Why is it so good?
I recently listened to “A Wizards Guide to Defensive Baking” recently and I was NOT expecting YA fantasy fiction to go that hard on the subject of “heroism” being a term used to excuse the phenomenon of pushing people into dangerous jobs way too young to cover for the systemic failures and often outright corruption of existing power structures. I had a good few years experience in Healthcare beforehand but I graduated nursing school mid-covid and that book really spoke to me.
Somewhat coincidentally iirc it was actually released mid COVID as well, and I imagine had been worked on for years beforehand. So it’s interesting to me that the author picked up on the already existing manifestations of this phenomenon in a way that would speak so well to the epic clusterfuck that ultimately occurred.
I’m listening to the Bobiverse again because the fifth book came out recently. The universe, pun intended, was really interesting and the entire idea of digital people is fun to think about while doing chores.
Seconded. Bobiverse is great to listen to while mowing the lawn or doing other mindless jobs.
I’ve started reading the somewhat expansive Cosmere universe of books by Brandon Sanderson.
I like actually reading, but there is a LOT to get through, so I’m reading the series (a couple trilogies, a series of 5 books) in actual print, and listening to the standalone novels in the universe on audio.
It’s actually been a nice day to keep moving through all the different overlapping character lines. One particular character, who I’ll call H, spans the various worlds and stories often. It’s fun reading something about H in one book and then hearing him as the narrator or showing up as a character in the audio book I’m listening to later.
11-22-63 by myself and The Hail Mary Project with my wife.
I just finished listening to all 14 Honor Harrington novels.
I loved 11-22-63. Reading Fairy Tale now.
Does the Hail Mary narration get better? I listened to a sample and the child’s voice in the beginning was like nails on a chalkboard to me.
I think the narration was great, the children just appear at the very beginning of the book
Yeah, the children are only for setting some of the scene, but they come back for a few short (like less than 5 minute) scenes. The easiest solution is double speed, it is extremely listenable with that small change and well worth the effort.
I’m currently listening to Livesuit by James SA Corey. It’s part of their new series that released this year called The Captives War. It’s a Novella/Interquel pretty typical of their release style.
It takes place in an incredibly unknowably distant future for humanity. We follow a squad of Livesuit infantry who have fused their bodies with technology to fight an unfathomable legion of alien conquerors. An enemy that has never lost a war then uses the best traits of conquered races to continue their war.
Why it’s so good is because the author(s) have an incredible way of describing people and the world they interact with. Images are vivd and believable. While being so alien, and futuristic Corey manages to write a world you can imagine yourself in.
Additionally, their novellas always take place in the same world, but are completely stand alone stories from the main series so the depth of world building is just… chef’s kiss
Both writers were originally working on writing RPGs and TTRPGs so their style just brings me back to sitting at a table with friends, some drinks and a Character Sheet for a hopeful lvl 3 wizard.
The narration of The Expanse audiobook series was really well done.
In a wonderful turn of events: Captive’s War is narrated by the cery same narrator!
Just read this. Was great. Looking forward to the rest of the series.
Read the first book, wasn’t impressed yet, I think it’s just so different than the expanse.
Also not a lot of room for setting, they’re kind of stuck until the plot shifts. Overall depressing too.
Best audio book I’ve listened to… Dungeon Crawler Carl. Great story. Amazing audio book production.
Confederacy of Dunces, read by Artie Johnson. I’ve read and listened to it at least a dozen times. Johnson really puts a lot into his reading of it.
The farseer triology.
It’s pretty interesting fantasy from about 20 odd years ago
character driven introspective
Currently listening to Starter Villain
Guy inherited his “billionaire” estranged uncles “parking garage” business, only for his ancillary businesses to be more interesting.
There’s a podcast done by a well known Tolkien nerd in which he reads The Silmarillion and explains it along the way. I’ve been slowly making my way through it while driving to work and falling asleep.
I’m reading James Michener’Alaska, and it’s a fantastic story. It is a very well crafted character drama and it has excellent pacing.
I just read Cormac McCarthy’The Road and it was also an incredible read, though it kind of crushed me emotionally for a while afterwards!
I think everyone that wishes for the fall of civilization should have to read The Road - That was a bleak story.
Just finished Adrian Tchaikovsky’s “Service Model”. It was excellent. But be warned, if you’re looking for military, adventure sci fi with snarky AI’s this will not be your cup of tea. The author takes on modern societal issues in the setting of post collapse human society. Yes, I’m aware of the dichotomy there.
If you do want snarky AI’s and adventure, then I recommend the following series:
“Backyard Starship” series. I think it’s up to book 17 so far and the quality of the books have stayed pretty consistent. The prequel series “The Peacemaker Wars” is also pretty good.
“Expeditionary Force” The quality does NOT stay consistent in this series and quite frankly, it’s not very well written. However, it’s like Lofthouse cookies, a lot of mediocre ingredients come together to make something great. I am a die hard fan of the series and highly recommend it if you want something that just removes you from reality for a while.
Light Bringer by Pierce Brown. It’s part of the Red Rising series and it’s awesome.
Robert Caro’s “The Power Broker.”
There’s also a 50-year anniversary, 12-part, 99% Invisible series diving into it. Looking forward to listening to those alongside each section.
Steven Gould - Jumper
Barring the character names and teleportation it shares little with the movie, though I think the movie wasn’t all that bad tbh. The idea is a kid with an abusive single dad discovers he can teleport. He acts like a kid would, making lots of mistakes, and figures out his teleportation and how to live.
The novel is a little old so characters are a little shallow and stereotypical but honestly way less than expected. I have listened to the novels before but come back every so often for a repeat.
