Fantasy Book Club discussion

Read Total: 119
Read Pre2017: 86
Read 2017: 9
Read 2018: 13
Read 2019: 7

2018(view spoiler)[
Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld - 1/1/18
Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey - 1/7/18
Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman - 1/11/18
Dragon Prince by Melanie Rawn - 1/15/18
The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley - 1/23/18
The Disappearance of Winter's Daughter by Michael J. Sullivan - 1/30/18
Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones - 2/5/18
The Master of Whitestorm by Janny Wurts - 3/16/18
Nice Dragons Finish Last by Rachel Aaron - 3/24/18
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern - 9/1/18
Magician by Raymond E. Feist - 10/1/18
The Magicians' Guild by Trudi Canavan - 10/18/18
The Riddle-Master of Hed by Patricia A. McKillip - 12/6/18 (hide spoiler)]

2019(view spoiler)[
Wheel of the Infinite by Martha Wells - 1/27/19
Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft - 1/31/19
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke - 4/25/19
Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson - 5/29/19
Sailing to Sarantium by Guy Gavriel Kay - 6/1/19
Red Sister by Mark Lawrence - 6/19/19
The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart - 8/29/19 (hide spoiler)]

Unread - 42 books
Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed
Storms of Vengeance by John Beachem
The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
War for the Oaks by Emma Bull
The Second Coming by David H. Burton
Graceling by Kristin Cashore
Monster Hunter International by Larry Correia
The Wayfarer Redemption by Sara Douglass
The King of Elfland's Daughter by Lord Dunsany
Two Moon Princess by Carmen Ferreiro-Esteban
To Whatever End by Claire Frank
Miserere: An Autumn Tale by Teresa Frohock
Malice by John Gwynne
The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
NPCs by Drew Hayes
Libriomancer by Jim C. Hines
Fool's Assassin by Robin Hobb
Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart
Among Thieves by Douglas Hulick
Blackdog by K.V. Johansen
A Song for Arbonne by Guy Gavriel Kay
Ysabel by Guy Gavriel Kay
The Briar King by Greg Keyes
The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
The Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons
Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier
Un Lun Dun by China Miéville
Griffin's Daughter by Leslie Ann Moore
Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
The Rook by Daniel O'Malley
Cloak of Magic by S.A. Rule
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder
Unfettered by Shawn Speakman
Fortress Draconis by Michael A. Stackpole
Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri
Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente
The Dying Earth by Jack Vance
The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang
The Element of Fire by Martha Wells
The Curse of the Mistwraith by Janny Wurts
The Ships of Merior by Janny Wurts

I reckon we can do 12!

Finally finished a book for this challenge with Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch not my favorite from either of the authors. I had a really hard time getting into this book but the ending was pretty good. I enjoyed the parts with the angel and demon the most.

1 down...

2 down. Not one I originally planned to do but finished Sabriel by Garth Nix. I liked the characters and story but never really got a full grasp of the world.

3 down. Finished The Lions of Al-Rassan. Definitely one of my favorite books ever. Left me emotionally gutted. Need to dive into the rest of his books.

It's so good isn't it. Have you read Tigana?

That's the only other book of his that I have read. I wanted to read more of his works after it as well but this was the first time I managed to. Think I read it 2-3 years ago.

I enjoyed both of those. Then I read Ysabel which I didn't like as much. I did read the first two of the trilogy that goes with it but didn't like them.

Think I'm going to with Under Heaven next.

Let me know if it's good.

Will do. Finished my 4th book for the challenge with The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison. The names were a bit hard to keep track of in audio but I really liked this book overall.

Not originally on my list but just finished The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks. The first half was tough to get through but found the second half to be much better.

Goblin: names a bit hard?? Hyperbole at its best.

Finished The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold for book 8. I had actually recommended this one to my sister without reading it and she loved it so figured I should get to it. Really enjoyed it. Has a great mix of politics and magic.

You're doing great Bill. I've only managed to complete 4 so far.

Thanks Angela. Although I think my math skills failed me and I only have 7 done.

Behind schedule. Just finished Hogfather for book 8. Really enjoy the Death series.

Good progress Bill. I've failed at this challenge. I can't see that I'll complete it by the end of year.

Grats! Good job!

*hides in corner with her unfinished 2016 list*

Thanks. I'm behind schedule as well so it will be close. I've been knocking books off the list more by luck than a conscious effort. Getting to that point in the year when I'm going to have to start paying more attention to what I read.

Why need to pay attention to what you read?

I have 6 challenges to finish by years end so just need to focus more on the books required to finish them. Luckily they are books I would like to read and just haven't got to yet.

Angela wrote: "Good progress Bill. I've failed at this challenge. I can't see that I'll complete it by the end of year."

noo don't say "failed"... because I've failed it as well then, and I try to remove failure from my vocabulary! also, as I've gathered, this challenge is on until you complete it?

*shy* there is a talk about ppl powerful enough to do it in one year (*cries*) but we've expanded to this year as well :) so all can do it (unless you're me) ;)

Thanks Lara. :-)

My problem has been I've been trying to get through some series this year vs starting new ones, which has probably hindered my progress on this one. I'm still trying to complete by the end of the year if I can.

Like Bill, I sign up to a lot of challenges each year. I just really enjoy them and this challenge has helped me get a couple of Guy Gavriel Kay books read, I've been meaning to read for a long time. So that's a plus.

I'm going to try to do all standalones for my last 4. Under Heaven by Kay is up next.

Let me know what you think of that one Bill, as I have it on my TBR.

I was foolish enough to think I could read all the books on book shelf that I hadn't read plus do the ABC challenge plus do the series challenge. Not gonna happen. So l'll do what I can and revamp next year for something a little more manageable. Maybe, the books that I want to read from the book shelf and then finish the year with the series challenge.

Yeah it's tough managing multiple challenges. You have made really incredible progress on the bookshelf challenge.

My challenges are ongoing until I complete them. The series one will last forever ;)

What about this challenge? Do you plan to make it a yearly thing or just keep going with it?

I'd thought to keep going but I guess I could target a new twelve.

Either way works but if it is ongoing I will add all my unread books from the bookshelf here.

I think it’ll be easier to be ongoing. I’ll edit within my thread to show the change of year.

Edited my list so I can continue indefinitely with the challenge.

I think I'm going to do 12 next year and then be done with this challenge. So many of these books can be incorporated into the Series Challenge, which is also an indefinite challenge.

Failed to hit 12 in 2017. Just going to roll this challenge over into 2018 and try again.

Snap! I did seven.

So we made negative progress last year. Only one way to go from there.

The only way is up....

I’m off to a really good start with 3 books from the bookshelf done already. Have to try to keep the momentum going.

Good job!
How did you like Kushiel's Dart? I really want to read it (once I'm through the gazillion books in my TBR for my challenges...)

Well the MC is a courtesan so there were some pretty graphic sex scenes which aren’t my thing but outside of that I really liked it. Very interesting world and characters. Lots of intrigue.

I'm going to be a tad controversial here. I won't read Kushiel's Dart because I think it is exploiting women. In today's world where there is so much human trafficking I won't read a book that somewhat glamorizes it. Just my opinion and don't want to step on anyone's toes.

I can see where your coming from and it is a very valid point but having read the book I don’t think it really applies here. It really is her choice and her mentor trains her and a male courtesan to be spies. She doesn’t have any sexual encounters until she is an adult and it is all consensual. Outside of the battlefield men and women are treated very equally in this world. To each their own though.

Just wanted to make sure there are no misunderstandings. My earlier statement is just my opinion and not an indictment of anyone who has read or who enjoyed Kushiel's Dart. We all have different tastes and like and enjoy different books and that's ok.

Oh absolutely. I didn’t take it as anything but that.

Tnkw01 wrote: "I'm going to be a tad controversial here. I won't read Kushiel's Dart because I think it is exploiting women. In today's world where there is so much human trafficking I won't read a ..."

I was wondering about this issue, that's the main reason I asked about the book. Being a women myself (and having to face inappropriate comments everyday), I don't want to read about women exploitation. I'll give the book a try I guess, and ditch it if it irks my moral values.
But at the same time, it's the setting of the book that attracted me in the first place. I'm curious about the portrayal of a courtesan.

Sanderson does a very good job at portraying women and including gender-related issues in his books IMO.
A scene of The Way of Kings that was stuck in my mind for a long time is when (view spoiler)[ Jasnah killed thugs that attacked in the street and asked Shallan about the morality of it. (hide spoiler)] A nice (and very cool) way of adressing victim-blaming.

And now I'll stop polluting Bill's thread (sorry :) )

I hope Bill won't mind me saying, but I love these discussions. I really wish we had more of them. All kinds, funny ones, serious ones and any other kind. That's what makes the FBC fun and great.