Yeah, I just finished The Tower of Swallows and most of the book is Ciri telling her story. I guess Sapkowski must have found her more interesting to write, but I do miss the "Geralt goes on a monster hunt" stories from the earlier collections.Flabyo wrote: November 28th, 2018, 10:20 am The Witcher books do eventually turn into ‘the adventures of Ciri, also with Geralt’, but that doesn’t make them any less good
I think I left after the third book. Loved the first, but the second and third didn't really do much for me.Chopper wrote: June 5th, 2019, 8:03 am You will then have to change all your user names to SnowCrashxxxx like everyone else who's read that book.
Edit: I am reading the latest book in the Expanse sci fi series, which came out a month or two ago. It is good; he is still doing that trick of cutting from several exciting chapters in a row, to one chapter about the most boring person in the book (who will eventually grow into a fascinating character in their own right).
I'm enjoying it, but this is probably the end of the line for me, as I can't really engage with these series-in-progress as they are being written (though the next one is allegedly due in 2020, which isn't too bad).
Ah, brings back memories of a cycling holiday along the Canal Du Midi a few years back.Alex79uk wrote: September 20th, 2019, 8:01 am But these guys were something else. Really, absolute arseholes. Robbing, causing death by drink driving, just beating the shit out of people for no reason, degrading women and treating them like shit, smashing up hotels and restaurants just for fun and because they were so wasted. They really were vile humans.
That's one of my favourites. If you ever wanted a list of 70s science fiction to read, just go by the books Morwenna reads. I quite honestly didn't want this book to end.duskvstweak wrote: January 4th, 2020, 6:24 pm I also read Jo Walton's Among Others, a fantasy book that's as much a love letter to scifi and fantasy books as it is it's own coming of age story. Also a good read.
My wife LOVED Circe. I signed up for a local book club that's gonna cover it, but we're moving out of state so I'll just have to read it on my own!Cass wrote: March 13th, 2020, 9:36 am This year so far I've finished:
A Memory Called Empire, by Arkady Martine. Really loved it, as a foreigner living in a strange culture the novel's exploration of culture shock (as well as the dynamics of weaker cultures being absorbed into and around larger more dominant cultures) was super interesting. Plus the characters rock. Feels a little scrappy at times but I think it's Martine's first book, so I'm very excited to read whatever she does next. 7.5/10.
Circe, by Madeline Miller. I am a Greek history nerd, and as a gay man I'm contractually obligated to love a witch story, so Circe ticks all my boxes going in. One of those books which is a joy to just read. 8/10.
Mating In Captivity, by Esther Perel. Perel is a therapist and the book's focus is on dissecting the idea that sex lives inevitably diminish (or die entirely) within committed relationships. Her thesis is that eroticism is often stifled by modern couple's insistence on closeness, and that creating a healthy sex life within a long-term relationship often requires the creation of a small amount of emotional distance from your partner, to the long-term benefit of the relationship. Interesting read, definitely one to share and discuss with a partner. Like a lot of non-fiction or self-help, probably somewhat longer than it needs to be. 7/10.
The library I worked at received a whole bunch of those Dragonlance books as a donations a few years ago and they were pretty popular for a while, but they did eventually stop checking out. I always thought they looked cool, but maybe, as your review mentions, I might be too old for them.ReprobateGamer wrote: June 25th, 2020, 2:31 pm Having gone through all of Dan Abnetts Gaunt's Ghosts series (each a damn fine sci-fi war story that you do not need to have any knowledge of Warhammer 40K to enjoy) during lockdown, I decided to revisit a trilogy from my youth that I first read in my first year at secondary school, picked up ever few years during my teens and have not touched in the last fifteen years or so ...
... The Dragonlance Chronicles (Tracey Hickman and Margaret Weis) are a series that I have liked since I first read them and a fantasy series that is a staple in the genre ...
and reading the first book in the series I was majorly disappointed. I remember it fondly but apparently my teenager reading choice appears to be pretty simplistic. I'm continuing onwards through it (the appearances of Fizban do remain a delight) but on the whole, this seems to be series that has not aged at all well.
The Twins series that formed the follow-up trilogy to this are stashed in the loft somewhere and I suspect I will hunt them out to check but I'm not keen to read Dragonlance again after this reading, honestly leaving me a little sad that my memory of this series has not lived up to my expectations. I'm hoping that books two and three will remind me of the spark that I had cherished this trilogy, but I suspect that my battered collectors edition book will be departing my shelves, alongside all of the expanded universe lore.
As a side note, a random mention in this months Dragon magazine from Wizards of The Coast referred to an animated version of the first book, which I have just found in it's entirety on Youtube. There are some good names in the cast though I note the IMDB rating is 4.9/10 so I'll be looking to see what grade of bad movie it turns out to be ...