Fantasy Book Club discussion

It's a new month today, so thought I'd start a new thread.

I'm currently working on The Blade Itself. I'm between Amber (Zelazny) books 3&4, and in the on-deck circle I have To Ride Hell's Chasm by Janny Wurts.

Yay for October - the most glorious month of the year!

Anyway, currently reading, and almost finished Dead Until Dark.

Planned for this month are Urban Shaman and Those Who Hunt the Night for group reads - though I'm mostly reading 'Those Who Hunt... ' 'cause October is always good for vampire stories.

Then I'm going to be on the look-out for something dark and/or horror related. Maybe The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective, which is more a murder mystery, since I've been eyeing it for awhile... but I'm really looking for something more horror or horror fantasy, so if anyone has some good suggestions that they think I'll might like, I'm open for a few.

I have lots of group reads this month including:



I'm currently reading and will soon finish:



Non group reads I hope to squeeze in include:

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It will be a very busy October reading frenzy.

Welcome to Autumn!

Started The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

blackrose - it's my favorite month too....

Jon - I'll be squeezing The Gathering Storm in as well. The only question is whether I start it before October is out or push it into November. That depends on when my copy arrives, because pretty much whatever I'm reading when it does will slide immediately to the back burner.

Still working through Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie slowly.

I also started on the Japanese sci-fi The Lord of the Sands of Time by Issui Ogawa. It's really good so far.

After that I might start Nyphron Rising by Michael J. Sullivan if I'm able to get it in time before I go on vacation next Friday.

Still in the middle of Soul of the Fire after that I'll move on to Faith of the Fallen

I'm struggling to finish The White Rose mainly because my girlfriend got me reading The Gunslinger. If I finish both I will start on The Blade Itself.

I'm reading The Red Convertible, which is a collection of Louise Erdrich's short stories, some of which were later incorporated into her novels. She writes about Native Americans in the Dakotas and the people in their lives, always the same families, and it never gets to be a soap opera; each person's life is unique. Her stories are strong, realistic and sometimes disturbing, but irresistible for me because the characters are so fully realized and so fascinating.

I just finished 20th Century Ghosts and enjoyed it. It wasn't as horror-y or even as spooky as I expected, but they were very good short stories.

Currently reading The Wayfarer Redemption and about to start The Hobbit Or There and Back Again for a reread before the discussion. Also planning to start the first Harry Potter book (whatever it is...). :)

JG, 20th Century Ghosts is on my list. Looks like a good read for Halloween!

Arthur wrote: "Started The Book Thief by Markus Zusak."

O! That's a good one. I wish I could read it for the first time now...
Anyway, I'm reading The Blade Itslef now.

I've started taking Fine Arts classes 3 nights a week, which has drastically cut into my reading time. So, this month I'm going to aim for reading:



Wish me luck!

blackrose wrote: "Then I'm going to be on the look-out for something dark and/or horror related. Maybe The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective, which is more a murder mystery, since I've been eyeing it for awhile... but I'm really looking for something more horror or horror fantasy, so if anyone has some good suggestions that they think I'll might like, I'm open for a few."

That's a very good book. It's not terribly murder mystery-y though. It gets really bogged down in parts with all the actual collecting of evidence and whatnot. It's fascinating, but not really scary if you're looking for something scary this month.


I'm nearly done with Lords and Ladies (only about 20 pages left). Then I'll be on to Carpe Jugulum. I'm still working on Interview With the Vampire and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which I'm determined to finish soon since I'm looking forward to Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters.

Thanks for letting me know, Bronwyn. I'll probably still read it, but I'll keep hunting for something spook filled for later in the month.

Pretty Monsters Stories byKelly Link

Barbm1020 wrote: "JG, 20th Century Ghosts is on my list. Looks like a good read for Halloween!"

That's exactly why I read it! It's been languishing in a pile for months and this seemed like the perfect time to get to it.

I just read the final edit for School's Out 4Ever, books in the Extreme Hauntings series by J. R. Turner. It's the sequel to DFF Dead Friends Forever and just as creepy.

I finished The Lord of the Sands of Time by Issui Ogawa. It was a decent read. I liked the romance angle.

Now I'm reading The Sword-Edged Blonde by Alex Bledsoe. This book is really funny. It reads like an urban fantasy in a medieval setting, if that makes any sense.

I started Dan Brown's book "The Symbol" and am currently in the last story of "The Heritage of Shannara" The following are what I am going to get read this month:
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I love to read - it is better than watching TV. I might even be able to throw in
- Happy Readings everyone.

Those Shannara books are really cool...

@ Blackrose - So you are a Sookie Stockhouse fan too. I have seen the first and second season on HBO and love it. I've read the first book of Charlene Harris True Blood series and stopped because it was totally different from the show and didn't want to be disappointed in the show.

If you like vampire novels - try JR Ward's The Blackdagger Brotherhood Series - the first book in the series is called "Dark Lover". Also Gena Showalter's Lord's of the Underwold Series - the first book is "The Darkest Night".

Don't read any horror, sorry I can't help you out there. Come check out my reads if you want, I read a mixture of PNR and Fantacy - even a little Supense.

have a great day,
Ronda

I'm halfway through "Monkey See" by Walt Maguire. It's a mix of satire and science with two stories blended together. The first is from the point of view of Ed the Talking Monkey, who is not quite sure how he feels about his new ability to speak English and the requirement to wear pants. The other part of the novel is a how-to guide for creating your own monster-ape hybrid.

It's been the perfect read for my rides on the subway.

Ronda wrote: "@ Blackrose - So you are a Sookie Stockhouse fan too. I have seen the first and second season on HBO and love it. I've read the first book of Charlene Harris True Blood series and stopped because..."

I'm not sure I'd say I'm a fan. I liked it well enough, but not enough to want to run out and buy the rest of the series.

I think I might like the HBO series, despite it's, from what I've heard, abundance of overdone porn. Alas, I don't have HBO and I'm not interested enough to rent it.

blackrose wrote: "Ronda wrote: "@ Blackrose - So you are a Sookie Stockhouse fan too. I have seen the first and second season on HBO and love it. I've read the first book of Charlene Harris True Blood series and s..."

Blackrose, if you're looking for horror this month you might like Laird Barron's collection of short stories - The Imago Sequence and Other Stories. I should finish my copy this week sometime. He's in the tradition of Lovecraft but writes with a "modern" sensibility. Not as well as Caitlin Kiernan (see Alabaster, for example) but he's not bad.

What I'm reading this month:

Continuing to progress through The Malazan Book of the Fallen. I'm in the midst of #5, Midnight Tides, which takes us to an entirely new part of the planet though it's just as threatened by the corruption of the Crippled God.

I'm also going to finish Laird Barron's collection of horror stories, The Imago Sequence and Other Stories; and I'm enjoying the final discs of the AudioCD version of book #3 in The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud.

I finished Imager yesterday and Those Who Hunt the Night today.

I'm still plodding through Willis' The Winds of Marble Arch and picking up the pace with To Ride Hell's Chasm by Janny Wurts.

Still quite a few October group reads ahead, but I'll focus on finishing those two before starting another one.

blackrose wrote: "Thanks for letting me know, Bronwyn. I'll probably still read it, but I'll keep hunting for something spook filled for later in the month."

No problem. :)

I'm now on Carpe Jugulum. I'm enjoying the witch books more as the series goes on. I struggled through the first few. Next I'll be working my way through the Science of Discworld books I think. I did just get a copy of Fanny Hill, or Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure though so I might read that in between.

Ooh - Carpe Jugulum is one of my faves. The Witches and the Vampires - how can you go wrong? :>

I just finished The Very Best of Fantasy & Science Fiction Sixtieth Anniversary Anthology - an excellent collection of short stories.

Next up is Warhost of Vastmark by Janny Wurts.

Just finished the Uglies and about to start Brida.

I'm about a third through A Darkness Forged in Fire. It was available as a download with my local library so I took a chance on it despite not knowing anything the book or author. So far I've been pleasantly surprised.

Currently reading The Eye of the World...I figured I may as well take a chance on this series seeing as how Sanderson is finishing it...

yesterday I finished the long-awaited Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay.
Now I'm reading Renegade's Magic by Robin Hobb, the concluding book of The Soldier Son trilogy.
I have other series to finish afterwards.
Child of Prophecy by Juliet marillier (the final book in the Sevenwaters trilogy), and Gemmell's Stormrider (final book of the Rigante).
I'm still not sure what to read next, but I suppose it won't be determined on this month's thread.

Just started 'Whicher' this morning.

Struggled through The Light Ages (skipped some, that world is so frustratingly vague and I feel that nothing is explained). Now in War for the Oaks, and while I don't completely understand the atittudes of the main character, I like the setting and the otherness of the shapeshifters.

Started Acacia and my feeling is that it will be as good and as gripping to me as The Name Of The Wind.

I'm reading Unseen Academicals - I basically drop everything to read the latest Terry Pratchett book. I just love him. I may to re-read Carpe Jugulum this month too!

I'm listening to Turn of the Screw by Henry James which is fitting for Halloween. Quite enjoying this classic. As well as War of the Worlds.

I've got lots of others on the list but October is just flying by! Per usual, too many books and not enough time. Here are the others on my list - they are mostly for GR book groups but they are all great books so I can't complain -
The Guns of Avalon
To Ride Hell's Chasm
The Blade Itself

I also REALLY want to get back to the Wars of Light and Shadow series by Janny Wurts - The Ships of Merior is up next for me.

blackrose wrote: "Ronda wrote: "@ Blackrose - So you are a Sookie Stockhouse fan too. I have seen the first and second season on HBO and love it. I've read the first book of Charlene Harris True Blood series and s..."

I have quite enjoyed the Sookie Stackhouse series. They are certain light and silly but I love them - they are a guilty pleasure for me. As for the show, I've enjoyed that too but I like the books better. They show is much more graphic. It's interesting to see how HBO has made its own version and created different story lines but if I didn't have HBO I probably wouldn't go rent it.

I'm going to dive head first into more books than I can handle, but after a reading hiatus, I need the challenge!


The City & The City
Winter's Heart
Crossroads of Twilight
Midnight Tides
Her Fearful Symmetry
The Hobbit Or There and Back Again
Flashforward
The Last Light of the Sun

Its going to be such a great month!Nyphron Rising

Month is 1/2 over but I think I can get these read:

Arthur wrote: "Started The Book Thief by Markus Zusak."

I really enjoyed that book - I know it is classified as YA - but to me it really didn't read like a YA novel - don't get me wrong some of my favorite books are YA but it has a very mature feel to it.

Robin wrote: "Arthur wrote: "Started The Book Thief by Markus Zusak."

I really enjoyed that book - I know it is classified as YA - but to me it really didn't read like a YA novel - don't get me wrong some of ..."

I am about 2/3-3/4 into it.
I would like to have a word with someone who labeled it as YA(maybe I am still YA? but the book is very serious IMO).
I really like it and it has some very powerful emotions.

I read from several different genres, I guess mysteries being my primary genre, and so far in October, the fantasy I've "read" is mostly YA stuff that I've listened to in audio format: Inkheart by Cornelia Funke, The Sorceress by Michael Scott and am about to start The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman.

My current in print read is Dies the Fire by S.M. Stirling, which I guess is more of a post-apocalyptic dystopian fiction story than true fantasy, but I'm loving it anyway.

Cheryl

A few days ago I finished The Sword-Edged Blonde by Alex Bledsoe. I totally loved it. It's probably one of my favorites of the year so far. Very unique.

Now I'm in the middle of Pandemonium by Daryl Gregory. Works well for a Halloween read because it's about demon possession.

Wow i just finished the book The Great Hunt by robert jordan and man was it good loved it cant wait to get into the next one! Currently reading the Ghost King by R.A. Salvatore.

Finished The Book Thief a couple of days ago. It took me a while to digest the book before I could start reading another book.

The Book Thief is one of the best books I have read in the last 15-20 years. Very powerful and moving story. Albeit I am reading something new Liesel Meminger is still with me.

I've been stuck in Dawnthief by James Barclay, which is okay in a mindless sort of way, but lacking depth and originality. I never read reviews of a book before reading it myself and writing my own review, but I have to say that I'm very curious about how other people reviewed this book.

I finished The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective over the weekend (4 stars despite some repetition and extraneous info), and picked up What-the-Dickens The Story of a Rogue Tooth Fairy for something light and quick while I'm awaiting Those Who Hunt the Night to arrive in the mail.