Fantasy Buddy Reads discussion

Buddy Read to start 15th June.

Yeah, definitely in.

Thanks, Angela :)

Evil is a Matter of Perspective: An Anthology of Antagonists edited by Adrian Collins

Possibly in.

Sounds interesting, I'll give it a go.

Fun been wanting to read this one for a while!

Starts in six days from now.

Yes, I'm planning to start on time. Getting prepped up by reading an ARC of Knee-Deep in Grit: Two Bloody Years of Grimdark Fiction

Oh, lucky you! I'm pretty pumped for this. Been a long time since my last GD.

Finished with The Broken Dead by Michael Fletcher.
Very interesting worldbuilding and sufficiently dark. I need to read Manifest Delusions someday.

Every Hair Casts a Shadow by Teresa Frohock. This is also a new author for me. I liked the Spanish Civil War setting but unsure about the use of angels and demons. Would probably make a good visuals. An okay story - not really crazy about the plot.

The Divine Death of Jirella Martigore by Alex Marshall
Started out so-so but it gets really dark at the end. I am not particularly fond of the writing/narrative style.

A Royal Gift by Mark Alder
It so happens that I am currently reading a book about The Plantagenets so I was excited to know that the story's about Edward the Black Prince. Too bad it ended too abruptly

Old Blood by Adrian Tchaikovsky
I don't get it.

Black Bargain by Janny Wurts
Too many worldbuilding with lack of clear plot - my head hurts.

The Syldoon Sun by Jeff Salyards
Interesting set-up, and I always like military fantasy stuff. The ending was rather unclear to me though. (view spoiler)[why everyone said he's a traitor? he was set up by the Emperor, right? (hide spoiler)]

I'll be starting soon. Worked 100 hours this week..catching up on sleep

Silvana wrote: "Finished with The Broken Dead by Michael Fletcher.
Very interesting worldbuilding and sufficiently dark. I need to read Manifest Delusions someday."

Yes! I love those books.

Okay, Chris, I just past halfway and I think I will read something else first.

I read the introdutions. Bakker's gave me a headache. I liked the one by Collins though. Short, relatable,and to the point.

Ok, I'll catch up in a few days.

Have a good rest, Chris!

Before I forget here's what I thought of the last four stories I read:

The Darkness within the Light (The Annwyn Cycles) by Shawn Speakman
Surprisingly I like this one. Read one of his works years ago and did not like it. Grimdark faerie world is cool.

The Greater of Two Evils
(Chronicles of the Exile) by Marc Turner
Probably my favorite so far. I love any kind of water magic and the MC is such as a bad ass. I think I want to try his trilogy.

Exceeding Bitter by Kaaron Warrren
This is a ghost story and it is so sad.

A Game of Mage by Courtney Schafer
I liked this one too, with its Eastern flavor. Great pacing.

“The Broken Dead” by Michael R. Fletcher – This guy never fails to impress. I enjoyed reading a key scene from Beyond Redemption from a different perspective, this time from one of the adversaries. Of course, everyone is a villain in this book so in this case I had more sympathy for the POV character than the first time through.

“Every Hair Casts a Shadow” by Teresa Frohock. I haven’t read any of her work before, but I can say that this seems to be an intriguing take on the Angels vs Demons theme, and it might even turn out better than most in the execution. Too early to tell with a short story, but definite potential here.

“The Divine Death of Jirella Martigore” by Alex Marshall – That was different. I was definitely engrossed in the writing as I tried to take in all the world building. I’m curious enough to try the first novel, which I’ve had on the TBR since before it came out.

“A Royal Gift” by Mark Adler – I didn’t get the historical references and it was too short to decide if I liked the dark fantasy edge.

Chris wrote: "“The Broken Dead” by Michael R. Fletcher – This guy never fails to impress. I enjoyed reading a key scene from Beyond Redemption from a different perspective, this time from one of the adversaries...."

So would you read Frohock's novels based on this story? I have her Miserere: An Autumn Tale in my wishlist from some few years back.

"A Royal Gift' was indeed way too short.

I have finished this, sorry, Chris. Been having some insomnia due to the World Cup so I spent it reading.

The rest of the stories

The Tattered Prince and the Demon Veiled (Beaulieu) - I don't like it. It's overly long and just convoluted. I read his Sharakai first book and almost DNFed it. I guess his writing style is not for me.

A Storm Unbound (Morrigan): fantastic character! great action. and that ending!

The Game (Ward): I like the world - the start of the story reminds me of the movie Gladiator where Maximus faces his judgment. I may try on his novels someday.

Blood Penny (Wolf); I am familiar with her work, and I found myself also liking this. She's a great wordsmith and I enjoy her writing and characters.

Better than Breath (Staveley): also not a stranger to the author, this is a great GD story. great characterization as well.

A Foundation of Bones (Williams): a bit of a snoozefest, to be frank.

The Aging of a Kill (Orullian): very unique and intriguing. I love these kind of conversation between adversaries and flashbacks in between. One of my favorites of the bunch.

The Carathayan (Bakker): That's weird. Not my kind of weird. Sufficiently dark but it's too disturbing. Also, there were too many exclamation points.

From the 19 stories, I liked 11 of them. My top three would be the ones from Turner, Orullian, and Morrigan. I liked all the female characters there.

Silvana wrote: "
So would you read Frohock's novels based on this story? I have her Miserere: An Autumn Tale in my wishlist from some few years back.
.."

I would, yeah. If I was eased into the world, I think it would work a lot better.

And don't worry about finishing ahead of me. I'm at 25% now, and moving along ok. I know we have The Last Wish starting this weekend too...

Oh, agreed with you on "Old Blood". I have read a couple other stories from him in the Apt world and liked them, but this one isn't very good as an introduction to his work. I think that's a common issue with the stories overall, actually.