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Max

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Max is Currently Reading

Max is currently reading

Remarkably Bright Creatures

by Shelby Van Pelt

bookshelves: fiction-not-fantasy, currently-reading

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(10%)
"This is a bit annoying so far.. I love the octopus chapters, but the others.." — Nov 05, 2026 11:44PM

Nov 05, 2026 06:38AM

Max is currently reading

The Splintered Sun (Flann's Crows, #1)

by Tad Williams (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: fantasy, currently-reading

Reading for the 2nd time

read in November 2026

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(page 10 of 528)
"New Tad Williams, whoo!" — Nov 02, 2026 12:11AM

Nov 02, 2026 12:11AM

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Bearers of the Black Staff (Legends of Shannara, #1)

by Terry Brooks (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: fantasy, currently-reading

Reading for the 2nd time

read in May 2017

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Max said: " 2026: 500 years after the boy Hawk saved thousands of people (elves, humans, some other folks) by leading them to a safe place and then forming a protective mist around them using his magic, the protective mist is thinning. The Lady no longer chooses 2026: 500 years after the boy Hawk saved thousands of people (elves, humans, some other folks) by leading them to a safe place and then forming a protective mist around them using his magic, the protective mist is thinning. The Lady no longer chooses and instructs the Knights of the World, as the Great Wars have destroyed the world and demons have taken over what is left. One of the last real Knights passed her staff to someone she deemed suitable, and instructed them. This process continued for five centuries, and now we have Sider Ament who tries to protect the population by patrolling the perimeters of the safe zone. Monsters start to come in, and Sider can actually leave the zone through the thinning mist. Together with two human trackers he tries to find out the state of things outside, in the destroyed old world.

This is where the series moves towards the original Shannara series Mr. Brooks wrote first. Less of the old world that is similar to ours. In what should be approximately the year 2500, the population uses science and technology less, and uses medieval weapons like swords. I never really realized the main Shannara trilogy was supposed to be in the future (shows how I well understood the story when I first read it - not really). It's probably also because the first time I read the series it was in publication order, and this reread is more chronological. Anyways, these are entertaining books for fantasy enjoyers, though the writing can be a bit frustrating at times. Often Mr. Brooks starts a chapter discussing the doings of a character, but does not name them until a few pages in. Maybe this is for suspense, but to me it's just annoying. I can't really judge if someone is acting in character or not, and often I end up rereading the chapter from the beginning as soon as I learn who it's about. Now halfway - will update when I'm done. :-)

2017: Enjoyed this one, loved the last Knight of the Word, Sider. Great story as always! The stories do not get more original over time, but that kind of makes sense when there are so many books in the Shannara series! ...more "

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(75%)
— Nov 02, 2026 11:50PM

Oct 28, 2026 04:20AM · see review

Max’s Quotes

“Don't trust your head, Samwise, it is not the best part of you.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

tags: tolkien, wisdom

2 likes

“Don't you understand?" snarled Rincewind. "We are going over the Edge, godsdammit!"
"Can't we do anything about it?"
"No!"
"Then I can't see the sense in panicking," said Twoflower calmly.”
― Terry Pratchett, The Color of Magic

tags: humor

93 likes

“Twoflower was a tourist, the first ever seen on the discworld. Tourist, Rincewind had decided, meant 'idiot'.”
― Terry Pratchett, The Color of Magic

tags: first, idiot, rincewind, tourism, twoflower

312 likes

“HUMAN BEINGS MAKE LIFE SO INTERESTING. DO YOU KNOW, THAT IN A UNIVERSE SO FULL OF WONDERS, THEY HAVE MANAGED TO INVENT BOREDOM. (Death)”
― Terry Pratchett, Hogfather

tags: apathy, boredom, cynism, ennui, humor

1329 likes

“I'm convinced that a lot of people run ultramarathons for the same reason they take mood-altering drugs. I don't mean to minimize the gifts of friendship, achievement, and closeness to nature that I've received in my running carer. But the longer and farther I ran, the more I realized that what I was often chasing was a state of mind - a place where worries that seemed monumental melted away, where the beauty and timelessness of the universe, of the present moment, came into sharp focus.”
― Scott Jurek, Eat & Run: My Unlikely Journey to Ultramarathon Greatness

tags: ultra-marathons-zone

42 likes

More of Max’s quotes…