You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion

Here we go

* Slick's Slugs Reporting (books #1-6)
*= completed

1. The Thousand Names pp528 *
2. The Name of the Wind pp662 * (linked: title- "Name/s")
3. The Wise Man's Fear pp994 * (linked: same series)
4. The Penitent Damned pp21 * (linked: genre-fantasy) + The Lies of Locke Lamora pp499 * (linked: genre- fantasy)
5. Lords of the North pp336 * (linked: title begins with "L") + Sword Song pp336 * (linked: series)
6. The Audran Sequence pp712 * (linked: last word of title begins with "S")

Favorites of the Group: Lords of the North and Name of the Wind

*Mickey's Marchers Reporting (books #7-12)

7. The Passage pp784 * (linked: last letter of title is "E")
8. The Dark Country pp216 * (linked: genre horror) + Heart-Shaped Box pp376 * (linked: genre horror)
9. Best Served Cold pp544 * (linked: author named Joe)
10. Off Armageddon Reef pp605 * (linked: 3 word title)
11. Helliconia Spring pp400 * (linked: genre: scifi) + The Atrocity Archives pp345 * (linked: genre scifi)
12. The Dreaming Void pp608 * (linked: genre scifi)


Favorite of the Group: Off Armageddon Reef

*Roadrunner's Racers Reporting (books #13-18)

13. The Temporal Void pp746 * (linked: series)
14. The Evolutionary Void pp694 * (linked: series)
15. Desolation Island pp352 * (linked: title ends w/ D) + The Fortune of War pp355 * (linked: series)
16. By Schism Rent Asunder pp510 *(linked: four word title)
17. By Heresies Distressed pp 496 * (linked: series) + The Grand Inquisitor pp32 * (linked: religion as central theme)
18. Monster Hunter Vendetta pp612 * (linked: three word title)

*Taz's Trouncers Reporting (books #19-24)

19. Monster Hunter Alpha pp552 * (linked: series)
20. Monster Hunter Legion pp377 *(linked: series) + The Lost Fleet: Dauntless pp304 * (linked: military groups in title- legion/fleet)
21. The Burning Land pp336 * (linked: author las name "C") + Death of Kings pp335 * (linked: series)
22. The Rats and the Ruling Sea pp672 * (linked: King:Ruling theme)
23. A Mighty Fortress pp718 * (linked: nautical theme)
24. The Forever War pp278 * (linked: war theme) + Storm Front pp322 * (linked: author first name "J")

*Buzz's Bombers!!!! (books #25+)

25. Blood Song pp 592 * (linked: two word title)
26. How Firm a Foundation pp 607* (linked: overseas warfare)
27. Midst Toil and Tribulation pp 608* (linked: Safehold series)
28. Like a Mighty Army pp 672* (linked: Safehold series)
29. Angle of Repose pp 569* (linked: author last name ends in R)
30. Tower Lord pp 629* (linked: setting- characters traveling through mountains/woods)
31. Heroes Die pp 545* (linked: two word title)
32. The Heroes pp 581* (linked: title with "Heroes")
33. A Feast for Crows pp 685* (linked: fantasy/war theme)
34. The Wolf's Hour pp 603* (linked: animal style titles)
35. Royal Assassin pp 752* (linked: characters who transform into or inhabit wolves)

In the running (may be subsituted at some point):
Red Seas Under Red Skies pp558, The Republic of Thieves pp650,
The Archer's Tale, The Warded Man, The Darkness That Comes Before, The Reality Dysfunction, The Religion, The River of Shadows

Great list. Most of these are on my read or TBR. I am afraid to look at the few I do not know about, i might have to add them. :)

Great list Marcus! I have read some of the ones you've listed and some of the others appear on my list too for next year. I've also added a couple ones I didn't know about to my TBR!

Lots of Hamilton down there!

I've still got to read the Hamilton you've already recommended to me. Maybe I'll work it in my challenge

Yeah Hamilton is a great way to get some good 500+ books in

the first Void is one i still have to link in my list. You will probably get to it before I do. Let me know what you think.

Also, I've already read them but "pandora's star" and "judas unchained" are great tomes by Hamilton. Travis turned me onto the Monster Hunter series by Larry Correia also which are all long enough and a lot of fun

and there is a large caveat here in that my list may completely change once I actually get started....other series/titles that I'm really interested in at the moment are the gentleman bastard series starting with The Lies of Locke Lamora and the aubrey/maturin series by Patrick O'brien with my next book being Desolation Island. I'm also midway through the Temeraire series with Victory of Eagles up next.

Sounds like a lot of us will be reading The Lies of Locke Lamora next year. Maybe we should set up a Buddy Read thread for the whole year.

Marcus wrote: ". I'm also midway through the Temeraire series with Victory of Eagles up next. .."
I struggled with the 3rd one, suffered throught the 4th and gave up on this series.

A buddy read for Locke Lamora sounds like a great idea! I have it in my first 6 and I know that once I read it I'll want to move on to read the other two in the series so it will mess up my planned 6! I have the first in the Temeraire series on my TBR - looks interesting.

I haven't been able to slot it in my first 6, but could easily in my second. It's selfishly why I said "year long".

But I have a feeling that a lot of these chunksters this year will be year long buddy reads. Every list I look at has at least one of my options on it. I rearranged my bookshelf yesterday from alphabets to chunksters and now have 5 possible piles of books to choose from next year.

A year long buddy read sounds like a plan Rusalka - From looking at everyone's lists there are a lot of books that we all have listed and we will all get to them at different times.

I have Lies of Lock Lamora in my audible library. So I have to go with the page number of the hardcover which is 499. I won't read it for this challenge, but will definitely be reading it this year when it comes up on my list. It's not far from the top.

Hmmm - in looking at the various editions available, there are hardcover editions greater than 500. I may have to go back to the drawing board! LOL!

yeah buddy reads would be fun for a lot of these. Good ideas everyone....Thank goodness you found an edition over 500pp. 499 was just to painful to think about.

Let the games begin! So, I started off day #1 of the year by reading:

The Penitent Damned This was nice as I have combined it with The Lies of Locke Lamora to get over that pesky 499 pages without much fuss. Penitent Damned is also a "prequel" to my #1 book The Thousand Names which I'm starting today along with The Audran Sequence and Lords of the North to get a solid start on my Slick's Slugs group. Here we go...

Let us know what you think of "the lies". I have the second one in my slugs' books. (This sound so bad) and will be starting it soon,

Finished: The Thousand Names which was realy enjoyable. Have started in on a couple other of the books I mentioned above and am really enjoying them as well. It's great to have a challenge which lets me read all of the top books on my list. Glad I had some time off from work at the start of the year to get some great reading in.

Esther wrote: "Let us know what you think of "the lies". I have the second one in my slugs' books. (This sound so bad) and will be starting it soon,"

I have it in the second round, so I am keen to hear as well.

Marcus wrote: "Finished: The Thousand Names which was realy enjoyable. Have started in on a couple other of the books I mentioned above and am really enjoying them as well. It's great to have a ..."

This sounds interesting as well... It is nice haven't some reading time off, hey?

Way to go, Marcus! One down, X to go.

Yeah it's great to have a little relaxing reading time. Just finished: Lords of the North which was another great installment in the very popular saxon series. I'll be starting The Lies of Locke Lamora now so I'll be sure to let you all know what I think of that one as it seems to be a popular choice for people this year. Continuing to work on The Audran Sequence as well so that I can save the Rothfuss books for last in this group.

You have good taste in books Marcus. I think I might need to add some of your picks to my TBR!

I hope you enjoy the rest of the Saxon Series. I haven't read the newest one yet but the rest are great.

Dawn wrote: "You have good taste in books Marcus. I think I might need to add some of your picks to my TBR!

Well thanks :-) I have a huge TBR list so if you ever want recommendations from a particular genre, I'm sure I could come up with something

I'll keep that in mind! :)

Quick update on my reading since many people are interested in: The Lies of Locke Lamora

I'm about 70% through the book and really enjoying it more with every chapter as things get more and more intense. It started out a little slow in introducing things but the story flows very easily and continues to twist and turn all the way through. I can't wait to see how it ends :)

Sounds great Marcus! I can't wait to start it! I have too many books that I HAVE to read right now because I've been told they're good that I'm getting myself in a pickle as to which one to read next. I feel the trusty fruit machine may get some usage!

That is probably the only real fault I had was the slow start. I wasn't sure if it was me or the book. I listened to Best Served Cold narrated by Michael Page then about 2-3 weeks later listened to Lies also narrated by Page. I was all sorts of mixed up for a while, but I think if Lies had started off a bit quicker my confusion would have been less.

Finished: The Lies of Locke Lamora

Overall, the style reminded me a lot of Joe Abercrombie which Travis alluded to as well but of the two, I think I prefer Abercrombie's style. I'll def check out the other books in this series though as I felt that the story was pretty entertaining for a first novel of this character.

On to: Sword Song to get a little more of a Bernard Cornwell fix while I continue to work my way through the unique The Audran Sequence

Four down? Not far behind Travis and Dawn on that first badge, Marcus!

Well that Travis is impossible to keep up with but I am feeling pretty good with my start so far. Really looking forward to Name of the Wind

Marcus wrote: "Well that Travis is impossible to keep up with but I am feeling pretty good with my start so far. Really looking forward to Name of the Wind"

That's the Rothfuss book? I am not sure I will get to that one this year. Just too many books to get through. :p

Enjoy The Name of the Wind Marcus. It's one of my favourites! (and the second book is even better).

Marcus wrote: "Overall, the style reminded me a lot of Joe Abercrombie which Travis alluded to as well but of the two, I think I prefer Abercrombie's style. I'll def check out the other books in this series though as I felt that the story was pretty entertaining for a first novel of this character."

Thanks for your insights on this one Marcus :)

Finished: Sword Song which was pretty good as expected.

Starting: The Name of the Wind which I'm pretty excited about.

Wow Marcus- you are making great progress. You are in for a treat with The Name of the Wind- Have fun reading it.

Marcus wrote:

Starting: The Name of the Wind which I'm pretty excited about."

I'm working on the sequel now. How much you like the first one will be a good indicator of how much you'd like The Wise Man's Fear after you finish. The 1000 page count was a little intimidating, but I'm loving it so far. Enjoy The Name of the Wind! One of my recent favorites...

While The Wise Man's Fear is 1000 pages thereabouts it is a much quicker read I personally found compared to the first one - it's much faster paced. I loved both but the 2nd one was definitely my favourite.

Well, I'm about halfway through "Name" so far and really enjoying it. The author's style is just very easy and flowing. Looking forward to the rest of the story.

Finished: The Name of the Wind and I must say it was a pretty good read. I am really looking forward to hearing more of Kvothe's story in the next installment which I will begin this week as I wrap up the third part of The Audran Sequence which will bring me to the end of Slick's Slugs

Feel free to stop by our thread of last months buddy read for Wise Mans Fear. Especially to add your own conspiracy theory about the ending.

I'm glad you liked it Marcus...the next book is even better though you will have to wait for the third book ( published sometime in 2014) to get a lot of your questions answered. We did a Buddy Read in December so feel free to check it out while you are reading. I'm reading a book now( The Woman in White) that was a buddy read last Fall and am enjoying referring to that thread- nice to hear other opinions as you read.
You are making great progress on your Slick list.

Ha. I'll def check it out.