bearamedic99 said:

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Umm... Q= quality, s= start, and E = ending?

Care to elaborate a bit?

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Oh yeah. Those scores are 0-11 and Q is quality, S is significance, and E is entertainment.

So Q would be how well crafted it is, prose, plot, themes, characters etc. S would be how recognized in genre or culturally significant it is, and E is how much personally enjoyed reading it.

maverick2076 said:

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Definitely Not A Cop said:

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I thought every one of the second era books is better than the one before. I don't think any of them are better than the original trilogy.

I would recommend reading secret history between three and four.

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I put off reading Era 2 for a long time because I didn't think I would like it. After reading it, I found I enjoyed it much more than Era 1.

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Good to know, you give me hope I'll turn the corner with it. Thanks to all for the input.

I really enjoyed era 2. I enjoyed era 1 as well, but I felt those books dragged a little more in the beginning and for me era 2 was more captivating start to finish.

Finishing up my cosmere read through with the secret project books. Really enjoying Snaderson's writing, but I get the criticism folks have of him. The endings and connectivity of it all keep me going even when some of the books start out as a dredge.

Warformed: Stormweaver books 1&2

Great books. Its cradle series meets Enders game.

Read book 1 of powdermage trilogy and very meh for me.

Think I'm going to try Poppy War trilogy instead.

Madmarttigan said:

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Read book 1 of powdermage trilogy and very meh for me.

Think I'm going to try Poppy War trilogy instead.

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I've seen that one (Poppy Wars) get very mixed reviews in fantasy circles, so take that for what it's worth.

I personally really liked the first book, but the second and third (still reading) haven't been quite at the same level. It's also up there as one of the most violent books/series I've ever read

bluefire579 said:

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Madmarttigan said:

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Read book 1 of powdermage trilogy and very meh for me.

Think I'm going to try Poppy War trilogy instead.

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I've seen that one (Poppy Wars) get very mixed reviews in fantasy circles, so take that for what it's worth.

I personally really liked the first book, but the second and third (still reading) haven't been quite at the same level. It's also up there as one of the most violent books/series I've ever read

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I DNF'ed the third one after about 60%. I know enough about the second Sino-Japanese war in the 30s to see that huge chunks were essentially one to one mappings of events of that conflict and just seemed pretty lazy to me after a while. Plus, Kuang just seems very angry as a person/writer and that bled into the story enough that it took me out of the story. If that makes sense. Then I read Babel (mostly) and felt pretty justified in my thinking.

Kuang writes very heavy topics which is normally fine and even great but I don't think she has the writing chops to pull it off in a productive way and not just be so….obstreperous I guess in nature. I also can only tolerate an unlikable main character so much and Rin is exactly that.

Not to dissuade anyone from the series of course. Just to lend credence to your assertion that there is some contention to that series in the fantasy world.

13B said:

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Philo B 93 said:

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What is LitRPG? I googled it, but maybe someone here can explain it to me clearer.

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I believe it is primarily on Audible but it's Literature based on Role Playing Games.

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In LitRPG, the writing often falls short, though there are notable exceptions that shine brightly.

I'd recommend the Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman if anybody is interested in giving the genre a shot. If you're familiar with Will Wight, he loves the series.

Easier to screenshot all available formats:

Eliminatus said:

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bluefire579 said:

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Madmarttigan said:

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Read book 1 of powdermage trilogy and very meh for me.

Think I'm going to try Poppy War trilogy instead.

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I've seen that one (Poppy Wars) get very mixed reviews in fantasy circles, so take that for what it's worth.

I personally really liked the first book, but the second and third (still reading) haven't been quite at the same level. It's also up there as one of the most violent books/series I've ever read

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I DNF'ed the third one after about 60%. I know enough about the second Sino-Japanese war in the 30s to see that huge chunks were essentially one to one mappings of events of that conflict and just seemed pretty lazy to me after a while. Plus, Kuang just seems very angry as a person/writer and that bled into the story enough that it took me out of the story. If that makes sense. Then I read Babel (mostly) and felt pretty justified in my thinking.

Kuang writes very heavy topics which is normally fine and even great but I don't think she has the writing chops to pull it off in a productive way and not just be so….obstreperous I guess in nature. I also can only tolerate an unlikable main character so much and Rin is exactly that.

Not to dissuade anyone from the series of course. Just to lend credence to your assertion that there is some contention to that series in the fantasy world.

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I definitely get what you're saying. Rin gets more and more unlikeable as the narrative goes on, and overall Kuang leans hard into the grimdark aspect, where no one really feels redeemable.

I don't mind Kuang's writing as a whole, but I would say my biggest criticism is the same one I had for the Priory of the Orange Tree author (name escapes me and too lazy to google), in that some things happen way too quickly, to the point where I'd feel like I'm getting whiplash because a scene is suddenly done.

I do have Babel sitting on my Kindle, will get around to that eventually.

i is smart said:

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13B said:

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Philo B 93 said:

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What is LitRPG? I googled it, but maybe someone here can explain it to me clearer.

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I believe it is primarily on Audible but it's Literature based on Role Playing Games.

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In LitRPG, the writing often falls short, though there are notable exceptions that shine brightly.

I'd recommend the Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman if anybody is interested in giving the genre a shot. If you're familiar with Will Wight, he loves the series.

Easier to screenshot all available formats:

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I have it in my unread Audible selections. My phone doesn't support Audible anymore so I haven't been able to get to it. Now my phone is on the fritz and I am about to switch to a new one so I should be able to get back at it soon.

Dungeon Crawler Carl is by far the most entertaining series I have read, ever, and the only series I have immediately gone back and restarted after I finished the last book. I think it's the kind of book best experienced in Audible.

Finished book 1 of Poppy War. Would give book 1 of powdermage like a C- and I guess book 1 of Poppy War a B-.

Poppy War was better writing but can't say I loved the ending or the overall story/character arc. Also can't explain why but one of the worst audiobook narrators I've heard.

Malibu said:

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Dungeon Crawler Carl is by far the most entertaining series I have read, ever, and the only series I have immediately gone back and restarted after I finished the last book. I think it's the kind of book best experienced in Audible.

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It may not be to everyone's taste, but Jeff Hay's performance is so outstanding that I now find it difficult to enjoy books narrated by others. I like how he slightly changes his voice for different characters, similar to Jim Dale with the Harry Potter books.

Madmarttigan said:

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I mean I really enjoyed the original trilogy and it legit made the room dusty at the end, but not interested too much in another book. Felt like it had a great ending already.

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I finally got around to reading Night Angel : Nemesis. It's worth the read. Kylar Stern is a little more flippant than I remember in the original series (maybe he was, just don't remember) but it was an entertaining book and is evidently the start of a new series.

13B said:

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Madmarttigan said:

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I mean I really enjoyed the original trilogy and it legit made the room dusty at the end, but not interested too much in another book. Felt like it had a great ending already.

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I finally got around to reading Night Angel : Nemesis. It's worth the read. Kylar Stern is a little more flippant than I remember in the original series (maybe he was, just don't remember) but it was an entertaining book and is evidently the start of a new series.

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I really hated Nemesis. Enough so that I deleted it from my Kindle and won't read any more of the series.

maverick2076 said:

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13B said:

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Madmarttigan said:

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I mean I really enjoyed the original trilogy and it legit made the room dusty at the end, but not interested too much in another book. Felt like it had a great ending already.

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I finally got around to reading Night Angel : Nemesis. It's worth the read. Kylar Stern is a little more flippant than I remember in the original series (maybe he was, just don't remember) but it was an entertaining book and is evidently the start of a new series.

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I really hated Nemesis. Enough so that I deleted it from my Kindle and won't read any more of the series.

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What did you hate about it? Just curious, it has been quite awhile since I read the original trilogy therefore it is hard for me to compare. So this was kind of a new series for me.

I hated the way Kyler was written, and how it threw away so much of the positive promise that the first trilogy ended with, especially between Kyler and Vi. It honestly felt like it was written by a different author who had no connection to what the characters had experienced.

maverick2076 said:

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I hated the way Kyler was written, and how it threw away so much of the positive promise that the first trilogy ended with, especially between Kyler and Vi. It honestly felt like it was written by a different author who had no connection to what the characters had experienced.

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Fair enough. I enjoyed the book but can definitely agree with the relationship between Vi and Kyler was odd (didn't make sense to me). The tone seemed different from the original series that I remembered.

Question about the Red Rising series...

I'm finishing up book 4. It was written different than books 1-3, where every other chapter is from a different person's perspective.

Is book 5 the same style, or does it go back to 1-3?

Follow up Question...

I loved The Kingkiller Chronicles, and the Stormlight Series. (Mistborn was kind of 'meh' after Stormlight)

Can anyone suggest a similar book series to Kingkiller/Stormlight?

AgGrad99 said:

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Question about the Red Rising series...

I'm finishing up book 4. It was written different than books 1-3, where every other chapter is from a different person's perspective.

Is book 5 the same style, or does it go back to 1-3?

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Same as 4.

AgGrad99 said:

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Follow up Question...

I loved The Kingkiller Chronicles, and the Stormlight Series. (Mistborn was kind of 'meh' after Stormlight)

Can anyone suggest a similar book series to Kingkiller/Stormlight?

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The original Night Angel trilogy that we were discussing.
The Traveler's Gate Trilogy - Will Wight
Silent Gods Series - Justin Travis Call
The Wheel of Time - Robert Jordan (finished by Sanderson)

The Empyrean series (Fourth Wing and Iron Flame so far) - Rebecca Yarros (oddly, you can count on about one explicit "porn" chapter each book but the rest is a pretty good read)

Thanks.