What did you just read?

Mudcrush Durtfeet said:

Unsong was great.

Wandering Inn is having a new mini chapter every day for a week. The author is a machine when it comes to writing chapters...

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Yeah, Pirate's output is some next-level insanity; bi-weekly chapter updates are sometimes larger than some entire books I have read, heh.

so Children of Time/Children of Ruin: damn fine series. The sequel is not as good as the first, but not offensively so, the first is just really that good.

Also finished up a reread of The Dispossessed from Le Guin. I really enjoyed it more. The physics debates between the anarcho-communist moon people actually draw you into the world. I'm sure there's some intended tie between the duality of the moon/planet people and the sequentialists and the simultaneity group, so interesting.

I'm doing the audio book of Snow Crash right now, it's fine, the book is awesome but the transitions they added in are annoying, wish they'd take them out.

Finished up mother of learning as well, definitely worth reading. Biggest critique is occasional hamfisted dialogue, but it’s not nearly enough to take away from the fantastic overall story.

Wandering Inn also great, the first book is definitely the weakest but even it’s good . Every book is better than the last, and I am excited for every new chapter that is released. Every character is great except the disgruntled postal worker, and even she has gotten much better.

Also to put in perspective just how much pirate writes, the word count of the series through the end of book 6 is over 4.7 million words, which is about 300k more words than the entire wheel of time series, all since 2017

Finally got around to reading The Name of the Wind and Wise Man's Fear (the Kingkiller Chronicle parts one and two). Now I can be in line with everyone else waiting for another one.

They were both very good but I couldn't have given less of a shit about the protagonist's rival or his love interest. Dude spends too much time chasing an amalgam of Forest Gump's Jenny and Great Expectations Estelle.

Gatherer of Clouds by Sean Russell. The sequel to The Initiate Brother, which I've posted here previously. Asian-themed fantasy, where the Chinese/Japanese mashup Empire is being invaded by the setting's Mongols. As I mentioned for the first book, I was surprised at the lack of action, especially considering that the title character was a Shaolin-style monk, and figured that the second book would make up for that, since war was a major factor in book two. Surprisingly, I was wrong on that. There was some action, but the main thrust of the book's drama remained political--and occasionally philosophical--rather than action-oriented. Even so, I found myself enjoying the read. My only real critique is that the author perhaps went a little overboard with the number of perspective characters, which could leave the story feeling a little fragmented.

Ritley said:

except the disgruntled postal worker,

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Ah, hahahahha what a discription! So wrong, and so right.

The Wandering Inn is pretty great, I've been rereading it, and it has suprised me how much stuff from the early books still gets referenced in the latest book.

Marshal Ney, The Bravest of the Brave by A. Hilliard Atteridge

Joachim Murat, Napoleon's Great Commander of Cavalry by A. Hilliard Atteridge

I read both of these at the same time, bouncing back and forth in order to stay chronological. Both were written at the end of 1890s, and despite some dry writing I got exactly what I wanted out of both. I learned a lot about the personalities of Ney and Murat and was fascinated by their polar opposite nature. Ney was a Strasbourger whose soul was as German as his mother-tongue; cold and disciplined. Murat was a Gascon, vain, materialistic and passionate in nature.

Both of them came from meager backgrounds. Ney worked as clerk in an ironworks. Murat was destined for the priesthood. Both ran away in order to join cavalry regiments.

One of the strongest points of reading the two books together was that Murat's biography is more interesting in the beginning, while Ney's is filled with battle after battle to the point where one becomes bored by it all. Later, when Murat gets slogged down in trying to become the King of Italy, Ney is catapulted to the forefront and becomes the hero of the day.

This is not the first history I've read about the Napoleonic Era, but both encapsulate the spirit of the times. Having escaped the bloodshed of the Revolution, France was a nation captured by its ambitious young men. They ran wild over Europe, shattering ancient institutions and introducing republicanism to the world. It is around 1809 that the histories always feel the most optimistic.

And then Spain and Russia comes into the picture, and the histories always become depressing. Ney and Murat were caught in that trend. Murat, spurred on by his vanity, negotiates to become the King of Naples. During the 100 Days, Ney slowly starts to lose his sanity.

With that in mind, I would recommend these histories for two reasons. The first is to get to know two of Napoleon's marshals. The second reason is to understand the spirit of the Napoleonic Age; youthful and optimistic at first, but leading to a cold resolution.

EDIT: I also read Incomparable, Napoleon's 9th Light Infantry Regiment by T.E. Crowdy. As far as a history goes, this was really good. It was well written and interesting, filled with facts and tidbits that really brought the 9th back-to-life.

The closest thing I can relate it to is Band of Brothers, where you follow a single military unit throughout the entire war. You get to know some of the soldiers, and feel bad when they get killed or move onto other regiments. I would recommend it.

Forty Stories by Anton Chekhov... I have long been told that Chekhov is a classic of Russian literature, and was gifted this book by a student of mine. While I enjoyed most of it, I believe Chekhov hasn't aged well. I read mainly to experience things or visit places I can't. Chekhov focuses more on the minutia of daily life, which was a novelty at the time.

He is at his best when he writes something comedic, but when he tries to write something sad I can't help but get angry at the characters for just sitting around and crying in their tea cups.

Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri... This was another gift, but from a different student. It was written by an Indian-American woman who moved to America as a child. It does not follow her life, but is composed of several short stories that follow the lives of various Indian-Americans. Some immigrants. Some first generation.

This post will make me seem like a hypocrite. Chekhov's daily life stories were quite boring to me, but Jhumpa Lahiri has done the exact same thing. Except this time I actually really liked it. I think part of that may be because most of the stories are set in New England (where I'm from) and enjoyed the nostalgia.

Perhaps the biggest difference between Chekhov and Lahiri is the fact Chekhov's characters never do anything. All they do is complain. But Lahiri throws her characters at their problems, armed with their life experience and skills. Rarely do they succeed. Nor do they fail. Often they make out just as well as normal people.

I wouldn't reread the Chekhov, but I would reread the Lahiri. My recommendations follow suit.

Miles Cameron' Masters and Mages trilogy

Loved his Traitor Son Cycle books (only one meh book in the bunch) this new series I found to be a tad lackluster. There is one main POV in the series, interesting character but it feels like the story (which is the character's story) is a frame for a larger narrative that suffers from being unexplored. First book is strong as well as first half of 2nd one then story tapers off, infected with too much filler. Had he just added the POV's of some other characters this could have been much better. There are also a number of side characters and some plots left dangling. While none of the flaws are wholly redeemed, I was actually touched by the ending. It isn't at the level of Black Company's "Soldiers live" (which imho nothing in fantasy is) but I've still been thinking about the mood it created a week later. So, for me, at least, I got my money's worth.

Other positives are the guy is great at writing combat (large scale or personal) and sword play is a major theme (why becomes more clear as time goes on). Anyway, thought I'd share.

Also tred reading James Elroy latest novel "This Storm" but gave up. The guy has become a parody of himself.

1491 by Charles C. Mann. A history book of the pre-columbian Americas. Obviously, with the limited written records, this isn't a narrative like history books usually are, but more of a "here is the current state of the archeological scholarship, for the layman" book. Still, a really interesting read; and one that gives you a bigger idea of pre-columbian society beyond 'hunter-gather'; one of the main points of the book is that the common view of Native Americans living simple lives in a 'state of nature' is, largely, bullshit, and that they worked massive changes on their landscape before post-columbian diseases thinned their numbers. And if it's something you're worried about, the book largely isn't concerned with moralizing overmuch about colonization, but simply describing pre-columbian civilization as scholars currently understand it. Highly recommended if it's a subject you're interested in.

Just finished reading Everybody Loves Large Chests.

Long serial but it's finally over. Who thought a story about a mimic could go so far.

Ukerric said:

Wait what? It actually ends?

I have to see - ok, read - that!

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It goes in a rather surprising direction to end up as well.

For something so out of left-field it was a pretty satisfying ending to the series.