LeMarchand Posted February 12 Posted February 12 Stephen Donaldson has picked up the torch. Quote "He was a leper. He was a pariah. He was a man who had been cast out of society, shunned and feared because of his disease. He was a man who had lost his wife, his son, his livelihood, his home. He was a man who had nothing left to live for, no purpose, no hope."
Syman_a Posted February 12 Posted February 12 A quote from the book "Besides, the board made periodical pilgrimages to the farm, and always sent the beadle the day before, to say they were going. The children were neat and clean to behold, when they went; Charles Dickens predicted OFSTED! 1
LeMarchand Posted February 23 Posted February 23 (edited) The Girl of Ink and Stars by Kiran Millwood Hargrave. A young would-be mapmaker sets out to rescue her friend who has gone missing. On of those "shelved with kids but not, apart from the age of the protagonist, only for kids" books. Not as fantastical as I had been expecting, but still a good,easy read. I might try some of the author's other books. As we don't have a "book tour" section, I guess this is where I put that I went to https://www.garthmarenghi.com/tour/garth-marenghi-this-bursted-earth-book-tour/#tourdates a couple of weeks ago. Well worth a look for fans of Darkplace, even if you haven't read any of the books. I got the impression that a lot of the audience hadn't which Garth/Matthew had some fun with. A random look at venues shows almost full theatres, like when I went, to rather empty ones. Edited February 23 by LeMarchand
Norphy Posted February 24 Posted February 24 The Shattering Peace by John Scalzi I was excited to see that there was a new Scalzi book published at end of last year and doubly so that it was an Old Man’s War book, the first in ten years. The Old Man’s War series was what got me into Scalzi after Redshirts and so far it’s not disappointed.
pete Posted February 24 Posted February 24 On 10/02/2026 at 16:09, pete said: About to start The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers, which was recommended as "like The Expanse series but more hopeful". Ok, so I devoured books 1, 2 and 3 and I'm now on book 4 of the series. Recommended. 1
LeMarchand Posted March 2 Posted March 2 To the Center of the Earth by Greig Beck A caving team are determined to win an award for the deepest descent and follow clues from an ancient alchemist, Jules Verne and the sole survivor of a previous expedition to find that the hollow earth theory is reality. But can they escape? Quite a fun adventure that is in dire need of an editor. Within the first few pages we have a 1972 set in media res prologue followed by 1973 - One Year Earlier. One characters partner for life dies but he seems to forget her pages later, compass directions change and the limited supplies of dynamite grow or shrink according to plot need with a quarter stick changing to a half stick a few paragraphs later. If you can cope with stuff like the above it's a fun, easy read but I didn't want to start the next part of the trilogy on completion. That said, I do want to see if my theory that one, if not two, of the "off page" deaths were anything but.
GrumbleDook Posted March 25 Posted March 25 I've been through quite a few books and audiobooks over the last few months and whilst some of it has an element of comfort reading, some has been to pick something new. I really enjoyed getting into Marcus Lee's The Chosen series (5 books) and have a few other books on my TBR pile now too. Ryan Kirk's Nightblade books/novella are really enjoyable third of fourth time. Then some comfort reading with Raymond E Feist's Fireman Saga, though I am still not 100% sure I like the ending. Dipping back into some romance/romantasy with a smattering of different books from various series ... a bit of C J Archer (Cleopatra Fox), JS Kennedy (Mackenzie Green) and C N Crawford (Shadow Fae). I've also been reading/listening to Jon Cronshaw's The Ravenglass Chronicles (nearly at the point of book 10 ... will then take a break for a bit) And over the weekend I picked up the latest Ryan Kirk - These Fallen Swords - as an audiobook. He had a prize draw and I got one of the promo codes :-) So that will be my next one. In between these I have been picking at Bruised Sole, and autobiography of Graeme Parker (The Hoof GP). A very emotional and poignant read so far. My TBR has only increased by a few though ... moving house has meant I have had to curtail a fair chunk of buying extra books. I did pick up the complete bundle of Elisabeth Wheatley in the Black Friday sale, so I have 35-40 books to get through there!
pete Posted March 26 Posted March 26 Just finished Shannon Chakraborty's The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi. A legendary pirate queen is blackmailed out of retirement for one last job. Very good.
LeMarchand Posted June 20 Posted June 20 Just finished The Book of Sand by Theo Clare, better known as Mo Hayder. An American teenage girl keeps dreaming of sand and deserts and starts to have hallucinations of a desert lizard. Meanwhile, a "family" in what seems to be a post-apocalyptic desert environment that holds places from this world but whose geography doesn't match ours searches for "The Sarkpoint". Posthumously published, this was supposed to be at least a duology if not a series. I thought at two books had been delivered before the author passed away but a second doesn't seem forthcoming after four years, so I may have misremembered. This does finish with an obvious "we may give you some answers in the sequel" ending but at least it feels like you've reached a decent conclusion to the story. Totally different to the Mo Hayder books and worth a read.
pete Posted June 22 Posted June 22 Just finished Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff. "Gabriel de Leon, the last living vampire hunter, is held prisoner awaiting execution for killing the Forever King, Fabien Voss. However, the Undying Empress orders Gabriel to tell her personal historian, Jean-Francois Chastain, his entire life story." It's grimdark in that lovely Joe Abercrombie way.
Dos_Box Posted June 22 Posted June 22 Currently a hundred pages into Project Hail Mary. I'd seen the film when it was in the cinemas and utterly loved it. I'm now utterly loving the book!
Syman_a Posted June 22 Posted June 22 5 hours ago, Dos_Box said: Currently a hundred pages into Project Hail Mary. I'd seen the film when it was in the cinemas and utterly loved it. I'm now utterly loving the book! really enjoyed the book. Not yet seen the film which is better [question]
pete Posted June 22 Posted June 22 And a few more: Super Nintendo: How One Japanese Company Helped the World Have Fun by Keza MacDonald. If you liked the Iwata Asks interview series it's worth a read. The Rise: A Short Story - Ian Rankin. It's crime, it's Ian Rankin, you know what you're getting. City of Last Chances - Adrian Tchaikovsky. Overall good, but a bit baggy.
Andrew_C Posted June 23 Posted June 23 16 hours ago, Syman_a said: really enjoyed the book. Not yet seen the film which is better [question] Book. Starts slower, more detail of Grace's realization.
Andrew_C Posted June 23 Posted June 23 16 hours ago, Syman_a said: really enjoyed the book. Not yet seen the film which is better [question] Book. Starts slower, more detail of Grace's realization 14 hours ago, pete said: City of Last Chances - Adrian Tchaikovsky. Overall good, but a bit baggy. .I think that a lot of his work needs an editor with sharper scissors. I'm fairly sure I said this about "Children Of Time" some way up*. The 3rd quarter could have been cut significantly with little loss, and much more pace. * Read it - it is very good!
simpsonj Posted June 23 Posted June 23 Feet of Clay - Terry Pratchett The latest in my re-read of the entire discworld collection, and this book in particular is a reminder of why I love Pratchett. The story telling, the characters, the world Pratchett builds is absolutely top notch, but even more than that, the ideas he brings to the fore through this fantasy setting is fantastic. Quote “Is It Frightening To Be Free?" "You said it." "You Say To People 'Throw Off Your Chains' And They Make New Chains For Themselves?" "Seems to be a major human activity, yes.” Both Dorfl and Cheery are both excellent additions to the character roster, and Vimes remains, well, Vimes. Quote “Commander, I always used to consider that you had a definite anti-authoritarian streak in you.” “Sir?” “It seems that you have managed to retain this even though you are authority.” “Sir?” “That’s practically zen.” Also listening to the Tiffany Aching books with my daughter, which are surprisingly dark. Brilliant books, and I heartily recommend them, but just be aware that I feel that Pratchett recognises his end is coming, and death (rather than Death) is a running theme throughout, and particularly book 4 (I shall wear Midnight) deals with some pretty heavy material. 1
ICTDirect_Dave Posted June 23 Posted June 23 He was an absolute master of his craft. Those later Discworld books, especially, should be taught in schools 1
LeMarchand Posted June 23 Posted June 23 I should really try to read another Pratchett. I read "Colour of Magic" way back when as it was so highly recommended. I felt I was missing most of the jokes and never bothered again. I'm not a fan of "humorous" literature, though.
ICTDirect_Dave Posted June 24 Posted June 24 Colour of Magic is not the best Discworld book to read first. Terry is still rather green at this point and spends much of the book explaining all of the rules of his newly fashioned world. It IS a good story, but better to return to it after reading several others, I feel. The city watch books are an excellent starting point to the series, as their characters crop up more and more throughout the other books.
TechMonkey Posted June 24 Posted June 24 Yes, as much as I love all of Pratchett, Colour of Magic is probably my least read book. I'm trying to read Salt at the moment but just can't get into it. Might be current situations and reading habits, but it isn't sitting with me. I may perceiver.
Andrew_C Posted June 24 Posted June 24 On 23/06/2026 at 13:34, LeMarchand said: I should really try to read another Pratchett. I read "Colour of Magic" way back when as it was so highly recommended. I felt I was missing most of the jokes and never bothered again. I'm not a fan of "humorous" literature, though. Give "Equal Rites" a go. Still an early book, so you won't be missing a lot of the backstories, but much more polished. 1
GrumbleDook Posted June 29 Posted June 29 It has been a while since I popped in a went through my reading list and TBR .... so here is a lengthy one. I've been going through quite a few things ... some series are finished and some have more sets to go. I've been rereading my collection of CJ Archer stuff, followed by Ryan Kirk (absolutely fantastic person ... gifted me some of his audiobooks!), Sarah K L Wilson's Dragon School series (Just finished book 15?), reread Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London series so I then dive into Stone and Sky, Jon Cronshaw's The Ravenglass Chronicles (up to book 9), Graeme Parker's Bruised Sole: The unfiltered Story of The Hoof GP (still ongoing, CN Crawford's Dark Fae series (book 7, I think), a bunch of Brandon Sanderson, Jill Bearup's Just Stab Now (finished) and now reading Andy Peloquin's Darkblade series alongside Elisabeth Wheatley's Daindreth series. I've probably missed off a few others in there, some audiobooks and stuff. The other thing I have really enjoyed is this year's Big Read from The Tolkien Society. A wonderful book club reading of The Hobbit and now onto LotR, followed by hour long lectures once a month from noted scholars and Tolkien lovers, and then 1/2 hour discussion between small groups of different members. I know the recordings will be online at some point, and if you are a fan then it is worth watching some of the older recordings on The Tolkien Society's YouTube page. Looking forward to the final Thursday next book coming out from Jasper Fforde, and until then it will be finishing off some more series, and diving into my heavily reduced TBR pile (I culled it before moving house in Jan). 1
Rob_D Posted June 30 Posted June 30 Reading Wings of Night at the moment. So far it seems like a discount Fourth Wing. Been on-again-off-again reading the Mob at TAC books, which can be pretty good fun.
LeMarchand Posted June 30 Posted June 30 17 hours ago, GrumbleDook said: Looking forward to the final Thursday next book coming out from Jasper Fforde, and until then it will be finishing off some more series, and diving into my heavily reduced TBR pile (I culled it before moving house in Jan). I was disappointed by "The Woman Who Died A Lot". Hopefully the "Final" novel we see a return to form. 1
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