Fantasy Book Club discussion

Hello everyone! I hope February treated you well :)

What are you book-dragons reading/planning to read this month?

Stone of Inheritance by Melissa McShane

I finished Magician, really enjoyed it. It lived up to my memory. Might have to try for another audible subscription.

I'm going to try and finish Starless Sea.

Upright Women Wanted as soon as I finish The Avengers No Way Home and A Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue. Still waiting for Stormsong to arrive.

I really need to mend my bedside light, I can’t read and bed reading is one of my favourites.

That's why a kindle is so great.

OK, it's been seven years, so time for a Tolkien reread, starting, of course, with The Silmarillion.

Helen wrote: "I really need to mend my bedside light, I can’t read and bed reading is one of my favourites."

Mine was broken as well, so my brother bought me this for Christmas:

That's really neat! I have to make one now!

well, I meant to read shadow Saint in February but never did coz I got side tracked by a number of other books, so that one is definitely on the list. I also want to read traitor's blade and am currently reading Ben aaranovitch's River of London series which is ace.

Not sure what I'll be reading next. I just finished the entire run of the Kitty Norville series, 15 books, and I have my own writing to get back to. The Kitty Norville books are absolutely terrific, I went out and bought the entire series. It's one of those I can see myself reading multiple times, unlike most books that come out nowadays, which I can't see myself reading at all.
I look over my library's fantasy shelves and nothing really clicks for me. Possibly because so much of what's there are series, the same author name and cover look over and over. All that says to me is that each book is just like the last book, and probably just like a lot of other books on the shelf, all written by people who don't do anything all day except write these things, and who wants to read that? An automatic turn-off.
The Norville books are like that, but I was getting them for the content instead of the covers by that point. I was lucky to find the first Norville book by itself, and even then it took me a while to finally pick it up. I was glad the books stayed the same in tone and content across the series, although the ending felt a little rushed. A recent series I started with Sparrowhill Road left me disappointed, when the second book was very unlike the first in style. I liked the first, much more patchwork, as opposed to the second which was very linear.

@Marc, I believe you convinced me to give Kitty Norville a try. I put Kitty and the Midnight Hour on my TBR list.

Finished Oryx and Crake. What an amazing book. Easily a 5 star. This book was written in 2003. I would have sworn it was written last year or even this year. Everything about it is so relevant. For anyone who is petrified by the Coronavirus or Ebola, do not read this book. Now on to the Traitor's Blade.

Mortal Rites by Melissa McShane

False Positive: A Year of Error, Omission and Political Correctness in the New England Journal of Medicine by Theodore Dalrymple

I am back after a couple of months off. Love that lamp!

Starting Northern Lights and doing that trilogy.

Norm wrote: "well, I meant to read shadow Saint in February but never did coz I got side tracked by a number of other books, so that one is definitely on the list. I also want to read traitor's blade and am cur..."

Rivers of London series is one of my favs. So good.

Got to say, I don:t know why this past me by. I had obviously seen countless times and really didn't pay it much attention. Then I was looking for something on audible. thought why not give this a go and was really surprised. I did not know quite what to expect. So now I am reading the second book. can see why it is such a favourite

Tnkw01 wrote: "That's why a kindle is so great."

I have a kindle but i can't see it in the dark.

Virginie wrote: "Helen wrote: "I really need to mend my bedside light, I can’t read and bed reading is one of my favourites."

Mine was broken as well, so my brother bought me this for Christmas:

"
That's amazing.

Finished The Starless Sea, oh it was hard work!

Helen wrote: "Tnkw01 wrote: "That's why a kindle is so great."

I have a kindle but i can't see it in the dark."

I upgraded to one of the models with a built-in backlight years ago and it was the greatest thing ever, especially because I do a lot of my reading in low-light environments.

Lucky! I sorted the socket today so my light is once again working.

I finished Age of Death. This one didn't quite live up to my expectations. I wasn't too interested in what was going on, but the characters are as great as ever, and I'm sure the final book of the series will be better.

Now I've been reading Conspiracy of the Planet of the Apes, which is an illustrated novel set during the original film about the Landon character. I'm really liking it so far.

And I started the Heroes of Olympus series with The Lost Hero.

Shifting Loyalties by Melissa McShane

I am reading the Book of Koli at the moment by M. Carey. it is very strange coz it is a dystopian future set in an area that I work in Yorkshire.

Cheating a bit because I have just read The Cloud Roads which I think is the group read for next month. Have to say that I loved it and have already ordered the next one in the series

Sands of Memory by Melissa McShane

Janette wrote: "Cheating a bit because I have just read The Cloud Roads which I think is the group read for next month. Have to say that I loved it and have already ordered the next one in the series"

Good to know. I've been eyeing this series for a while (and keep nominating it for the monthly read :p). Next month is The Eye of the World, Cloud Roads was second on the poll :(

Yes. I realised that after I had posted😀 Really enjoyed that and am now halfway through the next one. I love it when I get a new series to read

I finished The Root yesterday. The world was unique, but I couldn't really get into it.

Now I've started This Is How You Lose the Time War.

Cloud Roads is brilliant.

The Manchu Way: The Eight Banners and Ethnic Identity in Late Imperial China by Mark Elliott

Finished A Wrinkle in Time, This was a strange little tale. I enjoyed it but it was hard to keep my attention at times maybe because of my age. I believe if I had read it at an earlier age I might have enjoyed it even more. Finished Traitor's Blade. It was great. Finished Magic Burns. I loved it. Now I'm reading City of Bones.

Giants of Pangaea by John C. Wright

I finished Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-Earth and started The Children of Húrin (which is a slightly revised & expanded version of the story as it appeared in Unfinished Tales; hence, I skipped that chapter in UT).

Carrying on with Tales of the Raksura which I am loving at the moment. Have just finished The Siren Depths and will move onto the next one later this week.

I read books four and five in January last year, such a good series.

I just finished Conspiracy of the Planet of the Apes. It was pretty good, if gruesome, which was to be expected.

Now I'm starting Wool because it fits right now doesn't it? I may end up regretting this and think I should have gone with something lighter to read, but we'll see.

Agatha H. and the Siege of Mechanicsburg by Phil Foglio and Kaja Foglio

Magic User: Reborn in Another World as a Max Level Wizard (Light Novel) Vol. 1 by Mikawa Souhei

Trolls: An Unnatural History by John Lindow

On to The Fall of Gondolin.

I finished This Is How You Lose the Time War. It was pretty good. The vagueness of the writing style is not something I'm typically into, but Red and Blue's relationship was endearing.

Now I've started The Black Khan.

And in a hole in the ground there lived The Hobbit, or There and Back Again.

It's round-up time once again! How many books did you read? Any favorites?

Here are some symbols to copy-paste if you want them :)

[★☆☆☆☆]
[★★☆☆☆]
[★★★☆☆]
[★★★★☆]
[★★★★★]
📖 = print books
🎧 = audiobooks

March Reads

Magician★★★★★
The Starless Sea★★☆☆☆
High Force★★★★☆
Silverthorn★★★★★
A Darkness At Sethanon★★★★☆
Smoke Bitten★★★★★
Cragside★★★★☆
The Girl in the Woods★★★★☆
The Holiday★★★★☆



Books: 9
Pages: 4002
Audio: 126:21

Hope everyone's keeping safe and practicing social distancing. Not how I expected March to turn out at all. But I was pretty happy with my reading. These were my reads.

Age of Death ★★★★☆
The Root ★★☆☆☆
Conspiracy of the Planet of the Apes ★★★★☆
This Is How You Lose the Time War ★★★★☆

Still waiting on a five star book. I haven't read one so far this year.

Are you stingy with your stars? At least compared to me :)

Helen wrote: "Are you stingy with your stars? At least compared to me :)"

Not usually. I'd say most books I read I end up giving four stars.

Finished City of Bones this month. It was really good.