Where are you in Fantasyland, October 2017

Still reading Fortress in the Eye of Time, Ruin of Angels, and The Wind in His Heart.

Still reading Going Postal by Terry Pratchett.

I'm heading to a galaxy far, far away to take in William Shakespeare's The Force Doth Awaken by Ian Doescher.

I'm in The Misery with Blackwing by Ed McDonald.

Finished The Ruin of Angels by Max Gladstone. Enjoyed it.

I'm exploring the Dream Archipelago looking for The gradual.

I'm currently in Heartstriker Mountain with A Dragon of a Different Color.

Just finished "Making the Rounds" by Allan Weiss

Seitherin - loved Fortress in the Eye of Time so much, and the sequels only get better! Curious to hear how you get on with it.

>9 JannyWurts: I read Fortress in the Eye of Time years ago when it first came out. I remember it being a sort of indifferent kind of read. I don't know why, but I've always found Cherryh's fantasy books a much harder read for me than her science fiction. However, this time around, I'm enjoying the book muchly. It will take me some time to finish since it is my alternate bedtime read. I'm barely 18% done with it.

Can you tell me a starting point for C. J. Cherryh? I've never read any. I've a pile of other authors queued up to read, but I can't face any of them. I need to escape to fantasyland over the next weeks. Sciencefictionland will work too. Foreigner series?

>11 cremorn: It's a huge series, maybe you'll want something more contained ?

Finity's End ? While it has all the Alliance-Union universe politicking in the background the core plot is a coming of age story that might allow easing into it fairly well.

The Faded Sun trilogy also has the human/alien interaction theme that is very common in her work but the story arc is contained within 3 books. I think it still takes place in the A-U universe too (?) but that's kept a lot more sketchy and in the background than in other books such as Downbelow Station or Cyteen, which can get a tad info-dumpy even if personally don't mind.

>12 Jarandel: I have huge needs. I know there's something at the local secondhand, I'll take a look.

>11 cremorn: I started with the Chanur series which I loved. It has great alien characters.

Finished reading an old eighties novel, The Breaking of Northwall. Maybe not as good as I was hoping, but good enough and I'm going to continue with the series.

About 50 pages into Teot's War and I'm in that pleasant zone of already *loving* it and being so happy to have the whole rest of the book and its sequel to go. It's already stirred up some really strong emotions for me, with both pity/sadness and laughing-out-loud amusement.

I won a copy of The Tiger's Daughter from Early Readers, so I'm giving that a go. Great setting that evokes various east Asian countries, with interesting lead characters. Not crazy about the chosen method of telling the story via long as-you-know-Bob letters.

# 16 Niko This is such an underappreciated duology! So much fun. I recommend it everywhere, almost no one picks it up.

>18 JannyWurts: It's been on my "obscure authors to investigate" list for a while, but I'm sure it was a rec from you somewhere that prompted me to check it out to begin with, so that's one success for you! (And, through the magic of LibraryThing touchstones, I see that you recced it to me in a thread here back in 2011. I bet that was it. :) )

I'm really loving the way she handles the hero's POV at the start, the way his skills are almost slyly revealed little by little as he has reason to use them, and how the humor comes through without our hero ever really acknowledging that a situation is funny. (Plus, I'm a sucker for "damaged" heroes, so this is hitting me in my Robin Hobb/Carol Berg zone like WHOA.)

>19 Niko: oh my - you invoked Robin Hobb so this has to go on my wishlist right away!

#20 It is so well worth the read - and a great deal of fun.

wow, >19 Niko: - we do share similar taste - Carol Berg and Hobb are also favorites. You would probably also take to Barbara Hambly's work, too, if you have not tried hers already.

Added Teot's war to my wishlist. My public library doesn't have it!
Thanks for the tip.

No, this book is so obscure it only was issued in mass market paperback, and it is extremely unlikely it ever reached the shelf of a library - a crime.

If you enjoy 'damaged' heroes - I recently read a debut that blew me away Draigon Weather by Paige Christie. The book opens current time with said damaged hero - then very expertly weaves back in time to show how he got where he is. The story has split protagonists, one male and one female, and it does a spectacular job of depicting them as separate people with strong agendas. I can't say more without spoiling, but the characters are well done, the dragons are not the usual fare at all, and unlike most split timeline books, this one kept my attention engaged in both arenas. The book was released in hardback and now, paperback, from a small press - so it won't be mainstream visible. You may find it well worth a look.

>22 JannyWurts: Heh... I actually just read Stranger at the Wedding a few reads back. I had always had her associated in my head with vampires, for some reason, and I don't care much for vampires or other "seductive dark lord" sorts, so it took me a while to take realize that wasn't really her only milieu.

She did only one series that centers on vampires; her James Asher books (he's a retired British Intelligence officer, married to a female MD - it's a gaslight era fantasy and superbly done) but her OTHER fantasy is quite different - several series worth.

They have beautifully realized, if more traditional settings - but often cross through/portal from our world - sometimes into modern settings, and sometimes into historical ones.

Her other series involve dragons, wizards, hardbitten mercenaries, and in one case, a rather horrifying alien-like invasion - and alternatively, sometimes she writes totally fluffy settings, like past era hollywood - all beautifully researched and well done.

She's also an impeccable scholar - and two historicals to her name: the Benjamin January series that takes place in historical New Orleans A Free Man of Color is the first - and a standalone mystery surrounding a kidnapping that is set in ancient Rome Search the Seven Hills.

I'd mark her if you like exquisite prose, brilliantly realized characters, and exceptionally well rounded female characters - here, she was way ahead of her time.

So, yes, a whole lot more than three/four books with vampires! The rest of her body of work far outweighs those few. Check them out....

>26 JannyWurts: She also has a trilogy with Abigail Adams as an amateur detective under the name Barbara Hamilton.

I am heading back to the Realm of the Elderlings, taking a trip up the Rain Wilds river with a Dragon Keeper.

Added Vallista by Steven Brust to my reading rotation.

Finished Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor today. I think she has officially joined my list of favorites! Who Fears Death is slated to be an HBO TV series backed by George R.R. Martin, so there's a lot to be excited about. I have Akata Witch waiting for me on my kindle, too.

I think what I find so exciting about her work is that each novel feels so different from anything else I've read before - and yet I'm instantly captivated by each of them, so they're familiar, too.

>12 Jarandel: Made it to Foreigner series with book 1. I am finding it info-heavy but appreciate the voice. I will continue on. I'm relying on Kobo for this, and it doesn't support Cherryh all that well, Finity's end isn't there. Faded Sun is though, and >14 Sakerfalcon:'s recommendation. I will get to one while it's still October.

>30 curioussquared: I just finished Okorafor's Akata Witch, which is a YA and very good. I liked Who Fears Death a lot, too, and of course her Binti books.

Finished up Teot's War which remained a great read. My only "gripe" was that it ended up reading like the duology was supposed to be a single book and the publisher just picked the best stopping point. For me, that's just more reason to pick up the next book, but I can see some readers feeling like 'nothing happened'.

I've then moved on to a visit to a dystopian London in The Chimes, which has me looking up definitions of words for the first time in probably 20 years, due to its cool use of musical terminology.

Trying to finish up Robert Jordan's Wheel of time series

Finished Vallista by Steven Brust. Enjoyable, easy read.

I'm in Roshar seeking The way of kings.

Moving straight on to Dragon Haven. I feel so bad for these dragons :(

Well, Cherryh's first Atevi-land book was great, I will start picking them up when possible. The Fortress books are at my library, so I've started on Fortress in the eye of time, its looking good.

Any love for Cixin Liu around?

Making good headway on Freedom's Sisters. I wish Kritzer had more published novels vs. short stories. I've enjoyed this quite a lot, and I loooooved the Fires of the Faithful duology.

Cherry's Chanur series is great. Another good one is her Angel with the Sword series. I'm using my cellphone so can't do touchstones - I can barely see anything!

NOVEMBER THREAD: http://www.librarything.com/topic/273221

Thanks so much for the kind mention!

I recently finished a duology that I really enjoyed. It's a pair of small press works from the UK: (Steven Poore)'s The Heir to the North and The High King's Vengeance. A very unusual series with a great female protagonist for whom winning the heart of the Prince it not at all a goal. Sweet, clever, and refreshing!