Fantasy Book Club discussion

I'm just wondering what are you all reading in the scariest month of the year. I'm trying to finish up Toll the Hounds for the third time. Hopefully I will actually get though the book this time.

I won't be reading anything to accommodate the scariest month, but I am excited to catch up on my reading since I'll have more time!

I'm starting off this month listening to The Graveyard Book on audio, reading The Naked Sun on my Kindle, and I think I'll be reading The Skystone in paperback.

Going to finish the short stories from before reading: , , and if i have time

I'm ambitious this month:
and , of course

Deerskin is excellent but it's heavy.

Sandra aka Sleo wrote: "Deerskin is excellent but it's heavy."

Interesting. I think it was generated by GR as a recommendation based on Daughter of the Forest which I loved, so I'm excited to read it.

Hannah wrote: "Sandra aka Sleo wrote: "Deerskin is excellent but it's heavy."

Interesting. I think it was generated by GR as a recommendation based on Daughter of the Forest which I loved, so I'm excited to read..."

It's a bit heavier, but I can see the connection.

Put aside Toll the Hounds to read my first Janny Wurts, The Curse of the Mistwraith.

Hannah wrote: "I'm ambitious this month:
[bookco..."
Howl's Moving Castle is among my favorites! :) Hope you love it!!

I have to admit that I'm not a big fan of Neil Gaiman, but I did like The Graveyard Book. Anyway, after I complete The Elf Queen Of Shannara and The Talismans Of Shannara, thereby completing the first eight novels in Terry Brooks Shannara epic, I'm going to read Dark Currents by Jacqueline Carey, which was shipped today and should arrive in three days. I'm really looking forward to her take on the genre of Urban Fantasy.

The WOT re-read marches on... Got 1/4 or so to go in Crossroads of Twilight and then I might throw in Libriomancer before starting Knife of Dreams. Not fantasy, but I should also read Oranges are not the Only Fruit before moving house (borrowed it from a friend)

Lady wrote: "I have to admit that I'm not a big fan of Neil Gaiman, but I did like The Graveyard Book. Anyway, after I complete The Elf Queen Of Shannara and The Talismans Of Shannara, thereby completing the f..."

Is Terry Brooks worth reading, I tried as a teen, but never got into it.

Not much into horror/scary books. I started Shadowbane

Tood wrote: "Lady wrote: "I have to admit that I'm not a big fan of Neil Gaiman, but I did like The Graveyard Book. Anyway, after I complete The Elf Queen Of Shannara and The Talismans Of Shannara, thereby com..."

I loved Brooks as a teen, but I'm a few trilogies behind now.

Adrianna wrote: "Howl's Moving Castle is among my favorites! :) Hope you love it!!"

Thanks! Me too :) I can't say I've read any of your October books, but I'd be interested to hear what you think of Cinder

Hannah, I'm in the 7th chapter of Cinder :) It was odd at first, but it grew on me quickly.

Currently working throughReality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World and just started a long-overdue reading of Titus Groan.

I'm currently reading Libriomancerand The Dark Tower hopefully I'll finish them both this month..

I finished Libriomancer and decided it was time to revisit the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series again -- I've just started Zothique by Clark Ashton Smith (I think they're my favorite of his stories) and will continue on for probably another four or five BAF books.

I'm reading Midnight Riot.

I'm reading Name of the Wind, and re reading my own book, The Sword of Solonus on Kindle.

I've been reading book 1 of Kevin Hearne's The Iron Druid Chronicles while I was for Cold days to come out in November, but finished it today, so will probly look at book 2 as it wasnt bad, even though it felt oddly like reading some strange spinoff of Jim Butchers Dresden Files series... even down to thowing in several Star Wars pop culture references which Jim's done often enough in his own books.

Kevin wrote: "Put aside Toll the Hounds to read my first Janny Wurts, The Curse of the Mistwraith."

I like that one, as far as I've read it.....but I put it on hold while I read her stand alone book, "To Ride Hell's Chasm".

Adam wrote: "I'm reading Name of the Wind, and re reading my own book, The Sword of Solonus on Kindle."

How do you like The Name of the Wind so far, Adam? I know a lot of people love book so much. Its one of the highest rate book I have ever seen, but I hate the book because I could not stand Kvothe.

Me too. About half way through. I like it. Superb writing. But so many different names and principalities it can be somewhat confusing.

I loved Kvothe! It's funny how characters grab different people. Another one that divided people was Quentin in Magician.

Helen wrote: "I loved Kvothe! It's funny how characters grab different people. Another one that divided people was Quentin in Magician."

I love him 2..Just cant wait until the 3rd book to work out what he is all about..The books are definitely on my favorite list..

Mine too. I'm going to reread them just in time for part 3.

Finished Zothique, still one of my favorites, and moving on to The Shaving Of Shagpat by George Meredith which is, um, not.

I started The Red Wolf Conspiracy and still need to finish The Rook.

I finished listening to The Lightning Thief and started the audiobook for The Way of Shadows.

If there's time left I'm tending towards Prince of Thorns and Twelve for darker autumn reads.

Finished The Man in the High Castle on Kindle the other day. First half was fascinating, second half was like sticking my brain in a blender.

Just starting King of Thorns now.

I have three books on the go right now. I'm about halfway through Moon Called by Patricia Briggs, Cinder by Marissa Meyer and Riley's Curse by Christina Smith. Enjoying all three of them so far.

Just finished The Shaving Of Shagpat and am about to start The Island of the Mighty by Evangeline Walton.

@Joseph, I loved The Island of the Mighty and the whole series!Evangeline Walton

Joseph wrote: "Just finished The Shaving Of Shagpat and am about to start The Island of the Mighty by Evangeline Walton."

Barbm1020 wrote: "@Joseph, I loved The Island of the Mighty and the whole series!Evangeline Walton"

Evangeline Walton - one of the best (and saddest!) kept secrets - I LOVED all of her work.

Barbm1020 wrote: "@Joseph, I loved The Island of the Mighty and the whole series!Evangeline Walton"

I know I read at least three of them many years ago -- I was making my way through every book published as part of the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series -- but I don't remember if I read the fourth (fourth written, that is -- I think she worked her way backwards while writing them) since it wasn't actually published as part of the Series. I remember enjoying them, though.

Adrianna wrote: "Hannah, I'm in the 7th chapter of Cinder :) It was odd at first, but it grew on me quickly."

That's enough of a recommendation for me - back up on the to-read shelf it goes. Also I finished Howl's Moving Castle and I thought it was totally charming. I was aware that a lot of stuff was going on that I didn't understand at the time so it definitely warrants a re-read. Really liked it!

Hannah wrote: "Adrianna wrote: "Hannah, I'm in the 7th chapter of Cinder :) It was odd at first, but it grew on me quickly."

That's enough of a recommendation for me - back up on the to-read shelf it goes. Also ..."

Hannah, I read both Cinder and Howl's Moving Castle and loved both of them.

Janny wrote: "Joseph wrote: "Just finished The Shaving Of Shagpat and am about to start The Island of the Mighty by Evangeline Walton."

Barbm1020 wrote: "@Joseph, I loved The Island of the Mighty and the whole ..."

Sounds like another TBR for me.
I'm curious, though....why saddest?

I am reading the new Terry Brooks, The Dark Legacy of Shannara.

Brenda ╰☆╮ wrote: "Janny wrote: "Joseph wrote: "Just finished The Shaving Of Shagpat and am about to start The Island of the Mighty by Evangeline Walton."

Barbm1020 wrote: "@Joseph, I loved The Island of the Mighty ..."

The saddest for two reasons: way too few readers have discovered this work. And the second: she wrote the first book and it was published with a rather off putting title (Why did they pick The Virgin and the Swine???) The book got buried.

It stayed buried - until Betty Ballantine republished it for the Ballantine Fantasy series - then asked Evangeline, who was, by then a very elderly lady - why she had never written any more books? Betty received in the mail two very old, yellowed COMPLETED manuscripts - the sequels that Evangeline had never sold.

They are all lovely stories! One of the better retellings of Welsh myth out there.

It seems Walton's career was further plagued with ill luck - she desperately wanted to write a Theseus story - and was totally eclipsed in that dream by Mary Renault's (very excellent also) The King Must Die and The Bull from the Sea.

No publisher was interested in buying a Theseus story after the tremendous success (deserved) of the Renault series.

By the time Walton was 'rediscovered' by the Ballantine fantasy series - she did finally sell her Theseus proposal - but was in her eighties by then. I am not sure if it was ever finished or published.

But at least we have the Ballantine Fantasy Series to thank for the fact her fantasy work survived and saw print. These are beautiful works. I wish they were more widely read.

Janny wrote: "Brenda ╰☆╮ wrote: "Janny wrote: "Joseph wrote: "Just finished The Shaving Of Shagpat and am about to start The Island of the Mighty by Evangeline Walton."

Barbm1020 wrote: "@Joseph, I loved The Is..."


I am one of those, that has not read her books. I'll do my best to change that fact.

It is strange that I haven't, though. When I was first discovering my love of fantasy, I read a lot of mythology. There just was not enough of a choice then.

I think one, five foot section of shelves, was all that there was in the book stores then.

Janny wrote: "By the time Walton was 'rediscovered' by the Ballantine fantasy series - she did finally sell her Theseus proposal - but was in her eighties by then. I am not sure if it was ever finished or published...."

Sword Is Forged

I guess it did come out eventually. With a really terrible cover.

I'm guessing "Virgin and the Swine" seemed like an apporpriate title based on the events of the first part of Island of the Mighty -- Gwydion wants to get pigs from Pryderi, and there's also a virgin involved in some fairly crucial events. And it was initially published in 1935 so it's not like they had a fantasy demographic they were aiming for.

And I'm about 100 pages in -- not quite finished with Gwydion's section -- and really liking it; she does an excellent job using elevated but not overblown prose.

And also Overlook did recently republish all four books as an omnibus: The Mabinogion Tetralogy. No eBook edition, unfortunately.

Just started Red Seas Under Red Skies

Just started Brimstone Angels

Finished The Red Wolf Conspiracy last night. Took a while to get going, but I really liked it. Plenty of magic and different creatures. :)

I'm starting Life of Pi now.

Finished The Island of the Mighty, which was quite lovely, and am about to start Deryni Rising by Katherine Kurtz.

I'm currently reading Hexed after finishing Hounded. Nearly finished it too, so I'll need to get the 3rd book! Really enjoying it so far, it's quite a light read. Also lots of witches and vampires etc. so fits in with the Halloween theme!