The Sword and Laser discussion

Our February pick is The Will of the Many by James Islington

let us know what you think of next month's pick

Our 3rd Aussie author. Joining:

Daniel O'Malley author of The Rook and
Claire G. Coleman author of Terra Nullius

With spredges!

What?! A book I haven’t previously read? A new era dawns!

I was first introduced to James Islington back when he was a self-published author and his book The Shadow of What Was Lost had a lot of BookTube buzz and cover art that was intriguing to me. Been a fan ever since. Read this back in 2023 and it made my personal Best of 2023 list. Not a fan of the cover art for the US edition but the Deluxe Hardback ed, solves that problem.

Excited for this! It’s been on my list for a while now but hasn’t been a priority, so this is a great incentive; looking forward to reading with all of you :)

Not a book I’ve had on my radar tbh although the cover is weirdly familiar. Maybe I saw it in the bookshop when I was browsing the other day.

It’s pretty expensive in kindle and hardback so I’ll probably use an Audible credit.

Ruth wrote: "... It’s pretty expensive in kindle and hardback so I’ll probably use an Audible credit."

Yup. More than I am willing to put out for an Author I am unfamiliar with.
My last Audible credit is already committed and the audio is unavailable at Libro.fm.
What to do? Skip this one for now perhaps? 🤔

Amazon and Overdrive (the legacy library websites like the below) have a free sample of the first six chapters. I read the sample after feeling less than inspired by publishing materials and reviews and looking through the reviews of people who rated it highly. That was enough for me to decide this one isn't my cup of tea. But the first six chapters is pretty sizeable sample.

https://livebrary.overdrive.com/media...

This one went straight from my Audible wish list to my phone! I’m halfway through the book, and enjoying it. The author is new to me. He creates a dense world that he deftly brings to life.

Clyde wrote: "Ruth wrote: "... It’s pretty expensive in kindle and hardback so I’ll probably use an Audible credit."

Yup. More than I am willing to put out for an Author I am unfamiliar with.
My last Audible cr..."

Having listened to the Audible sample, read some of the Kindle sample, and looked at some reviews, I’m feeling like I might skip this one tbh. It’s very long, the samples aren’t grabbing me, and a lot of the reviews (both good and bad) mention The Name of the Wind, which IMHO is one of the most over-rated fantasy books.

This was an interesting read. I finished it and enjoyed it except for the (view spoiler)[ ZERO PLOT RESOLUTION CLIFHANGER ENDING! (hide spoiler)]. Other than that, it was great.

At...98...percent...mark...must...resist...

Buzz wrote: "This was an interesting read. I finished it and enjoyed it except for the [spoilers removed]. Other than that, it was great."
Not only was it (view spoiler)[a cliff hanger (hide spoiler)] they really (view spoiler)[dug out the base of the cliff at the end of the book to make it higher. (hide spoiler)]