What are you Reading Now?

[Avery Moore]

Currently reading Shadow of the Shapeshifter by David Lee Stone. Very much up my street. From what I understand he's the officially named successor of Terry Pratchett, and I'm definitely seeing why. The world of Illmoor is very Discworldy. Highly recommend to any fans of the Terry Pratchett/Douglas Adams kind of humour.

 

[pmmg]

I just finished re(rererere)reading Megan Whalen Turner's Thief of Eddis series. Sheer perfection.

I dont think I could read a series twice. I think I would just want to use that time on something new.

 

[BloodyNine]

Sanderson's Stormlight book two for me. Pretty epic so far! That, and some short stories by John Langan, which, if anyone here is into horror, I would highly recommend.

 

[pmmg]

Got another one I was just listening too.

 

[pmmg]

Currently, I am reading a romance by a friend of mine for a past writers groups. I really like her, and wish her much success. I don't usually do romance, but I've wanted to see her professional stuff for a while. It the first book of the Aerisia series, by Sarah Ashwood.

I am not too far in, but I would say I am not hooked yet. But I also have not given it a fair chance. My reading time is often scattered, and I no longer have those long drives to play the audio-books in.


I recently completed Mr. Desmenesdior's Eve of Snows.

I find after the story is over, I think back on its details and have to say just well done. It feels a bit like a snowball going down hill, it just gets bigger as it goes. I am not sure when I hit the point being hooked, but it was a little past the beginning. But the story is full of so many details that just start adding up to a fleshed out world, with believable intricacies, and a mystery starts to appear that is not what the characters were expecting (or myself as the reader). Overall, I feel the story overtakes the heavy lifting of the opening, and powers through to a 'did not see that coming' end.

My only criticism would be, its hard to tell who the MC is, least at the beginning, and there are a few to follow even when the story is not really apparent yet.

I thought the power of this story was in the way it built, and became something different than what would have been expected at the beginning. Even the little epitaphs from the 'tomes of the touched' were not something I was giving a lot of attention to until it was shown they were more a part of the story than I thought was coming.

The world was brutal (I especially like the way they discarded with defrocked priests), and though it had many story lines, they merged together well. Though I did not think it was clear, I did assumed Eliles was the MC, and while she was not the only important character, I think that she was. Since I had the audio book, I would never have guessed her name was was spelled that way.

What else is there to say (and since it the type of story it is, I would not want to give away its details). If this story continues, the back story of the religion, and hidden meanings of things, and the new difficulty of the world after these events, is a great back drop to keep exploring in. There is a lot soul searching this world has to do, and not a lot of time to do it in Good job Mr. Rice.

 

[Karlin]

Not fantasy- but Winston Churchill's history of WW2. I started on volume 4, because I happened to find it

 

[Prince of Spires]

I recently completed Mr. Desmenesdior's Eve of Snows.

I'm about halfway through it. And the biggest thing I noticed is that it reads like a trad-published novel. In a good way.

 

[pmmg]

Yes, I would not know it was Indi published if I had picked it up at a Borders (Do they still exist?)

 

[Ozonequeen]

Yes, I would not know it was Indi published if I had picked it up at a Borders (Do they still exist?)

Not sure if Border's still exists but we have a Barnes and Nobles near us. I'm currently slogging through a book called "The Maiden of Belial"... It had potential, a coven of satanic witches trying to summon their master but alas it reads more like a Hallmark holiday movie, complete with the big city girl coming to the small town to meet the hot sheriff and fall in love. The dialogue sounds like a badly written script and the story includes many campy stereotypical roles. Why am I still reading it? Because I prefer to finish a book and it's not that long.
As I mentioned in another thread I'm listening to the audiobook of a story that is engaging and well written but not very exciting and extremely long (800pgs) called "The Golem and the Djinni". This book has had moments where it has really drawn me into the character's lives and stories, like the poor ice cream man who used to be a doctor in Egypt until he had an encounter with a Djinn that cursed him. I feel for them and enjoy their experience but the book is far from the escapism I usually seek in my reading, so I continue to listen to the audiobook.
Hoping my next read is much better... I have read some really good books in the past few months. One of my favorite authors, Sylvia Mercedes has released the next book in her "Prince of the Doomed City" series but she admits that it will break the reader's heart until the next book. I'm like... NOOOOO... I don't want to have my heart broken for these characters that I've come to care about and then have to wait for the next book! So, we'll see if I cave, lol

 

[pmmg]

Why do they never fall for an okay looking IT guy with writing as a hobby?

I have a book I swear is much better...if i do say so myself

 

[Ozonequeen]

I look forward to reading it soon! Ya know Liddiya Foxglove writes Deliciously Dark fairy tales and her male characters are often described as ugly or frightening. The main female character just starts noticing 'other' things and falls in love. Lol

 

[pmmg]

I did not know. But i bet shes happy.

 

[Ozonequeen]

The characters are... The thing with women is that what makes someone attractive or unattractive can vary widely from woman to woman... A lot of fantasy romance authors describe their characters as having ripped bodies and all that (I read A LOT) but if the character is an asshole like in Amelia Hutchinson's books, it's like yuck! I've read some beautiful fantasy romance stories where the characters aren't ever described as hot but main female character falls in love with who the person is... So as the story goes on, the female lead will talk about little things, like eyes or the sound of the voice, etc... I don't know that I've ever read a fantasy romance with an IT guy, lol... I'm sure one exists somewhere... The campy nature of Maiden of Belial bothers me... Like, I'm half hoping that evil wins just to do something different... I read a gorgeous gothic horror novel 20 years ago that's always stuck with me because it put everything on its head... Two demons in hell were at war, one of them revered beauty and created a succubus to corrupt the world... Meanwhile, a sweet but unattractive gay guy with a pure heart ends up being her soul mate and in the process saves the world from its end.

 

[Ozonequeen]

Also, in Maiden of Belial, and there's the whole... 'King Solomon created a ring to control demons and covert them to Jesus Christ'... Solomon lived at least 1000 years before Jesus smh

 

[pmmg]

Well....Christians would say Christ always was... but it is fair to say he also has a spot on the time line when he was walking around on earth... I'm gonna pass on the ring thing again.

I've gone back into editing mode, so I put my romance down. May be a while before I pick it up again. I do have several romances in my story, and I find as I move from one book to the other, they get better. They are not full of perfect people. The most touching one, I think, come from one character who lost his leg in battle, and woman who's eye was gashed out in another. I dont think people would pick them for their physical beauty, but a lot of my characters get scarred. I consequence of doing dangerous stuff, I guess.

 

[Ozonequeen]

Well....Christians would say Christ always was... but it is fair to say he also has a spot on the time line when he was walking around on earth... I'm gonna pass on the ring thing again.

I've gone back into editing mode, so I put my romance down. May be a while before I pick it up again. I do have several romances in my story, and I find as I move from one book to the other, they get better. They are not full of perfect people. The most touching one, I think, come from one character who lost his leg in battle, and woman who's eye was gashed out in another. I dont think people would pick them for their physical beauty, but a lot of my characters get scarred. I consequence of doing dangerous stuff, I guess.

I've found that some of the best romance I've read comes from characters where the focus is less on physical beauty and more on WHO they are... What made Natalia Jaster's Foolish Kingdoms series so amazing to me was that because many of the characters had disabilities they didn't pay attention or care about the physical appearance and didn't talk about it at all in Dare... Marina Simcoe's Serpent's Touch, she can't even look at the male character for much of the first book, because he's a gorgon... Part of why I love Sylvia Mercedes is because she focuses on the dynamics as opposed to fated mates or he's hot, she's hot... Beauty should matter little in a good love story

 

[pmmg]

Well. I wont go as far as should. Just that it does not have to matter. Attractiveness is not a bad thing. Specially on a the cover.

 

[kennyc]

The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles