... all this talk has me wanting to catch up on those after I run out of new Connelly books...

I finished my 2nd Connelly book of the week and read a bit more of the book we're SUPPOSED to be talking about... around 25-30%... these are like slice of life books in space... there doesn't seem to be much point to each scene/vignette... and my mood just isn't doing it justice...

Timelord Iain wrote: "Yea... the series grows on you... some of the best books in the series are the prequels... Child writes one about every 5-8 books, it seems... they tend to focus on big cases from back in Reacher's..."

Haha oh dear. Well, I didn't end up doin any cleaning yesterday (what a shame lol) so I'm at the same point. And surprise - nothing has happened so I have nothing to comment about lol. The expanse books start with a casual approach as well, but at least you can tell they're working towards something. This not so much. It's hard to concentrate on it, Iain. Lol

Have you read any "armchair adventure" novels that Lee Child wrote with Douglas Preston? Those seem to be screaming to me that they'd have a good bit of both worlds. Just curious.

Niki Hawkes wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "Yea... the series grows on you... some of the best books in the series are the prequels... Child writes one about every 5-8 books, it seems... they tend to focus on big cases ..."

That's Lincoln Child, not Lee child... the existence of similar author names always confused me, as well... only Lincoln Child books I read (in high school) were Utopia & Death Match...

I've always heard mixed things about Pendergast, so I've never gotten around to reading them...

Haha as I was typing that, I was like "huh, I never noticed it was the same guy before" lmao. 🤦‍♀️

I was also thinking of looking into James Rollins. Idk maybe this book is having me rethink my reading life lol.

I just did a quick skim of the book page, and every 2-3 star review says the same thing we have so far... not much happens, not much happens later on, and there are so many POVs with nothing happening, that it's hard to remember everyone...

Just finished part 2 (view spoiler)[I feel like there's not much to comment on yet, but I did find the boys' venture into the brothel quite amusing lol. I also like the women spouses - their banter is endearing.

Still waiting for the plot.., (hide spoiler)]

Niki Hawkes wrote: "..."

lol... that reminds me, I'm reading The Lost Plot in a few days :)

Timelord Iain wrote: "Niki Hawkes wrote: "..."

lol... that reminds me, I'm reading The Lost Plot in a few days :)"

Haha omgsh! Wayfarer fanfic! 😆

End of part 3 (view spoiler)[ strongest segment so far for me, but that's probably because I'm now familiar with all the characters. I liked some of the more intimate character exploration during this part and am not minding the meandering quite as much. I have to say, that last line made me jolt up and back up the audio a bit:

"He didn't have time to process what dying felt like."

It was unexpected when I was only half listening lol. (hide spoiler)]

Niki Hawkes wrote: "End of part 3..."

I listened to a bit more, and the boys are (view spoiler)[heading to the brothel (hide spoiler)] for me... I have a feeling this book is going to take me awhile... I seem to be listening to a bit, here and there, after every other book I finish... for now, I'm going to continue my Michael Connelly binge, and fall behind on Buddy Reads (competition is over, I can do whatever I want for awhile :P)

Timelord Iain wrote: "Niki Hawkes wrote: "End of part 3..."

I listened to a bit more, and the boys are [spoilers removed] for me... I have a feeling this book is going to take me awhile... I seem to be listening to a b..."

I support that decision whole heartedly lol. I'll mostly be doing the same (100% if not for some Review obligations... sigh). And no rush on getting through this book. The only reason I'm clipping along is because I'm trying to make the Dragons Path BR today (which they all delayed on starting for me haha).

I read a couple pages of this last week, but not much... listening again now and probably going to try and push through the rest of the book...

Brothel: (view spoiler)[quite hilarious... ended about how I expected... and then the parental oversharing during the punishment :D (hide spoiler)]

Solar Ride: (view spoiler)[Space Rollercoasters... sounds fun, even if I'm not sure I'd be willing to ride... I've done a couple rollercoasters in my life, but have a pretty decent fear of heights... the few times I've had to go ~20ft off the ground in a scissor-lift at work haven't been fun... (hide spoiler)]

Salvage: (view spoiler)[if this isn't a pirate crew recruiting a gullible foreigner, I don't know what is :)... and then his thank you email to the other MC that directed him to Sanitation Detail... wonder if she'll see it, too... (hide spoiler)]

First Contact: (view spoiler)[it's funny how an event in one book can be sinister machinations, and a similar even in another can just be innocent altruism with unforeseen consequences... I reread Traitor Baru Cormorant a few weeks ago, which uses trade and money to subjugate "foreign savages"... and then here we have money ruining the fragile economy on the Generation Ship in decades past, which has led to this slow spiral (paired with younger generations wanting to explore the galaxy) (hide spoiler)]

I'm nearly at the halfway point now... still dunno where this is going... but at least it's keeping me entertained while it gets there...

Salvage Job: (view spoiler)[Called that... didn't see the hacker dying, tho... and then the remorse from the guy that wasn't happy when the hacker figured out the real job... (hide spoiler)]

Andrisk names: (view spoiler)[what the hell is that Andrisk short-form name supposed to be, during the outside help story?... Cause it sure sounds like Titty-kiss-dick on audio... (hide spoiler)]