John’s Comments (group member since Jun 25, 2012)

John’s comments from the Beyond Reality group.

I would like to nominate the Inda series by Sherwood Smith (4 books).

The first book has a good bit of "fantasy war college" to it, later in the series we get some sailing and piracy. Great characters, a plot full of twists and turns, heartbreaking loss and triumph.

I’d like to nominate Sherwood Smith’s Inda quartet (4 books). It’s got a little bit of “Ender’s Game in a fantasy milieu” vibe to start, with a brilliant young protagonist sent off to military academy, but quickly moves beyond that. Interesting world-building, strong character-driven story, a good bit of political intrigue. Ships and pirates, cavalry and swords—there’s something for everyone. Like Robin Hobb, Smith puts her characters through the wringer, but stylistically it’s distinct.

Just finished The Baron of Magister Valley by Steven Brust, nearly finished listening to the audiobook of Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson. Re-reading The Bonehunters by Steven Erikson, and also reading The Queen's Gambit that the Netflix series was based off of. Next up in audiobooks is Ring Shout by P. Djeli Clark.

I read it about a year ago, but this seems like a great excuse for a re-read!

I would like to nominate Mark Lawrence's Impossible Times trilogy, which begins with One Word Kill. The setting is largely 1980s England, centers on time travel.

Like Chris, I don't think I would have picked this up if it hadn't been a book club selection (also, if I hadn't been able to get the kindle edition from my library), but I'm so glad I did. I really enjoyed this, from start to finish. For whatever reason, it seems like a lot of books I read on my Kindle phone app tend to bog down for me, but this one drew me in and wouldn't let go.

I think a lot of that goes to Gideon and her narrative voice--like Shel, I found it laugh-out-loud funny at numerous points. I just loved Muir's style, her turns of phrase. And along those lines, I was thinking about genre. Like, how this was a blend of fantasy and sci-fi elements. Like how, on one level, this could easily have been straight-up fantasy--change the space ships to ships, planets to castles, no real change needed for the plot. And yet, I thought that the sci-fi element was, on some level, what made the style work. It wouldn't have fit a pure fantasy milieu very well, because it felt too modern for that, but it really worked here, imo.

I was also impressed with the boldness of the ending. I mean, I'm assuming Gideon really is gone, except perhaps as a portion of Harrow, and that's all kinds of gutsy for a book whose appeal leaned so much on the likability of the narrator and her voice. But I'm still looking forward to the rest of the series and trust Muir to nail it.

I started it maybe a week and a half ago, about 3/4 finished, really enjoying it.

Good article, Shel, thanks for sharing it.

FANTASY: I would like to nominate Sherwood Smith's novel Inda. The first comparison that came to me was a fantasy Ender's Game, because the protagonist is a precocious military genius sent off to his country's military academy, but it's really much more than that.

There's pirates!

The world-building is very good good, in a subtle way. It seems at first glance to be pretty normal medieval fantasy, but there's a lot more going on under the surface, and it's really thoughtful, and personal and cultural history have a deep influence on the present.

What really stands out to me, though, are the characters. They're very well-drawn, deep and complex. It's less good vs evil and more good vs. other people who think they're doing good in their own way. Maybe a little evil-ish, but very interesting bad guys, too.

Finally, there are plenty of plot twists, including character deaths that you wouldn't necessarily expect, but they're not gratiuitous and they matter for both the plot and for the characters.

The last few months, I seem to have at least 3 or 4 books going at a time. One that I'm reading on the kindle app on my phone, one print book that I'm reading, and one audiobook that I'm listening to. Right now I've got two print books that I'm reading, and I guess technically two kindle, but one of them is basically on hold because I own it, while the other kindle book I have is checked out from the library.

Good gravy, people, it's Dec. 31 (and, in some corners of the internet, Jan. 1), and no one has commented? What are we coming to?

I just finished. All in all, I enjoyed the ride that Leckie took us on over the three novels, and thought the ending was a satisfying conclusion both to this novel and to the longer arc of the story. I enjoyed my time in the universe Leckie created, and will happily read more if/when she writes it.

I'm just getting started on it now. Fortunately, the weather outside is getting frightful, so I just may get some serious reading done today...

Well, yeah. Or she knows something he doesn't, even though what she knows isn't all there is to know about what she thinks she knows. :)

Oh, and I was going to say, I suspect that the cold smile she offers is as much in reply to his suggestion that the Emperor will put her in her place as it is to the fact that Whiskeyjack and his soldiers will be leaving. She knows something he doesn't....

Going back to Laseen's motivation, although we do see more in later books, we're given a pretty clear clue right in the prologue, in the scene between her and Whiskeyjack (though he isn't named).

The commander said, "It's your mess, Surly. Seems I'll have to clean it up.
Ganoes was shocked at the absence of fear--the near-contempt in the soldier's voice. [...]
"[...]You must be feeling confident in the Emperor's absence. He's not the only one who remembers you as nothing more than a serving-wench down in the Old Quarter. I take it the gratitude's washed off long since."

And then later, when she's pointing out the hedge witches' defiance of the new laws, Whiskeyjack responds:

"Your laws, Surly. They won't work, and when the Emperor returns he'll quash your prohibition of sorcery, you can be certain of that."
The woman smiled coldly. "You'll be pleased to know that the tower has signaled the approach of the transports for your new recruits. We'll not miss you or your restless, seditious soldiers, Commander."

So yeah. The suggestion is pretty strong that this is personal. Sure, she sees these troops--particularly the Bridgeburners--as "seditious," but the strong implication is that the new Empress wants to get rid of everyone who knew her back when she was nobody. Particularly since those are the people who look on her with contempt, who question her decisions, who think they know better than her... in short, the people most likely to BE seditious. And so it circles around.

Xan, you should already know what Maggie's going to say: RAFO! :)

You'll see plenty more of Rake, and after you polish off the 10 books of the MBotF, there's a trilogy in-progress from Erikson that goes way back in the world's history to focus on the Tiste (particularly including Anomander) and the Elder Gods.

But anyway, pretty much all of your questions are answered eventually. With regard to the gods, I was struck by your question "are any of the gods really gods or..." because, well, what does it mean to be a "real" god? :) Anyway, yeah: RAFO.

These have been on my shelf for probably 20 years--if I've read them before (say, 20 years ago), I've completely forgotten. This seems like just the time to dust them off! Started reading this morning.